Good blog post titles should be designed to pique the reader's interest, and this article titled Writing Tips from The Greats of Baseball certainly did that for me.  The article uses quotes from famous baseball players as jumping off points for important lessons for writers such as making sure you take your time to get your work right, and keeping your focus on the end reader rather than the writing.  Good advice in an interesting format.  Go read!

An essential site for any freelance writer looking for work or ways to be more productive and profitable, FreelanceWriting.com posted a great article this week about why writers need to network.  Often an isolated career, the article outlines some of the benefits of finding other writers to connect with.

I have to admit that I am still on the fence when it comes to writer societies or organizations.  While I am sure there are some groups that offer real benefits and credibility to their members, many are happy to take membership fees and then give little help in return. The motto of the International Pen however, caught my attention:  Promoting Literature and Defending Freedom of Expression are certainly noble goals that any writer would be able to get on board with.  They promote themselves not as any kind of union or regulatory body, but as "a place where writers from all cultures meet to discuss, debate and communicate."  

A global organization,  their site offers the latest writing news and lists events and conferences happening around the world.  Their international programmes focus on areas where literacy and freedom of speech are liberties to be fought for and cherished rather than rights to be taken for granted, and the site may be an eye opener to any western writer and will make you realise how privileged you are to be able to communicate so freely.

Jodee at the fabulous Freelance Writing Jobs warns not to count your chickens before they hatch, or at least not to bank on clients before they pay.  Her post is an especially important read for new freelancers who might get over eager when a potential new clients shows interest.   On the flip side,  I would be interested to hear how any of your have coped when several 'nibbles' suddenly turn into real contracts.  How do you handle an overflow of work?

Check out this great interview with author Stacy Cochran, who outlines the key steps to successful book promotion.  If you have a book that you want to boost sales for,  or are looking for some ideas before you launch your next blockbuster, then bookmark this article.

Those of you who spend any time writing for blogs, will probably be familiar with Problogger.com and their sound advice. This week, they have generously offered to help out other bloggers via Twitter. If you have blogging related questions you'd like to see answered just ask them with a #pbquestions hashtag in your Tweet and @problogger promises to try to get to them.

Want a shout out next Friday?  Tweet #NibbyAward and the URL of your blog and I will follow you and take a look at your link.