This info comes courtesy of Agora’s John Forde in his Copywriter’s Roundtable zine.
Enjoy!
http://www.adage.com/news.cms?newsId=48355
Beth
P.S. You can find John’s Zine here: http://JackForde.com Awesome zine. Highly recommended.
P.P.S. We’ll get back to the queries tomorrow. 
Filbert Publishing receives between 20 – 30 queries per day. Every day. Nonstop.
We’re a very small publishing company, I’d hate to see how that number would increase if we released more books than we do.
Thing is, I’d guess that well over 99 percent of the queries we receive are totally and completely inappropriate for our company.
Sad, really.
You should see the staff when we receive a targeted query that pitches a project we’re equipped to handle. They dang near dance on the table and stumble over themselves to get that letter to me.
But that’s happened a total of one time this past year.
Wow.
So, what makes a great query?
That’s tomorrow’s topic.
Talk later,
Beth
Wow! Time’s slipping away so fast this week.
My dear son turns 17 today. He’s in France sitting atop Mount Blanc.
Dang. I wish I was with him.
But he’ll arrive home on the 31st.
In the mean time, I’m busy writing, managing discussion groups, and answering your questions.
So… in case you haven’t jumped into the fray yet, might I ask you: What’s your biggest freelance question?
You can submit your question to Filbert Publishing and get it answered in an upcoming issue of Writing Etc.
Do it today. We’ve got some doozys coming up. I can’t wait to dig into ‘em.
Here’s the link:
http://tinyurl.com/pesp8
Talk later,
Beth
Seems pharmaceutical companies are having a bit of trouble writing those annoying drug ads that inundate the airwaves during the evening news.
In fact, the makers of Viagra, in particular, are in a “tight” spot trying to weave their persuasive message around some pretty stringent FDA rules.
Hmmm… as a writer, how would you approach this project?
Here’s the link:
Talk later,
Beth
How sad.
If a pro like him can’t demand better freelance rates…
Ugh.
Talk later.
Beth
I ran across this today. Thought I’d share it with you.
http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/03/11/130021.php
Now get writing and submitting. After you read this, of course.
Enjoy!
Beth
This just in from Kimberly Teed at HomeBizLiving. She writes:
I usually don’t pass on scams … however … this is a creative twist in the PayPal password theft world…
I received a standard receipt for a PayPal payment, complete with a dispute link … of course, if I clicked the dispute link and signed-on, I would be giving the scammers my password … groan!
Below is a text version, the original message … I don’t send this list in HTML format …
Hope all your biz’s are doing fantastic!
—Kimberly Teed
Sure! I’ll host your site > www.teedhosting.com… and my homepage > http://www.kimberlyteed.com/
(Scam Paypal E-mail Follows:)
— PayPal
From: “PayPal” service@paypal.com
To: psupdate-owner@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Receipt of Your Payment
Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2006 07:27:05 +0600
———————————
Customer,
This email confirms that you have paid PHONEDEPOTUSA
(sales@phonedepotusa.com) $239.95 USDusing PayPal.
This credit card transaction will appear on your bill
as “PAYPAL PHONEDEPOT*”.
…………………………………
PayPal Shopping Cart Contents
Item Name:New MOTOROLA V3 PINK RAZR
RAZOR QUAD-BAND CELL PHONEQuantity:1Total:$219.95
USDCart Subtotal:$219.95 USDShipping Charge:$20.00
USDCart Total:$230.05
USD
…………………………………
Shipping Information
Shipping info:Bill Chang
202 N Magnolia Dr.
Saco, ME 04072
United StatesAddress
Status:Unconfirmed
………………………………….
If you haven’t authorized this charge, click the link
below to cancel the payment and geta full refound.
Dispute Transaction
(Beth again:)
What a scam, eh?
Please, please, please watch your e-mails and don’t fall for this. Many freelance writers use Paypal to process their payments.
I highly suggest you become hyper-vigilant in protecting all your online accounts, particularly Paypal, or find another way to receive your monies owed.
Talk later,
Beth
Jim Edwards is an absolute hoot. If you don’t smile when you watch this guy in action, you need to get your funny-bone checked out by the local doc.
I’ve been watching Jim’s writing career for a while now and recently ran across the following video. As I watched it, I immediately thought of you.
You see, Jim’s advice to marketers is most applicable to writers as well.
Just think, when you write your next query, you can avoid these five words and *poof* your query’s automatically stronger. Or suppose you’re selling your book online and avoid these five words… your sale’ll jump.
Check out this video. Absorb it. Enjoy it. Apply the information.
Here’s the link:
Talk later,
Beth
This company claims anyone can (potentially) become the “next JK Rowling” just by using their technology to print books.
Yeah right.
I don’t want to sound cynical, but sheesh.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,923-2073717,00.html
Never forget the writer’s mantra: money flows towards the writer, not away from them.
Unless you truly want to self publish and totally understand the process, never ever pay to get your book in print. Ever. Period.
Talk later,
Beth – still trudging towards my biggie deadlines.
I’ve got a ton of big-time deadlines this month.
Nothing like a deadline to get those creative juices flowing.
Well, maybe not.
Yesterday afternoon, I went through one of the driest writing slumps of my career.
I sat down to type and nothing. Ab-so-lute-ly NOTHING. Blank page. Blank mind. Blank everything.
Talk about terrifying.
I stared at the screen as pure panic rose in my throat, fingers silent on the keyboard.
How could this happen? Why me? Why now?
I sat back, stared at Lucy the Rat Terrier Wonder Dog and decided not to push it.
I snapped on her leash and headed outside. After I got home, I read a ton of recipe books deciding on what to make for supper. (I settled on Taco John’s take-out. That’s what happens when you forget to combine planning with action.)
This morning I read. And read. And read some more.
As I sat to write, words began to flow.
That’s when I realized I’d been neglecting to “fill my cup.”
How can we writers expect words to flow when we don’t regularly “fill our cup” by reading at least as much as we write?
I’ve been disseminating this tid-bit of advice for years. I hate it when I forget to follow my own recommendations.
Now go forth… avoid my newbie mistake. Fill your cup.
Talk later,
Beth, who’s back to enjoying her writing (and reading) binge.
