BlogMutt suspends adding new writers

This entry was posted in Selling your work and tagged BlogMutt on by

BlogMutt logo BlogMutt has reported in its email to writers that it has suspended the adding of new writers for the first time in its history. The message says: “We think that our writer community is stronger than ever, and we want to make sure that there are plenty of jobs available for our best writers to let their talents shine.” In other words, it doesn’t want to spread the available work too thin. If you try to apply, the website tells you:

We are not currently accepting new writer applications. Please enter your information and we’ll contact you when our application process is reopened (approx. 3-5 months). Thanks for your interest in becoming a BlogMutt writer!

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Yesterday’s Songs Transformed: Format fixes

This entry was posted in My writing and tagged Yesterday's Songs Transformed on by

I’ve uploaded an update to Yesterday’s Songs Transformed to fix some formatting issues. If you’ve already bought the book, you can downloaded the new version for free. The Epub version looks much better now, with properly single-spaced verses.

If you haven’t bought it yet, what are you waiting for? Don’t forget the coupon code QV69U, which gets you a 30% discount through August 20.

Yesterday’s Songs Transformed — It’s Here!

This entry was posted in My writing Writing and tagged music Yesterday's Songs Transformed on by

Finally! Yesterday’s Songs Transformed is available on Smashwords!

Cover for "Yesterday's Songs Transformed."Did you know that “Charlie on the M.T.A.” started out as a song about a ship that never returned? That the “Streets of Laredo” follow a path from St. James’ Hospital in London? That “Yankee Doodle” originally was a song mocking the colonists?

This book follows the ways songs have changed and evolved over the years. It starts from the Middle Ages and conducts a tour that leads to Mad magazine, the Smothers Brothers, and Weird Al. It looks at where protest songs came from and how they changed with the times.

YST makes no pretense of being a scholarly book. It’s simply a look, with lots of quotations, at changing song lyrics and what lies behind them. You may learn a few bits of history you hadn’t known, and hopefully you’ll enjoy the ride.

The list price on Smashwords is $4.99, but I’m thanking readers of this blog by offering it at just $3.49 with the coupon code QV69U till August 20.
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Excuses for dishonest writing

This entry was posted in Writer ethics Writing and tagged ethics ghostwriting writing on by

Some people see nothing wrong with writing dishonest articles. A discussion in an online forum recently reminded me of this.

Let me start by clarifying what I mean by dishonest writing. If you’re writing on someone else’s behalf, you can argue for a position which you don’t personally agree with. It’s legitimate if there’s some case for the position and you use accurate facts and valid arguments. You’re helping the customer to present a position in a reasoned way, and there’s nothing wrong with that even if it’s not your position.

It becomes dishonest when your argumentation is dishonest. If you cite sources which you know are unreliable, use arguments which don’t hold up, and present “facts” with no source, you’re serving up counterfeit goods. If the customer is unaware you’re spewing nonsense, you’re cheating the customer. If they do know they’re asking you to deceive, you’re collaborating in cheating the reader. In some cases, it could count as fraud under the law.
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British English for American writers

This entry was posted in Writing and tagged international spelling vocabulary on by

Ghostwriters have to write in a voice different from their normal one, and sometimes even in a different dialect. When writing for a Canadian, British, or Australian site, you want to look like a native writer. It’s tricky to get it really right.

Each nation’s treatment of English is different. British, Australian, and New Zealand English are fairly close to one another (in spelling, not pronunciation!). Canadians use a version that’s somewhere between American and British English. I’ll focus mostly on the American and British versions here, for the sake of brevity.
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HTTPS (finally)!

This entry was posted in Writing on by

This site now is entirely behind HTTPS URLs, which I should have done a long time ago. You won’t get browser warnings of an “insecure” site, and you can submit Web forms with more confidence.

The old URLs will still work, redirecting to the corresponding HTTPS ones. You may want to update your bookmarks, though.