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How many books have you read about “understanding the magazine market”, “writing a book proposal” or “how to make your articles sell”? It isn’t easy for unpublished authors to break into the market. Even trying to get an agent to represent you is difficult.

You know you can write, though. You know there is a market for what you have to say.

There is an avenue, however, that is virtually untapped by many writers and it is open to EVERYONE who wants to see their works in print. You can finally take control over your own writing destiny. The best part is that you don’t have to share the profits from your works with anyone else. You keep it all.

It’s self-publishing, but on a whole different scale.

Millions of people will have access to your authored pieces. Will publishers come looking for you? It’s a definite possibility. Will you have more credibility in the publishing world? Oh, yes. You will also have solid proof of your ability to reach your target audience, too.

Before I tell you how successful you can be, let me tell you the caveats.

First, it takes some time and effort. If you are a serious writer, you already know what that is all about, though. Second, you will be writing more than you otherwise would. In fact, you will very likely be writing every day for the next couple of months. At least that is what I found myself doing. If you love to write as much as I do, though, it will not be an issue at all.

Last, it will most likely become your favorite thing to do. (Read: Prepare to become obsessed with your success) I am absolutely serious when I say that you will enjoy it so much you won’t want to do anything else. My kids can’t drag me away from the computer some days. I just love what I’m doing. I have spoken with many other people, just like you and me, who have done this and they have had the same reaction. It’s just plain fun.

So, those are the pitfalls.

Now, I can tell you the good news. You have a myriad of ways to earn money with your writing. For less than $1 per day, you can reach hundreds of thousands of potential readers “buyers” of your works. You can also sell your material in a variety of ways. In addition to this, there are a variety of other ways to make money that don’t even have anything to do with writing.

Ok, enough of that. You can read more of the details if you’re interested. For now, let’s focus on how you can accomplish this.

If you’re like me, you have probably been writing for awhile. I have two books, both of which have been rejected by big-name publishers. I can handle rejection pretty well, so that’s not a real problem for me. What bothered me was that I knew I had good material and no way to reach my intended audience. Sound familiar? You have probably been there, too.

Why should I be limited in what I can do just because someone else doesn’t see things the same way I do?

My answer? Find another way to reach my audience. That’s exactly what I have done, too. I created a web site dedicated to one of my books. I intend to do the same for the other book, too.

I am living my dream of being published. Not only am I reaching my target audience, but I am also having numerous articles published on other sites. I have been contacted by two other sites to write for them as well. A third site asked (and I agreed) to provide advice to the members of its site on the very subject I wrote about. I am an instant expert.

Less than $1 per day and I am published, in demand and am starting to receive checks from my site.

It is a work in progress. My book, which will soon be available on the site, is being turned into an e-book. Guess who gets to keep all the profits? Yes, that would be me.

Just think about it. It might work for you. I just know that as writer, it is extremely hard to get your name out there for the right people to see it. This gives you one more opportunity to make a name for yourself.

Best of luck.

~Carla Vaughan

Popularity: 10% [?]

One question I hear over and over again from the writing students I coach is,
“How do I get focused and stay that way?”

That’s a good question. Even seasoned professional freelancers have trouble
staying focused from time to time. And they usually find their writing careers
start to suffer when that happens.

Here are some tips for getting focused on developing your freelance writing
career and staying that way:

1. Brainstorm for a few minutes and make a list of all the things you like to
write about. Once you’ve got several things on your list, narrow the list down to
just your top two areas of interest. Stick with these two areas or topics for
awhile. Any writing or research activities that don’t come within these two
areas of focus should be set aside – for now.

2. Every Sunday evening, or Monday morning, sketch out your marketing plan
for the week. And remember, keep your two areas of interest in mind when
you do this. Only put things on your marketing plan for the week that relate to
your two areas of interest. If you’ve decided you love to write about parenting,
for example, but you’d like to finish that novel you started years ago, don’t
even think about the novel right now. Instead, focus on the kinds of parenting
articles you want to write. Start studying the different parenting publications
you find at your local bookstore or library to get a feel for the kinds of articles
they publish. Then, get busy and write some queries to a few of these markets.

3. Start small. Make just a few simple changes in your life that give your writing
priority. For example, if you’re trying to develop a freelance career while still
holding down a full time job, don’t overwork yourself. You’ll only end up
frustrated and disappointed. However, do plan on structuring your days to give
yourself at least 15 to 30 minutes EACH day to write queries or articles,
research markets, or study books about writing techniques. Too many people
think they have to allocate huge amounts of time in order to get a writing
career started. And, since they don’t have huge amounts of time available for
writing, they don’t write at all, so they never develop the freelance writing
career of their dreams.

However, if you decide you absolutely MUST write for at least 15 minutes, every
single day, and you stick to that, soon you’ll see some big improvements in
your writing and you’ll also begin to feel more in control of your life. It doesn’t
matter when you schedule the 15 to 30 minutes. It could be in the mornings,
in the evenings, or on your lunch hour at work. The important thing is, just do
it.

4. Part of your weekly marketing plan should include how you will network with
other businesses and other writers each week. Don’t neglect this part of the
marketing plan. Even if the only way you network with other writers is through
a listserv or private email with another writer, make sure you do this each and
every week. Contact with other writers will keep your passion for writing alive,
even when the pressures of work and family threaten to make you lose focus.
And networking with other business people just might result in a few writing
assignments.

5. Have fun with your writing. Don’t turn it into just another chore. If you do,
chances are you’ll give up on the idea of freelance writing very quickly. And, if
that happens, you’ll just feel disappointed in yourself again for failing to follow
through on your dream.

Try all of the above tips for awhile. Then – if you find you can’t manage to stay
focused, or develop a marketing plan each and every week, or actually write
queries or articles to submit to publishers – hire a writing coach. A good coach
can keep you focused, will help you improve your writing skills, and will teach
you insider tricks to marketing your work.

Popularity: 9% [?]

The blank piece of paper. It’s the hardest thing for the writer to deal with. Sometimes he can stare at it for hours on end and by the time he is done staring it’s still a blank piece of paper. Welcome to the world of writer’s block. Any writer worth his salt has gone through it. The thing that separates the successful writers from the ones who don’t make it is the ability to get through it. Hopefully, the following tips will give you some ammunition to deal with writer’s block.

Please note that this list is by no means written in stone and the only options available to you. They are just some exercises that many writers agree can work.

The one thing you can do to get through writer’s block, believe it or not, is to just walk away. Put down the pen and paper or keyboard of whatever it is you use to put your thoughts down and just take a walk. It doesn’t matter where. If it’s a nice sunny day, take a walk to the park. Sit on a bench and observe your surroundings. Don’t just look, but really observe. Concentrate on the birds. See if you can identify some of them. Stare at a blade of grass or a flower and watch how it moves in the wind. Do whatever you can to get your mind off your writing. By the time you get back home you will many times find that the ideas just begin to flow.

If getting away from your writing isn’t in your nature then there are some exercises you can do while you are writing that can help jog some ideas loose. One of the best methods is to stop writing whatever it is you are working on and start writing something completely different. If you’re writing a murder mystery and can’t come up with the final revelation of how the murder was committed, stop writing about the mystery and start writing a poem, or a to do list for people who want to get into the writing business. Get your mind off of the specific thing that you’re writing about but still keep your mind active in the writing mode. Many times you will find that the idea you are looking for will just pop into your head.

Another thing you can do to get past writer’s block is to do a writing exercise. Think about the topic you are writing on and make a checklist of all related topics that you can think of to that topic. For example, let’s say you’re writing a non fiction book about mole and wart removal and you’re looking for related topics to add to the book to reinforce the methods discussed for mole and wart removal. Think about what things are associated with health in general. Make a list. You’ll probably come up with diet, cleanliness, exercise and a number of other things. This will give you additional ideas for things you can include in your book such as a chapter on diet and exercise. Maybe a section on the immune system since moles and warts are usually caused by weak immune systems. By simply thinking of related material you’ll be surprised on what you can come up with. Don’t just focus on the main topic. Expand your mind and your book will expand.

These are just a few of many things you can try to get through your writer’s block. We’ll try to cover some more tips in future articles.

Popularity: 12% [?]

If you’re a writer or planning to do any writing for the purpose of getting your work published, you’re going to want to protect yourself from getting your material stolen. We live in a cutthroat business and publishers and agents will take any opportunity they can to steal an up and coming writer’s work. So what can you do to make sure that something like this doesn’t happen?

What you do all depends on what you’ve written as there are different laws for different areas of the writing professions. So since you are dealing with laws, the first thing you’re going to want to do is consult with an entertainment attorney. This is a lawyer who specializes in this area. This is where you have to decide whether or not you want to make a trade off. To get a really good and experienced attorney in entertainment and copyright law, you’re going to have to spend some big bucks. If you’re an up and coming writer, you may not have that much money and won’t be able to afford his services. You may have to settle for someone who doesn’t have as much experience. The trade off here is that someone with less experience is likely to miss something that a more experienced attorney is going to catch. The more complicated the contract, the easier it is for things to slip through the cracks. This is where you have to decide what is more important to you, saving a few bucks or getting the best representation possible.

While you’re looking for and getting an attorney you’re going to want to copyright your work. The copyright laws have changed dramatically over the years to make it easier for artists to get their material copyrighted. If you’re a songwriter you have two avenues to choose from. You can send your material with a small fee to the copyright office in Washington to get your song copyrighted, or you can simply mail a copy of the song either on tape, CD or sheet music to yourself and leave it unopened with the post mark clearly visible. The advantage of sending to Washington is that if a court battle ensues the evidence will probably hold more weight with a judge when rendering his decision. Other areas of writing have their own laws and procedures but they are all very similar to song writing.

One thing you should always do when dealing with a publisher who is interested in your work is to get everything in writing. Verbal contracts can stand up in a court of law but they are harder to win against than a written one. When you do get a contract, make sure you go over every page of it. If there is something you don’t understand, have your lawyer go over it.

One thing you should never do as a writer is sell your work outright. This is something that only a crooked publisher would ask you to do anyway. You could be selling away millions of dollars in royalties if your published work, which is now owned 100% by the publisher, takes off and is a big seller.

By simply following the above tips you’ll be protecting yourself against the possibility of losing a lifetime of earnings.

Popularity: 10% [?]

If you’re an aspiring writer and are trying to get something published, you have figured out pretty early on that this is a killer business to break into. The competition is fierce and the talent pool is, well, talented to say the least. Sometimes just being good isn’t good enough. Sometimes you have to go the extra mile to break into the business. This is where internships can be a great thing.

For those who don’t know exactly what an internship is, it’s not like being an intern at a hospital when you’re a doctor. You do get paid for that. We’re talking about the kinds of internships where you do them simply for the chance to break into whatever field of writing you want to break into.

For example, if you’re an aspiring songwriter, you may want to volunteer your services at a publishing company. Many times these companies hire staff writers for the purpose of writing filler material for a star’s up and coming CD. The “hit” they hope to find through an outside writer out of the millions of submissions that they receive. This is the song they are going to pay a portion of the royalties for, but the staff written songs are owned by the company itself so no royalties are paid. This is an opportunity to volunteer to be part of this team even for no pay, just for the chance to write. In many cases this offer will be well received and you’ll be given the chance to contribute material to the team. The benefit of this is that if you write enough material that they like you may be given a shot down the road to either join the staff writing team for pay or even get a chance to write a potential hit song.

In another example, let’s say you are trying to get a job writing for a newspaper. Many papers are always looking for articles or stories to fill up the less important sections of the paper. There are only so many major stories to go around. If you are knowledgeable in a certain area, say sports, they may hire you as an intern to write some sports related articles for them to appear at the back of the sports section. You won’t get paid for this but it will be good experience and if your work is good enough there is always a chance that the paper will hire you.

For those who want to make it as screenplay writers or playwrights, there is always the local workshops where you can go down and offer your services. Many of these small theaters are looking for new material because a new play will always attract some curiosity from critics and agents. This is a good way for them to get their actors noticed and for you to get your material noticed at the same time. Obviously the quality of the performance won’t be like a Broadway show, and this will detract somewhat from your written words, but a good critic or agent will be able to spot good material, even if the acting isn’t up to par.

For each field there will be different things that you will be able to do. But the key word is volunteer. Make it perfectly clear that you are not looking for payment, just the chance to have you work seen.

Popularity: 8% [?]