Success Story

Speak and Be Seen By Monica A. Andermann

Published on January 4, 2012

As writers, many of us prefer to dodge the spotlight. We don't relish the idea of getting out in public and speaking about what we do for a living, perhaps preferring to remain behind the shield of our computers where we work in blissful solitude. I know that's how I felt. But one morning when I stubbed my toe on that big cardboard box filled with contributor copies of various anthologies, I decided it was time for me to move those books out into the world. And the way to do that? I had to hold a book signing event... …

County Fair Gig Leads to Corporate Writing Client By Greg Goodmacher

Published on December 14, 2011

County Fair Gig Leads to Corporate Writing Client By Greg Goodmacher

The editor of an online magazine requested me to write an article about a nearby county fair. The payment was low, but I decided to write the article anyway because spending time at the fair on warm, sunny day would be enjoyable, and writing the article, my first one for this magazine, might lead to better opportunities. Both of my expectations were correct. …

MAKING THE MOST OF A CHANCE ENCOUNTER By Cynthia Bombach Helzel

Published on December 7, 2011

A few years ago, I decided to get back into serious freelancing after a five-year hiatus. One of my first goals was to write for the newspaper that had kept me busy with regular assignments throughout the 1990's. I assembled a resume package with an upbeat cover letter and some of my best clips. Then I mailed off the packet and waited for my phone to ring. And waited. And waited... …

Go With The Flow By Katie Datko

Published on November 30, 2011

What began as a hunt for work as a yoga instructor six years ago has continued as a career path in writing. A simple search on CraigsList.org with the key word YOGA pulled up a website looking for writers. Within 2 weeks I was a paid writer for a spiritual website... …

Yes, I AM an Expert! By Valerie Benko

Published on November 17, 2011

When my neurologist diagnosed me with Multiple Sclerosis two months before my 30th birthday, I thought of one thing - what's going to happen to all of the stories I want to tell, but haven't found the time to write? …

Writer, Hunter, Christian By J.Y. Jones

Published on November 9, 2011

I'm a hunter, writer, and Christian. I've hunted in about 40 countries (no African hunting yet), with several forays to above 15,500 feet and one up to 17,500 feet, so I'm no stranger to altitude... …

Getting “In” with Web Designers By Angie Papple Johnston

Published on November 3, 2011

For some of us, web content is where the money is. We create splashy advertisements, buy fabulous websites, and waltz into local businesses to announce, "I can get people to like your website." All of that takes time. A lot of time... …

My Success with Balancing Book Writing By Dorit Sasson

Published on September 28, 2011

My Success with Balancing Book Writing By Dorit Sasson

With three book projects, family obligations and teaching, I needed a system to account for my time and maintain productivity. Lately, I've been experiencing a lot success implementing these ideas... …

Writing Anecdotes as a Stepping Stone By Diane Stark

Published on September 21, 2011

For the past year or so, I've been trying to break into a certain glossy women's magazine. I've sent multiple queries, but every one of them has been rejected. Many of them have been the "good kind of rejection," although if you ask me, "good rejection" is an oxymoron. I've gotten several personal rejections, where the editor said I was getting close, but my idea wasn't quite right for their magazine. Encouraged by their words, I kept sending out those queries. But the rejections - good kind or not - kept coming... …

Let Your Writing Be Your Passport By Marlene Caroselli, Ed.D.

Published on September 7, 2011

You've heard of "perfect storms"--that unique combination of events that leads to unexpected outcomes. In the 80's, I had my own perfect storm. That was the era when Total Quality Management (TQM) was sweeping the country--some would say sweeping the world itself. The founder of the movement was Dr. W. Edwards Deming. When he first proposed the concept of continuous improvement, American firms ho-hummed it. So, he took it to Japan. The Japanese were willing to listen--they had nothing to lose. They needed something to restore their war-ravaged economy. TQM, a process-oriented approach, transformed Japanese products from the shoddy to the superior. Not surprisingly, Dr. Deming is revered there. Once the high-quality of Japanese products became legendary, American firms re-discovered Dr. Deming and began applying his techniques to American manufacturing. TQM made me realize I had to start offering training programs that touched upon the elements of the movement. Up until then, I had mostly been providing seminars on communications-related topics. But I knew that, to stay in business, I had to broaden my knowledge and broaden the the types of courses I could offer clients... …

Don’t Quit Your Day Job By Laura Roberts

Published on August 24, 2011

The words "Don't quit your day job" are usually meant as an insult, but what if this overused phrase were actually the key to new opportunity? …

Breaking Into the World of Music Journalism By C.M. Saunders

Published on August 17, 2011

There are two things that have thus far dominated my life. Rock music and writing. I thought long and hard about how to combine my twin obsessions and make them profitable, and the obvious answer was to be a music journalist... …

Going to the Dogs By Nadia Ali

Published on August 10, 2011

Then one day, a friend of mine related a dispute she had with her husband over ownership of their dog and asked me to look up information for her. Having done some browsing, I was amazed to see how much information was available on the internet. My interest peaked and I did some further research to find information for a feature... …

Making The Books By Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy

Published on July 13, 2011

Somewhere, tucked away in a cedar chest or closet shelf, my mother still has the "School Days" scrapbooks she compiled for my school years. The small, bound book offers a page to record the details of each school year from kindergarten through high school. A picture of me graces each entry along with notations about who my friends were, what I liked, and what I wanted to grow up to be. After the third grade on, the same career goal appears - author. At such a young age, I knew what I wanted to do - write stories and books... …

Expect the Unexpected By Diane Stark

Published on June 29, 2011

For a few years, I've had a really great idea for a children's book. It was one of those ideas that wouldn't leave me alone. It kept me awake at night, just begging me to write it. So although I wasn't a children's writer, I knew this idea was too good to ignore... …

Making Lemonade: Embracing the Typo By Jill Pertler

Published on June 22, 2011

Typos happen. I make every effort to prevent them, but I can't change the fact that I am human, making me imperfect and prone to the occasional (however seldom) typo. Cringe. My first advice is to avoid typos whenever you can. Proof everything you write and then proof it one more time. Be diligent and meticulous in the battle. I try to be. Despite my best efforts, however, sometimes typos creep into my copy. A well-intentioned "then" typed as "than" is left undetected by spell check as well as my ever eager eyes and a typo is born. An error in the body of an article or column is never good news. I can only think of one thing more disastrous: a typo in a query. Can you imagine? …

Making Fast and Easy Money Writing Fillers By Barbara Weddle

Published on June 15, 2011

When I first began my writing career, I was so excited by the mere thought of being published that I never gave a thought to making money at it. Being published was reward enough for all my hard work. But then I decided I liked the idea of checks popping up in my mailbox now and then... …

FAITH-FULL WRITING: Expanding Into the Christian Market By Monica A. Andermann

Published on June 8, 2011

FAITH-FULL WRITING: Expanding Into the Christian Market By Monica A. Andermann

In the first years since I left my desk job to pursue writing freelance, my personal and inspirational essays found homes in several anthologies and in some magazines, too. Yet suddenly I found myself feeling tapped out in that arena, as though my supply of heartening stories was running dangerously low. At that moment, I examined not only what I was writing but why I was writing. I wanted my words to have a positive impact on the reader's life... …

I’ve Never Stopped Learning By Pamela Moeng

Published on June 1, 2011

From infancy, my parents read to me and, when I could string words together to read 'See Jane Run', they provided me with a wealth of reading material. My parents' home was full of adults' and children's books - both fiction and nonfiction. But cereal boxes, toothpaste tubes, my dad's evening newspaper and my mother's magazines were also devoured... …

Who Knew? I Turned Out to Be a Writer, After All!” By Harriet Michael

Published on May 11, 2011

1976 - Our nation celebrated its bi-centennial anniversary. My town held a writing competition. Students from several area high schools wrote short essays called "Bi-centennial Minutes". I participated because I had to...it was a required assignment in my English class. A few weeks later, a reporter and a photographer from the local newspaper walked into my school and interviewed me - because I had won the competition! …

Writing as a Coping Mechanism By Rayda Jacobs

Published on May 4, 2011

Born in 1947, I grew up in apartheid South Africa. At the age of five, my parents divorced and a writer was born. Skin color - even a fair complexion in a Muslim family - separated people in those days. My brother and sister bonded and I was left out. I was a loner and found solace in reading books and scribbling things down in a diary. The diary was comforting. It was a place to retreat when no one listened... …

How I Finally Landed My First Book Contract in the Educational Marketplace By Dorit Sasson

Published on April 27, 2011

It was music to my ears to finally receive an email from an editor of a big educational publishing house who wrote, "I would love to work with Dorit and her manuscript, Greater Collaboration for K-5 English Language Learners." Initially, I thought this contract had everything to do with the fact that I found the only K-12 agent listing for educational publishing in the United States but I realized it had everything to do with a marketable manuscript. Breaking into educational publishing for this newbie writer was one of the hardest lessons to learn but here's what I did to increase my chances of acceptance after 100 drafts (and counting!). …

Freelance Freedom By Kathleen Krueger

Published on April 20, 2011

Friday, February 11th, 2011 was marked on my calendar as my first official day as a full-time freelance writer. No other job to go to. Just my words to bring in the paycheck... …

Getting out of My Comfort Zone By Diane Stark

Published on April 13, 2011

For the last few years, my articles and essays have regularly appeared in several of the regional parenting publications. There is one editor in particular who is especially receptive to my ideas. I usually query her first, and if she's interested, I write the story. After she prints it, I re-submit it to other regional parenting magazines around the country. (Most of these magazines buy just one-time regional rights, meaning I can sell the same article to any other magazine as long as their readership does not overlap. For me, this generally means I don't send the piece to two magazines in the same state.) Regional parenting publications pay modest rates, usually about $50 per article. But since I was selling the piece to multiple magazines, I was making a few hundred dollars on each story. I was happy with that...until my husband got involved. "What about these magazines?" He asked me, pointing at the glossy parenting magazines at our local bookstore. "Have you ever sent any of your stuff to them?" I shrugged and shook my head... …

Never Stop Promoting Your Book – Even Five Years After Publication By Marion Cuba

Published on March 30, 2011

Never Stop Promoting Your Book – Even Five Years After Publication By Marion Cuba

When I first published my historical novel, I promoted it full steam ahead. I garnered reviews from small-town papers (including my home town, which gave a huge article with pictures) and from authors writing on similar subjects. I hosted book clubs; spoke at venues around the country; and at libraries and bookstores here in New York City. I sold a few thousand copies, which is very good, I'm told, for a self-published book. Then I eased up my efforts and focused on writing my next book... …

It Pays to Communicate By Juhi Basoya

Published on March 23, 2011

Writing is as much about communication as it is about expression. I learnt this the lucrative way when I inadvertently got involved in a client's ongoing project... …

Write What They Want By Kimberly Hutmacher

Published on March 16, 2011

I spent the first four years of my children's writing career making solid progress in the magazine market but failing to sell a book. I read books. I took classes. I wrote numerous picture book manuscripts and submitted them to several publishers. I worked hard, but I wasn't getting anywhere... …

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