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Guest Post: (Un)measuring Success: Setting goals to become a happier, more fulfilled writer

September 8, 2010 — 10 Comments

Written By: Alyssa Martino

I experienced a writing revelation. No, I didn’t overcome an artistic block, weeding through grocery lists and deadlines to craft the perfect transition. I didn’t visit the alps or the slums, and, stunned by intense beauty or poverty, commit to capturing these moments on paper.

Ruler with background. Image courtesy of stock.xchng®My epiphany was founded on one simple and significant fact: we, as human beings, have control.

In any profession, but particularly writing, it’s easy to get caught up in the number game. How many hits did my blog get today? How many pieces did I publish this year? How much money does X publication pay per word?

Quantifying our work can consume us. I believe in marketing and analytics to find best practices, but I also believe in writing as an end, not a means.

When I say human beings have control, I don’t mean we can magically stop the clouds from breaking open or snap our fingers and secure a New York Times byline (Sigh. If only…).

What we can do is self-determine our own attitude, thoughts and actions. To me, this means plotting out goals towards success not measured in financial gains or readership. After all, without a higher sense of personal achievement and worth, aren’t these numbers devoid of any real meaning?

By tactfully integrating non-quantifiable goals within our professional frameworks, we can become happier, more fulfilled writers. Here are a couple things to keep in mind while designing your new objectives:

1.) Reward yourself. Memorize this mantra. Pick a couple milestones for which you’ll pat yourself on the back accordingly. Anne Wayman of About Freelance Writing is a fan of this method. Did you edit a section you’ve been dreading? Did you find the perfect place to pitch that stewing topic? If so, you like totally deserve a double fudge brownie.

2.) Make investments…in YOU. One of the first things I did after my first freelance gig was ask blog readers how I should invest in myself. The result was a new website, which hugely boosted my confidence. Think about what you want, not what you need, when purchasing. It’s just as important to have muses–brightly colored pens or a rich, mahogany desk–as it is practical supplies. What’s more, these investments are a great reminder that you believe in yourself.

3.) Think long term. Another excellent piece of encouragement is implementing steps to improve your skills. Think about what will help you in the long run, while still being fun to pick up. Learning something new might involve buying “How To” books, signing up for an e-course, or even returning to school. Either way, looking down the road shows you’re committed for the long haul–an empowering notion in and of itself.

4.) Give yourself a break. This isn’t an easy climb. So, if you’re struggling to get published or even to finish a pitch, don’t be too hard on yourself. If you’re experiencing more rejection than acceptance, you’re not alone. Jane Friedman recently wrote on There Are No Rules that only 10% of writers keep plugging, and it’s they who, regardless of skills, flourish. The fact that so many writers quit is all the more reason not to get discouraged: it will only bring you further down.

5.) Have fun! Isn’t that why you began writing in the first place? You thought it’d be exciting, maybe even therapeutic? It should be! Just stop worrying so much about numbers. Make your goals work for you instead of against you. Set small, reachable benchmarks in addition to larger dreams–ones that allow you to enjoy the art of writing as much as the payoffs. Free write every morning. Start a food blog. Experiment with feng shui. Hell, buy a snuggie! Sometimes, we have to stop measuring to find success that’s truly immeasurable.

Alyssa Martino is a copywriter, editor, and freelancer. She loves stories that connect people, place and possibility. Go ahead and visit her site.

Guest Post: Eating My Words

August 30, 2010 — 54 Comments

Written By: Stephanie Dickison

30_second_commute_by_stephanie_dickisonMhm00fmkld.

Oh, sorry.  I was trying to type one-handed.  See, I was eating.

Being a food writer, I’m either writing, eating, shopping for ingredients or cooking.  It sounds glamourous, but truthfully, it’s goddamn messy.

Early on, I tried to compartmentalize things so everything would stay neat and tidy.  I would do a restaurant review one night, cook up something for a piece the next, and so on.  As much as I would like my day – and deadlines – as ordered as a bento box, my work life looks more like shucked corn cob leaves piled on the floor.

Now, I am up early at my desk writing about how to ensure a moist pork tenderloin or how I didn’t have to cut my porterhouse with a knife because it was so tender.  My desk (at the end of the bed in our 1-bedroom apt I share with my fiance – a TV writer – and our cat) is often piled with stacks of cookbooks and food magazines, with overflow on our chest, (also at the end of our bed, but thankfully not also used as my desk – our place is small, but not that small) and then out to the living room and the kitchen.  I am often cooking in the middle of writing, so while I might be writing about Mexican tortas, I will have a capon roasting in the oven and be trying to successfully melt chocolate for a new tart recipe.

And though it matters little to anyone else, throughout the week, I carefully think about and weigh various options for my restaurant reviews. I try to cover a new area each week and not only not duplicate a cuisine until all others have been tried at least once, I also try to not order the same thing.

Ever.

My fella is patient and understanding. He listens to be blather on about the difference between Punjabi and Pakistani cuisine and on date nights, let’s me stop into a fine food store to ooh over hand-twirled pastas and imported canned beans.  He puts up with food and books everywhere and my constant search for the perfect recipe.

This kind of writing is messy though.  Starting the day hunched over my laptop searching for the perfect word to describe the creamy risotto dotted with truffles or the bison carpaccio that exuded minerals and the fresh grass it consumed causes a lot of drooling.

And then there’s the take-out containers from my buttermilk fried chicken review and dishes from last night’s attempt at Spicy Malaysian Beef Hot Pot, to deal with.

Writing with one hand and eating or stirring a pot with the other – this is most definitely the life.

Bio: Stephanie Dickison writes about food, travel, tech and other subjects full-time from her desk at the end of the bed.  She is the one in dress with the food stains on it.  Her book, The 30-Second Commute: A Non-Fiction Comedy About Writing & Working From Home, covers her wild adventures as a restaurant critic, as well as book and music critic.

Guest Post: 5 Time Management Tips for Those Writers & Freelancers Who Can

August 18, 2010 — 9 Comments

Written By Steph Auteri

hour glass_fresco. original mage courtesy of stock.xchng® When my now-husband and I first began dating about six years ago, I was unemployed. But I was still keeping myself busy. I was writing restaurant and bar reviews for one of Shecky’s nightlife guides. I was handing out samples at Dunkin’ Donuts and Acme to supplement my unemployment checks. I was interning at the Feminist Press. I was singing in my church choir. It was a dark time in my life, but I never stopped hustling. In fact, being unproductive made me uncomfortable. I told Michael: We can see each other on the weekends, but only if we’re working. We’d bring our laptops to Barnes & Noble. He’d type up music reviews while I did write-ups on the China Club and the Lakeside Lounge.

Three years later, we were on our honeymoon, and I could not relax. I was reading Naked Ambition and brainstorming how I could parlay my sex writing into something bigger. I was obsessively checking my e-mail inbox for my full-time book publishing job. I was g-chatting with colleagues. My publisher compared me to Miranda on Sex and the City, whose high-powered workaholic lawyer behaved in much the same way when she was on her own honeymoon.

Now, as a full-time freelancer, it’s even tougher to set boundaries between my work life and my personal life. When you work out of your bedroom, the lines are easily blurred. But I’ve been doing this for three years now, and I’ve learned a few simple truths:

1. An inability to place limits on your working hours can adversely affect your health. As someone who suffers from both depression and chronic fatigue syndrome, I’ve had to be especially careful with this. Exhaustion can really hit me hard.

2. On a somewhat related note, burnout can suck the fun out of a career you were once passionate about. So if you want to sustain that career, you have to give it room to breathe.

3. Your career is not life-or-death and, when it comes down to it, family is far more important.

Jesaka has been doing a really excellent job of giving her career room to breathe. She’s carved out time to do the writing she cares most about. She’s gone on a writing retreat (lucky girl!). She’s even taken a step back from her blog.

I am terrible with time management, and my husband is even worse. But my desire to strengthen that relationship has made me work even harder at finding balance. I don’t do vacations. I don’t do morning walks or afternoon yoga. Sometimes, I don’t even do lunch. But I do find time for the things that matter the most to me: my husband, my hobbies, and sweet, sweet sleep. How?

1. I prioritize my to-do list. I recently blogged about a friend who took one look at my to-do list and said: You’re doing it wrong. She then asked me: Where do you want to be in a year? After answering without hesitation, she reorganized my to-do list for me, even taking some items off my list completely. You should all do the same. You may have a ton of different interests, ideas, and master plans. And that’s okay. But if certain items on your to-do list and keeping you from achieving your ultimate goals — or not moving you closer to those goals — it’s time to consider cutting them… or at least putting them at the bottom of your list.

2. I set my work hours. Some people in my life assume that, as a freelancer, I loll about all day, watching reality television marathons and doing up the occasional blog post. Okay. You caught me. This is totally what I did when I was first starting out. But once I began to bring in more work, there was no time for America’s Next Top Model. Or meals. Or my husband. In fact, most evenings, I never stopped working. These days, I try to limit the time I spend on my work to normal business hours, so that I can make myself available to my husband in the evenings and on weekends. And even if I do have spillover, I make sure my husband takes precedence. After all, it’s my own damn fault for not finishing my work more efficiently.

3. I (try to) schedule out my day in blocks of time. I’m not always good about this but, when I am, it does wonders for my productivity levels. When I only allow myself a certain amount of time to edit that e-book or write up that blog post or work on my marketing plan, I’m less likely to waste time catching up on my Google Reader or Twitter feed. I work more quickly and efficiently. Which leaves more time for friends or family or the latest Netflix DVD.

4. I evaluate each project carefully before saying yes. Once upon a time, I was desperate for work… any work at all. Now, I know that an inability to say no can actually work against me. I take care not to burden myself with projects that take up too much time, but don’t offer enough money. Such projects only hold me back, keeping me away from the work that matters most to me. Here are some questions to ask yourself before saying yes.

5. I make time for date night. When you’re a workaholic, it’s so easy to let your relationships fall by the wayside. Which is why it’s important to schedule in your friends and family in much the same way you’d schedule in a business meeting or a project deadline. When my husband and I were going through a particularly rough patch, we instituted Date Nights. We went out once a week, and took turns planning the dates. It made a huge difference. What do you need to schedule in? Time to cook? Time to work out? Time to kick back with your friends or visit your family? Figure out what’s missing from your life, and take care to schedule it in. Seriously. Add it to your calendar. Your life will become richer for it.

Steph Auteri is a writer, editor, and career coach who happens to be juggling way too many things. But she still has time for Netflix, wine tastings, and the occasional happy hour, so I suppose she’s in pretty good shape. If you’d like to learn how you can do it all, sign up for her e-course, 5 Weeks To Freelance Awesome.

Guest Post on Writing: Panic, the Apocalypse and Recovery

August 16, 2010

Written By Michael Juge

Michael Juge_book-cover_Scourge of an Agnostic GodA mind is a terrible thing. Although meant to be a simple witticism, anyone who has lived under the specter panic and anxiety can appreciate the truth of it. It’s a disorder that is hard to articulate except to say that the mind turns against itself and torments its owner, often lasting for months at time, and it chips away at one’s will to live. In the summer of 2006, on the eve of becoming a father, I was struck by another bout of panic and anxiety. This bout started the usual way: insomnia, obsessing about the insomnia, panicking over my obsessing over it, then panicking over my panicking. But now it included something new, a ringing in my ears. I couldn’t escape it anymore than I could escape my obsessive mind.

In the grip of this, I found myself picking up Dies the Fire, an apocalyptic novel by SM Stirling. As I read, something strange happened. The torrent of panic-fueled obsessive thoughts eased, leveling off to a subdued crappiness. It seems ironic that a book detailing the collapse of civilization and the ensuing chaos could comfort me, yet the story corralled my thoughts into a place I could manage.

After my son’s birth and with blessed pharmaceuticals kicking in, the panic and anxiety ebbed, but it left me shaken. I had come so close to the abyss. I knew there were others out there who didn’t make it to the other side of the panic and succumbed to their demons. I believe the apocalyptic story resonated with me so profoundly while inside the belly of the demon because it mirrored my own mental deconstruction.

All of this suffering and self-inflicted torment, it had to count for something. Someone had to tell the story. A few months later, I decided I would give voice to the panic that hounded me for so long, and what better vehicle to explore this than through an apocalyptic fiction?

So, I wrote about Chris Jung, a panic-ridden, Metro Sapiens and Rita Luevano, a jaded Unitarian reverend who has lost her faith in Humanism. Chris languishes in his cubicle until the event that causes the collapse of civilization winds up saving his life. The struggle to survive where they were grossly underprepared and to build communities of suburban refugees in the wake of the collapse awakens a tenacious spirit in these haunted souls. Panic, the very thing I had run away from my whole life, became my motivation.

Having a day job and becoming a father placed free time at a premium. I woke up ridiculously early every morning to write. Ideas came to me as I jogged, and I wrote past mental blocks, knowing I would fix it in rewrite.

Recalling the panic for the character development was painful, something I always avoided before writing Scourge of an Agnostic God. But the process was empowering, for writing gave the painful experiences meaning and allowed me to approach panic on my terms. As I wrote, I realized that writing became my sword, my voice to stare down the demons. And whenever the demons return, I recognize that they are a part of me, but they no longer own me.

Michael Juge is the author of Scourge of an Agnostic God, a plucky apocalyptic tale that laments the death of pop culture and celebrates the human spirit. Michael was born and raised in New Orleans and has served as a special agent and as intelligence analyst for the US Department of State. He lives a fulfilling life with his wife and two kids and psychiatrists agree that he is sane enough for government work. Check out www.scourgeofanagnosticgod.com for details and to see the book’s trailer.

Guest Post by Hamilton Cain: In Praise of the Non-fiction Doorstop

June 28, 2010 — 2 Comments

Open and read a book. Image courtesy of stock.xchng®

A decade ago, I taught a fiction writing class at New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies. In addition to exercises on character development and point of view, I cobbled together a reading syllabus that showcased the vigor and versatility of the contemporary American short story. I always felt a thrill as my students embraced a spectrum of masters, from established luminaries, such as Annie Proulx, John Edgar Wideman, and Charles Baxter, to (then) emerging voices, like Jhumpa Lahiri, Junot Diaz and Gish Jen. At the end of the course the students would clamor for more recommendations and I’d suggest . . . . non-fiction.

They’d gawp goggle-eyed at me, scratch their heads. “What about George Saunders, Antonya Nelson?” they’d say.

“Love ‘em,” I’d say. “But be sure to take a peek-a-loo at Jon Krakauer, Susan Orlean. You’ll soak up some serious craft.”

We live in a golden age of nonfiction, and it’s crucial that fiction writers, poets and memoirists remain engaged by the nuts and bolts of the world — the who, what, where, when and how. Because they’re working out of a tighter box, non-fiction writers often hone a broader set of skills in assembling their stories. All too often I’ve found that literary folks retreat into little coffee klatsches, skimming the latest issue of the Paris Review and buzzing about the New Yorker’s current crop of “Best 20 Writers Under 40,” but can’t name who won last year’s Pulitzer prize-winner in biography or history.

Which leads me to another disclosure: I harbor a passion for non-fiction doorstops – serious, often scholarly tomes that demand a commitment, whose pages practically whisper, “Don’t even think about cracking my covers unless you’re ready to settle down for the duration.” I plug away on one, maybe two hefty titles per year, books that actually make me feel smarter after I’ve finished them.

This proclivity began about the time I was teaching my class at NYU, when Jacques Barzun’s magnum opus, From Dawn To Decadence, broke through the noise to hit the New York Times’ bestseller list. Curious, I bartered a copy from a friend who worked at Barzun’s publisher and dipped in. An eminently readable overview of Western culture since the Renaissance, From Dawn To Decadence wittily presents the lay reader with essay-like entries on philosophers, artists, writers and musicians – I don’t think I had a clue who Tasso was until I read this book. Barzun’s voice is friendly, anecdotal, conspiratorial, a genial guide at your elbow, gently steering you from wonder to wonder.

From Dawn To Decadence whetted my desire for books bold enough to take on mammoth subjects, careful to avoid glib summaries and pat clichés. Several years later, I felt the stirrings again, this time opting for Princeton historian Sean Wilentz’s The Rise of American Democracy, an intricately detailed survey of political history from the Declaration of Independence to the cannons firing on Fort Sumter. Eight hundred pages long, and conveyed in a tiny font, The Rise of American Democracy delves into the cycles of Presidential and midterm elections during the U.S.’s first seventy-five years, peering at results, precinct by precinct, as through a microscope’s lens. Wilentz rightly resists the impulse to “boil down,” and instead insists that the reader follow him on his terms. It took me nearly a year to slog to the end, but I emerged triumphant, mentally more robust.

Fortunately, too, the obvious inconvenience of lugging around a meaty tome is now a thing of the past. Last Christmas my wife gave me a Nook, and one of the first books I downloaded was Rick Perlstein’s Nixonland, which traces our current political schisms back to the 1960s and the rise of Richard Nixon, a President who never felt hamstrung by the law if he were targeting an enemy. Again, the book consumed me for weeks, but I don’t think I’ve ever read a more in-depth diagnosis of the cancer at the heart of our polity.

Each of these books challenged me intellectually. But more importantly, they asked me to commit: log off the computer, ignore the internet (at least for short stretches of time), put the children to bed early. They were – are – perfect antidotes for our ADD-addled world. And for those literary writers intent on creating fiction that plumbs deeper truths about the human condition, it’s vital to recognize that characters and stories don’t function in a vacuum; they can’t escape the tides of time and place that wash over them.

So do yourself a favor: pick up a heavy, daunting non-fiction book and strive to finish it before summer winds down. My own assignment: Oxford don Diarmaid MacCulloch’s Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years. Let’s compare notes after Labor Day!

Hamilton Cain was a finalist for a 2006 National Magazine Award. He lives with his family in Brooklyn, New York.

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Guest Post: Freelancers, It’s Time to Embrace Easy

June 25, 2010 — 1 Comment

Written by: Natalia M. Sylvester

Embrace Easy. Image courtesy of stock.xchng®We’re always hearing that freelancing is hard work. It’s hard to create a name for yourself when you’re just starting out. It takes a lot of work to keep a steady amount of assignments. It’s not always easy to find clients who will understand what a great writer is worth.

But there’s one very important part of it that shouldn’t be hard: knowing when a client is right for you.

When I think of my favorite clients, they all share one thing in common. Landing them was actually pretty easy. And I don’t mean that in an arrogant way, or even a lazy way. Yes, I marketed my butt off to catch their attention. Yes, I made sure to sell myself, as best I could, when they considered me for their project. But never, throughout the entire process, did they make me feel uneasy.

We need to give ourselves permission to embrace easy. It shouldn’t be difficult to know when you and a client are a good match. We shouldn’t be filled with doubt, or be unsure about whether we trust them. We need to think of it like dating: Mr. or Mrs. Right would never make you feel wrong.

The problem with embracing easy is that, well, it’s hard. It really comes down to trusting our instincts, and instincts—being the sneaky little inklings that they are—never let us know the reasoning behind what they’re suggesting.

The reasoning is only revealed to us later. Like when a client isn’t communicating enough, but still expects your copy to be spot-on. Or when, three months after invoicing, the check has yet to arrive.

Having been through this far too many times, I came up with a list of questions that I always have at the back of my mind when talking to prospective clients. Here’s a big surprise—they’re easy.

  • Are you comfortable with the work and the direction the client wants to go in? Are you confident that it’ll result in work you’ll be proud of?
  • Does the work excite you in some way or another? (Maybe the subject matter isn’t your favorite, but the format is something you’ve been meaning to break into, for example.)
  • Do you see the fact that your brand will be associated with this client as a good thing?
  • If they’re a new company, do they seem to have their business in order? (Or do they say things like, their target audience is everyone and that they’ll be making a billion dollars in profits by next year?)
  • When you discuss their needs, does the client respect your point of view?
  • When you quote them, do they try to talk down your prices?

And finally, the most important question of all, vague as it might be…

Do you and the client click?

What about you? In what other ways do you think the process could be made easier?

Natalia M. Sylvester is a copywriter and editor based in Austin, Texas. She blogs about words and writing at http://www.inkyclean.com/soapbox_blog and gets even nerdier on Twitter: @InkyClean.

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Guest Post: Facebook Pages, and Why Every Business Should Have Them

June 23, 2010 — 4 Comments

Written by: Laura Espinosa

A while back, Jesaka wrote a post about Entrepreneurial marketing, and how using social sites like Facebook and Twitter can really grow your business.

I’m going to take it one step further and expand on the topic of Facebook fan pages for those of you who have them or are thinking of creating them.

Facebook LogoWhile you can do quite a bit of subtle promotion on your personal Facebook profile, there are some posts that you just cannot make. For instance, if you are running a discount sale for your services, it’d be considered a little spammy to your nearest and dearest to get status updates not on you, but on your business for the entire length of the promotion. Personal profiles should be for what it’s designed for: personal updates on what you’re doing right now.

That being said, a fan page is a perfect venue for the many things you can’t post on your profile (without annoying people). People who like your fan page are there because of one reason: they want to be kept up to date with your business. Sure they wouldn’t mind a personal post on yourself as the owner every now and then, and I encourage it to show off your personality. But they are mainly there to get updates on your products and your services. So you are free to promote to your heart’s content.

Some of the benefits of creating your own page are:

  • It’s public: You have to log in to facebook to view individual profiles, but fan pages are public and searchable. So non-Facebook users can still find your business.
  • You can send mass updates to all your fans: It’s almost like having an email list, but on Facebook. You can send out personal messages that are more in-depth than a wall post will allow, and you can even turn this into a regular newsletter to all your fans.
  • It’s extremely customizable: For something that’s entirely free, you can create almost a mini-website with Facebook’s custom FBML tabs. Check out what companies like Adidas and Victoria’s Secret have done with it. You don’t have to go nearly as over the top. But the point is that you could.If you’re tech savy, you can learn Facebook’s markup language and program some of the tabs yourself, or use some of the free apps available to customize your look. If you don’t want to deal with that, hire someone to do the programming for you.

Facebook fan pages are a great way to differentiate yourself and reach new people outside of your sphere of influence. As well as demonstrate your expertise by the quality of posts and links that you provide on your wall. You can even start discussions on your fan page and interact with your prospects, making your fan page a place people want to visit again and again.

How about you? Are you thinking of setting up a fan page for your business, or have one already?

Laura Espinosa is a freelance copywriter and WordPress website developer who recently joined forces with Holly Jackson over at CottageCopy.com, where she now blogs about how running your own business sometimes means foregoing clean clothes. You can follow her random musing on Twitter(@thecopycorner), or check out Cottage Copy’s fan page over on Facebook.

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Guest Post: Everything I Needed To Know About Writing/Work Balance I Learned From Roller Derby

June 21, 2010 — 8 Comments

Written by: Erin Blakemore

Guest Post by Erin Blakemore_Audrey Rugburn. Photo courtesy Erin Blakemore.It’s true…I’m an ex roller derby queen.  And though I hung up my skates a few years ago after a nasty knee injury, my time in the sport taught me PLENTY about balancing work and writing:

Do It Yourself:  Modern-day roller derby is all about a kick-ass, DIY effort, and so is balancing business ownership and writing.  In my skating days, nobody but me could put in the hours of training I needed to win on the track…and I was expected to lay track, solicit sponsors, and promote bouts, too.  Similarly, no matter how insane the rigors of owning a business, I have to rely on myself to make time for writing.  When I was writing The Heroine’s Bookshelf, I did so by doing VOCO stuff from 9 to 5, eating/working out until 7 or so, then writing from 8 to midnight.  The book got done in chunks and crumbles, but it got done.

Work Hard, Play Hard:  In my world, my business is my work and writing books is my play.  I try to take a cue from my derby sisters and write as hard as I work, giving a full effort when I’m able to make the time to do so.  And a bit of real play (aka a day off) never hurt anyone.

Bruises?  Brush ‘Em Off:  Think roller derby practices get called off when skaters have ugly bruises or sore limbs?  Think again.  The discipline to write even when I’m tired or battered helps me balance my business persona with my bookish one.

Guest Post by Erin Blakemore_The Heroines Bookshelf_Cover. Image courtesy Erin Blakemore.Be Fearless:  It takes serious guts to jump over a limbo stick or fling your body into another person while skating 20 miles per hour.  If you play roller derby, you do these things as a matter of course.  Similarly, writing while running a business is no small thing.  I try to see fear as a sign that something’s worth it, even when my fearlessness is a big show.

Skate It Off:  There’s nothing like a few hours of skating to heal a broken heart, soothe a bad mood, or just plain rev you up.  Writing is similar – it feeds me through bad days, client weirdness, and economic ups and downs.

Lean Into The Team:  Derby is a team sport, and so is writing, though it’s often billed as the loneliest profession.  As I balance work and writing, I lean into my relationships with other working writers, both in person and online.  These relationships, along my friends and my fabulous business partner, keep me sane when the chaos threatens to overwhelm me.

How about you?  How do you balance work and writing?

Erin Blakemore is a writer from Boulder, Colorado.  Her first book, The Heroine’s Bookshelf, will be published by Harper in October.  Erin co-owns and operates VOCO Creative, a marketing, social media, and brand strategy firm.

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