What Makes A Good Book? To me, all good books are mysteries—in some fashion. I don’t mean there is a corpse or a detective in all good books, but there is usually a question that readers want the answer to, a puzzle that has to be solved, a character with a mysterious past—something. It is…
Why Do I Need A Copy Editor? The online bookstores are overflowing. Bowker Identification Services estimates there will be more than 300,000 new books published in 2013. Along with all of that new reading material comes a significant increase in the number of complaints from reviewers citing mistakes in those books, and most of the…
If you want to make a difference on your resume, a real difference, make sure to include these three things. The items I’m talking about are these: #, $, %. The symbols don’t have to be on there but what they represent should. Not every resume will have them, although you need to keep these…
What Do Your Characters Look Like? Have you ever seen a movie where the characters look nothing like what you thought they would from the book? It’s a little disappointing isn’t it? And it makes it more difficult for that character to win the audience over if they start out with a negative. The question…
(Most of this is an excerpt from one of the chapters in my book, No Mistakes Resumes.) Your resume should be filled with impact words. Words can be very powerful. Think of the emotions some of these simple statements generate: “I love you.” “I hate you.” “You are so beautiful.” These are simple, but strong…
Imagine you’ve gotten through the first few steps of the hiring process, and now you’re at the gates, ready to get an offer. All that’s left is for you to pass the reference check process. But that’s a piece of cake, you think. You’ve got great references. All I can say is… Don’t Be Too…
Should I Tell A Headhunter My Salary? This question often brings strong opinions, on both sides of the fence. I’ve seen advice stated firmly for and against, and I’ve seen some of the experts waffle on the issue. If you’ve followed this blog for long, or you’ve read my resume book, you know I don’t…
Words Of Love What you do is far more important than what you say. It’s similar to the old show and tell rule. You can tell people all day long how scary facing a rattlesnake would be, but if you drop one down in front of them it takes on a whole new light. The…
What To Capitalize On Your Resume Capitalization Many people who write resumes have an inclination to capitalize damn near everything. Perhaps they think that by capitalizing words, those words become more important; ergo, the person becomes more important. (Did I just use the word ergo? I did, didn’t I? Smack me if I ever do…
Is Storytelling Genetic? What makes a good story? How come some books you can’t put down, have to turn the page or even start a new chapter, and others … might be good, but if you get tired, the book waits for the next day. How about movies. Some movies you can leave running while…