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Sunday, February 27, 2011

Pen Names

Here's an interesting post about pen names:

To Pen or Not to Pen

Enjoy!
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Rejections, Rejections, and More Rejections!

Okay, folks! I am curious to know how you deal with rejections. How many is too many? Should you ever give up? Do you ever have those days, after receiving so many rejections, that you say, "I must be a horrible writer if no one wants to publish me," and you just want to throw in the towel? Let me hear your thoughts on this. What's the best/worst rejection letter you ever received?

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Discounted Titles

Okay, so I'm trying to sell enough books to make money to attend Thrillerfest this year in New York City. If you order via Createspace, you can get $5.00 off using this code:

KRHSVT4B

When Angels Sing, supernatural thriller
https://www.createspace.com/3489412
Retail price: $14.99
Discounted Price: $9.99

The Fear Within, short horror/sci fi story collection
https://www.createspace.com/3447686
Retail Price: $13.99
Discounted Price: $8.99

Monday, February 21, 2011

Meet Fellow Writer Robert Medak

Hi, folks! Robert Medak is visiting with us today. Robert is a freelance writer, editor, book reviewer, aspiring marketer, and aspiring author. He spent 37 years in Telecommunications, upon retiring he decided to follow his dream of being a writer. Robert has written or ghost written over 350 articles and 80 book reviews. Welcome, Robert.

You can visit him online at:

https://kidsandanimals.wordpress.com/

http://rjmedak.wordpress.com/

http://rjmedak.blogspot.com/

http://rjmbookreviews.blogspot.com/

He can also be found on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter and he has created a social network for freelance writers at http://freelancewriters.spruz.com/Default.asp?


Upon visiting his blog, Robert has written a wonderful article I'd like to share with you:

Can You Make a Living as a Full-Time Writer?

This is a simple yet complex question, with an answer to match.

Unless your name is Bob Bly or someone as well known, please don’t quit your day job.

It takes time, effort, marketing, quality work, and referrals to become a go to person for writing. It isn’t going to happen overnight no matter how often some people tell you. They will probably try to sell you some course, program, or get you involved with PLR articles or books that you can rebrand to call your own. Others will try to get you involved with affiliates.

I don’t do any of that since I offer 100 percent original work and test it with Copyscape for and possible plagiarism questions. I have also signed an ethics pledge.

I have gone so far as to turn down work due to ethical concerns. I realize individuals will make their own decision, but you still have to face yourself in the mirror each morning and have to live with your modus operandi of business; for writing is a business, have no fear about that.

If you choose to enter the realm of freelance writing, you will need to price your services and believe that you are an entrepreneur, because you are.

When the economy slows down so do writing jobs. With the diminishing number of magazines and newspapers, the number of places that would normally take a chance of new writers also diminishes. Along with this, many companies are looking to outsource to other countries where labor is cheaper than the United States.

It is still possible to make a living as a writer depending on how hard you are willing to work at finding jobs.

The best way to find jobs is to start out locally. Check in with your local Chamber of Commerce, Church, and Civic Groups.

Build a website, blog, guest blog, use social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter) to let potential clients know you exist. If potential clients don’t know about you, they will not come to you. Build a portfolio of work that you can show to potential clients. Keep a CV/ Résumé up to date; some clients make ask for one.

Watch out for any signs of frustration that things are not happening according to the way you think they should when jobs do not come easy, you are not the only one trying for them.

Robert Medak

Freelance writer, editor, proofreader, book reviewer, marketer

Website: http://stormywriter.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/RJ_Medak

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Robert-Medak-Writing-More/253442777522

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/bobmedak


** Please visit The Dark Phantom Review tomorrow, February 22, for Mayra Calvani's talk with Martha Swirzinski. **

Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy V Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

1. What is your ultimate "dreamy" valentines day or gift?

2. If anything could go wrong on Valentines Day, or if you had the worst V Day ever (this year or in the past), what would it be or what happened?

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

To Japan from the USA

Go to Google Maps and click on Get Directions. 2. Write USA as your start point. 3. Write Japan as your destination. 4. Go to the 31st point on your route and when you stop laughing, post this as your status on FB so that others can have a laugh, too!! Really funny!