I'm giving free copies of Write Like You Talk--Only Better to the first 10 people who email me with "free book" in the subject line. I'll also send gift-wrapped paperbacks to everyone who provided feedback or otherwise helped. Let me know if you'd prefer yours for an e-reader.

Originally, I had hoped to cash in on the holidays. After all, it would be the perfect gift  for all those people whose windy prose or apostrophe abuse drives you crazy. Because many of those people think they write just fine, it would be like passing around the mints instead of telling them their breath stinks or, as we say in PR, radiates a Juan Valdezish bouquet.

Alas, despite several volunteer readers and a professional editor, proofreader and designer, I kept finding commas, semi-colons, page numbers and other nit-picky stuff that had wandered over to the wrong place. Regular readers of this newsletter or my blog will have witnessed this mysterious phenomenon.

Although it's on sale at Amazon and here, and any minute on Kindle and other sites, they can't guarantee delivery for Christmas.

So I ordered a bunch for myself that will be here in Toronto next week. I will make every effort to have the freebies delivered by December 23, though I may need your patience if you're in Finland or other trans-oceanic destination.

I am bursting with excitement that Write Like you Talk--Only Better, which you can preview here, is finally for sale. I am on fire about the online training I'm developing for next year.

Deep breath. HAAAH.

3 tips for holiday greetings

I am grounded again and filled with the glow of giving. So let me close by giving you three tips on writing your holiday greetings.  Appreciation rises with the amount of time and individual effort you put in, so don't think that an email, update or tweet will do for everyone.

1. Send snail mail cards to the people you want to impress. 
2. Let the people you don't see enough know you're thinking of them.  
3. Include a hand-written note, thanking them for something they did over the past year or commenting on a personal interest you share.

Of course, if you had written a book, you'd have an even better gift to give. Maybe that belongs on your new  year's resolution list. To help, I'll continue to share my experiences, the good, the bad and so bad they will make me laugh at some point in the future.

So email me right now for your free book. Giving away books is almost as much fun as shopping.

Happy holidays!