Comments for Polish and Publish | Tools and Tactics for Creative Writers

Comment on They Came for the Cookies by Lesley Peebles

Lesley Peebles — Fri, 18 May 2012 18:59:22 +0000

It’s not even that anyone can call him or herself a writer. It’s that everyone – even the worst of them – thinks they can write, and that the only reason they don’t write is because they don’t have time. Writing is something you pay other people to do – and they do it because they don’t have the skills to do anything else.

My goodness, there are even management books that say you should leave a few typos in your email to convey urgency, and the importance of the vision over the details.

Comment on About Lynette Benton by Lynette Benton

Lynette Benton — Thu, 17 May 2012 21:57:22 +0000

I’m *so* interested, Kellie. Will be in touch.

Comment on They Came for the Cookies by Lynette Benton

Lynette Benton — Thu, 17 May 2012 21:56:10 +0000

Thanks so much for your comment, Belinda. What you should charge for tutoring might be determined by where you live. Are there tutoring services you can check with? Or even the high school; I have friends who tutor high schoolers, and often the school will advise you on a good hourly rate. Good luck! And keep enjoying offering writing instruction; I’m exhilarated after every class I teach.

Comment on They Came for the Cookies by Lynette Benton

Lynette Benton — Thu, 17 May 2012 21:53:25 +0000

Terry, as usual, you have an insightful take on this. Maybe those folks really weren’t getting enough to eat. Glad you enjoyed (and related to) the post!

Comment on About Lynette Benton by Kellie Elmore

Kellie Elmore — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:20:04 +0000

Saw your tweet about interviews etc… Interested in me? =) I could really use some promo for my latest release. Here is a direct link to sample the first chapter:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0985154829/ref=sib_dp_kd#reader-link

If you like it, feel free to email me. Otherwise, no hard feelings. xox
Kellie

Comment on They Came for the Cookies by Linda Gartz

Linda Gartz — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:03:20 +0000

Hear! Hear! Part of the problem is that anyone can call him or herself a writer. No Bar Exam like for Lawyers or CPA as for accountants. We can have our degrees, MFA, BA in English–whatever, but the proof is in the pudding. There are ways to make money writing, but for most it’s not in the art side of writing — unless you get so famous and lucky. Of course, one still has to be able to write a compelling cogent piece. If one wants to read about making money in this field I suggest reading anything by Kelly James Enger. She spoke at our writers group on the topic of the 6-figure writer. It’s a different paradigm and each writer has to decide which way to go. You deserve more than $22/teaching hour FOR SURE. So I am in complete agreement with putting your foot down.

Comment on They Came for the Cookies by terry delpercio

terry delpercio — Thu, 17 May 2012 18:17:39 +0000

Hi Lynette: I found this post to be most amusing and delightfully honest. It reminds me of most of the artist opening receptions that I attend. Ninety percent of the people that come go straight to the food table and stay there for most of the evening, gobbling up as much food as possible. Sometimes I actually feel sorry for them, thinking that they may not be getting enough to eat at home (!) I keep thinking that maybe we should all skip the snacks and let people just come and listen (and look) for a change. Love your sense of humor with these issues.

Comment on They Came for the Cookies by Belinda

Belinda — Thu, 17 May 2012 17:49:05 +0000

I teach for a university on MWF, and volunteer in the community on TR. I try to make myself charge a fee for teaching in the community. I end up charging for materials only because I love the work so much–everything about it. I love the students; reading their work and responding to it; I love the interaction and seeing them improve and become empowered. I love making a difference in a person’s life. I am just starting a new writing venture–summer tutoring for college-bound teens, a kind of college prep consisting of the many writing occasions the students will be asked to engage in as well as some literature and creative writing. I like to tutor in small groups of 2 or 3 students at a time. I am trying to figure out how much I should charge per student. I’m sorry to admit that I would do it for no fee because it is so enjoyable. But I know that sends the wrong message about writers in general, and about Belinda. I have a long list of credentials that I will not post here; assume I am extremely qualified and please offer suggestions about the financial compensation I should request or require for my engagement with these students. Any other response is welcome, also. Cheers!

Comment on They Came for the Cookies by Shakirah Dawud

Shakirah Dawud — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:34:17 +0000

I just published a post reviewing another writer’s course to help writers get paid what they’re worth. The first comment I received was a scathing accusation that my post wasn’t encouraging because if I were really trying to help writers, I’d have recommended information they could access for free.

I know that because most writers are paid peanuts–and enjoy cookies, as Stacy says–they’re frustrated by the idea that simple information should be paid for. Of course every piece of information in that course–and probably in your course–could be found for free elsewhere. But information is not power. Knowledge is power.

We get knowledge by learning, which includes having a model (i.e. an expert who can teach us) in front of us, practice applying points, and accountability in the form of homework (even if it’s not graded, the review tells our teacher or classmates whether we’ve got it or not). The more of these elements we can get, the more we learn. We can’t get any of them from a free ebook–or even a collection of free ebooks.

Yes, you can get ideas from free information, and use them. But if you don’t, or if you get confused, you’ll want an expert’s ear. If everyone who ever downloaded a free course from an expert had that expert’s ear, she would shortly need–not want or demand, no, NEED–those people to provide her with a means to pay the rent.

How could this possibly be offensive to her students?

Comment on They Came for the Cookies by Stacy S. Jensen

Stacy S. Jensen — Thu, 17 May 2012 05:32:43 +0000

Good for you. I can understand the cookie issue, as most writers enjoy cookies. At least you got a blog post out of the experience. There are some people, who want everything for free. I’ve found some low cost classes disappointing, but still give them a try — at least once.