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Writer's Notes - By Jeanne Dininni

 
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Writer's Notes - February 2011



Hero World Media Blogging Gig

Came across this direct-contact blogging job working for Hero World Media on the ProBlogger Job Board today. Thought it might interest some of you more business-oriented bloggers:


The Gig

Online Marketing and Business Bloggers Needed

Description

We are looking for some positive and enthusiastic bloggers / entrepreneurs to write for our site which is a how-to guide for building a successful online business, achieving your goals and changing the world.

The articles on our site are on the longer side 800 words and should be similar in quality to How to Create Your First iPhone Application (not our site, just an example, and we will handle all of the images etc..)

Job Requirements:

1. Must be very passionate about online marketing, business and the internet in general.

2. Must live in the USA or Canada

3. Must be able to write 3 -5 800 word articles per week.

How to apply

To apply please email kevin(at)heroworldmedia.com with examples of your previous work and your price for an 800 word article.


You'll have to contact the advertiser to find out how much this gig pays. It looks like a job that will require quite a bit of research and work, as well as consistent production of moderately lengthy content on a regular basis. If this is your niche, though, and you don't mind diving right in and producing consistently authoritative and in-depth posts three to five days a week, this may just be the gig for you!


Good luck!
Jeanne



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Got Cell-Phone Clutter?

Writers, like practically everyone else in today’s world, depend on their cell phones to do many things. Depending on how busy we are, how much wear and tear our phones get, and how many features we may need as our businesses grow, we usually find ourselves deciding to upgrade – or just replace – our hard-working cell phones eventually.

If you’re anything like me, when you do decide to buy a new cell phone, you end up with not just one, but two cell phones – one in almost-constant use and the other lying around the house taking up space and creating clutter. Some people recycle their old cell phones. Others donate them to organizations that send them to soldiers overseas or give them to needy people at home. And I certainly wouldn’t want to imply that these aren’t good ways of disposing of a cell phone we no longer use.


Mini Cash-Flow Fix

But, those of us who have a cell phone or two lying around the house gathering dust, while we sit here waiting for the next freelance writing check to come in, sometimes need to look for creative ways to bring in a few extra bucks. One way we can do that is by selling that cell that’s sitting unused in a drawer. I know it’s only a temporary – and very small – fix to the freelancer’s frequent cash-flow problem, but it could just help a little while also encouraging us to get rid of an item we no longer need.

I have to admit that the option of selling my old cell phone has never really seemed worth the trouble to me (which is one reason I ended up giving my last one away). But, hearing about the sell cell phone site, a price-comparison website that makes it easy to find the best buy-back deal for a used cell phone, makes it seem as if it might just pay off -- even if in just a small way. I’m certainly under no grand illusions about the amount of money I can bring in this way (particularly with the conventional, low-tech cell phone models I buy). But, anything is better than nothing, and I think most people would do much better than I, since practically everyone owns a fancier model than I do.


Have a Look

While I’ve never actually used the service personally, it does appear to be pretty comprehensive. Here's a link to the site's How it Works page. Have a look. Maybe it will turn out to be worth your while. If not, all you've spent is a bit of your time. In fact, it won't even cost you anything to use the service. You'll also get free shipping from the company you decide to sell your phone to -- and apparently, even broken cell phones bring up to 90% of their value. Sounds like there isn't too much to lose.


Till next time,
Jeanne


This post sponsored by PayPerPost.



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A Solid Writing Opp for a Prestigious Website

I came across the following freelance writing opportunity on several different job boards today and wanted to share it with you for several reasons:

1. It's not your average, run-of-the-mill writing opp. It's interesting and different.

2. If this type of writing interests you (or you happen to be especially good at it), you can earn quite a decent return for your efforts.

3. You'll be writing for a prestigious university website, which can only enhance your writing portfolio.

4. Writing on this topic for this website will help you establish yourself as a credible authority on serious Internet-related topics.

5. This is a direct-contact job opportunity, rather than one that provides a Craigslist e-mail address or some such temporary contact info that often expires before you've even had a chance to inquire about the position.

6. It appears likely that a writer who is competent in writing about this topic will find ongoing work in this market.


The Gig

Stories and essays on Digital Ethics

The Center for Digital Ethics and Policy at Loyola University Chicago is looking for pieces on digital ethics. The length of the piece should be 1,000-2,000 words. The material must be original, not published in other forms or in other forums. We will pay $250 for a completed piece. Pieces will be published on the center’s web site, digitalethics.org.

To begin send a short pitch; including the topic, a brief outline of main points, and sources you will use, include also a paragraph on your background and experience. We will review the proposal and proceed from there.

Send your ideas to contact@digitalethics.org.


Good luck!
Jeanne



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Update: Just noticed that the link I posted to Pat Schneider's book on Questia was mysteriously transformed into a link that took one elsewhere on the Questia site. Tried posting another link, but apparently links at Questia must either be time-dependent or based on the number of visits the link receives: In other words, after a period of time, they expire. My apologies!

I've decided, instead to post a link to the Questia home page, where you'll be able to locate the book by typing or pasting the book's title into the search bar (in quotes) or by using the following category info: Under Subject Categories, click Education > Arts and Humanities Education (under Curriculum and Instruction) > Creative Writing > Writing Alone and With Others. Sorry for the convoluted way you'll have to access the book! That's entirely Questia's doing. I think you'll find it well worth the effort, though! Thanks for your patience!




A Wealth of Wisdom for Writers

In her book, Writing Alone and With Others (Oxford University Press, 2003), author and speaker Pat Schneider offers a great deal of wisdom to writers. The following are a few quotes that I hope will resonate with you, touching areas of fear or doubt, insecurity or confusion that you may be experiencing in your own writing journey. We all experience these moments of uncertainty now and then, whether we write professionally, share our musings with others for free, or pour our hearts and souls into written works intended for our eyes alone.


Sample the Book at Questia

You'll be able to read a generous sampling of pages from Schneider's book for free right on the Questia website, by visiting the following link: Questia and typing (or pasting) the book's title into the search bar (in quotes). (To search via Questia's categories, see my instructions in the Update at the beginning of this post.) You'll find a good selection of her words of wisdom for writers posted there, so that you can decide whether purchasing her book or e-book might prove worth your while. Even if you decide not to buy it (I'll be honest: I haven't bought it yet, though I'm considering doing so), at least you'll enjoy the benefit of the encouragement, inspiration, insight, and incredibly practical advice she offers in the excerpts available at Questia.


Where is the Book Available?

In case you'd like to purchase it, here are a few places the book is available (as of this writing):

Writer's Notes Writer's Resource Store (paperback)*

Amazon (paperback)

Amazon (Kindle edition)

Barnes & Noble (paperback)

Barnes & Noble (e-book)


The Quotes

Now, without further ado, a few sage Pat Schneider quotes that I hope you'll love as much as I do:

There are so many voices within us and outside us that discourage and undermine us, tempt us to abandon our own visions, our own voices, that a sense of duty, of 'ought and should' will not be sufficient to counter them. Each person must study him- or herself to understand the form that discipline needs to take. Surely the person who works well with a tight schedule of planned hours will want to work writing in the same way. The only way for me to lead a disciplined writing life, however, is to believe in myself as a writer and to love my work so much that nothing else—even 'those other commitments'—can take it away from me. (p.45)

Leading a disciplined writing life is not all about work. It is also about sleep. Entering and staying in the mysterious place where daydream meets night dream is important to the writing life. Our deepest writing, our genius, requires an engagement of the unconscious mind. (p.54)

I have come to understand, through my own writing and through working with other writers, that fear is a friend of the writer. Where there is fear, there is buried treasure. Something important lies hidden—something that matters—like the angel waiting in the stone that Michelangelo began to carve. (p.4)

The first step in becoming free of fear is to accept yourself as a writer. All writers deal with this problem. You are not alone. None of us creates ex nihilo (out of nothing). All writing involves self-revelation. Even if the actual facts of our lives are not revealed, we cannot escape the fact that writing reveals the ways our minds work. All writing is, at least, an auto-biography of the imagination. (p.11)

You are the landlord of your own soul. Let the words, the memories, the imaginings pour white-hot onto the page. You can decide later what they are, what they might become, and when it is time to show them to someone else. (p.13)

Whatever you do, don't stay in the never-never land of wanting and not doing. It will make your soul sick. If you want to write, claim for yourself what you need in order to learn, grow, practice. There is no other way to be an artist. (p.52)


Quotes Can Inspire Us to Achieve Our Dreams

Hopefully, this brief introduction to Pat Schneider's wise words will stir your writer's soul, planting a seed of passion that will compel you to develop your own unique voice, find your own special calling, niche, or purpose -- or further refine it until it truly expresses the essence of who you are as a writer, thinker, and person.

My hope is that these writing quotes will serve to spark your imagination, broadening your mind to new possibilities, inspiring new hope, and prompting extravagant dreams that you may never have even entertained before today -- bringing with them the firm belief that you are perfectly capable of achieving them!


May all your writing dreams come true!
Jeanne


*You'll also find a link to my Writer's Resource Store in my left sidebar.



What are your thoughts on the topics Pat Schneider discusses in the above quotes? Does any of her advice especially resonate with you? In what way?



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