April 2009

  • Do you know what you are doing?

    By sparklyscotty on 4/29/09 8:13am
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    No, I'm not going to start lecturing you about spelling, grammar or any other technical aspect of writing.  As we come up to my annual tradition of 'Monetize May'  I once again focus on how my work is meeting my financial goals.  It's often a surprising process, as I examine each source of income, and look for other potential revenue streams.

    Like most freelance writers,  I experience the fast and famine cycle of writing work, but this regular money 'work out' helps to keep me on track.  Although I reassess my work balance several times a year,  May is a particularly important time of the year: right after tax season, early enough for changes to affect the larger part of the year, but far enough into the year to see if any resolutions I made for the new year have been effective.

    This year, my 'Monetize May' concept seems more important than ever, as the financial crisis squeezes everyone's budget, and the workplace gets ever more c

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  • Lonely Planet Travel Writing Awards

    By sparklyscotty on 4/28/09 8:10am
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    I love writing.  I love travelling.  I love writing about travelling.  However, my travel writing is an on-again-off-again flirtation with the genre compared to the awe inspiring work by the winners of this year's Lonely Planet Travel Writing Awards .

    As is only fitting for a genre of writing which has seen a huge swell in not only contributors, but niches and micro niches, there are many categories for the awards.

  • One in a half million

    By sparklyscotty on 4/27/09 8:10am
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    Apparently there are now more professional bloggers than registered lawyers in the US.  Well, that's got to be a good thing, right? I have mixed feelings about this news.  While I am passionate about the internet, and it's power to bring knowledge and free speech to anyone with a computer and a telephone line, I am also passionate about writing and journalism.  I believe that journalists have a responsibility to present news and even opinion with honesty and integrity.  I believe that writers should use words with the same craft and art as a painter uses colors.

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  • The 'Edgars' Mystery Writer Awards

    By sparklyscotty on 4/25/09 5:12am
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    I love a good 'who-dunnit' novel,  and I have a particular admiration for authors who can create a complex story line with enough twists and turns to keep the reader guessing right until the end.  Of course,  there is more to it than that; you also have to create characters that the reader can care about, and the overall writing has to keep them captive as they turn the pages.  As with writing for any genre, there is a fine line to balance between playing by the 'rules' (a mystery novel by definition has to have unanswered questions and a tense air of confusion) and avoiding cliche's (will anyone ever write another mystery novel where the butler did it?)

    I have to admit though, that I have been so busy writing that I am behind on my reading,  but the short list for the Edgar Awards 'Best First Novel by an American Author' is a great place for me to start.

    Named after Edgar Allen Poe, arguably one of the best mystery writers of all time, the Edgar Awards are an industry specific awards by the Mystery Writers of America,  a

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  • Find the Angle

    By sparklyscotty on 4/23/09 1:18am
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    I'm going to share a secret with you.  The secret of all wealthy, syndicated columnists, journalists and freelancers.  This is the secret to productivity, efficiency, and generating ongoing income. The secret is this:

    You can write about anything.

    OK,  so it's not exactly a secret. I've actually touched on this very subject

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  • Footsteps on the Web

    By sparklyscotty on 4/21/09 11:45pm
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    I spend a lot of time online.  And I mean a lot.  I remember watching the Matrix and being as awed as everyone else when one guy watching the streaming code casually explains that he doesn't see the code anymore,  just what it translates to.  ('Red head, blonde, brunette.')  Now,  as I gaze at lines of html and php I can understand where he was coming from.

    For the past two weeks I have been spending a larger than normal amount of time reading other people's blogs,  as I take part in Problogger's ' 31 Days to Build a Better Blog' program.  I thought that I would give you a quick round up of some of the useful snippets of writing related info that I have picked up on my travels.

    • Find a Blogging Buddy
      Remember I talked about finding a writing buddy ?  Well it seems like I am in good company offering this advice, as Problogger posted about the benefits of

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  • Where to Find Writing Jobs (Part 2)

    By sparklyscotty on 4/16/09 4:23am
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    In addition to the websites already mentioned, there are many, many great writing blogs out that list jobs and markets, and if you want to be extra efficient,  try signing up to receive the blogs' RSS feeds in a reader, or put them all on one place on your Google homepage so that you can log in and see all job posts at a glance!

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    • Freelance Writing Jobs
      A friendly, easy to navigate site with plenty of job listings on an almost daily basis.  There are also jobs listed here that you won't find anywhere else.
    • Problogger
      One for all of you bloggers out there itching to turn pro.  Their job board is chock full of blogging jobs<

  • Where to Find Writing Jobs (Part 1)

    By sparklyscotty on 4/15/09 4:17am
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    I have neither the time nor inclination to create a regular list of jobs on this writers blog, and there are plenty of others out there doing a much better job than I ever could of providing a steady stream of leads, vacancies and markets.  So rather than try to fix something that ain't broke, here, in no particular order, are my top places for writers to find work:
    • Elance and oDesk
      I almost cringe to mention these on a writer's blog now given the storm of controversy that they tend to cause amongst writers,  however I have personally landed some very nice gigs through both of these, including writing audio tours for a new iphone app and the product copy for two large (and well known) online stores.  It takes time to get your profile just right, and you do have to s


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  • Help a Reporter Out

    By sparklyscotty on 4/14/09 4:13am
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    I love interviews.  I find that using even a small quote in my writing injects a new energy and relevance to a piece.  Marketing guru's will tell you the same, repeating the mantra that you should always use testimonials and reviews on your website as it helps other to relate.

    Quotes can bring celebrity and atmosphere to just about any type of non-fiction writing,  and statistics or real life experiences can increase the authority and impact of your piece.  So where do you find these journalistic gold nuggets?

    Sure you can go digging around the internet, directories, phone books, and your Rolodex, but one enterprising journalist decided to cut the grunt work and create a simpler solution.

    Peter Shankman , (CEO, entrepreneur and adventurist) started Help a Reporter Out (HARO) as a group on Facebook but it's popularity quickly outgrew the medium, and the service can now be accessed through the website, http://www.helpareporter.com



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  • Get a Writing Buddy

    By sparklyscotty on 4/13/09 4:10am
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    Despite the overly romanticized view of authors working from home,  perhaps tapping away on their laptop in an eccentric office with a view of the garden, or scribbling on a notepad in front of a crackling fire, the reality is that working from home is just as hard as working in an office.  Perhaps more so.  One of the biggest drawbacks is a lack of a social group of peers.  You can't just pop next door and say "Hey Jones, mind looking over my last draft for me?"  Nor is there any back up for your productivity, whether in the form of a borrowed stapler or a staff member to cover for you when you need time off.

    Or is there?

    I have learned that there are very few things in life that you can't find if you look hard enough, and that most problems can be solved with creativity.  So if you are in need of a buddy for your writing there are some options open to you.

    First,  let's look at why it can be beneficial to find a partner for your writing

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  • Track Your Queries Online

    By sparklyscotty on 4/12/09 3:58am
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    Whether you write articles or novel,  sell to book packagers or poetry anthologies, keeping track of your manuscripts as well as details of what you have sent to which agent or editor, and when,  can be a mammoth administration task that eats away at your writing time with the appetite of, well, a mammoth.

    I have to admit that I am not the most organized of people, so when I started out on my writing career keeping track of queries was one of my biggest hurdles.  While you can track your queries manually, and many writers do so successfully, here are two great resources for managing the submission side of your writing.

    Query Tracker



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  • 5 Ways NOT to Use Twitter

    By sparklyscotty on 4/10/09 11:39pm
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    Following on from my promotion of this medium yesterday,  I feel it is only balanced to issue a few words of warning and guidelines to new 'Tweeple'.  While I do truly believe that Twitter is a great social networking and communication tool,  like all popular internet trends is is open to being grossly abused by many people desperately trying to plug a product or service.  Here are my top five good netique rules for using Twitter.

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    1. Don't just tweet a sales pitch
      I mean really, who is going to want to listen?  You might drive some initial traffic,  but there is no faster way to lose followers than to annoy them with a repetitive and blatant sales message.  You need to round out your Tweets.  Ask yourself:  Who would follow me?  Now try to throw out some Tweets that you think they might enjoy.  They will be far more likely to click on your own l

  • Five Reasons Why You Should Use Twitter

    By sparklyscotty on 4/9/09 11:16pm
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    twitter logoIn addition to the very good reasons laid out by CopyBlogger recently, I have a few more to add.

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  • The End of the Vanity Press

    By msarko on 4/7/09 9:09pm
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    When I was growing up, any kid who showed even the slightest interest in a writing career couldn't go five seconds without hearing from someone just how impossible it is to actually get published. I went to Young Writers programs during my high school summers where professors and professionals would tell me, in so many words, the exact same thing. After years of listening to a struggling author's drama about plastering her walls with rejection letters followed by a department head telling everyone to either go to Iowa or quit entirely, it's amazing that anyone still pursues vocations of the word.

    Similar sentiments, however more deserving, have always been directed at the vanity press, those subsidy houses that require writers to pay upwards of $10,000 up front for printing and other production costs, then pass the marketing and sales back to the writer. Publishers like Vantage Press have been in that racket for decades. Up until recently, self-publishing was a surefire way to kill a writing career, at least for book authors.

    Honestly, the perception of self-publishing needs to be revised, as indulging a subsidy press is an entirely different animal than a true DIY project.

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