My blog post for Steyer Associates — Stage Fright Part II: Your Writing Sample — examines how a tech-comms manager reviews writing samples when hiring a tech-communications professional. I discuss solutions for common problems, like when your current work sample is still under non-disclosure agreement.

I like to describe a parallel effort here on my blog for fiction writers, but the cases differ significantly:

• Your writing sample online is the first 10% of your ebook on Amazon. 
  Tip: Did you move the front matter to the back of your fiction ebook, so that a significant portion of that 10% is not copyright, dedication, and table of contents?Your “sample” should start as close to “a name=start” as possible.
• Your description / back cover text is what lures your reader.
  Did you write a Fourth Grade book report or a marketing enticement that will help you “close” a sale with browsing readers?Most writers I’m met hate writing the back-cover text. It calls for an entirely different view of the story than what you just spend hundreds of hours writing. I’ve struggled with this 250 words more than any other text  I’ve drafted, and don’t feel anything like a journeyman, must less an expert. Yet it’s not something that DIY writers can readily outsource.Here’s the most succinct guidance I’ve found, for staying on track in back-cover descriptions:

1-sentence hook, preferably highlighting the key theme

2nd paragraph expands on the hook, emphasizing Character, Setting, Problem

3rd paragraph describes what kind of book, for what kind of readers

If desired: 1 sentence about the author or link to author’s website

If you want to sample more such guidance, try my Metadata Cheatsheet for DIY Books.