It’s tempting to sell first rights to an article a couple of times — just changing the title and maybe a bit of the text. It used to be that no one would notice. But it isn’t ethical and it’s fairly easy to get caught.

Many editors run any articles they get through any of a number of plagiarism checkers as a matter of course. It cuts down on their liability and they can catch problems very quickly. Depending on the contract they hold with their writers, editors can do all sorts of nasty things if they find a writer has committed plagiarism, and if they were contracted for first rights of some variety, all sorts of hell can be let loose.

Even worse is the damage to a writer’s reputation. No writer wants an editor to comment negatively when his or her name comes up, but it’s guaranteed to happen in a situation like this. Heck, this is the sort of story an editor might bring up at lunch with other editors, creating a sort of informal blacklist.

So, how can a writer reuse articles and information without getting into hot water?

• Reprints — Depending on the original publisher’s contract, you can often sell reprint rights and continue making money off of the same article over and over again.
• Rewriting — You can write about the same information over and over again, as long as you write it differently each time. This can actual help you to gain a reputation as an expert on a given subject.
• Portfolio — Use these pieces to emphasize your skill as a writer. Slap them into a portfolio and show them off.
• Awards — There are awards for published travel pieces, business writing and everything else under the sun. Why not enter your excellent pieces to contests and see if you can win some prize money?

It’s all about reusing your work without infringing on rights you’ve already sold, as well as a few ethical considerations. It’s just not the right thing to do.

Since I get to blather on about writing here, I feel like blathering about good writing every so often. Today, I’m going to run down some of my recent reading and whether it’s worth running out to the library, etc. for a copy. So, get in, sit down and hold on.

Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson (275 pages)

This is Jackson’s grand debut (her second, Between, Georgia came out last year and a third, The Girl Who Stopped Swimming, is due out next spring) and is absolutely classic book club material. I’m not saying that it’s not a decent book, but there are lots of little questions of perception and meaning that are ripe for discussion. To that end, there are even a couple of pages of discussion questions at the end. Brilliant decision, in my mind. If you have a book you can market to reading groups, hurray! You’re guaranteed bulk sales.

The topic is grade A book club material as well, and one of my favorites: the classic Southern revelation of family secrets. Jackson handles it well, swinging between perfect humor and unreasoning violence. There are a few “this has to be her first book” moments, but over all, it’s a pretty decent read.

The Dark is Rising (The Dark is Rising, Book 2) by Susan Cooper (244 pages)

This is the second (and main) book in a series of five. When I was growing up, it was also one of my favorites: today, kids want to live in Harry Potter’s world, but I wanted to live in Will Stanton’s. A few weeks ago, I saw the trailer for David L. Cunningham’s adaptation of the book, and was utterly horrified. I felt the need to re-read the book to affirm that it wasn’t total crap when I was a kid (unlike my expectations for the upcoming movie).

Accolades to Cooper as a businesswoman and all that. But I have to question her decision to lend her name to a project so obviously different from her novel. I’m all for making money, but a lot of fans of her books are going to be very disappointed.

The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries (P.S.) by Marilyn Johnson (244 pages)

This is one of the best books about the written word I’ve read this year. Johnson’s review of the obituary writing trade turns up some real beautiful techniques, and showcases brilliant examples. I’ve always considered obituary writing to be a sort of way for a newspaper to test out a new writer (and I’m sure you have, too), but it’s obvious that obits can truly be works of art. For any freelancer working on profile writing, get a copy of this book. It’s a fabulous instruction manual.

I bet you didn’t even know that there was a freelance resume conundrum, did you? It’s pretty basic – the typical resume format of objective, skills and as much employment history as you can come up with just doesn’t work for freelancers.

Say Betty is a freelancer – she has a regular gig writing for a local magazine, and another one blogging. On top of that, she’s always querying magazines and she has a fair number of clips. Now, in theory, it would be nice if Betty could get jobs based solely on those clips, because your writing abilities should be more important than how long you wrote for Regional Auto Magazine.

But a lot of editors want to see a resume, especially if you’re querying out of the blue. So, how can we give them a resume that doesn’t make us look like flakes that jump from publication to publication?

How about a template better suited to our needs?

• List your name, email address and phone number.
• Throw out the objective. If you’ve written an excellent query letter, you shouldn’t need an objective.
• List publications your material has recently appeared in. A bulleted list should do well here. Think CV here, rather than resume. You can also list projects, such as PR campaigns here.
• Your skill set should include styles you’re familiar with (AP, Chicago, etc.), topics you can write about effectively and any other related skills.
• Include relevant work history, but don’t clutter it up. If you were a technical writer in corporate America, include it. If you flipped burgers, don’t.
• Education is, of course, required. I’d recommend including internships and certifications under education, rather than giving them their own section.
• You can list any affiliations you hold, such as the Freelancer’s Union or the Association of Women in Communication. It’s not necessary, though.

That sounds a lot less stressful than making Betty wonder if she should include that month she spent as a contractor with the local public relations agency under her work history.*

Make sure that you have good clips to send out with your resume, however. Examples of the excellence of your writing are more valuable than the most polished of resumes.