Thanks to the Internet, anyone can claim to be a writing teacher and post a website full of pages, promises and long-winded verbiage on how much they can help writers. But what is so often lacking is a little thing called “credibility,” as in experience and education.
I saw an ad in a local magazine asking for writers and article ideas. To my surprise and delight, when I inquired, I immediately got three writing assignments. The editor said that they’d pay me $75 for each, but, after I wrote them (the articles) she was disappointed. She said they weren’t long enough, and wanted to bring the price down to $45 each. I actually thought that was fair so I said it was okay.
Well, I spent two to three weeks getting the articles ready, even neglecting other things I was working on. I sent the articles in and was asked for my address so they could mail my check. This morning, however, I received an e-mail from the editor informing me that the publisher said that it wasn’t in their budget to pay me–not later–simply not at all. I wrote back immediately saying that that was unacceptable (I felt as though I’d been scammed) and that I wanted her to have the publisher get back with me IMMEDIATELY. The bad part is that I threatened to take it to small claims court. I guess I shouldn’t have done that. I just was soooooo angry! I truly feel that the entire deal was a scam from the beginning…
Max (age 9) and Mason (age 5), who are homeschooled, started their new school year on Monday and we are having SO much fun! While they learn traditional subjects, we try to make their lessons more fun by ensuring they revolve around a central theme each week – something they are very interested in. This week, it’s sharks! Ever since we moved to Florida, they’ve been wanting to go shark fishing and they’ve been watching endless shark nature videos on YouTube and Netflix. Richard even rented Jaws and Jaws 2 for Max and I watched those with him last week, which was a hoot. At one point, Max asked, “Why did guys wear such short shorts back then…”
For the past six weeks, we’ve spent every spare moment judging the hundreds of entries submitted for the Summer, 2011 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, today, join two newlyweds embraced on the beach, and learn what he’s been keeping from her…
I agree with you on book titles. Personally, I think that they should consist of words people know already even if the book contains words that are unrecognizeable. They will find out for themselves when they read the book and once reading those words, their meaning tends to get revealed within the book anyway.
George Arnold Hall
https://georgearnoldhall.ca
Business: George Arnold Hall’s Pen and Pencil
Amber Khoolie’s Blog: https://georgearnoldhall.ca/amberkhoolie/
Works done or in Progress:
Series: Immortals of Scar – https://georgearnoldhall.ca
Okay, I don’t think anyone names their dog, cat, hamster or whatever Fido or Fifi anymore, but maybe that title caught your eye because you love writing about animals, as I do. We currently own a fifteen-year-old Springer Spaniel, and have owned several cats and other dogs. We also deal on a regular basis with local wildlife, which includes white tailed deer, possums, crows, foxes, rabbits, and the occasional black bear. And don’t even get me started on my new found love of hummingbirds. Many of my encounters with these animals serve as fodder for my eager pen…
My new POD publisher has published thousands of books so I can expect them to sell lots of copies of my book, right?
The words “Don’t quit your day job” are usually meant as an insult, but what if this overused phrase were actually the key to new opportunity?
After spending so much time sifting through and then discarding or packing all our belongings during the move, I told the kids we are going to stop buying them so much “stuff.” I’d prefer to spend our money on memories (like day-trips, fishing, snorkeling – that sort of thing) than on material objects they’re just going to throw away in a few months anyway.
So, for Frank’s 19th birthday, I sent him the link to a website showing hundreds of fun things to do in Florida…
Last month, we received a manuscript with a book title that featured odd punctuation and characters in the middle of words in the title. Last week, another author submitted a book with three of the four words in the title purposely misspelled (all the s’s had been changed to z’s).
Some authors think they’re being clever in this regard, or perhaps they think this will make their book title more memorable and that these things will increase sales. However, the opposite usually occurs…
