In order to do more participation for NaNoWriMo this year, I have decided to do a few things...
First up, I am going to help out the MLs of my region as much as I can. (I foresee sneaking into the group of them and chewing on many ankles.) It should actually be a lot of fun.
Second, and the most major for now, is that I will be hosting a Writing Workshop in English in the Montreal area in mid October. There will be three or so subjects covered in what I hope will be a three hour session, with a question and answer session to follow. If you are in Montreal and want to attend, you can visit here on facebook and like the page. This will let you know more about the workshop as I learn more information for you. I am currently hoping to host the workshop at the grand library downtown, but I will not know if it is a possibility to do so at this point. I have a very, very small budget for the workshop, since it will be free of charge for anyone who wishes to attend. If there are any fees, it will be coming out of my own pocket.
Third, I will be making myself available to anyone participating in NaNoWriMo for morale support, regardless of whether or not a member of the Montreal region. That is something I love about Nano -- it is a world based community, not just local!
I hope to have a great deal of fun.
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
Why Some Companies Suck
I have had a working relationship with rentacoder. For a long time, in fact. They thanked me by taking my $, dumping it into an account that does not belong to me, and telling me that I couldn't have it back.
No, I will not provide a direct URL to the company. They also operate under the name of Exhedra, which is the parent company. They are planning on changing Rentacoders name to something else, but I do not know what the new name is offhand.
Sometimes, being a freelancer really, really sucks.
The problem with being a freelance writer on Rentacoder is three-fold.
First, the pay sucks. They want low paid writers to do relatively simple work. I had no quarrels with doing so, seeing as I could do a lot of these articles in a short period of time. That resulted in the pocket change I needed for the household.
The main problem with the pay relating to Rentacoder is simple: You are competing with the bottom of the barrel. These people are willing to work for cents just to ensure a contract. As such, the customers expect writers who will work for cents. I was choosy about which projects I would take, getting a higher average of pay than many of the other writers.
Unfortunately, there were many people who preferred quantity over quality, which made obtaining good contracts difficult.
Second, they discourage all outside communications. Unlike Elance, which will even provide email addresses for offsite work, Rentacoder does not. In fact, you can have your account removed if you talk to anyone off site if your contract is below a certain threshold. They just want their money.
Third, Their customer service, as I have just discovered, really sucks. They will not notify you if they discover any problems with your account. (This is what, apparently, has bit me in the ass.)
Talk about nice treatments of those who have put money in -their- pockets.
My problem is now finding a new source of income, and quickly. While my Ghosts of Atlantis project, my Tower of the Rising Sun project, and all of my other novels, are indeed great fun, they do not put food on the table. They do not pay for the computer that recently fried. They do not help pay my mortgage or my car payment.
I am giving Elance a try to see if I can find a contract there. I won't pay for the services until I see a contract go through start to finish, but I will see if I can find work there. Perhaps it will make a suitable replacement for Rentacoder. If anyone knows of any other reliable sources of contract income, I would greatly appreciate any links that you could send me.
This is extremely stressful. In the grand scheme, it was not a significant amount of money. But, it was my money, and it was taken from me. This violation has me completely off balance.
I do not wish to try to monetize Ghosts of Atlantis. It is a project that I mean to share with the world for free. Stories were meant to be shared. I have projects that I want to try for the commercial market, but this is NOT one of them. Perhaps I will use LuLu in the future for offering fans a copy of the book, but only if it is asked for.
Oh well, tomorrow will be a better day. It is not the end of the world, although it feels like it should be.
No, I will not provide a direct URL to the company. They also operate under the name of Exhedra, which is the parent company. They are planning on changing Rentacoders name to something else, but I do not know what the new name is offhand.
Sometimes, being a freelancer really, really sucks.
The problem with being a freelance writer on Rentacoder is three-fold.
First, the pay sucks. They want low paid writers to do relatively simple work. I had no quarrels with doing so, seeing as I could do a lot of these articles in a short period of time. That resulted in the pocket change I needed for the household.
The main problem with the pay relating to Rentacoder is simple: You are competing with the bottom of the barrel. These people are willing to work for cents just to ensure a contract. As such, the customers expect writers who will work for cents. I was choosy about which projects I would take, getting a higher average of pay than many of the other writers.
Unfortunately, there were many people who preferred quantity over quality, which made obtaining good contracts difficult.
Second, they discourage all outside communications. Unlike Elance, which will even provide email addresses for offsite work, Rentacoder does not. In fact, you can have your account removed if you talk to anyone off site if your contract is below a certain threshold. They just want their money.
Third, Their customer service, as I have just discovered, really sucks. They will not notify you if they discover any problems with your account. (This is what, apparently, has bit me in the ass.)
Talk about nice treatments of those who have put money in -their- pockets.
My problem is now finding a new source of income, and quickly. While my Ghosts of Atlantis project, my Tower of the Rising Sun project, and all of my other novels, are indeed great fun, they do not put food on the table. They do not pay for the computer that recently fried. They do not help pay my mortgage or my car payment.
I am giving Elance a try to see if I can find a contract there. I won't pay for the services until I see a contract go through start to finish, but I will see if I can find work there. Perhaps it will make a suitable replacement for Rentacoder. If anyone knows of any other reliable sources of contract income, I would greatly appreciate any links that you could send me.
This is extremely stressful. In the grand scheme, it was not a significant amount of money. But, it was my money, and it was taken from me. This violation has me completely off balance.
I do not wish to try to monetize Ghosts of Atlantis. It is a project that I mean to share with the world for free. Stories were meant to be shared. I have projects that I want to try for the commercial market, but this is NOT one of them. Perhaps I will use LuLu in the future for offering fans a copy of the book, but only if it is asked for.
Oh well, tomorrow will be a better day. It is not the end of the world, although it feels like it should be.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Start of a Day
It is 9:26 in the morning. The condo is somewhat quiet, for the herd of stomping elephants that is my husband has left the region. Today, his herd stampeded, but he managed to get out of the door with reasonable haste.
I fear the alarm clock may have been a casualty, however. I guess my blackberry will have to be set just to make sure it still works tomorrow.
I have a lot I have to do today. First, I need to make a cup of tea. I drink a lot of tea. I have a little bit of a tea collection going. I guess it really does count as a collection when I own some fifteen different blends and varieties of green tea.
While I could talk for hours on the qualities and deliciousness of green tea, I will avoid making myself look too silly.
With luck, I will get the second section of my Ghosts of Atlantis project posted to the internet. I am worried if chapter three is perhaps too over the top for the YA crowd, so I am going to whip chapter two into shape and post it online. That will give me two weeks to flush out the kinks. Then, Lilith gets to come out and join you in the wonder world of the internet.
Most of my attention will be on contract writing and Tower of the Rising Sun. Canada post has informed me that my new digital pad is out for delivery, so once that arrives, I fear my hyperactivity will reach new highs. It will be very hard to get anything done because I will have a new toy.
Curious? Come, look at my new toy. Yes, you know you want to look at it.
That said, I really, really hate when dreams parallel reality. I dreamed I had woken my husband up and he went to work. Then, I was buying new fish for my new aquarium. It was at that time I realized I was dreaming, shot upright in a fit of "oh my dear god I slept in." and realized I was actually up half an hour early.
The little part of shopping for new fish with -explosives- might have tipped me off that it was a dream. I mean, really. I suppose if I wanted fish tar-tar in my aquarium, I would use high explosives as a part of it.
I blame Mythbusters. Only Mythbusters could influence someone to dream about fishing with high explosives.
Off to work with me now. See you on twitter!
I fear the alarm clock may have been a casualty, however. I guess my blackberry will have to be set just to make sure it still works tomorrow.
I have a lot I have to do today. First, I need to make a cup of tea. I drink a lot of tea. I have a little bit of a tea collection going. I guess it really does count as a collection when I own some fifteen different blends and varieties of green tea.
While I could talk for hours on the qualities and deliciousness of green tea, I will avoid making myself look too silly.
With luck, I will get the second section of my Ghosts of Atlantis project posted to the internet. I am worried if chapter three is perhaps too over the top for the YA crowd, so I am going to whip chapter two into shape and post it online. That will give me two weeks to flush out the kinks. Then, Lilith gets to come out and join you in the wonder world of the internet.
Most of my attention will be on contract writing and Tower of the Rising Sun. Canada post has informed me that my new digital pad is out for delivery, so once that arrives, I fear my hyperactivity will reach new highs. It will be very hard to get anything done because I will have a new toy.
Curious? Come, look at my new toy. Yes, you know you want to look at it.
That said, I really, really hate when dreams parallel reality. I dreamed I had woken my husband up and he went to work. Then, I was buying new fish for my new aquarium. It was at that time I realized I was dreaming, shot upright in a fit of "oh my dear god I slept in." and realized I was actually up half an hour early.
The little part of shopping for new fish with -explosives- might have tipped me off that it was a dream. I mean, really. I suppose if I wanted fish tar-tar in my aquarium, I would use high explosives as a part of it.
I blame Mythbusters. Only Mythbusters could influence someone to dream about fishing with high explosives.
Off to work with me now. See you on twitter!
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