Over the transom.

I still hear the ‘plonk’. Even though it’s a virtual manuscript hitting my in-box, I hear the sound of a ream of paper falling solidly on my desk.

You never know exactly what you are going to get, but if you’ve done the prep-work well enough, you have a pretty good idea. The initial sample you received from the buyer and the subsequent discussion gave you enough information to set your rate. But there’s still the plonk.

Here’s an example:*

Creating a Healthy Mindset

Do you feel like you could have a healthier attitude toward life? Would you like to change your attitude or simply approach things in a different way? It can be difficult with all of the stressors in your life to lead a healthy lifestyle, but the way that it needs to start is through a healthy mindset. Many people think that they are just meant to be a pessimist or they just aren’t as optimistic as a lot of the other people in their life. You can achieve a healthy mindset; you just need to go about it in the right way.

How You Can Have a Healthier Mindset

Many people sit back and look at their lives and wish that they could look at things in a more positive manner. Instead of working toward being positive they beat themselves up for being negative or not having the responses or attitudes that they wish they would have naturally. This is a typical response, but it doesn’t do any good. Instead of getting mad at yourself for responding the way you do, go about the desire to have a healthier mindset in a positive way.

What the buyer had to say.

“It’s too smooshy, too loose. Can you punch it up and have it read better?”

A little Q&A revealed that this was written to be SEO friendly. The original writer had her hands tied. I explained the trade-offs between readable and machine readable. The key phrase was ‘healthy mindset’, and I promised I would try to keep as many instances as I could while still keeping in mind that actual humans were the target audience.

The Parameters

• Keep, as much as reasonable, the key phrase.
• Shorten the run on sentences.
• Remove the redundancies.
• Punch it up (by way of the above and formatting tricks)

The Process

Here’s a blow by blow for one of the sentences: It can be difficult with all of the stressors in your life to lead a healthy lifestyle, but the way that it needs to start is through a healthy mindset.

Check the first 7 words in a sentence. If the writer hasn’t gotten to the subject, there is a problem. Simply reordering improves it. The stressors in your life make leading a healthy lifestyle difficult…

But I don’t like ‘stressors’. How about, Life’s pressures make leading a healthy lifestyle difficult… ? The ‘life and lifestyle’ conflict. And I don’t like ‘make leading’ either. Another shuffle and rewording gives: Living healthy is difficult in the face of daily pressures and stress. A healthy mindset can help overcome this.

Now, I don’t like ‘in the face of’. So- Living healthy is difficult because of daily pressures and stress. A healthy mindset can help you overcome this.

18 words from 30 and one use of the key phrase in each passage. That’s how it goes.

Try it yourself.

I’ve picked out a few wordy phrases you should be able to either eliminate or shorten dramatically. Give it a shot and try out your editor muscles. There’s nothing as worthwhile as hands-on.

• Many people think that
• a lot of other people in their life.
• wish that they could look at things in a more positive manner
• not having the responses or attitudes that they wish they would have naturally.
• go about the desire to have a healthier mindset in a positive way.

Like it? Hate it? Either way, I’m betting you can do it. And like me, you will get better over time. Better, faster, stronger, editor.

*If you are the author of this example, I would like to credit you for the work. I copyscaped it and didn’t get any results. As it stands, I am relying on ‘fair use’ of this small portion, but certainly I would like to give a proper citation.

Spinning

There is an odd sort of job which pays very well if you can sell it. A buyer already has something readable (an ebook or a website or a sales letter) and they want it redone to change the tone or the target (by target, I mean the reader it is meant for).

It could be something they already paid for and published. It might be an article they got from the net. Although this is really a rewrite, you will find it posted as an editing job. From the buyer’s perspective, the material is usable and written well enough, it just doesn’t ‘fit’.

Be very careful here. If they wrote it themselves, they aren’t going to be happy when you call it the worst piece of junk you’ve seen in a year. Tread lightly.

First translate

Translate what they tell you into your own language.

As writers we think about writing a bit differently (or should). The buyer will use adjectives like: too soft, too hard (usually as it relates to sales copy); too difficult to read or too long; or the ever popular “doesn’t sound right”. Whatever they say, try to translate it into your own terms.

The way to do this is to read the copy and identify what the author is trying to say. This is going to be your theme. Whatever you end up with, this theme is sacrosanct. You aren’t out to say something else, just say it better.

Here’s some examples of what buyers tell you and what it means:

• Too long/wanders – They want it more concise. Use active verbs and specific nouns. Keep sentences short and punchy; paragraphs on point.
• Not friendly/too technical – The opposite of above, they want contractions and a point of view; consider anecdotes or a story line.
• Doesn’t have any authority – Needs facts and research. See if they will allow links or citations.
• Isn’t written for my readers – Who are the readers? Jargon and ‘insider’ talk might be needed. A good way to get a feel for any specific group of readers is to spend a little time reading blogs and forums in that subject area. Be aware the true expertise cannot be faked.
• Isn’t compelling – Watch out. This might be a copywriting job masquerading as an editing job. For this one, you need a good balance of factual content (the reasons behind the purchase) and other elements of copywriting- I highly recommend Bob Bly’s books on the subject. In any case, look to add emotional hooks and loaded adjectives with strong action verbs.
• Too much hype - The opposite of above. Usually written as a template and over the top copywriting. Trim the bull and add more factual description. Stories as examples help as well as testimonials. You combat the generic with the specific.

This list is getting out of hand, but pinning the buyer down as well as you can is essential. Expect several rounds of back and forth before you get the job clearly defined in your head.

Know these techniques

• Bulleted list to add punch and ‘readability’.
• Be able to check reading ease (see: Improve Your Writing for how to do this).
• Know how to add visuals and links to break up a long piece.
• Know how final page layout, font and form affects how a page is viewed. By form, I mean how writing is different on a button, a balloon or a cartoon graphic. How much information you can fit and where you can fit it…

That last bullet brings me to what makes editing a different animal than other types of writing I do on oDesk. When I take on an editing job, I’m also a consultant. I expect to make suggestions about presentation- what should go where and why in the final product.

And that brings me to my last point. Telling them why.

Justifying your changes.

This probably the most important thing you do when you edit, besides the actual changes. The what you did isn’t as important as the why you did it. Buyers expect you to have some expertise in communicating with the written word. And rightly so. You have to make it plain to them that you have contributed something worth the money they are paying you.

A rewrite alone isn’t enough. You have to tell buyers what you did and why you did it.

“I lowered the reading level to reach the average person browsing the web.”

“I’ve reordered the paragraphs and split them up to give a logical flow to the piece. This pattern allows for a convincing pitch at the end- they already have all the best reasons to buy in mind.”

“The article is longer than normal because people who are interested in this subject will keep reading. In fact, they are hungry for as much information as they can get.”

In my next installment, I’ll cover some real world examples and techniques.

Money.

I bet that got your attention; it gets mine.

We’ve talked about rates before, but what I want to discuss today is setting them.  One of the best tools for setting your rate on oDesk is the oConomy.  It lets you see just how much people in your field are getting paid so that you can see what the market can actually bear.

I’m a writer, so let’s look at the writing category:

This graph shows how provider’s hourly rates break down against the number of jobs.  I got this information from the very useful Rate Distributions by Job Category section of the oConomy.   If you haven’t looked at it already you really need to.

As you can see, while the majority of jobs cluster around the lower end of the pay scale, there are noticeable spikes that correspond to pay rates of $5.00/hr, $10.00/hr, $15.00/hr, $20.00/hr and $25.00/hr.  The numbers are skewed a little high because the graph shows billing rates, but the message is clear:  If you’re currently making $10.00/hr and want to increase your rate you may as well jump straight to $15.00/hr, or if you’re at $15.00/hr you should go to $20.00/hr without bothering with any of the intermediate rates.

However, also note that the vast majority of jobs pay $10.00/hr or less so you may want to take that into consideration too.

Further down they list breakdowns by sub-category so you can see that the average rate for technical writing is $12.75/hr while for blog and article writing it’s $8.03/hr.

While it’s not exactly writing, many writers may consider data entry– but be warned it has the lowest average pay of any sub-category, drawing just $3.13/hr.  I don’t know about you, but that rate’s enough to scare me off.

Before we go any further I want to throw out one more set of numbers.  This is a more general chart, showing the average hourly rate for job hires over the last year.  You can find this information on the Rate Statistics page of the oConomy.

If you look closely you’ll see that the majority of oDesk jobs come between $13.00/hr and $15.00/hr and that the rate has stayed pretty constant over the course of the last year.  It’s important to note that these numbers reflect the pay rates at which people were actually hired, not the rates they would like to be paid.

Now that we’ve got the numbers down we can talk about what triggered this post.

Most of you probably know there have been a lot of posts on the oDesk Community about wages lately.  I discussed one of those threads in a previous post here.  Well, the discussion hasn’t stopped, and the minimum wage adherents are out in full force.

Looking at the numbers I don’t see any reason why oDesk should implement a minimum wage.  The most common suggestion is $5.00/hr and the numbers clearly show that the average hourly rate on oDesk is over twice that amount.

In fact, according to the rate distribution chart there are only two sub-categories that average below $5.00/hr:  Personal Assistant at $4.88/hr and Data Entry at $3.13/hr.   Both are under Administrative Support and personally I would consder $4.88/hr close enough to $5.00/hr that it doesn’t matter.  So with the glaring exception of Data Entry, almost any average job on oDesk should be paying more than $5.00/hr.

Yes there will always be buyers who want the world for nothing, but the numbers clearly show that they aren’t getting it, and that $1.00/hr jobs are very much the exception not the rule.  Going back to writing for a moment; if you’re an average writer there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be making an average of at least $8.00/hr, especially since the average billing rate for working writers on oDesk is $9.53/hr.

Remember that number:  We’ll come back to it.

Now that we know the average, we have somewhere to base our rates.  If you want to charge significantly more than the going rate you need to be able to provide your buyer with a benefit for that additional cost.  If you cannot convince your buyer that you’re worth more than the average rate for your category you won’t get any jobs.

I tend to read peoples’ profiles as well as the threads they post in.   It’s often very interesting reading, especially when it’s someone complaining about the low wages on oDesk, because it tells me what kind of experience they have had on the site.

Here’s an example:  I checked the profile of one person who had been taking part in the discussion of low wages and discovered that they had only taken two relevant tests, with an average score around the 55th percentile, and was looking for $25.00/hr to start.  This was a writer with an error in the first sentence of their profile overview.

As it stands that person is not going to get work on oDesk.

To begin with they’re charging almost three times the average rate for the category.  Remember, your average writing job bills at $9.53/hr which means the provider earns $8.57/hr.   Regardless of their background, without feedback and given their test scores they’re currently sitting squarely in the middle of the pack, if not a little below.

This isn’t an isolated case.

I’ve seen several people complaining about wages lately who have profiles that show no oDesk experience and a billing rate that’s two or three times the category average.  Unless you have an amazing profile and a fantastic portfolio that’s just not going to cut it.

You can work steadily for more than your category average on oDesk.  Nelson, Bill and I all do, and so do a number of others.  You just have to prove to the buyers that you’re worth it.

Buyers can and will pay you what you’re worth.

The catch is they’re going to base what you’re worth on what they see on oDesk and the oDesk marketplace, not your own opinion.

I recommend that every new provider start by setting their rate near the category average and then moving up in rate as they build hours and earn feedback.  Show the community what you’re worth.  Once you have good feedback and enough hours to build a real history you will find you can raise your rates.  Test scores matter less then too.

So next time you see one of those threads complaining about low rates on oDesk take a look at the oConomy.  What you see might surprise you.

Native speakers

Native speakers of English are prone to different problems than foreign speakers. Here’s an example of something I edited that had already been purchased for an article job:

An intense study on toxins has come up with the very fact that toxins tend to make a significant alterations in the hormonal regulation of the body weight. Toxins play a pivotal role in altering the metabolic activities of the thyroid hormone and receptor function, thus giving rise to a much-reduced metabolic rate. In fact toxins can cause the body to gain an excessive over-weight. This is the main reason as to why toxic lifestyle and obesity epidemic are interrelated.

Detoxification is basically the process of removal of heavy and toxic materials from the body, more specifically from kidneys and liver plays a pivotal role in the effectual weight management. The prime reason that contributes to an obesity epidemic is the fact that in the current fast-paced life, we rely on the consumption of junk food and the maximum utilization of the automobiles that tend to make us the prime victims of the obesity.

The first thing that jumped out at me was the run on feel of the sentences. The writer has something to say, they just try to cram too much into each sentence. Removing some of the excess verbiage led to this as the corrected first paragraph:

Studies prove that toxins significantly alter the hormonal regulation of body weight. They alter the metabolic rate by changing the activity of thyroid hormone and receptors. These changes explain why obesity is a consequence of a toxic lifestyle.

The steps required to edit/rewrite this are straightforward:

1. Read it and try to figure out what the writer wants to say.
2. Pick out redundancies and eliminate them.
3. Reorder the sentences so that new information comes after linking phrases (note the use of alter as a linking word and then change as the next linking word).
4. Keep the key concepts intact- you are not allowed to inject your own opinions or add information.
5. Try to keep the style consistent with the original work. No point of view changes or ‘voice’ changes.

That last one deserves some explanation. I could have rewritten it to be even plainer. It wouldn’t then be ‘true’ to the original though. This is a judgment call. How much is corrective surgery and how much cosmetic? In the end, I strive to make the final cut similar enough to the original that the changes are visible to the buyer. I want them to see (at least subconsciously) what I did.

ESL writers

In this category, you find some off-shore bulk article writers (English as a second language who write for English speaking readers) and non-native speakers who recognize their skills aren’t up to par. Forgive me the generalization, I’m not talking about skilled ESL writers or simply people who aren’t living in the US or Great Britain. Perhaps the example I used last time (from an oDesk cover letter) would make the point better:

I am one of the serious bidders for the project. With me working on your project you can be rest assured about the quality. I will always keep you informing about the progress so that you can be in loop and relaxed. I am really enthusiastic about the project. We believe in work quality, customer satisfaction and timely delivery of projects for better relations wit customers, Achieving 100% customer satisfaction and proving our best services.

That paragraph has been spell checked, but there are usage and grammar errors that make it hard to read. Editing of this type involves more proofreading than the first and less rewriting. A simple proofreading leads to this:

I am one of the serious bidders for the project. With me working on your project you can rest assured about the quality. I will always keep you informed of the progress so that you can be in the loop and relaxed. I am really enthusiastic about the project. We believe in work quality, customer satisfaction and timely delivery of projects to obtain better relations with customers- Achieving 100% customer satisfaction and proving our services are the best.

To my inner ear, this is still clunky, but the grammar and usage errors have been fixed. On this type of editing job, I send a marked up version (using the show markup feature in MS Word or Open Office) as well as a final, publishable version. This is to highlight the corrections so that buyers can see what I’ve done and perhaps add their own changes to my changes (hey, it happens).

I’ve noticed a trend on oDesk and other contract writing sites. The trend is to hire as cheaply as possible and then either the buyer edits the material into something usable or hires someone else to do it. (And when they get someone else to take a second look, you can bet the posting will include the phrase, ‘easy job’.) In other words, some buyers set out knowing they won’t get a good product out of the box and hire writers based only on the lowest hourly rate. Editing is part of how they are thinking about the job.

Feeding into this same trend are first-time or amateur authors (of web sites, sales letters and content) who realize, after struggling with a project, the results aren’t what they imagined. They are also looking for editing services.

Finally, a still rare but growing area is ‘freshening’ a website. An older site has gone stale over time; the company or product has evolved or the website just gets a worn-out feel. Although I consider a new set of clothes rewriting, these jobs are seen by some buyers as simple editing.

Can you do it?

It’s very likely that you already do.

I want to point out that ‘editing’ as used here means a skill set that includes rewriting, formatting, and reshaping the tone or spin of content. At oDesk, the term can mean anything from proofreading to an entire rewrite where the final piece looks nothing like the original material. With that in mind, my claim that you already do it should be obvious. Because you edit your own work before you submit it.

You already look for run-on sentences, grammar and punctuation errors, misspellings and poor usage… You do do that, right? Right?

Still not convinced you should bid on editing jobs? Take a look at this cut and paste (part of a cover letter put up on a message board). Read it and think about how you would ‘fix’ it. It’s fairly typical of an ESL (English as a Second Language) writer.

I am one of the serious bidders for the project. With me working on your project you can be rest assured about the quality. I will always keep you informing about the progress so that you can be in loop and relaxed. I am really enthusiastic about the project. We believe in work quality, customer satisfaction and timely delivery of projects for better relations wit customers, Achieving 100% customer satisfaction and proving our best services

I cherry picked that example to make a point. There is a great deal of written material out there that needs help. And you can provide that help.

Can you get a good price?

Yes, if you can inform/lead/educate the buyer. You need to get them past the this is a simple job mindset. And you can do this without being snide (Oh, if it’s such a simple job, why the hell don’t you do it yourself?)

Focus on the end product. This is, after all, the buyer’s primary interest. Don’t complain, just explain. This helps you get hired. You have to get them to understand what you are actually doing for them. If they aren’t writers themselves (which, if they are hiring an editor, they usually aren’t) it’s not easy. Which brings me to:

The Gold Standard

1. Get a copy/sample of the material before you commit to a fee or a number of hours.
2. Take that sample and edit it.
3. Send it back as part of your cover letter.

Why is this so important?

• It tips you off to how much work actually needs to be done and allows you to estimate your time commitment.
• It shows the buyer just what she is paying for and what the final product will be like.
• It gives you a chance to explain the process, the what, why and the how.
• It gets you interacting with the buyer and past the first date awkwardness.

I’ve tried to show you the why you should consider editing for money. In future posts I’ll focus on the mechanics. But one final tip: Never, ever be derogatory instead of calm and factual about an original piece. You don’t know when they wrote it themselves and have an emotional stake. Try to stay professional with your critiques and corrections.

Gaffs to avoid

These are mistakes I have collected from writing I have read or edited (and some I’ve made myself).

• accept/except - She accepted (agreed to) the gifts, all except (excluding) the one from me.
• principle/principal – The principle (rule) of parsimony was the principal (first, primary) reason I kept the article short.
• discrete/discreet – The one means circumspect or prudent (discreet) and the other means separate from some group or category (discrete).
• belief/believe - My belief (noun) is that you believe (verb) things I do not.
• proceed/precede - To proceed is to continue or move on, precede means to go before in space or time, as an introduction might precede the main body of a book.
• illusion/allusion – She mentioned the magician’s illusion (a false impression of reality) when making an allusion (implication or passing indirect reference) to how fake my passion seemed.
• lay/lie - Lay is the action of placing something down (usually horizontally), while lie is the condition of being there. So, if I lay a book down on the table, it is lying there and it lies on the table.
• to/too – The second means extremely, very, or in addition to. I am too (very) short for dancing and I am roundish too (in addition).
• capital/capitol – Capitol is the building where the legislature meets, either in Washington D.C. or in a state. All the other meanings are capital.
• then/than – Then is used for time and than is used in comparisons: I had more sense then (time) than (comparison) I have now.
• accede/exceed – Accede means to agree to and exceed means to go beyond some measure or expectation.
• access/excess – I had access to the secret vault where I found an excess of top secret documents.
• all ready/ already – It’s already noon, are we all ready to go?
• all together/altogether – We were all together on the train, although it was altogether too crowded to breathe.

And now I need a breath.

The confusing pairs I’ve listed so far won’t get caught by your spell checker. Maybe that is why so many slip through. But there’s another type of mistake that doesn’t get caught; one that can be really embarrassing.

It happens when a word is misspelled, but ends up correctly spelling another word, one that wasn’t intended.

When the words are visually similar, a cursory proofreading doesn’t catch them either. For example, decide/deicide. The former is when you make a choice, the latter is when you kill a god. Compassion/compression, pursue/peruse, anyone/any one…

The only answer is to read and reread your submission before it goes out. I am not happy admitting that after I thought I had proofed something to death, I’ve sent blotchy fruit to market. If and when I discover it, I make every effort to fix the problem.

One tip I’ve just started using is reading sentences backwards. I am told that doing this helps give a ‘fresh eye’ when proofreading. I can tell you it feels strange, but does get me looking at words as words instead of parts of a sentence with meaning and context.

The best technique I’ve found so far is to reread a piece a day or two after I have written it. I suppose that puts me more in the reader mode instead of the author mode. Unfortunately I am often too close to deadline for this to be an option.

The only thing I can assure you of is even when one particular buyer doesn’t notice a usage error, their readers will. And there isn’t an upside. When you are selling your expertise, you just have to work as hard as you can to avoid goofs. Because no matter how well you make the rest of the piece, they are going to remember the flub.

Here’s one that appeared in my local paper, in an article about a car accident. “The cars ended up on top of each other.” There’s no spelling or grammar error there, but the impossibility of it made it memorable.

Let them remember your prose for its power and imagery, not because you had a ‘wardrobe malfunction’.

What could be better than earning money while you develop your skills?

Unfortunately, there’s a flock of novice wannabes jumping in who can’t write well at all. They think commercial writing is a home business venture anyone with a computer and modem can do. If this describes your circumstances, I can assure you that you will make almost no money and become frustrated. But all of us start out flailing about a bit. Here’s how even the most basic beginner can develop into a decent, competent writer.

Write.

Writers write. That’s the old aphorism, but it’s still as true as ever. Pretend writers talk about writing, read about writing and maybe even dream about writing. But real writers write.

The difference is the one between planning a garden and planting (and caring for) an actual garden. Things happen outside of our wishes and beyond our control. The doing teaches what it means for me as an individual to be a writer. Anyone can sit and dream. I’m lazy, I understand. But it’s the act of writing, of getting your thoughts on paper, revising and rewording and shaping a piece so that it approximates whatever is happening in your head– that process can’t be replaced or skipped. Writers write.

If you aren’t yet good enough to write for money, write for free. There are sites begging for free content. Article mills and pay-per-click sites will take your practice prose while your writing muscles are developing. Write for your church or community newsletter. Write a blog. Learn the craft and learn something about yourself. The only thing you will know for certain before you write regularly is that writing regularly won’t be how you imagine it.

Read.

Any writer worth her salt reads. Because decent writers are readers. Read anything that appeals to you. The classics are great, but any book that transports you out of yourself is fine.

Reading largely trains us subconsciously. The patterns of good prose, the meter and rhythms of it- reading works a subtle magic in our heads. Sometimes you can see it, mostly not. I see it in myself after watching Shakespeare. I get so immersed that for hours afterward, I want to talk in that unique Shakespearian lilt. “Forsooth, he sayeth what no mortal kens.”

I was reading “The God of Small Things” (a book I didn’t actually like), and in a scene describing the monsoon season in India, the author wrote, “Insects appeared in the night like small ideas.” What a great image. I wish I wrote that well.

If you want to make a formal exercise of this, find an author who’s style you really like– fiction, non-fiction, web copy, whatever– and type out a good chunk. Literally copy word for word, space for space and so on. You will find this mechanical imitation gets the flow of the work into fingers, eyes and mind. It seems strange, but mimicry actually changes us a bit.

Learn.

When I said I was lazy, I wasn’t kidding. Sometimes the best thing for me is to have deadlines and expectations to meet. A little push to get me started on a much bigger climb. A climb to my next plateau and some training to get me in shape. This is the value of formal education.

For beginners, there are plenty of free or cheap ways to improve. Beginners have the advantage of remarkably fast gains and dramatic advancement. I’d start with an online writers’ group because most are convenient and reasonably priced. I can recommend Writers’ Village University. The upside of paying for courses is that you get direct feedback about your writing. The honest critiques are priceless for new writers.

If self-study appeals to you, here is a list of free resources on the web:

• News University- Free with registration, loads of free courses directed at journalists in general.
• Steve Barne’s Online Writing Class- Free downloadable 9 week writing course.
• Writing.com- a group participation course for beginners/intermediate writers
• Free-ed- This site has a great technical writing course as well as college level English composition.

Another option is your local community college. Call and ask anyone in the English department to make suggestions. This route also has the advantage personalized critiques and specific, directed help. Writing workshops are not, in my opinion, a good choice until someone is already a fair writer. The material they cover is too advanced.

How will I know when I’m competent?

You will know because buyers will tell you. They will tell you they love your work, and they want to rehire and then rehire you again. You will know because your bank account will tell you. You will know because you won’t worry when someone asks for a sample, and finally, you will know because you won’t even bother to read ads that have a one-digit number as the per article budget.

OK, we all make typos and grammar flubs. That’s not exactly what I mean. What I mean is a sort of usage error that has you publishing, ‘Don’t loose your bowel.’ instead of the intended: ‘Don’t lose your bowl.’

What the psychologists say.

Evolutionary psychology proposes that we are pattern formers because it allowed our predator ancestors to pick out the unusual from the background. And these ‘things that don’t fit’ meant food or danger or ‘go look– be curious’; survival for the guy or gal who could best pick out errors in the pattern.

The point is that the feeling of abrupt interruption is hard-wired in our brains. We can no more turn it off than we can turn off the ‘I think my foot itches’ switch. The significance for writing is that we strive to become invisible to our readers. Unless an article is about me, I shouldn’t appear in it. The dissonance our readers feel when a proofreading error gets onto the page yells out, “Look, someone wrote this– and they goofed.”

The second explanation comes from more general psychology. They point out that what irritates us as individuals most is spotting mistakes in others that we fear to make ourselves. This one is a bit more complex, but has to do with how spotting a mistake makes you feel. If you spot something unconnected to your own ego, or a habit you have yourself that doesn’t bother you, the error will slide past without much emotional content.

On the other hand, if the error is one you would be horrified to make or one you guard against, then you will suddenly, and without will, jump to some harsh judgments about the writer. They will seem uneducated, dumb or careless to you. Readers who experience this (and by the way buyers are also readers) not only loose the flow of the article, but even if they pick it up again, have lost regard for what it says.

I played a little trick on you there. Did the ‘loose’ instead of ‘lose’ throw you off a bit?

My list of common errors.

Here’s a list of errors guaranteed to irritate editors and mark you as a ‘less than educated native speaker’ or worse. The nice thing is having a list largely guards you against them.

Alot/a lot There’s no such word as alot. It’s a lot, two words. Always.

Lose/loose and chose/choose Lose means to no longer have. Loose means ill-fitting or to let go. Chose is the past tense of choose. We choose better today because we chose poorly yesterday.

Affect/effect Affect is verb meaning ‘to cause an effect’. Effect is the noun- ‘Gun control affects how many guns are purchased, and this may have an effect on crime.’ There are specialized uses for both of these: In psychology, affect can be a noun and effect can be used as a verb in phrases like, ‘to effect change’.

Entitle/title The name you use to refer to something is its title. Entitle means a right to ownership. ‘The title of this blog post is Becoming Invisible, as its author, I am entitled to the copyright.’

Its/ it’s Its is possessive. It’s is a contraction of it and is. ‘It’s off-putting when its head has gone missing.’

Loan/lend Lend is the verb. You lend your talent. Loan is the noun. You never, ever loan your talent.

Fewer/ less than Fewer is used with discrete countable things. Less than is used with other quantities. ‘He has less sense than a cow and fewer friends.’

Got a pet peeve of your own? Help me add to my list.

It’s really two bills right now, one in the US House and one in the Senate. You can read the bills here:

• Senate
• House

Although titled differently by each legislative body, I’ll just collectively refer to the OWA (orphan works act).

Each covers essentially the same ground; they modify existing copyright law to address the problem of ‘orphan works’. Orphan works are materials that fall under copyright statute (they are created works) where a copyright holder is assumed to exist, but cannot be located. You might think of them as abandoned (or thought to be abandoned) pictures, text, or designs.

How did it come about?

The hubbub and attempt at legislation goes back to 2005, when the Copyright Office completed a study on orphan works. They found that the vast majority of artistic works either weren’t being copyrighted in the first place, or weren’t being renewed (the renewal rate was on the order of 15%).

This was seen as a burden for users of existing materials, especially libraries, museums and other non-profits. An example might help here.

Suppose you find a great little haiku on the Internet. It illustrates just what you want for your chapter on alliteration. Can you use it? Sure. But you open yourself up to lawsuit if the copyright holder sues. Being aware of this, you diligently search online (with Copyscape or another provider). You can’t find an owner. You check with the Copyright Office, but unfortunately, without a copyright date or name (which doesn’t appear on the work as you found it) there’s nothing really to search with. Can you use it? How about a picture of a cat for the cover of your book? Maybe an old picture torn out of newspaper…

There’s the problem. And it’s a big problem in the book publishing industry where other works are cited often and sometimes at length. As it stands now, all old works must be assumed protected and can’t be used without significant risk of lawsuit. The OWA attempts a fix to this problem. Their solution is to have approved private companies register materials digitally. Documents and other works could be searched to see who the copyright holder is.

Why is it causing panic?

The panic mirrors other hyped Internet causes. You can see an example here (and sign a petition if you like): Say no to the Orphan Works Act (viewed- when I looked- about 17,000 times and signed about 7,000 times).

When you read about the OWA (and it is likely you will see it: it’s going viral) you will see a lot of exclamation points and horrible scenarios. Most revolve around how much it will cost to register your creative work with a private company and how you will be harmed if you don’t.

The harm most mentioned is that you won’t be able to sue if you catch someone using your work without permission. There are two cases the OWA addresses:

1) You registered your work and catch someone using it. Your recourse would be the same as it is now for copyrighted material. You sue for infringement and damages. Nothing changes.

2) You don’t register your work and catch someone using it. The damages you can collect are reduced if the user did a due diligence search to find the copyright holder (you). If they followed industry standards and Copyright Office recommendations (yet to actually be determined) for the search, they are largely off the hook. They still might have to pay for the use of your work, but won’t have to pay the often extraordinary damages.

On another front, the visual artists have a bigger problem and maybe a reason to panic. My text can easily be saved in a searchable database at very little cost. I expect whatever services emerge to store my contact info without much of a charge. However, graphic artists and photographers aren’t quite so lucky. It’s simply harder to store and search visuals. Consider the difference between this blog post getting stored and the contents of a photographer’s digital camera.

Other, less well known copyright holders also have a legitimate concern. Suppose I design wallpaper. Under existing law, I own the copyright to the design (providing it is unique) and no one else can use it. Under the OWA, if someone does a search and cannot find me, they can use my design (even commercially) with reduced legal exposure. So, for the visual arts, the fear is that lower potential penalties will give their competition easy access to their previous commercial work without fear of serious lawsuit.

What’s the upside for me?

The upside for me is that digital registration for a small fee (fees have not been set yet) means I might actually start using copyright. As it stands now, I am loath to pay the $17 to get my small efforts officially copyrighted (small but highly significant and an indispensable read).

There’s no guarantee that private registry companies won’t charge as much to register with them as the Copyright Office does now. We will have to wait and see. But, if the rates are large, I’ll simply keep doing what I am doing now- not much at all.

Most freelancers online do ghost writing or work for hire. That means I don’t have any rights going in. If and when I do complete my ebook (it would be unethical to tout it here), I’ll make sure I copyright it properly and pay the going rate to do so.

So, with the exception of visual artists, this might be another tempest in a teapot. But stay tuned to see if the acts get passed or not. As a creative artist, you ought to pay attention and come to your own conclusion on whether the OWA is a problem.

You can keep up with legislative progress here: Orphan Works resource page 

Great. Wonderful. But what it fails to mention is that some niches are worth more than others, much more. Like the difference between big dollars and nada. Here’s the no-brainer guide to getting some traction as a freelance expert.

Stay awake.

Look and see what buyers are posting. What sort of jobs are they willing to outsource and pay for? How much are they willing to pay? Stay awake and read the postings. Check other freelance sites and follow the money. You might not yet be the right gal for those jobs, but if you aren’t seeing any requests for ‘delicate and needy poetry maven sought’, it might be time to consider other areas of writing.

The marketplace doesn’t lie. If you were selling a used car, it would behoove you to see what other, similar cars are selling for. Only reading the ads will clue you in to what’s going on.

Remember what you are selling.

What you are selling is your ability to communicate through the written word. Seriously, that’s the product you offer.

Aha! But that’s not always what buyers think they are buying. It’s too general. There probably isn’t a cookbook titled “Good things to eat”. What they think they are buying is some sort of expertise or experience in a particular type of writing or subject matter.

When I am asked, “What do you write?” I sometimes answer, “What’s your budget?”

Other than being a Zen-like response that answers both more and less than was asked, my answer is largely true. Pay me enough and I’ll write in any area at all. That aside, here’s how to become an ‘expert’.

The list.

You are already an expert in some things. Start your list with those areas that jump out at you from your past experiences and education. Hobbies are particularly easy to spot. Then, take a gander at your bookshelf. What you read is a tip-off. We are a few steps ahead if we can write in a genre or on a subject that we already read for fun.

Now, if you don’t already have five things listed, either you aren’t really trying or you’ve spent a large part of your formative years in a coma. Try not to be trapped by categories you think of as marketable. We’ll get to winnowing the list later. If you spend hours dozing in front of your television, then ‘leisure activities’ might be an expertise. As might ‘television critic’. Don’t slight yourself.

Got ten yet?

Add to your list by asking friends what subjects they would ask you for advice about. These might surprise you. Because those things we are most intimate with are sometimes the least visible (have you seen the side of your own nose lately? It’s right there, where it always is– have a look) don’t dismiss the subjects your friends bring up.

Finally, ask your family members– awaken that younger self you left in high school (or reform school… Nelson?) Remember when you were nuts about bicycling? About hemp and how it would change the world?

Got twenty on your list?

Thin to win.

Take your list and retype it. Add subject areas if they occur to you. Add sub-subjects too. Leave lots of white space for this next step.

Generate a few keywords. Try to make them specific enough so that you aren’t deluged with spurious results when you search for these terms. Search at overture.com and Google (both regular and blog) to find out which of your subject areas are worth pursuing.

Thin your list to those subject areas that seem to have a large amount of interest.

While you were searching, you probably ran across other, related stuff that piqued your interest. These are areas you might want to learn more about and gain some expertise in. Note them for later.

How to use your list.

Your profile at oDesk should reflect one or more areas of expertise from your list. Your profile at other online freelance sites should reflect others. Divide the overall marketplace to conquer. You aren’t locked into any permanent profile at any site you where you look for work. If you are an expert at ‘health and herbalism’ on Guru.com, you can be an expert on ‘parenting’ at oDesk at the same time. There are enough freelance broker sites out there that you can fish with different baits for a month or two at each.

Oh, and raise your prices. Now that you are being specific and an expert, you should reflect this in the amounts you charge.

To e-book or not to e-book.

Look at your list again. Which topics jump out at you as useful e-book subjects? Which do you really dig? If there are one or two that seem to be calling your name and intruding on your thoughts, those are the children who may grow up into an e-book.

Not sure? Try starting a blog for one or more of your subject areas. Either a blog or an e-book or both will give you loads of credibility in your area of expertise.