To Blog or Not to Blog?

People blog for all sorts or reasons.

Firstly, there are the serious bloggers. These are the people that blog consistently every few days or even every day. These blogs, typically, have ads and the subject of the posts can be anything or it can be a specific subject. Most of these can generate good money for the blogger. Sometimes serious bloggers can be a rabid bunch.

I actually was in an argument once with one of these over the top bloggers who seemed to be angry that I had no ads. He really said, “how dare you. You are ruining blogging for the rest of us.” Like my writing career is the same as his.

There are the people who do not blog at all. Of those there are the people who do not blog and the ones who focus on Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn instead. Most of these people see no reason to blog and consider it a waste of time. Time they could use on ‘real’ writing. This may be right for them.

There are those who use a blog as another kind of tool. I fall into this category. Instead of blogging for income or not at all these are blogs that have a much tighter focus. In my case, it is as a marketing and readership tool.

Then there are blogs that are not about making money and the owners are not writers and have no in being one. These are the personal blogs. Each post is about everyday things and some are even like diaries. One post might be about a significant other and the next might be about mowing the grass. Many of these are about hopes, dreams, winning, and losing. Although, I would personally classify them as writers, in a way, since they are publishing material most of the people that do this type of blogging do it because they want to express themselves.

My personal feeling about blogs is this. One size does not fit all. If you are a writer, before starting one you should have a very clear understanding of what a blog is and what it is not. What makes a successful blog and what does not and so on. Do you want to blog for money? Should it be a broad subject like ‘business’ or ‘The best 4 wheeled amphibious off road vehicles made by ‘X’ between 1990 and 2000.” Believe me, there is a blog for that and there might be an app too.

How can a blog fit and be of benefit to your writing career? If it does fit, how does it benefit? Will a blog fit your career at all? Are your clients online or off? For me it is both but, mostly, offline. Are there other considerations? My blog is about the craft of writing and I use it as a marketing tool as well. It has links to much of my online work so it is a resume too.

I feel it is a mistake to encourage someone to blog if it may not be right for him or her. The opposite is true. Just do not go in blindly. Decide it is  ‘yes’ or ‘no’ first and plan it all out. If you do not know why you are there, your blog will be poor and you may even lose interest in it. Without planning, it could be a waste of time.

Conduct Unbecoming

Since the issue of lying writers is in the news I thought I would talk about it. Lying by a writer is part of a much larger issue-rights and plagiarism. These are just my thoughts. I invite your comments.

Plagiarism is, of course, the use of someone else’s words, thoughts or ideas as your own. Although this is not a crime (as of yet) it is a big no no. As our world becomes more and more technological the question of intellectual property rights, I feel, will become bigger and bigger.

But plagiarism is not the same as copy write infringement. Copy write infringement is using someone else’s stuff without their content while plagiarism is using someone else’s stuff as your own. There are always a number of legal cases about each everyday. With so much being online is has become easier, intentionally or not, to plagiarize. Just cut and paste. Many writers who have been accused of plagiarism claim to have done so unintentionally by not giving a proper citation or by missing a quote. That’s right. If you miss a quote (“ or ‘) it may be judged by some as plagiarism.

Unless it is a blatant cut and paste the judgment of plagiarism is very subjective and depends on who is doing it and in what context. Much like the lending industry (where I came from) those in journalism and academia are expected to police themselves. So, one editor may not feel mistaking ‘ for “ is a big deal and may think the writer just does not know how to use them correctly. But, for another editor it may be red alert and time to call the Gestapo. The arts is different where copying a master like Michelangelo or Bach is acceptable and encouraged. Often called “learning from the masters.’

I can not speak much for academia because I have no experience writing in an academic setting.

Can You Plagiarize Yourself

Sounds crazy I know. The answer to this depends on who you talk to and in what industry. Generally, self-plagiarism is not often found in the non-fiction or fiction world that I am in. I have heard it is a common issue is academia where a researcher will have to refer to an earlier work to explain a new understanding of it.The only reason I can think of outside academia is if there is a rights issue and a copy write issue with it. If your work has been published by X and you sold the rights to X. If X placed the work for copy write then you can plagiarize yourself plus that could be copy write infringement.

My Take

My advise on this subject is in one word ‘don’t.’ There should never be a question about where your work comes from. Having more citations than your think you need is always better. If you are not sure error on the side of caution. You never hear of someone getting into trouble over too many citations.

There will be future posts about copy write and rights issues. It is best to understand these things early one in a writing career so they do not become a problem later on.

Help I Am A Freelancer

This the first in a series of articles about my writing career, advise and some how to as well. Every freelancer is different. So, what I do may not work for you.

As you can see from the text to the right, most of my clients, but not all, are from the off line world. One of the first things I ever got paid to write was personal ad for someone. Not kidding. Many writers have blogs they make money from and write web content articles distributed over the internet. The pay comes from ads placed in the web page. Every freelancer should have a web site or a blog as a way of producing income or for marketing. Usually it is a combination of both. Blogs can be easily set up and are easy to monetize if your want to. But should you have one or both?

To Blog Or Not To Blog That Is The Question

It is a personal preference. I chose just one, this blog. I felt that to use both would be too much unnecessary work. Although, I do not choose to monetize this blog at the moment I can in the future so I have some flexibility. I will also be able to update this blog on a regular basis about being a freelancer. I feel, for me, a blog is a better for marketing.

The Brand Is You

I feel an important part of beginning to freelance is deciding how You and your business will look. The reason I set that in bold is this. As a freelancer it is not just you as the person doing the work but it is also you as a brand. If I ask you to name someone who writes horror books. Who come to mind first? Stephen King. So, Stephen King is the worker and the brand. If you think of talk show hosts one of the brands is Jay Leno. If you think of computers one of the brands is HP and so on all the way down to bathroom tissue.

A brand, yours or anything else, is what is presented to the world, the name and identity. A freelance career includes the actual work (what you do as a freelancer), marketing you as a brand, networking, some knowledge of the insurance industry, and some knowledge of intellectual property law.

Whats In a Name

So, what would my brand be called? It should be unique and identify with me. The first and best choice is always your name. My full name is Jan Avery Elkins. I could use something very different like John Smith or a combination. In searching my name (something everyone should do), I found a TV news presenter in Louisiana and another writer who writes Christian children’s books with the same name. Although they are both women, I do not want to be confused with them. So, Jan Elkins was out. How about an initial and the rest of my name like Joanne (J. K) Rowling. So, J. Avery Elkins it is.

There are lots of things someone can do as freelancer but if you choose to freelance as a writer consider what kind of writing. There is a lot to choose from. Everything you see with words there may be a need for a writer. Most people only think books and magazine articles but there are letters, scripts, speeches, the manual that comes with a new car, the pizza ad on your refrigerator the list is endless. But, don’t try to do all of them. Jack-of-all-trades master of none

Starting

I am online at home and I have time as I do not work elsewhere. But, if you can only be a part time freelancer that is OK too. Here is what I have done. This may work now but not later so I need to be flexible. I signed up at Face Book, Linkedin, joined several writers groups and created this blog. I printed business cards and wrote my elevator speech. The 30 second speech you give about your work when asked. Keep in mind this is all marketing.

You may also want to create another email address for your freelancing so personal stuff does not get mixed up with business.

I felt that higher end blogs did not have ads and instead of being like everyone else, I have left the ads off for now. They also get to be a bit much sometimes. Since the blog is new there are no comments so I disable all of them. As I get more and more traffic to this bog that may change in the future.

As I build my off line clients I still need to write so I signed up for Pay Pal. This is how almost every cent transfers online so you will need this. See, there is another brand.

Next I took a look at posting content. I went to Triond and The Yahoo Network . With these I can writing one post and it might be posted to several different sites at once. I looked at elance , examiner, vworker, and Text broker  but did not sign up yet. Each has pluses and minuses. I will study each and may sign up later.

Next, I studied about intellectual property rights and copyrights. That is for another post. So, that is where I am now.

Next, I would like to give you some tips on writing content online.

·         Quantity over quality

·         Include tags (keywords-words your would use to search for the article) and links (it is best to keep it under seven or so per article

·         Use a good title and use titles inside the article. Asking a question or a slight exaggeration is always good

·         Include images or video

·         Write for an uninformed audience but don’t insult peoples intelligence

Just two other tips.

·         If you comment on anything other than a Facebook post include a link to your blog.

·         Stay away from blog posts of the “latest experience” type. If you feel the need, make the post more of the “educational” variety. Like this one.

Beginning to work as a freelancer can be a bit scary. Where is my next paycheck coming? If my boss finds out what will she do (if you do this part time)? How do I figure out my taxes? I want to encourage you to keep going, to stick with it, and to follow this blog. My email address is at the right if you need anything.

The Dancing Men of the FBI

Current news items are not usually the fare on this blog but in this case, as a former investigator,  I could not resist. The title refers to the Adventure of the Dancing Men published in 1903 (set in 1890s) where Sherlock Holmes solves a case by cracking a code.

The FBI has had a murder cold case and for the first time they are asking the public for help.

The body of Ricky McCormick was found by Saint Louis, Missouri police on June 30, 1999 dumped in a field. The only clue left at the scene were two encrypted notes. There is a Wikipedia page about the case too.

Despite being worked on by the best Cryptanalysis professionals in the world the FBI remains stumped. The notes can be found here. The FBI is hoping a fresh set of eyes can crack this. Per the FBI is anyone has any ideas or any insight to write to:

FBI Laboratory
Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit
2501 Investigation Parkway
Quantico, VA 22135
Attn: Ricky McCormick Case

After a web search I found a number of posts and articles referring to the Zodiac killer. The Zodiac killer was a serial killer in the San Francisco area in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Since this is one killing several hundred miles away, unless there is other evidence, there is no reason to connect the two cases besides the notes.

At first glance the coded notes appear to be an alphabetical substitution where one letter is substituted for another. The best way to break this is to look at the frequency of the letters starting with ‘E.’ ‘E’ is the most common letter in English but that is making some assumptions.

That is assuming the decoded version is in English as opposed to some other language or dialect. Another assumption is that the decoded version is in any language at all. It could be just some incoherent ramblings of a nut. It also assumes the notes were placed there by the killer as part of the killing as opposed to being placed there, before or after, to throw the police off, which it certainly has done.

In my opinion the notes were placed there to confuse things. If we are supposed to think this was done by some Zodiac type of wacko where are the other bodies and the other notes? A killer like this gets pleasure from killing he or she (yes there are female serial killers- mostly men though) would not stop at just one. I feel this cases resolution will not be found in the notes but in McCormick himself and his life.

Riverside Blues for Bob Dylan fans

I just read Riverside Blues by writer and poet Casey Mensing. This book is a collection of short stories about all sorts of things from greed and crime to drug use and loss. Most have a sense of Bob Dylan like melancholy that makes you think about yourself and your life. I know that happened with me.

My first thought after reading a few of the stories was that the last one would tie them all together but after a few more I realized each story and the characters in them were to diverse for togetherness. Still, most of the stories, although short, are compelling reads and bring you in quickly and easily. I found myself being a bit disappointed when some of these stories, there is one about two drug dealers having to get rid of some bodies, just ended without a complete resolution. Sure the story was done but what happened after? Did the guy get caught by the cops? Or did a bigger fish get him?

But maybe this was the point. It made you want to read the next one. But maybe we are not supposed to know. Maybe the end comes from us after thinking about each one. What we think the end is-what we would like it to be instead of being told what it is. All in all this is a good read.

This book is available through Lambright Press at Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, and both the US and UK versions of Amazon.

New stuff

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New Blog

Please check out my last book. The link is to the right.