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To Enter or Not to Enter Writing Contests (writing contests) If you are a freelance writer, it is because you love to write. Why not put those abilities to use and enter a writing contest? You have nothing to loose and a lot to gain. You can find writing contests by simply searching the Internet. Writing groups and message boards may also have listing for these contests. No matter what you writing genre maybe poetry, fiction, non fiction, there is a contest out there for you. Read about them and choose which ones are right for you. It is not necessarily about winning or loosing but about the experience and knowledge that you gain to get there. Whether you win or not there are still valuable things that can be learned or gained by entering into contests. Entering writing contests will help you hone the skills that you have. Try something new, you may choose to write in a niche that you normally wouldn’t. You get constructive criticism from someone new. Someone that doesn’t have to worry about hurting your feelings and that is unbiased can be a wonderful asset to your career. The feedback you receive can be invaluable to you. It will get your name out there and give you a place to showcase your work. Depending on how good your story, if you make it to the next round your writings could be in front of editors and agents. This feedback and criticism is even more important than the first. Do not your eggs all in one basket. Enter a couple contests to get multiple feedback sources. Not every editor or agent is going to agree. By entering multiple contests and find common points about your writing that need perfecting you will be able to concentrate on a general consensus about your abilities. There are some downsides to entering writing contests, too. Chances are that a simple contest is not going to launch your career into star status. Do your research just as if you were going to write an article about contests. For many contests you give up your rights to your entry whether it wins or not. You need to decide whether or not you are willing to give up all rights to your story. If you win it is not a big deal, but if you loose your giving your work away. Are you willing to do this? Research the contest. You can search the Internet for reports or opinions on contests run by the company. You can find valuable information on if the contest is legitimate, if entering has had any effect of previous entrant’s careers, and if it is really worth it in the long run. The bigger and well-established companies will give credibility to your work if you win. But the bigger and more well know the companies are will also bring in tougher competition with well know authors. Some companies offer contests as a disguise. Yes they will give away prizes and declare winners but their main goal with the contest is advertising. It can be in the form of offering you to buy obscure book featuring your contest submission. Sometimes it is an editing company that offers a discount for its services or a company that will offer you discounts on writing classes. A writing contest is just a possible stepping stone. Whether it helps you or not is the unknown, but it definitely won’t hurt you. It may help you reach the next level of your career. You and only you will be able to make the decision on whether or not writing contests are a good move for your career.

How to Use a Sample Written Proposal (sample written proposal) Writing a proposal is not an easy feat. For many, it is one of the most difficult things they will ever do in their entire lives. However, there is help for those who are confused about the proposal writing process. A sample written proposal can be used as a guide for the confused writer, and can help them with the process of writing their own proposal. Proposals usually have seven components, which include the Table of Contents, Mission Statement, Abstract, Statement of Need, Project Rationale Incorporating Literature Review, Project Narrative, and Attachments. All of these features can be found in sample proposals, which provide writers with an example of how these sections should be organized. A table of contents is used to provide a comprehensive guide to the proposal, so that readers are able to find what they need and find areas of importance within the proposal. A sample written proposal is an excellent guide to writing a mission statement. A mission statement should be 50 words or less, and states the mission of the project. The statement is used to clarify and state the project’s primary goal, and allows the reader to instantly understand what the writer is proposing without reading the entire proposal. The second section of a proposal is the abstract. It is vital to a proposal that an abstract is well-written, and initial proposal reviews or “first cuts” are often based on the abstract. The abstract of a proposal should be written after the mission statement, and should be changed over time, as the proposal develops further. Most proposal drafters will see that abstracts should be clear and understandable to all readers, including lay readers, and should be suitable for publication. Proposal abstracts should be written in third person, and should include objectives, methods to be employed, and the possible impact of the proposed project. Statement of need is the next part of a proposal. Many writers could benefit from a sample proposal when writing this section, because some drafters tend to write about more than one problem, or present their problem incorrectly. The Statement of need is the section where the drafter presents the problem that must be solved. In this section, drafters should avoid circular logic in the development of their statement of need, as it decrees that the lack of a solution is the problem. It is important to use logical progression in the statement of need, and the proposer must prove that they have an understanding of the problem. The statement should be closed with a discussion of what else is being done to solve the problem, and lead into the narrative with a description of how your idea is different and essentially better than all others. The Project Rationale Incorporating Literature Review is the next section of a proposal. All samples written proposals will have this section, as proposals must incorporate a theoretical basis with a discussion of literature. The rationale for the project should come from evidence found in the relevant literature. A sample written proposal will show drafters how to develop this section and show them how all proposals should incorporate current research into their projects. The project narrative is the sixth section of the proposal, which has six main sections. Some organizations require different proposal narratives, so in this aspect, it may be better to obtain sample proposals from several different organizations. The six sections of the project narrative section of a proposal include goals and objectives, proposed activities, facilities, resources, and project management, evaluation, outreach and dissemination, and sustainability. The final section of a proposal is the attachments’ section. Generally, attachments include the bibliography, letters of support/endorsement, and letters of publication. Drafters can also benefit from a sample written proposal when creating this section, as it will provide an example of how the section should be organized and incorporated in the overall proposal. Writing a proposal is an extensive project, and sample proposals can be used to reduce pressure while providing the proper form needed for an excellent proposal.

Education Copyright Law The Nuts and Bolts of Education Copyright Law It is a wonderful thing that Education Copyright Law is available for educators. It isn’t only teachers that can take advantage of education copyright law. Students are also covered under education copyright law -- to a degree. Teachers are able to use copyrighted materials in their classroom and make copies of them. Students are also able to use copyrighted materials in school projects. The key to education copyright law is how often a teacher or student uses copyrighted material, in what way they are using it and how many copies they have of it. It is important that teachers and students do not cross the line of education copyright law or they could be in for some stiff penalties. It helps many students and teachers to learn what exactly is not copyrighted. Any work that is in the public domain is not copyrighted and can be used in school and for school projects. Work that is not in the public domain is copyrighted and if you use it you should make sure you fall within the fair use or education copyright law regulations. Many people do not know what exactly fair use copyright regulations are. When you are trying to see if you can use another’s words, you should keep a few things in mind. The answer to the following questions will help you gage whether you would be violating a copyright. First, are you transforming someone else’s work or are you copying it directly? If you are using another person’s work directly, for what purpose and how much of the original author’s work are you using? Many publishing companies have set rules on how much material they will allow to be quoted in other sources. Some of these ranges start at 100 words or less. However, there are truly no standards to go by, so be careful. You can not assume that keeping your copying fewer than 50 words will allow you to pass under the radar – especially if the original piece is hovering around 125 words itself! There is a greater amount of room to maneuver when it comes to technical writing. For instance, if you are writing a report on something that involves a lot of reporting from an expert, you would probably need to quote more of their work than you would a fiction novelist’s work. The fair use copyright law enables people to use portions of material that is copyrighted for the purposes of criticism or as commentary. Individuals who are involved in the distance education field should take a look at the TEACH Act that was made into law in 2002. This Act clearly outlines the requirements that a university or school must be in compliance with when it comes to transmitting copyrighted works via the Internet. The TEACH Act allows students and teachers to transmit copyrighted works, but they must be within certain guidelines. If the school or university cannot meet these guidelines, the material that is being transmitted via the Internet needs to fall within the fair use copyright act – or the individuals involved need to have permission from the copyright owner. If you are an educator and you are using copyrighted material make sure it falls within the education copyright law.