No this ain't no April Fool's joke 'cos I simply would not fool around about something like this. I am happy to share that I am a finalist for the Atlanta Press Club 2013 Excellence Award in the print non-daily category. Was on vacation for a few weeks and completely did not expect it when I received the email congratulating me for being shortlisted as a finalist. It feels great to be in the good company of other members from the Atlanta press community. The APC is hosting a reception soon to announce the winners, so wish me luck and I will keep you posted on the results. Meanwhile, here is the link to the article that got me nominated for the award.

I am a Copy Editor. I like to do it. And I am good at it. Ask anyone I have worked with. I wouldn't be doing it if I did not enjoy it or was no good at it, would I? But this article says it better than ever - the need for copy editors, and much as we are an invisible species, we are much needed. Read it, and share your thoughts on this post if you will. Cheers!

The last I remember this was a fairly easy process. You set up an account on Yahoo to contribute to their growing number of articles. You can choose to write your own topics and have the editors review for publication. Or you can check on the assignment desk and see what types of articles they are looking for, and submit content in keeping with their requirements. Most times this is something very easy and requires just your personal experience or some very basic searching online. The articles almost always get published right away unless you did something terribly wrong and did not follow all instructions. Sometimes they can even get rejected or sent back for corrections but most times they get approved right away. Some of them you get paid for on publication and some you get paid for based on views - either ways once the article is published, there is infinite opportunity for it to be viewed and read so it is always fun when out of the blue, you get a few dollars deposited in your account for performance pays for these articles you submitted long long ago. All you need is an active PayPal account and this could be an additional course of surprise income for you :) Read my latest here or see other articles I have written and sign up for your own account. 

I am unsure if I might have mentioned this before. But if I have not, then I am glad I finally did. Help a Reporter Out or HARO is a great resource for reporters, journalists, article writers, etc. You can submit a query to the site and it will head out in one of their newsletters during the day. Next thing you know, you have a few sources to get inputs to quote in your article. You can also get a basic free account to sign up to be a source. You will receive their newsletters with all the pitches made by reporters and you can respond. That way you can get your name out there as well. I have used HARO both ways. I have used it for getting sources for my articles. I recently did an article for Social Media Monthly where almost all sources were those who responded to my pitch on HARO. You can read that article here. I have also used HARO to be quoted as a source. Just this morning an article was published featuring my inputs. I had responded to the pitch on HARO and sent my responses to the writer. This had to do with my green business but you can read it here. So go ahead and use this to your advantage. They have some paid plans as well but the basic free plan has worked for me just fine.

I think I had mentioned in an earlier post I am chapter host for Ed2010 - a national-level organization that brings together magazines editors and editor wannabes to help achieve their dream magazine industry jobs. I organized the first speaker session for the city chapter on the 9th at the Hypepotamus, a co-working space in Atlanta. Our speaker was the lovely (pictured above with me) Sue G Collins, editor of Buckhaven Lifestyle magazine, who I have the pleasure of working with currently as the proofreader for that publication, and occasional article writer as well. Sue was excited to share about her experience as an editor, about the magazine she works with, and also gave some tips pitching and approaching editors for writing assignments. The event was attended by a good group of enthusiastic writers, freelancers and students representing quite a few Atlanta area publications. There were giveaways galore thanks to Sue, and I had a few Fair Trade Federation calendars from my other business to hand out as well. There were also healthy muffins to snack on courtesy Frannie's Gluten Free. Definitely saw a lot of networking happen and business cards being exchanged. I sent out a post-event survey to see what folks thought and what their feedback was so hoping to hear some constructive criticism that I can work with. The next event is scheduled for April 10th so if you are in the area and interested in the local magazine publishing scene, you should join in on the fun. More images here.

Beginning of the year beckons an update of all records, and that includes your resume. Even if you have an online version on LinkedIn, ensure you have a nicely formatted word document or pdf version of it as well that you can easily send as an attachment to prospects and clients. Once you have this in place, it can serve as a master document for updates you want to make elsewhere, such as a portfolio website like mine or other online resources where you have a resume requirement. 

These articles I wrote on achieving email efficiency are good resources as well:

Part 1 and Part 2

Hope it helps, do share your tips as well.

PS - If you need help with a resume review or formatting your resume, just email me and we can work on it together.

Not sure about you but I am a bit of a social media person and try to use social media as much as possible for my personal and professional pursuits. If you'd like to connect with me then check out the Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin icons at the top right corner of the page on the masthead. I am sure we can connect on one of those media.

Meanwhile, new entrant on the social media scene - Vizify! I just got my invitation and set up an account. Click on the image here and you should be able to see my page. Let me know your thoughts. 

I am also doing an article for an online mag about Vizify and how that affects the social media playing field, if it is useful or not and how you see it affecting social media overall, and at the user level. So if you have any inputs to share, just mail me on ruksanah@gmail.com and who knows, maybe I will use your quote and send some reader love your way :)

Funny how just when you think you have it all worked out, turns out that wasn't the case! Was thinking I would have all my projects done and dealt with by the weekend so I can get things going for Thanksgiving, when I have some dear friends visiting. But, as luck would have it, I now have an article to turn in, more proofreading to do, and a bunch of blog posts and reports to submit - all next week! Ah, the simple pleasures of working at home.