|
Changing newsletter hosts?
Our newsletters are delivered via
Aweber.com, a reliable, spam-free newsletter service. If you are considering a
new newsletter host, please click above, and tell them Hope sent you.
VistaPrint is the supplier of FundsforWriters
business cards and postcards. Very simple and inexpensive for quality products.
Use this link to order and receive a discount offer.
Our new ebook release - Agent in Your Pocket
- 140+ agents and lots of agent-finding advice. PDF format
A new ebook release - Short Story Writer -
240+ paying markets for your shorts. and tons of writing advice - PDF format
| |
Double Your Query Power
by Susan Johnston
There is no right or wrong way to brainstorm for story
ideas, but there are a few ways to maximize your output.
Many writers start with a story idea, then shop around
for the right publication. Others set their sights on
breaking into a certain market, then brainstorm for story
ideas that might sell to that market. By working in both
directions, you'll discover unexpected story ideas and
never miss an opportunity to sell a story!
Using the first approach, let's say you're interested in
writing about a new restaurant in your area. You would ask
yourself questions like these to determine what type of
publication to query and what angle to use.
* Is there a local angle? Yes, the community where the
restaurant is located
* Who would benefit from this information? employees who
work in the area, teenagers who are looking for a new
hang-out, families who like to go out on Sunday evenings
for dinner, or others hoping to launch a restaurant
* What are the possible social or economic implications?
Maybe the restaurant is part of a larger trend like veganism,
comfort food, retro diners, or business execs-turned-
restaurateurs. Or perhaps it's part of a neighborhood revival.
Drawing from above, this idea could be spun many different
ways: a feature about the owner for the local business journal,
a restaurant review for a local magazine, a newsletter piece
for the neighborhood business association, or a trend article
about restaurants catering to vegans but making the food
accessible to everyone. There now, you have at least four
ideas to run with.
Unfortunately, not all ideas fit this neatly into a
publication. Since an article is no use if it can't find
its way into a publication, sometimes it's helpful to take
the opposite approach and start with your target media outlet.
I've found some unusual magazines and websites by mining other
writer's websites and seeing where they've contributed. If the
website doesn't have a direct link, I just google "Texas
Parenting Digest" or "Coin Collector Monthly" to see if it's
still in print (unfortunately many will not be). Since we're
on a food kick, we'll use Cooking Light and find a story by
asking -
* Who are its readers? health-conscious adults and families
who like to cook
* What information is useful to them? trends in health,
exercise, and nutrition, profiles on how families and chefs
are integrating healthy cooking into their lives, tidbits
about food, travel, and family
* What information do I have that the editors might not?
A friend who's a nutritionist and just happens to have written
a book about cancer and diet (ok, maybe not, but you probably
know someone who's an expert in their field), a funny story
about low-fat cooking gone awry, that hidden gem of a bakery
in your hometown that sells gluten-free pastries and fair
trade chocolate (remember when you interviewed the budding
restauranteur? She exchanged business advice with the bakery
owner and she'll gladly put you two in touch)
Now you have several potential article ideas and if Cooking
Light doesn't bite, you could repackage your query for other
food magazines like Food & Wine, Healthy Cooking, and Living
Without Magazine (which is geared towards people with food
allergies like gluten). You could also try the food section
of your local newspaper or a regional publication. Working in
both directions, from story to publication and vice versa,
gives you twice as many options for story ideas.
BIO
Susan Johnston is a two time National Scholastic Writing
Award-winner whose writing has appeared in numerous print
and online publications. Read more at
www.susan-johnston.com .
| |
The Shy Writer: An Introvert's Guide to
Writing Success - trade paperback and ebook - ISBN 1-59113-583-4
Time to order your 2008 Bylines Calendar - only
$13.95
Hope's Blog!
Not too long with a paying opportunity and a
tiny smidge of news and opinion. One of the most concise and informative blogs
for writers on the web. Voted one of Maria Schneider's 20/20 Blogs in 2007!
READ THE BLOG
Hope's Columns Elsewhere -
Your ad, book or service can be placed here.
See our
Ad Rates for both the web site and the
newsletters.
Paying contests, grant calls, agents and
publishers seeking submissions, writing jobs and markets listed in the
newsletters and on web site for no charge.
Send to Hope.
|
High Hope for the Freelance Writer