Self-Publishing Leads to Traditional Contract By Tom Douglas

I am a former full-time journalist born and raised in Canada who went the freelance route a few years ago. That’s one of the reasons I signed up to receive the very worthwhile (no apple-polishing intended) WritersWeekly. I read it faithfully every week and thus, when I first read about Booklocker.com’s offer to digitally print my book at a reasonable price, including formatting, cover and help with distribution, I collected together a bunch of short stories I had written over the years (two of which had been published in Canada’s largest daily newspaper, The Toronto Star and one that had received an honorable mention in the Writer’s Digest Short Story contest).

Whispers and Warnings For January 19th

This Week:

Grandma’s Gone

Richard’s grandmother has returned to Texas after staying with us for a month. We were very sad to see her go. She loved visiting…but she’s in her 80’s and “always cold” and wasn’t too keen about our temps dipping below zero on most nights. On the two occasions when we did take her out in the snow (once out to lunch and to get her hair done and once to greet troops who were passing through the Bangor airport), she was terrified she’d slip on the ice and she shivered during the entire trip. But, she really wanted her hair done (you know how we women are!) and, being a WWII veteran herself, she was very excited about greeting troops who were returning from the Middle East.

Deadbeat Editor Giving You The Run-Around?

Does an editor or publisher owe you money? Are they giving you numerous excuses and even claiming to have already mailed the check? Here’s what you should do…

When To Fire Your Editor By Barbra Annino

Most seasoned freelancers know the rules on keeping an editor happy. Read the guidelines, never exceed the word count, Meet deadlines and go the extra mile. But what if you do all that and you still get treated like something that stuck to her shoe?
Then it’s time to fire your editor.

Is It Okay To Query By Email?

Is it okay to send query letters and requests for guidelines to editors via email? It makes perfect sense to me, but I also know how easy it is to hit delete when that email box is full! What do you recommend?

Purr-fect Tale By Nadia Ali

Trying to find something to write about that sells is always one of my stumbling blocks. You always hear it being said, that inspirations lies at your feet or, on this one particular day, my cat Cici draped across the top of my keyboard. And that’s when it clicked. Why not try an article on a cat? After all I am a proud owner and one who has gone through enough adventures with Cici to share my knowledge with others.

Whispers and Warnings For January 12th

This Week:

Breathe In, Breathe Out…

The holiday mayhem has ended and we’re breathing a big sigh of relaxation. While I do enjoy the holidays, taking down the decorations and preparing for a new year is very cleansing for my soul. We did absolutely nothing all weekend and it was heaven! I did cook a nice dinner on Sunday. I hated cooking years ago but now I find it very relaxing and, when I’m making something fun, it’s a great outlet for my creative side.