Archives: May 2005

A perennial goodie: some of the peskiest errors in the English language. And if you still say “eck-cetera,” I am officially giving you the hand.
Tips on writing a business proposal.
Looking for that specific niche that needs your skills? Find trade publications a plenty here.
Via Lifehacker, thoughts on why you don’t need to spend a ton to get an MBA.
Is Google not returning enough to you? When your research needs to be shaken up a bit, PC Magazine recommends BananaSlug, which adds a random word to your search.

Create a social media strategy, launch your campaign, and track the results in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. The online event and workshop will feature speakers including The Onion's Baratunde Thurston (left), Facebook's Morin Oluwole, and bitly's Tim Devane. Register now.

Kurt Anderson at New York magazine breaks down Radar, giving low points for originality.
“When the Meredith Corporation announced its purchase of Gruner & Jahr’s women’s magazines last Tuesday, Meredith said that Gruner’s business magazines, Fast Company and Inc., were not “material” to the sale. What that means is that two magazines that sold for more than half a billion dollars four years ago now have a value of zero.” Bad Business for Magazines About Business at the Times.

Are you pure magic when it comes to getting words on the page but terrified about how your (or somebody else’s) honking annoying voice will sound reading your work on air? Find some quick and practical tips on writing audio scripts here.

Jill Singer interviews Joe Veltre, founder of the new Artists Literary Group. “The combination of creative and business smarts is a powerful one; Veltre refers to [his and partner Diane Bartoli's] combined experience as “possibly unparalleled in the business,” and that may not be idle puffery. Together, the two have worked for five major publishing houses, a film studio, and the foreign rights and film rights department of a major literary agency.” Most genres are wide open except for children’s books, poetry and Westerns. Query the agents by regular mail. For fiction, send a one-page query and a couple of sample chapters with an SASE. For nonfiction, send a query letter and a proposal. Or, query using the company’s website. FYI: Bartoli is on maternity leave until late summer, so if you’re pitching her, leave her alone until then.

Age: 45
Location:Montclair, NJ
What’s the latest thing you’ve worked on?
I’m always working on several projects at once…my own fiction and non-fiction which I squeeze in between the paying work. So my most recent things have been ghostwriting a biography of an early twentieth century Gold Coast millionaire/ne’er do well, ghostwriting a novel with many exciting plot twists and a memoir. My most recent publication was a review of Todd Solondz’s latest movie in the NY Times (Jersey section).
What has been your most difficult assignment and how did you deal with its challenges?
All of my assignments seem to me initially the most difficult thing I’ve ever done. And then I do them. So I guess the most difficult is always what I’m working on right now. The only way to deal with that is to take it all one step at a time. I think I get bored if I’m not scared by the prospect of failure.
What’s the best or most helpful thing that an editor has told you?
My dissertation advisor said to write as if I were explaining things to a fourth grader.
What’s the worst writing or freelancing advice you’ve ever gotten?
I was told to go to law school.
You work in a lot of different genres. If you had to focus on one specialty, what would it be and why?
My favorite kind of thing to work on is something which makes me learn. I love to do research which is why I got my doctorate but I hate writing in an academic style. So if I can do something where I am able to incorporate my own style and tidbits of information culled form a million disparate places I’m quite happy. Even if I could afford to only write fiction, I would still want to keep myself planted in the real world. As long as I didn’t have to footnote it.

You’ve waited for it, and it’s in! The results of Mediabistro’s comprehensive survey salary have arrived. Of the respondents, 12,560 identified themselves as full-time staffers and 3,179 identified themselves as freelancers. Industries represented include advertising, public relations, print publications and broadcast. The salary survey was conducted via a 13-question online poll. The questionnaire asked respondents to categorize their jobs by region, industry and job title. Respondents were asked to report base salary numbers and bonuses if applicable.

Although some New Yorkers might feel differently, the Big Apple does not have a monopoly on all things publishing. Jill Singer profiles the Toronto-based Helen Heller agency. The list of accepted topics is wide, with a focus on fiction, especially thrillers. No children’s books, no screenplays, and no hardcore genre, like romance, fantasy, or sci-fi, though.

MBToolbox will not be posting Monday, May 30. Have a good Memorial Day.

It’s the last bulletin board roundup of the spring! Let’s see what people are talking about:
Some advice on heading from one career (not journalism) into another (journalism.)
What are some good marketing publications?
Where can undergraduates get writing experience?
From the editor’s point of view: when a freelancer just isn’t getting it.
On the formatting of the emailed resume (never hurts to have one available and formatted in plain text, just in case.)
Is it annoying to the HR folks when you spray a company with resumes like so much shaken-up beer? Yes.
Advice on what to look for at a press check: basically like proofreading, without the words!
If you are trying to break into LGBT pubs, is it going to hurt you if you have written advice for straight men? Not as long as you’re a good writer.
And finally, writers staying positive: who have been some of your favorite editors?

All journalists are off for the holiday weekend, which is why I have no Pop Quiz today. However, over on my other joint, I interviewed Kevin Smokler, who has edited the anthology Bookmark Now, which sets out to prove that books are so not dead.