Writer's Notes - By Jeanne Dininni

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Posted By: Jeanne Dininni - Category: Recommended Reading, Community Connections, Meeting of Minds

Submissions Sought for "Wisdom of Our Mothers" Anthology

October 26th 2008 21:41

Familia Books Launches Book Project

Famila Books is seeking submissions of up to 3,000 words for its upcoming anthology, tentatively titled "Wisdom of Our Mothers," which is slated for publication in late January, 2009. Tentative submission deadline is November 30, 2008.

According to Familia.com's Introduction page,

This website's aim is to gather stories about what we have learned from our mothers, how we feel about it, and how it affects the way we live our lives.

Further details on precisely the kind of work they're looking for are also included in their Introduction, as well as on their Send Stories and FAQs pages.

Purpose of Project

The "Wisdom of Our Mothers" project not only offers decent compensation to writers (more on this below), but is also intended to benefit victims of domestic violence. The site's Intro page states the following:

50% of the book's profits will be donated to shelters for mothers and their children escaping from abusive relationships.

Compensation Options and Amounts

Authors will be paid a minimum of $100 per story accepted for publication in "Wisdom of Our Mothers," though, in lieu of payment, a writer may opt to donate his or her compensation in full to a domestic violence shelter. Other payment options include the following:

$200 payment, made one year after publication, or

Share of profits earned by the book during its first two years of publication, maximum $500, minimum $100 (details and payment schedule may be found on FAQs page)

Sample Stories

Sample Stories are available on the website, to give you a better idea of the kind of stories they're looking for. These stories provide the perfect opportunity for you to see firsthand what elements the pieces they favor contain. This will help you incorporate those same elements into your own work to give it a better chance of acceptance.

Table of Contents

You'll also find a link to the book's Table of Contents on the Sample Stories page. This will allow you to look over each chapter title and theme and may spark ideas on a specific focus for your story.

Best of luck on your submission!
Jeanne

Did you enjoy this post? What are your thoughts on this project? Are you more likely to submit because of the benefit element of the project? Or would you submit a story anyway? What do you think of Familia's numerous payment options? Which sound good to you? Does this writing project seem to be one that would bring you a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment? How so? Do you think you'll submit?

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Posted By: Jeanne Dininni - Category: Writers' Resources, Multiple Markets

LinkedIn: A Great Place for Writers to Network

October 25th 2008 06:23

I've Finally Made the Leap to LinkedIn!

I've recently joined LinkedIn, the popular website where entrepreneurs and employees of virtually every type of business can connect with one another to further their business objectives. Perhaps you're already a member. I myself have been a little late acquiring a LinkedIn account, and I'm only just beginning to catch up with many of my fellow entrepreneurs and other businesspeople who've been using the service to highlight their products and services for some time. After being invited to join by two different businesspeople I know, I finally decided to sign up and see what it was all about.

LinkedIn Networking

We always hear that networking is the best way to make valuable contacts in the business world that can pay off either in the present or somewhere down the line. Yet, we don't always take this very seriously. Perhaps we feel that extensive networking is simply too much trouble, too complicated. Yet, the Internet--and, in particular, LinkedIn--makes networking with businesspeople from across town, across the country, or across the planet an absolute breeze.

LinkedIn Profiles and Recommendations

Once you've set up your LinkedIn profile, which includes much of the information you might put on a resume--and more--you may go on to connect with business people with whom you now have or have in the past had working relationships. You'll have the opportunity to write recommendations for those present or former business associates, colleagues, or fellow employees that you think highly of--and, if they are so inclined, they may do the same for you, which can greatly increase your credibility and influence in your niche or genre.

There are so many bloggers and others that I highly respect and whom I'm looking forward to recommending at LinkedIn that it will likely take me some time to get all my recommendations written--but I'll manage it eventually! You'll likely have many trusted associates you'll want to recommend, as well. But, if you take it one step at a time, everything will go fine. You'll get there eventually, just as I will.

Expanding Your LinkedIn Network

You'll be able to invite your business associates and friends to join your LinkedIn network and, through them, you'll also enjoy the possibility of being introduced to their connections--thus expanding your reach on LinkedIn still further by forging new business relationships, adding your new colleagues to your network, and joining theirs.

There's Much to Discover at LinkedIn

There's much more to LinkedIn than I've covered in this post--so much, in fact, that I'm still discovering a great deal about the site, myself. If you haven't visited LinkedIn yet, check it out. Visit my LinkedIn profile if you'd like, and then do a bit of exploring. There's a lot going on at LinkedIn, and wandering around the site a bit will give you a better idea of its many features.

Get Linked at LinkedIn

Who knows, once you've discovered all that LinkedIn has to offer you and your writing business, you may just wish you'd joined sooner. If you do decide to join, be sure to drop by my page and invite me to join your network. I'd be happy to connect with you on LinkedIn!

Hope to see you there!
Jeanne

Did you enjoy this post? Have anything to add? Have you joined LinkedIn? If so, what do you think of it? Have you been a member long? Perhaps you're totally new to LinkedIn, as I am. If you've visited the site, what are your thoughts about it? Do you think you'll join? What do you feel LinkedIn has to offer its members? Why do you think it's so popular? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

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Posted By: Jeanne Dininni - Category: Writers' Resources, Sensational Sites, Community Connections

Guide to Polished Writing - Pursue the Goal, Phase 1: Complete Your Research

October 14th 2008 21:40

Note: This post presents Part 5 of my Guide to Polished Writing series. For more thorough coverage of the topic, please consider reading Parts 1 through 4, as well. Youâ€™ll find them in my Writerâ€™s Notesâ€™ Pillar Posts list under â€œWriting: The Craft.â€ (My apologies for the long gap between the last post in the series and this one! So many factors conspired against its completion!)

Pursue the Goal

Once the preliminaries of developing your plan, organizing, and creating your structure are out of the way, you can get down to the actual business of fleshing out your framework through research and beginning to create your written work.

Phase 1: Complete Your Research

Research Requirements Vary By Project

Depending on the type of writing youâ€™re working on, you may require a great deal of research, very little, or possibly none. Every writing project is different. Often, non-fiction will call for the most comprehensive researchâ€”though this is by no means always true. It really depends on the depth and complexity of your topic, as well as the degree of your own expertise in your subject matter.

Quite often, fiction will also require a significant amount of research, as the writer seeks to present believable characters, settings, situations, and action. As one might expect, historical fiction demands particular diligence in research, as the author recreates both the realistic surroundings and accurate events of another time, skillfully weaving them together with the storyâ€™s plot to create a historically integrated tale.

Poetry, on the other hand, might require no research at allâ€”unless it, too, is historical or you decide to study its various forms and elements before crafting your poem. You may also choose to research the works of other skillful poets, either famous or more obscure, before you write to see whatâ€™s been done before, thereby enriching your creative perspective and acquiring a more comprehensive literary or cultural context for your poem.

Research Is an Ongoing Process

In this guide, Iâ€™ve placed research after planning, with the assumption that youâ€™ll actually be researching more or less continuously (as necessary) while you develop and organize your writing plan. Many would place research much earlier in the writing process, since a certain amount of preliminary research is needed in order to even begin to plan a written work. Yet, knowing that research is largely an intuitive process best engaged in when specific information is needed, and trusting the writer to consult appropriate sources whenever the need arises, Iâ€™ve chosen to emphasize research during this late stage of the process, at which time youâ€™ll begin pulling together your ongoing research before beginning to write and completing it only during the writing stage.

Youâ€™ll likely find it helpful to fill in as many of your informational blanks as possible before you begin your actual writing, putting the final touches on your research only as needed during the writing process, by investigating the finer points of your topic as you write.

The Study Guides and Strategies website places research much earlier in the writing process than I have in this series. However, I trust you, as the creator of your written work, to recognize when and what specific research you require to give your piece form, substance, accuracy, and credibility. The foregoing website presents a number of helpful resources for completing your research, planning and organizing your pieceâ€”resources which you can use no matter when you choose to complete that research.

To your writing success,
Jeanne

Stay tuned for the next installment of this series: "Pursue the Goal, Phase 2: Write Your Piece."

Did you enjoy this post? Have any thoughts to share about research? Do you follow a specific plan when completing your research, or do you "go with the flow," completing research as needed and as the spirit moves? Or does it vary with the project? Have you found many--or any--differences in your research habits based on the type of writing you're doing? Or, are you fortunate enough to know so much about a topic (or niche) that you can write about it with little or no research? We'd love to hear your thoughts!

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Posted By: Jeanne Dininni - Category: Writers' Resources, Content Crafting, Timeless Techniques

Google PR Still in Flux?

October 6th 2008 23:59

My Blog's PR Still Seems to Be Fluctuating

I recently reported that my Google page rank went from PR 3 to PR 2--a sure sign that a Google Update was in progress at the time. Well, earlier today, I logged in at Writer's Notes and discovered that my PR widget was once again reporting PR 3--and is in fact still reporting PR 3, as of this writing.

Time to Do a Bit of Investigating

The question then became, "Is Google still in the middle of updating/changing some websites' PRs?" In other words, are our sites' PRs still in a state of flux? Well, to be honest, I'm not entirely certain, though I will venture a tentative "yes." I am, after all, finding some indication that certain data centers are now reporting PR 3 for Writer's Notes. And while these sites are definitely in the minority--with most still reporting PR 2, many not reporting anything at all, and some even reporting PR 0--I have the distinct feeling that something is up.

Is This Seeming PR Increase Simply My Prior PR Resurfacing?

I could be wrong, of course. After all, one would expect that perhaps some data centers might be lagging behind in changing my prior PR3 to its newly lowered PR 2--and that would be a reasonable explanation for why some are currently reporting PR 3. This could in fact be the case, since I neglected to check a variety of data centers when my PR was first lowered to see whether some might have still been reporting my older page rank.

Still, the thing that causes me to question this bit of totally logical reasoning is the indisputable fact that my PR widget did register my initial drop in PR (from 3 to 2)--and now it's reporting a subsequent PR increase (back to 3). So I know that at least this one data center decreased and then subsequently increased my blog's PR--which makes it highly doubtful that the PR 3 it's reporting now could be my blog's old PR.

A Fascinating Phenomenon for Further Study

I'm planning to keep my eye on the situation to see what develops. I'll continue checking various data centers for further changes, and my guess would be that I'll find out fairly soon what's going on with Google. While I do realize that many don't regard PR as being extemely important, I find it quite fascinating to study the phenomenon!

What are your thoughts? Are you noticing any fluctuations in your own site's PR? What do you think is going on? Do you even care? Do you enjoy studying the phenomenon, as I do? Please feel free to share your thoughts with us in comments.

To your ever-increasing PR!
Jeanne

Update: I noticed yesterday, October 13th, that my PR has once again decreased to PR 2. So, apparently, the answer to my question of whether or not Google PR was still in flux when this post was written (not to mention days afterward) turns out to be a definite, but unfortunate yes. The folks at Google apparently have decided that their original decrease of my PR from 3 to 2, made earlier in the update, was the right move and have since reinstated it.

Did you enjoy this post? Have anything to add? Has your site's PR been fluctuating erratically lately, as mine has? If so, has it turned out to be higher or lower than it had been now that it's (likely) finished changing? What are your thoughts about this phenomenon of PR rankings that change two and three times during a single Google update?

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Posted By: Jeanne Dininni - Category: SEO Savvy, Curious Queries

Writer's Notes' Recognition for September '08 Comments

October 2nd 2008 19:30

September '08 Comment Recognition

I'm honored to once again recognize my valued readers who have left comments at Writer's Notes. To all the special people who have graced this little corner of the blogosphere with your wit and wisdom during the month of September, 2008, "Thank you!" You help to make this blog better! Special thanks, also, to those who commented here for the first time last month! You, too, are truly appreciated!

Thanks, Everyone!

I'm truly grateful for all your thoughtful, wise, inspiring, informative, and incisive comments! Thanks so much for taking the time to read and share your thoughts, experiences, and support at Writer's Notes! I really enjoy reading your insights, viewpoints, and perspectives! They add so much richness to my own experience! Thanks so much for making September another great month through your valuable input!

September '08 Commenters

The following is a list (in no particular order) of all the wonderful people who have left comments at Writer's Notes during September, 2008:

Brad Shorr, at Word Sell, Inc.

Lillie Ammann, at A Writer's Words, An Editor's Eye

pay blog review

Cheryl Wright, at Cheryl Wright Writes

Chris Champion, at Vyoos

Amy Derby, at Write From Home

Joanna Young, at Confident Writing

Sharon Hurley Hall, at Get Paid to Write Online

Laura Spencer, at Writing Thoughts

Wilson Pon, at TechnoStuffs

K-IntheHouse, at ShanKri-la

Melissa Donovan, at Writing Forward

Jean Wise, at Kindred Heart Writers

Karen Swim, at Words for Hire

James Chartrand, at Men With Pens

James Rickard, at Angling Fish

Dan C. Rinnert (aka, dcr) , at dcrBlogs

Jean Browman, at Cheerful Monk

Bobby Revell, at Revellian

Joel Ratner (aka, Zirdlander) , at Zirdland.com

Janet Collins, at The Social Critic

Katyzzz, at MS Paint Art

Anonymous commenters during September: 1

Comment left after midnight Australia time on 10/1, which was still 9/30 in the US:

Jarrah, at Back to the Eighties

I Truly Appreciate Your Comments!

Thank you so much, everyone, for making the Writer's Notes conversation so much richer during the past month by visiting and sharing your, insights, opinions, advice, and experiences with us! You add so much value to this blog, and for that, I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Many, many thanks,
Jeanne

P.S. If you've commented at Writer's Notes during September, and I've somehow managed to overlook you, please be sure to let me know. I do my best to keep track, but every so often I do slip up. I appreciate every single commenter, and I definitely want to give each of you the recognition you deserve!

Did you enjoy this post? Have anything to add...any insights to share? I'd love to hear your thoughts! After all, your comments are what these monthly recognition posts are all about!

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Posted By: Jeanne Dininni - Category: Community Connections, Meeting of Minds

SellBackYourBook.com: A Convenient Used Book Market

October 1st 2008 01:15

Books, Books Everywhere!

If you're anything like me, you've got quite a large collection of books--and that's putting it mildly! In fact, if you haven't taken stock lately, it's quite possible that you've got a much larger collection than you really need or even have enough room for. You may have writing books, textbooks, gardening books, health books, diet and nutrition books, fiction books--and all these in addition to the myriad reference books we writers would never be without.

If the above description sounds like you, you've probably noticed that your bookshelves are literally bulging with books. Or, perhaps you haven't noticed. After all, we writers are a busy lot, and it's easy for us to overlook a lot of what's going on in our environment while we're hard at work on that article, story, blog post, or chapter. Yet, it's quite possible that, while you've been busy working, your books have begun overflowing their shelves onto every convenient surface and into every available nook and cranny in your home or office, and you've simply been too busy to notice.

Now Is a Great Time to Take Stock of Your Book Collection

What better time could there be than now to pause, take stock, and consider selling some of the books you no longer need? Though parting with our beloved books can sometimes be tough, we can always benefit from cutting down on the clutter in our workspaces--as long as we make sure we hold on to those books that we really want or need. And if we can pick up a few bucks for the books we no longer need, we reap a double benefit.

SellBackYourBook.com Makes Selling Your Books Easy

Sell Back Your Book is a U.S. website that offers instant price quotes for your books. All you'll need to do to get a price quote is enter each book's ISBN into the proper field. (Books must be in good condition, as described on the site's FAQ page, for the price quote to be valid; quotes are good for 10 days.) The company covers 100% of shipping charges on purchases over $10 and 50% on purchases under $10. It also provides a free, pre-paid shipping label, which you can print out and use to avoid paying up-front shipping charges, meaning you won't be required to wait for reimbursement later. Payment for your books is made by either PayPal or check.

Sell TextBooks and More Online at Sell Back Your Book

College or homeschool textbooks, along with many other types of books, can be sold through the Sell Back Your Books website. And while the amount offered for each book is generally modest (my offers ranged from $1.70 to $8.50, with the vast majority falling somewhere in the middle of that range), you'll be able to pick up a little money for a box of books, while clearing out your living space for you and your family. I've managed to collect a batch of books for which they're willing to pay me about $50--which I don't consider to be bad at all for a stack of books I might have gotten rid of for nothing.

If you don't mind packing up your books, taking them to the post office to ship them, and waiting until the company receives them before you receive your money, this might be a great way for you to pick up a little extra cash for something you have lying around the house anyway which you aren't even using.

Happy de-cluttering!
Jeanne

Did you enjoy this post? Have any thoughts to share about keeping/selling/giving away used books? Do you have a large number of books that are causing your bookshelves to burst at the seams? Or are you good about getting rid of old books before buying too many new ones? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

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Posted By: Jeanne Dininni - Category: Intriguing Ideas, Paid Posts