Despite being a mother of zero, today I’m blogging over at Freelance Parent. If “first North American Serial Rights” sounds like a phrase out of your nightmares, or if you’ve never thought about who owns your words, I suggest you head over.

There is a very interesting and heated discussion raging over at Freelance Writing Jobs about whether one should include a rate quote with a cover letter when requested in a want ad. My position is no, no, no. Why might you want to do this? As many commenters have pointed out, if a prospective client [...]

At a party late last year, the owner of a new local web site asked me about freelancing. He’d been soliciting articles for his site from business owners and people who liked writing for exposure; he wanted to know how to attract professionals. “Well, you’re going to have to start paying them,” I said. (Too [...]

Great post by Scott Carp over at Publishing 2.0 about Gawker’s search for a real live journalist. Nick Denton, publisher/owner of Gawker Media (aka that one guy who’s supposedly raking in all that cash) , wrote this in the post advertising a managing editor opening: “We’re casting a wide net for candidates, beyond the clubby [...]

For a while, when I was just getting started as a freelancer (which was ever so long ago) I was visiting FreelanceWritingGigs every morning trolling for leads. The jobs posted here are free to look at and are culled from tons of Web sites, many of which are either filled with junk (“write for exposure,” [...]

Flickr:mrjorgen New findings have uncovered a design flaw at the interface where the brain encounters a computer screen: there are no online channels for the multiple signals the brain uses to calibrate emotions. Face-to-face interaction, by contrast, is information-rich. We interpret what people say to us not only from their tone and facial expressions, but [...]

(This is the fourth in a weekly series about tools for writers. For the rest of the series, go here.) Here’s a big list of journalists’ personal web sites, compiled by Sreenath Sreenivasan. This came in handy for me recently when I was updating my resume and wasn’t sure how to phrase certain items. I [...]

This week I have had two proofreading gigs (actually, one gig and one test that may become a gig–keep your fingers crossed for me!) that have severely strained my comma rule knowledge. I’m proud to say that I know mostly by “feel” where to put the little buggers, but again, that doesn’t cut it in [...]

Soap opera recap writer. All My Children: Annie is amazed over Ryan’s insistence that he would risk perjuring himself instead of ever testifying against Zach. Ryan and Annie don’t see eye to eye where Greenlee is concerned as Annie admits she empathizes with her plight. Ryan and Annie’s argument ends unresolved. Annie wonders if she [...]

Photographer: davidfg. Used under a Creative Commons license.Last week I came across The Editorialiste’s blog, and this post in particular: Journalism Internships Are A Joke (Financially). Period. Mr. Nusca makes some good points, and yes, there are many who take this same viewpoint, but I believe there are some things the naysayers don’t address. As [...]