Published on March 9, 2005
Your book title is very important. It encapsulates the essence of your book in just a few words. Like choosing a name for your child, selecting a title for your book is a critical decision. Just as your child is known by his name for a lifetime, your book will be known by its title for its entire publishing history. Even before you sell your book, its future title can help attract the interest of a literary agent or publisher when you include it in query letters. It will also appear on the first page of your book proposal. It’s never too soon to start creating a possible title for your book.
Published on March 9, 2005
What are the legalities of publishing letters received from others?
Published on March 9, 2005
Call it dumb luck or beginners luck, but when my first try at writing resulted in a fifty-dollar check for a twenty-five word true story I sent to a romance publication–about our talented dog Puff, it gave me reason to pause. Then when another $50 dollars arrived that same year for a small filler I wrote for a celebrity tab–about our adventurous bird Petey, I knew I wanted to be a writer, but not necessarily in the pet department.
Published on March 2, 2005
We are SO proud of our our son, Frank (age 12)! He received a $25 gift certificate to Amazon for Christmas and he’s been hanging onto it until now. He brought it to me today and asked me to order him a bag of Owl Pellets.
Published on March 2, 2005
We were recently approached by a firm wanting us to post a “job ad” for them. The ad involved hiring writers to email pre-written articles. These “articles” were promotional and the emails would be unsolicited, meaning the writers were being hired to spam others.
Published on March 2, 2005
This Week:
- Janet Shares Hint On Providing “Samples”
- A “Free Book” To Review Isn’t Respectable Payment
- Spewing Venom At Editors
Published on March 2, 2005
When our family relocated from Tennessee to Vermont, I was confident I could keep landing assignments from my southern editors. I wasn’t so sure, however, if I could successfully continue teaching creative writing to homeschoolers-something I had been enjoying for five years. By asking myself the 5 W’s and the H, I found answers that not only satisfied my itch to teach, but also met a legitimate need in my new community.
Published on March 2, 2005
A few years ago, while on a committee at my parish, I gave a talk that detailed my spiritual journey. A friend found the talk intriguing and repeatedly pestered me to get it published. “Uh-huh,” I thought, “as if it’s that easy…” But when I spoke with my spiritual director he also encouraged me to seek publication. Eventually, I sent my story off, assuming nothing would come of it. Although I’d always thought of myself as a writer, I’d long before given up thoughts of writing professionally.
Published on February 23, 2005
Ali’s basketball team made it all the way to the finals on Saturday…but they didn’t win. It was a real nail biter and Ali was very happy to win 2nd place in the league. Zach’s team made it to the semi-finals. Needless to say…we spent the entire weekend at the YMCA!
Published on February 23, 2005
After I ran last week’s article, Don’t Argue With Editors After Rejection, I received an irate email from a woman whose article was recently rejected. (Contrary to our guidelines, she’d submitted an unsolicited piece without querying first.) She called my writing “a sham of an article.”
