How do I get started writing for magazines?
1. First, read a variety of children’s magazines and determine which magazine(s) appeal to you and which age groups attracts you most.
2. Decide what you are drawn to most: fiction, articles, poetry, activities.
3. Read and analyze lots of those pieces–look at more than one issue of your chosen magazine(s).
4. Check out market books and get guidelines and, if available, theme lists/editorial calendars for the chosen magazine(s). Some guidelines are available on-line. Others you may need to write for, enclosing an SASE.
5. Write your piece in a similar tone as the pieces in the magazine. Make sure it fits the word length, etc. in the guidelines. When it’s the best you can make it, submit it. (Don’t start with the hard to get into magazines such as Highlights for Children and Cricket–get some publishing experience first.)
6. Move on to writing another manuscript.
Some people call articles stories, while others only refer to fiction as stories. How do I know what’s what?
I personally differentiate these two by nonfiction (article or essay) or fiction (story), and of course, each of those categories can be broken down more. That said, I will at times call a piece a “true story” versus an article. That usually happens in response to a magazine looking for “true stories about…” Sometimes these are also called true experiences.
When submitting a manuscript, I usually indicate “article” or “nonfiction” for those true stories and “fiction based on a true story” or “fiction” on those I’ve made up.
Should I always send a cover letter with my submission?
I don’t. The reasons I do are:
1. The magazine requests manuscripts with a cover letter.
2. I have more information I want them to know (e.g. why I wrote the piece, or my submission fits a theme, etc.).
3. It might be pertinent for them to know my other writing experience and I don’t think a full résumé is needed.
What do I say in a cover letter?
1. Grab the reader with something exciting – this may be a direct quote from the manuscript, or a catchy line or something about the theme of your piece.
2. Give a brief summary of your story, essay, article.
3. Tell title, genre, word count and rights you are offering. If reprint rights*, tell where and when it has appeared.
4. Mention anything special you are including: color slides, digital photos, sidebars, related websites, etc.
5. Include your writing credits: either “I’m enclosing my résumé” or a list of some magazines you’ve been published in. Don’t apologize for not having credits. Don’t say you’re a first time writer.
6. Bring up other issues that might be important. For example, if a story or article is set in a particular town and you lived there, tell the editor so. If you have experience in a particular job, craft, or hobby, and it relates to your piece, say so.
7. If sending a manuscript by snail mail, mention you’ve included a self-addressed stamped envelope. You may want to include an SASE for their reply instead of for the return of the manuscript. I found I was reprinting manuscripts all the time anyway, and can save postage by sending a smaller SASE. Some publishers are now only replying with acceptances, which in that case you can state something like, “I understand you only reply if interested. You may discard this copy of the manuscript.” This information is usually available through their guidelines.
Note: If sending a manuscript electronically, make sure you follow the directions of “pasted the manuscript into body of the email” or “attachment” as the guidelines say.
8. Close.
Overall, remember to be brief, professional and to the point.
Is writing for children’s magazines for everyone?
Of course not. But it might be for you!
*Want to know more about magazine rights? Read this post.
(image courtesy of pixabay.com and canva.com
Category: Business Side of Writing
Poor Man’s Copyright, a Myth
image courtesy of jdurham on morguefile.com
A number of years ago at a writer’s meeting the issue of “poor man’s copyright” was raised as a means to protect your works. Basically the idea is to put your work in an envelope, seal it, mail it and the postmark will “prove” when you wrote it protecting your copyright.
Recently, I heard chatter about this on a listserve, so I updated my research on this topic and am sharing it here.
One of the biggest flaws of this idea is that the postmark and seal prove something.
- What is to prevent someone from mailing an UNsealed envelope to themselves? It has a postmark. But since it is unsealed, material can be placed in it at any time–2 months later, 2 years later, 10 years later, then sealed.
- Sealed envelopes can be steamed open (and probably opened by many other methods that I don’t know), the material replaced with something else, then resealed.
Read what the copyright office itself has to say:
“When is my work protected?
“Your work is under copyright protection the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.”
The Frequently Asked Questions page is very helpful resource. This page has “Copyright Registration of Books, Manuscripts, and Speeches.”
A book recommended by the Author’s Guild is The Writer’s Legal Guide by Tad Crawford & Kay Murray. It is in its fourth printing.
Here are some articles on this topic:
“Poor Man’s Copyright” by Peter Clarke
“Poor Man’s Copyright” by ©opyright Authority.com
“How To Copyright a Book” at Go-Publish-Yourself.com begins with this sentence: “Before learning how to copyright a book, you need to learn how not to copyright book.”
Want to know more?
Some authors may want to consider an intellectual property rights lawyer. I found some information on copyrights here at intellectual-property.lawyers.com. Here’s an interesting post with a Literary Agent Attorney FAQ from Literary-Agents.com.
And here’s a column on copyright written by Linda Kattwinkel, who is an intellectual property rights lawyer.
So now you know–poor man’s copyright, only a myth.
Considering Self-Publishing?
Image courtesy of morguefile.com
I’ve know authors who have done it well and many others who have not. You’ve heard that a bad apple can spoil a whole barrel–often in the self-publishing realm it’s the opposite. Finding the one good apple may be difficult.
The first impression for a self-published book is the cover. If the cover is not professional, it won’t matter about the rest of the book. There’s a snarky site called LOUSY BOOK COVERS that has a tag line that says “Just because you CAN design your own cover doesn’t mean you SHOULD.” The site shows what it claims–embarrassingly poor covers.
In the traditional publishing world, Art Directors often go through multiple cover designs for one book before everyone involved (including the marketing department) is happy. I suggest that authors self-publishing get honest opinions on their covers from booksellers, librarians, other authors, illustrators, etc.
When I open a book and see a typo, a misspelling or grammar error on the first page, it makes me doubt the overall quality of the book. Traditional publishers use copy editors as well as editors who work on content. If you want to self-publish, or the new term “indie publish,” please consider finding someone who can copy edit your book.
The biggest deal is content. I’ve found stories/books with these kinds of flaws:
Not Being Realistic
• It couldn’t happen like that
• It doesn’t make sense
• Where did that skill/ability/tool come from?
Main Character Not In Charge
• She is swayed by the winds of circumstances
• He doesn’t make any decisions
Problematic Word Choices
• Overuse of adverbs
• Week adjectives
• Weedy words
• Misplaced modifying clauses
• Passive verbs
Overwriting
• Intricate details of clothing probably don’t add much, unless it relates to the plot in a specific way
• Taking forever to get to the point of a scene
• Burying action with description
• Overdone dialogue tags/attributions
• Too many characters
And none of those issues deal with the overall storyline. Traditional editors and freelance editors help with both. If you’re self-publishing, you’ll probably want to hire a freelance editor.
The other thing I see is people who write books but don’t really understand the market. It could be a children’s book that either talks down to kids or covers information that children aren’t interested. One self-published writer told a friend of mine that she didn’t see why a children’s book had to be “all about the kids.” Um, because that’s who your audience is?
Here’s an article called “Self-publishing a book: 25 things you need to know” by David Carnoy.
So, say you write a great book, get it edited by a professional editor, get it copy edited, have a great cover, now what? Marketing!
It’s not easy. Several sources I saw listed an average of 100-150 books per year in sales for indie authors. Here’s one link.
Getting reviews is difficult. The Horn Book editor, Roger Sutton, wrote an article on why: “An open letter to the self-published author feeling dissed.” Now he’s opened a contest called “A challenge to self-publishers.” Deadline is December 15, 2014 and it is only open to printed books.
Self-published authors can pay for a review at Kirkus–that’s not paying for a positive review, but paying for the chance to BE reviewed.
Getting into bookstores can be difficult. Here are some helpful articles:
“Getting Your Book into Bookstores: 15 Strategies for Authors“
“How to get your Self-Published Books into Bookstores“
“How To Sell Your Self-Published Book in Bookstores“
Selling books at conferences may not be allowed by the hosting organization.
Awards can help sales! Did you know there are specific awards administered by the Independent Book Publishers Association for indie published books? Go here to read about the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards. SCBWI has a Spark Award that recognizes excellence in a children’s book published through a non-traditional publishing route. James Minter posted an article called “Writing: 50 Book Awards Open to Self-publishers“
I’ll end with a link to this article by someone who has done it: “Chris Eboch on Self-Publishing and Middle Grade Novels: Should You or Shouldn’t You?“
When Educational Publishers Ask for Your Résumé
Guest post by Jan Fields
Photo courtesy of wintersixfour on morguefile.com
A résumé that you send on first contact with a publisher (especially an educational publisher) is not the same kind of résumé you would use to find a job as a teacher or other position. The writer’s résumé is basically a map of writing experience and any useful knowledge/experience/expertise in your brain because that’s where the gems that interest the publisher lie. Approach your résumé by asking yourself, why does the publisher want to see my résumé? What’s in it for him/her? The publisher approaches your résumé like a detective: “what do I see here that I could make use of?”
You’re selling your KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE, INTERESTS, and SKILLS.
So what kinds of things will you need to include? One very “normal” résumé item is education. Much of the time, the scope of your education doesn’t matter, but occasionally an editor will look specifically for someone with a certain level of education (this is especially true with assessment writing or when a publisher is looking for a specific kind of expert.) Or a publisher may look for someone who’ll look good in their catalogue because of education level. Education is almost always a bonus, but (most of the time) it’s not a deal breaker.
Another “normal” résumé item is job experience, but most of the time, the jobs you’ve held won’t be of interest to a publisher. However, if you have educational or classroom experience, or experience working with children in another setting, this will be of interest. It will suggest that any school scenes or similar moments in the book will be based on much more recent experience than your memories of your own childhood. For example, if you’re pitching a fiction series that takes place in the classroom to an educational publisher, you BETTER have classroom experience as a teacher, room mom or other volunteer or the publisher will pass because they will worry that your books won’t mirror modern classroom settings.
Even experience with children’s Sunday School or Girl Scout leader suggests you are familiar with children TODAY and won’t be writing with only your memories of what childhood was like when you were a kid. And if your experience is unusual, you never know what a publisher will cherry pick THAT part of the résumé and ask for a proposal on it. For example, I once volunteered to help with a creative problem solving competition. I mentioned that in passing to an educational publisher and was asked if I’d consider sending a proposal connected to that experience.
Focus on skills & experience
Any area where you are already an expert will shave time off the learning curve, so if you’re a licensed diver, or you’ve taken a flying course, or you can rock climb, or whatever – put it in. BUT be careful NOT to include things that you don’t want to write about. If you’re a licensed pilot but don’t ever want to write books related to flying, you might not want to mention being a pilot because editors will ask. So add in any unusual expertise, experience or interest. You honestly never know what will spur interest and result in an assignment offer.
Make the Résumé look LIGHT
The easier your résumé is to consume, the more likely an editor is to examine every item on it. Keep in mind, this is a different document than the one you would send when seeking a job. You don’t need to give addresses and dates and extensive information about each place where you’ve worked. The removal of all that extraneous detail will help you to make your résumé look like something a publisher could easily look over on even the most stressful day. So don’t overburden the document. Don’t try to look too academic. The look you’re going for is clean, light, and easily consumed. If you don’t have a website, but you’re regularly submitting to publishers who ask for résumés — consider getting a website. It’s a great place to put the more extensive details you didn’t put on the submitted résumé. And it’s a great place to load more writing samples. The kinds of editors who ask for résumés are also the kind who check out websites — so having a clean, professional website to back up your résumé is always a bonus.
JAN’S BIO
Since my first magazine publication in the 1980s, I have been steadily writing for money in some form. Today I have over twenty books in print and still more in the pipeline – books for children and adults. I’ve also written for magazines, educational publishers and even a toy company! Writing is the only thing I’ve ever done really well that didn’t eventually become more like work than fun.
Read more here. And see her own résumé here.
BACK UP!
This phrase has so many meanings. “Back up” as in physically move backwards; we might tell someone to “back up” when they told us something we didn’t understand. We might ask someone if they had a “backup” – either a plan or duplicates of their computer files when it died. I say the Internet is “back up” after my connection has been down.
Back up is also an appropriate phrase to apply to writers.
Moving physically back is pretty obvious:
– we back up and reread for editing
– we go back to add necessary details or expand scenes
– we step back from our work to see it with a fresh eye.
Making “backups” is one we creative people often ignore.
We don’t like making backup plans. Can’t go to that event/conference after all? Agent A doesn’t like our story. What if the editor rejects the new book? What will we do next? Having a plan in place, makes it easier to keep moving forward.
Probably the scariest “backup” fault we have is not having duplicates of our computer files. Each time I heard of someone losing all their files due to a hard drive failure, I’d tell myself I’d work harder at backing up more often. Every time my goal of once a month quickly dissolved and I only backed up a couple times a year. If I was doing well.
In 2006, I decided to change that. For my birthday I asked for an automatic backup device. Attached to my computer, it backed up my files EVERY NIGHT. I wondered why I didn’t do it years ago…
But nothing is ever permanent in the world of computers. That device eventually failed. And I’d gotten a laptop, too. So I started saving everything from my desktop onto a usb thumb drive and copying it to my laptop. I did the reverse of copying any changes I made on the laptop back to the thumb drive and putting it back on my desktop.
That was great, but I worried about what would happen if my house burned down or someone broke in and stole all the electronics. For insurance, I got an online backup system–this was before people referred to storing items in “the cloud.” Again, that system eventually failed to work. (It saved files, but I couldn’t restore them anymore, so what was the point?)
Next, I was introduced to dropbox, which lets you store files online for free. Similarly to using a usb drive, it is a great way to transfer copies from one computer to another. Some people use dropbox as a way to backup their work. It’s great if and when you remember to save copies there.
Last year, I decided to pay for an automatic online backup again. After listening to some discussions about services, I chose Carbonite. One of the things I love is it saves versions of files. In other words, if I wished I’d kept a copy of last week’s file instead of overwriting it with this week’s–both are there. It’s really easy to use, too.
I know that was a long story, but partially I told it to show that there are different options and partially to show that you ALWAYS need to check that your backup method is still working and affective.
Okay, the last “back up” definition in my opening referred to being online. For me holiday preparations and activities take me off line for writing. Time is more limited. Focus is more difficult. Now that the holidays are over it is time for me to be “back up.” Back focused, back spending enough time, back making progress on projects, back to submitting. How about you? Are you “back up”?
Wishing you the best at getting back up to speed, if you’re not already, and to making those backups!
Cloud image courtesy of Doug Rivers on morguefile.com.