“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me.” –Frank Herbert, DUNE Fear has taken hold of the minds of many people in trade book publishing during the pandemic brought on by COVID-19 and rightfully so: Scholastic temporarily laid off over 100 employees, Rowman & Littlefield has ceased paying salaries to their entire company, Markus Dohle released a company-wide letter to Penguin Random House that everyone at the company will have to tighten their belts and Macmillan closed the imprint Thomas Dunne Books while laying off a number of employees… Publishers have gone as far as to push publication dates out, and authors that are having books published during these current troubled times are having to turn away from live book tour events, to online media. Outside of publishing, the world seems even scarier, and we must all remind each other that we are in this together—more than ever, we all need to treat one another with kindness. Even with that in mind, we must respect that some hold onto the view that things look grimmer than More
Nine Unusual Ways to Make Money from Writing
/ 2020-04-10Look beyond blogs and ghostwriting for unusual assignments that may be a match for your skills. Editing stories of popular writers on Medium You can make money by writing posts as part of the Medium Partner Program, but in this fascinating article , writing coach Nico Ryan describes how he makes more by fine-tuning the posts of Medium contributors whom he considers to be rising stars. He gets paid partly on a performance-based basis, so a piece that gets loads of traction will earn him more – and his client too, of course. Writing verse and jokes for greetings cards There’s a whole industry of artists and writers who supply the fresh jokes and verses that are always needed for greetings cards. Though the word count is deceptively low, there’s a real knack to coming up with good fresh material, and the pay for successful writers is more than you might imagine. Find out more here and here. Writing dating profiles Yes, this is a thing and it’s not hard to see why. If you’re not a great writer, but you’re keen to meet that special someone, why wouldn’t you seek some professional help to present yourself to best effect? Writing jokes Some radio and TV shows (such More
The Fear of Writing Poorly
/ 2020-04-03Just as a good man forgets his deed the moment he has done it, a genuine writer forgets a work as soon as he has completed it and starts to think about the next one; if he thinks about his past work at all, he is more likely to remember its faults than its virtues. Fame often makes a writer vain, but seldom makes him proud. ~W. H. Auden You might be surprised at how often an author fails to go back and revisit their prior works. If I wasn’t reading them into the Talking Book Services for the blind at the South Carolina State Library, I probably wouldn’t read my work again either. Like the quote above, reading old work opens an author’s eyes to the faults rather than the strengths. I cringe at word choices, phrasing, comma choices, and so on, wondering how many people read those spots and scowled. Every writer does it. But for some, the thought of those scowls and regrets stops them from publishing in the first place. Yet, for others, they write a first draft, correct the grammar, and publish, neglecting the layers of edits required in between. Then there’s the majority who worry where they More
Ten Lessons from Entering Hundreds of Short Story Competitions
/ 2020-03-28Do the Obvious Stuff Follow the submission guidelines. Get the formatting right. Make sure the story is anonymised if it has to be. Check you haven’t left any details in the doc from a previous contest requirement. Don’t send a 500-word bio when they want 75 words max. Look for Author-Competition Fit Contests typically change judges every year, but you still can learn the sense of story flavour that seems to do well. Some competitions will have a better fit for your work than others, so consider re-entering competitions where you’ve been successful before. Use Competitions to Free You from Creative Blockage Story contests get you writing again when you’ve been blocked. Choose one with a soonish deadline and an interesting prompt – and get cracking! Work That Title We all know the importance of starting strong, but judges wish more attention was paid to titles. An original title helps a story stand out, and too many have very similar titles, e.g., “The Visit” or “An Affair.” Also, with a very common title, if the shortlist is published without the authors’ names (as is often the case), you’ll have the agony of waiting to see if that story is really More
How to Mine a Dozen Articles from a Single Topic
/ 2020-03-20As a content writer or freelance journalist, a little learning can go a very long way. In the course of your career, you may become quite expert in a particular topic(s), perhaps because of a job you once had, or because you once had to do a lot of research or interviews in that area, or just through first-hand experience. To get more bang for your freelancing buck, you want to spin that knowledge and experience out into as many commissions as possible, so helping you save time and maximise your income. Here are a few examples of how you might do this, illustrated by reference to two very different topics: crowdfunding a novel and stress. Write a Case Study Tell a story from my own or a contact’s experience, e.g., “How I’m Crowdfunding My Novel” or “How I Went from Burnout and 18-hour Days to a Decent Work-Life Balance.” Top Tips Offer some practical pointers on a topic. Think “Top Tips for Crowdfunding a Novel” or “Managing Stress: Dos and Don’ts.” Jump on a Topical Hook If your topic is in the headlines, now’s the time for a spot of newsjacking. For example, this article detailing research that suggests More
Ten Reasons Why Editors Ignore Our Pitches
/ 2020-03-13Tired of brainstorming new ideas and pitching to publications only to hear crickets? Ever wondered why these editors ignore our ideas? Editors are intensely busy people. Their inboxes stay packed with pitches from writers like us. That’s why they select only the cream of the crop and neglect pitches that show the following bad traits. Boring Subject Lines The first words an editor reads. If irrelevant or dull, your pitch ends up in the trash. Keep the subject line short and to-the-point like: Request for Guest Post Submission or Freelance Writer’s Query No Name for the Editor Never address the editors as Dear Editor or even worse To Whom it May Concern. Instead, use their first names, or Mr. or Ms. last name. No Evidence of Research Almost every publication accepting guest posts provides guidelines for submissions just like Hope has hers here. Study them carefully and know exactly what the editors seek. Editors can tell when you have or have not read the guidelines. Unattractive Headlines You might have crafted a brilliant manuscript. but your headline failed to grab the editor’s attention. Consider reading these 9 Proven Headline Formulas by Dean Rieck to craft juicy headlines. Too Much Self Talk More
Finding Time to Write
/ 2020-03-13Protect the time and space in which you write. Keep everybody away from it, even the people who are most important to you. ~Zadie Smith You find the time to write by discarding something else in your life. I mean, I have to assume you think your day is full, right? Isn’t that what we tell everyone? We fuss about not having enough hours in the day, so we must excise something to ensure we have the time to write. I never go to a conference, and I mean that in the most absolute sense, without someone telling me they are waiting to write their story, their book, their anything. They are always waiting until after the daughter’s wedding, Christmas, school is out, retirement. I used to try to convince them that they are making a mistake. That writing can be done today, now, during any day. Of course that is assuming one is taking writing seriously. Some are beginners, but that still doesn’t mean that putting in those hours of writing practice work isn’t taking writing seriously. It’s necessary to hammer out the bad words and define bad habits before writing something for keeps, but we cannot mistake practice More
What Are the Best-Selling Screenplay Genres?
/ 2020-03-09As a screenwriter, working out the crux of your story is a daunting enough task, but let’s rewind even further. How do you determine what genre to work in? After all, this is a crucial component to creating material that Hollywood wants to buy, right? So, how do you know which genres have the best chance of selling? There isn’t some magical way to access this mysterious information, is there? Surely, the film gods keep such knowledge under lock and key! Actually, there’s good news: this info not only exists, it’s readily accessible if you know where to look. (Drum roll, please.) Ask a sales agent. They deal with film buyers around the world every day and can pass on valuable insights regarding what’s selling and what’s not. You can approach sales agents at film seminars and conferences, during festivals or markets like AFM (American Film Market), via personal contacts, or if all else fails, by cold calling with a plea for guidance. Here’s a fairly comprehensive list of Hollywood sales agents. Below are six genres that, according to a prominent sales agent I know, have consistently attracted buyers, and with no signs of abating. Gender-Neutral Action Action films have a More
10 Ways to Turn Rejection Into Acceptance
/ 2020-03-06For writers of all kinds, dealing with ideas and words that get rejected is an everyday reality. But there are sometimes ways you can turn a No into a Yes… So you get your commission, you send in your copy – but the editor or client says they’ll pass. Or you send in a bunch of ideas to a regular commissioner of your work, and they say they’re not really interested. At such moments, it’s tempting to give up. Don’t. You’ve already committed time and effort to research your thoughts or draft that copy, so try these ideas instead… Try to work out what they didn’t like. Sometimes an editor will hint that a piece could be saved with some rework, but they’re not asking you to do it because it’s more than a few tweaks, and they don’t know if you’ll get it right. But having committed time and effort already, you’re better off asking for some more detailed feedback and having another go. Offer something else instead. In discussing what didn’t work about your copy or idea, your commissioner may let slip some valuable nuggets about what they really are looking for. This is an opportunity for you to step More
How to Interview Someone
/ 2020-03-01Whether it’s for a post on your blog, or a conversation with an expert you need to write up for a content client, here’s how to get an interview written up with speed and impact… Don’t do an interview! We’re not talking hard-hitting news here. We’re talking about a conversation between two people with mutually agreed goals. Actual interviews are very time-consuming all round, so if both parties are happy to find a quicker way, go for it. Write the interview for them What you can do instead is email the subject some questions they can answer with a few bullets, which you then work up. Or you might even agree to just write up the article in interview format and get the subject to review afterward. Content writers frequently ‘ghost-scribe’ for their clients like this, especially if they work together regularly. Send questions in advance If you do need to do an interview, always send over some questions in advance detailing points to cover. This will help the subject to organise their thoughts and make for a more efficient exchange. Record the conversation Recording the interview allows you to focus on the conversation rather than type furiously and will More