I'm a self-syndicated columnist, but that's only the tip of my writing iceberg. You have to buy groceries, you know? And, I'll be darned, but my kids have this weird idea they need to eat every day. So write, I must. …
As writers, we tend to be polite. We do not like to pick fights or burn bridges or ruin contacts that we may need in the future. If we feel that we have been hard done by, it is all too easy to just let it go in order to keep everyone sweet. But we work hard for our writing, and we need to fight for our worth. …
Like all of you, I've been following Angela's recent battles against people who've been illegally printing her writing markets in their own publications. As I read what she was going through, I felt sympathy, as well as anger on her behalf. …
In order for someone to be successful, she often has to try something completely new. I became a successful paid speechwriter just by "going out on a limb" and attempting something novel and different. …
Although things seem to be looking up, our economy is still on shaky ground. These days, it seems nearly everyone is looking to save a buck or make a few extra ones. The good news for us as writers is that this new frugal mindset provides a whole new avenue of writing opportunities. …
Submitting that first story can lead to so much more if you open your mind to the possibilities. When I had my first child I began writing about the parenting/motherhood experience. I sent my stories to my local newspaper, which bought and printed every one. People got to know my writing and my children were an endless resource. I wrote about giving birth, raising children, first day of school, on looking for heroes-universal topics that speak to a wide audience. …
Success Story will return next week. Have a Freelance Success Story to share? We pay $40 on acceptance, non-exclusive electronic rights only. Success stories run around 300 words but we're very flexible. Our guidelines are here: https://writersweekly.com/misc/guidelines.php ADVERTISEMENT BAM Advanced Fiction Techniques: First Pages There are three basic ways to hook readers. Do you know what they are? …
I have five children and over the last few years, I've made thousands of dollars writing about them. I write about our oh-so-precious "awww" moments, and I write about the times when they make me feel as though my head will explode. …
Several months ago I self-published my first novel, Cyberkill, through BookLocker. It has recently been acquired by a traditional publisher called TrapDoor Books. …
I was raised in a middle-class, university-educated, secular Scottish home, while a friend of mine grew up in a sprawling and deeply religious Texas family. I'm always fascinated to hear about her marriage, her experiences at Bible camp, and her rebellious and reactionary adolescence. I realized that she was equally interested in my life with my girlfriend, and dealing with my father's mental health issues. She thought that her life was normal and slightly dull, just as I thought the same about mine; yet to one another, our lives were completely different and completely fascinating. …
Success in life is often about timing. Being in the right place at the right time, or filling a precise need, can shift your life where you least expect. …
Success Story will return next week. Do you have a success story you'd like to share with our readers? We pay $40 on acceptance - non-exclusive electronic rights only. Success stories average around 300 words. Our guidelines are HERE. …
Success in life is often about timing. Being in the right place at the right time or filling a precise need can shift your life where you least expect. My experience working as a correspondent for a daily newspaper is an example of that. I reaped exposure, a folder of clips, and learned much about pleasing numerous editors... …
A new writer can hardly expect to be handed a more or less sure thing, told to put his mark on it, and end up in print. But, by putting myself in the way of an opportunity, that's not a bad account of what happened to me. …
As a beginning writer, I wondered, "What do publishers want?" I lacked funds to attend conferences to ask editors in person, but I found answers in the publishers' books. …
My career as a writer followed a predictable path. I began writing for local magazines "for fun", did a stint as a stringer at my local newspaper, then began moving up the writing chain to larger markets, and more well-known publications. I was willing to try any kind of writing …
As a rule, I don't say it. Yet, when a source, editor, or publisher wants to talk with me on the phone, it's got to come out: "I'm deaf." …
I wouldn't recommend it as a way to jumpstart a career but the truth is that after I was divorced my writing income began to grow, exponentially. …
I blundered into writing historical novels from an eccentric starting point - contributing to a military blog, or mil-blog. In 2002, I began writing for a mil-blog that had been started by an Air Force mechanic. This interested me because I was myself retired from the Air Force. All that was required to write for the blog was to be a veteran or active-duty military - and to write. I liked to write, had opinions, and a background in public affairs as a military broadcaster, so I took the plunge. …
I'm usually a stay-at-home mom and freelance writer, but since this school year has started and the flu has been so widespread, I've been asked to substitute teach at my children's school a lot more often. While it has really cut into my writing time, my husband and I were pleased to have the extra income. That is, until we realized that I was actually earning more money when I stayed at home and wrote during my free moments throughout the day. This was quite a surprise, realizing that writing was paying me more than a "real job." …
Henry David Thoreau must contribute to this introduction, for his words sum up the heartbeat of my writing. "If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours." …
Several years ago, I created and analyzed four years of submission spreadsheets - time of year, average length, genres, and markets - in order to improve my fledgling part-time freelance career. Then, I looked at how I spent my non-writing time, and made a startling discovery: The years I read more, I wrote more. The more I wrote, the more I submitted and the more I published. …
New writers are often instructed to "write what you know." That doesn't always help, of course. Without research and interviews, I never would have been able to write about the making of Kentucky bourbon (unfortunately, no tasting allowed) or the value of metaphors in medical hypnosis. Yet, it has been priceless advice at other times. Especially with one major event in my life. Writing about something I sadly did know resulted in two books and a new tangent in my career. …
I was watching my local news on TV one evening, and saw a story about a family in my area who had adopted nine siblings out of the foster care system. This adoption was the second-largest in my state's history. And of course, the writer in me thought, "What a great story! I wonder if any magazines would be interested in their story." …
Sometimes you have to think out of the box...the bookstore box, that is. …
The current recession reminds me of why I pursued a freelance writing career and have never regretted my decision. …
Segueing from teaching into freelance writing, I've had but one goal ... to get published in …
The last time I argued with my muse, it landed me in a writing slump for months. I hid it well, bringing resurrected pieces to my weekly writing group, and sharing market news and contest announcements with fellow writers in lieu of new stories, articles or essays. …
Sometimes we writers, especially fiction writers, make our job harder than it needs to be. We would force feed our readers the literary equivalent of chicken Cordon Bleu when they would be happier…
For nine years, I was a kindergarten teacher. I loved the kids and I loved teaching, but in 2007, after discovering I was pregnant - again! - I resigned from my position. I had always dreamed of being a stay-at-home mom, and now I finally had the chance. …
Several years ago, having cornered the then-limited market for country-music journalists as a freelancer, I had come to an acceptance of the going rate for my work being rather embarrassingly low. …
Trade journals often compete for advertising dollars. After writing for a trade journal for a decade, I became an industry expert and quite in demand among the competitors. But after 10 years of covering trade shows and connecting with my readers, the business relationship ended when I was asked to stop writing for another media company whose readership overlapped so slightly with that of the other company. They didn't want to see my name in the other publication. …
My own foray into freelance writing came quite by chance in 1973. I was in college studying art, and was looking for a part-time job on the weekends. I went to our local weekly newspaper, thinking they might need a graphic artist. They didn't. What they did need was someone to be in the office Saturday mornings and if I could write, they also needed a freelance weekend reporter. I jumped at the chance to do both. …
