Allison Stein 12/5/21 Allison Stein 12/5/21

How to Set Writing Goals

Are you ready to get a better handle on your writing goals? Let’s look at some best practices for goal setting.

Allison Stein 11/29/21 Allison Stein 11/29/21

How to Give an Author Talk

What if you have the opportunity to promote your first book through a speaking engagement but don’t feel confident or even comfortable behind a microphone? This article will show you how to navigate both the practical and mindset aspects of delivering an author talk and give you some ideas for making the most of your experience as a novice speaker.

Allison Stein 11/25/21 Allison Stein 11/25/21

How to Self-Publish Your First Book

Self-publishing can be a great alternative to traditional publishing if you do it in the right way and for the right reasons. I believed this when I independently published for the first time in 2013, and I still believe it today. As the author of three self-published books, I have learned a lot about whether and how the self-publishing model can work for a given project.

Allison Stein 11/10/21 Allison Stein 11/10/21

Resource Review: Hootsuite

Hootsuite, a service for scheduling social media posts across platforms, also maintains an active blog on strategies for building social campaigns and social media best practices. If you are interested in social media strategy, social media marketing, best practices, sentiment analysis, or inclusive design, keep listening.

Allison Stein 10/28/21 Allison Stein 10/28/21

Resource Review: Grammar Girl

Grammar Girl is a blog featuring articles and podcast episodes about the English language, with an emphasis on history and culture. If you are interested in language, grammar rules, grammar myths, history, or culture, keep listening.

Allison Stein 10/23/21 Allison Stein 10/23/21

Resource Review: Morgan Timm

Morgan Timm, created by an experienced lifestyle blogger of the same name, features articles about blogging, entrepreneurship, and social media. If you are interested in blogging, blog traffic, social media, business, or brand strategy, keep listening.

Allison Stein 10/17/21 Allison Stein 10/17/21

Resource Review: Grammarly

Grammarly focuses on standards and habits for writing in the workplace, with an emphasis on communication in context rather than grammar for the sake of grammar. If you are interested in communication, editing, style, voice, or readability, keep listening.

Allison Stein 10/5/21 Allison Stein 10/5/21

Resource Review: Sprout Social

The Sprout Social blog emphasizes best practices on social media and offers tools and templates for social media managers to ensure their social presence is on track across multiple platforms. If you are interested in social media audits, post length, posting time, or analytics, keep listening.

Allison Stein 9/22/21 Allison Stein 9/22/21

Resource Review: The Creative Penn

The Creative Penn, which is run by thriller author and self-publishing expert Joanna Penn, focuses on how to make sustainable decisions as an independent creative and features weekly interviews with guest authors. If you are interested in sustainability, entrepreneurship, creative business, self-publishing, or learning strategies, keep listening.

Allison Stein 9/13/21 Allison Stein 9/13/21

Resource Review: Louise Henry

Louise Henry, created by an online business owner of the same name, features articles about blogging, entrepreneurship, web content creation, and project management. If you are interested in online business, blogging, Squarespace, project management, or Asana, keep listening.

Allison Stein 9/9/21 Allison Stein 9/9/21

Resource Review: The Write Life

The Write Life provides a variety of resources for professional writers who are interested in working with clients, creating personal and guest blog content, publishing their work traditionally or independently, improving their writing (across multiple genres), and marketing their books or services through an author platform. If you are interested in freelance writing, blogging, publishing strategies, the writing craft, or author platforms, keep listening.

Allison Stein 9/2/21 Allison Stein 9/2/21

Resource Review: Making It

Making It, the blog published by Squarespace, features guidance on how to get more out of the platform’s website builder, articles about trends in entrepreneurship, and profiles of entrepreneurs who use Squarespace to launch or grow their businesses. If you are interested in website building, online stores, blogging, digital portfolios, or Squarespace products, keep listening.

Allison Stein 8/16/21 Allison Stein 8/16/21

Resource Review: Writer’s Digest

Writer’s Digest provides information to and serves a community-building function for writers interested in building their skill set and getting published. If you are interested in writing, editing, grammar, publishing, or inspiration, keep listening.

Allison Stein 3/25/21 Allison Stein 3/25/21

Independent Consulting in the Digital Age

As a presenter for the Tri-City Tech Comm Conference, hosted by the Association of Professional and Technical Writers at Saginaw Valley State University, I reflect on my journey from studying technical writing to running a technical writing service. I discuss independent consulting opportunities and some suggested strategies for navigating the transition to the job market.

Allison Stein 3/4/21 Allison Stein 3/4/21

How to Overcome Writer’s Block

As a writing consultant, I have talked with multiple clients about whether and how they experience writer’s block. This list includes strategies for building a lifestyle and mindset that support a productive writing life and some quick tips that work well in a pinch. My hope is that you will be a healthier, happier writer when you apply these best practices.

Allison Stein 2/17/21 Allison Stein 2/17/21

Internships as Prof. Dev., Part 2

This blog post is a collaboration with Eliza Kriz, an amazing writer I studied alongside while completing my bachelor’s degree in Professional and Technical Writing at Saginaw Valley State University. The two-part article focuses on our experiences as technical writing interns at Cardinal Solutions, a research and design consultancy run by students, faculty, and alumni at SVSU.

Allison Stein 2/4/21 Allison Stein 2/4/21

Internships as Prof. Dev., Part 1

This blog post is a collaboration with Eliza Kriz, an amazing writer I studied alongside while completing my bachelor’s degree in Professional and Technical Writing at Saginaw Valley State University. The two-part article focuses on our experiences as technical writing interns at Cardinal Solutions, a research and design consultancy run by students, faculty, and alumni at SVSU.

Allison Stein 1/21/21 Allison Stein 1/21/21

Editing & Publishing Resources

In this blog post, I feature a roundup of my favorite websites focused on editing and publishing. I highlight five resources: The Write Life, Grammarly, The Creative Penn, Writer’s Digest, and Grammar Girl.

Allison Stein 1/14/21 Allison Stein 1/14/21

Welcome to Allison Stein Consulting

Here, I explore some of the thinking that drives my design choices in this website and business ecosystem, share my six-month plan to launch an independent consultancy, catalog the strategies I implemented and happy accidents I encountered, and provide a listing of key activities that may serve as a roadmap for other recent college graduates with similar goals.

Allison Stein 1/14/21 Allison Stein 1/14/21

Persona Building

A persona is a one- or two-page graphic that maps the emotional life of users or, more often, user groups. It is a tool for understanding stakeholders and the dynamics between and among them. Moreover, a persona is a tool for empathetic problem solving.

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