Working Writers Newsletter

Why This Girl Will Never Buy a Kindle (Or Digital Book)

2011-10-28T11:52:00.000-07:00

by Leann Zafuto

Imagine this: you love books and the whole experience of "books." Going to the book store, picking out a crisp, clean book off the shelf (or ordering from a discounted price on-line), cracking the cover open, the smell of the page, a special bookmark, the whole happy experience. Then, the Kindle arrives. None of the above happens. Nothing. Sure there are many positives about the Kindle or an iPad (reading a book on-line), which I can see, but imagine a life (or a home), without books? Digital books only? Dull and flat. Either way, the Kindle is NOT for me, or countless friends and associates I speak with. I am not alone here.

Why the backlash? It's not exactly a backlash vs. a "not even an option" for me. The catch is simple yet complex: I live for and love books and being an artist and fashion person, I buy tons of art and fashion type books, big books with big colorful illustrations! Therefore how could this be captured in a *gasp* Kindle or digital book that you cannot touch, smell, feeling that cracking when you first open it? Whether it be a novel or a big colorful art book, nothing about a digital book can capture all the joy a real book brings. The internet and all the on-line everything is good for many things, BUT NOT ALL. You can take away the cd for me, I get it I supposed, gone goes the collecting of that too. But this girl will never buy a Kindle!

First, I'm not worried about the space saving aspect of books on my book shelf or coffee table. I welcome it and put them even on the bathroom vanity and nightstand. They are part of my home décor, and show who I am and what I like. I'm not a digital machine therefore I don't wish to be reflected like that in any way shape or form. (You took my cds; you're not taking my books!) Books are a classic and make you look and feel chic and classic. Once they are read and upon a shelf, you almost feel a sense of accomplishment. I do. That's gone with a *gulp* digital-anything.

Then there's the true book experience; meeting the author. I absolutely love going to book signings in New York City or wherever I happen to be. I thrive on the many authors I have met and would never part with my collection. They don't read a short excerpt from a Kindle, they read to you from a book! Is an author going to sign the back of your Kindle? No. It's an honor to have met them, show my friends and proudly display these on my bookshelves. Being a magazine-addict; the collecting, or light collecting (not a pack rat here!) and the proud display and feeling of accomplishment of reading them all is beyond wonderful. Having them signed by the author; priceless.

What happens if your library when the Kindle crashes? Books don't "crash." Or, if it breaks. Books don't break either. I guess it doesn't matter if you have already read the book. And, how do you pass it on to a friend to also enjoy? How do you see and enjoy the big colorful illustrations? How do you see Andy Warhol's prints or deKoonings images on a Kindle? How on earth can you capture Alexander McQueen's fashion icon book with the cover holograph of the skull on a machine? The novels...I love the page turning (not sliding), and bending a rabbit ears on my old Twilight novels. Granted it's the digital era and for the most part it's fabulous, but digital books to I guess, save space. No way Jose!

In conclusion, (for now); the bookshelves, the accomplishment, the signings, the smell and feel, not to mention the big colorful artistic and fashionable illustrations in the books and so much more -- this is just the beginning of my rant "for" books. Not "against" digital books, per say. I try to find the positives in life, usually. I find a ton in real books, fewer in Kindles or digital books. Books are classic and iconic and have so much to offer. Again saving space and packing 2,000 books on a tiny machine is not thrilling for me. Nothing beats cracking open a real book and proudly displaying it on my coffee table, signed.

I hope others feel the same and understand the iconic importance of books. Unlike cds, per say, books are timeless, they've been around forever! And, I'm all about timeless everything, that's why this girl will never buy a digital book! - Leann Marie Zafuto

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Social Media Marketing - Why You Need to Join the Conversation

2011-10-21T09:26:00.000-07:00

by Collyn Floyd

Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, Digg, blogging...with so many social media possibilities, what's a marketer to do? New social media websites are popping up on a seemingly daily basis, and it can be overwhelming just trying to keep up with all of them, much less determining which ones will make the most sense for your business. The good news is that you don't have to - and shouldn't - do it all.

Because social media is so vast and varied, you're better off picking a few types of social media that are the best fit for your business and then doing those well. But you may need to be convinced that social media is a worthwhile endeavor in the first place... Benefits of Social Media Marketing Social media is a "must" in any marketing strategy, but especially in a down economy when your marketing budget may be tight or even nonexistent. Most social media sites are free, so while they'll definitely require an investment of your time and energy, they won't require any cash. Plus, social media marketing is interactive, so you'll be able to target your demographic in new and interesting ways outside of traditional marketing techniques. In other words, you may actually be able to catch someone's attention! Many social media websites actually rank well in the search engines, so you may get the added bonus of increased search engine visibility.

If you're still not convinced to give social media a try, consider that social media marketing can help you:

Save money. It's ridiculously inexpensive!
Increase visitor traffic to your site
Increase your website's link popularity
Increase your company's brand awareness
Increase your website's search engine rankings
Connect to throngs of people
Build an online community
Find out what your customers are thinking

Can you say all these things about billboards, radio spots, or other traditional marketing techniques? From blogging to photo-sharing to article distribution, social media gives you a platform to connect with potential customers, build your brand, and drive new sources of traffic to your site.

Types of Social Media Marketing

Blogs, similar to online journaling or diary-keeping, are sort of the "grandfather" of social media. They're updated from a few times a day to a few times a week, and if you love to write and have time to keep up with blogging, it can be a great way to build community and establish yourself as an authority. Check out Wordpress or Blogger, both of which allow you to set up a free blog in a matter of minutes. Once you know that blogging is for you, you'll probably want to switch to a custom blogging solution on your own domain.

Microblogging is similar to sending text messages or IMs. These "entries" are limited to 140 characters (about one sentence) and are great for mobile device interaction, sharing quick thoughts/ideas, and promoting website or blog content. If you don't like writing lengthy blog entries, try microblogging! Twitter dominates the microblogging sphere, but Pownce and Jaiku are players, too.

Social Networks allow you to interact and network with friends and/or colleagues online. Just a friendly warning: there's a lot of professional/personal crossover on these sites, so it pays to be careful. Remember that your future boss or client may be looking at all those wild photos you've posted! Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace each have their own unique demographics within this social networking niche.

Article distribution sites lets you submit professionally written, helpful content, which they distribute it to their network of web content managers and editors looking for content. If you are able to write original articles, this is a great way to establish yourself as an authority and develop a nice following on the web. Popular sites for article distribution include EzineArticles.com and Squidoo. You can also hand-pick websites looking for content within your own market niche.

Photo, Video, & Podcasting sites allow you to distribute and share your content in a visual and more interactive format. If you have photos of your products or from an event, add them to a photo-sharing site. If you are able to demo a product, add the video to YouTube. You don't have to be a professional photographer or videographer. Flickr and Photobucket are popular photo-sharing sites, while YouTube and Vimeo are great for video.

Social News sites let users submit content, articles or news stories that they find on the web and then these stories are voted on by the online community. Unique story angles and "top ten" lists are particularly popular and can drive lots of traffic to your site. Popular social news sites include Digg & Reddit.

Social Bookmarking sites like StumbleUpon and Delicious let their users share their favorite sites. The idea is that the more your site is recommended, the more traffic you'll see from curious users who trust the online recommendations.

Online forums and message boards are out there on just about every topic imaginable. So even if you're not a prolific writer, you can probably at least answer questions that others have posted. Maybe you're a contractor or technical expert? This is an easy way to establish yourself as an authority and even drive traffic to your website. One of the most popular sites in this area is Yahoo! Answers. So there you have it; a quick look at the why and what of social media. From healthcare to high-tech, there's a social media fit that's right for almost every type of business. It's just a matter of taking the time to assess your strengths and then investing some time and energy. And in the current economic climate, who can't afford that?

Will I Be Happier As a Freelancer

2011-10-19T12:51:00.000-07:00

by Ruel Z Chavez

Watching current news, we ask, "Are there reasons for us to be happy?" Enough problems trouble the mind of a common employee. Present critical issues like the crowding of Wall Street denouncing the control of powerful corporations, currency wars, instability of the economy of European Union, economic partnership between China and Russia for "multi-polar global economy", problems surrounding Israel's relationship with Moslem countries, and a new look at the role of International Monetary Fund and World Bank in relation to present economic crisis appear to be interrelated issues. We see as if the world is like a volcano waiting to erupt anytime. With a social climate like these, is there any reason for us to be happy?

All this information is made possible through the Internet and alternative media. Today, even mainstream media are riding on these issues and making big news out of these.

But we suspect that the vast majority of the world knows little about these things. Most are asleep in the most critical moment in our time. Most people would continue doing business as usual. Others are concerned how to feed their families.

That is enough for the sideline. I was distracted from my main theme. I was thinking of writing a topic about freelance work, but my mind led me to the problems of our time.

My concern about freelancing is brought about by the fact that I myself am a freelance writer. I am just less than "a three-month old baby" born in the freelance world.

Through freelancing, I find a financial option. It is not easy, but I consider it a better option than working as an employee. I have my reasons based on my research and my personal experience. Let me share what I believe to be the advantages of freelance work:

1. Freelance work gives you the space you need for growth.

As a living person, you need to grow continually. You need to grow in spirit, in mind, and in body. But if you already grown up, at least you should continually grow in your inner being and in your skills for you to thrive in the kind of world that we have right now.

Freelance work provides me the kind of environment I need to grow. No negative people surround me. They are detrimental to your spirit. I believe that even in a negative environment, a person can grow. But that depends on the attitude and response of that person. Naturally, a negative environment limits your growth whether you are aware of it or not. It is great if you are aware of it for you can now use the situation to your advantage.

Freelancing supplies you with a friendly space to adjust your tasks around your personal life instead of reversing the order of priority. In freelancing, you can do your tasks without leaving home, make you accessible to your family anytime, and once your tasks are done, you can choose to have fun with your family. That is difficult to do working fulltime in the corporate world.

Freelance work also allows you control the level of pressure you want to have, makes you less stressful, happier, and more productive.

Freelancing offers you also wider space for professional growth. In this new economy, the world is your platform. You have the opportunity enhancing your skills and enriching your experience through new connections from different parts of the world. You can accept challenging assignments to expand your mind and your skills. These lessons are priceless and useful especially if you are preparing entering business yourself.

2. There are several economic and practical advantages attached to freelance work.

Clients, contractors, and even mother nature benefit from the kind of arrangement in the new economy. Clients could maximize every dollar they pay to contractors while contractors could save their money for transportation and food allowance. Time spent for traveling could be used for productive work. We also find this good for nature for fewer cars going to corporate offices would mean saving fuel and less pollution.

3. In freelance work, you control your time, choose your work and clients, rest anytime you like, and can also decide how much you want to earn.

This is the highest incentive a freelancer can enjoy - freedom. And a freelancer can use his freedom for learning new ideas and new skills. However, this kind of freedom only works for highly motivated and greatly disciplined in the use of time. Possessing such freedom does not work for irresponsible freelancers.

Another manifestation of this freedom is in the nature of work. In the old economy, you have to work for tasks assigned to you whether you like them or not. Failure to comply would mean suffering termination from job. But in the new economy you can do the work you like and can control the workload you want. If you think you already have too much work, you can turn down job offers. On the other hand, you can accept more contracts when you have more time.

A related advantage connected to freedom is the change in the balance of power. In the old economy power flows from the top and employees have to follow orders. In freelancing, you can turn down unpleasant clients and choose to sustain the relationship with clients you like.

The transition from the old into the new economy and economic recession cause people to seek for income alternative. As people continue to suffer job loss and as the Internet provides various platforms for online employment, we believe that more and more people are going to discover freelance work as a financial option.

Will you be happier as a freelancer? It depends on how you define happiness and how you qualify it. If lifelong learning, freedom, and other practical advantages connected to freelance work are valuable to you, you will find yourself happier as your consider becoming a freelancer.

Education and Entrepreneurship

"Exploring the relationship between education and entrepreneurship. Sharing ideas for employees, freelancers, and business owners."

Author's website: http://rchavez-entrepreneur.com/

Recent Market Volatility will Probably Impact Your Job or Career

2011-10-17T07:28:00.000-07:00

The recent roller coaster in the financial markets has U.S. employees and job seekers on edge as more than 56% adults and 91% unemployed job seekers believe the volatility in the economy will impact their career, job or job search. The economic angst is contributing to stalled employee and job seeker confidence as sentiment around pay, job market, company outlook and layoffs showed almost no signs of optimism.

Impact of Market Volatility: Majority Say It Will Impact Their Career/Job or Job Search

More than half (56 percent) of employees think the recent volatility in the economy and financial markets will impact their job or career. Of these:
30 percent think their career advancement will be slowed
28 percent think their job will be in jeopardy
25 percent think their bonus or pay/commission will be reduced
Nine in 10 (91 percent) of unemployed job seekers think the market volatility will impact their ability to find a job. Of these job seekers:
80 percent expect it will take longer to find a job
63 percent expect there to be fewer jobs available for qualified candidates
54 percent expect base pay to be lower
45 percent say they are more likely to accept a job they are overqualified for

Job Market: Uncertainty Among Unemployed Job Seekers Rises to Highest Levels in 5 quarters

Uncertainty is rising among unemployed job seekers as 36 percent indicate they are uncertain whether they will be able to find a job in six months - the highest level in five quarters.

Pessimism about the job market grew again during the third quarter among employees (including those self-employed). One-third (33 percent) of employees and those self-employed believe it is unlikely they would be able to find a job matched to their experience and compensation levels in six months if they lost theirs - up two points from the second quarter (31 percent) and up four points from the first quarter (28 percent).

Pay Raises: Raise Expectations Remain Flat; Men More Optimistic Than Women

Employee optimism regarding pay raises remained flat in the third quarter. Slightly more than one-third (36 percent) of employees expect a pay raise in the next 12 months, a percentage that is unchanged from the second quarter.

Optimism for a pay raise is higher among men (40 percent) than women (32 percent) which is also unchanged from the second quarter.

Company Outlook: Optimism Drops to Lowest Recorded Levels; Men More Optimistic

Employee sentiment over company outlook retreated to the lowest level since January 2009 when Glassdoor started tracking this opinion. One-third (33 percent) of those employed and self-employed expect their company's outlook to improve in the next six months, which has fallen seven points from the second quarter (40 percent) to the lowest level since December 2008.

Overall optimism has fallen among men and women, but men have brighter outlook with 38 percent of men expecting their company's outlook to improve, compared to 28 percent of women.

Job Security: Personal Layoff Concerns Decline While Concerns for Coworkers Remain Flat

Employee concern over themselves being laid off decreased by six points this quarter to 16 percent - the lowest level since the second quarter of 2010. However, nearly one-third (32 percent) are concerned about coworkers being laid off in the next six months, down two points from the second quarter.

Source: http://www.glassdoor.com/press/surveys

How to Create a Transformative Writing

2011-10-14T12:55:00.000-07:00

By Putra Perdana

Beginner writers write merely for writing. While they may produce significant amounts of ordinary content or give them personal pleasure, it doesn't provide anything to increase business prospects, make better world, or influence their reader to take action.

So what is the purpose of transformative writing, and how can it improve your reputations? Professional writers always keep one primary goal in mind within every of their writing: the reader transformation. Professional writers focus on supporting their reader by giving alternative perspectives, innovative solutions, and eventually change the reader's mindset about the world.

Even a layman have no difficulty to compose words and sentences, but to strive substantial impact in your writing, you must practice how to make transformative writing. There is difference between being typical content and exceptional content, with the latter contains not only information but also transformative inspiration. I will give you three simple steps on how to create transformational writing.

1. Contextual Writing Based on Reader Segmentation

If you want to draw reader's interest, first you must understand them from objective point of view, and start your writing from it. One of the important things in every piece of writing is the reader segmentation, including such aspects as age, gender, race/ethnicity, location, income level, purchasing habits, hobbies, talents, interests, etc.

When you know your subject, it will not too difficult to compose a contextual writing. For example, words such as "controversial," "progressive," "novel," or "stylish" will be more suitable for 18-25 age range, whereas a 60-70 age range will prefer such words as "effective," "comfort," and "honest."

2. The Medium of Writing Publication

Choose the best medium to spread your message, including such things as magazines, newspapers, journals, books, radio and TV ads, blogs, websites, etc. Once again, the reader segmentation still holds important consideration regarding your potential reader.

For example, if you write a long article about the usage of sociocultural theory in daily activities of high class people, then the best place to put the writing is probably a scientific journal rather than pop magazine and printed format rather than PDF format, because not many internet readers can stand to read lengthy article enriched with scientific terms on a computer screen. On the other hand, an internet website or pop magazine will be perfect for concise, simple, and easy-to-read article. A serious reader will search articles in "serious" sources, while an easy reader will search articles in "easy" sources.

3. Types of Transformation

These are three types of transformation you should note: to know, to feel, and to do. "To know" transformation is defined as "writing that gives the readers new information", either it's truly new or recycled information. From it they can learn and gain knowledge they didn't have before, and leads to change their life and perspective. "To feel" transformation is defined as "how to conjure strong and deep emotion in the reader". And "to do" is defined as "how to encourage readers to take mindful, immediate, and concrete action".

Closing Words

While beginner writers recognize these transformations and somewhat try to utilize all three simultaneously in his/her writing, professional writers determines on one type and focus on it. How do you want people's lives to change because they read your writing? What kind of transformation you want to see in them? Do you primarily want them to know, feel, or do something? You only need to choose one and execute it well, and let it all flows smoothly.

About the author
If you are looking for writing tips, ideas, motivation, and so on then you should check this awesome Hail: The Inditers!

Free ebook: Grande Guide to B2B Content Marketing

2011-10-13T04:49:00.000-07:00

Crafted by leading practitioners in the field, the new guide, "Grande Guide to B2B Content Marketing" details why and how B2B marketers need to invest in a content marketing strategy that will lead prospects through every stage of the buying cycle.

Written by Content Marketing Institute's founder, Joe Pulizzi, and Eloqua's Vice President of Content Marketing, Joe Chernov, the "Grande Guide to B2B Content Marketing" will help readers define and plan a strategy that moves prospects from initial awareness through purchase.

Also featuring articles by the authors of Content Rules, Ann Handley and CC Chapman, the guide unpacks the various techniques, case studies and means of measuring a compelling content marketing strategy.

"With nearly every Website, media outlet, social network and inch of real estate featuring ads competing for buyers' attention, B2B marketers need a way to cut through the noise," said Joe Pulizzi. "Increasingly, that way is informative, educational content. Readers of the Grande Guide to B2B Content Marketing will be well equipped to define and plan a strategy that moves prospects from initial awareness through purchase."

"We designed our Grande Guide series of e-books to be modular," added Joe Chernov. "Today's guide is the prequel to our Grande Guide to Lead Nurturing, which helps demand generation marketers integrate content marketing techniques into their lead generation engine. In many ways, this series of guides is the very definition of content marketing."

The Grande Guide to B2B Content Marketing is available for free along with other installments in the award-winning series of e-books, including the Grande Guide to Social Advertising and the Grande Guide to Lead Scoring.

More Writers and Authors Sue HathiTrust and Five U.S. Universities

2011-10-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

The U.K. Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society, the Norwegian Nonfiction Writers and Translators Association, the Swedish Writers Union, The Writers' Union of Canada, University of Oslo professor Helge Ronning, Swedish novelist Erik Grundstrom, and American novelist J. R. Salamanca are among the new plaintiffs in an amended complaint filed today in Authors Guild v. HathiTrust.

The defendant universities have pooled scans of about 7 million copyright-protected books, the rights to which are held by authors worldwide, into an online repository called HathiTrust. In June, the University of Michigan, which oversees HathiTrust, said it would permit unlimited downloads by its students of "orphaned" books (books whose rights-owners cannot be found after a diligent search). Michigan devised procedures -- including a protocol for searching for authors and posting the names of "orphan work candidates" at the HathiTrust website - to determine whether it would deem a work an "orphan." Other schools joined the project in August.

Within days of the suit's filing on September 12th, the Authors Guild and others developed leads to dozens of authors and estates holding rights to the first 167 HathiTrust "orphan candidates." Four living authors were on HathiTrust's list. So were significant literary estates, including two Pulitzer Prize winners, the philosopher Sidney Hook, and Andre Missenard, who died in Paris in August. At least three of the works are still in print. Simple Google searches turned up most of the leads in minutes, including one that led to the author of "The Lost Country," J. R. Salamanca. Michigan was scheduled to make unlimited e-book downloads of Mr. Salamanca's book available to an estimated 250,000 students on November 8th.

"How is it they couldn't find Jack Salamanca?" asked his literary agent John White. "He's a bestselling novelist, he's lived in suburban Maryland for decades ... and he signed an e-book agreement for 'Lilith' four weeks ago. It boggles the mind."

Michigan announced on September 16th that it was suspending, but not ending, its "orphan works" program. Its online servers continue to host an estimated 7 million digitized, copyright-protected books, millions of which are believed to be in print, with e-book versions available for many.

"You don't just take someone's property," said Mats Soderlund, chairman of the Swedish Writers Union. "If they want a digital book, they should pay for it. If it's not yet available digitally, it probably will be soon. Things are moving very quickly."

"These are major, well-funded U.S. research institutions capable of great things," said Greg Hollingshead, chair of The Writers' Union of Canada. "They could have found most of these authors had they cared to, but it seems they didn't. They just wanted to release e-books for free. They don't take literary property rights seriously, so why should any of us trust their security measures? If they're hacked, and digital files of 40,000 Canadian books are released, how are Canadian authors ever again to receive significant revenues from those works?"

"I've been in this business for decades, but this is one of the craziest things I've ever seen," said Trond Andreassen, president of the Norwegian Nonfiction Writers and Translators Association. "These American universities, with Google's help, decide to digitize and put on their servers thousands of books that were published in Norway. Why didn't they ask? We can find the authors, but those authors have rights, and sometimes the answer might be no."

The Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society, based in London, has licensed secondary uses of its member-authors' works for more than 30 years. "We represent more than 50,000 book authors," said chief executive Owen Atkinson. "On behalf of our members, we negotiate agreements that enable legal access to hundreds of thousands of books, including at least 35,000 books that appear to be on HathiTrust's servers. It concerns us greatly that our members have neither consented to the digitization nor have they any say in how these works might be used in the future."

Although many U.S. universities, including Harvard, Princeton, and Stanford, have participated in Google's library digitization program, most allow Google to scan only books that are in the public domain. Only a few, principally defendants Michigan and California, have allowed Google to scan books protected by copyright. As state-run institutions, both schools are shielded by 11th Amendment sovereign immunity protections from paying damages for copyright infringement.

"Universities are important cultural bastions, valued by all of us," said Scott Turow, president of the Authors Guild, "but they need to play that role thoughtfully. In this case, university defendants are using their immunity from money damages to act as pirates, rather than custodians, of our literary heritage. The massive unauthorized digitization project in which they participated has now imperiled the literary property rights of millions of authors from all over the world. Many of those authors have devoted much of their careers to creating works they hope will have cultural or educational significance. Universities should be at the forefront of safeguarding authors' rights and livelihoods, so their libraries can continue to find many new books worth collecting."

U.S. Businesses Plan to Hire New Graduates, Freelance and Remote Workers

2011-10-11T05:33:00.000-07:00

U.S. businesses plan to hire new graduates, freelance and remote workers to increase headcount while remaining flexible and rapidly scalable in an uncertain market (source: Regus Business Confidence Index, based on responses from more than 12,000 companies worldwide). More than a third of U.S. companies are prepare to recruit new graduates, while 47 percent say they plan to hire freelance staff, and 44 percent plan to hire remote workers over the next two years. Since April, business confidence in the U.S. fell more than 20 percent (119 to 90 points), signifying the biggest fall in the overall index.

"As business confidence drops and macro-economic conditions remain uncertain, hiring new graduates, freelance and remote workers is becoming an increasingly popular, risk-averse solution to increase headcount for U.S. and global businesses," said Guillermo Rotman, CEO, Regus Americas. "In addition, by taking advantage of technology solutions available in the U.S market and abroad, it is even possible for small businesses to establish a low-risk, remote or contract presence in target markets without making lengthy commitments, allowing them to expand or withdraw depending on volatile market conditions."

The index revealed similar conditions globally. More than half (64 percent) of global companies say they plan to increase headcount in the next two years despite global business confidence slipping 11 percent since April, down to 114. Illustrating the changing structure of employment across the globe, worldwide hiring intentions also show a strong emphasis on freelancers, graduates and remote workers.

Additional key findings from the 5th edition of the Regus Business Confidence Index, include:

-- The majority of global markets measured by the index show a decrease in business confidence since April 2011 ranging from the 29 point drop in the U.S. to Australia, which is only down 4 points. The only exceptions are Brazil (up 7 points), India (up 11 points) and Germany (up 4 points). The global index average is down 11 points to 114.

-- The proportion of global companies reporting revenue growth (51 percent) and rising profits (42 percent) has virtually flat-lined, increasing only one percentage point compared to six months ago; and over a third of companies (36 percent) have pushed back their expectations for recovery to the second half of 2012.

-- Interestingly, companies trading internationally show a higher business confidence index score (120) compared to those with mainly domestic markets (110).

-- To download a copy of the full report please visit: www.regus.presscentre.com

Blueprint to Write a Hit YA Dystopic Novel

2011-10-07T08:59:00.000-07:00

By Shiromi Arserio -

I'm a massive fan of The Hunger Games. But let's face it, the success of that one series of books has resulted in a slew of dystopic novels hitting bookstores. Plenty of them are enjoyable reads. But for all of the good ones out there, there are plenty more that you know they only released to try and get in on Suzanne Collins' success. What's more, they all seem to have a few notable similarities... So, without further ado, here is the Official Blueprint for writing a hit YA dystopic novel.

1. Make it a trilogy.... at least. If one book can be successful, a series of books will be even more successful, right? Don't worry if you only have enough plot for one book. There are plenty of ways you can overly complicate the story, which brings me onto suggestion number two...

2. Have a love triangle. This is a surefire way to complicate the story. Should your strong, single-minded heroine go after the sweet guy she has known for years? Or the dark, dangerous guy who can introduce her to new experiences?

3. Pick an oppression. What makes this a dystopic world? Are there no more books? Are we being forced into tribes based on our abilities? Is society choosing our mates for us? Don't worry about wondering how a society got the way it did. Chances are, your heroine's grandparents wouldn't even be able to recall life before dystopia (See number 7). Also, don't forget to make your oppressive government really, really mean. Think "kick-a-puppy" variety.

4. Choose a message. All dystopic YA novels have a message. Censorship is bad. Be true to yourself and always question the way things are done. Separating people into castes is bad. You get the picture.

5. Emotions are bad and should be controlled. Sometimes the government will even control emotions using a drug. The point being that our heroine won't be able to connect to her own emotions...until she falls in love.

6. The past is a closely guarded secret. Usually no one in the society, save for a few people in the government, know of life before dystopia set in. Ignorance is easier to control.

7. Kooky name. Seriously, the kookier the better. Or a weird nickname. Peeta. Cassia. Tris. You get the idea.

8. Include an important ceremony, say when the character turns 16 or 18, or some other significant age. This might be the age the character chooses their own name, or their job, or what caste they want to live in.

And remember, just because it takes place in a post-apocalyptic landscape, does NOT automatically make it dystopic.

Shiromi Arserio is the editor of Inter-Galaxy Portal where you can find all the latest science fiction and fantasy news and reviews.

http://www.igp-scifi.com

Shiromi is also the author of The Huntsman's Tale, a dark fairytale retelling of Snow White.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Huntsmans-Tale-ebook/dp/B005465N2A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1315274489&sr=8-1

On Writing Thrillers - Science Fiction Or Science Faction?

2011-10-06T12:17:00.000-07:00

By James Marinero -

Here I'm not going to discuss mainstream literary work such as that of JD Salinger or F Scott Fitzgerald - thrillers is the topic, specifically techno-thrillers.

Now, you might think immediately of Tom Clancy, or maybe Craig Thomas, but Patricia Cornwell is also, to me, a techno-thriller author. Reading Cornwell's work, I believe almost all the technical detail - she was an ME and knows corpses and death thoroughly. What about Clancy or Thomas though? Certainly their work is plausible, even when Thomas invented a new Russian plane, in Firefox, it was still credible to me.

To what degree do you suspend belief when you read techno-thrillers, and as a writer, what would you expect of your readers? My academic background is physics and oceanography, and I did find some of Clancy's writing hard to credit when I read it first, but it hardly affected my enjoyment. When he is developing his franchise with co-authors in his later books, the story-lines, to me, become less credible. There's another discussion there about a writer perhaps running out of ideas (or making the most of his market), but let's leave that for another time.

Now, there are techno-thriller writers, very successful ones, whose work I do not enjoy. Usually that's down to content, but occasionally, style. The work may not be plausible to me and grounds my enjoyment, even when the storyline is all action and racing along. When techno-thrillers are set well into the future, they become science fiction.

To me, science fiction invents new technologies - for example 'Beam me up Scotty'. I contend that in between techno-thrillers and science fiction, there is a genre which we could call science-faction. This genre projects today's technology (or technology that is on the bleeding edge), into the near future. It is on the edge of credibility. Of course, that depends on the reader too. It is in this genre where I would pitch some of Arthur C Clarke's work. With his prediction of earth-orbiting satellites, he was just ahead of the curve, but still original.

So, when I write - and I classify my work as science faction - I looked a little ahead into the future, projecting existing technologies. I don't want my readers to say - "that's incredible" (literally) and maybe have their enjoyment curtailed. To that extent I like to include a bibliography of research resources - so that readers can see a solid basis for my faction.

I do love science fiction though, and as I get older, more of it seems to become credible. Science fiction in itself has a range of sub-genres - from extreme technical content, through all action adventure, to societal science fiction, concerned with how alternative societies on alternative worlds might be structured and behave. Frank Herbert's 'Dune' is an example of this.

Whichever one you go with, there is plenty of room for creative writers, and plenty of material for readers - whether they can suspend belief or not. In a way, I guess it's just a matter of timescale - as we progress technically, science fiction becomes science faction becomes reality. It may also be a matter of the reader's perception, based on their individual levels of scientific knowledge. Now that a writer cannot address!

About the author:
James Marinero writes geopolitical and espionage thrillers with topical themes (such as the growth of Chinese power), set in the very near future. With a science and international IT background, he has unique perspectives on the near future. Find out about 'Gate of Tears' or visit his website.

Robert R. McCormick Foundation Provides a $330,000 Grant to the Center for News Literacy

2011-10-05T12:27:00.000-07:00

The Robert R. McCormick Foundation has awarded a $330,000 grant to the Center for News Literacy at Stony Brook University School of Journalism. The grant will fund new training and materials for the News Literacy courses.

Howard Schneider, Dean of the Stony Brook School of Journalism, said that the grant will help teach the next generation of students how to separate legitimate news from misinformation, propaganda, spin, and uninformed assertions.

At the Stony Brook conference, News Literacy educators from across the country chose resources that they need to accelerate the spread of News Literacy courses. The McCormick Foundation, which made News Literacy a central focus of its journalism program several years ago, then challenged Stony Brook's Center for News Literacy to turn those ideas into a grant proposal to support several of those initiatives. The proposal was approved by McCormick's board of directors and will enable Stony Brook to facilitate the following initiatives:

• Launch of a second summer training program for high school News Literacy teachers, in Chicago;

• Redesign and re-launch of a richer Digital Resource Center stocked with free materials for News Literacy teachers;

• Completion of development work underway on the nation's first online for-credit training course for News Literacy teachers;

• Two rounds of easy-to-apply-for News Literacy "Innovation Grants" for programmers and classroom teachers;

• Development, testing and freeware-style sharing of an assessment tool high schools will use to measure the outcomes of News Literacy courses.

In addition, Stony Brook will use its national profile to drive traffic to News Literacy teaching tools that are being built at Florida Gulf Coast University, at News Trust in Mill Valley, CA and in other partner organizations.

In the standard syllabus, News Literacy students are encouraged to bring current events into every class and professors do the same. Attention is devoted to thinking about how the digital revolution and the structural changes in the news media can affect news consumers. Students are challenged to shoulder their new responsibilities as publishers as well as consumers.

Spanish Journalists Prefer Twitter to Disseminate Information

2011-10-04T15:32:00.000-07:00

Research carried out by professors at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M - Carlos III University of Madrid) studied how journalists use the main social networks. The final results show that Spanish journalists prefer Twitter as the best tool to disseminate information.

The study, titled "Join the Conversation: how Spanish journalists are using Twitter" was carried out by professors from the LABàPART group (The Medium is the Lab), a permanent communication and social media laboratory at UC3M to analyze the state of on-line participation by the Spanish news media, and how the Internet is helping journalists collaborate online. This team is part of a group in the Department of Journalism and Audiovisual Communication at the UC3M doing research on Journalism and Social Analysis: Evolution, Effects and Tendencies (PASEET). Professors presented the project at the most recent conference of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), which was held last July in Istanbul (Turkey).

The objective of this research is to see how Spanish journalists use the different social networks (Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, YouTube), what they use them for, what their perception of them is, and what their expectations are.

"The first step was to analyze the participative scene, relating it to journalism. We were particularly interested in analyzing the perception journalists have of Twitter with respect to other social networks or other platforms, such as blogs," explained the director of LABàPART, Pilar Carrera, of the Department of Journalism and Audiovisual Communication at the UC3M.

The research is based on an in-depth poll of fifty Spanish journalists with active Twitter profiles: their median age is 38, and they have been working in the profession for 15 years on average. The results show, for example, that these journalists assiduously use this tool to publish and distribute information (95%), identify tendencies (86%), look for information (82%), 'viralize' information about their particular media (82%), or build audience loyalty (78%). However, only 25% of those polled said they use Twitter to carry out investigative reporting.

The way in which journalists currently use the social networks does not necessarily involve taking advantage of the specificity and logic of those networks to create new content, according to the authors of the study. "For the most part, the journalists use these networks as 'viralization' mechanisms, as systems to disseminate content that has mostly been generated outside of the logic of the social media', according to the traditional forms of journalistic production," comments Professor Pilar Carrera.

The study also analyzes whether or not the media has guidelines or agreed upon norms regarding the use of the social networks. Currently, only about one in ten journalists (13%) says that their medium has such guidelines. Fifty-four percent recognize that they lack guidelines of this kind, and the remaining 33% confirm that, although they do not have them, their medium is working on them.

A Short, Quick Writers' Guide to Social Networking for Aspiring Authors

2011-10-03T07:43:00.000-07:00

Aspiring authors almost always ask the same question: What's the best way for writer's to accomplish their social networking -- especially given the fact that they really don't want to do social networking at all? They just want to write and somehow magically have their socially networking happen.

Here's my very, very short and quick guide to social networking for writers: Blog. That's right. One word. Blog.

I'd add just one sentence: After you publish a blog post, post a link to that post in at least two social networks (Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn).

That's it.

Basically, blogging simply involves writing. Every writer can blog. It's not too hard. It's not too techy. It doesn't take too long. Except for the part about posting the links to social networks, which also isn't too hard or too techy, it involves doing what you love -- writing. After that, it's all about telling people to read your writing. What writer doesn't want to be read? A blog allows your writing to be read.

So, go do it. You have all the information you need.

If you need a blog, either get a webmaster or Wordpress expert to help you start a self-hosted blog or go to Wordpress.com and start a Wordpress hosted (free) by yourself. The process is pretty self-explanatory. You can have one up and running in less than an hour.

If you aren't on any social networks, go to Twitter.com and Facebook.com (and LinkedIn.com if you provide a service, sell a product or are an expert or professional), and sign up. This is a very easy and self-explanatory process. (LinkedIn is a bit more difficult and requires more information.) Then begin posting status updates - in other words, post a few words about your blog posts and then the link to your post. You can also offer a status update now and then simply about yourself.

That's it. You've done everything you need to do to get started. You can do more. But that's all that's required for this short, quick writer's guide to social networking.

About the Author

Nina Amir, Your Inspiration-to-Creation Coach, inspires writers to create the results they desire--published products and careers as writers and authors. She the author of the forthcoming book, How to Blog a Book: Write, Publish and Promote Your Work One Post at a Time (Writer's Digest Books - April 2012), as well as a freelance editor, and writing, book, blogging, and author coach who blogs at Write Nonfiction NOW and How to Blog a Book and writes the National Jewish Issues and the National Self-Improvement columns for www.examiner.com. She is also the founder of Write Nonfiction in November, a challenge and blog and the weekly writing and publishing expert on Michael Ray Dresser's popular radio show Dresser After Dark. Find out more about her at ninaamir.com.

e-Reader Devices Put More Pressure on Bookstore Chains to Innovate

2011-09-30T07:10:00.000-07:00

e-Readers, like Kindle and Nook, are becoming "positive" distruptive technologies in the reading world -- and bookstores are feeling the pressure to change and innovate. One major chain closed its doors for good this month, while other bookstore chains have rolled out their own e-Reader devices with pressure to upgrade them regularly. Even The New York Times has changed the way it looks at bestsellers. The New York Times used to rate just fiction and non-fiction; now the reviewers also include paperback versus e-Reader. Why the change? Because new stats claim that one in six Americans (15%) uses an e-Reader device; this number is up from less than one in ten (8%) a year ago. People who do not have an e-Reader device say they they are likely to buy an e-Reader device in the next six months (one in six, 15%).

These results come from of The Harris Poll of 2,183 adults surveyed online between July 11 and 18, 2011 by Harris Interactive.

While some lament the role of the e-Reader as a death knell for books, the opposite is probably true. First, those who have e-Readers do, in fact, read more. Overall, 16% of Americans read between 11 and 20 books a year, with one in five reading 21 or more books in a year (20%). But, among those who have an e-Reader, one-third read 11-20 books a year (32%) and over one-quarter read 21 or more books in an average year (27%).

E-Reader users are also more likely to buy books. One-third of Americans (32%) say they have not purchased any books in the past year compared to only 6% of e-Reader users who say the same. One in ten Americans purchased between 11 and 20 books (10%) or 21 or more books (9%) in the past year. Again, e-Reader users are more likely to have bought, or downloaded books, as 17% purchased between 11 and 20 and 17% purchased 21 or more books in the past year.

Change in reading habits

One of the criticisms of e-Readers is that people who have them may download more books than they would traditionally purchase, but read at the same levels. So far this criticism is not holding true at all. Half of both e-Reader users (50% and non-users (51%) say they read the same amount as they did six months ago. However, while one-quarter of non e-Reader users (24%) say they are reading less than they did before (compared to just 8% of e-Reader users), over one-third of e-Reader users (36%) say they are reading more compared to just 16% of non-users.

Favorite Genre

Regardless of how they are reading it, there are types of books people like to read. Among those who say they read at least one book in an average year, three-quarters say they read both fiction (76%) and non-fiction (76%) but certain types of books rise to the top in both categories. Among fiction categories, almost half of readers say they read mystery, thriller and crime books (47%), while one-quarter read science fiction (25%), literature (23%) and romance (23%). One in ten read graphic novels (10%) while 8% read "chick-lit" and 5% read Westerns. Among non-fiction categories, almost three in ten readers say they read biographies (29%) while one-quarter read history (27%) and religious and spirituality books (24%). Just under one in five readers (18%) read self-help books, while 13% read true crime, 12% read current affairs, 11% read political books and 10% read business books.

So what?

E-Readers are definitely here to stay and this means the publishing world needs to learn to change with the times. The printing press is considered one of the world's greatest inventions and one of the first printed books, the Gutenberg Bible is still considered one of the rarest among bibliophiles. There will always be a place for books in hard cover or paperback. But, there must also be a place for reading devices as well. Readers are quickly catching on to this wave as have the booksellers. This is a huge transition time for publishing companies and how they adapt will determine who is still standing ten years from now.

Safety Training Help for Freelance Journalists

2011-09-29T12:57:00.000-07:00

A new opportunity for Canadian freelance journalists to apply for financial help to attend hazardous environment safety training courses in the US or Britain.

Canadian Journalism Forum on Violence and Trauma's Freelance Fund will provide bursaries up to $2,500 to cover approximately 70% of course and travel costs. An independent jury will consider the applications and grant awards.

"Responsible employers already send their own staff on these courses when they are likely to be placed in harm's way," said Forum president Cliff Lonsdale, "but freelancers are mostly left to fend for themselves. With the news industry relying ever more heavily on freelancers in dangerous situations at home and abroad, there's a significant safety gap that needs to be addressed. The Forum Freelance Fund is a step in that direction."

The principle of collective responsibility for freelance safety, which underpins this initiative, has been formally endorsed by RTDNA Canada - The Association of Electronic Journalists, and by Canadian Journalists for Free Expression. Support has also been expressed by both the International News Safety Institute and by Reporters without Borders Canada.

The Forum Freelance Fund is sponsored by CBC News and supported by Radio-Canada, Canada News Wire and individual donations.

The Forum Freelance Fund classifies Canadian freelancers as journalists with Canadian citizenship or residence and others who work abroad substantially for Canadian media. For details of the Forum Freelance Fund, visit website: http://journalismforum.fims.uwo.ca.

NY Times Writer Visits HPU To Discuss Critical Mindsets In Gaming

2011-09-27T09:58:00.000-07:00

Seth Schiesel, video game critic for The New York Times, visited High Point University on Sept. 22 as part of the Faculty Cultural Enrichment Series. The series, titled "Our On-Line Lives," explores the evolution and implications of living online with specific focus on how online technologies affect human relationships.

During his visit, Schiesel - a former business journalist who is well-schooled in the economics and marketing of video games - held writing workshops, met with video game design classes and hosted a presentation about the evolution of video games and the concept of "gaming." His talk paid particular attention to how technology is used to create games with complex narratives and deep emotional resonance.

"Students truly appreciated the seriousness he uses in approaching one of their biggest pastimes, and there is a definite value in bringing a critical mindset to this form of entertainment," says Dr. Bill Carpenter, associate professor of English at HPU, who invited Schiesel to campus. "He's a great writer, and has one of the coolest jobs on the planet."

HPU will host additional speakers as part of this faculty enrichment series, titled "Our Online Lives," including Sherry Turkle, author of "Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other," on Nov. 8; and Dr. Richard Miller, English professor and executive director of the Plangere Writing Center at Rutgers University, on Feb. 9.

Website: http://www2.highpoint.edu/index.php

Two New Programs Snag Diverse Journalists to News Roles

2011-09-26T08:32:00.000-07:00

NBC is launching two new development programs to attract aspiring young journalists from diverse backgrounds to news roles, both on and off the air. Last week, the division kicked off its highly competitive News Associates program, welcoming 10 recent college graduates to news rooms at its 10 stations around the country. NBC also introduced a new Reporter Training program, encouraging talented individuals to consider careers as television reporters.

Modeled after the successful NBC News program, the year-long News Associates curriculum will attract recent college graduates from diverse backgrounds to careers as producers, editors and writers. The 10 participants, whom NBC selected from thousands of applicants, began orientation last week. Throughout the year, the associates will learn the different news room roles and responsibilities, acquire editorial judgment, develop story-telling skills and gain experience both in the field and studio shooting footage and editing and writing stories. NBC will match each associate with a senior-level mentor who will help guide the associate throughout the year. At the end of the program, the real-world experience that the associate gains will help position him or her for entry-level news room jobs.

In addition to the News Associates program, NBC is also introducing a new Reporter Training program to develop talented young journalists from diverse backgrounds to become television reporters. The station group is recruiting for four positions -- one each at its Dallas-Fort Worth, Washington, D.C., Miami and San Diego stations. The program, starting in January, will include a significant investment in training and coaching to equip participants with necessary skills to develop into successful television reporters. At the end of the program, the participants are expected to be prepared for reporter roles in NBC's 10-station group, including larger market stations like Los Angeles and New York.

Both of these programs will enable NBC's 10 owned stations, where 40 percent of on-air talent and one-third of all news room staff are ethnically diverse, to increase diversity in all aspects of local news.

More information on the News Associates program is available at www.nbcunicareers.com under Early Career Programs and the four Reporter Training program positions will be posted at www.nbcunicareers.com under NBC Owned Television Stations.

Teachers Can Download 'Writing Across the Curriculum,' a free writing guide

2011-09-22T06:53:00.000-07:00

Tikatok.com has released Part One of a free content series, entitled, "Writing Across the Curriculum" for K-8 educators. The new series contains writing guides with activities, project ideas, student worksheets, and tips to help teachers promote writing across many subjects in K-8 classrooms.

You can download the free guide at www.tikatok.com/writing. This is Part One of a free nine-part series. Part One improves the writing process from start to finish; this include: prewriting, writing, revising, proofreading, and publishing. Also included are classroom activities, graphic organizers and worksheets. Tikatok.com will release the the remaining eight parts throughout the 2011-2012 school year. Each section of the series will help teachers integrate writing across important subjects such as math, science, social studies, history, and art.

A growing trend in education is how to integrate writing across the curriculum. Sharon Kan, Co-Founder and General Manager of Tikatok, said, ""We see a lot of great opportunities to weave writing across many subjects across the curriculum and to help strengthen students' literacy and comprehension skills, and have created this free resource as a way to support the educational community."

Harry Potter Fans: You Can Own J.K. Rowling's Pair of Boots (foot deodorant not included)

2011-09-20T06:55:00.000-07:00

Harry Potter fans from across the globe will have the chance to own a rare piece of memorabilia when the boots worn by author J.K. Rowling as she penned the first book of her best-selling series cross the auction block in October. The boots will be available for online bidding in a timed auction beginning Friday, October 21 through Sunday, October 30 on Proxibid ( www.proxibid.com/boots ).

The boots were acquired by an elementary school student in December 1999 as part of a school project. The student sent a questionnaire entitled "A Shoe Questionnaire," which asked about the "life" of a famous pair of shoes to Scholastic Press, the United States publisher of the Harry Potter series. This questionnaire was then forwarded to J.K. Rowling. Upon receipt, Ms. Rowling completed the questionnaire and in a remarkable gesture forwarded the boots along with her response back to the student. After 12 years in the student's possession, she has decided to share the boots with Harry Potter enthusiasts from across the globe via this online auction.

The boots have been encased in a protective glass enclosure, made specifically for them, since December 1999. They show signs of wear, as Ms. Rowling wore them quite often before sending them to the student. According to the questionnaire, "My owner was wearing me when she wrote several chapters of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," and I liked that because it gave me a rest. She also wore me when she was a teacher, and one boy made fun of me, which I didn't appreciate."

Author Raises Over $16k in Seven Days for His New Book Series, Before He Even Writes Them

2011-09-19T07:25:00.000-07:00

What if there was a way to raise money for the book you want to write without having to have a publisher? Jim Kukral did just that.

Jim went direct to his audience with the idea for a new series of books about how to build a business around a lifestyle on the Internet, http://www.businessaroundalifestyle.com . The campaign utilized crowdsourcing to enlist his audience to pre-fund the book series, called "Business Around a Lifestyle." Kukral created a series of monetary pledges ranging from $25, all the way up to $10,000 for sponsorships.

So far, he's raised over $16,000 in seven days of this promotion.

"If a regular guy from Cleveland, Ohio can raise $16,000 in less than a week without a publisher to produce his book, why can't you?" said Kukral, a noted keynote speaker and Web entrepreneur. "Everything else you need to get a great book done can be put together on your own from freelancers. Book covers, editing, proofing, etc. This model means you're essentially pre-selling your book before you even write it, and that's just part of the revolutionary changes coming to the publishing world. The walls are crumbling down, and aggressive and smart entrepreneurs are running through the gates to grab their share of self-publishing gold."

The "Business Around a Lifestyle" book series will encompass three book titles:

Volume 1 will be about teaching you how to re-think what you have learned that has been holding you back. It will include interviews with successful lifestyle entrepreneurs and it will motivate you into beginning your own lifestyle plan.

Volume 2 is all about how to take the knowledge and passion that is in your head and turn it into an Internet business of some type.

Volume 3 is all about building a business in the world of Affiliate Marketing.

"Traditional publishers are panicking, and rightfully so," he said. "Their entire publishing business model is collapsing." According to Publisher's Weekly, e-book sales rose 167% in June, to $80.2 million, at the 15 houses that reported figures to AAP's monthly sales report and closed the first half of the year with sales up 161%, to $473.8 million.

"The traditional publishing model used to work like this. You come up with the idea for a book. You hire an agent. You write the book and submit it to publishers. You get rejected or you get a book deal. They give you a signing bonus and they produce the book and send it out into the world," he said.

"That model used to work just fine, but now anybody can publish a book; no book deal needed," he said. "Simply put, we don't need traditional publishers anymore. The gatekeeper is dead and it's a great thing. Now anybody can write a book and have it on Amazon (and other places) for sale in 24 hours or less, at the price you decide. And the best part is, you can keep the majority of the profits, unlike the tiny percentage that publishers give out."

What about the signing bonus? Isn't that an important part of it all?

Mr. Kukral says you can make your own. "First off, unless you're a successful author already, you're not going to get a signing bonus, let alone a book contract. So it's up to you to make your own. That's what I did, before I even wrote the books. I'm not done yet either. I plan on raising $20,000 to $30,000 before it's all over."

Freelancers Thrive as Unemployment Rates Remain High

2011-09-18T07:21:00.000-07:00

Detailed report from International Freelancers Day unearths surprising economic and attitudinal information about the growing independent workforce in the U.S. and abroad.

As millions of workers remain unemployed, an ignored segment of the workforce is not only growing, but it's actually thriving. That is one of the key findings in the 2011 Freelance Industry Report released this week by International Freelancers Day, the world's largest free online conference exclusively for solo professionals. The report can be downloaded free at www.InternationalFreelancersDay.com/2011report.

According to the report, 52 percent of freelancers have not been negatively impacted by the economic downturn or have felt only a very minor impact. Moreover, the 53-page report, which is based on a survey of more than 1,200 freelancers, revealed that 78 percent of self-employed service providers are optimistic about their prospects over the next 12 months.

"The remarkable thing about these figures is that you'd be hard-pressed to find any information about this rapidly growing segment of the workforce and how they are faring in this economy," says Ed Gandia, the report's author and co-founder of International Freelancers Day. "In fact, there is little published information about independent workers. And no one is really talking about the millions of professionals in fields as diverse as engineering, Web design, business consulting or software development who are earning a great living and enjoying a more balanced lifestyle."

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, one-third of the U.S. workforce was independent or contingent in 2005, the last time these numbers were compiled. That number has only grown over the last six years as organizations everywhere have downsized to cope with a difficult economy. "Organizations are hiring a growing amount of freelance talent in order to staff key projects and initiatives more cost effectively and with less risk," says Gandia.

However, that doesn't necessarily mean that freelancers are being taken advantage of. According to the study, 40 percent of freelancers command $50 to $99 per hour. And 17 percent earn $100 or more per hour.

"For most independent professionals, the freelance path is not just an economic decision - it's also a lifestyle choice," says Gandia. "That's why 59 percent of survey respondents said they were happier now than they were before going solo. And 54 percent even said they wouldn't consider working as an employee again, regardless of what the job paid or what it entailed."

The report also examined the earning patterns, habits and attitudes of "accidental" freelancers - professionals who are freelancing as a direct result of having been downsized. It also analyzed earnings differences, top challenges and attitudes across professions, genders and regions of the world.

Packed with more than 70 color charts and diagrams, the report gives readers a fascinating and detailed look into the world of freelancing.

Download a free copy of the 2011 Freelance Industry Report at www.InternationalFreelancersDay.com/2011report.

How to Be a News Stringer & Scooper

2011-09-14T08:45:00.001-07:00

by Mark Hempshell

You don't have to be a big name journalist to make money from writing news. You can make a good sideline income by writing short new stories. You can make money by selling ideas for news stories, which is known as being a 'news stringer'. You could even make quite a big lump sum from what is known as a scoop!

First, choose a newsworthy area or two to specialise in. Good, topical ideas (but not the only ones you can write news on) are: Politics, the economy, sport, entertainment, culture, crime, business or the environment. If these sound a bit too heavyweight for you then focus on local news. For example, local politics is a LOT easier to write about than national politics.
Next, get familiar with some newspapers that publish news on your chosen newsworthy area. The national newspapers pay the most money but are more tricky to get started with. Local and regional publications are easier to sell to but not all pay for news stories - be sure to check first. If the titles are unfamiliar to you go and purchase copies of them and ascertain if there any back issues available. Study what types of news have been run by those publications in the past and aim to source similar news. Some publications want more factual news, while others want humorous news or sensationalist news.
There are a few directories where you can get contact details for newspapers and magazines. Here's a good one I use all the time: Media UK.
Now here's a very good way to get started: Look for the news stories that appear in your chosen publications every day or every few days. Do some research into those stories. See what else you can find out about them. Look for the story behind the news. People and events the original journalist might not have found out about. Follow those leads up and create new, sellable news stories of your own from them.

Your news story doesn't necessarily have to be that well written. If it's good the editor will put a pro. journalist on the case and still pay you for the lead. This is what is known as 'stringing'.

Good tip: Remember not every news story is something that has just happened today. Stories that have happened over the past week or month are carried in many publications, especially magazines. So look for past stories from last week's or last month's old newspapers. Look at how you could research and rewrite them in your own words to sell to weekly or monthly magazines.

When you have a story idea send details in as soon as possible. Don't wait until you have written the story up. Use email, so it reaches the editor as quickly as possibly.

It's OK to tout your news to several publications to get the best offer. There are even agencies who will do this for you. However, give each a reasonable time to consider your news before moving on to the next. Most editors will want to buy exclusive rights to newsworthy stories, so don't sell it to several publications simultaneously.

Good tip: If you can get a photograph related to the news story you can get extra money for that - or even just sell the photo.

How to make money from a scoop: This is an idea worth thinking about. Get to know if there are any celebrities living in your area. Find out where they live and where they go - and when - to places such as work, shops, gyms or golf clubs. (Not that you should ever follow them of course!) Join their fan clubs to get inside information. Use the places they go yourself if you can. There's a good market for scoops about what celebrities, even minor ones, are getting up to. It might not happen often, but you can get £hundreds or £thousands for these scoops.

Note: When selling news regarding celebrities you need to respect privacy - although many professional paparazzi don't seem to. Don't take photos that are a gross intrusion of privacy, offensive or could be considered defamatory. Even if they're not illegal there won't be much of a market for them.

Mark Hempshell is a freelance writer and the editor of MAKE MONEY WRITING NEWSLETTER. You can sign up for a free subscription to MAKE MONEY WRITING NEWSLETTER at: http://www.make-money-writing.info.

Top 3 Things News Editors Want to Buy From You!

2011-09-13T07:58:00.000-07:00

By Luis Santana III

The newspaper industry is loosing millions of dollars of ad revenue to the online world which include blogs, cellphones and now the new iPad. Because of their financial losses newspapers are forced to reduce their staff dramatically. Some newspapers are even laying off all of their photographers and are using freelancers instead. Now this is bad news for the staff of the newspapers but it is great news for those millions of freelance photographers out there looking to make some extra cash. I'll show you the top 5 things that can get you photography jobs from newspapers and magazines worldwide.

#1 Severe Weather - Severe weather like tornadoes, flooding, hurricanes, brush fires and even earthquakes can make for some very dramatic photos and are of special interest to news editors. Photographing severe weather can be severely dangerous and extreme caution should be taken to avoid injury or in some cases even death. Because of the danger and risk involved in taking the photos, they usually sell anywhere from $50-200 per photo. Photos of major damage may sell but the photos news editors really want are actual rescues. Police and Fire dept first responders rescuing a trapped person after severe weather passes will make you the most money.. especially if you are the only one there!

#2 Structure Fires - Flames sell. Bottom line! There is no question that a fire is a tragedy for the owner of the home or business, and they happen almost every day but what sells is flames. Most photos from fires you see in your local newspaper are of a charred building with maybe some firefighter with a hose in his hand putting out the hot spots. That is boring and sometimes they won't even run a photo of the fire, unless there are flames! By the time the local newspaper hears about the fire, dispatches a photographer and he reaches the scene most likely the fire is already out making a boring photo. So if you happen to see a large column of black smoke in the air with fire trucks racing to the scene.. get there! Because if you get photographs of flames and/or a rescue.. you could of just made $200!

#3 Car Accidents - Car accidents normally don't sell very well unless it is a major crash with a fatality. Even if the crash is a minor one with minor injuries I always take a photo just in case. As a newspaper photographer I take my cameras with me everywhere I go, so if I happen to see a car crash even if it is minor I usually snap a photo. Even if I just stick the camera out the window and fire off a few shots as I pass by I will usually do it.. The reason I do this is because you never know who the driver of the vehicle is! It could be a local professional athlete, political figure, musician, actor or even a well known local celebrity. If the newspaper later decides to run a story about how the mayor's son was involved in a car crash or a drunk baseball player crashed into a fire hydrant, then you can sell that normally boring photo as an illustration to a local news story. A freelance photographer friend of mine once shot a major car crash involving the son of a famous athlete. At the time he had no idea who was in the car but shot it anyways as he always does. The real money shot came when the victim's famous father showed up to the scene of the crash to watch his son get cut out of the mangled car with the Jaws-Of-Life. He sold that video for thousands of dollars and is still collecting royalty check to this day!

Now those are the top three but take a look at your local newspaper today and check out the types of spot news photos that are inside. And don't forget the local television stations too, they normally won't buy a photo unless it is of extreme news value and no other visual proof exists. So lets say you photographed a really bad car crash late at night and you were the only photographer there. You find out the next morning that it was the star player of the local football team and his injuries sideline him for the rest of the season! Guess what.. you just made some serious cash for just a few photos you took!

Remember that most cities usually have two major newspapers and five news television stations so you pitch the photos to all of them charging them $100 each and you just made $700 for simply taking a photograph! Now there are some newspapers that will pay as low as $50 per photo and as high as $200 for the photos so your prices can vary but not bad for less than an hour of work right!?

Some people people called Stringers make a living chasing spot news with some making over a thousand dollars in sales a week. With the newspapers cutting back staff photographers an experienced Stringer can be a news editors new best friend!

To learn more about what it takes to make a living as a freelance news photographer visit: http://www.newsphotobiz.com.

How to Stop Stressing Over Client Demands

2011-09-09T07:45:00.000-07:00

By Erica Cosminsky

Every professional knows the importance of customer service. Above anything else, that's the most essential thing. Because regardless of how marvelous your final output is, if it isn't what the customer wants, then it's absolutely far from excellent. Admit it. Clients can be overwhelming in their demands. They'd think you're a superhero of some sort when it comes to your craft. But of course, because you're a good professional, you should make it a point to meet the demands as much as possible, even if it means losing your head in the process. Well, that may not really be true. Dealing with client demands can be stressful - but you can easily deal with them with the following tips.

Create A Policy

Remember that even though it's you who's offering your services, you're not necessarily at your client's beck and call. And that's what you need to establish in the first place. Regardless of your type of business, you will need to deal with clients, and because of that you need to have a policy that states how things work with you. State your order policies and everything else that has to do with it such as how and when to contact you, minimum lead time for orders and requests, delivery time and the like. Make sure that you have everything covered, and that you present that to your clients before you make a deal - this way, they'll understand your method of work before agreeing to work with you.

A word of caution, though. Don't be too stringent on your policy. You might not end up with clients at all.

Here are just some ideas to include in your policy.

Contact/Ordering Methods

How do your clients contact you for inquiries or orders (suppose you sell tangible things) or for your services. Of course, clients will call or email you for inquiries. But what if they finally decide to avail of your service? Can the transaction be done through phone as well, or should it be in person? Do you have an order form on your website in order to facilitate the process and make it easier for you to keep track of your clients?

Reservations/Wait Lists

Depending on your type of business, you might not be able to attend to you clients for various reasons. You may be finishing a website or a batch of articles for another client, or the bags that you're selling are still in transit to you. If there is a possibility of having to make reservations or having to put your clients on a waiting list, then mention it in your policy as well.

Lead Time

Identify when you can deliver and how long it takes. Sure, you may want to deliver the best that you can but you can never do so when you're pressed for time. You may want to do rush jobs, but you may want to add special fees to them. Make sure that you also mention these in your policy.

Payment Methods

Make your payment methods clear for your clients. Do you want to be paid upfront for your services? If so, what percent of the total price? For reservations, who much should your clients pay as well?

Relief through Enforcement

Of course, when you have these policies written, make sure that you enforce them. While it may seem difficult to say no to a client, you have to understand that there's actually no point in writing down a rule if you can't enforce it. If you can't bend the rules, then try to offer alternative solutions to your client.

Whether you choose to make a detailed work policy or not, what's important is that it covers all important aspects of your business with regards to dealing with your client. Make sure that your prospective client reads it and understands how you work before striking a deal with you. Of course, you can explain to them why you have such a detailed policy so they won't think you're being completely snotty. Be sure to tell your client of a policy before any transaction and you'll end up with smooth and easy transactions and your clients will also be thankful for it.

Erica Cosminsky is a work-at-home mom and full time online student. After working as a Executive Assistant for many years, she decided to start her own business. The Small Business Transcriptionist was born to provide small businesses with an affordable solutions for not only their transcription needs but for e-book and other writing needs.

As a busy entrepreneur herself, Erica has learned the ropes of balancing her business and personal life. She specializes in helping her clients more productive and efficient. Visit http://TheSmallBusinessTranscriptionist.com for more tips for your business needs.

The 7 Keys To Creating Simple, Stellar and Client Attracting Newsletters

2011-09-07T09:16:00.000-07:00

By Paige Stapleton
Co-Author: Brian M. Stark

Many of you most likely subscribe to many different kinds of newsletters (electronically dubbed "ezines"), fortunately including ours! We thank you for that and trust that each week we are delivering lots of valuable information that you can use to help build your vision as well as keep your sanity in tact as an entrepreneur.

We so love writing articles for our ezine each week and wanted to share some points that can help you provide great, high-value content for your clients and customers.

Here are some great pointers to keep in mind when you're writing your articles.

You already have the content! Think about the steps that you take people through in your work. What questions do you get asked the most? You can even go back into emails from your clients and see what their concerns have been, what's their pressing need, desire or struggle. Pick one simple piece, just like we did with writing an article.
NO big long paragraphs, please! Think bite-sized pieces. People are busy, so chances are the majority of folks who are reading your article will be skimming through it. So keep it easy to read. You can put it in steps or bullet points so they can get the gist of it by reviewing these high points.
Be who you are! Don't TRY to sound like an expert. Remember, you ARE an expert. Just be yourself and genuinely share your information like you're talking with a friend or a current client (a.k.a. make it personal). It may even help to read it out loud to see if you would really say it that way!
Position yourself as an expert! Remember, you don't have to know everything to be an expert. You just have to know more than most people, and most of your readers. As our mentor says, "To every 3rd grader, a 4th grader is a god!" So in your own words and in a very simple way, share with your readers how to do what you do.
Speak to ONE person! Again, make it personal. Write it as if you were writing to one person (it can be helpful to think of a specific person you are writing to). Writing to one person will help to draw your readers into what you are teaching and it creates a deeper connection. Remember, even if you're writing your ezine to more than 10,000 people, they are all reading it one person at a time.
Lead the way! Let's face it...your newsletter is a great way to communicate, educate and support your clients and potential clients AND a great avenue for those potential clients to come work with you.
Don't forget to mention ways that people can work with you or offerings that you have that may relate to the article (a.k.a. your products and services). You can do this within your article or at the end. We are not saying that your whole newsletter needs to be about selling, but it is important to present a way for people to work with you.

Now you may be saying to yourself, I don't want to "sell" in my newsletter and not to be harsh but if that is not the case, you have a hobby (or a not-for-profit) not a business.

We're not afraid to say that because our original ezine, which we put out for over a year, was more like a yoga magazine than an actual client attraction tool. And to answer your question, YES people loved it, and YES we just about went bankrupt in the process!

These are 7 keys we have used to take our ezine from a "nice" newsletter to a very effective client attraction tool, that not only brings us more joy, but more business too!

Your Authentic Assignment

Let's start exploring what you can write about so you can provide high-value content for your readers.

Start by making a list of 10 things you can write about that relate to your business. Take a look at each of those 10 things and break them down to even more subjects if possible.

Here are a few ideas to determine your article content:

1 - Break down the steps that you take with most of your clients and write about one of them each week.

2 - Go back into your client emails and remind yourself of the questions they ask you or start documenting the questions that you often get from your clients.

3 - Flat out ask your clients and associates what issues are interesting to them, what do they want to learn about, what problems they need to solve.

Now get out there and write it! This is a chance for you to share yourself and all the wonderful wisdom and knowledge inside of you. And don't forget to have fun!

Putting into action the very system and principles they teach, Paige Stapleton and Brian Stark left careers that were leaving them feeling small and unfulfilled and followed their bliss! Now, as founders of Authentic Marketing, and The Authentic Marketing System, they have created a life they love helping healers, practitioners, therapists, coaches and other helping professionals build a thriving local practice as well as a powerful online presence, so they can create a consistent flow of clients and make more money without compromising their integrity.

Their unique Authentic Marketing System, combines your unique authentic message with proven client attraction tools and techniques to build a prosperous, joyful and rewarding business.

Together, they publish the daily meditation Today's Truth, which offers its readers an opportunity to take a breath and go within. It is available at www.KnowTruthLiveTruth.com.

Contact Paige and Brian at info@AuthenticMarketingMadeEasy.com or 1-866-999-2348.

Visit www.AuthenticMarketingMadeEasy.com for free tips, tools, articles and to download your F.R.E.E. recording: "The 3 Secrets to Getting New Clients without Spending a Dime".

Working With Clients

2011-09-06T06:38:00.000-07:00

By Lee Enefer

There is more to being a successful freelance writer than offering good writing. Knowing how to build positive and mutually beneficial working relationships with clients is equally important.

The basics

Don't try to write everything and for everybody. Instead decide:

What sort of clients you want to write for (Individuals? Corporations? Agents? Specialists?)
The types of jobs you want to do (Web pages? Articles? Blogs? White papers?)
Your fees and payment terms

And when a job comes along, establish:

Who the decision-maker is at the client's end
The exact brief
The delivery dates

Before you commit
Other things to think about before you say Yes:

Have you researched this company and their industry?
Can you definitely meet the deadline?
Can you really do this job? (After all, it's a 1500-word article about accountancy procurement in Bulgaria!)

Always show initiative
Gve your client MORE. You could:

Offer to write the FAQs for their website, or
Offer to add graphics or royalty-free images, or
Provide both Word and PDF files (PDFs convey a more professional look).

Also, don't ask for more work, create it: "I could also write and manage a blog for your company at an affordable rate!".

Clients are busy. They'll appreciate you taking the pressure off.

Try to make it work, unless...

Endeavour to work with your clients. Get them to like you. Adopt a positive approach with a view to building a mutually beneficial working relationship. That said, if your gut feeling is telling you No, or if you feel that the client or the job itself is going to cause you unbearable stress, then leave it. You'll live to write another day.

Article Source

Can Facebook Work For Specialized Businesses?

2011-09-02T12:21:00.000-07:00

By Michele Scism

Recently I was asked if Facebook could be a good business tool for specialized businesses. My answer "ABSOLUTELY"!

We all know what a powerful tool Facebook and other Social Media sites are for those who are selling business coaching services or cosmetics or books, etc. but how can we use it to grow a specialize business? Let's use a medical transcription business, for example.

I am not going to claim to know a lot about this industry but for our example we are going to assume that this business

#1 has employees or hires freelancers to do the transcribing and
#2 does the transcribing for doctors and hospitals.

To have a successful growing business you have to market to both potential employees and potential clients.

A quick search for "medical transcription" on Facebook, as of the writing of this article, finds over 1500 people with the words in their profile, 83 pages dedicated to medical transcription and 192 groups. The largest page has 500 members and is a medical transcription job search site. The largest group has over 2500 members and is a group for anyone wanting to discuss the industry.

How Does This Work For Your Specialized Business?

It is important to understand that people want to work for and want to buy from people and companies that they know and trust. Facebook Fan Pages give you an easy tool to build your credibility.

Become the Leading Authority on medical transcription?

Being the leading authority equals instant credibility. If you need financial advice are you going to ask your neighbor or are you going to ask the person who wrote a book, has a radio program or gives useful advice online. So if you are not currently a well known medical transcriptionist (to stay with our example) how do you become the leading authority.

Use your Facebook Fan Page for the following 3 things:

#1 Promote Yourself & Your Business

Write a book or an e-book - something short that you can give to prospective employees & clients. You can promote the book and/or e-book on your Facebook fan page. Give it away as a contest prize. I know this can sound really scary to someone who hasn't written a book before but it really isn't that difficult. If you don't feel like you are ready to write a book you can simply search the internet for "private label rights" material that are related to your industry, purchase that for a small fee and then put your name on it (which is part of the deal with PLR materials).

What could you write about - your life as a medical transcriptionist? I did a quick Google AdWords search and found that a few of the top keywords for the field would be medical transcription jobs, home medical transcription, online medical transcription and medical transcription training. All of these would be great topics.

At this point you might be thinking - how is this going to get me new customers? You start to promote the book to people in your industry (freelancers, potential employees, potential clients), you sell it on Amazon which gives you instant credibility, people start to talk about it, The Today show wants to do an article on medical transcription so they call you because you wrote the book - do you see where this is going.

I'm not going to go into great detail but you should be blogging as well. Blogging is a great way to tell the world about you and your business. It is also very easy to promote through your page.

#2 - Give Great Tips on Your Facebook Fan Page

Get in the mode of sharing tips online - another great tool to build credibility. As the owner of the specialized business you know a lot of things - things you probably take for granted and assume everyone else in your industry knows. Trust me - they don't. People will want to see what you are going to post next because they are learning things from you - they begin to really trust you and people want to work for and buy from those they trust.

Now both of these have been maybe a little more geared towards the potential employee and freelancers but what about those doctors offices.

#3 - Getting Potential Clients Involved

To continue with our medical transcription example, a quick search of the word Doctor on Facebook found over 3600 Fan pages (some with over 25,000 fans) already in existence. Now that your Facebook Fan Page is up and you have been putting some great content on it it is time to get involved with other pages. Become a fan of those pages where your potential client would also be a fan. Watch their conversations - answer questions that would pertain to your industry. Post great tips on their page and invite them to join your page.

Another great way to get them to your page is to run a Facebook ad - it is not expensive and you can target exactly who you are looking for. Maybe you are looking for doctors solely in the San Diego market. You can be that specific. The ad could invite them to become a fan of your page.

Remember - it is all about credibility, building your leading authority status and getting your name out there. When someone thinks about your industry you want them to think about your name.

"There are 3 types of people in this world. Those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wonder what happened." Mary Kay Ash

Michele Scism is a Business Strategist and Author who teaches women entrepreneurs how to generate more money by using better marketing strategies and business success strategies. Michele is frequently quoted in the areas of business, and social networking. Get started on your path to business success by getting Michele's free bi-weekly e-zine at www.DecisiveMinds.com

Michele Scism is a Business Strategist who specializes in teaching service professionals and business owners how to grow and expand their businesses using better marketing strategies and business success strategies designed to increase sales and profit.

She publishes a bi-weekly ezine called Decisive Success Strategies which, along with her website, provides how-to articles and lots of free tips for business owners serious about creating a powerful marketing strategy for their business. Get your success strategies and free tips at http://DecisiveMinds.com.

Promising Freelance Jobs Emerge Despite Fears of Double Dip Recession

2011-08-30T11:02:00.000-07:00

Beyond.com released its Second Quarter 2011 Career Trend Analysis Report which provides an in-depth look at the latest job market trends. While the U.S. economy continues to pose uncertainty, Beyond.com reported a positive outlook with the emergence of new job titles and growth sectors in a year over year comparison of Career Network data.

The Career Trend Analysis Report, which gathers information across thousands of top-tier industry and local career sites, indicates that five job titles have shown a noticeable and steady uptick in job postings, spanning primarily across two industries: Green and Technology. While both industries have remained steady over the past year overall, some specific positions stand out amongst the others in providing an increase of opportunities for job seekers.

According to the report, the emerging job titles include:

-- Green Consultant Jobs -- With an average salary of $60,000, this position can take on a variety of different roles, from helping organizations evaluate and improve internal environmental processes to aiding in the implementation of green strategies. Nationally, green jobs employ 2.7 million people, according to a report by The Brookings Institution. Green Consultants will continue to be in demand as more and more businesses look to these experts to help establish environmental best practices.

-- Eco-Friendly Freelance Writer Jobs -- With many people turning to magazines and news outlets for tips and information about green and eco-friendly living, writers with knowledge of the green market are becoming more sought after. Further, with many publications unable to take on full-time staff, a freelance position is often the best route to establish yourself and continue to practice your skill. As a freelancer making an average of $60,000 a year, this job often provides more flexible hours which can be a nice perk for some professionals.

-- Genius -- Apple Store Jobs -- The "Genius" position has presented more job opportunities over the past year for the similar reasons as an iPhone Developer -- growing adoption of the iPhone along with the iPad, iPod and other Apple products. As people are using these products, there is more need for customer service and technical support. This position typically requires working in an Apple store and has an average salary of $41,000. Responsibilities include helping customers resolve issues and conducting hardware and software troubleshooting.

-- iPhone Developer Jobs -- With the increasing popularity and adoption of the iPhone -- particularly with availability now across multiple mobile carriers -- it is no surprise that the growth of job openings for iPhone Developers is on the rise. This position with an average salary of $95,000 typically requires working for a specific mobile company and is responsible for all frameworks and mobile technologies to make new applications successful.

-- Silverlight Developer Jobs -- Developers are in demand across the technology industry. However Silverlight developers in particular are seeing a rise in job opportunities due to an increase in consumers' streaming of TV shows and movies on their computers. At an average of $104,000 a year, qualifications for this position include expertise in creating software solutions for enterprises and in building rich internet applications using Microsoft technologies.

"It's no secret that the U.S. economy is currently facing financial worries and the unemployment rate remains high, yet at the same time it's important to recognize that some markets are still thriving and providing opportunities to job seekers and professionals within those industries," said Rich Milgram, CEO at Beyond.com. "For job seekers in either the green sector or technology industry or those looking to enter these fields, there are options available when you know what to look for. By identifying these specific job titles, job seekers can modify their search and apply their expertise to these specific positions in an effort to not only secure a job but establish themselves in a healthy sector."

To view the complete Career Trend Analysis Report and Industry Essentials Reports for second quarter 2011, please visit http://about.beyond.com/statistics .

U.K. Workers: Is It Really Worth Commuting? Let's Do the Math

2011-08-29T08:16:00.000-07:00

It was announced last week that UK rail fares are set to rise by up to 13% - the highest increase since records began in 1997. Added to the impact of higher charges for mortgages, heat, light, water, petrol and tax, the average business is likely to have to find an extra £10,500 a year, just to stand still.

In light of this, Powwownow (http://www.powwownow.co.uk) has revealed that by working remotely for only one day a week, individuals could save up to £100 ($164 US) a month, whilst their companies could save up to £2,000 ($3,280 US) a month - and in doing so, save a staggering 52 tonnes of CO2 emissions a year (using Powwownow's Business Carbon Footprint Calculator)

The findings are based on the cost of a monthly peak-time travel pass, commuting in to central London five days a week from outside zone 4, to a place of work averaging just 20 people in size.

With British commuters still facing the longest journeys to work in Europe - their average trip taking 45 minutes (100+ minutes in London); remote working has risen dramatically by 68 percent in the past 12 months alone, with some 59 percent of employers offering teleworking to staff in 2011, compared to 46 percent in 2008 and just 14 percent in 2006.

A study by PeoplePerHour.com, which quizzed more than 45,000 firms, found that 71 percent of respondents cited flexibility and cost savings for employing non-office based staff. Respondents also claimed they are saving 23 percent on staff costs due to this shift.

Tough economic conditions and rising costs have been blamed for changing hiring patterns, but the survey found that this trend could be here to stay. Almost 70 percent of respondents said they planned to use freelancers in the next year.

Powwownow CEO, Andrew Pearce says, "It's become remarkably simple and cost effective to work from a remote location in recent times. The advances in technologies such as our conference call services and the likes of Yuuguu help reduce the cost of running a business whilst simultaneously streamlining operations and making matters more efficient. With train fares increasing yet again and the price of petrol still sky high, remote working makes more sense than ever before. It can save you time and money, in addition to dramatically reducing your carbon footprint."

Paper Use in Books and Magazines to Decline by 21% by 2015

2011-08-27T07:38:00.000-07:00

Media tablets are on pace to become a ubiquitous, mass-market, consumer product faster than any-other previously released, technological device. The powerful implications of this rapid adoption on publication paper markets is the subject of a new study The Impact of Media Tablets on Publication Paper Markets, published by RISI, the leading information provider for the global forest products industry.

The market for media tablets - consisting of tablet computers (including Apple's iPad) and electronic readers (including Amazon's Kindle) - exploded in 2010. By the end of the first year of availability, over 15 million tablet computers were in use. In North America alone, the size of the electronic reader market almost doubled, with over 10 million in use. Early-on, signs of trouble for the publication paper market became clear:

In 2010, the top free app in Apple's iTunes store was iBooks.
A Morgan Stanley inquiry discovered that 42% of US tablet owners will cancel their print newspaper subscription
In May of this year, Amazon.com announced that ebook sales now exceed those of printed book sales in the U.S.

"Many graphic paper producers make their living selling paper to the publishing industry, those companies will be greatly affected by media tablets," explains John Maine, RISI's Vice President World Graphic Paper and Study Team Leader. "Significant demand impacts could come as soon as 2012."

The Impact of Media Tablets on Publication Paper Markets finds that by 2015, most publishing paper end uses in North America, such as magazine, newspaper and book publishing, will fall 12-21% compared to their 2010 levels. This is on top of the massive collapse that occurred during the recent recession. Paper use in North American books, magazines and newspapers could see another 40-50% fall over the next 15 years.

Market declines are also anticipated in Europe, especially for printed newspapers, but the percentage losses in the Western European market will be somewhat less than North America because of a reduced rate of media tablet adoption and fragmented media markets.

The Impact of Media Tablets on Publication Paper Markets forecasts the decline by grade and end-use in the Publication Paper Market over the next five, ten and fifteen years, analyzing the effects of e-readers and tablet computers on the North American and Western European markets. The forecast covers three scenarios: a base case, strong impact case (with quicker diffusion of tablets to the mass market) and a weak impact scenario.

How A Freelance Editor Is Made

2011-08-26T11:47:00.000-07:00

By L Murdock

On Why I'm Not An Agent

Manuscript Evaluation has become the bedrock of my business, and I love working directly with authors. Recently, one of my clients sent me an e-mail. He has completed his revisions and is ready to start sending queries out to agents (and I think he's got a great shot - it really is phenomenal book). He wanted me to send some recommendations, but he also, in so many words, asked if I had ever thought about getting into the agenting game, because he'd really like for me to be his agent too.

There are a few reasons why I don't consider becoming an agent at this point in my career. I've worked at agencies in the past, and still have some contacts, but I've been out of the NYC scene long enough that I would need to join a large firm, at least at first, to get back into that game. I love working for myself and building my own business - and I have no desire to move back to NY.

And then there's the ethical no-no. I charge my clients for my editing services, of course. If I became an agent, I would have to close shop on the editing business - ethically, you simply can't run both. You can't charge the client on one end, become their agent, and charge them a percentage too. Yes, there are agents who do this, but they're not the kind of agents that you want to work with.

Finally, I don't want to be an agent at this point in my career for one VERY important reason.

I like my authors. I like working with them to shape their characters and stories. I like being able to take a manuscript that would clearly not make it out of the slush pile at a big agency, and help the author turn it into something that gets some attention. You can't always do that as an agent. Agents make money on commission, so if the book doesn't sell, they don't get paid. And in the publishing world today, that means they can only really afford to take on clients who have manuscripts that are at least 80% ready to go.

Once upon a time I worked as a literary agent's assistant. My job was to sort through all of the queries, picking out only the very best and most likely to be what my agent was looking for. I requested those few partials, then had to simply send rejection letters to the rest. It seems cruel, but that's all we could do - every day another batch of 50-100 queries arrived in the mail.

Of the partials, I was told to read the first ten to twenty pages. If the manuscript didn't grab me right from the start, another rejection letter went out.

Once we got to the full manuscript stage, I read through and completed an evaluation, then wrote an evaluation report for my agent, either recommending that he take a read through himself, or that we send out yet another rejection letter.

In the second two stages, I was already close enough to the manuscript that I could, more often than not, have told the author exactly what he was doing wrong - and exactly what he needed to do right to make his manuscript ready to sell. But by then we'd moved on to trying to find the next manuscript - the next book that might actually bring a few dollars into the firm.

And that is why I do what I do. That is why I'm not an agent. Because when a manuscript comes to my door, or an author contacts me about fixing up his or her manuscript, I don't have to turn anyone away. I don't have to send out rejection letters just so I can move on to the next big thing. I have the opportunity to sit down, read the entire manuscript, and provide the author with the tools he or she needs to realize their writing dreams. Would I make more money as an agent? Probably. But would I give up the relationships I have with my authors? Or the sense of accomplishment I get when I receive the signed early reviewer copy editions of a book that was languishing under the author's bed before I stepped in and helped guide her journey to publication?

Absolutely not.

Lindsay is a freelance editor and publishing consultant specializing in Manuscript Evaluation and Manuscript Critique. Read more on her blog at http://www.murdockediting.blogspot.com or her website, http://www.murdockediting.com.

21% Increase in Freelance Workforce for 2011

2011-08-24T12:04:00.000-07:00

Searching for employment? You may have to look no further than your laptop. Today, more than four in 10 employees classify themselves as free agents compared to 26 percent in 2008 (the last year the survey was conducted). Free agents are defined as individuals who consult, perform temporary, freelance or contract work, or have their own business.

The findings are part of the Kelly Services(r) 2011 Free Agent Survey. Kelly Services has been conducting research around the free agent workforce for more than a decade. The most recent survey obtained the views of U.S. adults, ages 18 to 75, active in the nation's workforce.

The 2011 Free Agent survey found that there is a significant rise in the country's free agent workforce. This jump is attributable to several underlying changes, including:

Economic conditions
Aging workforce
Attitudinal shifts

"Today's workforce desire more flexibility and freedom in the way in which they work," said Carl Camden, president and chief executive officer, Kelly Services. "If companies are interested in accessing the best talent and succeeding in this new workforce paradigm, they must be ready and willing to consider a wide array of worker populations."

It is interesting to examine the growth of free agency within each generational group. There is a significant increase in the percentage of employees "across all generations" who classify themselves as free agents today compared to 2008. The free agent workstyle has grown most notably among Gen X employees (age 32 - 46), more than doubling since 2008. But among all generations, there exists strong rates of growth across the board.

Nearly 38 percent of Gen X workers today are free agents compared to 18 percent in 2008. Today, free agents comprise 49 percent of all Baby Boomers (age 47 - 65), and 66 percent of all Silent Generation workers (age 66 - 76 ). By comparison, 25 percent of Gen Y (age 18 - 31) workers classify themselves as free agents, an increase from 21 percent in 2008.

"We would expect that as the labor market returns to more stable employment conditions, the proportion of free agents in the U.S. working population will even out at 30 to 35 percent," added Camden.

To learn more about the free agent workforce, read the free agent white paper, Free Agents: How "Knowledge Workers" are Redefining the Workplace ( http://bit.ly/r9QccY) or our free agent eBook, The Top 10 Things You Need to Know about Free Agents (http://bit.ly/ppSTqv).

A Conversation with author Milford-Haven Author Mara Purl

2011-08-23T08:12:00.000-07:00

Actress and author Mara Purl pioneered women's small-town fiction with her popular and critically acclaimed Milford-Haven novels. But her novels were not the first incarnation of this beloved fictitious town. The citizens of Milford-Haven, U.S.A. have been delighting audiences across the pond since 1992, when it first appeared as the first American radio drama ever licensed and broadcast by the BBC. The show went on to reach an audience of 4.5 million listeners throughout the U.K.

Mike Parker - You come from a long line of artistic souls, but let's face it, there are challenges to pursuing a career in the creative arts. What kind of advice, encouragement or warnings did you get from your family regarding your career choice?

Mara Purl - I have two or three aspects to that answer. When I was around three years old I thought the hearth to our fireplace was a stage. I did a show every night for my parents - I thought everyone did that. My parents would watch, and I'm sure there was some eye-rolling. Later, I think both my parents wanted to expose me and my sister to as many opportunities as possible, so if we showed any interest in anything, they would try to get us involved.

My dad didn't want us to narrow our lives down too quickly, but they also wanted us to know how difficult a life in the theatre could be. When I was 12 I got the lead to 'Cinderella in Flower Land,' and my mom said, 'Well, now you have to start rehearsing. No time to play, you have to rehearse.' I think my mom was trying to see if I could be discouraged, but it just didn't work on me. Once we were grown, you can't imagine how supportive our parents were and still are. They are tremendously supportive and enthusiastic.

Parker - I understand you grew up in Tokyo and went to an international school. Why were you there, and how did that experience affect your career as an artist?

Mara - We were Japan due my father's job. It was a tremendous experience; all good. It is a country that is so rich in artistic sensibilities. Beauty is a national standard. It is completely woven into the culture. I loved that and I lived that. Being a foreigner in Japan you had fewer opportunities, but more special opportunities.

One experience that was unique happened while I was walking to class. I was called to the principal's office, which was kind of unnerving. I wondered what I had done wrong. But they called me in to tell me I was cast in a show called 'Teach Me English.' It was kind of an educational soap opera. Because it was an educational program we had to have our lines letter perfect. It was a great experience. I would never have had that kind of opportunity if I hadn't been living in Japan

Parker - You began your career in the creative arts as an actress, and you are perhaps best known for your role as nurse Darla Cook on the TV soap opera, Days of Our Lives, but you've also done a fair amount of acting on the stage. If money were no object, which medium would you prefer to act in?

Mara - That is an impossible choice. I really enjoy them both and they are both so different. The great joy of the theatre is that it is live and you never know what is going to happen. I was in The Crucible and something happened to my costume on dress rehearsal. I tripped between scenes, tore my costume and skinned my shins, and only had 30 seconds to be in place. But the show must go on, and as a life skill that is fantastic. It teaches you to rise above the circumstances. In the theatre you may get a laugh one night, and not get a laugh the next night. But together you are creating an experience that can never be repeated. I'm third generation in the theatre. So I come by it honestly.

Parker - You created and produced your own radio dramas, which is pretty much a lost art form in the United States. What possessed you to pursue that genre?

Mara - Oh, my contrary nature (laughs). I was in the town of Cambria, this beautiful California coastal town, performing in a jewelbox of a theatre for the summer. I grew up in Tokyo, moved to New York and then LA. I knew nothing about small towns. I was intrigued by small town life and how people related to each other. Everyone knows everyone in a small town.

One night a couple came back stage to tell us how much they enjoyed the play. It turned out that they owned a little radio station in town. The man, whose name was Wally, said if I ever wanted to do a show on the radio to just let him know.

After the play concluded and I went back to LA to shoot Days of our Lives. I had always thought soap opera was not serious performing, and I didn't take it seriously until I was offered a job working on the show. I was immediately impressed with the directors, the writers, my fellow actors. During scenes I wasn't in, I would watch to learn about the art form, and it is really about storytelling. It doesn't wrap up in two hours. It's more like life. Of course it is exaggerated and there are too many coincidences and silly circumstances. But what I realized is that soap opera writing is iconic writing that deals with archtypes. Even though our lives are not as big as those archtypes, inside us our feelings are that big, so soap opera is a valid enactment of our feelings.

That invitation from Wally started rolling around in my mind. I started writing a script about a small California town loosely based on Cambria. I sent Wally the script, but didn't hear anything back from him. I couldn't get him on the phone, so I drove up to see him. When I walked into the station it was obvious something had changed. There were rock 'n' roll posters on the wall and dishes in the sink and three guys sitting around who stood up and told me that Wally had sold the station.

I asked if they had received my scripts, and they said, 'Oh, yeah. We threw those away.'

I asked if they would be interested in the show if I had sponsors. Well, that got their attention. I had never sold anything in my life, but I walked up and down Main Street looking for sponsors and amazingly most of the businesses said 'Yes.' The station's management took one look at the vouchers and said, 'How soon can you start?'=

Parker - So, that got you on the air in the U.S. How did the show become such a hit in the United Kingdom.

Mara - The show as a local hit, because there was so much local interest. It was, after all, based on the small town where it was being broadcast. That led to another question. Would the show work if there were not local interest? We took the show to a syndicator, but they told us that radio drama in the US was not a viable option.

It was all a numbers game to them. They believed if other people weren't doing it, then it couldn't be done. I took a booth at the National Association of Broadcasters convention, thinking it might be a good place to take the next step for the show. On the last day of the show a couple of men came down the aisle and said, 'The BBC's Radio Five has been trying to find you.'

I called Radio Five's Pat Ewing, and two weeks later the show became the first American radio drama licensed by the BBC.

Parker - The radio dramas have led to your Milford-Haven, U.S.A series of novels, and I believe you have a new one coming out soon. Can you talk about the process of adapting the radio drama format into a novel?

Mara - While the show was still a hit on the radio, I started getting requests for the novels. I had always wanted to write a novel, but I was waiting for the right time. I didn't know how to write a novel. I started writing novelizations of the store's, but they weren't real novels. Having grown up performing, dialogue comes naturally to me, but I spend years working on my narrative voice. I found a brilliant editor to help me.

When I began to realize I was writing women's fiction, whatever that is, I came up with a theory. I tell a story to my husband, and when the eyes roll I know he is thinking, 'Get to the point.' But if I tell the story too quickly to a woman friend, she will stop me and ask for the details. Both totally valid ways of processing information, but both completely different.

Women think in code. There is information that is embedded in the descriptions. A woman will pick up on that, while a man will want to know what she is doing.

Men's fiction has velocity, while women's fiction has a lingering feel. You get the color of the flickering candlelight and the smell of the roast; the emotional connection is more important that the action. As I began to embrace the notion that I was writing women's fiction I began to feel that my books were conversations with my girlfriends. We have a lot of shared experiences.

There is a theme in the novel writing that was not a theme in the radio dramas. It emerged later, and it has to do with the head vs the heart. Inour culture the head tends to take precedence. Our educational system supports that. Tverything that has to do with the heart is dismissed, for the most part, as being irrelevant or silly. But maybe the heart has valuable information. Maybe your instincts will tell you not to go down that dark alley. As I bring people into this series, I am mindful that each character is wrestling with that tension. I invite the reader to examine those questions for themselves.

Parker - For entertainment to work it has to be, well, entertaining. But not all entertainment stands the test of time. Most of it never makes it past the 15 minutes of fame standard. What makes entertainment, 'good' entertainment?

Mara - Good entertainment has to grab you right away. A good artist works very hard to make a phenomenal first impression. You can't begin apologetically. You have to begin with something compelling. I also think freshness and originality is important to good entertainment. An example would be, I write about a coastal community, so I have a lot of sunsets going on. How many ways can you write about a sunset? One day in Cambria I sat at a landing to watch the sun go down. I needed a fresh metaphor, but every thing that came to me was just more of the same. But I wasn't leaving until I got the metaphor. Finally something came to me that was completely fresh. I wrote it own and put it in the book. That's my job as a writer. The person who reads my book doesn't need to know what it took for me to get that metaphor. They just need the experience. They need to be touched, moved and inspired. It is a very tall order, but that is the gig.

I'm intrigued by your attitude toward entertainment. I think it is a huge question. Is the artist doing what they do for themselves or for others? I think the answer needs to be a combination of both. Our work as artists should be passionate, but should also impact others. I think you have to get self out of the way in order to allow your true self to emerge. I am intrigued that 'author' and 'authenticity' have the same root word.

Click here to download a sneak preview of Mara's prequel, When Hummers Dream: A Milford-Haven Story for the Amazon Kindle free during the month of August. Don't have a Kindle? You can read the story on PDF here!

The Seven Questions

1. What's your favorite sound?

Mara - Water. Rushing water.

2. What makes you happy?

Mara - Touching, moving and inspiring someone.

3. What makes you angry?

Mara - Lack of integrity.

4. What is the secret of success?

Mara - Listen to your heart. Success is internal, not external. When you feel your core mission you are the rushing water, and that is pure joy.

5. If you could have dinner with anyone in history, living or dead, who would it be?

Mara - Mary Baker Eddy

6. What is the epitaph that is written on your tombstone?

Mara - "She told a good story."

7. When you get to heaven, what is the first thing you want to hear God say to you?

Mara - "Here's your next assignment."

About the interviewer:
Mike Parker is an award-winner freelance writer, reviewer, playwright, author, editor, and actor. He loves great entertainment, hates lousy entertainment and is not afraid to say "the emperor has no clothes."

Publisher Seeks Non-Fiction Submissions for Personal Growth Book

2011-08-22T08:20:00.000-07:00

ASD Publishing is seeking non-fiction submissions for a book to be published in late 2012 or early 2013 - edited by therapist Pamela Milam, MA, LPC whose first book will be out in spring 2012. The book will be a collection of personal essays that represent growth and change in a person's character over a long period of time.

"I've always been fascinated by the process of growth and change throughout a person's lifespan," says Milam. "I'm interested in how our own youthful earnestness often looks very different to us as time passes. A deeply held conviction can be embarrassing or even mortifying after the passage of only a few years. An early opinion can become ridiculous once you've had more life experience. I'm repeatedly surprised by how often a person makes a complete turn-around in beliefs, politics, judgments, or attitudes - to the degree that the person's original mindset is almost entirely unrecognizable."

Ms. Milam asks the question of potential writers if they have ever written a smug or sanctimonious letter to a person, business, political party or some other entity and completely believed in those convictions at that time, only to change their views later in life. It is those stories that will make up this collection in the yet to be titled book to be published by ASD Publishing. These stories will point out and comment on the other's choices, behavior, character -- and the letters will be about integrity and/or righteousness or self-righteousness early in life - only for the original author of the letter to have done a complete about-face later.

"As a therapist, I have the privilege of watching these changes occur in other people," Milam continues. "I have felt these changes occur within myself. I believe readers would find it interesting to witness that change-trajectory in a series of essays written by others, especially if those essays were accompanied by evidence (letters, photos, postcards, emails) of the earlier mindset."

ASD Publishing is an independent book publisher based in New Jersey specializing in thought-provoking literary fiction, memoir, self help and personal growth non-fiction. They believe that readers are drawn to stories of overcoming adversity and character development and is certain there are people from all walks of life that could share such a story. Essays can be signed or shared anonymously if chosen for the book. For complete details on the submission guidelines, visit www.asdpublishing.com or write to info@asdpublishing.com

"Learning comes with time, attention, and effort. Better yet, sometimes we can learn through the experience of others," says the therapist with over 13 years of experience in the field. "Fortunately, learning is more fun when we can witness the momentum of change in other people by watching them take positions, create opinions, and staunchly defend their beliefs in a way that is amusing, instructive, and sometimes even cringe-worthy."

Becoming a Freelance Writer - Will it Pay the Bills?

2011-08-19T06:20:00.000-07:00

By Mike Mousicos -

It has always been a dream of mine to be a freelance writer. My place of work would be a small room with a window overlooking a tranquil garden and my daily commute, a few steps across the landing. To some, such a regime may be too reclusive but for me, it would be my ideal occupation.

A few years ago, during a stressful day at the office, a colleague posed a question to the rest of the team in casual conversation. He asked everyone what career they'd like to be in if they knew they couldn't fail. If a Genie granted them a wish of being successful in any field they chose, what would it be? One person said they'd be a motor racing driver, while another wanted a shot at being an actress. Others struggled to answer, but my reply was that I'd like to be a writer.

At that time, I worked as a real estate agent in London. Part of my daily routine would be to visit the homes of prospective clients and provide them with a market appraisal of their property's value.

I was asked to look at a house situated in quiet tree-lined road in the suburbs of North London. The property I was attending was a three storey Victorian house that was part of a row that backed onto woodland. It was December and the light snowfall had begun to settle on the trees. A large bay window to the rear of the property provided one of the most picturesque views I'd ever seen during my career. It was like an image captured for a Christmas card.

A neighbouring building a few doors away stood out from the others. It was exactly the same in structure, but painted in a Peachy Pink shade, which put it out of character with the rest of the street. My prospective clients noticed that the flamboyant colour scheme had caught my eye. They told me that the house belonged to Stanley Kubrick, and that he only used it when he was writing. The legendary director passed away two years later and I have never forgotten the view from that rear bay window. I think what has made it all the more memorable is that the scenery I so appreciated that day may have been the same that inspired the creative talent of Mr Kubrick. Who knows?

Over the years, I've met and spoken to several writers who all seemed happy with their work - although two of them attributed their greying hair to meeting copy deadlines! They were freelance writers who worked from the comfort of their homes, which coincidentally, were all situated in nice parts of town. The advice on which they were all unanimous was that the aspiring writer should write every day. Their spare rooms having wall to wall bookshelves, their other recommendation was to read as often and as widely as possible.

In a bid to start work on realising my ambition, I enrolled on a home study course in creative writing. Assignments are set by qualified tutors who themselves are all professional writers. Your submissions are marked and returned to you with comments, suggestions and any necessary amendments. If your work is deemed of a publishable standard, then you are advised to submit it to your target market - a market which you are also taught to research.

To date, I have had three pieces of work published and I'm only half way through my course. Not bad going for a newbie you might think? Well, I've also received about a dozen rejection letters from editors who didn't think my work was suitable for them. Even as I write, I am waiting for an overdue reply from the editorial team of a trade magazine that has already published my work in the past.

A lady who once had an occupation in publishing, told me that work from unknown writers was frequently rejected without even being looked at by the editors! Another person informed me of an interesting statistic, that of all the people in the world pursuing the arts - musicians, writers, poets and artists - less than one percent of them earn a living from their creativity.

The above information, when underpinned by a rejection letter, can serve to dampen the enthusiasm of even the most determined of characters. My writing career is in its infancy and yet I have had many ups and downs - the latter being more frequent!

Earning a living as a freelance writer will take patience and a lot of practice. The advice given to me by the professionals was to try and write every day. The internet offers many opportunities for the aspiring writer to train their talent and get paid at the same time. For more details, visit http://thepaidwriter.net

Backstories, a Resource Blog for Writers

2011-08-18T11:55:00.000-07:00

HighBeam Research, part of Cengage Learning, has launches its new research blog, Backstories, which features in-depth information on current affairs and breaking news for anyone seeking the back story on articles from journals, newspapers, magazines, and other publications.

HighBeam Research has more than 80 million articles from over 6,500 credible publications. Backstories brings insight and analysis from scholarly and peer-reviewed articles from U.S.-based and international journals. Blog posts cover such topics as counseling, therapy and treatment, autism, social psychology, occupational and organization psychology and other topics.

With access to articles from 87 international nursing journals, Backstories covers a variety of nursing-related topics for the benefit of anyone in the nursing profession or concerned about medical and patient care related issues. Topics include critical-care nursing, long-term care, nursing education, nursing homes and others.

Spanning such coverage as criminal law, business law, international law, public policy, tax law and ethics, analysis of the newest articles in the 138 law journals online gives readers of Backstories up-to-date inside information on all facets of the law.

HighBeam Research archives 169 international education journals. Backstories blog writers peruse the latest articles on childhood and primary education, curriculum, special education, science education, school administration and other educational topics to offer blog readers fact-based guidance, as well as both sides of the story on provocative topics.

The newest articles from over 150 social science journals archived by HighBeam Research are sourced in Backstories, providing readers with information on studies and analysis on social work, demography, gender studies, population studies, cultural studies and other social science related topics.

The Backstories writing staff vets thousands of articles that come in to HighBeam Research, and highlights only the most important news bytes, building one comprehensive picture. Backstories finds the connections, trends and patterns from current events to related stories from the past, making it easy for researchers to quickly access the full story.

Book Publishing Industry Continues to Grow

2011-08-16T04:49:00.000-07:00

"BookStats," the deepest, most comprehensive statistical survey ever conducted of the modern U.S. publishing industry--capturing its size, scope, revenue and rapid strategic expansion across multiplatform content and sales distribution channels--has been published.

Spanning 2008-2010, "BookStats" offers data and analysis of the total industry and the individual trade, K-12 school, higher education, professional and scholarly markets. Produced jointly by the Association of American Publishers and the Book Industry Study Group, its highlights include:

Overall U.S. publishing revenues are growing.--Publishers' net sales revenue has grown annually; 2010's $27.94 billion is a 5.6 percent increase over 2008.

Overall U.S. publishing unit sales up.--Publishers' 2.57 billion net units sold in 2010 represent a 4.1 percent increase since 2008.

Americans, young and old, are reading actively in all print and digital formats.--2010 total net sales revenue in the consumer-focused Trade market is $13.94 billion, increasing 5.8 percent since 2008 (and excluding 2011's e-book sales surge). Both adult fiction and juvenile (non-fiction and fiction) have seen consistent annual gains.

Education publishing holds steady and, in some segments, shows solid growth.--Higher Education's $4.5 Billion net sales revenue for 2010 represents a significant 23.1 percent increase over 2008. K-12 School, the industry's second largest category by net sales dollar volume, reached $5.5 Billion revenue in 2010.

Professional and scholarly publishing shows gains.--The professional market's $3.7 Billion net sales revenue was +6.3 percent over 2008. Scholarly publishing experienced 4.7 percent growth since 2008, with $191 Million net sales revenue for 2010.

"The ‘BookStats' study indicates that the publishing industry is healthy and growing during a time of unprecedented change," said Dominique Raccah, Founder and CEO, Sourcebooks and Chair of the BookStats Committee. "Publishers in every sector of our business have made significant investments in content and technology to better serve their audiences' needs and those efforts seem to correlate with the results we're seeing."

"BookStats" examines the industry from three distinct angles: by publishing categories, publishing formats and sales distribution channels.

More highlights about:

overall publishing
publishing categories including breakdowns of fiction and non-fiction
publishing formats including hardcover, paperback, e-books, internet and bundled products and services
distribution channels including physical and online retail, independents, export sales, wholesalers/jobbers and institutional sales

"BookStats" includes source data from nearly 2,000 publishers, plusadditional databases and resources.

Record-Setting Earnings for Online Contractors

2011-08-15T06:43:00.000-07:00

Elance released its quarterly Online Employment Report today, revealing strong momentum in online work during a tumultuous summer for the U.S. and global economy. With a current run rate of 600,000 jobs posted per year, demand for talent from companies ranging from startups to enterprises have increased over 61% year over year. Online contractors earned a record $34.3 million, up from $30.7 million in the previous quarter. Businesses hiring online and freelance professionals sparked a 23% increase in a single quarter in both the population of contractors and employers working online.

The record setting amount of work completed was fueled by increasing demand across the board, including content creators such as Illustrators, Designers, Writers, Content Moderators and Programmers with hot skills such as Android, WordPress and Magento. To review the full Elance Online Employment Report, please click here.

It's High Tide for Content Creators
The proliferation of digital businesses, in social media, search engine optimization and online marketing, continues to drive demand for high quality content that increases customer acquisition and engagement. The demand for Business Writers is peaking this summer with a 21% increase, jumping 9 spots on the charts to #23. Blog Writing also saw a 9% increase in demand as businesses look to keep customers engaged in unique ways.

Average Commute: 1,167 Miles
Unconstrained by geography, the average telecommute for U.S. Elancers is 1,167 miles. California has the highest number of businesses hiring online, with Texas and New York following close behind. However, New York continues to be the U.S. capital for online work, claiming the #1 spot in IT and Marketing and #2 in Creative.

Spoiler alert: Stories are not spoiled by 'spoilers'

2011-08-14T05:08:00.000-07:00

Many of us go to extraordinary lengths to avoid learning the endings of stories we have yet to read or see -- plugging our ears, for example, and loudly repeating "la-la-la-la," when discussion threatens to reveal the outcome. Of book and movie critics, we demand they not give away any plot twists or, at least, oblige with a clearly labeled "spoiler alert." We get angry with friends who slip up and spill a fictional secret.

But we're wrong and wasting our time, suggests a new experimental study from the University of California, San Diego. People who flip to the last page of a book before starting it have the better intuition. Spoilers don't spoil stories. Contrary to popular wisdom, they actually seem to enhance enjoyment.

Even ironic-twist and mystery stories -- which you'd be forgiven for assuming absolutely depend on suspense or surprise for success -- aren't spoiled by spoilers, according to a study by Nicholas Christenfeld and Jonathan Leavitt of UC San Diego's psychology department, to be published in a forthcoming issue of the journal Psychological Science.

Christenfeld and Leavitt ran three experiments with a total of 12 short stories. Three types of stories were studied: ironic-twist, mystery and literary. Each story -- classics by the likes of John Updike, Roald Dahl, Anton Chekhov, Agatha Christie and Raymond Carver -- was presented as-is (without a spoiler), with a prefatory spoiler paragraph or with that same paragraph incorporated into the story as though it were a part of it. Each version of each story was read by at least 30 subjects. Data from subjects who had read the stories previously were excluded.

Subjects significantly preferred the spoiled versions of ironic-twist stories, where, for example, it was revealed before reading that a condemned man's daring escape is all a fantasy before the noose snaps tight around his neck.

The same held true for mysteries. Knowing ahead of time that Poirot will discover that the apparent target of attempted murder is, in fact, the perpetrator not only didn't hurt enjoyment of the story but actually improved it.

Subjects liked the literary, evocative stories least overall, but still preferred the spoiled versions over the unspoiled ones.

Why? The answers go beyond the scope of the study, but one possibility is perhaps the simplest one: that plot is overrated.

"Plots are just excuses for great writing. What the plot is is (almost) irrelevant. The pleasure is in the writing," said Christenfeld, a UC San Diego professor of social psychology.

"Monet's paintings aren't really about water lilies," he said.

It's also possible that it's "easier" to read a spoiled story. Other psychological studies have shown that people have an aesthetic preference for objects that are perceptually easy to process.

"So it could be," said Leavitt, a psychology doctoral student at UC San Diego, "that once you know how it turns out, it's cognitively easier – you're more comfortable processing the information – and can focus on a deeper understanding of the story."

But the researchers are careful to note that they do not have a new recipe for writers to follow. After all, spoilers helped only when presented in advance, outside of the piece. When the researchers inserted a spoiler directly into a story, it didn't go over quite as well.

The overall findings are consistent with the experience most of us have had: A favorite tale can be re-read multiple times with undiminished pleasure. A beloved movie can be watched again and again.

"Stories are a universal element of human culture, the backbone of the billion-dollar entertainment industry, and the medium through which religion and societal values are transmitted," the researchers write. In other words, narratives are incredibly important. But their success doesn't seem to hinge on simple suspense.

Christenfeld and Leavitt conclude the paper by saying that perhaps some of our "other intuitions about suspense may be similarly wrong."

"Perhaps," they write, "birthday presents are better when wrapped in cellophane, and engagement rings are better when not concealed in chocolate mousse."

We might be also well-advised to reconsider surprise parties, Christenfeld said. Meanwhile, he and Leavitt continue to investigate what makes stories work -- or not. Numerous recent scandals about fictionalized memoirs have inspired them to explore why it matters that a story be true. "Why does it matter," Christenfeld said, "whether something happened to one person in five billion or to no one? If the story is still a good story, why do we care?"

Guest authorship, a form of ghost writing, constitutes legal fraud

2011-08-10T04:56:00.000-07:00

"Guest authorship is a disturbing violation of academic integrity standards, which form the basis of scientific reliability" state two law experts in a robust attack on this unethical practice in a policy article in this week's PLoS Medicine--a practice which the authors also argue constitutes legal fraud.

Simon Stern and Trudo Lemmens from the Faculties of Law and Medicine at the University of Toronto, Canada argue that it is irrelevant whether publications with academic guest authors are factually accurate. Rather, ghostwriting of medical journal articles raises serious ethical and legal concerns, bearing on the integrity of medical research and scientific evidence used in legal disputes. Furthermore, the false respectability afforded to claims of safety and effectiveness through the use of academic investigators risks undermining the integrity of biomedical research and patient care--an integrity that also underpins the use of scientific evidence in the courtroom.

According to the authors, medical journals, academic institutions, and professional disciplinary bodies have failed to enforce effective sanctions. Some journals, such as PLoS Medicine, have called for bans on future submissions by authors who act as guests, formal retraction if unacknowledged ghostwriting is discovered after publication, and reporting of authors' misconduct to institutions. Although the authors agree that such actions may have an impact on academics concerned about their status and future publication options, they say that it is unclear whether journals can adequately monitor the practice.

Consequently, the authors make the case for more effectively deterring the practice of ghostwriting through the imposition of legal liability on the ''guest authors'' who lend their names to ghostwritten articles. The authors say: "We argue that a guest author's claim for credit of an article written by someone else constitutes legal fraud, and may give rise to claims that could be pursued in a class action based on the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act [RICO]."

The authors continue: "The same fraud could support claims of ''fraud on the court'' against a pharmaceutical company that has used ghostwritten articles in litigation. This claim also appropriately reflects the negative impact of ghostwriting on the legal system."

More info.:http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001070

Golden Gazette Newspaper Hearkens Back to Early 20th Century Americana

2011-08-08T06:13:00.000-07:00

With a quarterly print run of 500,000 copies, The Golden Gazette newspaper, and its sub-head "Your News Bulletin for the Stories from the Golden Age," reintroduces today's readers to that period of American history now referred to as its Golden Age of Pulp Fiction. Famed mystery/thriller/adventure writers as Edgar Rice Burroughs, Raymond Chandler, Carroll John Daly, Lester Dent, Walter B. Gibson, Dashiell Hammett, L. Ron Hubbard, H. Bedford Jones and Norvell Page publishing their tales in such notable magazines as Black Mask, True Detective Stories, Five-Novels Monthly, Ten Detective Aces and Thrilling Adventures, provide a rich and colorful view of a young America, growing up as a new world leader in popular entertainment.

The current issue of the Gazette-which masthead reads "When the Going Gets Tough, Americans Get Going"-features articles about the pulp fiction works of L. Ron Hubbard and includes articles about the history of gold, how carnivals came to be and the origins of the Finnish Winter War. The paper's high demand is attributed to the strong reception for the republication of Hubbard's "Stories from the Golden Age."

But Hubbard isn't the only author finding resurgence in interest in his stories. Adventure House (www.adventurehouse.com), Vintage Library (www.vintagelibrary.com) and Black Dog Books (www.blackdogbooks.net) are three other publishers who have engaged an expanding audience through their reprints of such notable authors as H. Bedford-Jones, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. Sales continue to increase as readers discover that many of their favorite characters, such as Luke Skywalker, Indiana Jones, Superman and Spiderman, have their roots in such perennially popular characters as Doc Savage, The Spider and The Shadow.

Stories from the Golden Age contain 153 stories written by Hubbard that are being published in 80 volumes, in a wide spectrum of genres, including adventure, western, mystery, detective, fantasy, science fiction and even some romance, using his own and 15 pen names.

Why "Write About What You Know" Can Be Bad Advice For Poets

2011-08-05T13:57:00.000-07:00

By Gwyneth Box

Writing about what you know - that basic advice all novice writers are given - can actually lead you into problems if you stick too closely to the truth. Particularly when it comes to poetry, a precise and concise form where every word and every sound should be carefully chosen to contribute to the overall effect.

It's often effective to use personal experience as a jumping off point for your writing. Once you've decided to turn the reality into poetry, though, it's important to shake off your personal attachment to it. If you don't, you are likely to end up including irrelevant details that have no place in a poem and which appeal to no-one except, perhaps, the original people involved.

Suppose you are writing a poem based around your first meeting with your wife. It's a topic that's likely to have universal appeal as most people have had a similar experience.

As you start to plan, you remember you've been advised to include concrete details to give your poem more impact, so you try to recall exactly how it happened:

It was April. A wet Tuesday afternoon about four o'clock. She was wearing a purple dress and caught her heel as she stepped off the number sixteen bus at the corner of Green Lane and Seagull Grove...

How many of these facts should you include in the final version of the poem? Think about what each idea can contribute in sounds, metre and imagery.

Does it matter that it was a Tuesday, for example? A "wet Wednesday" is a lot more alliterative. (Unless you go for, "Tuesday, in torrential rain...", of course!) Is the time important? Maybe "Thursday at three" would be more effective.

Remember how The Crystals' song "Da Doo Ron Ron" begins "I met him on a Monday"? In fact Thursday, Friday or Sunday would all have worked just has well metrically and are far more likely days for such meetings to happen. But the sounds wouldn't be so tight: notice how the whole line is tied together by the "m" sounds in "met", "him" and "Monday".

Mind you, the fact that it sounds good isn't a sufficient reason to include a fact or image in the finished poem. Are either day or time actually of any relevance to what you're writing?

"Seagull Grove" is a lovely street name - perhaps it should have a poem of its own - but unless there are any other birds or wildlife in the account, or unless you're going to link it in by describing the dress flaring out like wings as she tripped, it's more likely to distract attention than add anything. And as for the dress itself, remember that you're never going to find a rhyme for purple.

Of course it's useful to look at the real details of the occasion, but you should be willing to pick and choose which facts and images you include, and to manipulate them to suit your final poem. Keep in mind that you are writing a poem, not a newspaper report.

One last piece of advice: if your wife is going to be offended if you change the details to produce a better poem, maybe you should limit your readership to those with a personal interest - your writing isn't likely to appeal to a universal audience.

Gwyneth Box is a widely published, award-winning poet with extensive teaching experience. Visit http://www.tantamount.com/words/ to find out more and take a free trial of The Poet's Toolbox, her innovative on-line poetry techniques course.

Marketing For Freelancers and Entrepreneurs - Selling Yourself in the New Economy

2011-08-04T13:03:00.000-07:00

By Loren Woirhaye

The new economy is a competitive place and you'll have to be a marketer in order not to be marginalized by the marketplace.

In brief: If you cannot market and sell your ideas to your employers and colleagues, you'll be exploited and under-paid.

Fifty years ago, giant corporations offered a lifetime of job security and upward mobility. Today you'll have to be more flexible in your working skills because chances are the jobs you are doing today will not be the ones you are doing in 5 or ten years.

In our current 2010 economic meltdown in the United States, we have a chorus of workers demanding the government create jobs. I'm not too astute about politics or economics, but it seems to me that the workers should be busting their buns to get new skills with more value in the new economy instead grousing about the loss of the obsolete jobs they lost.

In the news, a factory worker who for 25 years has put in his hours and spent his off-time watching television rather than bettering himself cries angrily at the government to replace his lost job. I ask this: how many books has he read in the last year about improving his earning capacity by learning new skills?

I am not being political here. It is a very practical matter. If your skills are no longer valued where you are, you have two basic options to improve your standard of living:

1. Go to where your skills are valued. The move may be geographical but if you are a knowledge worker and not a physical worker, you may be able to work remotely.

2. Learn new skills that are valued or will be valued where you are.

During the industrial revolution workers moved from farms to cities in order to do better financially. It did not always work out for workers, but consider that 19th century farming was pretty unscientific and unpredictable, the idea of stable, long-term industrial employment was attractive to poor rural folk.

In today's shifting new economy the likelihood of you becoming very prosperous doing any form of work other than knowledge work is remote. Knowledge work can be creative work and it can involve physical activity, but the driving force behind the value a knowledge worker provided is not in his or her muscles, but between his or her ears.

Get Over Yourself

In my work as a marketing consultant I have had clients who boasted to me of their sales prowess - ie. "I can sell anything to anybody"

When I hear that I think 1. "you have a big ego" and 2. "if you are so skilled, why do you need my help?"

From personal experience hiring and managing salespeople I know they can be quite un-humble in assessing their own skills yet when it came time for them to dial for dollars (I ran a phone sales operation), very few would actually get positive results.

The closer you get to real mastery of a skill, the more you realize how hard it really is. By way of example: I thought I was a much more skilled guitar player 5 years ago than I think am today, even though today I am much more skilled in reality. The difference is now I am humble about it because I realize how much I have yet to learn to truly master the instrument.

The less you know about a topic the more likely you are to have a sophomoric ("wise fool") view of its challenges. It is common for people to overvalue their own prowess. While I'm much too polite to tell anybody to their face they are over-valuing their own skills you would do well yourself to assess your own present skills a bit critically.

Skills in sales and marketing are the same way - when you learn a little bit about it you'll start to think you are pretty hot stuff, when you really don't have the goods yet. This is all part of the learning process, so observe it without judgement in yourself. Even if you must brag to compete in the marketplace, try to be humble inside yourself because humility keeps you in the learning process. If you think you know everything you stop learning and get arrogance.

Preparation Matters - So Be Prepared

The Boy Scouts of America slogan "Be Prepared" is a bit of wisdom. I was never a boy scout and I've learned to be prepared through numerous instances of failure to be prepared, with disastrous consequences. Skilled salesmanship is all about being prepared, and in today's competitive marketplace it stands to reason that the people with the sharpest skills are going to be the winners.

Today's marketplace is a very sensitive environment because consumers have virtually endless choices of who they do business with. You'll want to pay attention to subtle details and part of preparation to market yourself or your product is learning what to look for. It's honing your instincts, if you want to think of it that way.

In order to market your products or self competitively you'll need to have a plan to communicate to the marketplace. Without one you'll be just like all the other poor sops without a clue who are forced to take what they can get, which usually isn't much.

Writing is communication and any planned communication involves writing. All effective salesmanship and marketing must be planned to succeed and sell the product. That's because our brains work in a somewhat mysterious but fairly predictable way. The old sales gurus figured out a lot of stuff intuitively by observing people. Now we have mounting research into consumer behavior.

What is indisputable is that some people seem to have a "knack" for selling. Unfortunately, I am not one of those people. Selling does not come naturally or easily to me. Everything I've learned about how to sell has come from hard work and diligent study and I suggest to you that selling and marketing are very learnable skills.

If you're selling face to face or on the phone, you may not really be a marketer. A salesman relies a great deal on his ears for listening and his voice for talking. A marketer uses a pen instead of the voice. This allows the marketer to have leverage, but it also means if you want to be a really skilled and successful marketer, you need to hone your writing skills.

The author's Blog shares insights, tools and instructions to help you define and refine your business goals in order to boost your income with more effective and targeted marketing.

He is also expert at automated marketing systems to get web traffic. Automated marketing software and insights are available at his website about penny-wise and time-efficient online marketing at http://www.ZeroDollarMarketer.com . Loren Woirhaye works as an internet marketing consultant and strategist, writes sales copy, video scripting and production, ghostwrites for businesses and other consultants, and develops white papers. The ethos guiding all his work is to develop communication which cuts through the shield of apathy afflicting today's consumers.

How Technology Advanced the Way We Write

2011-08-02T06:33:00.000-07:00

By Michael Julom

From the dawn of human evolution, writing has come a very long way. Whether it was etchings on stone, ink on scrolls, or bytes on a word processor file, humans always found ingenious ways of communicating. And although the medium used may have been different for each era, the principle of communication and that idea of getting a message across remained the same. Today however, technology has helped us get the message across more easily and accurately than our ancestors did. Simple tools like autocomplete, autocorrect, and spelling and grammar check have made writing for today's humans more hassle and error free.

Autocomplete Function

The autocomplete feature is prevalent in many applications. Web browsers, word processors, integrated development environments, and search engines all employ some type of autocompletion functionality. The feature basically predicts what the user is intending to type before he/she has actually finished typing it. It uses the currently keyed in characters and calculates the most suitable word to display.

Developing code has also gotten faster with the advent of autocompletion. A coder can simply start typing and prompt an autocomplete using a keyboard shortcut combination. The function either completes the code or presents the user with a list of possible candidates from which the user can select. Search engines offer a similar function where the list is ordered based on how frequently the word or words have been searched.

Autocorrect Function

This feature is similar to the autocomplete feature in that it helps the user finish typing a word quicker. The main difference is it attempts to fix mistakes caused by typographical errors by replacing the typed word with the correct one. The word used for replacement is determined by the vicinity of the keys typed and a dictionary of words matching the sequence. The iPhone uses this feature to speed up typing text messages. For example, say the user typed in "gwkku", autocorrect will see that 'g' is next to 'h', 'w' is next to e, 'k' is next to 'l', and 'u' is next to 'o', thereby deducing that the user was supposed to write "hello" instead, and replace the erroneous word.

Spell and Grammar Check Function

Our writing is also commonly supplemented with a spell checker and grammar checker. Word processors and email clients use this feature to make sure the user writes legibly and error-free. Spelling errors are usually underlined and have an associated right-click context menu listing suitable replacement suggestions. Similarly, the grammar checker underlines phrases that do not have correct sentence structure and suggests possible replacement phrases in a right-click context menu.

These are simple software functions that we take for granted everyday. They help make our writing lives a whole lot easier and faster. On rare occasions however, they can also backfire on us and actually make our lives funnier and embarrassing. For instance, take the site Autocorrect Fail. It shows various examples of what may happen when an auto correct goes wrong.

Writers Unite to Protect the Freedom of Other Writers Worldwide

2011-08-01T07:02:00.000-07:00

To help set the stage for one of the world's most prestigious human rights events--presented by literary and human rights organization PEN American Center--GlobalWorks Group was selected to create a documentary on Nasrin Sotoudeh, a writer, lawyer and leader of the women's and children's rights movement in Iran, where she was sentenced this past January to 11 years in prison for, among other things, "acting against national security."

"We were approached to help make clear and urgent the need to stand up for freedom of expression," commented Inaki Escudero, GlobalWorks' Global Creative Director. "So we created three videos that made censorship of expression tangible as well as exemplified how words are the seeds that can inspire social change," added Mr. Escudero.

Laszlo Jakab Orsos, Director of the PEN World Voices Festival, stated, "We had the opportunity to form a strategic partnership with GlobalWorks. The agency developed a video that communicates the harm censorship and book banning brings to society as a whole." He added, "With these video works we wanted to emphasize that without freedom to write and publish, we can't possibly build a society of open-minded and free-spirited people, which is the foundation of every democracy."

During PEN's annual event, Ms. Sotoudeh was awarded the 2011 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award; Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi accepted, on behalf of the imprisoned honoree. The honor, now in its 25th year, recognizes an international literary figure who has been persecuted or imprisoned for exercising or defending the right to freedom of expression.

"This prestigious event combined with the organization's mission are poignant reminders that many people around the world are far less fortunate and lack free expression," said Jose E. Velez-Silva, Director of Client Services at GlobalWorks.

"This creative assignment was a very personal one for me," said GlobalWorks Chairman and CEO Yuri Radzievsky. "I was born and educated in the USSR, where human rights and freedom of expression were always in question," Mr. Radzievsky said. "It was an honor to help further PEN's mission and draw attention to Nasrin Sotoudeh's vision and accomplishments."

In closing Mr. Radzievsky stated, "I had the fortune to land in the United States to live in a country without censorship or fear for our human rights."

Authors and Technology

2011-07-31T05:58:00.000-07:00

By Paul Dorset

I thought I'd take a moment out today and write a little about the opportunities that modern technology has opened up for writers. I have spent most of my working life involved in technology in some way or other. From an early age I have been interested in just what technology can do to help us manage things more efficiently. Unfortunately that's mostly been a misnomer. Sure, technology gadgets have been fun. Sure technology gadgets have been clever. But overall, they've not done a lot to alter the time it takes most of us to do things (unless you're involved in something that is really technical and complex). For the majority of the world, technology has just simplified things and given us even more ways of getting things wrong.

I know that sounds a little harsh, but think back to what you used to do and compare it to what you do now. Can you name 10 things that now take half the time they used to and have genuinely saved you time? I'm struggling. Sure, there are lots of devices I use, but they just make things more convenient. I don't seem to have more hours left at the end of the day. Besides which, TV and DVDs have conspired to take away any extra hours I may somehow create.

Anyway, back to writing. Just what has technology done for writers? It has stopped us using paper to write, you reply. Maybe. I still use paper to jot down ideas from time to time. Sure, I don't actually use paper to write with nowadays, but is that any better? I'm certainly not the best typist in the world. Oh yes, no more typewriters. They've gone by the way too. I remember typewriters. I had one when I was younger. They were pretty good. Annoying sometimes, but they got the job done. And then along came PCs. Simple ones at first, dedicated word processors, but better and more complex ones later. And here's my rub. It's that complexity. Paper is an easy medium. The latest Windows 7 PC with everything on it can be a pain to write simple articles on sometimes. I even had mine lock up this morning and I eventually had to re-boot it. Thankfully I didn't lose anything but the inconvenience and the lost 20 minutes were still apparent.

At the weekend I had to buy myself a new keyboard as my previous desk setup was giving me a little of a back strain due to the placement of my keyboard and mouse. Nowadays it's also all about ergonomics. Where was that phrase 20 years ago? But my new keyboard is a little smaller than my old one and I am still struggling to get the maximum speed from it. I have had to change my typing habits again. Oh for some efficiency! I have also contemplated using my iPad for writing. But that's a little awkward too. It seems there is no ideal set up for me at present. Everything is a compromise.

Art is not supposed to be easy. Throughout the ages artists have struggled, be it with tools, inspiration, studios, sponsors. You name it. So is it really any different now? I don't think it really is. It's just that some of the challenges are a little different. The consumer has certainly benefited though. They can easily purchase a book or a paper in a variety of different formats. They can surf the internet and discover new pictures or artworks. Heck, consumers can even download things in the comfort of their own homes. But writers? There may be some new tools available but there's no instant technology fix available to them. Their job is still about sweat and tears while trying to get to grips with the technological tools of the day.

About the author:
Paul Dorset invites you to interact with him directly on his author blog at http://pauldorset.blogspot.com. He is very active in the field of young adult fiction and always welcomes queries and reader comments. His first YA fantasy book can be found on Amazon and Smashwords and is available for download for only $0.99!

Interpret Job Opportunities Explode in Global Economy - Q'Est Que C'Est?!

2011-07-28T15:19:00.000-07:00

By Lisa Jenkins

Contrary to many other sectors, the fields of translation and interpreting are anticipated to grow quickly within the next few years. Of course, job prospects will vary by language and specialty, but there will be more of them across the board. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of language interpreters is projected to increase 22 percent over the next 8 years. Much of this increase is due to strengthened ties between the United States and international organizations, expanded markets due to globalization, and the fact that there is a greater number of non-English-speaking immigrants in the United States.

People in these positions fill necessary roles in today's global economy. They facilitate cross-cultural communication by transposing one language into another. The best in the field do more than just translate words, they convey meaning and concepts into another language. As such, in this field you might not only be bilingual, but also culturally literate when it comes to the languages/cultures you are translating between. To this end, many in the translating profession have spent extended periods of time in other countries learning not only other languages, but also the cultures that correspond to them. Moreover, they are knowledgeable in a variety of subject matters and possess a wide and sometimes very specialized vocabulary in both languages depending on the type of work they do.

Opportunities are found in many different fields and industries, including business, culinary, marketing/public relations, science, education, academia, film, visual arts, music, history, engineering, social sciences, and non-profit work. Frequently, professionals select a few areas of specialty. Often, these areas of specialty will expand over time, meaning that one could become an expert in multiple fields.

Though there are many language specialists who are versatile in the types of work performed, these roles are different. Interpreters work with the spoken word and translators work with written texts. Each job requires a different set of skills. Moreover, due to personality, certain people are suited to one specialty and others are better suited to the other.

Over the next few years, the demand for workers in the business sector is predicted to grow. Businesses use translators for many different reasons, including website and correspondence conversion, document (contracts, etc.) interpretation, product descriptions, and translation of company bios or transcripts of speeches. With the growing number of companies going international, website internationalization - or localization - has become absolutely necessary.

Many companies have versions of their site in multiple languages. Some companies have constantly changing "news" sections of their site or even a blog associated with it. Because this content is always being updated, translation is constantly needed. There are many professionals who make a living translating exclusively for one or two international companies. Though many major international corporations have exclusive contracts with large translation companies, there are many smaller companies that work with freelancers. Businesses also use specialists for interviews, conference calls, speeches, and conference presentations.

"I frequently do correspondence translations for various international companies. The employee from the American company will send me an email or letter, I'll work on it and send it back to them. I typically bid on these projects in 'packages' of 5-10 emails or letters, or we agree on a per word rate. I get a lot of repeat business from these clients. International businesses are always looking for reliable professionals," says Jen Westmoreland Bouchard, owner of Lucidite Writing.

Are you interested in working in this field? There is no one prescribed or "acceptable" path to follow. Rather, the education and professional backgrounds of industry workers are typically quite diverse. To begin with, anyone wanting to enter the field should be fluent in at least two languages. Some grew up speaking one language and learned another in school. Others grew up in a bilingual home. It doesn't matter how one becomes fluent in more than one language, the end result is the same. Moreover, both translators and interpreters must have excellent communication skills (written and verbal, respectively), and a solid understanding of both grammar and colloquial expressions in both languages. It is also highly desirable that job seekers have an understanding of the cultures in which or with which they are working.

Most of us take foreign language classes in high school but don't consider that the knowledge acquired can actually be meaningful later in life. But you can find an increasing number of interpreter jobs in today's global economy. Career writer Lisa Jenkins explains the opportunities, from freelance translating work to positions with companies that specialize in website internationalization and other forms of language translation for clients worldwide.

The Faces of IT Journalism

2011-07-27T07:57:00.000-07:00

By Eugenia Kolobukhova

For a long time I have wanted to share my idea of a present-day IT-journalist. Here are three generalized images of today's typical characters from Germany, the USA and Russia. Please read between the lines, and you will see that the images are quite typical.

Let's begin with Germany. It is really pleasant to deal with German editors: the employees are polite and professional. If the person you need is absent at the moment, you will be asked to call again at a given time (e.g. Friday, 11 o'clock) or they can even call back themselves no matter where you live. Well then, here is the first image.

Friedrich Hoffmann[*]
Munich, Germany
33 y.o.
Ziff Davis Online Publishing, Internet Professionell, PC Professionell, PC Welt
"I am a wiper by profession!"

Friedrich Hoffmann avoids talking about himself without reference to his work by all available means. In his opinion, what is private should remain private. But he shared his tales about his professional activity and his thoughts about IT-journalism of today with pleasure.

What kind of education do you have?

I graduated from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. My major was "Journalism", and my minor was "Political Science, Sociology and History of Arts". But I did not start working at once, as I had to take two years' break in order to do non-military service in a Hamburg orphan asylum.

And what happened afterwards? Weren't you disappointed with your profession after a long break and a change of occupation?

Of course, there were a lot of various thoughts in my young head, but I have always felt that it is my vocation to work with the word. I was 23 when I began to look for a job consciously and, as a result, started my career. I was employed as a PR specialist by a company, which dealt with developing b2c and b2b program solutions for financial management. That experience was really valuable. I got a lot of new knowledge about software market, the current state of the World Wide Web and its business potential. I became more and more concerned by the problems of IT branch. I promoted the products of that company till 2005, and I naturally made some contacts with targeted magazines and main news portals.

Therefore, you were invited to join editorial staff?

Not exactly. I am not officially employed. Along with my main job, I became a freelance writer: I wrote articles that were bought by some magazines quite willingly. Soon I began to get orders from magazines, and I decided to quit my job and to commit myself to journalism.

What are your articles about?

About various things - networks, network security, web-design, Internet-marketing, freeware. But the core of my interest is still the social aspects of the Internet: social services, web 2.0 etc. By the way, in 1996, when still going to college, I had written the first German articles dedicated to flirtation, acquaintance and love online long before they became a part of our life.

I know that you also write books. How do you manage to find time for that?

I guess it cannot be helped. Every journalist writes books, as everybody gathers unique experience in the course of his life, not excepting you or me. And everybody needs to share this experience, but a journalist feels this need stronger than anybody else. I satisfy this need with writing books. One of my books on marketing has already been translated to four languages and is successfully sold in Europe. It means that my experience is instructive for somebody!

What can you say about the present-day IT journalism? You must reflect on your profession a lot.

I am a wiper by profession! Everybody is surprised to hear it, but I am going to explain myself. It is commonly considered, that only a "pro", which has worked in a technical department of an IT company for several years, can work as an IT journalist. So, if you read any IT article, it will be either boring or difficult to understand unless the subject is directly connected to your work. There is too much dust in IT journalism, and somebody needs to wipe it away. That is what I deal with. And, judging by my readers' comments, I seem to be quite a good contemporary wiper, which wipes the dust properly.

The US. American journalists differ a lot from their German colleagues. First, magazines' sites contain a great amount of information, which is often irrelevant and difficult to sort out. When you make a call to editorial office, most likely you will hear a cushioned female voice of the answering system, which will make you play a quest game named "If you would like to... then push..." When you eventually manage to talk to somebody, you will be asked to write to the editor's e-mail, which has been inactive for a long time (as you will tell them later). Though, it must be an "entrance threshold"... and, due to this, overcoming this mental barrier will seem even more rewarding. And here is the second portrait.

Kevin Gordon
California, the US
45 y.o.
Computer Shopper, Computer Power User, The Washington Post, New York's Computer Click
"I am most likely to be a musician."

Kevin, please tell us about your job. How did you become an IT journalist?

With pleasure! I live in California, in a small town named Humboldt City, together with my daughter and my wife. Besides, we have plenty of companions: a parakeet, two lizards, a cat and a dog. Our house is not big, but we have managed to transform the basement into a studio: you know that I am keen on music! I adore drums and all percussion instruments. I am a member of a music band and compose music for computer games.

Amazing! And, in addition, as a journalist, you have one of the most hectic professions! How do you cope with everything?

I have excellent leadership qualities and some work experience in a computer company. I got employed as a technical support service manager while still studying at college, proved to be a good employee and became the head of copyrighting department after graduation. In that software company I got deep technical knowledge, and now I possess qualifications, which are virtually exceptional for an IT journalist.

And what kind of education do you have? What college did you graduate from?

My work is not actually connected with my education. As I have already said, I got my technical knowledge in an IT company, not at college. I took bachelor's degree in a college of journalism, and later I became Master of Psychology in another university.

Where can we find the examples of your articles? I could not find them on your web site.

What for should they be there? It would merely provoke copyright violation. I give examples only in private correspondence. The site contains only the most important information: the topics (databases, office technologies and flow of documents, various solutions for business and networks) and the types of my articles. And if you are too lazy to write, use Google then.

Where do you find yourself? What is your vocation - a journalist, an IT person or a musician?

I am most likely to be a musician. I try to spend every free minute in my studio. But journalism is music, too, so to say - it is the music of words, and you should play it in such a way that those you write for would hear it and listen it up to the end.

But why do you write about software and high technologies? Why not about music or psychology?

Because I find it very interesting.

Eugenia Kolobukhova, Director at http://www.SoftPressRelease.com

Science Fiction - The Engine Behind Summer Blockbusters

2011-07-26T07:12:00.000-07:00

By Aldric Chang

The tradition of anticipating (Western) summertime full-length feature films with the best special effects spectacle from the top 3D animation studios of Hollywood will never establish a deep following if not for the invention of the literature genre science fiction. Sci-fi, as it is more fondly called by movie and literature fans, encompasses a broad spectrum of topics and situations which explores the wonders of science.

Because a lot of imagination and creativity is involved, Sci-fi requires the aid of top-notch computer-generated 3D animation special effects to realistically involve viewers in the mise-en-scene or world created by the films. Thereby, Sci-fi almost always comes in the territory of fantasy (positive side of science) and horror (its adverse effects).

Sci-fi is a hotbed of ideas wherein highly attractive scientific ideas are tested within the context of a society - especially its consequences on the way people conduct their lives with certain technologies present in their lives. The more common scenarios which science fiction has thoroughly explored are alternative time lines in the future (the Terminator franchise), outer space voyage (Star Trek), interactions with aliens (ET - Extra Terrestrial), countering the laws of nature (The Matrix), and other complicated scientific principles such as time travel, psionics, nanotechnology, light speed travel, and dystopia (wherein anarchy has reigned supreme).

But just what is science fiction? Critics and fans alike are having difficulty pigeonholing a set definition for science fiction. As early as the 1970s, sci-fi was even not used to refer to the big-budget summer blockbusters of Hollywood. It was used by film critics to refer to the inferior, low-budget, B-movies.

The more popular writers of the Sci-fi genre are also at a loss about a specific definition for the entire literature realm. Mark C. Glassy suggested to use the benchmark of obscenity to determine a science fiction work - "you don't know what it is but you know it when you see it." Vladimir Nabokov said that if definitions would become rigorous, Shakespeare's work of art The Tempest would have to be included as belonging to the genre. For Rod Serling, science fiction is "the improbable made possible" compared to fantasy which is "the impossible made probable."

Sci-fi may have some roots from the imaginative nature of ancient mythologies. As for the earlier works of science fiction literature, one of the first recognized works is Kepler's Somnium which depicts a travel to the Moon. Other earlier literature references of science fiction include Voltaire's Micromegas and Jonathan Swift's Gulliver Travels.

Adding to the wealth of science fiction literature works are Mary Shelley's books Frankenstein and the Last Man. Even the noted poet Edgar Allan Poe joined in on the fun by writing a story about flying to the moon. During the introduction of important technologies such as electricity, powerful transportation and the telegraph, luminaries such as Jules Verne (Around the World in 80 Days) and H.G. Wells (War of the Worlds).

There had been many paradigm shifts in the approach of science fiction writers throughout the years. Cyberpunk authors such as William Gibson started to break away from the typical optimism associated with Sci-fiprogress. On the other hand, the emergence into popular culture of the massive blockbuster hit Star Wars from George Lucas brought back the space opera popularized by Star Trek - and gave a premium on narrative and character development instead of accuracies of scientific speculation. After all scientific imaginations were only fictitious, so why bother explaining it in a detailed manner? But this much is true: science fiction has etched a solid niche in the entertainment values of people worldwide.

About the author
Aldric Chang is a creative entrepreneur who is at the moment building free virtual worlds for kids and running a successful 3D animation studio. His creative accomplishments span across the production of several hundred animation projects, casual games, music compositions, cartoon animated series and a virtual world for kids.

The Plagiarism Paradox and Famous Authors Accused of Plagiarism

2011-07-22T12:57:00.000-07:00

By Pauline Go

Every person in a popular profession has some nightmare that they never want to come across with. For doctors, it is a malpractice lawsuit, while for writers it is being accused of plagiarism. However, often for a writer the fear can be two types -- being accused of plagiarism or having their work plagiarized.

However, when it comes to plagiarism, it is often very difficult to prove unless passages, paragraphs and scenes are directly lifted from another author's work. Many writers use other writers' works as inspiration. Therefore, under these circumstances, one cannot accuse a writer of plagiarism. Today, nearly every topic that has been published has already been explored by another writer. So, two writers writing about the same topic cannot be accused of plagiarism.

Stephanie Meyer, the author of New Moon, has been accused of plagiarism by an old college roommate, who claims that the idea for New Moon is based on a short story that was written by both. So, here is a plagiarism paradox. Is it plagiarism if a writer gets his or her ideas from another author or person?

Then there is the case of a student from Harvard named Kaavya Viswanathan, who wrote a book entitled How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life. The book became an instant success and the author was offered a six-figure amount for the movie rights. However, soon it began to emerge that Kaavya had resorted to plagiarism. She had lifted plots and passages for her book from Sloppy Firsts, Second Helpings, The Princess Diaries and even works of Salman Rushdie and Sophie Kinsella. As a result Kaavya lost the book deal as well as the movie deal. She tried to defend herself saying that she took ideas from these books, but did not plagiarize anything. Any plagiarism was absolutely unintentional. However, this did not go down well and the blotch stayed put.

Even J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame was accused of plagiarism by Nancy Stouffer. However, this claim was thrown out of the court when it came out that Stouffer had fabricated evidence and lied. But at the same time, Harry Potter is very similar to The Secret of Platform 13 written by Eva Ibbotson. In this case, Ibbotson did not mid Rowling taking ideas from her book as she felt that all writers borrow ideas from one another.

Some of the other famous authors accused of plagiarism include Stephen King, T.S. Eliot, Jack London, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Dan Brown and Olaf Olafsson. Even the great William Shakespeare has been accused of taking ideas from other playwrights and making them his own.

About Author:
Pauline Go is an online leading expert in entertainment and education industry. He also offers top quality articles like:
Famous People Biography, William Shakespeare History

How Three Accidents Created A Writer

2011-07-20T06:45:00.000-07:00

By Saleem Rana

In a world where most people seem to spend their lives doing things they hate, my writing is at once an endless source of delight and an act of rebellion.

Writing is similar to alchemy. Western alchemy, if you remember, has been closely connected with Hermeticism, a philosophical system that traces its roots to Hermes Trismegistus.

In alchemy there is an attempt to transmute the profane into the profound, to turn lead into gold. It's more mystical ambition is to unite the microcosm with the macrocosm through symbolism.

While alchemy over time evolved into chemistry, writing evolved into a way to bend time and close the gap between centuries of thought. While alchemists manipulated materials to serve as symbols for spiritual transformation, writers manipulated their personal experiences to pursue spiritual transformation.

I've always loved words. I've loved them for as long as I can remember. In fact, I remember, as a child fascinated by how my mother would be able to stare at pieces of bound paper. As she lay on her pillow in bed, I used to open up books as well and stare at them, pretending that I was reading, too. This amused her and she ruffled my curly hair, but I would pretend to be irritated, as if my preoccupation had been interrupted.

In school, I won awards for my poems and essays, but I never really learned how to write a decent sentence until I went to college. My imaginative ramblings, more than any obvious skill, were the main reason for my kudos.

Three accidental events initiated my evolution into a writer.

After high school and before college, my mother sent me to a typing school to get me out of the house. While I was bored at the time by the mechanical repetition of it and more interested in the pretty and studious girls typing diligently in the same room, I later came to appreciate those three short months as more useful than all my previous years in school.

Then in college, I found an old typewriter abandoned in the closet of a house that I was renting in my second semester.

The third event that shaped my writing career was finding an abandoned book on rhetoric when I was part of the cleaning crew that remodeled the dorm rooms during the summer vacations.

The combination of these three things, changed my raw enthusiasm for literature into the opportunity to shape words into ideas and ideas into stories and essays.

My English Professor, Dr. Sig Shwartz, would take me out for coffee after classes and we would discuss philosophy and literature. Under his mentorship, I read Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean Paul Sarte, Albert Camus, Jorge Luis Borges, and Henry Miller.

I spent most of my college years writing furious existential essays. I liked the aphorisms of Nietzsche, the irony of Sarte, the lyricism of Camus, the golden sadness of Borges, and the rebellion of Miller. I imagined that I had incarnated as an amalgam of all of them.

I vividly remember the evening when Ray Bradbury visited our college. He appeared to be from another world. An Olympian demi-god, similar to Prometheus, who had descended down to the plains to share the rhapsody of his inner fire.

His opening words were that writing began when an unknown human being stepped out of his cave, looked at the mysterious world around him and the immense sky teeming with stars above him, then walked back in and began the first act of writing, painting images on his cave wall by firelight.
In those days, I imagined publication to be akin to knighthood. I assumed that a published writer was the highest possible achievement.

Consequently, I used my History degree to secure jobs as a freelance journalist.

My first published story was about a girl who needed donations to have a kidney operation. My article in a national magazine created a stream of donations for her. It was a thrill watching my aunt's face as we sat in the patio of a restaurant and she read my first published article. I immediately got goosebumps after she read the article and stared at me in astonishment and said, "How in the world did you learn how to write?"

Once I broke into print, it was increasingly easier to get published often. Then, one day, I wrote a book. I awoke from a vivid dream about a crippled girl who believed in miracles and learned how to walk. I spent three weeks writing intensely. Since, at that time, I was completely naïve about book publishing, I walked into a publishing house, asked to see an editor and presented my book. The editor looked astonished, but at that time, I didn't even know that one is supposed to find an agent and create a marketing package. However, she was very gracious about it, set it aside and promised to read it.

Two months later, I signed my first book contract.

Now you understand why, in a world where most people seem to spend their lives doing things they hate, my writing is at once an endless source of delight and an act of rebellion.

In closing, I'd like to share with you a few short steps, on how to go from a completely blank, clueless state of mind to shaping an article or a story.

One, set your intention. For example, my intention in writing this particular article was: "I intend to write a nostalgic account of my writing experience to encourage others who have the same interest."

Two, muse about what you want to write. I reflected on creativity and self-expression.

Three, write in free-form. Just write without thinking. Retire your inner editor.

Four, take a break. I decided to clean up my home office.

Five, write another draft.

Six, take another break. I went into the kitchen and washed dishes. As I was doing this, the thought came to me that writing was as mystical an experience as alchemy, and it aspired to the same magic, inner transformation.

Seven, write the final draft (if possible). Sometimes, of course, it takes several drafts.

Free eBook : Freelancer's Online Marketing Blueprint

2011-07-19T06:30:00.000-07:00

PhotoShelter has released The Freelancer's Online Marketing Blueprint, a free 53-page e-book for all creative freelancers (not just photographers) looking to use online marketing to generate more clients and increase revenue. The e-book can be downloaded here: http://bit.ly/freelanceblueprint

Packed with actionable marketing strategies which can be implemented immediately, The Freelancer's Online Marketing Blueprint includes step-by-step practical tips on how to generate inbound website traffic through SEO, social media platforms and blogs, building a successful leads list for email marketing, and the benefits of pay-per-click advertising. The guide also includes insights on optimizing websites to increase conversion of visitors to paying clients, and how to efficiently manage time and allocate scarce marketing budgets.

"When you're a freelancer, it can be a real challenge to balance self-promotion with client demands," says Allen Murabayashi, CEO of PhotoShelter. "This e-book is meant to coach freelancers on effective marketing strategies that will help optimize their online exposure and reach a larger pool of prospective clients."

The Freelancer's Online Marketing Blueprint, which complements PhotoShelter's ongoing series of free business and marketing e-books for photographers, includes contributions from experts in internet marketing and creative business management like Conversion Rate Experts, SEOmoz, Marketing Mentor, and Emma.

PhotoShelter's 12 free e-books on key business topics for photographers can be downloaded directly here: http://www.photoshelter.com/mkt/research/. The PhotoShelter e-book library includes guides on email marketing, Facebook pages, search engine optimization, and starting a photography business.

Rejections of Famous Authors Before They Were Famous

2011-07-15T08:15:00.000-07:00

By David Kubicek

I heard a speaker at a writing conference remark recently that many talented writers remain unpublished while the works of many marginal or bad writers find their way into print. Writers who keep sending their work out will eventually be published.

Among the rejection slips I've received, my favorite was from a science fiction anthology: a full-page drawing of a dragon dabbing at his eyes with a Kleenex as its tears flowed down. It was much funnier than these meager words can describe. I once showed it to a friend, also a science fiction writer, who didn't find it quite as amusing. It's a matter of attitude; I couldn't do anything about the rejection, and it was a change of pace from the usual, uninspired form letter.

If you have trouble staying motivated in the face of an expanding file of rejection slips, perhaps this list of comments some now-famous writers received about their work will help.

* Crash by J.G. Ballard: "The author of this book is beyond psychiatric help."

* Dr. Seuss: "Too different from other juveniles on the market to warrant its selling."

* Torrents of Spring by Ernest Hemingway: "It would be extremely rotten taste, to say nothing of being horribly cruel, should we want to publish this."

* The San Francisco Examiner, rejecting Rudyard Kipling: "I'm sorry, Mr. Kipling, but you just don't know how to use the English language."

* Lust for Life, Irving Stone's historical novel about Vincent Van Gogh: "A long, dull novel about an artist." Sixteen publishers rejected the novel. When it finally saw print it sold more than 25 million copies.

* Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach: "Jonathan Livingston Seagull will never make it as a paperback." The novel eventually sold to Avon Books and racked up sales of more than 7.25 million copies.

* Tony Hillerman, best known for his Navajo Tribal Police mystery novels was advised by publishers to "Get rid of all that Indian stuff."

* The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells: "An endless nightmare. I do not believe it would 'take'... I think the verdict would be 'Oh don't read that horrid book.'"

* Although Emily Dickinson published only seven poems in her lifetime, an early rejection advised her: "(Your poems) are quite as remarkable for defects as for beauties and are generally devoid of true poetical qualities."

* Animal Farm by George Orwell: "It is impossible to sell animal stories in the USA."

* So many publishers rejected The Tale of Peter Rabbit that Beatrix Potter published it herself.

* Lord of the Flies by William Golding: "An absurd and uninteresting fantasy which was rubbish and dull."

* One publisher to another on John Le Carre's The Spy Who Came in From the Cold: "You're welcome to le Carre--he hasn't got any future."

* The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel: "We are very impressed with the depth and scope of your research and the quality of your prose. Nevertheless... we don't think we could distribute enough copies to satisfy you or ourselves."

* The Deer Park by Norman Mailer: "This will set publishing back 25 years."

* Carrie by Stephen King: "We are not interested in science fiction which deals with negative utopias. They do not sell."

And my favorite:

* Sanctuary by William Faulkner: "Good God, I can't publish this!"

Fiction editing is a subjective process. There will always be editors who think your writing is crap, but there are also editors who will be enthusiastic about it. You just have to find them. And the only way to find them is to keep sending out your work.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Kubicek received a B.A. with distinction in English from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in 1977. He has been a freelance writer ever since, with a brief stint in publishing. He has published several short stories and many articles, including nine years as a writer for the Midlands Business Journal. He has written a Cliffs Notes on Willa Cather's My Antonia. Kubicek lives with his wife and son in Lincoln, Nebraska. Visit his Blog at http://davidkubicek.wordpress.com/ or his Website at http://www.davidkubicek.com.

Forecast on Employer Trends

2011-07-14T10:40:00.000-07:00

By Becky Mease

With a little more than a month left in the first quarter, employers are anticipated to make several moves involving employment trends. Taking into consideration our chaotic economy, companies are now looking to take matters into their own hands. They long to make up ground that was lost in the recession, and create situations that will work for them once again.

1. Rehire Workers That Were Laid-off

The majority of companies experienced some form of down-sizing through lay-offs last year. Out of the companies involved in lay-offs, 32% will begin re-hiring employees throughout the year.

2. Replacing Lower-Performing Employees

Many employees have taken on jobs that are beneath their skill level in order to continue working, or simply to get to back to work. It may please many employees to know that many companies are going to now recognize those folks and promote them to higher positions that could utilize their expertise. 37% of employers stated they would begin to take advantage of the large numbers of top talent in their labor pool and strengthen their workforce before going outside to look for talent.

3. Utilizing Social Media

Many companies experienced a negative impact for the decisions they had to make during the recession- and in turn for their brand/product. In order to turn this around, these companies plan to place an emphasis on the social media market. They plan to utilize folks already under their employ as well as hire to take on the responsibility of social media practices.

4. Flexible Work Arrangements

It may please some of you to learn that many companies are in tuned with their employee's ability to balance their work with their home life. 35% of employers say they plan to continue improving such standards and even plan to add onto their already existing plan. Possible amendments they are considering are:

*Telecommuting
*Alternate schedules- individually adjust schedule ensuring contracted hours
*Alternate summer hours
*Compressed work hours- more hours in a day, less days a week
*Job sharing
*Sabbaticals

5. Reducing Benefits and Perks

Just because there seems to be a lift in the recession for some companies, they still feel the sting of their previous losses. In order to save money and not find themselves in the position they were in last year, many companies plan to alter or reduce benefits in some form and manner. Medical coverage, bonuses, 401K matching, and perks like coffee, water, and condiments are more likely to be suspended or trimmed back.

6. Rehiring Retirees and Postponing Retirement

Many companies recognize the experience and skill that a seasoned employee nearing retirement can bring to their business. They are now rehiring retirees and asking potential retire candidates to stay on- and have received positive results for such a tactic. Certain companies even consider hiring folks who retired from other companies to fill in the gaps.

7. Using Freelancers and Contract Hiring

Companies are now utilizing freelance and contract hiring more than ever. They realize the many benefits that come with doing so. They find that they keep the business flowing forward without adding a full-time employee and their expenses to the bottom-line. Three in ten employers predict hiring freelancers or contractors in 2010.

8. Green Jobs

More businesses than ever before will begin focusing a part of their energies toward the environment. New government regulations make it all but impossible to not add green jobs to their employee make-up. The positions in question of hire will reflect environmentally conscious design, policy, and technological improvements to conserve and sustain.

9. Bilingual Hiring

It's important for employers to have a diverse workforce where business takes them all over the world. It's also pertinent to maintain a staff where communication is possible with bilingual clients within the States. Employers are now looking to hire professionals who can fluently speak another language besides English. If it came down to you and someone who spoke more than one language, they would choose the bilingual candidate.

10. Travel Expenses

43% of businesses say they are going to cut business expenses this year. That means less travel, or even accommodations more on the economic side.

About the author:
Becky has been writing as an inexperienced, non-biased professional for http://Financejobz.com providing the latest news and information that pertains to the finance and accounting employment world. The creators feel that her inexperience ensures that all her pieces are vastly researched and informative. They provide the reader with a full understanding of the content, without compromising the professionalism.

New Website Helps Freelancers and the Unemployed Find Virtual Assistant Jobs

2011-07-13T05:56:00.000-07:00

VirtualAssistantJobs101.com (http://www.virtualassistantjobs101.com) has launched a new website that helps unemployed service-skilled workers find hourly or project-based virtual assistant jobs that they can do from home. Each day the website's editors scour the Internet and handpick legitimate job opportunities, providing visitors with access to numerous home-based virtual assistant jobs.

Brian Scott, the site's founder, defines "service-skilled people" as individuals who have backgrounds in customer service, office assistance, doing administrative tasks, and/or servicing employers or clients to increase sales or improve product branding.

Service-skilled people can find virtual assistant positions for many popular and niche-focused VA disciplines, such as data entry, customer service, tech support, personal assistant, appointment scheduling, medical coding, and inbound/outbound telemarketing. The site offers a simple navigation where visitors can click on a specific job discipline to find the best-matched VA job; otherwise, job-seekers can use the site's search tool to narrow down specific remote, telecommute and "work at home" freelance jobs by keyword or job type.

VirtualAssistantJobs101.com fulfills a demand to localize virtual assistant jobs from many online job sites, as well as organize job listings to save job-seekers precious time researching jobs that closely compliment their skill-set.

Brian Scott said many visitors that use VirtualAssistantJobs101.com include full-time and part-time virtual assistants; but a growing segment of the website's audience includes "fed-up" laid-off white-collar workers who want to use their existing skills to work for themselves.

"Working virtually, part-time, full-time, or on the side can provide many job opportunities to earn extra income," said Scott. "More companies are outsourcing work to manage their workflow and cut internal costs in order to stay competitive."

The latest stats for virtual assistant jobs, which also include secretaries and administrative assistants, reveal that virtual workers will have the largest number of job openings due to growth, exceeding (a projected growth of) 4.5 million jobs this year.

VirtualAssistantJobs101.com anticipates an increase of virtual secretarial and online administrative work for the remainder of 2011 and beyond.

VirtualAssistantJobs101.com is part of a network of job-related websites -- all run and maintained by working freelancers -- which include Online Writing Jobs and Data Entry Jobs.

Updated daily, VirtualAssistantJobs101.com lists between 10 and 20 new virtual assistant jobs, ranging from quick "one-day" assignments to "week-long" projects, and in some cases, for an indefinite period of time as is such the case with customer service and medical coding jobs. Today's VA jobs are available at http://www.VirtualAssistantJobs101.com.

Savage Nature: The Life of Ted Hughes

2011-07-12T11:47:00.000-07:00

by Paula Bardell

One of the most important poets of the post-war period, Edward James Hughes (1930-1998), was drawn towards the primitive. He was enchanted by the beauty of the natural world, frequently portraying its cruel and savage temperament in his work as a reflection of his own personal suffering and mystical beliefs - convinced that modern man had lost touch with the primordial side of his nature.

Born in Mytholmroyd, a remote mill town in West Yorkshire, Ted (as he was known to his friends and family) was enormously affected by the desolate moorland landscape of his childhood, and also by his father's vivid recollections of the brutality of trench warfare. Indeed, his father, who was then a carpenter, was one of only seventeen men from his regiment to have survived at Gallipoli during the First World War.

At the age of seven his family moved to Mexborough (also in Yorkshire), where his parents opened a stationery and tobacco shop. Here he attended the local grammar school, where he first began to write poetry - usually bloodcurdling verses about Zulus and cowboys - before doing two years' national service in the Royal Air Force. He later won a scholarship to Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he started reading English Literature but switched to archaeology and anthropology, subjects that were a major influence on the development of his poetic awareness. Here he immersed himself in the works of Shakespeare, W.B. Yeats and read Robert Graves's "The White Goddess" (1948).

Following his graduation in 1954, he moved to London, where he had a number of interesting jobs, including zoo keeping, gardening and script reading for J. Arthur Rank. He also had several of his poems published in university magazines. In 1956 he and some Cambridge friends started up a literary journal called St. Botolph's Review. It lasted for only one issue but at the inaugural party Ted met his future wife, the then unknown American poet, Sylvia Plath.

Much has been written about the Hughes/Plath relationship since that first portentous meeting, but few can doubt that these two brilliantly creative people were enormously attracted to one another, almost from the moment they were first introduced. Within just a few short months they were married and living in the USA, where Hughes taught English and creative writing at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. And before the year was out, he had won an American poetry competition, judged by W.H. Auden, Sir Stephen Spender and Marianne Moore. Hughes once said of this contented period:

"We would write poetry every day. It was all we were interested in, all we ever did." - Ted Hughes

Plath assisted him with the preparation of his first collection, The Hawk in the Rain (1957), a work that was quite extraordinary in its treatment of natural subjects. He continued to live in America for the next few years, being partly supported by a Guggenheim Foundation grant, before returning to England in 1959. He then went on to win the Somerset Maugham award and the Hawthornden prize for his second book, "Luperca"l (1960); confirming his reputation as one of the most important poets of the post-war period.

The next few years of Ted's life have since become the subject of much biographical speculation. However, the simple facts are that he and Plath had two children and moved to Devon in 1961. Their marriage began to disintegrate shortly thereafter and Hughes started an affair with Assia Wevill. He split from Plath and she committed suicide in her London flat in 1963. In 1969 Wevill also killed herself and their child. He married Carol Orchard in 1970 and spent the rest of his life trying to protect his and Plath's children from the media. Hughes published only children's poetry and prose in the years following the death of his first wife.

His next major work was "Wodwo" (1967), which took its title from a character in the medieval romance "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight", and highlighted his increasing interest in mythology. He travelled to Iran in 1971, where he wrote the verse/drama "Orghast" in an invented language. Some of his other collections include "Crow" (1970), "Cave Birds" (1975), "Season Songs" (1976), "Gaudete" (a long poem on fertility rites, 1977), "Moortown" (1979), "Remains of Elmet" (1979) and "River" (1983).

Hughes was also one of the originators of the Arvon Foundation and was awarded an OBE in 1977. In 1984 he was appointed Poet Laureate and went on to publish "Rain-Charm for the Duchy and other Laureate Poems" (1992). Then in 1995 he composed a poem about Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, for her 95th birthday, likening her to a six-rooted tree. He also wrote many reviews and essays, some of which were collected in "Shakespeare and the Goddess of Complete Being" (1992), "A Dancer to God: Tribute to T.S. Eliot" (1992) and "Winter Pollen: Occasional Prose" (1994). In addition to all this he also wrote many wonderful plays and books for children, including his remarkable fantasy "The Iron Man". And when, just months before his death, Hughes released "Birthday Letters", a collection of poems about his life with Sylvia Plath, it became an immediate bestseller throughout the English speaking world and was widely praised for its searing honesty.

Ted Hughes died of cancer on 28th October 1998, having just been appointed to the Order of Merit. Andrew Motion followed him as Britain's Poet Laureate.

About The Author

Paula is a freelance writer who has contributed articles, reviews and essays to numerous publications on subjects such as literature, travel, culture, history and humanitarian issues. She lives in North Wales, is a staff writer for Apsaras Review and the editor of two popular online guides. You can read her résumé at: [http://www.paula-bardell.com].
paula-bardell@freelance-worker.com

Private Papers of Legendary Science Fiction, Star Trek Writer Donated to Library

2011-07-11T08:05:00.000-07:00

A treasure trove of private letters, manuscripts and other papers by one of the most influential writers of the "golden age" of science fiction -- who's credited with inventing with Leonard Nimoy the "live long and prosper" Vulcan phrase for "Star Trek" -- has been donated to the University of Kansas.

The definitive collection of late author Theodore Sturgeon's books, papers, manuscripts and correspondence will be established at the Kenneth Spencer Research Library at KU, which also is home to the Center for the Study of Science Fiction. The Sturgeon Award for the best short science fiction is given annually at the center's Campbell Conference.

The collection includes:

Original manuscript and multiple film script treatments of "More Than Human," Sturgeon's best-known novel
Sturgeon's notes and outline for "Amok Time," one of two "Star Trek" episodes he wrote. In "Amok Time," Spock returns to Vulcan to meet his intended future wife
Correspondence, story ideas and drafts shared with noted science fiction editors and authors, including John W. Campbell, Robert Heinlein, Edgar Pangborn, Harlan Ellison, Isaac Asimov, Kurt Vonnegut, Gene Roddenberry and T.H. White
Sturgeon's rewrite of a L. Ron Hubbard article submitted to Amazing Stories magazine titled "Dianetics: Supermen in 1950 AD"
His adoption papers, in which his name was changed

Best known for transforming the pulp magazine short story into an art form, Sturgeon's writing had a strong influence on '60s counterculture, including the Grateful Dead and Crosby, Stills and Nash. His lyrical and varied style represented a turn from the "hard" science fiction of the 1940s to the socially conscious topics more common in contemporary science fiction, including sexuality, gender, pacifism and the individual cost of social conventions. His short stories ranged from science fiction and fantasy to comedy and horror.

Sturgeon was also known for coining "Sturgeon's Law," which states that "90 percent of everything is crap" and the credo "Ask the next question."

During his career, Sturgeon (1918-85) won virtually every major award in his field, including the Hugo, the Nebula, the World Fantasy Achievement Award and the Gaylactica/Spectrum Award for his groundbreaking story about homosexuality, "The World Well Lost." He also was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame.

The Sturgeon collection, valued at $600,000, had been privately held in two parts — the Woodstock collection, from his widow, Marion, and the Sturgeon Literary Trust collection managed by daughter Noël. Additional support came from KU's Center for the Study of Science Fiction, English department and Spencer Research Library.

In making the donation, Noël Sturgeon credits the work of James Gunn, professor emeritus of English at KU and a noted science fiction author who created KU's Intensive English Institute on the Teaching of Science Fiction in 1975 and the Center for the Study of Science Fiction in 1982.

"Jim's long dedication to the teaching and scholarship of science fiction, and his particular interest in and support of my father's work, was the main impetus behind our choice of the Spencer Research Library at the University of Kansas as the home for Sturgeon's collection of papers," she said.

Beth Whittaker, head of Spencer Research Library, said, "This extraordinary gift ensures that Sturgeon's profound literary and cultural legacy will be available to new generations of scholars, writers and readers."

MORE INFORMATION

The Kenneth Spencer Research Library: http://spencer.lib.ku.edu
The Sturgeon Award at the Center for the Study of Science Fiction: http://www2.ku.edu/~sfcenter/sturgeon.htm
Official Theodore Sturgeon website: http://www.physics.emory.edu/~weeks/sturgeon

Freelance Writers - Hot Topics to Pitch in the Coming Year

2011-07-08T07:58:00.000-07:00

By Robert Earle Howells

My friend Chris Farrell has compiled a list for Internet marketers of hot arenas for the coming year. We as writers should pay attention. These are topics we should be pitching to magazines and websites this year. Editors are aware of the timeliness of these subjects and will be looking for stories relevant to them. A great way to boost your freelance writing income.

These are the hot topics for the coming year, with Chris's observations and my comments:

Baby Boomers. "Pretty much EVERY business associated with aging is booming." What are their interests? Music, nostalgia... Concerns? Health, fitness, aging, retirement... If you get yourself into boomer consciousness, you can apply their interests and concerns to almost any subject area, almost any magazine or website you want to pitch.

Going Green. Venture capitalists are pouring money into clean energy, green vehicles, etc. Virtually every publication, trade journal, or website will be looking for clean, green articles. Think about how environmental consciousness pervades virtually EVERY subject area you could possibly write about. But scratch beneath the surface. Get beyond the obvious.

The Recession. "Who would have thought? The recession is big business." Nearly 10% of those who gained employment last year did so by starting their own business. People want to know how to start a business, how to work from home. Use the downturn to give yourself an upturn.

Pets. The finance industry may be in turmoil and we may be in a recession, but the pet industry? Totally fine! Fifteen years ago I wrote about a collapsible pet bowl you could stuff in a backpack and whip out to water your pooch on a walk or hike. That was novel then, and the company that made it, Ruff Wear, built a business around it. This year I wrote about dogcentric bed-and-breakfasts in Vermont. In other words, the stakes are higher, the obsession greater, and no degree of pet zealotry is too out-there for coverage. Think about travel with pets, health and fitness for pets-even pet health insurance-pet accessories, profiles of notable pets (Buddy the surfdog!). You can't go wrong.

Trading Down. Chris points out that we are spending less and looking for ways to save in almost every area of expenditure. You can be a guide to readers looking to find ways to save on any and everything.

Life Support. "More people than ever are paying professionals to do domestic chores." Examples: childcare, eldercare, sports coaching, tutoring. This is a sharp observation-and a topic that has been little covered in the media as a trend.

Education. "The statistics say that it's more than likely the job you are doing now you will NOT be doing in five years," writes Chris Farrell. Meaning there's a trend afoot: reeducation. You could even call it reinvention. People are starting over. Profiles of how individuals are doing this and resources for people similarly inclined could be a great area to mine editorially.

Health and Wellness. A no-brainer. Virtually evergreen. Which is why you have to get beyond the obvious here (yoga, for example), and think about how health wellness apply to less obvious subject areas. Yoga travel is huge. Preventive and alternative medicine are gaining mainstream acceptance: How? Where? To what benefit? Hint: Tie Health and Wellness in to Trading Down and The Recession and get creative with your pitches.

Booze. "We're still drinking like fish, only now we are doing it at home with cheaper booze." Chris is suggesting this as subject for Internet marketers to cash in on-they can offer home-brewing tips and kits and the like-but writers should pay attention to the larger ramifications. Think about the resurgence of fancy cocktails, off-the radar wineries, old drinks gaining new acceptance (absinthe, once banned in the U.S., is an obvious example). Look for convergences: I recently covered an event that combined cross-country skiing with microbrew tasting. And I read about a new, green distillery in Scotland. Search the beverage-industry trade journals for leads.

Local, Local, Local. "Mom and pop stores are enjoying a revival. Farmers markets are HUGE." I would add: A lot of shoppers are hip to the fact that the long-distance transport of goods adds to their cost and environmental impact. People want to know about alternatives. Local, Local, Local should also apply to your pitching strategy. If you're only hitting national publications, you're missing out on local and regional publications that might value your local expertise.

About the author:
Robert Earle Howells is a freelance writer and the Lowell Thomas 2009 Travel Journalist of the Year silver award winner. He has published more than 1,000 articles in national magazines.

His book Write Where the Money Is details exactly how writers can earn money in print or online: http://www.writewherethemoneyis.com

His blog Surefire Writing offers writing tips and resources for freelance writers: http://www.surefirewriting.com

Day Jobs of Famous Writers - The Work They Did Before They Were Famous

2011-07-07T11:27:00.000-07:00

By David Kubicek

Most writers have been faced with the challenge of making a living while waiting for that big break. Day jobs I've held included dishwasher, custodian, film processing lab technician, copy-editor, advertising copywriter, publisher, and print shop stripper (it's nothing dirty; I "stripped" negatives into paper frames which were used to "burn" offset printing plates--with today's direct-to-plate technology, printers may not even need strippers anymore).

Here's a look at jobs held by a few famous writers before they were famous. Some of them eventually were able to write full-time, others never sold enough books and had to keep their day jobs, and others like Scott Turow (who continues to practice law) and John Grisham (who remains interested in politics and considered running for U.S. Senator from Virginia in 2006) maintain their non-writing career interests.

Dashiel Hammet: The author of hard-boiled detective stories and novels started out as a private detective. His first case? To track down a thief who had stolen a Ferris Wheel.

John Grisham: Author of such legal thrillers as The Firm and The Pelican Brief, is an attorney who, from 1983 to 1990, served as a Democrat in the Mississippi House of Representatives.

Jack London: The author of White Fang, The Call of the Wild, and The Sea Wolf had a variety of experiences, including oyster pirate, gold prospector, and rail-riding hobo.

Langston Hughes: One of the first African American authors who was able to support himself by writing, he was, according to legend, discovered by poet Vachel Lindsay while working as a busboy at the Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C. Hughes had dropped his poems beside Lindsay's plate. In his poetry reading Lindsay included several of Hughes's poems, which resulted in journalists clamoring to interview the "busboy poet."

William Carlos Williams: The poet and fiction writer was an excellent pediatrician and general practitioner, although he worked harder at his writing than he did at medicine.

Ralph Waldo Emerson: The American poet, philosopher, and essayist assisted his brother William in a school for young women they ran out of their mother's house. He later was a minister and lecturer.

Henry David Thoreau: He began as Emerson's handyman, moved on to selling vegetables, returned to the family pencil business, was a tutor and a teacher.

Nathaniel Hawthorne: The author of The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables was a weighter and a gauger at the Boston Custom House, which housed government offices for processing paperwork for the import and export of goods. Later he was Surveyor for the districts of Salem and Beverly as well as Inspector of Revenue for the Port of Salem. He also wrote a campaign biography of his friend, Franklin Pierce, in which he left out some key information, such as Pierce's drinking. On his election, Pierce rewarded Hawthorne with the position of United States consul in Liverpool.

Dan Brown: Before striking gold with Angels and Demons, The Da Vinci Code, and The Lost Symbol, he was a high school English teacher.

Zane Grey: Early 20th century author of such popular novels as Riders of the Purple Sage, he would eventually publish nearly 90 books and sell more than 50 million copies worldwide. After years of rejection, he sold his first book at age 40 and was able to give up his day job as a dentist, a job that he hated.

J. K. Rowling: After her daughter was born and she separated from her husband, the author of the Harry Potter series left her job in Portugal, where she taught English as a second language, and returned to school to study for her postgraduate certificate of education (PGCE) so she could teach in Scotland. She completed her first novel while on welfare.

Mary Higgins Clark: After graduating from high school, she was secretary to the head of the creative department in the internal advertising division of Remington-Rand, a business machines manufacturer. She took evening classes in advertising and promotion and was promoted to writing catalog copy--future novelist Joseph Heller was a coworker. She also modeled for company brochures with aspiring actress Grace Kelly. Her thirst for adventure led her to become a stewardess for Pan American Airlines where she was on the last flight allowed into Czechoslovakia before the Iron curtain cut off east from west.

Harlan Ellison: The man who would later distinguish himself as a preeminent speculative fiction and mystery writer held many jobs before he was 20 years old, including tuna fisherman, itinerant crop-picker, hired gun for a wealthy neurotic, nitroglycerine truck driver, short order cook, cab driver, lithographer, book salesman, department store floorwalker, and door-to-door brush salesman.

Scott Turow: The author of such best selling novels as Presumed Innocent and Reversible Errors, still practices law as a partner of the Chicago firm of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, although on most of his cases he works pro bono.

Nicholas Sparks: After graduating from college the author of such best sellers as The Notebook, Dear John, and The Last Song tried to find work in the publishing industry and applied to law school but had no luck in either area. So he embarked on other careers, including real estate appraisal, waiting tables, selling dental products by phone, and starting a manufacturing business.

About the author:
David Kubicek received a B.A. with distinction in English from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in 1977. He has been a freelance writer ever since, with a brief stint in publishing. He has published several short stories and many articles, including nine years as a writer for the Midlands Business Journal. He has written a Cliffs Notes on Willa Cather's My Antonia. Kubicek lives with his wife and son in Lincoln, Nebraska. Visit his Blog at http://davidkubicek.wordpress.com/ or his Website at http://www.davidkubicek.com.

Freelance Incomes Increase as Freelancers Reinvent Themselves to Achieve Freedom and Flexibility

2011-07-06T06:27:00.000-07:00

As America commemorates another year of freedom, professionals across the U.S. are celebrating their independence from traditional work. According to a new national survey from Elance, the leading platform for online employment, freelancers are happier working as independent professionals (61%) than as employees (11%) and cite the ability to take control of their own schedule as the best part of independent work (90%). Money may also be linked directly to job satisfaction as 47% of freelancers saw their income increase in the past 12 months, a number that will likely continue to rise as companies across the globe adopt flexible work models to meet their work objectives and grow their businesses.

"Many workers are seeking more independence in their professional lives," said Fabio Rosati, CEO at Elance. "With businesses increasingly hiring programmers, marketers, graphic designers, and administrative talent in the cloud, a growing number of independent professionals who work online are finding opportunities that match their skills and talents."

Key findings from the survey:

Educated Faces of Freelance: Independent workers span across generations (Millennial: 26%, Gen X: 42% and Boomers: 31%). In addition, the typical online freelancer is highly educated. 80% of independent workers have a professional degree.
Job Satisfaction: Freelancers rank high on the happiness scale: 80% are optimistic about their career path and 61% are happier working as independent professionals than as employees. Working independently is a career cornerstone for the majority of respondents, with twice as many preferring the freelance lifestyle (56%) over working full-time with one employer (19%).
Career Reinvention: Nearly 1 in 3 workers began freelancing to be their own boss and work on the type of projects they love. The top benefits of freelancing include the ability to control their own schedule (90%), following their passion (87%) and eliminating the commute (85%).
The Digital Work Revolution: 92% turn to online job sites as their primary method for finding work, and 41% indicate they are using social media outlets to land jobs. Only 22% use staffing agencies or recruiters and less than 10% rely on college job postings or job fairs to find work.
No Paper Cuts: 65% feel a digital profile, where independent contractors can showcase their talent online with verified work history, multimedia portfolio and tested skills, is more effective than a traditional resume (35%) in finding a job today.
Closing the Commute: 65% state that telecommuting is a critical part of their career goals, while less than 7% want to work onsite at a company a majority of the time.

Diverse Income Opportunities
Freelancers are nearing $400 million in earnings on Elance, as 47% of freelancers surveyed said their income increased in the past 12 months. 40% of survey respondents make more than $50K per year and 36% cite freelancing as their sole source of income. 35% of independent workers began freelancing to earn supplemental income, while only 9% are freelancing until they can find a full-time job. In a sign that the economy may be stabilizing, 17% started freelancing after being downsized or laid off (down from 24% from last year's survey).

Remington McElhaney, a freelance animation graphic designer, never thought he could pursue a career in animation while going to school in Northern Idaho and working as a line cook at a local ski resort until he discovered Elance.

"Elance offers a great way for me to gain career experience and sharpen my skills in animation since there aren't a lot of opportunities here in Idaho. I'm being recruited for innovative projects for clients all over the U.S.," said Remington.

Work Without Borders
Online job platforms like Elance are eliminating regional constraints for finding work. The vast majority of freelancers (83%) work with clients throughout the U.S. and 31% have clients outside of the U.S. Working with a wide variety of clients from around the globe offers freelancers a competitive edge, helps build a diversified work portfolio and develops a range of new skills, from Android to WordPress.

The Gender Breakdown
The study found that men and women were equal (65%) in wanting to be their own boss and not banking their financial future on a single employer. More women (62%) than men (57%) cited "no cubicles" as one of the things they like best about freelancing. 50% of women want to telecommute or work from home a majority of the time versus 39% of men. While women make up less than half (47%) of the traditional work force, 60% of survey respondents are women, representing a 4% increase from last year.

About the Study
Elance conducted this survey from April 29 to May 10, 2011. More than 1,500 Elance freelancers participated in the online survey. For more information on the survey and to view results, visit http://www.elance.com/q/freelance-talent-report-2011.

Passionate Poet Reflects On His Year Of Publishing Daily Haiku

2011-07-05T05:20:00.000-07:00

At some point during the day of July 8, 2011, writer Freeman Ng (www.FreemanNg.net) will compose a haiku and post it to his Facebook, Twitter, blog, and email followers.

"What's so special about that?" you might ask.

The answer is that it will be the 365th consecutive day he's done this.

July 9th will be the one year anniversary of Haiku Diem (www.HaikuDiem.com) a website that started as a simple writing exercise but which has grown into a high tech experiment in self-publishing and online community building.

"I began this on a lark," says Ng. "I wondered how many consecutive days I could keep it up, and thought I might go a month at most. Two things have happened since then. First, the writing has become so ingrained into my daily life that I can't imagine ever stopping. Second, the growth of my readership has made me rethink how I might be able to get published some day, and even to rethink what it means to be published in the first place."

Ng's readership through the Haiku Diem Facebook page, Twitter feed, blog, and mailing list currently numbers over four thousand subscribers and continues to grow, giving him hope for two young adult novels he's written but hasn't yet been able to get published. (www.PleasePublishJoan.com)

"Some day, I might have to self-publish them," explains Ng, "and if that happens, it will be invaluable to have what is essentially a mailing list of thousands of people who love my writing to market them to."

He's also planning on self-publishing a collection of the best haiku from this first year of this poetic endeavor.

The success of Haiku Diem has also blurred the idea of what it means to be published in the first place. Every day, more people read Ng's poetry than might read some novels, or stories published in literary journals.

Ng concludes with the story of a speaker at a writer's conference who claimed that the difference between a writer and an author is that an author is someone who seeks publication.

"I would change that," says Ng. "I would say that an author is a writer who serves a readership."

The haiku rustle,
green, yellow, or crisp brown. Look!
Another one falls.

Freeman Ng is a Google software engineer who aspires to be an author. His poetry appear in the print anthologies, "Nightjar: Stories and Poems" and "Coffeehouse: Writings From The Web." In addition to the daily haiku, he is currently at work on a pair of young adult novels based on the Quest for the Holy Grail and the Death of Arthur.

Judith Sargent Murray's Letter Books, a New Eyewitness Account of American History

2011-07-01T04:56:00.000-07:00

In 1774, at the age of 23, Judith Sargent Stevens (Murray) of Gloucester, Massachusetts, decided to keep letter books - blank volumes into which she would make copies of the letters she was writing to her family and friends. This was not a haphazard decision; keeping letter books would become part of her routine for the rest of her life.

Judith's world in 1774 was changing fast. Gloucester was a thriving seaport in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and there was talk of separation from Great Britain. Protests, port closings, the presence of troops in Boston - all of these events affected Gloucester and it was unclear how the conflict would be resolved. As a student of history, Judith knew how important it was to document what was going on - to provide a thoughtful, eyewitness account in real time to leave behind for future generations.

To begin her project, Judith purchased a small book of blank pages bound in soft brown leather and embossed with a decorative black border. On the first page of the volume she wrote a message to her readers, explaining that she had "committed to the flames" all of the letters she had written before 1765 as they were merely "a kind of history of [her] juvenile life" and could not be of interest to anyone. While Judith's intended audience was her direct descendants, we know from her plan to keep her correspondents "purposely involved in ambiguity" that she anticipated a wider readership. Ultimately, she wrote, she wished to "commend [her] volumes of letters to affectionate posterity."

Following her opening statement, Judith initiated her recording system. She left the first few pages of the book blank and then copied what letters she had already written and saved, numbering each letter and every page. As tradition dictated, she included her return address in each of her letters, the date, a salutation, and an appropriate closing. When the book was full, Judith added an index to the empty opening pages, listing the recipient of each letter and the page on which that person's letter appeared.

After Judith's first volume of letters was complete she began work on Letter Book 2, not knowing how many she would complete in her lifetime. There would be twenty letter books in all, containing approximately 2,500 letters and spanning the years 1765 to 1818, from when Judith was 23 years old in Gloucester to age 67 in Boston.

She wrote all of this material by quill pen and by candlelight -- a daunting, self-appointed task to be sure, especially for a wife, mother, professional essayist, poet, and playwright. But we know from Judith herself, through her letters, that she understood the historical value of what she was doing and even contemplated publishing the letter books herself.

Judith took the letter books with her when she moved from Boston to Natchez, Mississippi, in 1818 with her daughter, Julia Maria, who had married a Harvard student from Natchez. Judith died there soon after. For many generations, the letter books sat in the private library of an antebellum mansion called, "Arlington," lovingly cared for by the owner but out of the public eye.

Those of us who tried to learn more about Judith Sargent Murray in the 1980s and earlier encountered the oft-repeated "fact" first published in 1881 that her personal papers had been destroyed in Natchez. But in 1984, a Unitarian Universalist minister named Gordon Gibson, who was serving a congregation in the area, went searching for material anyway. At Arlington, he found the letter books - the treasure trove of information that Judith Sargent Murray had so painstakingly created for future generation.

The letter books have since been preserved and published on microfilm under a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. They are housed at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History at Jackson -- which is a lucky thing because Arlington's library was recently destroyed by fire.

Today, the letter books are being transcribed, indexed, and published to make the information more accessible. Two letter books are available in their entirety, and two themed collections of the letters have been published.

What's in this new eyewitness account of American history? Briefly, they contain Judith's observations of:

• People (George Washington, John Adams, John Murray, Judith's husband and the "father" of organized Universalism in America)
• Places (towns, cities, and the countryside during her travels through New England, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania)
• Events (July 4, 1790 in Philadelphia, the laying of the cornerstone for the new state house in Boston in 1795)
• Attractions (museums, concerts, gardens, markets, public buildings)
• Daily life (meals, goods, clothing, medicine, weather, travel)

The letters also include Judith's thoughts on:

• female education
• women's political rights and female politicians
• the new American government
• parenting
• philanthropy
• Universalism

The letters document Judith's life as a daughter, wife, mother, friend, and loving aunt or adopted aunt to dozens of young people. They also document her career as an essayist, publisher, poet, and playwright - one of the earliest definers of a new American literature.

Finally, the letter books add color, depth, and insight to American history from the perspective of a woman and a professional writer.

In her opening statement in Letter Book 1, Judith tells her readers (us) that she hoped for affectionate posterity. She deserves nothing less, and publishing her letter books is an important step in that direction.

Bonnie Hurd Smith is the acknowledged expert on the 18th-century American essayist Judith Sargent Murray (1751-1820) of Gloucester and Boston, Massachusetts. Bonnie is the author of several books on Murray including "I Am Jealous for the Honor of Our Sex: A Brief Biography of Judith Sargent Murray," "Mingling Souls Upon Paper: An Eighteenth-century Love Story," and "Letters of Loss and Love." She has also authored numerous articles and book chapters on Murray for scholarly and general audiences.

Bonnie is the founder of the Judith Sargent Murray Society, through which she is directing the multi-year project to publish Murray's letter books, and she is a popular public speaker, guest lecturer, and lay preacher at Unitarian Universalist churches throughout New England. Bonnie is the former board president of the Sargent House Museum in Gloucester (Murray's home), and she has created women's history trails in Boston and Salem, MA that feature Judith Sargent Murray.

Bonnie is also the President and CEO of History Smiths, a marketing and public relations company in Salem, MA, that helps businesses use "history" to achieve business goals including attracting customers, boosting customer loyalty, and securing a high status reputation in the communities they serve. Along with marketing and PR, Bonnie is a whiz at event planning, fundraising, and organizational management.

http://www.jsmsociety.com/Letter_books
http://www.historysmiths.com

John Steinbeck's Novel to Grace the Big Screen

2011-06-30T05:30:00.000-07:00

Producer Robert Kanter has acquired the exclusive world-wide documentary film rights to Nobel Prize recipient and celebrated author John Steinbeck's non-fiction work, The Log from the Sea of Cortez. Through his production shingle, Sardine Boat Pictures, Kanter will recreate and film the six-week voyage Steinbeck took around the Sea of Cortez in which he and his good friend marine biologist Ed Ricketts catalogued over 500 species of fauna and discovered about 50 new species.

On March 11, 1940 John Steinbeck and Ricketts set out on the 76-foot purse seiner, the Western Flyer, from Monterey, California bound for the Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California.) The trip afforded the friends the opportunity to relax, to bond and for Steinbeck to escape from the controversy mounting around The Grapes of Wrath. It is of interest, that Ricketts was the inspiration for the boozy, good-hearted character "Doc," who appears in Steinbeck's novels set in and around Monterey. The Log from the Sea of Cortez is a breathtaking chronicle of the ideas behind the philosophy, science, literature and wanderlust explored aboard the Western Flyer over the course of a six-week journey.

In 2012, Kanter will lead a crew to retrace the journey taken by Steinbeck and Ricketts. They will revisit the land and the waters of the original trip and examine the changes that have been wrought to the environment over the past 70 years. The Sea of Cortez is a jewel of Mexico's diverse biosphere, described by Jacques Cousteau as "the world's aquarium." Combining state of the art photography of the sites with conversations with the local people, Kanter will explore the natural wonder and all its bounty and beauty in a celebration of the historic voyage. He has begun reaching out to some actors who would give voice to Steinbeck's stunning prose. "I have been privileged to work with the finest actors – Gregory Peck, Paul Newman – on past projects. I am trying to determine which great actor is right to narrate this film, and to attract him to this the project."

Only ten American writers have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, John Steinbeck is one of them. His masterpieces include The Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden, and Of Mice and Men and his work has been adapted for the big screen by legendary filmmakers including John Ford, Alfred Hitchcock, and Elia Kazan.

Associated Press Receives $475,000 Grant to Help Journalists Find Stories in Massive Amounts of Data

2011-06-29T11:49:00.000-07:00

The Associated Press will lead the design and development of an open source analytical tool to help journalists find stories in massive amounts of data, thanks to a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

The $475,000 grant was awarded as part of the foundation's Knight News Challenge, an international contest to fund digital news experiments that use technology to inform and engage communities.

So-called document dumps, from tens to hundreds of thousands of pages, "are becoming increasingly common, whether the result of freedom of information requests, government transparency initiatives, or leaks," the AP said in its grant proposal. "We want to build a tool to answer the question, ‘what's in there?'"

The AP team, which looks to go beyond searching and indexing, will create "an open-source, production-quality visual analytics system designed specifically for journalistic understanding and discovery within large sets of unstructured or semi-structured text documents, and distributed with comprehensive training materials," the AP's proposal said.

AP Interactive Technology Editor Jonathan Stray, who will lead the AP team, said: "This tool will help journalists find stories in large amounts of data by cleaning it up, illustrating patterns and creating data visualizations. Overview, as we dubbed the tool, will create maps that display relationships among topics, people, places and dates. The goal is an interactive system where the computers do the visualization, while a human guides the exploration."

"The availability of large amounts of data is both a challenge and opportunity for news organizations," said John S. Bracken, director of digital media at Knight Foundation. "We see this as a timely investment in an august news organization with a strong team led by one of the nation's leading data-journalists."

The Knight funding, which will be used over two years, will enhance AP's long-standing commitment to developing innovative solutions to meet the digital challenges faced by its member news organizations across the country and around the world.

Translation Cloud Application for Facebook

2011-06-28T05:21:00.000-07:00

Translation Cloud, the Facebook application created by Translation Services USA, which allows freelance translators the ability to translate ongoing projects in real time using their Facebook accounts, has released their newly updated platform and design.

Translation Cloud was developed alongside Ackuna in an effort to provide translators with a quick and simple method to get paid for translating ongoing projects that have been submitted via Ackuna.

All the work is performed online, through the Translation Cloud app on the user's Facebook page. Once the user adds the app by signing up at TranslationCloud.net, they can log into their Facebook account and start correcting short segments of text in their chosen language pair. If the text is translated correctly, the user earns money (in U.S. dollars) through their PayPal account that they attach to their Translation Cloud account.

Translations that are submitted remain in the system until they pass through three rounds of translation review and are deemed "Correct." They are then stored in the growing database of correct translations.

This latest version of Translation Cloud features a design overhaul with updated graphics and a more user-friendly interface. Also, one of the more important features added is the new "Translation Rank" algorithm. This feature evaluates each translator's performance and assigns them a numerical ranking. Translators who perform below a certain ranking are banned from the system and added to the Translator Blacklist at Cheating Translators. This feature helps ensure quality control of the finished product and prevent scammers from taking advantage of the system, thus allowing legitimate and qualified translators access to more projects. Maintaining a high Translation Rank may possibly lend itself to added bonuses for those translators in the future, as well.

"You work hard, you get paid. It's that simple," says Alex Buran, Founder of Translation Cloud and Ackuna. "I wanted to provide an easy way for translators to access more translation jobs. Translation Cloud allows legitimate translators to sign in at their convenience, translate as little or as much as they want, and earn money quickly and easily."

Translation Cloud has already been a major success among the online community. Since its initial release in February of this year, there have been over 4,000 registered users and over 150 completed and paid projects. Ackuna has also shared in this success by reaching its 1 millionth visitor this week. These numbers will only continue to grow as both Ackuna and Translation Cloud gain more exposure.

Deep, Rich Archives of the Finest in Nonfiction Storytelling

2011-06-27T09:25:00.000-07:00

Wouldn't it be great to have the best stories by Susan Orlean, Christopher Hitchens, Michael Lewis, Mary Roach, E.B. White, Mark Bowden, and hundreds of other nonfiction writers from the past 100 years available on one website? Just type in a favorite author's name and, voila--there are the pieces you've read and loved, plus plenty more you've never seen. Now there is such a website: Byliner.com.

Byliner.com allows easy access to 30,000 new and classic nonfiction feature articles by more than 3,000 writers--some published in the last hour, some several decades ago. The site also features deep, curated directories of more than 200 great nonfiction authors, past and present, as well as social bookmarking tools and discussion. The site goes one step further by offering personalized reading suggestions made by both the bestselling writers featured at Byliner and the site's unique search recommendation engine. Byliner.com's goal is to help people find, discuss, and share the best work by their favorite writers, and to discover writers they've not read before. In short, Byliner.com makes certain that you'll always have something good to read.

Among the many features you'll find on Byliner.com: detailed author pages for hundreds of great writers from David Foster Wallace to Caitlin Flanagan to Chuck Klosterman; reader pages full of personalized recommendations; the ability to follow your favorite writers, explore other writing from the magazines they contribute to, and buy their books; timely, curated reading lists that help make sense of the issues of the day; and the opportunity to submit and share stories you've discovered, as well as follow other readers to see what resonates with them.

Free B2B Guide to Social Media - 1,000 Social Media Statistics

2011-06-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

The B2B Guide to Social Media, a blog providing practical advice to organisations in the B2B space on using social networks today publishes its 1000th social media statistic. The blog started publishing statistics on social media usage, social gaming, Twitter, LinkedIn, apps and others in March in an effort to provide a single hub of reliable information on social media.

The social media statistics pages are updated every Friday with the latest data published in the previous seven days. They cover everything from when the first tweet was sent (March 2006) to the number of new blogs created a day (120,000) and the amount of time spent watching YouTube via Facebook each day (over 46 years).

The blog also offers introductions to B2B social networking, overviews of the main social networks used by B2B organisations, B2B social media case studies and easy-to-follow guides on developing a B2B social media strategy, creating objectives and building a B2B social network.

The B2B Guide to Social Media is a blog created and edited by Heather Baker, MD at TopLine Communications.

The guide is an essential 'how to' for marketers and organisations seeking clarification on how key social media platforms can be used to reach business audiences.

In addition, the guide provides a broad overview of the numerous social media tools that determine presence, quantify reach and integrate the results of any campaign.

Free Case Study: Five common mistakes in press release writing

2011-06-23T05:58:00.000-07:00

The second in its series of free PR case-studies titled "The Biggest PR Mistakes of All Time" has been published by The PR Training Centre and can be downloaded free of charge at http://www.theprtrainingcentre.com/pr-mistakes.html. Publication of this new PR Mistakes study has been timed to coincide with a Creative Writing for Public Relations Workshop to be held on Monday 27th of June in Covent Garden, London.

'The press release is the basic tool of communication for PR people,' says co-founder and principal presenter at The PR Training Centre Jacqui Green. 'But ask any journalist what they think of the releases that cross their desktop every day and most will roll their eyes in despair. Now Richard Milton, an experienced professional journalist has provided some clear tips for PR people on how to write a press release -- and Milton's advice is not just the usually recycled banal tips -- in fact I think even some seasoned PR pro's may be surprised. The new case study can be downloaded from our website at www.theprtrainingcentre.com/releases.htm'

The Biggest PR Mistakes series will cover some of the most memorable PR disasters of recent years including Coke and Dasani Water, the McDonalds libel case, Bennetton's designer advertisements, Perrier's purity problems and Polaroid's failure to come to terms with digital photography.

Says Jacqui Green, 'Publication of 'Five Common Mistakes in press release writing' has been timed to coincide with our Creative Writing for Public Relations Workshop, which will next be presented in our Covent Garden centre on Monday 27th of June when we will be reviewing best practice not just for writing press releases but for every form of marketing and PR communication from writing website copy to brochures and case studies through to producing compelling editorial features and pay-per-click ads.'

Author of the Biggest PR Mistakes series, Richard Milton is a co-founder of The PR Training Centre and is the author of six books including "Bad Company", which was chosen by The Sunday Times as its Business Book of the Week, and the management handbook "Do Your Own PR".

New Free Software to Maximize Your Creativity, for Writing and Productivity

2011-06-22T04:53:00.000-07:00

Story Lite v1.1 is unique software for all people working or playing with text - editors, writers, bloggers, anyone. Image import coming soon. It uses a large 2D canvas with custom spatial arrangement of many editor boxes. Full color and 3D, it is also a new electronic publishing format.

You can use Story Lite (http://www.storylite.com/) to write, edit, brainstorm, make mental maps, generate new ideas, keep notes and ideas, even produce whole multimedia novels or reports.

You can instantly arrange many texts on huge layouts, change view, zoom in and out, change color, export as text or image, print.

Story Lite is a desktop application with a background canvas containing multiple, open, editing boxes which are text and image editors.

Story Lite uses a zoomable user interface -- ZUI - adapted as a creativity tool.

The layout can be zoomed to provide editing (box level) and an overall view of all boxes (zoomed out).

The whole system is saved under one name, with all parts (boxes, zoom levels etc).

More than: it is a portable desktop that contains as many word and image editors, open at the same time, in a layout, as you need for a project or set of projects.

When you save the Story file, you save the whole system, multiple editing boxes, positions, colors, scaling etc.
This means you can have a working environment that is easy to use, contains all your work, notes, ideas etc, and is truly portable.

17th Century Pulp Literature Reveals Alternative Approach to Reading

2011-06-20T08:21:00.000-07:00

The 17th century's closest equivalent to modern day pulp fiction, the "Volksbuch/Volksbücher"(chapbook), was packed with exciting material. But they were not read in excited anticipation in order to reach the sensational, but unknown conclusion of the tale. This is the finding of a new thesis in history of literature from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Chapbooks are mostly works of fiction, which gained a relatively high level of popularity in Europe from the 16th century up until the end of the 19th century. They chiefly comprised early medieval or classical originals, such as knightly epics, romance adventures and comedy tales. Chapbooks were published in bound, cheap editions -- an early modern form of the paperback. Chapbooks started being translated and published in Sweden at the start of the 17th century. Today they are almost completely forgotten and have gradually become a focus for research.

Rikard Wingård has examined the early Swedish Volksbücher and their readers, who were mostly found in the upper social strata, but also among the lower classes and the poor.

Volksbücher were sparking criticism from the church and polite society as early as the 16th century. Rikard Wingård shows how growing criticism was based on a Christian outlook on life in terms of a literate and historical consciousness, enhancing a linear time apprehension of time, resulting in aestethic preferences of which could not be satisfied by the Volksbücher.

"This approach is called the expansive type of reading and it has come to be the dominant form in the western world since the Renaissance. This type of reading endeavours to achieve a meaningful entirety in the text being read, something that at best is not attained until the end of the story."

In contrast to the expansive type of reading, many of the Volksbücher instead appear to be written to attract a different kind of reader. Meaningfulness is established right at the start of the reading process rather than at the end. This form is named the assimilative type of reading and is based on an existential view that exists in oral and traditional cultures, where time is often perceived as cyclical and repeatable.

Volksbücher contain several different elements that support the goals of the assimilative type of reading and counteract those of the expansive type of reading. For example, the titles of Volksbücher are often extremely long and detailed, outlining the key events in the story. Sometimes there are summaries of the stories before the main text begins.

"The idea of having long titles and summaries that reveal the whole tale in advance seems alien to us, but they must have appealed in some way to the reader of the time," says Rikard Wingård.

Criticism of Volksbücher and their popularity can be explained with reference to these types of reading. The increasingly dominant position of Christianity and literacy in society led to the disappearance of assimilative reading, and consequently Volksbücher as well. This is one of Rikard Wingård's conclusions.

"Viewed from a broader perspective, the thesis opens the door for new approaches to viewing the mentality, reception and reading of the early modern period. It improves our understanding of a forgotten form of literature and encourages us to reflect on the origins of modern reading patterns."

Source: University of Gothenburg

Gregory Hill and Jill Baguchinsky Win the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award

2011-06-19T04:43:00.000-07:00

Gregory Hill is the winner of the general fiction category for his novel, "East of Denver," and Jill Baguchinsky is the winner in the young adult fiction category for her novel, "Spookygirl." Hill and Baguchinsky will each receive a publishing contract from Penguin Group (USA) that includes a $15,000 advance. "East of Denver" and "Spookygirl" will be published by Dutton's adult and children's divisions, respectively.

This year's competition drew the most submissions in the history of the contest. After several rounds of judging, the winners were selected by Amazon.com customers from a group of six finalists.

Today's winners were chosen by Amazon.com customers, and that's one thing that makes this contest so exciting -- it offers aspiring writers the opportunity to be heard and also connects them directly with customers to help discover great new voices in fiction.

Gregory Hill lives in Denver where he works at the University of Denver library and plays in "The Babysitters," a rock and roll power trio that includes his wife on drums. "East of Denver" tells the story of Shakespeare Williams, who returns to his family's farm in eastern Colorado to find his widowed, senile father living in squalor. Facing the loss of the farm, Shakespeare hatches a plot with his father and a motley crew of his former high school classmates to rob the local bank. Expert panelist Lev Grossman, book critic for Time Magazine and author of the New York Times bestseller "The Magicians" and the upcoming sequel "The Magician King," says that Hill's writing is "on a par with that of top-flight black-comic novelists like Sam Lipsyte and Jess Walter, and it deserves to be read."

Jill Baguchinsky, a longtime fan of supernatural tales, wrote the first draft of "Spookygirl" as part of National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, a movement that challenges writers to complete a novel in thirty days. In the novel, Violet Addison has moved into an apartment above her father's funeral home in Florida. Violet regularly converses with the ghosts in the house, but what she is really scared of is starting her sophomore year at a new school. Not only will she battle rumors about her father's involvement in her mother's death, but, even more frightening, the evil forces that inhabit the girls' locker room. Expert panelist Jennifer Besser, Vice President and Publisher of G. P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, writes that this "funny and suspenseful novel sets itself apart and heralds the arrival of a fresh new voice."

The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest is an annual contest co-sponsored by Amazon.com, Penguin Group (USA) and CreateSpace. For the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest Official Rules, to view the winning excerpts and reviews, or pre-order the novels now, visit www.amazon.com/abna.

10 Tips to Writing a Book Review

2011-06-17T04:47:00.000-07:00

by Samantha Joy Pearce -

Writing a book review sounds like a relatively easy task. Surely all you need to do is read the book in question, and then write a paragraph or two on what the book was about and whether or not you thought the book was any good. Humm, if only life were that simply! In reality it is really quite difficult to write a successful book review. Yes of course you can simply précis the book and add a final comment about whether you found it to be an enjoyable read or not, but this is unlikely to leave you with a book review that readers are keen to read... and so in turn unfortunately the book you are reviewing is unlikely to gain all that much interest off of the back of your review either. No, if you want to write a successful book review then you need to keep a few top tips in mind at all times.

1. Choose the book you are going to review carefully. For a book review to appeal, the book that you are reviewing needs to lend itself to the creation of a book review that is informative, entertaining and readable. The book itself also needs to appeal to a wide audience.

2. Ensure that you have read one or two books or pieces of writing by the author of the book that you have chosen to review. You need to understand where the author has come from, a little of their writing history, before you can comment on a new release.

3. Comparison is important in book reviews. Read other, similar books by contemporaries so that you can offer some form of comparison in your own analysis of the book's worth in today's literary field.

4. Consider how far the author has succeeded in avoiding the pitfalls of the genre that they have written in. Are there clichés? Have they introduced a new form of language or use of language when dealing with a specific genre? Is the plot line all too obvious?

5. Look at the recognised successes of the author in light of this particular book that you are reviewing. Has the author won any awards? Have they been nominated for any? Have they received published praise anywhere?

6. If you are reviewing a non-fiction book, be sure to check that any facts or figures quoted within the book are accurate. Whilst an author's reputation will be damaged by the inclusion of inaccurate information, so too with the reputation of a reviewer who fails to spot these mistakes.

7. Be sure to cover the main elements of the plot line in your review of fictional pieces, but don't give away the ending - the reader of your review needs a reason to go on and read the book after all!

8. Find a way to extract the theme or message from the storyline, and inform your readers of this theme. It is important that reviewers look at both the obvious story and the underlying message when reviewing fictional works.

9. Think about the style of the book - is there anything unusual or revolutionary about the way the book has been written? If so, this needs to be highlighted in your review.

10. Finally, as with all types of writing, don't forget how important it is to check through your book review. Ensure that it flows well, that it is logical, clear and concise in message, and that it is squeaky clean in terms of spelling, punctuation and grammar.

Do you need help with editing or proofreading your freelance writing? Then use the professional editorial services from Words Worth Reading Ltd.

The Five Different Forms of Poetry Many Love to Write

2011-06-16T05:29:00.000-07:00

by Cesar Gealogo -

Writing poetry is very challenging as it requires a wide imagination and great focus on the things we have framed inside our minds before painting the picture with our words. Some says that it is easy to craft a poem while others utter that it is really hard to build verses to make it sound more poetic. Whether it is tough or trouble-free to create a single piece of poetry, the responsibility of completing a sole stuff depends on the individual enthusiasm and creativity.

On numerous instances, while surfing the internet world for poetry and reading some books that caters the same subject it comes to mind that many published and unpublished poets or persons just beginning to hone their poetry skills love to write the following forms.

Free verse - this form of poetry have been very popular because of its flexibility and whatever thoughts we have in mind can be written with continuity. Many poets prefer this kind of style due to the fact that it has no fixed metrical pattern. We can make the lines either short or long, we can also compose it with rhymes or not. The whole control is within the poet itself.

Acrostic - this is a challenging and interesting style of poetry wherein we write a poem in which the first letter of each lines spell a word. In here, our creativity and ingenuity with words is vastly tested. A lot of poetic people uses this form because of its uniqueness and it necessitate deep thinking in order that we can give a full meaning to the word or words we want readers to read and understand.

Tanka - this is a five-line verse with 5-7-5-7-7 counts of syllables on each line that originates in Japan. Many poets love to write this form for the reason that it is short and any subject can be written. Writing this kind of poetry is also delicate since we have to carefully check the syllable counts in conformity with the rules. It is succinct that's why every word that we are planning to add in must be fitting in order that our poem draws a perfect picture.

Haiku - this is another verse of Japanese origin with 5-7-5 counts of syllables in every line. A notable number of poets have been writing this form due to its brevity and particularity on one subject matter which is all about nature. This is more enigmatic as it calls for a deeper analysis in understanding the message pin inside the poem.

Senryu - a form of poetry that originates from Japan with 5-7-5 counts of syllables in each line like that of haiku; however the subject is more focus on human nature and this is usually expressed with irony and satire. A lot of individual inclined to poetry write this form because of its conciseness and frankness.

There are numerous forms of poetry that each of us must be familiarized, and try to write on each forms. Let ourselves discover which one is the most nearest to our heart and mind, and the most convenient type to write. Whether we are a season poet or just starting to acquaint into the world of verses, we have to encourage ourselves to continue writing and discovering poetry.

Cesar E. Gealogo, RC, Police Officer 3, Published Author

Website: http://www.cesargealogo.com/

He is a poet and a registered criminologist of the Professional Regulation Commission of the Philippines. He is the author of a poetry book entitled: Whisper of Life. He is a member of the Professional Criminologist Association of the Philippines (PCAP). He earned two baccalaureate degrees: Bachelor of Science in Accountancy and Bachelor of Science in Criminology. He has also earned 36 academic units in Master of Public Administration. To learn more about his interest, please feel free to visit his personal website.

3 Ways to Make Fiction Easy to Read

2011-06-15T06:22:00.000-07:00

by Lilian Duval -

In an age of Facebook and Twitter, where anyone with a keyboard can invent abbreviations, sling the slang around, and bloviate without boundaries, why would I be advising people to keep it simple?

Simple! With so much competition from manufactured sound bites, if your writing isn't inviting, it's going to drown in a sea of overwritten prose. And it will drown fast.

But how can you make your fiction enticing and popular without sacrificing literary principles? That's easy, too. Just follow these tips for fashioning modern literature for the twenty-first century readers.

Engage. Catch your reader's eye, right from the first word, of the first paragraph. Think of what makes you want to read a post on a blog or a news site. Perhaps it's something scandalous about a public figure. Or it's an uncommon human-interest story, such as the 2010 rescue of 33 Chilean miners in a flawless recovery operation. Or it's a terrifying natural disaster. Verbs are good for snagging a reader's attention at the outset. Strong verbs included convicted, rescued, or pummeled. A one-word sentence consisting of only a verb has successfully begun a number of intriguing stories and novels.

Reduce. Clear the clutter. Say what you want to say in that crucial first paragraph, and then put that paragraph on a starvation diet, leaving it with only as many verbal nutrients as you need to express your ideas.

Let's say you started a story this way:

Panicked. She was doomed. Melanie glanced around the room, searching for a way out, grabbing helplessly at locked windows, doors that wouldn't open, and no way out except into a dim hallway from which haunting sounds were echoing. She strained to hear what could have been the soundtrack of a horror movie or real-life victims being tortured. Hopelessly, she scanned the desks and tables for a phone, even though she'd have no way of telling a rescuer where she was and who had brought her there, blindfolded, in the dark of night, in the trunk of a car. She was doomed.

Not bad for a start. Now get out your red pen, and here's a better way to catch and hold onto your readers:

Panicked. Melanie searched for an escape from the room, grabbing at locked windows and doors, cringing at a dim hallway. The groans and growls could have been the soundtrack of a horror movie - or real-life torture victims. She scanned the furniture for a phone, though she had no idea where she was, or who had blindfolded her that night and forced her into the trunk of a car. She was doomed.

Identify. Simple doesn't have to mean condescending. You can enrich your fiction with savory details that make readers see and hear the scene you set. You can bring them to a place they've never visited, and probably never will. But you must define exotic details so that readers can build a mental picture.

Here's an example, where the characters are meeting natives from deep in the Amazonian rainforest:

It's midnight, and they're all exhausted. The Hillyers each lie down in a rickety hammock and try to sleep, but the Yanomami know nothing about keeping quiet so that others can sleep. In fact, they wake up and fall asleep as easily as house cats. Elvis says that you have to learn how to sleep through their talking, snoring, and crying babies.

At around one o'clock in the morning, a tribal elder stands in the center of the shapono and delivers a long, booming speech about hunting and fishing. No one hushes him. Maybe an hour later, a shaman under the influence of natural hallucinogens performs a prolonged mystical chant. Alarmed, Carmela stands between the children's hammocks. Elvis tells her not to worry and translates the speech and the chanting.

In spite of the never-ending conversations inside the shapono, they all doze off until about 3:00 am, when a man at a nearby hearth leaps up, says a few words to anyone who might be listening, grabs an axe, and starts swinging it around overhead. Carmela screams and tries to cover her sleeping children with her body. Tobias jumps up and throws his arms around all of them.

"Go back to sleep," Elvis scolds. "He's only going out to chop some firewood." Indeed, percussive chopping sounds commence outside the shapono and continue for an hour or so. None of the Hillyers understand how anyone can sleep in this society.

You can write exciting fiction with vivid details and real-life characters, and you can do this without making readers plow through dense paragraphs and complicated sentences to follow the action. In fact, you're better off if you don't! The Internet is a glorious medium, kind of an encyclopedia of modern life, and it has spoiled us. We want to know what's going on right away! If it's not interesting, we'll just click to another web page.

In your fiction writing, grab your readers' loyalty from the very beginning. Engage, reduce, and identify. Now that's a tale worth reading - and worth writing.

Lilian Duval was born in New York City of French-speaking parents. She is a technical writer for a software company, and before that, created software for Wall Street firms until the terrorist attack on her building in 2001. Her employment history includes, in chronological order: nurse's aide in a nursing home; bookkeeper's assistant at O. Henry Steak House in Greenwich Village; suburban stringer for a small-town newspaper; teacher of English as a second language; and instructor in computer programming. Lilian lives in New Jersey with her husband George, a native of Singapore. They have two sons and a daughter, all grown, and several cats. She studies classical guitar and enjoys attending concerts and plays in New York City. To learn more, please visit http://www.lilianduval.com

Creative Writing Tips - Top 20 Distractions and Excuses That Keep You From Writing

2011-06-10T08:37:00.000-07:00

by Bryan Cohen -

People often cite the extreme amount of distractions in their lives that keep them from working on their writing/creative projects. They also like holding fast to excuses that have blocked their creative outlets for years. This article of creative writing tips will provide potential solutions to 20 common distractions or excuses. That way, if you aren't writing, you can say, "I am choosing not to solve these problems," as opposed to blaming the problems themselves. Acceptance is the first step, right? :)

1. My phone keeps ringing with calls or texts.

Turn it off or be dramatic and take out the battery. Believe it or not, the world will go on without you being reachable for a little while. If you don't believe me, test it for ten minutes and see if the Earth is still here. If yes, try to add to that time little by little. If no, wow, you're really important!

2. People keep sending me instant messages.

Exit out of the offending program or uninstall the dang thing. I uninstalled AOL Instant Messenger about two years ago and my life has been much more productive ever since. If you are worried that you will miss a specific person's message, just tell them you'll be busy for an hour doing something cool.

3. My house, café, basement, attic, or street is too noisy.

Write somewhere different? It isn't too hard to find a quiet place if you're willing to leave the problematic area. Local libraries, bookstores or quiet out-of-the-way restaurants work for me when I crave silence. If you need to stay in your noisier place, ear plugs are a cheap solution and noise-cancelling headphones are a bit pricier. And lastly, a bathroom is always a good last resort.

4. I'm too jumpy or jittery to write!!!

Whoa, calm down. First, read my article about quitting coffee :). Secondly, think for a second instead of just giving up on writing. Previously in your life, when you've needed to calm down or relax, what have you done? Read a book? Listened to Frank Sinatra? Laid down for a few? Try what works for you, and then go back to the writing. It will probably be much easier to start.

5. I keep feeling the need to check my e-mail, traffic stats, football scores, etc. on the computer.

Turn it off, unplug it, or leave the house. Challenge yourself to keep it off for as long as you can. Without a computer, how will you write? Go old school and bust out the pad of paper and a pencil.

6. My computer is broken, too slow, or in use.

See pad of paper suggestion in #5. If you must use a computer, ask a friend or search out an Internet Café.

7. My favorite TV show or movie is on.

Turn it off, unplug it, or leave the house. These days, nearly every popular TV show will be online the following day. Also, if you have TiVo or a DVR, the problem is solved. This is your time to write, don't let CBS tell you otherwise. If it's your favorite movie, find a way to record it or buy the DVD. Many of these solutions will involve sacrificing your immediate pleasure for your eventual fulfillment. Believe me when I say this: TV is less important than you.

8. I'm too tired to write.

Get up and go for a walk, do some stretching, eat an apple and some raw almonds. Put on some pump up music and do a little bit of dancing. If none of that works, write standing up. It's tough to fall asleep standing up. Just don't pop a pill or drink a Red Bull. It will work in the short-term and hurt in the long term. Also, evaluate what time of day you are the strongest. Write at that time.

9. I'm too hungry to write.

Take your laptop or paper and pencil out of the house and stop by a good writing café. If you take the time to prepare a five-course meal at home, you may lose the drive to write by the time you have finished stuffing yourself. Let someone do the work for you and write while they're doing it.

10. I have to leave for work in an hour.

Leave now! Get there early and write when you get there. Heck, if you take public transportation, write on the way there. Just because you don't have a lot of time to write, does not mean you shouldn't. Just make a little progress. And by leaving the house, you should eliminate several distractions right there.

11. I have time, but I don't feel motivated.

Surf around this site for twenty minutes! That's what it's for :).

One quick tip: think about how good you'll feel when you have the piece you're working on completed. That is basic law of attraction.

12. I don't know how I'm supposed to do the next chapter, story, passage, or scene.

Just write. Write the first thing that comes to mind. Don't judge it. Just go for it! If you need certain information, collect the research and then write! There is no way you have to do a particular thing, it just needs to be done. So, make it happen.

13. My dog/cat/bird needs to go out for a walk.

Why not bring your dog/cat/bird to a dog/cat/bird park with your trust pad of paper in hand? If not, use taking out your pet as an excuse to leave the house to work. When you come back to the house, just drop your pet off and head to the local café or favorite writing spot. I'm sure he or she will understand :).

14. I told my boss, my friend, my land lady, my spouse, etc. that I would do something for them.

Now you can bust out the old IM, text message, or phone call and tell the person in question that you are unable to work on his or her project. This is not a lie! You have an important project to work on for yourself. If you are motivated, you have an idea, and you have yet to begin, you should get out of your prior engagement.

If it is impossible for you to reschedule, do it. If you can't reschedule it, try to delegate. If you can't do either, put it off for an hour or two and start writing. Your writing is important. The sooner you start conveying that to the people who "request" your time, perhaps you'll find that more writing time happens naturally.

15. I am too overcome by sadness, grief, rage or some other powerful emotion to write.

Perfect! Use it. Being overwhelmed with emotion is a great situation to be in as a writer. There is a lot of raw power you can draw from and draw from it you will.

Try to convince yourself that putting this emotion down on the page will be great for your writing. If that seems impossible, find a friend that will understand your desire to channel your feelings into the written word. We'll call this friend a writing buddy.

I was the writing buddy for my friend Adam during a tough break up. He was devastated. He couldn't eat or sleep, but I forced him to write. The result was a one-man show that is currently being adapted into a full-length film. Putting true feeling into your work can carry you far. Some obstacles aren't obstacles at all.

16. I want to write, I just don't feel like I'm any good.

Prove it. Prove to me that you aren't a good writer. I can show you proof of the chinks in my armor. I received a C in a poetry class, a fiction teacher told me I shouldn't write fiction, and I was mentioned in a newspaper review as saying I had co-written a "lemon" of a script. And yet, I pressed on. Why? How?

I have yet to make my grand contribution. I can feel that there is still something I can write that will mean something or last. Maybe it's this website and maybe it's not. I just know I'm getting closer because I still want to write.

If you want to write, then you should write. If you don't feel like you have any talent but you still want to write, then there must be some reason. If you do not write, you will never find that reason out. If you have yet to test the waters, you might as well jump in. Talent and perceived talent are only a small part of the pie. So I say, dig in, write, and see what happens. You know, before I make another metaphor :).

17. I don't know how to write.

Take your favorite book or play and open to your most earmarked passage or scene. Write something in the style of that scene. With the same characters or your own creations. When you've finished, read it out loud and chance anything that sounds weird. Now repeat the same process with another scene. Keep doing that until you feel comfortable starting from scratch. If interested in non-fiction, do the same with a similar non-fiction work. And then you are a writer. Start putting it on your business cards :).

18. I work so much! There just aren't enough hours in the day.

2 options.

Option 1 - Change one of your jobs into something that will allow you to write. Working in a library or as a receptionist at a less-than-busy office can make this possible. Also, finding something more passive like a website or some kind of investment can free up some time to write.

Option 2 - Sleep less.

I started option two about a year ago and option one a couple of months ago. They both have their positive and negative traits. Option two has been more effective personally, and both work best only if you have strong goals to support them. I know that sacrificing sleep is negative for your health, but I do plan on improving this aspect of my life in the future.

Making time for your writing often requires a sacrifice. What is it gonna be?

19. I don't have any ideas.

There are tons of free creative writing prompts out there on the Internet. Several are at my website if you happen to go there.

20. I have so much to say, I can't get it all out at once!

Start small. Just write a paragraph. Or write an outline. Don't let your wealth of ideas stop you. You have the best kind of problem. Just know that any work takes time.

But if you absolutely need to get it all out, take a day off of work, go to a café and bring a lot of paper :). I once wrote a screenplay in one day because it felt like it needed to come out of my head. Why fight it? Start writing!

In Conclusion

Please, please, please write. Don't let anything get in your way. If you get stuck, check back here and I'll try to get you through it. Happy writing.

Build Creative Writing Ideas: http://www.build-creative-writing-ideas.com/index.html
Creative Writing Prompts: http://www.build-creative-writing-ideas.com/creative-writing-prompts.html

(c) Copyright: Build Creative Writing Ideas, 2008-9

Demand for Online Technology, Writing Heat Up Summer Jobs

2011-06-09T05:52:00.000-07:00

As summer heats up, job demand isn't slowing down. Finding the perfect summer job isn't limited to lifeguarding at the local pool, it's about knowing where to look online, and diving into the global talent pool.

According to the May Online Employment Report by oDesk, hot jobs for the summer include development with in-demand technologies like Facebook API and Android SDK, which continue to enjoy the largest growth in job opportunities posted. In addition, as small- to medium-sized businesses become increasingly comfortable hiring creative talent online, the demand for writing skills continues to heat up, with positions involving technical writing up 1758 percent and blogging up 974 percent over last year.

For employers, summer is a good time to leverage on-demand talent online and tap into contractors with needed skills, both to supplement full-time staff -- who may be travelling or on vacation -- and to expand their workforce with new skills not found on their current staff. For workers, summer is a great time to hone their skills by pursuing opportunities in high demand, developing relationships with new employers and considering turning those "summer jobs" into a career.

"While full-time, local hiring is slowing as we head into the summer, online talent is a great option to gain a competitive advantage in this challenging economic environment," states Gary Swart, oDesk CEO. "Meanwhile, workers are turning to online work because that's where the opportunities are. These online jobs are enabling them to develop key skills and build valuable work relationships, and finding that what starts out as a limited-term position can lead to a long-term career path."

Despite the national unemployment edging up to 9 percent in April, oDesk experienced a record number of job postings on its site at 85,120 for the month of May, which was up 7 percent from the previous month, and grew 81 percent since 2010. In addition, employers spent over $17M and contractors worked over 1.6M hours on oDesk last month alone.

Mcdaniel College Receives $100,000 Grant to Help Advance Research and Study of Romance Literature

2011-06-08T05:12:00.000-07:00

The Nora Roberts Foundation has awarded McDaniel College a $100,000 grant to help advance research and study of romance literature, establish an academic minor in the genre fiction and launch an online creative writing course in romance fiction.

"This gift will allow the college to reinforce Ms. Roberts' reputation in the academic and literary arenas as a master of and dedicated advocate for the romance genre," said Roger N. Casey, president of the college. "It will also raise the profile of the romance novel among scholars and the academic community."

The college also plans to use the funds toward building a core American romance collection at Hoover Library, including the complete works of Roberts, and to establish an endowed fund to support the collection. The collection's titles will be available online.

"This collection will constitute a partial canon of American romance, from its Colonial beginnings to its explosive growth in the 20th century and beyond," Casey added. "The collection will establish McDaniel College as one of the few centers for the study of the romance genre."

McDaniel English professor Pam Regis, a nationally recognized expert on romance novels and author of "A Natural History of the Romance Novel," said "it has always been an honor and a privilege to further the study of romance, and the generous gift from the Roberts Foundation adds considerable resources to this effort."

Roberts is the best-selling author of more than 200 romance novels. Her first, "Irish Thoroughbred," was published in 1981. More than 280 million copies of her books are in print, including 12 million copies sold in 2005 alone. McDaniel College awarded her an honorary Doctor of Letters degree in 2006.

An international conference, "Popular Romance in the New Millennium," will be held on campus November 10-11 with keynote speaker, Dr. Mary Bly, Shakespearean scholar at Fordham University, and, as Eloisa James, best-selling author of historical romance novels.

"The conference will gather presenters who can put the romance in fresh perspective," said Regis.

Bestselling Author James Patterson Triples Record-Breaking Ebook Sales

2011-06-03T12:10:00.000-07:00

Hachette Book Group announced that #1 bestselling author James Patterson has tripled his record-breaking ebook sales in less than a year's time. To date, Patterson has sold 3,035,713 ebook units just 11 months after becoming the first novelist ever to surpass the one million ebook unit mark (as of July 2010).

David Young, CEO of Hachette Book Group, said, "James Patterson thrills and entertains readers, across all formats and all ages. To surge from 1 to 3 million ebooks sold in such a short period is extraordinary. This growth indicates that Patterson is maximizing the new ways digital can connect him with his readers, be it through ebooks, his major online presence, or the Patterson app."

That major online presence includes the over 4 million visitors a year to JamesPatterson.com and Patterson's 1.6 million-plus Facebook friends (numbers which grow daily by the thousands). The James Patterson app for iPad/iPhone has been downloaded close to 14,000 times, with 80 percent of Patterson's app audience actively updated and engaged in the app's content and features. In addition to this audience, there are also hundreds of thousands of followers on book-specific Facebook pages for Patterson's young readers series such as Witch and Wizard and Maximum Ride. There is a dedicated website, an app, and interactive games for Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life, Patterson's latest title for young readers launching on June 27.

James Patterson said, "I'm delighted to see that the rise of ebooks means the rise of reading across the board. We're finding more ways to get readers hooked on great books, and nothing could make me happier."

Since his first novel, The Thomas Berryman Number, won the Edgar Award in 1977, James Patterson's books have sold more than 230 million copies worldwide. His Alex Cross series, including Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider, is the most popular detective series of the past twenty-five years. In total, his Maximum Ride, Daniel X, and Witch & Wizard series for younger readers have spent more than 200 weeks on national bestseller lists, and all three series are in Hollywood development. His lifelong passion for books and reading led James Patterson to launch a website, ReadKiddoRead.com, to give adults an easy way to locate the very best books for kids. He writes full-time and lives in Florida with his family.

Amazon.com May Launch Its Own Publishing House to Compete with Major Book Publishers

2011-06-02T05:01:00.000-07:00

The "Slush Pile" just got an exciting makeover courtesy of the bookselling pioneer Amazon.com. The Seattle-based giant, which sells more books than any other bookstore in America, is planning a big move to compete with book publishers like Random House, Simon and Schuster and HarperCollins. Sources close to Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos are indicating the company may be about to launch its own book publishing house. The news comes a week after the company announced that its retail bookselling division is now selling more Kindle Books than eBooks - a milestone that is only approached by the success of Apple's iBookstore, and the strong classic backlists of the major New York book publishing companies.

However, part of the reason that Amazon has taken such dominant control of the market rests on the fact that their IT department has designed apps for virtually every other computing platform currently available to readers, including Windows, Blackberry, Apple's iPhone and iPad - to name just a few. Amazon also seems to have correctly judged the difficult issue of Digital Rights Management, that, combined with their increasingly more affordable Kindle device, allow readers to lend sought-after Kindle titles to friends and family, including from Christian book publishers, whereas Apple at the time of writing appears to be more restrictive by not allowing any substantive sharing of iBook titles from the iTunes store.

But what ramifications will this potentially groundbreaking news have on independent and self-published authors? In a nutshell - Amazon's potential intervention will mean more choice and more healthy competition to new literary talent in a stuffy and elitist industry where far too many good authors are overlooked and don't get the start they need.

Evidence conducted by Schiel and Denver Book Publishers supports the assertion that self-publishing stars like Amanda Hocking shouldn't be the exception; there are many independent authors who deserve excellent distribution for their manuscripts, at the level that only big publishers can afford. At present, these talented authors are stuck with self-publishing options alone, or resorting to the services of self-publishing companies, many of which fail to provide good authors with the substantive expertise and ISBN support necessary for a successful book publishing venture. With interesting new submission guidelines said to be part of the deal, Amazon's new publishing divisions, along with its powerful Kindle and Encore programs, may be the answers to many independent author's prayers.

UA Poetry Center Earns $20,000 NEA Grant

2011-06-01T04:56:00.000-07:00

The UA Poetry Center (http://poetrycenter.arizona.edu/) has earned a $20,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to expand two programs.

Fewer than 1,200 organizations across the nation and one dozen in the state received National Endowment for the Arts grants for arts projects -- and the University of Arizona Poetry Center is among them.

All told, the NEA granted $88 million to 1,145 nonprofit local, regional, state and local organizations, with the UA Poetry Center receiving a $20,000 grant.

The funds will support the center's 49th Reading and Lecture Series and also its 2012 international symposium, "Poetry Off the Page."

"NEA research shows that three out of four Americans participate in the arts," NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman said in a release issued May 17.

"The diverse, innovative, and exceptional projects funded in this round will ensure that Americans around the country continue to have the opportunity to experience and participate in the arts," Landesman added.

The Poetry Center's 49th Reading and Lecture Series will feature Pulitzer Prize winners and Yale Series of Younger Poets writers. The series will be announced in August.

Also, the Poetry Center hosted its "Poetry Off the Page" symposium May 18-20, 2012 for the third time. The event draws poets and writers from around the nation to the center to show their experimental work, often in music, dance, theater and film.

"The last few years have witnessed a significant rise in the number of poets branching out into other media such as film, digital and audio arts, theater arts and music," said Gail Browne, the UA Poetry Center's executive director.

"Even though poets have always collaborated with other artists or turned to other art forms as inspiration, we see that performance and demonstration as poetic technique is gaining new ground," Browne added. "To the symposium we have invited poets for whom performance takes on particular significance and for whom the page has acquired new meaning."

Social Media Infiltrates the Newsroom as Optimism Returns to Journalism

2011-05-27T06:43:00.000-07:00

Social media is rapidly establishing itself as an important research and verification tool for journalists, according to a new study published today by the Oriella PR Network (www.oriellaprnetwork.com). The fourth annual Digital Journalism Study reveals that large percentages of journalists now use digital and social media, such as blogs, Facebook and Twitter, to source and verify the stories they develop.

The study polled 478 journalists from 15 countries, including the majority of Europe; Brazil; and the US. Nearly half of respondents (47 percent) said they used Twitter to source new story angles. Over a third said they used Facebook (35 percent). Blogs were also highlighted as a key element of this process with 30 percent saying they used blogs they were familiar with, while 42 percent also drew from blogs they had not visited before. However, the study also validated the continued importance of the PR representative with nearly two thirds (62 percent) saying this is where they source stories whilst 59 percent cited corporate spokespeople as sources.

When it comes to validating stories already in progress, a third of those polled said they used Twitter; a quarter used Facebook; and a quarter used blogs. Brands and agencies still remain the dominant first port-of-call for this process though with 61 percent using PR agencies for verification and 57 percent turning to corporate spokespeople.

Social Shapes Output
As well as social media's internal influence in the newsroom, media outlets' social media output has also hit its highest levels since the study began in 2008. More than half of journalists said their outlets now had a Twitter feed (55 percent) and journalist-authored blogs (54 percent). Video is also becoming increasingly pervasive, with 48 percent (also its highest level) now producing content in this format.

The study also assessed the number of outlets and publications who didn't offer any kind of social media content (blogs, Twitter feeds, discussion boards, podcasts and any other interactive assets). In the inaugural Digital Journalism Study in 2008, a quarter of media outlets fell into this category. Now that figure stands at just an eighth of those polled.

Based on the study's data, it would seem that the popularity of online media is eclipsing that of offline media. For the first time since the study began, the proportion of respondents who agreed unequivocally that their "offline" entity attracted the largest audience fell to just below 50 percent.

Has the Dust Settled?
The findings of the Digital Journalism Study also suggest that the slump in advertising revenues is now slowing. In 2010, 62 percent of those surveyed expected to see their media outlet experience a fall in revenue. Now, barely 20 percent of journalists expect this to happen in 2011. The cautiously optimistic outlook is also reflected in the respondents' thoughts on audience figures. In 2010, 41 percent of those surveyed expected their audiences to decline going forward. This year, this figure was reduced to just nine percent.

With the permeation of social media and the raised hopes for increased advertising revenues and audiences, the study finds evidence that many journalists are under more pressure than ever. Almost half (45 percent) admitted they have to produce more content and a third (34 percent) work longer hours. However, despite this added pressure, 44 percent of the respondents said they enjoyed their job more, compared with 34 percent in 2010 and just 27 percent in 2009.

Giles Fraser, Co-Head of the Oriella PR Network and Co-Founder of Brands2Life, said: "This year's study demonstrates the fast-growing acceptance of social media in the newsrooms, both in the collation of stories and the telling of them. Whereas in previous years, media outlets viewed social media as an experimental platform, they now view it as a bona fide source. The proliferation of channels makes a single, clear storyline, communicated effectively in text, video and images more important than ever. Brands must ensure that, despite the multitude of new channels available, their message does not get lost in its delivery. The requirement to manage the message across all these channels and produce the content that is relevant means that the role of the communications professional will continue to evolve rapidly in the years to come."

The full report can be downloaded from: http://www.orielladigitaljournalism.com/

News Writing Styles Not to Blame for Newspaper Readership Decline

2011-05-25T07:26:00.000-07:00

In the past several years, newspaper readership has shrunk in the tough economic climate, particularly among females. Many have criticized common news writing style used by newspapers as a possible cause for the decline. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found that women are engaged by all news stories the same, regardless of the style.

"We found that women are equally engaged in both 'inverted pyramid' and 'chronological narrative' news stories, so there must be another cause for the decline in female readership," said Miglena Sternadori, a former doctoral student at the Missouri School of Journalism. "For example, women could be less interested in crime and negative stories that tend to fill newspapers."

Inverted pyramid style involves placing the most important fact of the story at the top and continuing on with each fact in order of importance. Narrative style is typically chronological and focuses more on story-telling rather than fact listing. Most newspapers prefer to use inverted pyramid style when writing stories.

Sternadori, who is now an assistant professor at the University of South Dakota, along with Kevin Wise, an associate professor of strategic communication at the Missouri School of Journalism, compared the reactions of participants while reading inverted pyramid style stories and chronological narrative stories. Sternadori gave each participant two inverted pyramid stories and two chronological narrative stories, and then conducted tests during and after participants read the stories.

Sternadori gathered data using secondary task reaction times (STRTs), which show how fast participants respond to secondary stimuli, such as beeping sounds, while they are reading stories. Sternadori observed that men responded quickly while reading the inverted pyramid style stories. However, men's reaction times slowed when reading the chronological narrative stories. She says one interpretation is that they may have been more engaged by the narrative story, but the same result can also mean that men found it easier to read inverted pyramid stories and respond faster to the secondary stimuli.

Sternadori found that women's overall reaction times were slower than men's, but were very similar, regardless of the style of news story the female participants were reading. She believes that this result shows women are engaged in whatever story they are reading regardless of its style.

This study was published in the Journal of Media Psychology.

Influences on Fiction Dialogue

2011-05-23T06:40:00.000-07:00

Dialogue plays an important part in fiction -- it brings characters to life and advances the plot; the dialogue must seem real in order to be credible, although it may be adjusted to be reader-friendly. A recent Ph.D. thesis from the University of Gothenburg now shows that the requirement that fiction should capture the readers' interest may also influence the use of linguistic constructions in fiction dialogue.

Karin Axelsson has studied tag questions in British English fiction dialogue and made comparisons to spoken conversation; her conclusion is that their use in fiction dialogue is influenced by a focus on problems, conflicts and confrontations and an avoidance of everyday conversations on trivial matters.

English tag questions usually consist of a statement followed by a tag, as in It's interesting, isn't it? and You can't afford that, can you? These are very common in real-life conversation and interesting to study, as they display large formal and functional variation. Axelsson has analysed over 2,500 tag questions for their formal features and over 600 of these also for their functions, using a large corpus of both written texts and transcribed speech: the British National Corpus.

The results show that tag questions are much less frequent in fiction dialogue than in spoken conversation. "In addition, they are in several ways different as to their formal features. The tag subject is, for example, mostly you in fiction dialogue, but it in spoken conversation," says Axelsson.

To understand the background to these differences, Axelsson has developed and applied a hierarchical model for the functional categorization of tag questions. An important distinction in the functional model is made between response-eliciting and rhetorical tag questions. Tag questions have traditionally often been described as seeking confirmation; "that's why it's surprising that most tag questions in my data have been found to be rhetorical, both in fiction dialogue and spoken conversation".

Among rhetorical tag questions, there are clear differences between those in fiction dialogue and those in spoken conversation: a majority of rhetorical tag questions in fiction dialogue are addressee-oriented, i.e. they concern the addressee, whereas most rhetorical tag questions in spoken conversation are speaker-centred, i.e. they present the opinion of the speaker.

Addressee-oriented tag questions in fiction dialogue often challenge the addressee; this seems due to the depiction of problems, conflicts and confrontations in fiction. Axelsson also finds that speaker-centred tag questions, which often deal with trivial matters in spoken conversation, are used much less in fiction dialogue, since they often do not bring the plot forward.

There are also functional differences among the response-eliciting tag questions: in spoken conversation, the speakers of such tag questions are usually uncertain and seek confirmation, whereas, in fiction dialogue, the characters also use confrontational tag questions in order to demand the confirmation of facts they are already quite certain of.

Tag questions may also consist of an imperative plus a tag, as in Come here, will you? These are relatively rare in spoken conversation, but, in fiction dialogue, they are used more often, in particular as commands; again, this might be due to the depiction of problems, conflicts and confrontations. However, it is also suggested that power relations may be more unequal between fictional characters than between real-life interactants.

Freelance Work Is Becoming the Cornerstone of a New Career Strategy

2011-05-20T05:34:00.000-07:00

Elance, the leading platform for online employment, announced today the results of a new national survey that examined Millennials (those born after 1981) and their attitudes and approaches to work. The survey revealed that technology and independence are critical for the next generation of workers, and showed that Millennials are turning online to find employment, citing freelance work as a cornerstone of their career strategy. Survey results also indicate that the traditional resume may be on its way out, with more than half (56%) of Millennials stating that they prefer a digital profile to the traditional resume.

"Millennials are using digital profiles to showcase their skills and projects and leveraging their social networks to land jobs that promise more independence and flexibility than prior generations when they joined the workforce upon graduation," says Ellen Pack, vice president of marketing at Elance. "With online employment platforms, Millennials can focus on building their digital portfolios and professional online reputations to offer their talents to companies all over the world."

Key findings from the survey:

Help wanted and found online: 94% of Millennials turn to online job sites as their primary method for finding employment, and 40% indicate they are using social media to land jobs
Is the traditional resume dying? More than half of Millennials (56%) state that digital profiles and online resumes are more effective than traditional resumes in landing a job
Graduates declare their independence: 83% of Millennials state that working independently or freelancing is a cornerstone of their career strategy

Is the Kitchen Table the New Corner Office?
Millennials believe the best route to work is through "the cloud," with more than half (54%) stating that telecommuting is a critical part of their career goals, while less than 13% want to work onsite at a company a majority of the time.

The survey also revealed that 39% of Millennials characterize their work style as that of a freelancer, with the ability to choose their projects, employers and hours, versus that of an employee (15%), entrepreneur (26%) or team member (20%).

Pursuit of Happiness
Freedom and flexibility are the keys to happiness for the next generation, with 53% of Millennials stating that they are happier working as a freelancer versus a full-time employee. Only 17% of respondents stated that they are happier working as an employee.

The next generation may redefine climbing the corporate ladder as they pursue their passion and take control of their work on their terms. According to the survey, 83% of Millennials consider working independently an important part of their career strategy. In contrast, only 5% said freelancing did not play an important role in their overall career plan.

Looking for work in all the right places
Ink-stained hands and circled ads may be a thing of the past; According to the survey, over half of Millennials find more than 50% of their work online.

Technology has significantly contributed to the rise of remote and virtual work, allowing professionals to take their office wherever they go. The laptop (62%) and desktop computer (34%) are still the most important tools for Millennials in business, while smartphones (3%) and tablet devices (2%) like the iPad have yet to replace them as the critical technology for getting work done.

The Resume of the Future
With the majority of Millennials preferring an online profile to the traditional resume, Elance is equipping them with Digital Profiles that represent the resume of the future, with rich, interactive data and social sharing tools.

Digital Profiles offer the ability to easily build an online portfolio that displays a freelancer's best work, whether it is a series of articles, a collection of graphics or websites or list of mobile applications they have created.

Contractors can also package their most important profile data into a widget that can be instantly posted to a blog, social networking page or any HTML-based page on the web, or update their current availability and feedback or ratings received from clients through social media sharing tools.

The Elance Digital Profile makes it easy for clients to acquire the fullest representation of a freelancer's creative and professional capabilities by combining their detailed past employment history with their multimedia online portfolio. Online work completed through Elance's platform is automatically documented, enabling freelance professionals to provide verified job history, complete with links to previous employer profiles and direct links to the feedback received for each project.

Digital Journal Manages Thousands of Freelancers and Bloggers

2011-05-18T13:29:00.000-07:00

Digital Journal today reported a strong response to its updated content assignment and tracking technology, launched earlier this month across the Digital Journal media network. The technology allows Digital Journal to effectively manage and measure content assignments among its global group of freelance writers and bloggers, known as Digital Journalists.

"In a traditional newsroom, you have editors who work with teams of journalists to assign content and map out the content flow for the day," said Digital Journal CEO, Chris Hogg. "But if you work with thousands of freelancers and bloggers, managing that workflow is far more difficult. Our Assignments technology improves the efficiency of a virtual newsroom and assists in executing on virtually any content goal."

Digital Journal Assignments are editor-created content assignments that are pushed out to a network of Digital Journalists who file stories and complete assignments based on particular geography, content verticals or trending topics. Assignments can range from editorial to photographic to video. Digital Journalists who fulfill Assignments before their deadline are paid a bonus for their work, and Assignments can scale from individual to group reports around particular subjects.

"We offer performance incentives where there weren't any before," said Hogg. "When you have thousands of contributors who work around the clock to publish a wide range of content, it becomes challenging to manage editorial and you can lose focus pretty quickly. Our Assignments technology allows us to focus on a single editorial strategy, it lets us grow in specific verticals, and it rewards contributors for their hard work."

Digital Journal is currently using its Assignments technology across the Digital Journal media network in 17 different news verticals ranging from business to entertainment and lifestyle. In the week since the product launched, the company has received widespread acclaim from other publishers and media networks who have also expressed an interest in working with Digital Journal to leverage the technology and contributor base to fulfill a wide range of content goals.

"Digital Journal can execute on virtually any content strategy, with a large team of very talented Digital Journalists available to report and cover particular content Assignments," said Hogg. "We look forward to expanding our reach and working with others, while at the same time providing more opportunity for our Digital Journalists."

Digital Journal is a global digital media network with 30,000 professional and citizen journalists, bloggers, photographers and freelancers in 200 countries around the world.

Skyword to Recruit Hundreds of Spanish-Language Freelance Writers

2011-05-17T12:57:00.000-07:00

Skyword (http://www.skyword.com) is recruiting hundreds of experienced freelance writers and bloggers to create content for the company's roster of clients. The recruiting drive will quintuple the number of Spanish-language writers in the Skywrite program in order to meet the rapidly growing Spanish-content needs of Skyword's clients.

The company also announced that Maria Mayobre has been named Spanish Copy Editor for the company's popular Skywrite program. In this role, Maria will work with the hundreds of Spanish-language freelance writers already participating in the Skywrite program. She will manage efforts to ensure the accuracy, readability and quality of the program content.

"We work with leading brands to create quality content that their customers seek when they search on the internet," said Tom Gerace, CEO and Founder of Skyword. "Our platform enables freelance writers to become content entrepreneurs, profiting from their skills and knowledge by developing original content for those brands. This recruitment drive makes that opportunity available to hundreds of additional writers."

The company's freelance writers, called Skywriters, create news and evergreen content for companies that wish to address a broader set of topics than a traditional media approach might allow. Skywriters choose their own hours and select topics that interest them. The Skyword platform enables Skywriters to promote their own content and earn a return on their writing while building their personal brands through byline credit.

Skyword is looking for Spanish-language writers on a variety of topics to join its active community of more than 1,100 freelance writers.

Freelance Writers Receive $7.9 Million Settlement

2011-05-16T05:49:00.000-07:00

On May 2, 2011, the Ontario court approved settlements in a copyright class action involving freelance writers who wrote for Canadian publications. The settlement funds total C$7.9 million.

The case involved allegations that the defendants infringed the copyright of freelance writers who wrote articles and other literary works that were published by Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd., Rogers Publishing Limited, Canwest Publishing Inc. or their affiliates. The plaintiff alleged the defendants disseminated these literary works in online databases without permission.

"This is a tremendous result for Canadian freelance writers," said Kirk Baert, lead lawyer for the plaintiffs. "Class members saw their articles appearing in online databases without their express permission. This settlement provides compensation for that unexpected use."

In the next few weeks, there will be an official notice appearing in certain newspapers and magazines explaining how freelance writers can make claims from the settlement funds. The notice will also be available on Koskie Minsky's website: www.kmlaw.ca/freelanceclassaction.

The freelance writers are represented by Heather Robertson, a freelance author, and by Koskie Minsky LLP, a leading Canadian class action law firm.

Our Writing Lives: Sometimes We Just Have to Laugh

2011-05-13T11:46:00.000-07:00

by Harriet Hodgson -

The benefits of laughter are clear after you've had a good belly laugh. Your view of the world changes and you feel upbeat. Get a group to friends together and laughter can continue for hours. Everyone understands the benefits of laughter.

But if you just received a rejection slip, if you are stuck on a paragraph, if you're behind schedule, you may not feel like laughing. There's nothing funny about these problems. Still, it may be beneficial to take a break and do something light-hearted and fun.

"Give Your Body a Boost -- With Laughter," an article by R. Morgan Griffin, published on the WebMD website, has some surprising statistics about the health benefits of your chuckles. Ten to 15 minutes of merriment burn 50 calories. Laughter boosts your immune system. Your blood sugar may drop afterwards and you sleep better.

According to "Laughter is the Best Medicine," an article on the Help Guide website, laughter even protects the heart. All are good reasons to laugh.

I had an unexpected laugh after I posted a comment on a social media website. The post was about my new book idea and I thought I said it popped into my head. But I hit the wrong key and typed "pooped into my head." Something had to be done and done fast.

So I typed another entry: "Did I say pooped into my head? Dear God, I've got to get these glasses checked." Within seconds, a friend posted a reply and it said, "Too funny!" Another friend said she was looking forward to reading the book. (Now that's funny!) I received a one-word email from a relative and it said, "Hilarious!"

The next day I attended a group dinner. To get conversation going, I told my posting story, and it generated instant laughter. "Go with it," a friend advised. "This may be the best publicity you ever had!"
Since she is a wise person, I followed her advice, and posted again. I also notified the executive director of my publishing company and she posted her reply.

Every time I tell this story, and there have been many, it generates laughter. This response changes people's view of me. Instead of seeing me as a grandmother and solitary writer, they see a someone with a self-deprecating sense of humor.

I love to write, but it's hard work. Writing is serious work if you focus on serious topics as I do. Tasks become easier when we laugh at ourselves. The tension drains out of us and we're better able to return to work. One thing is sure: Writers need to know when to work, when to stop, and when to enjoy a good laugh.

Of course, my glaring typographical error will be out there in the Ethernet forever. That's okay. I'm not perfect, or serious all the time, or embarrassed. Sometimes, and this is one of them, we just have to laugh. Do it today!

Copyright 2011 by Harriet Hodgson

http://www.harriethodgson.com

Harriet Hodgson has been an independent journalist for 30+ years. Her 24th book, "Smiling Through Your Tears: Anticipating Grief," written with Lois Krahn, MD, is available from Amazon.

Centering Corporation published her 26th book, "Writing to Recover: The Journey from Loss and Grief to a New Life" and a companion journal. The company has also published her latest book, "The Spiritual Woman."

Hodgson has another new book out, "101 Affirmations to Ease Your Grief Journey." Please visit her website and learn more about this busy author and grandmother.