Hi Writers,
Here it's week 16 in my Project 20/20 Build my Blogroll contest and the nominations for writers' blogs keep rolling in. If you've been following along, you know I've chosen a very wide ranging collection of writer's blogs for writers of all stripes—from the purely whimsical to the downright practical.

This week's add, I must say, is a quite sensible selection. It's the little black dress of my blogroll. It's a blog dedicated to educating and communicating with freelance writers.

I'd like to announce my week 16 add:
Words on the Page: Advice and Ramblings on the Writing Life
by Lori Widmer (who's a frequent visitor and commentor on this blog)

Lori's been freelancing for 15 years and she's witnessed first-hand the changes unfolding in the industry. Here's an excerpt from a very recent post:

The Changing Face of Freelancing
Time for some frank talk - we've been in this business long enough to see the trends unfolding before our eyes, right? Even if you've been in freelancing a year, you've seen it. You may not recognize it yet, but you're definitely experiencing it.

It's the way we find our projects. For a few years now, I've lamented, cajoled, moaned and shouted about how project employers are requiring more of us and paying us a damn sight less than in previous years. Numerous reasons exist - and I'm not going into them here. I've fussed about them endlessly in previous posts. Just read backwards, please.

It used to be we could log on to Craig's List or About Freelance Writing and find tons of work that paid decently (and Anne Wayman does an excellent job of searching for job listings for us, so kudos to her). Even the paid job sites used to do good by us. But the evolution taking place online right now is depressing, maddening, sickening and not doing anyone any good. The jobs that are there pay squat. If we secured 20 gigs a month, the pay still wouldn't add up to enough to bring home KFC for dinner (or tofu kabobs for us vegetarians).

Lori's encouraging other freelancers not to take this lying down though, she's taking a proactive approach, which I really admire. Beginning next Monday, she's leading a charge to learn or re-learn the age-old art of the cold call—something freelancers seem to now bypass. Go visit Lori's blog next week and learn how to do some hands-on marketing for the good of your writing career.

So Lori, good luck with your project and thanks for using your time and experience to help out your fellow writers. It's my honor to welcome you to my fabulous blogroll.

Keep Writing,
Maria