28,000 subscribers

I have yet to attend a writer’s group of any kind without someone fussing about submitting and only hearing crickets in return. They’d prefer an acceptance, but if that’s not in their cards, they want a rejection, and on top of that, they want to know why they were rejected. My questions then become: – Are you willing to pay for that critique of your work, which is what it takes for someone to give you the reasons why? – Or, on a lesser scale, are you willing to pay a fee when you submit, in order to assure yourself of a response, whether acceptance or rejection? Nobody does. However, on the other hand, you are expecting a publication/editor/agent to take time away from time they could be spending earning an income, just to tell you they cannot use you, or you did not win, or you don’t fit their needs at the moment. You are expecting them to pay an employee to reject you with no gain out of it whatsoever. With some publishers/freelance markets/agents, considering the number of submissions they receive, that would take a fulltime employee. Let’s assume this is a minimum wage employee just sending out More

Writers make a living in different ways. I am lucky enough (and struggled hard enough) to have a job that includes writing: an anthropologist who works in academic research. And yet I found myself wanting to write more and differently, to be creative, to produce fiction and creative nonfiction in addition to peer-reviewed manuscripts describing research results or grant proposals to fund further research. The difficulty for me has been ensuring that I have both time and mental energy left over from the paid work to give to my creative endeavors. I think of it as establishing—and maintaining—a ‘work-write’ balance. Academia can be all-consuming, but whatever the day job, many of us are guilty of overworking. When it comes time to clock off, but the project deadline is at the end of the week, walking away may simply not be a responsible option. But what if you face a writing deadline as well as a work one, perhaps for a contest entry or a journal’s reading period? Maybe you made a commitment to yourself to finish a first draft of a chapter or a short story by midnight tonight. How, as writers-with-jobs, can we ensure that writing keeps its rightful More

The world is grappling with adopting AI in all aspects of itself. We, of course, are concerned about it infiltrating our writing. All over the web, we see writers bragging about using AI to write better. They are claiming that putting their ideas into a program, and accepting what comes out, even tweaked, is their property to submit and be proud about. That saddens me to my core. They did not struggle to improve their word choice or syntax or flow by reading great works and practicing. They instead accept these “corrections” as their property, daring even so much as to think it can be copyrighted. That is plagiarism. Literary journals and publishers are screaming about not accepting AI. Professional journals are turning down work that is AI written. Amazon is attempting to make AI writers transparent to the public. The Authors Guild has filed a class action lawsuit against ChatGPT for using authors’ fiction in feeding the AI machine without compensating the authors. The courts are beginning to see that AI material cannot be copyrighted to the “author.” Unfortunately, Grammarly promotes AI, which means FFW no longer endorses it. Generative AI to help you write, rewrite, ideate, or reply in seconds, plus suggestions to improve grammar, More

by Angela Yuriko Smith As an author, having a marketing plan is essential to earning money from your books. It’s not enough to rely on your perceptions, as this can lead to flimsy publishing plans that fall apart in the face of unforeseen events. Instead, you need to base your plans on data, specifically on the numbers that come from your book sales. You need to know how much money you’re making, where your sales are coming from, and which books are selling the best. An easy way to gather this data is to use a data analyzer such as Book Report (getbookreport.com) or BookTrakr (booktrakr.com). These tools gather sales information for all your books and organize the information for you. Once you have this data, you can use it to make more informed decisions about your publishing plans. For example, if you see that a significant percentage of your sales are coming from a particular country, you might consider investing in translations to appeal to a new set of readers. If you see that one of your forgotten titles is suddenly surging in sales, you can adjust your plans to promote it and release a sequel. With this data More

I spoke to a library group this week, and one man stood out in the audience. I wish I’d gotten his name and contact information. He was 80 years old, a retired engineer, and he’d written creatively his entire life. He’d written many shorts, poetry, and five novels. He said his time was running out and he needed to either publish or set fire to it, but in essence, do something with it. Would someone even be interested in the writings of an 80-year-old? I told him to query agents and publishers with his best, not to mention his age (after all, younger people don’t query using their age), and dazzle them with his story. Delia Owens was 70 when she released Where the Crawdads Sing. Frank McCourt was retired in his sixties when he published his debut title Angela’s Ashes. Agents and publishers just want a great story. You’re never too old or too young to pitch your work. It’s just about how you tell the story. 29653299 © Mikphotographer | Dreamstime.com

The stability of a consistent paycheck eludes many freelance writers, but scribbling out a regular column in a local rag can help address this shortcoming and provide a fulfilling sense of community connectedness. It is also more attainable than you think. (Look at the amount of your local daily’s content that is purchased from without.) A well-crafted cold pitch may work, but consider my unintentional path; it is repeatable. It began with a need to scratch an itch, lodged deep in my being by a former career in intelligence, to apply solid data, sound reasoning, and honed prose in public discussions of current events in a forum with standards exceeding those found in social media platforms. So, I regularly submitted to the editor of my local paper short letters tackling everything from agricultural initiative debates to public works decisions, from war in Ukraine to Polynesian cultural norms. They were all published, save one. With a dozen or so letters in print, on a lark, I proposed contributing regularly for pay. I leveraged my demonstrated quality of writing and analysis, and my decades of experience with the CIA, to pitch a column on national security matters. The response was quick: “We’ve More

Modern writing often goes on the internet first, and isn’t just on the tactile, tangible page anymore. When writing becomes online content, the pitch is also about the characteristics of website reading – and not just about landing a good idea. Here’s how to pitch and write content for online markets. Working On Content Shared work platforms (like Slack and Google Docs) are popular for writing today’s content, where editors might add thoughts into a shareable document to send back. Latest versions of MS Word allow for direct document sharing, too. Comments and Track Changes are tools in these programs, and expect them to become your friend. Remember to remove these, however, before the final version gets sent off. When sharing documents, make sure you share the individual document only, not the folder it might be in. Test first: click share links yourself before sending. Content Has Keywords & Links Content is indexed by search engines, and then ranked for users. Keywords, readability, and links influence how content will score with search engine bots. Basic SEO knowledge helps. Include relevant keywords (say ‘plumbing’ for an article about the topic, but don’t overuse it 45 times). Add links to reputable websites, like the New York Times rather More

Alarm bells went off when a copywriting agency asked me to write a testimonial about MyPillow, a product known for buying their reviews. Black hat copywriting is everywhere, and is meant to manipulate consumers (and swing search engines). Here’s why I left the job the moment I realized their game. What Is Black Hat Copywriting? White, gray, and black hat are cybersecurity terms applied to writing. Black hat copywriting has three intentional goals: 1. Misleading customers, 2. Misdirecting search engines, 3. Damaging competitors Companies hire black hat writers when they want unfair market advantages. In extreme cases, companies know they’re selling dangerous or untested products or scams. Often times the writers they hire don’t. For example, writing a bad review for a client’s competitor, or creating copy that sells unverified steroid supplements will need black hat writers: ethical (‘white hat’) writers won’t do it. If a company asks you to write a review for a product you’ve never seen, that’s black hat. Customer satisfaction isn’t the goal: manipulation is key for black hat writing to work as the hiring company desires. How to Spot Basic Black Hat Techniques Anything that feels like it manipulates the reader (or the search engine), More

It was never my dream to become a technical writer for government. However, government clients like the Department of Defense (DoD), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and Montana State University have taught me a valuable skillset and provided me with steady bread and butter for seven years, allowing time for personal writing projects. You don’t need an advanced degree or decades of experience. I graduated simply with a BA in Communication Studies. Working in marketing and communications for companies with tech-enabled products and services (think devices that require software or electronics components), I learned how to write content to appeal to a niche technical audience. I mostly focused on military and medical technology. These projects introduced me to TechLink, a DoD and VA partnership intermediary affiliated with my local university. Partnership intermediaries like TechLink help DoD and VA transfer their intellectual property to private companies that can then turn the ideas into tangible products. If your eyes are glazing over, grab a coffee. While it’s an acronym-heavy world, once you take advantage of these opportunities, you will never be a starving writer! With the knowledge I acquired, I started my own business to enable myself to accept contracts providing More

What should I know about author readings and book signings from the point of view of bookstores? Glad you asked. From my fifteen years working at Op Cit Bookstore in Taos, NM, I’ve learned quite a bit, being an author myself. Formerly called Moby Dickens, the locally-owned and independent shop has been in business almost four decades. In that time, we’ve hosted hundreds of author events, featuring writers of all stripes with publishers of all types: major imprints, mid-size and university presses, self-published, the works. But there’s a lot work involved. Here are some good things to know: How to contact Email is always a great first step. Introduce yourself, your book, and inquire about readings; include your website, if you have one, and any important links. Calling or visiting in person is fine, but don’t assume a staff member is able to give you their full attention. The store could be (happily) too busy. Tip: Be prepared to try a couple of times. Be patient for a response. Ask the store if they have written guidelines you can review; often these will answer most of your questions. Scheduling This is not always easy, since the availability of both store and author More