C h a z z W r i t e s . c o m

We are the publishing revolution

08/18/2010 • 8:11 PM 0

Writers with Low Self-esteem? Blame Your Overlords.

I ran across this great post from SlushPile.net. Her delicious rant explains how writers and writing are often devalued. No wonder freelancers need to support each other so much.

I especially like the story about the freelancer who was expected to pay for an airline ticket for the privilege of writing a NY Times clip. Gee-zuzz!

STAY TUNED:

A Few Things I’ve Learned from Publishing (#1 of a series)

hits your screen tomorrow morning.

Filed under: web reviews, Writers, publishing, slushpile.net, writers with low self-esteem

08/18/2010 • 4:00 PM 2

Top 100 Books for Freelance Writers

Wow. I just stumbled upon Inkthinker, a website dedicated to helping freelance writers. What a great resource. Freelancers! Please peruse. The Top 100 Books for freelancers is just the beginning. We have a lot more reading to do now, don’t we?

Filed under: book reviews, Books, publishing, web reviews, help for freelance writers, Inkthinker, top 100 books for freelance writers

08/18/2010 • 3:49 PM 0

Publishers Should Blog

For a great post on how publishers often lose marketing opportunities, read Booksquare on why publishers should blog. It seems fairly obvious, and yet, so many do not. That’s something they don’t make time for and leave to the authors. Perhaps, that’s another reason why there’s so much loading of marketing responsibilities to authors.

Every publisher wants you to pimp your books through your uberplatform. Imagine how much more effective it would be if authors blogged about their work (a given these days) and publishers got their brag on (combined with more marketing savvy?)

Filed under: Publicity & Promotion, publishing, Booksquare, marketing opportunties, publishers

08/18/2010 • 3:23 PM 0

Bad Form Macmillan!

Agent Kristin from Pub Rants* warns authors about some bad behavior over at Macmillan. It;s not just that they sent out amendments to authors saying, “Those electronic rights we didn’t get in your contract? Yeah. We get those, too. Sign here.” (I’m paraphrasing. I’m sure it’s all in deep lawyer-speak.)

The bad form, as Agent Kristin warns, is that it looks like they were sending the amendments straight to the authors instead of to their agents (who presumably would say, “Whoa, there and hold your horses. You want that, you gotta pay. You gotta negotiate!”)

*Don’t miss the comments on that post, either. There’s more juicy goodness there, too.

Filed under: agents, ebooks, publishing, Rant

08/18/2010 • 3:10 PM 1

Read Jeff Jarvis on Net Neutrality

I don’t understand this Net Neutrality agreement in full, but I’ve read enough to be sure it’s bad news. A two-tiered, fast and slow internet is an internet that lacks the freedom it has now. Jeff Jarvis over at BuzzMachine has a cute article that explains the problem with erudition.

Filed under: Rant, internet, net neutrality, Verizon

08/18/2010 • 11:53 AM 0

I won a Maggie Award! (Not!)

Good news! Last night I thought I was a finalist for the Maggie Awards for my column in Massage & Bodywork. There was a mix-up at the magazine so I wasn’t told until this morning that I wasn’t just a finalist. I won a Maggie! Yay! (This is writing award #8 for me…er, not that I’m counting.) Ahem.

My lovely editor wrote in this morning: “It’s a big deal. It’s the Western Publications Association headquartered in LA. It’s the second-biggest magazine organization to Folio.” The good people at M&B also won in another category for their very well-executed digital edition. Kudos to them. They’re great people to work with.

This is a great way to start the day. In fact, I think this requires a Starbucks coffee. Then back to the keyboard.

UPDATE:

Due to a miscommunication at my magazine, I was informed this afternoon (August 19th) that, though I was indded a finalist for a Maggie, I did not, in fact, win a Maggie. Ack! I announced it on Twitter, on Facebook and here and for 24 hours, as far as I knew, it was true. It’s not a big deal since a couple days ago I didn’t know I was even up for the award. Runner-up kinda takes the piss out of the honor of the nomination though. Heavy sigh.

Thanks to my friends and followers for your support. Now, back to the keyboard…