Writing Tips

Once a month, we will share writing tips from current Guild members. To add your tips that you’ve written or found from articles online please email us at renee (at) reneefisher (dot) come with Subject=Writing Tips by the 15th of the month.

Writing Tip #1 – Register for the Writing for Life Fall Writer’s Conference here.

Writing Tip #2 – Just because publishing has been negatively affected by the economy doesn’t mean God hasn’t called you to share. He has and you should!

Here are 5 simple tips to start your own writing business today.

Step #1 – Set up your Fictitious Business Name (FBN) at your local County Clerk’s office. It cost me about $35 plus another $20 to advertise in the newspaper (part of the FBN requirement).
Step #2 – Set up your Business Checking, Savings, Debit & Credit Cards. Bring your FBN to show proof of your new business name to open up your free business checking and savings. Also, for those of you who need to travel and might get paid at a later time, this is when having a business credit card will come in handy.
Step #3 – Set up your Business License at your City Hall. It cost me $45 per year. If you plan on working from home, you need to have a business license.
Step #4 – Keep track of your business receipts. One of the best and most exciting things (okay I’m weird) as a self employed person is being able to write off everything pertaining to the business including a portion of my mortgage and utilities. Consult a certified tax accountant to begin doing this properly and accurately (including how to measure the square feet of your office). Trust me it’s worth it and legally you kind of have to anyway.
Step #5 – Brand your website. Before setting up your fictitious business name, make sure that your website and social media outlets (like Twitter or Facebook) ALL MATCH. Do a search at godaddy.com or bluehost.com and see if your business name is available as a domain name. For instance, when I set up Devotional Diva, I made sure the domain was available. If you’re going to set up a freelance business as your name, make sure your name or a variation of your name is available. This step is probably the most important because everyone is trying to get noticed. Keep it simple (stupid). The more confused YOU, are the more difficult OTHERS are. Plus, how will they be to find and hire you if you have 5 different names? (Read more at ReneeFisher.com)

Writing Tip #3 – Try Self-Publishing. We recently heard that Barnes and Noble fired its CEO, and might be headed towards bankruptcy after its Nook failed. In the next 10 years, Amazon will outsell Wal-Mart in the market place. WOW! Moving forward, this means 99.9% of books will be bought and sold online. No more Borders. No more Barnes and Noble. Who knows what will happen to Family Christian Stores, Lifeway, and other Christian bookstores. With the trend moving towards eBooks, here are a few articles to stay informed–and what that means for you as an author.