Articles

Being Honest About a Project’s Commercial Potential By Rich Mintzer

Published on May 11, 2011

The American Society of Journalists and Authors holds an annual writers conference each spring in New York City. One of the three days always intrigues me. It's the day in which they have what is called the Personal Pitch. This is an opportunity for writers to meet face to face with editors, publishers and agents and pitch ideas for books, blogs, articles or whatever they have to sell. Pitches need to be concise as this is almost akin to speed dating, except we need not determine that we both love walks on the beach... …

Effective Bidding Pays Off By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

Published on April 27, 2011

Effective Bidding Pays Off By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

An editor or client will likely ask for your fee someday. It's a heady moment, but keep your wits about you. You don't want to mess this up, especially if the project will take awhile, or represents a stepping stone to more work. …

Reality Check: 7 Questions to Ask Yourself before Quitting Your Day Job By Patty Harder

Published on April 13, 2011

Reality Check: 7 Questions to Ask Yourself before Quitting Your Day Job By Patty Harder

Before I launched my freelance copywriting business, I spent three full months planning my escape from corporate America. (Four months if you count the month I spent over-thinking whether I should quit my day job . . . or not.) I read Peter Bowerman's book, The Well-Fed Writer, cover-to-cover. Twice. I built a website and created an online portfolio. I converted my rarely-used formal living room into an office. And I planned my business implementation strategy. These early efforts paid off. Within 90 days of starting my business, I had replaced my full time income... …

Educational Travel Writing: What Is It and How Can I Contribute? By Isabel Eva Bohrer

Published on April 6, 2011

Educational Travel Writing: What Is It and How Can I Contribute? By Isabel Eva Bohrer

Guidebooks, restaurant reviews, advice for backpacking and luxury vacations alike...to most people, this is what springs to mind under the travel writing umbrella. And, of course, the notorious narratives by Paul Theroux, Bruce Chatwin, and other famous travel authors. Educational travel writing, however, is a niche that fewer people are familiar with... …

Query Rejected? You May Not Have to Take No for an Answer By John K. Borchardt

Published on March 16, 2011

After I've sold three or more articles to an editor, I will sometimes telephone an editor to find out why she has turned down my latest query. Sometimes when I finish the phone call I've made a sale. The tactics I use to accomplish this depend on why the editor rejected my query. Sometimes the editor tells me that she does want an article on a subject but prefer it be slanted differently. We discuss the slant she prefers. Sometimes when we hang up I rewrite my query giving her the slant she prefers. When I do this I usually end up with an assignment. …

How I Broke into Professional Membership Society Magazines By John K. Borchardt

Published on March 9, 2011

Almost every profession has one or more professional societies dedicated to the career and specialized knowledge interests of its members. Many of these organizations publish magazines dedicated to these interests. These magazines often pay freelance writers and do not require them to be members of the organization... …

Writing a News Release? By Don Baumgart

Published on March 2, 2011

When you're writing a news release for a client, you should be thinking like the reporter who will eventually read and use the information. What will help him or her write the story? If you make the writer's job easier, there's a better chance your message will make it into publication... …

The New News: Paraphrasing or Plagiarism? By Gail Kavanagh

Published on February 23, 2011

There is a disturbing trend on some content sites that could leave writers, and the site owners, open to accusations of plagiarism. It is the act of rewriting and paraphrasing stories that appear on genuine news websites, such as Fox News, where working journalists have gathered the facts and presented them as a news story... …

Publishing Your Book is NOT Enough! By Jim Gilliam

Published on February 9, 2011

There is a tried and true maxim in the SCUBA diving community: "Plan your dive, and dive your plan." This sage piece of advice is also applicable to our community of authors... …

Commit Random Acts of Writing By Susan Sundwall

Published on February 2, 2011

Not too long ago I was given the opportunity to participate in a random act of culture at a nearby mall. I counted myself and a few friends among dozens of singers who gathered at the appointed hour at Crossgates Mall in Guilderland, New York, stood up when the music began, and belted out the Hallelujah Chorus. People stopped eating their burritos and pot stickers to stare and some even smiled and took pictures. I loaned my modest alto to the effort and our whole group was rewarded with thunderous applause at the last hallelujah. It was quite satisfying. Since then I've tried to apply that "random" mentality to my writing... …

Mommy Knows Best By Eric D. Goodman

Published on January 26, 2011

When you publish a book and want to bring attention to it, it's a good idea to get some reviews and create some buzz. Traditionally, writers, publishers, and publicists target mainstream media. But, sometimes it pays to go right to the source... …

Resolutions Worth Writing About By Eric D. Goodman

Published on January 5, 2011

As I took my son for a walk through the neighborhood recently - the winter weather temporarily rising from the 20s to the 60s - there must have been a hundred discarded Christmas trees lining the curbs. Possibly enough to heat the entire city for a day! It made me realize something: the holidays are definitely over... …

How to Get a Large Online Bookstore to (Finally!) Fix Your Book Page By G.R.

Published on December 22, 2010

I was SO excited! After two years, I'd finally finished revisions to my newest non-fiction book, and even had scored an interview with a major metropolitan daily. I was all set to promote the new edition to buyers of the first edition, as well as to new readers. Publication day came. I updated my website, and was ready to roll - except for one hitch... …

Free Online Publicity Increases Profits By Stephanie Ann

Published on December 15, 2010

In these high tech times, a blog or web site is certainly a useful marketing tool to maintain an online presence that promotes your book. However, unless you have millions of followers for your web site, you need online exposure beyond your own blog and Facebook page to reach people who aren't aware of your book. Here are some of my favorite free ways to promote a book online. …

Get Paid to Help Local Businesses Promote Themselves By John-Manuel Andriote

Published on December 8, 2010

Very few small, locally owned businesses - such as family-owned restaurants, local museums, and medical practices - have someone on staff to produce the kind of high-quality marketing and promotional materials that companies need to succeed. Writers who are skilled storytellers, and can show readers in words why a subject is worthy of their attention, can provide a valuable service, and make good money by writing marketing collateral for small local businesses... …

Novel Strategies for Using Press Releases When Writing By John K. Borchardt

Published on December 1, 2010

Novel Strategies for Using Press Releases When Writing By John K. Borchardt

Press releases give me a lot of article ideas. Writing shorts based on a single press release used to be a major part of my freelance magazine writing business. Online news sites were particularly lucrative. However, over the last several years I have found that it has become more difficult to get queries based on a single press release accepted by editors. Several other freelancers I have spoken with have said the same thing. Why is this? What strategies can you use to get article assignments based on press releases? …

The Real Insight into Travel Writing Perks By Roy Stevenson

Published on November 24, 2010

The Real Insight into Travel Writing Perks By Roy Stevenson

Everyone thinks that travel writers travel the globe for free, fly everywhere first class, stay in resorts and spas, and get pampered at every destination. This can happen although it is getting rare. The days of magazines paying all of your expenses for trips are long gone... …

Five Ways to Boost your Holiday Income By Debbie Swanson

Published on November 10, 2010

Five Ways to Boost your Holiday Income By Debbie Swanson

As a writer, consider yourself lucky come the holiday season. With a little creative thinking, you can offer some unique twists on your usual writing services to pad your pocket just in time for the upcoming shopping frenzy... …

Why Google Alerts Are Helpful By Diane Craver

Published on October 20, 2010

Long ago, in less digital times, major corporations and public figures paid a lot of money to companies to grab any mention of its clients in hundreds of magazines and newspapers. Today, you can do this yourself for free by using Google alerts... …

Want The Best From A Writer? Pay Them! By Dawn Colclasure

Published on October 6, 2010

The saying that "time is money" applies to many of today's working writers. The time they spend doing work for free is time they could be spending earning that much-needed extra income with other writing assignments. If a writer knows they'll be paid for something, they'll likely put their best effort into the work they do. I was reminded of this recently while working on a book project. I stated up-front that I was not paying writers for their contributions (which were quotes, interviews and short pieces). After some time, however, I finally "woke up" and realized that writers who contributed original material they wrote just for this book should be paid for their time and effort... …

Freelancers Can Benefit by Using PR Consultant Resources By Laura Bell

Published on September 22, 2010

Some writers tend to look down their nose at the PR side of the world of publishing. I can remember in journalism school how PR folks were referred to as flacks. The real truth is that journalists and PR consultants are really after the same thing... …

Writing and Selling Devotionals By Kim Sheard

Published on September 8, 2010

Are you familiar enough with Biblical principles to write 100-400 words revolving around a scripture passage? If so, you can earn up to 20 cents per word with the single publication of a Christian devotional. …

Set the Stage for Success By Shirley Raye Redmond

Published on September 1, 2010

If you've recently sold or purchased a home, you may be familiar with the hottest trend in moving real estate. It's called "staging" and involves demonstrating creative combinations to attract potential buyers. Many real estate agents even hire professional "stagers" to make properties-for-sale more attractive to potential buyers. They rearrange furniture to create flow and energy. They de-clutter dens and bathrooms. They might brighten a black coffee table with a vase of white roses to make the living room "pop." Why go to all this trouble? To make a sale, of course, and to help clients see the potential in a particular property. Staging works! By modifying the techniques, I've sold children's book manuscripts on topics that have already been covered pretty thoroughly-including one about fairies (yes, another book on fairies!) to Random House... …

Writing or Editing for Non-Profits: When to Say NO! By Jordan Swift

Published on August 25, 2010

I recently walked away from a public arts organization that billed itself as a non-profit literary journal. It took other staff members and artists to wake me up. The poetry editor quit due to the senior editor's unprofessional attitude, while artists that I contacted simply said NO to publishing their work for free. The "we'll pay you when we get a grant" job involved accepting all submissions, but I tried to be selective. In reality, I never got any quality submissions (unless you count the senior editor's regular submitters) and it was for many reasons... …

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