It was around 1942, and World War II raged on. Gasoline, sugar, meat, shoes, and other products were rationed. Few toys for children were being manufactured, and rubber products and nylon stockings were not available at all.

I dreamed about owning a rubber ball and a yellow, rubber balloon on a string.

We lived near the six points shopping area and attended Church of the Good Shepherd every Sunday morning, and since gasoline was rationed, we made Sunday a special day. We drove downtown to church in the family car or caught a bus at Six Points. After church, we had a fish dinner at a café on the bay, went to an afternoon movie downtown— either the Ritz or the Center Theater, and came home.

I remember how big and fancy-looking Good Shepherd was compared to my little wooden Church of the Epiphany. The altar and choir area was set apart from the rest of the church building by a filigreed partition made of black iron that you could see through. Half the choir sat on one side of the altar, and the other half sat facing them with an aisle down the center going up to the altar. The podium where the pastor stood when giving his weekly sermons was on the congregation side of that see-through partition.

I never understood a word the pastor said in those sermons. He used big words that I didn’t know the meaning of at that time.

During the sermon, I would start on the far left side of that black iron filigree, and slowly, I would allow my eyes to travel over every inch of it. When I finally got to the far right of the partition, the sermon would be over.

I knew the pastor was saying something important, but I had no idea what he was talking about. However, I prayed during or after my slow inspection of the black filigree. I remember telling God that though I didn’t understand what the pastor was saying, someday I would understand, and that prayer was answered because today I understand sermons given by pastors.

God is good.

When I was in the fourth grade we moved back to Kingsville and attended Church of the Epiphany again. One of the things I remember most about services in that little church was that the Hebrew blessing, found in the Book of Numbers chapter six and verses 23 to 27, was given often—perhaps every Sunday. At the time, I knew it was important. Now, I know just how important it is to hear that blessing, and I try to put my hands on the heads of my loved ones and friends often while saying that blessing aloud. I heard that the Rabbis say when you bless someone using the blessing in Numbers chapter six, God is blessing you, too.

Here it is:

May the Lord bless thee, and keep thee. The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

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You can learn more about me and my writing at my website: Molly Noble Bull and Lillie’s recent interview with me.

I have a new book out that I wrote with four other published novelists. The book is titled The Overcomers: Christian Authors Who Conquered Learning Disabilities by Ginny Aiken, Margaret Daley, Jane Myers Perrine, Ruth Scofield and me, Molly Noble Bull.

Yep, I’m dyslexic.

The book tells about growing up in Kingsville with a learning disability and overcoming, but only with God’s help.

If you might be interested in reading The Overcomers and/or telling others about it, click below. The Overcomers is the book with the yellow cover and available in paperback and as an e-book.

Whatever the reason, there’s one objection I hear more than any other from these writers:

“I just want to write, I’m not a salesman.”

And that’s too bad. I think this attitude represents a real misunderstanding on the part of authors. Here’s why.

It’s About Marketing, Not Sales

Think about the difference between marketing and sales.

Marketing means promoting your book to people who are likely to be interested in it. The main activity of marketing is communicating to these likely purchasers.

Sales, on the other hand, is completely different. It’s the process of making transactions, the exchange of money for books, in this example.

You can’t sell a book to someone who’s not interested in it or who doesn’t want to buy it.

Marketing your book, on the other hand, is something similar to what you are probably doing already when you talk about your book to friends, family, or other writers.

You are communicating the passion you have for your subject, your fascination with your characters, your total involvement in the subjects of your writing.

In its simplest form, that’s what marketing is. Going where people who might be interested in your book hang out and communicating with them about the subject of your book.

It’s not asking people to buy your book, and it’s certainly not trying to “sell” them your book.

It’s like when you start blogging. You don’t want to blog about your book, you want to blog about the subject of your book, its themes, lessons, or news, events, or developments that touch on your subject.

Same with marketing your book. If you communicate your feelings for your subject, if you let people know just why you wrote the book and how it can help people, if you show your enthusiasm and expertise in the area, you are doing some pretty powerful book marketing.

And what author doesn’t want to talk about their book or the subject that moved them to write it?

What I suggest to these authors is that they learn to market their books, with everything that implies. If you can do that well enough, and widely enough, and often enough, the sales part of the equation will take care of itself.

So go out and connect with people. Find the places where people are talking about your subject, whatever it is. Participating in those conversations will lead you to interesting places and opportunities to tell even more people about you and what makes you tick. That, in itself, will likely interest people in your books.

Congratulations, you are now a marketer.

Joel Friedlander is the proprietor of Marin Bookworks in San Rafael, California, a publishing services company where he’s helped launch many self-published authors. He blogs about book design, writing and self-publishing at www.TheBookDesigner.com. Joel is also the author of the recently published A Self-Publisher’s Companion: Expert Advice for Authors Who Want to Publish.

Read Lillie’s review of A Self-Publisher’s Companion.

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Being a freelancer is a great way to earn a living. However, there are a number of little gadgets that can help make your freelancing career go a bit smoother. Below is a list of five computer gadgets that you can use right away.

1. LessTimeSpent.com

They say that time is money, and that is certainly true for the freelancer. It is important to accurately keep track of your time, because minor mistakes with your time tracking could end up costing you quite lot in unpaid money by the end of the year. LessTimeSpent.com is a great way to accurately keep track of your time and the tasks you have completed.

Price: Free

LessTimeSpent

2. SimplyBill.com

As well as keeping track of your time, you need to be able to invoice your clients for the work you have done. You don’t want to waste time getting bogged down with software that is too complicated or time-consuming to use. SimplyBill.com enables you to easily send out attractive invoices to your clients with minimal fuss. Let SimplyBill.com take the time and hassle out of your invoicing.

SimplyBill

Price: Free Version (3 invoices, 15 quotes and 10 client max) – full details

3. BackPackIt.com

If you are working on team projects, it is important to be able to easily share documents and information with your team members. BackPackIt.com enables you to keep all your project’s documents in one central location all the time. So, no matter where you are, you can access the relevant documents with just a few clicks. No more having to shuffle through pieces of paper from your briefcase.

Backpack

Price: Basic = $24/month

4. RememberTheMilk.com

One of the most important things when you work freelance is being able to organize your day. But if you are juggling many different tasks throughout your day, it’s not good enough just to have loads of post-it notes or scraps of paper lying about. RememberTheMilk.com is a central online location where you can easily organize your tasks, and makes the whole process an enjoyable experience.

Remember the Milk

Price: Free

5. Scirocco Take a Break

If you work as a freelancer, you don’t have the structure of set hours and routines that you would have if you were working in a standard office. While most freelancers work on a computer, spending too long in front of a computer can be bad for your health. Take a Break is a little program which prompts you every hour to take a 10-minute break away from your computer. This prevents you from spending hours and hours hunched in the same position, which can lead to back and neck pain and also eye strain.

Take a Break

Price: Free

Conclusion

These five gadgets/websites won’t make freelancing a walk in the park, but they can help to make your day that little bit easier. I would suggest trying just one of these gadgets at a time and testing it to see if it improves your work day. Not every one of these gadget will work for everyone or every situation, but it’s worth giving them a go. I hope this list will open your eyes to the possibility of gadgets that can take away the strain of being a freelancer.

About the Author

This guest post was written by Danny Ashton who writes about Android Tablets on his blog: www.androidtabletfanatic.com (if you want to ask him any gadget questions, feel free to email: androidtabletfanatic@gmail.com)

Disclaimer: The author contacted me to write a guest post. The opinions expressed are his; none of the links are affiliate links.

1. Use fresh eyes. Proofreading after a break from writing can help you see your work with fresh eyes and catch things that need to be fixed. Try proofreading all the work completed in one day the next morning. If time is of the essence, read something else before returning to your own composition.
2. Know your weaknesses. Most writers have errors that frequently pop up in their work. Keep a list of the common errors that you are prone to and check specifically for those items when proofreading.
3. Watch for little things. Small words that are misspelled or misused are commonly missed when proofreading. For example, keep a close eye on words like “it” and “is.”
4. Know the style. Different publications and editors adhere to different style guides. Decide which style you prefer and adjust your writing to meet those guidelines. AP style, for example, may support different punctuation and grammar preferences than the Chicago Manual of Style.
5. Vocalize your work. Read your piece out loud to yourself. Hearing your writing vocalized can help you access different areas of your brain than writing and reading, making it easier to pick up on the mistakes.
6. Find a friend. A fresh set of eyes is often one of the best ways to ensure error-free writing. Have someone read the work and point out the errors that they notice. A new reader may also be able to offer new proofreading tips.
7. Split the tasks. There are numerous types of errors that can be present in your writing. Focus separately on each type of mistake. Use one read-through to look for spelling issues and a separate proofreading session for things like grammar and style mistakes.
8. Change it up. Reading the text in a way that is not intended can make errors more obvious. For example, read your work from bottom to top or from right to left. This separates each word from the larger context and makes it easier to spot errors.
9. Watch the lighting. Subtle nuances can impact your success at finding and correcting errors. For example, fluorescent lights make it harder to see small mistakes in your work. It is better to proofread under natural lighting.
10. Check the obvious. Don’t assume that you are infallible to mistakes in any particular area. Overconfidence can hurt your finished product. Double-check headings and boilerplate text, and regularly review grammar rules that you are unsure about.

Using these proofreading tips can improve your writing and help you accomplish your goals as an author.

About the author: Randall Davidson is a cofounder of ProofreadingServices.Us, a proofreading service that offers book proofreading. Randall enjoys discussing proofreading and editing tips and best practices with other writers.

Knowing the fundamentals of freelancer etiquette when it comes to criticism can make the entire episode much easier to manage, and it can also showcase to others including possible future clients that the freelancer is mature and respectful, and therefore someone worth working with.

Do not take criticism too personally.

It is easy to see why criticism can be so hurtful, as many freelance writers exert a tremendous amount of effort into putting together well-researched and well-written pieces. However, keep in mind to not take any criticism too personally, even if you do feel attached to the piece you have written. After all, when you work with clients such as individuals or publications, you are essentially writing a piece for them and not solely for yourself. This means that the client does have a right to look over your work and offer their opinion on it, whether it is a positive one or not. Likewise, whenever you publish anything, there is bound to be someone who does not like it due to the sheer number of differences between readers. Do not become too caught up in what some people have to say about your work and let it get under your skin.

Vent your frustrations privately.

When you do feel frustrated by criticism, release your frustrations privately. Talk about it with your close friends and family, but never attack your client or air your grievances to the public. After all, a future client could be watching or reading what you have to say, so you want to present yourself as someone who is professional, not bitter. If you behave unprofessionally online or through another public forum, you risk losing future project opportunities.

If you do address your critics, do so in a calm and collected manner.

There is nothing wrong with reaching out to your critics. In fact, it could even be a great learning experience if they have notes on what they think could have improved your writing. Just make sure that if you do send a message to your critics to do so politely and calmly. It may even be a good idea to wait for a day before responding to allow yourself sufficient time to detach emotionally from the criticism. Remain professional, and address your concerns in a rational manner without resorting to personal attacks or foul language. Perhaps you feel that a client unjustly mistreated your piece, or that a reader missed the entire point of one of your articles, but you should still take the higher ground. Chances are that if you approach a critic respectfully, you will receive a respectful response in return. Even if you do not receive a respectful response, you will have the advantage of remaining professional while the critic is cast in a negative light for reacting poorly.

Do not draw unnecessary attention to pointless criticism or blatant disrespect.

Hopefully, no freelancer will ever have to work for a client who is insulting, but if you do find yourself in that situation, do not add fuel to the fire. Respectfully thank the client for their time, retract the article if you need to, and disengage yourself from that individual or publication. If you feel that your case was particularly mistreated, it could be a good idea to report the critic’s behavior to the publication’s human resources department so that they may handle the situation. On the other hand, if you notice a particularly unfounded and disrespectful insult from a reader in your e-mail inbox or on a website, simply ignore it. You do not need to draw any more attention to that individual, as he or she has nothing of value to offer and is only interested in making you aggravated.

It is undoubtedly difficult to deal with criticism, but if you focus only on what is being said and not how it is being said, you could gain valuable insight into what makes your writing work and what holds it back. In addition, it is imperative to remain professional no matter what and to ignore those who just want to get a few personal jabs at you. This way, your readers and future clients will know that you handle criticism and praise respectfully and admirably, making you a better candidate for future freelance writing projects.

By-line:

Mariana Ashley is a freelance writer who particularly enjoys writing about online college. She loves receiving reader feedback, which can be directed to mariana.ashley031 @gmail.com.

Other posts you might enjoy:
Every “No” Is Just One Step Closer to a “Yes”
Rejected? You’re in Good Company
Rejection: Keep Looking for the Right Address
Rejection: Your baby is ugly!
What I Learned from Rejection