Today’s guest blogger at the Writer’s Resource Center, Andrew Dlugan, discusses how to add meaningful context when you write about numbers and statistics. Numbers and statistics without context can confuse and even distress the average reader. I’ve spent most of my professional life writing about statistics, trying to present important public health information in a context that can be readily understood by the general public. It’s an incredible challenge, and Andrew provides good examples, including one from cancer research. To simply say that over a half million people will die from cancer in 2008, without providing some underlying context, does a disservice to the average reader. Providing the percentage of the general population that that number actually represents helps to educate the reader. Andrew goes a bit further by drawing on examples that the average reader is assumed to readily comprehend, for example, generalizing to the “population” of visitors to the Writer’s Resource Center (although he does provide the caveat that this population may not be representative of the larger general population). Click here to read his full post.
Author: Marie A Bailey
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Here’s a new term that I came across in a Wall Street Journal essay published in the June 14-15, 2008 edition: elderbloggers. In her essay, “Put It in Writing,” Ronni Bennett writes about the growing population of elderbloggers, the thousands of bloggers who are older than 50. At the time that Ms. Bennet started blogging in 2003, when she was about 62, an internet search for older bloggers might have netted only a dozen or so. Now, like the US elder population in general, their numbers have dramatically increased. According to Ms. Bennett, “Isolation and loneliness are well known to impair health and mental fitness. Blogging is a powerful antidote.” She discusses the general differences between elderbloggers and our young counterparts (no surprise that we tend, initially anyway, to be shyer about writing about ourselves), and she offers brief intros to some of the friends that she’s made through blogging, people whose paths she would never have crossed, had she not been blogging. You can read the full text of her essay by clicking here.
For more on elderblogging or for blogs by elderbloggers, try these links:
Time Goes By — What it’s really like to get older (this is Ms. Bennett’s blog)
Our Bodies Our Blogs: Elderbloggers Shift the Universe
Octogenarian (blog by Mort Reichek)
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You must read today’s guest blogger at the Writer’s Resource Center, Suzanne G. Fox! Her post, “So Much in Common: The Truth About Editing and Bull Riding,” is both entertaining and informative. My favorite similarity of the several that she lists is that while technology helps, it’s talent and training that make the difference. Here’s a clip from her post:
“Bull riding doesn’t require a lot of fancy equipment-a rider could probably get by with just a bull rope, a cowboy hat, and a set of spurs, and no amount of fiddling with these basics seems to make much difference in his performance. The great “Razor” Jim Sharp didn’t even wear chaps-he always rode in blue jeans. Likewise in editing-fast computers and access to the Chicago Manual of Style online may save some time, but in the end, it’s what you’ve learned and how you practice it, plus your innate command of the language, that determine your success.”
Now go and read the rest of her post by clicking here.
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Ellen Goldstein, guest blogger at the Writer’s Resource Center, has some great suggestions for how to create your own writing retreat. Her focus is poetry writing, but her advice applies to writers of all genres. Ellen’s suggestions range from setting a schedule to going on field trips. She also offers links to writing that can inspire you. For her full post, click here.
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Guest blogger Meryl K. Evans at the Writer’s Resource Center has great tips for maximizing your freelance writing business. No matter how many websites and blogs you’ve read that offer business tips, there’s always someone with a slightly different perspective that needs to be read. Meryl’s post needs to be read because she offers some rather nuanced tips; for instance, sending “relevant articles to clients, let them know about a relevant blog entry in which they might want to leave a comment, give them names of people when they need a resource, and sent them relevant reporter leads so they can contact the reporter to help out and maybe be quoted in the story.” This is networking at it’s best because, while you’re acting in the best interests of your client, you’re increasing your social capital. For more great tips from Meryl, click here.
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I think I’ve found someone’s online dream job at Pump Up Your Book Promotion (www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.com). Dorothy Thompson is the CEO and founder of this online PR firm. She offers several promotional packages for authors looking to hawk their books, which include: “virtual book tours” on 15-20 blogs; press releases; one-on-one contact to ensure that your blog is up and running and is SEO-friendly; and (if you select the Gold package), a book trailer on YouTube, Google Video, Yahoo Video and other promotional video websites as well as their page at YouTube.
They also offer a unique marketing strategy that purports to benefit authors and readers alike: the PumpUp Buyers Incentive Rewards Program. Buy any book (or books) of authors currently on tour with Pump Up and you’ll get free goodies such as autographed bookmarks and ebooks about publishing. The more you buy, the more goodies you get. For a list of authors currently on virtual tour, click here.
I say this must be a dream job because Dorothy and her staff blog like there’s no tomorrow! Here are just a few of their blogs (which, I assume, are part of the book promotion package):
Book Marketing Buzz (which includes an opportunity for published authors to be guest bloggers)
Pump Up Your Online Book Promotion
Pump Up Your Book Promotion Galleria of Books
Paperback Writer–Books and Author Interviews
Although I do subscribe to the feed for The Writer’s Life (and that was my introduction to Pump Up Your Book Promotion), I have not used the firm’s PR services nor participated in the Readers Incentive Rewards Program (although I plan to, if I find a book I want to purchase). So if you have used their services, then please leave a comment and let me how it was (or is). It’s easy for me to be awestruck by what appears to be good organization. Really, I’m impressed with the blogs, the websites, and the packages. They do offer testimonials from past clients, but I can’t personally attest to how well the promotional services work. And that is, in part, because I don’t yet have a book to promote :-)
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Hana Kim, guest blogger at the Writer’s Resource Center, provides great advice for anyone interested in getting paid for blogging. Her advice can apply to writing in general since she touches getting used to rejection and calculating appropriate rates; however, her own experience in getting paid to blog is particularly noteworthy. Her take-home messsage: “Blog first; find the right gig later.” The best part of her story is that she is earning money blogging about things that really interest her, things that she was already blogging about for free. She describes it as her “dream job.” I want one of those! For Hana’s complete post, click here.
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Before you answer that question, read the post of guest blogger James Chartrand on the Writer’s Resource Center–“Want to be a Freelance Writer? Get Ready for Business!” James (of Men With Pens fame) describes several skills that a successful freelance writer needs–besides good writing skills: customer service; bookkeeping; marketing; and organizational skills. The crux of his article is that freelancing writing is a business and should be approached as such. If you’re serious about making a career of freelancing writing, then you’ll need to heed James’s advice. Click here to read the entire post.
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The high caliber of guest blogging at the Writer’s Resource Center continues with Yuwanda Black‘s post on “White Papers: The Niche Where 20 Pages Can Net You $20,000–Really!” Yumanda’s post defines white papers and gives some great insights on why writing white papers can be lucrative. It comes down to: the business field (which is willing to pay $$), industry recognition (that’s the purpose of white papers), and less competition (from other freelancers).
According to Yuwanda: “White papers are the one writing niche where I’d have to say the worth of the writer is valued in terms of the end result, not the actual output. And, that’s one reason to go after this niche. Business rarely quibble about price, they just want someone who can deliver the goods – goods they don’t mind paying for.” Click here to read the entire post.
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Happy Monday morning and welcome to another blurb on the guest bloggers for the Writer’s Resource. Today’s guest blogger–Todd Eastman–provides some great advice for using slang and accent in fiction. Here’s a taste:
“Many writers find dialogue to be one of the most difficult aspects of writing fiction. Trying to include regional accents and speech patterns and doing it incorrectly can ruin your story. On the other hand, doing it correctly can make the story seem even more authentic. There are several things you need to be careful of when using this technique in your dialogue.”
Visit Todd’s post and learn more about using slang and accent in your writing.
Marie at 1 Write Way 