Angela Booth's Writing Blog

Another blogger blogs his book proposal

It's definitely a trend.

Hugh at gapingvoid (a VERY funny blog) has put his "How to be Creative" book proposal onto his blog. I've been reading Hugh's blog for a while, and I'm often shocked by his ideas  --- in a good way.

In a blog item today, he says he has publishing interest already, one short week after he posted the proposal.

There you go: as I've said before, get a blog, get a book contract.

The beauty of blogging a book proposal is that you get to gauge the response within a short time. If there's NO response, you know the idea is a dud, and it's back to brainstorming better ideas. :-) This saves mailing out dozens of query letters, and heavy, expensive packages. Hmmm…

Tsunami death toll mounting

According to Indonesia's Ambassador to Malaysia, Indonesia may be looking at a death toll of 400,000.

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He said the estimate was based on air surveillance by Indonesian authorities who found no signs of life in places like Meulaboh, Pulau Simeulue and Tapak Tuan while several islands off the west coast of Sumatera had "disappeared".

He said the latest death toll of more than 40,000 in Acheh and northern Sumatera did not take into account the figures from the other areas, especially in the west of the region.

"Aerial surveillance found the town of Meulaboh completely destroyed with only one buiding standing. The building, which belonged to the military, happens to be on a hill," he told reporters after receiving RM1 million in aid for Indonesia's Tsunami Disaster Relief Fund here Thursday.

Rusdihardjo said there were about 150,000 residents in Meulaboh, which was located 150km from the epicentre of the earthquake while Pulau Simeuleu had a population of 76,000.
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The total death toll, according to the Red Cross, may be a unimaginable one million.

Publisher Lonely Planet challenges Australia's corporations

A story in The Australian, "Lonely Planet challenges the big end" tells of the travel guide publisher's big heart:

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Publisher Lonely Planet and an anonymous donor have thrown down the gauntlet to corporate Australia by daring the big end of town to match their $500,000 donations to help tsunami victims.

Lonely Planet's $500,000 donation means the travel guide publisher, with revenues of less than $100 million and 350 staff, will stump up five times the cash donated by some major banks.

Lonely Planet chief executive Judy Slatyer called on businesses to dig deep and challenged them to match the federal Government's pledge of $35 million.

Describing Australia's role as critical, she said the business sector had enjoyed a year of strong profits, a booming economy and record share values. "All you need is another 70 companies to do what we've done, or maybe the big companies do more, and you will have doubled the Government's commitment," she said.
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Let's watch what happens. :-)

Amazing animals: safe from the tsunami

From a story at News.com:

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Sri Lankan wildlife officials have said the giant waves that killed more than 24,000 people along the Indian Ocean island's coast seemingly missed wild beasts, with no dead animals found.

"No elephants are dead, not even a dead hare or rabbit," HD Ratnayake, deputy director of Sri Lanka's Wildlife Department, said yesterday.

"I think animals can sense disaster. They have a sixth sense. They know when things are happening."
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Here's a story of a snake guiding a woman and children to safety:

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As she struggled through the torrent, she saw a snake as big as a telephone pole gliding left with current of the water and towards what turned out to be a makeshift bank.

"Strangely I felt no fear," Riza said, adding she followed the snake to safety.
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New Year's Resolutions versus GPS

New Year's Resolutions don't work for me. I use my GPS (Goal Positioning System). Read my GPS article here.

The most vital part of this system is: "Daily: visualize yourself successfully completing tasks and
achieving your goals".

This works on both a macro and micro level. For example, before I start work for the day, I read through my task list, and imagine myself sailing through each task, and enjoying working.

Then, before I begin each task, I imagine the task as completed.

Try this process. It works. It smooths out the day for you. You'll get through much more work in much less time.

Copywriting Promotions Tips: #6 Study Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

As a copywriter, you'll write Web copy for clients, and for yourself. (You do have a Web site, or a blog, don't you?)

This means that you need to know something of how Web search engines see Web sites, and assign rankings to them.

To get up to speed on this vital skill, visit Spider Food.

If you're going to set your hair on fire, don't do it on a blog

PaidContent.org's story about a blogger behaving badly:

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But when I read the story last week about the anonymous blogger who appeared to be a Post-Dispatch staffer, I knew the author was looking at a suspension at the very least. What's more, the Riverfront Times had to know it. The first clue was the language being used, which the alternative paper exulted in repeating, and the negative sentiments being expressed about recipients of donations to the paper's 100 Neediest Cases. The story quickly spread through the Post-Dispatch, with the blogger's identity seeping out when Finney's hard drive was seized. The blog disappeared -- sort of. I started to read entries via Google's cache feature and quickly realized that some boundaries had been crossed. The blogger used profanity to describe the newspaper, made comments about co-workers and bosses, wrote of interview subjects and stories he apparently had covered. I saw nothing which led me to believe he was blogging from work but his blogging in many cases undermined his own work and that of others.
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Note " The blog disappeared -- sort of." Nothing disappears. It's in Google's cache. Read my "Dangerous Blogging" item.

Blogging in a crisis

If you've ever doubted the worth of blogging, visit The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami blog.

Set up by volunteers in the region, it gives country-specific information.

1-Click tsunami disaster-relief Red Cross donations at Amazon.com

If you're an Amazon.com customer, the company's offering 1-Click tsunami disaster-relief donations to the American Red Cross, with 100 per cent of donations going directly to the charity.

Your editor makes you look good: rewrite!

I love coincidences. I received a despairing message this morning from a novice writer whose editor has asked for a major rewrite. As I read her message, I realized it would be helpful if I copied her on a Your EveryDay Write writing tip I wrote for tomorrow's issue.

Here you go, too. Hope it helps. :-)

==> Every day, in every way, you're getting better and better <==

Many novice writers become frustrated when they compare their own work with published work.

If you feel this way, realise that work that is published in a newspaper, magazine, or book, is completed, edited work. Invariably, it will have gone through several drafts before it's shipped off to an editor. Then the editor will request yet more changes, so it will go through another draft or two.

Your writing will improve with each rewrite as well. :-)

Here's a professional writers' secret: your editor's job is to make YOU look good. The big benefit of professional writing is professional editing. Which means rewriting. This is A Good Thing.

Read every day. Write and rewrite every day. Every day, in every way, you'll get better and better.

Tsunami death toll at 55,000 and expected to rise

This story at News.com puts the current death toll at 55,000.

Here in Australia, the Red Cross and the Commonwealth Bank are accepting donations.

The power of writing one by one: can blogs change the world?

Fortune's "Why There's No Escaping the Blog" shows that blogs are becoming mainstream.

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Suddenly everyone's a publisher and everyone's a critic. Says Jeff Jarvis, author of the blog BuzzMachine, and president and creative director of newspaper publisher Advance Publications' Internet division: "There should be someone at every company whose job is to put into Google and blog search engines the name of the company or the brand, followed by the word 'sucks,' just to see what customers are saying."

It all used to be so easy; the adage went "never pick a fight with anyone who buys ink by the barrel." But now everyone can get ink for free, launch a diatribe, and-if what they have to say is interesting to enough people-expect web-enabled word of mouth to carry it around the world. Unlike earlier promises of self-publishing revolutions, the blog movement seems to be the real thing. A big reason for that is a tiny innovation called the permalink: a unique web address for each posting on every blog. Instead of linking to web pages, which can change, bloggers link to one another's posts, which typically remain accessible indefinitely. This style of linking also gives blogs a viral quality, so a pertinent post can gain broad attention amazingly fast-and reputations can get taken down just as quickly.
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Here's your challenge. You're a writer: how will you use the power of blogging in 2005?

The next issue of Your EveryDay Write: A New Year, A New You in 2005

Look for the next issue of Your EveryDay Write, our free monthly ezine, to hit your Inbox on December 30th.

If you're not a subscriber, subscribe here.

This month's technique is: "Using your writing to achieve your goals".

Get back into the swing of writing with free-writing

Writing's a lot like exercising, the more you do it, the easier the words roll off your fingertips. If you've had a few days off from writing, you can feel stiff and awkward. Your writing muscles are stiff. :-)

Try this free-writing exercise to loosen up.

When you free-write, it's important not to think about what you're writing. Just write the first words that come to mind, and keep writing. Don't cross out typos, don't correct your grammar, just keep writing. If no words spring to mind, you can whine on paper: "This is a stupid exercise, I don't know what to write, I …" etc.

Write "On Christmas Day, I …" and keep writing for five minutes.

Then write "On Christmas Day, he…" and keep writing for five minutes.

Fun with language: free McGill English Dictionary of Rhyme

You'll love the McGill English Dictionary of Rhyme, a free electronic rhyming dictionary which is based on the huge fourteen-volume reference work, the McGill English Dictionary of Rhyme.

Interesting features include rhyming phrases and place names, as well as a clichés database. The program doesn't require installation, you simply copy it to your computer. This means that it's portable: you can take it with you on a USB drive and can use it on any computer.