•	20+ years of publishing and marketing experience: research, writing, editing, publishing, content strategy, content creation, marketing, social media messaging, brand messaging, paid  and organic media messaging,  internal and external communications, and SEO.
•	Experience managing freelance writers and copy, assigning articles, designing layouts, and orchestrating marketing campaigns.  
•	Beats have included education, politics, tech, business, youth trends, crime and up to eight municipalities at a time.
•      Extensive experience working on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. I was responsible for the content strategy and the copywriting for Meta's new Business Equity (DEI) page.
•      Experience with podcast production and editing, video production and editing and photography, and photo editing.
•      I was responsible for creating the SEO guidelines and best practices used at Audible. Additionally, I was part of a team that did keyword research and rewrote product descriptions to be SEO optimized for 500 books.
•      I am skilled in prompt engineering. I know how to design, develop, and refine AI text prompts, how to optimize prompt performance, and how to improve the AI prompt generation process for various applications. I can also create, communicate, and teach best practices for using AI.

Heather Kays

When I go quiet here, it’s usually because life is kicking me around.
Which is exactly what’s happening right now.

But I’m still writing.
Still reading my poetry.
Still showing up in the ways that matter.

I have to remind myself that effort counts. Even when it’s quiet. Even when it’s hard.

P.S. If you want to cheer me up (and support an indie writer), my new chapbook 𝐺𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐿𝑖𝑒𝑠 is on Amazon. ❤️ 

#AmWriting #PoetryCommunity #CreativeLife #Resilience #IndieAuthor #Storytelling #CreativeEntrepreneur

Marketing Manager & Literary Manager ✨💖 | Author of Myths in the Feed (sold out 6x) | Crying Heart Press Best-Selling Author | 2x Pushcart Nominee | I make strategy feel like storytelling — and vice versa.

For starters, I am *not* Dean Koontz.

Yes, my name looks like a Grammarly suggestion when you type in his name. And as author of the domestic thriller THE PERFECT HOME (published January 7, 2025 from Scribner/Simon & Schuster), I wouldn't mind earning my way into the rarefied air of bestselling authors.

But still: *not* Dean Koontz. Totally different guy.

What keeps the lights on during my quest for literary success? Freelance writing. You may have seen me in:

—Zapier
—Atlassian
—CreditKarma
—Trello
—Skillshare
—ValuePenguin
—GoToMeeting
—Content Science Review

Or you may *not* have seen me ghostwriting for TheStreet, financial blogs, real estate companies, or writing ebooks, whitepapers, and bios for C-suite executives who need to strike a balance between professional and engaging, between witty and worthwhile.

A lifelong writer, I have been at the freelancing game since the Great Financial Crisis found me looking for work—at which point I thought: Hmm, let's see if I can write for money online. Turns out you can. I built myself up from penny-per-word assignments (want hiking tips, anyone?) to a full-fledged freelancer helping big-time financial companies convert readers into clients. Since then my work has been in storytelling, in one form or another. Freelancing supports my fiction habit, but ultimately, my work boils down to this: I will help you find the words to build great levers in business and in life. I'm available, so ask me how.

(Dean Koontz is probably busy.)

Daniel Kenitz

Fellow freelance writers: 
"You HAVE to niche down"

Me:
"Okay. B2B LinkedIn ghostwriting seems to be a common one for me and I get good results for clients. I'll niche to that."

Random lead in my inbox:
"Yo, Dan, do you write toilet reviews? I pay $50/word."

Me:
"Yes. Yes; toilets have always been my niche."

Author of “The Perfect Home” | Ghostwriter for Executives, Thought Leaders, and Brands Who Need to Tell Better Stories

Them: "How do you write your stuff so quickly?"

Me: "Do you have a social life?"

Them: "Yes"

Me: "Well there's your first mistake"

When people ask you what "showing vs. telling" means:

me when a client hires writergpt for 20/month and finds out it just makes their linkedin content sound like everyone else who has $20/month to spare so they come crawling back to me, a human writer, who costs more than $20/month, and also i'm kevin from the office and i bought a bar

Once again reminding you that it's not good modifying language if it didn't modify:

🔴 "I look at my plate and run my finger along the round edge of it."
(plates are already round)

✔️ "I look at my plate and run my finger along the scalloped edge of it."
(okay, that's a specific plate)

—Example from Colleen Hoover.

Now let's look at how not to modify:

undefined undefined

Freelance Writer & Content Marketing Strategist

Online Marketing Specialist

When people ask me my hobby outside of writing

"Just write."

"Cool, good advice. Now that I've started writing, I have a question. When you get to the end of a chapter, what's a good way to—"

"Just write."

"Yeah. I am. But how do you write realistic dialogue without it being *too*—"

"Just write."

"Okay I do that, I've finished several novels, do you have any tips on finding agents to query—"

"JUST. WRITE."

"Is there any possibility that your advice is for someone who *doesn't* write, and I might need a little more guidance?"

".....................show, don't tell."

𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁:
"When are you available for a quick call?"

𝗠𝗲, 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁, 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗹𝗲:
"Let's see...which morning would I be okay ruining this week?"

Author of “Don’t Look Away,” Out July 7 | Ghostwriter for Executives, Thought Leaders, and Brands Who Need to Tell Better Stories

The review:
"This novel blew me away. Fantastic. New favorite author. ... 4/5 stars."

My reaction:

Client: "Just one small tweak."
Me: "Sure."
Client: "Actually, can we change the angle?"
Me: "Okay."
Client: "And the audience?"
Me: "..."
Client: "And maybe make it a series?"
Me: "Sure, that'll be a new invoice."
Client: "But why?"

Does this generic AI image give you "slop itch"?

Maybe you're not impressed because AI like this is everywhere. You recognize it: the smooth blandness, the Photoshoppy over-polish. 

It's so clearly AI-coded, posting this image does the exact opposite as impressing everyone. No one cares that it only took me 5 seconds. They only care about the output, and that output is pretty much exactly what you see everywhere else.

Guess what? 

𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀, 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱𝗜𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲.

-Everything is "That isn't X, it's Y."
-Everything is "quietly," which is AI's favorite word now.
-Everything follows the rule of 3s (whoops I just did it didn't I)

It's not "amazing progress" and "game-changing technology" if your primary use for it is to sound like everyone else.

Hire a human writer for your thought leadership. Or heck, write it yourself, warts and all. 

Because blandness has no warts:

One of my LinkedIn clients only has 2,000 followers, yet his posts routinely get 50+ engagements. Here's the simple checkbox I'd install if you hired me to do the same for you:

☑️ Is this *useful*?
☑️ Do you have a specific POV?
☑️ Does your post make readers feel *one* thing?

I'll elaborate.

☑️ HOW TO BE USEFUL ☑️

According to Google rankings, I'm the world's leading expert on "how to write a blog intro." How did I approach this topic to achieve this very baller and illustrious status?

By creating an article that was "useful."

Imagine if my article looked like this...

❗"Tip #1: Study great blog intros"
❗"Tip #2: Break down why they worked"
❗"Tip #3: Read more, write more!"

...blech. Boring. Anyone can write that. Readers come away with absolutely zero takeaways about writing blog intros.

So I did some homework upfront. I...

🟢 ...found example blog intros
🟢 ...broke down why they worked
🟢 ...created blog intro "templates" from those

The post is now not only *useful*, but useful in a way that reflects well on the writer (me) and my subject matter expertise. 

Years later, the post climbed to #1 in Google without any SEO.

Do the work upfront:

✔️ Organize your ideas for actionable takeaways (like I am now)
✔️ Take the time to make it visually scannable (like I am now)
✔️ Don't ask the reader to "do their research" or other lazy tips

As the illustrious freelance writer Ashley R. Cummings says, freelance writers do other peoples' homework.

Do your readers' homework for them. 

Be useful.

☑️ YOUR UNIQUE POV ☑️

This client routinely posts videos about why their company goes one level deeper than the typical services in their niche.

But he doesn't just talk about "going one level deeper." Each video comes with specifics:

—We do X instead of Y
—We stopped doing Z because of J
—Here's the specific mission my company is on

When he posts something, you get the visceral sense that you won't find this content anywhere else, because no one else sees the industry the way he sees it.

If you're like me, I know your retort. "But I'm not that interesting." I'll bet you are! You just need to do a little digging.

✔️Ask yourself "what do I do differently than others in my field?"
(then post about it)
✔Recall a specific story explaining a claim like "we're different"
(then post about it)
✔Look for mistakes that people don't believe are mistakes
(then post about it)

☑️ MAKE THEM FEEL *ONE* THING ☑️

Do you like hot sauce? Yes? Well, how would you like it if Frank's made hot sauce AND mustard AND pickles AND onions in a jar?

It's no longer hot sauce.

Be hot sauce. Aim for only one flavor each post:

✔️ "LOL"
—You're entertaining

✔️"Finally, someone said it"
—You say something other people feel in a more succinct way

✔️"I have to bookmark this post."
—i.e., you gave really useful and original tips clearly borne out of your specific expertise

Now, just do it consistently. 

(Or hire someone who can.)

Once, a guy approached Arnold Schwarzenegger for a bodybuilding tip. Arnold thought for a second. Okay, he said. I've got something for you.

Arnold told the guy that whenever he posed on stage, he was to scream at the TOP OF HIS LUNGS. 

Really?

Yes, really. It puts more energy into the posing, captures more attention.

Well, the guy couldn't argue with Arnold's results. Arnold was the most famous bodybuilder alive. If ARNOLD was saying to scream...well, that must be the cool new thing to do.

So this guy blindly took the advice. He went up on stage, and did his special routine: a routine that included maniacal screaming. 

The people running the bodybuilding show asked him to leave.

Arnold later told this story in the documentary "Pumping Iron," laughing about it all the while

Not all the feedback you get is going to make your writing better, just sayin

AI can scrape the entire internet and spit something out.

But AI doesn’t fall asleep every night, plunging into an avant-garde film festival of obscure symbolism projected by our subconscious onto the 2 dimensional screen of our dreams so we can process the day's challenges and glean insights dripping in metaphysical context that feels weightier than our limited human experience on Earth

#Checkmate
#TheHumanAdvantage

Attention fiction lovers: Are any of you active on Goodreads? DM me!

A little context:

Last week we (me, my literary agent Ronald, and the awesome folks at Scribner) met virtually to talk about my upcoming crime thriller, “Don’t Look Away.”

One subject was how important Goodreads had been to The Perfect Home. So they talked about finding active reviewers on Goodreads who might appreciate an ARC (advance reader's copy) to review ahead of the publication date. It strikes me I may know more of you than I did in the leadup to "The Perfect Home." So DM me if that sounds like you. 

Aside: I don't have any copies to send you right now btw. Still proofreading.

As for the meeting in question? It was both fascinating and nerve-racking. (I'm on Book 2. It's still a stunning whirlwind to turn around from 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 to 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 in just a few short years.) Also, publishers and agents know far more about Amazon algorithms than you imagine.

We also discussed how they often advise authors do *not* check out Goodreads because of how passionate the discussions there can be. I'm happy to oblige. In fact, I have it blocked on my browser now. Another whirlwind: going from "wow my dream came true I'm a real author on Goodreads" to "they're gonna eat me alive over there" within a year.

Anyway, for a little pop of color in yo feed, here's a picture of my work out in the wild, sent from my friend in Houston:

Me: Hey ChatGPT, write something that sounds like I've been doing this for 15 years.

ChatGPT: "In today's fast-paced digital landscape, leveraging synergistic content strategies has never been more crucial..."

Me: That sounds like you've been doing it for 0 years.

ChatGPT: Would it help if I added a personal anecdote about overcoming adversity?

Me: ...sure.

ChatGPT: "In today's fast-paced digital landscape, I once overcame adversity."

"Your brother doesn't like women."

A reader of "The Perfect Home" told my brother that, and he relayed her comment to me.

I was pretty crestfallen. So I thought it through.

—Is that what she took away from the book?
—Did I insert some unconscious bias against the female characters? 
—(Spoiler), a female character, betrays Dawn. But Dawn is a female character, and she's the moral center of the book.
—Besides, it's not like HUSBANDS come across well in this novel. 
—(Spoiler) is a male character and he's easily the worst person in the book. Even Tim; I'm pretty sure every dude in the book has some big-time flaws, too. 

Hmm. HRMRMMRM

Then I went online, read some fans discussing their love/hate for Star Wars, and realized:

Oh, wait. Even if I would prefer to be a perfect person and a perfect author who writes every character with perfect sensitivity and context and gets perfect feedback, I have to remember that this is just how life works. The more people who come across your stuff, the more opinions you'll get.

"The Perfect Home" is no Star Wars phenomenon, but it's my first brush with feedback on a national level. What do I expect? Immunity? 100% of readers to make positive assumptions about me based on the thriller-novel tomfoolery they just read?

(I still remember explaining the plot to someone here on LinkedIn and he just replied with: "...who hurt you?")

Lots of people out there have read my stuff now, and although I'd prefer 100% of them to be of the "can you sign my book?" variety, some are going to come away with conclusions I don't agree with. The more people who read it, the more likely that is. Them's the breaks.

So yeah, if your dream is to be a traditionally published author, remember to accept the downsides, too. People may not like your book. They may not like *you* for writing it. I'm very fortunate that these are among my worries now. And though the emotions I was going for with "The Perfect Home" definitely weren't of the "women-will-always-betray-you" variety, I'm glad something I wrote felt real enough to have a strong opinion on it.

And if you have any further complaints, please remember my name is spelled

D-E-A-N 

K-O-O-N-T-Z

(JK please don't sue me, Mr. Koontz)

The guy was not a great speller. Yet somehow he'd had the discipline to write down his life's work: a summary of his approach to selling HVAC.

He didn't want to become a bestseller, he told me. He just wanted to have a book he could hand someone he'd just hired and say: "In six months, you'll be making $10k/month."

And he wasn't overhyping it. Even I, non-handyman that I am, could tell his expertise was legitimate. It didn't take me long to dig through his 30k words and think: 

"Holy cow, this guy must be great at selling HVAC. This is practical, actionable. This is GOLD."

The thing was, all that gold was buried in his...digital unsophistication.

Misspellings. 
Errors. 
Punctuation so strange and original, I wondered if his cat had gotten to his keyboard.

(Stuff like....! !! 📈 🤣🤣🤣dfasdf8as9dfa)

But the expertise was there.

He'd done all the nugget-mining for me. All I had to do was get in the Google Doc and write it like an experienced ghostwriter and published author could.

He was blown away from Day One. He loved seeing his expertise put into cogent written form. It was over the top, actually. He thought I was a miracle worker. He called me "Pecaso [sic] or Davinchi [sic] with words!"

(And there is no "Pecaso" or "Davinchi" tier of your AI subscription, btw.)

That's what happens when you find the right writer to match the expertise locked inside your head.

I knew how to write, but I didn't know how to sell HVAC. His expertise fixed that. 

He knew HVAC, but he didn't know how to write. My expertise fixed that.

Together, we made a book that can teach you HVAC sales in six months.

Experts, don't try to write it yourself. 

Find your Pecaso.

Find your Devinchi.

! !! 📈 🤣🤣🤣dfasdf8as9dfa

Client: "Your rate seems high for a writer."

Me: "You're right. The rest of the charges are for my pet grooming."

The thing about predictive linguistic models is that predictability is baked into the pie. Do you enjoy being predictable? Because your AI content is predictable enough to notice some patterns:

📡 Negation Reframing 📡

—"It's not [X], it's [Y]."
—"[X] doesn't [Y]. It [Z]s."
—"Not [X]. Not [Y]. Just [Z]s."
—"You're not just [X]ing. You're [Y]ing."

📡 Binary Contrast Framing 📡

—“[X] without [Y] is just noise.”
—“[X] without [Y] is just [Z] doing [J]."
—“[X] won’t save you. [Y] will.”
—“[X] looks impressive. [Y] moves the needle.”

📡 Rhetorical Questions as Transitions 📡

—"My hot take?"
—"And honestly?"
—"The key to that?"

📡 "This"/"That" Transitions 📡

—"This distinction matters."
—"That insight means a lot."
—"This [stated idea] changes everything."

📡 Manufactured Epiphany 📡

—“And that’s when it clicked.”
—“Everything changed after that.”
—“That’s when I realized the truth.”

These are well-known rhetorical devices and yes, they do "work" in the sense that your writing will communicate your ideas clearly.

But that just means you're part of the 80% paying for B-minus writing. 

Now that everyone can have clarity for $20/month, what stands out isn't clarity. It's creativity.

Dangit I just did negation framing didn't I

taplio

The Battle

Heather Kays

Daniel Kenitz

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreHeather Kays's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreDaniel Kenitz's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Heather Kays

Daniel Kenitz

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Heather Kays's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreDaniel Kenitz's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreHeather Kays's LinkedIn Performance