I want to thank WritersWeekly.com for the fine e-book, How to Be a Syndicated
Newspaper Columnist. I bought it about a year ago and have been taking your advice to heart ever since, submitting two different columns to various arts weeklies and traditional newspapers across the country.

I write a sassy astrology column called The Cosmic Butt Kick as well as a mainstream, family-oriented astrology column called The Cosmic Informer. Over the past four years, I’ve been lucky enough to write columns for many magazines and websites, but I was really seeking venues where I could express a funkier creative voice. I figured the best way to do this was to create an on-going column that would excite me enough to keep writing it week after week, year after year.

I’m happy to report that The Cosmic Butt Kick now has over 2.2 million readers in the US and Canada. I can honestly say that, if I hadn’t read your wonderfully clear e-book on self-syndication, I never would have known how to go about this process. Your simple standard letter of agreement, for instance, was especially useful, as I have used it with many of my clients when I signed deals with them. Besides marketing the Butt Kick, I’ve also been building a readership for my other column. It reaches some 30,000 readers at this point, and I hope to increase its audience over the next year.

It took me a while to get my columns up and going, but it was really worth it, both creatively and financially. Editors are now starting to approach me about running the column, instead of my having to seek them out (although I still submit proposals every few months to prospective clients.)

After having countless editors amputate the humor from my writing, it’s been lovely to finally be able to write something that is so fun – and profitable! Having my own column has also proven to be a tremendously useful tool in getting agents to accept my book proposals and to attract greater attention from the publishing community at large.

Jennifer Shepherd is a freelance writer with over 3000 published columns, essays, and articles. She has been the astrology columnist for Bally’s Total Fitness, Boy Crazy, and Spa, and her self-syndicated column appears in arts weeklies across North America. You can reach her via email at: astrologywriter(at)comcast.net and see her website at https://cosmicbuttkick.blogspot.com.