Flashers on Our Street!

While I wish it was my idea, it wasn’t. Somebody sent me an email last week that contained photos of creative things people have done with pumpkins. One was so cute that we just had to recreate it ourselves. It took most of the weekend, a bit of Richard’s engineering creativity, and about $75 in supplies (wood from Home Depot, pumpkins from the local nursery, and HUGE clothes from the Salvation Army store), but we did it! And, now we’re getting quite a few honks and people are even pulling over to take pictures.

The WritersWeekly Drinking Game!

  • drink one shot if a publisher says she is shocked — SHOCKED — that anyone could ever accuse them of nonpayment
  • drink one shot if a publisher denies that she ever got an invoice
  • drink one shot if a publisher says she got the invoice, but the invoice was incorrect
  • drink one shot if a publisher says it’s someone else’s fault that writers weren’t paid

Read further by following the link below 🙂

That Only Happens to Other People! – When Tragedy Affects a Writer’s Livelihood By Karen Carver

“What if” you were in an accident or came home from the military missing one or both hands? “What if” you were diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, Parkinson’s Disease, Diabetes, or Multiple Sclerosis? And what if you were a worker who made his or her living solely from writing or data entry? What if an accident or disease were to dramatically affect or possibly cut you off from doing what you love – writing? And what about that loss of income?

How Should I Handle Fan Mail?

What is the best way to handle fan mail? Should I reply and thank them for their support? Or should I accept it and forget it? I really would appreciate some feedback.
Connie

Blind Submissions Can Be Lucrative! By Susan Johnston

Several months ago I was trolling the web for new writing markets and stumbled upon a website that was just what I’d been looking for: a career site with articles for young professional women. Alas, there were no writer’s guidelines on the site, and it looked like the site wasn’t being updated regularly. Still, I had an idea for an article that would perfectly fit the website’s readers, so I sent a blind email to the generic “info” email box pitching the article and asking if they needed writers.

Whispers And Warnings For October 10th

Boo Boo Instant Replay

Mason is now 15 months old! He’s as cute as a button and keeps us chuckling all day long. He is also saying lots of new words. In fact, if you work with him, he’ll say just about anything just to get a laugh, which the big kids think makes him a great parlor trick…

Radio Interviews = Poor Book Sales for Authors?

Good morning:
I’m not surprised so many of your correspondents, yourself included, report getting very few sales from doing radio interviews. Radio is a frequency medium–doing one five-minute interview (or even a whole hour) is like buying one commercial. It simply isn’t going to work. Radio advertising works because it gets inside listeners’ heads through repetition, so when they’re at the point of making a purchase, they remember a place where they can make that purchase…

Paying Hunting and Fishing Markets By David Berlin

Magazines for hunters and fishermen have been around in North America for about as long as modern magazines have been around in North America, that is to say, a long time, since the 1850s-1870s or so. Hunting for whitetail, mule deer, elk, and wild turkey and fishing for trout, steelhead, bass, striper and marlin in saltwater was how landowners of that era fed their families. In the 20th century, sportfishing became popular and saltwater fly fishermen would fish for bonefish in the flats in Florida and the Caribbean. The bounty of the land has always been relatively plentiful, and many people still live off it to some degree, and a LOT of magazines cater to these folks. Learn to write for these mags and you’ve got some good, steady paychecks coming your way.