Bryan Collins's Blog, page 96
January 7, 2019
About To Quit Your Job To Start A Business? This Is What It Takes
[image error]Alexander Niehues (aka Alex Newton) worked as a senior management consultant in the corporate world for 20 years before quitting his career to work at home in Stuttgart and founding K-lytics.
Listen Now Transcript BelowBryan Collins: Would you like to sell more of your nonfiction books on Amazon? Hi, there. This is Bryan Collins and welcome to the Become a Writer Today podcast. This week, I spoke to Alex Newton of K-Lytics. And K-Lytics is an interesting company and that it shows you how t...
January 2, 2019
How to Set a Writing Goal That Actually Works
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No matter what type of writer you are, setting a writing goal will help you earn more money or build authority as a writer or non-fiction author.
In this article, I will explain the different types of writing goals you can set and how you can track your goals.
Recently, I came across a piece of advice from David Brooks. He's an American writer for the New York Times and other publications, who said,
“Great creative minds think like artists but work like accountants.”
Yes, Mr Brooks! There's...
Gaming, Storytelling and Creative Projects With John Romero
[image error]In a now famous essay, Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham argued for dividing a working day up into maker and manager time.
Writers and creative professionals can use the former to attend to business and the latter for deep work, like writing or coding.
But what does this look like in practice?
Enter John Romero.
Although not a writer, he's the creative talent behind games like Doom and Quake.
In this podcast episode, Romero explains:
How he structures his day for working on his business...December 20, 2018
James Clear on Conquering Procrastination, Writing Nonfiction and Creating Atomic Habits
[image error]James Clear is the New York Times best-selling author of Atomic Habits. He also coaches readers (and even writers) how to succeed in their personal and professional lives by reaping the rewards of smart daily decisions.
In this podcast episode, Clear explains:
How to use effective habits to write a book The value of writing just one page a day His process for coming up with book titles like Atomic Habits How writing two articles a week helped him build a business and write a New York Time...December 12, 2018
Nate Weiner of Pocket on Writing Remarkable Content
[image error]Pocket is one of my favourite productivity apps. I use it to save interesting articles to my phone and read them on the go. I also like that it shows me the types of popular non-fiction articles other writers have published. This helps me figure out how to improve my writing.
Nate Weiner and his team created Pocket in 2007, initially calling their app ReadItLater. Like many products, it was born out of need.
In this podcast episode, Weiner explains:
How to write non-fiction articles and cont...December 6, 2018
Howard H. White on Setting Audacious Goals and Writing a Best-Selling Business Book
[image error]Michael Jordan credits Howard H. White with supporting him throughout his 15-year career and helping him beyond the game of basketball.
He's Nike's liaison for athletes such as Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley. White is also the author of the popular business book Believe to Achieve.
In this interview, he explains:
How he wrote a popular business book His process for setting big audacious goals What he learnt from Michael JordanAnd lots more.
Listen NowTranscript Below
Speaker 1: Welc...
November 23, 2018
How to Write a Nonfiction Book Proposal
[image error]So you’ve got a brilliant idea for a nonfiction book. You’ve taken the time to evaluate it and think your book could potentially take the world by the storm. Now where do you go?
It might be time to write a book proposal.
Your book proposal is your ticket to a book deal. It’s especially important if you don’t have an agent, as many small and medium publishers accept unsolicited proposals. Your book idea is fantastic, and it’s time to prove that to the people who can actually publish it!
There...
November 21, 2018
Marianne McGuire On Meditation, Creativity and Art
Meditation is a proven practice that can help writers and creative professionals find better ideas for their work too.
After I wake up early, I typically meditate each morning for 10 or twenty minutes before sitting down to write. This practice can help you find better ideas for your fiction and non-fiction too.
Just ask meditation coach Marianne McGuire.
In this podcast episode, she explains:
The link between focusing on your breath and the blank page How new writers can conquer feeling...7 Top Tips on Becoming an Author (For Aspiring Writers Everywhere)
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Do you want to become an author?
Take a lesson from Arnold Schwarzenegger.
As a teenager, he started lifting weights in the Athletic Union in Graz, Austria.
On the wall next to where they lifted weights, each athlete listed exercises like ‘Dead Lift', ‘Bench Press' ‘Clean and Jerk', ‘Shoulder Press' and so on.
The athletes chalked a row of hash marks next to each exercise, each one representing a set.
After an athlete completed the reps comprising a set, they marked an X through the first li...
November 7, 2018
Adam Jelic of Migoals on Achieving Your Goals With a Daily Planner
[image error]Over the years, I've tested dozens of digital productivity tools for setting goals and managing to-do lists. Although digital tools are useful, paper-based daily planners are becoming more popular.
MiGoals is an example of an Australian company that sells these type of daily planners online.
Co-founder Adam Jelic and his team created a series of daily planners and journals to help entrepreneurs, executives creative professionals and executives accomplish more each day.
In this podcast episode...