At some point in your writing career you will probably encounter the
possibility of entering writing contests. As you peruse writing newsletters
and magazines, at any rate, you’ll almost inevitably find listings of
competitions; you may very well begin to wonder how to decide whether
a given contest is “right” for you and your poetry or prose. Here are six
“starter” questions you can ask yourself to initiate that process of
evaluation:

1. Do you recognize the press, university, writing center, magazine,
literary review, etc. that is sponsoring the contest? Do your writing
friends and teachers know about it? (A number of Internet boards post
warnings about “scam” contests-it can’t hurt to check those out.) In other
words, is the administering organization one you’d be happy to have
publish your work?

2. Does the competition post the names of past winners (and the titles of
their winning works)? Can you locate the published stories, poems,
essays, or books? This lends credibility to the competition.

3. Is an award guaranteed? Some contests stipulate that an award may
not be given in a particular year; this may not be appreciated when fees
have been collected; you may choose not to hand over a fee to such a
contest.

4. What does the rest of the fine print say? Have you given over rights to
your work simply by submitting it? Such details are often included in that
tiny type. Read it carefully.

5. Is judging “blind”-are you asked to submit a manuscript without any
identifying material on it? Such a process may help ensure fair judging.

6. If a fee is charged, does it seem “worthwhile” considering the potential
prize? For example, a $25 entry fee for a possible $100 prize might not
seem as alluring as a $25 fee (or less) for a $500 (or more) prize.

Considering these questions should set you on the way to thinking more
critically about the contest process, and they’ll assist you as you
navigate the many listings and advertisements you’ll find the more time
you spend investigating opportunities to develop your writing career.

(c) Copyright 2004 Erika Dreifus. All rights reserved. Article reprint
permission is granted provided that the entire article, including the
“About the Author” information, remains intact and unaltered. Please
send a copy of the reprint to erikadrei@yahoo.com .

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I never believed how beneficial to my health laughter was until tragedy hit my family. Then, laughter kept me from orbiting into the land of oblivion. Laughter never sounded so sweet. In the midst of sorrow, a good cry is expected, but a hearty laugh can keep us afloat. We’ve all heard the proverb, “laughter doeth good like a medicine” (notably a good-tasting kind) and writing the humor of life gives a double dose of the good tasting stuff.

Inevitably some will scratch their heads and wonder how humor writing can be something to consider when the pain of sorrow from a loss is so consuming. People not in tragedy, envision those in pain only able to cry and soak up tissues. They are correct; while loss of a loved one, a divorce or an illness do produce countless tears, being able to laugh and record the humor are therapeutic to healing.

I married my husband for his humor. While some marry for money or that house on the beach, I was drawn to this man’s ability to create an atmosphere of laughter. After the painful death of our four-year-old son, Daniel, we needed humor like a buffer from the agonizing wounds in our hearts. We learned to laugh together instead of continuously growing angry at the silly things people (albeit with good intentions) said to us. And although we are not ready for stand-up comedy yet, our humor has helped to save our marriage.

“Just laughing at something relaxes people and makes them forget their troubles for a few minutes,” claims Pauline Russell of Duke University Medical Center. ” Laughing provides a moment of refreshment. The stimulation you get after a hearty laugh is helpful.” Journalist Peggy O’Farrell states that among laughter’s benefits are the “…reduction of stress hormones, including cortisol, which in turn enhances the immune, cardiovascular and even digestive systems.” She adds that findings have led researchers to conclude that laughter should be part of a daily health routine ? just like exercise and healthy eating.

How do you see the humor life has to offer? First you have to look for the humor in everyday living. Put on your humor antenna so that you will pick up on the humor that is all around you. It’s there.

It was there just the other night at my house. My husband and beagle puppy were seated in front of the TV watching the Super Bowl. I was in the middle of writing an informative paragraph to an editor about my own ezine, Tributes. I included how my ezine has been an instrumental tool for me on this journey of grief and how reaching fellow bereaved parents through it helps with my own healing. In the midst of editing my paragraph, my 11-year-old daughter ran out onto our newly-built deck with the brand new furniture. A few seconds later she announced she had thrown up. “On the deck?” I yelled from my post at the computer. I went to take a look as our beagle puppy raced out and started to lick the mass of vomit which spread over the deck floor. When I saw she’d also thrown up on the new glider’s custom-made cushions, I screamed, “How could you throw up there too?”

“After the game ends, I’ll clean it up,” my husband said from his chair.

“No,” I cried. “It’ll be frozen by then. I’ll do it.”

We both cleaned up. I, on my hands and knees mopped up the mess with paper towels and rags. In the back yard, he hosed down the green-and-purple-flowered cushions and then scrubbed them with a soapy brush. He fussed about the hose and I fussed that he was placing the cushions in the dog’s play area and that doggy poop on the cushions would be as bad as the vomit so to be careful. We yelled
back and forth into the night.

After the clean-up, I went back to the computer and read my nice and touching note, ready to send to the editor. Here I was posing as this sweet bereaved mother when I had just yelled at my daughter and husband over vomit on deck furniture. Laughing, I entered what had just happened in my journal. It is a keepsake, a humor journal. I carry mine with me for the purpose of recording the funny aspects of life that might go unnoticed if I weren’t in the frame of mind to be on the look-out for them.

Some may think what you find funny to write about isn’t funny, but that’s not important. As long as your humor provides laughter for you, that is what counts and that is what you can record in your journal. Be on the humor alert in public places like restaurants and airports. I recorded this conversation while seated at a small Mid-western airport last summer. I was seated across from two couples discussing their
pastor and so had to act a bit sly, not letting on that I was recording their every amusing word.
“He’s dressing in khakis and leaving the pin stripes at home.” “He’s gotten better on his sermons.”

During the season of the Bill Clinton Impeachment, a friend and I were at a restaurant when we overheard a woman stating to her dinner date, “You know I love my president. I just love my president. Now I don’t like what he has done. But you know I love my president.”

The whole restaurant seemed quiet, obviously listening as this woman vocalized her passionate feelings.

Venture out on a humor search by looking for bumper stickers, signs, billboards and even misspellings. Write the funny ones down and keep a collection of these to read aloud at least once a month. By doing so, you are creati
ng your own joke book. One hectic day, in the van with my three bickering children, I smiled for miles after I saw the personalized license plate on the bright red convertible: “Midlife.”

As a family, record funny things and place them on slips of paper. Put them in a jar (label it your “barrel of laughs”) and take one out, one each night or once a week. You won’t forget the family jokes and will use them to bring you closer to each member as the years go by.

If you haven’t already, recall the funny memories of loved ones who have gone on and add them to your humor journal. Early every weekday morning in the hospital Daniel and I would awaken to a man outside the room door singing, “Newspaper, newspaper.” I would reply, “No, thank you” to which the newspaper salesman would automatically chirp, “Have a nice day.” It became Daniel’s and my joke. All we’d have to say to each other and then break into laughter was, “Newspaper, newspaper. Have a nice day.” That journal entry always gives my heart a refreshing workout.

Humor is everywhere. Learn to look for it, capture it in the pages of your journal, laugh and watch your health improve and your heart heal.

Humor web sites to visit:
World Laughter Tour http://www.worldlaughtertour.com
Humor University http://www.humoru.com

Popularity: 12% [?]

I had never given the matter much thought in the past but after an experience I enjoyed lately, I am now rather of the opinion that you can.

It happened this way?

Coinciding with the launch of my latest book ?Your Retirement Masterplan’ (How To Books ISBN 1857039874) I participated in eleven 10/15 minute live interviews on local radio over a period of just five days.

These promotional interviews were arranged by my publisher’s media consultancy and I didn’t require to visit a single studio to take part; they were all conducted over the telephone, sitting at my desk at home.

Towards the end of the first interview I was conscious of the fact that I had yet to plug the distribution channels for my book.

The presenter beat me to it: ?In five seconds, where can listeners buy your book?’ Before I could reply he added, ?Can they order it online?’

?Yes,’ I said, ?at Amazon.co.uk’

In the ten subsequent interviews I made a point of ending my spiel with the publisher’s name together with availability at bookstores but I always finished with, ??and online at Amazon.co.uk.’

Now here’s the interesting part: after the first five sessions I checked out the Amazon.co.uk website to discover that this newly published title had jumped 35 places in the bestseller list for its genre; I checked again after the final interview and it had jumped again but this time by 329 places. In effect, in just a few days it had leapt from position 558 to 194 out of 3123 competing titles.

More than mere coincidence methinks?because books don’t climb the bestseller lists on Amazon unless they are selling in quantity.

So what if you self-publish your output and you don’t have a publicist to arrange radio interviews? Does that mean you are excluded?

No way; I have self-published several books in the past and managed my own promotion.

Here is what you do?

1. Wherever you live in the world you’ll find that the majority of local radio stations are banded together into a single group for cost-effectiveness;

2. Identify the controlling group;

3. Visit the corporate website containing links to all subsidiaries;

4. Pick out those stations within a 500/1000 mile orbit;

5. Visit each local station website individually;

6. Scan the daily programming schedules;

7. Highlight those shows that might identify with the topic of your book;

8. Note the presenter’s name;

9. Email him/her with a well-couched request for a live interview;

10. Follow that up with an identical snail mail request;

11. Follow that up with a telephone call (you’ll get to speak to someone in authority);

12. You know your topic inside out; speak up with confidence and you’ll get your interview; maybe not straightaway but, if you sell yourself and your project professionally, you’ll be logged into and up-and-coming slot in the station scheduling.

Go for it?it’s free!

Postscript: Those eleven live interviews did more than sell books on radio – they resulted in several direct invitations to repeat my pitch on local television.

MILKING INCREMENTAL INCOME STREAMS AS AN AUTHOR

As your book(s) become available online and offline your reputation as an expert in your particular subject will flourish. This brings with it additional opportunities for attracting incremental income; opportunities such as?

1. Public speaking engagements;

2. Book reviewing;

3. Magazine article contributions;

4. Foreign translations of your work;

5. Book club sales;

6. Public Lending Right (PLR); you get paid every time some borrows your book from a public lending library;

7. Fees under licence (when another publisher reproduces your work);

8. Broadcasting rights;

9. Audio tape and disc rights.

The fees you earn are incremental to your book royalties and they soon mount up over a period of time. My new creative writing course ?Secrets to Churning Out Bestsellers’ contains several chapters on how to milk these additional income streams. http://www.1st-creative-writing-course.com

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The World of Writing: According to Authors Dave and Lillian Brummet

June 5, 2007 | By admin In On Writing | Comments(0)

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Question:

What was it like as new authors in the publishing world?

Answer:

As free-lance writers of informative articles, we had no prior
experience with book publishers. We did a lot of research
and were aware of some basic contract and publishing
procedures, yet there were many things we were not
prepared for. For instance, there was the book cover design
to conceive of – which our good friend Brian McAndrew
created. The back cover text had to be developed, an
author’s bio written, photos to have taken and lists of nearly
2 hundred contacts to sort out. The marketing research took
weeks to do, but it resulted in a 12-page plan to ease our
way. Then there were formal things like dealing with the
Library of Congress and Copyrighting. For instance, copies
of the book had to be sent to the Library of Congress at our
expense. There are rules to be aware of as well. The rights
for free use (using quotes from other people) is so gray that
we opted out of including this kind of text. Unfortunately, that
meant more editing. We were disappointed because there
were some very good quotes that would have added a great
deal to the book.

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Question:

What were some publishing experiences or unexpected turn
of events?

Answer:

While Lillian was browsing the Internet looking up
information on other publishers, she came upon Publish
America’s website. It inspired her to send a query in on the
spot. Within 3-days we received a request for a sample
manuscript. Now, these publishers only accept 20% of the
thousands of queries that cross their desks, so we were
excited to have such a good response in a very short time.
Unfortunately, we were also relocating our home from one
part of town to another, finishing a garden year and working
as well. Time was short and stress was high. We got that
sample manuscript off in a timely fashion, however, and we
received an acceptance within a few days. The heady
sensation of signing the 7-year contract flew by us in a blur.

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Question:

What time and resources do we put in for promoting the
book?

Answer:

Every day we put in 2-6 hours into some aspect of the book.
The Internet has proven to be a powerful tool where an
immense amount of information can be found from
newsletters, publishers, forums and authors. Every on-line
communication we have is an opportunity to plug our book
by simply attaching an auto signature. We developed
promotional materials (flyers, mini-posters, large posters,
bookmarks, labels) and, of course, galleys and sample
packages for editors and booksellers. Most importantly, we
had a great website built for us by Brian McAndrew of
Beyond Graphix.

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Question:

What did you learn in researching the book?

Answer:

We thought we were committed to the concept of the book
in our lives, but when researching and writing this book we
found we became much more motivated, more committed
and more informed about waste reduction.

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Question:

As a writer, what have you learned about staying organized
or motivated?

Answer:

Having a plan of action for every project is vital. Every project
should have an outline starting from the title through to the
end. There should also be a market plan laid out. Who are
you marketing to? How you are going about it? What will you
do first? These are the most important tools of a writer. Most
people think of a writing career being one where you have
lots of leisure time and creating with words. On the contrary,
most of the time is spent marketing and organizing projects.
For instance, we might write an article and query it to a
market. That market may take a few days to get back to us,
but it may also be as long as a year before we hear from
them. That article is idle and we do not get paid until after it
is published. A writer may have hundreds of pieces of their
work at various stages of writing and marketing at one time.
They need to know where it is and its status, at a glance. We
use the Excel program to take care of this. For the book,
plans were indispensable. The market plan alone is a book
in itself and will take us years to complete. That is normal,
actually. A writer must spend much of their time promoting
the book for years after publication in order to keep sales
happening. Unfortunately, promotion and writing time are
unpaid hours in the meantime.

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Question:

When do you write?

Answer:

We have to do a bit of juggling to manage our business, day
job and writing career with some kind of balance. Usually,
We work as a team, though we write separately and then
conglomerate and edit the work together. Because we
share one computer, this can be a bit of a juggle. Dave
works shift work so when he is at work or sleeping Lillian
will use the computer to research and promote.

Question:

What is your professional background?

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Answer:

Dave and Lillian began their (paid) writing career working as
staff writers at Openminder Newsletter where they
experienced the harried pace of getting several articles and
even feature or interview articles ready for a by-weekly
deadline. It was our start in the writing world and plunged us
head-first into the community, interviewing unique and
enterprising people. The concept of Trash Talk was already
developed and this market snatched up the column
immediately. When Openminder closed shop, we started a
free-lance career. Our articles have since appeared in a
variety of magazines including Seeds of Diversity, Country
Connection and ISKRA.

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Question:

Have you won any awards or contests?

Answer:

Yes, Dave has recently won first prize in the Nature category
of BC Cottage Magazine’s 2004 Photo contest. Lillian has
won several editorial awards for her poetry and has had her
work published in 5 hardcover anthology books of poetry
through contests.

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Question:

What is the most important lesson in your writing career?

Answer:

Research. If you know something is coming up, research it
and make a plan of action well ahead of time. If we did not
start the market plan and develop a plan of action and
estimated schedule soon after finding out the manuscript
was accepted, we would have never been ready for the
myriad of work ahead of us, much of which is time-sensitive.
Doing it right is essential – there is but little chance to make
an impression with a reviewer, reader or publication. Even
with the best of preparation you will be caught off guard or
unprepared. Don’t sweat it too much if you make a mistake.
Think of it as a lesson.

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Question:

Have you any advice for new writers?

Answer:

We hate to sound redundant, but again, do your research.
Join forums and research the previous messages for
several months ago. You will find many novice questions
are thoroughly answered with many different people
contributing ideas and opinions. Always research your
market and query them in a professional manner before
sending a finished product.

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Jim Green is a bestselling author with an ever-growing string of niche non-fiction titles to his credit. ?Secrets to Churning Out Bestsellers’ is his latest dynamic creative writing course and is available for immediate download at http://www.1st-creative-writing-course.com and http://www.writing-for-profit.com National Biotech Register Online A refined list of array companies. Online since 1995. Company and keyword search. Providing bio/pharma industry, immediate product/service information.

Dave and Lillian Brummet, authors of the book Trash Talk – a guide for anyone concerned about his or her impact on the environment, that offers useful solutions to reduce waste and better manage resources. http://www.sunshinecable.com/~drumit

Popularity: 8% [?]

3 Tips when Writing Articles

Do you love to write? Do you want to put those writing skills to good use? Perhaps you want to see your name published whether it be in a newspaper, magazine, e-zine or other forms of publication. Here’s 3 tips to start off your New Year.

1. Brainstorm

Once you’ve decided what your writing is going to be about, brainstorm. Think of a new angle for your article. For example: If you’re writing for your local newspaper about an author, don’t necessarily write only the obvious details. Is there something about this author that makes them unique? What is so great about the book they’ve written, can you tie it with a current news event and or holiday?

2. Removing the Fluff is a Must!

When writing a first draft, it’s expected to have at least some fluff. Fluff is words, sentences, certain aspects of your article that don’t necessarily add to your article. An example would be: “I had no energy. My energy had been sucked out of me” Now that’s not the great example, but you get the point. A good way to tell if you have fluff is to put your article away for a while. Why? Because when you leave your article for a bit, the next time you look over you’ll see aspects of your article popping out. Certain words, facts and excess information that could easily be removed for a smooth flowing article. 3 fast tips that also apply are:

1. Editing- Proof read your articles and remember to use your spell checker. Grammar and spelling mistakes can easily turn your editor away.

2. Simple Language Structuring- You may be an expert in your field, but for others reading about your topic for the first time, your content should be simple. Make sure your sentences aren’t run-ons. Are you teaching something? Break down aspects of your article into steps. This will ensure your reader understands your topic better.

3. Be careful of the word “the”- “The” is a common word that sometimes is repeated too many times in the article, causing your article to become repetitious. Use “the” repeatedly if you’re trying to make a point.

3. Passion

No, I’m not talking about romance. Passion and excitement in your article. The topic that you choose to write about should excite you. It should be something you enjoy, something you love. If it’s a topic you’re not truly interested if, it’s going to show in your writing. Especially if it’s an article that you put together in 5 or so minute. Use words to “pump” up your article, actions, appeal to one’s senses if it’s about cooking. Have the reader become excited and motivated if it’s a teaching article.

Popularity: 11% [?]