Image credit: Cecile Graat

In her latest issue of The Prosperous Writer, Christina Katz asks, “On a scale of one to ten, how’s your self-respect? Can you say no? Do you say yes to yield to social pressure and supposed-tos and then suffer for it? Are you catering to too many other people’s needs but burning out in the process? Do you listen to and trust your instincts about what is and isn’t the best way to proceed?”

I aim for balance when it comes to my writing business and personal life. I love the flexibility that comes with my business. Spending time with my family, taking care of my health and contributing to my community are all priorities in my life.

• Family: I chose to have a family and that involves spending time with them. It doesn’t mean spending hundreds of dollars on vacation or expensive activities. It can be as simple as reading a book together, playing a board game or sitting at the dining table.
• Health: If I don’t take care of myself, I won’t perform my best for clients, family and others. I believe in “If mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.” When I don’t get seven to eight hours of sleep, I function at 50 percent the next day, if that. Staying up a couple of hours late isn’t worth the effects it would have on the following day.
• Community: Contributing to my community matters because it takes a village to take care of our world. Without programs and people, many things would never happen to make a difference in people’s lives.

Every year, I gain a couple of new assignments, which often take me out of my comfort zone because they’re new.  Already, I have a new gig that is different that pushes my boundaries while I have fun. I maintain a variety of clients because I enjoy the diversity of the work. Plus, if one should go out of business (knock on wood), my business won’t fall apart because I still have other gigs. I’ve been fortunate that I bring in new clients on a consistent basis.

I thought about creating a course that I’d teach by email. After long deliberations, I opted not to do it. Developing a course not only requires pulling together strong, interactive content, but also promoting it and keeping it fresh. As much as I love the subject, I didn’t have enough confidence that I’d have enough enrollment on a regular basis. Furthermore, I’ve noticed those who do well in offering such classes tend to speak a few times a year and have at least one known published book.

I’m comfortable with giving presentations, but uncomfortable with the answering questions part — a very critical part of the two-way interaction. So that’s not a priority in my business, but I wouldn’t turn down free travel and the opportunity. If it happens, I bring index cards so people can write their questions down or send it  to me on Twitter. Sure, I’ve written two books, but they’re not focused on my expertise.

Because I’m not a high energy person, every opportunity that comes my way receives careful consideration. I do what I can to avoid overwhelming myself and keeping my work streamlined.

How’s your self-respect?

Image Credit: Alex Bruda

No rule book exists to tell us how to behave ourselves in social media. With no eyes peeking into ours, we forget real people are out there reading our stuff and we  make an impression with every sentence we write online. A colleague told me about an agent who posted in public that his or her writers were undergoing plastic surgery and a vasectomy. Joke or not? Who knows. But even if it was a joke, not everyone read it that way.

Social media gives writers a place to find and connect with writers, editors, agents, readers, publishers and others in the publishing and media industry. Keeping your name out there not only leads to gigs and opportunities, but also shows future clients and publishers that you already know how to market your work. Don’t think marketing is important enough? You might want to read Jane Friedman’s 5 Questions for Those Who Don’t Have Time to Market/Promote.

So, here are 10 commandments to do right on social media, build up a following and mind your manners.

1. Thou shalt listen

This helps you get a feel for how people use the social media site or blog. It also encourages you to respond to others after you’ve heard them. Chris Brogan offers tips on listening.

2. Thou shalt do unto others to help without any expectations in return

One word: Karma. Even if karma isn’t real, helping others makes you feel good about yourself and drive you to do more. Plus, people will remember you for it and it’ll strengthen your relationships. Sarah Evans asks, “What have you done for your community today?”

3. Thou shalt read a diversity of resources and people

Spread your eWings and visit blogs, Twitter IDs and other accounts you haven’t read  (check blogrolls, Twitter followers, etc. to find new ones) and check your friends’ connections. Sticking with same people limits your ability to meet others.

4. Thou shalt respond

If people ask you a question or take the time to leave a comment in your blog, you can take a moment to reply. Notice this says, “Respond,” not “Respond to every single message directed to you.” It’s overkill to thank every single person for mentioning you, retweeting you, linking to you. Instead, return the favor by pointing to their stuff, responding in private or commenting on something else they wrote.

Also, write more than “I agree,” “Great post” and “Thank you.” We have so much content online, a lot of it wasteful. Compliments are always nice, but not in a public response that adds clutter. Email the person, if you can’t think of anything else to say.

5. Thou shalt be genuine

Be genuine about mentioning and promoting others. Be genuine about the things you say. Be real. Be you. Some mentioning other people come across as phony looking to ride the wave of someone else’s popularity or kiss up to that person. You love it when someone mentions you, right? And you tend to remember them better, right? Well?

When you write a blog, article or tweet — look for genuine opportunities to link to other people’s stuff, quote them or credit them. Notice this post has a few links to other people’s high quality content that explores a topic further for those interested. Bonus points if you mention a competitor.

6. Thou shalt play nice

It’s incredible how many arguments turn nasty online and how many people say things in a mean way. We all have different opinions. (That’s a good thing — it’d be a dull, dull world otherwise.) We just need to remember to play nice and show respect. It goes a long way.

7. Thou shalt remember that everyone can read your content

Mom, kids, editor, publisher and people who might hire you. You’ve probably heard a few of the stories about people landing jobs only to lose it because of something they said online.

It’s also wise not to cuss in public. Granted, some popular folks cuss. But not everyone can get away with this. You wouldn’t cuss in a job interview, would you? Think of the Internet as one big job interview. After all, writers don’t always do one gig forever.

8. Thou shalt not obsesseth with thy numbers

Email newsletters … Twitter followers … Blog comments … Blog readers. People email me asking how I got so many Twitter followers. Well, it didn’t happen in one night, one month or even six months. But who cares how long it took? The point is to have high quality conversations. Spammers have figured out how to gain high numbers in Twitter — so obviously, quantity means nothing.

Listen and deliver valuable stuff. They will come.

9. Thou shalt not gossipth

The kind of talk of someone else’s private business makes a person look like a gossip and future clients might fear you’ll gossip about them. Yes, skip sharing private details even if the subject is open about it.

10. Thou shalt forgo the hard sell

Social media helps you gain trust and credibility, which will build your relationships. People WILL connect with you and ask about your content. When you do, at least add value by telling people what they get out of it. How much should you self-promote? Maria Schneider thinks 60/40, but I believe it should be closer to 70/30. That’s between Pareto’s 80/20 and Maria’s suggestion.

Not convinced that writers need social media? Maybe Joanna Penn can convince you.

Agree? Disagree? Please share your thoughts in comments or create a blog post of your own and let us know about it.

Winners of Are You Ready to Hire a Virtual Assistant? entry prizes: April wins Five ebooks on writing from Anne Wayman and Tracy Fitzpatrick wins one full copy of Astraware Classic Collection, which includes Astraware Sudoku, Astraware Solitaire, and Astraware Board games. Congratulations!

This entry’s prizes: One copy of Business Daffynitions: Humor from the Workplace from Joe Heuer, the Rock and Roll Guru, one full copy of Orchidia PC game from Joyboost, (See Meryl’s Orchidia review.) and one copy of Andy King’s Website Optimization. As usual, just post a valuable 30+ word comment by July 6.

Either Peter Bowerman’s name or books came up in the newsletters on writing that I regularly read. Eventually, we exchanged a few emails and I enjoy his knowledge, honesty, and writing. He produces a valuable newsletter and of course, his books are worth every dollar. I’m honored to have him as a guest blogger.

The $75,000 Writer: Follow the Dollars to Freelance Commercial Writing

Imagine This: The editor of a magazine you’ve written several pieces for says yes to a recent query. You outline the parameters of the piece and the conversation turns to money. He says, “Let’s try something a little different this time. Figure out how many hours you think it’ll take to do the piece. Factor in time for research, background reading, travel to and from appointments, brainstorming, interviewing, writing, and editing. Then multiply the hours by $75 and give me a figure.” You return with a number, he says “fine” and you get to work.

Has he lost his mind? Is this a freelancer’s wistful fantasy? In some writing arenas, maybe. But in freelance commercial (corporate) writing, the above-described scenario is pretty much right on the money. And speaking of money, instead of flat fees with potentially vast and open-ended investments of time, here’s a field where fees are based on hourly rates of $50-125 or more, and all time counts.

A Lucrative and Growing Opportunity
In the few decades, prolific downsizing in Corporate America has resulted in the outsourcing of an enormous amount of writing projects to well-paid freelancers. How can you get your share? Who do you contact? Well, for starters, there are two main groups of prospects: End Users (EU) and Middlemen (MM).

End Users (EUs)
EUs are the corporations, large and small (as well as non-profits, universities, and more), that will be the end-users of the writing. With large companies, approach Corporate Communications, also known as “MarCom” (marketing communications). With smaller ones, try marketing, sales, or finally, HR.

A manager with a huge telecommunications firm in Atlanta noted, “Most people would assume that a company of our size would do the bulk of our writing in-house, and they’d be wrong. It’s amazing how much writing we outsource. My writing needs these days are pretty steady, and I pay anywhere from $65-85/hour, depending on the writer’s experience.”

Middlemen (MMs)
MMs – companies often hired by EUs to execute these projects – include advertising agencies, graphic design firms, marketing companies, PR firms, and event production companies – to name the key ones. Few of these entities staff writing talent, preferring instead to hire the right talent for a specific job, and only when needed.

• Ad Agencies/PR Firms: These entities, which can be huge, do staff copywriters for high-profile ad campaigns but will often bring in freelancers to handle “collateral” (marketing brochures, newsletters, sales sheets, etc.). Small agencies offer better opportunities for freelancers.
• Graphic Design Firms: This group tends toward the smaller end and rarely have on-staff writers. They include many “lone rangers” (one-person shops), several of whom have put many thousands of dollars in my pocket over time. Cultivate relationships with the most talented designers at the larger firms. The good ones all eventually go freelance and if they like you and your work, you’ll be on their “A-list.”
• Event Production Companies: These firms handle all aspects of huge corporate conventions, conferences, product launches, etc. That may include show literature, videos, speeches, web content, signage, and more. Contact major convention facilities to get the names of the big players.

Who to Contact?
For all the above MM clients, contact CDs (Creative Directors: often hard to reach), ACDs (Assistant CDs: easier), AEs (Account Executives), PMs (Project Managers). Find them through the actual category listing in the Yellow Pages or through an annual business listing publication.

Beyond the Yellow Pages…
Where else can you find your prospects? Most good-sized metropolitan areas have a weekly business publication ending in “… Business Journal (i.e. Los Angeles Business Journal, Philadelphia Business Journal, etc.) Check www.amcity.com for the full nationwide listing. Get their Book of Lists, an invaluable annual resource listing of the top businesses in dozens of categories.

Whatever your goals or circumstances, the commercial writing field offers a lucrative and growing opportunity for those with good writing skills. Isn’t it time for a raise?

About the author: Peter Bowerman, a freelance copywriter, speaker and business coach, is the author of the award winning Well-Fed Writer titles – how-to “standards” on lucrative freelancing for businesses (www.wellfedwriter.com). In 2007, leveraging the successful self-publishing of his first two books (52,000 copies in print, and a full-time living for five-plus years), he released The Well-Fed Self-Publisher: How to Turn One Book into a Full-Time Living. (www.wellfedsp.com).

Prizes: Lifetime subscription for RadioTime.com RedButton software — TiVO for radio where you can pause and record live radio. Business Daffynitions: Humor from the Workplace from Joe Heuer, the Rock and Roll Guru. Just leave a 30-word comment on this post by June 29 to get an entry for a drawing.

It’s Poewar’s John Hewitt’s fault again (I promise I am not brown nosing him or nuthin’). He introduced me to Yvonne Russell through his March Madness thing, which you should what it is by now as I’ve mentioned it too many times during this birthday celebration. Now you can see why I credit John with renewing my interest in blogging. A gal gets tired after eight years, y’know?

Enough about him! This should be about Yvonne. Her blog entries always spark wonderful discussions. Writers can’t complain about loneliness when they have blogs like hers for their water cooler visits. I know I do.

The Power of Story in the Digital Age

What is your story? Your personal story? Your business story?

Now that we have push button publishing, our personal and business stories are no longer confined to oral storytelling, wonderful though that medium is – or to faded photos in a box. We have the means to gather and share those stories – the stories of our families, our hopes, our businesses and our everyday lives. They can be captured like time capsules… a web of ever changing snapshots preserved forever.

They spin around the ethernet, ready to be plucked off the virtual shelf by an interested passerby or a friend. It’s a pretty empowering thought that our stories and the stories of others in this digital age are ready and waiting like a virtual treasure chest of event markers, memories and perspectives for our children or grandchildren and beyond.

We can add color, nuances and an extra dimension of connectivity through words – spoken and written. We can add photos, video, audio and lifestreams. In an inspiring video, Jonathan Harris talks of looking up at the night sky and remembering the ancient Greek stories of the constellations. He ponders what the constellations would look like if we could remake our own modern day versions today. And what would their stories be?

Harris is working on two exciting projects. We Feel Fine maps the world’s emotions. Every day computers scan up to 20 000 sentences using the word “feel”. Never mind six degrees of separation. This is a sense of one to one connectivity. Universe maps world events and people – again a very powerful demonstration of the interactivity and essence of story. Everyone has a story and everyone’s story impacts on the world’s storyweb.

I’m excited to see what the future holds in providing new ways to share our personal and business stories. Recently, while travelling in outback Australia, I met a bookseller who had clients all around the world thanks to the wonders of the internet. She not only had clients, but these clients had become friends. She remarked “Aren’t we lucky to be living at a time like this?” I readily agreed.

About the Author: Yvonne Russell is a freelance writer, editor and professional blogger. She blogs at Home Biz Notes, YouCanSubmit, and Small Biz Mentor. Her personal blog is Grow Your Writing Business.

The winner of one full copy of Spinword PC game from Joyboost from the How to Become a Freelance Writer entry is Karen Swim! Congratulations again, Karen. It’s possible to win more than once in the blog entry prizes.

This entry’s prizes are a book by Tara Calishain and AWAI’s Accelerated Six Figure Copywriting program (excellent — I have it… but never had time to finish it). Just leave a 30-word comment on this post by June 21 to get an entry for a drawing.

I was going to call this “Telling the Violent Truths of the Writing Life,” but Freelance Folder already has dibs on “violent.” Just joking — that’s the name of guest blogger Bob Younce’s excellent series over there.

I met Bob through Poewar. Obviously, John Hewitt of Poewar connected me with a lot of new writer friends. Thank you, John. It only took me a second to consider him a friend. His articles on writing and freelancing — whether on his site or elsewhere — provide a lot of value.

Telling the Hard Truths of the Writing Life

It’s easy, if you listen to one element of the Internet writing community, to think that freelance writing consists entirely of days on the beach sipping margaritas and writing for half an hour on your laptop. For anyone who’s been writing for more than a few weeks, though, you know it just isn’t true. Anyone who tells you that it’s possible to make a living in minutes a day is selling something.

Not that selling is bad, mind you; in fact, writers have to do it in order to be successful. But these folks are selling a false idea. In this life, you reap what you sow, plain and simple.

These folks prey on unsuspecting new moms, for example, that want to work from home. They prey on guys tired of their cubicle careers who are looking for a way out. They look for a felt need and offer a fake solution.

At the same time, there are folks on the opposite end of the spectrum. There’s me, for example. If you’ve read much of my writing at all, you know I constantly promote the idea of hard work and, sometimes, long hours. I have probably turned more people away from a writing career than I have recruited, in my time.

I like to think that the realist approach is a good thing, and that it helps folks considering the writing life to count the cost before they get into something they’re not willing to follow through on.

Maybe I’m just trying to keep away the competition. I don’t think that’s it, though.

Here’s the danger that I constantly find myself in, though. I want to be able to encourage writers. I want to cheer them on. I want them to see the same kind of success I’ve had, and the same kind of success Meryl has had right here.

So, those of us honest folk in the Internet writing community wind up saying something like this:

“Freelance writing is hard work. You can make an honest living doing it, and there’s no better life. But you’ve got to work hard and you’ve got to have your wits about you.”

On occasion, I think it’s worth talking about all of the good things in the writing life. I think it’s worth celebrating a success or two, both our own and others’ successes.

Like Meryl, here. She’s been plugging away at this site for the better part of a decade. My goofy little blog has been on the map since February; Meryl’s been here for 8 Februarys.

That says something, folks. It says something about character. It says something about tenacity. It says something about dedication. It’s these characteristics that you’ve got to have to make it as a writer.

So, I celebrate with Meryl. I thank her for her inspiring example. I take a moment away from telling the hard truths of the writing life to tell a pleasant one:

Writing success is possible. Look at Meryl, and at others who have done it. Dream your dream, and dream it big. You can get there, no matter what challenges you face. Stick with it. Be dedicated. And remember: you’re standing on the shoulders of giants.

Thanks, Meryl. Enjoy your vacation, and come back soon.

About the author: Bob Younce is a full-time Internet writer and writing mentor living in Linwood, Michigan. He is dedicated to helping Internet writers to achieve their dreams. Visit Bob at The Writing Journey or follow him on Twitter.

The winners of two full copies of Big Kahuna Reef 2: one for Macs (!) and one for PCs from the Do You Own Your Web Site post as selected by Random.org are…

{eDrum roll}

Travis Vocino for the Mac copy

Paige Eissinger for the Win copy

Congratulations! On with the celebration!

This entry’s prize is one full copy of Spinword PC game from Joyboost. Just leave a 30-word comment on this post by June 16 to get an entry for a drawing

I’ve been reading Anne Wayman’s stuff for a long time beginning with her About.com page for writers. Then, I followed her to The Golden Pencil and About Freelance Writing. I don’t know how she finds energy to manage two sites, do her regular writing work, post at least 40 writing gigs every couple of days, and provide sage advice about writing. Whatever she does, I thank her for helping writers.

How to Become a Freelance Writer

People seem fascinated that I earn my living as a freelance writer. They are surprised I don’t write fiction, and often confused when I tell them most of my income comes from ghostwriting. I suspect the picture most people have of freelance writers is someone huddled in a garret (do we have garrets any more?) struggling all night to get some deep fiction down on paper in hopes of a great (name your country) novel.

It’s a lovely fantasy, and so far from my own reality it’s almost laughable. Maybe my story will give you some hints about how to carve out a freelance writing career for yourself.

The family story is I started talking about writing way back in the 6th grade. I don’t remember that, but I do remember the 7th grade typing (yes, typewriters, manual typewriters) class that allowed me to write for the high school newspaper. It was also in high school that I started sneaking off to buy the magazine, Writer’s Market.

It wasn’t until my early thirties that I dared submit something – two articles, one each to Family Circle and Woman’s Day. Both were rejected, as they should have been, but I learned that I could survive rejection. In fact, I posted those two slips to my bedroom wall with pride.

I’d also discovered that while I’m a darn good worker, I’m a lousy employee. I hate the structure and the interruptions and all the office politics. I want to get my work done and go home. So I kept writing and submitting and trying different jobs. I finally landed a freelance job as a tech writer. I hadn’t done any tech writing, but by this time I did have a computer (an Apple II+ with a CP/M card, WordStar, and two single-sided drives!) and convinced someone I could explain how to hook up and use a computer. I did, and parlayed that into a staff tech writing job.

During the tech writing gig, I gathered together three others and we began to write third party software manuals. I also submitted my first piece to Hazelden, the drug and alcohol recovery publisher, and it was accepted! I can remember sitting at my desk hardly breathing.

I’d love to tell you my freelancing was profitable from then on. It wasn’t. A lot of that had to do with personal issues of self-worth, which is why I’m always telling my readers to consider charging more. But even though my view of myself was shaky at best, I kept writing and I kept telling people I was a writer. I stumbled into my first ghostwriting job — I said “yes,” rather than the truth which might have been something like, “I don’t know how, but let’s try it,” and it worked. I was referred to my second ghostwriting job.

I began to write for what’s now About.com and eventually figured out how much to charge for ghostwriting. (A lot!) I blog because it helps me find clients. I qualify my clients carefully and generally now make a pretty fine living.

There are three secrets to a successful writing career:

1. Write
2. Rewrite
3. Market

It really is that simple – not easy, but simple. Go for it if it’s something you want. I give away a free booklet that goes into a few more details at www.aboutfreelancewriting.com and talk about freelance writing almost every day at www.thegoldenpencil.com.

About the author: Anne Wayman is a freelance writer, grandmother, cat lover and gardener. Her websites and blogs are at: www.thegoldenpencil.com, www.writingwithvision.com, www.aboutfreelancewriting.com, and www.powerfullyrecovered.com.

• Add Spark to Your Writing with These 3 Simple Tweaks: I shy away from sentences where I use repeating words even though a comma separates them. This convinced me otherwise.
• So You Want to Become a Freelance Writer? Four part article with advice from the pros.
• Best Pro-Blogging Sentence in 2008: Wonderful quote from a CEO on why blogging matters in business.
• Disposable Email Addresses: Want something? Not sure if you can trust a source asking for your email?
• The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks: Love this. I’ve got friends who do this in email plus add unnecessary apostrophes. Nice to laugh instead of cringe for a change.
• Idea Seeds for Successful Articles and Posts: Creative approach to finding ideas.
• Searching for Mr. (Pardon, Mrs. and Ms., too) Good Host: A guest post of mine over at my guest blogger’s site

And for fun… because we’re allowed…

• Speak LOL Cat [Link: Peter Shankman]
• Bored at work, but don’t want to get caught reading fiction or poetry? How about reading this stuff in PowerPoint? This takes work to figure out — but you log in as a user and click the folders. Start Here.

I had planned on putting this list up ages ago, but kept adding more. It could take a long time to capture many resources, so this is a living entry that I’ll update as soon as I get new resources.

Blogs

1. About Freelance Writing
2. All Freelance Writing
3. Be the Story
4. The Blood-Red Pencil
5. Bob Bly
6. Book Marketing Bestsellers
7. The Book Sistah
8. C. Hope Clark
9. CatalystBlogger
10. Confident Writing
11. Copyblogger
12. The Copywriter Underground
13. The Copywriting Maven
14. Copywriting That Sells High Tech
15. Crime Fiction Dossier
16. Daily Writing Tips
17. Diary of a Wordsmith
18. Evil Editor
19. Freelance Parent
20. Freelance Writing
21. Freelance Writing Jobs
22. Get Paid to Write Online
23. Grow Your Writing Business
24. How Not to Write
25. I’d Rather Be Writing
26. Inkwell Editorial
27. Jane in Progress
28. Joel Falconer
29. Joe Wikert’s Publishing 2020 Blog
30. JohnAugust.com
31. PoeWar
32. Macabre Ink
33. Mad Young Thing
34. Men with Pens
35. Mike’s Writing Workshop
36. Newbie’s Guide to Publishing
37. Paul Conley on trade journalism
38. Poewar List of Bloggers Writers Should Read
39. Publishing Careers
40. Problogger
41. Robust Writing
42. Quiet Rebel Writer
43. Quips and Tips for Freelance Writers
44. The Renegade Writer
45. Remarkable Communication
46. Rogue Ink
47. Sites and Soundbytes: Library blog that began as a list of cool places online now features many resources and online references that would prove useful to writers.
48. StoneWriter
49. Storytellers Unplugged
50. The Struggling Writer
51. Tumblemoose
52. Urban Muse
53. The Wealthy Freelancer
54. The Web-Savvy Writer
55. Web Writing Info
56. The Well-Fed Writer
57. WOW! Women on Writing
58. Words for Hire
59. Words on the Water
60. Word Sell Blog
61. Write from Home
62. Writer Beware
63. Writer Dad
64. Writer Mama
65. Writer’s Digest Writing Blogs
66. A Writer’s Words, an Editor’s Eye
67. Writer’s Helper
68. Writer’s Notes
69. Write to Done
70. Write Well Me
71. The Writing Journey
72. The Writing Life
73. Writing on the Web
74. Writing White Papers Blog
75. Written Road

Resources

1. 100 posts and articles worth link love: Great selection of articles and content related to writing, business, blogging, and freelancing.
2. 150 Writing Resources: Organized by categories.
3. 1000 Keyboards: Community where writers share, critique and discuss.
4. A to Z of Alternative Words [pdf file]: Why “utilize” when a simple “use” will do?
5. AbiWord: Open source Word
6. About Freelance Writing: Job postings, articles, and more.
7. AbsoluteWrite: The first place I recommend to wanna be writers. Of course, it’s great for experienced writers.
8. Alex Catalogue of Electronic Texts: Collection of about 14,000 “classic” public domain documents from American and English literature as well as Western philosophy.
9. American vs. British Grammar: Differences go beyond color vs. colour, optimize vs. optimise.
10. Authors of Historical Fiction resource
11. Bartleby: Resource has been around for a long-time that contains reference and verses for writers, researchers, and the “intellectually curious.”
12. CARRIE: Internet’s first full-text online electronic library.
13. Community Mottos and Nicknames. Great info for stories and inspiration for names.
14. Confusing Words: Over 3000 troublesome words.
15. Digital Library of the Commons: An archive of full-text articles, papers, and dissertations; the Comprehensive Bibliography of the Commons; a Keyword Thesaurus, and links to relevant reference sources on the study of the commons.
16. Disability Writes: Site to help people with disabilities overcome barriers in getting support and encouragement to write.
17. e-write: newsletter, courses, articles, tools, resources, challenge.
18. Etymology: Study of word origins.
19. For Copywriters Only: Articles and newsletter.
20. The Free Dictionary: Dictionary, encyclopeida, thesaurus, and more. Huge resource.
21. Freelance Folder: More about the business of freelancing, but writers benefit greatly.
22. Freelance Writing Success: Articles and resources.
23. FundsForWriters: Articles, newsletters, and more.
24. Fun with Words: Wordplay
25. Google Book Search: Access thousands of books based on your keywords. How much you get depends on the book and its copyright.
26. Guide to Grammar and Writing: Guidelines and resources for writing proposals.
27. Little Known Online Research Sites: List of online research sites and apps.
28. Long Story Short: Ezine with book reviews, excerpts, interviews, articles, poetry, writing school.
29. Luciferous Logolepsy: Collection of obscure English words.
30. Manuscript Analyzer can help dump those trouble words and phrases. It looks for frequently-used words and “identify junk phrases, ‘frequent offender’ word patterns, and adverbs.”
31. NewsTrust.net: Discover good journalism based on quality not popularity.
32. OnceWritten.com: Introduces new fiction writers, contains a community, and provides resources for contests and marketing.
33. ParaPublishing: Newsletter and resources.
34. Phrase Finder: “Search beginnings and endings of phrases.”
35. Publication Coach Newsletter: Power Writing newsletter provides quick tips.
36. Publishing Central: Find articles from around the Web on just about every topic related to publishing.
37. The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL): Superb resources covering writing, research, grammar, and MLA and APA style.
38. ResearchCopyright.com: Learn about copyright law in simple language.
39. Research Guides from New York Public Library: New York Public Library research guides in alphabetical order by topic.’
40. That What Paper Guy: Articles, FAQ, and other great white paper writing resources from Gordon Graham.
41. The Ultimate Writing Productivity Resources: Top ten lists for free apps, online apps, bookmarks, communities.
42. Visuwords: Online graphical dictionary.
43. The Well-Fed Writer: Site behind the books of the same name. Sign up for the free newsletter.
44. Writing for Dollars: Articles and newsletter
45. WhitePaperSource: Excellent resource for white paper writers.
46. Worldwide Freelance Writer: Markets, newsletter, and articles.
47. Writing White Papers: Everything white papers including a community, blog, links, and newsletter.
48. WritingSpirit.com: Resources, strategies and support for writers.

Tools

1. About Writing Tools: Best writing tools on the Web.
2. Abbreviations: Search and browse abbreviations.
3. Anagram Genius
4. Charteous: Track Amazon sales ranks — especially for books.
5. Cliche Finder: Identify and kill cliches.
6. ClicheSite: Cliches, euphemesms, and figures of speech.
7. Chris Pound’s Name Generation Page: Includes fantasie, parodies, and more links.
8. The Editorium Freebies: Tools and templates for Microsoft Word.
9. The Free Dictionary: Includes English, Medical, Legal, Financial, and Computer Dictionaries, Thesaurus, Acronyms, Idioms, Encyclopedia, and a Literature Reference Library.
10. Freelance Switch Hourly Rate Calculator: How much should you make an hour? Complete this form to find out.
11. Global Acronyms: Search for acronyms.
12. Good Keywords: Find the right keywords.
13. Google Docs: Online-based word processor
14. Instant Anagrams
15. Instant Rhymes
16. Microsoft Word Shortcuts: Exactly as it sounds.
17. The Naque: Tools for coming up with names.
18. NetLingo: Online text and jargon.
19. The Passivator: Eliminate passive phrases.
20. Phrase Finder: Find phrases and their meanings.
21. Reference.com: Dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopedia, reference material Wikipedia and Lexico’s On This Day.
22. Rhymezone: Tool for finding words that rhyme. Also includes other resources such as Shakespeare, quizzes, quotations, Mother Goose, and famous documents.
23. Scrivener Gold: Helps writers organize projects — for Macs. Apple Matters review gives it a rating of 9 out of 10. Scrivener requires a Mac running OS X 10.4 (Tiger).
24. Seventh Sanctum: Name generators (look on the left).
25. Text Block Writer: A virtual index card program.
26. ThinkFree Office: Free “Office” application.
27. Tools for Creating Ideas: Nice list of ideas of what you can do to brainstorm and come up with new things.
28. U.S. Newspapers: Find Web sites for US newspapers.
29. VocabTest.com: Boost your word power.
30. Wordsmith: Love the site’s anagram server. Also has A Word a Day, Wordsmith Chat, Wordserver and more.
31. World Newspapers, Magazines, and New Sites in English: Nice resource that sorts resources by categories.
32. WordWeb: Thesaurus and dictionary accessed with one click.
33. Zoho Writer and other apps

Updated: 17 April 2009 (100+ resources)

• Eliminate Common Writing Mistakes
• imbee: social network for 8-14 year olds
• 100 Websites You Should Know and Use
• 131 Productivity Boosters for Email, Instant Messaging, Word, Excel, and More
• Rico Clusters: Mind-mapping alternative
• Animoto: An easy way to create videos [Thanks, Steve]
• 10 Great Ways to Show You’re Grateful
• Dealing With Professional Burnout Without Quitting Your Job: Happy or not, we all run into burnout from doing the same thing for so long. Of course, blog burnout is something different… with blogs, if you take a break… you also risk losing a lot of readers as it’s a big blog world out there.

[View larger image]

I asked friends and colleagues a question regarding a book topic. Quite a few people told me to write what I want to write about. But I want to provide something people need, not satisfy a personal desire.

In the October 2007 of Sam Horn’s “Take Action” Newsletter, best-selling author Scott Turow (Presumed Innocent and Burden of Proof) shared a lesson he learned:

… an attendee asked, “What’s been your biggest lesson as a writer?”

Turow thought about it for a moment and then smiled and said, “I once spent 6 months writing a book that was centered around a legal precedent called the ‘Law of Inhabitability.’

“I turned my finished manuscript into my editor who got back to me a week later with some bad news, ‘Scott, you may think this topic is fascinating – but nobody else does.’”

Argghh. Scott had to scrap the project because he had violated the cardinal rule of writing and speaking, “We may care about a topic, but the more important question is will our audience care about the topic?”

This isn’t suggesting that you shouldn’t write about a topic that fascinates you. Do it. Maybe you’ll find a market. Maybe you won’t. Just be prepared for a long road in finding an interested publisher and don’t expect it to sell many copies.

I’m interested in many things, but would much rather write a book that inspires, informs, or both. Scott Turow and Sam Horn continue:

Over the years, many people have consulted with me to craft a presentation or develop a book. One of the first questions I ask is, “Why are you writing or speaking on this subject?”

Reasons frequently given range from “I want to:

• Leave a legacy
• Make a lot of money
• Establish myself as a nationally-known topic expert
• Catapult my visibility and media coverage
• Drive consulting business and attract clients

These are all decent reasons. But they’re not enough.

The more important question is, “Why will people find your information and approach interesting, useful, and worth their valuable time, attention, and money?”

Will your material:

• Save them time or make them money?
• Motivate them or inspire them to take action on a priority progect or goal?
• Prevent trial-and-terror learning and provide a short cut to success and better results?
• Connect them with people experiencing the same challenge so they know they’re not alone?
• Teach them how to acquire a needed skill?
• Point out how they’re doing something wrong and show them how to prevent it, change it or improve it?
• Expand their horizons and give them experiences they’d never have otherwise?

All of the above are valid reasons for writing and speaking on a topic because they focus on how your audiences and readers will benefit, not just you.

Clarify up front why your information will serve people and keep that in mind as you produce pages or present ideas. Your intent to serve will be self-evident and people will care about what you’re saying and feel connected to you because they’ll sense this is not an exercise in ego.

We must admit that having a book in your portfolio impresses people and can help your business. But the key reason should be to provide value to the reader.