August 31, 2007
-- Pat Walsh
In this issue:
1. Comma Use #4
2. Free Sample Edits! Get Yours for Only $20!
3. Are You Ready for Online Success?
4. Recommended Resources
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1. Comma Use #4
We're moving through the uses of the comma. If you've missed the previous issues, you can read them in the archives. Click the link at the end of this message to access them.
To understand this use of the comma, you have to know what the subject of a sentence is.
Normal English sentence structure is Subject-Verb-Object. We call what or who does the action, the subject. In the sentence, The dog bit the boy, the dog is the subject.
The fourth comma use is to set off a long phrase or clause that comes before the subject.
Example: While I stirred the tomato sauce, the pasta boiled.
Having put the lid on the soup pot, I made a salad for our supper.
When the onions become fully translucent, take the pan off the stove.
Note: If the phrase is under five words, you do not need the comma. Example: After the soup we had pasta. (The phrase that comes before the subject we has only 3 words.)
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2. Free Sample Edits! Get Yours for Only $20!
After endless dithering, I have finally planted my flag and begun doing sample edits for $20, refunded if the writer hires me at any time.
What a relief! I have my life back. The number of submissions has dropped off dramatically, but those who do submit are more serious. This is a good thing all around.
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3. Are You Ready for Online Success?
I made the decision to charge for the free sample edits because of the success of my Web site. When everyone looking for an editor has access to your Web site, you have to do something to sort the tire-kickers from the serious clients.
On Wednesday I taught a local workshop on using the Internet effectively. I gave each of 6 people a different phrase featured on my site and had those people enter each phrase as a Google search. My site ranked at the top for five of those words and fifth for the other. The participants were impressed. Some of them have Web sites that are little more than scraps of electrons littering cyberspace. They are invisible in spite of "having a Web site."
If you have a Web site but need more traffic, or if you are ready to start building a site correctly the first time, contact me with your questions, or visit http:/www.inquire-sbi.com. Until Labor Day there is a special sale.
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4.Recommended Resource
I've found a good resources for writers.
Mary Deal writes about dialogue at http://writeanygenre.com/dialogue.html.
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