Published on June 29, 2005
We had a wonderful (albeit short) vacation that, sadly, ended on Monday. We stayed at four campgrounds in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. I didn’t find much time to post to wirelesstrips.com on this trip. I did most of the driving and was really trying to focus on relaxation, not work. Driving a 32′ RV is quite challenging on the back roads, and that’s where most of the driving took place. I don’t like to drive on freeways, so Richard took over when we did find ourselves on a big highway.
Published on June 29, 2005
Angela,
I noticed you did an article on ads in books.
Ironically, I am currently holding an eBay auction for that very purpose. My auction made Adweek Magazine! You can read about it here: https://www.theopenpress.com/index.php?a=press&id=2328.
The Adweek article is here: https://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/adweek/20050620/ad_bpiaw/shoptalkonechapteratatime.
You can see my auction here: https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5592706975.
Just wanted to let you know that some authors are effectively doing this! Thanks for your great article!
Michael T. Owens
Published on June 29, 2005
As a starving writer in New York City; you’re supposed to say you’re a writer even if you earn your keep shelving books at Barnes & Noble on Union Square. So okay, I’m a writer. It’s just that I write direct mail, not books, for a living, even though I’ve published quite a bit. Hardly a household name, my essays and poems have appeared in inspirational anthologies, obscure literary journals, upbeat writers’ e-zines and alternative monthlies nobody’s ever heard of outside of western Pennsylvania, San Juan, Toronto and parts of South Africa (and I’m not making that up). The exceptions are a couple of paragraphs about the Chartres Cathedral that ran in Glamour – one of those “our readers write about their fab vacations” things for which I was not paid – and a piece at Salon.com which earned the distinction of “soft-porn pap” in a famous columnist’s blog. I was thrilled; at least he read it.
Published on June 29, 2005
Just found your website. I have been offered a 6 month or 1 year contract for a novel I wrote. The literary agency asks for front money. Can you please tell me if this is legitimate, or if I am being duped?
Published on June 29, 2005
When I wrote A Guerrilla Manual for Adult College Students, I never imagined that I would actually make much money on the deal. I wrote it mostly because I thought a few prospective adult college students might get some benefit from all of the years of mistakes I made when I went to college as an adult.
Published on June 29, 2005
This Week:
Published on June 22, 2005
On Thursday, when Frank was about to leave with Zach for the dentist, I told him, “Tell the doctor to pull that last baby tooth. It’s been hanging on for two years and you can’t get braces until it comes out. It’s time for those braces so let’s just get it taken care of…”
Frank’s eyes got as big as pancakes and, before I could even finish my sentence, he said, “I’ll pull it out myself!” and he ran from the bedroom.
Published on June 22, 2005
Letters will return next week.
Published on June 22, 2005
I couldn’t have been more excited when my query made its way through the slush pile last fall to be accepted by an editor at Budget Travel. I was even more elated when that same editor accepted my second query on the spot a week later. That this editor took the time to send me a hand-written note, praising my writing prowess on the first story, was icing on the cake.
I was all set, to paraphrase Casablanca, to begin a beautiful writer-editor friendship. I was just in the middle of preparing a flurry of new queries for this editor when I received the dreaded news. As soon as he finished editing my second story, he would be moving on to other things, things that didn’t include Budget Travel. I wouldn’t have been as disappointed if this editor had transferred to a different magazine, as I could have followed him there, but he was leaving to become a freelancer so where did that leave me?
Published on June 22, 2005
About a year ago I came up with a brilliant idea. I was going to write an advice column for twentysomethings and every newspaper and magazine was going to want my column in their publication. With my newfound career as a columnist, I just knew I was going to be able to lay back and make a killing by writing my world-renowned column. I did my research on how to submit a column, wrote my query and six sample articles and after sending it to two papers and getting turned down because of budget reasons, I became discouraged. I don’t have much patience (what twentysomething does?). Then I got my new issue of WritersWeekly.com and read the success story, I Am the Publisher by Pamela White who started a food ezine. I began to think: Why should I wait for the papers to realize my column is a great idea? To heck with them, I’ll do it myself. That is when Twentity.com was born.
