Valerie Khoo is an award-winning feature writer who is also CEO of the Australian Writers’ Centre. She writes for a range of corporate and consumer publications and was previously a regular writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age for over 20 years. Valerie is also the author of seven books. Her latest books are So you want to be a writer (co-authored with Allison Tait) and Power Stories: The 8 Stories You MUST Tell to Build an Epic Business.
She mentors feature writers and copywriters who want to carve out a freelance writing career, and entrepreneurs and thought leaders who want to showcase their expertise in their own business book. Many of her students end up successfully publishing their work and developing lucrative careers in writing.
Valerie has worked at the publishing giants ACP Magazines, Pacific Magazines and EMAP – and currently works as a freelance editor for several consumer and corporate publications. Her work has also appeared in publications such as Voyeur, Silver Kris, Australian Financial Review and The Age.
She is a former accountant with PwC but switched careers many years ago when she finally gave in to her passion for writing.
Before becoming a freelance writer, Valerie spent several years working full-time in glossy magazines including her roles as features director for CLEO Australia and deputy editor of CLEO Singapore. For seven years, she was also the journalist behind the popular Enterprise blog on smh.com.au, theage.com.au, brisbanetimes.com.au, watoday.com.au, canberratimes.com.au and businessday.com.au.
Valerie also hosts the popular top-rating podcast “So you want to be a writer“.
Twitter: @valeriekhoo