Entries by Anna Goldsmith

What’s Wrong with This ‘Woman Within’ Cover?

Dear Woman Within, You showed up in my mailbox yesterday. As a professional catalog writer, I have some thoughts to share with you. First of all, the good: I love that you make clothing for plus-sized women. After all, why should style be the exclusive domain of the size 2s, right? And I love that […]

How to Handle Prospects Who Have No Respect for Your Work

After 15 years in business, Dan and I have gotten pretty good at screening for clients who don’t seem like a good fit. Sometimes it’s a personality or subject-matter mismatch, but more often it’s because they have an unrealistic idea of budget. When there’s a financial disconnect, we respectfully explain why we can’t write their […]

5 Questions to Ask Before You Commit to a Name

5 Questions to Ask Before You Commit to a Name Like almost nothing else, coming up with the right name can give your company or product a real boost. As anyone who has tried it knows, however, it’s really hard to do well. That’s why big brands pay naming companies upwards of $100K to do […]

Want to Write Better in Less Time? Answer These Five Questions.

Writing is hard work — even for professional writers. You know what makes it a lot easier? Putting it off. No, not indefinitely, but until you first answer these five “prewriting” questions. 1. Who is going to be reading what I’m writing? No one! Haven’t you heard? People don’t read anymore. Let’s be optimistic, however, […]

It’s Time Again for ‘Meet a Pen’

“Don’t dialogue with someone you can talk to.” Rob Sneddon, the latest writer to join our team, didn’t say this, but the fact that he can quote William Zinsser just makes us love him even more. Read on to learn Rob’s no-fail trick for combating writer’s block, the one book that can improve everyone’s writing […]

Meet Virginia, Our Newest Pen

For every 100 writers who contact us, just dying for a chance to be a Pen, only a handful makes it through our rigorous screening process. Meet one of the qualified few. As you’ll see from our Q&A below, Virginia has the right mix of experience, brains and wit. We’re pretty sure she’s a keeper. […]