Authors Tips By William D. Chase Editor The Bookcliff-Group Electronic Publishers On line education and tutorial for successful internet publishing,
one on one questions and answers by E-mail.
Authors, poets, are you tired of pounding thator at least some kind of keyboard without any positive results?
Artists, photographers, you also can benefit from being published, either on the internet or in print.
Do you want to learn how to overcome that extreme lack of interest most publishers have in working with new talent?
Do you want to learn how to motivate your creative self when your muse is lost in the waste land of pessimism or off somewhere on a lark.
Those questions and more will be answered in our newsletter and e-mail tutorial. Answers to the most commonly asked writing questions. Plus of course answers to your own not so common questions.
Yes in our newsletter you will receive pointers to help you in your quest for publication along with selected questions and their answers that others have sent into us.
You may not only read answers but submit questions that we will answer for you. All for less than $2.50 a month.
That's right for only $29.88 a year you can receive personal help for your writing career.
For less than dinner and a movie one or more of the published authors that have contributed work to The Bookcliff-Group will become your personal coach and answer privately your questions in our monthly "Publishing Pointers" E-Mail News Letter.
Ask anything your want, learn all you want to know about the craft of writing. Answers to your questions and those others ask will be sent to your e-mail address. Plus pointers on what books or magazines are helpful to you.
Hire your own writing coach today.
Sign up for 12 full months of questions and answers. To enter the realm of informed writing click on the doorway. After you have created a Pay Pal Account Send Us an e-mail so we will have your e-mail address.
You will be glad you did.If you forget how to get to the "Publishing Pointers" question page send us an e-mail from the form at the bottom of the page and we will tell you.
Below is an example of one typical question and our answer.
(Please notice the additional information provided to give an in depth answer.)
A reader with the desire to write asks what do I need to do to be published?
This a common question. It has been answered by many people in many different ways. Here is a portion of our answer.
The first and most important rule is to read the guidelines.
You would be amazed at the number of "writers" who don't read, especially guidelines.
Read and follow completely and accurately all guidelines and publication requirements.
Failure to do this one simple thing will result, in most cases, in your work being thrown in the trash.What I mean is this: read, know and understand the guidelines and the focus of the publisher. Know who you're writing for. Know what the publisher wants.
It doesn't matter if the publisher is a local newspaper, a book publisher, or an online publisher.
If the publishing house or its representative (editor, associate editor) is not looking for what you write, they won't publish it. Looking for what you write covers a lot of ground.
It doesn't take a Ph.D. to figure out if you're swimming against the current you have to be at the least twice as good to get anywhere. That still may not help. Focus and fit are as important as content to the editor/publisher.
An author who has read a lot of what that house (publishing house, paper magazine, e-zine) has published recently can guess at what is wanted. Good writers don't guess.
You can only get an idea of future needs from the publisher. So why guess You still have to follow a guidelines so you don't end up submitting an article on Dogs to Cat magazine.
So send an S. (self) A. (addressed) S. (stamped) E. (envelope) with a note asking for guidelines.
Some magazines, newspapers, journals, and e-publishers may publish what you send even if they were not looking for exactly that type of work. (it still has to be very close)
While it can happen, if you're a good enough writer, it seldom does.That kind of thing is like winning the lotto jackpot. In other words not very likely to happen. It has been said; You stand a better chance of the space shuttle landing in your driveway.
The next thing you need to do is even more obvious.
That is to write, write as professional writes.
Look at something you have read. How could you say it better?
Write it, see if it is better. In other words practice writing.
Just as a ball player or musician practices, you must practice to develop, improve and maintain your skills.
After you have "finished" writing do something else.
Create a cooling off period.
A time when you don't look at or think about what you have written.
The time period here should be at least a week: two weeks is better.This time away will give you an objectivity about your work not otherwise possible.
Then go back and read what you wrote. Cut out all your favorite junk that doesn't really belong. Trim your work down so it only says what you want it to say.
Straight, simple, easy to understand, with depth and color, just not too much. Sounds easy, right? Sure it does.
Just remember that in today's world people (that includes editors and readers) want it all, and they usually want it yesterday. The average TV commercial is at a maximum 3 minutes. There is a reason for that.
So if you're going to make them wait you better make them enjoy waiting. If you can write with style and flare they may not know they are waiting for anything until you show them with your climax.
Doing all these things takes skill, and patience. Unless you are someone who has read a lot, and suddenly discover that you are a natural talent, a literary Bach or Beethoven (not likely) expression through writing takes work and time.
When you have written something that is yours in perspective style and content, (not necessarily something that is a new idea or subject) find the publication that you believe will be most suitable for what you have written.
That is a publication that your article or story fits into as a hand into a properly sized glove. When you open the cover, see it's title in the index. Is it among it's contemporaries? Alternately it could look like a prize fighter in a ballet.
Another bit of advice I can give anyone who desires to be a published writer is to know how to write as though you are a salesperson.
You must be absolutely sure you can persuade me, emotionally impact me, move me to the point where I must laugh, cry or take action.
In summary I would say that what it takes is talent, skill, hard work, and knowing what you are doing in all aspects of the craft.
You must prepare yourself for publication by writing and rewriting, reading, and analyzing what you read. Know what the publisher or agent who will receive your work expects.
When you have done all of this then you stand a much better chance of not only being published but having something published that will sell.
What books do I recommend?
(There are hundreds if not thousands of books on almost every aspect of the craft of writing. These run the spectrum from how to plot, build characters, create vocabulary and a thousand and one other things you should want to do while writing, to the things your must do such as punctuation and spelling.)
I most definitely include a good dictionary and a thesaurus in my list of how to, books. Of course no one would leave out Strunk and White's Elements of Style or the Chicago Manual of style, both excellent books on the rules of basic grammar. The Chicago book is the one used by journalists.
There are many other books some with a more modern approach to grammar. A word of caution here though not all editors or others of that ilk are modern. Editors, associate editors and even some agents are very traditional.
There is much more that can be, has been, and will be said on this subject. A good craftsman in any trade has trade journals that she or he reads.
The following magazines are my favorites. You can get a copy of these publications at any bookstore worth the name. If they don't have it on hand they can certainly order one or all of them for you. If not find a better store. The folks who publish the magazines I am about to name also publish or recommend many other books on various aspects of the writing craft.
The web addresses listed below are links to the web sites of these publications.
They are listed according to my personal preference.
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The Writers Journal: http://www.writersjournal.comthe Writer: http://www.writermag.com
Writers Digest: http://www.writersdigest.com
Pick one or choose them all, learn and read.
If nothing else you will be better informed and entertained for a very small investment.Good luck!
Oh by the way there is this to be said also.
Of course the letters to editor and invited commentaries (op-ed) are quite a bit more liberal and easier places to be published. Still even here your work has to have, and you should want it to have, quality and style.
This type of publication is often overlooked by a new writer wanting to list credits. You laugh. Hey they were published.
Sending a copy of published letters, poems, or editorial opinions as a clip, will give information on your writing ability to an individual who doesn't know about you. These clippings can say a lot. They say such things as: do you know how to spell, or use a spell checker? Is basic grammar something you know anything about? A publisher or editor will want to know, especially if you are seeking an assignment.
It is a great adventure one worth taking the rewards are great,
not all of them involve money.In fact most of them don't involve a cash reward of any kind.
If profit is your only reason for writing try another field.Oh yes and one more thing. Many of the ways you can make money writing are not glamorous. Writing advertisements, technical manuals, company news letters, and speeches just to name a few.
Real writers love to write.
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Good Luck! Remember if you don't enjoy it, ask yourself:
Why am I doing it?