Rocky Mountain Publishing Professionals Guild

Ancient Grammar Police

2011-10-23T12:04:00.000-07:00

Freelance Graphic Design in Publishing Today

2010-10-23T14:55:00.000-07:00

by Dan Forrest-Bank
fbedit.design@gmail.com

Having worked more than 16 years as an in-house editor as well as a freelance editor and graphic designer, I like to think I approach my role as a graphic designer from an editorial perspective—bringing to every project an editor’s eye for detail, coupled with a designer’s aesthetic sensibility and knowledge for what works visually.

Graphic art and design in society have always served as a cultural barometer for how we communicate and how we live in and observe our world. Underlying everything we read and see is graphic design. Everything published must be designed, regardless of the medium. As a designer, I see design in everything—from the arrangement of the words and images on a printed or electronic page, to the contours of the plastic food trays in the back of this room, to the architectural forms of this very room itself. Perhaps not all of us think like this, but it is an inherent part of my job as a graphic designer to take note of such things.

I see a graphic designer’s role as three-fold: a communicator, a translator, and a seller. It is the job of a graphic designer to communicate the message to the buyer or viewer, to translate an idea into a picture that allows people to see and understand the message, and ultimately, to serve as salesperson, convincing the end-consumer to buy a certain product through the successful visual communication of that idea. As graphic designer I serve as that required conduit—a bridge over the media river—between the creator of knowledge on one bank and the consumer of that knowledge on the other bank.

The art and profession of graphic design has witnessed numerous technological advancements throughout its long history in publishing and media. Only within the past 20 years has the profession seen what could be its most dramatic change in the development of its myriad applications, forms, and functions.

Long a core element in all media, from print publications to product design, graphic design has seen a seismic shift from being a primarily print-focused medium to an interactive one, with the advent of the Internet and the delivery of specialized content, websites, and e-publishing. In fact, the state of graphic design today continues to evolve at such a rapid pace that I find it a continual challenge to stay ahead of the curve, with all the new versions of software, technological advancements, and fluctuating design trends.

At times my role as a graphic designer in this new publishing world feels daunting. I’ve had to make some substantial leaps in my own knowledge and skillset, moving beyond mere print to the vast, virtual world of the Internet.

Like other sectors of the broad publishing industry, the graphic design industry faces enormous challenges and is undergoing great changes because of electronic media. We are on the forefront of a new publishing medium with the e-book, which continues to grow in popularity. Even the recent trend toward the “enhanced e-book”—which is basically a souped-up version of the traditional e-book, with more bells and whistles—opens an entirely new media outlet and business opportunity for graphic designers.

Recently I have worked on several book projects that have required me to dip my toes into this new e-publishing world. As a traditional print-based graphic designer, I have approached this brand new world with some skepticism, but know that in order to survive, one has to change with the times—to sink or swim, as it were.

So what does all this mean for the future of graphic design? Where does my role fit in as graphic designer in the years to come? I think it’s safe to bet that with the development of newer, more specialized forms of content delivery, e-publishing will only continue along its upward growth path. There will always be books (whether they be electronic or print), and as long as books are around, and the dissemination of knowledge is needed, somehow that knowledge content must get to the consumer.

As long as society exists, there will always be a need for graphic artists. Since design is in everything, it only follows that design is going to make a substantial difference to the future of communication in all media—from the printed AND interactive word.

We live in an ever-changing world, and it shows no signs of slowing down. As self-appointed publishing guru, Thad McIlroy, claims: “We are really just beginning to explore what will constitute effective graphic design in this emerging digital media era. The rules continue to be written.”

FB Edit–Design owner and principal consultant Dan Forrest-Bank possesses more than 16 years of graphic design, desktop publishing, editing, and project management experience in the publishing industry. A native east-coaster, originally from Connecticut, he has been working and playing in Colorado since 1993 with his wife and their family of three kids, a dog, two cats, and one rat. Dan has worked on numerous graphic design and typesetting projects from brochures and annual reports to full book design and layout. His clients range from publishing houses and self-published authors to nonprofit organizations and educational institutions. He can be contacted at 720-939-8825 or fbedit.design@gmail.com. (Article taken from his speech presented at the Oct. 16, 2010, RMPPG Meeting: "Sharing Our Collective Wisdom.")

Upcoming Meeting: Oct. 16

2010-09-08T13:58:00.000-07:00

Sharing Our Collective Wisdom

Roles of Freelancers in Publishing Today and Informal RMPPG Members Meet & Greet

When: October 16, Saturday, 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.

Where: St. Stephens Episcopal Church, Boone Hall, 1303 S. Bross Lane, Longmont 80501
Map: http://tinyurl.com/27bnged or http://tinyurl.com/23mozf2

Who: RMPPG members

Cost: Free!

Join us for:

Mini-presentations with Q&A discussions by a writer; copy/manuscript editor; proofreader; graphic designer/typesetter; indexer; and project manager. These freelancers will each take 5 minutes to describe what it's like to work in his/her publishing profession and how that role fits into the total publishing picture, as well as how each role interacts with others in the publishing-production sequence.

Meet & greet other RMPPG members: An opportunity for people to introduce themselves and visit with others informally.

Refreshments will be served.

Questions? Contact RMPPG Board Members
Jean Charney charney@frii.com or
Bobette Host hostediting@frii.com.

RMPPG Online Locations

2010-08-09T15:39:00.000-07:00

RMPPG members: Are you everywhere we are online? Below are all RMPPG's current locations. Scroll down for specifics and links regarding each forum.

RMPPG Website

Yahoo!Groups Listserv

Blogger

Facebook

Twitter

YouTube

RMPPG Website, Membership Directory

http://www.rmppg.org/

When you need or want to update your listing, just go to "Membership," then "Update Profile," and have at it. In fact, the more frequently you update, the better; it shows the web browsers that we have an active site.

Yahoo!Groups Listserv, “RMPPG”

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/RMPPG/

RMPPG sponsors a members-only listserv through Yahoo!Groups to send out RMPPG announcements, share job leads, and enhance professional communication and networking among members. For more detailed information on the listserv, click here.

Blogger, “Rocky Mountain Publishing Professionals Guild”

http://rmppg.blogspot.com/

If you want to stay in the loop, but don’t want to belong to a networking site, this is the venue for you. Visit our blog whenever you like to hear the latest RMPPG news, view archives including notes and pictures from our meetings, read professional development articles, or check the events calendar. If you would like to be notified when we update the blog, feel free to “follow” us (button on sidebar). We would like to move to a more accessible forum than Blogger. If you are interested in helping us out, let us know. Also, if you would like to write for the blog, please contact Melody Feist at the email address below. We’d love to have you!

Facebook, “Rocky Mountain Publishing Professionals Guild (RMPPG)”

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=310600263361/

This is primarily a social networking site, but when you think about it … Are you more likely to give a job lead to a friend or a stranger? A big part of RMPPG’s mission is to create a solid network, and since we don’t all make it to live meetings, we hope this forum will be a place where we can really get to know each other online.

LinkedIn, “RMPPG”

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=107613&about

Unlike facebook, this is a strictly professional networking site where your “profile” is actually your resume. Here, companies, clients, and colleagues will be able to link up with, recruit, and recommend you. Besides our group, there are others that are also specialized in the publishing industry, and you can link with as many as you want, maximizing your exposure to networks and job leads.

Twitter, @RMPPG

http://twitter.com/rmppg

Want short, snippet-style messages about RMPPG’s members and activities, interesting links, and job leads? Twitter is the place to be. Come follow us. Also, multiple members tweet for RMPPG. If you want to join the ranks, let us know. We’re always looking for great content!

YouTube, RMPPGTV Channel

http://www.youtube.com/user/RMPPGTV

Subscribing to our YouTube channel ensures that you’ll be up to date on all our latest videos. But, you don’t have to subscribe to see the site. Just click on the link to view an archive of our meetings.

May Panel Discussion Video

2010-05-24T13:38:00.000-07:00

Below is video footage from our most recent meeting, on May 15, 2010. Click here for bios of our fantastic panelists. The video has been divided into 10 segments that can also be accessed on our YouTube channel: RMPPGTV. For a brief summary and still photos of the meeting, click here.

Part 1 of 10

Part 2 of 10

Part 3 of 10

Part 4 of 10

Part 5 of 10

Part 6 of 10

Part 7 of 10

Part 8 of 10

Part 9 of 10

Part 10 of 10

Meet the Panel

2010-05-18T14:53:00.000-07:00

While you're waiting for video of the May meeting, here's an introduction to our panelists. What a dynamic group! (To view video of the March meeting, click here.)

SHARON GLASSMAN (Moderator)
http://sharonglassman.com
Sharon Glassman is a witty writer/producer and performer. A graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Sharon has worked as Copy Director, MTV Networks Creative Services and written for publications including Elle, Publisher's Weekly and USA Today. She is currently the producer and co-host of Boomer Alley Radio, a new lifestyle show hosted by Golden Girls writer/producer Marc Sotkin. Twitter: @sharonglassman

ERIN BLAKEMORE
Director, VOCO Creative
www.vococreative.com
Erin is a writer, a marketing consultant, and a native Californian turned happy Boulder, Colorado, transplant. Her debut book, The Heroine’s Bookshelf, is due out from HarperCollins this October. After completing coursework at Smith College, she completed a B.A. in history at UCLA. In 1996, she was awarded the Congress-Bundestag Scholarship and spent a year as an exchange student in Fulda, Germany. Now she lives in Boulder, where she co-owns VOCO Creative, a social media, marketing, and brand strategy firm. Her many interests include American studies, language, history, pop culture, music, and politics. She claims to be “saved from complete nerddom” by her checkered past as a roller derby queen (She retired from the Denver Roller Dolls in 2006 after a knee injury), singer in an indie rock band, and free speech and media activist. Her guilty pleasures include celebrity gossip, disco, and Sweet Valley High. She describes herself as “a study in contrasts: An entrepreneur who likes to lay around and be lazy, an extrovert who is secretly scared of people, and a writer who would sometimes rather do the dishes, run ten miles, or walk into traffic than write. For now, that’s all okay by me.”

CHRISTINE GUST
"Creating Work that Works for You"
www.christinegust.com
Christine spent 15 years as a Human Resources (HR) manager in several Fortune 500 organizations in Houston. She specialized in recruiting and employee relations, supporting managers and employees through challenging times, not unlike ones many people are experiencing today. Seeking a different approach, she left HR and completed a Doctor of Naturopathy degree, where she says she began to formulate a stronger understanding of the correlation between nature, health and human behavior: “With this wholistic framework, I discovered the importance of careers that propel people to freedom, not limit it. I recognized the tremendous value of working from the heart and the importance of living and working in closer alignment with the cycles of nature, which frees up energy to really create one’s dreams.” Whether working with groups or one-on-one, by combining expertise in business, human resources and natural health, she teaches professionals how to create work that works for them so they can contribute fully without draining themselves.

MARC SOTKIN
Creator, Boomer Alley TV and Radio
www.boomeralley.com
Marc began his writing career in 1976 and has been a staff writer and producer on more than 350 episodes of various situation comedies for every television network. His credits include Laverne & Shirley and The Golden Girls, as well as co-writing and producing two Garry Shandling specials for Showtime. He has been honored with multiple Emmy, Golden Globe and Cable Ace award nominations and has won a prestigious Writers Guild Award.

ANDREW HYDE
Co-founder, pick.im
http://pick.im
Andrew has three years of freelancing experience under his belt, and loves helping others have positive experiences. If you were at a party and asked him how he likes Spec Work (exploitive crowdsourcing, those ugly contest sites) he would turn red in the face and throw a beer at you (well, not if you are on pick, in which case you are in the 'don't throw a beer at me club'). He really loves freelance, and startups. He speaks at conferences, trains for an Ironman in November, blogs at andrewhy.de and is on twitter.

At the Panel Discussion

2010-05-15T16:55:00.000-07:00

Take a step into your future. Only do your homework if you want to! A leader is just someone who had a courageous first follower. Lungta. These were just a few of the concepts and issues we touched on at our RMPPG panel discussion on May 15. It was an inspiring morning. I think it's safe to say that most -- if not all -- of us left feeling refreshed and empowered.

(L-R) Erin Blakemore, Christine Gust, Sharon Glassman,

Andrew Hyde, Marc Sotkin

What a great group! Their energy, humor, wit, and cohesiveness energized us and kept us on our toes.

Half-way through, RMPPGers, panelists, and their guests took a short break to stretch their legs and catch their breath before diving in

for more.

Teri Jurgens Lefever, RMMG Board Member, and

Jean Charney, RMPPG President

As always, the event was great time to network and catch up with friends and colleagues.

(L-R) Christine, Erin, Sharon, Andrew, and Marc

Moderator, Sharon, deemed the panelists

"The 4 Dwarves of Freelancing":

Faith, Focus, Vision, and Fun

Bobette Host, RMPPG Treasurer, at the welcoming table

We were also excited to debut some of our new marketing materials at this meeting. A huge "thank you" to Dan Forrest-Bank, one of our RMPPG board members, for his design work on this project. We are delighted about our new signage and brochures, which we will also be using at conferences and events beyond RMPPG gatherings.

Melody Feist, RMPPG Marketing Chair

Panel Preview

2010-05-15T15:53:00.000-07:00

Our May 15 panel discussion was a smashing success. Thanks to all our presenters and organizers for your hard work. More details and video of the event to follow, so stay tuned!

Next RMPPG Meeting: May 15

2010-05-01T15:22:00.000-07:00

On-line. Solopreneur. Digitally-driven. How are 21st-century media reshaping freelancers' lives? Find out in a panel discussion of media freelancers and pros who want to help freelancers find the kind of work that works for us:

"How to Freelance Successfully in Today's Digital, Demi-Recessionary Economy"

Sponsored by Rocky Mountain Publishing Professionals Guild
Moderated by Sharon Glassman
http://sharonglassman.com

Featuring
Erin Blakemore, Director, VOCO Creative
http://www.vococreative.com/

Christine Gust "Creating Work that Works for You"
www.christinegust.com

Andrew Hyde, Co-founder, pick.im
http://pick.im/

Marc Sotkin, Creator, Boomer Alley TV and Radio
http://www.boomeralley.com

Saturday, May 15, 2010
From 10:00 to 12:00
At the Boulder Senior Center East/East Boulder Community Center, 5660 Sioux Drive, Boulder, CO

All Welcome! Open to the Public
Free for RMPPG Members
$5 for Non-Members
Refreshments will be served

Are you on facebook? Planning on coming to the meeting? Please RSVP to our event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=108595955849488

Can't make it to the meeting? Video of the event will be posted right here to the blog, so stay tuned! If you haven't seen the video from our last meeting, check it out here.

How to do it and What to do?

2010-04-24T00:19:00.000-07:00

by Darlene Mueller Morse
dmhsbmorse@msn.com

In the past few months, I have attended several writer’s conferences and small groups. I have hosted an author at my house for a writer’s group meeting and have had several one-on-one sessions with various professionals in their milieu.

All of this could be, and was, very overwhelming to me. I was surrounded by people “in the know” and also had to be one of them who also was “in the know.”

Now I am home with my work and my usual schedule and I am wondering how to incorporate all that I have learned through these encounters.

Have you ever felt immersed in something so relevant that you could just jump up and down for the pure joy of it? Yes, I have. But have you ever felt so full of information that you had to just step away for awhile? Yes, I have.

Last week, I attended the “Atomic Circus” in Boulder which was put on by the Boulder Center for Conscious Living. I was very excited about this evening which had the participants throwing a green squishy ball around in order to be able to speak. I was asked the next day to write about it for a blog. I did but the blog spot was never posted. As many of you may know, this is not a good feeling. We put our heart and soul into a piece and it never gets read.

What does one do when we are asked to write but the writing seems to disappear into the Ozone Net? It seems as if there is a plethora of these types of situations. Everyone is excited. Everyone is feeling good and wants to see something posted.

But good intentions don’t seem to cut it especially after one has spent the time to write and then not seen the writing get to see the light of day, so to speak.

My solution to all of this is to just simply continue on my way. For instance, I have the tools and the knowledge to do transcriptions of oral histories. In the past few years, I have had the opportunity to transcribe some wonderful oral histories of Native Americans, ranchers and residents of an area in Nevada. Along with this, I have also had the opportunity to do some transcriptions of interviews done for PhD work for a student at CSU.

It occurred to me one day that I have the talent, the opportunity and the equipment to do an oral history of a 92-year old woman whom I met at a Women’s Retreat in February. I have set the date and am excited to work on this project. Rita was born in Wyoming and has a rich history there including the time when she was deposited at an orphanage by her mother during the Depression. Using my talents as a transcriptionist will help to capture Rita’s history and also keep her spirit alive.

I feel that as a writer, I have many obligations. One, I need to make sure I get the facts down. Another is if I am writing fiction, I still need to be factual in my representation of my stories. As I was sitting through all of these conferences and hearing so many ideas of good writing, I knew that I needed to put into action what I had learned.

There is a gap between learning what to do and doing what one learns. As I continue down my writer’s path, I see that there are many opportunities to “go the extra mile” and do what is right. I never realized before that some of my talents were so valuable to people whose oral histories needed to be preserved.

I may not make any money on this one but, so be it. Rita is a kindred spirit and I know we will have an exemplary time recording her history!

Round Table Meeting Video

2010-04-07T15:31:00.000-07:00

Below is video footage from our most recent meeting on March 20, 2010. These clips can also be accessed on our new YouTube channel: RMPPGTV. Please feel free to subscribe! The video has been divided into 12 segments organized by topic:

Parts 1-2: What do you do when your client insists on something that you’re sure is a bad idea? (Linda Bevard)
Parts 3-4: How do you handle those rare but really toxic clients and projects that can damage your morale and your business? (Jennifer Ballentine)
Parts 5-6: How do you raise questions or concerns, make comments, or offer suggestions, so that your clients will want to do business with you again? (Shelly Rondeau Heller)
Parts 7-9: How can you convince your client that you can make grammatical and structural edits to his or her work, while still maintaining the client's unique voice? (Alice Levine)
Parts 10-11: Although making a living as freelancers is challenging in this economy, our work lives can be enhanced by a really great client and project. Describe an experience that was especially rewarding, memorable, or even slightly crazy, but made you happy to do the work you do.
Part 12: Concluding Remarks

What do you do when your client insists on something that you’re sure is a bad idea?
(Part 1 of 12)

(Part 2 of 12)

How do you handle those rare but really toxic clients and projects that can damage your morale and your business?
(Part 3 of 12)

(Part 4 of 12)

How do you raise questions or concerns, make comments, or offer suggestions, so that your clients will want to do business with you again?
(Part 5 of 12)

(Part 6 of 12)

How can you convince your client that you can make grammatical and structural edits to his or her work, while still maintaining the client’s unique voice?
(Part 7 of 12)

(Part 8 of 12)

(Part 9 of 12)

Although making a living as freelancers is challenging in this economy, our work lives can be enhanced by a really great client and project. Describe an experience that was especially rewarding, memorable, or even slightly crazy, but made you happy to do the work you do.
(Part 10 of 12)

(Part 11 of 12)

In conclusion . . .
(Part 12 of 12)

A Peek at the Panel

2010-03-23T18:40:00.000-07:00

Below are the bios for our fabulous panelists, as they were introduced at our roundtable event on Saturday. Thanks to all those who worked hard preparing for the meeting and making it a quality event.

ROSEMARY CARSTENS (Moderator)

Carstens Communications

www.CarstensCommunications.com
Rosemary has traveled most of the remote areas of the globe, including the Arctic, the Antarctic, Borneo, New Guinea, much of Africa, and Central and South America. She traveled extensively in China soon after it opened up to the West in the early 1980s, and spent a month in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam before the embargo was lifted. Throughout her travel adventures, Carstens kept journals, wrote freelance articles and commercial video scripts, and continued to read everything she could get her hands on. With the founding of Carstens Communications in 1999, her dream of owning her own comma factory became a reality. Her academic background includes a BA in Third World Studies from the University of California at San Diego, with a masters in Latin American Studies from the University of New Mexico still underway. Having had such diverse cultural and academic experiences helps her to work successfully with writers, scholars, publishers, and corporate personnel not only locally and nationally, but also internationally.

DOUG EASTON

New West Indexing

www.rmppg.org/DougEaston

Doug grew up in Denver and is a graduate of the Editing and Publishing Procedures Program at Arizona State University. After brief flirtations with being an in-house editor, Doug found his niche as a freelance indexer some 25 years and 1200 indexes ago.

With a blessing from Alan Stark, $50, and a rubber stamp set from the then Rocky Mountain Book Publishers Association, Doug co-founded the Rocky Mountain Publishing Professionals Guild in 1991. When not in the comma factory, Doug enjoys cycling. But his true passion (and really the only reason he indexes) is the life and interests of his nine-year-old son, Riley.

LINDA BEVARD

Linda Bevard Editorial

www.rmppg.org/LindaBevard

Linda Bevard is a Colorado native and a graduate of Colorado State University with a degree in English. She showed an early interest in editorial work, earning her first Girl Scout badge in proofreading, and she used to send letters to the kiddie magazines pointing out their typos.

After college Linda lived in Boston and worked at Houghton Mifflin and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. During her many years working in the Denver/Boulder area, her clients have included such organizations as the Geological Society of America, Horizon Graphics, Solar Energy Research Institute (now National Renewable Energy Lab), American Water Works Association, and E Source. She lived in Tasmania in 1988 and 1989 and has been freelancing since 2003. For fun, she sings in two choruses. If she had money, she would travel.

JENNIFER BALLENTINE

www.rmppg.org/JenniferBallentine
Jennifer began her publishing career in 1981 as an editor/writer for The Feminist Connection newspaper, during a year “off” between completing an unmarketable college degree and not completing a yet-more-unmarketable graduate degree. Later, a gig at Addison Wesley in Menlo Park landed her a job as an all-round-do-everything first hire at Morgan Kaufmann, a startup advanced computer science publisher. Eventually she got a proper title, Director of Production and Marketing, and, somewhere along the line, earned a Certificate in Publishing from UC Berkeley Extension. She left MKP 4 years, 10 more hires, 100-ish books, and 1.2 million in sales later to launch a tech-doc and book production company with her husband, an engineer who can complete his sentences.

Over its 20-year run, Professional Book Center was a pioneering PC-based enterprise that combined the best and most advanced tools in electronic file management with traditional values in bookmaking at an economical price. With dozens of freelancers and a handful of poorly paid but eager interns (including Dan Bank!), Jennifer managed 600+ complex book projects for major publishers and prima donna authors in subjects from AI to quantum theology. ProBook wound down around 2006, due to offshoring to India, rotator cuff surgery, the insistence of publishers that copyediting and indexes are frills, and the ascendancy of the Mac. Jennifer is now semi-retired from publishing but still freelancing to keep her hand in and her run-on sentences running. After finally getting a marketable degree, she works at The Denver Hospice as Research Program Strategist and consults with families on end-of-life decision making. But that’s another story.

SHELLY RONDEAU HELLER

Shelly Rondeau Heller & Associates

www.shellyheller.com

Shelly began her career as a trade magazine editor and writer. After working as a media relations professional for a large medical center in Los Angeles, she launched her own writing business in 1989 and is now based in Boulder. She writes video scripts, training seminars, audio-visual events, newsletters, speeches, marketing materials, and articles. Her clients include local and international companies, and her industrial videos have won numerous awards. When not writing, Shelly enjoys traveling, riding horses, and spending time with her husband and son.

ALICE LEVINE

Alice Levine Editorial Services

www.alicelevine-editorial.com

Drawing on her experience of more than forty years in refining the printed word for writers and publishers, Alice Levine includes businesses as well as service, technical, and professional organizations among her clients. She consults and conducts workshops for publishers, businesses, and organizations, teaches privately, and lectures at several educational institutions, including the University of Denver and the Denver Publishing Institute. In a diverse publishing career, she has edited a wide variety of nonfiction works, educational, scientific, and academic books, and museum catalogs. She enjoys helping clients create effective publications and delights in sharing her passion for publishing, editing, and proofreading.

When not attending to a busy career, Alice enjoys combining travel and fine art photography.

Roundtable Updates

2010-03-22T10:57:00.000-07:00

The meeting Saturday was awesome! Many thanks to all those who participated and attended in spite of the crazy weather.

Details, minutes and VIDEO from the meeting to follow, so stay tuned!

Come to the RMPPG Roundtable Event!

2010-03-12T17:34:00.001-08:00

On Saturday, March 20

(See "Event Calendar" on the sidebar for additional details.)

Around the Roundtable

Discussions Will Be Led by These Freelancers:

Alice Levine - Master editor and editing skills guru

Jennifer Ballentine - Publishing project management expert

Linda Bevard - Editor of all subjects, at all levels . . . perfect speller

Doug Easton - Indexer extraordinaire

Shelly Rondeau Heller - Writer of award-winning communications materials

Moderator Rosemary Carstens - author, freelance writer, and copy editor, creator of the award-winning online magazine FEAST

Have a good time participating in discussion topics that every freelancer can relate to:

1. What do you do when your client insists on something that you’re sure is a bad idea?

2. How do you handle those rare but really toxic clients and projects that can damage your morale and your business?

3. How do you raise questions or concerns, make comments, or offer suggestions, so that your clients will want to do business with you again? No matter what kind of freelancing you do, your queries can either hurt or invigorate your relationship with your clients.

4. How can you convince your client that you can make grammatical and structural edits to his or her work, while still maintaining the client’s unique voice?

5. Although making a living as freelancers is challenging in this economy, our work lives can be enhanced by a really great client and project. Describe an experience that was especially rewarding, memorable, or even slightly crazy, but made you happy to do the work you do.

33 Ideas: Colorado Art Ranch by Darlene Mueller Morse

2010-03-05T20:27:00.000-08:00

The Colorado Art Ranch is neither a ranch nor a building. It is an interdisciplinary collaboration of literary and visual artists exploring the intersection of the arts with social and scientific matters. It is nomadic in that it has appeared in six separate locations in Colorado over the past three years.

During these years, an impressive cadre of writers and artists has emerged and amassed. The CAR knew that they had to further channel these talented creators so they decided (with some help from Colleen Fanning) to mount an exhibition at DIA in the A Concourse showcasing these writers and artists. The result is: 33 Ideas!

As a participant in four of the six Artposia, I was asked to write a summary about the Artposium held in Denver in October of 2008. I have posted it below.

For more information about the Colorado Art Ranch, go to: http://www.coloradoartranch.org/ and for the details on 33 Ideas! go to: www.flydenver.com/art. The show will open on March 15, 2010.

The next Colorado Art Ranch Artposium will be in Salida, CO, on May 21-23, 2010. It is Wade in the Water and will address how scientists and artists perceive the nature of water and confront the factors that threaten this most critical resource.

+++++++++

No one had ever asked me the question, “What’s so funny about art?” But if someone ever does, I now have an answer. I attended the Colorado Art Ranch’s ARTposium in October of 2008, in Denver to explore that issue.

I knew something hilarious would happen as I climbed the steps of the former St. Cajetan’s Catholic Church on the Auraria campus and was immediately handed a huge yellow smiley face button with my name on it. I also knew it wasn’t “Fantasy Island” with “smiles, everyone, smiles” I had entered. It was going into a space occupied by bona fide poets, musicians, writers, artists, curators, laughter yoga leaders, cartoonists and other people not generally known as funny people but who knew what humor was and how to use it.

It was a fortuitous thing that the venue was decommissioned because we filled it with laughter built upon knowing nods and recognitions of the absurdities of life. Colorado Poet Laureate Chris Ransick and Colorado Art Ranch Poet “Lariat” Marj Hahne kicked off with dueling poetry reading, each working off the other’s topic. Both were excellent, evocative and, yes, humorous. It was a draw.

The evening’s highlight came next with Roz Chast of The New Yorker magazine regaling us of how hard it is in truth to be funny. She said that for every one of her cartoons that make it into print, fifty or so do not. She illustrated this with a photo of a crammed metal file cabinet filled with unused cartoons. We were all impressed. I had her sign my program. When I suggested a small cartoon, she laughed. Uproariously.

The next morning we stood in a group circle (this was, for some, before the morning coffee) and were told to laugh. I was in no mood for this nonsense until I took off my shoes, peeked around to see who else was laughing and then decided that it really was dreadfully funny to see some of these people looking silly. Meredith and David Vaughn, Certified Laughter Yoga Leaders, had us literally rolling on the floor. We learned how laughing can cause our bodies to be healthier by relieving stress and getting oxygenated. And now, for some odd reason, I always laugh at my windshield wipers.

From there we heard Adam Lerner give us his irreverent but scholarly review of humor in the arts. He was dressed in a black suit and tie with a white shirt. The reason was not funny (he was to attend a funeral later) but the absurdity of it was. He discussed that sort of incongruence with the programs that the former LAB (The Laboratory of Art and Ideas at Belmar) presented such as pairing two disparate speakers on one evening – “Quilting using the Star Patch Method” & “Discussion of the Geothermal Dynamics Maori New Zealand.”

Patty Marx, a columnist for The New Yorker, spoke on the topic of “It’s Not Easy Writing Humor.” What she showed us was that the process of creating humor is wonderfully humorous in an odd sort of way. But good. Growing up in a warped world doesn’t hurt, either.

During the lunch hour, participants took plates of food, loads of it, in fact, outside to the plaza. Students from Metro State College were scattered about, sprawled on sunny sidewalks, drawing the edifice of St. Cajetan’s. When we told one artist that we were learning about humor in the inside, she added a smiley face on her drawing of the outside.

Brady Udall, someone who, at first glance, looks decidedly non-humorous, gave us an enthralling and light-hearted glimpse into his inimitable world of writing. He was a former resident of the Colorado Art Ranch and read from his work from that period. His novel, The Lonely Polygamist, will be released soon.

Libby Rowe, an installation artist, showed us that there is a wealth of humor to be found in art, especially in her art. By taking common conceptions and playing them out, her audiences got to laugh at themselves which is the best kind of humor.

Saving the best for last, humorist, writer, artist and comedian-about-town Billy Amundson had us wondering how we had missed so much when it was right in front of us as seen through the windshield of our cars. Amundson began with a slide show. Yes, using a real slide projector and slides, he epitomized the middle-aged guy down the street who always made you look at his family vacation slides. Except that these slides were worth watching. He gave us an idea of what it was to see life through his eyes and understand why it was all so gall-darn funny.

During the wine and dessert conclusion, we had the chance to meet the current crop of CAR residents. Gregory Carideo, Katie Kingston, Susannah Mira, Lauri Lynnxe Murphy, and Ebony Rose Scalf gave us a visual tour of their extensive and varied talents.

What I realized through this ARTposium was that there are ribbons of humor rippling through all artistic expressions. The smirks, guffaws, gut-busting laughter, or slow curling up of the corners of one’s mouth all can be elicited through art. Some of it comes in the processes involved in making the art. Some comes even unintentionally during the appreciation of that art. And some comes right out and smacks us in the face demanding us to laugh. And we do.

Freelance Pricing Charts

2010-03-05T15:29:00.000-08:00

We've been having a lively discussion about freelance rates on the listserv this week. Here are some resources that have surfaced along the way:

*Here's one take on pricing for editors; it was found on craigslist.
http://www.final-draft-editing.com/about/pricing/

*The nice thing about this Editorial Freelancers Assoc. (EFA) chart is that it breaks out editing into four levels: basic, heavy, substantive/line editing, and developmental, and also includes other freelancing areas, such as layout, proofreading, and indexing rates. Take a look:
http://www.the-efa.org/res/rates.php

Many of our members have suggested that it's a good idea to look at a sample, or else even the whole work, before bidding on a project, and I tend to agree.

I remember that when I started freelancing, pricing was somewhat of a mystery to me, and I'm glad to see some open discussion and input from different sources on the matter. Knowledge is power, right? This is exactly what RMPPG is for!

The RMPPG Survey, 2009

2010-03-04T14:32:00.000-08:00

by Margaret Pevec, RMPPG Communications Officer

In December, the RMPPG board sent a survey to all members, soliciting input on a variety of questions:
1. Which program subjects you would find interesting and relevant?
2. Which format you prefer for programs?
3. Which social activities would interest you?
4. Which benefits of your RMPPG members are most important to you?

Sixty-four percent of our members completed the survey and many provided additional feedback and comments. We on the board appreciate having your opinions and ideas to guide our work this year.

Here are the highlights of the survey responses:

The top two categories of program subjects preferred by the members who completed the survey were: Marketing Your Freelance Business (62.9%) and Publishing Industry Trends (64.5%). Third in this category was e-Media. The program committee is currently planning an event in March to reflect these preferences, and you’ll be receiving information soon.

Preferred formats for programs were: Panel of Experts/Experienced People (58.3%) and Workshop w/Practical Applications (45.6%). Runner-up in that category was Use of Video-taped Presentations. Several members wrote comments to say that getting to Boulder for events was a problem since they lived far away. Some suggested that we should hold events in other areas more accessible to outlying members, or provide a way via the Internet for outliers to participate. Videotaping our programs or other educational offerings to make them available to members who can’t attend is currently being researched.

Informal get-togethers, night or afternoon, at a pub or coffee house to share information, stories, etc. garnered 71.4% of the votes for preferred social activities. The second most popular choice was Two potlucks per year (44.9%), followed by a tie for One potluck a year and Informal social/networking brown-bag lunches, both at 38.8%. Again, eight people took the time to write that social events were difficult for them to attend due to distance. Your board appreciates this feedback, and is currently discussing ways to include as many members as possible in all our events.

The “extremely important” category of RMPPG membership garnered the following votes: Job Leads (67.2%), Listing in the Directory (65.6%), and Professional Networking (55.6%). In the “important” category, Professional Growth/Education received 54.1% of the votes, and Social Networking/Camaraderie received 47.5% of the votes.

The board’s recent meeting before the Jan. 23rd potluck focused a great deal of attention on the survey responses, especially in terms of program topics for upcoming events, and researching ways to provide on-line educational resources for members who live too far away to attend. We hope you will attend our March 20th event, titled, FREELANCING TODAY: How to Maintain Clients While Keeping A Firm Grip on Your Own Standards and Sanity. It will be held from 10:00-12:30 at the East Boulder Senior Center. Check the "Event Calendar" on the sidebar for more details. Announcements for future events will be coming soon.

Come Join Us on March 20!

2010-03-01T22:13:00.000-08:00

RMPPG Presents
an Early Spring Roundtable Discussion

FREELANCING TODAY:
How to Maintain Clients While Keeping A Firm Grip on Your Own Standards and Sanity

DATE: Saturday, March 20, 2010

TIME: 10:00 A.M.–12:30 P.M.

PLACE: Boulder Senior Center East/East Boulder Community Center 5660 Sioux Drive, Boulder, CO

**Refreshments will be provided**

Join RMPPG in a roundtable discussion led by a freelance editor, writer, designer, indexer, and project manager who will speak to, and encourage your participation in, such topics as:

• What do you do when your client insists on something that you’re sure is a bad idea?
• How do you handle those rare but really toxic clients and projects that can damage your morale and your business?
• How do you raise questions or concerns, make comments, or offer suggestions, so that your clients will want to do business with you again? No matter what kind of freelancing you do, your queries can either hurt or invigorate your relationship with your clients.
• How can you convince your client that you can make grammatical and structural edits to his or her work, while still maintaining the client’s unique voice?
• Although making a living as freelancers is challenging in this economy, our work lives can be enhanced by a really great client and project. Describe an experience that was especially rewarding, memorable, or even slightly crazy, but made you happy to do the work you do.

Meeting and seeing the authors by Darlene Mueller Morse

2010-02-06T22:38:00.000-08:00

Alexander McCall Smith. Khaled Hosseini. Wally Lamb. David Wroblewski. Frank McCourt. Amy Tan. Alice Sebold. And the list goes on: David McCullough. Garry Trudeau.
Claire Messud. Anna Quindlen. Sue Monk Kidd. Azar Nafisi. Suzan-Lori Parks.

What do these authors have in common? I have seen them all and shaken hands with several (Trudeau, McCourt, McCullough and Hosseini). I’ve heard their stories about writing and how their books came to be. I learned firsthand how they agonized about what to include and what to cut. I have been privileged to see that none of these authors looked like anyone out of the ordinary but when they spoke, they proved to be extraordinary by virtue of their writing accomplishments and their words. I saw that they were human but had taken a path not well-traveled.

They are part of the Pen & Podium Series sponsored by The Denver Post and presented at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts on the University of Denver campus. Each season, four major authors come to speak in front of about 900 people who have purchased the lecture series tickets.

Five years ago I was at a rock concert at the Pepsi Center and, having paid a premium price for tickets, was trying to have a good time. But the music was too loud, the audience was obnoxious, and after about 45 minutes I wanted to leave. I was of the wrong demographic. I decided that night that I would forego my over-priced ticket and let other members of my family and friends attend these concerts since they were really into them. I would look for another way to spend my entertainment money.

And that’s when I found the Pen & Podium Series. My ears don’t ring when I leave; my mind is abuzz with inspiration.

My women friends and I drive to Denver on the specific mid-week evening and first eat at a special restaurant where we enjoy a fine dinner and a glass of wine. We then drive the 10 or 15-minute drive to DU, park in the parking garage and proceed into the theatre space. With no formal ado, the author walks to the podium and begins speaking. And that’s when the magic happens.

Surprisingly, the authors who have written the most serious novels have the best sense of humor. David Wroblewski (The Story of Edgar Sawtelle) had us rolling in the aisles. Of course, Alexander McCall Smith was a gem; he even wore a kilt and showed everyone when asked the question, “How can you write so well from a woman’s point of view?” He said, “You see, I’m wearing a skirt.”

Azar Nafisi (Reading Lolita in Tehran) had so much to say. We were brought to tears from some of her revelations and laughter by others. Her Q&A made us want to send a transcript directly to Washington, DC.

Amy Tan brought her small black dog onto the stage with her and most people had no idea he was there until the end. When Alice Sebold came on stage, she spent the entire time reading from her prepared script. Anna Quindlen is much more suited to be read rather than heard. And, she did not take any Q&A. Nor did she sign any books. J. R. Moehringer made every woman in the audience want to run up and give him a hug. Suzan-Lori Parks not only was a stage writer but a singer and pulled out a guitar and began to belt a few tunes.

Each writer (except for Quindlen) hosted a Q&A after their talk and it was here that we got to see the real person behind the keyboard. Most of these authors, if not all, had a specific purpose in life, a calling one might say. Through their discoveries made during their writing processes, they saw inequalities. Some have gone on to sponsor charities and to work for certain political parties. Wally Lamb teaches writing at a penitentiary for women.

Okay, I can’t waffle on this: every one of these authors fell somewhere on the left of central. Through their words, they made such sense which is why their messages resonated so well with their audiences.

The most recent author I heard was Wally Lamb. He spoke of what had happened in the country since he began his second novel but before it was published. He mentioned 9/11, Afghanistan, Iraq, Katrina and…Sarah Palin. The entire audience erupted in applause.

Khaled Hosseini talked of how his next novel would feature the sacrifices made in Afghanistan by US military personnel. He got mega-applause for that. The audience knew that here was a person with deep understanding about the whys and wherefores of the whole conflict.

Each author I have been privileged to meet and hear has given me new perspective in the writing field. We write to be read. But therein lies a huge responsibility to write something that makes people think. From what I have gathered from these authors is that they initially wrote because they had to; they were compelled to. That fire still burns and is stoked by the response of their previous books. They all have stories to tell.

I wish that I could get a transcript of what these authors shared with us. What wisdom! But, alas, I don’t think that’s in the cards. What I do know is that each of them has given me some invaluable insight that is well worth the cost (which is cheaper than your average Dave Matthews concert ticket).

The final author in the current series is Jodi Picoult. I have read several of her novels but on a grander scale, I have graded many high school essays written by students who read her books. She is an example of a writer by whose very words can influence a complete generation of young people. She attacks topics with gusto which are for the most part taboo.

In hearing all these authors speak, I am always inspired to spend that much more time on my own writing pursuits. I am also gratified to be a part of a larger audience who also feels the pull of the authors. And lastly, I am feeling very valuable in the huge scheme of things as a reader and as a writer. What power words have.

dmhsbmorse@msn.com

Rush Charges?

2010-02-05T15:40:00.000-08:00

Has a client ever asked you to finish a project overnight? We had a recent interchange about rush charges on our listserv this week, and during the discussion, one of our members introduced this article. It focuses on translation services, but the "rush charge" idea easily fits most of our freelance businesses as well:

"Some Thoughts on Rush Charges"
http://thoughtsontranslation.com/2009/04/27/some-thoughts-on-rush-charges/

Punctuation

2010-02-05T15:03:00.000-08:00

2010 Book-Business Forecast

2010-02-05T09:15:00.000-08:00

from Jody Berman

If you missed publishing veteran Bob Miller's 2010 book-business forecast (thanks, BMW member Marj Hahne, for posting about this!), you might take a look. Very interesting.

http://theharperstudio.com/2009/12/it-was-the-best-of-times-it-was-the-worst-of-times/

Annual Potluck

2010-01-23T14:57:00.000-08:00

As always, the potluck at Alice Levine's was a hit.

(Mary and Jean, our RMPPG Prez)

Every year, this event provides a great opportunity

for mingling with old friends and meeting new ones ...

... for chatting and networking ...

... and for enjoying delicious food, of course!

About 30 members were in attendance. Many thanks to Alice for opening her home to the group and to Ken for snapping a few pictures for us to enjoy.

Confessions of a Transcriptionist

2010-01-22T20:19:00.000-08:00

There are many ways to communicate. In our business of communication, most of it comes in the form of a written word. However, before these words can be written down, they must be formed and even spoken first. And to hear the spoken word is to almost instantaneously get the message from the way it is spoken first rather than what words were said.

For instance, when my son calls me, the first thing he always says is, “Hey.” If I hear a two-syllable word, such as “Ha-ee,” I know that something is not quite right. He probably is going to ask for money. If I hear a rat-ta-tat “Hey!” then I know that he doesn’t have much time to talk and so I won’t get into the mother/son mushy mode.

When my daughter calls, her sweet voice greeting is always, “Whatcha doin’?” She asks it in different ways even though the same words are used. Sometimes it means, “You are probably not doing anything right now so you need to do what I need you to do.” Or, it means that she’s not doing anything right now but probably needs money.

Some of the work I do with words comes in the form of transcriptions. My ear has to be constantly tuned to actually hearing the words the speakers are saying and trying to decipher the ones that might be unintelligible. I need to focus on each speaker and that means “assigning a trait” to each speaker just for my own design. That way, I can identify who is speaking. After many transcriptions, this gets easier.

As a transcriptionist, I need to put down the exact wording that was spoken. Using my training as a writer who ought to know the mechanics, it’s up to me to end sentences and begin new ones even though sometimes the speaker is still talking. I end up not being able to breathe as I furiously type the words I hear and the speaker goes on and on with no break. I get to give them that break.

I have found that doing transcriptions of meetings, oral interviews, conference calls and many other types of dialogue between people that I have been given a ringside seat into the workings of how real people speak. I have learned to discern the nuances in speech and how to type them out to be readable.

However, it seems that some speakers would want the transcriptionist to “clean up” their verbosity. No can do. Unless this particular transcription is done for the purpose of preserving archival information, for instance, then the transcriber has the duty to type it as she hears it.

However, the writer in me has a field day with some of these transcriptions because I get to hear phrases and words that only certain people use and it gives me a chance to add that to my “character files.” After listening to hours and hours of people talking and having to type out every word they say, a pattern becomes apparent and a certain style also. This gives me an insight to a new person whom I have never met nor ever will. I can’t take their words from them per se but I can take the nuances and a few scattered phrases.

This experience in transcriptions has opened a new world to me. I know, for instance, that when a person in marketing is asked a question by a board member the marketer can talk for a good three minutes and not say a thing. I always suspected that but never had any conclusive evidence until I began doing conference calls. I now have proof.

Also, personality always comes through with recorded interviews. Some people make noises on the desk such as knocking on it with their knuckles when they are making a point. Some sing a few of their words as they are trying to get across a novel idea. Some ignore background noise to such an extent that one really wonders what is going on there and shouldn’t the police be called?

It has been a privilege to be able to do all manner of transcriptions of people’s conversations. I am always discreet and private about what I do but one thing I have learned is that I am free to envision the speaker and then later maybe apply that speaker’s characteristics onto someone I create as a character in one of my stories. And they may or may not be asking me for money.

A Lovely Celebration

2009-12-31T15:55:00.000-08:00

The room was about 60 x 25, the area broken up by floor-to ceiling shelves full of books arranged in no particular order that I could discern. Also desks, tables, office equipment, and waist high stacks of old issues of The Bloomsbury Review (TBR). It was amazing that so many bodies could also occupy the same space. The BYOB table was groaning with bottles of wine and soft drinks, and every other horizontal space was covered with yummy hors d’oeuvres and desserts.

It was a celebration for the 30th anniversary of the founding of TBR, a journal dedicated to reviewing well-written books that don’t reach the best-seller lists, yet deserve to be noticed and appreciated by readers looking for something beyond the latest murder mystery. Margaret Pevec and I were there to represent the RMPPG board. We garnered our invitation to this lovely event via an ad that RMPPG was happy to place in the special 30th edition of The Bloomsbury Review, and discovered that Alice Levine had come as well.

From its beginning in 1980, The Bloomsbury Review has been a mission of love for its founders, Marilyn and Tom Auer. We met Marilyn soon after our arrival, and she gave us a brief history and overview of the publication. Based in that small second floor room in Denver, it has a nationwide circulation of 35,000, with contributions from many reviewers and help from many volunteers. Some of those volunteers come for the satisfaction of giving time and effort to a worthwhile endeavor, and some are from college journalism programs, earning school credit for their work there.

Tom Auer passed away at age 50 in 2003, but his presence, spirit and influence are still strong in that room. Margaret and I met many people there who spoke fondly of him, and of the help and support he gave to writers, editors , and others in the literary world. His and Marilyn’s tireless efforts have produced a quality and well-respected publication. Marilyn continues that tradition with the help of many friends.

Margaret and I added “RMPPG” to our nametags, and took every opportunity to talk about our group and its purpose. I visited with so many interesting people – the attorney (and only one in the room in a suit and tie!) who was a lifelong friend of Tom and his family; the former food and restaurant critic for the Rocky Mountain News; a female professor at three area colleges who is also an expert on women’s hats; a lady who insisted she knew me (but neither of us could figure out our connection); and several writers and volunteers.

It was a wonderful evening and well worth the drive from Loveland. By the time we left it was so crowded that there was no unoccupied floor space. The Bloomsbury Review has lots of supporters and admirers, and I am now one of them!

New Year: Make It "Your Own"

2009-12-28T17:21:00.000-08:00

By Darlene Mueller Morse

In a few days it will be crossover time where we go from one year into the next. In real life, such as in day-to-day conversations, we are not concerned about words, phrases, top-ten this or that lists or other written pieces that seem to proliferate unfettered about the multimedia.

I look at my cats and see that they really don’t give a hoot, or maybe a hiss, about the New Year. It’s all just another day to them. Another chance to chow down at the cat bowl, another chance to slip out the deck door when no one was looking, or another chance to sneak a treat from the chewed-open bag of Catsnackers.

Outside, the trees are deep into their winter phase, limbs bare of leaves and sap at a near standstill. Snow, some even from a week or more ago, covers all the shady spots. More than likely, this snow will carry over into 2010. Snow doesn’t care when it fell or when it melts.

I noticed that the sun sets a tiny bit later in the day than it did just a week ago. It didn’t read the paper to check out when the Solstice occurred. It has its own personal calendar.

But we people, we love our end-of –the-year traditions. Just as we seem to want a “white Christmas” because of some song once penned, we seem to want to categorize the old year and look forward to a new year with all the many possibilities.

For some odd reason, each year that passes is given a label as being some sort of “bad” year and aren’t we glad it’s over and let’s get on to this new year. Almost as another year for us to mess up.

I feel that words are so powerful when they are used to describe the past, the present and the future. Sometimes, there is even controversy as to which words best describe these three phases. What should we call the first decade of the New Millennium? I have a feeling that it will be called the “aughts.” Most of what I have read has used this term. And, as words usually do, once they have gone main stream, they stick. No getting around that fact.

To describe our new year, 2010, is pretty easy. We no longer are faced with that daunting awkwardness that befell us in 2000. Now, we most likely will all say “Twenty-ten.” We are loosened from the odd phrase of adding the “0-something” from our vocabulary. The future dates are poised to be justly called in the same form. However, there is still the feeling of science fiction when thinking or saying or, most importantly, writing about the “future.” 2039? Wow. We can’t imagine that right now. Check with us in a few decades.

I hope that those many lists of phrases to be “dumped” in the new year include this: “making it your own.” Due to the onslaught of all those shows such as “American Idol,” this phrase has proliferated. It was supposed to mean something like putting one’s personal stamp on a song or dance that went mainstream. “Ownership” is another similar term. Every day in all sorts of situations, people take things and “make them their own.” This includes probably buying things but also just the act of assimilation. Anytime anyone does something, it pretty much is their own.

My wish for you writers and all the various cogent parts of writing, is that for this next year, Twenty-ten, the phrases and new words that pop up in our vocabulary will be more creative, more inventive and much more interesting than what we have seen in the last decade. Or year. Or whatever, man.

RMPPG Survey

2009-12-07T14:51:00.001-08:00

To better serve our members, the RMPPG Board has created a short survey. Members' responses will guide us in putting together upcoming professional and social programs. The survey should only take about three minutes of your time.

Please click on or copy and paste the following link into your Internet browser: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7NSCN7W

Thank you for helping to make RMPPG more responsive to its members!

Banished words or phrases

2009-12-06T17:51:00.003-08:00

Below was written by Kate Forgach and I think it is very timely for us as writers in this "check the facts last if at all" age. I have seen so many words and phrases used way too much and hence they have lost what meaning they first had, if, indeed, they first had much meaning.

My pet peeve is when reading the cutline below a photo, it always seems as if the photographer has miraculously arrived just as the artist was "putting the finishing touches" on whatever project was being photographed. I wished that my timing was so good.

Enjoy her piece and please submit your own to the website!

Darlene

Way back in 1975, my father got a burr under his saddle -- as he was wont to do) -- and created the Word Banishment Society of Lake Superior State University (located in the chilly northeast corner of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula). Dad was a bug about proper grammar and despised lazy language. So every New Years’ Day he would issue an annual “List of Words to Be Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness.”
The clever PR scheme for LSSU outlived Dad, receiving thousands of nominations each year and garnering nationwide media coverage.
Half the fun of these submissions is spotting words and phrases that cry out for banishment: The other half is writing a supporting explanation.
For example, Ben Green of State College, Penn., submitted the word “bailout” for the 2008 list, saying, “Use of emergency funds to remove toxic assets from banks' balance sheets is not a bailout. When your cousin calls you from jail in the middle of the night, he wants a bailout."
Paul Ruschmann of Canton, Mich., nominated “First Dude” because, "Skateboard English is not an appropriate way to refer to the spouse of a high-ranking public official."
I encourage under-represented Coloradans to join in the fun by visiting www.lssu.edu/banished. Lists from previous years are posted on the site to get you up to speed

Christmas Card Rant by Darlene Mueller Morse

2009-12-04T12:53:00.000-08:00

I became emancipated from being the last signature in my mother’s fine handwriting on our family Christmas card during my first year in college. Having made many new friends, my first Christmas card list had 21 names and for each I painted a watercolor card.

In subsequent years, I did various drawings and wrote my own greetings. Using Xerox machines and colored paper, I was able to make them festive and personal.

It was my way of reaching out to people I hadn’t seen or heard from in some time. I remember when I was young and a family friend would always send out a mimeographed letter with his family card telling what they had been up to. It was unique at the time but what made it even more special was that he always did it in rhyme.

Each year I relished the creativity in making my cards. When I got married, my list tripled in size and Kinko’s became a mainstay for me. I did ink drawings for several years. Then the first baby came and from there it was sending photos of the baby. I would take about three rolls of film and hopefully one would turn out with Meghan looking cute and precious and not having drool or spit-up on her gala Christmas outfit.

I would then get reprints made and again make the cards. I sometimes cut out special borders for the photo to slip in. A second baby made things more fun at Christmastime. It was also then that I realized that I did not have time to make any fancy card so I just taped the kid photo to a folded piece of colored paper, probably construction paper because that was a big thing around our house back then. I think I was lucky if I remembered to put stamps on the envelopes.

Then two events occurred: one, we switched to having a family photo taken and two, we began using our computer for the cards. Us and several millions of other people. It was about at this time that the “dreaded Christmas letter” began.

The next stage of the card development came with the digital camera invasion. Not only could parents send one photo of their kids but many photos! And they began using all the programs for their newsletters. They used Photoshop to make the kids cute and then used all those fonts and colors and Clipart and imported special effects and even did PowerPoint presentations with their e-cards. One “card” from last year was almost the last straw for me: on just one side of the paper there were 22 photos all of the same toddler. Yes, he was cute but I really couldn’t see him very well in such small pictures.

Our house has a very nice set of French doors where over the years I would tape Christmas cards. Last year I didn’t hang many cards because I didn’t think hanging unfolded 8 ½ by 11 sheets of paper covered in microscopic photos was visually appealing.

Finally, what has made me change my approach to my family’s card this year is the notion that we all know what everyone else is doing already. The photo which I would like to have on our card has already been on Facebook for several months and has been uploaded and downloaded so many times it's probably dizzy. With all the instant telecommunications and constant contact we have going, there is way too much information out there.

I have come to feel that the real reason for sending cards is to convey good wishes. I want to let someone know that they are being thought of. I want to take the focus away from the sender and put it on the recipient. As they say, less is more. My cards will say something similar to “Merry Christmas and Peace on Earth.” A simple message. If anyone wants to know more, check out http://www.facebook.com.

Quadriplegic Graphic Designer/Mouth Artist

2009-11-29T13:05:00.000-08:00

Frustrated with work? Need some perspective?
Check out this guy.

NaNoWriMo Revisited

2009-11-28T22:27:00.000-08:00

By Darlene Mueller Morse

I have just finished my writing for the night for NaNoWriMo. I am all atwitter because even though today is only Day 28, I have a word count of 51,274.

What is significant about this number of words that I wrote is that I still have many more to write. I guess one could say that 50,000 words does not a novel write. Or, in my case, a memoir.

I looked up on the NaNoWriMo website to find out just what my genre was. I didn’t see it listed anywhere at first so I just assumed that I was different than most writers mostly because I was over 50. I checked off “Other Genres.”

As I began to look closer, it turned out that I was a “Nano Rebel.” That is, I was writing a memoir which in the Great Scheme of Things was not “in actuality” a novel. This was quickly resolved when I found a slot for people like me: Nano Rebels. We are the people who really know what we are writing about and so to some, it seems that we have an edge. I like having an edge. As I have never been an “edgy person,” this to me was a great excuse to be one.

During the writing of these 50K + words, I have found out a few lessons which I am very willing to “give them up.” Here is lesson # one: Don’t listen to anyone in your family or even in your extended family. Unless they have done a NaNo, they know not which they speak.

The second thing which I have learned is always back-up your writing. I have a pretty hot (or cool) Flamingo Pink Dell laptop. I love this thing! However, had you seen me on November the 21^st, you would have thought that I had lost my religion. Ms. FPD laptop lost everything that I had written that day. And she lost the e-mail that I had used to contribute to the NaNoWriMo cause. Major Bummer. Although I now have the postcard and the sticker stating that I am now a NANOWRIMO all-star, I still have my doubts. I still don’t see my halo on the website.

The last message which I want to leave my RMPPG mentors with is this: I didn’t go back to proof or correct anything. No matter how much I wanted to. The reason was that I got so into the writing that I could not even consider what I had just written.

That is the beauty of this whole NaNoWriMo endeavor. You just write. And continue to write and somewhere along the way you jettison all that you have learned concerning whether to use “that” or “which” or what voice you are in. I don’t know what voice I was in. And I was even writing about Me! It just didn’t matter.

The last thing is that I want to warn new people about who just might want to do this project next year and need a little guidance. Be prepared to confront people who don’t understand what it is that you are doing. Even I didn’t understand what I was doing. I thought I could do all my regular jobs during this time. Well, mostly, I could. But then there is family to consider and the vagaries of the computer on which you are trusting over 50,000 words to still be there when you want them to go through the word counter…

Sometimes, life is not fair. But then again, I think there is nothing more fairly than writing for the National Novel Writers Month that brings so many writers together that really deserve the attention. And then later, the endless rewrites… And so it goes.

I would like to leave you with this one thought. And I think that maybe some of you have never been here before. When doing a NaNoWriMo, you pretty much put your mind to what you are doing. That really is the easy part. The hard part is “turning off your mind” so you can, say, go to sleep at night. I found that I had a really hard time turning off “the muse” at night. Going through a particularly grueling time with the NaNo, some people may find that they cannot turn off the words to sleep. Two nights ago I woke up twice with a strange word in my head. I have no idea where these words came from or what they were referring to.

I found this to be true and really I don’t have a cure for it. It may be that at some point I will find that this is so obnoxious that I will need one. But for now, I’m hoping that with meeting my 50K + words will be enough to let me sleep again at night (cats notwithstanding.).

I don’t think my fingers became any shorter for the typing. I think all systems are a go. Congratulations to all the other RMPPG NaNoWriMos out there!

A thought for the day

2009-11-24T17:08:00.000-08:00

“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospection.”

~Anais Nin

Print on Demand

2009-11-24T15:33:00.000-08:00

From Jody Berman:

I ran across this blog post about POD and thought it might be useful for
those of you contemplating self-publishing--or know others who are:
http://www.sfwa.org/for-authors/writer-beware/pod/

CamelCase

2009-11-20T10:48:00.000-08:00

From Jean Charney (and Wikipedia):

CamelCase (also spelled "camel case") or medial capitals is the practice of writing compound words or phrases in which the elements are joined without spaces, with each element's initial letter capitalized within the compound, and the first letter can be upper or lower case — as in LaBelle, BackColor, MacGyver, or iPod. The name comes from the uppercase "bumps" in the middle of the compound word, suggestive of the humps of a camel. The practice is known by many other names.

(And it goes on. Handy, as an editor, to have a label for this pheonomenon; I hadn't had one before.)

For all graphics people and typography nerds ...

2009-11-19T15:23:00.001-08:00

From Bobette Host:

Here's a link to a lovely article from the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/16/arts/16iht-design16.html

Even though I'm not a graphic artist, I admit to a longtime fascination with fonts and have definite favorites. This message is written in Comic Sans MS, a soft friendly font perfect for informal notes to friends.

Hope you're all having a productive week with lots of opportunities to view some interesting fonts as you work.

NaNoWriMo

2009-11-17T14:38:00.000-08:00

by Darlene Mueller Morse

I am a child of the UPI Stylebook and the MLA and the APA formats. I used my degree in Technical Journalism to write tight stories and succinct copy for ads, programs and newsletters. I was a typesetter before spell-check and I learned to proofread meticulously. When writing newspaper columns, I wrote my draft and then rewrote, rewrote and then cut at least half the words to fit the word limit. It’s what I do.

Imagine then a person like me (and I know I am) taking on the November project, the National Novel Writing Month - “Thirty Days and Thirty Nights of Literary Abandon!” Here the emphasis is to write. That’s it. And the only catch is to write 50,000 words within 30 days. That works out to 1,667 per day.

The hardest part of this for me is throwing out my “inner editor.” Luckily, the NaNoWriMo website (www.nanowrimo.org) has many uplifting suggestions for every type of writer. Chris Baty, the founder of this whole crazy dance of a writing endeavor, suggests doing the following with your inner editor (IE): Put it in the freezer or write it on a card and mail it to someone very, very far away.

I liked this part so I tried to take my IE and put her outside in the back yard in the snow. What I didn’t realize is that she had cousins, in-laws and step-children. They would say to me such things as, “Well, you’re not going to write that, are you?” Or, “You know you can’t start a sentence with a conjunction!” Finally I had had enough. I scooped up all the shirt-tail relatives of the IE and rolled them in a ball, squeezed that ball into an e-mail and sent it to the Junk File. Then I emptied the file. Completely. No recycle bin for it!

I am now at a word count of 15,673. This may sound good to you but today is the middle of the month and I should have 25,005 words, more or less. But since I have no IEs anymore, I’m not worried. Who’s counting?

I can sit down at my laptop and finally feel free to just let the words flow. It took several thousands of them coming out before I really felt comfortable in letting them escape. I am now nearing the time where I can sit down each day, sometimes several times a day, and immediately the words come. It is very freeing.

I’m not saying these strings of words are error-free. But that’s not the point. I’ve had a story in me for a long time and it is finally able to come out in guilt-free words. The editing will begin on December 1^st.

Fewer Than vs. Less Than

2009-11-11T12:45:00.000-08:00

Even Weird Al has something to say about this distinction: http://www.twitvid.com/EFE89

Which camp are you in?

Job Hunting With Facebook

2009-11-11T12:17:00.000-08:00

Today I came across an article outlining some strategies for using facebook to job hunt: http://newgradlife.blogspot.com/2009/11/job-hunting-with-facebook-new-grads.html

I know we had a very well-attended panel not long ago that addressed this, but not necessarily everyone was there.

RMPPG Members: Any thoughts on the subject?

Grammar Humor

2009-11-10T12:35:00.000-08:00

A linguistics professor was lecturing to his English class one day. “In English,” he said, “a double negative forms a positive. In some languages, though, such as Russian, a double negative is still a negative. However, there is no language wherein a double positive can form a negative.”
A voice from the back of the room piped up, “Yeah, right.”

(Karyn Hollis, English Professor at Villanova University, "Jokes About Writing," www.villanova.edu)

Positioning RMPPG for 2010 and Beyond: Camaraderie, Creativity, and Professional Growth

2009-10-17T18:39:00.000-07:00

by Margaret Pevec, MA, RMPPG Communications Officer

While you may have been outdoors enjoying the fabulous weather on Saturday, October 17th, the hard working and dedicated board members of RMPPG were attending an annual meeting held in a conference room kindly donated by the Lafayette branch of the Boulder Valley YMCA! Jean Charney, Bobette Host, and Ken Chartrand (current president, treasurer, and past president respectively), all stalwart board members for many years, organized the event, and were joined by newcomers: Melody Feist, Dan Forrest-Bank, Teri Jurgens Lefever, Margaret Pevec, and Robert Schram. Shelly Rondeau Heller, a member, also attended. More about Shelly later.

RMPPG 2009/10 Board of Directors:

Dan, Melody, Ken, Teri,

Bobette, Margaret, Jean, Robert

The theme for the day was: “Positioning RMPPG for 2010 and Beyond: Camaraderie, Creativity, and Professional Growth.” Within that context, we addressed the following goals:
• To build a cohesive, cooperative, unified team of board members.
• To design an organizational plan for 2009/10.
• To put member activities and marketing strategies in place for 2009/10.

We addressed our first goal of building a cohesive team by introducing ourselves and sharing the substance of our lives; not only our professional niches, but also our personal lives and our hopes and expectations for RMPPG. Not surprisingly, we found many connections. For example, two board members are indexers (Bobette and Teri), two are graphic designers (Dan and Bob), five are editors (Dan, Jean, Ken, Margaret, Melody), two own horses (Bobette and Teri), and two are music-makers (Melody and Dan). There was an immediate spirit of camaraderie and excitement as we delighted in the process of getting to know each other. We are jazzed to be working together and look forward to what we might create for all of us in RMPPG. After our personal introductions, Ken gave a brief history of the organization, followed by a marketing overview by Jean, and a treasurer’s report by Bobette, to bring us all up to speed on where RMPPG stands currently.

At this point Shelly took over. She is a woman of many talents and interests: a coach for writing professionals on issues of entrepreneurship, a freelance writer considered an automotive expert, and a teacher of writing at CU Denver as part of her MA degree program in that field. Based on her previous experience as a member of a vibrant writing/editing group in California, she asked to be part of our annual meeting to help the RMPPG board do some creative thinking about what we can be.

Shelly did her homework. She passed around a May 2009 PC Magazine article called “It’s a Great Time to Be in Publishing” by Dan Costa to get our brains engaged in the myriad writing and editing opportunities currently available for publishing professionals, and the changing face of the industry. Shelly had posed the following question to the LinkedIn Writers and Editors group: “What have you gotten out of being a member of a local writers’/editors’ group?” and included a response from the Atlanta Writers Group, which grew from 60 members to 550 in four years.

This all set the stage for our discussion of what RMPPG is now, and what it could be, as we brainstormed ideas for the coming year. A great many were generated, primarily in two broad categories: members’ professional development and marketing our guild to potential employers. We were all in agreement that activities in these two categories would be our focus for the year. We broke into two working groups and decided on specific action items for the next three months, complete with deadlines.

Here are the highlights from each group:

Professional development (Ken, Bobette, Teri, Shelly)
• Panels/workshops/seminars will be held three times over the coming year.
• Topics for the workshops will be selected based on the results of an RMPPG survey to be sent to all members by December 1. Ken will research Survey Monkey and, along with Bobette, draft the survey with board input.
• Open-mike/show and tell/networking gatherings (at a tavern, coffee house, restaurant?) will be held two times over the coming year.
• For fun, we’ll organize one hike in the summer and two potlucks: the traditional, post-holiday get-together in January at Alice Levine’s home and one outdoor gathering in summer or early fall.

Midway through our working sessions we realized that we needed to officially vote on officers so everyone would be able to assess the amount of additional committee work they could accomplish. So, in less than two minutes, we unanimously elected Jean Charney, president; Bobette Host, treasurer; Bob Schram, vice president; and Margaret Pevec, communications officer. Ken Chartrand will continue to fill the past president officer role.

Marketing/advertising RMPPG to potential employers (Jean, Melody, Dan, Bob, Margaret):
 Melody agreed to head the Marketing committee.
 As part of marketing, Melody will start an RMPPG blog to include writing and participation by any member who is interested, to be up and running in November. She will coordinate our postings on Craigslist and make sure all members know about the RMPPG group on LinkedIn.
 The Marketing committee will work on having a yearly budget for advertising RMPPG as well as a yearly calendar of times to send advertising to organizations like PubWest.
 Dan Forrest-Bank agreed to head up the Web/advertising subcommittee, responsible for our Web site. Dan will also be the “go-to guy” for print and online advertisements and public relations/press releases, and he will contact affiliate organizations for potential collaborations.
 Bob Schram agreed to head the Conferences subcommittee, coordinating an RMPPG presence at local publishing conferences (for example, PubWest), and researching dates and places of conferences that RMPPG members might be interested in attending.
 Jean Charney agreed to continue as head of the Membership subcommittee, handling new members and collecting dues. Jean will also be looking for an apprentice this year to take over this position for the 2010/11 year.

We bonded! We have a plan! We’re ready to roll! You will be seeing a lot of RMPPG activity in the next few months and we hope some members will be excited to get involved. One immediate need is for someone willing to head up our program committee to coordinate the three workshops we plan to provide to members during the year. Shelly will be on that committee as well. Other things you’ll be receiving through email are the aforementioned survey, an invitation to connect to RMPPG through LinkedIn, and an invitation to participate in the RMPPG blog as a guest writer or to lend your perspective on the subject at hand.

Stay tuned for these and other exciting changes as your board continues to investigate ways to make RMPPG meaningful and relevant to us all.

*“It’s a Great Time to Be in Publishing” by Dan Costa is on the web at: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2347800,00.asp