Letters and Comments

Letters To The Editor For January 13th

Published on January 13, 2010

Complaints Received About Shannon Ferguson / Words By Keystroke / wordsbykeystroke.com Greetings Angela, I enjoy the WritersWeekly newsletter and all that comes with it! I have a comment on the "2 COMPLAINTS about Shannon Ferguson / Words By Keystroke". At the very beginning of the first complaint, TL mentions that she originally bid on a project at oDesk, but that she and Ms. Ferguson agreed to contract the project outside of oDesk. My comment: you are probably already aware, but websites like Elance, Guru, and oDesk have clear policies (to which providers are required to agree) regarding projects/providers acquired through their websites. Each of these businesses have their own regulations requiring employers/providers to keep their business within the website…

Letters To The Editor For December 30th

Published on December 30, 2009

RE: THE HILARIOUS EXCHANGE WITH THAT CONTENT MILL CONTRIBUTOR Just heard about your post yesterday with the letter from the "SEO writer." A couple of things that I thought I'd pass on, and that you're more than welcome to post: I've taught smart business practices to many writers and know a good many more. From low to high, the 3.75 hours the "SEO writer" spent for $7 would have brought regular writers amounts ranging from $112.50 to $562.50 ($30/hour to $150/hour). And the low end is very low compared to what many freelance writers I know make. More realistic is probably $50/hour, for a total of $187.50. In terms of SEO, only the truly inexperienced think that search engine optimization is simply cramming keywords into writing. Real SEO practices are far more sophisticated, involving writing structure, links, tags for images, and much more. Keyword research is a start, but far from truly optimizing content to be found by search engines. The reason that the content mills are successful has more to do with the choice of topics (driven by keyword research done by the mills, not the writers) and the massive volume of information added monthly. It's the volume that lets the mills make money. Conversely, it's the volume that keeps the writers from doing the same. And, yes, I regularly use good SEO practices in my online work. So do most professional writers I know. It's just one more aspect of the craft. Erik Sherman Writer and Photographer Writing site: https://www.eriksherman.com Writing, Food, and Business Blogs: https://www.eriksherman.com/blogs Photo site: https://www.erikshermanphoto.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/eriksherman ---- Angela, I think anyone who promotes proper use of the English language today is fighting a "loosing" battle. It feels as if the English language is on the decline and will be ruined forever by the Internet. Too bad. The Internet has done such good things in some areas, but elevating writing skills is certainly not one of them. K.M. Lowe AN IDIOT STOLE MY COLUMN! Hi Angela; I was just reading your reply to An Idiot Stole My Column and I saw your reference to stolen cars. Before I retired I was in the automotive aftermarket and I had a friend who owned a custom kit car business. He bought a junker car only for the frame. He ran the numbers and it came back clean. He converted it to a $70,000 custom car for a buyer in Sweden. As they were doing all of the required title, invoicing and Customs declaration they, Customs, ran the frame numbers through again, a different government computer system, and it came back as a stolen car. He was forced to return the car and wasn't allowed to recover any of the parts used in the conversion. The value of the frame was $60. Everything else was his custom parts. The story has a happy ending because the original owner turned out to be a really nice guy and let my friend legally buy the frame / car for $75. My friend threw in an extra $1500 and some parts to help the guy in a restoration he was doing. Just thought you might get a chuckle. Happy Solstice & Merry Christmas, James …

“My Editor Screwed Up My Book!”

Published on December 9, 2009

As a book editor I deplore the bad workmanship of some of my colleagues. Editing a book takes time and care and the last step, for me, is running spellcheck to pick up any typos I might have missed. Quite often I have to refer a 'correction' back to the author to make sure I have understood the intended meaning. In some manuscripts I have to rewrite a sentence or paragraph that appears clumsy or obscure, and that may need discussion as well. An editor should always improve the material she's working on and should have the professional integrity to turn down something that is really badly written. I agree that (your reader) should not pay the second installment, but tell the editor exactly why and cite examples. Another thing, ask the editor you intend to use what she has worked on recently and who for. A good editor will be praised by her clients, something you often see in acknowledgements in a published book. And that may be the place to find an editor. If you aren't writing fiction, look in books on similar subjects. Many editors who work for publishers do freelance work as well. Anne …

Letters To The Editor For November 24th

Published on November 24, 2009

This week:

  • ATTORNEY SENDS OPINION ABOUT THE EXAMINER.COM CONTRACT
  • BAD HAIR, RIPPED T-SHIRTS AND JAMMIES, OH MY! Author Photo Blunders...
…

Thanks!

Published on November 11, 2009

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 …

Horror Babies…

Published on November 4, 2009

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 …

Is it Legal to Pay Someone for Work Only After They Reach a Specific Dollar Threshold?

Published on October 14, 2009

In response to the question I asked in this article, an attorney (who is also a BookLocker author) shared this: Hi Ang- Concerning the "pay-per-click" issue: I'd have to read the agreement but, based on what I understand of the process, the writer has agreed to such terms and conditions, unattractive as they might be, and therefore a court would probably say he or she has no right to complain. Accordingly, his or her seeking legal recourse, especially in light of the sums involved, would probably be counterproductive from an economic prospective. The better answer might be: Refuse to agree to such a provision. Harvey ---- Hi Angela, I am mystified by the response from Terry accusing you of elitism because you dared to explain the workings of AllVoices.com. You are unmatched as a reputable advocate for writers and I thank you for that. Keep up the good work, Glenna …

Re: Examiner.com

Published on September 30, 2009

Hey Ang, I followed a few links from this week's newsletter and was just re-reading your Examiner article and the comments. I came across this: Clark: $20 for 32 articles = $1.60 per article The math is worse than it looks unless the $ sign was supposed to be on the 32! And as bad as we thought it was for Clark - $20 for 32 articles = $0.62 each. Oh WELL! Glad I'm not an Examiner (and yes, I was offered to be... no way!) Marie …

Feeding On Somebody’s Vanity And Wealth? No Thanks!

Published on September 23, 2009

I am currently thinking of offering a (ghostwriting) service to people who want a book written about them for friends, family or colleagues. This will appeal to people with egos, money and the notion that they have something to say. Would you feel that your service would be a good fit for this idea? ANGELA RESPONDS: The largest percentage of BookLocker's revenues come from public book sales. Those sales help us keep setup fees low. Publishing books for anybody and everybody, regardless of quality, just because they have money and an ego, would mean lower-quality products and, thus, a lower percentage of public book sales. Doing this would also harm our reputation. When a reader comes to Booklocker.com, we want them to come to our bookstores again, and again, and again. Publishing anything and everything puts a company's entire inventory in question and, naturally, discourages customers. We're really not interested in working with people who want to publish a book just to impress family members or a few colleagues...or simply because they have large egos or lots of money. That's not the type of author we want to work with. I'm sorry. UPDATE: I have received two mails from people I offended with this missive, one from a ghostwriter who says she runs a similar business and another from a writer whose grandfather wrote his memoirs. This ghostwriter whose letter appears above was interested in approaching people with large egos and deep pockets (not waiting for business to find her), and suggesting they pay her to ghostwrite books about themselves to impress friends and colleagues. I did not publish her entire letter because I did not think it would be fair to give away her entire business model (even though I disagree with it). There is nothing wrong with writing an autobiography to document history and to teach future generations about your life. But, paying someone to write a book about you just to give out copies to friends and colleagues to feed your ego? Per my missive, that's not the type of author we want to work with. There's a huge difference between a rich egomaniac and a memoirist. …

Thanks!

Published on September 9, 2009

Dear Angela, I just wanted to say thank you for taking a stand against publishers who don't pay or who pay very late. I think writers everywhere have a difficult time making money because most publishers pay so little. Then, they all make you wait three to five months for normal payment time. They then either they pay late, pay less, or they do not pay at all. They should be exposed for the way they treat writers! Thank you for taking the time to print their complaints and writing to the publishers as well. I am sure this helps because they can't hide their misconduct. angdee …

ATTENTION DEADBEAT PUBLISHERS: Trying to Threaten Your Victims Into Silence DOES NOT WORK!

Published on August 26, 2009

The article is good as far as it goes. But it presumes throughout that deadbeat publishers are out there, hoping against hope for a reversal of their fortunes. It doesn't report in full on serial scamming deadbeats who with malice aforethought hoodwink writers and advertisers. Writers should be alert to the special warning signs attached to serial scammers. One, for example, is a publisher with whom one has never worked before who nonetheless requests more than one article for a single issue of a publication. What the scammer is trying to do is to accumulate content, to attract advertising dollars. Then, surprise surprise, the multiple articles don't get published in the issue for which they were commissioned; lots of luck collecting the money you're due from the serial scammer. Unless one has worked with a publisher and consistently been paid on time, one should never accept multiple article assignments for a single issue of a publication without receiving at least one half of the fee upfront before work begins. If your existing work is of such conspicuous high quality that the publisher is sure they'll want to publish two, three or four articles by you in a single issue, they should be willing to pay at least half up front. Scott Rose …

Library “Gifts” And Copyright Harvesting – AUTHOR BEWARE! By Heather Vallance

Published on August 12, 2009

Let me begin by saying I truly enjoy your newsletter. I have learned many things about writing since I began subscribing. I did however, want to make a few comments about Heather Vallance's recent article. I thought the article was excellent and insightful. Writers ALWAYS need to be vigilant when they are asked to sign any forms, particularly if there is any mention of "copyright". So I commend her for pointing out this issue. …

Letters To The Editor For July 15th

Published on July 15, 2009

This Week:

  • Large Overseas Book Order? Don't Get Excited...
  • More on Examiner.com
  • What Is Happening to Editors' Manners?!
…

1 … 15 16 17 18 19 … 29