This subject causes many heated debates. And that is just with myself. I see the pros and cons of both. Let's compare...
Traditional Publishing is very hard to break into, unless you already have a famous name. If you do, you can easily get anything you want published, including actual trash. If you have no fame at all as of yet, then you must fight as if your life depends on it. Putting up with total snobs most of the way. It is rather shocking to know the names of now famous authors that had to swim through tons of rejection letters before they finally had someone with a brain really read their manuscript. At first I didn't mind the rejection letters because they addressed me as; Dear Author. By the way, I've saved every one of them. For various reasons.
Going the traditional route can take a long time, 18 to 24 months. And if there is not a very good reason to promote you or your book, don't count on anyone doing it for you. However, they can distribute the book straight to the Big Bookstores. If someone in the publishing firm believes in you, you may get a nice advance so that you won't starve to death while you are trying to promote the first book and write your second one.
Self Publishing costs you money upfront. Roughly $1000.00, depending on whether or not you want all the bells and whistles. Post cards, business cards, book marks, posters for book signing events, etc,... and they come up with new ideas to charge you for on a daily basis. However - it's fast. You can have your book in about 90 days with some of them! And they make it available on all on-line book stores almost immediately. You still have to do a lot of work to promote your own book, but remember you usually do, either way. If you do choose to self publish, be sure to pay extra for return-ability. If a bookstore knows you are self published - and they will, many assume it would be to much of a risk to stock your books, or even let you do a book signing. You get a lot further with them, and a lot faster, if you bring something from the publisher with you to prove it is returnable.
Also, be sure to get a qualified person, or people to proof read your manuscript BEFORE you submit it. The self publishers charge quite a bit to do it for you, but if you don't know anyone to do it, it's worth paying for. Think how horribly embarrassing it would be for someone to buy your book and then complain about too many mistakes. Unfortunately, I know this from
experience. You may think you can proof it yourself. You can't. Your mind knows what is coming next, so it somehow reads the text as it should be. Really, I'm not the first person to say this.
So far, we are self published and the Rebel in me really likes it this way. However, things are going really well for us, we may even have a movie made based on the book. So, maybe once our name is famous, we may sell-out and let the big guys have it. Or - maybe not.
K.T. Banks is a pen name we use. We are a husband and wife writing team. We have just published our first mystery novel, 'Stand and Protect' and the second one is almost finished. Don't hate us, but we feel that we have the family thing figured out. Besides our good relationships with our children, we have a great marriage.
Despite many ups and downs financially, we are still madly in love. Once we came into a lot of money, and through mostly our own ignorance, we lost everything after a while.
Sometimes we have in-law problems. We've had to deal with death in the family. Our 18 year old lost one of his best friends in a car crash about 6 months ago. That was really hard to deal with. I have anxiety problems. And yet we are always there for each other. We're in this together and learning how to compromise is huge.
So, while we really enjoy writing novels together. We like this avenue to try to help others that may need it. A happy family life is one of the greatest blessings you can have. You can read about our novels at http://www.KT-Banks.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=K._T._Banks
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Five Things You Should Do to Get Your First Article Published
Michelle Buss
1. Buy a copy of whichever market guide is the most respected in your country.
In the UK this is the Writers' & Artists' Yearbook. It is packed with good advice and more importantly the names of loads different types of places that may be willing to publish your work and pay you for it. The magazine section for example lists magazines that accept freelance contributions. It usually gives you the name of the editor, and some sort of contact details. It may give you a more specific idea of the type of freelance material they are seeking, and what type of rates they pay. It is the first stop for any freelance.
Hot Tip: You don't have to stick to just the market guide for your country. There is no rule that says you can only write for magazines or publishers in your own country. Try finding the best example from a few countries. It will help broaden your market. Check out the Australian Marketplace Online for a start.
2. Make a list of the kinds of things you know about and also those that you are interested enough in to research thoroughly. You don't have to know everything about the subjects or topics you put on your list but it will make your life much more enjoyable if they are something you would like to learn more about. This is never stressed enough; you are likely to lead a miserable life if you choose to write about something you are not terribly interested in, as well as the fact you are unlikely to do it well.
3. Go through your market guide carefully and make a note of all of the magazines that may be interested in publishing something on your topics. A bit of organisation now is likely to save you lots of time in the future. Try dividing your subjects into categories and noting down contact details of the editor or whoever is responsible for freelance content.
Hot Tip: Something useful you can do at this stage is to mark up your market guide. Try assigning a different colour to each of your categories and marking pages with contacts that might be interested in that subject with a colour post it. It will save you lots of time later when you have a great idea and don't have to comb back through the book to work out where you should submit it.
4. Start thinking of article ideas for each of your categories (this is actually the hard bit but unfortunately there are not many tips for how to improve your imagination, just try to keep abreast of things happening in your subject areas.)
5. Pitch your ideas to the contacts you have found at the magazines that may be interested in your article. What no one really tells you is that there are, broadly speaking, two types of pitch. The first is a very brief outline that should be enough to hook your editor if he/she really likes the sound of your idea.
The advantages of this type of pitch are; most editors are busy and may not look at anything longer, it saves you time because if the editor is not interested you have not invested too much in the pitch.
The disadvantages are: it is sometimes hard to get across the essence of your article in such a short pitch, if you are relatively unknown you risk just being ignored because the editor can't see anything of substance.
The second type of pitch is much longer and outlines the shape or structure you see this article taking, includes the first paragraph to give an idea of your writing style and even a few coverline ideas, you might want to include a short blurb on why you think the article would fit into their magazine. The risk you take with this type of pitch is that the editor will see all the type and decide he/she can't fit reading it into their day and if this is the case you have wasted a substantial chunk of time. On the other hand it looks very professional and gives the editor more of an idea of who you are. The choice is yours.
1. Buy a copy of whichever market guide is the most respected in your country.
In the UK this is the Writers' & Artists' Yearbook. It is packed with good advice and more importantly the names of loads different types of places that may be willing to publish your work and pay you for it. The magazine section for example lists magazines that accept freelance contributions. It usually gives you the name of the editor, and some sort of contact details. It may give you a more specific idea of the type of freelance material they are seeking, and what type of rates they pay. It is the first stop for any freelance.
Hot Tip: You don't have to stick to just the market guide for your country. There is no rule that says you can only write for magazines or publishers in your own country. Try finding the best example from a few countries. It will help broaden your market. Check out the Australian Marketplace Online for a start.
2. Make a list of the kinds of things you know about and also those that you are interested enough in to research thoroughly. You don't have to know everything about the subjects or topics you put on your list but it will make your life much more enjoyable if they are something you would like to learn more about. This is never stressed enough; you are likely to lead a miserable life if you choose to write about something you are not terribly interested in, as well as the fact you are unlikely to do it well.
3. Go through your market guide carefully and make a note of all of the magazines that may be interested in publishing something on your topics. A bit of organisation now is likely to save you lots of time in the future. Try dividing your subjects into categories and noting down contact details of the editor or whoever is responsible for freelance content.
Hot Tip: Something useful you can do at this stage is to mark up your market guide. Try assigning a different colour to each of your categories and marking pages with contacts that might be interested in that subject with a colour post it. It will save you lots of time later when you have a great idea and don't have to comb back through the book to work out where you should submit it.
4. Start thinking of article ideas for each of your categories (this is actually the hard bit but unfortunately there are not many tips for how to improve your imagination, just try to keep abreast of things happening in your subject areas.)
5. Pitch your ideas to the contacts you have found at the magazines that may be interested in your article. What no one really tells you is that there are, broadly speaking, two types of pitch. The first is a very brief outline that should be enough to hook your editor if he/she really likes the sound of your idea.
The advantages of this type of pitch are; most editors are busy and may not look at anything longer, it saves you time because if the editor is not interested you have not invested too much in the pitch.
The disadvantages are: it is sometimes hard to get across the essence of your article in such a short pitch, if you are relatively unknown you risk just being ignored because the editor can't see anything of substance.
The second type of pitch is much longer and outlines the shape or structure you see this article taking, includes the first paragraph to give an idea of your writing style and even a few coverline ideas, you might want to include a short blurb on why you think the article would fit into their magazine. The risk you take with this type of pitch is that the editor will see all the type and decide he/she can't fit reading it into their day and if this is the case you have wasted a substantial chunk of time. On the other hand it looks very professional and gives the editor more of an idea of who you are. The choice is yours.
How to Get a Book Published - Bookstores Sell 50% of Books Published
50% of books meant for consumers are sold through bookstores. If you're wondering how to get a book published make sure your publisher's books is stocked in bookstores. The first bookstores in the United States were established at least as far back as 1640. At that time, quite a few booksellers were also book publishers. By 1700 there were 30 booksellers in Boston alone. However, these stores didn't restrict themselves to just books but sold other merchandise as well. Richard Hoe's invention of the rotary press, which spewed out pages at the rate of 8000 sheets an hour, opened up the mass market for books. The divergence between bookseller and book publisher began to widen.
Book publishing is a $37 billion dollar industry in the United States. It has been estimated that the five large publishing companies, Random House Inc., Penguin USA, Simon & Schuster, Time Warner and HarperCollins, account for nearly eighty percent of all book sales in the US. This has occurred for the same reasons any other industry goes through consolidation: by combining certain administrative or staff functions, costs can be reduced and profits increased. Publishing, relative to many other industries, has not enjoyed a high Return on Investment (ROI) for investors. Now publishers are much more focused on having every single book they publish be profitable. This means a more risk averse philosophy, with a preference for publishing authors with successful track records--a sound business strategy.
Currently there are about 2000 chain bookstore locations. An additional 2200 independent booksellers belong to the American Booksellers Association. There are some 50,000 locations that sell books. Around 50% of books meant for retail sales are sold in bookstores, only about 10 -15% of new books are sold online.
Barnes and Noble is the largest chain with 796 stores. Annual revenues from those stores are $4.7 billion which translates into sales of almost 445 million books per year. A typical Barnes and Noble store offers 150,000 - 200,000 titles to shoppers.
Oddly enough Barnes and Noble is re-instituting the old fashioned idea that booksellers are also publishers. Its wholly owned company, Sterling Publishing, has the publishing or distribution rights to 10,000 titles and has actively published 5000. They own a chunk of IUniverse, a publish-on-demand company. The CEO of Barnes and Noble, Stephen Riggio, is the Chairman of the Board for IUniverse.
Borders Group owns about 1100 stores in the United States and has revenues of about $3.8 billion. It operates Borders Books and Music and Waldenbooks. The chain is the outgrowth of two independent bookstores. Walden Books was established by Lawrence Hoyt in 1962. Borders Books was established by Tom and Louis Borders in 1971. K-Mart Corporation purchased Walden Books, which in turn purchased Brentano's Books in 1984. In 1991 K-mart purchased Borders Books and formed Borders-Walden Group and renamed it Borders Group, Inc. Borders Group Inc. then went public in 1995.
BooksAMillion was founded in 1917 as a news stand and has grown to 205 stores, primarily in the Southeast. They own a book distribution company, American Wholesale Book Company. Revenues were just a bit over $.5 billion in 2008.
Books are sold in a myriad of other locations besides bookstores, such as grocery and drugstores, at the airport, and in the big box stores like the aforementioned K-Mart.
Getting your book into bookstores is a critical step in how to get a book published.
Complimentary report The Perils and Pitfalls of Publishing - Whom Can An Author Trust.
Dee Power is the author of several nonfiction books, including "The Making of a Bestseller: Success Stories from Authors, and the Editors, Agents, and Booksellers Behind Them." Her latest "The Publishing Primer: A Blueprint for an Author's Success" is focused on how to get a book published and marketed successfully, whether self-published or commercially published.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dee_Power
Book publishing is a $37 billion dollar industry in the United States. It has been estimated that the five large publishing companies, Random House Inc., Penguin USA, Simon & Schuster, Time Warner and HarperCollins, account for nearly eighty percent of all book sales in the US. This has occurred for the same reasons any other industry goes through consolidation: by combining certain administrative or staff functions, costs can be reduced and profits increased. Publishing, relative to many other industries, has not enjoyed a high Return on Investment (ROI) for investors. Now publishers are much more focused on having every single book they publish be profitable. This means a more risk averse philosophy, with a preference for publishing authors with successful track records--a sound business strategy.
Currently there are about 2000 chain bookstore locations. An additional 2200 independent booksellers belong to the American Booksellers Association. There are some 50,000 locations that sell books. Around 50% of books meant for retail sales are sold in bookstores, only about 10 -15% of new books are sold online.
Barnes and Noble is the largest chain with 796 stores. Annual revenues from those stores are $4.7 billion which translates into sales of almost 445 million books per year. A typical Barnes and Noble store offers 150,000 - 200,000 titles to shoppers.
Oddly enough Barnes and Noble is re-instituting the old fashioned idea that booksellers are also publishers. Its wholly owned company, Sterling Publishing, has the publishing or distribution rights to 10,000 titles and has actively published 5000. They own a chunk of IUniverse, a publish-on-demand company. The CEO of Barnes and Noble, Stephen Riggio, is the Chairman of the Board for IUniverse.
Borders Group owns about 1100 stores in the United States and has revenues of about $3.8 billion. It operates Borders Books and Music and Waldenbooks. The chain is the outgrowth of two independent bookstores. Walden Books was established by Lawrence Hoyt in 1962. Borders Books was established by Tom and Louis Borders in 1971. K-Mart Corporation purchased Walden Books, which in turn purchased Brentano's Books in 1984. In 1991 K-mart purchased Borders Books and formed Borders-Walden Group and renamed it Borders Group, Inc. Borders Group Inc. then went public in 1995.
BooksAMillion was founded in 1917 as a news stand and has grown to 205 stores, primarily in the Southeast. They own a book distribution company, American Wholesale Book Company. Revenues were just a bit over $.5 billion in 2008.
Books are sold in a myriad of other locations besides bookstores, such as grocery and drugstores, at the airport, and in the big box stores like the aforementioned K-Mart.
Getting your book into bookstores is a critical step in how to get a book published.
Complimentary report The Perils and Pitfalls of Publishing - Whom Can An Author Trust.
Dee Power is the author of several nonfiction books, including "The Making of a Bestseller: Success Stories from Authors, and the Editors, Agents, and Booksellers Behind Them." Her latest "The Publishing Primer: A Blueprint for an Author's Success" is focused on how to get a book published and marketed successfully, whether self-published or commercially published.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dee_Power
Awesome Tips on How to Write a Romance Story
Writing is something that many people love to do. Writing romance stories is a field that has seen numerous writers coming up. Romance is unique and it is the very life that we breathe. For this reason, the romance genre can be referred to as one the greatest. When you feel like you can create a good story of romance, you seek to write a romance novel or short story. You might find that you are not perfect but, if you really have a passion to write romance, all you need to do is learn how to write a romance story. In this modern age, a lot is possible. Information is so close to us and, you will find all the guides you need. Look for helpful information on how to write a romance story. The Internet is your one stop shop for all the information you need. This article will provide you with awesome tips that you will find helpful when you start your writing on romance.
The first lesson on how to write a romance novel is to know the message you want to communicate with your readers. You must have a clear story in mind and, you will be in a position to figure out how to communicate the message of love. Another vital tip on how to write a romance story is joining a writing club. This is a good place where you can get other writers to critic your work. Remember, the best way to learn is when you are told where you can improve. Make sure to take every criticism positively and perfect your style. Another thing that will help you a lot is writing, writing and more writing. As an aspiring romance writer, lots of practice will make perfect. Just like any other field, you need to ensure that you work hard.
On how to write a romance story that is good, you need to be familiar with the genre or sub genre you are planning to work on. You also need to know your target market. This will only come as a result of research. Know as many publishers as you can and have an idea of the kind of work they accept. Ignorance will only frustrate you and, besides having a great talent and skill, you need to match it up with intelligence on how the industry works. Make sure to read guides and books that are about romance. Spend most of your time thinking and acting on how you will succeed. Without a doubt, you will find yourself among the stars. Try the above tips and see how far you will go. One thing I'm sure of is that with consistency and dedication, you will succeed.
When it comes to creativity, you need to try out things that have not yet been done before. Being unique does not mean being complicated. Try to come up with stories that will leave an impact; those that readers will remember even after they are done reading. Drama is the key word when it comes to writing. Therefore, make your plots as dramatic as you see fit. Dare to venture into different territories, this way, you will be on the right track.
Francis K. Githinji Is An Online Dating Expert. His Latest Project Free Online Dating Service Shows How The Power Of Online Dating Can Be Harnessed Internationally and With Great Success, Or You Could Post Your Valued Comments On His Blog At Dating And Relationships Magazine
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Francis_K_Githinji
The first lesson on how to write a romance novel is to know the message you want to communicate with your readers. You must have a clear story in mind and, you will be in a position to figure out how to communicate the message of love. Another vital tip on how to write a romance story is joining a writing club. This is a good place where you can get other writers to critic your work. Remember, the best way to learn is when you are told where you can improve. Make sure to take every criticism positively and perfect your style. Another thing that will help you a lot is writing, writing and more writing. As an aspiring romance writer, lots of practice will make perfect. Just like any other field, you need to ensure that you work hard.
On how to write a romance story that is good, you need to be familiar with the genre or sub genre you are planning to work on. You also need to know your target market. This will only come as a result of research. Know as many publishers as you can and have an idea of the kind of work they accept. Ignorance will only frustrate you and, besides having a great talent and skill, you need to match it up with intelligence on how the industry works. Make sure to read guides and books that are about romance. Spend most of your time thinking and acting on how you will succeed. Without a doubt, you will find yourself among the stars. Try the above tips and see how far you will go. One thing I'm sure of is that with consistency and dedication, you will succeed.
When it comes to creativity, you need to try out things that have not yet been done before. Being unique does not mean being complicated. Try to come up with stories that will leave an impact; those that readers will remember even after they are done reading. Drama is the key word when it comes to writing. Therefore, make your plots as dramatic as you see fit. Dare to venture into different territories, this way, you will be on the right track.
Francis K. Githinji Is An Online Dating Expert. His Latest Project Free Online Dating Service Shows How The Power Of Online Dating Can Be Harnessed Internationally and With Great Success, Or You Could Post Your Valued Comments On His Blog At Dating And Relationships Magazine
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Francis_K_Githinji
Succeeding As a Writer - Confidence and Determination
When I've written something, and the words have just flowed, I sometimes feel like I'm looking down on the Seventh Day, basking in the warmth of my creation and proclaiming, It Is Good. I'll feel like I've captured the emotion and the angst; or the flavor, color, and texture of the world I envisioned. The characters will be as real as Real People to me. I'll feel that glow in my chest: Of course I'm a writer. This is something I was meant to do.
Now, as a psychologist, I believe it's not only okay, it's healthy to be able to say to yourself, "I did a good job on that." "I'm a good writer." You don't have to announce it to the world (in fact, you probably shouldn't!), but you're healthier if you have a secret little place inside with a nice big refrigerator to put up your accomplishments, and where you can nod and pat yourself on the back and think, I Did Good. I even have lots of professional terms to make that all sound more authoritative, like self-esteem, self-efficacy, and adequate mirroring on the Grandiose Pole. But I'm going to skip all that for right now.
If feeling good about what you'd written was as far as any of this went, all would be well. But so many of us have this urge, this drive, this need to get published. And what is that all about anyways? Few people make money publishing. It's cool, but unless you're Stephenie Meyer or JK Rowling or whoever this week's Hot Writer is, it's a passing cool that others soon forget. Getting published doesn't make you beautiful or thin or get you a Happily Ever After with whichever celebrity you drool over most.
Yet the need remains. So you sweat blood over a query and open a vein to get the synopsis right and then, hoping, praying, believing you've got something others will love, you start sending your work out to others.
Some writers start with crit buddies, some jump straight to agents and publishers; some do both simultaneously. And most soon discover that not everyone else thinks their work is so good.
According to Robert Heinlein, that's where a lot of people quit. In fact, he believed that only half the writers who actually put pen to paper (or words to screen) and finish what they start have the guts to submit to agents and publishers:
Writers...are inordinately fond of their brainchildren. They would rather see their firstborn child ravaged by wolves than suffer the pain of having a manuscript rejected. So instead they [only] read their manuscripts aloud to spouses and long-suffering friends.
But you're not satisfied to believe the friends and family who swear your work is fantastic -- you have to send your work out to people outside that little circle. And as the crits roll in and the rejections pile up, you look at your work with fresh eyes, and you realize it's miserable. It's embarrassingly horrible. You're embarrassingly horrible, and stupid besides to ever have believed someone else might be interested in the ridiculous stories you make up in your head.
Lather, rinse, repeat. Crit after crit, rejection letter after rejection letter.
Some throw in the towel right away. "The world just isn't ready for my material," they sniff, or they decide that all agents are self-important jerks who wouldn't know a good story if it ran them over. There are even websites that exist for the purpose of ranting about your rejections and throwing mud back at the agents who sent them. (Who are, by the way, human beings who are just doing their jobs as best they can. But that's another blog post.)
Other writers are worn down over weeks, months, or years of querying. Or by disapproving relatives. Or by savage critique "buddies." The rejection hurts. A lot.
But some always manage to drag themselves out of the dirt, brush themselves off, and try again. Just like they need to write, they need to keep trying to get published.
"Writing is a calling," says editor Betsy Lerner. "If the call subsides, so be it. [But] when writers say they have no choice, what they mean is: Everything in the world conspired to make me quit, but I kept going." She goes on:
Many writers have gathered their marbles and gone home for far less cause. It takes a supreme talent and fierce self-belief to write in the face of such acrimony... If the high wire is for you, if the spotlight is for you, if you believe that everyone should pay attention to you and your work, then you must stay focused. Ambivalence will never get you anywhere.
What it comes down to, I've read over and over again, is determination in the face of all that feedback, all those rejections. A willingness to learn, of course, but also determination to overcome and succeed:
The degree of one's perseverance is the best predictor of success - Betsy Lerner
In all manner of pursuits there's a tendency to overesimate brilliance and underestimate persistence. Talent is common. Determination is rare. -Ralph Keyes
[The authors of the Chicken Soup books] instinctively understood that all those rejections were simply an uncomfortable part of the process that would eventually get them where they wanted to be. - literary agent Jeff Herman
[Author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Ken] Kesey was not even remotely the best writer in class [at the writing program at Stanford], but he was maniacally determined. - Classmate and writer Thomas McGuane
Talent is extremely common. What is rare is the willingness to endure the life of a writer - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
So where do you find the determination? According to Keyes, you have to hate the idea of being ignored, of never being read, more than you hate the pain of rejection. "It is some combination of ability and ego," adds Lerner, "desire and discipline, that produces good work." She continues:
A writer's success or faltering can usually be traced to some abundance or deficit of those elements. Some of the most gifted writers I've worked with were also the most self-sabotaging. Lack of discipline, desire for fame, and depression often thwart those whose talents appear most fertile, while those who struggle with every line persevere regardless.
In many ways, learning to deal with rejection from agents and publishers is just the first step. Because when you do manage to get published, you will have to deal with critics, the bloodthirsty pirahna in the sea of your success. People who have sudden, overwhelming success, are not prepared for it. And that may topple them and keep them from producing good work going forward. So keep running that gauntlet, and be proud of your calluses and scars, because they mean you believed in yourself enough to keep going.
Dr. Carolyn Kaufman is a clinical psychologist who teaches at Columbus State Community College in Columbus, Ohio. A published writer, she recently launched Archetype Writing: Psychology for Fiction Writers (http://www.archetypewriting.com). Visitors will find not only articles about psychology tailored to their needs, but they can ask Dr. K their writing/psychology questions. She also blogs on the QueryTracker.net Blog (http://querytracker.blogspot.com). She is often quoted by the media as an expert resource.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carolyn_Kaufman
Now, as a psychologist, I believe it's not only okay, it's healthy to be able to say to yourself, "I did a good job on that." "I'm a good writer." You don't have to announce it to the world (in fact, you probably shouldn't!), but you're healthier if you have a secret little place inside with a nice big refrigerator to put up your accomplishments, and where you can nod and pat yourself on the back and think, I Did Good. I even have lots of professional terms to make that all sound more authoritative, like self-esteem, self-efficacy, and adequate mirroring on the Grandiose Pole. But I'm going to skip all that for right now.
If feeling good about what you'd written was as far as any of this went, all would be well. But so many of us have this urge, this drive, this need to get published. And what is that all about anyways? Few people make money publishing. It's cool, but unless you're Stephenie Meyer or JK Rowling or whoever this week's Hot Writer is, it's a passing cool that others soon forget. Getting published doesn't make you beautiful or thin or get you a Happily Ever After with whichever celebrity you drool over most.
Yet the need remains. So you sweat blood over a query and open a vein to get the synopsis right and then, hoping, praying, believing you've got something others will love, you start sending your work out to others.
Some writers start with crit buddies, some jump straight to agents and publishers; some do both simultaneously. And most soon discover that not everyone else thinks their work is so good.
According to Robert Heinlein, that's where a lot of people quit. In fact, he believed that only half the writers who actually put pen to paper (or words to screen) and finish what they start have the guts to submit to agents and publishers:
Writers...are inordinately fond of their brainchildren. They would rather see their firstborn child ravaged by wolves than suffer the pain of having a manuscript rejected. So instead they [only] read their manuscripts aloud to spouses and long-suffering friends.
But you're not satisfied to believe the friends and family who swear your work is fantastic -- you have to send your work out to people outside that little circle. And as the crits roll in and the rejections pile up, you look at your work with fresh eyes, and you realize it's miserable. It's embarrassingly horrible. You're embarrassingly horrible, and stupid besides to ever have believed someone else might be interested in the ridiculous stories you make up in your head.
Lather, rinse, repeat. Crit after crit, rejection letter after rejection letter.
Some throw in the towel right away. "The world just isn't ready for my material," they sniff, or they decide that all agents are self-important jerks who wouldn't know a good story if it ran them over. There are even websites that exist for the purpose of ranting about your rejections and throwing mud back at the agents who sent them. (Who are, by the way, human beings who are just doing their jobs as best they can. But that's another blog post.)
Other writers are worn down over weeks, months, or years of querying. Or by disapproving relatives. Or by savage critique "buddies." The rejection hurts. A lot.
But some always manage to drag themselves out of the dirt, brush themselves off, and try again. Just like they need to write, they need to keep trying to get published.
"Writing is a calling," says editor Betsy Lerner. "If the call subsides, so be it. [But] when writers say they have no choice, what they mean is: Everything in the world conspired to make me quit, but I kept going." She goes on:
Many writers have gathered their marbles and gone home for far less cause. It takes a supreme talent and fierce self-belief to write in the face of such acrimony... If the high wire is for you, if the spotlight is for you, if you believe that everyone should pay attention to you and your work, then you must stay focused. Ambivalence will never get you anywhere.
What it comes down to, I've read over and over again, is determination in the face of all that feedback, all those rejections. A willingness to learn, of course, but also determination to overcome and succeed:
The degree of one's perseverance is the best predictor of success - Betsy Lerner
In all manner of pursuits there's a tendency to overesimate brilliance and underestimate persistence. Talent is common. Determination is rare. -Ralph Keyes
[The authors of the Chicken Soup books] instinctively understood that all those rejections were simply an uncomfortable part of the process that would eventually get them where they wanted to be. - literary agent Jeff Herman
[Author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Ken] Kesey was not even remotely the best writer in class [at the writing program at Stanford], but he was maniacally determined. - Classmate and writer Thomas McGuane
Talent is extremely common. What is rare is the willingness to endure the life of a writer - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
So where do you find the determination? According to Keyes, you have to hate the idea of being ignored, of never being read, more than you hate the pain of rejection. "It is some combination of ability and ego," adds Lerner, "desire and discipline, that produces good work." She continues:
A writer's success or faltering can usually be traced to some abundance or deficit of those elements. Some of the most gifted writers I've worked with were also the most self-sabotaging. Lack of discipline, desire for fame, and depression often thwart those whose talents appear most fertile, while those who struggle with every line persevere regardless.
In many ways, learning to deal with rejection from agents and publishers is just the first step. Because when you do manage to get published, you will have to deal with critics, the bloodthirsty pirahna in the sea of your success. People who have sudden, overwhelming success, are not prepared for it. And that may topple them and keep them from producing good work going forward. So keep running that gauntlet, and be proud of your calluses and scars, because they mean you believed in yourself enough to keep going.
Dr. Carolyn Kaufman is a clinical psychologist who teaches at Columbus State Community College in Columbus, Ohio. A published writer, she recently launched Archetype Writing: Psychology for Fiction Writers (http://www.archetypewriting.com). Visitors will find not only articles about psychology tailored to their needs, but they can ask Dr. K their writing/psychology questions. She also blogs on the QueryTracker.net Blog (http://querytracker.blogspot.com). She is often quoted by the media as an expert resource.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carolyn_Kaufman
How Do I Get Published As a Writer?
The process of writer publishing comprises of the following stages:
pitching potential publishers;
approval by editors, signing contract with a publisher and publishing itself;
marketing campaign (books only).
In self-publishing the pitching is excluded and these are cases where the writer either applies for publishing grants (applicable for scientific works), looks for potential sponsors / lenders that may be interested in the work's subject or uses his own money to publish.
A writer normally looks at self-publishing as a last resort option, with the most important (apart from marketing) part of the writer publishing to be successful pitching with tips on which available on 'Writer's Publish', 'Yudkin' and 'Writer's Market' and others. There is also no harm visiting writers' forums and blogs such as 'Writer's Digest' where useful information, tips and advice can be found.
As a starting point 'Writer's Publish' recommends two main things to be done giving also some guidelines:
- finding a right approach in contacting publishers and - hiring a literary agent.
On 'Yudkin', Marcia Yudkin, author of 11 books (including "6 steps to free publicity" and "Persuading on paper") and 1,000 magazine articles shares secrets for successful writer publishing and pitching publishers. Marcia advocates DIY approach with energetic problem-solution attitude showing her entrepreneurial spirit in goal achievement process including successful publishing and marketing campaigns.
Pitching to publishers
Pitching potential publishers is a competitive process. There is a guide about preparing right query letters for writer publishing with sample letters provided - "The Writer's Digest Guide to Query Letters" by freelance writer and editor Wendy Burt Thomas.
The site of Andrea Shavick (author and poet) also provides a helpful guide for pitching publishers.
First of all, make sure you are contacting a publisher who may be potentially interested in the kind of work you are promoting. Then, in a pitch normally a work description is expected, explanation why it was written and what purposes it serves, describing the target auditorium. For books also - competitors and marketing strategy should be outlined; it is also desirable to have influential referees from your field who could recommend your work to the public.
Marcia Yudkin gives recommendations about how to make your work look more attractive, prove that people need this kind of work with examples of existing demand, doing research in relevant internet-resources. She avoids obvious steps, trying to find original solutions. Thus, for scientific articles she suggests to use the style "catching a reader's eye" and metaphors. With magazine articles she advises to think about cover-worthy titles, which may significantly increase the chances of success, to be original and not to try writing about something already covered.
With contacting publishers maintaining accurate record of your submissions is highly recommended. With some publishers it is said that no submissions are accepted without literary agent, therefore finding one may happen to be necessary. Also, agents may have much experience with presentation of work to the publishers with chances of desired outcome to be achieved better with them (provided that you chose a right person to represent you).
Literary Agents
'Writer's Publish' suggests to search for them at the relevant literary events such as writers conferences, write them directly or some contacts of yours may recommend you someone appropriate.
Try: Literary Agents, Book Publishing Agent, Fiction Addiction, as a starting point. The internet resource 'Guide to Literary Agents' is also good, with lists of agents and practical advice for dealing with them.
On 'Writer Publish' it is advised to check carefully the list of works that the agent arranged to be published, not to sign contract until checked by your solicitor and to be careful with agents charging upfront fees for reading your work. Also, the estimate fee of literary agents is said there to be at the level of 10-15% with any expenses to be charged separately. Ideally the agent should be a member of the Association of Authors' Representatives, but Scott Hoffmann in his article "Is your agent legit?"on 'Writer's Digest' considers this factor as non-decisive so far as quality of services is concerned, provided that good references are in place.
Marketing (for books)
Once the book is published the publishers normally expect that the writer participates actively in his work's marketing strategy. Writers having their web-sites also actively advertise it together with their new books.
The author Jennifer Wiss (F.ILEX) recommends Academic Knowledge. Are you a great writer? Apply online to Academic Knowledge for well paid writer jobs in your area of expertise today.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jennifer_Wiss
pitching potential publishers;
approval by editors, signing contract with a publisher and publishing itself;
marketing campaign (books only).
In self-publishing the pitching is excluded and these are cases where the writer either applies for publishing grants (applicable for scientific works), looks for potential sponsors / lenders that may be interested in the work's subject or uses his own money to publish.
A writer normally looks at self-publishing as a last resort option, with the most important (apart from marketing) part of the writer publishing to be successful pitching with tips on which available on 'Writer's Publish', 'Yudkin' and 'Writer's Market' and others. There is also no harm visiting writers' forums and blogs such as 'Writer's Digest' where useful information, tips and advice can be found.
As a starting point 'Writer's Publish' recommends two main things to be done giving also some guidelines:
- finding a right approach in contacting publishers and - hiring a literary agent.
On 'Yudkin', Marcia Yudkin, author of 11 books (including "6 steps to free publicity" and "Persuading on paper") and 1,000 magazine articles shares secrets for successful writer publishing and pitching publishers. Marcia advocates DIY approach with energetic problem-solution attitude showing her entrepreneurial spirit in goal achievement process including successful publishing and marketing campaigns.
Pitching to publishers
Pitching potential publishers is a competitive process. There is a guide about preparing right query letters for writer publishing with sample letters provided - "The Writer's Digest Guide to Query Letters" by freelance writer and editor Wendy Burt Thomas.
The site of Andrea Shavick (author and poet) also provides a helpful guide for pitching publishers.
First of all, make sure you are contacting a publisher who may be potentially interested in the kind of work you are promoting. Then, in a pitch normally a work description is expected, explanation why it was written and what purposes it serves, describing the target auditorium. For books also - competitors and marketing strategy should be outlined; it is also desirable to have influential referees from your field who could recommend your work to the public.
Marcia Yudkin gives recommendations about how to make your work look more attractive, prove that people need this kind of work with examples of existing demand, doing research in relevant internet-resources. She avoids obvious steps, trying to find original solutions. Thus, for scientific articles she suggests to use the style "catching a reader's eye" and metaphors. With magazine articles she advises to think about cover-worthy titles, which may significantly increase the chances of success, to be original and not to try writing about something already covered.
With contacting publishers maintaining accurate record of your submissions is highly recommended. With some publishers it is said that no submissions are accepted without literary agent, therefore finding one may happen to be necessary. Also, agents may have much experience with presentation of work to the publishers with chances of desired outcome to be achieved better with them (provided that you chose a right person to represent you).
Literary Agents
'Writer's Publish' suggests to search for them at the relevant literary events such as writers conferences, write them directly or some contacts of yours may recommend you someone appropriate.
Try: Literary Agents, Book Publishing Agent, Fiction Addiction, as a starting point. The internet resource 'Guide to Literary Agents' is also good, with lists of agents and practical advice for dealing with them.
On 'Writer Publish' it is advised to check carefully the list of works that the agent arranged to be published, not to sign contract until checked by your solicitor and to be careful with agents charging upfront fees for reading your work. Also, the estimate fee of literary agents is said there to be at the level of 10-15% with any expenses to be charged separately. Ideally the agent should be a member of the Association of Authors' Representatives, but Scott Hoffmann in his article "Is your agent legit?"on 'Writer's Digest' considers this factor as non-decisive so far as quality of services is concerned, provided that good references are in place.
Marketing (for books)
Once the book is published the publishers normally expect that the writer participates actively in his work's marketing strategy. Writers having their web-sites also actively advertise it together with their new books.
The author Jennifer Wiss (F.ILEX) recommends Academic Knowledge. Are you a great writer? Apply online to Academic Knowledge for well paid writer jobs in your area of expertise today.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jennifer_Wiss
Technical Writing - Why Qualified Translators Are a Must in Product Localization and Translation?
Money paid to qualified technical writers and translators in a localization project is money spent very well indeed.
Why? Because the worst thing for a project is to have the customers or end users switch to another product since they either cannot understand the instructions and the interface, or the localized copy contains embarrassing mistakes which destroy the brand name.
The very expensive "localization" mistake that General Motors committed years ago immediately comes to mind when the Chevrolet managers could not figure out why a certain brand was not selling at all in Latin American countries. The reason was actually obvious to any native Spanish speaker. The brand's model name "Nova" translated as "does not go" into Spanish.
Here are some other localization mishaps that could've been avoided by more care either on the part of the localization managers or the technical writers and translators involved:
A handbook for traffic cops was translated into Hebrew which was supposed to include the standard question "Are you carrying a weapon?" "Weapon" means "neshek" in Hebrew. When it was mistranslated as "neshika", the same question became "Can I give you a kiss?" since "neshika" means "a kiss."
An "instruction" posted inside an elevator in Belgrade: "To move the cabin, push button for wishing floor. If the cabin enter more persons, each one should press a number of wishing floor. Driving is then going alphabetically by national order."
A product label from China: "CUI MEI SI - BURNEDMEAT Flavor Biscuits"
From a Chinese real-estate brochure singing the praises of a new high-rise housing development: "Every Heart Will Be Attacked!"
A company name painted prominently on a truck in Fukuoka, Japan: "DUCK!"
The name of a restaurant in Niigata, Japan: "Gross Diner"
A product label from China: "MAN'S LIP BALM - This product adopts and mends water to fill a prescription uniquely, suck many kinds of natural nutrition protect wet composition, permeate lip crack in an all-round way, give play to moist to take good care of function, relieve the crack of lip caused by the wind is wounded or severe cold weather rapidly. Resist the climate ro the harmful effects that the lips cause effectively, make the lips keep the moist feeling."
Why? Because the worst thing for a project is to have the customers or end users switch to another product since they either cannot understand the instructions and the interface, or the localized copy contains embarrassing mistakes which destroy the brand name.
The very expensive "localization" mistake that General Motors committed years ago immediately comes to mind when the Chevrolet managers could not figure out why a certain brand was not selling at all in Latin American countries. The reason was actually obvious to any native Spanish speaker. The brand's model name "Nova" translated as "does not go" into Spanish.
Here are some other localization mishaps that could've been avoided by more care either on the part of the localization managers or the technical writers and translators involved:
A handbook for traffic cops was translated into Hebrew which was supposed to include the standard question "Are you carrying a weapon?" "Weapon" means "neshek" in Hebrew. When it was mistranslated as "neshika", the same question became "Can I give you a kiss?" since "neshika" means "a kiss."
An "instruction" posted inside an elevator in Belgrade: "To move the cabin, push button for wishing floor. If the cabin enter more persons, each one should press a number of wishing floor. Driving is then going alphabetically by national order."
A product label from China: "CUI MEI SI - BURNEDMEAT Flavor Biscuits"
From a Chinese real-estate brochure singing the praises of a new high-rise housing development: "Every Heart Will Be Attacked!"
A company name painted prominently on a truck in Fukuoka, Japan: "DUCK!"
The name of a restaurant in Niigata, Japan: "Gross Diner"
A product label from China: "MAN'S LIP BALM - This product adopts and mends water to fill a prescription uniquely, suck many kinds of natural nutrition protect wet composition, permeate lip crack in an all-round way, give play to moist to take good care of function, relieve the crack of lip caused by the wind is wounded or severe cold weather rapidly. Resist the climate ro the harmful effects that the lips cause effectively, make the lips keep the moist feeling."
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