Which Submission Plan is Right?

There are as many "successful" submission plans out there as there are diets.

You've got the 1-submission per day plan.

Then there's the 1-day-per-week plan, where six days are spent writing and one spent researching and mailing out submissions.

For those who really hate marketing, there's the 2-months-per-year plan, where 5 months straight are spent writing, and then the 6th month is used to research markets and submit everything.

And then for something really different, there's the $100-per day plan, where $100 in potential sales are mailed out each day (my current favorite).

Whatever the plan, it seems all of them follow the same rules as the multitude of diets out there: find one that fits you and faithfully stick with it, and you're bound to see results. The key is to stick with it, even when you haven't lost an ounce. Er, gotten an acceptance.

1 Letter a Day + 1,000 Words = A Writing Life

That's according to author Carolyn See. Her suggestion to write 1,000 words per day isn't a new one, but what I hadn't heard before was this advice: every weekday, drop a "charming note" (she's talking good old-fashioned snail mail) to one author/editor/publishing agent whose work you admire, thanking them for their piece, or touching on an aspect of their work that you appreciate. Nothing long or involved, just a light 'hello' and compliment.

She even suggests sending balloons or other small gifts in appreciation - though I don't know if I'm that brave, or eccentric - to go that far. The idea is not to 'network' or 'kiss up,' to other people in the writing community, but just to get involved so that you feel more a part of it, and in the process give other writers the support and encouragement that we all need.

And, if her and her students' experiences are the norm, there's a very good chance that those writers you idolize will write back. Carolyn's received hand-written responses from the likes of John Updike (he wrote on postcards with a typewriter, so the lines ran into one another) and Joan Didion (who suggested a wonderful but budget-crushing hotel when she learned where Carolyn was going on vacation).

What could beat a personalized note from a favorite author? Or, possibly, even more. Talk about motivation. This is a great habit I plan to get into, although five letters per week might be asking a bit much.

The Jackpot for Connecticut Writers

My only excuse is that I was out of the country for a couple of years, but still. How did I not know about this publication? The Connecticut Muse has been around since 2005, and it contains everything you ever wanted to know about local publications, authors and upcoming book signings. This directory is going to be especially useful considering advice I recently read about how to 'grow' a writing career (will post on that tomorrow).

It gets better. The Connecticut Muse holds a contest twice per year, and the 1st place winner is published in the Muse...which is distributed to EVERY LIBRARY AND BOOK STORE IN THE STATE! (excuse the excitement, but - EVERY STORE IN THE STATE!) And, of course, it's also sent to many local writers by subscription. So here's the recent contest info, but it'll require some fast writing since the deadline is April 30th:

Personal Essay Contest: Open to all writers living in CT. Write an essay on “Life in the Nutmeg State” (1,000 words or less). Essays cannot have been previously published. Send essay and $10 entry fee by April 30 to: Connecticut Muse, 4 Autumn Lane, New Milford, CT 06776

Why Am I Writing This?

I've never told anyone this, probably because I wanted to avoid being stereotyped as a writer with her 'head in the clouds'. But after some encounters over the past few days, I'm feeling the need to bring it up:

I never write solely for money.

There are so many other, dreamier reasons that I write. To figure things out. To share information. To help. Reality check: as a freelancer, I need to earn money. BUT, I've never begun a writing project for the sole purpose of making money.

Take the Freelance Writing Jobs blog, for instance. It was begun because the writer genuinely wanted to share writing job information with some of her friends. Three years later, that desire has translated into a couple of thousand visitors daily and professional recognition by the freelance community. If the blog weren't begun out of her genuine desire to help, I don't believe she would've been this successful.

It seems that anything successful starts with excitement, and I'm not talking excitement about how much money/recognition the project's going to earn; there's usually a deeper purpose (just ask successful marketer Seth Godin, whose blog my writer friend Carmen got me hooked on).

I'm far from an expert on freelancing, but it seems important that freelancers try to keep this deeper purpose in mind. Otherwise, the writing life could easily turn into the equivalent of a 9-to-fiver.

The 18-Minute Chili Plan

Recently I considered taking a long-term temp position to supplement writing income while I build my freelance business. Just agreeing to interview for the position left a heavy feeling in my stomach; I could practically feel my writing career being slowed by a big Job-speed-bump. I tried to ease the feeling by reasoning with myself: it would be part-time. Close to home. It's in marketing; and hey, I've always found that interesting, haven't I? Haven't I?

The brick in my stomach knew better: I'd have to give up my morning writing group. I wouldn't have the time I wanted to research and write for magazines, or even for newspapers on a larger scale. Of course plenty of people work, have families AND maintain writing careers. Somehow I've never been one of those people. Still, there were bills to pay.

Things weren't looking good...and then I read about author Carolyn See's 18-minute chili.

Actually, it was her dad's 18-minute chili. He'd started by making 18-HOUR chili - which according to Carolyn - consumed her dad's free time and resulted in chili so magnificent that it brought tears to the tasters' eyes. But there were times when he didn't have the time or energy to pour into that 18-hour chili. At those times, he settled for making 18-MINute chili which, while not eye-watering fantastic, was pretty okay tasting.

There's not always time to pour into that next novel or prize-winning (heck, Publishable!) article, but there's always time to write shorter articles or to work on pieces of a larger project. 18-minute chili may not be the best, but it's still chili.

And isn't 18-minute chili better than none at all?
Yes, I believe it is.

About.com's Training & Elimination Process

In March I stumbled upon a great job with About.com, earning over $700 per month as one of their online guides.

Now WOW (Women on Writing) has published an article that dishes the specifics of About's training & elimination process. Great info to read before taking About's prep course!

Avoid Turning Off a Busy Editor: Ask These Questions Before Sending That Email

When is it okay to ask for an editor's time and help? Below are questions I've used to reduce my 'nuisance' levels and determine the difference between:


Being a nuisance and turning off a busy editor
vs.
Being a professional and following up


If I do nothing, could the ball be dropped?
Let's say you fax something and don't hear back for several days. While following up to confirm that a fax has been received is adding to an editor's call volume and could be considered a nuisance - in general, it's just good business to make sure the ball hasn't been dropped on either end.

Can I find this info somewhere else, or is the editor the only person who can fully answer it for me?
Some might question how wise it is to ask newspaper editors for overlapping readership info, since it requires work on the editors' end and writers can find some of this info online. However, there's no way a writer can be 100% certain of what readerships overlap. Editors should already know this information and be okay with sharing it in order to ensure that they maintain exclusive use in their region.

How can I save the editor extra work?
Can things be done to save the editor additional emails or phone calls? For example, when confirming the fax was received, forego the phone call and sent a quick confirmation email instead. Ask the editor to respond only if she didn't get the fax, piece, etc.

My Emails with an Editor

It's one thing to read about setting prices and granting rights. It's another thing to actually deal with an editor. Suddenly a dozen small questions cross your mind. Some of those questions are answered by my below email exchange with an editor. Responses are based on advice from Linda, a freelancer who's written for regional parenting magazines, Family Circle, Women's World, and others.

Hi Colleen, These are some cute ideas! Thanks for sending them. How much would you charge to reprint this piece? Would you grant web-posting rights as well as print rights? I might be interested in publishing it in a future issue. Best,
If the editor asks what you charge, acknowledge budget issues and ask what their standard rate is. Once she'd been writing articles for awhile, Linda started asking what the "high end" of their budget was.

Hi Susan, Great! Both print rights and nonexclusive web rights are available. I realize you're working on a budget, and hoped you could give me an idea of your standard pay range. Thanks,
She used my first name, so I used hers.

Thanks for getting back to me. For something this length, we’d usually pay $35, payable on publication. (i.e., if we were not able to run this, I would not purchase it.) Would we be able to get geographic exclusivity in the north/central region? Let me know your thoughts! Thanks so much. Best,
Ask editors if they have overlapping readership to ensure you don't make a mistake and send an article to regionally close publications.

No question, you would have geographic exclusivity; I haven't submitted to any other publications in the state to ensure there is no overlapping readership. If you end up publishing the article, I'd love it if you could let me know what overlapping readerships you do have. Your usual payment is in line with my standard pay rate. Of course if the piece doesn't run, I wouldn't expect payment. Thanks,

At this point, I'm hoping the editor will let me know if/when she's going to use it. They may  just print it and send a check. That works, too. :)

Writer's Agreement (aka They Want the Article!...Now What?)

You're sitting there on the sofa, dutifully copying writer's guidelines of regional parenting magazines off the net and pasting them into your word document when the phone rings. At the other end of the line is a real, live editor interested in your article (yippee!). You know that she's already got your name, address, phone and email info. Isn't that it?

In fact, there's this form she needs filled out before she can print your article. It looks like this:

In order to use a freelance writer's work, we must have a copy of this writer's agreement on file. Please complete this form and return it.

Complete: Name; Mailing Address; Telephone; Email; Social Security Number

All articles submitted are subject to editing for style, clarity and space considerations.

In purchasing North American serial rights, we reserve the right to publish a piece one time in the publication and on our website, now and in the future.

If a piece is posted on our website, it will appear during the month the article is published.

By signing this agreement, you are giving us exclusive rights in the county market to the articles we purchased and thus, you will not be able to sell the same article within 6 months to any other local, free magazines in the county area.

Writers will receive a tear sheet and check upon publication of your work.

Writer's signature & date:

Note: the editor said they don't need my social security number, and the freelancer I've been working with said she never gives it out until her article is accepted, even when they specifically ask for it on submission forms.

Finding Freelance Gigs

It was worth the wait. The writer who I got in touch with several days ago has shared several of her ideas about how and where to find freelance gigs. Unlike the freelancer who writes for parenting magazines and newspapers, this freelancer prefers to proofread, edit and write copy for business clients and organizations. Some of her suggestions are:

• If you're just starting out, volunteer your editorial and writing skills to local organizations in order to build a portfolio and collect testimonials.
• Identify and target a niche based on your experience. For example, if you've worked in insurance for five years, try pitching your services to insurance companies. Offer help with their copy or newsletters.
• Look to trade magazines, professional associations and small business groups for leads. Talking with people from these groups and reading relevant trade publications will help you identify an area of need, potential clients, and maybe even generate a project assignment.
• Offer to help students with their papers as a writing coach for a college program. An advanced degree will help, in this case.

The theme here is: be proactive and uncover potential projects for yourself. Don't wait for someone to advertise a position or ask for help. Find out what they need on your own, and if you think your services would benefit them, make an offer. (I know, easier said than done!)

Six Great Things About Regional Parenting Magazine Submissions

Here are six reasons why it's a great idea to write for regional parenting magazines:

1. You Can Simultaneously Submit the Same Article to 50+ Regional Publications, and Most Won't Care
Any poor sap who's had to telemarket (ahem) will tell you that getting a "yes" is a numbers game. Knowing this, there's nothing more frustrating than pouring your time into an article...and then submitting it to o-n-e publication. And waiting through six months of torture. As said article hangs in the Black Hole of No Response.

Enter:  regional parenting magazines.

Most don't care whether your article is printed somewhere else too - as long as you don't submit it to another paper in their area that might have the same readers, known as an overlapping readership. (Of course, it's a good idea to check their writer's guidelines to confirm this. There are always exceptions). In general, I'll submit an article to about 15 markets across the US and get back two acceptances. If I weren't so lazy was more aggressive, I could look up more markets and submit to more, for more acceptances.

2. Your Article Can Be Printed by 50+ Papers At The Same Time, & You Can Get Paid By Them All. At The Same Time!
It's true that their payout doesn't compare to, say, the glossies. In general, each one pays me between $25 - $50 per article. But if you have a very appealing article and are willing to do your work as far as finding markets, that figure is easily multiplied. In fact, my writing mentor told me the story about a man who sold one article every year, once a year, to hundreds of newspapers throughout the US. He made ~$20K just from his annual hot air balloon article. !

3. Publication & Editor Information Is Fairly Easy to Find
http://www.newspapers.com/ provides a list of newspapers for every state and includes links to their individual websites. Many have "staff" pages that list editors' names and departments, and some also have writer's guidelines.

Here's where the work comes in:  some of this information is missing or outdated, and it's not unusual to email a submission just to get it back as "undeliverable". At that point, it's more than okay to call the newspaper and ask for the name and email address of the editor in charge of ______.

*UPDATE 5/2012: I recently discovered an ebook listing over 100 regional parenting markets. (No, I'm not an affliate. It's just that good.)

4. Submission Guidelines Are Pretty Standard
So far, I've found submission information to be pretty standard: paste the article, single-spaced, within the email. While some suggest also sending the article as an attachment to ensure the editor gets it, I shy away from this because so many people worry about downloading viruses from unknown (and even known) email addresses.

A tip from the freelancer I spoke to this week: include your snail mail address in the email, because some papers simply print the article without telling you beforehand, and then mail a check. (Again, this is for regional parenting publications.)

5. Once They've Published One Of Your Articles, They're Likely To Publish Another 
They're always looking for new content, and this "pond" is smaller than in the glossy magazine industry. If you're writing for a local publication, residency and local knowledge is already on your side.

If you are chasing the glossies, that's even more reason to write for regional parenting magazines:  publish enough articles on a topic in enough papers, and you'll hold more weight when pitching that same topic to a magazine.

Related Posts:    My Emails with an Editor
                         Writer's Agreement (aka, They Want the Article! Now What?)
                         Avoid Turning Off a Busy Editor:  Ask These Questions...
                         Parenting Markets. As in 50. With Links!
                         A Chat With a Successful Freelancer (the Art of the...
                         Rewrite, Reuse, Recycle Your Articles
                         

The Art of How-To Writing for Regional Parenting Magazines

I recently met up with a freelancer who paid her kids' way through school with freelance income AND has been published in Women's World, Parenting, and enough other women's magazines to make me sufficiently jealous...and very attentive. Linda said that one of her steady markets has been regional newspapers and magazines. She wrote mainly parenting articles, and discovered that many of the family/parenting publications favor "how to" articles with a certain format and style:

The Art of the How-To Article
The articles Linda writes typically run around 700 words (the lower word counts start at 500 and go up to 1000 on the high end). The pay is around $25 to $50 each, which isn't a lot, BUT-- many regional publications take reprints and usually don't care if the article is published elsewhere, as long as the regions don't overlap. (For example, you can send an article to a publication in Fairfield County, CT, and another to Litchfield County, CT...but not to two different papers that BOTH publish in Fairfield County, because their readership might be the same.)

• Begin the Article with an Intro Paragraph  This can be as short as a sentence (but usually longer), and lets readers know what the spin is (i.e., "Earth Day is the perfect time to think about ways you can save energy--your own energy.") The last sentence introduces the list of tips. For example, "Below are a few fun and easy writing activities to try on your next road trip."  

• List Several Tips  List between three to five tips. Too few tips, and the article appears stingy; too many, and you'll either have too long of an article, or sections that are too short and not meaty enough. Each "tip" should have its own section with a header that plays off your article title. If the piece is about getting kids interested in gardening, and titled, "Grow a Gardener," one heading might be, "Weed Out Their Least Favorite Duties".  Each section should be about the same length, and when possible, flow logically into the next section. References to books or websites are bonus items that editors will appreciate

• Add a Concluding Paragraph at the End

• Include a Sidebar  This should average about 100 words, and offer information NOT covered in the article. For an article about science activities to do at home, the sidebar might mention a list of kids' science websites, or recommended science kits. This is also a good place to add the local touch that many regional magazines want.