Ten years ago I worked in a packing factory, I had no qualifications, just a sack full of dreams. Every day after I finished my shift I would write short stories for my own enjoyment, and gather information and anecdotes for what would later become my book, Into the Dragon’s Lair: A Supernatural History of Wales.
You’ll be happy to know that I’m not going to talk about the weather this week! 😉
Big news around the house these days is Ali (age 18) applied to two colleges and was accepted by both! One is nearby and very reasonable. The other is far away and very, very expensive.
In case you’ve been living under a rock, there is a pending class-action settlement involving authors / publishers and Google. Basically, the lawsuit was brought by authors and publishers who claimed Google violated their copyrights when it scanned books and featured them, or portions thereof, online without permission of the copyright holders. Of course, Google denies the claims (snicker) even though the books are still featured at books.google.com!
Anyway, what’s in it for you? Well, you get to decide. You can either opt-in and get $60 per book (read the fine print!) if you are the sole copyright holder of a book. Or, you can opt-out (which means you can sue Google later if you want to).
Letters will return next week.
As many of us know, there are times when a writing opportunity comes along that seems too good to be true. Generally, we’re the ones (or at least I am) knocking on editors’ doors, pitching ideas or letting them know why we’re the best for a particular assignment. A couple of weeks ago I thought my luck had turned and I’d been given the opportunity of a lifetime, and the best part about it is that I really didn’t even have to look for it – it came my way.
I have been unable to find a clear definition of what “freelance writing” is and is not.
As a result of publishing my last book with BookLocker – a novel titled A Painful Post Mortem – I’ve been asked to be the Keynote Speaker at the Salvation Army’s National Conference later in the year. The topic is Generate, and is about encouraging women to think big, to use their talents, and to have confidence in themselves, with a view to bringing help and hope to people in need.
——– NOTE: The email issue had the wrong link it it. That is why you ended up here. The correct link for the March 11th News From The Home Office is here. ——– The kids had another snow day on Monday! Ug! At this rate, they’ll be in school all summer long just to make […]
Over the past few months, I’ve been posting a missive about the common themes in entries submitted for the previous 24-Hour Short Story Contest. We received lots of positive feedback so I’ll continue to do this for future contests.
For the past month, I’ve spent every spare moment judging the hundreds of entries submitted for the Winter 2009 24-Hour Short Story Contest. In case you’re not familiar with our quarterly contest, this is how it works. On the date of the contest, at start-time, we send out the topic for that specific contest to all registered entrants. We also post it online. Entrants then have 24 hours to write and submit their stories. The stories “must deal with the topic in some way to qualify” and they must not exceed the pre-assigned word count.
After reading the entries for each contest, we can see how difficult it is to come up with a unique plot when working with an assigned topic. But, inevitably, a few writers do manage to successfully break away from the pack.
So, take a rest from your busy day. Sit back, relax, and step into…a mysterious wedding scene?
Angela, your article in this week’s WritersWeekly (What Recession?! Plenty of Freelance Jobs for Writers!) was so refreshing. I’m getting so sick and tired of hearing about how bad it is out there. For an administration that promised hope, there sure is plenty of fear mongering going on, and the media love it.
At any rate, it was very refreshing to see your positive spin on things. While I know some people have been hit hard by the economic downturn, I also see what you see as well: Crowed restaurants, lines in stores, etc.
Americans still have so much better than the rest of the world. We just may not be able to afford flat screen TVs for a while. Well, I’d rather be reading anyway.
Thanks again for such a much-needed perspective!
Kate Wicker
Freelance Writer
https://www.KateWicker.com
TempleoftheSpirit.blogspot.com
https://twitter.com/Momopoly
