Writers beware! New Sixth Edition APA style guide has dozens of mistakes and has had to issue corrections

This has got to be awkward. The APA (American Psychological Association) has had to issue dozens of corrections to their new Sixth Edition Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association–a resource favored by academics among others. BTW, from my perspective, still nothing beats the incredibly detailed and easy-to-use The Gregg Reference Manual (see link on my Resources page)–especially for business users.

See the Inside Higher Ed article on the APA Style Guide issues here: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/10/13/apa

The Making of a Wind Energy Pioneer~Client Article Featured on Idaho Department of Commerce Site

Helping to get the word out! I’m very pleased that my piece on Roald Doskeland, Norwegian-born, Boise-based President of wind energy firm Windland, Inc., written for my client Western Capital Bank about their customer has been featured on the Idaho Department of Commerce Web site in their News section. Western Capital Bank recently closed a loan with a Windland affiliate for two wind turbines in Tehachapi, California. Windland also has two Idaho renewable energy/wind energy projects in the works. Please see http://www.commerce.idaho.gov/news/2009/09/the-making-of-a-wind-energy-pioneer.aspx

The Joys and Drawbacks of Using and Being a Freelancer!

Just a bit of a thought contribution on the joys and drawbacks of using and being a freelancer! For clients, having access to one or even a diverse stable of freelance professional talent for an array of projects makes great sense as your workload fluctuates and so does your need for professional (often higher-paid) staff. There are other benefits, though, and one that I firmly believe in is the ability to source new voices and new talents so that your company’s work doesn’t all sound the same with what amounts to, in essence, parroting of words and wording used elsewhere in almost everything else you’ve published. Please don’t misunderstand, though, as it IS critical to have a consistent voice and style to your work–but finding new things to say and new ways to say it while still resonating as “you” keeps your message and products or services fresh. Of course, I may be biased, but there are no drawbacks to using great freelance talent if they know you and understand you and your needs and they LISTEN!

; - )

From the perspective of being a freelancer, there are distinct benefits and potholes in the road… On the benefit side, the ability to work with multiple clients and wear lots of hats is a huge plus (for me, anyway) though there is some inherent financial insecurity compared to someone who has a predictable, 40-hour job. I am fortunate in having had some fabulous clients and would always prefer to have just a few great ones than lots and lots of occasional client connections. With freelance, if the fit or feel isn’t right, you can tweak or make adjustments to find situations and ways to approach them that do work. Sometimes, it’s just a case of finding a new way to connect with an existing client based upon what you’ve learned about them. For me, I love having the ability to work on a broad range of projects with different objectives and voices—but on the downside, I also have an exorbitantly high health-insurance premium to pay particularly as I am based in a state that precludes most professional groups and organizations from writing insurance here—so that makes it extremely expensive… my medical insurance, not even counting my dental insurance, costs MORE THAN MY MORTGAGE! That’s daunting and scary for sure. No one is putting aside profit sharing for you either, so it’s incumbent on us to plan and try to be like the proverbial squirrel and store supplies for the winter (read: future). I commit to working efficiently and with integrity and choose to affiliate with those who do the same. Finding just a few more great clients who do creative, well-considered work who are proud of being ethical in their dealings is about as good as it can get from my view!

Nancy

 

The power of great language resources and consistent style…

Just some quick thoughts about the balancing act between expressing your voice in your business (and even personal) communications yet still needing to recognize that there are grammar, punctuation, and style rules to follow AND that they’re worth following! While many people seem to feel that following rules smacks of grade school and may even inhibit their style, the fact of the matter is that people DO notice errors and inconsistencies, even if just on a visceral level. I’ve listed some of my favorite print resources on the www.connotation.biz Website, with the awesome Gregg Reference Manual 10th Edition being the “must have,” go-to resource… Then, ensure that you have a style guide that will keep you consistent, even in your quasicasual correspondence, be it an e-mail or blog entry. This is where you’ll keep track of whether you’re using series commas before and and or in a series (still the recommended option for a number of reasons though there was a dalliance for a time with not using them), how you handle your headlines and titles in ad copy and other documents (capping ALL words in titles that are 4+ letters is the recommended rather than using the 5+ alternative as this lets you cap “with” and “from” and similar words that would normally be LC based on the part of speech. Looks better and flows better! This nitty-gritty stuff may seem unimportant to some, but it actually helps ensure a more-positive impression and helps streamline things even when working on a deadline. I definitely feel that in ad copy and other circumstances there are some times when certain rules can be relaxed, but others done for the sake of “design” actually look like mistakes, such as leaving out an apostrophe in the name of a business that is clearly supposed to be possessive, such as Richards Bistro instead of Richard’s… please don’t let your designer convince you that it looks better without… it just looks wrong. Sorry! We’re really here to help you look your best, and mistakes or wondering if something is a mistake resonates with a surprisingly large number of your readers and prospects–more than you think! : – ) Ciao for now!