Five Words That Can Crush Your Writing Career by Beth Ann Erickson  

As a writer, I have no doubt that you’re well acquainted with e-mail and its homely cousin, sp am. 

Unfortunately, many of us (especially those of us living in rural areas) rely on e-mail to keep in touch with our clients, prospective clients, editors, publishers, and other writers. 

This complex web of contacts will often become the backbone upon which a lot of your writing income will grow. 

The very fact you’re reading this article is a testament to the power of e-mail. A group of us in Minnesota “had a dream” to pull writers from all over the world together so we could share ideas, chat together, and help each other succeed. 

Little did any of us know that everything we’ve built since 2001 was about to get tested. 

It all began on February 16 with a five-word post at a writer’s forum. Here’s the post: 

“Filbert Publishing spa mmed me today.” 

Totally oblivious to what was going on, we continued our daily tasks of writing, processing orders for Baker and Taylor, mailing galleys, and chatting over coffee breaks. 

All heck hit the fan last Wednesday (February 23) when I sat down to read my favorite e-mag in the world and found the words, “Filbert Publishing accused of spa mming”. 

Sigh. I know the penalties for spa mming are stiff… loss of ISP, huge fines… but the loss of credibility is probably what stung the worst. I knew this was something we couldn’t ignore. 

Although the original poster has since retracted his statement (he was actually a very nice person) and the e-mag owner has published an update to her original claim (she was refreshingly wonderful to work with), we never would have achieved a satisfactory conclusion to this event if we hadn’t followed the following seven steps to resolve this situation. 

I share these steps with you today so you’ll own the ammunition you need when (not if) you’re accused of sp amming. Here they are: 

1. Do not… I repeat do NOT maintain your own e-mail list. We use Topica E-mail Publisher. If you’re low on funds, Topica offers free e-mail list hosting as well (so does Yahoo). These companies use a double-opt-in system assuring every single person on our list has not only subscribed but has answered a “confirmation e-mail” before their addy’s added. I cannot emphasize enough how important this first step is. 
2. Don’t get angry. Before responding to any accusation, take a walk outside to remind yourself that there’s a very large world out there that isn’t in any way shape or form connected to the electronic world of the Internet. Remain calm, clear your mind. You never want to construct an e-mail when angry. Always assume anything you write will get posted on an Internet board somewhere. You never want to write anything you’ll regret later. 
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4. Provide full contact information in every correspondence. You want your readers to be able to easily get in touch with you. Just hit “reply” and you can contact us. We also provide our full physical address at the bottom of every issue of Writing Etc.  
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6. Now you’re ready to contact the person who disseminated the incorrect information… in our case, the e-zine owner. Armed with my information, I was able to send a coherent message outlining our su bscriber policies and proof of our anti-sp am stance. The e-zine owner was very kind and retracted the poster’s claim. She also printed an update in the next issue of her e-zine. 
7. Finally, to further protect yourself, don’t assume that everything printed about you will be accurate. I was horrified to discover that even the biggest and best e-zines do not check facts before they publish potentially career-destroying information. Sad, but it’s a reality we live with. The e-zine owner said individual posters on her message board are legally responsible for what they say. She also said (I’m paraphrasing here) that since she merely reports the newest scuttlebutt on the board in her zine, she isn’t responsible for that content either. Under this scenario, the only way you can protect yourself from an unjust charge is to counter any inaccuracies with facts. But by then, you’re already dealing with some unpleasant damage to your reputation, e-zine, and company. 

How do you do all this on a daily basis? Easy. Now more than ever, it’s important to be prepared. Keep accurate records. Don’t maintain your own e-mail list. Make uns ubscribing easy and painless for your su bscribers. And as much as I hate to recommend it, you may consider hiring a competent and honorable attorney for your team. But activate this member of your team only as a last, last, last resort. We didn’t need to proceed with this step because both the e-zine owner and original poster were so cooperative after we presented our evidence. 

There are no villains in this story. The original poster merely made an inaccurate statement. Turns out he’s actually a very nice guy. The e-zine owner simply wants to help writers void sc ams. And little Filbert Publishing somehow found its way in the middle of it all. 

Unfortunately the Internet has become a “guilty until proven innocent” environment where fact checking takes a back seat to sensationalism and innuendo. All it takes is one well-placed sentence to potentially and irreparably damage your credibility as a writer. 

You literally can find yourself happily drinking a cola during coffee break one minute and frantically searching out records the next after discovering a five-word post about you. You just never know when it’s going to happen. 

So always maintain accurate records. Remain fearless. And above all, keep writing. 

But please help our profession maintain its integrity and believability… online and offline… by always checking your facts before you publish anything. 

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Beth Ann Erickson is Queen Bee of Filbert Publishing and the only writing ezine that'll make your writing sparkle, help you write killer queries, and get you on the road to publication fast. Better yet, you'll receive the e-booklet "Power Queries" when you sign up for your free subscription. Subscribe today at http://FilbertPublishing.com

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