How to write an eBook – 5 key tips for the aspiring author

How do you write an eBook? Well, obviously you need a great idea for your book, and you need to sit down and actually write the thing. But aside from the daunting task of writing several thousand words of exciting copy, what are the key things needed to get your book planned, finished, formatted and […]

Customer communications: what to say when it all goes wrong

No-one likes it when things go wrong. But in every company’s life there will be those hiccups and problems that mean you can’t adequately deliver the expected service to your customers – and when that happens, it can be tricky to know exactly how to communicate this and win those customers back. Some companies get […]

Too many messages = no communication at all

I was sat in the waiting room of my local doctor’s practice recently, idly staring at the walls and hoping that I’d be called in soon for my appointment. As I casually read the many, many posters, leaflets and signs that covered the wall space, it struck me what a great example doctor’s waiting rooms […]

Attack of the killer pedants!

Congratulations to me. I’ve found the most pedantic person on the internet. Or, to be more precise, they’ve found me, as I found out when I checked my Twitter notifications earlier today. There, waiting patiently for me, was a tweet informing me that I’d made a mistake in a tweet. Apparently, I used the term […]

You’ve been writing headlines wrong this whole time! (and other lazy titles)

I’ve noticed a rather odd trend in journalism – titles of articles are getting more and more formulaic. What do I mean by that? Well, let me try and explain. Do you follow any news websites, lifestyle sites or online magazines on social media (and I’m really talking about Twitter more than anything here)? If […]

Goodbye, Sir Terry; and thanks for the books

There are authors you read. There are authors you like. And there are authors you truly love. Sir Terry Pratchett was one of the latter; an author that millions of people around the world loved. An author who *meant* something to so many people. An author whose fans would pore over every word that dropped […]

Keep it simple, stupid! A guide to effective writing

As a writer and editor, I get to see a lot of content written by other people. And it never ceases to amaze me how complicated and overly fussy some of us make our writing. So I’ve come up with my own little maxim for these situations: and that’s ‘Keep it simple, stupid!’. What’s the […]

Procrastination and the allure of social media

Procrastination: the curse of the writer. Sometimes the hardest thing in the world can be sitting with a blank screen in front of you and waiting for divine inspiration to strike. At these moments, absolutely anything seems preferable to actually getting on with the job in hand and starting to type your thoughts onto the […]

Forget the political spin – use the active voice

Politicians are not exactly renowned for giving you the straight facts. Their reputation is one of evasiveness and persuasiveness, mixed with a healthy dollop of self interest to top things off. But recently I’ve noticed more and more examples of how politicians achieve this ability to evade the question. They, or their creative spin doctors […]

Leaving the corporate machine behind – a new job and a change of direction

Yes, I’ve been very lax on the blog front so far this year – note to self: must write more! But I do have an excuse. I’ve changed jobs and have spent the last three weeks moving from being a marketing executive at a massive professional service firm to becoming a writer in the marketing […]