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Writing for Business and Pleasure Copyright by Stephen Wilbers www.wilbers.com Writing for Publication:
"Top Five Things
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Getting published isn’t a pipe dream; tens of thousands of people succeed at it every day. It may seem like a distant or difficult goal, but for most people it’s quite attainable, provided they bring some ability, effort, focus, and persistence to the task.
Before you wade into the waters of publishing, though, it’s important to be aware of a few essential principles.
1. There are lots of good reasons to publish your work: to change the world; to improve people’s lives; to entertain others; to build your reputation, business, or career; to make money; to prove to others (or yourself) that you can do it; to feel connected with others; to feed your ego; to have fun; to try it and see what happens. Any reason that does no harm is legitimate—and widely practiced.
2. There are a few bad reasons to publish what you write: to harm someone or get back at them; to harm or take revenge on a group or organization; or to harm or get back at the world at large. This doesn’t mean you should shut up. Go ahead and write the most angry, vengeful, venom-filled piece you like—but keep it private. Or rework that draft into something that will have some redemptive value (while, perhaps, retaining its fire and force).
3. “Getting published” can mean all kinds of different things. Suppose you write a short article on how a newly immigrated family from Mozambique celebrated Christmas. This might appear in The Atlantic Monthly, on the website Salon.com, in your church newsletter, in an e-book you create and sell through amazon.com, or in a booklet you photocopy and give to friends. All of these are legitimate forms of publication. Getting published is not so much crossing a threshold as it is getting your writing into the hands of the most interested and appropriate readers.
4. Don’t make getting published your goal; make it a milestone toward a larger goal. Publishing your work is great, but it doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Before you begin your own journey toward publication, ask yourself honestly, “What do I hope to achieve?” Your answer to that question will help you determine what to write, which publications (and which media) to approach, whether you write it first or just pitch the idea, and whether self-publishing is a good option.
5. Getting published is much easier than most people think. It just looks difficult because most people set their sights too high, don’t do enough market research, don’t write enough pieces, and don’t get their work into the hands of enough editors. If you write one short story, send it only to The New Yorker (and address it to Fiction Editor), and then wait for the phone to ring, your chances of success are very close to zero. If, however, you write six short stories and a couple of articles; carefully research the markets for each piece; focus primarily on small local, regional, and special-interest publications; identify the appropriate editor at each of these publications; and send each of the eight pieces to twenty different editors (by name, not by title) at once, your chances of success are immensely better. For one thing, you’ve carefully targeted who gets your work; for another, you’ve increased the number of opportunities for success from one to 160. |
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A few times a year, Scott will offer further tips and strategies on writing for publication here at www.wilbers.com. In the meantime, if you’d like a free hour-long crash course on the ins and outs of getting published, visit his site, HelpingWriters.com, and click on the video workshop in the Free Stuff section.
Scott Edelstein has been a professional writer for over 35 years. He’s published over 150 short pieces and 15 books, including 100 Things Every Writer Needs to Know, The Complete Writer’s Kit (with Natalie Goldberg), 1,818 Ways to Write Better and Get Published, and several other books for writers. Scott has been a book, magazine, and newspaper editor; a newspaper and magazine journalist; a columnist for Writer’s Digest magazine; a writer for many businesses, nonprofits, and government organizations; a literary agent; a writing and publishing consultant; and a teacher in Hamline University’s MFA writing program. His website, HelpingWriters.com, and his free newsletter, Scott Helps Writers, provide practical tools, information, and strategies to help writers publish their work, achieve their goals faster and more easily, and build writing careers. |
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