Posts filed under 'Miscellany'
Christa Terry is the writer and editor of the bridal blog Manolo For The Brides. Her book iDo: Planning Your Wedding with Nothing But ‘Net is out in bookstores now.
- From blogger to book author
- Finding a niche and pitching the concept
- Who owns the information in Christa’s head?
- Winning over skeptical editors with statistic
- Writing a book under a tight deadline: tears and Tofurkey for Thanksgiving
- The publishing world can be a warm and nurturing place
- Christa’s next project: writing books and building a brand
- Advice #1: Value what you do and make people pay you for it.
- Advice #2: Bloggers - building a following online is all about interacting with your readers.
- Advice #3: Journalists - don’t expect to make big bucks doing glamorous work. Expand your repertoire by taking other gigs.
- Advice #4: You don’t have to be a freelance magazine writer to be a “real writer”. That world is very stressful and takes a very specific kind of person to do it.
- Christa’s book “iDo” did indeed come out on June 10th, but this episode was unfortunately delayed. Go buy it, wedding planners!
Christa’s book:
iDo: Planning Your Wedding with Nothing But ‘Net
Christa’s blogs:
http://www.manolobrides.com
http://www.manolohome.com
Christa recommends:
The Everything Guide To Writing A Book Proposal
Music by Morgansorange
June 14th, 2008
The CEO of online shoe retailer Zappos likes to throw out quickie contests via his Twitter account. There’s a new one going on that’s right up our alley - but you gotta be fast! Deadline is 11:59 PM on May 5th. (That’s today.)
We think our order confirmation emails lack pizzazz. They just aren’t fun, weird and “Zappos-ish” enough. So who better to help us make them better than you (since you’re the ones who read them!)?
Below is our standard email confirmation. Send your revised versions to [email address]. The winner will recieve FREE SHOES! (and they’ll become a part of Zappos Zeta history)!
The winning entry will be the most entertaining entry that we feel best exhibits the Zappos core values and personality.
Tony will pick a winner and notify them via email. All entries must be received by 11:59 PM PST on May 5th, 2008.
Details here. Good luck!
May 5th, 2008
Issue #4 of WFP guest Wolfgang Baur’s magazine Kobold Quarterly got this stellar review on WIRED’s Geekdad blog:
The sole remaining professional roleplaying game magazine, Kobold Quarterly became number one by beheading all of its competitors in spectacular urban swordfights.
NICE.
Here’s the episode where Wolfgang and I talked about the magazine, right before its launch.
(Via Open Design)
April 4th, 2008
I’m in Austin, Texas right this very second for the South by Southwest Interactive festival. If you’re coming too, keep an eye out for this clown:
Here’s a photo I took in downtown Austin with my new BlackJack mobile phone:
I believe this is where the Ghostbusters will have their final showdown with Zuul.
March 6th, 2008
Awesome WFP listener Charles Tan hepped me to the fact that the MP3 download link for the new episode was broken. That’s weird, I thought, I tested it as soon as the show was posted and it worked fine.
Well, right after testing the link I’d enabled PodTrac on this site to collect stats on how many times the shows are downloaded. To accomplish this, PodTrac somehow redirects the download through its service - and THAT was what broke. I’ve disabled PodTrac for the nonce, and all is well again. Sorry about the inconvenience!
November 20th, 2007
Oh, and also: I tinkered with the categories a little to help make it easier for you to find the individual episodes and show notes on this site.
The episodes can be found in the Podcast category.
The show notes can be found in Show Notes.
November 12th, 2007
I’m workin’ on it, I’m workin’ on it! In fact, right this very second I’m editing my interview with Joyce Gorsuch.
I’ve had a lot on my plate lately. Too much for anyone’s good, probably–I suspect that I’m somewhat overcommitted with my work and volunteer obligations. I’m trying to sort things out so that instead of doing a lot of things erratically, I can do a few important things consistently.
I just got back from Blog World Expo 2007, where I got to meet some of my podcasting role models and bask in the light of their wisdom. Look, I can prove it! Here are photos of Leo Laporte, Scott Bourne, and Alex Lindsay from my Flickr photoset:
Also DJ Steveboy:
…who up until Thursday night I knew primarily as talented science fiction writer Steve Boyett. Now he’s a very successful DJ and podcaster which, y’know, is probably a hell of a lot more fun than writing.
One of the panels I attended was about choosing the right equipment for your home recording studio. If any of y’all have been wondering if I’d be offended if you sent me a Rode Podcaster microphone, I can assure that that I WOULD NOT.
So to circle back around: yes, new episode. Soon. In fact, how about I set a deadline? You’ll get a new show by this Saturday. If I fail to deliver you can line up and kick me in the junk.
November 12th, 2007
So there I was, at a party in Las Vegas on Friday night, talking with a woman who I primarily knew through friends and family. And the woman wrapped up an anecdote by saying, “…but I get enough freelance writing and editing work to support myself.”
“Excuse me,” I said. “Did you say…?”
Today we sat down together and recorded a great conversation about writing for pay, from the jungles of the Philippines to the neon canyons of Nevada. That makes two new episodes of WFP in the works! (I knew there was a reason I packed my portable recorder.)
Next weekend I’m driving down to Portland, Oregon where I hope to grab some time with another freelancer who’s agreed to appear on the show.
Oh, hey - if you’re ever in Las Vegas, I highly recommend that you try two restaurants, one old-school and one new-school. The first is the Omelet House, a beloved local joint that serves huge omelets stuffed with all sorts of delicious things. (Even the “baby size” versions are almost too large for me to finish.) My favorite is the Bugsy Siegel, which contains big chunks of tender roast beef and red sauce. Seriously. It’s good.
The second place is the Firefly tapas bar, which has some of the best macaroni and cheese you’ll ever find, and mojitos by the pitcher. Generally speaking most cocktails taste like paint thinner to me; but this stuff was GOOD.
September 30th, 2007
Jaq Greenspon, whom I interviewed for the first episode of Writing For Pay, is using this podcast as part of his learning materials in the Advanced Composition class he’s teaching at UNLV.
Hello, Jaq’s students! I invite your comments, questions, and suggestions at this blog, or e-mail me at wade@writingforpay.org. Go Rebels!
(That invitation appplies to the rest of you readers and listeners too, by the way.)
September 22nd, 2007
I’ll be attending the Penny Arcade Expo this weekend in downtown Seattle. (In fact, it starts in just a few hours!)
If you’re there and you catch sight of me, please say hello. I’d love to meet you.
It would be awesome if you could do it while my co-workers are nearby, because I want them to think I’m totally famous.
August 24th, 2007
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