I hope our friends in Texas will check in below and let us know them and theirs are safe and dry!

A couple of announcements before I share the love:

• “We Get Letters” is coming back. If you have any questions regarding freelancing, writing, blogging or any other topic discussed here, feel free to send it to me at deborahng@gmail.com. Let me know the letter is ok to print and if I can use your name. I have some for this week - but there’s still time to get in. Put “We Get Letters” in the subject line.
• If all goes well FWJ Radio will launch this week - Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. Since this will be our first broadcast I didn’t want to bring on any special guests in case something goes wonky. We’ll be discussing our first freelance writing jobs - who we worked for, what they paid and what we have learned since then. The phone lines will be open if you’d like to call in or register to take part in the live chat. Stop by and chat with me, Jodee, Terreece…and a new FWJ blogger who will be starting in October. If you miss the live segment you can catch it on demand for download or stream later. Next week, we hope to have a very special guest on.
• I‘ll be speaking at BlogWorld Expo in Las Vegas next weekend. If you’re going, please stop by and say hello. I’ll also be hanging out at the BlogTalkRadio booth and look forward to meeting as many of my FWJ friends as possible.

So I’m catching up on my feeds and wanted to share some cool articles and blog posts. Here’s what I’m reading this weekend:

Fun Stuff:

• One Word - You have sixty seconds to write about one word.
• Mark Twain’s Rules of Writing
• Cliche Finder - Don’t have enough cliche’s in that essay you’re writing? This should help!
• Can you read this?

Writing

• I’m not a huge fan of article marketing, to be honest. I think it’s spammy and much of the articles sent to these article marketing sites aren’t very well written. I know plenty of my web writing friends disagree though.  Check out “Does Article Marketing Work? at Bob Bly
• How to Write an Article in 20 Minutes at CopyBlogger.
• What’s Your Copywriting Personality at Copywriters Crucible.
• What Do Clients Really Mean When They Say “Different” at Copywriting Maven.
• Word Games to Improve Your Writing at Daily Writing Tips.

Freelancing

• How to Find Joy in Your work at Freelance Folder
• How to Keep the Freelancing Spark without Burning Out at Freelance Switch
• Taking the Plunge: Becoming a Freelancer at Get Paid to Write Online
• 20 Ways to Disrespect Your Inbox at Confident Writing.
• Loss Aversion: Should You Charge an Hourly Rate or Flat Fee? at Successful Blog
• How to Be a Good Customer at Men with Pens

Blogging

• George Orwell’s diaries are being turned into a blog. Every day another page is released in blog form. Interesting, huh? At Bloggers Blog.
• I’m always talking about how blogs are like real estate. With that in mind, check out this post at Blogging Tips: It’s a Bad Time to Buy a Blog but a Great Time to Sell. Incidentally, I know of one blogger who sold her blog for $90,000. Something to think about as you build up your blogs.
• Twenty Basic Things All Business Bloggers Need at Buisness and Blogging.
• 16 Important but Potentially Distracting Blogging Tasks at ProBlogger

Getting By With a Little Help from My Friends

• Kristen King has an awesome giveaway for freelancers over at InkThinker.
• Michael Stelzner announced the finalists for his 3rd annual Top 10 Blogs for Writers at Writing White Papers.
• Poets, don’t miss John Hewitt’s poetry series at PoeWar.

I didn’t even get through half my feeds, to be honest. Enjoy the reading thus far! Hope you’re like me and have a full day planned doing the things you love with the people who mean the most.

Rock on,

Deb