Freelance link love for week of May 24
Here’s what I’ve been reading about freelancing, writing and the online news business I’ve been reading this week: On writing: How do you learn to write – From a literary agent, writer and book editor. 5 tips for citizen journalism from ProPublica’s new ‘crowdsorcerer’ 16 things you learn in j-school – Journalism basics You don’t [...]
Digital media business news recap for week of May 15
The week’s highlights from the freelance world and digital media business: Standing up for writers – Today is the 2nd Annual Writers Worth Day. Lori Widmer, a Valley Forge, Pa., writer, dreamed up the campaign to help writers and other freelancers do a better job negotiating fees and standing up themselves. I’m down with that. [...]
Sometimes they're just not that into you
A friend who sells medical supplies takes a pragmatic approach to rejection. When a company says no to what she’s selling, she brushes it off and moves onto the next prospect. “In my personal life I can’t handle that kind of rejection, but at work it doesn’t bother me,” she says. “It’s just business.” Writers [...]
Freelance link love, for week of May 10
Blog posts, stories and other good stuff I’ve seen this week on writing, freelancing and the digital media business: Elance: Cash is King – The freelance marketplace’s monthly index shows demand is up for article writing (+2) and way up for online writing (+12). Amazon introduces the Kindle DX – The newest version of the [...]
Digital media industry week in review, for May 8
The week’s highlights from the digital media business: Imprisioned U.S. freelancer ends hunger strike – Roxana Saberi, the freelance broadcast convicted of spying in Iran ended a two-week hunger strike after Iranian authorities agreed to hold an appeal hearing for her next week. The Iranian-American freelance broadcast reporter was arrested in January and convicted of [...]
Is it OK to friend your editor on Facebook?
Social networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have created all kinds of new work-related etiquette questions: Is it OK to post a link to that killer story you wrote for Ladies Home Journal on Twitter more than once – an hour? Does memorizing the LinkedIn profile of an editor you’d like to pitch constitute stalking? [...]
WordCount online media recap for week of May 2
Conde Nast closes Portfolio – The publisher of Vogue, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker shut down its glossy business monthly just two years after launch. According to news reports, Conde Naste had planned to spend $100 million over 5 years on the title, which was ultimately done in by declining ad sales. The mag’s Portfolio.com [...]
Social media 101 for small business
I spent Monday afternoon talking to small business owners at the ShopSymposium/09 conference here in Portland. The subject of the panel discussion I participated in: how small business owners can use social media without having it take over their lives. That’s not all the panel discussion covered – to track everything that was mentioned do [...]
My TwiTip guest post – when 1 Twitter account isn't enough
A while back, I conducted a poll to find out how many Twitter accounts freelance writers and other people who visit this blog use. As luck would have it, around the time I was getting ready to publish the results, I got the opportunity to write a guest post for TwiTip, a guide to all [...]
A writers' guide to getting the most out of Twitter
My work life feels like it revolves around Twitter. I recently: Pitched a story about Twitter. Found sources for the story on Twitter. Had sources use Twitter to publicize the story once it went live. Watched my Twitter followers have a real-time debate over pros and cons of issues raised in story. Had a Twitter [...]




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