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You’ve spent hours crafting the perfect newsletter. Every paragraph sparkles, the call-to-action is clear, and the design looks sharp. You hit “send,” then wait. And wait. But the results are flat. Your open rates are terrible. The problem isn’t your content. It’s your subject line. In publishing, the real battle for attention happens in the inbox. If your subject line fails, the rest of your work never gets a chance—and that failure can mean lost book sales, empty seats at a signing, or missed freelance contracts. The Door to Your Income Think of your subject line as the front door to your work. A dull line like “Monthly Newsletter” is a locked door. Nobody enters. But “The One Mistake That’s Costing You Readers” invites curiosity, promises value, and drives clicks. As a publisher, I’ve seen the difference firsthand. A vague subject line buried an important release, while the same book, retitled with urgency, sold out in days. The subject line was the difference between a financial flop and a profitable launch. Subject Lines Are a Business Skill Some writers treat subject lines like lottery tickets: toss something out, hope for luck. But writing subject lines isn’t a gamble—it’s a craft More

We attempt to polish to perfection. The funny thing to me is that we dare think of being able to achieve perfection. Nobody does nor should they think they can. Weekly I write two editorials: the opening thought, then later the editor’s thoughts. One is more personal than the other. One tends to be more crafty or business-like than the other. Sometimes, however, I just write what’s on my mind. Sometimes I throw something together based upon my own experiences. Time pushes me each Friday to send out the newsletter, and grasping for ideas becomes difficult some weeks. You might be amazed at how many times I write something and deem it over-reaching, stupid, or something most readers wouldn’t care about. Those are invariably the topics most people resonate with. With limited time, I write what’s on my heart, hanging on the tip of my tongue, or niggling my brain. In other words, they are real and raw and fresh. I don’t have the time to polish them until they shine craft-wise. I don’t have time to weight if they are important enough. That often means I don’t have time to edit the raw, genuine meaning and feelings in those More

The submissions database Chill Subs lists over 3000 magazines and 1200 writing contests, many of the contests affiliated with litmags. Most of these are run by passionate writers and editors who work hard to champion great work, often for little monetary reward. But given the size of the market there will inevitably be some dodgy ones with the potential to exploit aspiring writers, either through incompetence or more deliberate grift. Here are some red flags to avoid… Hidden fees Some litmags have ‘tip jars’, with writers invited to donate a small fee to support the publication’s costs. But tips are optional, which means there’ll also be the option of not paying anything. Other mags transparently charge a ‘reading fee’. However, some titles ask for ‘tips’ which turn out not to be so optional. This allows them to get into the ‘No fee’ listings of key submission sites like Submittable under false pretences. In contests, the equivalent is an ‘early bird’ fee that turns out to only go higher as the deadline nears. Always check the final submission page for costs. If the fee isn’t clear until you’re halfway through the process, that’s a red flag. Vague information Watch out for litmags where More

“Have no fear of perfection—you’ll never reach it.” ~Salvador Dalí All of us seek perfection, though none of us reaches it. Improving ourselves, however, is the real goal and quite admirable. We should never stop in that effort. But all too often, we feel we cannot seek perfection so we find ways to shortcut and settle. We write without hiring the editor. We publish via ebook only to avoid the difficulty of paper. We choose self-publishing because we fear traditional. We do not promote ourselves for fear of embarrassing ourselves and not selling what we think we should, so we avoid putting ourselves out there. It’s easier to just mention the book, and hope that word-of-mouth sells enough for us to feel good about what we are doing. And lately, many are choosing AI for fear of not having the genuine, original talent to achieve on their own. (See this piece.) AI is tempting. Using it makes you look smart, intelligent, creative, and professional, but deep down inside, you realize that you didn’t do the real work. The reader won’t care, you say. If the reader knew, though, would they care? Would it impact your image? Would you be willing to tell More

In listening to a podcast this week, I almost teared up at the story of a Christmas song. It is a secular song, but then, it is not. I will never hear it the same again.   In 1939, Montgomery Ward wanted to publish something Christmassy with an animal protagonist for children of customers. Rather than hire someone outside the company, they asked someone already employed. Someone suggested Robert L. May, an advertising copyrighter. He’d never really written a children’s story, but, hey, he was a writer. May, however, was having a hard life. His wife dying of cancer, he was raising his young daughter who didn’t understand what was happening to her family. He started to decline his employer’s request, but then thought of his daughter, maybe even felt this would help him through his ordeal. His wife died before he finished it, and Montgomery Ward offered to relieve him of the task, but May completed it, for his daughter to show that even an underdog, or anyone with a difference, can represent a symbol of hope for all. As a nod to May’s wife’s death, Montgomery Ward gave him the rights to the story. There’s more to the story, More

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