7 Habits of Highly Successful Writers

I have had over 25 years in the book industry trenches, both as a publisher and a writer. And, as you know, the amount of time spent multiplied by a type of experience equals a quantity of wisdom.

Because good writers are innately curious and always searching for ways to improve their mastery of the craft, I offer a succinct summation of what I have observed about the most successful writers I have worked with over the years.

If you are serious about your writing, and want other people to read it, I suggest you read the following carefully, maybe even print it out, and tape it to your bathroom mirror.

1.  They write every day. No excuses.

2.  They are voracious, omnivorous readers.

3.  They write books and stories they would want to read themselves.

4.  They watch and listen carefully to how people behave and talk so they can create credible characters and plots.

5.    They have learned how to indulge and nourish their imaginations.

6.  They think of writing as a way of "making" something and find great pleasure in the activity itself.

7.  They throw away a lot of stuff, and revise, revise, and never give up.




About Write4You

The Mission of Write4You
is a bit grandiose, but we always aim high: To improve everybody's writing everywhere. This would have been patently ridiculous before the birth of the Internet, but it's not so crazy an ambition these days. We hope to achieve this (or die trying, and we probably will) by by providing truly helpful and understandable content to writers everywhere.

We also provide, for reasonable fees, writing assistance for those who have an immediate need for good writing of one kind or another, and who can't wait for the slow evolution and improvement of their own writing skills.





Margaret Langstaff
is the Publisher and Writer-in-Chief of Write4You and brings to the task over 25 years of hard-won writing, editing and publishing experience. She is a widely published author in her own right, having published several books in her own name and even more as the anonymous ghost-writer of others. She is former member of the National Book Critics Circle, a contributing editor and book reviewer for Publishers Weekly and columnist for BookPage magazine. Her views and reviews of books have also appeared in the L.A. Times Book Review, the L.A. Times business section, Vanity Fair and the New York Times.

As a publisher, Langstaff has held executive positions in both the marketing and editorial departments of major publishers and book distributors, including Ingram Book Company and Doubleday.

Her published work spans nearly every genre and type of journalism: novels, short stories, poetry non-fiction, feature articles, press releases, news stories, marketing and ad copy, and academic writing (including theses and dissertations).

Langstaff has also held teaching posts in writing and English at the college/university level.

She graduated cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Florida with a major in English and Literature, and holds an M.A. in English from the same institution.





How to Use Our Services

Our writing and editing services and fees are listed in the sidebar to the left. You can select and purchase any one or a group of services by clicking on the Buy Now button for each service. When you have completed the check-out process, we will be in touch with you within 24 hours to begin the writing or editorial work you selected. Please include your contact information on the purchase invoice.

If you would like to discuss how we might help you with one or more of our services, choose the Telephone Consultation Buy Now button, include your phone number(s) and best time to call on the purchase invoice, and we will schedule a telephone appointment with you for the consultation within 24 hours.

If you would like to purchase an E-Mail Consultation, click that Buy Now button, and include your e-mail address on the payment invoice. We will then e-mail you within 24 hours to begin the consultatiion.

We offer a wide array of highly competent, professional writing and editing services, and encourage you to explore them to decide which might be Write4You!





Some of the services unique to Write4You are:

•  Book Proposals for submission to publishers. 
•  Sales and Marketing copywriting.
•  Manuscript Polishing and Prep for submission to publishers.
•  Expert advice on Submission Strategies and logistics to publishers.
•  Query Letters.
•  Self-Publishing consultation.
•  Expert, Step-by-Step, consultion on How to Become a Publisher yourself, and the benefits it affords you as a writer.
•  Online Publishing advice and strategies
•  Consultation on Copyrighting and Protecting Your Work.

Submission of material and manuscripts for our services: We accept submissions via e-mail as attachments. Submissions must be saved in Word or Rich Text Format. Your finished work will be sent to you by e-mail as an attachment (as a Word.doc.).