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After nearly a decade of writing for children, I’ve learned that children’s magazines are a great way to gain money and exposure for your work. Parents and librarians still buy plenty of fodder for their hungry young readers. Perhaps this is why children’s magazines tend to pay quite well (by fiction standards) and have a […]

You spend hours researching your topic. Then you spend time writing a query letter and finding potential magazines to pitch. How can you write successful travel stories that will have a better sell factor to magazine editors? Use this screening technique to examine story feasibility and turn ideas into successful travel stories that get published. […]

I witnessed a pouty meltdown by an author the other day on Facebook. Someone bashed her book. And instead of walking away, being quiet, or ignoring the remark, she took the challenge and replied to the person, then she went to her peeps on FB and replayed the situation, ripe with vitriol and frustration. “People […]

Hollywood is structured much like a kingdom. Celebrities are treated like royalty while agents and managers serve as their courtiers. Top-level producers, directors and writers make up the rest of the nobility, with varying strata of professionals below them, all the way down to the film student serfs struggling to survive on an internship. The […]

Cause Example: A writer doesn’t accept a speaking engagement because it’s too far away. Cause Example: A writer doesn’t accept a signing gig because they are too nervous. Cause Example: A writer doesn’t submit to a contest because they don’t believe in entry fees. Cause Example: A writer doesn’t go to a conference for fear of looking too […]

Forty years ago, while taking a college course in children’s literature, I set out to write a children’s book. But my career as an elementary school teacher interfered, and my publishing dreams evaporated. When I became a mother of a child with a disability, the next twenty years blurred the boundaries between order and chaos. […]

“Keep it (pitches) short and sweet and to the point. Editors get hundreds of pitches every single day and if you can help them get to a “yes” fast, do it.” ~Six-figure freelance writer Mandy Ellis, https://www.mandyellis.com/ Yes, the key is to write such a pitch as to make the editor sigh with relief at […]

Contract bridge is a four-player, dual-team card game. When I first wrote about bridge, most people didn’t get it yet – but this year, seeing a Family Guy skit about bridge, the references certainly appear to be more mainstream. Makes me smile, because writing in this niche for over seven years has held strong for […]

Creating art is heart-pounding and daring when you put it on display. Whether art, dance, or writing, to take what you’ve practiced long and hard to accomplish, takes intense courage to present it and make it subject to criticism and praise. “To create one’s world in any of the arts takes courage.” – Georgia O’Keeffe […]

Pitching is an incredibly important part of freelance writing—as important perhaps as the writing itself. That being said, have you ever given thought to the timing of your query, article, or essay? Timing your query, article, or essay for a holiday, especially the big holidays such as Thanksgiving or Christmas, is a no-brainer. You submit […]

An individual wrote me asking this in pretty much these words. They had a children’s book out, a month or more old and hadn’t garnered a single review. They asked how to get reviews and how to get their book on a list that others would see. So many writers push to get a book […]

I had a philosophical discussion with someone this week who didn’t like the way a particular state they visited did certain things. I don’t want to get into a political discussion here, so I’ll keep it general. I also won’t mention the state. I’m a rather live and let live type of person. I told […]