Letters To The Editor For December 2nd
Letters will return next week.
Blogging for Dollars By Julia Hayden
Blogging has become standard operational management for local real estate agents. A recent Internet search engine request for “real estate+blogs” turned up more than a million listings. Firms now routinely maintain a blog as part of their website, attempting to attract the attention of people using search engines for information. The more often the blog is updated with fresh material, and the more frequently specific key words and phrases are used, the more readily that website and blog will turn up in results. A blog associated with a business serves as a kind of net to draw in viewers. As a side-effect, it also offers an opportunity for a freelance writer.
My Editor Screwed Up My Book!
I am working on a nonfiction book manuscript. I hired an editor to do line editing for $500.00 and book doctoring (critiquing) for an additional $500.00 – for a total of $1,000.00. I sent some sample paragraphs from my manuscript to the editor, which she edited and returned to me. There weren’t any problems with the sample so I sent a check for $500.00 as a deposit for the job. The editor did do the job and return the edited manuscript back to be on time. The quality of the book doctoring was worth the money. The editing was not. The editor made improvements in areas like sentence construction, and eliminating unnecessary words to make the manuscript flow better. However, there were so many typos and issues with grammar in the edited copy that now I feel compelled to hire a professional proofreader to catch any mistakes I didn’t catch myself. Hiring a reputable proofreader to fix the editor’s mistakes is going to cost me hundreds of dollars. I haven’t sent the remaining $500.00 to the editor yet. Frankly I am having a hard time bringing myself to write that check. My feeling is that the edited copy should have fewer flaws than my original, unedited copy. I don’t know what to do. I can’t insist the editor go back and proofread it herself because I don’t trust the quality of her work. I have thought of emailing the editor and asking for a discount on the remainder of my bill to compensate me for the cost of hiring a proofreader. What would you do in my position?
The More You Read, The More You Write By Michelle Mach
Several years ago, I created and analyzed four years of submission spreadsheets – time of year, average length, genres, and markets – in order to improve my fledgling part-time freelance career. Then, I looked at how I spent my non-writing time, and made a startling discovery: The years I read more, I wrote more. The more I wrote, the more I submitted and the more I published.
Turkey is Thawing!
This week’s issue is going out a day early because we figure most of you will be knee-deep in travel or family by this time tomorrow. Our big, fat turkey, which Ali bought on sale two weeks ago, had been thawing in the fridge for two days now.
Letters To The Editor For November 24th
This week:
- ATTORNEY SENDS OPINION ABOUT THE EXAMINER.COM CONTRACT
- BAD HAIR, RIPPED T-SHIRTS AND JAMMIES, OH MY! Author Photo Blunders…
Avoid Writing for Content Sites That Demand a Template! By Laura Bell
Most of us think of a template as specific guides to where and how text will be laid out. It can also be anything that serves as a guide or pattern for any kind of materials. I went to dictionary.com to get this expanded definition. In this last experience it was strict adherence to a style sheet.
Can Someone Legally Rent Out My Book? Yes!
Just when I thought nothing would surprise me, I find that my book is available for rent on the Web. I use Google Alerts to search the Internet for anything relating to my book and this just popped up today. Chegg.com is offering it for rent. I’ll have to admit that it’s an interesting sales method.
Is it legal for a company to offer a book for rent instead of for sale? It seems to me that recycling my book cheats meout of any profit after the first book is printed. Please let me know your thoughts on this matter and what steps I should take.
Writing What I Know Brings Light Out of Darkness By Barbara Stahura
New writers are often instructed to “write what you know.” That doesn’t always help, of course. Without research and interviews, I never would have been able to write about the making of Kentucky bourbon (unfortunately, no tasting allowed) or the value of metaphors in medical hypnosis. Yet, it has been priceless advice at other times. Especially with one major event in my life. Writing about something I sadly did know resulted in two books and a new tangent in my career.
SWINE FLU ALL GONE!
We have all completely recovered from H1N1 / Swine Flu – well, those of us who caught it, anyway. Richard, Ali and Frank never caught it but the rest of us did.
It’s a relief to not need to be paranoid about it anymore. “Go aheads, kids, touch all the doorknobs you want!” Ha ha ha.