Archives: February 2006

How to get permission (to reprint something. Everything else, you’ll probably just have to say ‘please.’
Hey kiddies: wanna win $100 and be published in The Nation?
Need to use Office documents but don’t have all the applications? Get ‘em with ThinkFree.
An extremely brief guide to writing a critical commentary.
In old-timey writing, why doef an s look like an f?
The Weirdwriter blog, for those of you who enjoy “fantasy, SF, horror and all the stuff that won’t fit neatly into slots.”
Via Lifehacker: Need to look things up on the go? You can put the Wikipedia on your Ipod.

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.

Jennie Phipps published an informative little piece on dealing with 1099-MISC income forms, which most of you freelancers are dealing with this time of year. If you’re a new freelancer and you’ve just received one for the first time, congratulations! It means your writing career is on the up and up. Now pay Uncle Sam. Learn more about the forms here.

From 37 Signals:

How do you land that job you’ve always wanted? One approach: Write (well) about the company you want to work for and hope the people there notice. It worked for Chris Mohney who was hired to helm Gridskipper, a Gawker site, after launching a blog that discussed Gawker.

More here.
I imagine this is sort of a long shot, since general butt-kissing is not necessarily a means to get a job, and I’d think virtual butt-kissing is even sketchier. Moreover, how blah would the blogosphere be if everybody was just saying nice things about other people, trying to get jobs?

From Blogcritics:

Don’t do everything blogger/columnist/book author John Scalzi says.
In response to a reader’s query, Scalzi posted ten suggestions for nonprofessional writers who’d like to “write better.” He offers a few good tips, such as “when in doubt, simplify” and “learn to friggin’ spell,” which really means “use the friggin’ spell checker.”
But he leaves out a couple of key guidelines, and his grammar and punctuation suggestions will create more chaos than they’ll clear up.
What he forgets
Scalzi omits one absolutely vital guideline rule: Use the active voice.

I know it’s one of those writey things I always forget. Read on here.

As Rizzo said in “Grease,” “Some people can be so touchy.” It would be nice if we could just tape record whatever we like but apparently there are some ‘laws’ against doing this. And they differ state from state! What a nightmare. Fortunately, the The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has a handy guide online to taping phone calls and in-person conversations in the 50 States and D.C.

In November, mediabistro held a seminar called “Hello, Images, Meet Text: Understanding the Interplay of Art Direction and Editorial,” with Julie Taraska, the articles editor of Home magazine, Frank Anselmo, an art director and writer at BBDO, Janet Froelich, the creative director at The New York Times Magazine, Seth Greenwall, a photography lecturer, Stella Kramer a photo editor who has worked in the New York publishing world for 15 years, and Paul Makovsky who is a senior editor at Metropolis.

Julie Taraska: How do the editors and the art directors work together?
Frank Anselmo: Okay, well, I work with another art director. He’s also a writer. We come up with ideas and when we come up with an idea that we absolutely love whether it’s for a commercial or for a magazine ad, we show our creative director. And there’s other teams presenting to my creative director so he’s the first big sell. So if he loves our idea – and he’s not one to fall in love with every idea – he’ll show the chief creative officer which oversees all the ideas of the company I work for and if he loves it, he puts it in this corner of his office and then after he sees everyone else’s work, he compares them and just picks out his favorites and then maybe the client has a chance to see it. If the client likes it and buys off on it, then we’re ready to produce it and that’s when we get the media department into it and we start talking to magazines, newspapers. It’s totally different with television because a director gets involved and that’s a whole separate thing. But with print, you work with an art buyer; we have an amazing art department. We can ask for a picture of Elvis on a toilet and they’ll find it somehow. And if they can’t find it they’ll make it happen cause we have great photo re-touchers and anything’s possible because when the client’s paying for it, you just make these things happen. That’s kind of how we sell the ideas. Editors just get involved really at the end, once it’s sold. So it seems like 99 percent of the job is selling the idea and then you just follow it through.

More here (A’Guild only.)

It’s matter-of-fact and it’s often not glamorous but performing some freelance research for publications can pay some bills. I did this twice for a major publication, looking into court documents from cases held in Chicago, making photocopies and sending them off to New York. I didn’t get any bylines but I got to be a part of two interesting stories (finding one juicy quote in the process), plus I met some fascinating reporters who gave me some career advice and made a few bucks.
If you find yourself doing this, how do you charge? I got paid by the hour, myself. If you’re setting your own rates, this can work better than a flat fee if your work takes longer than you expect (however if you’re offered a flat fee and when you break it down it turns out to be an exorbitant amount of money per hour, then by all means, take the flat fee.)
I looked on some open-to-the-public message boards where freelance researchers have posted and found some sources that the pros say have helped them.

Consult Online is a directory of the Special Libraries Association, full of people who can help you with your queries.
The Association of Independent Information Professionals seeks “to explain the role of independent information professionals and to provide a forum for information professionals to meet and exchange views.”
It’s a British resource but the Chartered Insitute of Library and Information Professionals is “the leading professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers”.
One researcher says, “I love Dogpile. Or the news section of Lycos. I’m always amazed at what comes up.”
Don’t have access to Lexis-Nexis? Go to your local public library. Remember those things? However, if you’re too lazy to leave the house, you may be in luck by going to the website of your university, if you’re a college graduate. Often sites with password-protected alumni sections allow alumni to access the same library services they could when they were younger and dumber.
Speaking of libraries, another researcher adds, “For online databases, I’d recommend Ebscohost, Proquest SIRS, Infotrac or even Opposing Viewpoints. While most of these are subscription databases, your local library has most likely purchased them – so if you have a library card, you can log in and access them from your home computer.”
Also: “For meta search engines, I love Vivisimo.com.”

I’m not sure where or when it happened that writers started feeling that they’re nothing without agents. Sure, agents can do great things, the least of which being they can get your work read by publishers. A wonderful agent can mean a wonderful career and a fabulous partnership. But don’t forget: agents are nothing without clients. You don’t work for your agent. (And also, by the way, if you’re not a great writer or don’t have time to write a novel, getting an agent will not solve either of these difficulties.)
It’s hard to shake this mindset. After years of dealing with editors, or readers, or interview sources, or people sick of us loitering in their cafes, we’re typically the accomodating ones, the grateful ones. But a writer must get over this when dealing with agents: well, not all agents, but bad ones.
If your agent stinks, you gotta dump him (or her.) Even if they’re really nice or really cute or can get really mean, if they’re not doing right by you, you’re not doing yourself any favors by avoiding the unpleasantness. Fortunately, I’ve never had to fire an agent (because I haven’t had the need to sign with one yet.) But you might have to. In this case, Craig Mazin at Absolute Writer gives you advice on how to hand over the proverbial pink slip. If that still doesn’t help you get up the nerve, there’s another article on it here, and another here. (Makes you wonder why there are so many sources on this topic.)
That said, I kowtow to all the good agents out there who hustle for and believe in their writers. I love you. Mwah mwah mwah. Get me a killer contract. To represent them, I give you Miss Snark, whose blog I just discovered and added to my favorites.

You’ll wanna be at the great courses being offered by mb this week!
EAST COAST:
MONDAY
Profiting from NonProfits: Arts writing and editing opportunities
WEDNESDAY
Stick With It: Overcome the practical and psychological challenges of the writing life.
4-Week TV News Reporter, Advanced: Learn more about what it takes to be a good television news reporter, including: meeting deadlines, preparing and delivering “live shots,” conducting on-camera interviews, and more.
THURSDAY
The Art of the Film Pitch: How to sell your idea for a commercial or Hollywood movie
SATURDAY
Weekend Warrior: InDesign for Writers and Editors: No matter how great an editor you are, not knowing how to use a page layout program can stop your magazine job search in its tracks. mediabistro.com to the rescue!
WEST COAST:
MONDAY
A Walking Tour of Television: A guide for beginners who want to break into TV
The mb One-Night Workshop: Pitch Clinic with Jay Cooke in San Francisco: In this crash course on pitching smarter, you’ll learn to package irresistible article ideas, target the right editors, follow-up intelligently and get multiple assignments.
TUESDAY
Pitching to Hollywood: Effectively feeding the sharks
WEDNESDAY
How to Write a Nonfiction Book Proposal that Sells in San Francisco: Learn the secrets of writing a compelling, effective proposal for your nonfiction book.
THURSDAY
Introduction to Writing Celebrity Profiles: Because it is nearly impossible to pitch an editor on a celebrity profile, this class will not cover how to secure such assignments.

Writer Jamie Fedorko has written a book on how to get, keep, and make the most of your internship and mb has published an excerpt from it:

BAD NEWS FIRST: Most people rarely, if ever, get exactly the internship they desperately want. Some people want Real Time With Bill Maher, but they end up with The McEnroe Show. Others want to intern for Larry King but end up on a press tour with Don King. It happens.
The good news is there are tons of resources available to help you find something that fits with your goals.
First, explore your connections. Who do you know, how do you know them, and have you slept with their children who are your age? Key questions. Let’s say you want to work in the record industry, and that your top three choices are Def Jam Recordings, Bad Boy Entertainment, and J Records. First: Rack your brain, your black books, your cell phone numbers, your e-mail contacts, your friends, and your family to see if you have a connection to anyone at these companies. Even if you don’t know anyone personally, maybe there are two degrees of separation between you and a low-level staff member at one of the three companies. The truth is that most people get jobs through these more distant connections than through close ones.

More here.