I received an email yesterday titled “Everyone can write, publish & earn rewards.” Sounds like an ad for frequent flier miles, doesn’t it? I knew what it was about, so I opened it feeling anxious to slam a site that believes writers don’t deserve to earn money for a living.
“How to get published,” read the course title in the community college brochure. At 57, I’d always loved writing but never considered selling my essays. I learned a lot from the course, but my publishing “career” would have to be put on hold.
You’ve achieved the goal of goals-your book is finally in print. You’ve celebrated, heaved a giant sigh of relief, and reveled in a bit of glory. Okay-so now what? Do you kick back, put up your feet, and live the life of Reilly? Certainly not! My dear authors, your work has just begun! It’s time […]
The Autobiography of Donna Kozik by Donna Kozik. It was my first work, written when I was about seven years old. It was complete with cover illustration, a Swingline stapler binding and thorough, albeit brief, storytelling. My mother thought it was the best thing she ever read.
Recently one of my students posed the question, “How do I become a fiction writer?” I thought about it for a while – there’s no real obvious answer. The urge to write fiction seems God-given for some, a learned skill for others. One thing is certain – it requires practice and a particular mindset. But, […]
You’ve come up with a great idea. You’ve got some unique characters. You think it might be possible that you’ve thought of a series. How do you convince a publisher? The publishing industry is driven by money just like any other. Publishers and writers both want to make a living. One time honored way to […]
I recently moved into a new apartment and was working on my electronic equipment budget when it struck me that my freelance work had appreciated in value in the past 12 months. After drawing up a list of items I need to buy, I worked on finding the money required. A profile sold to Bona magazine would pay for the new video machine, while a career article sold to Cosmopolitan would pay for the microwave oven. A personal essay on single parenting would replace my old washing machine. The realization that each piece I write could potentially buy me a brand new piece of furniture was exhilarating.
It’s that time of year again. With brand-new calendars and the joy of writing “2003” on our checks, we set writing goals for the year. Let’s see, “This year, I will actually finish the novel I started each of the last five years,” or maybe “This year I will send at least ten queries every […]
Don’t miss MJ Rose’s new class, Start Your Novel Today!, now available at WritersWeekly.com. Don’t miss this fun, interactive class! Let MJ Rose show you how to start your novel today! See: This article may be freely reprinted/redistributed as long as the entire article and bio are included. Once upon a time authors did not […]
Sometimes a story just knocks on the door and invites itself in. That’s the way it was with my time-travel novel, Souleiado. It wasn’t the first novel I’d ever written: that distinction went to Houdini, a young-adult novel about a stray cat who makes good and whom late writer and activist Cleveland Amory was kind enough to call ” a sweet, loyal soul. And a brave one, to boot” when he read it. No, Souleiado was the novel that demanded to be written — the one that was born out of the grief and loneliness that followed my husband Tim’s death in a car accident.
