Is It Worth It To Drop Several Hundred Dollars on a Writing Conference?

April 29, 2013 by 2 Comments

I am a cheap bastard. Instead of spending money on pricey project management systems, I run my life through Google and GQueues. I avoid paid teleclasses and webinars in favor of business books that I dog-ear and pore through over and over again. I even married a web developer so I could get him to build all of my websites for me. (Okay. I married him for other reasons, too.)

And just a few weeks ago, I was out at a restaurant when I realized there was a massive hole in the crotch area of my only pair of jeans.

My mom proceeded to make fun of me for being too poor to buy new pants.

(Then she pity-bought me new pants so, really, who wins here?)

Still, back in 2012, I vowed that I would start investing in my business instead of cutting corners all the damn time. In the spirit of that, I hired designers to pretty up my Starter Kit, and to create a color palette and a logo for a side project. I became a paying member of ASJA. I re-joined Freelance Success and started subscribing to a slew of literary magazines (Poets & Writers, The Sun, Creative Nonfiction, Oxford American), educational organizations (Toastmasters), and freelance services (Duotrope). I plonked down a couple thousand dollars for yoga teacher training.

And just last week, I went to a professional writer’s conference, for which I dropped $338.  [Read more…]

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Where Are All the NJ Word Nerds Hanging Out?

September 28, 2012 by 2 Comments

Montclair Book Center

Maybe 15 years ago, back when the Montclair Book Center was still the Page One Café, I barely stepped into my local Barnes & Noble. Why would I? Instead, I spent hours browsing the books — old and new — on the left side of Page One. On the right side, there was a café. Live jazz. A healthy selection of periodicals, records, old movie posters, and other miscellany. It was all I wanted and needed, all in one place.

Today, the café is gone. The periodicals and other miscellany, too. It’s still a bookshop worth losing yourself in. But it’s not the same. It’s not the type of place where I can sit down with a good book, find the latest lit mags, and enjoy a meal and some music. That makes me sadface.

What’s even sadder is that I’ve been unable to find another shop that can step in and take its place. In Boston, I had the Trident Booksellers & Café. When I was working in NYC, I frequently showed up early for events at Housing Works, McNally Jackson, and the Strand, wandering the aisles before settling down for a variety show or a panel or a reading. Have I just been spoiled? Is there a reason I can’t find a single NJ bookstore that’s recreating that experience… that’s popped up as a literary hotbed for NJ writers? Where’s the NJ version of Book Boroughing!? Where’s the NJ literary community!? [Read more…]

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How to Find the Right Balance Between Connected Writer and Crazy Recluse

September 18, 2012 by 5 Comments

me, in most social situations.

I crossed and recrossed my legs uncomfortably, picked cat hair off my skirt, and leaned away from the passenger sitting beside me as the 195 bus made its way in fits and starts into the city.

Only several hours before, I’d been having a Skype video chat with fellow writer and YEC member Dave Ursillo about community-building. He had recently launched an online community for writers, but our conversation inevitably wound its way to in-person events. 

The writer’s life is so solitary, I’d told him. I think it’s important that someone provides in-person events, so that writers can be around other writers. Who else wants to talk about the work that we do ad nauseum. Not my husband!

I’d meant it. Four years before, I’d hosted a successful Word Nerd Networking event with Marian Schembari. And it had immediately been obvious that writers were craving more, writer-centric interaction.

Still, now that I found myself on a bus into the city, on my way to a meeting with a possible new copywriting client, I couldn’t help being a complete crankypants. [Read more…]

Filed Under: community

Join My Quasi-Secret Word Nerd Facebook Group Maybe?

August 8, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Hey guys. This totally doesn’t count as this week’s actual blog post, but I just wanted to let y’all know that I’ve created a quasi-secret Facebook group for word nerds.

Basically, it’s an invite-only Facebook group I’m using as a testing ground for features that will eventually appear on the still-being-developed Word Nerd Networking site.

I’m also hoping it will become a fun, virtual hangout for all my fellow word nerds, where we can chat about what we’re working on, share project leads, show off our home offices, post about freelance resources, and more.

I’d love to invite all of you — as you’re the most fantastic writers I know — but I can only invite people with whom I’m already Facebook friends. So if you’re interested in joining the party, connect with me here, and then shoot me a message that mentions you’re itching to get into the Word Nerd Networking Facebook group. Include a link to your online profile, so I can confirm you’re a working writer. I’ve previously kept my word nerdy life separate from my Facebook life, but THE WALLS MUST COME DOWN.

Once you’ve gained entrance to the group, you can feel free to post about any ol’ word nerdy thing you can think of, or even upload photos of your home office and/or other word nerdy product. (You’ll see I already have a pic up there of me with my “reading is sexy” mug.)

And… that’s that! You may carry on with your tweeting and your Spider Solitaire-ing now. 🙂

Related: How I Learned to Live and Write with Intention

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How I Learned to Live and Write with Intention

June 6, 2012 by 3 Comments

In November 2010, I hosted a speed networking event at the Galway Hooker in NYC, a bar just a few blocks south of where I used to work full-time for an academic book publisher.*

The event was a shot-in-the-dark idea I had for promoting my brand new career coaching business… one idea among many.

I paired up with Marian Schembari to plan and co-host the event. Together, we filled the space with publishing professionals we’d connected with over the course of our careers.

We filled that room with 25 publishing experts, and then — through a promotional push borne of the fear that no one would show up — we managed to fill the room with 50 more people eager to speed network with them.

The event was a resounding success, and I often thought of hosting more of them.

I never did. [Read more…]

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How To Be Generous with Your Writing Community

February 14, 2012 by 2 Comments

Over at Project Happily Ever After, my blogger-buddy Alisa Bowman wrote a post I’m absolutely smitten with: How to Put the Love Back in Valentine’s Day. In it, she writes of one man’s quest to re-brand February 14 as Generosity Day, and then lists the ways in which we could all be more generous to each other. In this way, February 14 becomes more about giving than about getting (a fancy meal… sparkly jewelry… chocolates…).

I found the timing of this post fortuitous. Just last night, I was reading Patty Digh’s Life is a Verb, which has an entire chapter on living life more generously. It had gotten me thinking about how I could be better, more generous, more open to others.

I’ve already written extensively on the powers of good karma within the writing community, and on how much of my freelance success can be attributed to the generosity of my fellow writers.

But just for today — Valentine’s Day — why don’t we all commit to doing at least one generous act for someone in our community. [Read more…]

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Community: The Crucial Ingredient To Freelance Writing Success

February 10, 2012 by 3 Comments

I like working alone. I prefer fuzzy slippers to pantyhose. And my commute these days is fantastic. But these aren’t the only reasons I chose freelancedom.

I’m an introvert, and having to be “on” for long periods of time leaves me exhausted. I also have social anxiety, and have had panic attacks while out in public. Working from home — quiet, calm, and with my three cats for company — makes me feel safe. I love that being a writer makes this possible.

But I credit my success — my ability to sustain this lifestyle — with the community I’ve built up around me. Through Twitter. Through Brazen Careerist and the Young Entrepreneur Council. Through past projects and jobs. Through this blog. So I was thrilled to get the chance to hang out in Carol Tice’s Freelance Writers Den, a virtual community for freelance writers, as a guest on her weekly podcast. [Read more…]

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I Created a Pinterest Board for Word Nerds Because Why Not?

January 24, 2012 by 1 Comment

I know it seems as if all I do lately is futz around on various social media platforms.

But I swear to you. I’m getting shit done.

It’s just that…

I’m always looking for new and fun ways to build my brand, and to build my word nerd community, and I’ve been seeing various small businesses do interesting things online lately.

My latest obsession?

Pinterest. (Yeah, you and everyone else, Steph.) [Read more…]

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Don’t Forget To Thank Your Writing Partner

November 24, 2011 by 1 Comment

Earlier this week, I sent query letters out to four literary agents. This was a big step for me. I’d been dreaming of becoming a published author since the age of 5 and, since then, I’d done absolutely nothing to make it happen. Now I have a book proposal — polished and ready to go — and four query letters out the door.

In fact, within 15 minutes, one of the agents responded to me, asking to see my full proposal. I thought I was going to pass out from excitement, but I pulled it together long enough to send him what I had. He responded almost immediately, saying he would try to get back to me either way by the end of the week.

This very well might mean I’m about to get the quickest rejection ever (well, okay… not ever) but, nevertheless, I’m ecstatic. I’m closer than I’ve ever been to making this happen.

And I never would have done it if I wasn’t being held accountable by my writing partner. [Read more…]

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Finding A Writing Partner Who Will Make Your Dreams Come True

May 23, 2011 by 4 Comments

This image is 100% about partners, and 0% about the huge crush I used to have on Burt Ward.

This is an excerpt from a post I wrote for Brazen Careerist. It was written both to promote my upcoming Networking for Word Nerds event (register here) and to sing the praises of having a good writing partner. (I love my writing partner to bits.)

Enjoy!

Several months ago, I wrote a blog post calling for a “writing partner who can kick my lazy, procrastinating writer’s ass.”

Now I have a writing partner I love, plus another partner I email my daily goals.

I’ve also left behind a low-paying permalance gig that had me feeling stuck. I’m well on my way to making more money this year than I’ve made previously, and I’m feeling more productive and successful than ever before.

Coincidence? I think not.

[Read more…]

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