Friday Link Love

Having a day off work to actually read blogs in their entirety was a luxury! The result: I've found some really neat posts that resonated with me. Hope you enjoy them, too. (Don't hate me too badly - gas prices in the UK are USD$9.20 a gallon, and that's considered a bargain.)

I don't know why I hadn't been to Peter Bowerman's blog before, but I found this gem on sucky business writing skills and that we writers should capitalize on that. I've often pondered putting together corporate writing seminars, and why not? The image of the company is represented in its people. Companies need us to help get their execs up to par.

Writer's Digest's Maria Schneider asks the question: how is the recession affecting writers? Interesting point to ponder, and the responses are just as interesting. Leave your comments on how you're doing.

My favorite Urban Muse brings up health insurance for freelancers. I'm fortunate that I have a spouse who provides this, but there was a time when I was without. Susan gives us links to resources that help us find coverage.

Anne Wayman's post on cell phone etiquette made me laugh out loud - because I agree completely. Anne has identified exactly why I have a love/hate relationship with cell phones. If you can't talk, don't answer it just to say so. Instant connectivity is a convenience, not a requirement. Don't get me started. :))

Time Off? What's That?

This time tomorrow I'll have landed in London and hopefully, unlike last time, I'll have slept on the plane. I'm taking my own pillow and earplugs - if you can't get comfy with your own pillow, there's something seriously wrong.

It's time off. Serious time off. A vacation even! I'm usually shaky for about a day into it, still detoxing from last-minute preparations and working to get projects off the desk. This time, my plan was to cut out of work one day early in hopes of detoxing before I get on the plane.

He's already there. He took the big suitcase, so I'm blessed with lugging a mere carry-on. I've rolled my clothes, so I'm able to fit 8 shirts, 2 pairs of jeans, a dress and shoes (obviously not rolling the shoes), a pair of shorts and underthings with room for my makeup bag and hairdryer - oh, and a book. I feel like I've already won some kind of contest just getting that stuff in there. Perhaps there's an award for the most items in a KMart-purchased carry-on?

While I'm gone, I've taken the liberty of pulling together a few posts to fill the void. Thanks for reading, and I'll check in again in June!

Typos, Grammar Screw-ups, and Other Things that Tick Me Off

I was shopping at the mall with my daughter the other day when we saw it - a t-shirt that had an illustration of a trash can on it and a stick figure tossing something in the general direction of the can. The shirt read: "Put it in it's place." There I stood in the teeny-bopper section of the mall, ranting. I'm telling you, that typo even hurt to recreate just now. I turned to my daughter (who saw what was coming and avoided eye contact) and I said, "Do you see that? How stupid!" Pause. Then I added, "You know why that's wrong, don't you?" To which she rolled her eyes and sighed. "Yes, Mom. Just...move on."

I can't move on from stuff like that. It upsets the balance in my otherwise balanced existence. It's okay if I make a mistake. It's okay if she makes a mistake. What's not okay is that a mistake like that makes it through the manufacturing cycle. I mean, where was the proofreader that day? Did no one in the entire cycle understand basic possessives? (Then again, if these shirts were made where I suspect they were, no one was old enough to understand, but I digress.) I wanted to storm the checkout and berate them for allowing teenagers to walk around grammatically incorrect all day, possessively unaware....but the shirt was stupid, so I simply prayed the puberty patrol would bypass it due to its unappealing nature (or should I say "it's unappealing nature?"... snark).

Worse was the time a coworker called me over to her desk and pointed to an ad in The New Yorker. Right there, full page, was one line on a jeweler's ad that read: "In a league of it's own." In The New Yorker. Full page. If I had been the ad sales rep at the magazine, I'd have refused to accept the ad. But again, sales reps are not hired for their ability to spot grammatical errors, so it's no reflection on them. But someone should've lost a job over that - someone that jeweler hired to put that ad together.

I'm all for movements like the TEAL team (Typo Eridication Advancement League) or SPOGG (Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar). In fact, I want the SPOGG t-shirt that reads "Punctuation is Cool."

They would stop things like typos in major magazines. I saw one in a magazine I subscribe to - the editors chose a word to describe an outfit that was the equivalent of saying "bondage" when you mean "edgy." That they overuse the words "utilitarian" and "toughen" is bad enough - at least slow down long enough to use the proper word.

I've ranted enough. Typos will happen. Grammar will always be abused by the weak minded. How about you? What typos or instances of improper grammar have you seen? Which ones stand out as the worst you've seen?

Repetition is Good for You

Remember back in school when you were learning those spelling words or learning those math equations? If you went to a school like I did, you were expected to spell those words out five, ten times in order to remember. With math, you had to complete a bunch of similar equations in order to understand the concept. Same thing later in school if you were learning a language or memorizing historical facts or dates. It worked, didn't it? Let's apply that logic to some of the advice I've tossed around here on occasion, more specifically places and employers you should not be working for.

Here are some of the places/employers you need to forget about:

Startup companies. They may have a great idea or a great new service, but nine times out of ten they have no organization or cash. Good luck getting paid. I've been on the edge of that cliff more than once, which has made me swear to avoid them altogether. How can you tell it's a startup? They'll use language like "ground-floor opportunity" (synonomous with "low pay" anyway), or they'll say they're a new company or startup.

Foreign employers. To date, I've not come across anyone who's had any positive experience with a person in another country. Seriously, if they default, how are you going to collect? There are enough employers domestically to go around. Work with people who are subject to the same laws you are.

People with posses. This one isn't easy to spot at the outset, if at all. But nervous clients can tend to want to run their copy past friends, family, coworkers, etc. That's death to you and your check. No writer or editor can survive the onslaught of several, differing opinions and still serve the paying client's needs. No one. And it's totally uncool of your client to expect it. Do what I do - put a clause in your contract now that states no third-party involvement without both parties agreeing to such in writing. It's because I've had such experiences more than three times that I've started putting that into contracts. Make it a deal breaker so you have an out should it happen.

Job/client listing sites that charge fees. This one's never an easy sell. Others have had success getting jobs through these places, but they also have had more than their share of headaches as sites like eLance change the rules so that it costs a writer more to secure clients. I object to sites that charge writers for job listings as much as I object to sites that act as a clearinghouse for clients and writers. You never needed a third party to intervene before - why now? If you feel that strongly about representation for those connections, hire an agent.

The same goes for membership sites. There are some sites out there that expect you to pay for your memberships. Look, maybe you get some value out of rubbing elbows with other people who pay 20 bucks a month or more. If so, don't expect it to be anything more than an online country club. If you decide to join (and some may be fun - I can't say), do so on the assumption that it's more of a club and not so much a place to find work.

Anyone who posts an ad using the words "It's an easy job for the right person." In nearly every case this phrase is included, the "employer" expects you to work your arse off for much less than you should be paid for the job. This is a person who doesn't understand the scope of the project or worse, does understand and wants it for next-to-nothing. I guarantee any job with that phrase attached is going to pay crap wages.

Clients who won't sign a contract. Yea, I dropped a job once because the client wouldn't sign a standard contract. Anyone who avoids a written commitment is someone whose integrity should be reconsidered. I had one dude go ballistic on me when I refused to finish a project after he'd said he won't sign. He'd assured me he was a stand-up sort and that he's much more relaxed than that. How very cool for you, but I'm uptight when a client refuses the most basic arrangement protecting both of us.

There are so many more, but these are my biggies. How about you? What work or employers are you avoiding?

Too Many Twitters, Too Little Time

Thanks to all of you who joined in the first annual Writer's Worth Day! It was a great start to what I hope is a group effort to raise awareness, offer more support, and bring more value to our industry.

Onto other things... I read the Word Wrangler's rant about the proliferation of social networks and posts on how to capitalize on each one. He asked, very wisely, just how much is too much? I ask something a bit different - just how much time can one waste before one realizes that social networks are not much more than time sinks?

I don't Twitter. I have no idea what a Squidoo looks like. I have a Facebook page because my kid put it up for me. Same with My Space. I should go there sometime. I don't. And I still have a career. Go figure.

I do belong to two networks. One offers an array of professionals, and it seems to be the standard for business people. I've connected with other professionals and have used a few folks' comments in articles. I joined only after four contacts/clients invited me. The other is a female-only network, and it's just nice to be connected with other successful women. But I can count on one hand the number of hours per month I spend on either of these networks. Why? Because I think the time is better spent connecting directly with potential or existing clients.

The problem I see is there are more social networks to choose from, so folks are choosing them all. How exactly is that smart? If you belong to say 5 networks and spend about 15 minutes a day on each one, do the math. That's time you could spend calling or emailing clients, or sending out proposals or queries for actual work. So I ask you - are you applying any kind of vetting process in your search for the social network that best suits you?

Networks are fun. They're a great way to reconnect or to meet new people. But in my humble opinion, they are not a fantastic place to find work. From my view, most people on social networking sites are looking for work. Not too many are hiring. I left one social network because it was rife with people marketing the bejeezuz out of their companies or services, and there wasn't a lot of connecting going on beyond that. In effect, it was a waste of time and bandwidth.

Raising Awareness One Writer at a Time

This is it - my self-proclaimed first annual day to celebrate what we writers are worth. If you have a blog, please join me in saying yes to competitive wages and no to accepting what isn't worthy of our talents. Share your experiences, your advice, your support to all writers in hopes that we can convince our counterparts to appreciate themselves as paid professionals. Visit other blogs or forums and leave comments or links to this or any other site singing the praises of decent pay for decent work. We can't stop the crap jobs from coming in. We can, however, stop dragging down our industry by reducing the number of people responding to these ads.

Beginning writers, look. I know where you're coming from. I used to be a beginner myself, you know? I took jobs that paid somewhere around 50 bucks for more work than you can imagine. I've been where you are. You think you need those clips so badly that it's okay to take that job offering $5 for 50 articles.

No. No you don't. Those aren't clips - those are a serious waste of time and talent. If you were to point a potential client to those clips, you'd be shooting yourself in the foot. Why? Because real employers know what crap websites look like, and your work plastered all over it, even if it's good work, is going to reflect very badly on you. Suddenly this otherwise seemingly intelligent person has shown a lack of sound judgment. Whom you affiliate with is as important as any clips you might have.

Do yourself a favor - take a freelance job at the local newspaper. I'm serious. You get paid something for your efforts, and you build credible experience. Who cares if your community is your only audience? Believe me, it's much more impressive to show newspaper experience on your resume than it is to show that you churned out articles for an article mill or for a foreign-based "employer" who never did pay you those 40 rupees... Newspapers are where most of us started out. They speak very well to your ability and your reliability, as most newspapers have short deadlines.

Think you can't do a newspaper? Then find yourself a print publication (not online - not until you have the experience to discern viable jobs from trash) and start submitting paper/email queries. Do your homework (we all have to) and learn how to submit properly first. You can find lots of links (here, too) on this site and others that will help you.

If you need help or guidance, ask. We're always here to help. By all means, make sure you place a value on your work that allows you to earn the wage you deserve (note - that's much more than you think). Your career, and all of ours, depends on it.

I Have Titles!

Just a reminder - tomorrow is Writer's Worth Day. It's time for all of us to post on our blogs or leave comments around the blogosphere motivating our fellow writers in the beginning stages of their careers to value themselves enough to demand proper payment. Whatever you feel like sharing - education on what to charge or how to spot a raw deal, posts encouraging others to bring their prices to at least minimum wage, whatever moves you.

On to other things.... there should be a task force that prohibits dorks from using the Internet. Here I was, over 2 years into my Blogger experience when a writing chum points out that my feeds have no titles - and no content, for that matter. Uh, huh? She was kind enough to spend some time fixing the problem for me, which turned out to be lack of a Title space on my posting options. Why it doesn't default to this is beyond me, but I should've investigated a bit further. Thank you, Kristen. :)

The week is going much better. My Jetta will live, amen. It may not be 100 percent, as I think the bent axle is going to come back to haunt me, but my daughter can drive it while we're out of the country, which is good. We spent last night looking for flights to Heathrow, and like fools we waited until this morning. The price tripled. Oy. But again, we were fortunate. He called his travel agent. We were able to get the same ticket for just a smidgen more than what we'd have paid last night. Amen again.

I'll be out for a little more than a week. And I'm nervous. It seems like every time I have a vacation, I come home to zero work. Mind you, I do have ongoing work that keeps me busy at all times, but the larger projects tend to drop off if I'm not here to light fires under my career. How does one effectively come back and drop into work again?

Here's how I did it this time - I set up some smaller projects with deadlines shortly after I return. Knowing I will come home to some activity makes me feel much better about leaving. Also, I'm sending out a proposal today for another article project, which may or may not have a later deadline, but will still give me some work through the lean summer months. Another possible project waits, as well. A very busy company that needs editing help is on my to-do list for Monday. I've contacted them twice, and this is my follow-up to see if we can line something up for when I return.

It's always hard allowing yourself time to relax. Why not make it easier on yourself? What do you do to prepare both for your vacation and for the time after?