Anyone who works with words deals with fonts. Anyone who works in editorial production or graphic design deals with them all the time.
For anyone who deals with fonts, this one's for you.
(And my thanks to tech writer, editor and consultant Gabe Goldberg for this funny video.)
Thursday, 31 July 2008
Wednesday, 30 July 2008
BlogHer Stir?
According to Salon, a New York Times article about the recent BlogHer conference in San Francisco has generated controversy, if not outright anger, from some female bloggers who feel it (and the Times placement of the article within the "Fashion & Style" section, which does seem bizarre) trivializes women bloggers. I know there are some freelancers out there who either blog for money or marketing or just for fun (Kristen King just finished a series of posts about the conference on Inkthinker), and I urge you to read the articles and weigh in on this debate, because I'd like to know. Does having a BlogHer conference marginalize female bloggers? Does the Times article or its placement or the conference itself trivialize us? And, if so, what can women bloggers do to be taken seriously?
Tuesday, 29 July 2008
What's the Worst That Can Happen?--Protecting Your Business in Case of Disaster
As much as we may not want to think about it, disasters can happen.
It may be as simple as having your entire hard drive wiped out by a power surge. Or it can be a lot worse.
Hard drives can be restored. But what if your house or office building burns down? What if you have a serious accident or a heart attack or stroke? What if you need emergency surgery and it takes you a month or two (or longer) to recover? What happens to your business then? How do you protect your files? How do you handle work when you can't do it yourself?
You may think, "Well, I'm in great shape. No worries." I was in tip-top health, also. Then, at the age of 48, on November 5, 2004, I had a stroke. It was a genuine fluke--some previous surgery had caused a blood clot, which got in my heart and slipped through a hole between the upper chambers that I never knew about and traveled to my brain.
I was lucky. I got help in time to make an almost complete recovery within a couple of hours. (The stroke ended up causing focal dystonia, which has created its own problems, but that's another story . . .) But I could have been much less fortunate.
Five days later, I left the hospital. When I got home, I asked my editor for a small extension of my monthly deadline. ("See, I kinda had this stroke . . .") Since I'd always made my deadlines (in fact, she called me "one of their most reliable writers") and given the circumstances, she couldn't say no.
But what if I hadn't completely recovered. And what if I had new clients waiting to hear from me?
Questions like those are unpleasant, but unavoidable for the freelancer. I will say this--I've taken steps to protect my data by storing it off-site.
The service I'm using was recommended by a business associate. I don't want to make a personal endorsement, as I chose it largely because it was affordable, she operates a solo business (like me) and I trust her judgment. However, I noticed it wasn't mentioned in this PC World article, which identifies various options for data storage, so I will mention Mozy as another possibility. I'd recommend considering your options and doing something to protect yourself.
I will echo the author's sentiments that online data storage is not dirt cheap. However, if you limit it to what you need, even a lone freelancer can afford it. I wouldn't want to rely solely on the cheap solution of backing up on an external hard drive and storing it in the car. What if your car is in the garage when you have a fire? What if that hard drive goes bad? What if someone steals your car? The author also suggested keeping it in a safe deposit box at a bank, which might be safer, but is certainly less convenient.
In the end, you have to ask how much protection do you want, how easy do you want it to be and what are you willing to pay for it? Hopefully, my suggestions and the PC World article will give you food for thought.
As for the health issue . . . my thoughts on that to be continued.
It may be as simple as having your entire hard drive wiped out by a power surge. Or it can be a lot worse.
Hard drives can be restored. But what if your house or office building burns down? What if you have a serious accident or a heart attack or stroke? What if you need emergency surgery and it takes you a month or two (or longer) to recover? What happens to your business then? How do you protect your files? How do you handle work when you can't do it yourself?
You may think, "Well, I'm in great shape. No worries." I was in tip-top health, also. Then, at the age of 48, on November 5, 2004, I had a stroke. It was a genuine fluke--some previous surgery had caused a blood clot, which got in my heart and slipped through a hole between the upper chambers that I never knew about and traveled to my brain.
I was lucky. I got help in time to make an almost complete recovery within a couple of hours. (The stroke ended up causing focal dystonia, which has created its own problems, but that's another story . . .) But I could have been much less fortunate.
Five days later, I left the hospital. When I got home, I asked my editor for a small extension of my monthly deadline. ("See, I kinda had this stroke . . .") Since I'd always made my deadlines (in fact, she called me "one of their most reliable writers") and given the circumstances, she couldn't say no.
But what if I hadn't completely recovered. And what if I had new clients waiting to hear from me?
Questions like those are unpleasant, but unavoidable for the freelancer. I will say this--I've taken steps to protect my data by storing it off-site.
The service I'm using was recommended by a business associate. I don't want to make a personal endorsement, as I chose it largely because it was affordable, she operates a solo business (like me) and I trust her judgment. However, I noticed it wasn't mentioned in this PC World article, which identifies various options for data storage, so I will mention Mozy as another possibility. I'd recommend considering your options and doing something to protect yourself.
I will echo the author's sentiments that online data storage is not dirt cheap. However, if you limit it to what you need, even a lone freelancer can afford it. I wouldn't want to rely solely on the cheap solution of backing up on an external hard drive and storing it in the car. What if your car is in the garage when you have a fire? What if that hard drive goes bad? What if someone steals your car? The author also suggested keeping it in a safe deposit box at a bank, which might be safer, but is certainly less convenient.
In the end, you have to ask how much protection do you want, how easy do you want it to be and what are you willing to pay for it? Hopefully, my suggestions and the PC World article will give you food for thought.
As for the health issue . . . my thoughts on that to be continued.
Sunday, 27 July 2008
Quotation for the Week of July 27
"Where all think alike, no one thinks very much."
-- Walter Lippmann
-- Walter Lippmann
Saturday, 26 July 2008
One Thing at a Time
I've written before about the perils of multi-tasking (can't remember whether it was here or on another blog--one of the perils of multi-blogging. I suppose). However, Leo of Zen Habits has come up with a list of handy tips on how to manage a multitude of tasks without driving yourself nuts.
Now Do This (a tool Leo links to on his blog) is essentially a computerized version of the to-do list I keep in my Day Planner. Whatever doesn't get done that day, I transfer over to the next (or to another day that will, hopefully, work better). And I try to limit the number of big tasks I tackle in a day to one or two, if possible, so I can really focus on them. I handle the smaller tasks in bunches, usually first thing after reading my email (and I limit checking my email to two or three times during the work day, unless I know an important message is coming in soon). As for the big tasks, I break them down, step-by-step, and handle each step in turn, with an eye toward reaching benchmarks in the process by certain dates. That way, I know I'll make my deadlines with a reasonable amount of effort and diligence, without having to work myself too long and hard or worry all that much about making the deadlines.
That's how I try to handle things. What do you do to organize your work and make your deadlines without having to stay up until the wee hours at night or rise at the crack of dawn in the morning? More important, do you have a system for controlling your workload?
Now Do This (a tool Leo links to on his blog) is essentially a computerized version of the to-do list I keep in my Day Planner. Whatever doesn't get done that day, I transfer over to the next (or to another day that will, hopefully, work better). And I try to limit the number of big tasks I tackle in a day to one or two, if possible, so I can really focus on them. I handle the smaller tasks in bunches, usually first thing after reading my email (and I limit checking my email to two or three times during the work day, unless I know an important message is coming in soon). As for the big tasks, I break them down, step-by-step, and handle each step in turn, with an eye toward reaching benchmarks in the process by certain dates. That way, I know I'll make my deadlines with a reasonable amount of effort and diligence, without having to work myself too long and hard or worry all that much about making the deadlines.
That's how I try to handle things. What do you do to organize your work and make your deadlines without having to stay up until the wee hours at night or rise at the crack of dawn in the morning? More important, do you have a system for controlling your workload?
Wednesday, 23 July 2008
Copyright Confusion
Let's get something straight right from jump. This post isn't going to provide legal advice about copyright. The whole subject is so complicated and baffling, I'm surprised anyone can understand, let alone give cogent legal advice on copyright law. Therefore, I'd be an idiot to try to do so in a blog post. So here is my disclaimer--up front and unambiguous--DO NOT rely on anything written here as legal advice. If you have a specific copyright question, consult an attorney--preferably one who, unlike me, is familiar with copyright laws in detail.
Okay, having gotten that out of the way, let me just observe that many people seem to be confused over how to protect their online writing. They ought to be confused. Because, as I see it, they have little in the way of meaningful protection.
I recently heard someone say that they put their name "all over" anything they wrote online, in order to make sure it was clear they had rights in the work. That's an excellent practice--but it doesn't mean you can do much if someone absconds with your work.
While it's true that you hold a copyright on any writing that is put in "tangible" form (ignoring for the moment how "tangible" should be interpreted to apply to something published only on the Web), what you have is a "common law" copyright under state law. And without registering the copyright under the federal Copyright Act (which requires a work to be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office to be protected under its provisions), if you sue someone for infringing your copyright, you can only collect money you can prove you've lost as a direct result of that infringement. Registration qualifies you for specified statutory damages--no need to prove them, because they're spelled out. Thus, the importance of registering one's work.
Now, to complicate matters further, a decision has come down from the federal court of appeals that covers New York. It was a New York federal court that decided New York Times v. Tasini--you remember that case, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately decided that publishers couldn't reproduce freelancers' work in electronic databases without further compensation to the writers (assuming writers hadn't signed away their electronic rights in the contract, which they generally hadn't, since that kind of publishing wasn't around or even anticipated at the time).
This "victory" (which could be easily circumvented in future contracts with provisions on electronic rights) led to a class action in New York federal court called "In Re: Literary Works in Electronic Databases Copyright Litigation," in which freelancers sought the compensation they were supposed to get under Tasini for past work republished in electronic form. It resulted in an $18 million settlement.
Now, here's the catch. The freelancer class consisted of three subclasses: Subclass A, freelancers who'd registered their work from the start (a minute percentage of the class, at best); Subclass B, those who registered after the infringement but before Dec. 31, 2002 (couldn't tell you why they picked that date); and Subclass C, those who never registered their work (almost all of the class).
Guess what? The appeals court struck down the lower court's approval of the settlement, saying that no settlement could be granted for unregistered copyright holders. Given the huge percentage of unregistered work done by the freelancers, the decision effectively rendered Tasini meaningless.
The reason for this is the crux of the Web writer's problem. The court held that without registration, the lower federal court had no jurisdiction to hear the copyright claim to begin with, leading to the inevitable result that they couldn't settle a claim they had no authority to decide. (Federal courts can only decide claims they have federal jurisdiction over--trust me, you don't want to know any more on the subject than that.)
The dissent argued that the provision the majority relied upon in making the decision was a "claim-processing" provision, not one granting the court jurisdiction. But that was the dissent.
For what it's worth, the decision is only binding in the Second Circuit (which includes New York (site of publishing mecca New York City), Connecticut and Vermont). However, it can be cited as "persuasive authority" in other circuits.
Bottom line: the best you have with an unregistered copyright is a "common law" claim that you can't even piggyback onto related federal (registered) claims going to federal court. Could you go to state court over this? Well, yes, but you'll still have one heck of a time proving the requisite damages. It will probably cost you more than you stand to gain from the whole exercise.
So you may hold the copyright to your Web writing, and it may have your name on it in 100 places. And you can write threatening letters to anyone who steals your stuff, demanding they cease publication or pay you for using it. And, if they're nice, maybe they will. But if they don't, unless you've printed or downloaded onto a disc all your online work and registered it with the Copyright Office (a feasible option for ebooks, but for those who blog or write ezines or write articles only for the Web--I don't think so), as to how you will enforce those rights . . . that's a question to which I have no answer.
Now, maybe someone who practices this type of law does. If so, I'd love to hear it.
Okay, having gotten that out of the way, let me just observe that many people seem to be confused over how to protect their online writing. They ought to be confused. Because, as I see it, they have little in the way of meaningful protection.
I recently heard someone say that they put their name "all over" anything they wrote online, in order to make sure it was clear they had rights in the work. That's an excellent practice--but it doesn't mean you can do much if someone absconds with your work.
While it's true that you hold a copyright on any writing that is put in "tangible" form (ignoring for the moment how "tangible" should be interpreted to apply to something published only on the Web), what you have is a "common law" copyright under state law. And without registering the copyright under the federal Copyright Act (which requires a work to be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office to be protected under its provisions), if you sue someone for infringing your copyright, you can only collect money you can prove you've lost as a direct result of that infringement. Registration qualifies you for specified statutory damages--no need to prove them, because they're spelled out. Thus, the importance of registering one's work.
Now, to complicate matters further, a decision has come down from the federal court of appeals that covers New York. It was a New York federal court that decided New York Times v. Tasini--you remember that case, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately decided that publishers couldn't reproduce freelancers' work in electronic databases without further compensation to the writers (assuming writers hadn't signed away their electronic rights in the contract, which they generally hadn't, since that kind of publishing wasn't around or even anticipated at the time).
This "victory" (which could be easily circumvented in future contracts with provisions on electronic rights) led to a class action in New York federal court called "In Re: Literary Works in Electronic Databases Copyright Litigation," in which freelancers sought the compensation they were supposed to get under Tasini for past work republished in electronic form. It resulted in an $18 million settlement.
Now, here's the catch. The freelancer class consisted of three subclasses: Subclass A, freelancers who'd registered their work from the start (a minute percentage of the class, at best); Subclass B, those who registered after the infringement but before Dec. 31, 2002 (couldn't tell you why they picked that date); and Subclass C, those who never registered their work (almost all of the class).
Guess what? The appeals court struck down the lower court's approval of the settlement, saying that no settlement could be granted for unregistered copyright holders. Given the huge percentage of unregistered work done by the freelancers, the decision effectively rendered Tasini meaningless.
The reason for this is the crux of the Web writer's problem. The court held that without registration, the lower federal court had no jurisdiction to hear the copyright claim to begin with, leading to the inevitable result that they couldn't settle a claim they had no authority to decide. (Federal courts can only decide claims they have federal jurisdiction over--trust me, you don't want to know any more on the subject than that.)
The dissent argued that the provision the majority relied upon in making the decision was a "claim-processing" provision, not one granting the court jurisdiction. But that was the dissent.
For what it's worth, the decision is only binding in the Second Circuit (which includes New York (site of publishing mecca New York City), Connecticut and Vermont). However, it can be cited as "persuasive authority" in other circuits.
Bottom line: the best you have with an unregistered copyright is a "common law" claim that you can't even piggyback onto related federal (registered) claims going to federal court. Could you go to state court over this? Well, yes, but you'll still have one heck of a time proving the requisite damages. It will probably cost you more than you stand to gain from the whole exercise.
So you may hold the copyright to your Web writing, and it may have your name on it in 100 places. And you can write threatening letters to anyone who steals your stuff, demanding they cease publication or pay you for using it. And, if they're nice, maybe they will. But if they don't, unless you've printed or downloaded onto a disc all your online work and registered it with the Copyright Office (a feasible option for ebooks, but for those who blog or write ezines or write articles only for the Web--I don't think so), as to how you will enforce those rights . . . that's a question to which I have no answer.
Now, maybe someone who practices this type of law does. If so, I'd love to hear it.
Sunday, 20 July 2008
Quotation for the Week of July 20
"Things are more like they are now than they have ever been."
-- Gerald R. Ford (the Yogi Berra of presidents?)
-- Gerald R. Ford (the Yogi Berra of presidents?)
Thursday, 17 July 2008
Organization and Remembering Why We Do This
We became independent writers for a reason. Apart from our love of writing, we wanted independence. We wanted to get away from the forced strictures of other workplaces and create our own business, run according to our own terms.
However, as a business coach at a seminar once put it, how many of us feel like the business is running us instead of the other way around?
This subject has been alluded to in a recent post by James of Men with Pens, in which he made an analogy between whitewater kayaking and creating an online business. He urged the reader not to "toss in your kayak to ride a crazy river. Slow down. Admire the stream. Take the time to chart your course. Launch a quiet, steady and comfortable canoe into gentle waters."
I like that. And I think a lot of freelance writers would do well to think about it.
I don't have an online business (in that I don't do Web design or make a living off writing solely online), but I do know that the writing business can drive a person nuts--if you let it. And that's the thing. You don't have to let it.
So let me offer a couple of articles I found that could get you thinking about how to better focus your energies and not let your business run you.
One was in The Happiness Project, a blog I just discovered thanks to Leo at Zen Attitudes (a must read blog, IMHO). The Happiness Project's post has a great list of organization tips. I know, I know--this all sounds like stuff you've heard before, but these are really good, so trust me on this. And check them out.
And the post that led me to that list (a contemplation on happiness) is itself a great guide to living. And, I don't know about you, but one reason I went freelance was to try to enhance my quality of life. So thinking about what makes you happy and why seems like part and parcel of that.
However, as a business coach at a seminar once put it, how many of us feel like the business is running us instead of the other way around?
This subject has been alluded to in a recent post by James of Men with Pens, in which he made an analogy between whitewater kayaking and creating an online business. He urged the reader not to "toss in your kayak to ride a crazy river. Slow down. Admire the stream. Take the time to chart your course. Launch a quiet, steady and comfortable canoe into gentle waters."
I like that. And I think a lot of freelance writers would do well to think about it.
I don't have an online business (in that I don't do Web design or make a living off writing solely online), but I do know that the writing business can drive a person nuts--if you let it. And that's the thing. You don't have to let it.
So let me offer a couple of articles I found that could get you thinking about how to better focus your energies and not let your business run you.
One was in The Happiness Project, a blog I just discovered thanks to Leo at Zen Attitudes (a must read blog, IMHO). The Happiness Project's post has a great list of organization tips. I know, I know--this all sounds like stuff you've heard before, but these are really good, so trust me on this. And check them out.
And the post that led me to that list (a contemplation on happiness) is itself a great guide to living. And, I don't know about you, but one reason I went freelance was to try to enhance my quality of life. So thinking about what makes you happy and why seems like part and parcel of that.
Tuesday, 15 July 2008
The Legal Aspects of Blogging
Today is indeed a rough day for this blogger. Various aspects of my life are making it a challenge to get anything done. But I would like to at least mention some interesting articles I've run across on blogging and the law.
First, from Laura Spencer of Business and Blogging, this post on plagiarism.
Second, an interesting article from the New York Times on the potential for running afoul of criminal laws when blogging.
The lesson to take away: blog with care and the implications of your words in mind.
First, from Laura Spencer of Business and Blogging, this post on plagiarism.
Second, an interesting article from the New York Times on the potential for running afoul of criminal laws when blogging.
The lesson to take away: blog with care and the implications of your words in mind.
Sunday, 13 July 2008
Quotation for the Week of July 13
"If people never did silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done."
--Ludwig Wittgenstein
--Ludwig Wittgenstein
Thursday, 10 July 2008
Keeping an Eye on the Numbers
Joe Wikert's publishing blog has some interesting links to check out on the Amazon sales ranking system and what it tells you (and doesn't tell you) about how well a book is selling. He calls this article from the blog Beneath the Cover "the most useful, straightforward summary of all," but provides other links, as well. (My thanks to blogger Anne Wayman of The Golden Pencil for providing these links.)
When my mystery novel first came out, I compulsively checked its sales rank. Sometimes it was high, other times it was wa-a-ay low. (I think the highest I got was four figures at one point. I wish I'd written the number down now. But the book never went stratospheric or anything.) I eventually stopped doing this, when it started to feel like a silly exercise--like watching the stock market, minute-by-minute, to see what my book's "value" was at the time. Like a day trader, only with no purpose other than satisfying my curiosity.
As Wickert points out, "There's really no tight connection between Amazon sales rank and how many copies of a book have sold at Borders, Barnes & Noble, etc. It's generally safe to say that a highly ranked book on Amazon is also doing well at the brick-and-mortar outlets, but I know of know formula that accurately calculates total retail sales off the Amazon rank."
Book sales figures are one of those mysterious matters publishers aren't terribly open about with authors. The Book Industry Study Group, a trade association that keeps track of all the players in the industry "from publishers to booksellers, paper manufacturers, libraries, authors, printers, and wholesalers, as well as organizations concerned with the book industry as a whole," follows buying trends and issues reports on what's selling. BookScan is also supposed to be an excellent source of retail book sales data for individual titles, although I've been told that it also doesn't give the complete picture (I think it misses online sales).
But one thing I do know: placement on the New York Times bestseller list has little or nothing to do with retail sales.
When my mystery novel first came out, I compulsively checked its sales rank. Sometimes it was high, other times it was wa-a-ay low. (I think the highest I got was four figures at one point. I wish I'd written the number down now. But the book never went stratospheric or anything.) I eventually stopped doing this, when it started to feel like a silly exercise--like watching the stock market, minute-by-minute, to see what my book's "value" was at the time. Like a day trader, only with no purpose other than satisfying my curiosity.
As Wickert points out, "There's really no tight connection between Amazon sales rank and how many copies of a book have sold at Borders, Barnes & Noble, etc. It's generally safe to say that a highly ranked book on Amazon is also doing well at the brick-and-mortar outlets, but I know of know formula that accurately calculates total retail sales off the Amazon rank."
Book sales figures are one of those mysterious matters publishers aren't terribly open about with authors. The Book Industry Study Group, a trade association that keeps track of all the players in the industry "from publishers to booksellers, paper manufacturers, libraries, authors, printers, and wholesalers, as well as organizations concerned with the book industry as a whole," follows buying trends and issues reports on what's selling. BookScan is also supposed to be an excellent source of retail book sales data for individual titles, although I've been told that it also doesn't give the complete picture (I think it misses online sales).
But one thing I do know: placement on the New York Times bestseller list has little or nothing to do with retail sales.
Monday, 7 July 2008
Web Revolution for Writers of All Stripes
It's interesting to see that, according to USA Today, the networks are struggling to fill out their fall programming. Also, interesting to note that Newsweek reports that many ideas for shows are coming from overseas. (But Israel as number one source? Who knew?)
The programming crisis is being blamed to an extent on the writers' strike (and now the threat of an actors' strike is looming). But that strike also led to writers putting their work on the Web. And that led to the creation of StrikeTV, "an ad-supported web-video venture that allows creators to retain ownership of their series."
The possibilities for an aspiring screenwriter with an entrepreneurial spirit, a cheap video camera and some basic editing equipment (or an alliance with someone who works in video) are pretty amazing. Strike.TV has attracted a stable of established self-financed writers that include Tom Holland, who created the "Chucky" series of horror films, Chuck Sheets, a director of "The Simpsons," and Ken LaZebnik, the supervising producer of 'Star Trek: Enterprise' and a writer of Robert Altman's 2006 film, 'A Prairie Home Companion.'
Strike.TV has also formed a strategic partnership with an ad agency called Mother, whose clients include Target and Dell. And, unlike the Writers Guild of America, which has loudly criticized the use of product placement in shows and asked the Federal Communications Commission to regulate the practice, Strike.TV's founder says he will actively court brands "for integrations of specific, major products to be inserted into story lines." Screenwriters support this (though viewers may weary of it) because it adds up to a bigger budget for their productions--and for them.
Now along with this, consider what's happening on the ebook front. The great potential for writers to use the Web to promote and sell books they've self-published (taking care, of course, to pick the right publisher--a topic for another time). The proliferation of online magazines that publish fiction and non-fiction. And, of course, the fact that online writing is now being turned into printed books (the recent example being the blog "Stuff White People Like," which came out in old-fashioned book form last week).
Is there any doubt that the Web is creating a revolution in the writing field?
The programming crisis is being blamed to an extent on the writers' strike (and now the threat of an actors' strike is looming). But that strike also led to writers putting their work on the Web. And that led to the creation of StrikeTV, "an ad-supported web-video venture that allows creators to retain ownership of their series."
The possibilities for an aspiring screenwriter with an entrepreneurial spirit, a cheap video camera and some basic editing equipment (or an alliance with someone who works in video) are pretty amazing. Strike.TV has attracted a stable of established self-financed writers that include Tom Holland, who created the "Chucky" series of horror films, Chuck Sheets, a director of "The Simpsons," and Ken LaZebnik, the supervising producer of 'Star Trek: Enterprise' and a writer of Robert Altman's 2006 film, 'A Prairie Home Companion.'
Strike.TV has also formed a strategic partnership with an ad agency called Mother, whose clients include Target and Dell. And, unlike the Writers Guild of America, which has loudly criticized the use of product placement in shows and asked the Federal Communications Commission to regulate the practice, Strike.TV's founder says he will actively court brands "for integrations of specific, major products to be inserted into story lines." Screenwriters support this (though viewers may weary of it) because it adds up to a bigger budget for their productions--and for them.
Now along with this, consider what's happening on the ebook front. The great potential for writers to use the Web to promote and sell books they've self-published (taking care, of course, to pick the right publisher--a topic for another time). The proliferation of online magazines that publish fiction and non-fiction. And, of course, the fact that online writing is now being turned into printed books (the recent example being the blog "Stuff White People Like," which came out in old-fashioned book form last week).
Is there any doubt that the Web is creating a revolution in the writing field?
Sunday, 6 July 2008
Quotation for the Week of July 6
“To be nobody-but-myself—in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else—means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting.”
--e.e. cummings
--e.e. cummings
Saturday, 5 July 2008
Dick Margulis Discusses a Unique Niche for Business Writers
Freelance writer, editor, and book designer Dick Margulis recently shared some information with the FREELANCE email list about some interesting new work he had picked up, which as I understand it, involves rewriting Standard Operating Procedure guides for companies trying to show that their business practices comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (I think that’s the gist of it—perhaps Dick can expand on that). I thought it would be fun to find out more about this work and share it with the rest of you, in case you’re interested in tapping into this market, as well. So I arranged to email Dick a set of questions and what I got back was not only informative, but showed Dick has a droll sense of humor, as well. Here’s what he had to say:
This is primarily handholding work in the guise of management consulting (Dress better than your clients: wear a jacket and expensive tie if you’re a man or high-end-looking business attire—buying it at Goodwill is permissible—if you’re a woman. That’s how you justify the big bucks).
If you’ll recall, in the wake of the Enron scandal, Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). This law requires that publicly held companies be more strictly accountable to their shareholders. Corporations turned to their accounting partners to help them put the necessary procedures in place, and the big accounting firms took the opportunity to make the law sound very scary indeed, thereby justifying huge consulting contracts for implementing complex new procedures.
When you look behind the curtain, though, the SOX requirements are straightforward at the operational level and they are consistent with ISO 900x requirements and—for companies in the pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing industries—the FDA’s Quality System Regulation (QSR). All of these requirements boil down to this: Say what you’re going to do. Do it. Document that you did it. Be prepared to produce the documentation if you’re audited. That is, there are no detailed requirements for a given operation to be carried out in a particular way in all companies; there are no templates that everyone has to adhere to. Instead, there is a broad definition of what it means to be accountable for your actions.
For a writer, this is a simple concept to grasp. For people who have never had the need to express logical thoughts in an organized way, it’s apparently a very difficult concept to grasp. That’s where the income opportunity lies for the writer.
The deadline has passed for publicly held companies to comply with SOX. So that opportunity is gone. But the chain of accountability extends to the vendors the public companies do business with. And that market is still wide open. I’m talking about the small manufacturers and service companies, family-owned businesses for the most part, that provide parts for products or provide infrastructure services. And I’m talking about companies with 100 or more employees, not the sandwich shop that delivers lunch.
While these companies are not themselves subject to SOX directly, their publicly held customers have to show an unbroken chain (think in terms of the chain of custody of a piece of evidence) of accountability. So they are asking for documentation of the internal processes of these vendors, along with ISO 900x compliance or QSR compliance, as appropriate.
These companies need a set of documents that meet the requirements. Documents are written by writers, and most companies don’t have writers on staff. You’re a writer, right? Right. So write.
Is the material highly technical? Does the work require legal, financial or other expertise?
Typically, it is not at all technical, although a background in technical writing is helpful, because a lot of it consists of writing multi-step procedures. Even without a tech writing background, most writers can manage that, but there is a body of knowledge surrounding best practices in procedure writing that tech writers tend to have absorbed.
As far as legal and financial expertise, you should have some common sense and be generally familiar with the way businesses operate. If legal or accounting questions arise, the writer’s job is to create the framework for expressing the information and then query the details, so the company’s legal or accounting counsel can easily fill them in. For example, you might create a table that shows how long certain classes of documents should be retained before they are destroyed. Well, you have the concept, and you can create the table, but it’s up to the lawyers to fill in the actual periods for each class of document. You don’t need to know that. It’s not the writer’s job to set policy for the company, only to express it clearly.
You said that “privately held, midsize companies” are where the opportunities for this work lie. How would you suggest identifying particular companies that need this sort of work done?
Use all the techniques you would use if you were unemployed and looking for a job, except you can drive somewhat farther to meet with a client than you might be willing to commute and you can consult for companies you’d never consider working for full-time. Word of mouth; Yellow Pages; zoning maps (look for industrial zoning and drive around in those areas to collect company names); Chamber of Commerce; Better Business Bureau; etc. There are websites where you can search for businesses of a particular type within a specific geographic region. Heck, start with Google Earth. [Interviewers note: I think the matter of narrowing down which companies need this work is addressed a bit more specifically in the answer to my first question--i.e., "vendors the public companies do business with" and the stuff about them that follows].
Do you know if companies in particular sectors are looking for writers to do this work?
No. I don’t have any specific information on that.
Once you’ve identified potential clients, who would be the right person to contact and how would you recommend making your pitch to work for them (i.e., phone, email, one-on-one)?
I think the marketing approach you take has to be matched to your personal style and to what information you can gather about the prospect. I wouldn’t presume to advise a one-size-fits-all approach.
[When asked on follow up to suggest a particular person within the company to contact, Dick had this to offer]:
How you approach a company really depends on what you can learn about it. Start with the website and see if there are any names of executives or other contact points. Then start as close to the top as you can get [italics mine], because the top is where the pain is being felt.
A call to the switchboard can get you the name of the CEO and, if the CEO has one, the name of the executive assistant (where the real power is). But as with any marketing effort, you can't expect to land an account with one well-placed phone call or one well-written letter. Luck and timing will have more to do with success than sincerity and competence.
Do you think face-to-face networking could be an effective way to find more of these projects? Or is a more targeted strategy the way to go?
My sense is that most of the prospects I’m talking about are not highly networked in the modern, online sense. You might not find any trace of the key individuals online. They may be primitive users of email at best. The company website may be something they paid a web design firm big bucks for a few years ago but nobody in the company knows the first thing about it. Mostly, I think these are people who enjoy going home to their families at the end of the day and watching American Idol. They’re probably not watching PBS or CNN or listening to NPR.
But personal networking is another matter. Volunteering to speak on the subject at the monthly Chamber of Commerce get-together or at a Lions Club luncheon will get your face in front of people and turn you into the go-to person in the area. This is low-odds prospecting, in terms of the individuals who hear you speak. But when the question comes up back at the office, maybe one of them will pipe up with your name.
Reaching the right person at the right time (which is when someone is putting pressure on them to act and they first realize they don’t know how to do the job themselves) is iffy. Being known, available, and alert to the opportunity when they start looking for help is what’s important.
You also said geographic proximity or access to the client is important, because “Typically, [the company expects] face-to-face contact, even if you go away and do the work at home.” Is there a reason other than the client’s average age and lack of comfort with virtual business dealings for this?
It’s cultural. We’re talking about companies that are not out there recruiting at major engineering schools and business schools. Instead, they tend to hire people who show up looking for a job, at an entry level, and then promote from within. So a manager might be someone with a high school diploma or a couple of years of community college (and the first person in the family to attend college at all) who has always lived within a ten-mile radius of where he or she was born. This might be the only company where the manager has ever worked. Trust is based on a firm handshake and looking you in the eye. The Internet is a scary place. Dateline NBC told them so, and it must be true. The one PC at home is used mostly by the kids. The one at work is still running Windows 2000.
You also described this as “an easy project for good money.” I just have to ask—how easy and how good?
If you have a tech writing background and have ever done work on an ISO 900x implementation project or otherwise worked in a regulated industry or with policy and procedure documentation, it’s very easy. If not, you’ll have to do your homework before starting. As for how good, think in terms of management consulting rates. I don’t have the guts to charge more than $150 an hour, but that’s enough for me, and it makes me look like a bargain compared to the firms that come it at $250 an hour.
Any other suggestions for finding and landing these projects that we haven’t already discussed? Other points you’d like to make that I didn’t ask about?
A lot of writers, like a lot of actors, are introverts with self-esteem issues. In this market, that combination works against you, because the essence of these projects is to appear to know a lot more than the client (you do, but you also have to appear to). The solution—as for an actor—is to fake being an egotistical extravert. In other words, all business is show business at some level. Make a game of it so that the play-acting is fun rather than a torment, and you’ll be fine. Eventually it will even come to feel natural.
Thanks so much, Dick, for your enlightening (and entertaining) thoughts. And I hope this has given everyone food for thought about potential new writing services we can provide.
In conclusion, here's some more information from Dick about his business and experience:
Since 2004, I’ve worked full-time as an independent consultant, providing writing, editing, typography, and design services, doing business as Dick Margulis Creative Services (catchy name, huh?). My website is http://www.dmargulis.com/ and my blog is http://ampersandvirgule.blogspot.com/. I’ve been editing and setting type for close to half a century at this point. Along the way, I’ve done many kinds of writing for pay, too, including over a decade as a technical writer. But I never want to see the inside of a cubicle again, so I work from home. My clients are all over the world, and I’ve never met most of them. That’s one of the reasons the sort of local work we’ve talked about in this interview appeals to me: I enjoy meeting clients once in a while.
This is primarily handholding work in the guise of management consulting (Dress better than your clients: wear a jacket and expensive tie if you’re a man or high-end-looking business attire—buying it at Goodwill is permissible—if you’re a woman. That’s how you justify the big bucks).
If you’ll recall, in the wake of the Enron scandal, Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). This law requires that publicly held companies be more strictly accountable to their shareholders. Corporations turned to their accounting partners to help them put the necessary procedures in place, and the big accounting firms took the opportunity to make the law sound very scary indeed, thereby justifying huge consulting contracts for implementing complex new procedures.
When you look behind the curtain, though, the SOX requirements are straightforward at the operational level and they are consistent with ISO 900x requirements and—for companies in the pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing industries—the FDA’s Quality System Regulation (QSR). All of these requirements boil down to this: Say what you’re going to do. Do it. Document that you did it. Be prepared to produce the documentation if you’re audited. That is, there are no detailed requirements for a given operation to be carried out in a particular way in all companies; there are no templates that everyone has to adhere to. Instead, there is a broad definition of what it means to be accountable for your actions.
For a writer, this is a simple concept to grasp. For people who have never had the need to express logical thoughts in an organized way, it’s apparently a very difficult concept to grasp. That’s where the income opportunity lies for the writer.
The deadline has passed for publicly held companies to comply with SOX. So that opportunity is gone. But the chain of accountability extends to the vendors the public companies do business with. And that market is still wide open. I’m talking about the small manufacturers and service companies, family-owned businesses for the most part, that provide parts for products or provide infrastructure services. And I’m talking about companies with 100 or more employees, not the sandwich shop that delivers lunch.
While these companies are not themselves subject to SOX directly, their publicly held customers have to show an unbroken chain (think in terms of the chain of custody of a piece of evidence) of accountability. So they are asking for documentation of the internal processes of these vendors, along with ISO 900x compliance or QSR compliance, as appropriate.
These companies need a set of documents that meet the requirements. Documents are written by writers, and most companies don’t have writers on staff. You’re a writer, right? Right. So write.
Is the material highly technical? Does the work require legal, financial or other expertise?
Typically, it is not at all technical, although a background in technical writing is helpful, because a lot of it consists of writing multi-step procedures. Even without a tech writing background, most writers can manage that, but there is a body of knowledge surrounding best practices in procedure writing that tech writers tend to have absorbed.
As far as legal and financial expertise, you should have some common sense and be generally familiar with the way businesses operate. If legal or accounting questions arise, the writer’s job is to create the framework for expressing the information and then query the details, so the company’s legal or accounting counsel can easily fill them in. For example, you might create a table that shows how long certain classes of documents should be retained before they are destroyed. Well, you have the concept, and you can create the table, but it’s up to the lawyers to fill in the actual periods for each class of document. You don’t need to know that. It’s not the writer’s job to set policy for the company, only to express it clearly.
You said that “privately held, midsize companies” are where the opportunities for this work lie. How would you suggest identifying particular companies that need this sort of work done?
Use all the techniques you would use if you were unemployed and looking for a job, except you can drive somewhat farther to meet with a client than you might be willing to commute and you can consult for companies you’d never consider working for full-time. Word of mouth; Yellow Pages; zoning maps (look for industrial zoning and drive around in those areas to collect company names); Chamber of Commerce; Better Business Bureau; etc. There are websites where you can search for businesses of a particular type within a specific geographic region. Heck, start with Google Earth. [Interviewers note: I think the matter of narrowing down which companies need this work is addressed a bit more specifically in the answer to my first question--i.e., "vendors the public companies do business with" and the stuff about them that follows].
Do you know if companies in particular sectors are looking for writers to do this work?
No. I don’t have any specific information on that.
Once you’ve identified potential clients, who would be the right person to contact and how would you recommend making your pitch to work for them (i.e., phone, email, one-on-one)?
I think the marketing approach you take has to be matched to your personal style and to what information you can gather about the prospect. I wouldn’t presume to advise a one-size-fits-all approach.
[When asked on follow up to suggest a particular person within the company to contact, Dick had this to offer]:
How you approach a company really depends on what you can learn about it. Start with the website and see if there are any names of executives or other contact points. Then start as close to the top as you can get [italics mine], because the top is where the pain is being felt.
A call to the switchboard can get you the name of the CEO and, if the CEO has one, the name of the executive assistant (where the real power is). But as with any marketing effort, you can't expect to land an account with one well-placed phone call or one well-written letter. Luck and timing will have more to do with success than sincerity and competence.
Do you think face-to-face networking could be an effective way to find more of these projects? Or is a more targeted strategy the way to go?
My sense is that most of the prospects I’m talking about are not highly networked in the modern, online sense. You might not find any trace of the key individuals online. They may be primitive users of email at best. The company website may be something they paid a web design firm big bucks for a few years ago but nobody in the company knows the first thing about it. Mostly, I think these are people who enjoy going home to their families at the end of the day and watching American Idol. They’re probably not watching PBS or CNN or listening to NPR.
But personal networking is another matter. Volunteering to speak on the subject at the monthly Chamber of Commerce get-together or at a Lions Club luncheon will get your face in front of people and turn you into the go-to person in the area. This is low-odds prospecting, in terms of the individuals who hear you speak. But when the question comes up back at the office, maybe one of them will pipe up with your name.
Reaching the right person at the right time (which is when someone is putting pressure on them to act and they first realize they don’t know how to do the job themselves) is iffy. Being known, available, and alert to the opportunity when they start looking for help is what’s important.
You also said geographic proximity or access to the client is important, because “Typically, [the company expects] face-to-face contact, even if you go away and do the work at home.” Is there a reason other than the client’s average age and lack of comfort with virtual business dealings for this?
It’s cultural. We’re talking about companies that are not out there recruiting at major engineering schools and business schools. Instead, they tend to hire people who show up looking for a job, at an entry level, and then promote from within. So a manager might be someone with a high school diploma or a couple of years of community college (and the first person in the family to attend college at all) who has always lived within a ten-mile radius of where he or she was born. This might be the only company where the manager has ever worked. Trust is based on a firm handshake and looking you in the eye. The Internet is a scary place. Dateline NBC told them so, and it must be true. The one PC at home is used mostly by the kids. The one at work is still running Windows 2000.
You also described this as “an easy project for good money.” I just have to ask—how easy and how good?
If you have a tech writing background and have ever done work on an ISO 900x implementation project or otherwise worked in a regulated industry or with policy and procedure documentation, it’s very easy. If not, you’ll have to do your homework before starting. As for how good, think in terms of management consulting rates. I don’t have the guts to charge more than $150 an hour, but that’s enough for me, and it makes me look like a bargain compared to the firms that come it at $250 an hour.
Any other suggestions for finding and landing these projects that we haven’t already discussed? Other points you’d like to make that I didn’t ask about?
A lot of writers, like a lot of actors, are introverts with self-esteem issues. In this market, that combination works against you, because the essence of these projects is to appear to know a lot more than the client (you do, but you also have to appear to). The solution—as for an actor—is to fake being an egotistical extravert. In other words, all business is show business at some level. Make a game of it so that the play-acting is fun rather than a torment, and you’ll be fine. Eventually it will even come to feel natural.
* * *
Thanks so much, Dick, for your enlightening (and entertaining) thoughts. And I hope this has given everyone food for thought about potential new writing services we can provide.
In conclusion, here's some more information from Dick about his business and experience:
Since 2004, I’ve worked full-time as an independent consultant, providing writing, editing, typography, and design services, doing business as Dick Margulis Creative Services (catchy name, huh?). My website is http://www.dmargulis.com/ and my blog is http://ampersandvirgule.blogspot.com/. I’ve been editing and setting type for close to half a century at this point. Along the way, I’ve done many kinds of writing for pay, too, including over a decade as a technical writer. But I never want to see the inside of a cubicle again, so I work from home. My clients are all over the world, and I’ve never met most of them. That’s one of the reasons the sort of local work we’ve talked about in this interview appeals to me: I enjoy meeting clients once in a while.
Friday, 4 July 2008
Lessons Learned (Part 4): Read Advice Like This, Then Feel Free to Ignore It
And the last lesson I will impart to you is this . . .
Read Advice Like This, Then Feel Free to Ignore It
Yes, that's a stronger wording than I originally indicated yesterday. But I'm thinking of something another writer I know wrote about manifestos. She said to beware all manifestos--including her own.
Wise words. And there's a lot of advice floating out there about freelancing—how to market yourself, how to brand your business, how to work with editors, how to pitch publications, blah-blah.
All well and good and it's always a good idea to seek out good advice when you need some help. But at the end of the day, when push comes to shove and when the rubber hits the road (have I exhausted all possible clichés?), there is no guaranteed, paint-by-numbers approach to succeeding as a freelance writer—or in any other business for that matter.
Don't take advice as gospel. Advice should be considered in light of your own inclinations, temperament and goals, before you adopt it. You are the captain of your own ship, in that regard. And, if someone else's advice doesn't jive or resonate with you, then you should feel free to follow your own counsel. I'm not saying your decision will lead to a better result (see Part 2 on mistakes). I am saying that what other people do may not be right for you. And there's only one sure way to find out if you're right.
Read Advice Like This, Then Feel Free to Ignore It
Yes, that's a stronger wording than I originally indicated yesterday. But I'm thinking of something another writer I know wrote about manifestos. She said to beware all manifestos--including her own.
Wise words. And there's a lot of advice floating out there about freelancing—how to market yourself, how to brand your business, how to work with editors, how to pitch publications, blah-blah.
All well and good and it's always a good idea to seek out good advice when you need some help. But at the end of the day, when push comes to shove and when the rubber hits the road (have I exhausted all possible clichés?), there is no guaranteed, paint-by-numbers approach to succeeding as a freelance writer—or in any other business for that matter.
Don't take advice as gospel. Advice should be considered in light of your own inclinations, temperament and goals, before you adopt it. You are the captain of your own ship, in that regard. And, if someone else's advice doesn't jive or resonate with you, then you should feel free to follow your own counsel. I'm not saying your decision will lead to a better result (see Part 2 on mistakes). I am saying that what other people do may not be right for you. And there's only one sure way to find out if you're right.
Thursday, 3 July 2008
Lessons Learned (Part 3): Diversify, But Know Your Limitations
And so we go on to the next lesson I've learned in my 10-year (and counting) stint as a freelance writer. To wit:
Diversify, But Know Your Limitations
I've learned that it pays to do a variety of things--but then, I'm an unrepentant generalist. I can't seem to help myself. Being flexible and offering services on a variety of subjects, in a variety of formats for a variety of clients is a good thing.
If you do find a particularly lucrative niche among the things you do, focus on that. But remain open to the possibility of doing other things. What if work in that niche dries up?
However, I also know what I'm not particularly good at and don't want to do. Focus your marketing on those things you are both good at and that you enjoy. When work you don't do comes along, have a list of writers to whom you can refer the client. The writer will appreciate it and may be in a position to return the favor down the road.
And speaking of finding a niche, I'd just like to recount a little tale relevant to the notion of following trends. I remember, in the early 90s, when I was practicing law, "the experts" were saying that environmental law was going to be the red-hot field to get into. Lots of growth. Lots of work. By the late 90s, the field was passe. The experts conveniently skimmed over their mistake, and predicted instead that environmental law was the worst field you could possibly choose. No growth. No work. Nada. Zip. It's the late double-aughts and look where we are now? Environmental issues are hotter than ever (I shall refrain from a bad global warming pun here). Which leads me up to my fourth and final lesson.
Tomorrow's tip: Read advice like this, then do what you think is right.
Diversify, But Know Your Limitations
I've learned that it pays to do a variety of things--but then, I'm an unrepentant generalist. I can't seem to help myself. Being flexible and offering services on a variety of subjects, in a variety of formats for a variety of clients is a good thing.
If you do find a particularly lucrative niche among the things you do, focus on that. But remain open to the possibility of doing other things. What if work in that niche dries up?
However, I also know what I'm not particularly good at and don't want to do. Focus your marketing on those things you are both good at and that you enjoy. When work you don't do comes along, have a list of writers to whom you can refer the client. The writer will appreciate it and may be in a position to return the favor down the road.
And speaking of finding a niche, I'd just like to recount a little tale relevant to the notion of following trends. I remember, in the early 90s, when I was practicing law, "the experts" were saying that environmental law was going to be the red-hot field to get into. Lots of growth. Lots of work. By the late 90s, the field was passe. The experts conveniently skimmed over their mistake, and predicted instead that environmental law was the worst field you could possibly choose. No growth. No work. Nada. Zip. It's the late double-aughts and look where we are now? Environmental issues are hotter than ever (I shall refrain from a bad global warming pun here). Which leads me up to my fourth and final lesson.
Tomorrow's tip: Read advice like this, then do what you think is right.
Wednesday, 2 July 2008
Lessons Learned (Part 2): Be Brave, Be Strong
Now, for the second tip in my series of lessons learned about freelancing, I bring you--
Be Brave, Be Strong
Step away from the computer. Don't cower behind your computer, waiting for someone to respond to your queries. Go out, meet people, find contacts and leads—not only among potential clients, but from other writers.
Take some risks, try something new. Look for opportunities. Don't be afraid to try something new. If you have a question, ask someone who knows. Organizations, lists and social networks provide multiple opportunities to get advice on something you're doing for the first time. And writers (by and large) tend to be a sharing and supportive group. Get to know your peers and pick their brains when you need help.
If you fall, get up, brush yourself off and get back on your horse. Let's say you try something new and you screw up (I'll admit, it's happened to me). Don't sulk about it or beat yourself up (not too much, anyway). We're all human and we all make mistakes. First, learn from the experience. Hard lessons are the ones we remember best. Second, try to make up for it in some way to the client--whether you "plead guilty with an explanation" and offer to try again or just give the client a refund. Make amends, lick your wounds and keep going. Just stay strong and don't let any setbacks get you down.
Tomorrow's tip: Diversify, but know your limitations.
Be Brave, Be Strong
Step away from the computer. Don't cower behind your computer, waiting for someone to respond to your queries. Go out, meet people, find contacts and leads—not only among potential clients, but from other writers.
Take some risks, try something new. Look for opportunities. Don't be afraid to try something new. If you have a question, ask someone who knows. Organizations, lists and social networks provide multiple opportunities to get advice on something you're doing for the first time. And writers (by and large) tend to be a sharing and supportive group. Get to know your peers and pick their brains when you need help.
If you fall, get up, brush yourself off and get back on your horse. Let's say you try something new and you screw up (I'll admit, it's happened to me). Don't sulk about it or beat yourself up (not too much, anyway). We're all human and we all make mistakes. First, learn from the experience. Hard lessons are the ones we remember best. Second, try to make up for it in some way to the client--whether you "plead guilty with an explanation" and offer to try again or just give the client a refund. Make amends, lick your wounds and keep going. Just stay strong and don't let any setbacks get you down.
Tomorrow's tip: Diversify, but know your limitations.
Tuesday, 1 July 2008
Lessons Learned About Freelancing: A Four-Part Series
I've been a freelance writer for 10 years (mostly full-time, but with periods of part-time employment and grad school attendance mixed in here and there), and I've picked up what I think are a few guiding principles for people who want to make a living freelancing. They're in no particular order of importance, but I hope they're helpful, for what they're worth:
Never Stop Marketing
I made the mistake of resting on my laurels (which is a nice way of saying sitting on my fat ass) when I had a steady, moderately well-paying client. One day, the client said, "Guess what? We love you, but our management has decided to reassign your work to a staff writer. Give us a shout if you ever want to pitch a story idea." The steady income from the steady gig dried up and I'm not terribly good at pitching ideas (I'd much rather work on assignment). So it was a real jolt to my world. To cushion myself from such future jolts, I'm always marketing now. Even when I'm so busy, I can't see straight. Always look for work. You never know when a steady client will become a former client.
Tomorrow's tip: Be brave, be strong.
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