Nettie Hartsock

Tom Chandler's Negotiating Tips

Tom Chandler has one of the best posts I've read on negotiating on writing gigs. And this is an excellent writing blog to read. Now for a polite southern gal the title seemed a bit racey, but after one Mint Julip all was good! Go and read it!

Writing - Feast or Famine

I'm a little tired of writers out there who are perpetuating fear of other writers taking away their opportunities. I'm an e-card carrying member of the Internet Press Guild and the Online News Association and in both cases, on both lists there is nothing but support for everyone's endeavors and tons of good "feasting" on new job opportunities.

Why is it that some folks in the writing biz tend to push the perspective that our jobs will some day dry up in the face of competition from sites like guru.com or elance.com? Let me be bold and state your writing jobs will not dry up unless you decide to literally stop writing!

Writing is for many of us a career and a great one, but the first rule of "Write Club" as I like to call it is that we all talk about "Write Club" and we all help one another expand our reach as writers and in our profession.

Sure it's not as fun as beating down other writers, making the writing opportunities seem scarcer than they really are, or being afraid that the next job will be your last. But be honest, is it all that fun to constantly write in fear?

My advice is to write with gusto. Network with gusto, always look ahead and not behind. Don't worry about what "other" writers are doing out there, don't wish their ink wells would dry up and don't disparage other writers simply trying to break in the market. If you do good work, you'll have more work. If you're a crummy writer, you won't have work.

Did you know that many times Kurt Vonnegut turned his amazing works of fiction over to his editor on tiny bar napkins scribbled with sections of his novels? He wrote because he could not but write.

That's a true writer. You be a true writer too. If you're like me, no matter what the type of writing job, there's something so fulfilling and exhilirating when that first key is struck and a letter appears on the screen that all the other junk fades away.

So don't worry about what other writers are doing, or if your writing gigs will go away because some "young'un" offers cheaper rates.

Stay in the flow of writing and you will be rewarded. Fear doesn't bring a reward, it just makes you get stuck.

Just keep writing, responding to opportunities and wishing other writers well and you'll be fine. The pen always "writes" itself as my Gramps used to say.

No Dog Eat Dog World

Do you really have to step on everyone else to succeed? The great news is that you don't. No one has to fall into the trap of "scarcity" vs. "abundance" as there is plenty of business and opportunity to go around.

In the freelance writing world the worst thing you can do is view everything as scarce, because it impacts how you interact with peers, how willing you are to partner with other creative folks and your writing craft itself.

In covering the Internet for over a decade as a freelance journalist I've marveled at how many opportunities are lost simply because folks are unwilling to move out of their comfort zone and open themselves up to new opportunities.

As a writer I've always lived by "pitching and swerving" to the next assignment and underlying that pitching and swerving is my full confidence that there will always be more assignments than I can tackle and interestingly there always is.

Take a good hard look at who you've been writing for and what the payoff is beyond the dollar amount. If it's keeping you from fully expressing your talents, then find other opportunities.

Here's a real world example:

Yesterday I just landed as a new PR client, a very well-known musician and am completely reinvigorated to tackle the PR side in the same way I would for a company, author or product. In many ways, the process is the same - getting the media the story, making your spokesperson available, being responsive and respectful to bloggers plus I get a free t-shirt and CD. (Cool!)

Make a commitment to write "outside the box" and you'll be surprised at the abundance that will follow.

I've Been Tagged

Geez, I've been tagged by a writer I greatly admire - Jonathan Kantor "The White Paper Pundit" so now I have to tell five things about me you most likely don't know and don't want to know.

1. I was a Junior Olympian equestrian rider and Prince Phillip gave me a trophy once.

2. My tuna casserole recipe won first place in the Texas State Fair in Dallas and I was in high school and at the time the Vice-President of Future Homemakers of America.

3. I have a very specific agreement with my husband that if someone kidnaps me and are holding me hostage in a library and are bringing me a Coke a day, he is to let them keep me for awhile so I can read in peace.

4. I'm writing a one woman show titled, "I'll Take the Husband and Two Kids with a **** on the Side to Go." (email me if you want to know the *** part)

5. I'm a proud graduate of Goddard College, an amazing college in Vermont where Phish, David Mamet and other luminaries went to school.

P.S. (yes, mom you can email me too if you realllllly want to know what the **** means.)

And in honor of Prince Phillip, the first person who emails me the correct answer to this question gets a $10 gift card to Starbucks. (Bribing blog readers is a new tradition I think I'll start. Creating controversy, hmm.)

In 1997, how did Philip refer to a Cambridge University car park attendant who failed to recognise him? Peasant! Bloody silly fool!
Turnip! Pillock!
And I'm tagging five other blogs = in no particular order: Jim Logan's blog Britton Manasco's blog Diva Marketing blog (one of my favorite bloggers!) Lori Richardson Bob Bly (whom I have no illusions and know does not most likely take time to play tag) - so I'm not even putting a link to his blog. But I gotta tell you he has a great post on LinkedIn this week and go and read it!

Resolution Mania

Resolutions are good, but how about just resolving to take one day at a time to write something new?

Are you afraid to finish that ebook? Do you find yourself floundering in a pile of paper with nary an idea?

Here's an idea...just start writing. Write like crazy. Make yourself write every day and eventually you'll find something good. Part of a writer's greatest challenge lies in avoiding procrastination, and whether it be business or otherwise, the more you procrastinate the less inspired you'll feel.

Here is one of my favorite New Year's quotes:

“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.” Edith Lovejoy Pierce

The Backseat Writer Opines

There are so many blogs out there but I was becoming a little like one of the cobbler's children (sans the shoes part) that I did not have my own on my Web site!

I write two blogs for allbusiness.com - one on Professional PR and the other is the Must Read Business Books blog.

I also write a blog for smallbusinessgurus.com - www.advanceyourmessage.com . So why in the heck would I want to pen another blog?

First, because blogs are an amazing way to personalize your work and your mission. Second, because I've got the blogging bug and the only way to cure it is to write!

This blog will feature writing tips, storytelling tips, reviews of books, interviews, treatises on business, copywriting, success and balance. Plus insights into PR and Blogs.

And I'll cover quite a bit on the topic of case studies as well as those are one of my favorite things!

Right now let me say the best book I've read on getting your pitch and branding pitch perfect this year is by Sam Horn and is titled, POP: Stand Out In Any Crowd. You know it has to be good if it's got a front cover blurb by Seth Godin.

Sam is also the author of TONGUE FU and I will be featuring excerpts on this blog from an interview I did with her for the Must Read Business Books blog.

So come back again and visit often! And in trying to get more visual on my blog and keep it personal, I'm putting in a beloved picture of myself, my sisters and a friend posing with my grandfather who is one of my heroes.