 For Authors: August 03, 2005 Issue [#530] |
  For Authors
This week: Edited by: Wannabe  
More Newsletters By This Editor 
1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions
Welcome to this weeks For Authors Newsletter. Once a month I will investigate, and compile the research I find, and present it here for you to use. I trust you will find the information useful.
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Well, here we are at the start of a new month … where has the time gone?
I’m sure most were busy enjoying the pleasures of summer. But there were a few who were concerned with attaining a costume, and making final travel arrangements for the 4th annual Writing.Com convention.
We all enjoy logging onto the site each day to check our email, write a few verses or even a story. But we log on also to chat with friends and other authors we have met on the site. Imagine that experience in real life minus the computer, little to no writing, and definitely no email to sidetrack you.
In a perfect world we could eliminate all our responsibilities, have a money tree out the back door that we could pluck at our leisure. There would be a limo waiting outside the front door ready to whisk us to the airport where we would relax in first class all the way to Pennsylvania. Unfortunately we don’t live in a perfect world and while many could not attend they sure wished they had been there.
Which brings me to my next point next year will be the 5th Annual Writing.Com convention and if you have ever thought of attending this would be the year to do it, as the following year the The ScaryMaster  & The StoryWitchress  will be taking a well deserved holiday all by themselves.
There is no greater pleasure then to meet with your peers, mentors, and friends in a relaxed atmosphere and discuss whatever topic happens to get started at that moment. Only those that have been there can truly express the cure of writer’s block upon your return home. The tons of email waiting in your inbox courtesy of the Convention Pirates, and the non stop chat in forums and in scroll.
Conventions bring people together that share a common goal and interest, very much like this site does. Must be why the site and the conventions are such a success. When great people organize for other great people to enjoy, it becomes a win-win situation.
Over the course of the next few weeks you will see a variety of items that will recap exactly why you should be there to join us next year. For an inside view be sure to visit
"Invalid Item" by A Guest Visitor
This Month’s Assignment:
I want you to
** Image ID #996061 Unavailable **
Take a few minutes and tell me some interesting things about yourself. I’ve even made it simple by giving you this easy to use survey form where you can just fill in the blanks.
So get busy and do it now!
Talk at Ya Later
Wannabe
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Links to Look At 
Submitted Comment: What a newsletter! It was good to read so many aspects on reviewing.
The item I highlighted is a column I wrote shortly after experiencing the loss of my drive a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, mine was irretrievable.
Thanks, Wannabe
Submitted By: "Invalid Item" by A Guest Visitor
Submitted Comment: Oh dear. Another topic close to home. I learned my lesson on backing my files to CD when my house burned. Comp melted. I was two chapters short of the final revision of Crystal Raine, five years worth of work. My hubby was able to crack the case and retrieve my CD which, when cleaned of smoke residue and finalized, was readable. My neighbor had an old hard copy of the book so I was able to finish the book. *whew* (I'm thinking that W.com ports also serve as a back up of sorts)
Submitted By: "Invalid Item" by A Guest Visitor
Submitted Comment: Hi, I've been subscribing to various newsletters for a while now, and I love them. I recently decided to begin one for "Boomers", we over 50 members. I'm calling it B.A.N.G., for Boomers Aging Not Gracefully. My question is this; is there a specific format for newsletters on the site? I've looked for one, but no luck.
I would appreciate any help on how to mail it to those interested in receiving it, my first one is in my port. It's more of an introduction to me and my intent. " for your convenience.
Thank you in advance, Nada
Submitted By: "Invalid Item" by A Guest Visitor
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Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
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Ohhhhh … so many comments I Love It, thanks to everyone for sharing his or her opinions, experiences, and helpful hints.
Submitted By: violet princess */
Submitted Comment: Glad everything worked out with your computer! I'm the opposite-my dad fixes all my PC problems. Thanks for another great newsletter.
Submitted By: Chriswriter
Submitted Comment: Perhaps I'm a bit late to chime in here, but... I always respond with a thank you, and a review encourages me to review in return because I figure someone who likes my work may be someone with whom I share some likes and dislikes. I'm always hoping to make a new friend, and, more importantly, to find a new writer to read.
Submitted By: spazmom
Submitted Comment: This was the best thing to be writing about. My dad's business burned down last week, and they hadn't done anything about back ups yet, so they lost all their current stuff, and perhaps most of their paper files. It's all a big mess right now. If your gonna use the computer, don't rely on putting everything on it and not backing it up! You'll loose it...
Submitted By: JonBBell
Submitted Comment: My lesson would be: If you don't have a WRITABLE CD, run, don't walk, and buy one. Use it frequently.
My hard drive died a year or so ago. I had only floppy backup, but, guess what, some stuff did not get backed up. It still bugs me that one piece I wrote is GONE.
It costs $500 on up to capture the files on a dead hard drive. Tough decision.
Writable CDs will become obsolete, but one CD holds all my files at this point.
Cheers, Jon
Submitted By: Strange Strange Wulf
Submitted Comment: Yeesh, had your computer crash, huh? That's always rough. Good thing you were able to recover things.
And yes, it is called Nero. Some put in the subtitle: Burning ROM (bit of a pun, which requires some knowledge of Roman history to get), but it doesn't matter. So long as you can save your stories. =P 'Course, once it's burned, it's permanent more often than not, so if you change something, you've got to get a new disc. I think some discs can be written to freely like you would a floppy, but I'm unsure. I'm a writer, not a techie.
Speaking of which, you ought to find a real tech geek and ask them what they use for surge protection. I've heard that some of those things offered in stores have no actual surge protection, yet they're not prosecuted for false advertising! Caveat emptor, I suppose.
Hope it doesn't happen to ya in the future. Take care of yourself. -One Strange Wulf
Submitted By: storyteller [retired]
Submitted Comment: Just when you thought it was safe to turn on your computer...! I found this newsletter to be very informative and useful. I started receiving the newsletter about a month ago and already look forward to issue. Keep up the good work Wannabe
Submitted By: Mothermouse--come visit me
Submitted Comment: Lessons well learned. I'm married to a computer geek IT Manager and you are absolutely correct, but I still think these beasts have a mind of their own and if you aren't careful they are out to get you. Loved the newsletter and I hope things go better this month.
Submitted By: rose_shadow
Submitted Comment: Losing my hard drive is a big fear with me too, Wannabe. For those of us who worry more about our stories than other stuff on the computer, I know a fairly cheap way of protecting our files. A flash drive (aka "thumb" drive) is a good investment for those of you that have USB ports on your computer. Most computers (that is, within the past 5-7 years or so) come with a USB port either on the front or back. A flash drive looks like what its other namesake suggests; it's about the size of your thumb, but can hold information that would fit on a dozen or more floppies. Flash drives are also harder to corrupt. Floppies wear out with repeated usage, but flash drives last much longer. Mine is a 16MB capacity (it can hold the same amount of info as about 16 floppies). Others can have more or less disk space, but the more space, the more expensive. The cost t is well worth it, however, because now I simply plug in my flash drive, copy the updated file and presto! Two copies of my stories!
Submitted By: MidnightStalker
Submitted Comment: Hi, Just thought I'd let you know that a surge protector should protect against multiple surges there are two types or surge protectors there are sacrificial ones and non-sacrificial ones.
Sacrificial ones should shut down instantly (and then become useless) non-sacrificial ones should shut down but then you should be able to turn them back on. If a surge protector does not shut down after a power surge its pretty useless as after a power surge you always get power fluctuations, which can be harmful.
If you have a surge protector and your computer is damaged then the company that the protector came from are liable for the damage and should pay for any hardware that needs replacing and the cost of recovering any data.
Hope that clarifies things. Midnight Stalker
Submitted By: Diane
Submitted Comment: Sounds like your life is pretty hectic, Wannabe. You'll need to make sure you live it up at the Convention! I'm glad Wrilly was able to retrieve your writing from the sick drive. Thanks for sharing the story... I'm off to back up my hard drive on CD!
Submitted By: Minerva
Submitted Comment: Great newsletter! I had this happen to me, except vice versa. My dad is the computer expert. I sat there all worried and miserable while he fixed the problem. ~Minerva
Submitted By: Meg: Writes Daily in 2006
Submitted Comment: How lovely to see so many members voicing their thoughts on responding to reviews! I'm glad so many people care about doing this! Thank you for sharing that! :)
Submitted By: Feywriter
Submitted Comment: Regarding replying to reviews, I always reply to a review. Then the author goes on my "to repay" list. I've been busy, and that list is getting a little long. But I always reply promptly and almost always return the favor (eventually). The only times I haven't reviewed in return is if they have an empty portfolio, or nothing to interest me. Certain genres I can't stand to read and don't feel qualified to review.
Submitted By: sometimes she writes 
Submitted Comment: Wannabe, I'm sorry for your computer troubles! Understandably overwhelming! Thankfully, my husband is our electronic wiz-kid and keeps us running smoothly most of the time. I keep my writing saved in a personal file on my work computer and on a disk. What is it the Boy Scouts say, be prepared
Submitted By: Antonio
Submitted Comment: Thank you for publishing and answering my comment about reviews. I also return the favor when possible. However, what if the inordinately low rating or rating/review is anonymous? Let me answer that; nothing. No recourse, no consequences, no checks and balances. The often inferior writer is allowed to scar your rating, and thereby your hard work, then move on to the next victim. It happens every single day. Some of them do it for revenge, some do it for fun, and some do it out of fear of retribution. Whatever the reasoning, it is enormously unfair to the hard working authors of this site. Each author on this site should have the option as to whether he or she wants to allow anonymous R+Rs. Why are authors forced to accept and live with every single rating given? Why is the rater given such latitude after a five-minute perusal, yet the author, who has hours, days or weeks invested, has none? Antonio
Submitted By: esprit
Submitted Comment: Wannabe Woo, look at all that feedback to your last edition! Good job! My computer broke down too, and it has to sit until I can budget the cost of fixing it. In the meantime, I have another to use, so I'm lucky. But, I sure miss my 'real' one! I enjoyed this letter too, and loved reading all the feedback!
Submitted By: Shadowstalker-- Covid free
Submitted Comment: I totally agree with you on the point that no matter how well you protect your computer it can't be 100% protected. I had an old laptop (which broke) for about 3 years or so. It was in storage until I came across it while moving. I was going to throw the whole thing out when a bright idea struck me (the fourth I've ever had lol.) I turned the old hard drive into an external slave and backed up all files from my main hard drive onto it. Lucky I did cause after a freak electrical storm my computer crashed. After rebooting I found I had lost/corrupted files AND a virus I probably picked up from the internet set to go off after rebooting. Unfortunately I couldn't find the external drive for about a week >. < Moral of the story= nothing is ever 100% safe...(I'm so confused writing this lol)
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