The current financial crisis has been tricky for even veteran business writers. How do you explain difficult concepts like collateralized debt obligations or the London interbank lending rate in language that the now-famous Joe the Plumber will understand? It’s not easy. But it is possible, as a handful of writers have shown, including some with […]
The WordCount Bad Economy Survival Kit
On Thursday when I got the Industry Standard’s weekly e-newsletter, which always runs 1 or 2 predictions at the very top of its other news stories, and read their guess that the Dow would fall below 9,000 this month I thought “No way.” Then it happened. That very day. For the first time since 2003. […]
10 things freelancers can do to save money in a bad economy
Last week I wrote about 10 simple things freelancers could do to help their writing business in a bad economy. Most of the suggestions were related to marketing: updating your resume, contacting editors or exploring other ways to expand your business. As the stock market continues to slide and it looks like we could be […]
10 things writers can do right now to feel better about the economy
There’s nothing you can do about the Wall Street financial crisis or the $700 billion bail out package that Congress is debating as I write this. You can’t control the economy, or the price of gas or who’s going to win the presidential election in November. In the face of so uncertainty, it’s easy to […]
Debate continues over outsourcing copyediting to India
As U.S. newspapers scramble to cut costs in the face of falling advertising, a handful have announced plans to outsource copyediting and page layout to editorial services firms in India. This has sparked a tremendous debate within the newspaper business. While one side argues that there’s no way something as connected to local language, geography, […]
Writers can SWOT their way through bad times
With the economy still sputtering and freelance writers complaining about clients taking longer and longer to pay their bills, it seems like a good time for a SWOT. SWOT is the name of a career assessment technique espoused by Grant Plowman, owner of Interactive Media Publishing, a digital media publishing company in southern Oregon. I […]