by lesley | Dec 19, 2025 | Press & Media
That phrase is old-fashioned newspaper language for a story that is so important that they stop the press to include it. Of course, printing presses are no longer how newspapers are printed, but the thought behind it remains. As a business it’s almost impossible to...
by lesley | Dec 17, 2025 | Author Guide
Having a great idea for a book doesn’t automatically trigger great writing skills. Everyone can learn to write well, but it takes time and that may already be one of the reasons you’re not getting started – not enough time. However, not being a brilliant writer...
by lesley | Dec 10, 2025 | Author Guide
The key to getting your book from an idea and into print is taking action. But, if writing isn’t your thing, you need something to get you moving. When I work with people on their books, there are a number of things I encourage them to do, before they even think...
by lesley | Dec 9, 2025 | Marketing
Here’s an uncomfortable truth: you’re probably rubbish at writing your own marketing copy. And before you close this tab in a huff, let me explain why it’s not actually your fault. You know your business inside out. You’ve lived and breathed...
by lesley | Dec 3, 2025 | Author Guide
There are two sides to this. Firstly, you need to research your audience before you start writing, so you should have a good idea who will be interested in your book. Secondly, they won’t buy it if they don’t know about it – so you need to work on your promotion....
by lesley | Nov 29, 2025 | Newsletters
Your audience’s inbox is a battleground. Every newsletter you send is competing with dozens of others for those precious few seconds of attention. Understanding what makes people click ‘open’ rather than ‘delete’ isn’t just good practice – it’s...
by lesley | Nov 27, 2025 | Author Guide
I’ve been editing books for 20 years and writing them for longer. I’ve published books through a traditional publishing house, with a hybrid publisher and lately, with an independent publisher. Why am I telling you this? Because I made decisions that probably...
by lesley | Nov 20, 2025 | Author Guide
There are some essential elements to writing a book – researching your audience, planning, structuring, writing, editing, proofreading, publishing, launching and marketing. But no matter how dedicated an author you are, you’ll almost certainly come up against one or...
by lesley | Nov 19, 2025 | Social media
The social media landscape is transforming dramatically in 2025, with algorithms becoming increasingly sophisticated and, frankly, more demanding. If you’re a business owner wondering why your carefully crafted posts seem to vanish into the digital ether,...
by lesley | Nov 13, 2025 | Author Guide
As a development editor I get manuscripts in all kinds of evolutions from a completely finished version, already formatted to a bunch of bullet points that need work! Sometimes authors come to me with an idea and maybe some notes and we start from scratch. And I...
