Quick Query Makeover

Quick Query Makeover A full-time freelance writer needs to churn out enough salable ideas to earn a living. Your articles are your lifeline, the reason you eat and have a roof over your head. However, some freelancers still believe in the muse myth. If youre a believer in that mystical being, then freelance writing is not for you. This business is for the tough, industrious sort willing to spend many hours creating copy and appropriating ideas. Dispel the muse myth and become more efficient in your career with these tips. I used them to improve my query output. At the beginning of my career, I submitted about a query a week. As my business skills and creativity bloomed, I grew up to three pitches a day. 1. Many magazines have Twitter feeds embedded at their websites. Website tweets are great places for article ideas, especially if you want to pitch a timely topic. For example, I caught the attention of a regional business-magazine editor 2. If you receive a rejection, do what I learned in college creative-writing class. See your sources as fictional characters. Your sources can be as compelling as Mr. Darcy and Carrie Bradshaw. First, describe your sources educational and professional background; delve into their duties, their family lives, what they like, what they hate. For example, write about the fitness instructor you wanted to use in your rejected query from Prevention. Write about her college years at Princeton, her years as a corporate lawyer on Wall Street, how she escaped the rat race and became her dream occupation. Before, she was just an expert in a health article. Now, she can be profiled in a womans magazine; mentioned in a lifestyle magazine for lawyers or fitness instructors; emphasized in a regional magazine in New Jersey. 3. Write pre-pitches. This idea doesnt work when youre new to an editor. However, if you received encouragement from an editor who rejected your queries, try submitting a brief sentence describing your idea and requesting whether the editor finds it a good match. After publishing my first article on a feminist website, Ive learned to regularly send sentence-long pitches to the managing editors. Occasionally I get an acceptance. Even if you currently write part-time, my tips will help you network with editors. In an industry where youre competing with thousands of other writers and thousands of other ideas, youre only as good as submitting articles on time and building a good reputation with publications. The muse myth doesnt recognize that. Like a lazy romantic partner, it must go. Behlor Santi thebxscribbbler1980@gmail.com www.behlorsanti.net

Free Essays on Glass Ceiling

One of the hardest and most frustrating issues being faced by groups or certain individuals in the corporate world today is the vast difference in gender treatment. This is commonly known as the â€Å"glass ceiling†, which is defined by Buzzanell as the â€Å"focus on women’s historic under representation in powerful organizational positions and the culmination point at which time women recognize the discriminatory practices, gender stereotypes, and individual biases that have hindered their advancement . The glass ceiling functions as a barrier to women (and minorities) as a group rather than to individual women. There appears to be no industry type without glass ceilings, no other similar form of structural plateauing, and no comparable barrier for white males. This blockage occurs in governmental, scientific, business, and educational organizations.† There are steps being made to try to change corporate cultures so that both males and females have equal opportunities, but as we learned, changes such as this take time, and in this case it is said that it could take up to a hundred years before women are receiving the same pay per dollar as men, given the same opportunities as men, and are looked at as being equal in ability to get the job done. Cultures develop over time and are historical, which we talked about in class. They are based on what has happened in the past and on the upbringing of those that shape the culture. If you see things in old ways, it’s difficult to act in new ways. This is what seems to be happening in the corporate world, because women are having such a hard time breaking into the male dominated culture of corporations that has been implemented all through history up until recently. It is encouraging to see that there is progress being made, but it is at somewhat of a slower rate than women hope for. In a study done by the PRWeek Magazine, a salary survey in March of 2000 said that women â€Å"wer... Free Essays on Glass Ceiling Free Essays on Glass Ceiling Business Week: Mexico: Strides and Setbacks for Woman The article begins by discussing some statistics in Mexico. Mexico is the world’s 13th largest economy and is ranked 48th in terms of gender development This is way below the average of highly industrialized countries. 25 years ago, only one of five Mexican women worked outside the home, compared to one of three today. The article discusses how today a woman governs Mexico City and another presides over the country’s strongest leftist opposition force, while the Senate is presided over by a woman, and two of the members of the cabinet of ministers are women. Women hold 17 percent of seats in the lower house of Congress and 15 percent of seats in the Senate. 14 percent of businesses are In 1994 Mexico linked up with Canada and the United States in the North American Free Trade Agreement. Since then, there have been many protests from sectors complaining trade between countries with such enormous differences has hurt them. According to the article women have been hit the hardest. NAFTA had opened up job opportunity but for low skilled jobs with poor conditions. The new market conditions have led women textile workers to be replaced by men and this has pushed many women into the â€Å"informal economy, where they have no social security or benefits.† (UNIFEM) When it comes to working at the same jobs as men women make 40 percent less than men. This article intrigued an interesting comparison of Mexico’s strive for women to move up in the work force and The United States current glass ceiling. The glass ceiling is the invisible barrier that women have to move up the corporate latter. The glass ceiling theory first drew serious attention in 1991, when the glass ceiling commission was established as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1991. A study released that year by then Secretary of Labor Lynn Martin found that a glass ceiling does indeed exist, limiting the op... Free Essays on Glass Ceiling One of the hardest and most frustrating issues being faced by groups or certain individuals in the corporate world today is the vast difference in gender treatment. This is commonly known as the â€Å"glass ceiling†, which is defined by Buzzanell as the â€Å"focus on women’s historic under representation in powerful organizational positions and the culmination point at which time women recognize the discriminatory practices, gender stereotypes, and individual biases that have hindered their advancement . The glass ceiling functions as a barrier to women (and minorities) as a group rather than to individual women. There appears to be no industry type without glass ceilings, no other similar form of structural plateauing, and no comparable barrier for white males. This blockage occurs in governmental, scientific, business, and educational organizations.† There are steps being made to try to change corporate cultures so that both males and females have equal opportunities, but as we learned, changes such as this take time, and in this case it is said that it could take up to a hundred years before women are receiving the same pay per dollar as men, given the same opportunities as men, and are looked at as being equal in ability to get the job done. Cultures develop over time and are historical, which we talked about in class. They are based on what has happened in the past and on the upbringing of those that shape the culture. If you see things in old ways, it’s difficult to act in new ways. This is what seems to be happening in the corporate world, because women are having such a hard time breaking into the male dominated culture of corporations that has been implemented all through history up until recently. It is encouraging to see that there is progress being made, but it is at somewhat of a slower rate than women hope for. In a study done by the PRWeek Magazine, a salary survey in March of 2000 said that women â€Å"wer...

Emergency Medicine Concepts and Principles Research Paper

Emergency Medicine Concepts and Principles - Research Paper Example Emergencies – Emergencies, on the other hand are events which usually threaten public health, safety, and welfare (Department of Environmental Management, n.d). These incidents differ from each other in terms of size, location, and their causes, as well as impact; however, despite these considerations, they usually all impact negatively on the environment. Emergencies are also considered as unexpected events which impact negatively on the lives and properties of people, and eventually they prompt the use of community emergency and routine responses as well as procedures (Emergency Management Institute, n.d). Examples for emergencies include: forest fires, outbreaks of diseases, road blocking landslides, and floods covering towns and farms (Central Coast Center Independent Living, n.d). In Australia, in the two landslides which occurred from 1939 to 2007, about 28 individuals were killed and 101 other individuals significantly impacted (CRED, 2007). Wildfires numbering 28 were seen from 1939 to 2007, this caused the death of 300 people, and caused damages amounting to about 1.2 million US dollars (CRED, 2007). Disasters – Disasters are â€Å"a condition or situation of significant destruction, disruption and/or distress to a community† (Emergency Management Australia (2004, p. ix). In a similar vein, the United Nations (1992) consider disasters to be incidents which seriously interrupt the normal activities of society as they cause significant human and environmental losses – more than what can normally be handled by the community resources. Beachley (2005) enumerated the following as disasters: floods, extreme range of temperatures, epidemics, multiple car crashes, and environmental contamination through chemical agents. In... There are various principles and concepts which define and govern disasters and emergencies. Basically, disasters and emergencies are unexpected events which have a significant effect on various individuals and large communities. These disasters impact significantly on the lives of many people. They bring about physical as well as psychological effects. Emergency management helps authorities cope with these disasters and it helps people recover and prepare for these emergencies. Emergency management is important because most communities face a persistent hazard and risk for losses from emergencies and disasters. These hazards may come in the form of natural threats like floods, cyclones, earthquakes, and tsunamis; it also includes technological hazards like chemical, biological, and radiological threats. Australia is situated in an earthquake prone region which it at a continuous threat from earthquakes and tsunamis, as well as volcanic eruptions. It is also in a region likely to be hit by storms which lead to floods and landslides. It s humid temperature also places it at a higher risk for suffering bushfires. With adequate planning and coordination, the prevention and management of these incidents are ensured. The prepared communities are communities which have managed to make the necessary plans for these emergencies. The systems in this community are coordinated and the local as well as national agencies are linked with each other. With these plans in place, it is possible for people and communities to minimise the impact of disasters and emergencies.