Whispers And Warnings For June 16th

26th COMPLAINT about Kim Kleeman / Shakespeare Squared / ShakespeareSquared.com / The Shakespeare Squared Foundation – Writer claims she’s owed $1200
3rd COMPLAINT about Trula Breckenridge / trula.org / MSPmedia / mspmedia.net, Indie Publishing & Production , Futuristic Motherhood anthology / futuristicmotherhood.com – Writer alleges she’s owed $100 plus 2 contributor’s copies. ALSO, Trula Breckenridge has changed her name to Trula Ione Earthgarden.
UPDATE – Regent Media / regentmedia.com / Here Media, Inc. / regentmedia.com / The Advocate / advocate.com – Writer reports partial payment of $1100 but still owed $2460.

“Tweet, Tweet”…Silence

I woke up on Tuesday morning and started doing my morning chores – laundry, breakfast, you know the routine. I was still rubbing sleep from my eyes when I heard a very loud “RAT-A-TAT-TAT-BANG-TAT-BANG-TAT!!!” in the kitchen. I ran in there and found Mittens trying to scale our wooden blinds. There was a bird between the blinds and the window. Mittens moved faster than me and had that cute bird in his jaws before I could grab him. But, grab him I did and I managed to pry his jaws open and free the poor thing.

Topic, Common Themes, and Winners of the WritersWeekly.com Spring 2010 24-Hour Short Story Contest!

For the past six weeks, we’ve spent every spare moment judging the hundreds of entries submitted for the Spring 2010 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, sit back, relax, and take a break from your busy day to…watch death and greed collide.

Letters To The Editor For June 9th

This week:


  • Term Paper Mill Scum
  • Content Mills
  • Our Survey
  • Should I Try to Land a Traditional Publishing Contract?

Win Assignments to Cover Breaking News By John K. Borchardt

How can freelancers get assignments to cover important breaking news stories? During most of my freelancing career I felt I was on the outside looking in as magazines and newspapers assigned their staff writers to cover breaking news stories. It’s often difficult for freelancers to get assignments to cover important breaking news stories. Many, if not most, don’t even try. The query submission and review process takes time. Most assignments are given to newspaper and magazine staff writers because of time constraints. However, freelancers can surmount this problem and win rapid acceptance of their queries, or sidestep the querying process completely. The ongoing BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico provides interesting case histories on how freelancers can win breaking news story assignments.

Copyright or Trademark?

I want to copywright the name of a blog I’ve started. How do I know if that name is already taken?

My Book Excerpt Led to An Assignment By Diane Craver

Recently, I was invited by Rebecca Vickery of Victory Tales Press to write a story for one of their anthologies in exchange for a share of the royalties. It was quite an honor to be asked to join this group of talented writers. My story will be included in a Christmas anthology. One reason Rebecca asked me was because she had read several of book excerpts that I had posted on her yahoo group.

Chop, Chop, Ow!

Ali didn’t get to come home until Tuesday morning because she’s been so busy working at her new job. They were very busy over the holiday weekend. She’s been slicing and dicing and plating salads and desserts and she has the battle scars to prove it. She showed me all the nicks in her palms and she has a really nasty slice from a lobster. Yes, she wears gloves when she works but they’re for sanitary reasons…not for safety.

Term Paper Mill Scum

I took most of Monday off this week for the holiday so my post is short and not-too-sweet this week. I wanted to share this with you.
I received an email from a man who wanted to post a help wanted ad on WritersWeekly.com and he obviously hadn’t done his homework. He said they needed writers for “academic writing jobs” and my warning bells blew. I checked out their website and, sure enough, it was a term paper mill. This was my response:
We would NEVER assist you with helping students cheat.
Your service is the rock-bottom scum of the entire industry. What if your child was ill and the specialist you took her to was someone who’d paid a company like YOURS to do his schoolwork for him?
Shame on you! How can you sleep at night doing what you do for a living?!
Don’t EVER contact me again!
Angela Hoy
WritersWeekly.com