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... …
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... …
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... …
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... …
Most people I've interviewed for newspaper and magazine articles enjoy speaking with me. They're passionate about the topic, desire publicity or simply like chatting. Others aren't like that... …
About 48 hours after I sent out a press release for my book through a major distribution service, I was thrilled to find two calls from TV show Special Guest Coordinators on my voicemail... …
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... …
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... …
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. …
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... …
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? …
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... …
I have a regular conversation with a freelance friend and it kind of goes like this: She laments not being able to find work. I say hit the job boards because that's where I find them. She replies that she's tried it and it's hopeless. I believe her... …
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... …
Spread the good news! Write for a Christian market... …
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... …
An evergreen topic is a common one that people want to keep reading about, year-after-year. How can you persuade editors to accept your queries on evergreen topics? …
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... …
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 is a business and writing for examiner.com doesn't appeal to the businessperson in me... …
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. …
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... …
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... …
Writers are often put in a position in which being right has little to no consequence on the process, and in fact can even result in losing a job. …
Why is it so much easier for freelance writers to secure contracts with start-ups than with established blockbuster magazines such as Vanity Fair, U.S. News and World Report or MAD? The main reason, I reveal with disgust, is that whereas the blockbusters will definitely wind up paying you, the start-ups very well may not. …
When a short story writer thinks of sending out her stories, she usually thinks of sending them to literary magazines such as The Missouri Review, Zoetrope or The North American Review. And, if she has her sights set very high, she might try submitting to The New Yorker. But how often does she think of sending fiction to places like Hemispheres or Country Woman? I wager not very often. My question is "why not?" There are great publishing opportunities and a lot of money to be made "off-the-beaten-path." Below are 14 paying, out-of-the-way fiction markets... …
There are certain essentials every writer needs in order to be successful... …
I've been a teacher of writing for 25 years in colleges and universities. I began writing for education markets five years ago when I wrote and published three editorials at The Adjunct Advocate. This week, I sold an article to an education journal about using disability literature in writing and reading classrooms. I've found (and hope you will, too) that the education market is a booming platform for inspired articles about all aspects of education. …
As authors with books, we can learn from client advisors. True, what each of us really wants is to sell is a 328i or a romance novel. But the manner in which we do our selling is key to staying credible and authentic in a society that is filled with irritating sales folk. Plenty of authors push their paperbacks as though they are better than immortality. This can be exhausting for the customer. The real question to ponder is, do you care about your readership? Does it show? …
Are you bilingual, or perhaps trilingual? Maybe you lived or studied abroad. Maybe you were raised bilingual. Whatever the reason, do you consider yourself fluent in your various languages? Can you jump easily from one to the other? If the answer to those two questions is yes, then you might be able to become a translator. …
Have you, as a freelance writer, ever considered taking an extended writing vacation? A holiday where you travel to a sunny, exotic, far off country, set up your writing shop, and continue to pound out your articles, stories, and books, while escaping the short, gray, rainy winter days back home. Sounds like the sort of thing Ernest Hemingway and R.L. Stevenson would have done, doesn't it? …
Environmental writing is becoming more mainstream, and it's a great way to expand a freelance article writing career, but it's also fraught with risks. …
How can freelancers get assignments to cover important breaking news stories? During most of my freelancing career I felt I was on the outside looking in as magazines and newspapers assigned their staff writers to cover breaking news stories. It's often difficult for freelancers to get assignments to cover important breaking news stories. Many, if not most, don't even try. The query submission and review process takes time. Most assignments are given to newspaper and magazine staff writers because of time constraints. However, freelancers can surmount this problem and win rapid acceptance of their queries, or sidestep the querying process completely. The ongoing BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico provides interesting case histories on how freelancers can win breaking news story assignments. …
