Think The Little Book of Confusables is just a book about words? Think again. Here are 11 surprising reasons to buy the fun, invaluable guide to commonly confused words.

1) It’ll save you time

Mental block? Need to check which spelling you need? It’s quicker to get the answer you need using The Little Book of Confusables than Google.

Copywriter Matt Phil Carver put the book to the test and reported in his five-star review that it’s more than twice as quick as Googling.

Here’s Matt’s review…

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2) It’s a godsend for comms teams

Do you know your PRESENTS from your PRESENCE? Your SLEIGH from your SLAY? It’s time for my Christmas #confusables quiz! And this year it’s tricker than ever… Pick the correct spelling from the options below and scroll down for the answers when you’re done. No cheating! Let’s start with an easy one…

Question 1

a)  “Whose coming for Christmas dinner this year?” b)  “Who’s coming for Christmas dinner this year?”

Question 2

a)  “Santa’s making an appearance at the school Christmas bizarre!” b)  “Santa’s making an appearance at the school Christmas bazaar!”

Question 3

a)  “Tickets to the carol concert are £10, and include complementary mince pies” b)  “Tickets to the carol concert are £10, and include complimentary mince pies”

Question 4

a) “We saw A Christmas Carol at the RSC. The guy who played The Ghost of Christmas Past was so talented!” b) “We saw A Christmas Carol at the RSC. The guy who played The Ghost of Christmas Passed was so talented!”

Question 5

a)  “Too many glasses of fizz at last night’s party have lead to a hangover!” b)  “Too many glasses of fizz at last night’s party have led to a hangover!”

Question 6

a)  “The neighbourhood Christmas Eve party always attracts hordes of people!” b)  “The neighbourhood Christmas Eve party always attracts hoards of people!”

Question 7

a)  “I’ve had so many compliments about my Christmas tree this year!” b)  “I’ve had so many complements about my Christmas tree this year!”

Question 8

a)  “Ooh, yes please – I’m not adverse to a glass of mulled wine!” b)  “Ooh, yes please – I’m not averse to a glass of mulled wine!”

Question 9

a)  “I’ll pass on dessert – last year’s Christmas pudding gave me stomach pains “ b)  “I’ll pass on desert – last year’s Christmas pudding gave me stomach pains”

Question 10

a)  “Oi! Quit peaking at your presents – you’ll spoil the surprise!” b)  “Oi! Quit peeking at your presents – you’ll spoil the surprise!”

Question 11

a)  “If you don’t behave, it’ll affect the amount of Christmas presents you get!” b)  “If you don’t behave, it’ll effect the amount of Christmas presents you get!” c)  “If you don’t behave, it’ll affect the number of Christmas presents you get!” d)  “If you don’t behave, it’ll effect the number of Christmas presents you get!”

Question 12

a)  “Let’s go to the panto this year! It’s my favourite!” b)  “Lets go to the panto this year! It’s my favourite!” c)  “Let’s go to the panto this year! Its my favourite!” d)  “Lets go to the panto this year! Its my favourite!”

Question 13

a)  “Are you inferring I’ve had too much to drink?!” b)  “Are you inferring I’ve had to much to drink?!” c)  “Are you implying I’ve had to much to drink?!” d)  “Are you implying I’ve had too much to drink?!” 

Question 14

a)  “Did you see what I bought for your mum from Etsy? It’s a secret, so be discrete!” b)  “Did you see what I bought for your mum from Etsy? It’s a secret, so be discreet!” c)  “Did you see what I brought for your mum from Etsy? It’s a secret, so be discrete!” d)  “Did you see what I brought for your mum from Etsy? It’s a secret, so be discreet!”

Question 15

a)  “I wonder who’s doing this year’s alternative Christmas message on Channel 4!” b)  “I wonder who’s doing this year’s alternate Christmas message on Channel 4!” c)  “I wonder whose doing this year’s alternative Christmas message on Channel 4!” d)  “I wonder whose doing this year’s alternate Christmas message on Channel 4!”  

Scroll down for the answers…

                                     

Answers

Q1) b Q2) b Q3) b Q4) a Q5) b Q6) a Q7) a Q8) b Q9) a Q10) b Q11) c Q12) a Q13) d Q14) b Q15) a

How did you go ho ho?

12 to 15: A* student: gold star for you 7 to 11: good effort: could do better 0 to 6: must pay attention in English class If you love nerdy, wordy fun, you’ll love The Little Book of Confusables 1 + 2 Over 1,000 words demystified in 600+ gorgeous pages.

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Get more simple, memorable spelling tips in The Little Book of Confusables 1 + The Little Book of Confusables 2

My four-times award-winning books take the mystery out of misused words for just just £11.95. You’ll wonder how you managed without them!

English is a messy, confusing language, and we all have blind spots – however confident you are as a writer.

For you, it could be knowing the difference between LETS or LET’S, PRACTICE or PRACTISE, EFFECT or AFFECT.

Maybe you’ve spent your life saying ‘off your own BACK‘. (It’s BAT, actually.)

Or perhaps you didn’t realise there were two spellings – and two different meanings! – of DISCRETE/DISCREET, HOARD/HORDE and REIN/REIGN.

You’re not alone!

In the 30 years I’ve been a copywriter and editor, I’ve worked with thousands of smart people – many of whom simply don’t find language easy to grasp.

It’s really no surprise. Our language is full of lookalike and soundalike words that have different meanings. The problem is, using the wrong word can completely change your message – and lead to embarrassing mistakes!

• BALD men aren’t always BOLD.
• DISEASED may be bad, but DECEASED is a whole lot worse.
• Dramatic CORDS require the fashion police.
• And heaven forbid you ask someone to ‘BARE with me’ – unless you’re a fan of getting naked with strangers. (Yikes!)

I call these words confusables – and I’ve been sharing tips to help you remember them on social media since 2016.

In 2022, I brought them together in The Little Book of Confusables: fun, memorable tips to remember 600 commonly confused words, in 300+ gorgeous pages.

It’s such a useful book, in fact, that it won GOLD in the 2023 eLit book awards!

Who is The Little Book of Confusables for?

The Little Book of Confusables is loved by teachers, editors, proofreaders, copywriters, authors, graphic designers, translators… as well as anyone and everyone who ever has to write emails or social media content.

It’s a book that’ll make you laugh and learn – and one that’ll help you avoid embarrassing errors.

As Leif Kendall, Director of ProCopywriters said: “This is the perfect book for anyone who reads, writes or speaks.”

I make that all of us…

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What are confusables?

Confusables are any two (or more) words that trip us up when we’re writing or speaking. Here are my categories of confusing words:

Homophones: words that sound the same but have different meanings.

Homographs: words that are spelled the same but have different meanings.

Homonyms: which can be homographs, homophones or both.

Malapropisms: which occur when a similar-sounding wrong word is used instead of the right word, with nonsensical and often funny results.

Eggcorns: which occur when a word or phrase with a similar meaning is misheard or misunderstood.

Miscellaneous: the word pairs that defy categorisation but are still confusables. Words like ACUTE + CHRONIC, LIBEL + SLANDER and POISONOUS + VENOMOUS.

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What’s included?

The Little Book of Confusables contains fun, memorable reminders for 500+ of the words you find most confusing, so you can boost your vocabulary, write with confidence and avoid embarrassing mistakes.

Learn tips to remember the difference between homophones such as COMPLIMENT + COMPLIMENT, DEPENDANT + DEPENDENT, avoid malapropisms and eggcorns like DAMP SQUID and DOGGY DOG WORLD – plus simple grammar lessons on commonly confused terms like LESS + FEWER and NUMBER + AMOUNT

…all in a gorgeous, flickable, fits-in-your-bag format.

Where can I buy The Little Book of Confusables?

Get more simple, memorable spelling tips in The Little Book of Confusables 1 + The Little Book of Confusables 2

My four-times award-winning books take the mystery out of misused words for just just £11.95. You’ll wonder how you managed without them!

Thinking of writing a business book?

It’s not always a case of ‘write a book, publish a book, go back to the day job’. I share five years of experience as a four-times award-winning business book author.

We hear it all the time: writing a book is the best way to position yourself as an expert in your field. Daniel Priestley* has a lot to answer for!

But I didn’t set out to do that.

Having worked in marketing for almost 30 years – and been a freelance copywriter for 25 of those years – I had a pretty decent personal brand, and an even better social media presence.

It was never about me. (And call me cynical, but most books written with an end goal of elevating the author’s profile come across as just that.)

Unlike most people, I always believed I didn’t have a book in me, so no one was more surprised than me when the idea to write one temporarily took over my brain.

How I got started

In 2020, I wrote my first self-published bestseller, Survival Skills for Freelancers – relaunched in January for 2025.

Since its launch, Survival Skills for Freelancers has helped freelancers and entrepreneurs in 28 countries grow in confidence and get more enjoyment from self-employment – without getting sucked into the six-figure hustle.

I knew from others who’d published business books that I wouldn’t make my fortune from self-publishing. My financial expectations were – quite honestly – pretty low.

But I wasn’t motivated by money.

I was motivated by using my 20+ years of experience to help others tackle the challenges and avoid the pitfalls of self-employment. The stuff no one talks about. Because there are plenty of books on the practicalities of self-employment, but still not enough (IMO) on developing the right mindset for success.

A mindset that prioritises your mental and physical health so you can do your best, most creative and most fulfilling work. A mindset that centres on setting boundaries, saying no, outsourcing, charging your worth and dealing with imposter syndrome.

I’d lived this stuff. I’d made the mistakes.

I could share my experience to help others do better. 

And somehow that message just resonated.

People shared (and still share) the book on their social media. They wrote incredible reviews, explaining how Survival Skills for Freelancers had helped them grow in confidence and become more successful. They even shared stories of how the book had given them the confidence to take the leap into freelance life!

Call me naive, but I just thought I’d write the book, publish the book, and go back to the day job.

But that’s not what happened…

People invited me to talk to their book clubs, to deliver webinars and Q&As, to guest on their podcasts – even to become a mentor (which I did for both the FreelanceHER 100 project and the government’s Help To Grow scheme).

I’d never done any of this stuff before. I wasn’t sure I had the confidence to do it, frankly – but it turned out I could. And I was pretty good at it, too!

I said a big fat yes to every opportunity that came my way. 

And I was loving it – but it wasn’t all positive. I became hooked on helping others become more successful, while completely overlooking my own success.

(Plus engagement is validation, right?!)

Most of the opportunities I was saying yes to didn’t pay – and I took my eye off the ball when it came to my copywriting work: the work that pays the bills.

The situation became so bad that clients I’d worked with for years began to say, “Looks like things are going great for you. But are you still doing the copywriting?”

As a result of the confusion, my income plummeted. Like, badly.

I’d been letting other people’s expectations eat away at me, and was feeling the pressure of should.

You know what it’s like:

• “You should monetise your network and create a paid membership group!”
• “You should design an online course, to capitalise on your knowledge.”
• “You should create a suite of passive income products, so you can make money while you sleep!”

I even paid someone a tidy sum to help me create these things – and it was only after I’d had three sessions that I realised it wasn’t what I wanted.

I missed writing web copy and transforming my clients’ documents.

My superpower. The work that makes me happy.

I’d lost my balance, but I didn’t want to let anyone down! Where did I draw the line?

Two years after the launch of Survival Skills for Freelancers, I had a lightbulb moment.

I was attending a goal-setting session run by Ruth Gilbey in her Online Business Collective when she asked participants to write down the things we wanted to let go of – anything we’d stopped enjoying, or that wasn’t serving us.

It was time to let go of that pressure. I didn’t have to start a membership, become a coach or create an online course. I could get back to the copywriting work I love, and that I earn a good living from.

And sure – I could still do the webinars, talks and workshops… but it was time to take my own advice and stop doing them for free!

It was a revelation

Letting go freed me up the headspace and time to refocus on the work I love.

And rather than feeling pressure to write a sequel to Survival Skills for Freelancers, I found myself revisiting an idea I’d had back in 2016: to create a book that unites my much-loved #confusables tips in one place…

In August 2022, I launched The Little Book of Confusables: 300 pages jam-packed with fun, essential spelling and usage tips to help you remember 600 confusing words.

Two years later, I released The Little Book of Confusables 2: demystifying 500+ more misused words in the same fun and accessible style.

Between them The Little Book of Confusables 1 + 2 have won four awards – including non-fiction runner-up in the UK Selfies book awards for independent publishers, and GOLD medal in the eLit book awards.

The Little Book of Confusables was also awarded Best Stocking Filler in WI Life (which has 250,000 subscribers).

Both books have sold in 22 countries worldwide, and are loved by language professionals, business owners, crossword fanatics and trivia lovers everywhere.

There’s no doubt that publishing my books has changed my life – just not in the ways you might have expected.

Next time round? I’m keeping my eye on the ball.

*Daniel Priestley wrote a well-known book called Key Person of Influence, in which he recommends writing a book as just one tool to help position yourself as a leader in your field.

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A reality check!

People think you can get rich from writing a book. Maybe if you have the profile, the resources and the marketing budget of a New York Times bestselling author… or the back catalogue of Stephen King!

For context, The Little Book of Confusables 1 + 2 have a cover price of £11.95. From that, I make £7.17 a copy – that’s 60% in royalties. Not bad, eh? Until you deduct printing costs – and I’m left with a poxy £2.97 a copy!

The only way I’m getting rich from my books is if I sell them in the tens of thousands… anyone fancy placing a bulk order?! 😁

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Got a brilliant idea for a business book? Need a helping hand to get you started?

If you’re feeling fired up to write your own business book but have a head full of questions, get in touch.

My 60-minute book clarity calls are your chance to borrow the brain of an award-winning, bestselling business book author, to kick-start your writing journey and get clear on your next steps.

Need ongoing support throughout the process? Invest in my author supercharge pack and I’ll keep you accountable, provide clarity, support and encouragement and answer your questions about the self-publishing process and beyond.

Discover my magical book powers for yourself

As founder of Seven-Figure Consultant, Jessica Fearnley, said:

“Sarah has magical book powers!

“We spoke when I was feeling a lot of clarity about my book concept, but a lot of uncertainty about the format and the details. Sarah was able to help untangle my thoughts and was a brilliant sounding board. I don’t think she could quite believe how much progress I had made the next time we spoke!”

Book your business book clarity session and make this the year your book comes to life.

ALLUSION vs ELUSION vs ILLUSION: which is which? These spelling tips and usage examples will help you remember the difference

The words ALLUSION, ELUSION and ILLUSION are easy to confuse, given that they sound so similar – but there’s actually a world of difference in their meanings! 

Here are my simple tips to remember the difference between the words ALLUSION, ELUSION and ILLUSION.

When to use ALLUSION

ALLUSION is a noun meaning an indirect reference. The verb form is ALLUDE.

You can use ALLUSION in a sentence like this:

“I noticed his tactful ALLUSION to the difficult situation with your client.”

When to use ELUSION

ELUSION is a noun meaning escape or avoid. The verb form is ELUDE.

To remember, think of the E of escape and ELUSION.

You can use ELUSION in a sentence like this:

“You handled that question well. Quite a tactical ELUSION!”

When to use ILLUSION

ILLUSION is a noun referring to a deception – often a visual one. To remember, think of the ‘i’ in ILLUSION and the ‘eye’ you use to view an optical ILLUSION.

You can use ILLUSION in a sentence like this:

“Come see! This optical ILLUSION is really trippy!”

Pro tip

Remember, while ALLUSION and ILLUSION are spelled with a double L, the word ELUSION – and the verb ELUDE – has only one L.

Now you know the difference between ALLUSION, ELUSION and ILLUSION you’ll know when and how to use phrases like ‘optical ILLUSION‘, ‘tactical ELUSION‘ and ‘tactful ALLUSION‘!

I hope my tips help you to understand and remember the difference between these commonly confused words.

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Get more simple, memorable spelling tips in The Little Book of Confusables 1 + The Little Book of Confusables 2

My four-times award-winning books take the mystery out of misused words for just just £11.95. You’ll wonder how you managed without them!

2023 GOLD award winner at the eLit book awards.