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Having worked as a features editor for numerous magazines, head of copy for a content agency and MS/slush reader for various literary agents, I’ve looked at 1000s of pitches and submissions. One of the things that always stands out is what I call ‘quiet confidence’. The opposite also stands out, but for the wrong reasons when a writer tries too hard to impress or puts themselves down unnecessarily. Most of us may not feel very confident when we pitch; I know I don’t. But we don’t need to let editors see that – we can fake it till we make it. Here’s how. Just cite a handful of references  A confident submission doesn’t list every publication you’ve written for. Just mention two or three, with links to pieces the editor can look at for themselves. Choose a title that the editor is likely to have heard of, and a piece of writing you’re proud of. But stay relevant – if you’re pitching to write an insurance industry report, there’s no point linking to your chicklit novel or your travel guide to Buenos Aires. Respect the editor’s time Keep your pitch short, crisp and to the point – a couple of More

Recently Jane Friedman, guru of all things publishing in the US if not the world, spoke of AI in her email “The Bottom Line.” Some books were disqualified from a national award in New Zealand because they discovered AI was used on the covers. A lot of people think this is appropriate. Others say that AI is nothing more than another artistic tool. Regardless, those authors didn’t even know that AI was used on their covers, and disappointed can’t begin to describe how they felt. Jane spoke of AI as something between “the devil and the promised land,” which I think is an excellent description. As for me, I believe using it in lieu of paying a human being is not right. What I want to make note of, however, is her forecast, which I see as totally spot on. “I fear we’re headed toward greater class bifurcation, where those with the means can pay for human attention and support and those without must rely on AI.” Years ago self-published books screamed novice and all works considered good were traditionally published. The quality was indeed different until enough excellent writing sources built good enough marketing platforms to show that self-published works could be More

For a long time, I’ve learned to go to bed with a chapter running in my head. First, it helps me go to sleep. Secondly, it makes my mind work, and in the morning, especially if I go right into the shower, ideas bubble to the surface for what I need to do next. Or where I need to go back and change events. Then I came across this article containing a study about the very thing I do. https://studyfinds.org/drowsiness-enhances-creativity That in between time before you go to sleep, and the same in the morning before you wake is ripe for creativity. It’s a matter of training yourself to use it. And if you read last week’s missive from me, the study says to train yourself to record the information either on a notepad by the bad or having your phone handy, set to instantly record when you need it. Apparently Paul McCartney used this method for his work. “…as we hover between sleep and wakefulness, the conscious mind is barely active. For a brief period, our mental boundaries are permeable, and there is a chance creative insights and ideas will flow through from the subliminal mind. …this is why More

Search engines are an integral part of writing research, and often the way authors find new magazines, writing markets, or submission guidelines. However, search engines can be repetitive or biased and easily trap searchers in a scrolling loop. Here’s key advice on how to find your way around search engines. The Writing Market Search Searching for new submission guidelines was how I first noticed search engine pitfalls. I was getting the same results for every search, making it difficult to unearth magazines I haven’t submitted to yet – and for months, I was stuck on the same websites. When Raven Digitalis hired me to research unique publications and guidelines for them, I found an opportunity to experiment with how to source the most unique results. Using these tricks, I contacted new, active publications, and several like Musing Mystical eagerly reviewed Raven’s Empath’s Oracle Deck. The Trap Search engines and other websites build a composite view of you, the user, while using their site. Cookies permit websites to collect statistical data about what you search, and everything from your search results to advertisements will carry some of this influence. If you’ve just watched a YouTube video on coffee, you may be advertised instant More

I was at Edisto Beach a few years ago, and it rained all week. I mean two days of hurricane-type rain and five days of drizzle. Water dripped off the porch roof and plopped in the sand below. Ozone hung in the air. A small herd of deer walked hidden in dunes and assorted grasses, not caring in the least about being wet. My sister-in-law had returned home from being there with us, there was zero on television, and I wasn’t in the mood to write. So I sat on the back porch and watched the clouds over the water and other islands, playing what-ifs in my head. I saw a kayaker in the Sound and wondered who was foolish enough to go out in this weather. Which morphed into: What if I was an antagonist watching someone I knew floundering in a kayak though unfamiliar choppy waters of the Edisto Sound? It was off season, crazy hazy, and pouring. I would’ve known they were going out, but I chose to sit back and watch, despite the danger. Pen to paper, I described where I was and what I felt, saw, heard, smelled. . . all the senses. A fun More

Illness/shingles tried to get in the way of my writing, and while I haven’t written every day, I have managed to throw a few words together often. The motivation is mostly due to the fact I’m seeing the light at the end of the tunnel of the next book. So I’ve reverted to my old habit of going to bed and thinking about the chapter in play. I rehearse the characters, the plotting, the dialogue, and the beats. Last night was no different. At my normal bedtime, I commenced thinking of chapter 26. But I couldn’t sleep. And I couldn’t think clearly. I got up once, read a book, then returned and recommenced thinking of the chapter. As my eyes grew heavy, my mind took off. So much information. Characters behaving differently than expected. Some red herrings I hadn’t thought of before. More motive. Argh, I couldn’t stand it. I jumped up, grabbed the closest pen which happened to be purple, and snared the closest pad which happened to be the one I list Christmas presents in each year to keep up with purchases. Then standing in front of the dark television, I laid it on the stand, bend over, More

Early in my career an executive once told me, “Great story, mediocre script.” When I pressed him on what made the script mediocre, he fumbled trying to explain – how it took too long to get to moment X or that moment Y had no conflict between the hero and villain – before finally settling on the fact that, “Look, it just didn’t read the way professional scripts usually read.” I told myself his lack of articulation meant he didn’t understand. However, as I acquired more experience, I started to better understand what he meant. A viable script will have a clear three-act structure that’s driven by the protagonist’s actions and his interactions with an antagonist. This ensures that needed drama occurs as the story progresses, at a pace that will satisfy audience expectations. While sounding rote, the tried and true formula attracts studios, producers, directors, actors and others. Most screenwriters have heard of three-act structure, but too often distill it down to having a “beginning, middle and end.” This won’t cut it. Hollywood professionals see three-act structure executed in a more precise way, where certain beats involving certain characters happen around certain pages. They might not realize your first More

This newsletter has gone out for 26 years. I have missed two Fridays in that time period. I’ve been asked how I do it, and all I can say is it is such an instilled habit that a Friday cannot arrive without me wondering what’s left for the newsletter. Then I’m asked what’s the hardest part. Finding grants or markets. Culling feature submissions from so many writers. Dealing with ads, maybe. In reality, it’s writing these editorials. In the beginning I would rack my brain for new ideas. Over time, however, I developed a perpetual eye and ear. If I struggled, surely someone else did. If I hit a wall, surely someone else did. I’ve even been known for collecting enough ideas to write a month ahead. But it was not anywhere near that easy to start with. It started with giving myself a weekly deadline. To miss it was to receive feedback asking why. Then I learned rather than wait for ideas to come to me, I watched for them. Everything I read, heard, watched was fodder. I might read another editorial in another publication and wonder why they didn’t say this or that or something different. I’d take More

Several times this week, someone has told me what they write, how long they’ve been writing, and how much they love writing. They’ve finished a first draft, edited it once or twice, then deemed it ready for publication. They ask me where they can send their writing, as if that were just an afterthought, and that I kept a list of markets who always take work exactly like they write. It’s like just being able to write complete sentences makes you a professional writer. To be marketable, you have to define who you write for, and you need to stand heads and shoulders above others. That doesn’t mean just to readers. You also have to cater to who will print your work. Where are they? Who are the good ones? Who are the approachable ones? How do you pitch to them? There is a symbiotic relationship required with taking writing seriously. You have to please yourself, hit a sweet spot with readers, and impress a publisher. Let’s say you skip the publisher aspect and self-publish. That’s fine if you’ve done tons of homework on the success of traditional authors. You read tons of books. You study websites. You study publishers More

Most writers subscribe to at least one (usually more) market newsletters that provide lists of places to pitch work. In addition, these newsletters offer advice from experienced writers about writing and the business of getting published. I’ve been a subscriber to FundsforWriters since 2011, and I have what I thought was a bad habit of not deleting enough of my emails. As it turns out, this has been a blessing in disguise. I wasn’t writing short stories or essays back in 2011 so I didn’t pay much attention to the markets that catered to those genres. However, in looking for new places to submit, I searched through older copies of FundsforWriters (as well as from one other writing site). I was thrilled to find a market I’d not only never submitted to before but never remembered reading about. Podcastle narrates fantasy/speculative short stories up to 6,000 words. And I’d been looking for a home for a story I’d written on a whim. That discovery led me to review two more newsletters from 2011 and one from 2019. I found a place for an article I’d written about a small Missouri town I’ve visited on several occasions as well as a travel site interested in unique travel stories from More