Writing and Publishing News

I’m in development mode again. My latest book is finished. In fact, the printer (Fidlar Doubleday) is putting the blue line for The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book in the mail today. Once I proof and okay it, we’ll go into production. The publication date is January 1, 2006.

I’ve done tons of promotion already and the book isn’t even out of the hopper. I’ve contacted all 500 (or so) people on my mailing list to offer them a prepublication discount for The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. For those of you who missed it, this offer is good through 2005.
http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html/

I’m talking the book up everywhere I go. I’m adding a signature with a link to my ordering page at the end of my emails. I’ve submitted about 3 dozen articles to over 20 writing/publishing-related magazines, ezines and newsletters. And I’ve run ads in a few of them.

Did you know there were so many publications related to writing and publishing? There’s Writer’s Digest, Writing-World, Writer’s Weekly, Authorship, SPAWNews, PMA Newsletter, National Association of Women Writers Newsletter, SPANnet, Writing for Dollars, Working Writer, Book Promotion Newsletter, Writers Write, Women on Writing, Writer’s Apprentice, New Writer Magazine, Christian Writer’s Fellowship Newsletter, Absolute Write, Freelance Writers Report, Byline, Publishing Basics. Which writing/publishing-related mags did I miss?

Of course, there’s The Writer. However, while I have a good rapport with Writer’s Digest and many of these other publications, I’ve never been able to break into The Writer. In fact, yesterday, I received requests from two of the newsletters mentioned above requesting more of my articles.

Okay, so I’ve done all of this promotion for The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book as well as the book that we came out with a few months ago—How to Write a Successful Book Proposal in 8 Days or Less. And I continue to promote some every day while also trying to get back into a routine of producing—you know, writing new things and pitching them. I pitched two new article ideas to Maria over at Writer’s Digest, yesterday. I’m also working on some rewrites for my Catscapades book. What is Catscapades? It’s my play-on-words title for my upcoming book of cat stories.

I mentioned my title to a fellow-writer last week and she said, “What is this, cats at the Ice Capades?” I was going more for cats escapades, thus, Catscapades.

Writing stories is sure different than writing “give me the facts, ma’am” type stuff. It’s a real stretch for me to write in this sort of creative mode. But I’m learning. I keep referring back to the poetry I used to write before I discovered my niche as a nonfiction writer. It’s fun—but it is also a lot of work trying to squeeze artistic phrases out of my more structured mind. And that’s okay. I know people who write lovely prose and cannot write clear directions or instructions. They can describe a scene and an experience beautifully, but they cannot easily make a clear point when writing something instructional, for example.

So this will be a day of creativity for me. I’ll be seeking creative ways to attract new writing assignments and I’ll be tapping into my latent creative abilities in order to work on the cat story book. In the middle of all this, I’m taking a hike in a local river bottom with a photographer friend. And I’m taking my camera just in case we spot the young mountain lion that’s been hanging out down there. Now this could turn into something to write about.

Good Morning,

I’m sitting here in traditional writing position at my computer this morning with a large cat curled up in my lap. For all of you cat people out there (and aren’t most writers cat people?), this is Max. He’s a handsome chocolate brown and white formerly feral cat. He and Sophie take turns warming my lap all thoughout the morning. Sophie is a year-old tortie who, had it not been for a caring soul in a nearby town, would still be living on the streets. We also have Winfield, a white odd-eye cat (one blue and one green). He isn’t a lap cat unless you are lolling near the fireplace or sitting in a spotlight of sunshine. All three of the cats have been fodder for some of my articles to cat magazines, pet trade magazines and others. I guess that makes them famous.

I woke up to a new world of writing this morning–a mode of writing called blogging. Personally, I don’t care what the activity or process is called, as long as writing is involved. I think this is true for most writers who were born with the passion to write.

For those of you who don’t know me, I’ve been writing articles for magazines for over 30 years. I am also the author of 24 books. Read about my latest book, “The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book” in a former post. I am also the president of SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network). www.spawn.org. We have oodles of information and resources for freelance writers and authors here.

It isn’t easy building a business as a writer. And it is rare for a working writer to claim a large measure of fame and wealth. It takes constant work and a lot of time just to maintain a modest lifestyle. But what most would-be writers don’t seem to understand until they take the plunge, there’s more to being a writer than just being a writer.

The first thing I ask a hopeful freelance writer do to is to explore his/her reasons for wanting to write. Make sure that your motivations are reasonable. Fame and fortune are not reasonable motivations. Neither is “So I can work at home.” There has to be an underlying passion for writing in there somewhere. Not to mention a level of skill. Here are some additional qualifications for working successfully as a freelance magazine article writer:

1. Time management skills.
2. The ability to discipline oneself to write even amidst distractions.
3. A knack for coming up with good article ideas.
4. A talent for slanting an article appropriately for a particular magazine.
5. Enough assertiveness to keep swimming even in a sea of rejections.
5. A business sense–working writers must use both the right and left brain.
6. A sense of follow-through.
7. Research and interview skills or a willingness to develop these.
8. Patience.
9. Persistence.
10. Writing skills.

My book, “A Writer’s Guide to Magazine Articles,” is a complete guide to magazine writing. This book, along with all of my books, can be ordered at www.matilijapress.com. Most of them are also available at amazon.com

Well, that’s it for my first blog. Thank you for reading.

Patricia