The Sound of SilenceBack among the working again. The vacation was great! Perfect weather, too. Daughter and I had a blast. I’m taking a small breather from the Beginner’s Series to answer a terrific question posed by Nikki. She asked what we should do when queries go unanswered or worse, ask for your rates. Here’s…
Roman Holiday Hardly Rome, but I’ll be beachside this coming week. I hope to return here by Friday to catch up with our series. See you soon!
Query Writing Series: The Query Letter, Part Two
The Query Letter, Part Two The Meat of the Matter Once you’ve hooked your editor/client (who, by the way, is also your first reader), you need to deliver the goods. It’s not enough to hit them with a great first paragraph and then say “What do you think?” You need to convey two more things…
Query Writing Series: The Query Letter, Part One
The Query Letter, Part One Get Creative! It amazes me how many creative writers churn out boring, unimaginative query letters. I once received a query letter from a writer who wrote – “I saw your ad. Here’s my resume. Call me.” Did I call? Hell no! If that writer couldn’t be bothered to sell himself…
Get a Job!Tips for Beginners Each day I wake up one step away from what my husband said was the worst poison ivy case he’s seen in a long time. Today, things are much less weepy (both physically and emotionally), and I’m able to type without stopping to blot my arms. Disgusting thought, but try…
Lost in TranslationStill sporting the itch this afternoon, so no posts about queries. Tomorrow… What You Won’t Read About in the Ads: – The more paperwork and legal loops a freelancer must jump through, the less the pay will be. – The more emails that pass between you without any mention of pay, the smaller…
The Itchy and Scratchy ShowPoison ivy should be outlawed. There should be a movement started by Congress that would fine anyone who has poison ivy in their yards and has not made any attempt to get rid of it. I’d vote for whatever party passed it. Yea, I’m still itching. Now it’s looking horrific, which…
I Fought the Lawn and the Lawn WonLet me tell you how badly I used to get poison ivy when I was young – I remember my arms wrapped in gauze and the bottoms of my feet swollen and aching. I remember having fevers and I remember rashes so thick it was solid on all…
Micromanagement HellHad a conversation with a freelancer yesterday in which he expressed his frustration with a current client situation. He’s in charge of one aspect of a project, yet he seems to be dealing with someone in charge of another aspect whose disorganization is costing him precious time and energy. Worse, she wants to manage…
Or You Could Just Foot My Bills InsteadHere’s one for the books – I answered an ad back in March for a fashion writer. I just received a note today from the “employer.” Instead of offering me the gig or discussing it with me, “Guenther” simply wrote this: “I had to postpone the launch of…