New Blogs, New Focuses

January 21st, 2011

Thank you to everyone who has followed my blog, Confessions of a Keyword Concubine. After some consideration, I’ve decided to change my blog over to TypePad and to retitle it. Although I still write keyword articles from time to time, they are no longer my major source of income. My new blog is called Debra Stang: Freelance Writer and Social Worker. I hope you will visit me there.

As an offshoot of my editing and coaching business, I’ve also started a blog called Debra’s Writing Clinic. This blog is designed to provide writing tips and techniques for writers who are just beginning their careers.

Enjoy, and thanks for being loyal readers.

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New Year’s Resolutions? Bah! Humbug!

January 7th, 2011

Wow, the first week in January is already over. Normally, I would be spending tonight ruefully looking back over all those well-intended resolutions I’ve spent the last seven days smashing to smithereens. My constant resolves to diet, for instance, usually don’t last much past the champagne served at 12:01. My vows to be a more literate reader are obliterated by the newest endorsements from People magazine. And we won’t even talk about how many times I’ve promised to be a better bookkeeper, a more reliable blogger, and a more productive writer.

The thing is, New Year’s resolutions aren’t inspiring, they’re damned depressing. To use a phrase popularized by pop psychology, when we make them, we’re “shoulding” all over ourselves.

So instead of spending tonight wallowing in regret with my head in my hands, I’m going to try something new. I’m going to look back at the last year and celebrate three accomplishments I’m especially proud of. Then I’m going to make some plans. Plans are fun things. They don’t shame us, they excite us. For instance, do you “resolve” to go on vacation? Of course not! You plan to do so. Do you resolve to have dinner and a movie with your best friend? Uh-uh. That’s another plan. It’s something to look forward to, something you’re motivated to bring about.

Five Biggest Accomplishments of 2010

1. Diversification. As you can tell from the title of this blog, I cut my teeth doing keyword writing. I still do keyword writing. In fact, I just turned in an article to Demand Media tonight. But I have expanded my career. I’m ghostwriting two books now, and editing another two. I’m also working on a chapbook about my experiences as a hospice social worker, editing the Alliance of Hope blog for suicide survivors, and even coaching beginning writers. I’m doing more with my writing now than I ever have before, and I’m loving every moment of it.

2. Income. I made money as a writer this year. Not just pocket change, either. Writing was a significant part of my income this year. I’m not really looking forward to Uncle Sam finding out about that in April, but I am proud that I can sustain myself doing freelance work.

3. Advertising. This year, for the first time in my writing career, I learned how to go out and get business. I re-worded my website so it was more SEO-friendly, created business cards, and even had some sticky notepads made up to give to my best clients. I advertised on Facebook, in local classifieds, and in the Yellow Pages. I joined professional organizations. And, slowly, the queries started coming in. Not all of them panned out, but at least people were interested enough to ask.

Plans

Now for my plans. Over the next year, I plan to:

1. Finish my chapbook on hospice clients and their pets and start looking for a publisher.
2. Apply for at least three new writing gigs every week.
3. Connect with at least five other freelance writers, either locally or over the Internet.
4. Write at least ten short stories.
5. Update my blog at least twice a week.

I’ve got a feeling 2011 is going to be lots of fun!

Current Projects:

How to Set Therapeutic Goals

Independent Living Vs. Assisted Living

Book Review – Mary Tudor by Anna Whitelock

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TMI! What Your Client Doesn’t Need (or Want) to Know

December 19th, 2010

A few days ago, I went to see one of my home patients in my capacity as a hospice social worker. The patient is bedbound, and her husband has hired a friend of the family to care for her. When I got there, however, the friend wasn’t providing care for my client at all. Instead, she was on the phone with her boyfriend. The conversation lasted almost half an hour. Nor did she resume her duties when she finally disconnected the call. Instead, she went to my client’s husband and complained about how mean her boyfriend was to her and how he might go to jail anyway if he didn’t scrape together enough money to hire a lawyer. All of that left my client’s husband shaken and upset. It was way too much information, or as my nieces and nephews would text, “OMG TMI!”

There’s a fine line between being honest with a client, which is good, and dragging him or her into your problems, which is completely inappropriate. Clients hire me to make their lives easier. They want me to coach and mentor them, or to edit their manuscripts, or to write their materials. They don’t want to know about my relationship troubles or any other personal crises I may be facing. They don’t need the details of my stomach bug or even my appendectomy. They have their own problems; they don’t need mine.

Very occasionally, however, something going on in my personal life may cause me to miss a deadline or otherwise interfere with my writing. I try to handle these situations carefully so that my clients know what to expect from me without feeling burdened by my problems. Here are some of the most common situations that come up and how I have dealt with them in the past.

Computer Malfunction. Last week, I lost my connection to the Internet for three days. My Internet provider determined the problem was the router and replaced it for me. Problem solved. I was honest with clients about this glitch, emphasizing that the problem had been solved and, since I now had new equipment, was unlikely to reoccur. I’ve had hard drive crashes in the past, but since I back up my work and keep an extra copy of my current projects on my laptop, I’ve never had the crash interfere with a deadline. Although it was tempting to gripe, I figured there was no reason for clients to know that it had happened at all.

Illness. When I was a kid and complained I was too sick to go to school, my father used to say, “If you’re so sick, die and prove it.” He was joking, but only partly. I learned early on that minor illnesses were no excuse for backing out on obligations. But some illnesses aren’t so minor. My emergency appendectomy a few years ago caused me to miss a few deadlines. I emailed the clients who had been affected and explained that I had undergone “unexpected minor surgery” but was well on the mend. I then promised to have their projects to them within the week. Only one client fired me, and it wasn’t one I was particularly sorry to be rid of. The rest were completely understanding.

Vacation/Leave of Absence. Contrary to what some of my clients may want to believe, I don’t work 24/7. Doing so isn’t in their best interests or in mine. If I’ve planned a vacation, I make sure I schedule my deadlines around it. Then I send all my active clients an email explaining that I’ll be out of my office for a period of time, but that I’ll be checking my email at least once a day in case they need to get in touch with me. I also reassure them that their projects are still on track to be completed by the due date.

One of the first things I learned as a social worker was that my private life had no business sneaking into my work with clients. This lesson has also helped make me a more reliable writer and editor. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy friendly gossip and chat as much as anyone else. But I save that for my friends and treat my clients with the professionalism they deserve.

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When to Pass on a Project

December 9th, 2010

Nothing in my writing business thrills me as much as coming home from my day job and finding a “Hire Debra” query in my mailbox. I love the idea of a new opportunity, and I’m still new enough to the business of writing for private clients that I want to accommodate every request and take on every project that comes my way.

I’m starting to learn, however, that sometimes my response shouldn’t be, “Of course I can do that; I can start immediately.” Sometimes my response should be a firm, “No.”

Here are some of the top reasons I turn down projects:

1. The client expects me to work for free or for very, very little money. A close cousin to this is when the client tells me that we will share the huge cash payout after his/her book appears on Oprah or Dr. Phil. There are times when I donate whatever talent I may have to certain charities, but when I write for private clients, I expect to make a living wage. My rates are very competitive, bordering on inexpensive, and clients who don’t want to pay them are free to look elsewhere.

2. The project is out of my area of expertise and/or interest. I don’t mind doing some research to produce an article for a loyal client who’s in a pinch, but I tend to pass on longer projects if I’m unfamiliar with or completely uninterested in the subject. I know from experience that the resulting product won’t be something I’m proud of.

3. I don’t have time to do the project justice. When I first started taking on private clients, my instinct was to say yes to everything. Now that I’m off the ground and cruising at a comfortable altitude, I’ve found that I need to schedule my projects carefully so that I don’t overbook. Taking on too much work can lead to sleepless nights at best and missed deadlines at worst.

4. The client doesn’t have a firm grasp on the project. It might be 50,000 words, or it might be 150,000. It might be novel, and then again it might be a screenplay. I don’t want to be brought into the project until the client knows what he or she is doing and what he or she needs. I’m much more likely to take on a client who says, “I need you to copyedit a 75,000 word manuscript about Alzheimer’s disease” than I am a client who says, “I’d like to do something about Alzheimer’s and I need a ghostwriter.”

5. The client is nearly illiterate. If the original contact a client makes with me is full of grammar and spelling errors, I figure the manuscript or outline will be at least as bad if not worse. In these cases, the project is usually hopeless no matter what magic I work as a writer or editor.

6. The project has a high “ick factor.” Ick factor is a term I first heard used in home health. Frontline workers use it to warn other workers about clients who give off strange or creepy vibes (e.g., “Don’t go out there alone. He’s got a high ick factor.”). Sometimes, even if everything seems all right with a project, I get a strong sense that if I take it on, I’ll regret it. Every time I have taken a project against my intuition it has ended up costing me time, money, and endless frustration. I’ve learned that if my gut says “NO,” my mouth should do likewise.

Learning to politely turn down projects that, for whatever reason, are not my cup of tea has made my life as a freelance writer and editor much more enjoyable and stress free. The first few times I turned down projects, I worried because I was turning away an opportunity to make money, but I quickly learned that no amount of money is worth the misery of an unsalvageable manuscript. I also learned that, by keeping my schedule clear to work on viable projects with clients, I actually ended up making more money than when I accepted every piece of work that came my way.

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Get a Contract Before You Write the First Word

December 5th, 2010

When I was a teenager, I used to spend two weeks every summer working at my father’s law office while his secretary took a vacation. I typed letters, contracts, and powers of attorney by the boatload. At the time it all seemed like a lot of work when a firm handshake and a knowing look could just as easily have sealed the deal.

Of course, that was before I started writing professionally. One of my very first gigs was for a now-defunct advice website. My job was to answer questions about love and write articles about relationship issues. I was promised $1000 for a certain number of articles. I timidly asked about a contract. The editor (who also owned the company) said she’d “send one along when I have a chance” but encouraged me to get busy on the articles. I delivered the articles and waited. And waited. And waited some more.

Finally, I sent a nicely-worded e-mail asking the editor about my contract. She e-mailed me back that she’d been in the hospital, that her dog had needed surgery, and that she was doing major repairs on her home, but she said she would get around to it as soon as possible. Chastened, I waited some more.

Another month went by. I sent another politely-worded e-mail, this time asking about my money. She responded with another list of personal crises and reasons why she couldn’t possibly pay me right away.

By the fourth month, my e-mails were getting somewhat less politely worded. I told her I wasn’t producing another sentence until I got paid and had a signed contract in hand. That communication, she simply ignored.

I finally broke down and asked my father, the lawyer, for advice. He asked if I had kept the e-mails back and forth between me and the editor, and thank goodness, I had. He said they weren’t nearly as good as a contract would have been, but since they did lay out the terms of our arrangement–an offer and an acceptance–I could probably get away with using them to file in small claims court.

I e-mailed the editor and told her I intended to sue her.

She called me a heartless witch (actually, I think the word she used started with a “B”) and sent me back another volume of all the tragedies that had befallen her. I swear, the biblical Job lived a happier and more worry-free life than that woman!

I responded by saying that if I didn’t get my money in three days, I was suing. She Fed-Ex’d a $1000 check to me. I deposited it and–will wonders never cease–it didn’t bounce.

Two weeks later, the company went under. I understand that several writers working for that editor did not get paid a cent, and many had written a lot more than I had. I just got lucky.

But I tend to believe that luck, like lightning, does not strike twice. Now when I have a client who’s interested in working with me, I ask that age-old romantic question, “So, your contract or mine?” If they don’t have a contract, I fax or email one of my own.

If you’ve never written a contract before, don’t panic. Mine are nothing like the ten and twelve page nightmares I typed for my father all those years ago. My contracts simply state the work that is to be done, the price I am charging, and when and how the money is due. For my clients’ peace of mind, I also add a statement that I will hold any material or information I receive from them in confidence. For my own peace of mind, I add a statement that I don’t work on projects that promote or incite homophobia, racism, violence, or other criminal behavior.

And that’s all there is to it. Once they’ve signed the document by email, I’m satisfied that we’ve agreed on the terms and that I can begin my work with confidence.

If you’ve avoided using contracts because your client doesn’t supply them and you’re not confident in your ability to write your own, it’s time to face your fears…before you get seriously taken advantage of.

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Why I Don’t “Friend” Clients on Facebook

December 2nd, 2010

Uh-oh. Awkward. Normally I’m glad when my little Facebook friend icon is highlighted, but this time it’s a touchy situation. One of my writing clients wants to be my “friend.” Even a few months ago, I would have clicked “Confirm” without a second thought and been happy for the additional contact. That was before I lost a Facebook friend as well as a client.

To be quite honest, the client had never been my favorite person in the world. I knew his political views were pretty much the polar opposite of mine and that one could say they even bordered on the extreme. However, the articles I wrote for him were not political, and I’m a big believer in “each to his or her own.”

My client, unfortunately, didn’t feel that way. A few months ago, I “liked” and posted about a Facebook campaign to get people to wear purple in honor of gay students who had committed suicide after being mercilessly bullied. My client sent me a furious response that I was a “Communist Atheist Jew” and that he was deleting me from his contact list forever.

Did I miss him? Get real. After that little rant, I never would have written another word for him anyway.

But the whole thing made me start to think. Are the things I post on Facebook always appropriate for client’s eyes? What about the times when I’m frustrated with a project, or lamenting about not being able to go out and see the new Harry Potter movie because I’m on deadline? Any chance that might make the people who pay me to write for them and edit their work feel unappreciated?

And what about clients who know I’m on deadline because I’m writing for them? Are they going to be thrilled that, instead of finishing up their articles, I’m posting about the newest cute trick my oldest cat picked up? Probably not.

Finally, do I really want clients to know about my friends, my family, my favorite activities, my moments of utter stupidity, and all the other things I post about on Facebook? Not a chance.

So, what do I do when I get a friend request? I sweat, bite my fingernails, make a few false starts at the keyboard, and finally send an email that reads something like this: “Dear A., I got your request to be friends on Facebook, and I’m honored. Usually, however, I use the Facebook “friend” function to stay in touch with my family members and my very closest inner circle. After all, a woman’s got to have some place where she can let her hair down. I do, however, have a professional page on Facebook where you can reach me and follow my writing. I’d be honored to have you visit me there. Thanks! Debra.”

So far, no one has objected to receiving that message, and I’ve managed to keep my privacy more or less intact.

What are your feelings about this? Do you have clients as friends? And if so, has it ever gotten…well…complicated? Do tell!

Current Projects

Understanding and Preventing Dementia Wandering on Suite101

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New Projects Taking on Life

November 17th, 2010

Photo credit: cesstrelle

Have you ever had one of those months when everything just feels stagnant? The clients you expect to hear from don’t call. The freelance writing job boards are bleak. Your website is garnering two or three new hits per day, tops. That’s how the month of October was for me.

Then all of a sudden the calendar changed to November, and my inbox came alive with new projects and new opportunities.

First of all, I’m proud to announce that my article, 10 Tips for Making Money as a Keyword Writer, was published on WOW-Women on Writing. This is an especially important accomplishment for me, since I’ve been a fan of Women on Writing for years. They helped me when I was still taking baby steps in the freelance world, and it’s wonderful to feel like I have some wisdom to give back to their community.

My second project is a even closer to my heart. In May 2009, one of my best friends in the world committed suicide by taking an overdose of muscle relaxers. Stumbling around online in my grief, I found The Alliance of Hope for Suicide Survivors, and it has been a tremendous source of support and solace to me. Recently, I’ve agreed to take on the task of writing articles, editing, and scheduling posts for their blog. My goal is to update the blog three times a week, and so far I’m on schedule. But I have to say, for the first time in my life, I can truly sympathize with editors and their focus on those little things called deadlines.

Finally, I have two challenging new copyediting projects in hand and two more due to arrive by email this weekend. I’m thrilled and humbled that my writing career continues to gain momentum. What a great early holiday gift.

‘Til Later!

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Five Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Self-Published

November 10th, 2010

In 2003, I published my novel, Visiting Grandma, through Booklocker. Before I go a step further, I want to make it clear that this is not a rant against Booklocker. They were fair, helpful, and upfront about their fees and about what it meant to self-publish. The problem was that in my naivete, I didn’t listen to their good advice. I’m not sorry I self-published Visiting Grandma, but if I had it to do over again, there are some things I would do differently.

1. Not expect the book to sell itself
Back in 2003, I had this funny little idea that just putting a book on the market meant it would find an audience. All I had to do was sit back and wait for the sales to roll in. Of course, they never did.

2. Create a Pre-Publication Buzz
Okay, so nobody is going to be lining up at Border’s at midnight to buy my newly released book, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t have created a buzz about it. Since the book is about a gay teen who survives bullying and sexual abuse, I could have sent information about it to groups that support male sexual abuse survivors as well as groups for and in support of gay teens. I also could have written articles about the main topics for online content farms.

3. Promote Locally
Self-publishing may not have the same prestige as getting a contract with a big-name publisher, but it’s still a human interest story when a local artist makes good. I could have marketed Visiting Grandma to local bookstores, offered to donate a copy to the library and the Lesbian and Gay Community Center, and sent out press releases to local newspapers including the gay publications in town.

4. Promote Online
Believe it or not, I waited until four years after Visiting Grandma was published to establish my own website. Not only that, but aside from a couple of timid entries in young adult databases and one electronic press release, I did nothing else to promote my book on the Internet. When it first came out, I should have been spending hours every day making sure news about Visiting Grandma reached the audiences that would have found it most interesting.

5. Know When to Say When
Visiting Grandma is still available for sale on Booklocker. It’s only a few dollars per year to keep it listed, so I haven’t de-listed it. But I read it again recently, and while I stand by the writing, I have to admit some of the content has gotten stale. If the events described in the book happened today, my main character would be treated with a lot more compassion and understanding, and he would probably receive help a lot more quickly. It’s about time to take Visiting Grandma off the market, treat it as a valuable learning experience, and move on.

I don’t know if I’ll ever self-publish again, but if I do, I’ll be ready to market my book from the moment I know the publication date. I won’t be shy and cautious and expect the public to come looking for me. I’ll make it a point to go out and start looking for them! Will my sales improve dramatically? Maybe. Or maybe not. But at least I will have given my work a fighting chance.

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Why I Write for Demand Media

November 7th, 2010

I’ve finished with the work my clients wanted me to do for them this weekend, and I have some extra time before my hometown football team, the Kansas City Chiefs, kicks off. I log into my Demand Studios account, pick an article about the structure of the United States government, and start to write. The research is easy–I learned this stuff back in fourth grade. Ten minutes later, I submit the completed article. If it’s approved, it will make me $7.50.

I still have extra time, so I select another article, this one about the tips for appearing in a civil court, and pound that out as well. An acceptance will mean another $15.00. I research another article on grief counseling. As a hospice social worker, it’s a no-brainer for me, and the words flow–another $15.00 on acceptance.

Now it’s time for my football game to start, but if all my articles are accepted, and I’ve never had one rejected yet, I’ve made $37.50 in just over half an hour. Not bad for a sleepy Sunday afternoon.

Demand Media Controversy

If you talk to some writers, you’ll come away with the impression that Demand Media, formerly Demand Studios, is evil incarnate. I’ve heard many times how they take advantage of freelancers, how their content is mediocre at best, how they are lowering the standards for the entire online publishing industry, and how some of their titles are ridiculous.

Some of these charges are 100 percent true. Because of the way keywords and titles are generated, Demand Media does come up with some doozies. Those are the ones that smart writers don’t take.

It’s also true that some of their content is poorly written. I can’t control that. It’s a problem for Demand Media to address with individual authors and with their editors. All I can do is make sure that my content is well-written and informative.

Does Demand Media Take Advantage?

I remember a story I read once. A farmer was on his way home on a cold night when he saw a rattlesnake curled up on the ground. The snake was at the brink of freezing to death, and begged the farmer to take him to a fire where he could get warm. “But you are a venomous snake,” the farmer protested. “I can’t bring you to my hearth. You could bite one of my children.”

“Oh, kind sir, I swear I will do no such thing,” the snake said sweetly. “I only want to get warm and live to return to my family in the spring. Please have mercy.”

Reassured, the farmer tucked the snake into his pocket and continued home, where he placed the snake on the floor near the fire to warm him. The snake luxuriated in the heat and slowly uncoiled. Then the farmer’s youngest daughter reached out to pet the snake, and the snake delivered a vicious bite.

As the farmer clasped his dying daughter, he cried to the snake, “How could you? You promised me you wouldn’t hurt my family!”

And the snake, as it slithered away, hissed, “Don’t act so surprised. You knew what I was when you picked me up.”

That’s kind of how I feel about writing for content mills including Demand Media. Most of them are upfront about their policies and about the rate of pay they offer. They don’t deceive writers or make false promises. Like the farmer with the snake, I knew exactly what they were when I picked them up. It’s up to me to make decisions that ensure my time spent writing for them is profitable. If I spend three hours writing a $15.00 article, for instance, that’s not them taking advantage, it’s me making unwise choices about the best use of my time.

In conclusion, I’m not trying to defend Demand Media and some of their more objectionable practices. But before you make the decision to give them a pass based on what you’ve been told about them, give them a look. If you’re familiar with many of the topics and can discipline yourself to write to their very specific guidelines, they can be a good source of extra income when business is slow.

I’ve never regretted a moment of the time I’ve spent writing for them–and yes, I do use my real name.

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How Long Is Your To Do List?

November 3rd, 2010

I’m into the whole concept of time management, and I love “to do” lists. I always have at least three going at any given time. Things to be done at the office, things to be at home, and things to be done for my freelance writing.

Sometimes, however, my lists get me into trouble, and instead of encouraging me to accomplish more, they actually tempt me to procrastinate. My problem is that I tend to make my lists too long.

Instead of one article, why not write ten, or twenty? Instead of editing thirty pages, why not a hundred? I see that huge, multiple-page to do list, and although I haven’t done anything yet, I already feel tired and defeated. I end up crawling back into bed or picking up a novel, and end up doing nothing productive at all.

Anybody who has studied basic time management and goal setting can see where I screwed up. I set myself a goal that was a hundred percent measurable…but zero percent achievable. Why, my subconscious mind demands, waste time on an endeavor that is bound to end in failure? Wouldn’t I rather be watching a football game, or reading about intrigue in the court of Henry VIII?

I didn’t even realize I was self-sabotaging until I read My So-Called Freelance Life by Michelle Goodman. (Also check out Michelle’s blog, The Anti 9-to-5 Guide). Goodman writes about limiting her to do list to five items.

Yes, you read that right. Not fifty. Not twenty-five. Five. When I first read that piece of advice, I was skeptical. How could I possibly run a business just doing five things a day? It was impossible! But of course, what I was doing wasn’t working either, so I decided to give it a try.

The first night I sat down at my keyboard with five items on my to do list, I felt so incredibly liberated, I wanted to laugh. I wasn’t overwhelmed; I didn’t go into panic mode. I finished the five projects I had set for myself way before I had planned to stop working for the night, and actually had the time to polish off a couple of smaller tasks that had been bouncing around my desk for days. Better yet, I went to bed feeling like a success rather than like a slack-off or a failure.

The next night, I tried the five-item to do list again with similar results. Since then I’ve been hooked. Five tasks to do a night has made me a far happier and more productive writer. If your to do list feels overwhelming, try taking a blue pencil to it like I did. You, too, may discover that less is more.

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