As an active freelance writer, I make it a point to google my name on a regular basis to ensure that my work is not appearing on websites that are not authorized to use it. On one such occasion, I came across a classified ad that was selling copies of my children
On our last big trip, we ended up going to the emergency room twice, once for Max having a bad stomach virus, and then after Frank ran a golf cart into an electric fence while herding cows.
We’d been on the road for seven weeks for our recent trip and it looked like we were going to get lucky on this one. Unfortunately, we couldn’t avoid it…
A couple of years ago, I published this article – My Time to Whine: When A Contest Sponsor Gets FED UP!
It primarily described how the actions of some writing contest entrants can make somebody want to stop hosting a popular contest completely.
Today, I’m going to give you some hints on how to stand out in the crowd during your next writing contest.
This Week:
I recently wrote about the merits of a three-minute pitch, and I can’t stress enough how important a tool this is in your armoury of selling methods. You may never be invited to be a guest speaker at any major event, but few organisers of such would refuse you a three-minute slot. The rules are simple.
Once you begin selling your writing, you have more than just clips, you have reprints that you can resell many times, and for many years!
This week:
Dinner with author Jimmy Moore (Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb) and his hilarious wife, Christine!
Dinner with author Bill Henderson (Cancer-Free — Your Guide to Gentle, Non-toxic Healing),
one of the most loving and gentle souls we’ve ever met. 🙂
Memorial Day Weekend with my sister and her hubby, a Marine.
And I, um, hit a tree with the RV… I said oops. Richard said something a bit louder. 😉
Angela,
I am a faithful reader of your articles. Rarely am I moved to respond to one, but “Writing as Healing” struck a nerve with me. Be very very careful with this regarding who may read it.
Long story made much shorter as explanation. As a child I suffered from having an alcoholic mother. My only outlet was keeping a diary where I vented. Mother read it and retaliated. At the age of 15, I ran away from home, never to return. Fortunately, my older sister let me stay with them. Who knows what my life would have been like otherwise?
I am now 60 and this is something I do not talk about, or even think about very often, but perhaps it may be worth mentioning to warn others.
SK
Do you want your writing career to flourish? Then follow the money. This may sound shocking to the purists out there that believe writing is solely a creative expression. Yes; writing should fill you with joy and fulfillment. Yet I know we all believe in being rewarded for hard work and commitment….
One of the concerns I had about ebook versus printed book is that someone who wants to use my book in a seminar can pay $8.95, print it out, and then make 100 copies to pass out instead of buying 100 books to use in the seminar. Is there any way to prevent that or are we at the mercy of whoever downloads my book? I would rather have someone buy many books instead of just paying a single price and copying.
A.
