I get review copies (of books, software, etc.). It’s generally one of the perks of being a writer. But getting and keeping are two different things — I have to house my new review copy and, since I’m a very by-the-book kind of girl, pay taxes on value received.

So, rather than trying to find these books good homes on my own, I’m hoping you will help me. I’m going to set up simple contests and give them away.

The first book up is The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Photography Essentials. It’s a good book — very useful for beginner to intermediate photographers. All you have to do to enter this contest is post a comment below, offering up a tip of your own for freelancers interested in photography. I’ll pick one commenter at random and mail them the book.

For the record, I will mail the book in the cheapest way my post office will offer. I will pay shipping anywhere in the U.S. If you win, but live outside of the U.S., I will ask you to cover the difference in shipping costs.

You have until the end of the day on August 1 to get your name in the hat. The contest closes when the calendar flips to August 2 (EST).

I’m pleased to present the 27th edition of the Business of Freelance Writing Carnival. Before letting you at the posts, I wanted to say a word or two about how I choose posts to include. Anyone can submit a post through Blog Carnival — and plenty of people do. But I don’t include every post that is submitted. There are some that are little more than spam, generally doing nothing but promoting some product with no relationship to writing or business. Those are tossed out immediately.

Every week, there are a few posts that are essentially writing samples — poetry, short stories and the like. When I started hosting this carnival, I made a decision not to include that sort of post. There are plenty of great carnivals out there (Just Write, Everything Worth Reading, and the Creative Carnival are all good options) that showcase that sort of post. Around here, we focus a little more on what to do after you’ve written a great story or article — how to make sure your writing translates into a living.

If you’d like to submit a post or two for the 28th edition, you can do so at Blog Carnival. With no further ado, the carnival!

Shaula presents Putting the gal into galivanting posted at Your Mileage May Vary.

debergerac78 presents Escape the Commodity Trap - oDesk Insider posted at oDesk Insider.

AmyM presents Publishing Short Fiction…12 Markets to Get You Started posted at 3 Questions…and Answers.

AmyM presents Promoting Your Book…Whose Responsibility Is It? posted at 3 Questions…and Answers.

Brian Terry presents Copywriting – 5 Steps To Prepare posted at Big Selling Website Design.

MoneyNing presents 5 Ways to Get Ideas for Blog Content posted at Busy Blogging Dot Com.

I’m proud to announce that this week we have a guest host for the carnival! Redd at Earthlier Happy is the Rose Distilled has put up a great carnival for us! Head on over and take a look! If you’d like to submit a post or two for the 27th edition, you can do so at Blog Carnival.

Woops! This edition of the Business of Freelance Writing is going up just a little bit late. But don’t worry — there’s still some good stuff worth reading here! If you’d like to submit a post or two for the 26th edition, you can do so at Blog Carnival.

Missy presents Writing on a Regular Schedule posted at Incurable Disease of Writing.

AmyM presents A First Step to Published Success…12 Novel Contests posted at 3 Questions…and Answers.

Angela BOOTH presents Make Money Writing - Write and Sell posted at Fab Freelance Writing Blog.

debergerac78 presents Of Files and Formats posted at oDesk Insider.

There are days when I really struggle with writing. When I do, I go to one particular bookshelf and pull out one of the four books listed below. No matter how bad my writer’s block is, a few pages — or a few chapters in a truly desperate situation — will inspire me to write. These four books have an amazing power to get me back on track and remind me why I wanted to write in the first place.

The Novel, by James Michener — There is very little fiction focusing on writing that actually gets through to me. I’ll spend hours reading a novel, pointing out that if a real writer worked that way, she’d be broke. But Michener put his years and years of actual writing experience to work and put together a story that rings true. Because it seems so real to me, I keep coming back to it. I think I’ve probably read The Novel all the way through once every six months since high school.

The Thirteenth Daughter of the Moon, by Stephen Nightingale — This book has absolutely nothing to do with writing, although it has an awful lot to do with storytelling. When it comes to writing a novel that sounds exactly like one of your buddies sat down with you at the bar and started telling tall tales (the kind that get taller with every drink), Nightingale is the best.

The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations — A dictionary of quotations seems like an odd source of inspiration, I suppose. And my copy is older than I am. There’s probably been all sorts of brilliant wisdom in the past few decades that I’m missing out on. But when I’m struggling to find the words to describe something, I love seeing what other people have said in the past. Even if I’m writing copy, I pull out this book and start looking up relevant words. Why a book and not Wikiquote? Well, for one thing, Wikiquote can’t be thrown. Occasionally, I need a satisfying thump as much as I need a good quote.

Anne of Windy Poplars, by L.M. Montgomery — This is the book that really convinced me that I wanted to be a writer when I grew up. I love all the Anne of Green Gables books, but Windy Poplars is so different from the rest of the series (especially structurally). It showed me that there are multiple ways to tell a story, and is more of an old friend that I revisit than a book that I reread.

No matter what type of writing your freelance business relies on, there will be a time when you struggle to find the right words. It’s important to have the resources that will keep you on track through those tough times. I’ve slowly found a few books that inspire me; one I read for a class, one I discovered wandering around the library.

I’ve been known to lend these books out. I have three copies of The Novel, just to make sure that I always have a copy on hand when I need it.

What’s on your inspiration shelf? How did you find the words that help you move forward?

This is the 24th edition of the Business of Freelance Writing Carnival. There’s some wonderful information in these links and I hope you’ll take the time to look at them. If you’d like to submit a post or two for the 25th edition, you can do so at Blog Carnival.

debergerac78 presents Pacing Plus: How to Follow, How to Lead posted at oDesk Insider.

Hendry Lee presents How Bloggers Can Collect and Make Use of Swipe File to Increase Readership posted at Blog Building University.

Ryan Healy presents Copywriting: The Goose that Laid a Golden Egg posted at Ryan M. Healy.

AmyM presents Waving the Flag…Americana Markets posted at 3 Questions…and Answers.

MBB presents Best Locations To Find Free WiFi Internet posted at Money Blue Book: Personal Finance Blog.

Missy presents Clunky: clumsy in style, form, or execution posted at Incurable Disease of Writing.

There are so many ads, calls for submissions and editors outright begging for writers with a good understanding of the sustainability movement. Your average news writer can’t just shift gears into covering green stories and neither can your average business writer. That means this niche is perfect for exploitation by any freelance writer willing to put forth the effort.

The thing about writing green is that you need to know just a little more science and engineering than your average writer. You need to be able to look at specs for a new solar panel and translate it into layman’s terms. You need to be able to look at a new soap and be able to tell consumers whether it’s really an improvement for their homes — and whether their pocketbooks can withstand the crunch.

Interested in getting started? Check out these sites to start getting a clearer picture of sustainable news.

• Hugg: This site gives you an idea of the best green stories today. It operates in pretty much the same way as Digg, but focuses on the best of tree-hugging news.
• CSRWire: This site is just for press releases on socially responsible topics, including environmentalism. It’s a quick way to find a story on a green topic.
• TreeHugger: A great site covering green news. A must to have on your daily reading list if you’ll be covering green topics.
• MatterNetwork: I’m biased, of course, because I write for MatterNetwork. It’s a great resource, though, bringing together scores of articles on all sorts of green topics.

Green writing isn’t just about articles, either. Every company wants to position themselves as just a little greener than the competition these days. If you can step up and say that you’re the green copy writing guru, the expert at sustainable buzzwords, the perfect writer for their eco-friendly project, you can pick a little green of your own.

Here’s edition 23 of the Business of Freelance Writing Carnival, right on schdule! If you’d like to submit a post or two for the 24th edition, you can do so at Blog Carnival.

Terry Dean presents 7 Step Easy Writing System posted at Integrity Business Blog by Terry Dean.

debergerac78 presents Summer Survival posted at oDesk Insider.

Ralph Jean-Paul presents How to Think Like a Visionary posted at Potential 2 Success.

Robert Minto presents Note on Day Two: How To Find Freelance Opportunities posted at The Veil Away: Robert Minto.

Kristen Fischer presents Creatively Self-Employed posted at Creatively Self-Employed.

AmyM presents An Apple A Day…Health-Related Markets posted at 3 Questions…and Answers.

AmyM presents Calling the Muse…Writing Prompts posted at 3 Questions…and Answers.

AmyM presents Everybody Wants to Touch Someone…Connecting with Your Audience posted at 3 Questions…and Answers.

Ralph Jean-Paul presents How to Network Like a Pro posted at Potential 2 Success.

This post marks the 22nd edition of the Business of Freelance Writing Carnival. If you’d like to submit a post or two for the 23rd edition, you can do so at Blog Carnival.

AmyM presents Interview…with filmmaker/screenwriter Bill Olsen posted at 3 Questions…and Answers.

Jose DeJesus MD presents Successful Business Networking posted at Physician Entrepreneur.

AmyM presents When You Care Enough to Write the Very Best…Greeting Card Markets posted at 3 Questions…and Answers.

AmyM presents 3 Ways to Keep Yourself Writing… posted at 3 Questions…and Answers.

Raivyn presents What Every Blogger Should Know About Quality Content, and How to Create It posted at Idiot’s Guide to Blogging.

I’m pleased to present the 21st edition of the Business of Freelance Writing Carnival. If you’d like to submit a post or two for the 22st edition, you can do so at Blog Carnival.

Rebecca Suzanne Dean presents 3 Small Tips For Increasing Pull From Your Sales Copy posted at Rebecca Dean.

Mark Riffey presents Who has time for marketing? posted at Business is Personal.

Amanda Moore presents Reader Question: Are Blog Carnivals Worth Your Time? posted at AMVA - Amanda Moore Virtual Assistant.

Stephen Dean presents Going Mobile posted at Stephen Dean’s Copywriting And Internet Advertising Blog - Copywriter.

Redd Horrocks-Maier presents Querying : A Brief Introduction posted at Earthlier Happy is the Rose Distilled.

Rebecca Suzanne Dean presents Miss Copy, The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and Toilet Usage posted at Rebecca Dean.

QuietRebelWriter presents Going It Alone - The Freelancing Fear posted at Quiet Rebel Writer.

Ryan Healy presents Wanted: Copywriters Who Want More Clients posted at Ryan M. Healy.