More World’s Worst Book Proposals
I’m still hacking and sneezing so this week I’m going to share another installment of our popular column, World’s Worst Book Proposals. Yes, we can learn from others’ mistakes!
Thanks!
Coming from a journalism background, the book publishing business had been quite mysterious to me. But I’ve learned more from BookLocker in the past few weeks than I was able to pick up from several books and a writers’ meetup group. (They’re great for inspiration and encouragement though!) I just wanted to let you know I appreciate the trouble you’ve taken to be transparent. Thanks.
Carol Frey
How Free Will Some Freelancers Go? By Dawn Josephson
I am so tired of perusing freelance job boards and sites only to see listings that insult me and should insult every other professional writer out there. Just the other day I was on what is supposed to be a reputable site for freelance opportunities, only to see someone advertising that they’re seeking a freelancer to write their monthly newsletter. This is an ongoing assignment and they’d like 3-4 articles per newsletter, with each article being 4-5 paragraphs. And of course, they want “an experienced writer with a proven track record for results.”
The pay? $7 per newsletter. No, that’s not a typo. I didn’t mean to say “per article,” although that too would be insulting. And I didn’t forget a number or two…
Does Copyright Infringment Affect Resale Value? Heck, Yeah!
Great advice for the writer whose work appeared on a free article website under someone else’s name. I just have a quick question about it.
Does that affect the writer’s ability to sell the article? Can first, electronic or first print rights in a regional area or second North American rights, or whatever, still be sold by the author when those rights have already been illegally used. Do you tell an editor that the story has already appeared on the web when trying to resell the article? Does the $750 give all rights to the website?
Thinking Outside the (Bookstore) Box By Margaret Nava
Sometimes you have to think out of the box…the bookstore box, that is.
Swine Flu In The Hoy House?!
Mason had what we thought might be a case of the croup last week. He woke up a couple of mornings with a bad, croupy cough, after rattled breathing at night. Mason has never been immunized and his immune system is far superior to ours. He rarely ever gets sick, even when the rest of us are in bed, slingin’ snot…or worse. When he does get sick, he might run a fever for a few hours or have a runny nose for a day or two but then it’s all over.
On Halloween night, Max said, “My brain feels funny.” Honestly, I thought he’d just had too much candy. Later that night, he felt warm to me but I didn’t give it much thought, either, because our heater has been running quite a bit now that it’s cold out. Sunday morning, he woke up with a sore throat and a croupy cough. I naturally thought he caught Mason’s croup and that he’d be just fine in a few hours, just like Mason. We packed for a trip to Kennebunkport with my mom (we had special plans there for her at an inn on the ocean), and hit the road. Good thing I always pack a thermometer in our overnight bag because Max was definitely running a fever by the time we arrived.
Horror Babies…
Dear Angela:
I LOVE your Horror Babies!!! Where did you ever come up with the oh-so-politically-incorrect-and-therefore-absolutely-DELICIOUS idea for them?
And I thought I was one of the sickest little monkey’s on the block…I bow to you, madam!
Thanks SO much for sharing them with us!
Jan
5 Easy Ways To Use Web 2.0 Techniques To Successfully Market Your Book By Melanie R. Jordan
You may hear the term “Web 2.0” and think “well that’s fine for techies, but what does that have to do with me, an author?” It has everything to do with giving you and your book the best chance of success.
EEEEEK!! HORROR BABIES!!!
Boy, oh boy, oh boy! In just three days, it’ll be my favorite holiday of the year! My mom is arriving this weekend and I’m so excited because she’s never experienced a real, storybook New England Halloween – blowing leaves, frigid wind, gobs of people and the entire neighborhood going waaaay overboard with the decorations. It is AWESOME!!!
I’ve been very busy creating horror babies over the past few weeks. What’s that, you ask? Well, here’s a sampling. WARNING – THESE PHOTOS MAY OFFEND SOME FOLKS, INCLUDING YOUNG CHILDREN. (Heh…)
Topic, Common Themes, and Winners of the WritersWeekly.com Fall 2009 24-Hour Short Story Contest!
Over the past few months, at WritersWeekly.com, I’ve been posting a missive about the common themes in entries submitted for the previous 24-Hour Short Story Contest. We’ve received lots of positive feedback so I’ll continue to do this for future contests.