Put down that BlackBerry
How’s your thumb? Is it sore? Have you been spending more time than usual on Twitter checking out news from Iran or what people are saying in the wake of Michael Jackson’s death? Is your idea of winding down after a long day at the keyboard picking up your BlackBerry to text all your friends? [...]
WordCount Q&A: Making new money from old queries
Three freelance parenting writers figured out how to make new money from old queries by collaborating on an e-book of 16 queries that had landed them assignments with magazines such as Real Simple and Redbook.
It pays freelancers to find wiggle room in exclusivity clauses
Given what’s happening in the media business, freelancers can’t afford to cultivate an exclusive relationship with one newspaper or magazine. Actually, an exclusive relationship would be sweet – think of all those letters of introduction you’d avoid having to do and the time you’d save. But unless you’re under contract at The New Yorker – [...]
Once a source, always a source
Over the years, I’ve prided myself in my source list. A friend and former co-worker still talks about the extensive list of contacts I left when she took over my newspaper beat while I went on maternity leave.
A little something on the side
Is it just me, or does it seem like these days everybody’s got a job and a little something on the side? Here in Portland, examples are everywhere: A local PR guy moonlights as the Silicon Florist, chronicler of the city’s tech start up scene. A photographer is helping organize WordCamp Portland, the annual gathering [...]
The reckoning
How bad are times for freelance writers? After calculating my expected earnings for the first half of 2009, my conclusion is: bad, but not as bad as it could be.
The revolution on Twitter
Twitter is revolutionizing the way people gather and disseminate news, and today there’s no better example of that than what’s happening in Iran. After Friday’s hotted contested presidential elections saw the apparent re-election of incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by a landslide, supporters of challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi took to the streets in what looks to be [...]
Freelance Friday link love for June 12
Here’s what I’ve been reading this week: Help me investigate: Paul Bradshaw on Crowdsourcing Investigative Reporting – Video interview with a U.K. journalist and Online Journalism blogger on how he’s building a platform for crowdsourcing investigative journalism. 5 things Sesame Street can teach you about blogging – Keep it varied, repeat often and have a [...]
A little password protection goes a long way
How many passwords you use? Take a guess – 5 maybe, or 10? I counted mine today and came up with 30 – if I spent the time I could probably come up with more: Desktop computer Laptop computer Email Blog Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook Online news and blog reader Online newspaper subscription Back issue archive [...]
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