Arghhh… it’s happened again… spend most of the last two hours taking pictures and posting to a web page… http://annewayman.com/kittens.htm if you’re curious. And if you’re near or in San Diego and want a kitten…
Taking a deep breath, making another cup of coffee and I’m back to work, really… I promise.
Write well and often,

Two newsletters:
Abundant Freelance Writing – a resource for freelance writers including 3x a week job postings.
Writing With Vision – for those who want to get a book written.
Image from http://www.sxc.hu

Japanese Park, Buenos Aires, Argentina by gmarcelo from http://www.sxc.hu
Write well and often,

Two newsletters:
Abundant Freelance Writing – a resource for freelance writers including 3x a week job postings.
Writing With Vision – for those who want to get a book written.

Ye gods… we humans do for get pain, don’t we. I mean I’ve long forgotten the pain of giving birth to babies, and I’ve forgotten the pain of giving birth to a book enough to begin another one. It’s been at least year, maybe more since my back “went out.”
Wow! Small wonder I’ve been pretty good about working my abs! And that’s helped; I don’t hurt as much as I did last time, which makes me wonder how I survived the last time. I’d also forgotten how tired pain makes me.
Plus, it turns out that today, probably, is the …read more

How are you doing on the goals or the vision you set for yourself this year? You did set some, I assume, becuase most of us seem to. I actually believe in Visioning and goal work; I wrote about it at the end of last year in a post called: Sneaking Up on 2008 – Goals for Freelance Writers
For reasons that are totally obscure for me, I didn’t share my goals with you. I just dug them up, and, with some editing, here they are:
• Stay quit from nicotine
• Lose a pound a week which would put at around 120, yes …read more

I’ve got a ghostwriting contract for a self-help book by a professional. We’re projecting 12 chapters, and our agreement calls for payment in four chunks. The next payment is due, and was promised, when the call came in. It turns out the author has a partnership arrangement on the book and the partner, who was to pay for half of it, is flaking out. Yesterday, when we talked, neither the author nor I were sure what to do and agreed to talk more. Now that the shock is wearing off, I’m wondering how to approach all this. Here’s what …read more

In Part 2, we looked at the method you’ll use to get the writing done. Next is your pay.
Ah yes, pay! You do deserve to be paid and paid well for your writing. Since I’m usually the one writing the letter of agreement, and since it’s in part a sales document, I label this portion Cost. Of course, with a ghostwriting contract, there’s almost always been some serious discussion of the cost, so this section of the writing contract merely confirms what the client is already expecting.
I make sure I also spell out how I will be paid. In …read more

Arghhhhh… I’m trying to renegotiate a writing contract and I’m having real trouble understanding the numbers involved… I sent what I thought was a clear proposal to the client and he’s replied, but his understanding of the dollar amount is quite different than mine.
After spending yet another half hour on this I realized that I need someone to help me… so I’ve placed a call to a friend and we’re going to have coffee later today and go over what I thought I was trying to do, how the client’s numbers fit or don’t, and decide what I’m really offering.
It …read more

Do I need a contract with my writing clients? Is it something I can generate myself or do I need to pay a lawyer?
Yes, you need some sort of written agreement, but it usually doesn’t make sense to hire a lawyer unless the contract involves a huge amount of money.
I use a letter of intent that I usually draft myself. It includes the goal or purpose of the project, spells out how we will proceed, details how I will get paid and provides a way for either me or the client to cancel if the wheels come off. It …read more

I just wondered if my recent experience was typical for a proofreader.
Here’s the situation: I just completed my first (paying) proofreading job. I’m new at doing this, but some things about my first project surprised me. The biggest surprise for me was that the author had made a lot of textual changes to his electronic file of the book while the material was at the typesetter’s. When I showed up to proofread the book (it was a 700-page technical manual), the author had me inserting the new material from his computer file into …read more