We’ve warned writers about the problem of prolonged sitting here and in Freelance Writer’s Report going back a decade and longer.

But now the TikTokers have joined the chorus by declaring war on “office chair butt.”

Which begs the question:  Are these the same ailment? Or is the trending office chair butt yet another challenge facing freelancers, authors, and creators in general?

Same basic cause but separate diagnoses

While “sitting disease” emerged as a scientific term warning about prolonged sitting’s systemic health risks, “office chair butt” focuses specifically on the physical changes to gluteal muscles from extended sitting.

The Science Behind the Sitting Problem

Research is confirming what many of us already suspect: sitting for long periods is really bad for our health. The World Health Organization says nearly 2 million deaths each year are linked to a sedentary lifestyle, making it one of the biggest health risks worldwide. And it’s not just one problem – sitting too much is connected to 34 different chronic health issues.

Don’t think this is a problem only for older writers following decades of keyboard pounding. A 2024 study in PLOS One found that even young, active adults who sit for eight or more hours a day have higher cholesterol and BMI levels. And here’s the kicker: Current federal exercise guidelines aren’t enough to undo the harm caused by sitting that long. This challenges the idea that regular workouts can completely make up for too much sitting.

TikTok’s “Office Chair Butt” Phenomenon

While the medical community has focused on broader health risks, TikTok introduced its own angle in 2025 with “office chair butt.” This viral term specifically describes the physical changes to gluteal muscles from prolonged sitting: muscle atrophy and aesthetic changes that result in a flatter, less toned appearance.

Occupational therapist Michael Milicia explains: “A lack of conditioning in your gluteus maximus and surrounding tissue leads to weakness, making it build up fat tissue and appear flatter or saggy.”

The phenomenon gained traction when TikTok user Alexandra posted a warning video that collected over 7 million views. Content creators began sharing videos of desk exercises, with many declaring their intention to combat the condition proactively.

Medical professionals confirm the legitimacy behind the viral term. Evan Johnson, DPT, director of Och Spine Care Outpatient Physical Therapy at NewYork-Presbyterian, notes that prolonged sitting can result in muscle “losing tone and eventually shape,” leading to “a flat butt appearance or a very soft, fleshy butt if muscle is replaced with adipose tissue.”

Understanding the Relationship

While both terms address consequences of prolonged sitting, they represent different aspects of the same underlying issue rather than identical conditions. Sitting disease provides the comprehensive medical framework for understanding systemic health risks, while office chair butt focuses specifically on localized gluteal muscle changes.

Both conditions involve gluteal muscle deactivation; what medical professionals term “gluteal amnesia” or “dead butt syndrome.” However, office chair butt emphasizes the aesthetic and functional changes to the buttocks, while sitting disease encompasses broader cardiovascular, metabolic, and cognitive impacts throughout the body.

The overlap is significant: both result from prolonged sitting causing hip flexor tightness, weakened gluteal muscles, and poor posture. The key difference lies in scope; office chair butt represents one specific manifestation of the larger sitting disease problem.

The Creator’s Dilemma: Unique Health Challenges

Home-based writers and content creators face particularly acute risks from both conditions. Unlike traditional office workers who may have structured break times and workplace wellness programs, Writers and other creators who run their own businesses often work in isolation with irregular schedules and intense deadline pressures keeping them in their desk chairs.

Beyond the non-structured day with little built-in “movement” incentive, the typical writer/creator may be facing more dire sitting-related challenges. Research on remote workers revealed alarming statistics directly applicable to home-based writers:

• A 2021 study of 2,000 remote workers found that 60% reduced their mobility by over 50% since working from home.
• The average remote worker takes just 16 steps from bed to workstation, with one-third sitting in work chairs entire days and 63% only walking to bathrooms or kitchens.

Breaking the Sitting Cycle

As noted earlier, current research has shown that even high levels of physical activity cannot offset the harmful effects of sitting for extended periods.

So even if you’re starting your day with a routine of walking, stretching, or lifting weights … if you then sit at your desk for 3 to 4 hours straight in order to meet an afternoon deadline, that morning routine hasn’t eased the effects of sitting disease or of a saggy butt.

Caution: You do not want to stop any physical routine; it does help strengthen muscles, improve flexibility, and maintain our general fitness.

What you want to do is add to the exercise with regular interruptions to sitting time throughout the day.

The Mayo Clinic suggests you “start by simply taking a short break from sitting to standing every 30 minutes.

I know. It’s difficult to stop when you’re focused and “in a groove.” I’ve been trying to do this for months and still not seeing consistency. Too often I either work beyond the 30-minute alarm, or “forget” (Freudian inaction, perhaps?) To set it for the next 30-minute break.

Windows has an “Alarms & Clock” app (called simply Clock in Windows 11) that works well, especially when pinned to the taskbar. It’s likely that Mac has a similar app.

Recently, I’ve turned to a timer app on my phone to see if I might be more successful using it. It’s called MultiTimer – https://www.multitimer.net/ – and is available from both the App Store and Google Play. The basic version is free; the Pro version has more features.

Think of something to do for three or so minutes during that 30-minute stand-up break. Reward yourself with a few pages of your current pleasure read. Or double-up by doing a fitness routine.

I like to march in place for at least 30 high steps; it gets the blood flowing. Other options: Walk up and down the stairs a time or two. Walk into and around several rooms. You get the idea. It takes only a couple minutes. 

If the 30-minute routine simply does not work for you, at least try the routine suggested by some experts: standing or moving for 5–10 minutes every hour as a minimum.

When you attend an online Zoom-type meeting or during phone calls, stand up or walk around a portion of the time.

During your breaks, use hand weights to get the blood flowing in your arms … or do stretching routines targeting hip flexors and glutes.

Important: Simply standing up on regular breaks may help with butt flattening/sagging, but it is not likely to lower risks of sitting disease. As the Mayo Clinic cautions, “It is not clear whether standing, on its own is effective for lowering the risk of too much sitting.

So the bottom line: While sitting disease established the scientific foundation for understanding sedentary behavior risks, office chair butt’s viral nature has prompted immediate behavioral changes among young professionals.

Maybe it will get our writing and creator community, regardless of age, off our butts and help avoid or delay some of those 34 chronic conditions.

Look beyond the gold in the gigs. Search for a goldmine.

It’s so easy … and typical … to scan online job boards looking for key terms: freelance, $x amount, deadline dates, remote, and so on. Something looks interesting? Click through. Meets our minimum requirements? Check. Nothing bad stands out? Excellent. Apply. Move on to the next listings or another job board. When such a listing turns into work, we’re elated.

But spending your time looking only for one-off jobs can be a chore. Doesn’t it feel a bit like a hamster on its wheel?

It’s not only tiresome–if you’re treating job board leads as one-and-done, you’re missing the real rewards of client work: stability, growth, and consistent income.

Lizzie Davey, freelance writer and host of It’s Fine, I’m a Freelancer, shares her breakthrough on LinkedIn:

“[Worrying about where the next job was coming from] all changed when I started booking recurring work … Today, 80 % of my income comes from long‑term clients on monthly contracts.”

That income shift came directly from turning gigs into predictable retainers.

On The Copywriter Club (TCC) podcast, copywriter Chris Orzechowski echoed that sentiment:

“[Retainers] are better than going from project to project.”

His perspective reinforces that retainers don’t just stabilize—they scale your business.

If you’re not finding those ongoing clients, here’s a strategy for using even a single job-board posting as the start of a long-term client relationship.

1. Spot Long-Term Potential Before You Apply

Look for these clues in a listing that a client could become recurring:

• Mentions of ongoing, long-term, series, monthly, quarterly, or potential for extension
• Project connected to product launches, campaigns, or email flows
• Early-stage startups or scaling businesses with evolving content needs

2. Pitch with the Bigger Picture in Mind

Your reply shouldn’t stop at the immediate task. Invite them to envision beyond:

“Beyond the initial blog post, I’ve helped several clients build full newsletter/onboarding sequences. Happy to help if you’re interested.”

This shows you’re solution- and relationship-oriented.

3. Overdeliver (Quietly) on the First Assignment

Stand out with subtle touches that matter:

• Submit before the deadline
• Include a mini audit or suggestion (e.g., “I noticed the post structure could improve engagement…”)
• Ask smart questions that show you care and think proactively

4. Ask the Magic Question at the Finish Line

Once the client is happy:
“Glad you’re pleased! Anything else upcoming I might help with?”

It’s low-pressure and opens the door to more assignments or future communication.

5. Suggest an Ongoing Package

If you’ve hit the mark and the timing’s right, propose this:

“Since we’ve already nailed the tone, would a small package (4 blog posts + metadata + image sourcing per month) work better for you?”

A clear retainer package is easier to say yes to—and cheaper than repricing each blog post.

6.. Nurture the Connection

Even without immediate follow-up:

• Set a reminder to check in at 4–6 weeks
• Engage with their content online
• Send tips or tools when relevant

These subtle connections keep you top of mind. They’ll remember you as a resource, not just another freelancer they hired once.

7. Build Professional Networks

Beyond individual client relationships, you can use job boards to develop broader professional networks:

• Connect with agencies that can provide consistent subcontracting work
• Build relationships with decision-makers who may move between companies
• Engage in industry conversations that establish expertise and visibility
• Find peers for potential collaboration or referrals

These networking strategies transform job boards from simple listing platforms into valuable relationship-building tools.

Using Current Job Listings for Future Self-Marketing

If you’re actively engaging with job boards, you’re not just finding gigs—you’re picking up valuable insights and building your network. You’re gathering market intelligence that can push your career and grow your business.

• Identifying trending skills and tools in your industry or niche — By scanning job board listings, you’re doing free market research. You can spot what skills, deliverables, and expectations clients want, then tweak your personal brand and portfolio to match what’s trending. This positions you as an expert in areas people actually need right now.

• Spotting emerging expertise areas before they become mainstream — Job descriptions always include industry keywords and software requirements. When you have expertise and experience with the software or platforms being mentioned regularly, that’s marketing gold. If you work these skills into your website, social profiles, and pitches, you’ll appear more often in searches and catch the right clients’ attention. Keeping tabs on new expertise that emerges is your cue to learn something new or update your marketing materials.

You can even use information from listings to write relevant case studies or post related testimonials—before you apply for jobs that meet your best criteria. .This proactive approach makes you look ready and capable for future roles—a smart way to stay visible in competitive markets.

The most successful freelancers combine multiple approaches: using job boards for market intelligence, converting initial gigs into long-term relationships, and leveraging connections made from job listings for ongoing networking opportunities.

Evaluating Job Listing Credibility

Not all listings are worth clicking through.

First, check if the company or person posting the job is actually real. Look for full company names, verified profiles, and solid contact information.

Trustworthy listings usually provide a real project description, deadlines that make sense, and payment details up front. If the job board allows it, peek at their posting history and see what other freelancers have said—it’s an easy way to spot red flags. It never hurts to search for them–along with key words like “problems,” “hassle,” or “warning,” to see if this is a company or person to avoid.

Platforms like FlexJobs and Guru often verify listings or show client ratings. Stick with jobs that have positive reviews and some track record—it is safer.

Check if the company keeps posting on the job board or if freelancers leave good reviews. That usually means they’re serious about building relationships. If you connect with established clients on trusted boards like Workello’s top picks, you might find new roles becoming available later.

Assessing Project Requirements and Budgets

You need details. The best listings spell out what’s expected, when it’s due, and what skills you’ll need. If something’s vague or doesn’t add up, skip it.

Check the budget—does it align with what people get paid for similar gigs? Listings that provide a range or mention wiggle room for negotiation feel more transparent. Research typical payment ranges for similar freelance work. How does this posting compare?

Bottom line, this strategy works easier when you begin with the right gigs. Our members-only curated job board posts listings that meet our criteria…saving our members scanning time. If you’d like a source of vetted job leads…that offer at least a chance at client work beyond the posted jobs, come join us.

To take our short, anonymous survey, click here.

Yes, I’m an IT person, but I don’t do web development, at least not by trade. For the past decade I’ve helped develop medical devices. The two decades prior to that were spent working on big computer systems for “Fortunate 500” corporations as well as little companies. Web development used to be ugly. I know I paid for a few iterations of my book website all those decades ago. Today I maintain it myself. The tools that come with your GeekStorage account are pretty great. Some day I may take the time to learn more than two of them. Honestly, free WYSIWYG website editors have gotten very good. BlueGriffon is the one many people use.

You can work completely in the word processor view if you want, never (or rarely) switching to the HTML tab. It saves the file in HTML. There are always the site builder tools that come with the hosting arrangement as well. I’ve not tried them so I know not what they are like.

This part of the newsletter article is what prompted the post.

Most of you don’t sell “direct” online because you think it is a hassle. You don’t want to go through the pain of getting a merchant account to process credit cards. The “commerce” plug-ins for websites are confusing and seem to take quite a fee.

As a software geek for years I had been buying various software products through vendor websites and seeing my payment going through BMTmicro. Didn’t know much about it other than everything I bought as a digital download seemed to be sold through it. When it came time to sell my own so I could both eat and live indoors I looked into it.

I do not remember setting up an account as being much of a hassle, but it was many years ago. Technically they are a digital delivery retailer. They take a small percentage. They are the seller of record in all transactions! You are just a supplier/vendor, even if you ship directly to the customer.

For my physically printed books I had to create multiple entries, one for U.S. domestically shipped and another for international shipping.

Notice how little they take in royalties.

I have one technical book for a niche market with a $90 price tag. Their cut for handling the transaction is very acceptable though.

How does something sell through them? Well, they do have their own online sales catalog, but you get a shopping cart code sent to you for every item. They also have tutorials on how to do this. You just need to add a button to your website.

That blue string in the following basically came from them once I set the item up.

My e-books and audiobook had to be uploaded to their server when I created the items for them. When someone purchases the customer is sent an email with a download link good for N days to a one-off copy they can download. After that the temporary directory with the copy is deleted on their servers. They have some kind of protection from scammers trying to have 5,000 bots download from the same link at once like they try to do with Windows 10 ISO files and other pricey commercial software.

While I paid quite a bit of money for voice actors with my audiobooks, many of the authors I encounter via my Interesting Authors site and blog simply record their own. Audio recording applications like Audacity are available for free. The pandemic got people comfortable talking into a computer. If you don’t already have them you can pick up microphone head sets with a USB connection to your computer for under $30 if you shop around. Staples has some listed for $15 so the cost of creating an audiobook version of your book comes down to are you willing to put in the time? I wasn’t, but you might find it enjoyable. With editing tools like Audacity you can record it a few pages or a chapter at a time and paste it all together.

Am I worried about showing you the full link to one of my items on their secure server like I did with the code snippet? Nope. Go ahead, put it on your own site. When someone clicks it and makes a purchase the sale comes to me. Thank you very much!

Most of my non-geek book sales seem to come from people reading something on either that Interesting Authors blog or my geek blog and clicking on one of my books as a thank you. Does everybody do that? No. The internet is made up of Freetards.

Despite what the Urban Dictionary says, that is not the definition of a freetard.

The proper definition of a Freetard:

Someone who believes everything on the internet should be free for them.

The Internet Archive is a Freetard.

A couple weeks ago, Business Insider published an article about Barnes & Noble’s announcement that sales of books relating to managing and coping with anxiety are up 26 percent from a year ago.

When you run across information like that, your idea light bulb should glow in anticipation. 

Why? Editors love trends.

And this one could relate to so many audiences: from parents of children and teens to women in general, men, professionals, businesses (think management and HR magazines), entrepreneurs, athletes, and so on.

So what to do?

1. Explore the topic on search engines to see if the issue is trending beyond Barnes & Noble’s stats. If not, you have only a factoid. If so, proceed in haste.

2. Select a magazine or website you feel would be a viable market* for this, based on your knowledge of the magazine and what you’ve learned so far about the issue.

* a viable market is one that buys freelance material and pays enough to meet your requirements

3. Describe their target audience (either you already know the audience or you can get it from their website or media kit).

4. Review their past articles to see if they’ve addressed this topic in the past year – and if so the angle(s) used.

5. Do some additional quick targeted online research to pick up a few current statistics and get a better handle on the issue (any studies? journal articles?) – if you did not do this in step 1 or for this audience.

6. Contact an expert or professional in the field to get a quick overview of their take on this as a real trend. (You might even ask if they would be able to answer more questions once you have a solid assignment. You will want more experts when you do your actual research, but it will help if you can mention in your query letter that you have already lined up an expert [or experts] to interview for the story.)

7. If you’ve determined this is indeed a viable idea for this market – and have your slant in mind, query and proceed.

8. While waiting for a reply, continue exploring other markets and slants.

(See our related posts: Are You Maximizing Your Writing Inventory? and

Ask More Questions for More Article Sales)

Don’t forget the regional angles

Another excerpt from Business Insider was equally interesting:

“Customers in states around the country are not equally stressed out, however. California, Michigan, and Massachusetts saw the largest increase in interest in anxiety books, while Texas, North Carolina, and Florida saw the largest decrease in interest.”

If you live in any of those states and write for local or regional publications, check out these angles. Do the experts and professionals there see this happening? Their thoughts on why. If you have the sources and stats to provide a story, line up your viable markets and begin querying.

And then there are your clients

Do you write (or ghostwrite) online articles or blog posts for business or professional clients? This trend won’t apply to every type client, but it could for those who have their own clients, patients, or customers where anxiety could be an issue – and their business or service has even a tangential connection. If you can make that connection, you might propose an article or blog post for their website or social media platforms.

What about your own content?

Do you have a blog? Do you post articles on social media or your website? Can you make a connection between trending anxiety and your target readers? Or can you relate to the topic and share your experience(s) with your readers? If so, there’s your topic for this week.

But wait, there’s still more!

Did you see this from Barnes & Noble?

“The bestselling books in the category include workbooks, toolkits, and self-help books about managing anxiety.”

Hmmm — Sounds like a good time to get out a few of those “quick and easy” adult coloring books, journals, and planners, designed especially for people needing to calm their anxieties. Possibly for different age groups if you find the trend crossing all ages.

Numerous indie publishing experts have been saying that short Kindle nonfiction books sell better than traditional 200-page books. As you gather your research and talk to the experts for articles and blog posts, have outlines for several “tips” booklets on how to recognize and manage anxiety and stress.

Then you can alleviate your own stress while waiting for editors’ replies to your queries by writing up and publishing those Kindle and CreateSpace e-books, workbooks, coloring books, and toolkits.

Up next?

Along with an uptick in anxiety-related book sales, Barnes & Noble also noted an increase in sales of books in the fantasy genre, up 10 percent, and in the Finding Happiness category, which was up 83 percent.

Should be plenty of ideas to keep you busy there!

Please do share with us below your “anxiety” articles, posts, and e-books.

(Note:  Comments are moderated, so will not appear until approved. It keeps out spammers. )

Even Third Place Can Be the Charm

In 2013, the first chapter of Patricia Cox’s second novel, Hellgate, received third place honors from our WEN Competition. What happened next? “I signed a contract in 2016 and Hellgate is launching on April 18, 2018, published by Five Star Publishing/Cengage.” It is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.

Other good news:  In the 2017 contest, Trish’s short story, “Next Year,” was designated as “Most Promising” and she received a free critique. “I reworked that story in accordance with the advice I received, and in November 2017 won First Place – Short Story from the Society of Southwest Authors in Tucson.” (Editor’s note: To clarify, the “Most Promising” prizes are not being awarded this year.)

Entering Contests Might = Multi-book Contracts

It Takes a Coven did not emanate directly from a contest submission, but its predecessor did. Back in 2013, Carol Perry entered the first chapter of her Nightshades novel — and won First Place! Fast forward a bit, and Kensington Publishing bought the book to publish as Caught Dead Handed.  But that’s only part of the story. That contract was initially for THREE books and a “Witch City Mystery” series . . . which has grown to six titles with another already in the hopper for this fall. You can read an interview with Carol about her “contest to book series” success here on our blog.

And when you visit your local Barnes & Noble store this month, be sure to look for their special month-long promotion with an end cap display of Kensington cozy mysteries (through April 8). They are featuring three of Carol’s titles: Caught Dead Handed, Grave Errors, and It Takes a Coven. Carol says, “That first place award really was the beginning of this new career!. ”

A review of It Takes a Coven and an interview with Carol also appear in this month’s King’s River Life.

First time Entering Contest was a Winner

The very first time Patricia Cox sent in an entry to the Writers-Editors International Writing Competition was back in 2011. That resulted in a First Place win and a First Honorable Mention for chapters from her first novel, Chasm Creek. That book went on to be published by a small press in 2013. You can read our post about it here.

Then a second edition — along with this new cover — was brought out in October 2017. It’s available on Amazon.

To quote from our earlier posts —

These authors illustrate the value of entering literary contests — so don’t miss the deadline: March 15

Your name could appear on a certificate, too

The Writers-Editors Network annual literary competition is in its 35th year and this year has four categories:

• Nonfiction (may be Essay, Blog Post, Article, Book Chapter)
• Fiction (may be Short Story, Novel Chapter)
• Children’s Literature (may be Story, Book Chapter, Article, Poem)
• Poetry (may be Traditional or Free Verse)

Entries are judged blind (judges have no idea who the writers are or where they are located). Deadline for entries to be postmarked is March 15, 2018 (online entries also allowed until midnight on March 15).

Guidelines and entry form are posted at Writers-Editors.com. Winners are posted by May 31.

What about you? Have you any successes as the result of winning writing contests? Please do share with us below.

Last week, my older laptop suddenly shut down. No warning – or at least no warning I had noticed.

And when I tried to restart it – no go.

As I began to remove it from the docking station it’s plugged into, the likely cause of the shutdown was obvious – it was hot. Like H-O-T hot.

I called our local computer repair shop, explained the problem, and he said the fan was likely not working so it overheated. It had probably been running hot awhile, but because I rarely remove it from its docking station, I had not noticed. Since I could not restart it, there was a possibility, he added, that it had been hot enough long enough to damage the motherboard. Not what I wanted to hear.

Computers never stop running when it’s convenient

This particular laptop runs on an old system that lets me continue to use a DOS database program for our WEN membership records, market listings, and so on. I also have the software that runs Writers-Editors.com installed on it. So having it go down so suddenly presented a bit of a problem.

This was late afternoon, so I left it alone until after dinner. After several hours, it was cool again, and when I pressed the button, it started up completely! Big sigh of relief. And it gave me enough time to post that evening’s jobs to the Bulletin Board, plus add a notice about the problem and that it could be a few days before I could post again.

Next morning, Thursday, off to Colebrook I went, and dropped it off. Then came home and tried to work on my main computer, a desktop, with fingers crossed.

Saturday morning it was ready – and with good news. The fan was working fine – surprisingly quiet, they said. What had happened was “simply” a buildup over the years of dust particles.

I can see my desktop computer tower’s air vents and can even see one of the fans spinning, so it’s a constant reminder to periodically clean those vents. I keep canned air on hand for that very purpose. But with the laptop being a closed system, it’s easy to forget dust particles can manage to get inside.

Dust is your computer’s enemy

According to PCMD Computer Services, dust and dirt are truly the enemies of any computer, whether desktop or laptop. “If the dust has a way in, it can do damage. Dust acts like a blanket to warm your computer’s sensitive electronics. Over time the buildup of dust can affect the reliability, and most definitely shorten the life expectancy of the device.”

As much as computers dislike dust, they are very good at accumulating it. Along with the air brought in by their circulating fans are thousands of dust particles. If you have a cat or dog visiting in the area of your computer, the problem is multiplied.

Your laptop may be choking to death

Those are the words of Rick Broida, a PCWorld columnist. “You see, like desktops, laptops can suck up lots of dust. And because everything in a laptop is packed together so tightly, dust is even more dangerous. When the cooling fans have to run constantly, it’s just a matter of time before the machine starts to overheat. When that happens, it may lock up. It may damage system components. And it might even kick the bucket.”

Make it a standard New Year task

What better time to clean out your desktop – or take your laptop in for a cleanup – than the first month of every year! If it’s been awhile, add it to this coming week’s to-do list.

If you’re a do-it-yourself type and accustomed to taking the cover off your desktop, you can probably do a basic cleaning yourself.

How-To Geek has a step-by-step tutorial on How To Thoroughly Clean Your Dirty Desktop Computer

 and one on How to Clean the Dust Out of Your Laptop

Personally, I would stay away from opening my laptop, but if you insist, this YouTube video will help: How to Clean a Laptop Fan Bay

You will find many others by searching Google or Bing or YouTube for: How to clean dust from a computer (or laptop)

If you find your time better spent writing or marketing, let the tech pros do it for you. The cost for cleaning out and giving my laptop a once-over check for any other problems was $60. Much less than buying a new computer.

When’s the last time your computer or laptop had a good dust-out?

Please “speak your mind” below.

It’s April as I write this, meaning we’re barely into the second quarter of the year. So while the days seem to be flying by, there’s still plenty of year left to meet your goals and expectations.

IF …

… if you invest a bit of time this month for a checkup — to revisit your plans for the year to see what’s working and what needs revising.

Time to get out the old-school paper, pen (or pencil) and highlighter for a checkup

• List the projects (either production or marketing) you’ve completed so far this year. Highlight with a yellow marker those you felt best about (easiest, most satisfaction, most profitable).

• List the projects you’ve started but not yet completed. Highlight those that are going well.

• List   the projects that were on your plans for this year, but you’ve not yet begun them.

• Review your first two lists to discover any success patterns (the highlighted ones) – Which strategies or topics or markets are working best for you?

• Revisit your third list – projects not started. Do any of these fit into your success patterns? Get started on them right away.

And don’t waste time worrying about the others until next year.

What did you discover during your checkup? Do you have a clearer idea of where to invest your time these next several months? Please share below.

Social media has become “the place” to be seen, to become known, to share literally anything and everything. From independents to traditional publishers to offline businesses, being on and participating in social media “places” is now a necessary business component.

The problem: Being social can become complicated – what to share, when to share it, and where. Fortunately, the whole brain group is sharing a checklist to make our journey through social media a bit easier to follow.

New in their 2016 Checklist: Instagram, Quora and Periscope. Use this checklist to

• target the right audience,
• set smart goals for posting content and updating statuses,
• monitor a few strategic metrics, and
• getting more results with less time investment.

Our thanks to thewholebraingroup.com for allowing us to share this Social Media Checklist with our fellow freelancers and book authors.

Which social media places do you find most useful for connecting with your readers or clients? Be sure to like us on Facebook, and

Please “speak your mind” below.

Primary reasons given for entering writing contests usually mention cash awards or promised publication or finding out “if my stuff is good enough.” All good reasons, indeed, to send in your story, book chapter, essay or poem.

Previously we’ve noted how winning our own WEN Writing Competition has even led to traditional publishing contracts:

Winning Contest Helps Author Land Multi-book Contract

Another Contest Winner Gets Publishing Contract

And here are more reasons to enter one of these or other writing contests  –

• Contests give you a good reason to write an article you have been “burning to write” for ages, but haven’t yet found a viable market for. It might be a personal experience piece you believe will help others effectively deal with an issue – or motivate someone else to do something. Look for contests that accept unpublished nonfiction entries, especially essays.

Or, your “burning desire to write this up” may not be a personal experience, but rather an issue or situation or someone’s remarkable achievement you know about – and want others to know. It has experts, statistics, and anecdotal stories supporting its premise and illustrating its importance. Write it up as an article and submit it to a contest. Not only might you win a cash prize, but if you place well, you will be motivated to look harder for a magazine or website to publish it.

Don’t write nonfiction? That’s OK. Instead of “telling” about your issue or situation as it happened, “show” it in a short story. Use your imagination. Fiction can be an even more powerful motivator than nonfiction if you write well. And many contests have short story categories.

• Awards look good on resumes, “about” pages, social media (including LinkedIn) profiles, book covers, job bids, email signatures, and your other promotional materials. Being an award-winner gives you immediate credibility.

• Contests also tend to be more democratic than general submissions, according to Becky Tuch at The Review Review:

“Because names are withheld from the manuscript, an unestablished writer is on equal footing with Mr. Top Dog Writer. The editors and judges won’t be thinking about whose name on the journal’s cover will help sell issues. The work itself is the single important thing.”

• Awards can help you get accepted into those groups or professional societies with entrance requirements. Some have minimum requirements of publishing credits or writing awards. A caveat: Some of these groups are particular about who awarded the “prize.” So if this is your main motivation for entering contests, be sure to run the potential competition by the group’s nominating committee to see if it is a contest recognized and accepted by them. At the very least, concentrate on contests with longevity and industry recognition – if this is your primary motivator.

• Contests soften magazine editors’ rejections by offering new, immediate outlets for those pieces you believe have promise. Yes, you will likely want to first review a rejected piece for possible tightening, revision or fine-tuning. But once done, send it right back out to an appropriate contest. Then – if the contest’s rules allow – continue resubmitting to publishers while awaiting the judges’ decisions. Some contests for unpublished work require only that an entry be unpublished at time of entry, and future publication does not affect the entry. Other contests state that publication prior to announced winners will cause the entry to be withdrawn. So check the rules or ask the administrator. But even if you do have to withdraw your entry because your piece has been purchased by a magazine, what a wonderful reason!

• Winning a contest is good for the ego. And rare is the writer who can’t use an ego stroke once in awhile. Over the years, we’ve heard from more than one of our own contest entrants that placing among the winners provided the motivation they needed to keep on writing – just as they were about to give up.

• Fresh eyes when you return to the story or essay or poem you’ve been working on doggedly. As noted above, some contests do not allow you to send your submitted manuscript to another contest or to a magazine, journal or website while it is undergoing their judging process. You may consider this stipulation a deal-breaker and choose not to submit to them. But if the contest is an important one in your genre, and the waiting period is within a few months, you may decide to enter anyway. The benefit: Time away from your work, as noted by Suzannah Windsor Freeman of Write It Sideways –

“If you’re not allowed to simultaneous submit to other contests or magazines, you’ll be forced to put the manuscript away for a few months. If you don’t end up winning, you may come back to the piece with fresh eyes, and note areas for improvement before sending it out again.”

So check off these reasons to add “Enter contest” to your To-Do list

• Motivation to write that piece that’s been nagging at you.
• Add credibility to your bios and listings.
• Get a totally impartial “blind” reading.
• Possibly help you get a publishing contract.
• Impetus to move that rejected piece back on its way to potential success.
• Possible publication if the contest is sponsored by a journal.
• Feedback from judges when a contest offers it.
• Winning an award or an honorable mention can boost your writing ego enough to keep you writing and keep the naysayers at bay.
• Of course, we all like to pick up those cash awards.
• Test a project to see if it shows promise.

What about you? Have you found other reasons for entering contests? Please speak your mind below:

The problem with New Year’s Resolutions, and planning in general, is that life tends to get in the way of the really exciting new projects on our goals list – the book project we want to start, the new writing field we want to enter, the website we want to design, the new skill we want to learn.

So many ideas; so much to accomplish. No wonder we usually end up so overwhelmed by our long list of New Year’s resolutions and goals that we accomplish very few of them. Lifestyle coach Cheryl Richardson says the secret is to focus. “Any worthwhile goal calls for concentration and discipline.” Her advice:

✓ Choose one project from this year’s Goals list to which you will devote your concentration and energy.

✓ Schedule at least 30 minutes every day to work on it – uninterrupted – until it is either completed or becomes a part of your routine.

But first, we need to make that list of possible Goals (or Objectives, if you have a business background and prefer that term). The trick to successful goal setting, according to Domino’s Pizza founder Tom Monaghan, is in the decision making – deciding which goals to put on your short list. Here is his technique for reaching those decisions –

☐ Make a master list of possible goals on a yellow legal pad.

☐ Down one side of a new page, write all the reasons you can think of in favor of a given course of action or goal for your editorial business.

☐ On the other side, list every reason you can think of against it; everything that will be difficult about it; all the risks.

☐ Do this for each potential goal, objective or course of action.

☐ Then study your pages until you can decide on the 1 or 2 or 3 best goals for you to really go after this year.

What do you want this year?

Here are some tough questions to ask yourself about where you want your writing/editing business to go this coming year –

1. What does your vision of your editorial business look like?
2. What types of material or subject areas will you focus on?
3. How many new clients and editors will you develop and how many total clients and editors will you be writing or editing for?
4. What will your total writing and editing income be for this next year?

Idea Starters for Your Annual Planning

Here are some possible goals/objectives – select one for your primary business objective, then plan your week, your purchasing, your marketing, your study, your production, and your reading to include the necessities to get it accomplished:

❏ make a certain number of magazine sales
❏ make a certain number of website content sales
❏ add a certain number of new business or professional clients
❏ earn a certain amount of money
❏ get your byline into certain magazines
❏ obtain a book contract from a traditional publisher
❏ write a particular book
❏ outline an e-book series; write and self-publish the first title
❏ place in the top three in a certain number of contests
❏ write and publish 3 info products and sell on Clickbank
❏ create an online course and publish to Udemy
❏ establish myself as a sales page copywriter and take on 5 clients
❏ take on 12 book editing projects

Example strategy for fleshing out a goal to make sure it is doable.

As an example, let’s say you’ve set a goal to earn $40,000 from magazine and online articles. Your next step is to determine how many queries (or pitches) you need to submit, then how many completed manuscripts.

Step 1. Review your submission records for the past year, and list the following numbers:
Total number of queries submitted: ________ (Our example: 200)
Total number of go-aheads (or “OK, I’ll take a look”) from editors: _______ (example: 130)
Total number of manuscripts submitted: _________ (example: 125)
Total number of sales: ___________ (example: 100)
Total dollar volume: ________ (example: $30,000)

Step 2. Divide your dollar volume by your number of sales to get your average income per sale: _____________ (example: $30,000 divided by 100 = $300)

Step 3. Divide your number of queries submitted by the number of go-aheads to get the average number of queries you need to submit in order to receive one go-ahead or look-see: ________ (example: 200 divided by 130 = 1.5)

Step 4. Divide your number of manuscripts submitted by number of sales to get the number of manuscript submissions you need to make one sale: ________(example: 125 divided by 100 = 1.25)

Step 5. Using these figures, you can now go back to your projected sales volume and determine how many query letters and how many completed manuscripts you will need to submit during the next year to meet your projections. (example: To earn $40,000, we would need to make 133 sales, which would mean submitting 266 queries and 166 manuscripts.)

Step 6.Dividing these numbers by 12 and by 50 (to allow for a two-week vacation), you can now set a production schedule for the upcoming year:
Submit _22_ query letters/pitches each month; or _5.33_ query letters/pitches each week.
Submit _14_ manuscripts each month; or _3.33_ manuscripts each week.

If your calculations say the number of queries or manuscripts or words or pages or whatever that you need to complete during a month or week is way too high to be feasible – no way can you do that every month, or week after week – then you need to do one or both of the following –

a. Rethink your goals. Bring your target numbers down until you find a goal that is reachable for you. You can always step up your goals later in the year if you find you are doing more than you had thought you would.

b. Determine what you need to work on to improve your averages. For example, if you have to send tons of queries to get even one go-ahead, then you can work on your market study, better targeting your queries, or writing better queries. Or, if you’re getting interest from editors, but then getting too many manuscripts rejected, you need to work on your writing skills.

What’s on your goals list for this coming year? Please “speak your mind” below.

(And if you’re not signed on to receive our editorial business-building tips eZine, do sign up — top of page on the right.)