By Louisa Dang, southernbendbooks.com Two years ago, I worked at a small marketing company in Burlington. My boss was a whizz at finding new apps and software to keep track of all his clients’ projects. I quickly learned that such tools were much more efficient than my standard sticky notes-on-my-desk-and-keyboard approach! Freelance writers can benefit from the many project management tools out there used by (and sometimes designed for) software developers, sales teams, business [...]
By Chanah Liora Wizenberg The Wake County Public Libraries Annual Book Sale was the first weekend in May—a bibliophile’s dream! As I entered the Expo Center at the Fairgrounds in Raleigh, N.C., where the sale was being held, I gasped. A sea of books was spread before me. There were tables and tables of books set in rows the length of the enormous room. The scent of freshly popped buttered popcorn and hot dogs permeated the air. For a split second my mouth watered and my stomach [...]
By Don Vaughan, donaldvaughan.com Last year, I lost one of my best friends. We’d known each other for eighteen years, and had grown extremely close. We visited almost weekly, and shared innumerable stories on topics both intimate and far-reaching. I miss my friend a lot. This special friend wasn’t a person, but the McKay’s Used Books & More in Raleigh, which suddenly and inexplicably closed its doors in April 2017. When Nan and I moved to Raleigh from South Florida in 1999, [...]
By Jeff Davidson, breathingspace.com An insidious trend is impacting authors, writers, poets and all creative individuals everywhere. As a result of the Amazon.com review process, virtually anyone can post anything about any intellectual property at any time. Such postings can be made independently of whether or not one has actually, say, bought and read the book, or has anything coherent to say about it. In Amazon’s quest to provide a “forum” for users, all reviews, those [...]