One of the worst and in some ways best affiliate program I have ever dealt with has been the one for eBay. It’s called the eBay Partners Network. Quite frankly, I’ve tried to be very patient with my experiences, but I feel compelled to speak out here for any of you considering joining the program. (I’m honestly not sure whether they are even accepting affiliates right now.)
Read more on One of worst, best affiliate programs — eBay’s affiliate program…
I’ve mentioned here before that one of the useful jobs I’ve had in recent years that helped my dialog writing skills was a job I had transcribing denial letters for an insurance company. Our company wasn’t involved in health care or life insurance. We were a property and casualty company, and the agents I worked for were concerned with auto and homeowners insurance. (No, they weren’t the “agents” you’d go to for a home insurance quote. Rather, they were “customer service” reps or “adjusters” who you would talk with when you filed a claim with your agent and the agent sent it to them for resolution. Anyway.)
Read more on Tips for writing realistic dialog when you write fiction…
One of the irritating things about trying to publish a blog regularly is that you have to put up with all sorts of idiotic sp*mmers. I use the “*” instead of the letter “a,” because I fear using the word might draw some more of it my way via the mysteries of search engines.
Read more on Idiotic sp*mmers never give up, do they?…
Let’s be very clear on this: Whether you’re talking about life insurance, health insurance, car insurance, house insurance, etc., there is probably a part of you buried down deep (or maybe not even so deeply?) that thinks, “Insurance sucks. It’s like stuffing money down a deep hole, never to see it again and never even to hear it hit the bottom of the hole.”
Read more on Learn to write ad copy by watching insurance compay ads…
Sometimes you make a decision and you just feel downright good and RIGHT about it. I did that about 10 minutes ago when I deleted my Twitter account, freeing up some time and getting untangled from a horrifically sp*mmy mess.
Read more on Goodbye Twitter, hello all my blogging friends…
A couple of days ago I warned all you WordPress bloggers out there to be aware of possible plugin conflicts and other strange glitches that might happen to your blog. I’m not sure I made myself clear in that discussion about issues I had on some of my blogs, so let me repeat this: We did have a problem when people tried to leave comments on a couple of my blogs — including this one — but it’s fixed now.
Read more on Let me repeat: We had a commenting problem, but it’s fixed now…
I have done professional writing and editing for several decades now. Yeah, makes me feel old, too, just thinking about it. My wife, who is a never-aging font of beauty — though two years older than I — has been a proofreader for just about as long as I’ve been a writer.
Read more on What are some English language errors that make you cringe?…
This is a heads-up for all you bloggers out there who use WordPress — watch those plugins. I had a very bad experience with two specific plugins in recent weeks, one I just discovered the problem with today.
Read more on Heads-up for bloggers who use WordPress — watch those plugins…
It just occurred to me that, in my eagerness to bring you frequent “Useful Websites,” there are some fundamental sites for writers that I’m missing. So let me remedy that right now with this one — “EzineArticles.com.”
Read more on Do know about ‘EzineArticles.com’? You should check out the site…
In previous posts I’ve encouraged those of you who write fiction to remember your creative edge: If you don’t know something, you have the liberty of making it up. I also have mentioned the need for realism in fiction.
Read more on Beware of anachronisms and careful about literary license to preserve accuracy in your writing…
If you use EzineArticles.com for so-called “article marketing,” be sure you know the rules. The site has very detailed, but very clear, Editorial Guidelines that deal with matters of content, style, and most of all, requirements for authors and authors’ accounts. The site’s rules for authors’ accounts have led to some confusion, which I’m happy to clear up for you.
Read more on If you use EzineArticles.com, be sure you know rules…
From time to time, I try to offer tips for how you might make some money online with your writing skills. Sometimes these are opportunities I’ve tried and sometimes they’re ones I’m just getting around to trying.
Read more on Opportunity to make money online with your writing…
I was thinking about idioms and idiomatic language today. Yes, sometimes I do just sit around thinking about words and language. That’s why I am a writer. The really tricky things about idiomatic language is learning to get the “feel” for it that native speakers have — and that’s the biggest challenge someone may face learning a foreign language.
Read more on Idioms: One more challenge to learning languages…
I just saw a great movie that was a perfect example of conveying a time in history authentically.
(I confess that I am about a year to a year-and-a-half behind when it comes to watching movies. I can’t remember the last time my wife and I spent the money and time to go to a movie in a theater. Instead, we have a Netflix subscription and watch most of our movies either through that, or from our satellite dish DVR.)
Read more on Great movie, example of period authenticity…
Remember those long ago days of preschool or kindergarten? Those days when life held a quiet nap on most afternoons, followed perhaps by recess? I’m talking about all those things that appeal to us even more as adults — and which we rarely have time for anymore.
Read more on Here’s a writing tip that’s my personal favorite — creative napping…
