| SUNOASIS 2004 PUBLISHING and WRITING BLOG
NEW!
"Nothing is more real than nothing."
-- Samuel Beckett
T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
- [Editor Notes; Strategies for Marketing the Writer]
- [The Free Press- Bloggers Eat It]
- [The Writing Life- Flowchart for Writing, Inc.]
- [Resources]
- [Sunoasis Opinion]
- [Career Advice]
- [At C/Oasis]
- [Markets]
- [Community]
- [Acknowledgments]
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I FINALLY FOUND A WAY TO MAKE A LIVING AS A WRITER
I DIDN'T THINK IT WAS POSSIBLE TO GET RICH AS A
FREELANCE WRITER. The problem was, I was in the wrong
writing business. Instead of making a few hundred dollars
a week writing articles for magazines like I used to do,
I now pull in, on average, $2,500 per week writing
simple letters. Here's how:
www.thewriterslife.com/dm/soc6/
E D I T O R N O T E S
Welcome to the final issue of Sunoasis in 2004. I always
enjoy the story of the man climbing the mountain only
to find a huge stone in his path. "Move this stone for
me God," he says. God does nothing. He strains and he
pushes against the stone and it doesn't budge. For over
a month he does this until he's ready to give up. As
he departs the mountain God says to him, "Oh, you want
the stone removed so you can go up the mountain?" The
man stares into space as though God were an idiot. At
that God sends down a tornado that picks up the stone
and whisks it away. The pathway is clear. The man starts
up and then says, "Well God, if you knew you were going
to remove the stone why didn't you do it the first day?"
And God tells the man to look at himself. And the man
sees that he's grown huge leg, chest, and arm muscles.
"You never would have been prepared to climb the
mountain had I moved the stone the first day."
So, we've been huffing and puffing, straining and aching
trying to remove the stone. As we reflect we have grown
a bit more patient, a bit more knowledgeable and so forth.
For all that we are grateful.
S o m e S t r a t e g i e s F o r M a r k e t i n g
I like to call it, "Strategies for Marketing the Writer."
I've written for magazines with "strategic" in the title
and I always view it as a meaningful word. A strategy is
the way in which a good portion of your resources will be
deployed. Whether you are talking about a writing career
or building a power plant, it's about making decisions;
crucial decisions that will either bring you success or
stall you on your path.
One element of this is the gathering of resource. Another
is the psychological strategy of anticipating rejection,
as well as learning the arts of negotiating.
As I write this I'm staring at the big, blue 2004 Writer's
Market book that is in my little inner circle of writing
resource books up on my desk. Yellow post-it notes are
sticking out of it. Compressed between the covers are a
good proportion of writing markets, agents, and publishers.
I always recommend students who write in to buy a copy
and study it now, while they are in school.
It's a good idea to separate out the functions of marketing and
writing. They are completely different spaces; they are
oil and water and mixed with bad results. The best thing
to do is to experiment a bit and try out different schemes
and go with the one that works for you.
Will you split the day up into these functions? The week?
The month? A lot depends on how you are approaching the
writing career. If it is a full-time, bread-winning career
then it's likely you'll be marketing much of the time.
If you are working on a novel and not dependent on it as a
source of income, then the marketing can come at gentler
intervals.
I like to make charts and print them out. These charts can
be simple line drawings that are able to hold pieces of
information such as the name of a magazine, its current
editor, ideas to approach the editor with, queries sent,
answers back and so on.
One thing a writer is never prepared for is the depth
of specialization that makes up the market. Most writers
come from humanities backgrounds where the "holistic"
is more valuable than the the "fragmented."
But, there's no way around it. The fact that there are a dozen
different woodworking magazines tells you all you need to know.
The market is sliced and diced to increase the visibility of
advertisers and make more profits for publishers. Writers
deal with it by specializing in one to three areas. That's
one reason why the expert is a connecting tissue in the
writing life.
* * * * * * * *
It's very useful to know the differences between writing for
a consumer magazine and writing for a trade magazine. In the
consumer field the writer has to continually search for
markets. The consumer magazine editor is besieged with
queries and stories. The writer has to develop a decent
strategy to develop ideas and get those ideas into the hands
of editors who can turn them into assignments. The writer
for a trade magazine is in a different sort of universe. The
editor will usually assign the article to writers she trusts
or has worked with before. So, the strategy in writing for
trades is to find a few publications that you can write many
articles for. Each has their good and bad points.
It's been told to me from one who knows that the best way
to develop a marketing strategy is to go to a writer's
conference and connect with a published writer. Try to
corner a writer whose career path is like the one you
want to travel on. Even a few tips will be invaluable.
* * * * * * * *
>>>>>>>>>>links to use<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Weird markets for October 2004
Finding Hidden Markets by Marcia Yudkin.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> t h e f r e e p r e s s <<<<<<<<<<<<<
According to the headlines journalists are either blogging,
plagiarizing, or being killed.
We live in that magnificent curse,
"exciting times."
I see a lot of people are coming down on the bloggers for
trying to be the first to predict the outcome of the election.
A rumor spread on blogs that exit polling had Senator Kerry way
ahead in Pennsylvania and Wall Street dropped about 100 points
or so. It just points up to the immaturity of the medium. Maybe
the bloggers will reflect a bit on the expectations they have
for their little toy and begin that self-regulating,
self-criticizing process necessary for anything to develop.
This article celebrates the blurring of lines between "media"
and the rest of us. There's a huge difference between journalism
and writing a letter to the editor, as most blogging is. When
bloggers interview, fact-check, research and write to discover
something, then they can saddle right up next to journalists
who are paid to do that very thing.
We mentioned Wikipedia a few years ago and their effort to
create a collaborative encyclopedia on-line. It's a very
interesting concept and is worth paying a visit. Now, they
are going to move into the concept of collaborative journalism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Publishing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Journalism
The above links are among my favorites from Wikipedia.
* * * * * * * *
You can get the more extensive article on the free press
from Sunoasis X 2004 by subscribing today. You pay what
you believe it's worth to you for a whole year of
resources, articles, tips, and market information.
T H E W R I T I N G L I F E
I was trying to imagine a flowchart for "writing, inc." The
writer would be in the front but connected in one direction
to readers, in another direction to editors, still another to
experts, and another to agents. He flows along a publishing
system, print or digital.
The writer has a flowchart in him or herself as well. To wit:
curiosity, imagination, logic, memory, pain, pleasure, and
dreams. Worlds flow on through these and can, sometimes,
erupt into a book. Or, a web site. And I suggest any writer
who builds a website, build it like the book you never thought
you would write. Give it vision and think through it.
I enjoy reading through the catalogs I get from companies
who sell remaindered books. As I go over the titles I think of
the writer behind each volume. Each book represents an opportunity
to enter a new world. It reminds me that writing is discovery
and then the care of compiling resource, and finally the
presentation to interested people. In the massive crush of
written material this is often forgotten.
The Featured Article in this month's Sunoasis X 2004 is,
Suggestions for Writing Successful Query Letters by
Danielle Hollister
For the fuller article on the writing life,
try the preview by going to this link:
www.sunoasis.com/premium.html
For Freelancers Only
Get free subscriptions to trade magazines.
Contract Tips for freelancers.
The language of freelance marketing.
Write for trade magazines.
The Business of Writing web site.
The feedback we've gotten is superb. We're proud of the
quality of people who have subscribed to Sunoasis 2004.
So, please continue!
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actually live it!
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R E S O U R C E S
Google Scholar--it's a plaything for academics.
Use Google Print to publicize your book.
-----------
C r a f t :
-----------
How to edit your articles as you write.
Talent vs. Skill by John Nihmey.
Good writing is a skill.
Play with words.
What kind of writer do you want to be? A list of descriptions
of writing categories.
---------------------------
O r g a n i z a t i o n s :
---------------------------
American Society of Indexers
United States Basketball Writers Association
Dog Writers Association
Garden Writers Association
Association of Health Care Journalists
International Food, Wine, and Travel Writers Association
-----------------------
P u b l i s h i n g :
-----------------------
"Drop-in" publishing article.
Funny and true account of "from writing to becoming a writer."
The newspaper book reviewer goes and meets some of the odd authors
of books that pass his eyes.
More stories from the land of self-publishing.
S U N O A S I S O P I N I O N
Sunoasis Opinion is a new page that contains some of our
responses to things. No thinking man or woman should let
the world pass without a few comments to throw in the way.
C A R E E R A D V I C E
Sunoasis Career Newsletter is free and is full of interesting stuff,
Q and A, links, and other resources you've expected from Sunoasis.com
the past six years. To subscribe just go here.
Ask a question about your career!
A T C/ O A S I S
The Protestors; a story by George Sparling
"The large turnout in Eureka challenging the U.S. war of aggression
in Iraq wasn't unusual because Humboldt County had always been very liberal, at least
since Reed moved here in 1974."
Mr. Fix-It; a story by Nora M. Mulligan
"I was really nervous when I brought Tom to my garage. I mean, I don't let just
anyone see this alien artifact thingy that I have hidden out there. You never
know what some people might do if they see something that's not from earth,
you know?"
A Gathering of Widows; a story by Dayna Mari
"The age-old custom of flaying political assassins
alive and wrapping the ashes of their victims in their
skin was constitutionally terminated by the most
recent widow."
Hey, we even have a new literary newsletter and you can get it free
if you click here!
M A R K E T S A N D L E A D S
Managing Editor--Product Detail
QVC, Inc., a $5 billion company, is an e-commerce leader,
marketing a wide variety of brand name products in such
categories as home furnishings, licensed products, fashion,
beauty, electronics and fine jewelry. QVC reaches over 85
million homes in the United States. The company's world
headquarters is located in West Chester, PA.
To help continue our success, we are in search of a
action/results oriented, hands-on, self-motivated
organized and seasoned Managing Editor for QVC's Information
Services Division.
For more detailed look at ad click here.
On Sunoasis X 2004 there are market listings for Sports and Recreation
publications that pay very good rates. Many are directly linked
to their writer guidelines. Subscribe today
and get a year's worth of resource for only $10.
Job Links for new leads!
* * * * * * * *
Colossal Directory of Children's Publishers
How to find foreign writing markets.
The National Writer's Union has a list of markets
that pay $1/word and up.
Job Links for new leads!
If you have any suggestions about markets you want
guidelines for, just drop a line
C O M M U N I T Y
Shaw Guide for Writing Conferences in December.
A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S
Want to keep Sunoasis going? Donate through the
Amazon Honor System and wonderful things will happen!
Thanks to Lynda Lester from the Digital Information Group
of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder,
Colorado for her generous contribution to
Sunoasis! Thanks Lynda!
F Y I
Put an ad in Sunoasis 2004 and reach its 4,400 subscribers.
Just $25 a month!
Contact mailto:eide491@earthlink.net
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With over 10 years experience, I offer professional, personable
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Jeff Berger has the credentials to deliver the results you
want on any project. Jeff specializes in high technology,
finance, and hospitality; see www.jmbcommunications.com for
a spectrum of writing samples.
Email him at info@jmbcommunications.com
or call (508) 830-3456.
* * * * * * * *
Sunoasis--You're amazing! A mere five hours after I sent in
the text for my classified ad I got a call for a writing
project, and within two days, the project was mine. Thanks
so much for your invaluable services!
Debbie Lerman, freelance writer
http://www.sunoasis.com/classif.html
E T C/ E T C/ E T C
Editor/Publisher: David Eide
C/Oasis
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You can always reach me at eide491@earthlink.net
Please do if you have any advice; anything you'd want to
see put into Sunoasis 2004.
Let's all meet again next year!
David
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