Recent Articles
Smashwords Publishing Part 2
In last week’s post, I laid the foundation for publishing your e-book at Smashwords. I hope some of you had the chance to go and publish your work. If you did, you certainly came to realize that the post I wrote was basic and designed to help you get the ball rolling. In this post, [...]
Things Can Only Get Better
Assuming we all make it into 2013, I’m looking forward to the world economy picking up. Not that I expect that to happen in 2013 – I think we have some tough years still ahead of us – but, as and when things do improve, I am hoping the freelance writing landscape will also change. [...]
Publish Your E-Book On Smashwords
There comes a time in every writer‘s life when they feel the need to publish. Not unlike the instinct that drives lemmings. This is even true for freelance writers. 30 years ago this was a daunting task that took agents and years to accomplish. Today, it could be done in hours. There are a lot [...]
When Do You Fire A Client?
Ahh, the life of a freelance writer. We scrape, we hope, we dig. All in the name of finding a client. When it looks like we’ve landed a job, we are elated about the possibilities and grateful to face the prospect of some income. Unicorns and rainbows, I tell you, unicorns and rainbows. If only [...]
RAM it up your XP
It’s been a while since I offered you the benefit of my extremely limited knowledge of computers. Actually, I say that, but, as a freelance writer, novelist, researcher, etc, my computer has been the primary tool of my trade for many years, and I think I’ve learned a fair bit. I have never had to [...]
You Can Make An Impact
As I write this, a lot of folks are mourning the death of Andrew Brietbart. For those of you who may not be familiar, Mr. Brietbart was a politico who pretty much made himself famous through his web pages and his blogging in particular. Regardless of what you may think of his politics, it would [...]
Does Anyone On Board Know How to Fly a Plane?
Me want repli too coment what man writ at botum ov old post. Well, according to Bob, that should suffice. Bob has just commented on a post by Monika from September 2008 entitled “Anal Reader Behaviour” (you have a lot of catching up to do, Bob, me ol’ mucker). The comment has not been approved [...]
Send it by Post
I have to admit that I’m not one who normally gets hooked on TV shows. Most of what I see on American television is low brow and banal. It just doesn’t appeal to me. Well, that changed for me late last year when I somehow got sucked into PBS’s Masterpiece Classic – Downton Abbey. It [...]
Sensational? Seriously?
I’m publishing this blog a few days earlier than normal because there is the most bizarre freelance writing story circulating the internet at the moment, and it has got me slightly bewildered. An 85-year-old woman who works for the Grand Forks Herald has just become “an internet sensation”, thanks to a restaurant review she wrote [...]
Pleasure Writing
If you’re a freelance writer, I’ll bet there are times that you dread plopping down in front of the keyboard. I know that for myself there are times when I feel like the danged computer is sitting at the writing desk just mocking me. Daring me to come over. When you spend all of your [...]
Move Into Your Zone of Proximal Development
When I was training to be a teacher, we spent some time studying the theory of teaching and learning. Of note was the concept – known as the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) – expounded by Soviet psychologist and social constructivist Lev Vygotsky (1896 – 1934). This is defined as being “the distance between the [...]
Project Research
I recently took on a fairly hefty project for a client that required a bit of research in several key areas. When I took on the job, I knew there would be some research needed but I had no idea how “onionesque” this project would be. Onionesque = many layers, made me cry a little, [...]
You Gotta Have Faith
Ah, the immortal words of George Michael. Up there on a par with Ghandi and Martin Luther King. Freelance writers and anyone else engaged in an artistic endeavour which end is not guaranteed must have faith. You must have faith in two people. The first person is you. The second is that one as-yet unmet [...]
Free Samples? I Don’t Think So
I am amazed by the amount of potential clients that insist on getting a free sample before they will commit to hiring. I see this a lot on bidding sites specifically but I know it is every bit as rampant in the writer for hire community. I totally understand that someone wants to see what [...]
The Midlife Writer
I shall be 46 in less than a month. Holy crap. Now is about the time I should start to feel the stirrings of a midlife crisis. I’m not sure I’ll know it if it hits, though, because I’ve been in crisis since my twenties. And I’ve always wanted a Harley. I also think it’s [...]
Now Hear This!
In past posts, I’ve crowed about the advantages that can be had by embracing your local community. When you think about marketing to local folks you may think it’s all about canvassing the street with flyers and business cards. I don’t think there is anything wrong with that but I think there is an area [...]
Falling on Daft Ears
One of the many frustrations a freelance writer has to contend with is drumming up work out of thin air. It would seem that the internet is our oyster, but it’s not as simple as that. If you are surfing for websites that need a little literary TLC, there are still several problems once you [...]
Taking The Good With The Bad
I received an RSS unsubscribe notice on one of my blogs. No biggie, really. Happens all the time. Folks get busy, change their interests or what have you. Generally, I don’t take those things too personally. In this particular instance, the unsubscribe notice was timed with a comment from the person on the last post. [...]
