In the columnist message boards at BackWash, someone said "Don't you just love the media." They meant it sarcastically in reference to how an interview was handled. But, what they didn't consider is that WE ARE the media.

I think a lot of writers take shots at 'the media' and forget to count themselves among them. Do you? Have you thought of yourself as a writer or publisher or member of the media in general today?

Well you are. Each time you put something out there for the masses to read you become the media. We may not all carry cards saying we are writers or publishers or editors, etc. But, that doesn't mean we aren't just one more member of the media.

Anyway, the discussion in the boards was about how someone was credited in an article. That is something to consider as you write an article using sources for information such as quotes or statistics. Always make sure you know how your contact sources want to be credited and then do your best to see that it comes out that way in print.

On the other hand, when you are the contact, make sure you tell the writer how you want to be credited. Make sure they have your URL along with your other information. Make sure they know it's important for your website to be included as part of identifying you as a source of information for the article.

If it comes out in print you can't do much to change it. You can get them to add it to a future issue but that's not very useful without the rest of the content of the article. However, if it's on the web you can get them to update the HTML or text quite easily, it just takes a moment of their time. So there is one more benefit to writing for online publications.

Well, members of the media, that's it for this week.

Being a freelance writer online is challenging. The biggest hurdles are copyrights and finding paying markets. Of course, that's subject to change depending on what I'm working on at the time.

If you are a self publisher you will know all about fair use and copyrights. You've carefully borrowed content. You've asked almost everyone you know for a contribution to your ezine or newsletter. You've left them notes on their car window when they keep forgetting you finally hounded them into saying yes, a month ago. Or is that just me? Luckily there are several sites which distribute free content. But, you have to find the content you need from the general stream of articles offered. Often it's all content you've run before, sometimes said in a new way or by another writer but still the same information.

Yes, ezine publishers can write all the content themselves, put up the site, create the graphics, the layout and all the little odds and ends. It is a lot to maintain and create a whole site though. If you have a life you can decide which pieces to discard such as pets, parents, jobs and kids. Friends might understand and give you some slack. Really, it's much better to find help, free up some of your time and keep having a life.

There are endless free places a writer can be published and I don't knock those, too much. A new writer can be published in some really good places and get their name seen in the markets they want to specialize in. But, at some point even the most timid new writer wants to see a cheque in the mail.

Also, make sure you are getting something out of the freebie work you do. Don't give your work away to a site that publishes poorly edited work. If you want this as a writing credit make sure it really is a credit to you.

Most of all, don't pay a site or publication to run your content. Never, for any reason. They are not doing you a favour.

I started reading "Guerrilla Marketing for Writers" yesterday. One thing that struck me as was this: "You can show your involvement with your fans by being cordial when you contact them, by being helpful to them, and by asking about them."

Almost no one does that any more in the great big, fast, condensed world of email. Yet, I think most people have felt short changed by some one sentence, abbreviated email reply. Why don't we show an interest in the people we email with? Especially if you are writing to someone who has shown an interest in you, or whatever you are selling. Is it so greatly time consuming? Is it too hard to write over the one sentence quota? Or do you really just not care?

The advice from the Guerrilla Marketers is good advice. You really can win people over if you show some interest in them. Maybe they have just read your book or something you wrote on a website. First of all, it's pretty amazing that you got feedback at all. Not may people bother to send a note. When you have the chance to reply to feedback, take it.

Make the most of the chance to connect with someone. Send them your promotional spiel, your upcoming books, articles and where you are writing online but also send them answers to their questions and some questions of your own. Give them a reason to write back, or at least remember you.

There is a lot of email flying around out there. Adding HTML and graphics isn't the best way to make yours stand out. Ordinary, old fashioned chit chat is free, takes up a lot less bandwidth and is far more impressive.