Guest Post: Shut Up And Do It!

This is the guest post at ShaunKilgore.com. It was provided to me by my friend Brent Pasley who is helping with my start up publishing company. He always has something interesting to say so I thought I would give him a chance to voice his ideas.

I have spent hundreds if not thousands of hours talking about and envisioning scenarios that would be great. Things that I would like to do. In the hours that I spent talking about what it was that I would like to do I could have achieved my dreams a thousand times over.

Evaluating Your Writing Goals

Lately, I have been in the process of evaluating my personal writing goals. This has been an ongoing thing, perhaps, the last month or so. These internal deliberations have been made much harder because I've been involved in the launch of a publishing company. This fact itself is a major factor that may determine what I plan to do in the long-run. I have been over this territory enough to know that freelance writing is still something I have an interest in but it is certainly not first place. There is a tug-of-war between publishing and freelancing. The pertinent question is this: Why am I telling you all of this?

Founders House Publishing Gets Local Publicity

Well, today, I was awakened by a phone call telling me I was in the newspaper. It wasn't entirely unexpected since I have been waiting for an article to appear that offers some details regarding my father's book, Echoes From The Past, the book that started my publishing company. Read the article.

Now, that Founders House Publishing, is getting some press, we may start receiving some attention. Only time will tell how much, but there is definitely some excitement in the air today. (My wife, in particular, sounded excited. Her co-workers are treating her like the local celebrity. It's funny.)

With press and publicity comes a new step in this whole new business process. We are gearing up for it, but there are always reasons for some nervousness. Founders House is a dream for me since I've has always been interested in publication. Now, I have the opportunity to do it my way. I get to see if I can create a new vision of book publishing that both pays homage to what has gone before, but hopefully, forges a new creative path in the industry. Is this ambitious? Yes, it is. But, I'm ready to give it my best shot.

If you have any questions, please send them to me. I'm anxious to hear your input.

Freelance Rewind: Five Tips To Get Your Writing Career Off The Ground

Occasionally, I plan to do these types of posts that may make the more experienced freelance writers who read this a bit annoyed since the tips and ideas I present may be rather "basic." That's fine. I can understand that. But, have you considered the potential benefits that come with reacquainting yourself with some fundamentals of the freelance writing game? You might be surprised how many of them you have taken for granted - or forgotten entirely.

When you've made the transition from a regular 9 to 5 job to freelancing from home, you will obviously need to make some adjustments in order to get your new writing career off the ground.  Many of these have to do with setting boundaries and staying motivated. I've written about these issues in past posts, but it doesn't hurt to offer them up again. I hope to do this from a slightly different angle. There are reasons to revisit the first steps too - to take advantage of a freelance rewind in order get back on the right track.

An Interview With Freelance Writer And Author Thomas Hollowell

Hello, today's post is a special one. I had the privilege of interviewing my good friend and fellow writer, Thomas Hollowell. You may remember me mentioning him in past posts as one of the main reasons that I am a freelance writer today. He helped me get my start. Thomas is the author of the Amazon Morocco bestseller, Allah's Garden. He has graciously accepted my invitation for this interview.

Shaun: Thomas, first I want to thank you for doing this interview. It is my first here at ShaunKilgore.com.

Thomas: I am glad to be here. And, I checked out your Website. You are offering some very nice content for freelance writers.

Shaun: Let's begin with this question: How did you get started in freelance writing?

Thomas: I got started back in 2004 with freelance writing. I started working on Allah's Garden before that, but I did not get into magazine writing until then. I actually began with Internet freelance writing.

Drowning In Writers' Resources - What To Do With All That Content

Earlier, I was thinking about what I wanted to write about for this post. Sometimes, I surf the web for a bit, checking out different sites that focus on the topic of freelance writing. I may also look at some I have bookmarked. Either way, I sometimes get stumped. You know, the sheer number of websites dedicated to this topic is staggering to consider. Hundreds - maybe thousands - of websites are catering to writers at every stage of their careers.

There is just so much out there! If I look long enough, I feel like I'm drowning in writers' resources. It should be a comfort to know that so many freelance writers want to help fellow writers by providing plenty of valuable content and tools for securing new writing gigs. Yet, sometimes, it just isn't so great. Too much information. There are too many well-meaning writers out there trying to say the same things. Heck, even I can fall into that trap sometimes. The content is valuable either way if it provides a genuine solution(s) to a writer's problems - no matter how many times you stumble up on it while using the search engine.

Five Ways To Build Up Some Writer's Confidence

Alright folks, I'm back. I was away longer than I intended. The article didn't make it in on Monday. That's fine. Let's move on, shall we. This article is another piece of strong medicine for new writers and struggling veterans alike. All writers have confidence issues from time to time. (I certainly do.) This is all normal - except when it disrupts the writing that we all need to do. What can you and I do to build up our writer's confidence.

Thankfully, there are some simple tips to help build up your writer's confidence that you can use as often as you need to. In fact, it works better if you commit to these strategies for the long term. Confidence waxes and wanes in a cyclical pattern. The more equipped we are to deal with these bouts when they come, the less likely we'll get bogged down for too long. Let's take a look.

Publishing: The Excitement Of A New Business

I decided to write a post today since I'm excited about the prospects of my new business. Since establishing Founders House Publishing, I've been working on lots of behind-the-scenes tasks that have finally led to the release of our first book. With its release to the public, we can begin the task of promotion and sales. There is definitely an edge of excitement floating around the household. I've been discussing marketing strategies and new angles for getting the word out about this book. We've had a few sales already directly from our website. More books will be sold by my father (the author) in the coming weeks.

My Blog Traffic Mistake

You see, I'm new at this. It's true that I've been writing fairly consistent posts on this blog lately, but I haven't really expanded on the goals I have for this blog. I know that I want this blog to serve at least three functions:

1.) Showcase for my writing abilities and a place to get samples or contact me for writing gigs

2.) It serves as a go-between for my publishing company, Founders House Publishing

3.) It is an outlet for my thoughts and ideas as a creative person.

Yet, none of these focuses on the unstated fourth reason: This is supposed to be a resource for freelance writing and publishing that makes a profit in its own right.

Are You Afraid Of Being A Successful Freelance Writer?

Maybe the title of this post has you scratching your heads. Who is afraid of success, after all? It may be surprising to consider that many people actually fear they will succeed at what they are doing. Freelance writing is no different. How do I know this? I know it because I've experienced it many times. I still do have a hard time accepting my accomplishments and reaping the rewards.

As much as  hate to admit it, I feel afraid of success. The reasons for this may vary from day to day. Yet, I still have the same overall feeling about success as a writer. I've thought about this long and hard over the last four years. I'm aware it has something to do about how I rate myself as a person and how I evaluate my own skills as a writer. I readily admit that. So why am I afraid of success?  What are some reasons for this attitude?  Better yet, what are ways that I can overcome these feelings and embrace success?

Deadlines: A Blessing or A Curse?

This sounded like the perfect topic to cover since I missed my usual deadline for posting on this blog. That's the way it is with deadlines though. If you can make your deadlines you're doing great but if you start missing deadlines, you quickly lose a sense of credibility - at least in your own mind.

Deadlines are a fundamental part of the freelance writer's life. I'm sure many of you already know that since you've been "living under the gun" for a while now. Once one project is completed you move on to the next one with its own stated deadline acting as the end of the race, the finish line you must cross in order to win.

At The End Of The Day

This post comes in late on this Friday evening.  In fact, it's almost midnight.  The plans I had for today had to change.  Most of us know how life is usually that way.  You have to be able to go with the flow of it sometimes.

As you may have read, today was a good day because it was the official release date for Echoes From The Past, my very first work as a publisher.  In Wednesday's post, I gave all of you a brief summary of the memoir. In the coming weeks, we will begin to explore our own little corner of the publishing world. My publishing company, Founders House, will start to get some local press.  Those of you who are reading are encouraged to spread the word.  This coming Tuesday, my father, the author, will be interviewed by the local newspaper.  (I'll get to tag along and maybe say a few words about the business.)

Official Book Release: Echoes From The Past - February 5, 2010

There is a certain amount of excitement in the air we approach the official release of our first book as small press publishers.  Only just a few short months ago, Founders House Publishing was a pipe dream.  I will have to think my wife in part for moving us forward and making Founders House a reality.  I wanted to get this post in here before Friday, so I could let everyone know about Echoes From The Past: A Memoir Of Family Heritage.

Here's a description of the book:

"Echoes From The Past is a memoir of family history written by John L. Kilgore Sr. and his wife Mary Jane. It follows his adventures in genealogy and the unexpected pleasures that came with reconnected in with family long separated by both miles and years.

John discovered not only his family roots in Virginia, but learned that he shared common kinship with country music legends the Carter Family. He met June Carter Cash, wife of country star Johnny Cash.

Later, John made another country music connection with Merle Kilgore, singer/songwriter and manager of Hank Williams Jr. Yet, such famous meetings would not have been possible without the relationships he forged with the many cousins living in the mountains of Virginia and Tennessee and around the country.

This story is as much theirs as it is the John's. We hope you will make it your story."

You can purchase it by clicking on the button on my blog or you can go directly to www.founders-house.com. 

News: Had A Blog Post Reprinted On Another Website

    While it may not be huge news for some, it is for me. Just now I received the news that a post of mine has been reprinted by the website Publetariat. (I was contacted by the Editor in Chief of Publetariat about having a recent post about procrastination republished with links back to this blog.)
    First, you can read my blog post here:
http://www.publetariat.com/write/when-procrastination-wins-what-do-you-do-return-productivity

Guest Blog Posts: What I Didn't Know About My Freelance Projects

With this post, I wanted to highlight something that I recently discovered about a series of projects I was assigned by one of my top suppliers for ghostwriting.

As long ago as November, I had been getting guest blogging post.  I had assumed that this was a standard issue ghostwriting gig.  I did the work and moved on to the next project.  Recently, I did something I do from time to time: I googled my name.

While searching through the results I came across something that made me pause.  I saw a website that had my name and one of the titles for one of those guest posts a I did months ago.  With little more searching, I found that there were other guest posts of mine out there with my name attached.  They were all my work, though some were not formatted quite the same.  Here were several opportunities to provide clients with several published examples of my writing on other topics and I didn't even know about it.