Introduce yourself!

Here goes. Ms. Split Personality here. I write copy for web and print and consult on blogging and e-newsletters (the last two quickly becoming niches).

On my personal writing side, I have published articles in kids' magazines, have two middle grade novels (rough draft -stage) sitting on a shelf and a picture book that Simon and Schuster held for nine months before sending me a personal (not form) rejection letter telling me how much they loved it but it was "not substantial enough for hard cover," whatever that means. Another publisher said, "I don't usually like rhyme, but you do it well." Hey, we should all share our rejection letters sometime!

I have also had nonfiction articles published in magazines for teachers, parents, and writers.

But my true love is creative nonfiction. I am halfway finished with the rough draft of a memoir about growing up a feisty girl in a small Pacific Northwest logging tow, with very few female role models.

Annika, would love to go to your Brainstorming and Support events, but, unfortunately, living where I do, it would eat up a good part of one day.

Eager to hear about everyone else!

Hi, all. Good to learn more about you, Annika and Judy.

I'm a full-time writer. About half of what I do is as a freelance writer for publication (mostly magazines), the other half I offer writing, marketing and PR services to small businesses and nonprofits.

My dream is to write a historical fiction, set in the Pacific Northwest (I'm originally from Indiana so I find the "young" history here fascinating). For now, I focus on editing the nonfiction books of others. Some day...

Hello, fellow writers! It's nice to hear about what you do, Judy and Dana. (I know a lot about what Annika does already!)

I wear a few different writing hats for my day job(s). I write technical content (user interface, Help files, white papers, etc.), marketing collateral, websites, corporate training curriculum, and multimedia content.

In my free time, I write short stories and novels. I've been focusing on novels lately. I have done National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo) for a few years, so I have a stack of very rough first drafts in need of massive rewriting. I also have some stories for children bouncing around in my head, but I haven't given them much attention.

I'm excited to be part of this group. Thanks for setting it up, Annika!

Well, in contrast to all of you writers who actually have been writing I am really just getting (re)started!

Way back in 1977 I dropped out of college in my home state of Oregon for the second time. Many life experiences followed and after moving to Seattle in 1989 I finally returned to school at the UW. I finished my English Degree, with a Creative Writing emphasis in 1998, with the idea of making a career change. Ten years later economic survival has delayed that.

Even though I have been cleaning windows for 27 years I started my own business less than two years ago ,before I got too old to do it. (For anyone attempting the math I will be 55 on March 31.) And while building and running a business plus being a highly involved dad takes most of my time and energy, it is time to get back to it.

I have several short stories written ten years ago and a novel in suspended animation. I also enjoy essays and creative non-fiction. I am nervous but excited as I anticipate meeting the group and hope I can contribute to it. Thanks!

My writing experience is odd. I was good with words from a very young age, and found that I enjoyed expressing myself in the written word.

I refined this skill in the early days of the internet (when everything was text-based), and was asked to co-write a couple of technical books, and tech edit some other geeky books. ("The Little Mac Book", for example.)

After moving overseas I began writing about my experiences in semi-regular emails, which got a bit of a following among my friends, family and acquaintances.

That led to more expository writing, then an attempt at a book, that led to screenplays, etc.

So recently I created a WordPress blog that is intended just as an online archive of some of my writing. (With tremulous hands and a bit of nervousness) here it is:

Write With Integrity

I also write for the Biznik Blog, and am particularly proud of my latest contribution.

Okay, let's here some more stories here. And Christian, a screenplay???? I'm going to check out your blog!

I'm resurrecting this thread and throwing the question out again.

Who are you and what kind of writing do you like best?

It's nice to read how diverse everyone is in their writing! I was thinking I was the only one who wrote and edited:
Corporate marketing materials
Adult training/curricula
Web content
Social media content (blogging, posts, etc)
Short stories
Screenplays
Poetry (romantic and revolutionary)
Direct mail
Email newsletters
Video Newsletters
Press releases
Advertising
Newspaper and magazine articles
White papers
ebooks
Case studies
Oral histories
Genealogy websites
... and much, much more!

Since the Inauguration, I've been actively keeping a poetry/creative daily writing blog, have discovered a new form of poetry, and am working on writing and editing a couple of ebooks.

I'm also discovering that I'm a decent (as opposed to indecent?) writing coach, and am thinking about putting together some romantic writing workshops. I've taught several emarketing, social media, local search and white paper writing workshops with Biznik, and really enjoy doing standup training.

Does that sound too vain?
Oh, yes, I also am the moderator/administrator for the CreWS group, which focuses on creative writing.

Thanks for listening! Dave Kuhns, www.cyranowriter.com,
http://www.romanticlovepoet.com AND
http://cyranowriter.wordpress.com (my poetry blog)

PS: I also act, do storytelling, and enjoy improv. I'd like to find some wingmen/women who would go with me to my first poetry slam! Takers, anyone?

I carry one umbrella: the development of your personal potential. This umbrella is supported by my training as an educational psychologist (someone who "does" development across the lifespan, learning, and achievement motivation) and my experience in living through rain and storms of all sorts.

Standing under my umbrella, I wear two hats: the development of parents' potential to become better persons than they've ever been (for the good of themselves and their kids) and the development of the author in us all (for the good of everyone who needs to know what we have to say). My own book, Parenting: A Field Guide is an expression of my two hats.

Take a look at me and my hats at http://www.patricianananderson.com and at http://www.ineedanudge.com.

I write for fun, therapy and because I believe in the power of story. I have created a program called Storybooks for Healing which is a focused writing program to help people overcome grief and loss by discovering the purpose and meaning found in all tragedies. You can learn more about this on my profile. Let me just say, it works!

I started a group recently called The Storyniks, which is all about the power of our stories and the effect we can have on today and the future by sharing our life's wisdom and experiences.

I just found this group and am excited to be part of it too!

I've been churning out short stories, novels, and screenplays with regularity, but up to this point, I haven't gotten much in the way of publishing nibbles. To a great degree, I still count myself as "just starting" despite writing for close to 20 years. Maybe it's something about being a WAH mom of four with three jobs who homeschools, too, that can really interfere with one's ability to focus on getting published...

Anyway, I love writing inspirational stuff and science fiction. I tried doing the blogging/content share thing, and I just don't think it's for me. I'm supposed to be working for Examiner, too, but in the last couple of weeks, the wind's been knocked out of my sails. (Not a long story, but probably not interesting...)

I'd really love to make creative writing the mainstay, so long as it can still be inspirational and healing.

Guess it's my turn, :) Im what most would call a new writer.. I've written so many short stories over the past 5 years I've lost count. when I first started writing it was just a tool to fight boredom. I'm a huge fan of fiction and have a massively active imagination, I would be sitting at home with nothing to do so i would start thinking up stories about some of the fictional characters I had read about. I came up with some really fascinating stories and got tired of keeping them to myself so I started putting them to paper whenever I thought one up. I haven't wrote anything recently due to a lot of life changes but I'm thrilled to get back into it as it's one of my only passions. I love writing fiction short stories and novels but I can write non-fiction as well. I'm glad I found a group of people who love writing as much as I do and im excited to attend some of the seminars/events Annika and others are hosting.

Hi All,

I'm looking for advice for launching a writing and editing career from home. I'd like to learn about writing online content. Do I need to know HTML? Should I start with blogging? What kind of writing work is most sought after now? Thanks!

Hello Annika and other fellow writers...

I'm really more of a speaker than a writer, although my publishing coach, Patrick Snow, has taught me that I should spend more time writing so that I can get more opportunities to speak. It's sort of a "which comes first" dilemma.

Recently, I've found that I enjoy meeting writers because they are usually more interesting than the illiterates.

As an extroverted salesman/businessman all my life, I've decided to embark upon a new career of teaching, coaching, and helping new entrepreneurs understand and apply the art of selling so they can prosper in their passion, whether it be providing products, services, or sharing knowledge with others.

All of my writing in the past has been business plans and sales proposals. That's pretty dull stuff for a "sit down and read". My current challenge is how to write to entertain and inspire.

I expect to release my first book this year titled: Selling - Buy The Book Unlocking the Secrets of Entrepreneurial Success

I look forward to all you "writers" out there teaching me a little about writing and in return, I will teach you a little about selling so you don't have to be a "starving writer".

If you are interested in an upcoming training class that I will be presenting about "selling more of your books", join my special interest group - Entrepreneurial Junkies and you will eventually see it posted as either a live workshop or an online seminar.

I have joined with Patrick Snow to "Help Entrepreneurs Become Best Selling Authors".

In summary, I guess I'm more interested in writing for a purpose as opposed to writing to express myself. The Biznik community has been a great support group for me over the last year and I enjoy interacting and giving more.

Thank You Annika for giving us another way to connect. ...Howard

Hello,

I've been a journalist since the early to mid 1980s and have written for news services such as Gannett and UPI, for The Oregonian, regional magazines plus years of editing and reporting on community weeklies, from Cambria, CA to Florence, OR, to Snoqualmie, WA and now suburban Snohomish County north of Seattle. In the middle of that span, I dropped out of journalism and started a massage business in Seattle, then returned to journalism. I've won several awards and am interested now in branching out way beyond local news to doing freelance writing projects for businesses. I'm grappling with how to make that happen while working 45-50 hours a week in my day job. I'm also interested in writing film scripts and shooting video.

I am so happy to have found this group. I am a weak writer who seeks stronger skills . I will continue to follow you and hope to gain better skills as a result of being in this wonder group of wrtiers.http://drjalee53.blogspot.com/

Hi everyone,

My story is a bit different. When I was young I was interested in creative writing, but I gradually got more involved with language as a focus of scientific inquiry. Eventually I got a PhD in linguistics, became a professor, and set out to turn my dissertation into a book.

I left academia before that happened. I now work as a naming and verbal branding consultant, and I write a blog, called The Name Inspector, about naming, branding, and language. I held on to the goal of writing a book, but one that wouldn't only be read by a handful of professors and grad students. I struggled to shed my "dissertation voice" and find a more entertaining and interesting one, and had some success.

Recently I got a contract with WW Norton to write a trade book about "microstyle"--the verbal tools we all use to try to capture attention and stick in the mind in the hyper-competitive message environment that the web has created. I'm in the process of writing the book and I'm interested in finding other nonfiction writers in Seattle--especially those also working on books--who would like to meet on a regular basis to share work, feedback, and encouragement. If that's you, please get in touch with me!

Hi everyone.

I am a freelance science writer with a background in chemistry and biology. If you add a dash of passion for food science, that pretty much sums me up I think.

I worked as a scientist for 5 years and always had a knack for writing. Before that I graduated with a music degree. My running joke was that I was trying to set up a career where I could teach drums to fish as I had both a music and a science degree.

Anyway, back to the present. I write articles, blogs, web content, technical papers, etc. about science issues which can range from food to biotech to the environment.

It is good to be here as I always enjoy reading the journeys of others.

Tim

Hello there all! It's great hear about so many of you, and as a lot of you have been nice enough to post about yourselves, I thought I'd do the same.

As well as running my own graphic/web design business (www.lktdesign.co.uk), i have also not long ago put the finishing touches to my first fully completed "chick-lit" manuscript. I have started on the second already, and have ideas down for the third and fourth. Now I know a lot of you are saying "how does this girl cope? does she not sleep?" - while they are both valuable questions, I can honestly say that the answer is I have no idea. Writing and graphic/web design is my life so I think it's safe to say that I always like to fit into my life the things I love the best.

Laura

Hi all. Am in networking overload at the moment. Attended a webinar yesterday about social networking and that's where I found Biznik. Some other great ones related to what we do are www.qalias.com, www.fastpitchnetworking.com and www.constantcomment.com - I highly recommend that you check them out.

About me...For the past 12 years I owned and operated a public relations/marketing agency headquartered in Miami Beach with an international clientele - a total of 20 years in the industry. During that time I had the opportunity to write for publications, ghost write articles and serve as the managing editor for a client's magazine. What I found is that I love writing more than anything.

I moved to Atlanta in November and have been focusing on writing book and art reviews, a column about etiquette in the 21st Century, travel for National Geographic en Espanol and a few others. Not as well-paying as owning an agency but I figure eventually it will pay off. Working on outlines for a few books at the moment.

Looking forward to interacting with you.

Hello, my name is Jesse and I am new to Biznik. I have recently published my a book, A Journey to Financial Well-Being, and am now looking for opportunities to share it with other authors in hopes of receiving some endorsements for the next printing and add to my website as well. Anyone interested?

Also, I am looking at having an audio version of the book produced. Does anyone have any information about that, contacts, costs, experience etc...

Thank you, its good to be part of this group, and I look forward to interacting with you.

My name is Anna and I'm also new to Biznik. I work full time in advertising and do freelance writing and editing on the side. It's been a great "hobby" for the last couple of years but I'm hoping to be able to make a living off of it on a full time basis sooner rather than later. I'm looking forward to learning the ropes from others in my fields so hopefully I can make my true passion my career.

Hey all! I've been a little slow to introduce myself (apologies). I'm Lindsay and I'm a writer. I focus really on website content and internet marketing--there's something just fun about it. Perhaps just the instant gratification? Who knows.

Anyway, looking forward to becoming a more active member of this group and learning from my fellow writers here!

Hi,

I am learning the writing process. My skills are limited, yet I aspire to become stronger. I am reading more and blogging. This is a great group. I would love to promote writiers and their work. We will Promote you to an international group to expand your marketing, and network at http://drjalee52.ning.com/ visit today...

Hi,

I'm an independent editor in order to sustain myself as a freelance writer. :) Been at this for over 3 years now (gave up the corporate cube) and love every minute of it.

I'm published in several areas - essays, journalism, concert reviews, book reviews, theatre reviews, community articles, NH-related essays, a couple of novels, short stories. I write mystery, general fiction, horror, poetry, haikus suspense, romance...each day is something different it seems!

I love variety and have fashioned my life around it. Writing, to me, is like oxygen - I can't go a day without it.

Nice to meet everyone. :)

-Lisa