Recent Articles
Ripp(off)ing Yarns
As a follow-up to my last blog and to an earlier one on e-books, I have another tale from The Wall Street Journal, which is throwing a rotten mince pie in the face of all those looking forward to their new Kindle this Christmas. In a recent article, E-Book Readers Face Sticker Shock, the Journal [...]
Freelance Writing Videos
Intuitively, it’s not something you would initially consider as a freelance writer. Why on earth would a person who writes for a living even consider producing videos? I can understand how folks would not consider this a priority or even a consideration for freelance writing but I think there is room for videos in our [...]
How Do You Connect With Other Freelance Writers?
This question developed today after a little FaceBook thingy happened. The incident got me thinking about us freelance writing types and how we connect with other writers. I imagine it’s a bit different for each of us and I’ll bet there are more similarities than meets the eye. In my previous article, I wrote about [...]
Apple Bites Amazon
I read with disappointment but no great surprise (nothing about big business surprises me any more) two stories in The Wall Street Journal last week. On the 7th we had EU Launches E-Book Pricing Probe, then the next day appeared Justice Department Confirms E-Book Pricing Probe. Of course, there may be nothing to this, but I’m [...]
To Connect Or Not To Connect With Other Freelancers?
I was thinking about the relationships I have with other freelance writers. In my next article I plan on writing about how to connect and then I started wondering if there are folks out there who don’t even try to connect with other freelance writers. I mean, writing is a solitary sport for most of [...]
Talent May Not Out
I expect you’ve heard of the expression “talent will out”. It’s linked most strongly with the acting profession. It’s the sort of encouraging guff you say to someone who is struggling but truly deserves to make it. It basically means – if they carry on acting – their talent is so great it will at [...]
You’re So Vain …
I remember a time when authors who self-published were a bit of a laughing stock. They paid a printing company to run off a certain number of their books, getting a cheaper-per-book rate for a larger print run, but essentially paying in the thousands for the privilege of finally holding a bound copy of their [...]
If You Didn’t Need To Freelance Write
What else would you be doing? The question really goes to the foundation of your writing psyche. There are certainly a lot of others ways to express your creative self. I mean, you could cruise down the road a novelist takes. You could just keep personal journals or a blog. For that matter you could [...]
Freelance My Ass
I don’t have much time for euphemisms. I’m fairly straight-talking and thus like to speak and hear things as they are meant to be spoken and heard. Your writing style may be different to mine, and certain projects will not allow for on-the-nail writing no matter who you are, but my favourite newspaper articles can [...]
Punch Your Freelance Writing
Right in the chops. Go for the knock-out. There are a lot of freelance writers in the ring. The only way to rise above everyone else is to deliver solid punches with your writing. Clients will notice. You will notice. Soon after, everyone will notice. Punchy Get out your thesaurus. I’m assuming you keep one handy. [...]
Put Time into Properly Managing Your Home-Based Writing Business
With all that full-time writers have to do in this day and age, managing a home-based writing business may not seem like a big deal to some outside the business, but it can be overwhelming for some small business entrepreneurs. So, if you’ve gone from the corporate world of writing and/or reporting to operating your [...]
Comfort Writing
As I sit here this morning, we are getting our first snow of the winter. On days like this, I like to make a big, slow cooked soup, or a home made mac and cheese – genuine comfort food. There truly is something comforting about it. Sometimes, I like to cast my ambitions aside and [...]
Are Ya Jealous?
This whole business of being a writer is kinda screwy. Especially when you consider the freelancing aspect of the thing. Obviously, the universal goal of us writing types is success in our field. I guess my question for you is: How does the success of other writers make you feel? When you hear or read [...]
FYI
Reading through my fan mail the other day, I saw a letter requesting that I address the subject of acronyms. That, of course, is complete BS and I expect many of you will be wishing I would just STFU. I don’t have any fan mail. Actually, quite the opposite; I am currently stalking several well-known [...]
Broadly Speaking
It’s been some time since I handled a real paper version of a newspaper. I read a lot of news but all of it online. It has been an even longer time since I tackled a broadsheet. One entered our house the other day, though, so I thought I’d give it a go. Whose daft [...]
Why Writers Should Operate From a To-Do List
Please welcome Steve Sears, who has generously proffered this great guest post about the importance of using a to-do list. You can find more great stuff from Steve at www.SGSWrite.com Not operating from a To-Do list? I know of a few freelance writers who operate minus setting goals, and they are successful. However, I have [...]
Pocket Lenses
The older I get, the more easily I am annoyed by little things. My wife has said that many times, but I’m sure I have no idea what she’s referring to. Anyway, I have seen over the past few months several email messages wherein the sender has said they will be “out of pocket” for [...]
Amoebas
Who out there is ambitious about their writing? Who wants to write a blockbuster novel or pen a Hollywood screenplay? I don’t expect anyone will admit to it. That’s okay, I get it. No one really wants to engage when the topic of ambition rears its ugly head. It all seems a bit seedy and [...]
