Sleepless Nights

Author: Veronica

  • On not working for peanuts

    I read a post a few months ago about online magazine owners not paying their writers. I was interested, but didn’t think it was an issue for me.

    However, I was pitched this week about joining the writing staff of a soon to launch webzine, with a section for parenting and opinion. Whilst initially interested, I skimmed the email looking for what I would get out of it. Exposure? Payment? I wasn’t sure.

    I had to look a fairly long way into the email and there it was: Payment by ad revenue sharing, with the writer to get 70% of the ad revenue. We’ll ignore the issues I already have with Ad.Sense and look at it objectively.

    I know that sidebar advertising makes very little money for most bloggers and webzines. If you calculate how much 70% revenue from one post is, I’d say we’re looking at miniscule money and I’m sorry, but I don’t work for peanuts.

    Even if the exposure was likely to be huge, I was turned off by the list the length of my arm of what I could and couldn’t do, what they did and didn’t want (no self-deprecating humour? REALLY?) and how many posts I would be required to write every month.

    Okay look, I get strict guidelines for writers. I GET it, that they want their webzine to be exactly what they want and how they want it – that’s their prerogative.

    But seriously, if I’m going to put that much energy into posts, I’m going to do it on my own website, or on something I truly believe in. Not a webzine who form lettered me, asking me to apply.

    BECAUSE YES. Oh wait, what’s that at the end? If I want to write for them, I need to apply first. Even though they approached me.

    It’s a bit crappy.

    Look, if a friend approached me and asked me to write for their website, because they felt that I had something to share, I absolutely would. I’ve contributed to the Mummy Blogger Blog before and I will again, because I believe in it, and what Louisa has done with it.

    You know what would have been more effective? Spending the $50 to advertise on Problogger’s Jobs Board, because that way, you wouldn’t have offended me with the work for peanuts mentality. I would have just ignored the ad as not for me, and moved on.

    I’m not a fan of working my arse off for someone else’s project, unless I adore that person, or think that the benefits for me personally will outweigh the work. I’ve done it a few times now and it hasn’t worked out for me. I’ve had to take a step back and say selfishly – what does this do for me? Do I get any recognition for doing what I’ve done? Am I being paid? Is my own profile being raised? Well then, no thank you, but I don’t want to do this for you anymore.

    So for me, I’m not going there again.

    If you want me to write for your webzine, it has to benefit me personally, in some way. Or, I have to love what you’re doing and want to be part of it.

    Otherwise, thanks, but no thanks.

    This blogger doesn’t write for nothing.

    ***

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  • Evolutionary Sheep

    I have sheep in the paddock next to me and they are learning to fly.

    Oh, I know that you think that this is pure hyperbole, but it’s true. They’ve evolved and they’re desperately trying to be birds instead of sheep.

    I was lucky to get these photos, because shortly after, they spotted me watching, jumped off their perches and ran away, trying to cheep instead of bleat.

    This one is Harrold.

  • If I see one more mouse skitter through my kitchen, sohelpmegod!

    With my recent posts on Asylum Seekers and my silence on the drama that continues to annoy me, you would be forgiven for thinking that I’m all ‘Live and Let Live!’.

    I am not.

    Especially not when it comes to roosters that are attacking my hens, drakes that are looking large enough to fit nicely in a roasting tray and mice.

    I normally have a “don’t kill anything you’re not going to eat” policy. I can maintain this policy in the face of everything, except mice.

    We have a mouse problem. Our mouse problem is so bad that I’ve schwacked two personally in the last week, making my mouse death count higher than the cats, although the second death is maybe only 50% mine, because I did require a cat to finish it off. Hiding under the oven gets you NO MERCY.

    For the record, a good schwacker is one that is covered in plastic, so that you can wipe it clean of mouse eyeballs afterwards. You’re welcome.

    ***

    We were moving the furniture around, rearranging couches and assorted piles of junk when Nathan shouts “MOUSE!”

    Of course, I came running, from where I was avoiding heavy lifting by messing around on twitter and talking to my mother on the phone.

    Tucking the phone between my shoulder and ear, I spotted the mouse immediately (with a little help from Nathan). Nat was holding one end of a couch in the air and the mouse was attempting to run away. Round and round we went, me chasing and the mouse skittering, with Nathan swearing at me to ‘just fucking kill it already, what ARE YOU DOING?’

    Our brilliant teamwork paid off, as I walked to the back of the couch and went ‘Huh, where’d it go?’ only to lean down and find it, clinging to the back of the couch at eye level with me. I’m not sure who was more startled, but I certainly jumped less.

    The mouse found a hiding spot and I picked up a schwacker that was lying around. Sometimes there are benefits to messy bedrooms.

    “You drop the couch and I’ll schwack it” I said to Nathan.

    He rolled his eyes at me, knowing how well my schwacking has gone in the past and did as he was told.

    The mouse took one look at me, sitting in front of it, holding a photo album as a schwacker and then did the most sensible thing possible.

    It ran towards me, like a suicide mouse.

    So I sensibly schwacked it on the head, killing it. I still had the phone tucked between my ear and my shoulder, giving running commentary to my mother the whole time.

    I dusted myself off, and left Nathan to clean up the squashed mouse, while I finished my conversation and wiped down the photoalbum with anti bacterial stuff.

    ***

    Mice – 2543 Veronica – 2 .

    I am very proud of my two kills.

    Today there is a new mouse skittering around underneath my grill. I’m hoping to avoid having to bash it to death personally – you’d never guess it but I’m really not a fan of killing things – and have instead set a trap. I’d like to kill it before I have to scrub everything with antibacterial soap again.

    Hell, I’d even like to be all zen about having mice in the house, but OMFG I JUST SAW ONE, RUNNING ACROSS MY CHOPPING BOARD. Again.

    They’re lucky I’m not a farmers wife.

  • Social Media Chat

    Last night, I was having a conversation with Naomi about subscribing and subscribers and slowly, our conversation grew and morphed to include Kelley and Clairey, and we covered everything from subscribing and the state of our Google Readers to PR companies and reviews.

    We tweeted so much that we sent Naomi to twitter jail and likely cluttered up the streams for nearly everyone we know (sorry guys).

    But it was a lot of fun and from what people had to say, it seems it’s something that people are interested in, especially newer bloggers.

    Louisa came in during the conversation and we’ve since discussed it and tonight, we’re going to trial doing the same thing, on Facebook, and invite everyone over to the Mummy Bloggers Blog facebook page to participate.

    The idea is to share information on social media and how to get the best out of it, what we do personally and why.You can ask questions and we’ll endeavour to answer them, as best we can and I’ll probably be asking questions about the why’s and whyfor’s of some things.

    So, meet us over on the Facebook page tonight (Wed) at 9pm AEST and we’ll hopefully be chatting up a storm.

    I will tweet and remind you too.

    ***

    A few answers to questions I know you’re going to ask:

    This is only in Beta stages – we’re looking at chat room technology, or other various ways of doing the same thing easily, if there is enough interest.

    We elected for Facebook, to prevent cluttering up the twitter streams – until twitter develops a mute button that allows you to filter out some people, or some hashtags, I’d prefer not to clutter it. I know how frustrating it can be to be not interested in a “twitter party” or similar thing happening and have that be all that’s in your feed.

    Also facebook, we wanted the information to stick around, so that people can use it and refer to it later. Twitter is relatively transient and tweets get pushed down easily and you can miss replies and half the conversation.

    If you’ve got ideas about how this could work, suggestions, or questions, please let me know in the comments and we’ll see what we can do!

    And remember, 9pm AEST tonight on the Mummy Bloggers Blog Facebook page.

     

  • Let’s talk about mothers day

    Mother’s day has never been a big thing in our house. I’m sort of blaming Nathan for this fact, because the kids are little and it’s his job to buy me something (anything!) for mother’s day. Or at least ensure I get a sleep in and a cup of tea made for me.

    Of course, like everything though, this hasn’t happened and I’ve spent my previous 4 mother’s days walking around the house grumbling about being under-appreciated and screamed at. Thanks kids, mummy loves you too.

    I’m not bitter.

    Anyway, this year being the first year that Amy is at school, there will be a mother’s day gift coming home for me, probably hand pasted with glitter on it somewhere. Considering it will be my first mothers day gift, it’s going to be brilliant, whatever it is. I’m quite looking forward to it.

    I’m lucky. My biggest worry is that I won’t get a cup of tea, or that Amy will jump all over me in excitement and make sure that I can’t sleep. Both of these things are likely to happen.

    Some mothers aren’t so lucky, and there is a big drive to buy charity gifts for mother’s day this year.

    UNICEF has an online store, where you can buy charity presents for this mother’s day. The Mother/Baby pack is especially important, because it would allow a HIV positive woman to give birth and breastfeed, without passing HIV to her baby. One thousand babies a day are infected with HIV, and without treatment, many will die before their second birthday. Medical centres are often long distances from remote villages and travelling to them is beyond most mothers means. The mother/baby pack allows medication to be distributed and used easily by the mother.

    So, if you’re wondering what to get your mother this year, or trying to work out what your older kids can buy you, and you’d like to help out a family in need, then the UNICEF shop is for you.


    ***

    Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Kidspot and I received monetary compensation for writing it. I wouldn’t have agreed to participate in a campaign that I didn’t feel strongly about however, and I think that UNICEF’s charity gifts are an excellent idea.