Fab Freelance Writing Ezine: Top Five Ways To Get Your Writing Read



Publisher: Angela Booth.

Copyright (c) 2007, Angela Booth. All Rights Reserved.

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http://www.fabfreelancewriting.com/blog/

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* Issue: 12

* Date: January 3, 2007

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Includes:



* Editorial: It's a brand new writing year

* Freelance Writing Tip Of The Week: Ways you can make money blogging

* Writing Resource: Audible.com - listen and learn

* Article: Top Five Ways To Get Your Writing Read

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** Coaching: Build Your Writing Career FAST **

I coach writers to improve their skills at copywriting, nonfiction and fiction. If you want to succeed as a writer, coaching can eliminate years of struggle. Contact me for personal coaching: I'll develop a program just for you. In your message, tell me a little about yourself and your writing goals. My guarantee: I'll refund your complete payment if you don't achieve the goals you set.

Get on the fast track to writing success at:

http:////For-Writers/forwriters.html

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[Editorial] It's a brand new writing year



Happy New Year to you, dear writer.

Here we are in a brand new year. I hope you had a relaxing break over the holidays, and that you've made a resolution to be successful in your freelancing career in 2007.

In addition I hope you've created a BUSINESS PLAN on a single sheet of paper, and stuck it somewhere you can see it every day. I wrote about how to "do" your goals on the blog -

http://www.fabfreelancewriting.com/blog/2006/12/29/how-to-do-your-goals-in-2007/

(You may need to copy and paste the URL into your browser.)

This week we discuss the "Top Five Ways To Get Your Writing Read". These tips apply to everything you write. Well, maybe not to your shopping list. :-) But they certainly apply to email messages to editors, to clients, and to colleagues.

A tip about emails that you send

While you should be interesting, and original etc, please ensure that you make your email subject lines clear. There's a horrible tendency to be cute in email subject lines. However, if you send messages that sound like sp*m: "Hey - hope you're having a great day!", or "You must read this" and so on, no one will ever read your message. On its journey through the various email gateways, your message will trip a sp*m filter and will vanish forever.

So always make email messages 100 per cent clear and to the point. For example: "Ray Jones' health proposal for _______ magazine", or "Update on your new Web site project". In addition, the more identifying contact details you can add to your email message, the more likely it is that it will actually get to where you want it to go.

Have a great week.

Affectionately

Angela

P.S. Because I've been blogging for five years, I tend to forget that blogging is a new concept for many writers. So next week's article will be:
"Get Known as a Freelancer - Because People Buy From People They Know". I hope the article will answer many of the "why, oh WHY should I blog?" questions that I get from freelancers. :-)

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** Struggling To Find Writing Gigs? **

Freelance writers just don't realize how much money there is to be made by writing for the Web: many writers use the Web as a research tool, they don't see the Web as a mass of millions of markets. They don't realize that Web sites are STARVED for good writers.

Want to get paid REAL money to write? How does $120 an hour sound to you? Discover "Writing For The Web" at:

http://www.//Web_Write/Web_write.html


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* Freelance Writing Tip Of The Week: Ways you can make money blogging

Although blogging is becoming much more mainstream than it was when I began blogging in 2001, it's an activity that's still not widely understood among writers.

Here are some resources to help you to make money blogging:

* Steve Pavlina covers some of the paid-blogging landscape in "How to Make Money From Your Blog" at
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/05/how-to-make-money-from-your-blog/

* I cover blogging for writing success in the ebook "Writing Success with Blogs, by Angela Booth" at

http:////page11/ebooks.html

* I cover freelance and entrepreneurial blogging in the ebook "Blogging For Dollars" at
http://www.//Blog/blogging.html
Freelance blogging is blogging for pay - many businesses hire bloggers to maintain blogs. Entrepreneurial blogging is developing a business based on a blog, or blogs.

Can YOU make money blogging? Yes, you can. Anyone can. When you get into the blogosphere (the online community of bloggers) you'll encounter hundreds of people who've left their boring, under-paid jobs to blog fulltime. And of course, you'll meet hundreds of writers who blog for companies, sometimes as ghostwriters, but also under their own names.


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* Writing Resource: Audible.com - listen and learn



Audible.com at
http://www.audible.com is one of my favourite Web sites for audiobooks. Listening is a painless way of learning. I listen to audiobooks while I'm driving, exercising, and relaxing.

As writers, we need to know a little about everything, as well as a lot about our own areas of specialization. Audiobooks are a way of keeping up with the latest information and ideas painlessly. Of course it's not all work - audiobooks can entertain you, too. My favorite series of audiobooks are the classic British comedies Blackadder and Fawlty Towers.

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** The More You Write, The More You Earn **

What if you could WRITE MORE - effortlessly?

It's possible to write more - to write at least a thousand words an hour, easily and effortlessly. It's possible to enjoy writing, and to look forward to writing as the best part of your day.

It's possible to plan your writing career, or if you're a hobbyist, to get real joy out of your hobby. What if the words flowed from your fingertips as soon as you sat down to write? What would your life be like then? What could you achieve?

Discover how to write more with "Top 70 Writing Tips To Help You To Write More" at

http://www.//Write-More/write-more.html

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* Article: Top Five Ways To Get Your Writing Read



(c) Copyright 2007 Angela Booth. All Rights Reserved.

Whether you're selling your writing, or writing as a hobby, you want and need readers. Even if you're writing just for yourself - as therapy, or for entertainment - you're always your own first reader, so keep these tips in mind.

These tips work for all writing, whether fiction, nonfiction or copywriting (writing for business):

1. Be Interesting - Don't Be Boring



"Be interesting" should go without saying. However, writing is complex. If you're a new writer (in your first five years of writing seriously), you're highly self-conscious. It takes a lot of writing for that to wear off, so that you're as comfortable writing as you are in speaking. Someone once said that you need to write a million words before you can get yourself out of the way, so that you focus only on the reader, and on your message.

The more I write, the more convinced I am that the "million words" rule is real - my writing now flows more easily than it did even five years ago.

Write the old copywriter's dictum, AIDA (Attract attention, inspire Interest, arouse Desire/ Emotion, motivate Action) onto a sticky note and attach it to your monitor. Follow it. AIDA is the engine that powers "be interesting".


2. Be Original - Don't Rehash



The Internet is the kingdom of copy, reword slightly, and paste. There are thousands of so-called "writers" online whose sole literary output consists of the ability to copy words and ideas and pass them on as their own. This rehash-mentality hurts them. Ultimately, it will destroy them as a writer, because they haven't trained themselves to write.

It's too easy to fall into the rehash-trap. THINK. Be original. It's better to be thought a fool than it is to steal - and it's much more profitable. Some highly paid writers deliberately make outrageous statements. It gets them lots of attention. And money.

If you rehash: you won't sell (except online, to people who buy words in bulk as search engine fodder), you won't get readers ("I've read this before. Why would I read it again?") and you won't build a profile or reputation - no one will even notice that you're a writer, because you're showing them very clearly that you're not.


3. Use Short Sentences - Be Clear



You have to understand a subject before you write about it. This applies especially to copywriters. Read and think until you understand the subject area, then write about it in short sentences. Follow Hemingway's easy rules for writing - Use short sentences and short first paragraphs, use vigorous English (make your verbs work) and be positive, rather than negative.


4. Know Your Audience



Before you start writing, think about your reader. Visualize A READER in your mind. (One person, not a crowd.) Who is he/ she? What does she want? Why? What can she take away from your words?

See (or hear) a single reader in your mind. Keep the reader in mind as you write. Many famous writers mention that they can see their reader's reaction clearly - laughter, tears, excitement - as they write.


5. Aim For A Response



The response of your reader(s) is vital. For a novelist, the response might be to get the reader to read to the end of the novel and write a positive Amazon.com review, or just to feel that they've been completely entertained for a few hours.

For a copywriter, the response is action - you want the reader to place an order, pick up the phone, buy an item, etc.

If you're writing nonfiction, the response you want might be an action - to sell more books, get a contributing editor gig, or make a persuasive argument that generates letters to the editor, or gets readers to think about a topic.

There you have it: five ways to get your writing read. Use them, and not only will your writing be read, but you'll also become a successful writer.


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** Need More Copywriting Clients? **

My "Special Report: How To Get Copywriting Clients" shows you exactly how you can get clients TODAY, with SEVEN vital methods. If you're a new copywriter, or are trying to build your copywriting business, you need this report. Format: electronic PDF, ten pages, available for instant download; readable on any computer.

http:////reports/reports/for-writers.html

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Get the latest freelance blogging news on Blogging For Dollars at:

http://www.dollars2blog.com/blog/

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YOUR PRIVACY

Your privacy is important. You've signed on for this ezine in good faith. Thank you. I will never betray your trust by making the subscriber list available to others.

Contact Angela at: angela.booth@gmail.com

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