Interview with me posted

Karina Fabian, whose book I copy edited a few months ago, interviewed me about my job as a copy editor at Swimming Kangaroo Books. Please check it out!

Do you HARO?

Sometimes a big challenge in freelance writing is finding sources (heck, even fiction writers can benefit--you might need some research). Well, Peter Shankman had a great idea...people kept asking him for sources, so he started a group on Facebook where writers and sources could find each other. It grew so big that it exceeded the 5,000 member limit on Facebook and he had to start his own site, Help A Reporter Out.

The process is simple. If you're a writer and need a source, you fill out an online form. Your request goes out in one of two group emails each day, and chances are, there is someone in the thousands of people on the list who can serve as a source for you.

If you are interested in giving back and being a source yourself (of course, you must agree to only answer questions you are truly qualified to answer), you can sign up and you will start receiving three emails per day. You may get the chance to be quoted in an article and help someone else out--and you might find some inspiration in what other people are writing about (not that you should copy them, but something might inspire you).

Give it a try!

Why you shouldn't give out free samples

I have posted before about my annoyance at people who ask me to create free samples for them, when I have many samples available on the Internet. It's a rude and unreasonable thing to ask. On Elance (and I think oDesk but I haven't checked), it's against the TOS to require or offer free work, even a mock-up, to be considered in hiring decisions. I recently reported someone for requiring free work (he had a book that needed editing and it seemed he was having every candidate edit a separate chapter...hmmmm) and his job listing was removed from the site.

Recently, someone on AbsoluteWrite posted this link, which gives another excellent reason to not give free samples to anyone. A legitimate publisher, whether in print or on the web, should be satisfied with your existing, already published samples.

Literary Showcase: I don't think so!

I received a friend request on facebook from Literary Showcase (literaryshowcase.com). It's a place to upload samples in one place, where only registered publishers can see them.

On the surface, this seems like a good idea because uploading your sample supposedly allows many publishers to see it instead of sending out multiple queries, and you're only posting a portion of it so the whole thing isn't out there.

However, I have my reservations. First of all, they charge you $30 per sample you upload. Email queries are free and mail queries only cost, what $.42 I think a stamp is now? Secondly, why would publishers go on this site looking for material when their inboxes are flooded? Sure, it SAYS it has publishers signed up, but it's pretty easy to say that.

I ignored the friend request, and I don't see any reason to sign up or try this place out.

A Mini Outline

Some people like to do a complete outline of whatever they're going to write before they actually start writing. I don't like to do that--I like to just get down to business, although I usually have an informal outline in my head. However, sometimes I sit down to write a 1200-2000 word article and stress that I don't have enough material to fill it. What I have started doing recently is doing a quick brainstorm on the different section headings I want to cover and putting them in. Once I have that, I can see that I only need a couple hundred words (or whatever) per topic...which makes the whole thing much more palatable to approach. Give it a try!

YouPublish: share and sell what you write

Michy referred me to a site this morning that I think has a lot of potential. It's called YouPublish, and it is a site that allows you to post your work, either for free or for a charge. They keep 50% of the proceeds...but hey, that's a lot less than traditional publishers!

This is pretty cool, because you can post things here you don't have another outlet for. I have some humorous first-person essays that don't really fit into what most magazines want, so this will be a good place for them. I may not make much on them, but if I sell even one copy, that's more than it made sitting on my hard drive!

I decided to try it out with one of my books, Budget Horse-keeping. I'll post each chapter for $1 for those who only want parts of it, then the whole thing will be available for a discounted price. Here's hoping it works for me...and you!

If you are interested in signing up to sell your work, please use my referral link. I'll receive a commission from your sales (out of YouPublish's half, not yours), and you will get the same if you refer your friends.

Please visit my profile there, and Michy's too!

Save Garbeau's!

If you live in the Sacramento, California area, you are probably familiar with Garbeau's Dinner Theatre. Sadly, they are in danger of closing! Here is a note from one of the owners:

Urgent and amazing news on Garbeau's!!

We have a final deadline and a final goal!! If we make $8,000 by Monday, March 16th, we stay alive and the landlord says he will renegotiate the rent in a way that will help us sustain Garbeau's through this recession!

If we do not raise $8k by Monday, Garbeau's is closed.

This is the final stretch and it's soooo close to being in our grasp! If you've been considering it, please attend Thursday's karaoke or the weekend's dinner theatre or family theatre.

This is it! Let's keep Garbeau's open! Please tell everyone and repost this on every Facebook, MySpace, online blog--everywhere!

Thank you all for all the support you've offered throughout this campaign!

-Mark

Visit Garbeau's today at www.garbeaus.com to see how you can help.