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Ann Handley

@annhandley.bsky.social
2.3K followers 553 following 392 posts

WSJ best-selling author of Everybody Writes, now working on a new book. Speaker. Chief Content Officer, MarketingProfs. 50k read my newsletter on marketing, writing, life. Expect photos of my dog. 👉 Your new fortnightly fave: annhandley.com/newsletter

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Reposted by Ann Handley
Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 01/08/2026
"I saw Goody Proctor using AI!"
a painting of a raucous moment during the Salem witch trials
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
So I guess that’s a no
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
I love that so much
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
In “If Momma Was Married” June says “poor little us” but that’s only because she’s a mom and never gets any alone time. I request partial credit plz
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Reposted by Ann Handley
𝓛𝓲𝓷𝓭𝓪 𝓡𝓮𝔂 🦋 My emotions identify as Sɪɢʜ﹗Gᴜʟᴘ﹗Hᴀʜᴀ﹗Sᴏʙ﹗ @lindarey.com · 05/04/2026
NOT subscribing to @annhandley.bsky.social's newsletter if you enjoy writing, no matter the medium, platform, or style is peak self-inflicted FOMO. Buckle up for a breakdown of the judge's ruling, including 18 exclamation points & a gumbo recipe that halted Trvmp's illegal ballroom. annhandley.com
Ann Handley's newsletter header with 18 exclamation points.Screenshot of ann handley's #208 newsletter:

Exhibit A:
 
"The President of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of First Families. He is not, however, the owner!" —US District Judge Richard Leon, ruling this week to halt construction of Trump's White House ballroom
 
Right away, what do you notice? The exclamation point, right?
 
There are 18 of them in a single ruling. EIGHTEEN!!!
 
Judge Leon—a George W. Bush appointee, let the record show—is famous in legal circles for his punctuation. He used 26 exclamation points in an opinion last year blocking an executive order targeting the law firm WilmerHale. That ruling also included a gumbo recipe in a footnote. (It seems like I'm making up this recipe thing. I am not making it up.)
 
I saw his punctuation proclivity mentioned in a few places this week. But nobody interrogated it.
 
Court is now in session.
 
* * *
 
Legal writing is one of the most ruthlessly shackled genres in existence. The passive voice, the bloodless construction, the deliberately neutralized tone. It is hereby ordered. The court finds.
 
Wide, jaw-cracking yawn. Legal writing veers into dullness like someone falling asleep at the wheel.
 
And yet I present as counter-evidence: Judge Leon, clearly feeling things and seeing no reason to pretend otherwise.
 
So. How do we write funnier? Develop a voice? Stand out?
 
The court calls its next witness... Generative AI, please take the stand!
 
The robot glides forward like a literate Roomba, bumping noisily up the stairs and into the witness box.
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Thank you Linda!
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
“Follow me for more wellness tips” — Billy
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
AI clearly didn’t write this — there’s not a single blessed em dash is there! 🫠 Seriously tho — Woof. Yeah. Not a fan of this feature. Happy to tell you what I know about it, Ben.
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
Love. 💕
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Reposted by Ann Handley
bellatrixr.bsky.social @bellatrixr.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
YES! Justice for Em Dashes by @annhandley.bsky.social has got my $$$. www.bonfire.com/rough-draft-...
bonfire.com
The Rough Draft Tee | Bonfire
Buy The Rough Draft Tee merchandise from Total Annarchy. Featuring Deep Heather Premium Unisex Tees, professionally printed in the USA.
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Reposted by Ann Handley
Lori Burwash @lburwash.bsky.social · 16/11/2025
Merch for em dash lovers and defenders, courtesy of @annhandley.bsky.social — with proceeds going to two animal rescue charities. www.bonfire.com/store/total-...
Photo of a grey T-shirt that says “Justice for em dashes” on it.
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 16/11/2025
✊🏼 thanks, Lori!
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
Deeply relatable for writers, too.
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
I love how chaotic yet fearless she is.
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Reposted by Ann Handley
Tim Walker @twalk.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
My Bsky pal @brosninja.bsky.social 👇 is correct about green bean casserole. And my longtime social-media-pro pal @annhandley.bsky.social has written engagingly about the classic Campbell's recipe for green bean casserole as a brilliant piece of content marketing: annhandley.com/green-bean-c...
annhandley.com
Green Bean Casserole: Marketing Genius? Thanksgiving Side Dish? Both?
Campbell's100-word Green Bean Casserole recipe one of the most lasting and successful content marketing efforts of all time.
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
Truly iconic and delicious!
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
Waiting for @calm.com to weigh in on this situation
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
💯
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 12/07/2025
Papsasan chair! 🥹
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
Came across this nest abandoned on the street. Soooooo any nest experts here? Whose home was this? Bird? Beastie? Forest sprite? (Foot for scale)
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Reposted by Ann Handley
no. @joles.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
applying for jobs again
screenshot from an online job application form. the question reads "Can you describe specific ways you have integrated AI tools into your development workflow? Please include any custom setups, automations, or use cases beyond single prompt usage" (a red asterisk indicates that this is a required question).

an answer has been typed in the textbox below the question:

"there is a monster in the forest and it speaks with a thousand voices. it will answer any question you pose it, it will offer insight to any idea. it will help you, it will thank you, it will never bid you leave. it will even tell you of the darkest arts, if you know precisely how to ask.

it feels no joy and no sorrow, it knows no right and no wrong. it knows not truth from lie, though it speaks them all the same.
 
it offers its services freely to any passerby, and many will tell you they find great value in its conversation. “you simply must visit the monster—i always just ask the monster.”

there are those who know these forests well; they will tell you that freely offered doesn’t mean it has no price

for when the next traveler passes by, the monster speaks with a thousand and one voices. and when you dream you see the monster; the monster wears your face."
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 21/06/2025
It really is… and I’m sorry your family went through it too.
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
🫶🏻
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
For context: arstechnica.com/health/2025/...
arstechnica.com
Trump’s EPA to “reconsider” ban on cancer-causing asbestos
Trump has supported use of asbestos and blamed the mob for its bad reputation.
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
My mother died from lung cancer caused by asbestos. She didn’t work w/ it; her father did: She breathed in fibers he brought home on his clothes. Years later, it killed her. She was 60. Her death was terrible & also a metaphor for how reckless decisions cause permanent harm in heartbreaking ways.
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
Thank you for tagging me both places! I’ve been quiet on both recently… but I’m here.
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
Appreciate you, Jim.
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 15/06/2025
Thank you. ❤️
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
❤️
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
Oof 🫠
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
🤩
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
Super fun to be a writing judge in this experiment — thanks to @geoffreyfowler @washingtonpost 🤖
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Wow wow woww - incredible take. Thank you! PS Can’t unread the protein joke — not that I want to. 😏
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
Thank you!
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Reposted by Ann Handley
TopRank Marketing @toprankmarketing.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
Creativity = differentiation—and that’s everything today. As @annhandley.bsky.social of @marketingprofs.bsky.social says, “You're capable of all this. The robots are not.” We've got more tips on essential leadership skills: #AI #Leadership #B2BMarketing #MarketingLeadership tprk.us/4bJ0C6w
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 16/03/2025
Thanks, Phil. Glad to actually be connected to you.
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
Oh wow!!! Hiiiiii!! 👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
This is how @hcrichardson.bsky.social begins her letter today. There’s no simpler, more accurate way to frame this: “Today, President Trump ambushed Ukraine president Zelensky in an attack that seemed designed to give the White House an excuse for siding with Russia in its war on Ukraine.”
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
0/10
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
At the point of February where I’m googling “why is it so windy” and “why am I so cold”
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 16/02/2025
Thanks Tracy! 🙃
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Reposted by Ann Handley
Christopher Penn @cspenn.com · 14/02/2025
A reminder that taking care of your mental and emotional health is inherently an act of resistance against people and organizations intentionally trying to sabotage it for their benefit.
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Reposted by Ann Handley
Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 13/02/2025
This is where you go to tell the National Park Service to restore the word "transgender" in its entry on the Stonewall monument. (Scroll down.)
nps.gov
Stonewall National Monument (U.S. National Park Service)
Before the 1960s, almost everything about living openly as a lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB) person was illegal. The Stonewall Uprising on June 28, 1969 is a milestone in the quest for LGB civil rights a...
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
❤️
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
I hate that I know the answer to this
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
👉 “It's frightening because it is like they read Orwell's 1984 and decided the hero was Big Brother.”
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
A very special event!
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
Are we counting his own country or no
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Ann Handley @annhandley.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
❤️
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