Topic, Common Themes, and Winners of the WritersWeekly.com Fall 2010 24-Hour Short Story Contest!

Published on October 27, 2010

For the past six weeks, we've spent every spare moment judging the hundreds of entries submitted for the Fall 2010 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, sit back, relax, and take a break from your busy day to indulge in the sights and smells of a brisk Fall evening... …

Warning Signs of a Potential Deadbeat

Published on October 13, 2010

Karen S. wrote in last week, asking: Thank you every week for an always informative newsletter! I have a question that I suspect concerns many writers and that I hope you'll answer in an upcoming e-issue. How can we find out whether businesses and groups that solicit writing via the Web are legit and really do pay? One way to avoid getting scammed by a potential client (who may be a deadbeat) is to Google their name with terms like "owes me" and "scam". However, every deadbeat has a first victim and there are signs to look for before and while you're working for them... …

Finding Garbled, Illegal Copies of Your Articles Online? You’re Not Alone!

Published on August 25, 2010

One of our authors experiences is a common scam occurring in increasing numbers online. …

Miscellaneous Tidbits

Published on August 4, 2010

I have some unrelated odds and ends to share with you this week:

• CONNECTICUT ATTORNEY GENERAL INVESTIGATING AMAZON AND APPLE
  
• MOLLY JOSS PREDICTS...
  
• WANT AD DIGEST AWARDED $6M IN COPYRIGHT CASE
  

Amazon Ebooks Are NOT Outselling Paperbacks!

Published on July 28, 2010

The publishing world was awash in seeming hysteria last week when Amazon issued yet another press release designed to promote the Kindle. The release stated: "Amazon.com customers now purchase more Kindle books than hardcover books..." Of course, those in the industry recognize that "hardcover" means just that - a hardcover / hardback book; not a paperback. When you look at the "news" in those terms, the impact is far less dramatic. In fact, it's pretty ho-hum... In response to Amazon's latest press release, people not in the industry (and even some that are), may have automatically assumed, and some even announced, that Amazon's Kindle ebook sales had surpassed ALL PRINT BOOK SALES (ahem)... …

When Weary Authors Say Their Book is “Good Enough”

Published on June 23, 2010

Increasing numbers of authors are putting books on the market with errors these days. Perhaps all the errors on the Internet are making people feel more lax about typos and grammatical and punctuation errors. Heck, we even frequently see typos on the major news stations' news trailers on the screen. Don't even get me started on the major news websites. However, just because 'everybody is doing it' doesn't make it acceptable for an author to follow suit with their book. …

Topic, Common Themes, and Winners of the WritersWeekly.com Spring 2010 24-Hour Short Story Contest!

Published on June 9, 2010

For the past six weeks, we've spent every spare moment judging the hundreds of entries submitted for the Spring 2010 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, sit back, relax, and take a break from your busy day to...watch death and greed collide. …

Term Paper Mill Scum

Published on June 2, 2010

I took most of Monday off this week for the holiday so my post is short and not-too-sweet this week. I wanted to share this with you. I received an email from a man who wanted to post a help wanted ad on WritersWeekly.com and he obviously hadn't done his homework. He said they needed writers for "academic writing jobs" and my warning bells blew. I checked out their website and, sure enough, it was a term paper mill. This was my response: We would NEVER assist you with helping students cheat. Your service is the rock-bottom scum of the entire industry. What if your child was ill and the specialist you took her to was someone who'd paid a company like YOURS to do his schoolwork for him? Shame on you! How can you sleep at night doing what you do for a living?! Don't EVER contact me again! Angela Hoy WritersWeekly.com …

One-Shot Book Marketing Does NOT WORK – But THIS DOES! By Angela Hoy

Published on May 19, 2010

Perhaps a dozen times a week, authors ask me some variation of this question: What is the best way to promote my book online? It's quite simple, really. This is all you need:

1. An audience
2. A vehicle to reach that audience

Trying to Scare Us Into Silence With a Cease and Desist? Pshaw!!! By Angela Hoy

Published on May 12, 2010

It is SO entertaining to us at WritersWeekly when someone who owes one, two or a few writers money tries to scare us into silence. I could wallpaper my upstairs bathroom with all the cease and desist letters we've received over the years. In my opinion, cease and desists are form letters designed to intimidate victims, advocates for the victims, or the press... …

How to Collect a Court Judgment

Published on April 21, 2010

So, you sued that deadbeat publisher in small claims court and you won. Congratulations! After the satisfaction of winning settles in, you start to wonder when he's finally going to pay you. You do some research and discover there's still really no way to force him to send you a check. …

More So-Called “Writers” Committing Copyright Infringement

Published on April 14, 2010

It's always interesting when someone calls themselves a writer...when stealing another writer's work. Last week, I shared the story of invoicing Anne Wayman $38,250 after finding 51 incidents of copyright infringement on her website, aboutfreelancewriting.com. This week, we're exposing more copyright infringers, along with their responses (or lack thereof)... …

Tracking Down Copyright Infringers – A Painful But Necessary Task

Published on March 31, 2010

Today, I ended up spending my writing time chasing down copyright infringers. What do infringers most frequently steal from WritersWeekly.com? Our paying market listings. …

Think Twice Before Giving Away Your Entire Book Online For Free

Published on March 24, 2010

I've read lots of different stories online about authors giving away free copies of their ebooks to try to boost print book sales. Some, mostly from traditional publishers, say doing this increased sales (but nobody seems to want to give out the real numbers) while others say doing this hurts sales. I thought I'd share my thoughts on this with you to help you determine if you should give away your book, or a significant portion of it, for free. …

Heck, Yeah, I’m Mad! Is That a Problem?!

Published on February 24, 2010

Sometimes, I receive emails that just don't make any sense to me. For example, occasionally people write to me under false names, sending false allegations about one company or another, or feeding me a completely false news story. Of course, I investigate these before I publish them and it's not too hard to figure out if somebody has fed me outright lies about one outfit or another. Perhaps it wouldn't be such a stretch to think some people have tried to get me to publish lies just so they can smear my name later for doing so. Let's face it, after a decade of WritersWeekly Whispers and Warnings, I now have more enemies than I can count...or even remember. Then there are the emails from people claiming to be long-time readers, who insult me for just plain doing my job - protecting them from industry scum. This week, I'll share one of those with you (edited and consolidated - we exchanged a couple of emails). After receiving this email, I felt like I'd been hit over the head with a purse after trying to help a little old lady cross the street. …

Traditional Publishers Finally Standing Up to Amazon

Published on February 3, 2010

This may be old news to you now but, just in case you missed it, Amazon had a showdown with Macmillan (one of the "Big 6" traditional publishers) over the weekend...and Macmillan appears to have won. Other large publishers are expected to follow suit. Basically, Macmillan wants the right to set their own retail prices for ebooks, and to set their own sales terms to bookstores. In my opinion, this is how it should be. The publisher should be able to dictate the terms of sales of their books to bookstores. Bookstores, of course, can negotiate their own purchase terms with a publisher but no bookstore should be able to dictate how, or at what price, a publisher sells their books elsewhere. You can read my comments on this situation in detail under Morris Rosenthal's article HERE. PublishersWeekly.com is posting frequent updates to this situation. And, finally, don't miss this article in Fast Company: Amazon Revealed: It Hates You, and It Hates Publishers UPDATE: Harper Collins is also now demanding better terms from Amazon. Click HERE to read comments by News Corp Chief Rupert Murdoch. …

Does a High-Traffic Publisher Website Guarantee Sales? No!!! By Angela Hoy

Published on January 13, 2010

Many authors ask me if they should choose a POD publisher based on the traffic the publisher's website gets. This is what I tell them: A common misconception among new authors is, "If I put it online, it will sell!" …