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Writing Etc. – March 1, 2005

ISSN: 1545-5580

Make Your Writing Sparkle. Write Killer Queries, Get Published.

Join the brightest, most ambitious, and talented group of writers on the ‘net.

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To subscr*ibe to Writing Etc. and receive the fr*e e-book, “Power Queries,” surf here:

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For easier reading and red hot links, surf to http://filbertpublishing.com/current.htm

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In This Issue:

Notes from Minnesota

Five Words That Can Crush Your Writing Career by Beth Ann Erickson

2005 Action Plan to Jumpstart Your Writing Career

Writing Markets

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This issue is sponsored by:

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Notes from Minnesota:

Greetings!

It’s fabulous to be back at work and able to see reasonably well. I even drove last night! In the dark. Without sunglasses! (For those of you who don’t know, one month ago, I underwent eye surgery.)

I just completed my one-month eye check and according to the doc, my right eye is fabulous. The left still struggles and we may have to tweak it next fall, but I’ve got two more months to heal before the final results are in.

So, I’m crossing my fingers.

Either way, I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to see. I doubt I’ll ever take my vision for granted again.

And to sit at the computer to write is sweeter than ever.

However our little Filbert Publishing encountered quite an exciting event last week. One that had the potential to cause irreparable damage. I share our experience so you… and your writing biz… will have the tools to effectively deal with this potentially devastating situation.

Enjoy your week, everyone!

Beth

P.S. To celebrate my ability to see again , we’re offering fr ee shipping on every order… this week only. Just use this handy-dandy coupon code as you check out: XSEUEB

P.S.S. Here’s our updated best seller list… be sure to pick up a copy of each of these titles. They’re awesome.

1.      Jumpstart Your Writing Career and Snag Paying Assignments by Beth Erickson http://filbertpublishing.com/jumpstart.htm

2.      Bob Bly’s Guide to Freelance Writing Success: How to Make $100,000 a Year as a Freelance Writer and Have The Time of Your Life Doing It. http://filbertpublishing.com/bob.htm

3.      Weekly Writes: Exercises in Creative Writing by Shery Ma Belle Arrieta http://filbertpublishing.com/Weekly.htm (You’ll get a ton of fr** writing/freelancing tools direct from Shery at http://WeeklyWrites.com when you order this title!)

4.      Timecross’d: A Love Story Out Of Time by Sean Thompson http://filbertpublishing.com/timecrossd.htm

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Five Words That Can Crush Your Writing Career by Beth Ann Erickson

As a writer, I have no doubt that you’re well acquainted with e-mail and its homely cousin, sp am.

Unfortunately, many of us (especially those of us living in rural areas) rely on e-mail to keep in touch with our clients, prospective clients, editors, publishers, and other writers.

This complex web of contacts will often become the backbone upon which a lot of your writing income will grow.

The very fact you’re reading this article is a testament to the power of e-mail. A group of us in Minnesota “had a dream” to pull writers from all over the world together so we could share ideas, chat together, and help each other succeed.

Little did any of us know that everything we’ve built since 2001 was about to get tested.

It all began on February 16 with a five-word post at a writer’s forum. Here’s the post:

“Filbert Publishing spa mmed me today.”

Totally oblivious to what was going on, we continued our daily tasks of writing, processing orders for Baker and Taylor, mailing galleys, and chatting over coffee breaks.

All heck hit the fan last Wednesday (February 23) when I sat down to read my favorite e-mag in the world and found the words, “Filbert Publishing accused of spa mming”.

Sigh. I know the penalties for spa mming are stiff… loss of ISP, huge fines… but the loss of credibility is probably what stung the worst. I knew this was something we couldn’t ignore.

Although the original poster has since retracted his statement (he was actually a very nice person) and the e-mag owner has published an update to her original claim (she was refreshingly wonderful to work with), we never would have achieved a satisfactory conclusion to this event if we hadn’t followed the following seven steps to resolve this situation.

I share these steps with you today so you’ll own the ammunition you need when (not if) you’re accused of sp amming. Here they are:

1. Do not… I repeat do NOT maintain your own e-mail list. We use Topica E-mail Publisher. If you’re low on funds, Topica offers free e-mail list hosting as well (so does Yahoo). These companies use a double-opt-in system assuring every single person on our list has not only subscribed but has answered a “confirmation e-mail” before their addy’s added. I cannot emphasize enough how important this first step is.
2. Don’t get angry. Before responding to any accusation, take a walk outside to remind yourself that there’s a very large world out there that isn’t in any way shape or form connected to the electronic world of the Internet. Remain calm, clear your mind. You never want to construct an e-mail when angry. Always assume anything you write will get posted on an Internet board somewhere. You never want to write anything you’ll regret later.
3. <>
4. Provide full contact information in every correspondence. You want your readers to be able to easily get in touch with you. Just hit “reply” and you can contact us. We also provide our full physical address at the bottom of every issue of Writing Etc.
5. <>
6. Now you’re ready to contact the person who disseminated the incorrect information… in our case, the e-zine owner. Armed with my information, I was able to send a coherent message outlining our su bscriber policies and proof of our anti-sp am stance. The e-zine owner was very kind and retracted the poster’s claim. She also printed an update in the next issue of her e-zine.
7. Finally, to further protect yourself, don’t assume that everything printed about you will be accurate. I was horrified to discover that even the biggest and best e-zines do not check facts before they publish potentially career-destroying information. Sad, but it’s a reality we live with. The e-zine owner said individual posters on her message board are legally responsible for what they say. She also said (I’m paraphrasing here) that since she merely reports the newest scuttlebutt on the board in her zine, she isn’t responsible for that content either. Under this scenario, the only way you can protect yourself from an unjust charge is to counter any inaccuracies with facts. But by then, you’re already dealing with some unpleasant damage to your reputation, e-zine, and company.

How do you do all this on a daily basis? Easy. Now more than ever, it’s important to be prepared. Keep accurate records. Don’t maintain your own e-mail list. Make uns ubscribing easy and painless for your su bscribers. And as much as I hate to recommend it, you may consider hiring a competent and honorable attorney for your team. But activate this member of your team only as a last, last, last resort. We didn’t need to proceed with this step because both the e-zine owner and original poster were so cooperative after we presented our evidence.

There are no villains in this story. The original poster merely made an inaccurate statement. Turns out he’s actually a very nice guy. The e-zine owner simply wants to help writers void sc ams. And little Filbert Publishing somehow found its way in the middle of it all.

Unfortunately the Internet has become a “guilty until proven innocent” environment where fact checking takes a back seat to sensationalism and innuendo. All it takes is one well-placed sentence to potentially and irreparably damage your credibility as a writer.

You literally can find yourself happily drinking a cola during coffee break one minute and frantically searching out records the next after discovering a five-word post about you. You just never know when it’s going to happen.

So always maintain accurate records. Remain fearless. And above all, keep writing.

But please help our profession maintain its integrity and believability… online and offline… by always checking your facts before you publish anything.

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Beth Ann Erickson is the publisher of Writing Etc; writer of hundreds of published articles; author of The Almach (http://filbertpublishing.com/Almach.htm), HeartSongs (http://filbertpublishing.com/heartsongs.htm) and two nonfiction titles including Jumpstart Your Writing Career (http://filbertpublishing.com/jumpstart.htm) and How to Get Happily Published Without Falling for Scams, Hooks, Lines, and Sinkers (http://filbertpublishing.com/happy.htm); and co-author of a 3 CD set with Master Copywriter Vicky Heron (http://filbertpublishing.com/copy.htm). You can contact her via http://filbertpublishing.com

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Master Copywriter Vicky Heron and Copywriter/Publisher Beth
Erickson prove that when you put two Copywriting Masterminds
together... powerful things happen and you get to reap the benefits!

Recently Vicky and Beth got together at the Filbert Publishing headquarters in Kandiyohi,
Minnesota to work on the new book they're co-creating when something far out happened...

You see, they were taping conversations to include in their book when they started getting
way off track. Suddenly they found themselves talking about copywriting, getting clients,
building their E-zines.  When they played the conversations back they discovered they had…

Click this link to read more:

http://filbertpublishing.com/copy.htm

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2005 Action Plan to Jumpstart Your Writing Career

This is probably one of the most important action plans you’ll ever take.

Carefully implement the steps I’ve outlined in the previous article so you can avoid the horrendous label of “spa mmer”.

It’s a sad commentary on life today when the free expression of ideas is hindered by unscrupulous individuals who take advantage of inexpensive e-mail delivery. It’s even more disappointing that our livelihoods can be threatened by someone’s off-handed remark on an Internet discussion board.

It’s even sadder that the journalistic ideal of “fact checking” has become obsolete in this fast paced world we call “the information superhighway”.

Good or bad, the Internet will probably play a big role in your life as a writer. My advice is to do everything you can to sp am proof your business. And I’d highly suggest you start today.

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Writing Markets

Conversely Magazine

http://www.conversely.com/Masth/submi.shtml

Marriage Partnership/Christianity Today

http://www.christianitytoday.com/marriage/features/info.html#writers

International Living

http://www.internationalliving.com/index.cfm?page=write4us

Travel and Leisure

http://www.travelandleisure.com/contact/index.cfm

Transitions Abroad

http://www.transitionsabroad.com/information/writers/writers.shtml

Northwest Travel

http://www.northwestmagazines.com/guidelin.html

Marco Polo

http://www.marcopolomagazine.com/writers/guidelines.asp

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We Recommend:

Writing For Dollars! The FREE ezine for writers featuring tips, tricks and ideas for selling what you write. Receive the FREE ebook, 83 WAYS TO MAKE MONEY WRITING when you subscribe. Email to subscribe@writingfordollars.com -*- http://www.WritingForDollars.com

WRITERS FIND MARKETS EASILY - Worldwide Freelance has a NEW fully-searchable Markets Database. Discover writing markets from North America, Europe, Australia and other places. It's free, so come and try it out here: http://www.worldwidefreelance.com

Instantly Download Jumpstart Your Writing Career and Snag Paying Assignments Here:

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Don’t Forget to pick up your copy of The Almach. Reviewers are calling it “Haunting,” and “A Great Read.” http://filbertpublishing.com/Almach.htm

E-Mag And Web Site Owners! Did you know that Filbert Publishing has an entire cache of articles you can use FREE. Copy and paste these articles straight into your web site or publication. Here’s the URL: http://filbertpublishing.com/articles.htm

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