Writing and Publishing News from

July 26, 2011

Memoir Writing Course Starts Today

Filed under: Announcements,Writing — Patricia @ 4:14 am

I am starting a new course today—my Memoir Writing Course. If you are interested in taking this 6-week online course for $200, you can learn more about it and sign up today here:
http://www.matilijapress.com/course_memoirwriting.htm

One advantage to taking my memoir course is that I have so much background in publishing as compared to other teachers who may be able to counsel you only in the writing aspect. Here’s what I will cover. You will learn how to:

• Gather pertinent information.
• Determine which information is relevant and which isn’t.
• Identify the appropriate audience for your memoir.
• Effectively interview significant relatives and others.
• Conduct research to locate and verify important details.
• Document the material.
• Decide what form to use in writing your memoir.
• Use emotions in your memoir.
• Ascertain whether this story is publishable.
• Explore publishing possibilities for your memoir.

Sign up today and you should be well on your way toward writing your memoir and have a more clear idea of your publishing path by Labor Day.

Be sure to visit my websites—get your free ebooklet, “50 Reasons Why You Should Write That Book,” at: http://www.patriciafry.com

Order “The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book,” at a discount at:
http://www.matilijapress.com

July 13, 2011

Your Book as a Business Card

Filed under: Publishing,Writing — Patricia @ 5:17 am

Have you noticed that everyone is writing a book? If you listen to or watch radio/TV talk shows, you are being constantly introduced to individuals who have written books. Many of them are ordinary people who have published books on parenting, cats, hiring a foreign nanny, politics, spirituality, public speaking, Yoga, home birthing, relationships, flying, budgeting, health issues, fitness, computing, mentoring or any number of other topics.

Everyone is publishing his or her memoirs, thoughts, poetry, realizations, discoveries, insights, dreams and other creations. And a whole lot of people are becoming authors by way of elaborate business cards.

I’m sure you know people in this category—they want added credibility in their field and they come out with a book to that end.

I write books for authors and freelance writers. My books cover the workings and processes involved in the publishing industry, your publishing options, how to write a book proposal, book promotion and so forth. My business is writing and editing. These books help to give me and my work credibility.

I know someone who operates a nonprofit organization for the welfare of animals. Her book on the same topic is like a business card for her organization. I also know animal behaviorists, elder caregivers, photographers, veterinarians, marketing experts and plenty of psychologists who have written books in their fields.

I’ve met a caregiver in the field of mental disorders, a job counselor, a dog trainer, a horse trainer, a couple of psychics, a chef, a gardener, graphic designers, artists, a woman who works with the deaf, a realtor, a fashion designer, a financial expert, an attorney, a travel agent and other men and women in various specific businesses who produced books in order to enhance their businesses.

Do you know what I call these books? Sophisticated business cards.

If you’re working on a business card book or are thinking about writing one, keep a couple of things in mind:

• Can the market bear another book on this topic?

• What is different about your book—what makes it better—more beneficial?

• Is there a true audience for this book? Do you know where they are and how to approach them?

• Do you have the qualifications to attract readers on this topic?

• Do you have a clear understanding of the publishing industry?

• Have you saved up money for a professional book editor and to pay to have the book published, if necessary?

• Do you have the time, money and ideas for promoting this book?
For MUCH more about publishing and book promotion, visit my websites:

http://www.matilijapress.com
http://www.patriciafry.com

Study my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. It is available at a discount here: http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html

July 12, 2011

5 Things You Can Do Differently To Create Writing Success

Filed under: Writing — Patricia @ 4:30 am

It’s summer already. Have you begun working toward your 2011 goals? Have you started living your writing/publishing dream? Do you feel that you on track? If so, you’re probably in the minority.

Yup, most people flake out on their own important goals. They just can’t seem to jumpstart a plan of action.

Here are five things that you can do differently in order to create your writing/publishing success.

1: Adopt a “can do” attitude. Often the pure enormity of the industry and the competition is enough to put off a talented writer. Sure, it’s a jungle full of lions, tigers and bears out there. But someone is getting their work published. In fact, millions of “someones” are scoring. Why can’t it be you? Maybe it’s time to stop talking about and thinking about writing and actually start writing.

2: Make some sacrifices. We all have busy lives. And when we want to add a new component, something must give. You’ve experienced this many times in your life. You want to go out and party on Friday night so you sacrifice sleep, time spent watching TV, perhaps some hours of clarity the next morning. Maybe you want to take a trip or help a friend move. You must change aspects of your lifestyle to do these things. Why are you reluctant to make allowances/sacrifices in order to support your writing passion?

3: Pick and choose your project. Sure, maybe you have your heart set on writing your memoirs or a novel that keeps playing out in your mind. But if you are stalled because of the enormity of this book project, why not start with a confidence-building project? Write a simple how-to book on a topic you know well. Submit some of your short stories to magazines/newsletters. Write an article for publication.

4: Stop studying. I never thought I’d hear myself say this. I am a strong advocate of studying the publishing industry before getting involved. However, I know writers and hopeful authors who buy every book on their genre, attend four writers’ groups every month, consult daily with a writing buddy, hire a mentor and/or continually research their projects. Some people carry on like this for years, never writing a word. By the time they get around to hiring me, they’re involved in a habit that is mighty hard to break. It’s important to know when to stop, drop and write.

5: Write what is needed/wanted. I know talented, skilled writers who want to be published, yet they waste their time writing what they want to write with little concern for what will sell. Budding writers come to me complaining that they can’t sell a column idea to the New Yorker or an essay on spring cleaning or washing a Volvo to Woman’s Day. If this describes you, will you do this for me (and for yourself)? Study the magazines you want to write for (I suggest aiming a little lower than Reader’s Digest and Ladies Home Journal in the beginning). What does this magazine publish? What can you offer that might fit this publication? Read their Submission Guidelines and follow them in making a submission.

Follow these five suggestions and let me know how they serve you.

http://www.patriciafry.com
http://www.matilijapress.com

July 7, 2011

Make Money This Summer Writing for the Trades

Filed under: Writing — Patricia @ 5:06 am

Are you looking for article work this summer—a way to make a little extra money? Why not consider trade magazines. There are over 500 trade magazines listed in Writer’s Market and many others out there that aren’t listed. They represent every type of business and business aspect you can imagine and they pay anywhere from $25 per article to $3,000.

A really cool thing about writing for the trades is that you don’t actually have to know anything about construction, church administration, doing nails, aviation, selling or building furniture, public service programs, feed lot management or engineering. All you need to break into trade magazines is the ability to think outside the box, a talent for coming up with new ideas, a skill for conducting interviews, a bent for research and a sense of professionalism. You must also be able to write to an editor’s specifications and a specific magazine’s style.

Here are a few of the articles I’ve sold to trade magazines over the years—as you can see, they did not necessarily require knowledge of the trade.

I wrote many articles for a local technology magazine one year: I profiled people who ran technology businesses out of their garages, teens operating technology businesses, couples managing businesses related to technology, women in technology and one on computer dating, for example. I also interviewed a variety of artists for a couple of articles for a country business magazine. I sold pieces to a variety of business magazines on business management, how to get along with a female boss, using intuition in the workplace, office politics, how to give a better presentation, how to create more loyal customers and how to handle an irate customer. I sold Technology and Learning a piece on how to get the word out about your school technology programs and pieces on how to make the most of your vacation to a variety of business magazines. I wrote a couple of articles featuring various categories of pet products for a pet store magazine.

And then there are regional business magazines. I’ve sold some of them my articles on how to have more fun at work, bringing dogs to work, cats in the workplace.

I imagine that as you read through this post, a flurry of ideas for trade magazine articles occurred to you. Great! Now go flesh them out, locate the right trade magazine, start contacting possible interviewees and go for it. Let me know how it goes.

http://www.matilijapress.com
http://www.patriciafry.com

It’s not too late to sign up for my in progress Book Proposal Writing Course.
http://www.matilijapress.com/course_bookproposal.htm

July 4, 2011

Your Publishing Success is Up to YOU!

Filed under: Publishing,Writing — Patricia @ 4:50 am

Yesterday, we talked about strange places to have book signings. I forgot to mention that I have signed books in the local cemetery twice. Well, that’s because I had a book (two books) featuring the history of the Nordhoff Cemetery and profiles of the earliest burials there.

What are some of the most unique places where you have sold books, promoted your books or received unsolicited, unexpected exposure for your books?

I was publicly recognized as the author of the Ojai Valley history book at my class reunion which took place in Ojai one year and also at the year-end party for those who volunteered or worked for the city in some capacity. (I was on the Historic Preservation Commission for the city.)

I often discover people talking about my work or my books on their blogs or in their articles/newsletters, etc. Be sure to do a search on your name or the title of your book occasionally to find out who is commenting. You might find some great testimonials for your website.

But none of this will happen for you unless you are tirelessly seeking exposure for yourself and your books all the time—in the most common and the most unique places and ways. Here are some of the other opportunities I’ve had as a result of my writing career.

1: I flew business class to Dubai all expenses paid and was honored as the first woman ever to give a keynote speech at the District Toastmasters convention that year. The organizers were familiar with me because of my numerous articles published in The Toastmaster Magazine over the years.

2: I was once invited to photograph a pair of Pallas cats from inside their cage at the Denver Zoo for an article commissioned by Cats Magazine.

3: I’ve enjoyed behind the scenes tours of many places throughout the US—amazing homes, a massive natural gardens, a bird rehabilitation center, interesting factories and so forth because I was writing about them.

4: I’ve received assignments from larger magazines when their editors noticed my articles on certain topics in other publications or at my blog, for example.

5: I’ve interviewed high-profile people for articles and books.

6: I’ve received invitations that might not have been issued if I wasn’t a writer or hadn’t produced books on certain topics. I was selected a Living Treasure in the literary category in my community, for example.

So what’s the message here? You know that I rarely post a blog without something in it for you—something that will assist you along your writing/publishing path. In case you haven’t figured it out, the message is:

• Promote, promote, promote.

• Put yourself out there. Become known among editors in your field/genre and readers in your field/genre.

• Get all of the exposure you can generate through every possible channel. In other words, talk about your book everywhere you go. Constantly come up with article/story ideas and then pitch them. Locate promotional opportunities and pursue them.

• Concentrate on your audience and pursue them with your book or your article/story-writing.

Selling your writing is as simple as getting noticed. And that is your assignment today. Get noticed. You can’t get a story or article published if you don’t come up with the idea, write it and submit it. You can’t sell a book no one knows about. Your success is up to you.

By the way, while you’re sitting around playing computer games and checking your friends’ facebook pages today, visit my websites. Sign up for one of my online courses designed to help you move forward within the writing/publishing/book promotion realm. Purchase one of my books. I wrote them just for you. Send me a few chapters of your current book project for an editorial evaluation and estimate.

http://www.matilijapress.com
http://www.patriciafry.com

July 2, 2011

Is Your Manuscript Possessed by Boo Coo Boo Boos?

Filed under: Authorship,Writing — Patricia @ 3:32 am

Word processors are GREAT for editing. Don’t you love the ease with which you can make corrections and additions? I started my writing career using a borrowed manual typewriter. It was a glorious day when I was able to purchase an electric typewriter. Whoo hooo! For those of you too young to remember these antiquated pieces of machinery, editing was quite a different process. You typed it. You edited and made corrections on the printout using a red pencil. Then you retyped it. The first few drafts of your manuscript often looked like the work of a deranged scholar with all of the notes, arrows and other marks all over it.

Once you typed in the changes, it was time to edit again. The process of fine-tuning a 1,500-word article might take days. Often, the end product still didn’t look that good. If you found a typo after the final go around, you used liquid white out, let it dry and then typed or wrote the correction in.

In time, someone invented correction tape. Some typewriters had correction tape built into the typewriter. So when you wanted to make a change, you typed over the mistake with the tape and then retyped to correct.

Now, we can correct mistakes and make changes easily on the screen—before ever printing our manuscript or letter out or sending it to anyone. And we have all kinds of help from built-in spell-check and grammar programs. What many freelance writers and authors forget, however, is the importance of their astute, alert attention to what’s happening to their manuscripts during the self-editing and correction phase.

I can’t tell you how many manuscripts I receive for editing that have obviously gone through boo coo incarnations and are possessed by many boo boos as a result. For example:
• The author changes the name of a character midstream and neglects to make the changes throughout. (Very common!) She might be Cindy throughout, except on pages 113, 143 and 220.

• Words are erroneously left in or removed in the process of editing. For example, instead of typing, “He went straight to the store,” it might read, “He went to straight the store.” Or rather than, “She sat in the saddle with confidence,” you might inadvertently create this, “She sat in the saddle horse confidence.”

• Authors use the wrong words. For example, “She stocked her prey.” It should be, “She stalked her prey.” Or “I can’t belief what she sad,” when it should read, “I can’t believe what she said.” Or “Their he goes right past there house,” of course, this should be, “There he goes, right past their house.” And what about this, “She past the bakery without taking a second look.” It should be, “She passed the bakery without taking a second look.”

• Letters are left off of or out of words. This can happen through the course of editing. You intend to say, “Steve was the driver and George sat beside him,” but you end up with, “Steve was the drive an George sat beside him.”

• Inconsistencies are a huge problem with many of the manuscripts I see. Authors can’t decide whether to use capitalization with certain words or not, so they shift back and forth. They capitalize “earth,” “phantom planet,” “angel,” half of the time and, half of the time, they don’t.

• Authors use curly quotes sometimes and straight quotes the rest of the time. This drives me crazy. And sometimes the quotation marks are backwards. This is also often a result of having made changes to the text.

The more manuscripts I see, the more adamant I am that authors need at least one extra set of eyes to scrutinize their work BEFORE publication. And then they absolutely should hire a qualified book editor to do the final tuning. I strongly advise authors to save up for an editor as soon as he or she decides to write a book for publication. If you plan to write a 60,000 to 90,000-word manuscript, you’ll probably need anywhere from $1,200 to $3,500. If the manuscript is in really rough shape, you’ll need to come up with more. If it is very, very clean, you won’t pay as much.

I recently lost an editing job (and the author lost an opportunity to present a well-written book to the public). The author came to me with a gigantic, multi-thousand-word novel manuscript in very poor shape with a budget of only a fraction of what it would cost for me to edit the work. He decided to do the editing himself. I could not convince this author that the mistakes in his manuscript were created by him—through his ignorance of the English language as well as grammar, punctuation, etc. He obviously had a knack for storytelling, but his writing was atrocious. He is not qualified to fix the problems in his manuscript.

But there is nothing to stop him from doing his own editing or from getting his book published. Such a shame. I hate to see authors publish and attempt to sell garbage. Yet, more and more people are doing so.

For more about editing, self-editing, publishing (all options), freelance article writing, book promotion, writing a book proposal, building on your platform and more, check out the archives for this blog. And visit my websites:

http://www.matilijapress.com
http://www.patriciafry.com

July 1, 2011

Money Management for Writers

Filed under: Writing — Patricia @ 4:57 am

When I was a young homemaker, my husband worked on commission. He brought home a different amount on his paycheck every two weeks. I hate, hate, hated not knowing how much money we would have for bills each month. We just couldn’t seem to get enough ahead to ever make this sort of thing work for us. When he had a good month in commissions, we had to put the extra money toward a bill we couldn’t quite pay off the month before. It was stressful not having a set amount of pay to plan on.

Then he got a regular job with a regular paycheck. He earned a regular salary plus raises when his route increased. This was better—until the powers-that-be would decide he’d built his route to such a degree it was time to split it and give part of it to someone else. His paycheck would be cut accordingly. Again, we couldn’t exactly rely on a set salary.

I never wanted to live like that again. My dream was to have a reliable amount of money coming in each month so that I could plan ahead as far as household and other expenses.

So what am I doing in a business that is one of the most unstable of all? Writing and publishing?

Certainly, there is no regular paycheck in this profession. Some months you might place three $1,000 articles, do a $1,200 editing job, sell two dozen books, get paid to speak at two events, write some copy for a local business and collect $350 in consulting fees. The next two months might be dead. I have chosen a profession with just about as precarious a financial situation as possible and I’ve stayed in it for over thirty-five years. How do I manage?

One thing I’ve noticed is that rather than concerning myself so much with the amount of income I require each month—because this is going to be unstable no matter what I do—I regulate my expenses. Sure there are months when I decide to purchase a new piece of business equipment, when my car needs repairs or my house needs painting. But I maintain a fairly low level of expenses and I strive to earn more than I need to cover them each month. When I bring in more money, I stash it. Then I have it when I need to cover an unexpected (or long-term planned) expense.

I believe that it is important to preserve one’s health and well-being, as well. Most of us do. So I try to take advantage of down times—when I’m not on a deadline or when I don’t have an editing job on my desktop—to get out of the office. I take mini-vacations and walk on the beach. I create a new garden space in my yard. I spend time with my friends. Or I even leave town for a few days of respite.

Sure, slow times in this business should be spent promoting and gaining additional exposure for your books and services. But there comes a time in a career when you can streamline that process—you know where and how to spend your time and energy. And this affords you nice pockets of time for regrouping and refreshing away from work.

I’m actually in intense work mode as we speak—with back-to-back editing jobs on my desk and a new book coming out this month. But the heat is headed inland (where I live) and the cooler beaches are calling to me. I will be taking pockets of time in the coming weeks to walk my stresses away along the water’s edge, knowing that, because of my diligence, the bills will be paid. I can relax in the knowledge that I’ve somehow overcome the horror and fear of the irregular or erratic salary. How about you? How do you manage the lack of security in the writing/publishing business?

http://www.matilijapress.com
http://www.patriciafry.com

June 20, 2011

Make the Most of Your Respite

Filed under: Writing — Patricia @ 5:37 am

If you write for publication, it is probably rare when you are not working. Whether you are a freelance writer, you contribute to magazines and ezines or you have a published book, you are (or should be) in work mode practically all of your waking hours. Some of us even work in our sleep (or when we are supposed to be sleeping). Don’t you sometimes wake up in the night with a great story idea, a new promotional plan or inspiration for how to work with a client or publisher?

Likewise, time away from the office can spur inspiration and ideas. Get-aways are recommended, and even necessary, for hardworking, serious writers and authors. But for most of us, while they can be relaxing and rejuvenating, little (and big) escapes can greatly enhance our businesses.

While traveling or even chilling on some remote beach, writers continue to write and rewrite even if only in their heads. They might come up with new ideas, become clear about a character issue they’ve been struggling with, develop an interesting new character or storyline for their novel or hatch a new way of working with a client.

Authors are ever aware of opportunities to promote their books. They might hand out business cards, postcards or brochures featuring their books everywhere they go; talk about it at every opportunity; leave cards in restrooms, airports, etc.; visit appropriate specialty stores and talk to shopkeepers about carrying their books; pick up cards and brochures for businesses or individuals they may want to follow up with; donate a book here and there and so forth.

Vacations and get-aways are good for a writer. We need to get away from the pressure, even if we love what we do. Creatives need mental and physical breaks. It is good for us to step back, gather our thoughts and let our spirit rejuvenate. This is also a great opportunity for us to regroup and refocus. It’s good for our psyche and it’s good for our projects.

I just returned from a 3-day get-away with my three daughters and one of my grown granddaughters. They whisked me away to help me celebrate my birthday in grand style. What a wonderful weekend—memorable. What did I bring back to my office after this lovely respite? Among other things, a fresh perspective and renewed energy. It’s wonderful to be excited about the work that’s waiting for you and eager to accept the work that’s coming your way.

http://www.matilijapress.com
http://www.patriciafry.com

June 15, 2011

Finding Your Book’s Focus

Filed under: Authorship,Writing — Patricia @ 5:14 am

Are you sitting on some material or an idea and you want to write a book, but you just don’t know which direction to go with it? You are not alone. I meet hopeful authors often who are in such a quandary about how to proceed that some never do get their projects off the ground. They just go round and round in their heads and stay stuck in, “I want to write a book, but will it be for children? Adults? Of regional interest or international? For teens?” “Will it be a book of fiction or nonfiction?” “Should I self-publish or find a publisher?”

There are many decisions to be made when you enter into the world of publishing. You may have enjoyed the process of writing for years. You write stories and then tuck them away somewhere. Or, perhaps, you’ve never written a thing—but you know you can do it—you want to and you see no reason why you can’t. So you glom onto a topic and either move forward so quickly that you neglect to collect the information you need to keep you from failing or you can’t seem to make necessary decisions.

This morning, I wrote this in response to a woman who can’t decide what direction to take an idea she has for a book.

I can imagine that you are overwhelmed with your project. I remember feeling the same way when I decided to write a comprehensive history of the Ojai Valley, California. My approach was to collect as much information as I could first. I interviewed old-timers about their memories and looked at their collections of letters, photos and such from their pioneer ancestors who lived here in the early years. I studied the material in the museums, read all of the old newspaper, etc. I spent a year gathering material before deciding what direction to go with my book. I realized that I had enough interesting documentation to write about every aspect of Ojai—early businesses, how the town was formed, early residents, establishment of the cemetery, first church, first school, everyday life, etc. And the book began to take shape in my head.

Next, I separated all of the material into sections—early businesses, early pioneers, churches, schools, etc. The next four years were spent (in between my daughters weddings, etc.) organizing the material in each section and going out after additional information to fill in and to respond to questions that came up—“who really was the first pioneer here in Ojai,” “what happened to the first olive orchard,” “more details about the progression of valley churches,” etc. I also wrote the book during this four-year period.

I had a reason and a purpose for this book. My reason for writing it was a desire to bring all of the vast amount of information that had been written about Ojai together under one cover for residents, pioneer families and tourists to Ojai. I had begun to realize the need for doing just this. And my purpose in doing it was that I LOVED to write, was eager to get involved in a second book project, I had the time, I enjoyed the process and I wanted to contribute something to my home town (I’m 5th generation Ojai). Also, I thought I might make a little money with this project (which I did).

It was through the research and talking to people in the community that I realized my reasons, my purpose and the needs/desires of the community.

Sure I got overwhelmed sometimes while in the organizing and writing process. I had trouble deciding which chapters to put where. But I used logic and everything came together. And the book was hugely well accepted and is still an asset to the community after 25 years.

I think that if you sit down and list the very real possibilities for the material you’ve come across, discern your reasons for wanting to do something with this information and then consider what the need is with regard to a book derived from this information, you will begin to discover the logical direction and you will stumble upon your purpose.

Do your research. And then, decide—choose and commit.

Does this help any of you out there? Does it resonate with any who have struggled to find a focus for your ideas?

http://www.patriciafry.com
http://www.matilijapress.com

June 9, 2011

Choose the Right Venue for Your Work

Filed under: Publishing,Writing — Patricia @ 4:59 am

Most of us, these days, write for more than just pleasure. We feel a need to justify our enjoyment of the craft. We seek validation as writers. Many more of us now than ever before write to be heard/read. And this means that more of us seek publication.

Here are some tips for getting your work published:

Locate magazines that publish material like yours. Perhaps you have some magazines in mind. Start there. And then reach out and become familiar (if not intimate) with the multitude of magazines and newsletters that currently seek submissions from writers. Writer’s Market is a great resource (about $30 at most bookstores or in the reference section at your library). The 2012 issue will debut in September. You might also take a look at the Directory of Little Magazines and Small Presses by Len Fulton. Research appropriate magazines on the Internet.

Study the magazines for which you want to write. The magazine listings in Writer’s Market include contact information, type of material desired, submission requirements, word count, pay scale and so forth. But you’ll also want to locate a copy of their Guidelines for Writers at their website.

Read at least one copy of the magazine from cover to cover. This will help you determine whether or not your work is right for this publication and give you ideas for revising it to fit. Examine the stories, the editorials, letters to the editor and even the ads. Who is their target audience? Demographics are often available in their Writer’s Market listing or their Guidelines for Writers.

Research publishers for your book. Go to a mega bookstore and find books similar to yours. See who published them and contact those publishers. If you have written a true crime, for example, you’ll want to approach publishers who publish true crime books. If yours is a cookbook, you’ll need a publisher of cookbooks.

Also find publishers and their contact information listed in Writer’s Market, Literary Market Place (in the reference section at your library), Gale’s Directory of Publications (also a library reference book) or Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book Editors, Publishers and Literary Agents.

Follow the submission instructions. Magazines and publishing companies pretty much each have their own requirements. While some magazine editors encourage article ideas from writers, others like to assign stories, for example. In this case, they will ask only for a resume. If you go ahead and send them your story, you’re just wasting time and postage. Here are some additional rules for submitting your work.

• Send only what they request.

• Consider the format when preparing an article or story for submission. While some magazines use a variety of styles, others might use only heavily researched pieces, essays, first-person stories, how-tos or question and answer articles. Adjust your piece to conform.

• Stay within the suggested word count. This will vary from magazine to magazine.

• Polish your story, article or book manuscript before submitting it. This seems like a no brainer, but I’ve talked to writers who will send something that needs extensive editing in hopes that their editorial staff will fine-tune it for them. What they’ll do is send your submission back to you in the next mail delivery.

• Don’t bug the editor. Wait an appropriate amount of time for their response. How long? Generally the response time is in their Guidelines. If you don’t hear from them by their two or three month response time, for example, email or write asking for an update on your submission. Be sure to give your full name, the title of the project, the date sent and anything else that makes it easy for them to check the status of your project.

So back to the question, what is the right venue for your work? First, ask yourself:
“What do I hope to accomplish by having my work published?” Do you want to get paid, build a portfolio, promote your published book, prove to yourself you can do it, impress friends, feel validated as a writer/poet/author?

Determine your deep down desire and your venue will become apparent. Through this process, you may discover that you simply want to put your story or collection of poetry into a form that you can hold in your hands and give as gifts. In this case you may decide to self-publish. You could design greeting cards featuring your poetry, for example. Have your book of poetry or short stories copied and bound at a business center. Or check into print on demand—where you can have only a few copies of your precious book printed and bound professionally.

Whatever you decide is the right publishing path for you, keep in mind that a magazine editor or book publisher is not going to come looking for you. It’s up to you to do the research necessary to find the right venue for your work.

http://www.matilijapress.com
http://www.patriciafry.com

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