From the Editor

Writers can be funny creatures. They can debate for hours over fine points of grammar and other details (does a comma go before the last item of a serial list, should a closing quotation mark be placed before or after a period that ends a sentence, and so on), yet they sometimes miss the big picture.

Writer's Block looks at an area that many writers wish would just go away: how am I going to make money from this? Let's face it, most writers are not business people. They would rather lock themselves up in a little room and contemplate their next great creation than go through the often humbling experience of trying to market themselves to a seemingly disinterested audience.

Selling your services effectively requires a skill set that many writers lack. While to some extent selling is an innate skill, there are certain principles and techniques that are more effective than others. Drawing on years of sales experience, including marketing for a documentation consulting firm, Jo-Anne Olive describes the differences between a conventional approach to selling and a more effective "long-term view". As Jo-Anne writes, using such sales techniques as persuasion and manipulation may work for certain types of sales, but it won't get you far when selling professional services like documentation. Instead, she proposes that writers establish a lasting relationship with prospective clients that, if successful, will develop into a kind of client-vendor partnership that will provide long-term benefits for both writer and client.

I would also like to take this opportunity to remind you that Writer's Block is your forum to express ideas, share expertise, and have fun. As such, we welcome any comments and suggestions and look forward to receiving your submissions for consideration in future issues.