What to do when your work is stolen

The unthinkable happens. Your work is published without your knowledge, consent or compensation. Whether it is large slushpiles, lack of time, memory lapses or non-existent ethics, there's no excuse for unprofessionalism or deceit. If the publication gets away with it once, they may do it again!

Sure, you challenge them. You take the moral high ground, argue facts logically, point out copyrights, escalate to publishers or web domain owners; but your remonstrations fall on deaf ears. When editors don't remedy the situation early and sufficiently, it's time to take action.

1. Publicise...

Read the full article in the May 2015 issue of Funds For Writers

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Request to read the original article via email for just 99p! (T&C apply)

600 words
Nonfiction
US publication

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Words from the Wise

"Occasionally an exceptional piece may be listed on the website under Latest FFW Tips."
- from Funds for Writers

"Thanks for aiding FundsforWriters readers!"

Hope Clark

Editor

Funds For Writers

How to help your child be comfortable with public speaking

My mind is blank, my throat, dry. My heartbeat has slowed down to the point that I can't tell if blood is coursing through my veins or not. My breathing is almost non-existent. My eyes are unseeing.

“One moment please,” I hear a feeble voice say from very far away and realise, with a jolt, it is mine. I open my fist, which until now has been tightly closed, smoothen out a crumpled piece of paper and place it infront of me. I scan it in desperation, looking for a familiar word but the paper could well have been written in cipher for all I can read. I look up again. The auditorium is silent. The faces stare back...

Read the full article in the May 2015 post of New Age Parents

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Request to read the original article via email for just 99p! (T&C apply)

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Words from the Wise

"Your article was nicely written."

Julie Kim

Submissions Anon

Toastmasters International

"Your article covers a much needed topic.  I love the narrative at the beginning. The instruction part will be welcome for parents who have insecure, quiet children. The narrative adds heart. I personally would love to see this in print."

Shelli Simons

Associate Editor

Texas Home School Coalition Review

"I like the topic of your article"

Barb Lundgren

Editor

Home Education Magazine

"(It's a) well-written article"

Mary Pride

Publisher

Practical Homeschooling

When workplace becomes warzone: Resolving office conflict

Jane: “We should revolutionise our business model. It’s time to get in step with the rest of the world and embrace change.”

Dave: “No, our customers feel familiar and comfortable with our products. Old is gold.”

Jane: “You just don’t get it. We’ll be left behind! Your stick-in-the-mud attitude is exactly what is holding this company back. We need versatility. We need dynamism. Out with the old, in with the new!”

Dave: “Rubbish! If it ain’t broke, why fix it?”

And so saying, Dave walks off in a huff shaking his head and muttering something under his breath about ‘upstarts’. Jane throws her hands...

Read the full article in the May 2015 issue of Legal Management

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Request to read the original article via email for just 99p! (T&C apply)

1850 words
Nonfiction
US publication

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Words from the Wise

"Looks interesting... I like the article very much. It's a great article I would have loved to publish. Worth every bit of your fee. Do keep in touch!"

John O'Hanlon

Editor

Business Excellence

"Your article (is) very interesting"

Rick Maze

Editor

Army Magazine

"We think this information would be useful to our readers"

Robert and Melanie Whitcomb

Editors

Psychology For Living

"I'm intrigued by the creativity in some of your highlighted articles online."

Brendan Howard

Channel Director for Business

Advanstar

"This is a good subject for us."

Paul Sterman

Associate Editor

Toastmaster

Developer-tester relationships

Pogrammers program. Testers test. In an ideal world, everyone would do what they were good at (or at least what they were employed for) and the result would be a stable reliable fit-for-purpose product that helped the customer stay happy, the shareholders become rich and you survive to work another day.

The world of software development, though, is far from ideal. Tight deadlines, unclear requirements, limited budgets, and human errors make the office a volatile place with constant fire-fighting. Tempers run high. Patience runs low. Programmers and testers are at each others' throats. ...

Read the full article in the May 2015 post of Simple Talk


2065 words
Nonfiction/Software testing
UK publication

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Words from the Wise

"I enjoyed reading it. It is a very interesting article in places and at several places in the article I thought you'd made some very valuable points...The point you made about the testers rating the priority of bugs was an interesting one because I've known that cause conflict...
I like the style of the article, it is good, clear and straightforward. It puts the points across, and is easy to read."

Andrew Clarke

Editor

Simple Talk

Many a sleep between the cup and the lip

The clock shrilly performs its duty and haughtily announces the time. It reads five a.m. or thereabouts. I can’t be too sure since I don’t have my glasses on. Even if I did have my glasses on, I couldn’t be too sure. It’s kinda hard to tell the time with your eyes shut. My hand strikes like a snake to strangle off the alarm mid-scream. Nervously I glance at the two sleeping forms by my bedside. The larger of them stirs, licks her lips and turns over noisily twisting her sheets around her three-year-old frame tighter than a lock of hair caught in a bad perm. The other continues sleeping. Whew.

Putting...

Read the full essay in the May 2015 anthology Motherhood May Cause Drowsiness

915 words
Humour
US publication

17 Parenting skills transferable into your workplace

When I decided to go back to my job after a long absence taken to start a family, I had to contend with many anxieties. Chief amongst them was the fear of having rusty professional skills. Would I be useless in office?

Economic cycles with their booms and busts notwithstanding, more of us are in employment now than ever before. Whether you are returning to your old job or starting a new one, maternity (or paternity) leave doesn't have to mean the end of the road for your workplace capabilities. If anything, quite the reverse. After having children, you'll be learning new skills and developing...

Read the full article in the May 2015 issue of Signs Of The Times

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Request to read the original article via email for just 99p! (T&C apply)

1700 words
Nonfiction
Australia publication

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Words from the Wise

"I actually really like this. I am sure lots of other magazines will snap this up -- it's my loss though."

Hannah Stone

Publisher

The Natural Parent

"I love this, it's well written and well thought-out and full of bright, witty observations. I would like to use it"

Jenny Barlass

Editor

Totline