freelance career

#5onFri: Five Degrees to Consider in Pursuit of a Freelance Career

Freelancing is a viable career option for individuals in a wide range of sectors. And the number of freelancers globally looks poised to grow in the foreseeable future.  A recent study indicated 58% of non-freelancers are considering a switch to freelancing. Furthermore, another study revealed 53% of freelancers said they believe they will experience greater… Read more »

Tammy Lough

The Best of Tammy Lough

Hi word nerds! Lori here. Our longtime columnist Tammy Lough is in need of a break, so I am stepping in and serving up a round-up of some of her best columns for DIY MFA.  In case you are not familiar, Tammy Lough is our romance writing columnist, so most of these columns will help… Read more »

pay an editor

How Much Should I Pay an Editor to Edit My Book?

I recently saw a post in an editors’ group on Facebook where the original poster was asking for full developmental editing, line editing, formatting, and proofreading of a 40K-word novella. They wanted to publish in less than a month, making this a rush job. And they offered to pay an editor $0.006/word. Multiply that out,… Read more »

should

Why You Should Stop Using the Word “Should”

Each January, I watch the world celebrate “Should.” We begin the month obsessed with our “shoulds.” I should lose weight. I should write my book. I should clean my house more. Maybe that last one is just me? It can’t be! Encouraged by the world, we take all of our “shoulds” and turn them into… Read more »

consistent writing practice

#5onFri: Five Tips to Build a Consistent Writing Practice

Whether you’re a new year’s resolutioner or not, you can’t help but think about your 2022 writing goals this time of year. Maybe one of the things you’d like to achieve is a more consistent writing practice.  For too long, I felt like I didn’t have much control over my writing habits. I thought that… Read more »

end procrastination

Six Psychologically-Proven Tricks to End Procrastination

Every human on this planet has procrastinated at some point in their life. If they haven’t, it is likely their biggest flex. Now, let’s not confuse procrastination with laziness. While both do have the common denominator of not doing anything, lazy people are fine with the situation on hand. Procrastinators, on the other hand, want… Read more »

plan your money

Plan Your Money: Setting up Your Authorial Calendar for Success

Hey writer, next year is around the corner. Is your author career set up for success? Oftentimes authors join the #StarvingArtistsClub because they don’t do one thing: plan. If authors planned more, they’d hit goals they’re proud of, and would consistently build a business they never want to be away from. Being an author is not… Read more »

Holiday Themed Round-Up

Holiday Themed Round-Up

Hey word nerds! The holiday season is in full swing, so we thought we would present a holiday-themed round-up full of posts from our archives for you to enjoy. Whether you want some advice on how to get some writing in during this busy time or maybe you want to explore some podcast episodes or… Read more »

author platform resolutions

3 Author Platform Resolutions for 2022

As we end one year and start another, it’s a great time to take stock of what we’ve done, and where we want to go next. Yes! Resolutions! I know these days a lot of people are over resolutions. And I get it—why set goals based on a milestone in time when time hardly even… Read more »