Life of A Writer

Last week I asked for your vote to help me advance to the Top 12 in the FWJ Idol Contest. Today I would like to thank all of you who voted for me, because your votes helped me advance to round two. Your support to get me that far was greatly appreciated! However, since the contest is for a writing job, the remaining rounds will be done anonymously. What this means is we (the candidates) can not reveal our identities to you or we'll be disqualified. Instead, we've been given numbers so that our names aren't revealed. The reason Deb and Jodee have decided to keep things anonymous is because they don't want it to end up being a popularity contest, which I completely understand, agree with and will respect. They're looking to hire a writer for the FWJ blog, and in order to do that, they want a writer who can teach and entertain through his or her writing, as well as communicate with FWJ's readers.

On Monday we were given our first assignment, which was to write a top 10 list, and we had until Friday (today) to turn our assignments in. After we submitted our top 10 lists to Deb and Jodee, they were placed on the FWJ blog, with our candidate number as our byline.

Another round of voting is taking place as I'm writing this, and the voting ends on Sunday. I hope you head over to FWJ to vote for the writer you believe can entertain and teach through his or her writing, as well as communicate with the readers in the comments area. To keep with the rules, I can't -- and I won't -- reveal which article is mine, nor can I reveal my candidate number to you, because that would be breaking the rules. However, I can ask you to view all of the articles that were submitted over the week, and then place your vote for the articles you thought were great and deserve to move on to round three. Even though my article is among the 13, I can honestly say each and every article offered something of value. I tell ya, I'm up against some tough competition, but that's what makes it fun and even more exciting.

If you're up for some weekend reading to help improve your freelance writing career and skills, then check out all the articles by clicking on their titles below (each will open in a new window/tab). While you're reading through them, make a list of the ones you like. Then after you've finished reading them, head to FWJ Idol Round Two Voting is Now Open to place your vote for each of your favorite articles -- the ones you added to your list. I just hope and pray my submission is good enough to make your list of favorites to vote on. And remember, I can't tell you which one is mine, so, please respect the rules Deb and Jodee have set and not ask me which article is mine. You can, however, return here and leave a comment letting us all know which article or articles you voted for, but I still won't be able to tell you if mine was one you voted for. I imagine the names associated with the candidate numbers will be revealed once the contest ends and a winner has been selected.

The articles are as follows:

10 Unique Places to Market Your Book, by Candidate #1
Top Ten Money Saving Ideas for Freelance Writers, by Candidate #2
How to Lose a Gig in 10 Ways, by Candidate #3
Top 10 Phrases No Freelancer Wants to Hear (and How to Fix Them), by Candidate #4
Ten Great Resources for Writers, by Candidate #5
Freelance 411: 10 Things I Wish They'd Taught Me in Freelancing School, by Candidate #6
Top 10 Ways to Write Without Pay and Still Respect Yourself in the Morning, by Candidate #7
Ten Ways to Get a Paid Blogging Gig, by Candidate #8
Top Ten Ways to Stay Out of the Slush Pile, by Candidate #9
Top Ten Mind Tricks to Boost Your Career, by Candidate #10
Ten Ways to Get Organized so You Can Get Writing, by Candidate #11
10 Sensible Defenses of Telecommuting, by Candidate #12
Top Ten Things to Do While Waiting for That PERFECT Writing Gig, by Candidate #13

Happy reading and learning! Don't forget to vote for your favorites.

Posted by Misti Sandefur, Christian author/freelance writer at 9:31 PM