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Writers with experience in specific subjects are encouraged to use their niche, especially when breaking into the writing world. Holly Lisle used nursing experience for her debut novel Sympathy for the Devil, Justin Gustainis turned bodyguarding experience to supernatural fiction for Black Magic Woman — and if you know more about a topic than other authors, freelancing could help pay your bills. Here’s how you can write what you know, illustrated with my journey through playing card writing. Blogging Reaches Readers Not only readers but also possibly publishers and agents. I started writing posts for BridgeBlogging in 2017. A publisher later got in touch with a longer job offer – and today, the site is part of a larger company that I’ve often written for. The Niche My first bridge article introduced me to a wonderful editor. We wrote more features over several years and the connection stuck. I remember that it started with that first post, and the phrase: “Sold!” Persist and pitch. Then over time, as I published more, I was introduced to publications like IntoBridge via its readership. Message boards (like BridgeWinners) and discussions like Reddit are clues to your niche’s roadmap. What are people reading or More

In a recent success story, T. Jensen Lacey had a curious thought, dared ask for an interview, and dared pitch the piece. See what resulted. Her daring-do got her a fantastic assignment. (See Below) I once noticed a turf grass magazine. Keep in mind my degree is in agronomy, so there are still areas in the field that catch my eye. I had the idea to investigate odd ideas centered around turf management and came up with two ideas. One about green areas grown atop of university buildings for environmental and aesthetics, and the other about how to properly maintain cemeteries. Both sold. It’s a matter of watching the world and seeing it in terms of feature stories. How do they do that? Why do they do that? What made they think like that? What if they didn’t do that? Just basic questions like these can open your eyes to feature pieces that many magazines would embrace. Feature pieces are about seeing the magic, creativity, and intelligence in the world. They don’t drop in your lap. They are all around you. You have to possess (or develop) the mentality that everything in your path is fodder for a story. A More

I was recently asked by a local magazine to write about my opinion of AI. It wasn’t a paying gig, but just a way to remind the local community who I was and that I lived among them, writing my books. I turned it down. I have a lot of fans in this area. Some understand I am as anti-AI as it comes. Some do not. I am anti-AI in terms of creative writing, academic writing, and just about any kind of writing. I look down upon people who use it. I refuse to purchase articles in which AI assisted. I find it hypocritical for teachers to not want students to use it, then use it themselves. In other words, I could preach this loud. But in that audience I’d be preaching to are people who use AI, who teach using AI, who cheat using AI, who think AI is here to stay, and who believe it’s considered creative writing to use it to better create a masterpiece. A lot of those people read my books. Every one of us has political, religious, cultural, educational, and other issues that we feel strongly about. Sometimes we feel we have the right More

Resistance. Bookmarks. Dragons. Dreams. These are just a handful of examples of recent or pending “themed” submission calls posted on the Publishing . . . and Other Forms of Insanity web site, one of my go-to resources for submission venues. In my own writing, themed calls have played a key role in idea generation and sales. Brainstorming related to specific themes has generated a number of poems and short stories I might not have otherwise written. But what are the keys for success? I turned to authors on the Science Fiction Canada list-serve, as well as three anthology editors, to gather their thoughts on themed submission calls. In the Beginning Many of the writers who responded to my questions about themed calls noted they are selective about which calls to respond to, and they focus on themes that generate ideas they feel enthusiastic about. For some, the first step is to check whether a draft or finished story in their inventory might fit the call’s parameters. Others brainstorm new ideas. Science fiction author Robert Runté noted that often “one of [his] three usual casts of characters will muscle in and suddenly [he has] a story idea that fits into that universe.” The universe being the More

Victoria Strauss of the Writer Beware blog, has been around for ages informing writers how to not get taken by the less than reputable entities out there in the publishing world. In her latest article written for Writer Unboxed, titled Cheated, Swindled, or Scammed: What’s a Writer to Do?, she gives you options on what to do once you have been bamboozled. However, the best way NOT to get bamboozled is to: 1) Learn the ins and outs of publishing, from self-published to hybrid to traditional; 2) Research to the nth degree anyone you intend to go into business with; 3) Learn who an entity has done business with/published in the past, and reach out to them for opinion/testimonial/advice. You would be surprised, however, at how many people do NOT do one, two, or all three of the above, then afterwards get upset at not receiving the services they expected. A lot of people hang out a shingle as a publisher. Any kind of publisher. They can call themselves any of the three types and still scam you. Being called indie, hybrid, or traditional does not mean they are not scammers. I had a lady recently tell me at an event that she More

We writers often stay in our own wheelhouse, our comfort zone. We stick with topics that allow us the ease and knowledge to keep money flowing in. Therefore, the articles and essays we write often come from the wealth of information we’ve gathered over the years. But what happens when creativity for those same topics stops? What if you’re bored with your writing? That happened to me last year. I would start writing an article and then stop. I’d start an essay then put it aside. Nothing I wrote excited me, and I knew if I wasn’t excited, no one else would be. Since my income depends upon my ability to write, I came up with a five-week game plan that helped me break out of the rut. Step One Since I’m a subscriber to FundsforWriters, I challenged myself to write for one market in each week’s newsletter even if it was something I didn’t normally write about. I read the guidelines, did some research, and jumped in. Soon, I found myself looking forward to the weekly newsletters even more. Recently, I wrote and pitched to Insider Freelance about grocery shopping! Step Two Then, I wrote out a list of topics I More

First, I don’t believe in a muse. I believe you write or you don’t write. If you feel you need to be in a mood to write, then conjure up the mood. Candles, music, coffee, bourbon, whatever. Make it happen instead of waiting for it to happen. There are some days where you sit down and you’ve got nothing. You feel like words have bottled up someplace you cannot see, and to write would only create a mess. There are some days you don’t bother to sit. You don’t even want to face the screen, much less type. It doesn’t feel like fun. It doesn’t feel motivational. It doesn’t seem worth the effort. So you find something else to do. You are at a crossroad. It is at this moment that you define whether you really want to write. Writing is not easy. It’s not supposed to be. Good writing is agonizing, over time, during the times you least want to touch it. Writing is not this exercise that makes you feel alive, scrumptious, and smart. While there are moments like these, they are not the average moments. Most of the time, you ponder, delete, rewrite, curse, and stack words More

I’ve written about a plethora of topics over the years, but metaphysical, occult, and spiritual writing is a more specific authorship path. Only you can decide if it feels right for you. In case you aren’t sure, here’s how to branch into metaphysical writing, and why it can be fulfilling. Understanding belief systems in writing There’s a Venn-diagram crossing paganism, naturism, wicca, the occult, and metaphysical topics like crystals or tarot. Spirituality (paganism) isn’t akin to wicca (religion), or metaphysical topics that do not require a religious basis. There’s a lot to sift through and a lot to respect. I’ve interviewed the Tarot Museum (Gifts for Mystics), but also wrote about the Holy Bible translated into Zulu for The South African in 2023. The point is to achieve careful balance and write respectfully. If you don’t share an opinion, cover the topic without bias, and document with resources, like you would any subject you land as a writer. Interviewing the cream of the crop Interviews sell, especially when they’re topical (for new book or tarot deck releases) or with key figures considered experts. I’ve interviewed pagan founding father and eccentric Oberon-Zell Ravenheart (Gifts for Mystics). I also interviewed founding figure Raymond Buckland (Penton Press), as one of the last More

Crowdfunding has been around for decades. It’s a manner of telling the world what you have to offer, how you intend to make it successful, and asking for financial endorsement. Many genre fiction writers self-publish by earning funds to do so via crowdfunding. The largest crowdfunding tool to use is Kickstarter. There are thousands of projects on the site, so start by going under Publishing. Then search for the projects category that interests you. I used FICTION in this link. Then I broadened the search to UNITED STATES and sorted by MOST FUNDED, because I wanted to see the successful campaigns/books. (See here) There are some serious projects here. On this search I did, the books were funded well over 100% of their requested amount. Some as high as 4000%. That’s exciting. However, what I want you to see is how these campaigns were formed. Link into each of them and see what they are offering, how they offer it, the rewards they offer, and how they make themselves appealing. I suggest Kickstarted. Now, they request that your campaign (you have to declare the dollar amount you need) has to be totally funded before they pay out to you. As More

Literary magazines have been around for hundreds of years and feature a writing style different from what we commonly read. Many writers may see this style as a barrier and, therefore, never pitch these types of magazines. This writer is here to tell you there’s opportunity! Is this writer the kind who graduated from a writing program with an MFA? No. Is this writer someone who has gotten published in literary magazines? Yes. Read on. Before you take a leap into literary magazines, remember that they are difficult to break into. Most maintain high standards and will automatically reject your work if it’s not there. Others only publish writers who have either an MFA or an MLA. Most of these types of publications also prioritize writers who have received a prestigious writing award or been awarded a fellowship. If this isn’t you, then stay with me. In order to surpass the barrier to getting published in a literary magazine, consider these tips: Not all literary mags are the same While most of these publications publish a more academic style of writing, there are others which don’t. In fact, some of them, such as Longleaf Review (https://longleafreview.com/) and The Stinging Fly More