Monday, March 7, 2011
Moving day!
Jennifer Gets Bloggy is moving! You can now find it on my newly redesigned website at http://www.authorjennwalker.com/blog.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Elements of the Soul on tour!
Two of my short stories, The Fire and The Assignment, were published in the anthology Elements of the Soul from Twin Trinity Media. Now, the book is going on tour with Walker Author Tours! Check out the tour page for dates so you can read reviews and author interviews.Purchase a copy today--it's a great collection!
Friday, January 28, 2011
Bubba to the Rescue on Pre-order!
The sequel to Bubba Goes National and second in the Green Meadow Riders series, Bubba to the Rescue, is now available for pre-order from Twin Trinity Media!
What starts out as a leisurely trail ride turns into a terrifying afternoon when Alex and Leslie see a plume of smoke rising in the trees. After saving the neighbor's horses from a horrible fate, the two teens must run through the burning woods and get back to Green Meadow before it's too late. On the way, they encounter a strange horse wandering through the woods by itself, and it follows them home. Leslie soon becomes attached to "Spark" when she can't find his owner...but will she get to keep him, or will someone come forward to claim the horse she has come to love?
Order your copy today at a special price!
What starts out as a leisurely trail ride turns into a terrifying afternoon when Alex and Leslie see a plume of smoke rising in the trees. After saving the neighbor's horses from a horrible fate, the two teens must run through the burning woods and get back to Green Meadow before it's too late. On the way, they encounter a strange horse wandering through the woods by itself, and it follows them home. Leslie soon becomes attached to "Spark" when she can't find his owner...but will she get to keep him, or will someone come forward to claim the horse she has come to love?
Order your copy today at a special price!
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Taking another look at Shared Reviews
I joined Shared Reviews back in 2007 when it started, when we got paid $2 per review on a limited basis. When they stopped that, I stopped writing there, but my reviews stayed. I have concentrated my energies elsewhere since then, but they have made a lot of changes lately that made me decide to give it another shot.
Although they still do not have the $2 up front model, there are a bunch of ways to earn money. I just started back and I only have 15 articles as of this writing, so I can't say how well this is working. I do know that Joan Young is happy with what she has earned there. There is a lot of information in the Knowledge Center on the site, but Joan gave a good breakdown on Accentuate.
I found it fun to go on the sige and complete some simple challenges (like updating my profile) to earn experience points and author credits. The review raters I have come across so far have done a really good job of providing helpful comments to get my reviews up to the site's standards, style and expectations. I was able to edit my reviews to incorporate their comments and up my score. The reviews are super easy to write, because there's little research reqiured. Use a product, snap a picture of it, write 300 words about what your experience was. Sprinkle in some SEO so people can find it, and you're good to go. They must be 100% original.
My goal is to post one review per day for the next month. I'm three-for-three so far, and at the moment that ranks me 14th in the most currently active list, which is on the Community Activity page. That gives me a little exposure, although I don't know how helpful that is, since I assume only the site's writers look at that, and their views don't count. It's fun, though. If you decide to try it, please put me down as your referral--my user name is twnkltoz. Or, just stop by and read my stuff!
Although they still do not have the $2 up front model, there are a bunch of ways to earn money. I just started back and I only have 15 articles as of this writing, so I can't say how well this is working. I do know that Joan Young is happy with what she has earned there. There is a lot of information in the Knowledge Center on the site, but Joan gave a good breakdown on Accentuate.
I found it fun to go on the sige and complete some simple challenges (like updating my profile) to earn experience points and author credits. The review raters I have come across so far have done a really good job of providing helpful comments to get my reviews up to the site's standards, style and expectations. I was able to edit my reviews to incorporate their comments and up my score. The reviews are super easy to write, because there's little research reqiured. Use a product, snap a picture of it, write 300 words about what your experience was. Sprinkle in some SEO so people can find it, and you're good to go. They must be 100% original.
My goal is to post one review per day for the next month. I'm three-for-three so far, and at the moment that ranks me 14th in the most currently active list, which is on the Community Activity page. That gives me a little exposure, although I don't know how helpful that is, since I assume only the site's writers look at that, and their views don't count. It's fun, though. If you decide to try it, please put me down as your referral--my user name is twnkltoz. Or, just stop by and read my stuff!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
How full is your plate?
I am a full-time freelance writer and editor. This means that I make my living by working on different writing and editing projects for a variety of people, and it also means that I have several projects on my plate at any given time. These projects range in their difficulty, length and deadline. Most of them are not one-day projects if they are for other people. Therefore, when I get a new project, I am often not able to complete it that same day, but I am always up front about how long I think it will take, and I ask when the person needs it by...if at all possible, I try to accomodate their deadlines.
What gets me, however, are the people who don't seem to think I should have anything else to do. They have an assignment, and it seems easy enough to them (event though they aren't capable of doing it themselves), so why can't I do it by tomorrow? Honestly, wouldn't you be a little concerned about a contractor (assuming it's a one-person or one-team type business like mine) that was available to start immediately? If they are, maybe they don't have any other work...and why don't they? If you hire someone to put in your pool, and he's ready to come over immediately, wouldn't you worry that he isn't good enough to have other customers? Think about that.
On the same note, these people are often not willing to pay much for said project. I have a skill many people don't. Why, then, shouldn't I be paid a decent wage for it? I have bills to pay, yet there are people who think American writers are lazy and demand too much money for their services. My rent on my apartment alone is $925. If I were to pay that strictly on $5 articles, I would have to write 185 articles in a month just for that. That's six articles per day just to pay my rent. To pay all my other expenses, I would have to double that. How can you expect any kind of quality at that rate?
You get what you pay for. If you want cheap labor and don't care about the quality, there are writers outside of the US who have lower living expenses who can write in English for less. The grammar is generally bad, but, like I said, you get what you pay for. If you want a quality product in good English, be willing to pay a decent rate for it, and be patient. It shouldn't take months to get a project with a few thousand words for someone, but give them more than a couple days!
What gets me, however, are the people who don't seem to think I should have anything else to do. They have an assignment, and it seems easy enough to them (event though they aren't capable of doing it themselves), so why can't I do it by tomorrow? Honestly, wouldn't you be a little concerned about a contractor (assuming it's a one-person or one-team type business like mine) that was available to start immediately? If they are, maybe they don't have any other work...and why don't they? If you hire someone to put in your pool, and he's ready to come over immediately, wouldn't you worry that he isn't good enough to have other customers? Think about that.
On the same note, these people are often not willing to pay much for said project. I have a skill many people don't. Why, then, shouldn't I be paid a decent wage for it? I have bills to pay, yet there are people who think American writers are lazy and demand too much money for their services. My rent on my apartment alone is $925. If I were to pay that strictly on $5 articles, I would have to write 185 articles in a month just for that. That's six articles per day just to pay my rent. To pay all my other expenses, I would have to double that. How can you expect any kind of quality at that rate?
You get what you pay for. If you want cheap labor and don't care about the quality, there are writers outside of the US who have lower living expenses who can write in English for less. The grammar is generally bad, but, like I said, you get what you pay for. If you want a quality product in good English, be willing to pay a decent rate for it, and be patient. It shouldn't take months to get a project with a few thousand words for someone, but give them more than a couple days!
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Are you LAFFN?
It's January 4th already, four days into January 2011 Let's All Finally Finish a Novel (LAFFN). Have you started working toward your goal yet? I've worked on mine a little, but haven't gotten very far. My goal is to finish the first rewrite of my novel Flying Leaps, and I'm on Chapter 4. I had started it in December to give myself a head start, but I have a ways to go! Come over to the forum and post your progress!
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