My first win

So, I entered a short-short 250 word max erotica contest on my favourite writer's blog of all time, Alison Tyler. Did I mention I won? Yeah, it shocked me too. I've only just started into the foray of erotica writing. This was a quick free write that took me maybe five minutes. To say winning was a shock, is an understatement. Now I get a neat button and a super cool ego boost to boot. Go me!

On another note, I spent a huge amount of money on myself today. I joined a romance writing class at Gotham Writer's Workshop in NYC. I've been looking at their offerings with lust for years now and as I've just graduated, I felt compelled to give myself a little treat. Something to not only perk up my career but also a little writer's pick-me-up. Everything I write leans towards romance so now it's time I see how the professionals do it. Then print out some notes from my workshop and enter the wide and wonderful world of e-book publishing.

On another note, I also became a proud intern at a start-up erotica press, Paper Bag Press. They print excellent erotic literature by new and experienced writers. Grab a look see if you have time.

Other updates are on the way. New LKH book comes out on Tuesday, oh my little heart is all a flutter. I'm making my husband take me to the bookstore when he gets home from work, since I cannot drive. Yes, I know I'm 23, a little young to have a husband. We are newlyweds, give me a break. Hehe. Lord, I've got a lot to talk about this week from a super long line of submissions I got submitted to some wonderful stories that are coming out of nowhere. No progress on the novel though. Sad face.

I've been super busy

Lately I've been reaching out my little freelance writing tentacles like crazy in order to secure some kind of stable writing. Though there is a lot to be had in writing if you know where to look it's very disheartening that most of these jobs won't respond to you if they have already found a client other than you that they wish to work. This means I spend the majority of my days checking my email after writing at least 15 job submissions with re-worked resume a day. That's a lot of work for nothing. The constant spamming I suppose you could call it gets my name out there and increases networking but with the amount of people who've taken on freelance writing I don't suppose they read every entry someone receives for an online writing job. I can only hope my entries are not being pushed into some gigantic pile only be rejected because they found someone else quicker and cheaper.

Some of my favourite sites seem to be having this problem of underpaying for a unsavory product. These days most workers want SEO articles, which is fine, I can do that. However, I won't work for lower than five dollars per 500 words and most ESL workers from other countries will write things that are not top notch for lower prices. This means most of my work is taken by someone who bids a lower price simply because employers are cheap. It's disheartening to my profession that low quality is valued over a little more expense. Though it's understandable to a certain degree with the economy that does not make it professional, expecially when most companies wind up turning out another project for rewrites of that same bunch of work later when they realize they are no longer satisfied with the quality. Why not do it right the first time and not bite the bullet twice? Just thinking.