by Shakirah Dawud

Please welcome Shanna Mallon of StraightNorth, here to help us out in the calm before a deadline.

Just the very mention of the word deadline is enough to get some writers quaking in their boots. Although helpful and often necessary, deadlines can spark fear and dread as writers feel the anxiety and pressure of assignments that need finishing.

If you’re prone to crumbling under pressure, here are 5 important tips for staying sane as you work, even when you’re up against insane deadline pressure.

1. Aim to Be Early
Here’s the thing: projects can often take longer than you anticipate. That’s why, although I know this strategy won’t work for everyone, I’ve found it crucial to set artificial deadlines for myself, earlier than what I tell a client. I always aim to finish a project before it’s due, giving myself the benefit of a wider margin for error. I figure if I meet the artificial deadline, the client’s thrilled because it’s done early; if I don’t, I still have more time. This helps keep me from getting stressed out under deadline pressure.

2. Eliminate Distractions
One of the best ways to minimize the stress of upcoming deadlines is to look for ways to be more productive—such as by eliminating distractions. When I’m working on online content for a particular client, it’s helpful to shut down all the windows and files on my computer that don’t have to do with that project. Zoning in on only the things related to my writing helps me focus. Some writers need music on in the background or the ambiance of a moderately noisy coffee shop; I find there are times when this works and times when I need quiet. Figure out what works for you and set yourself up to focus.

3. Break Projects into Manageable Tasks
When you’re dealing with a particularly large assignment, looking at all that needs to be done can feel overwhelming. So rather than crumbling under the weight of what feels insurmountable, break up your project into many smaller tasks that you can knock out one at a time. If you’re ghost-writing a book due in a year, work out a plan to do X number of chapters a month and then break those down by week; this will not only encourage you as you complete each sub-task, but ensure you finish everything on time.

4. Prioritize
You can’t handle every project at once; that’s why you must prioritize. So say you’re an online copywriter with four small projects going for a company you’ve worked with for years and one large project going for a brand-new client: a marketing company. Try to determine what has to be done sooner rather than later, and use that information to help determine your priorities. Then focus on those tasks in order of importance.

5. See the Value in Deadlines
The truth is, deadlines are a writer’s friends. They  make your work easier, and improve your productivity and ability to succeed. Think of deadlines as tools that help spur you towards finishing your goals and help define expectations between writers and clients. Seeing them for what they are will go a long way towards accepting them without anxiety and fear.

How could these strategies help you deal with deadlines better? What other tips have you found to help you stay on task?
Shanna Mallon is a writer for Straight North, the SEO company Chicago businesses trust to handle their online marketing needs. She writes for various B2B clients, from a medical Web designer to a plastic molding company.

Photo credit: Amelia Wells, courtesy Flickr, CC 2.0.

While we’ve always had a policy on linking here at The WM Freelance Writers Connection, we have recently made an update to our submission guidelines. Previously, our linking guidelines included the following.

• The post must not include marketing-related links and must not be entirely self-promotional.
• The post may include links to your website and blog in a brief author’s bio (approximately 3 sentences), which will be published at the end of the guest post.
• You are also welcome to link to related posts or articles on your own or other sites within the text of your guest blog post.

But due to the recent Google Penguin update, we feel that it’s necessary to reiterate and clarify our policy on linking. For the record, this policy not only applies to guest posts, but also to posts from our own bloggers. We have added the following paragraph to our submission guidelines.

NEW: If you’re blogging for a client or company in order to place links on our site, please take note of our linking policy, which states:

While anyone is welcome to submit guest posts, we require that all links in the post are relevant.  Due to the recent Penguin Update from Google, we will now check all links and remove those that are unrelated to your post topic. If that will cause trouble for you, we will understand if you’d prefer not to submit your post. To reiterate: irrelevant links will be removed from all posts without exception.

View full submission guidelines here.

Have questions, comments or concerns? Leave us a comment, below, or email us at thewmfreelanceconnection@gmail.com.

by Alyssa Ast

Now that the aftermath of Google Panda has subsided, it’s time for them to shake things up again with the release of Google Penguin, which involves 50 more changes that can make or break your SERP ranking. Released last month, Google Penguin is expected to hit small businesses the hardest.

Penguin vs. Panda

Google’s Penguin algorithm only further supports the changes set in place by Google’s Panda, increasing the requirements for quality content and links. The overall goal is to cut down on spamming and to increase the browsing experience. Linking quality content to quality content is absolutely essential if you want to maintain your high SERP ranking. No more pay per click advertising.

“Penguin has been primarily focused on discouraging what the industry calls link spam,” Navneet Virk, director of optimization at Roundarch Isobar, said. “In Google’s algorithm, the links were placed with a very high value. In essence, the idea was if a lot of people were linking to a particular site or webpage, then it was considered to be a high-quality page and that impacted the ranking of that page in Google and other search engines.”

So, why are small businesses suffering the most from Google’s Penguin? Well, many small businesses don’t have the funds to hire a true SEO professional. As a result, they basically pay for what they get. They spend a small amount of money on a person who claims to be an SEO expert, but in return, they often get someone who uses black hat SEO.

“The ones that are really feeling the change are the small businesses who may have hired an SEO vendor and didn’t know what they were doing to improve ranking, but now they are being penalized,” Todd Bailey said. “(These changes are)disrupting any consistency of guidelines and punishing small businesses that lack the resources to respond.”

Bottom Line

So, what does Google Penguin mean for you? Well, if you’re an SEO writer and you’re using black hat practices, you had better change your habits to more ethical ones. If you participate in link exchanges, you need to check the links your accepting. Makes sure they are linking to quality, relevant sites, and don’t let irrelevant sites link to you. This goes for accepting guest posts on your blog too. Don’t accept guest posts that are plagued by spam links. They must also be relevant.

What are your thoughts about Google’s new Penguin requirements? Have you noticed any changes?

Submission Deadline: June 15, 2012: DC-Area PR Professionals Encouraged to Submit Best Communications Campaigns

by Shakirah Dawud

On April 26, the Freelancer’s Union–of which I am a member–launched a project to draw attention to the number one problem freelancers run into that’s almost entirely beyond their control: lack of payment, compounded by the lack of funds to sue for lack of payment.

As a freelancer who’s been stiffed a time or two, I sat up and paid attention when I saw the link to the invoice tweeted by Freelancers Union founder Sarah Horowitz (of #getpaidnotplayed fame). Today, the total unpaid balance is nearly $16 million.

But comfort in numbers isn’t enough, nor is it the goal. The World’s Longest Invoice is part of a larger appeal to legislators to pass the Freelancer Payment Protection Act in New York. The law is supposed to give freelancers the same payment rights as employees, making it easier or us to file claims for non-payment.

I’m not going to ask you to add your name to the invoice. Instead, I found some links to news stories and posts that covered the campaign from various angles, including opposing views.

Because I figure, whether you decide to join the movement or not, you should first find the information you need to make the decision without me.

World’s Longest Invoice: Dealing With Clients Who Don’t Pay–Freelance Switch

What The World’s Longest Invoice Won’t Teach You–Kandace Brigleb of Needmore Designs

The World’s Longest Invoice Fights for Independent Workers’ Rights–The Salary Reporter

World’s Longest Invoice Unlikely To Be Paid–Business Week

Why I Won’t Sign The World’s Longest Invoice–Josh Wright

You’ve probably heard of Publish America as they’ve been splashed all over the news of the writing world quite a bit in recent years. If you haven’t, beware.

“We treat our authors the old-fashioned way — we pay them,” Publish America (PA) proudly claims on their website. According to the site, PA is “the Nation’s number one book publisher!!”

They give the author full control of the book’s production time; design all covers; organize Guinness Book of World Record-worthy book signings; leave copyright and movie, television, audio and manufacturing rights to the author; attend trade shows all over the world and more at no cost whatsoever to the author.

A contract binds you to PA for 7 years. Their books are very professional-looking and they seem to pay their authors well. Sound good?

Until writers signed with PA started coming out of the woodworks lamenting how PA did not keep their end of the bargain.

You’d think that’d be enough warning not to sign on with PA, but the publishing company continues to draw negative attention to themselves.

Though PA claims to reject 80% of submissions, some brave writers have made them eat their words. First a group of sci-fi and fantasy authors sent in a manuscript in 2004 that intentionally made all the mistakes we’re told to avoid in our manuscripts. The ‘novel,’ Atlanta Nights, was accepted by PA without question. When the writers behind the fake manuscript published the news, PA retaliated with derogatory comments about sci-fi and fantasy writers, saying — among other things:

“…the quality bar for sci-fi and fantasy is a lot lower than for all other fiction. Therefore, beware of published authors who are self-crowned writing experts…”

Then PA claimed that it took a second look at the manuscript and decided not to purchase it. However, this was after they had already released Atlanta Nights on Amazon, where it is still on sale.

Another sneaky author submitted a fake manuscript to PA, which consisted of the same thirty pages copied ten times. PA accepted it.

Then yet another author took PA to court, accusing the publishing company of bad bookkeeping and withholding royalties. The author didn’t feel that his sales were comparable to that of other PA books and wanted to review PA’s book list to see if that was indeed the case. PA refused the author’s request and eventually settled out of court.

Before the dust had cleared from their previous transgressions, PA hit the news yet again. This time, in exchange for $49, PA promised to personally “bring your book to the attention of Harry Potter’s author next week while our delegation is in her hometown, and ask her to read it and to tell us and you what she thinks.”

A representative of Rowling’s reported that no such deal existed between Rowling and PA and said that “appropriate action” against PA was being considered. This came in the form of a cease and desist, which PA retaliated with a law suit threat. The original letter from PA over the law suit can be read here.

PA also promised to take copies of clients’ books to the Edinburgh International Book Festival as they were to be there with their own booth. However, organizers of the festival have reported that PA is not signed up to attend the festival at all.

The news was spread all over several blogs I read and I really began to dig deeper into the stories when I discovered that PA is a Maryland-based company. And Maryland just happens to be my home state. I was absolutely flabbergasted by what I read over PA and it stayed stuck in my mind as my husband and I flew to the US at the end of August to visit my friends and family in Maryland.

As we strolled down the streets of historic downtown Frederick one day during our trip, we peered into antique and novelty shop windows while I pointed out significant digs from my many years relationship with the city. Towards the end of our tour, I spied a sign that looked familiar. I did a double-take before coming to a dead stop outside the building brandishing the sign. Seems I have more in common with the aforementioned publishing house than just the state.

“Well, hello, Publish America. Fancy meeting you here!”

Photo credit: ToobyDoo, courtesy Flickr,

by Shakirah Dawud

In the very beginning of my writing career, I was delighted to find a website that appeared to need my writing. I read their guidelines, edited a few pieces written a few years back in high school and college, and submitted them in anticipation of about $8 apiece.

Two things saved me from a long stint with what I learned later was a content mill:

1) The publisher only accepted four of seven (or eight) pieces I submitted. They offered suggestions I could use to make more of them publishable (for the publisher’s purposes), but the damage had been done: I was offended. I mean, eight bucks was peanuts, and my work wasn’t terrible. Why were they so picky?

2) I’m lazy. There was no way I was going to keep writing enough articles to support my yearly magazine subscription at that rate, let alone pay the rent. I’m just not cut out to produce huge volumes of content every day. If my old unpublished stuff wasn’t good enough, I knew I was going to have to look elsewhere.

I avoided jobs offering a few dollars or pennies per article after that.

But not everyone has enough pride and laziness to keep them from being seduced by the seeming freedom of writing for content mills. Eventually, though, all writers realize there’s gotta be a better way. There are obstacles to finding a better way, though, including:

Writing for content mills for so long can set your expectations very low, payment-wise. How do you determine what you’re worth and what’s fair?

If you don’t write for content mills, who do you write for? Finding clients that aren’t as easily accessible can be intimidating…

… almost as intimidating as deciding which niche you want to focus on to get jobs you’ll actually enjoy.

When you write for content mills, you seldom have to market yourself; you need no credentials or reputation. But the clients you want are going to look for those. How do you build those things without revealing your content-mill past?

Above all, where do you start, and what steps should you take to carry you farther and farther away from the content mill carney?

I’m happy to say I’ve just had a sneak peak of freelance blogger Samar Owais’s Break Free From Content Mills email course, and it has the answers to all those questions, and more.

Samar’s been there, and is willing to share her experiences and uncertainties with you as she leads you by the hand to the writing life you’ve always wanted. Not only that, top writers and bloggers including James Chartrand, Salma Jafri, and more tell their “stuck” stories, and offer tips and inspiration so you can get unstuck.

Every week, you’ll be assigned tasks to complete that will help you:

• build an identity and reputation as a writer (first for yourself, and then for the public)
• decide who you want to write for, and how to initiate contact with them
• build relationships with the clients you land

Along the way are hand-outs on details like:

• setting up your terms and conditions
• how to create real, honest testimonials when you have none
• how to optimize your chances of being contacted for a job

But a course isn’t a course without a teacher. Samar is on hand to receive and review your completed tasks with you, answer all your questions, and offer encouragement every single day. And I’m telling you, I’ve been connected with her for a year, and I’ve never been on Twitter when she’s not, or reached out to her and received no response.

The only thing I would add to this course is a module on finances, with answers to questions like how to transition from being paid like a content mill writer to being paid like an independent writer, how to register your business, and common tax structures. But to be fair, perhaps that’s another course altogether. For a six-week course that really can pull you out of the clutches of content mills, I’d say your $47 would be well spent. Get more details on the course from Samar herself so you can get started breaking free.

Disclaimer: I do not stand to benefit financially or otherwise from my review of the above course.

Writing requires serious concentration: that’s an obvious statement, but one I think goes overlooked among many bloggers and writers today. There are countless articles meant to instruct writers on how to improve their craft, but the vast majority of these pieces are specific content. They advise how to write punchier headlines, how to zero in on content that appeals to an audience, how to write with personality, and so on. But few authors address the actual setting where writing occurs, and how much it affects a writer’s work ethic. So I’d like to impart a little industry wisdom on the importance of setting and atmosphere, in hopes that you can make of the little nook that you call your workspace.

Welcome a change in setting

The state of your atmosphere is intimately connected with the quality and quantity of your work as a writer. If you’re experiencing a period of writer’s block, or if you feel like your work has been stagnating lately, I suggest you take a look around at your surroundings. If you’ve been writing in the same place for a lengthy span of time—say the same old dusty office in your house—you might want to consider writing somewhere else for a week or two in an effort to revitalize your work. If you’re sick of working in the same space every day, that feeling could very well write itself into your work without you noticing it. A difference in setting can make all the difference in the world, and the same staid environment might be just the thing holding you back from new and exciting content.

The case against coffee shops

So here’s the thing about coffee shops. They’re the stereotypical hangout for writers and general artists who want to work away from home but who also resist the thralls of a typical office setting. The coffee shop is practically mythologized as the happening place for talented writers who balance their work with their social life in the same space (think Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast or Parisian coffee shops in general). The reality is that very few writers can get anything done in a setting rife with so many distractions. Between the bustle of customers asking for coffee drinks and pastries and the din of general conversation, the coffee shop offers few realistic perks to a writer. There’s a time and a place to try to write your novel in a coffee shop, and it’s called college. You’re wasting your time otherwise.

Productive vs. Inspirational

Some bloggers will suggest an inspirational setting to writers as a way to encourage more creative work, but I feel that these settings come at a high cost. A spot in the middle of a beautifully kept public park might inspire wonderful thoughts about the marvels of nature, but it might not do much for your impending article deadline. Inspirational spaces are nice in theory, but all too often do they conflict with the practicalities of everyday writing—meeting quotas, focusing on the content at hand, and doing actual work at a decent clip. I value the potential productivity I derive from a space over its inspiration, and I’ve been happy with that choice thus far. I’ll take the time to write a novel from the Alps once I’ve published a bestseller.

What’s your ideal setting when you’re writing?

Byline:

This is a guest post by Kristie Lewis from construction management degree. You can reach her at: Kristie.Lewis81 @ gmail. Com.

By Pam Houghton

For those who may not remember, I used to blog right here on this site. It was my first experience writing a weekly column, and after twenty-plus years in the corporate world, I loved the freedom of writing on any writing-related topic I wanted to.

It was fun, novel, different, like playing with a new toy the day after Christmas, only with this one, I got to talk to people, back and forth, online.

After a year and a half, I stopped.

Why?

I ran out of things to say. Plus it was hard to fit in a weekly column when I had other writing projects – with deadlines – to work on.

Somewhere in there, I had also tried keeping up with my own blog – “The Working Mom’s Guide to Staying Home.”

Cue the subtitle: “One woman’s journey from a couple decades as a cubicle dweller to a downsized, cut loose, laid-off mom who refuses to spend her days watching The View.”

Well, that’s a mouthful, huh? I couldn’t keep up with that blog either. Plus, I really had no vision for it other than – “I should have my own blog” – which wasn’t motivating enough to keep going.

Sometime in between my last days writing for this blog, and the present (May 2012, for those of us who are hot flashing and have trouble remembering dates), I started another blog. I don’t know why. I hadn’t premeditated on it. One minute it seemed like a good idea, and the next, I was all over Word Press, playing around with fonts and colors and gadgets before I settled in its final appearance.

“Crazy Writer Talk” I called it – I figured I’d humor the cyber world with my thoughts on writing.

Cue the subtitle: “A former cubicle-dweller-turned-professional writer muses on writing. Be gentle with me.”

That blog lasted about two minutes.

More time passed as I continued to reflect on my writing priorities. I was writing formally for various publications but I missed the informality of blogging.

I also noticed I was attracted to blogs that were well-written and funny even when they didn’t have big followings. In fact, they were inspiring me to write. So somewhere in between my own personal reflections (should I blog? Should I not blog? Should I blog?) and one month ago, I started another: “Soul-Searching at Starbucks.”

Cue the subtitle: “Thought-provoking conversations between me, myself and I.”

This one feels, I don’t know, right. Like I won’t abandon it as so many bloggers do, myself included.

I have no real plans for it other than to blog once a week (or once every 1.33 weeks), on any topic I want. I’m not trying to sell anything, I’m not looking to monetize the blog, I just want to see if good writing (assuming I write well) is enough to attract a loyal following, no matter how small.

If my writing labors, if it bores, if it’s pointless, if it doesn’t actually say anything, readers are not likely to return.

The big questions:

Can I make this blog last? Gain a few loyal readers? Turn this blog into something, even though I don’t know what that something is? But maybe, some day I will? Are you still with me? Hellooo?

If you care to join me while I drink skinny vanilla lattes and do a little soul-searching at Starbucks, come on over.

How is your blog coming along? Have you abandoned a blog only to start over with one that works for you? Share your stories.

The Internet has changed the way people communicate, and in more ways than one. Even the way books are published has changed a great deal sense the advent of the Online Age.

Where once an author’s only option was to patiently seek the services of a traditional publishing company, there are now self-publishing companies aplenty, meaning that anyone can have their work made available for others to read.

With so many self-publishers available, however, selecting the best one can prove daunting to some authors. A new site called SelfPublishingReviews.net offers authors the resources they need to make informed decisions.

In fact, the sole mission of the site is to empower authors and aspiring authors to feel good about their self-publishing decision. Jason Kay, the founder of the site, says SelfPublishingReviews.net is meant to be a resource for writers. “Penning a book is challenging and time-consuming work, and when it’s over, most authors are understandably eager to have their words read,” says Kay. “The last thing they want is to struggle to find the best self-publishing service. With our new site, they won’t have to.”

Indeed, SelfPublishingReviews.net makes information about self-publishing companies readily available. The site contains reviews of some of the top-ranked and most popular self-publishing sites on the Web, including pricing information. Currently, the site features reviews of popular publishing sites like Blurb, CreateSpace, Lulu, and eBookit.

According to Kay, these reviews are helpful for authors and aspiring authors because they are actually written by authors.

“The reviews on the site are all submitted by those who have first-hand experience with these self-publishing sites,” he confirms. “We also encourage users who actually try a self-publishing service to come back to SelfPublishingReviews.net and leave their feedback.”

It is this communal approach, with authors sharing their experiences and advice, which makes the site uniquely helpful, Kay enthuses.

The end goal is, indeed, for the site to be helpful. Kay draws attention to the fact that, in addition to reviews, the site also includes more general, informational articles about how to select the right self-publishing service.

“The bottom line is that the hard work an author puts into a book makes the selection of a good publishing company utterly crucial,” says Kay. “We want to provide them with the information they need to make the best decision about self-publishing.”