But first, welcome to day two of “Why Should Freelance Writers Attend Writing Conferences?” Like I said yesterday, I’m a devoted advocate of industry related networking opportunities, and writing conferences offer not only networking opportunities, but learning opportunities, too. That’s a whole lot of opportunity right there.

When attending the Red Clay Writers Conference sponsored by the Georgia Writers Association and held in Kennesaw, GA last Saturday, I met a delightful author named J. Steve Miller who’s seminar was entitled “Sell More Books! (Cheap, Unobnoxious Tactics that Actually Work for Shy Authors and Non-Celebrities).”

Miller had quite a lot to say about strategies for book publicizing, and just like with Karen Denovich yesterday, I’m not going to give away all the maestro’s secrets here. I will talk about my favorite take away:

When publicizing your book the right way, you are NOT self-promoting. You are providing a service to people who need it.

Wow, so simple, yet us self-promotion shy folks would never have thought of it quite in that light. And we’re not just talking about books here. Like many of you, I used to (okay, sometimes still do) see a lot of public relations techniques as sheer self-promotion. But when I stop to think about it, the work I’m promoting is awesome, right? Shouldn’t I share that awesome with others who want to learn all about the awesome I have on offer? Now substitute words like specialization, expertise, information, your book, your article, your manuscript, etc. for “awesome” and you are in the mindset to promote yourself.

Shy promoters, put that in your pipe and smoke the next time you hesitate to send out that blog post, press release, or query. Of course, be sure you really are promoting your work to people who need to see it. Otherwise, yes, you’re obnoxious.

For more about J. Steve Miller, check out his freelance writing blog or head over to Amazon to browse “Enjoy Your Money! How to Make It, Save It, Invest It, and Give It,” the personal finance book he is currently “unobnoxiously” promoting. And, as always, come back tomorrow for more insider secrets I managed to glean at the Red Clay Writers Conference this weekend.

Let’s pretend I don’t attend graduate school at the university where the conference was held. I went because I wanted to meet other people in my field and network with them. I met two other freelance writers, a book publicist, a poet, an online connection I’d never met in person, and a potential client who ask about my ghostwriting services. Truthfully, meeting the potential client was an added bonus. I really got (relatively) dressed up and spent my lovely Saturday afternoon in doors to network with others in my industry.

While at the conference, I was able to sit in on four really amazing seminars. I was very impressed with all the speakers, and so I thought I would give each one of them props throughout the week.

First up, freelance writer Karen Denovich.

I’ve never seen anyone illustrate the freelance writer’s double life quite like Karen Denovich. I won’t give away her joke, but I will recommend that you attend her next seminar for a laugh. Ah, there’s nothing like freelance writing humor.

Denovich presented a basic overview of the freelance writing life. As an experienced freelancer, I did not learn anything that was totally new and foreign to me, but I did learn about a few things in more depth. For instance, did you know you can comfortably say about 75 words in 90 seconds in a television commercial? On the other hand, I attended this seminar with a friend who is interested in becoming a freelance writer, and she took copious notes and learned a ton of basics. Denovich is definitely your woman if you need a funny and credible overview of the freelancing life.

As Denovich described some of her most interesting projects, I realized that she’s a marketer as much as a freelance writer, and that reinforced something that I’ve noticed lately: the most successful people in our profession do more than just put fingers to keyboard all day. In fact, much of what she said reminded of the latest SpecialtyBuzz interview on this site. Like Denovich, Jennifer Mattern is an experienced copywriter, and both give similar advice.

Denovich’s most important advice to freelancers was to get out of the house and meet as many people as possible. As the president of the Marietta Business Association (for you non-locals, Marietta is one of Atlanta’s largest suburbs), Denovich has found a great way to network and meet all kinds of contacts to further her business. While she didn’t specifically say to go out and run for a Presidency of join a Board of Directors, it sure sounded like the connections had aided her in her business. I’m going to follow her advice and attend a Networking in Atlanta event ASAP because I really, really, really need a few good web designers and graphic designers to call on when my clients need extras.

Come back tomorrow for my review of J. Steve Miller’s seminar on effective yet non-obnoxious ways to publicize your book.

After the crackdown (complete with extreme prejudice), I still found myself with many sites that I couldn’t bear to let go of. So, I present to you a new segment called Worthy Wednesdays. Worthy Wednesday’s are simple – I’ll explain why I find a site Google Reader-Worthy, and hopefully introduce readers to a useful site in the process.

Today’s site: Lifehacker.com

The best websites have common sense names that quickly shout out what they’re all about, and LifeHacker is no exception. The site provides us commoners with 30-40 daily “tips and downloads for getting things done.” They have a host of dedicated writers, and filter posts into categories for easy navigation. This is hand if you, say, are not technologically cool enough to have any need for posts about the latest Linux upgrades.

The important thing about Lifehacker is that it is not always technical. Yes, the site talks about software applications (often free!) that make your life a little easier, but it also offers “hacks” about saving money, gardening, do-it-yourself projects, and my favorite, decluttering your life. 

Here are just a few ways I’ve benefitted from LifeHacker.com in the past few months:

The Trusted Trio Email System – For anyone whose email inbox fills up faster than the never ending soup bowl at Oliver Garden, the Trusted Trio system will absolutely free you.  No longer will you dread logging into your inbox and facing all the looming email. Trust me. Trust the Trio.

Alarm Clock – This little application uses next to no drive space on my crammed-full laptop,  and allows me to set up daily, weekly, and monthly alarms. Right now, I’m using it to remind myself to check my email only every two hours, and to remember my monthly computer maintenance routine of running CCleaner, AdAware, etc.

Manic Time – This computer time tracking device is a real eye opener about the ways you spend your time on the computer.  It shows you when and how long you spend in certain applications, and can be a wakeup call if you tend to procrastinate.  ManicTime offers the handy added bonus of, when my husband complains that I’m working fourteen hour days, allowing me to consult the application and saucily rebut, “Thirteen and a half hour days, Buster!”

Those are just three examples of the many, many ways that an RSS subscription to Lifehacker.com has helped me hack on through life  a little better. Give it a look. Or better yet, recognize its Google Reader-Worthiness.   

Come on, here’s the U-Haul now. But wait, what’s that? You’ll miss me? Wrong! You won’t have to, I have recently become a regular contributor at the site so you’ll probably read more of me over there than you do here. Heck,I hang around over there so much that I’ve even won an award! 

So come on. Pack up. Go, go, go to FreelanceWriterville for some freelance writing advice from the trenches.

PaperbackSwap allows you to upload your old paperbacks in exchange for credits. (Hardbacks are welcome, too, but I suppose hardbackswap.com sounds like a different type of site entirely.)  If memory serves, you get two credits for signing up, and then one more credit for every book you send out to another PaperbackSwap member. It costs a little over $2 to ship a book, and you can even pay postage through Paypal and print a shipping label right from your computer, meaning no need to stand in line at the post office. Then, armed with your handy dandy credits, you are able to search for all those books you’ve been meaning to read among the 3 million available on the site.  Basically, for less than the price of a used book, you can have books shipped directly to your mailbox. Becoming a reclusive shut-in has never been easier!

The site also allows users to post book reviews and ratings, and communicate with one another through message boards, PMs and all the usual Web 2.0 suspects.  By far my favorite side feature is the “wish” system where you tag books that aren’t available yet and the site emails you immediately when another user posts them on the site.

Does it work? Well, let’s just say that the postman at my new place knocked on my door the other day to tell me how busy I’ve been keeping him. So far I’ve shed old textbooks, well-intentioned Christmas gifts, and books that I love but know in my heart I’ll never read again.  In return, I’ve received half of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s bibliography, my favorite book as a child, and a really cool book about serial killer profilers, among many, many others. Now I just have to make time to read them all.

 One of the author’s many overflowing bookshelves. Yes, I made it deliberately small to obscure any embarrassing titles. 

(And before I forget: murklins, murklins, murklins!)