A New Turn of Events

My writing career has taken an unusual turn these days. First, a couple months ago, a friend asked me to help update his book. Terminology and technology in the book was very outdated; it was like watching a movie filmed back in the 50s or so, a very nice story but just old. At first the project was supposed to be an editing project, but it turned out that updating wasn't the only problem with this story. Saving the universe might have been a cool goal back in the 50s but readers are way too savvy for that these days.

As we wrestled with this, I discovered that he had health issues that made concentration difficult. We all know how we need to concentrate in order to keep track of all the different threads we weave through our stories. Anyway, we agreed that I would take on rewriting his book. Any details he didn't like, I'd be happy to change, but he said he liked every bit of it, even though, in taking out the big 'save the universe' idea and replacing it with chasing down a rogue planet, I pretty much changed the whole story.

Anyway, that project prompted me to look up the going rate for ghostwriting and since I still consider myself a student of this writing craft, I can't charge people full price. However, I do think it is only fair that I do charge, after all, I will be working for someone, and if you work for someone, they should pay you for your effort.

I drafted up a proposal on my website, just like I drafted up one for my editing services. Really cheap, but I'm no expert, I'm just told by those I respect that I'm pretty darn good. Maybe someday, when I'm more comfortable with the tasks, my prices will increase.

Now with this one book finished and turned over to it's owner, I figured I wouldn't see another such project for a long time, if ever, but low and behold, this lady asked me to help her with her story. I have no idea where she found me. We connected on Facebook. I'll have to ask her someday. Anyway, now I'm working on another ghostwriting project.

One good thing about this kind of work. I get to explore some really great ideas. In the mean time, my own book is simmering along just fine. At the moment, I've divided it into a bunch of short books, and I'm constructing covers for them. So that means I get to do a lot of coloring every evening. My only picture program is Paint for Mac. It's pretty simple, but it does allow me to add text to a picture. So, I buy a cover image or hire a cover artist and I can put together a simple cover. Don't come to me for your cover though. What I can turn out is really super simple. There are MUCH better cover artists out there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Job Fail

Just a little warning: This is something of a rant, but most definitely a learning experience for me, and maybe just a little bit of advice for you future online bosses out there - maybe.

Recently, I took a stab at trying to support myself with an online writing job. No worries I'll try again, but this one was an epic fail.

My assumption - yeah you know what they say about assuming - was that I would be given a bunch of information that I would then organize and put into some sort of readable content. for the first part, I pretty much did just that. I was handed a document and told how to expand it and what to look for in order to do that. I didn't realize just how much of a work in progress that had been before I got it. The work ended up being about two thirds longer than it was originally, I think - I'd have to count the pages to say for sure - not really important for this though.

Then there came the next project started from scratch. My assumption still holding up after a fashion, I was given a list of links - it ended up being somewhere around fifteen links. They all went to his website and particular pages, and all but two of those pages had a Google Earth picture and a blurb about that picture. I will not discuss the contents because the privacy part of my contract still holds.

Okay, so I started my lists and located these sites on my own Google Earth, which I had to load onto my computer. With no further clue as to how to organize this, I backed off a bit (on the map) and took a look. Three different areas were covered but they look to me to be roughly the same kind of stuff, so, allowing the linear nature of me to decide, I organized my document by location in line around the map. I then took the information from the webpages and copied and pasted pictures and blurbs to my document in that order. Now everything was in one place and I could expand from there - or so I figured.

My next discussion consisted of "maybe we should do an outline" and then some discussion about an introduction. I was also given another link at this point to add in. No problem; thanks to the wonders of writing on a computer, content can be added, expanded, and even moved around with ease. So, I wrote up a brief outline, thinking it was for my use only and really of little importance in the grand scheme of this document, because as I thought, content could be easily added or moved around to achieve the necessary and desired flow.

It took me a chunk of a day to write up this introduction and get it just the way I wanted, knowing and planning that it too would be expanded as necessary during the whole process of working on the body of this work. I even had something of a conclusion started.

Rather than sending the whole document to him again, I merely copied the intro into an email along with assurances that I had made the additions he'd asked for. Come to find out, by return email, he'd wanted the outline and he even sent me a document showing me what he expected. Yeah, it was the whole 'I, A, 1., a., (1), (a)' deal - a very formal outline. Um okay, I haven't done such an outline since I was in maybe Junior High School, though I might have done one in High School. I do remember learning how, but not exactly when - way back then anyway.

Sigh, well if that's what he wanted. Here I am wanting to get my teeth into this document and learn more about the fascinating subject, but maybe it's for the best; it's not as if he can look over my shoulder and see what I'm working on. So I go back to my Google Earth, my document, and that list of links, and I assemble an outline. It ended up being two full pages long by the time I was done with it, and happy with how it looked, so I sent it off.

What I got back was a six-page document filled with red additions and he only did the first couple items. Granted some of that was spacing between the different levels of the outline, but it wasn't the length of the document that dumped me off the deep end, it was the additions themselves. Added to my outline was information vital to the document to be sure, but information I wasn't given. Herein begins my bit of a rant. How am I supposed to include information into any kind of a document, if I don't know that I'm supposed to go find this information? How am I supposed to go look something up if I don't know that I'm supposed to do that. Point me please.

It wasn't the amount of research he expected me to do either, but apparently I was supposed to do it on my own somehow. I was suddenly inundated with the feeling that I needed more than one college degree in order to have an inkling that some of this information might need to be looked up and discussed. I could have taken this suddenly horrendously incomplete outline and used that to complete the document, but I was supposed to come up with all this information myself first. I still shake my head in disbelief at the magnitude of information I was supposed to come up with for this outline with only a handful of links to draw it from. So here I am, hanging by a writerly thread, over an ocean of virtual information, and I'm expected to swim my way, not only to shore, but to the head of a specific river with no land in sight and without a compass. Talk about in too deep.

My small bit of advice for you potential bosses out there in the www. If you want someone to write your book for you, make sure they have ALL the information they need first, along with a clear explanation of what you expect. For me, in this case. I needed this outline. With this outline, plus the handful of links, I would have had the direction I needed. With this outline, I would have known what I needed to look up and I could have taught myself what I needed to know in order to write this document. Asking me to come up with this information, is kinda like asking me to find my way to the headwaters of a specific river in the dark without a compass.

Oh, and while I'm at it, what is the going wage for ghost writing?

A Mousetrap of the Writerly Variety

Dawn Sievers has been a Facebook friend of mine for some times now. She moderates an awesome group, Authentic Bloggers, as well. But though I knew she was very involved with writing, I really didn't know much about her, so I invited her to write something up. This way, I can get to know her a little better, and you do too. Kudos to Dawn for all her accomplishments.

For those who have been blogging for a while, you're probably familiar with the concept of guest posting. That's when another blogger invites you to write a blog article that will be featured on their blog. It gives you more exposure to a completely different demographic (depending on the focus of that other blog); you meet new people and if you're lucky, people will enjoy your guest post enough to investigate your blog and you'll grow your readership.

I don't do a lot of guest blogging, and the main reason is a simple one - lack of time. I am a freelance writer, editor and blogger, and also a social media management consultant. The fact that writing is both my avocation and my vocation means that I write a good 90% of the business week for myself and my blog at Healing Morning, and for clients. Whatever time is left over, I'm attending networking functions and meeting new people in order to source new contracts. Blogging on a personal level tends to get shifted to the side burner as a result. If you're a blogger, then you know one of the Cardinal Rules of Blogging is reciprocation. Given that I stay so busy, it isn't often that I have time for the guest blogging process. Occasionally, a blogging friend will invite me to do a guest post, and I do my best to accept the offer if it fits the general tone and theme of what I do at Healing Morning.

Anna L. Walls, of Anna's Obsession blog, recently asked me to do a guest post. So, here I am, ruminating on writerly things. I've written my whole life, and began to work in a freelance aspect with writing and editing about 18 - 20 years ago. I've had endless ups and downs, hot moments and long dry spells, as I worked to create a niche for myself. Recently, within the past 2-3 years, social media has afforded me an ancillary option to add to my bag of tricks as a writer, and as a result, my business is growing and thriving.

What the heck is a social media manager or consultant? It's someone like me who has strong writing and editing skills, who is also social media savvy and capable of taking on the social media management needs for various clients. This can translate to ghost writing blogs, to ghost writing newspaper articles, to doing research, to writing all manner of reports, to creating ad copy, to technical writing, and finally, to writing and scheduling daily/weekly social media wall posts for clients who are too busy to do it for themselves.

This sounds easy, yes? Like something you could dive into without a second thought and have immediate, over the top success. I wish that were true! The reality is that although social media is, indeed, increasing on an exponential manner on a worldwide basis, most business owners are still a bit vague about how social media can benefit their profit margin. Marketing is everything to every business, and many business owners haven't quite warmed up to the concept that social media is the strongest marketing tool available these days. At least this is true of the area where I'm located - the southeastern region is historically a bit slower to embrace new marketing concepts and trends. As a result, a great deal of my own marketing of these services is being an educator and teaching people about the value of social media.

I'm happy to say that there is increasing awareness and appreciation for social media consulting in my geographical location. I'm meeting more and more business owners who are waking up to the fact that they're overlooking a very hot, not to mention FREE, marketing tool. I am hopeful that within the next 6 months, I'll have enough business in my pipeline that I'll have to hire additional help. I'm well on the way to making that dream a reality, so in my own small part of the world, I am seeing a slight improvement in the economy. In addition to that slight economical improvement, I recognize that I've done a lot of the groundwork and created that ideal valuable niche for myself. Most networking group meetings I attend, I find that I am the unique person in attendance, offering a service that no one else does in my local area. We all recognize the logic behind coming up with that next fresh, unique idea, and for me, freelance writing, editing, blogging and social media consulting is proving to be my version of the "better mousetrap". My mousetrap is of the writerly variety.

I am also another blogger who has aspirations and intentions of becoming a published author in both fiction and non-fiction genres. While I work to make that dream a reality, the freelance writing side of things is what pays the bills for me. I feel that I am fortunate to be one of those people who is being paid to do what I love. I also am happy that I can see strong signs of this foundation leading to bigger and better experiences. My mousetrap of the writerly variety is proving to be a pretty handy and clever creation.

*Disclaimer: No mice were harmed in the writing of this article.*