Strategies: Mom-preneurs have two jobs to handle
- USA Today, column by Rhonda Abrams, The Planning Shop

P.S. Sign up to get Abrams' free business planning newsletter at http://www.planningshop.com/register/register.asp.

        

Flipping through a recent issue of Time magazine I came across a fun essay by Michael Kinsley who wrote about the interesting relationship between writers and editors.

Himself a former editor and now a writer, he writes about his experiences when editors complain about "egotistical" and "paranoid" writers and how editors view themselves as "selfless" and "labor in anonymity." He reasons that before anyone slams writers, better to try and "write a piece in their shoes." So right, Kinsley.

For those of us who wear both hats --of the writer and editor-- it's a delicate balance that sometimes can get tricky. For example, next time you write an article or press release, try editing it the way you would someone else's work. Pretty hard, huh?

Unless the writer has a research staff and a fact-check staff and an editorial staff and, well you get the picture, it's not such a simple task. And even then, writing from scratch isn't a walk in the park either. Catching your own grammar or style mistakes isn't as easy as it sounds. (And, oh do those typos rain on your parade after you spend hours on a 350-word article.)

Kinsley wraps up with the following:

On the Internet, they don't have editors. Or they don't have many. Writers rule, and a thought can go straight from your head onto the Net. That used to sound hellish. Now it sounds like heaven. 

Good point. We love the Internet. The Web 2.0 and all the collaborative interactivity that it brings.

Still, it's wise to have your material edited. After all, when your roof springs a leak or your car dies on the highway, are you quick to climb on the roof or get under the hood? Most of us would probably consult the yellow pages or call AAA for a tow.

Writers can always count on a friendly (and affordable) editor, even online.

Enjoy Kinsley's column.

        

The Freedom of the Press 2008 reports "worrisome trends evident in the former Soviet Union, Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa."

Of the 195 countries and territories:

• 72 were rated Free;
• 59 Partly Free;
• and 64 were Not Free

Highlights of key trends:

• "Media played a key role in covering coups, states of emergency and contested elections in countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Georgia ..."
• "Violence against journalists and, in many cases, corresponding impunity regarding past cases of abuse was a key factor in determining press freedom in countries as diverse as Mexico, Russia and the Philippines."
• "Satellite television and internet-based news and networking sources are an emerging force for openness in restricted media environments as well as a key target for government control."

In Ukraine, Freedom House reports:

... With hundreds of state and private television and radio stations and numerous print and electronic news outlets, Ukraine's media remained diverse. However, many major outlets are owned by regional business magnates with close ties to the government while others are dependent on state subsidies, making self-censorship widespread and slanting news coverage in favor of specific economic or political interests. Transparency of media ownership remains poor because businessmen and politicians often preferred to hide their ownership and editorial influence over news programs.

Additionally, Ukraine's print distribution system remains problematic and dependent on the national postal service. Some of these deficiencies were partly offset by strong economic growth, which increased media advertising revenues as well as the popularity of business reporting.

The government did not restrict internet access or require internet publications to register in 2007, but it had the ability to monitor websites and the e-mails of the 11.5 percent of the population that used the internet regularly. The country's growing economy continued to expand demand and readership of news and other websites. ...

Read more.

        

Those are important questions that every editor has to ask, writes John McIntyre, The Baltimore Sun's assistant managing editor for the copy desk, at http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/mcintyre/blog/2008/04/so_you_want_to_be_an_editor.html. Publications must be sure that what's about to go into print won't get them [and their bosses] into legal hot water. "Ignore them at your own peril," counsels McIntyre.

Every time an editor works on a story, there are plenty other questions that have to be asked. Is the article accurate? What's the focus? What kind of article is it? Who's the audience? And that's in addition to checking for grammar, spelling, punctuation and other mechanical mishaps that creep into a write-up.

The stakes are high and editors must meet the challenge. That's part of the job. Both the writer and the audience expect no less.

These questions and others are explored in McIntyre's Web log at the URL above. Whether you've been editing for 5 years or writing for 10, it's a good list to review and maybe even jot down next to your computer's keyboard. I did.

        

6 Reasons Books Get Rejected

And what's the bottom line?

"If your manuscript gets rejected, don't give up. Write the best book you know how to write, try to make it as marketable as possible and send it out again," writes Vickie Britton, author of more than 30 published novels.

Good advice next time an editor brushes you aside.

        

"In a way it is surprising that we do not make more mistakes. One of our best subs, taken to task this morning for what I described as the unforgivable crime of putting an acute accent on the artist Edgar Degas' surname in last week's paper, held his hand up to the offence but pointed out that he had been working on seven different pages under severe time pressure. Doubtless he had corrected many mistakes but the one he missed was, of course, what everyone noticed." - David Marsh, UK's Guardian Read more 

More from inside guardian.co.uk.

        

9 simple rules when writing e-mail. Thanks to Dave Thompson at New Zealand's Stuff.

        

"I usually slept in the office at least one night a week, and I did everything—reporting, writing, editing, layout, marketing, accounting, customer service, office cleanup, circulation, kvetching, you name it." -- JJ Hornblass, a former reporter who launched Royal Media Group in 1995

In a recent installment of BusinessWeek's Entrepreneur Journal, Hornblass describes about how he has "weathered the ups and downs..." by "adapting." His aspirations to someday own and run a "big company" drove him to succeed. He reminds others of the importance of "learning to celebrate" and how success has "has come in odd and often hidden forms."

Whether you run a business, edit your company's quarterly report or read over that memo one more time, it's worth slowing down, even if just a bit, to define your victory. Doing so will not only give you a moment to catch your breath, but renew a sense of confidence that will help carry you through the remainder of the day.

Check out more at BW's small biz corner.

        

Nope, we're not at the target range. Instead, we're releasing this short clip. It's part of our viral marketing efforts to help get the word out. You'll recognize the photo stills from the Web site.

Enjoy. Just don't blink, or else you might miss it.

        

D.C.'s favorite political newspaper, Politico, reports that a congressman's office sent out an e-mail to colleagues that contained a "lighted bomb symbol" next to the rep's signature. Obviously, that was not the intent.

Turns out that the congresscritter's staff uses a "specific font" for the signature and, as luck would have it, if the receiving computer doesn't have the font loaded, the computer shows a red bomb icon.

I wasn't able to find the article online, but the image can be seen below, courtesy of Google images.

The point is that while we repeat over and over how much words matter (and yes, political candidates, that applies to you too - whether you like it or not), so do images, especially if you get off the reservation with fonts. Stick with Arial or TNR. That way, you can be sure, and so can your boss, that you won't be e-mailing any bombs.