3 Tips for Searching for Magazine Markets…and 10 Travel-Related Markets

When you're a freelance writer, you have to constantly search for more markets, better paying markets and markets that offer you more and better exposure. Knowing how to conduct a thorough market search is key to a freelancer's survival. Here are a few tips I've picked up from my own experiences and from other writers.

Why not mix it up?

Writers, especially beginners, write their words then look for the perfect spot for them. That works, but don’t forget to reverse the flow. Looking for a magazine where you would like to publish can open your mind to hoards of ideas and you never know when an editor might be waiting for you to come along. So when you find a magazine you like, drop an introductory email to the editor. If you have a story idea, include it briefly - one or two sentences - but if you don't, give a short list of appropriate credits. The editor could have a story waiting for a writer, but if he doesn't, you've opened a door for future queries and potential sales.

You read it, but can you write for it?

Never neglect your own favorite magazines when you're doing a market search. You already know who the target audience is. You know the tone and style and you know what's been covered before. A perfect match, don't you think? Of course, you can't convince an editor that you're right for his magazine just because you subscribe, but it will help to mention it along with your stellar bylines and sample clippings. He'll see the benefit in hiring a writer completely familiar with his readers.


How do you find guidelines online?

You should always go to a magazine's website directly to find the most up to date guidelines. Sometimes the editors spell out current needs or post an editorial calendar. So even if you use a directory like WritersMarket.com to find your list of magazines and a write up for each title, remember most directories update once a year, maybe twice and rarely quarterly. They can't afford to do it more often so your best bet for current information is on the magazine's own website.

Some magazines will make your life easy and put a button or a menu item saying "guidelines" or "submissions" on the front page. Others want you to prove you really want them and hide the guidelines somewhere in the depths of the web. If there is no front-page button or menu item, look for the FAQ page. The link to the FAQ page is usually on the front page or connected to the "Customer Service" page. I have found links on the "About Us" page. Often the "How do I write for (blank) magazine?" is listed with the answer either being the guidelines or having a link to the guidelines page. Another place to check is the "Contact Us" page. If you don't find full guidelines there, the magazine will often say something like "For submissions, contact…" and list an editor's email address.

Finally if you've checked all those pages and found nothing, see if there's a "site map" link on the front page. The link is either at the very top or at the very bottom of the page. Often magazines that are part of a publishing firm that publishes multiple titles will have one set of guidelines for all the magazines on its corporate website. The site map will show you how to access the corporate site and even where the guidelines page is on that site.

Many of the websites for the following travel-related magazines made me "prove" that I wanted their guidelines, but better me than you, right? Click the titles to go to the magazines' guidelines pages.

Adirondack Life - query only with clippings, break in point for new writers is the departments (1200-2500 words).
Alaska Magazine - e-queries preferred with detailed story ideas, all stories must be connected to Alaska and there are many topics and departments seeking content.
Backpacker Magazine - prefers e-queries with attachments or web links, lists different editors and emails for different departments, departments (100-1200 words) are a good break in point for new writers.
Internationally Living - seeks content for both website and magazine, focus is on living abroad at least part-time, seeks "postcards" for site, magazine seeks features 1500-2500 words, e-submissions preferred.
Lake Country Journal - seriously prefers e-queries and submissions, "we will work with 'hard copy' but will deduct re-typing costs from the contributor's payment," seeks a variety of articles but must be tied to the lake country region of the Midwest.
National Parks Magazine - query by mail with an SASE, seeks stories about threats to parks and wildlife, new trends in park use and others related to the national park system.
Northwest Regional Magazines - includes Oregon Coast and Northwest Travel, query by mail or email, new writers include clippings, no more than three story ideas at a time.
Transitions Abroad - seeks articles for its new webzine, including "the working traveler," study abroad, student travel, long term travel and budget travel, check out the site and guidelines for an extensive "do and don't list."
Travel + Leisure Magazine - query only by mail or through online form with no more than three story ideas at once.
Western RV News - an RV newspaper, lead time 9-12 months, query first through form online ONLY, currently seeking shorts (300 words or less) on RV events, destinations or "finds right off the freeway on their way to where they are going."










Remember: the deadline for "How did 9/11 affect your writing?" is Monday, August 25. See full guidelines here.

Want to Write Full Time?…3 Questions You Need to Answer

Whether pounding out the Great American Novel or traveling the world to report on the people and the happenings of the day or redefining the classic Hollywood blockbuster, all writers dream of quitting their day jobs to write full time. If you're pondering this dream, make sure your eyes are wide open before turning in your two weeks notice.

How much money do you need?

Yes, the image of the starving artist might be romantic, but how many of us really want to starve for our art? If you're going to quit you full-time job, make sure you have enough money to live for a year. Average your monthly bills for the last six months to a year. See what you can change, such as exchanging a $20 movie night to a $3 rental and a bowl of microwave popcorn. Realize that you will automatically reduce or eliminate expenses like gas and transportation costs or dry cleaning when you work from home, but things like health insurance premiums go up when you have to buy a private policy.

Research what freelance writers charge in your area and set your prices accordingly. "Getting Paid…How Much is Enough," published here in April, can get you started. Don't feel bad if it looks like a part-time job might help make the transition to full-time writer smoother. Everybody has to pay the bills and it won't be forever.


Are you a salesman?

The biggest challenge for a writer is selling himself and his work. Whether you're a novelist, poet or freelancer, you have to convince someone to pay you to write. The first step to making a sale is making contact. A market search will help you decide whom to contact and when.

The second step is to learn how to pitch everything from an article idea to a book proposal. "First Impressions…The Article Memo" offers a technique for pitching magazine article ideas, while "Promoting Your Book…Whose Responsibility is It?" looks at book marketing.


The third step is to stay organized. Sites like WritersMarket.com, WordHustler.com and Duotrope'sDigest.com all have features to help you keep track of your market contacts and your submissions so you don't flood one market while neglecting another.

How do you feel about diversity?

Writing and publishing a novel or producing a screenplay can take years so you must be able to make money with your writing in various ways.

The most obvious way to make money writing is in the magazine and newspaper market. This market has the advantage of being large. There are literally thousands of periodicals published daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly. The editors seek a variety of topics. If you can think it up, chances are there is a magazine or newspaper that will print it.

Another way to use your writing is in publicity or public relations for businesses or organizations. Typical uses for a freelancer are for press releases, brochures, newsletters and marketing plans. You may be able to use your contacts from your former job to secure these kinds of assignments.

Speech writing, tutoring, editing, and grant writing (for yourself or others) are other ways that a writer can make money with his writing, while working on his masterpiece.


Writing full time is not like taking a long, happy vacation. Juggling assignments so the bills will get paid takes skill, determination and discipline. It is a job and it isn't always easy. Are you up for the challenge?


ED. NOTE: Thank you to Cec Murphey for suggesting this topic.

Promoting Your Book…Whose Responsibility Is It?

Won't the publisher promote your book?

Yes, your publisher will promote your book if you're big name author or a celebrity with an eager and established audience and you have the media taking numbers to see who gets to interview you first. And yes, if you are an established author with a solid and growing reader base. And maybe they will, if your book is a mid-list title with a good-sized reader base.

These days marketing departments have tighter and tighter budgets, meaning authors have to play an active role in the promotion of their books. This doesn't mean just showing up for your close-up, this means creating a marketing plan as complete as the book you want to publish.

A well-conceived marketing plan will show the editor/agent that you are a professional and you're committed to the success of your book and ultimately your career. For a first-book author, the marketing plan in your proposal packet could be the deciding factor for an agent/editor. And if you go the route of self-publishing, print-on-demand or other non-traditional publishing, the promotion of your book rest entirely on you. You have to have a carefully developed and practical plan if you want to your book to succeed.

What goes into a marketing plan?

There is little difference between a book marketing plan and the marketing plan for any other product so if you know an MBA, you might want to take him out for coffee to pick his brain. Generally, a marketing plan identifies the product, establishes the goal for the promotion of the product, outlines a plan of action to achieve that goal and budgets the funds needed to complete the plan of action and obtain the goal.

"Say what?"


1) Identify the product - readers remember the author of books they like and they will seek out other books by this person. So while you think you're selling your book, in reality you're selling the package of you and your book, especially if it is your first book. Make an honest list of what features to highlight and which ones to ignore for both you and your book.

2) Establish a goal - this could mean something as simple as how many books do you want to sell? Or maybe you want to get a movie deal or maybe you want to be the top seller on this publisher's list so you can get the attention of a bigger publisher with your next book. Decide what you want, then write it down in the clearest, most concise language. Put it in your plan and tape it to your wall so you can see it every day.

3) Outline a plan of action - simply put: what are you going to do to achieve your goal. Here you need to figure out your book's demographics (who are your readers). Next list out all the ways you think you can reach these readers: bookstore appearances, newspaper, radio, TV outlets, web appearances, groups, conventions or other events. List any contacts you might have with any of these outlets. In addition to what you can set up by yourself, have a list of outlets that would most likely book you if the publisher would make the contact.

4) Set you budget - specifically, the publisher will want to know how much you will pay for and how much do you want them to pay for. For instance, if a publisher gives you an advance, are you willing to spend part of it to promote your book? Are you willing to go out of pocket if it means higher sales in the end? However, you need a realistic budget outline so you both know what it is going to cost promote this book to the extent needed to achieve your goal.

Take as much time writing your marketing plan as you do writing your synopsis or any other part of the proposal packet. It needs to be well conceived, thorough and feasible to make an agent/editor think you are a professional driven to succeed.

You still don't understand how to write a marketing plan?

Here are a few websites that might be helpful. Some of them are self-publishing houses; some are publicity/promotions consultants; one's an author. They may offer fee-based services, but click the site names to go to free articles on writing marketing plans. In addition, WebEx.com is hosting "How to Create a Powerful Web/Media Platform" web-seminar on July 30. The presenter is Annie Jennings, president of Annie Jennings PR, which promotes authors and others in the media. I don't know if there is a cost. One spot on the main page says "free."

WebsiteMarketingPlan.com - interview with book marketing consultant Brian Jud, president of Book Marketing Works. There are lots of links to other articles on the left bar. The website seems to focus on nonfiction books, but some of the advice can be adapted to novels.
Dog Ear Publishing - article entitled "How to Write a Book Marketing Plan," this is a self-publishing firm and there other links in the left bar as well.
Ink Tree Ltd. - article entitled "Your Book Marketing Plan: Strategies and Tips," this is a book marketing firm in Calgary, Canada, founded by four women who once worked in the publishing industry.
Epstein LaRue - "Market Your Book the Right Way by Executing This Simple Marketing Plan!" this is a week-by-week strategy by a part-time author and nurse. She has five published books and three e-published books.


ED. NOTE: I am not endorsing the web-seminar or the websites listed here. I am simply presenting information I found in researching this article. Thank you to writer Jenny Stanger for inspiring this topic.

Everybody Wants to Touch Someone…Connecting with Your Audience

Growing up, I couldn't do my homework if I didn't have my stereo blaring, usually Barry Manilow (forgive me - I was a child) because no one else in the house could stand him and they'd stay out of my room. Even after high school and college, I found I couldn't write without music of some kind, and the harder the assignment, the louder the music.

In April, I bought the soundtrack to the movie "Once," loaded it iTunes and sat down to write an article for 3 Questions. I had seen the movie several weeks earlier and the songs kept playing in my mind. For weeks, I woke up humming at least one of the songs all day. Sometimes the soundtrack in my brain would switch tracks mid-day. I made a playlist on YouTube of song clips from the movie, then finally decided I needed the CD. I thought it would be great writing music.

So there I was with my blank Word page, my notes, my music, ready to be tremendously productive…I had to turn the CD off. The lyrics, the music kept drawing me in, stealing my attention so I could listen to how they played together, so I could join their fun. I shook my head and turned back to my page. One sentence became two, but then my favorite song came on, one I hadn't found on YouTube, and I was off again. I had 700 words to write and a deadline! I needed to concentrate on my article and I couldn't with that CD playing. The songwriters, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, had created words and melodies that bound me to them and their music.

The need to connect is no more important to anyone than it is to a writer. We have to build connections to the people and the world around us to maintain our source of inspiration. We have to build connections to our creations, and through them, we build connections to our audiences.

How do we make connections?

Write what you know, or better yet, write about something that holds your passion. Several years ago, I reviewed a book about Savannah from its early days as a coastal settlement through its first years as the capital of Georgia. It wasn't my favorite subject or time period so I had no intention of forming any kind of bonds. The writer, Carl Solana Weeks, meticulously researched the book, stuffing every fact he found into it like a kid trying to show all his treasures. Weeks had come to know and enjoy the people he followed through Savannah's childhood so much so that they were real to me through his words and I kept reading to the very end.

Use plot themes or "Universal Truths" to connect. An universal truth is something to which most people can relate. Family relationships are full of universal truths—mothers and daughters, the in-laws, sibling rivalries, etc. Audiences can relate to family themes because they've been there, done that. Everyone has some kind of family.

Common life situations can also draw the audience in. For instance, Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight series, set her stories in a high school. In an interview on Amazon.com, she explained, "…high school is such a compelling time period--it gives you some of your worst scars and some of your most exhilarating memories." Although her books are aimed at the YA market, they rank high with adult readers, because they can relate with high school memories of their own

Characters make the strongest connections with readers and audiences, person to person. YA readers in particular look for characters in their age bracket and issues that are important in their lives. However, everyone, young or old, wants to see something of himself/herself in the hero or heroine. Characters that share our dreams, our flaws or our frustrations will draw us in even if they live in a different time, a different reality or are of a different species.

For example, I find the movie "Capote" creatively inspiring. The movie is set in the late 1950s/early 1960s, with an eccentric, androgynous leading character, while I'm definitely a female who wasn't born when Capote began writing his book. Yet I've watched it three times and each time I suffer with Capote over his obsession to his book and the criminals that inspired it. I come away hoping one day to have that sort of passion for a project.

Are there any other ways to connect with readers, listeners or audiences?

Thousands, maybe even millions of ways. Some obvious instant connections include professions, interests and region or location. The 1980s movies "Working Girl" and "9 to 5" follow women office workers rising up against their deceitful, egotistical bosses, drawing raves from working women, while history buffs pushed His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis and Jimmy Carter's An Hour Before Daylight: Memoirs of a Rural Boyhood to the best-sellers list shortly after their release dates in 2005 and 2001 respectively.

What is the best way to connect?

There is no BEST way. A good writer tries to connect with his audience on as many levels as he can. Dan Brown used the struggles of between men, struggle between religious beliefs, a well-known setting in the Louvre, and a likeable character in often-befuddled professor Robert Langdon to make The DaVinci Code a novel hard to put down and a best-seller to boot.


As much as a writer strives to reach his readers, his readers work to find a connection to the writer, be it through plot, character or setting. People want to connect. They want you to invite them step inside your world and get lost for while.

Calling the Muse…Writing Prompts

"Keep your eyes open on Thursday for a special opportunity."

That was my fortune from my fortune cookie. It makes a great opening line for an article on writing prompts, don't you think? What can you do with that line? Doesn't it get you wondering as to what the opportunity could be…what makes it special...and will it really come true?

A good writing prompt will spawn all sorts of questions for a writer to ponder and attempt to answer. When you are suffering through the summer doldrums or maybe you have a minor case of writer's block, a writing prompt can jumpstart your muse into action. You can find writing prompts just about anywhere. Writing websites usually have pages of them. Here are few techniques I've learned for building my own file of writing prompts.

Ripped From the Headlines!

The "Law & Order" franchises on TV use this prompt all the time. They say truth is stranger than fiction so why not look to the news for ideas? If you write nonfiction, take a national headline or subject and work the local angle. If you write fiction, use the basic facts of the story to build your own conflict between characters. Every news story has a personal conflict on some level.

Today I read a report that quoted Amy Winehouse's father Mitch announcing the singer has emphysema. At age 24, Winehouse, because of her drug use and smoking, has a disease that usually afflicts people two or three times her age. How many article ideas can you glean from that without mentioning the singer? On the fiction side, you can put your heroine in her shoes and give her the battle to win or you could take the father's point of view and the struggle he'll have.

Read the newspaper, at least one, every day to find prompts to get your creative juices flowing.

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words!

I took a workshop with a wonderful author several years ago. LeRoy handed out photographs he pulled from magazines, instructing each of us to write the first page of a novel or short story based in the photo. These were random photos. I remember one was Marky Mark in his Calvin Klein briefs, while another was a deserted highway in Utah's Monument Valley.

Year's later my sister sent us a book that was one of her favorites because it was bizarre. The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg, author of The Polar Express and Jumanji among others, supposedly features drawings by Harris Burdick with titles and then a one-line caption. The drawings all have a fantastic element to them, sometimes funny, other times disturbing. Wouldn't be fun to sit down with those drawings and captions and concoct a story around them?

Images are great writing prompts, especially for fiction. Keep a file of photos, illustrations, postcards even that capture your imagination.

You Can Quote Me!

I collect quotations. Some spawn scenes in my head that I later use in my artwork. In my writing, I always began my column when I edited a newsletter for a writer's association with a quotation from a famous person. For instance I used "An intellectual is a man who takes more words than necessary to tell more than he knows" (Dwight D. Eisenhower) to start a column on writing simply. Most of the time the quote sparked the column's topic, but sometimes it just summarized the idea.

Quotations can inspire us for many reasons, including prompting ideas. I keep a file just for interesting quotes on my computer. When I'm stuck for an idea, I read through them all to see what will spark, like my fortune cookie did tonight. Oh!--If I do find a "special opportunity" on Thursday, you'll be the first to know.

First Impression…The Article Memo

I have never sold an article with a query letter. When I sold pieces, it was to someone I knew, someone I had been recommended to or someone who came to me with the article assignment. As you might guess, I didn't sell much. I had been freelancing for about three years when a writer friend told me about the "Article Memo," sometimes called an article proposal or a pitch letter.

What's the difference between a query letter and an article memo?

In terms of content, there is very little difference between the two. Both outline your idea and your qualifications to write the article. The difference comes in the presentation. The first thing you'll notice is the amount of white space on the page. (see the memo template on the left - click the image to enlarge.)


White space fools the reader's eyes into thinking there are fewer words and so the page is easier to read. So set your margins to 1.25" or 1.5" on the sides and 2" on the bottom. I put my memos on letterhead so my name and contact info is neatly displayed at the top.

The article memo has a title - the tentative title of your article - and your byline centered about eight lines below the last line of your letterhead. Then start your first paragraph eight lines below your byline.

There are only four short paragraphs. Single space the paragraphs but double space between them, no indentations. Between the second and third paragraphs, double space, insert a short line of dashes or asterisks, then double space again. This gives the eyes a rest and transitions between the main purposes of the memo.

What goes into those four paragraphs?

Paragraph one is the proposed lead paragraph of your article. Spend a lot of time writing and rewriting this paragraph, developing your hook and the tone you intend to take with the article. You should also give a clear indication of what type of article this is - a profile, investigative, etc.


Paragraph two is where you describe the article, fleshing out your intentions and the scope of your article. Tell the reader the type of article it is as well. This paragraph is almost a summary of the article you began in the first paragraph but keep it to three or four sentences. You can write five at the most.

Paragraph three describes your sources. Be specific and give a one-line summary of their qualifications. For instance, if you're pitching an article on show dogs, you will interview Mrs. D. S. Winner, owner of five Best In Show dogs at the Westminster Dog Show in six years. Or Doug Breeder, owner of Doug's Dog Breeding where his studs sired 10 of the last fourteen winners at the American Kennel Club Dog Show. List your top three sources specifically then mention any others generally.

Paragraph four is all about you. List your qualifications to write this article. If you have direct experience, you've written about dog shows before or if you show dogs yourself, highlight it. List where you have published before, any other writing experience like you worked as a writer for a company or firm. You can also list any group affiliations you may have. However, keep it to three sentences; definitely no more than four.

An article memo I've written is above on the right. (click the image to enlarge.)

How will an article memo benefit you?

Like I said, I never sold an article with a query letter so the benefit to me was sales and money. However, I think the format helped me hone my ideas better. I had to choose my words carefully to keep the memo to four short paragraphs, saying a lot with just a few words. Also having that tentative lead paragraph and then the description of the article made me focus my thoughts more precisely. I think writing a memo helped me write a better article when the assignment came.

Now you might say that I could do all this in a query letter format. Yes, I can and I have, depending on the market, but when I do send a query letter, I write the memo first then adjust it where needed to make it look like a letter. This format works best for me. It's neat, clean and offers an easy read, and most importantly, it leads to sales.




Editor's Note: You may download the memo template for your personal reference. It is a jpg file.

3 Ways to Keep Yourself Writing…

When I interview authors, I always ask them what advice have they received and what advice would they give. The most common piece of advice is "Put your butt in the chair and write." Writing is a very solitary job with rejection lurking at the end of every page. So how do you keep motivated? How do you keep your butt in the chair? Here are some tips I've picked up for myself and from other people.

Reward Yourself

The creative muse can be very childish, and like a child, sometimes you have to bribe it into performing. Promise yourself a token of appreciation if you can just get this chapter done or mail that proposal off. The token can be anything from a walk in the sun with your dog to an hour of guilt-free Internet surfing to your favorite Starbucks diet-busting specialty coffee on the way home from the post office. Make the promise when you sit down and watch how that little incentive can get your fingers flying on the keyboard.

Embrace Rejection

Writers get rejected. There's no way around it. Not everybody is going to think you're the second coming of Charles Dickens, William Wordsworth or Virginia Woolf. When I had my first play reading at a writer's conference nearly 20 years ago, five people got up and walked out halfway through. I was upset when I told my sister about it later. An actress, she had rejection in her life, too, but she put a positive spin on it. "At least you made them do something. You got a reaction."

A speaker at a conference told of a man who put every rejection slip he got up on the wall so he could see them when he worked. He wanted to paper the whole office because it showed how hard he was working. Another writer friend took that idea and modified it slightly. You've heard the saying "You've got to eat a peck of dirt before you die." She says you have to be rejected 100 times before you make a sale and she sees each rejection as taking her one step closer to her next sale.

Try to find the positive in every rejection. It isn't personal so turn it around and make it a motivating force in your writing life.

Identify Your Villain

I'm not talking about a character for your hero to battle in your next book. You need a villain in your writing life. Mine is a journalism professor who asked me to leave his magazine writing class because I was "only an English major" and didn't have the journalistic background for his class. So where have I sold most of my work? To magazines, and the kicker is that five years after that class, I was at a workshop where he was teaching. My work had begun appearing in local publications, and on a break between sessions, he sat down beside me and said he had been talking to an editor of a new magazine, then asked if he could give him my number. How do you like me now?

I truly believe that it is human nature, especially American human nature, to strive to prove somebody wrong. Find your villain - the one who doesn't believe in you - and use him or her to motivate you to keep your butt in that chair writing. Force him to believe with every publication you add to your résumé.

The Skeptical Frog

Say What?...3 Exercises for Realistic Dialogue

We've all read it…really awful dialogue. Writing realistic dialogue is the hardest part of writing (in my opinion). Here are three exercises that I picked up studying script writing. Maybe they will help you hone your skills for realistic dialogue.

1) The Art of Eavesdropping

Pay attention to the conversations around you while you're standing in line at the bank or in a restaurant. Listen specifically for word choice and how much detail the speakers give. At your first opportunity, recreate the conversation on paper, a cocktail napkin or whatever's handy. Sketch out each person's character based on what you heard, including what that person does for a living, how old, economic status, region, etc. Remember to base it just on what you heard, not what you saw.

2) Who's That?


Write sets of dialogue between your main characters at various points in your story idea--the opening or first meeting, midway, and at the climax. Then record yourself reading the dialogue aloud with no mention of the names to see if the characters can be distinguished by their speech patterns and content when you play it back. If you have a writing partner or someone else you trust, let him listen to the recording.

3) I Can Do That

Dialogue doesn't happen in a vacuum. Your characters are usually going to be doing something while they are speaking. So act out the scenes with dialogue to see if you can really maintain a conversation during jogging when you're a 45-year-old desk jockey who has not missed many meals. Or if you're lifting a box full of 40 pounds of the stuff that's been gathering dust in the back of your closet for the last 20 years, will you really say politely "Honey, would you mind getting the door? Thank you so much!" I think not.




One Bonus Tip:

Recording your dialogue helps to gauge rhythm and flow, helps eliminate unintentional wordplay like cutesy alliterations or tongue twisters. If you can't read it without faltering, your characters can't say it realistically. Recording also helps to catch when your characters are using names too frequently or giving "idiot speeches," when one character says to another "do remember when you did this, that and this and it got us in trouble over here and your mom grounded us and…" Of course the other character remembers. He was there. The whole span is there to fill the reader in on the backstory.. Soap Operas do it all the time, but that doesn't make it great literature. "…and my dad was really your oldest brother and…." There are other ways to reveal the backstory.

Doing an Agent Search…

There comes a time when almost every writer needs an agent to further his career. The Internet has made searching for an agent so much easier for today's writers. It also has made it easier for the charlatans and scammers to prey on innocent, eager writers. As with everything else, check out anyone or any organization into whose hands you're putting your trust and your career.

Where can you begin an agent search?

Start with the Association of Authors' Representatives. AAR is a professional organization whose members must adhere to ethical and professional standards set forth by the association, such as no reading fees and an industry standard commission rate.

The AAR website offers a free database that you can search a number of different ways. You can specify the state, the category of work they review (adult/children, literary/dramatic, genre), and even by whether or not they are accepting new clients or will take email queries. The profiles will often give the agent's email address and his specific areas of interest, but always go to the agency's website if you can find it. The information is more complete and usually up to date.

Another plus to the AAR directory is that it lists individual agents within the agencies. You have an actual person to whom you can address your query. However, you obviously don't want to query multiple agents in an single agency.


Other sources for information include such books as 2008 Guide to Literary Agents, 2008 Literary Market Place, and websites like WritersMarket.com, eBook Crossroads and Writers.net, among others. You can also meet agents at workshops and conferences and through other writers.

How do you know if an agent is reputable?

Chances are if he is a member of the AAR, he holds himself to their Cannon of Ethics and is reputable. However, agents who aren't members aren't necessarily bad either. There are some databases online that track agents with questionable practices. Most of these databases are open to any contributors so you have to take the reports with a grain of salt, but if several people are posting about the same agent, you should take note and steer clear.

AnotherRealm.com has a preditor/editor database, as does invirtuo.com. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America has a "Writer Beware" page.

Would you like a head start on your search?

Of course you would! Below are some agents I found when searching "accepting new clients" on the AAR website. Not all of the agencies have useful websites so I listed email addresses where I found them. (Inclusion is not an endorsement.)


Kathleen Anderson - Anderson Literary Management, Inc. - terry(at)anderson(dot)com - seeking various nonfiction and fiction genres and scripts, accepts e-queries.
Nathan Bransford - Curtis Brown, Ltd - nb(at)cbltd(dot)com - seeks a variety of fiction and nonfiction, accepts e-queries.
Laura Dail - Laura Dail Literary Agency, Inc. - queries(at)ldlainc(dot)com - seeks historical and high-concept fiction, humor, funny YA, serious nonfiction, accepts e-queries but no attachments.
Russell Galen - Scovil Chichak Galen Literary Agency, Inc. - info@scglit.com - see website for full list of interests and submission guidelines, accepts e-queries.
Barbara Lowenstein - Lowenstein-Yost Associates - see website for full list of interests and submission guidelines, NO e-queries.
Scott Andrew Mendel - Mendel Media Group LLC - seeks a wide variety of adult fiction and nonfiction, YA fiction and nonfiction plus children's fiction, NO e-queries.
Jessica Regel - Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency - jregel(at)jvnla.com - seeks children's fiction, YA fiction, ethnic and international fiction, literary fiction, women's fiction and various nonfiction genres, accepts e-queries, but no attachments.
Peter Rubio - FinePrint Literary Management - peter(at)fineprintlit(dot.com) - seeks both fiction and nonfiction, see website for full lists of interests and submission guidelines, accepts e-queries but no attachments.
Peter Steinberg - The Steinberg Agency - submission(at)steinbergagency(dot)com - see website for recent titles and submission guidelines, accepts e-queries but no attachments.

3 Tips for Beating Writer's Block…

Dear Readers -

Monday afternoon I lost my Internet connection in my office. Due to a number of circumstances, going out and finding Internet access is difficult. So until I can fix my connection, 3 Questions…and Answers will have to go on a limited schedule.

I have posted last night's article on beating writer's block below. If anyone has any tips on beating temperamental Internet connections, leave them in the comment section and I'll publish an article on them when I'm back up and running.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.



AmyM




3 Tips for Beating Writer's Block…



Tip #1: "Give in to the dark side."

Get over the fear of being wrong, doing wrong, saying something wrong. The world will not come to a halt if you split an infinitive. Mrs. Allen, the toughest English teacher the sixth grade has ever seen, does not stand behind you, her red pen in hand ready to slice and dice your manuscript.


You can’t fix something that isn’t there. Write your words, the good, the bad, and the grammatically questionable. Just write. Don’t worry about too many adverbs or “to be” verbs. Forget misspellings or vague word choices. You can pull out your dictionary or your style manual later. Just get the words on paper because words are like rabbits and tend to multiply when placed in close proximity to each other.

Tip #2: "Don't throw the baby out with the bath."

When you're revising or editing, keep a "scrap file." Instead of deleting paragraphs or pages, cut and paste them into the scrap file, just in case there's a hidden gem in there that might come out with a little extra polishing. Maybe that line is simply in the wrong place or that scene isn't bad. It just needs to be shown from a different point of view.


If you simply hit the delete key, your words and ideas will be gone forever. The scrap file lets you have the opportunity to reconsider your words later if you need too.

Tip #3: "Get physical."

If you find yourself with not only writer's block, but also editor's block on a project, try something drastic. Print out everything you've written, the manuscript, the scrap file, even your notes. Make sure everything is double-spaced and has wide margins for your notes and rewrites. Grab a pen and go through your manuscript the old-fashioned way, line by line.

You can take it a step further. Instead of making notes or drawing arrows to move lines or paragraphs, cut your manuscript apart. Grab a legal pad and some tape or glue stick and put the manuscript back together again in the new order. The extra inches of a legal pad (8.5x14 v. 8.5x11 inches) as oppose to printer paper give you more room to work. You can leave spaces to write in new transitions between the cut-outs.

Why does this work better than cutting and pasting on the computer? Maybe it makes the manuscript more tangible rather than lines on a screen. The manuscript has length, has weight, has a form you can't feel on the computer. Or maybe the change in situation stimulates the brain to think differently. Who can say? When you're in a rut, doesn't it make sense to climb out of it any way you can?

Black and White and Read All Over…

An effective reader can be instrumental in turning your manuscript pages into printed pages. A reader is a person you trust to read your manuscript in its later stages, when you think it's almost perfect, to help you smooth away the flaws before you send it out to meet its public.

How do you know if you need a reader?

If you sell every word you write, you don't need a reader. However, if your sales are sporadic or if you have a tendency to revise and rewrite and then revise some more, a reader could offer new insight to help hone your talent and build your writing career.

Next, look at your limitations. Let's say you have the tendency to skim over simple errors and typos because your brain fixes them for you, or maybe you overuse one word or phrase without realizing it, or you're just not completely confident when it comes to grammar. A reader's fresh eyes can help you clean up those little problems that trouble an otherwise solid manuscript.


Heavy research can lead to "writing short" for the sake of the assigned word count. You learn far more in your research than you'll ever fit in the final piece so you may leave out important information inadvertently. You know the backstory, but your audience can't read your mind. A reader can point out areas where your 1000 words don't add up to a picture for those outside your brain, and he can work with you to get your point across without busting the word count.


What should go into the selection of a reader?

Your reader could be a spouse, a friend or acquaintance you may buy dinner or babysit for in exchange, or it may be a stranger you hire for cash. That's up to you. There are a number of qualities you should look for in a reader to insure a productive relationship.

1) Look for someone with literary experience.

That doesn't mean you need to shell out the bucks for a professional editor. A fellow writer is a good choice if that writer can keep himself off your page and not try to remake your manuscript in his image. If you know a college English professor or are still friends with your sixth grade English teacher, they would be good choices. Finding other people's mistakes is a big part of their jobs.

Another good bet is an avid recreational reader. This person knows what's on the store shelves and what the current trends are. The higher the book count, the better because he won't differentiate between your manuscript and the book he just bought. A story's a story to him. If this person reads in multiple genres and mediums, he will bring even more experience and objectivity to the process. He will be especially helpful with content questions and marketing.

2) Look for someone detail-oriented.

If you have trouble with misspellings, using synonyms or typos, you need someone who will go through your manuscript with the proverbial fine-toothed comb. Nothing turns an editor off quicker than careless mistakes. Mistakes immediately stamp your manuscript "AMATUER." Even if your story has Pulitzer written all over it, the editor's eye will land on that typo or that misused word and it will see nothing else. A person with an eye for details will help eliminate such petty mistakes.

3) Look for someone who can give detailed opinions and reasons behind those opinions.

Hearing someone say, "Oh I like it" or "It didn't work for me" doesn't help very much if you want to know if your plot gives the promised payoff or if your story just stops. If your reader can tell you why he thinks this is not working or that character needs cutting, then you have something to think about and play with.

4) Insist on honesty.

The risk of hurting your feelings may keep the people closest to you from giving you an honest critique. Your reader has to trust that you're not going to throw a tantrum at the first negative word, and you need to know he's not sprinkling sugar all over your manuscript. You two should be able to question each other openly and play "what if…" to help fix the problem areas.

Do you need more than one reader?

Sometimes that is helpful. Not all fiction readers can evaluate nonfiction and vice versa. If you also write scripts, your novel reader may find the format too distracting to give you a objective opinion about the plot. You may have one reader who is great at grammar and another who really understands characters and plot. And of course, what if your reader's sick when you get a dream assignment with a super short deadline. It's always a good idea to have a Plan B.

Communication and trust are the keys to a successful writer-reader relationship. So evaluate your career, recognize recurring problems, then look for someone with the traits, skills and personality to help you make you manuscript shine and give your career the boost it needs.

Make Your Fantasy Come True…

The fantasy fiction market is wide open. There are fantasies for children, young adults, men, women; those who like historically based fantasy, contemporary fantasy, even fantasy romance (which sounds little redundant, don't you think?). If you can imagine it and put it down on paper, chances are someone out there…a lot of someones…will want to read it.

What do you do when you finish that fantasy novel
manuscript?

Try to get it published, of course! Okay, so how do you that? First you can do an agent hunt. Go to conferences where there are agents participating and talk to them about your book. Be sure they handle that kind of manuscript or you're wasting both your times. You can also talk with writers you know or have met at functions that have agents to see if they can forward your manuscript on. You have to be very careful with this approach, especially if the writer isn't a friend.

You can also search literary agents online. The Association of Authors Representatives, Inc. is a good place to start. All these agents/agencies must hold to a standardized cannon ethics in their business practices. There are three ways to search the member database and the links page is an outstanding resource of publishing-related websites.



Do you need an agent?

An agent can do many things for you and your book. First the obvious, they can open doors with publishers that you can't. Many of the large publishing houses will only look at agented work. Second, they get a better contract than you can get on your own because they know what to look for and how to protect your interest. They can make you money and save you headaches. Third, agents know who is buying what and they stay up on the ever-changing market and can advise you appropriately.

But you don't necessarily need an agent to publish your book. You can self-publish, go with a print-on-demand publisher or the like, but that costs money, which is one drawback. Two, you have to sell the book to the public completely by yourself. Most bookstores won't take a book that is self-published or print-on-demand, especially the chains.


There are some traditional publishers who take unagented work. They are often smaller, but not necessarily, with little if any money to help you promote your book so you might be in a similar position to a self-published writer. However, they can get you into the bookstores. After that, setting up a signing or other promotion is easy.

So who are these publishers?

There are too many to name individually, but below are a few who publish fantasy fiction to get you started. Here are some highlights from their submission guidelines:

1. They don't want short fiction, though some do publish collections of short fiction. Most said submit manuscripts of 80,000 words minimum.
2. Unagented doesn't mean unsolicited. Double and triple check the guidelines to be sure you are sending them what they want in your first contact with them. Is it a query letter, sample chapters and a synopsis or do they want the entire manuscript?
3. Also send it to them they way they want it. If they want it by snail mail, mail it. If they want it by email, but pasted into the body of the email, cut and paste it into the body of the email. Give the publishers what they want and how they want it.
4. You only get one chance so make sure your manuscript, query letter, proposal, whatever you're sending, is flawless. If you need to have the manuscript professionally copy edited for typos and grammar mistakes, do so. However, if your Aunt Tillie on your mother's side has spent the last 25 years teaching AP English, I bet she knows her stuff and can help you out too.
5. On the other hand, if the publisher says he wants it edited before he'll look at it and tells you which editor to hire, run away. This isn't a company to publish your book. Chances are there will be fee upon fee upon fee that you'll have to pay him or one of his recommended colleagues before and during the time he represents you.

PUBLISHERS: (alphabetical order - inclusion does not mean an endorsement)

Baen Publishers: sci-fi and fantasy only. See detailed guidelines here.

DAW: an imprint of the Penguin Group of publishers and the only Penguin imprint to accept unagented work, seeks only sci-fi and fantasy novels. Click here for complete guidelines.

Fat Cat Press: an e-book publisher who seeks nonfiction, travel, Buddhist studies, speculative fiction including sci-fi and fantasy, and mysteries. Guidelines are here.

Henry Holt Books for Young Readers: Children's books from infants to YA in all genres and subgenres. Complete guidelines are here.

Kitsune Books: wide variety of fiction (including fantasy and some short fiction), poetry, nonfiction and children's fiction. No submissions accepted until August 2008. See guidelines here.

Leucrota Press: sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and graphic novels, sometimes experimental, rarely short story collections. Find the full guidelines here.



Books jackets are representative of the publishers' online catalogs/book lists.

An Interview...with freelance writer Sheila Hudson

A dream assignment for freelance writer Sheila Hudson would be covering the Maui Writer's Conference, including private interviews with Stephen King and J.K. Rowling.

"Two of my passions (in) a place they don't call paradise for nothing!" she says, adding that King and Rowling are the experts when it comes to writing for public consumption. "I believe they know more about writing…than most of us ever will."

Not that Sheila's a novice. She has been publishing articles, essays and other works since the early 1990s, covering a wide variety of topics. She has written destination and travel-related articles for Athens Magazine, Points North and even the Chicken Soup for the Soul and Chocolate for a Woman's Soul series. Currently, she writes a monthly column called "Sunday Drive" for the Athens Banner-Herald, which features day-trip destinations in Georgia and the surrounding states. She has lots of advice for those who'd like to combine their love for travel with their writing.

What are the key elements of a travel article?


"Travel writing requires brevity and using every word to its max," Sheila explains. "Editors like sidebars. (There) you can recap items like admission costs, website, phone numbers…any pertinent information for the traveler." You can save your word count for the body of the article, and she says like all good writing, you need great beginnings and endings, clean text and clear language.

"The hardest thing, I believe, is coming up with a fresh approach," she admits, "especially in the beginnings and endings." But these are key in drawing the reader in and making sure he is satisfied when he finishes reading.

Photos are a plus when approaching an editor about a story. "Not all publications insist on pictures; some provide their own." But what's a travel article without pretty pictures?

"Sometimes the subject will furnish pictures, or scan some for you or give you a memory stick. Many times (photos) are available at the website." Of course, you can always take them yourself. Sheila's husband Tim is often her photographer.



Is it expensive to write travel articles?

Sheila advises careful planning when pitching a travel article to hold down the expense. Some publications will reimburse expenses with proper receipts, but always ask when you get pitch the assignment. Of course, most expenses are also tax deductible so that's another reason collect to and save all receipts.

"It may be possible to combine research for the travel article with research on another writing project," she points out. "A large part of my travels are part of another bigger project" or are combined with personal trips or vacations. You're already going…can you earn some money while your there? She published a personal essay on her trip to Normandy in multiple publications.