Writer’s Workout

The Writer’s Workout: 366 Tips, Tasks, & Techniques from Your Writing Career Coach
by Christina Katz
Writer's Digest Books, 2011
ISBN-13: 978-1-59963-179-0
ISBN-10: 1-59963-179-2
$19.99 paperback, 384 pages

Buy the Book!

Read an Excerpt!
Learn how to cultivate clarity, inventory ideas, write richly, and serve up words.

Online Exclusive
Download a free motivational poster to keep you moving as your build your writing career.

About the Book
The inspiration, stamina, and power to take charge of your writing life—every day. Get the daily jolt of energy your writing life needs from The Writer’s Workout. Inside you’ll find manageable, no-nonsense techniques for every aspect of your writing career from getting organized to connecting with your audience to build relationships.

Veteran writing coach Christina Katz draws on her knowledge from more than a decade in the business to give you tips, exercises, and insider strategies to build your skills.

• Make your writing as strong and powerful as possible.
• Pitch and sell your work at every opportunity.
• Overcome rejection to come back better than ever.
• Promote your work and build an audience.
• Learn how to balance your creative life with your daily life.

With The Writer’s Workout, you’ll develop skill, strength, and confidence — everything you need to build a robust, unique writing career that’s built to last.

About the Author

Christina Katz is the author of Get Known Before the Book Deal and Writer Mama. A “gentle taskmaster” over the past decade to hundreds of writers, Christina’s students go from unpub­lished to published, build professional writing career skills, increase their creative confidence, and prosper over time. Learn more at ChristinaKatz.com.

Partial Table of Contents
SPRING: GET GOING
Write Like You Breathe
Sell Your Words
Serial Focus
Promote Yourself
Microinvest in Learning
Find Your Chutzpah
Take Stock
Forget Fretting
Embrace The Reasons
Get Warm
Incorporate Nonfiction
Hunker Down
Trust Your Instincts
Have a Solvency Plan
Keep Writing Central

Summer: Find Your Stride
Pay No Attention to Fame
Aim to Earn
Lengthen as You Go
Befriend Time
Stack Up Successes
Be an Original
Pen a Short Bio
Enjoy Your Efforts
Make the Most of Warm Leads
Keep Yourself Busy
Welcome Referrals
Dig Up Contacts
Bulldoze the Ivory Tower
Query Well
Try Harder

Fall: Become Recognizable
Understand Platform
Scale Your Soul
Evaluate Your Visibility
Set Your Identity Free
Consider Your Good Fortune
Track Your Progress
Accrue Personal Power
Call Pleasure Your Business
Always Be Building
Observe a Spider
Stay Stocked Up
Strive to Serve
Distinguish Back From Front
Put Your Work Out There
Get Permissions

WINTER: COACH YOURSELF
Choose Both Sides
Conduct an Annual Inventory
Become a Thought Leader
Test-Market an Idea
Test Your Book Readiness
Traditonally Publish
Become Memorable
Get Paid
Expand Up and Out
Attract Book Buyers
Publish Yourself
Don’t Abandon Traditional
Relish Moments of Perfection
Declare Ownership
Give Wisely

Praise for The Writer's Workout

The Writer’s Workout is like having a personal trainer for your brain–every day of the year. Christina Katz will turn you into a lean writing machine, preparing you to face the challenges of the Too Much Information Age.
—Marc Acito, author of How I Paid for College and Attack of the Theater People

For years, I searched for one book to offer my students—a book that would walk them with kindness and respect through the maze of learning to live as a working writer. Christina Katz’s The Writer’s Workout is that book.
—Melissa Hart, author of Gringa: A Contradictory Girlhood

Christina Katz is a writing coach in every sense of the word. This book is absolutely packed with tips, techniques, and pearls of wisdom. One can use this as a reference book, curriculum of study, or motivational guide—or all three.
—James Scott Bell, author of The Art of War for Writers and best-selling suspense novelist

Christina Katz is the warm, funny, inspiring, and enthusiastic mentor every writer dreams of having in her corner. Like any good workout, this book will make you feel strong, energized, and ready to take on whatever comes next!
—Dallas Woodburn, young writer activist

If you want great tips for writing and great tips for publishing all in one place, this is the book you need!
—Eric Maisel, author of over thirty-five books including Coaching the Artist Within

Christina Katz’s The Writer’s Workout is like a writer’s devotional—366 entries, from inspirational to practical to cautionary tips, advice, and exercises—to get you through the seasons of your writing life. It’s perfect for aspiring writers who want to get in the driver’s seat rather than leave it to fate to jumpstart their careers.
—Hallie Ephron, author of Never Tell a Lie and Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel

As in sports, success in writing is half psychology. Coach Christina Katz builds both your word skills and your confidence. Get ready to flex your muscles—and harness your mind!
—Donald Maass, literary agent and author of Writing the Breakout Novel

The grounding metaphor of the workout is beautifully developed throughout the book, and Katz’s tone is warm and encouraging as she takes on the role of coach. Her comprehensive work is an inspiring pleasure to read.
—Caroline Grant, editor-in-chief of Literary Mama and co-editor of Mama Ph.D.

No more excuses! Writing is hard work, arguably harder than physical exercise, but Christina Katz’s insightful regimen offers a holistic body/mind/soul workout that will rejuvenate even the flabbiest of authors. From the motivational to the practical, her coaching style is an appealing blend of warm encouragement and a no-nonsense kick in the pants that almost every writer needs at some point in their career.
—Guy LeCharles Gonzalez, digital publishing expert and poet

The Writer’s Workout will take you from wanting to be a writer to thinking, acting, and working as a writer should. An indispensable daily read, with a leap year’s worth of lively, thought-provoking, and invariably useful information.
—Randall Albers, Chair of the Fiction Writing Department, Columbia College Chicago

The Writer’s Workout is a must-read for any writer on this path for the long haul. Christina Katz is the teacher we all want—supportive and understanding, but handy with a good kick-in-the-butt when we need to get down to work.
—Becky Levine, author of The Writing & Critique Group Survival Guide

What writers want to know is: What’s the shortcut to success—the fast and easy way to get a book deal? Hint: There isn’t one. That’s why I am so glad that Christina Katz wrote The Writer’s Workout because it clearly shows aspiring writers what to do, when to do it, and how to do it.
—Lee Silber, best-selling author of fifteen books including Time Management for the Creative Person