April Fools!

I am no good at coming up with April Fools pranks, especially not anything to play on my blog's readers. The best one — saying you're ending your blog, quitting freelancing, etc. — is way overused and therefore not so funny anymore.

But since it is April Fool's Day, we should probably do something Foolish. So you tell me — what are the best pranks you've ever played — or had played on you?

Is DRM helping or hurting ebooks?

There was a very interesting story on NPR yesterday about whether DRM — digitial rights management — is helping or hurting ebook sales. It's a well-done story that quotes experts on both sides.

Personally, I think DRM is a bad idea. I completely agree with the author who says it makes it too difficult and frustrating for readers, as well as with the book marketing expert who says that filesharing actually helps to build a fan base by getting the word out.

Also, as I've heard (read) Angela Hoy of WritersWeekly point out before: The people who pirate ebooks would probably not go out and buy the ebook if they couldn't steal it, so it's not actually resulting in lost sales.

I think you have to look at the cost in each scenario. You could put DRM on your ebooks, make sure no one can pirate them, but also create lots of problems for legitimate customers. Or you can not use DRM, risk a few pirated copies, but also gain fans through filesharing. While filesharing may cost you a sale occasionally in the short run, who is to say that 1) the new fan would have heard of you and bought the ebook themselves, had they not been sent the file, anyway, and 2) that they won't go out and buy your next book, now that they know who you are?

I am curious what other writers and authors think. Do you support DRM? Or do you think it's a bad idea?

Frightful weather, part 2

Three and a half hours later, and this view of our street had turned into this:



Yikes!

And yes, I spent my lunch hour-plus-change on the couch reading. I figure I've got the rest of the day to work, since I won't be going anywhere anytime soon!

The weather outside is frightful...

Now that I've got that song stuck in your head, I'll tell you why:

In Denver we're currently getting hit with the beginnings of a blizzard. We did have plenty of warning, as yesterday they were predicting we'd get 8 to 15 inches in the city, and 1 to 2 feet in the suburbs along the Front Range. Even the schools closed today in anticipation, even though the snow hadn't started yet.

It started about 8:30 this morning, thankfully after I had dropped Michael off at work (he's planning to take the train home so he doesn't have to mess with the roads) and checked on my horse. The picture above was taken about 20 or 30 minutes after it started, and as you can see, the flakes were huge. What you can't see is that it was falling very quickly. It got thicker and faster, too, and is already starting to stick to our street.

Having nowhere else to go today, I am tempted to just curl up on the couch with a book and a cup of tea. Unfortunately, I have work I need to do first.

I suppose that's one thing I miss about working in an office: not being able to use a snowstorm as an excuse to take a day off. But it's hard to take a snow day when your office is 10 feet from your bedroom!

Saving energy... and your social life

Obviously this article about companies leaving PCs on overnight was written with big businesses in mind, but it's a valid point for home offices, too. Turning off computers and other electronics at the end of your work day saves minute amounts of electricity, but it does add up.

Of course, turning off these things at the end of your work day also has another benefit: It ends your work day. With the computer running in the next room, it's awfully tempting to check email, respond to clients, or even (gah) continue working.

Yes, I'm guilty of all of this. Guilty, guilty, guilty! Of course, it's not as bad as it sounds, considering I do like my work. But still, I think my husband, horse, pets, and friends would probably appreciate it if I tried to save some energy — and my social life — by shutting off my computer in the evenings.

What about you? Do you shut off your computer at the end of your work day and refuse to look at it a moment longer? Or do you allow yourself to be drawn back in, even after you have supposedly stopped working for the day?

What? It's only lunchtime?

I tried to sleep in today. Really, I did. I declined to go for a walk with Michael, and tried to go back to sleep. But I couldn't! So I ended up getting up by about 8:20 anyway.

One of the biggest things I've noticed about getting up earlier is that my day is measured by my lunch hour — how long until I can justify eating lunch, or how long ago lunch was. Not having kept a normal schedule for very much of my freelancing career (the last time was nearly two years ago), this reminds me of when I worked as a full time technical writer. Lunchtime was so anticipated that if I didn't watch it, I would take it earlier and earlier each day.

As a freelancer it's a bit more positive, thankfully. I looked at the clock today and was surprised to see it was only 12:30 pm. (And yes, I'd already eaten lunch.) I'd accomplished a lot already by that point in time, so it felt like it should be later than it actually was.

It was a nice feeling. Yet another reason to keep up with this schedule!

Freelancing vs. telecommuting in a slow economy

There has been a lot of talk in the online freelance writing community about whether the economy is affecting their workload. My own experience is that it is not, at least not much: After a slow January and a slow first few weeks of February, I've found my workload has increased to nearly what it was before the holidays, and that with me slacking off on the marketing front.

I personally feel that as freelance writers we actually have greater job security than our "captive" counterparts. While an employee is dependent on one single company for their income, we have many clients and therefore many sources of income. This means that if we lose a client, we have others to help cushion the blow.

However, it appears that while working from home as a freelance writer has its benefits, working from home as a full-time employee does not. Yesterday I saw this article about telecommuters and others with flexible schedules who fear they'll be the first to go when companies start cutting back. As it happens, I know two telecommuters who were just laid off and had already heard their concerns, so I can definitely see this article's point of view.

But I'm eager to hear my readers' thoughts on the matter. What do you think? Is telecommuting riskier than self-employment, despite what conventional wisdom would say?