As I checked on a previous FFW newsletter from a couple of weeks back for information about a publication opportunity, something occurred to me. My email history held a years’-deep stash of FFW issues. With excitement, I spent hours following the trail revisiting these old issues going several years back. Frankly, what was old became new again for me. Not only did many of these issues read as fresh, but so did the insights, contest recommendations, and publication resources. I had hit the jackpot.

FFW and Beyond

When I had exhausted my supply of FFW archives, I moved on to another writerly newsletter, Winning Writers, to peruse hundreds of contest recommendations. Then, I moved on to Authors Publish to scan for publishing opportunities, where I stumbled onto Owl Canyon Press, which hosts an annual Short Story Hackathon. I entered in 2021 and my story was included in the winners’ anthology. And so on, until I had collected plenty of bona fide opportunities.

In some cases, you’re playing a long game as I did in securing a literary agent for my picture book concept. I submitted to a publisher rediscovered through an FFW issue, and though Familius ultimately passed on my story, this publisher helped me refine my picture book concept so that my story was in good shape to find a home with my current agent.

Speaking of the long game, the publisher of Owl Hackathon Press recently wrote me a recommendation letter for a scholarship for the Iceland Writer’s Retreat so submitting to Owl Canyon’s Hackathon paid off initially, and years down the road.

Don’t Just Dive, Organize

If you don’t have hours to dive down a rabbit hole, I suggest organizing all of your previous writerly-type e-newsletters in a folder as they come in. Unroll.Me is a great tool I’ve used not only for organizing my e-subscriptions, but keeping the ones I want front and center to make it easy to dive back in to my writerly publications. Perhaps many of you already do this. It’s a good habit to develop with all of your favorite newsletters.

Rediscover Your Spark

Your email inbox is a time capsule. Dug up time capsules resurrect memory. However, they can also spark momentum for the future. Sifting back through newsletter or email archives in a focused, meaningful way – meaning poring over one layer at a time – can be an authentic recall to your writer spirit. Slowly and deeply inhaling these past layers of your inbox life can put you on a path to achieve goals that may not have called to you the first time around – whether that’s submitting to a writing contest or applying for a much-needed writing retreat or something else around your writing.

In my case, it was a boot camp for writers  I had not fully investigated the first time it was sent to my inbox. However, later that year when I hit a funk in my writing, that seed planted sprouted and not only did I apply for the boot camp – I received a full scholarship to attend. The boot camp jumpstarted my writer’s momentum, and I was able to breathe fresh life into a 20-year-old novel manuscript and rework it to suit today’s publishing industry.

In the case of 100+ FFW back issues, it may just send you in the direction of your keyboard where you could write that first (or last) sentence that changes the course of your writing life.

Because what’s old can be new again. And could even be better the second time around.

Bio: Jennifer Leeper is a former newspaper journalist, and current author and copywriter. She has written and published mainly adult fiction in literary and crime mystery genres. However, she recently secured an agent for a couple of picture books, and is excited for new writing adventures in children’s literature. http://www.thepoisonofwar.com / X- @IamJenLeeper1 / https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJenniferLeeper/ Instagram: @jel7769 /
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-leeper-20713659/