I've thought about this question often in trying to build up my own freelance writing biz... my answer then was an attempt to define the idea of "success" From a personal point of view, I'm thinking I'm successful when all's right in my world in regards to family, health, enough monies to keep food on the table/clothes, although a bit worn, on my back and a slightly leaky roof over my head!

In my endeavor to get my career to a place where folks might want to hear/read/pay for what I have to offer as a writer, becomes an uphill climb...but, I'm still feeling a sense of accomplishment in areas of establishing community with other like-minded people...getting work out to publishers/editors...getting the occasional gig:)

Am I successful? I would have to say, yes! I'm not exactly where I want to be in my writing career right about now, but, there's no denying "I'm not where I used to be" I can live with that as I continue on this wondrous writing journey...

How about you... how do you define success?

A crew of BBC Television shoots a report about “Hoi An ancient night”.

The monthly festive night in Hoi An’s ancient streets has become a familiar and popular event among local and foreign tourists. It is regarded as a special occasion in Hoi An ancient town.

Known by foreign tourists as Lantern Night, on the 14th of every lunar month the town turns off its street lamps and fluorescent lights, leaving the Old Quarter bathed in the warm glow of colored silk, glass and paper lanterns.

On these nights all comers, wharfs and streets are full of bustling visitors enjoying the sparkling colorful light rays and animated atmosphere.

To locals, the festive night is called “ancient town night”. It is a unique cultural feature of the old town. First held ten years ago, Hoi An Town has enjoyed 120 regular festive night and 20 unscheduled nights that have attracted over 500,000 tourists, about 3000 tourists a night.

Hoi An welcomed 1,560 guests on normal days and 2,700 guests on festive days last year. This success has promoted the city’s prestige and the tourism industry for the central province of Quang Nam, as well as supporting the preservation of tangible and intangible relics of the town.

Recently local authorities and residents have made a great effort to upgrade landscapes and preserve cultural heritages. Hoi An’s “ancient town night” has become more attractive and impressive, drawing international recognition. The event won the “Guide Awards” prize from Thoi bao Kinh te Viet Nam business newspaper in 2004.

(Source: SGT)

There comes a time in the course of every nation that the citizens must step forward and change the country for the better.

Take Back Pakistan was birthed from a series of posts from the blog taking a deep and harsh look at the State of Pakistan society today. The series is “I Don’t Wear Glassess… Rose Colored or Otherwise,” for those who might be interested. Each of the items that have been discussed in the posts will become action items for Take Back Pakistan, with a clear analysis of the problem, economic and social effects.
Most importantly, it is about simple steps that you can do BY YOURSELF to change your mindset, start to change a nation. Take Back Pakistan is not about protests, rallies, or membership fees.

It’s about us, the citizens of Pakistan, and how we can affect change in our home country by doing something, rather than waiting for the government to do it for us.

In this respect, Take Back Pakistan is looking for writers, editors, and contributors to write about the social ills, economic problems and administrative nightmares that we Pakistanis face everyday with viable single person solutions to each problem. It should be clear that this is not a “rant-and-rave” website to complain about the government, political parties and other things that have caused the problems that we face.

This is about taking the conversation out of the drawing room and doing something about it, without protests, rallies and public speeches.

We will be including sections for Pakistani Heroes, from all walks of life, so that we have people to be proud of and role models for our kids that show us what being a proud Pakistani means. Again, I can’t stress this enough.. the direction of this mobilization and initiative is with you.

We can’t make anyone do anything… only you can decide to take part and make change.

We look forward to seeing all of you on the Take Back Pakistan frontline!

If you are interested in taking part, please fill out the form http://www.takebackpakistan.com/sign-up/

What better way to stir up some controversy than to dispute a developer's main tool. If your text editor is not your main tool as a developer, your toolbox is sorely missing out on something. Sure, you can write code in notepad that will work, but why hamstring yourself that way?

Just to disclose what will in moments become obvious, I use Vi. Well, I actually use Vim, which is a very feature-rich version of Vi.  So, Emacs sorts prepare yourself.

It began years ago, when as a high school student I received a free dial-up account on an old sun server. You should know that I was dialing into it with an old Commodore 64 with a 1200 baud modem. Those were the days. I learned a little about unix, and was amazed. Being someone that programmed in the old PET BASIC on the C64 I wanted to write something on the Sun. I needed a good text editor. At the time there were really only two main choices, Vi or Emacs.

I decided to give them both a fair shake. I learned Vi for a little while, got past the bizarre notion of modes, and finally could edit something competently. Next it was time to try out Emacs, which had the reputation of having everything including the kitchen sink. Started it up, editted a bit, and decided to save... and it hung. I finally figured out that the ctrl-s used in the save was causing the modem connection to freeze, until I issued a ctrl-q. But that still ate the ctrl-s. I looked a bit for a solution, didn't find it, and decided Vi would do just fine.

Fast forward about 16 or so years.. A few months ago, I decided to play with Emacs, always being curious.  I fired it up from a remote Linux machine, and started through the tutorial, until I reached a spot where it required you press the meta key. Huh? Alt wouldn't make it through and the Esc-Esc suggestion felt clunky. I googled a bit to figure out how to get around it, and found suggestions in the Emacs documentation for changing the X windows keymapping. For a text editor I found this ridiculous. I have been using Vim for a decade now, and have never had a problem, whether through a terminal, VNC session, or through a forwarded x window. I guess it is Vim for me. I don't want to have to reconfigure my entire system to make a text editor happy. To be fair, there may be a simple solution, which I would love to hear. I gave up because I am quite happy with Vim, and was simply having fun. When it stopped looking fun, I stopped trying to work it out.

On a side note, some of the windows editors, like Notepad++ look interesting. The problem is I do enough cross-platform work that I have to have something that works in both Windows and Linux. For those of you who stay on the MS side of things I would recommend Vim or a look at Notepad++.

I covered Greenpeace stopping by Manatee Academy in Port St. Lucie as part of their Global Warming Story Tour on Wednesday with an afternoon deadline. I finished the article two hours early and even wrote another story.

When my article ran on the front of Thursday's local section, I noticed it was almost identical to what I wrote with the exception of a few lines - the beginning. The lede is the part I usually spend the most time putting together. I get stuck on the whole story if I can't think of a lede right away.

Read the article here on TCPalm.com: "Greenpeace exhibit focuses on environment."

Here's what I wrote:

PORT ST. LUCIE -- Greenpeace is traveling to educate Americans - including local K-8 students - about environmental issues.

The global campaigning organization visited Manatee Academy on Wednesday, the day after a similar stop at the Florida Atlantic University campus in Jupiter, as part of Greenpeace's Global Warming Story Tour. Principal Mimi Hoffman directed classes of students...

• Ignoring format, style (e.g., American Psychological Association), and construction guidelines (e.g., omitting required abstracts).
• Ignoring submission routes (hard copy or on line), length restrictions, submission deadlines, and required materials (e.g., authorship statements).
• Ignoring the journal's audience and goals, such as practitioner journals being more interested in clinical manuscripts than articles on administration. (Froman 2008, 399)

Simple advice? Scholars and researchers should find a journal's submission guidelines (almost invariably available on the journal's Web site) and follow those guidelines before submitting their work. The issue of Research in Nursing & Health and Robin's article are available on line to subscribers; DOI: 10.1002/nur.20296

Hemingwaywantabes, here's a tip for you from How To Become a Published Author: Idea to Publication mentioned above. When you start the process of seeking an agent, keep an "Agent Submission Record." Here's one to guide your efforts:

Agent/Publisher Submission Record

Document: Book Proposal—Las Vegas, A Novel

(Tip—Prepare one sheet for each submission. Print and collect in loose-leave notebook marked “Submissions.”)

Submission Date - June 12, __

Agent/Publisher Information - Rosalie Thompkins Agency

56 West 57^th Street

New York, NY 20002

212-789-7890

RThompkinsAgency@aol.com

Contact at Agent/Publisher - Jeanette Furber, Agent

Four – Six Week Reaction - No response, telephoned agency. Spoke with Furber’s assistant. Proposal in stack to be read. Estimated time—two weeks.

Follow-up - 6/17—Furber’s assistant telephoned. Requested full manuscript. Forwarded by Fed Ex.

Revisions, if an ___________________________

___________________________

Decision - Hooray! Jeanette has agreed to represent book. Suggested revisions being forwarded.

Outcome - Revisions completed. Submitted to Jeanette. She submitted it to four publishers. Riverhead books’ offer accepted. Hooray again!

(Tip—First submit material to four or five literary agents. Follow-up, keep four to five in play at a time. If no positive response, then repeat process to selected editors at publishing companies. Continue process until successful, but keep good records for future use.)

Being organized and keep track of submissions will come in handy while searching for a literary agent. And remember - it only takes one liteary agent to say "yes."

Eight or nine years ago, we decided to write a novel.

It was actually our second attempt; the first one  -- a satirical look at internet start-up culture in the late 90s -- we had retired to the desk drawer after sending it around without much luck.

This new one was more ambitious: it was rooted in Wagnerian opera, Lou Reedian post-punk, the philosophy of Schopenhauer, Jungian psychology, the life and death of cities, French aestheticism, the magic of memory, gay identity and -- most importantly? -- cats. It srsly took forever to write!

And when it was done, it was literally 1000 pages long.

We sent out some queries and a few people expressed interest. But everyone was like: "Hey, what century do you think you're living in? Good luck selling a 1000-page novel about opera and philosophy and French aestheticism!"

Whatevs. We started this blog and tried not to think about it too much until someone kindly suggested we send a blind query to a "big-concept" agent, which we did.

And he wrote back! And not only that, he helped us streamline the story, so that it actually held together (or so we hope) instead of drifting off into so many theoretical tangentzzzzzz.

These revisions took the better part of a year, but the resulting novel was at least 1,000,000 (one million) times better than the original version.

And then -- just like that -- he sold it!

Given the choice between a few smaller "literary" houses and a gigantic, multinational conglomerate, we went for the latter. Ha -- we sold out!

But not really, because the editor really loves the book, and so does the publisher. Here's how cool our editor is: she just bought a memoir by Belinda Carlisle (yes, of the Go-Gos!) and she also acquired the NA rights for Girl in a Blue Dress by Gaynor Arnold, which was nominated for the 2008 Man Booker Prize. (So take that, literary cred!)

Of course there will be more revisions and editing, but we're looking forward to it. We'll obvs keep you posted as things progress.

But right now it feels like more of a dream. We ask how this could be happening, when the odds were so long.

There's also an irrational fear that it will all fall apart.

But for now, it's on.

We read about it this morning in Publisher's Marketplace, as if we were reading about someone else.

Oxford University Press editor Matthew Gallaway's THE METROPOLIS CASE, the sweeping tale of an unlikely quartet, bound together by the strange, spectacular history of Richard Wagner's masterpiece opera, Tristan and Isolde, to Suzanne O'Neill at Crown, by Bill Clegg at William Morris Agency (NA).

I hope you take the time to read it.

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2008/10/13/081013taco_talk_editors

Come si sono formati gli Editors?
Ci siamo formati circa sei anni fa all'università, dove ci siamo conosciuti. Eravamo amici, avevamo gli stessi gusti musicali e dunque ci sembrava logico formare una band.

Come avete attirato l'attenzione dell'etichetta Kitchenware Records?
Quelli della Kitchenware Records sono venuti a un nostro concerto dopo aver ascoltato un demo e ci hanno fatto capire di essere interessati a lavorare con noi. Era l'etichetta che ha mostrato più interesse a collaborare con la band e quindi ci sembrava sensato accettare.

Come mai avete cambiato il vostro nome, che originariamente era Snowfield?
Non eravamo soddisfatti di Snowfield perché non dipingeva esattamente l'immaginario della band. Editors suonava bene sulla carta e ci piaceva di più di Snowfield. E così per noi aveva più senso fare questo cambiamento.

Siete d'accordo con l'etichetta di band "neo post-punk"?
Non lo so proprio. Noi non pensiamo mai in termini di categorie e di generi. Ma direi di sì: l'etichetta di "neo post-punk" ci potrebbe stare.

A quali band vi ispirate?
A gruppi come gli Elbow, gli Spiritualized e i Radiohead. Si tratta di band che tutti noi della band amiamo. Hanno tutti un suono abbastanza serioso. Anche i R.E.M. rientrano in questa lista. Questi sono i gruppi che ci hanno influenzato. Hanno tutti, infatti, un suono un po' più dark degli altri gruppi pop.

La gente vi ha spesso paragonato a band come Joy Division, Killers o Interpol. La vostra replica?
Sì, la gente può paragonarci a queste band, se proprio vogliono. Io però penso che noi abbiamo uno stile che ci caratterizza. Ogni volta che nasce un gruppo nuovo tutti cercano di paragonarlo subito a qualcun altro, è un imperativo per queste persone. Per noi questo non rappresenta un problema. Ci avevano avvertito sin dall'inizio che sarebbe successo. Credo che oramai possiamo dire in tutto e per tutto di essere gli Editors. La gente sa che siamo noi al primo suono della chitarra.

Con An End Has A Start è cambiato il processo di elaborazione e composizione delle canzoni?
Sì, è parzialmente cambiato. Questo disco l'abbiamo concepito in studio di registrazione. Un esperimento per noi mai fatto prima. L'abbiamo registrato in studio invece di provarlo e testarlo prima dal vivo. E' stato semplicemente un modo diverso di creare un album.

Qual è il vostro personale rapporto con il web?
E' uno strumento. Bisogna utilizzarlo perché la gente può ascoltare la tua musica all'impronta, sul momento. Oggi come oggi basta andare su MySpace. Ovunque tu sia, puoi ascoltare le nostre canzoni. E' sufficiente cliccare sul tasto "play". Si tratta di uno strumento che puoi utilizzare a tuo vantaggio.

E' cambiata la vostra performance live dal primo disco?
Credo proprio che le nostre performance dal vivo siano migliorate. Sembra infatti che la gente tenda a ritornare a vedere i nostri concerti. Tutto questo è veramente fantastico. Il nostro pubblico pare non annoiarsi. Non vediamo l'ora di suonare i brani del nostro nuovo disco di fronte alla gente.

Lassen wir uns mal überraschen!

Durchde

Loudon Wainwright, Lullaby

(Click to play)

Dixie Chicks, Lullaby

(Click to play)

Queens of the Stone Age, This Lullaby

(Click to play)

The Editors covering The Cure in Lullaby

(Click to play)

(I think it's obvious how much I like this last song :) )

See you next week.

More on this later.

If you're a freelance writer, or if you're working on a novel or article, keeping in touch with your editor will not only make your work more pleasant to complete, but will keep your reputation healthy.  If you need more time to complete your writing work, the first thing you should do is contact your editor.  Just recently I was working on some freelance work.  Usually, reference links are provided but for this particular gig, I had to come up with all of my own links.  I thought that would take maybe an hour and a half.

Five hours later, I had my links, and no writing...and the three thousand or so word project was due in about two hours.  A simple email to my editor, or boss, or whatever term you want to use, and I earned the remainder of the night to complete the work, which made the difference between rushed, adequate writing and deliberate and strong writing.  Communication leads to the realization of reliability, and by staying in contact with your editors, you will earn their respect.  Of course, this doesn't mean to barrage them with emails and phone calls for unnecessary chit chat...because that might annoy, and have the opposite effect.  Use your best judgement and remember that it's better to ask when you have a question than to stare at a blank screen and miss a deadline.

Additionally we want to hear from you.

What do you think about DMOZ? Why do you use the directory or data? Is there something you would like to see fixed? When you've been around as long as we have, some people are bound to have great things to say, while others might have a few choice words based on their personal experience. Either way, we want to hear it :)

We plan on posting every week so grab the RSS feed or sign up for an e-mail alert to receive notification of new entries as they are posted.

Ask AOL: Editors' Questions about DMOZ Answered

That said though, its promising to be away so long and upon checking in see that something has been posted. The message, from a new staff member is a welcomed one. Editors have long been held in the dark, asking questions trying to find answers to no avail. Its wonderful that mom and dad are interested in hearing what the kids think. I sincerely hope they take this seriously and help answer the many questions editors have had for years about the future and stewardship of the project. That will be a great help in righting the ship.

On a personal and more satirical note, I wonder if they will address the "hostile" takeover of the project by Rob Jones? I still think that was a political stunt, aimed to draw attention to a run on the White House. But hey, he promised me a position as Defense Secretary so I am all for it.

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The following message has not been approved by anyone:

Rob Jones 2008

• He's from Texas
• He can't be any worse than what we have had.
• He has got to be better than our other options.

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Lets be honest, the S-R isn't alone here. And my comments are not directed at the S-R in particular. This is a national newspaper issue. My generation - loosely defined as growing up with the Internet (remember dial-up aol) -  just doesn't have the time or interest to read a physical paper every day. Sure, they might log on to the newspaper website, but they then jump to CNN or Wordpress or KXLY.com and get their news customized to their specific needs. It's faster and certainly more efficient. I get the Weekend Plus service from the Spokesman. That's a paper Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. Guess what, every Saturday, when I actually have time to read the paper I walk to the tube on the street and get both Wednesday and Saturday's paper. I'm too preoccupied to get it earlier.

I could hear footsteps when I worked at the Spokesman. It was shaky even in 98-03. Veteran reporters and editors (a crabby bunch to begin with - and they know it) - were worried about their jobs and the task of delivering the news. Adapt for God's sake. Regular businesses and employees have to - find a new way to share your talents. Reporters are talented and can find other ways to support themselves - trust me - it sucks finding a new job. But I speak from experience, getting laid off from a job can be a good thing (you just don't see it right away). Get out while you can - I did. When a blogger working for free can reach just as many people as you in seconds - you should be worried about job security.

How do you save the newspaper business? Well, news flash, you're not the only show in town and your paper's status and history doesn't entitle you to an audience. The newspaper should be encouraging ways to make audiences stick around - want to read your stuff. OK - the S-R is launching a new web site, started radio broadcasts and certainly other things that we don't see everyday. Those are good business steps, but does any of that make the stories any more interesting? Nope - it's just a way to do more with less. That's mediocrity while keeping up with the competition.

So I'm sorry to hear that the paper is laying off employees - those are real people, doing a good job with what they are given. But is it the end of the road for them? No, it might be the second or third or fourth wake-up call that it's time for a change. Is it the end of the road for newspapers, it probably already is and that trend will not reverse, but that doesn't meant they should stop publishing all together. Just make me want to read it - in whatever way you deliver it - that's what it comes down to. Be interesting. Reach my generation, because the one you're reaching now won't be around for much longer.

No matter, hemingwaywantabes, the digital age is here, like it or not, and since I am one who believes in trying new things, the book "How To Become a Published Author: Idea to Publication" is now available digitally at www.smashwords.com. The cost - a miserly five bucks. When paid, you may download the entire book to read, or use as a pillow for your black Labrador.

The smashwords site is easy to use, and the deal a fair one (no subsidy publisher here), but a word of caution. E-book rights may be valuable and you don't want to assign them before you have a contract to publish your book in the traditional manner. When a publisher agrees to publish your book, it will want all the rights and you may run into trouble if you have assigned the e-book rights away.

Regardless, take a look at the smashwords site. And if have a book you think might be right for them, give it a shot.