Freelancewritingtips.com

John Yamrus reading his poetry: "Consistency is key"

JOHN Yamrus is a member at My Writers Circle and his poetry posted there made me laugh so much I bought his latest book, Shoot the Moon. Check out the video above to hear him reading some of his work - especially some with a worthwhile message for aspiring writers.

Writing opportunities, as publicised by The New Writer magazine

SUBSCRIBERS of The New Writer magazine receive regular newsletters by email with a round-up of current opportunities. In my current newsletter, received this morning, there are around 30 items, made up of competition news, opportunities and useful resources - it's definitely worth checking out.

The Manchester Poetry Prize 2008
The Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University is launching The Manchester Poetry Prize – a new literary competition celebrating excellence in creative writing. First prize: £10,000. Deadline for entries: 1st August 2008. The Manchester Poetry Prize is open to writers internationally, and will award a cash prize of £10,000 to the writer of the best portfolio of poems submitted. In addition, a bursary for study at MMU will be awarded to an entrant aged 18-25 as part of the Manchester Young Writer of the Year Award. Eligible entrants are asked to indicate on the entry form if they would like to be considered for the Manchester Young Writer of the Year Award in addition to the main prize. Entrants are asked to submit a portfolio of poetry (three to five poems; the total length of the portfolio should not exceed 120 lines). The poems can be on any subject but must be new work, not published elsewhere.

How journalists can make the most of Twitter

TWEET, tweet, tweet, that's all I'm hearing today. Arriving back at my desk, I see author Nick Daws is now following me on Twitter and there's a debate about whether it's worth it on Journobiz.

Best of all, Paul Bradshaw gives an all-points-covered rundown here. Excellent stuff - especially the bit that advises to just give it a go.

I wrote about Twitter in Press Gazette last year.

As someone who used to write for a now defunct blog called Twitterati, I was also interested to read a Shiny take on the top 25 Twitterers and Twitter services. And how did I come to know of such a post? Well erm, by Twitter of course.

Follow me here if you're interested. (Latest update: Back from the nutritionist. In tears. In a good way.)

The Rules of Dating: Danuta Kean on small publishers

IF you have any leanings whatsoever towards accepting a book deal with a small publisher, then you really should read this first.

This lady knows what she's talking about, and has some eye-opening pointers. Equally, if not more illuminating are the comments, from disgruntled authors and other industry insiders.

And just look what she has to say about "blooks". Ouch.

'Just get out there and do it' Advice from Ellie Levenson on how to be a campaigning freelance journalist

IS there an issue you feel so strongly about that rather than just reporting on it, you'd like to stand up and be counted, pushing to get it changed?

My friend Ellie Levenson has embarked on a campaign to allow women greater access to emergency contraception. It's interesting to see how Ellie has tackled this so far and how she has gained pitches, momentum and publicity from a standing start.

So far, Ellie has written this piece for Progress, which is a Labour Party think tank magazine, been commissioned by The Guardian and been featured in The Jewish Chronicle.

It's early days, but Ellie is also aiming for mentions in women's magazines, more national papers and blogs. I'm happy to oblige. If you agree with Ellie's campaign, then you can sign her petition. But even if you don't, I hope her experience of launching the campaign and being commissioned off the back of it, may be useful to you.

See over the cut for some brief questions and answers with Ellie.

My new book is out now, please shout if you would like a review copy

WHERE can you turn when you have to explain to your children that their parents are separating?

What can you say to them to help them to understand what’s happening and that they aren’t to blame ?

How can they still feel loved when Mummy and Daddy are no longer speaking? Linda Jones’ sympathetic and straight-talking guide answers the questions that children ask when their parents go their separate ways. (It says here.)

Whether you are a parent, grandparent, carer or teacher, Linda’s accessible and warm approach will help you reduce and manage the pain and stress for children when a relationship ends. (It continues...)

If you would like a review copy, I have a limited number available, so please get in touch with details of which magazine or paper will carry your piece.

My new portfolio website

I'VE been tinkering with an online portfolio and Craig has helped me swap it over to a new address - www.lindajoneswork.com.
It seems to take bloody ages to keep it up to date (which I haven't managed) but I hope it's worth it.

Thanks everyone for your interest in this blog - quick update

THANK you to everyone who has contacted me.
The update is that I have been back in touch with a very experienced writer who has lots of ideas about how the site could progress and I'm hoping to hand it over to her in the very near future. Please watch this space for more news. Thanks again.

Would you like to take Freelancewritingtips.com off my hands?

TIME is against me. As much as I would love to continue with this blog, and have plenty of information and ideas that I could upload, it's just not happening.

I think the small matter of having a family to spend time with, and a company to run has something to do with this. If you are interested in taking the baton (is that the expression? Oh you know what I mean!) then please get in touch.

Apart from having an ambitiously named bookshop, I have made no further attempt to monetise this site, as it was set up with the intention of publicising my book and helping writers.

So, this is an area that could be developed, and with enough time and expertise, hopefully developed well. Please get in touch if you would like to know more.

"I always say yes" - tips from a "generalist" by Fiona Veitch Smith

SOME writers are specialists, others generalists. I’m the latter.
This is partly a matter of personality and partly one of fear. Although I trained as a news reporter in the early 1990s I soon realised that the rigours and confines of writing hard copy for news did not allow me the creative freedom I desired – so I became a freelance feature writer.