Ticked of with @#$% squiggles?

In my Sharing with Writers newsletter (one that goes directly to your e-mail box), I often include a Q&A column. The questions often come from subscribers. This is one of them. I thought I'd pass this along, though many of you who have been working on the Web for some time will know already know about firewalls, spam censors and the like.  And, by the way, if you would like to received this newsletter that is also always chock full of tips about writing craft, tech, and promotion send an e-mail with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line to HoJoNews@aol.com.  

Q&A a la Ann Landers

Ticked Off with F r ^ ^ and Other Yukky Squiggles? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SUGGESTION:

Carolyn--I still don't get your "FR^^* " ($%#^&*) notation in your newsletters. Yes, it gets my attention. No, I don't understand the purpose. Yes, it distracts me from the rest of the text and annoys me. FYI.--Rich

Rich Moser

rich@transcendentalastrology.com

ANSWER:

Glad for your input, Rich. It's an opportunity for us all to discuss this and learn something from it. Yep, those squiggles mean

“free.” But when one sends out anything on the Web with the word "free" in it (even things like this note to you), it often goes to spam folders or doesn't get there at all. Thus, the idea is to trick the censors and their filters. There are lots of other words that cue programs to do this, too, by the way.

So, to make a long story short. My attempt at fooling the filters isn’t likely to go away. I hope what I share with you in my Sharing with Writers newsletter is worth getting it through the filter so you at least get a chance to get…well, annoyed! (-:  Would F R @@ annoy you less?

AND, I hope that now you know its purpose, it helps you when and if you do any mass mailings.

NOW, may I have permission to use your question in my newsletter? With or without attribution to you? F R x x anything probably annoys a whole lot of people. (-:

CHJ

----- Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including, The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use the little Green widget to let them know about this blog: