Writing Forums

I recommend you take a look at this post by Sally Quiller. I must admit that I have not really joined writer forums, rather business forums as I prefer to frequent places where potential clients may hang out.

I know that some writers can be very bitchy and jealous of others' success. It can also seem easy to put other writers down because they are more successful, but what has made them more successful?

Could it be that they actually sat down and wrote that novel? Rewrote it several times? They've done the round of submitting it to agents and collected rejections that sit framed on the wall or lined a litter bin? They have worked hard to be published. Have you?

They have sent queries to magazines, contacted editors, written and rewritten articles. In short, they have got up off their backsides and done something about becoming a writer. They have written.

I look forward to the day when I can be so productive. Go Sally, and many others like you. Being published is not just the means to an end but can be a beginning to a beginning.

If you want to be published too, then never stop writing, never stop learning, always be generous to others and publication may one day come your way too.

Photo Credit: Pen and Paper by Mike (Inbet 1979)

Five Top Blogs to Help You with Your Writing Career

Here are my top five blogs that helped me when I was starting out on my writing career.

1. Anne Wayman About Freelance Writing

This is a superb blog which publishes jobs every day and offers some great articles on starting freelance writing to boot!

2. Copyblogger

The information on this website is truly staggering. To learn how to write great copy, then follow this blog and get involved in the great discussions following the posts.

3. Lis Sowerbutts Passive Income Online

Lis lives in Australia and tells it like it is! She has some great tips for making passive income and for using Hubpages as a way to make money.

4. Felicia Williams No Job for Mom

A feel-good blog about making passive income by writing online. Felicia leads by example and always has some interesting posts about the writing life.

5. Carol Tice Make a Living Writing

Carol is up and coming and very informative about how to approach editors and find writing jobs. She offers interesting discussions and has done a couple of webinars with Anne Wayman.

One more that I couldn't resist:

6. Ken Crawford - The Freelancer Today

Again fairly recent on my radar, but Ken's website offers all the information you need to know about setting up a website and making money from it. He also offers perspectives on writing for upfront income.

These are bloggers who are bookmarked and I go back regularly to read their new content.

Who are your favourite bloggers? Have you found any other really informative posts? Let me know.

Photo Credit: Photo on Flickr by 2careless

How Not to Apply for a Job

This blog has been up for three days and I'm already enjoying it. It's good to be separated from my business blog because I can discuss things that perhaps my clients might not want to read!

That's not as bad as it sounds - I promise not to badmouth anyone, but I will be a little more forthright.

Business is a little slow at the moment. One of my clients has gone offline and has given my big project a break, the other has recently offered just a short piece and no more. So what is a girl to do? All dressed up and no work to do!

I've been checking out some job boards and found a couple of jobs to apply for. Both were UK-based, but for the one, I had no experience and the other was WAY below my usual rates. It's a Friday afternoon, I fancied chucking my CV into the mix, but with very little hope of getting the job.

What would you do?

What did I do? I applied!

The first job I had no experience for. I tried to explain why I thought I could do the job as best as I could, but upon reflection, I doubt that I will be considered. My lack of experience disqualified me for the job.

Point number 1 Never apply for a job that you don't have some experience for. It's a waste of your time, the client's time and is unlikely to bear fruit. I really wanted to go for it: it's an area that I'd love to move into and I think I could do a good job or I wouldn't have applied for it. Unfortunately I doubt the client will agree. By the way I probably won't know for another week.

The second job was even worse! Not only did I apply for this job, quoting a rate above the client's stated rate, but I also stated that I would like to see them qualify the comment that they had made about the rates going up as time went on. I suggested that they put in a time frame for the rates to go up if they wanted to hire me.

Even I know that there are plenty of low cost writers out there. By applying for this post I dropped my usual rate just because I was looking for some regular work. Now, I regret it and await with interest to see if I will get a response. I don't think I will or if I do, it probably won't be polite!

So there you go: two ways not to apply for a job. I am going to continue to talk to past clients and email new prospects to try and bring more work in. I am also working on an Ebook to release on my business site some time soon.

What would you do? What have you done? Is work plentiful right now, or like me did you leave a gap in your marketing causing a fall-off in work?

Leave your (helpful) advice in the comments below.

Photo Credit: Found on Flickr and taken by _StaR DusT_