Skip to main content

Home/ LumpysCorner/ Group items tagged a an

Rss Feed Group items tagged

Filter: All | Bookmarks | Topics Simple Middle
John Lemke

What happens with digital rights management in the real world? | Technology | theguardi... - 0 views

www.theguardian.com/...digital-rights-management

rights 2014 DRM yourrights copyright DMCA copywrong security law legal litigation

shared by John Lemke on 10 Feb 14 - No Cached
  • In 1997's Bernstein v United States, another US appeals court found that code was protected expression. Bernstein was a turning point in the history of computers and the law: it concerned itself with a UC Berkeley mathematician named Daniel Bernstein who challenged the American prohibition on producing cryptographic tools that could scramble messages with such efficiency that the police could not unscramble them. The US National Security Agency (NSA) called such programs "munitions" and severely restricted their use and publication. Bernstein published his encryption programs on the internet, and successfully defended his right to do so by citing the First Amendment. When the appellate court agreed, the NSA's ability to control civilian use of strong cryptography was destroyed. Ever since, our computers have had the power to keep secrets that none may extract except with our permission – that's why the NSA and GCHQ's secret anti-security initiatives, Bullrun and Edgehill, targetted vulnerabilities in operating systems, programs, and hardware. They couldn't defeat the maths (they also tried to subvert the maths, getting the US National Institute for Standards in Technology to adopt a weak algorithm for producing random numbers).
    • John Lemke
      John Lemke on 10 Feb 14
       
      This is also why they have a hard on for developing a quantum computer.
  • An increase in the security of the companies you buy your media from means a decrease in your own security. When your computer is designed to treat you as an untrusted party, you are at serious risk: anyone who can put malicious software on your computer has only to take advantage of your computer's intentional capacity to disguise its operation from you in order to make it much harder for you to know when and how you've been compromised.
  • The DMCA's injunction against publishing weaknesses in DRM means that its vulnerabilities remain unpatched for longer than in comparable systems that are not covered by the DMCA. That means that any system with DRM will on average be more dangerous for its users than one without DRM.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • For example, in 2005, Sony-BMG music shipped a DRM called the "Sony Rootkit" on 51m audio CDs. When one of these CDs was inserted into a PC, it automatically and undetectably changed the operating system so that it could no longer see files or programs that started with "$SYS$." The rootkit infected millions of computers, including over 200,000 US military and government networks, before its existence became public. However, various large and respected security organisations say they knew about the Sony Rootkit months before the disclosure, but did not publish because they feared punishment under the DMCA. Meanwhile, virus-writers immediately began renaming their programs to begin with $SYS$, because these files would be invisible to virus-checkers if they landed on a computer that had been compromised by Sony.
    • John Lemke
      John Lemke on 10 Feb 14
       
      How the Sony DRM created serious security issues.  It should also be considered a violation of our civil rights.  Who the hell gave Sony permission to modify my OS!  Furthermore why didn't the OS companies sue Sony?  Likely because they are in bed together.
  • If I was a canny entrepreneur with a high appetite for risk -- and a reasonable war-chest for litigation – I would be thinking very seriously about how to build a technology that adds legal features to a DRM-enfeebled system (say, Itunes/Netflix/Amazon video), features that all my competitors are too cowardly to contemplate. The potential market for devices that do legal things that people want to do is titanic, and a judgment that went the right way on this would eliminate a serious existential threat to computer security, which, these days, is a synonym for security itself.And once anti-circumvention is a dead letter in America, it can't survive long in the rest of the world. For one thing, a product like a notional Itunes/Amazon/Netflix video unlocker would leak across national borders very easily, making non-US bans demonstrably pointless. For another, most countries that have anti-circumvention on the books got there due to pressure from the US Trade Representative; if the US drops anti-circumvention, the trading partners it armed-twisted into the same position won't be far behind.I've talked to some lawyers who are intimate with all the relevant cases and none of them told me it was a lost cause (on the other hand, none of them said it was a sure thing, either). It's a risky proposition, but something must be done. You see, contrary to what the judge in Reimerdes said in 2000, this has nothing to do with whether information is free or not – it's all about whether people are free.
  • The DMCA is a long and complex instrument, but what I'm talking about here is section 1201: the notorious "anti-circumvention" provisions. They make it illegal to circumvent an "effective means of access control" that restricts a copyrighted work. The companies that make DRM and the courts have interpreted this very broadly, enjoining people from publishing information about vulnerabilities in DRM, from publishing the secret keys hidden in the DRM, from publishing instructions for getting around the DRM – basically, anything that could conceivably give aid and comfort to someone who wanted to do something that the manufacturer or the copyright holder forbade.
  • Significantly, in 2000, a US appeals court found (in Universal City Studios, Inc v Reimerdes) that breaking DRM was illegal, even if you were trying to do something that would otherwise be legal. In other words, if your ebook has a restriction that stops you reading it on Wednesdays, you can't break that restriction, even if it would be otherwise legal to read the book on Wednesdays.
John Lemke

9 Irresistible Incentives That'll Grow Your Email List Like Crazy - 0 views

boostblogtraffic.com/email-list-incentives

2014 email list traffic blog marketing

shared by John Lemke on 10 Apr 14 - No Cached
  • Unless they see the value of joining your list, they simply won’t invest any of those valuable minutes in you and your blog.
  • Do something for me and I’ll do something for you. In this case, the bribe is “give me your email address and I’ll give you something that isn’t freely available on my blog.”
  • Minimum requirements: Useful and engaging content, whether unique to the bribe or already published on your blog, that you can easily break into pieces. On the technical side, you’ll need an email newsletter service (e.g. Mailchimp, AWeber (aff), etc.) with an autoresponder feature ($10-20/month).
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • Minimum requirements: A word processor like Microsoft Word, Apple Pages or OpenOffice Writer is sufficient for creating a simple cheat sheet, but for a more sophisticated end product, you might require a desktop publishing package such as Adobe InDesign, Microsoft Publisher, or QuarkXPress. Alternatively, you can use a cheat sheet tool like Cheatography to generate cheat sheets based on a default template.
  • Minimum requirements: Your chosen word processor is enough to create a basic template, but to make it even more visually appealing, consider using some simple design elements such as colors, backgrounds and borders. If the template is meant to be printed, you can convert your .docx or .pages file into a downloadable PDF for your readers’ convenience.
John Lemke

A Useful Reminder About 'An' - 0 views

www.dailywritingtips.com/a-useful-reminder-about-an

WriteLink writing tips grammar an a rule

shared by John Lemke on 28 Aug 14 - No Cached
  • In modern usage, the form a is used in front of words that begin with a consonant sound; an is used in front of words that begin with a vowel sound.
  • John Lemke on 28 Aug 14
     
    I have seen the examples of misuse more often than I would care to admit.  Just this morning I was debating whether it should be "a Ottawa teen" or "an Ottawa teen" because my spelling and grammar checker told me right was wrong.  This article focuses on the confusion caused by "u".
John Lemke

So, How DO You Promote a Blog Post, Anyway? - 0 views

www.makealivingwriting.com/how-to-promote-a-blog-post

2014 WriteLink writing freelance copywriting bloggin promoting post blog

shared by John Lemke on 12 May 14 - No Cached
  • Comment on their posts.
  • If you want to build a blog, the reality is that Twitter is one of the most important platforms for sharing, probably followed by Google+, at this point. If you’re in a home/food/how-to niche, Pinterest may be important to you as well. If Facebook seems like a place people talk about your topic a lot, it might be useful, too.
  • There are plenty of tools out there — among the most popular are AddtoAny, ShareThis, and Sharebar (which is what I’m currently using).
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • Reverse-engineer your social-media success by noticing what sorts of posts get shared a lot in your niche, and writing something along those lines.
  • the key ingredient: Write a strong headline
  • Use hashtags
  • Use a scheduler
  • Don’t just keep retweeting your headline and link. Instead, vary what you say.
  • Be sure you share other things inbetween the repetitions of your new post. Do some scanning, find some interesting stuff, and lace it into your schedule as well, so you don’t start looking like an obnoxious salesman and continue to appear to be putting out useful, varied info.
John Lemke

New, inexpensive production materials boost promise of hydrogen fuel (Feb. 21, 2014) - 0 views

www.news.wisc.edu/22583

2014 production hydrogen fuel LL-Pub

shared by John Lemke on 26 Feb 14 - No Cached
  • The trouble with solar fuel production is the cost of producing the sun-capturing semiconductors and the catalysts to generate fuel. The most efficient materials are far too expensive to produce fuel at a price that can compete with gasoline.
  • "In order to make commercially viable devices for solar fuel production, the material and the processing costs should be reduced significantly while achieving a high solar-to-fuel conversion efficiency," says
  • Choi and postdoctoral researcher Tae Woo Kim combined cheap, oxide-based materials to split water into hydrogen and oxygen gases using solar energy with a solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of 1.7 percent, the highest reported for any oxide-based photoelectrode system.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • "Without fancy equipment, high temperature or high pressure, we made a nanoporous semiconductor of very tiny particles that have a high surface area," says Choi, whose work is supported by the National Science Foundation. "More surface area means more contact area with water, and, therefore, more efficient water splitting."
  • "Since no one catalyst can make a good interface with both the semiconductor and the water that is our reactant, we choose to split that work into two parts," Choi says. "The iron oxide makes a good junction with bismuth vanadate, and the nickel oxide makes a good catalytic interface with water. So we use them together." The dual-layer catalyst design enabled simultaneous optimization of semiconductor-catalyst junction and catalyst-water junction.
  • In a study published last week in the journal Science, Choi and postdoctoral researcher Tae Woo Kim combined cheap, oxide-based materials to split water into hydrogen and oxygen gases using solar energy with a solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of 1.7 percent, the highest reported for any oxide-based photoelectrode system.
  • John Lemke on 26 Feb 14
     
    I am an advocate of switching to hydrogen for combustion engines.  One of the best reasons is that combustion produces water.  Furthermore, it is much safer than most people believe.  (Your car is not going to turn into the Hindenburg.) In Ben Bova's Book "Break Throughs" he talked of huge floating solar powered hydrogen producing plants.  In Room's "The Hype About Hydrogen" he painfully points out that H2 production is still not cost effective enough to complete with Gasoline.  That said, research like this leaves us hope for the future.
John Lemke

» Writing Jobs from TextMaster.com (Full Review) : Freedom With Writing - 0 views

www.freedomwithwriting.com/...rom-textmaster-com-full-review

2014 writing jobs review textmaster freedomwithwriting.com copywriting freelance

shared by John Lemke on 26 Jan 14 - No Cached
  • TextMaster.com is an interesting little site that is fairly new but already has a reputation for being a good way to get started as a freelance writer. They make the claim that they are writer centered and by all accounts are fair and honest.
  • To become a member of the site, you simply sign up and verify your email address. Then you can go and explore the site.
  • There are 3 categories on TextMaster that will be of immediate interest to you: Copywriter, Translator, and Proofreader. These are the 3 areas that you can apply to for work.
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • You can choose up to 7 interest categories and then select a star rating based on your expertise in the area. Because your list of available jobs is based on this list, you might want to tweak it to get the best search results. It’s not a long list and the categories are fairly standard with one exception: There is a separate are for the sensitive topics of religion and pornography.
  • There are two methods of finding a job on this site: Look for one and wait for one to come to you.
  • there is no direct client to writer communication which almost always increases the issues with editing.
  • there is the warning that if a writer has a lot of requests for rewrites or changes their status may be downgraded and eventually suspended.
  • There are several different levels of writers on this site and they are ranked in two different manners. Your initial level after submitting your sample is going to be Bronze. This means that you have written less than 10,000 words. The more words you write, the higher your level is going to be. The levels are Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond, and Platinum.
  • Basic, Standard or Expert. So if you do well on your sample then you might enter the site as a Bronze Standard. That would mean that your initial pay rate is 3.9 cents per word. It sounds low but you can move up quickly. If you do well you will be rated again and if you are granted the expert level then you get a bump to $0.10 a word. You can eventually make more than $0.15 per word.
  • payment threshold of $70
John Lemke

» "Is there really writing work out there?" : Freedom With Writing - 0 views

www.freedomwithwriting.com/...-really-writing-work-out-there

2014 writing freelance copywriting reference WriteLink

shared by John Lemke on 10 Jan 14 - No Cached
  • How, then, do writing opportunities work? To be paid for writing, you need to look for a person with two characteristics: They’ve got money to spare. They’re looking for writers. This could be: A magazine editor who is looking for feature articles. An aristocrat or multi-billionaire who wants to support the career of an aspiring artist. A blogger who makes money from advertisements, or from selling information products, but is too busy to do all their blogging themselves. A book publisher who is looking for the next Da Vinci Code or Harry Potter. A business owner who needs help from a writer to promote their business. Do you see where this is going? There are writing opportunities out there, if you know where to look, and if you know the right people.
  • First, the more money a potential client has, the more they’ll be willing to pay you. Bloggers and content creators don’t typically earn much money from advertising. That’s why revenue sharing sites, which share advertising revenue with writers in exchange for content, often pay a relatively low rate. Magazine editors and book publishers are somewhere in the middle. They pay reasonably well, but they’re looking for extremely high quality, so you’ve got to be real good to get their attention. Business owners who have a steady income usually pay the most generous fees to writers. Businesses have a budget for marketing, so they’ve got cash to splash.
John Lemke

» How to Get Paid as an "Elite" Writer with iWriter : Freedom With Writing - 0 views

www.freedomwithwriting.com/...s-an-elite-writer-with-iwriter

2013 copywriting review freelance gigs writer iWriter

shared by John Lemke on 18 Dec 13 - No Cached
  • iWriter is perfect for both the beginning and the established writer that wants to add another writing site to their list.
  • The range of these topics is considerably greater than most writing sites and includes pretty much anything you would want to write about and probably a few things you never considered.
  • Unlike many sites, there is no article submission required for approval. Don’t let this throw you and make you think less of this site. The site simply uses other methods to get and keep quality writers. This is great because you can get started immediately instead of waiting for an editor to approve your work.
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • You can select the type of writings you want to do. Your choices are articles, ebooks and rewrites.
  • A rather odd note is that the writing block area specifically tells you not to copy and paste from other software into the block. However the FAQ suggests doing so. I recommend the copy and paste method simply because if there is a glitch during submission then there is little chance of recovery and you would need to start over. As an alternate, you can copy and past your work from the writing block into your word processor.
  • Essentially, you have to write at least 30 articles and have a rating of 4 stars to move to the Premium level. Once you hit 4.6 stars you move into the Elite tier. The only ratings that count are those from clients, iWriter only counts your articles. Because of this it’s important to do a good job for the clients and it’s also important to pay attention to the types of clients that you choose. Clients that reject often and are overly demanding may not be worth the effort.
  • Payment is made once your account reaches the minimum of $20 and is paid to your Paypal account.
  • Set up notifications for the topics that interest you
  • Get up early on Monday. Monday is when many new articles are added to the system.
  • Take many small articles at first.
  • John Lemke on 18 Dec 13
     
    This one looks very promising.
John Lemke

Writer Unboxed » A 'Logic Model' for Author Success - 0 views

writerunboxed.com/...logic-model-for-author-success

2014 writer model author WriteLink copywriting freelance tips marketing management GTD

shared by John Lemke on 14 Apr 14 - No Cached
  • in this age of the “writer as an entrepreneur” responsible for a growing share of the work required to not only create but also sell a book, adding management skills to our repertoire of abilities is not at all a bad idea.
  • as launch time approaches, authors get overwhelmed by thinking that they have to do “everything:” Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, ad campaigns, bookstore talks, conference panels, media articles, email newsletters, book clubs…you name it.
  • what our goals are beyond sales
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • Based on our mission and our definition of success, we can then work out a manageable set of steps to take in line with our specific interests and goals. We feel more in control and less anxious about having to “do it all.”
  • A more viable definition of success does have a quantitative element, but it doesn’t necessarily mean “number of copies sold or dollars earned.” It can mean other measurable outcomes such as landing a teaching job or a column in a respected publication.
John Lemke

» Increase Your Freelance Writing Income in 5 Days : Freedom With Writing - 0 views

www.freedomwithwriting.com/...lance-writing-income-in-5-days

freelance writing copywriting 2014 increase income tips tricks howto tutorial steps

shared by John Lemke on 30 Jan 14 - No Cached
  • Spend a few minutes setting up an email system that you can use to contact potential clients. The ideal system will let you contact many people at once, based on a custom list that you create.
  • you need to spend the time to create a custom pitch to that matches your potential clients very closely. Once that is done, set your email system to send the email out at 8am on Tuesday
  • look for potential network possibilities. This should only take about 5 minutes of your time. You want to check Meetup.com for both freelance writing networking as well as networking opportunities within your writing specialties. Check for local community meetings such as School board and city/county council meetings. All of these are great places to meet potential clients.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • oday is the day for cold calling. Most people don’t particularly enjoy this aspect of marketing but it is extremely valuable. Use the list you made on Monday and call each company.
  • By now you are getting some serious responses to your quick burst activities. So today you want to focus on social media. If you don’t already have Facebook and Twitter accounts for your freelance writing business, this is the time to set them up. You should also have a LinkedIn account. If not, set one of those up as well. Then go into the settings of LinkedIn and Twitter and set them up to update whenever you post to the associated Facebook page. Properly setting up your social media pages is extremely important; you are selling yourself. Make it look good.
  • PLEASE do not use your personal Facebook page for this. You do not want clients and potential clients to see the funny faces you made during your best friends wedding reception! Use your professional Facebook page for this and close your personal page to anyone but friends. If you are thinking it doesn’t matter, look at your page as though you were the client. That should do it.
  • Ok we are at the end of the week. You have set up an email marketing blitz, found and attended networking opportunities, written a letter to your local paper, cold called potential clients and set up your social media sites (and are updating them!) The only thing left is to update your Freelance Writing Website.
John Lemke

20 Rules for Writing So Crystal Clear Even Your Dumbest Relative Will Understand - 0 views

boostblogtraffic.com/crystal-clear-writing

2014 writing freelance copywriting tips list writer WriteLink

shared by John Lemke on 15 May 14 - No Cached
  • Spreading an idea means getting it from your brain into someone else’s. It means putting together the essential facts, the logical arguments and your insightful conclusions together in exactly the right way to recreate your brilliant idea in the mind of your reader.
  • Try to describe your audience with this simple formula: X who Y. For example: “Bloggers who want to get more traffic”.
  • If you can’t explain what your post is about in one simple, short sentence, it’s probably too complex or unfocused.
  • ...16 more annotations...
  • Make sure a clear connection exists between the opening of your post and the headline.
  • If a sentence, phrase or word is particularly important or significant, use bold or italics to add stress. But don’t overdo it.
  • Always be consistent with your terminology.
  • If a point is worth making, it’s worth making twice. Or even three times.
  • Only tell them what they need to know to follow your argument. Share the minimum you need to convey the desired message.
  • Clear examples help readers understand difficult concepts.
  • Concrete language describes something detectable by the senses. Something you can see, feel, hear, smell or taste. Abstract concepts are much harder to imagine.
  • When you provide specific detail in your writing, there’s less room for ambiguity. Your reader is far more likely to end up with the same idea in their head as you have in yours.
  • Clarity does not tolerate “might,” “may” or “possibly.” If you can’t say something with certainty, perhaps you shouldn’t be writing about it at all.
  • if you’re in the business of spreading ideas, you must make friends with bullets.
  • Bullets are a valuable tool, but you should never drop your reader into a list without first setting the scene.
  • make sure each point is recognizably related to the others.
  • If you were giving your reader a list of steps, you’d present them in the order they needed doing, right? Obviously. But if the items in your list aren’t steps, they often still have a natural order – even if you didn’t have one in mind when you wrote them.
  • always supply everything the reader needs to fully understand your points within the post itself.
  • You think you’re being generous but truthfully you’re being greedy. Greedy with your reader’s time, their attention, and their patience.
  • include a clear call-to-action. Tell your reader what you want them to do.
  • John Lemke on 15 May 14
     
    20 tips on writing with clarity.
John Lemke

Is Software a Mass Noun? - 0 views

www.dailywritingtips.com/is-software-a-mass-noun

writing 2014 WriteLink grammar mass noun noun

shared by John Lemke on 05 Mar 14 - No Cached
  • Abstract nouns such as courage, cowardice, intelligence, and happiness are mass nouns because they cannot be combined with an indefinite article. For example, one can’t speak of “a courage” or “a cowardice.” Mass nouns cannot be preceded by a numeral without specifying a unit of measurement: “a ton of coffee,” “a modicum of intelligence.”
  • John Lemke on 05 Mar 14
     
    A decent read on some types of nouns.
John Lemke

This One Tiny Habit Can Help You Become a More Productive (and Wealthier) Freelancer | ... - 0 views

www.therenegadewriter.com/...mini-habits-stephen-guise

2014 writing copywriting tips freelancer writer

shared by John Lemke on 06 Apr 14 - No Cached
  • “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Aristotle
  • Not only did his book confirm for me that the best way to create a positive change is through small acts repeated daily, but the book was exceptionally well written and researched — impressive in that the author is not a professional writer — and so applicable to the many writers I meet who struggle with getting query letters out the door or writing big projects like books and novels.
  • There are two kinds of motivation. The first type is having a reason for doing something. My motivation for exercise is to look and feel healthy. My motivation for doing this interview is that you asked me to do it and I want to spread the word about mini habits. Unlike the next definition of motivation, your reason for doing things is generally very stable and changes very little over time. There’s also emotional motivation, which is rooted in enthusiasm and determines your willingness to take action in the moment (“This year I’m going to get in shape so I’m off to the gym!”). Most goal systems rely on this type of motivation; they’ll tell you that you need to find this motivation to succeed. The problem is that emotional motivation isn’t reliable or habit friendly.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • There’s a quote from Sun Tzu’s Art of War which sums up the Mini Habit system: “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.” By taking one small action a day—just one small behavior change—we start with a win. After that point, you’re free to do more.
  • John Lemke on 06 Apr 14
     
    The article talks about taking small steps to make a big difference.
John Lemke

Attention: You're Now a Storyteller - Get Used to It » SEO Copywriting - 0 views

www.seocopywriting.com/...youre-now-storyteller-get-used

2014 seo copywriting attention tips tricks howto writing content freelance

shared by John Lemke on 28 Jan 14 - No Cached
  • You have to go above and beyond your keyword list to get a reaction. There has to be a general theme – or story – that runs through the entirety of your marketing. People are getting the story in pieces from different platforms so it has to be consistent.
    • John Lemke
      John Lemke on 28 Jan 14
       
      Have things changed?  What happened to the not-so-old-but-old-as-the-Internet saying "Content is King"?  All Google did was bring it back to what great authors have been saying since the beginning of stories.
  • You’re a storyteller now – whether you like it or not.
  • The “just the facts” approach to your website may cover all of the bullet points you need covered, but it’s not engaging enough to keep people around.
    • John Lemke
      John Lemke on 28 Jan 14
       
      This means finding your voice.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • Your role is to sell your products or services – but in order to do that you have to engage and encourage your audience. Your content can’t read like you’re in it for the sale. Your job is to be an advocate for your audience. You’re there to help. Learn how to engage on each platform you’re using for marketing, and then be present as a helpful, encouraging voice to guide your audience to the right decision.
  • Unlike the early days of SEO copywriting, you can’t keyword stuff and get great results. You can’t even rely on customers to visit your website before they make a decision about company.  They are connecting with you on Facebook, following you on Twitter or reading a landing page.
John Lemke

» Earn $100 a Day With Textbroker : Freedom With Writing - 0 views

www.freedomwithwriting.com/...earn-100-a-day-with-textbroker

2013 copywriting list review writing freelance gigs

shared by John Lemke on 18 Dec 13 - No Cached
  • Textbroker makes it possible to not only claim assignments from the job board but to also set your own price for private clients that contact you through the system. This is a great system that allows you to make more money from repeat clients.
  • Once you sign up you can apply for writing privileges. This is a standard writing sample based on a topic that they choose. It’s important to write this as though your salary depended on it because it does; your sample will be rated and the better the rating, the more you get paid per assignment.
  • This is where Textbroker outshines every other site: While you are looking over the assignment no one else can look at it or claim it. You have 10 minutes to make your decision. If you accept it then you can write it. You have 24 hours to write it after claiming it. If you don’t want to write it then it goes back into the assignment pool for someone else.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • The problem is that once you have accepted an article you have 24 hours to write it. While that is not a problem in and of itself, while you have that article selected you cannot select another article. You write one, submit it and then choose another one.
  • The writing platform at Textbroker is not great. There is really no way to sugarcoat it and make it seem better than it is. It’s basic, has no automatic save and is honestly one of the worst out there.
  • Every article you write is rated. Your rating is the average of the last 5 articles that you have written. If you have consistently high ratings, ask to be moved to a higher category. Your rating can also be lowered if your reviews are consistently poor. There is room to move at Textbroker.
  • John Lemke on 18 Dec 13
     
    A good review of the textbroker writing site
John Lemke

How To Become A Prolific Writer While Holding Down A Day Job | Positive Writer - 0 views

positivewriter.com/prolific-writer-day-job

2014 WriteLink freelance copywriting tips positive how to tip howto

shared by John Lemke on 03 Jul 14 - No Cached
  • The author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll (real name, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), continued to work day jobs throughout his life.
  • Other authors who held down day jobs throughout their writing careers include Bram Stoker, Philip Larkin, T.S. Eliot, and Virginia Woolf, among many others.
  • she wrote the bestselling book Interview With The Vampire while working her day job as an insurance claims examiner.
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • Anne Rice
  • Having a day job makes it imperative that I allocate time for writing. I insure I write at least 2 hours before I go to work come rain or shine. And I do this by following my rituals every morning without fail.
  • Regardless of what time I work (shift work), I wake up at least 3 hours prior and like clockwork, 1) I brush my teeth, 2) make breakfast, 3) sit down at my desk, 4) check emails, 5) check in on my social connections and finally 5) after stretching my legs for a moment, I write on cue for at least two hours.
  • ake note of the things you do consistently every day before and after work.
  • Create a space of time within your current daily rituals for writing every day. Make sure it’s at a time of day that works best for you.
  • Commit.
  • I highly recommend creating a writing sanctuary for yourself, somewhere you only go to write, and therefore, your mind will associate being there with writing.
  • John Lemke on 03 Jul 14
     
    A good PMA oriented article.
John Lemke

How to Stop the Psychodramas and Get Your Writing Done - 0 views

www.makealivingwriting.com/chodramas-and-get-your-writing

2014 writing WriteLink freelance copywriting tips

shared by John Lemke on 04 May 14 - No Cached
  • John Lemke on 04 May 14
     
    An article about how writers are often their own worst enemy. Almost every successful writer has "write daily" as rule number one. Those that let themselves fail have rules like "I need inspiration", "I write better in the morning", etc., I don't care if it is a journal, editorial, tweet or a FB post, if you wish to write, find a way to write daily.
John Lemke

How to Make Absolutely Sure Your Article Gets Killed - 0 views

www.makealivingwriting.com/ow-article-writing-gets-killed

2014 how to article WriteLink copywriting tips list

shared by John Lemke on 30 Mar 14 - No Cached
  • When your article assignment is to write 1,000 words and you turn in 2,000 words, it creates all kinds of problems for your editor. She’ll need to comb through your article and decide which 1,000 words she can cut. After all, she has only so much space, so she has to make it fit. Now, don’t get all wishy-washy on me and turn the extra material into a bonus sidebar. Just squish all those extra words in there and let your editor deal with it.
  • Avoid showing even a modicum of personality. If you want your article killed, it should look like it was written by a robot…a robot that doesn’t speak English.
  • When you get an assignment, your client will send you a little thing called an assignment letter, which details the specs of the assignment. Ignore this.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • If those don’t work out, over-rely on source-finding services like ProfNet and Help a Reporter Out, using whoever happens to respond — and whatever you do, do NOT check out the sources you get from there to make sure they’re credible.
  • When the editor asks you for backup on your facts, tell him you’re the backup. And whenever you get the chance, inject your opinion into the article.
John Lemke

Is U.S. a Noun? - 0 views

www.dailywritingtips.com/is-u-s-a-noun

2014 u s noun WriteLink writing tips grammar

shared by John Lemke on 11 Apr 14 - No Cached
  • The Chicago Manual of Style prescribes spelling out United States as a noun in running text and reserving US for the adjective form only. CMOS also prefers US without periods, to match the US postal codes like AR, MI, and WY.
  • The AP Stylebook recognizes U. S. as a noun as well as an adjective. It calls for periods when the U.S. appears in a running text, but US without periods in a headline.
  • When it comes to formal speaking and written text, however, reserve the abbreviation for adjectival use and write out United States as the noun.
  • John Lemke on 11 Apr 14
     
    I never really thought about it before but it seems that using "US" or "U.S."  as a noun is somewhat debated.
John Lemke

Why Failure IS an Option for Writers | Positive Writer - 0 views

positivewriter.com/why-failure

2014 writing WriteLink freelance copywriting tips writer

shared by John Lemke on 23 Jul 14 - No Cached
  • Stop making failure a negative thing and start writing. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes and start creating. And if you do mess up, do your best to learn from it. Trust me, you’ll be much better off.
  • What if your first book was sold to a publisher quickly, but then each of your next 5 books were turned down? That exact scenario happened to none other than, Danielle Steel, currently the best selling author alive and the fourth bestselling author of all time.
  • John Lemke on 23 Jul 14
     
    Very true for writers but also applies to life in general.  "Nothing beats a failure except a try" is one of my favorite sayings.
1 - 20 of 40 Next ›
Showing 20▼ items per page