It’s a new look. Why? I couldn’t live without widgets.
Yes. I feel shallow. I feel sad that I couldn’t understand the post about using CSS to make widgets on my own…
Ultimately, I feel delighted to have widgets.
Now – What to do with them…
Category Archives: Blog
My Brain Hurts
I can now relate to both the Monty Python guy who said, “My brain hurts” and whoever it was that said he’d give his kingdom for a horse!
It is not just a matter of creating the podcast in GarageBand and then purchasing the WordPress media upgrade and uploading the audio file to WordPress.
Oh. So. Not. So.
You then need to create a feed in FeedBurner – which I did. But I wound up with two and opted for the first before I read all the stuff at the bottom. It was evidently the WordPress one I somehow already had. So now I have some of the correct info in the iTunes listing. And some not. But it’s up there! Am I disappointed? Yes. But I’ll mark it a Triple and go for the Grand Slam next time I’m at bat.
Meanwhile, would it not make sense to mention that there were additional steps to getting the correct url for iTunes. Never mind. I clearly have no business messing with this stuff. However, I am going to continue because having a career as a freelance writer is evidently not painful enough.
So – does anyone want some posts about how to do this, given that I can get you about 98% of the way there? By that I mean, your podcast will appear in iTunes and people can subscribe. The exact description of the podcast may come from the header of your blog rather than your heart’s desire.
Next up? A trailer for my book – which I saw on the shelf at Barnes and Noble in Bethesda yesterday!!!!
Podcasting
Oh. My. Stars.
It’s not that I thought a podcast would be simple. I mean, I’m a writer. On demand, I can imagine some truly vivid worst case scenarios. Seriously, even my fevered imagination did not do justice to this effort.
First, I spent a couple of days figuring out the GarageBand was going to be just fine. (It was not at all obvious to me from the info on the Apple site!) I quickly discovered that using just the mic on my computer left me sounding like a child screaming into a tin can on a string in a cave with a serious echo. Enter the Blue Yeti microphone. I suppose there is a way to make it less obvious when I press and un-press the mute button – so far this eludes me. Likewise cutting the audio and re-taping a portion. If I were in charge of the audio for a film, the entire cast would sound like they had a bad case of the hiccups. I hasten to add that I am not blaming this on the mic. It clearly took care of the problem of sounding like a child with a tin can.
Now that I’ve invested days in this endeavor, I have a 10-minute podcast. I honestly am excited about it – I just wish it sounded more professional. I know how to get it into my iTunes. Next up for today is how to get it onto the iTunes store and add a link to my blog.
Fingers crossed, it will all work out just fine.
Verducci: Steroid Use
It’s Friday! My day for sports posts here on SFW! This week — STEROIDS
I am personally very grateful that I don’t get the Oprah Network. If I did, I would most likely have had a stroke when Lying Lance proclaimed that the definition of cheating is something that gives you an advantage. Since “everyone else was doing it,” he wasn’t cheating. Then again, if I had one minute added on to my life for every time I have told my kids that “everyone else is doing it” means squat in this house, I might just have been able to survive that moment.
Tom Verducci was one of the first to cover steroid use in baseball. He has also been consistently against steroid use, being very clear that he considers it cheating. It’s pretty obvious that I also consider it cheating. And as a parent with kids in sports, it concerns me that the records they are trying to live up to are records that have been attained by using substances that are unhealthy, but I digress.
Here’s a link to a recent Verducci piece on steroid use in baseball: To Cheat or Not to Cheat.
So – Do you think testing is going to make a difference? Do you think using steroids is cheating?
I’d really like to know your opinion.
Next up: Some other sportswriters to check out.
Deadlines
I don’t know about you, but my deadlines clump together like objects in a Poisson distribution. Not making sense? Like cars at a toll plaza on the way to the shore when it’s not a Friday afternoon in the summer. There are no cars there and then – wham! – there are twenty cars that came out of nowhere, all jockeying to be the first on the other side. It’s okay because deadlines come with things that are worth doing, whether paid or unpaid, but I often wonder at the way things come in clumps.
Right now I’m working on an article for a publication that only accepts work four times a year. I’m also working on a book proposal that I’m delighted to say I got a reply about within 24 hours. The article ties to the book proposal so I don’t want to let the article slip. Then there’s something I’ve been promising a client for months that I absolutely promised would be done by this same deadline. And then there’s an outline for a book that is due – the first week of March.
The thing that separates the wannabe freelance writers from the ones who are actually freelance writers is that these clumping deadlines bring a rush of terror, followed pretty immediately by a rush of adrenaline. At least that’s the effect these deadlines have on me. They also bring out whatever nascent organizational talents I possess. Frankly, I was a bit overwhelmed at first. The type of overwhelmed that goes with deciding where to start. I mean, how do you prioritize when it’s all important and it’s all pretty much due on the same day?
I decided to stock up on coffee, then go with what I could do well the most quickly and proceed from there. I think that’s the way to go. I’ll let you know next week!
QuickBooks for Writers: Getting Started
This Getting Started, Creating a Company and Chart of Accounts Post is the first in a series on QuickBooks for Writers.
The first thing you’ll need to do is create a company in QuickBooks:
- Open QuickBooks.
- Ignore the first pop-up box and and click File – New Company on the Menu Bar.
- Now you have a pop-up box that says Create New Company. It will ask for the Company Name, the Legal Name. Usually these are the same. If you’re a sole proprietor and you call your business something else and have a dba account (you know who you are), use the dba for the Legal Name. Otherwise, just use the Company Name in both places.
- Enter your Address, Country, and the Start Date for your company.
- Income Tax Form for a sole proprietor is Form 1040 (Sole Proprietor) on this list. If you’re not sure what you need, leave it blank and continue.
- Federal ID is the ID you are using for your business. It’s either your SSN or the number you got for your company.
Next you’ll need to create a chart of accounts. For your purposes, QuickBooks has several Industries for you to choose from. For a writing business, you can start with the General Service-based Business. There are accounts here for most of what you need. You may want to check Merchant Account Fees if you take payment by credit card or have direct deposit that charges a fee per transaction. If you’re not sure. Just use it as is until you have reason to add or delete additional accounts.
[By the way, a chart of accounts is a list of the accounts you need for your business. (NOT the names of the vendors or clients. The names of the accounts in the chart of accounts. They’re related but not the same.) The accounts will be asset accounts – things that are in your favor – such as your checking account and the money that is due to you from your customers. The accounts will also be liability accounts – things that are not in your favor – such as money you owe to loans or bills you need to pay. That’s pretty much the big picture of the Chart of Accounts – except you also have a section that shows the equity – the accumulated profit and loss – as one number. That shows up on the Liabilities side, too. (If you’d like a longer explanation of any of this, just let me know and I’ll do another post.)]
This is a lot of information to digest. I’ve been walking small business through this process and using QuickBooks for my own business for years. I’m putting a form here for you to submit questions if you have any, so ask away!
Productivity Tools: Napkin
I have a new software program, Napkin, that makes creating images for my blogs a snap. I’m all for anything that saves me time. I’m also all for anything that’s easy to use. It’s rare that I find an app that delivers on both. Napkin does.
You can use it for more that creating images for your blogs. You can sketch and focus on part of an image… Those are things I haven’t gotten to yet. What I’ve used it for is to find an image I’d like to use, create a screen shot, then edit it in Napkin.
The very best part of Napkin? You can literally drag from a png button and create a png file. This file type is compatible with WordPress. Because of this, it’s easier than ever to bring an image into my posts. In fact, I have had to restrain myself!
Napkin is a Mac app that’s definitely worth checking out!
Buying Your Way to the Top
The Wall Street Journal had an interesting piece about business authors who have bought their way to a top spot on various best seller lists. The idea is that the books are purchased in bulk in such a way that they are not recorded as bulk sales. The author pays for the books that are purchased as pre-sales, either as a reduction in speaking fees or by collecting the check from clients and friends. Alternately, a significant number of books are sold as pre-sales on that first day. The following week, more copies of the book are returned than are purchased.
How does this get a book to the business book best seller lists? When the book comes out, there are immediate sales that number in the thousands. This is enough for a business book to capture the number one spot for oh, say 15 minutes. Those fifteen minutes are enough, however, to earn the author the bragging rights to earn higher speaking fees and to be asked to speak by organizations that might otherwise never have heard of them or the book.
There is one company at the heart of this lying cheating questionable business practice — ResultSource. Interestingly enough, ResultSource principal, Kevin Small, declined requests for an interview. The WSJ states that ResultSource states on its Web site that, “We create campaigns that reach a specific goal, like: “On the bestsellers list,” or “100,000 copies sold.” Several ResultSource clients filled in some of the details. One author – who shall not be named (why add more fuel to this joke?) – said he was able to purchase about 2,500 books by collecting the funds for pre-sale orders from his clients. All it took above that was a fee in the range of $20,000 to $30,000. What did he get for his money? His book hit number 3 on the Wall Street Journal hardcover business best-seller list in the first week. It hit number 1 on the BN.com list soon after. Sales since then — about 1,000 print copies total.
So, you may ask, what difference does it make if the author sells all the books he’s going to sell in week one? My question in return would be to ask why there is such a hefty fee and why it’s necessary for ResultSource to skirt the safeguard against bulk sales that are in place by the companies that calculate sales for the purposes of the best seller lists.
Whatever happened to writing a book and promoting it through hard work?
Source:
Wall Street Journal, How are Some Authors Landing On Best-Seller Lists?
Danica Patrick
NASCAR driver and Go Daddy girl Danica Patrick has the pole position for the Daytona 500. The “Great American Race” is a 500-mile race that is run in Daytona Beach, Florida each year. That means 200 laps with cars racing at speeds of about 183 mph.
Having the pole position means that Danica’s speeds in the qualifying time for the race puts her at the front of the pack on race day. She will being the race in the first position. It’s taken Patrick years to achieve this, but years or not, she is the first woman to earn this starting position.
Here’s to the Daytona 500. Here’s to Danica Patrick.
GO Danica!
UPDATE:
Danica Patrick led one entire lap at the Daytona 500 – a first for a woman – before finishing 8th overall.
Jimmie Johnson finished first, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. finishing second, and Mark Martin coming in 3rd.
Out My Window
I am lucky enough to have an actual office in my home. My office has lovely big windows that face a miserable lawn and a lot of trees. There’s also quite a bit of sky. I tend to keep the blinds down when I write, as a way to minimize distractions.
It occurred to me today that it is patently ridiculous to keep the blinds drawn for that reason. For one thing, what’s going to distract me? A falling leave. A deer? The UPS guy? Those are hardly unrecoverable obstacles in the life of a writer.
It also occurred to me today that keeping the blinds drawn just reinforces the feeling that I am alone in a cave. Maybe even Plato’s cave. Maybe even staring at reflections rather than the real thing. Now that’s an unsettling thought. It sort of means that everything I envision as right-handed is in fact left-handed, and vice versa.
The final jarring thought? That I have nothing better to do than muse about what effect the drawn blinds have on my concentration and perception. Being a woman of 
action, I immediately raised the blinds. The sad lawn – a result of living at the bottom of a hill – the winter-dead trees and plants were all there. So was a dazzling winter sky.
I’ve been feeling lost with my writing since my book came out this fall. It’s that sort of a what do I do now feeling. Should I continue to blog as much as I do? Should I write a proposal for another nonfiction book or see how this one does first? Is this a good time to tackle the novel I’ve been meaning to write. And what about queries? It’s probably about time to get back into that routine. And when do I find out how my book is doing so I can use that information to help me decide what to do next?
Now that the blinds are up and I can see that the rest of the world is indeed out there, maybe it’s even time to go for a walk. Nothing drastic. Just up to the mailbox on occasion. Meanwhile, I’ve also decided to blog about the business of writing on Monday, the life of a writer on Wednesday, and sportswriting and sports on Friday.
“Talk” to you soon!