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Emptying the Email Trash
Ways to waste your money, time and talent: Some guy just emailed me to call him. That's all he said. I have no idea who he is, and I am certainly not going to open his attached file or call him.
Last week someone said he had found my website through an image search for "California Spangled Cats." He wanted me to hire him to optimize my site for better image search returns, because mine was 22nd in the list. Like, I care? Anyway, it's "California Dreamcats," the first one I did for a class in site design, and I don't think it's on the web. Now, that's creepy.
Another persisted (until I blocked the address) in telling me that my writing site can't be found in foreign search engines. Why should I be concerned when it is only for English-speaking people, or those who want to learn and search on English terms.
Other hilarious favorites are the vendors who tell me that they have redesigned my websites, and I can see the improvements by clicking on a link. They fail to notice that I design and optimize sites. Often they fail to discover my name, too.
But the all-time best is the guy who sent me the same message three times in an 18-month period, offering free articles. Now, I like to feature guest posts, and some of the free articles on this site are by other writers who I know. But this guy signed his emails with three different female names and directed me to the same two websites where the articles appeared. Only, he kept mixing up the signature names and the by-line names. I'm not sure he knew who he was. A little research discovered his true gender and name.
I'm also a little sad because yesterday I turned down two book manuscript editing jobs. Ironically, one was too well-written. I told the author that most of the changes I might make, I thought amounted to quibbles. The other manuscript looked like a brain dump with little punctuation or capitalization and no quotation marks. I told the author that either it is a new form of a novel, or the manuscript needs to be rewritten, which is a very costly effort.
Sometimes I wonder if I'm being tested.
Last week someone said he had found my website through an image search for "California Spangled Cats." He wanted me to hire him to optimize my site for better image search returns, because mine was 22nd in the list. Like, I care? Anyway, it's "California Dreamcats," the first one I did for a class in site design, and I don't think it's on the web. Now, that's creepy.
Another persisted (until I blocked the address) in telling me that my writing site can't be found in foreign search engines. Why should I be concerned when it is only for English-speaking people, or those who want to learn and search on English terms.
Other hilarious favorites are the vendors who tell me that they have redesigned my websites, and I can see the improvements by clicking on a link. They fail to notice that I design and optimize sites. Often they fail to discover my name, too.
But the all-time best is the guy who sent me the same message three times in an 18-month period, offering free articles. Now, I like to feature guest posts, and some of the free articles on this site are by other writers who I know. But this guy signed his emails with three different female names and directed me to the same two websites where the articles appeared. Only, he kept mixing up the signature names and the by-line names. I'm not sure he knew who he was. A little research discovered his true gender and name.
I'm also a little sad because yesterday I turned down two book manuscript editing jobs. Ironically, one was too well-written. I told the author that most of the changes I might make, I thought amounted to quibbles. The other manuscript looked like a brain dump with little punctuation or capitalization and no quotation marks. I told the author that either it is a new form of a novel, or the manuscript needs to be rewritten, which is a very costly effort.
Sometimes I wonder if I'm being tested.
Labels: promotion, silly, writers
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posted by Georganna Hancock M.S. | 9:54 AM
6 Comments:
sounds like we are in the same boat =)
not for editing mind you as you are my guru for all editing things, but for some "great" emails.
"Some guy just emailed me to call him. That's all he said. I have no idea who he is,"
Geo,
He could be your dream guy!
Sorry about the two manuscripts,
Elizabeth
Thanks, ladies. Must be more guru than I thought -- the "better" author wants me to quibble with his ms!
Elizabeth: I don't think it was that kind of a call. Anyway, I quit dreaming several years ago. Eyes wide open!
I got one from a woman (perhaps not?) asking if I wanted her to write a guest post. Fine, I said, but it has to fit in these parameters and it's unpaid. That was weeks ago. I'll never see her again.
it is a test, a test of the emergency broadcast system...they keep broadcasting, testing to see if it's working...and in most cases it's not
Lori: that's a new one I haven't experienced! I get a lot of people saying they are interested in (free) guest posting, but no one follows through. Except for me and thee.
Paige: you are such a scream!
Update on editing job: he likes my quibbles, but not my rates. Damn! The dentist just told me I need a tooth crowned, too.
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