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 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?
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.
This Week:
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.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve banned a record number of users from our forum. Some people think they’re clever when they create more than one identity and try to make it appear that multiple people have a complaint about company or when they complement their own posts with other like posts from “other” users. What these not-too-smart-people don’t realize is how easy it is for us to figure out when this is happening!
Hi, Ang –
Ah, Frank brings back motherhood memories…
One day when my daughter was about three or four years old, I noticed her rubbing her nose rather frantically and sniffling. I got a tissue, told her to blow into it, and nothing resulted. Something told me to look into her nose, and I was greeted with what looked like a sizeable blood clot blocking one nostril.
It wouldn’t budge no matter how much she blew into the tissue and, in my increasing panic, I “rationalized” that I somehow just had to get air into the nostril again. I prayed the clot wasn’t connected to her brain as I grabbed tweezers, made contact, and pulled out a plump purplish blob. A voice in my head told me to smell it.
It was a raisin.
Happy New Year to all!
Best,
Susan
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Hi Angela,
I had to laugh when I read the letters from other readers about what they put in their ears or nose. It reminded me of the time when I was a child visiting my grandparents and I had two M & Ms left and no pockets in my clothes. Since I wanted to save the M & Ms for later, I put them in my nose. Fortunately, my grandmother was able to get them out without a trip to the ER. These days I never save chocolate for later!
Mary Jo
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Your article reminded me of my youngest daughter, Maria, who, at two, kept pulling on me and trying to tell me, until I got it, that she had put a round thing up her nose, like dried bean. But she wouldn’t let me make any attempt to get it out with tweezers. Finally, I called nurse who live next door. She calmly, as she spoke and diverted Maria, wrapped a blanket around her INCLUDING her flailing arms that had pushed me away, and thus imprisoned her. The nurse was able to remove it easily with the tweezers – a technique to remember with very small children.
Another time she woke me up on a Saturday with this hideous blister on her hand covering her entire palm. Turns out that on our trip to see a NYC eye doctor the previous day (we’d treated her to Radio City Music Hall), she had slid her hand down the bannisters of all their huge staircases (I remember her joyfully doing that, and my husband indulging her in climbing them more than once) and had a humongous friction burn. The things you learn with kids!
I too enjoy the content of WritersWeekly. Does it get me to get my book done? Not yet, but that’s not your fault. That’s old age, a Piscean procrastinating nature and vicissitudes of moving to Florida, hurricanes, a broken arm, buying a condo, etc., etc. I miss New Hampshire, so your stories of Bangor weather, etc. are also much enjoyed.
Maggy
Does your filing system consist of random piles scattered throughout your home? Do you waste too much time looking for that lost idea or the missing interview notes? Do you have markets and guidelines in a stack on the edge of your desk, a few more bookmarked in your favorites and still others saved in Outlook?
How do I go about booking interviews with radio and tv stations and newspapers? How do I ask them in essence, “Hi, I just published a book. Would you like to interview me?”
Browsing through an edition of WritersWeekly.com on my lunch hour, I spotted an ad for an advice columnist for Illinois Magazine. My corporate writing job paid the bills, but I always wanted to write creatively. The ad stated the editor was looking for someone who could write in a “witty, insightful, humorous tone.” I had never written a column or was even published before, but I felt like this was right up my alley. I fired off a letter to the editor that outlined my background as a writer, bartender (who better to give advice?), and lifelong Illinoisan. I crafted the letter and two samples in the tone that she was looking for, but kept my own voice.
