One of the reasons I am employed as a writer is because I talk to people — in the check-out line, the doctor’s office, the vet, the post office, the nail salon, to name a few — because I want people to know who I am and what I do, just in case they’re ever in need of one. How often have you been at a party to hear someone bellow, “Is there a writer in the house?” How about never? Gab, and you shall be rewarded. It doesn’t pay to be shy under any circumstances.
We had a humdinger of a storm last weekend. We were first alerted when the news flashed a warning that there was a waterspout offshore and that the front of the storm would arrive in exactly 17 minutes. After chuckling about our first waterspout, we put made sure everything was secure outside and then I put helmets on Max and Mason and gave one to Frank (age 19) in case he needed one, too. Laugh all you want but I keep their bike helmets handy after reading THIS STORY.
For the past six weeks, we’ve spent every spare moment judging the hundreds of entries submitted for the Spring, 2012 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, while also posting 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, today, taste the salt on your lips and feel the sun baking your skin…
I am not a rock star. And yet, when Examiner.com hired me in their first wave a few years back, that’s what they promised. What I was, I think, was a shill. After a couple of years, and with no way to even review horrific ad hominem attacks before they were appended to one’s columns–and hard on the heels of an Examiner.com editor bowing to pressure from a single reader who didn’t like something I had written and telling me to write otherwise–I quit. I was writing on ethics, by the way, and the editor in question was acting, in my opinion, highly unethically, especially for a so-called news outlet.
Two years ago, I quit my full-time job as a marketing professional to follow my dream and become a freelance writer. Eager to escape the gray cubicle walls that confined me, I conjured images of myself lounging on the sofa in my pajamas, my laptop resting on my knees as I methodically tapped out story after story. I enjoyed my new wardrobe – happy to have ditched the high-heels and pencil skirts – and relished the freedom to make my own schedule, but was shocked to find that I missed the office. Well, not the office exactly, but the daily jaunts to the coffee shop downstairs, chatting with co-workers in the office kitchen and team meetings that I’d previously found tedious and futile that now seemed welcome distractions to the loneliness I faced in my new life as a writer.
I was referred to you by a friend. I just found an article I wrote, that was published in March, also published in April in a completely different magazine. I had no idea it was being published in April, have never heard of the publication, and received no payment.
I am trying to figure out the best way to handle this… is this not copyright infringement?
In May of 2012, my first feature cover story in a print magazine was published. It seemed almost surreal to see that magazine cover and realize that people would be turning the pages to read what I had to say about the stunning young entertainment star on the glossy cover. It all began with replying to an ad for departmental writers for HerLife Magazine, back in the spring of 2011.
Just in time for our vow to “stay at home and do nothing all summer”, the rainy season has begun. It was sunny this morning but a storm developed just offshore at lunchtime and quickly moved inland. We enjoyed hearing the huge drops pounding on the roof. The “weather in motion” option on weather.com gave us the opportunity to show the boys, who are homeschooled, how quickly storms can erupt when the sea breeze picks up in the afternoon here. In a 15-minute span, the radar went from blue sky to a huge cell popping up on the screen. Very cool.
I received a frantic email from an author over the weekend who’d been threatened with a lawsuit. Of course, the first thing I told her was that I’m not a lawyer and that I can’t give legal advice. I then calmly told her to send me a file containing all the correspondence between her and the angry contributor because I’m always happy to give my non-lawyer opinion about a situation. Here’s what happened…
Hello Angela,
I’m also a writer on Examiner.com and, although I really don’t take them seriously at all, I continue to write for them. I use them to promote books I publish for other writers and also to vent my thoughts on politics and religion.
They are rather loose in their acceptance level — all you have to do is write. The more often you write, the better they like you. They use a grading system that is rather frustrating. I’m a professional editor / co-publisher and Examiner.com doesn’t seem to have a clue about good writing. There is no indication of why you get graded the way you get graded — no feedback for your grade — and no transparency on their part about who is doing the grading. We could be graded by monkeys for all we know.
I enjoyed your article revealing how the writers feel on Examiner.com. Thank you for revealing some truth for writers so they can make a more informed choice when signing up with Examiner.com. They seem to be very bias. I’ve also noticed that when I use my Twitter account to advertise my Examiner.com articles, people tell me they’ve read my article, but the number of readers I’m seeing does not seem to match the number of “hits” Examiner.com is reporting to me. There is really no way to check the integrity of Examiner.com’s “hit” numbers on our articles. That is a bit disconcerting for me. When you have a place that is barely willing to pay writers for their time and effort, asks them to leave and keeps their work — making additional income off “fired” writers, I can’t help but wonder about the accuracy of their “hits” per article integrity.
Thank you for the article. It helped me to evaluate for myself if perhaps I’m wasting my time on Examiner.com.
-Name not published on request.
