Thread View: alt.make.money.fas
2 messages
2 total messages
Started by ORTHDOX
Tue, 18 Dec 2001 10:54
Professional Web Hosting 500 MB's, so much more $14.99 monthly
Author: ORTHDOX
Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2001 10:54
Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2001 10:54
5 lines
1752 bytes
1752 bytes
Professional Web Hosting :: 500 MB's, 10 GB's Bandwidth, 300 POP3 email accounts, Unique IP address, MySQL, PHP4, ASP support, Java Servlets, Control Panel, Real CGI-bin and so much more. http://www.mlmdownlineclub.com/igor6322
Re: Professional Web Hosting 500 MB's, so much more $14.99 monthly
Author: Jonathan
Date: Tue, 25 Dec 2001 20:33
Date: Tue, 25 Dec 2001 20:33
402 lines
20197 bytes
20197 bytes
If there is anyone out there who is GENUINELY looking to make good money from writing, be it amateur or professional, please drop me an email at jonevans@webmailstation.com I will send you by return an email outlining just how to do this. Jon Here are the first few chapters of the book I am wanting to hopefully sell to you ; (Seen here in text only format of course) FREE Bonus Book 1 Begins on Page 37 FREE Bonus Book 2 Begins on Page 41 We hope you enjoy your reading, please return to us at www.Topbooks.info for further e-books. HOW TO SUCCEED AS A WRITER CONTENTS INTRODUCTION LET'S START AT THE VERY BEGINNING WHAT PROBLEMS HAUNT THE BEGINNING WRITER? IDEAS AND WHERE TO GET THEM READERS' LETTERS AND FILLERS ARTICLES - THE LARGEST MARKET OF ALL SHORT STORIES NOVELS NON-FICTION BOOKS POETRY PLAYS SUBMITTING ARTICLES AND SHORT STORIES.... USEFUL INFORMATION, RECOMMENDED READING, WRITERS' MAGAZINES, ADDRESSES, ETC INTRODUCTION Have you heard that little voice inside of you? The one that tells you, year in year out, about the book - your book, waiting to come out. For many people, the little voice will never be heard above a whisper, and a potentially good and satisfying writing career will fail to ever see the light of day. But the little voice will keep on, and on, and on. That little voice is the one to listen to. If you feel the need to write, you owe it to yourself to come out of your shell, and write. If it isn't so much an ambition to write for the satisfaction of committing words to paper, as a need to earn your living from your efforts, then again you will accomplish nothing by ignoring that encouraging little soul inside of you. Inertia is the prime reason for the world being robbed of another brilliant writer - that and the fear of failure. And even though so many of us know about that book we owe it to the world to create, for the vast majority the dream will never materialise. The dreamer, and the reading population, will be so much the poorer. Now, I'll let you into a secret. Until that word 'Introduction' at the top of this page was actually typed, I spent days - no weeks, anguishing over whether I could actually come up with enough essential information to fill a book of the type you now are reading. In addition I doubted my ability to write it adequately, for I do not profess to be one of the more brilliant writers of our times. My subsequent research, with batteries recharged from the mere placing of that word 'Introduction' on the page confronting me, convinced me that not only had I sufficient information to fill this particular book, but rather I had so much as to necessitate my selecting only those pieces of utmost importance. To allow you the benefit of my remaining research material, I will do what most writers do, and draw your attention to the many highly specialised books on the market, most of them written by experts in the field concerned. I must sadly content myself with imparting sufficient information to convince you that you most certainly do have a future in writing, and to point you in the direction for success. Inertia, as we've already discovered, can often be overcome by committing that first word to paper, thereby starting the momentum that will gather speed as you discover more things to say, and better ways to say them, until your work is finished and ready for flight. Fear of failure can be defeated before you have time to say: 'rejection slip'. Rejection, despite what they say, is not something the beginning writer must learn to accept. There are ways to minimise rejection, even to eliminate it completely, the secret lying primarily in not setting your sights too highly as you learn your craft. Write for the lower paying, lesser known markets, and you won't face opposition from writers with many years' experience to their credit. Market study is of paramount importance to writers at all levels of creative ability. Without it, even those who regularly earn fat cheques from glossy magazines, will find their income drying up quicker than a prune basking in the heat of the desert. Give every piece your best. Never hope it is saleable - know it is. And know in advance of writing it, to which market it is aimed. Analyse that market, and tailor your work towards fitting its exact requirements. This is market study - perhaps the most important part of the writing business. The market for freelance writers is huge and always ready to receive talented newcomers, particularly those who keep constantly up-to-date with editorial trends, whilst maintaining an ongoing vigil of the changing world around them. Ideas are everywhere, waiting for you to bring them to the eyes of the reader. You owe it to yourself to read on! Quotes 'Don't sit around thinking about what you might like to write someday - just do it. Right now'. Bob Greene, American writer and novelist. 'There is no such thing as genius; anyone can write if they approach the craft with an open heart and a dedication to the task. Even the greatest writers of our time have to keep at it and at it, and if they don't, their work will fall short', E. Stacy Creamer, Editor and short story writer. LET'S START AT THE VERY BEGINNING The beginning writer's world is fraught with difficulties and obstacles which he must overcome before he is ever to make a place for himself within it. Right? Sorry - Wrong! These problems he envisages are entirely of his own making, and perhaps result from the glamorous image accorded to the successful writer, as he or she sits autographing piles of new blockbuster novels in a prestigious city centre bookshop, or is interviewed on breakfast time T.V. about his or her wonderful new play, the one that had viewers telephoning in by their thousands to congratulate its creator. Now here I must admit that very few writers will find themselves at the receiving end of such adulation; an even greater number would cease writing today, or else adopt an untraceable pseudonym if the chance were ever so much as to flicker on the horizon. Some writers you see, work happily away, in the privacy of their own homes or libraries, never wanting fame, certainly never courting it, but all the while carving for themselves careers offering personal fulfilment, and often highly attractive financial rewards. In the very early days, the writer owes it to himself not to dedicate his efforts to one form of writing, at the risk of missing out on the very many other writing categories that might prove more challenging, more financially rewarding, and at this stage in his career, a more likely proposition for his longed-for break into print. None of us know at the beginning of our writing career just where our talents lie, unless of course only one category of writing interests us, in which case it is likely that the writing is more important than the prospect of financial reward. That in itself is an admirable philosophy, but we seek here to analyse the path to earning a living from writing, and we must always keep that aim in mind. To accomplish our goal we must not tie ourselves down to any category, even one that offers hours, perhaps years of enjoyment, but with no financial incentive at our labours' end. There are very many areas open to the beginning freelance writer, and so initial fears of being blocked by the professionals who supposedly hog the scene, should be silenced here and now. There simply aren't sufficient so-called professionals to fulfil the requirements of each and every category, and remember too, that even professionals were once beginners. Were they privileged to more inside information than you? Did they work for years, gathering rejection slips, and not a bean to show for their efforts? Was each and every one of them just that little bit more talented or educated than you are. I doubt it! But I bet the vast majority didn't restrict their efforts to one writing project, and I'm sure too that the really successful ones in terms of the speed with which they broke into print, and subsequently maintained the flow of acceptances, prepared for themselves a strategy that minimised or alleviated potential rejections. Later we'll look at strategies for success, and I hope too to dispel a great many myths, like the one about writers papering their walls with rejection slips, and the common misconception that a great skill with words is a pre-requisite for a financially rewarding career. I hope too to prove to some extent that writer's block either doesn't truly exist, or else that it's nothing more than an excuse to take a well-deserved break in an otherwise punishing schedule. Let us first of all consider a few of the many avenues open to the writer, that must surely convince even a hardened cynic that there's more to the wordsmith's world than short stories and articles: Advertising copy, articles, audiovisual scripts, books (fiction and non-fiction), brochures (for products, holiday firms and many other services), children's books, columns in magazines and newspapers, comedy, educational and training literature, feature articles, articles and columns in local and county magazines and periodicals, ghost writing, greetings cards, crosswords and other puzzles, readers' letters, fillers, handbooks for specific organisations, newsletters, poetry, press releases, public relations material, sales letters, short stories, biographies, speeches, sports commentating, teaching other would-be writers, business and self-improvement manuals, writing up material for correspondence courses, journalism, trade journals, radio and television, comic strips, travel writing, plays, and of course: ETC, ETC, ETC! Now if you can find sufficient 'professionals' to supply the amount of material that lot requires, then you're a better man than I am! It is worthwhile considering what constitutes a 'professional'. Is it someone trained in his field or fields of writing; perhaps someone who never gets a rejection slip; how about someone who writes from dawn to dusk? I think it's unlikely you'll ever come up with an adequate description of this creature much revered by the beginning writer. I would even venture to suggest that such a species doesn't in fact exist. He or she will doubtlessly have broken into print, and will have discovered where his talents lie in the writing world. He or she will almost certainly not seek to make a living in those areas which offer no intrinsic satisfaction, since a lack of interest in a chosen subject almost always reveals itself in one's manuscripts, robbing them of the freshness and enthusiasm which are required if you are to present the reader with something which will lead him to read your work to the very end, hopefully leave him wanting more. If the writer is insufficiently interested in the topic concerned, you can bet your bottom dollar the reader will find the piece similarly boring, if that is, you can find an editor to consider printing the manuscript in the first place. 'Stick to writing what you know' is a very good piece of advice, even if the world and its uncle drum it into you at every possible opportunity. But I would qualify the maxim a little, and suggest that certainly developing writers should write about what they know; it adds a touch of sparkle and a freshness to one's work. But I would add to it: 'or write about what you would enjoy getting to know, or could get to know without those demons, 'Stress' and 'Hassle' raising their ugly heads'. The beginning writer with no knowledge of how to get to the coast without a map and compass, should not of course offer a personally researched analysis of the wonders of the deep, or seek to photograph the burial sites of ancient wrecks if in addition to his problems, the art of swimming has long since proved beyond his capabilities. But we all like Christmas, don't we? And even though we might know absolutely nothing about the origins of the many traditions behind this most enjoyable festive occasion, I'm sure few of us would shrink from putting in the necessary research, to prepare an article for a glossy magazine, offering a nice fat fee for the privilege of printing our findings. As we start our careers in writing, dealing with what we already know, lessens the time we need spend undertaking research and leaves more opportunity for practising the mechanics of actually putting words to paper. So now we know that the market for our work is almost without bounds, and we hopefully realise that in the beginning we should seek to deal with topics that at least hold some degree of interest for us, let us now look at a few of the other problems seemingly confronting the writer at the threshold of his career. I say 'seemingly' because I hope in the course of this manual to dismiss most of those 'problems' as nothing more than teething troubles, with pain greatly exaggerated simply because of a lack of some co-ordinated strategy for success. WHAT PROBLEMS HAUNT THE BEGINNING WRITER? First and foremost, must be the fear of failing. None of us wants to find our efforts subsequently receive nothing but an avalanche of rejection slips. So why do editors send rejection slips? Is it because your writing is poor? Not always! Is it because there is no room for you in their organisation? Almost certainly not, unless of course you've sent your work to a market which doesn't consider unsolicited freelance contributions, in which case the fault lies entirely with your market study, or lack of it! Is it because no-one wants a beginner? Well hardly! We're all beginners at some stage and if we let the fear of rejection get too strong a hold on us, then 'beginners' are what we will stay. Remember too, though the newcomer views the professional as an almost God-like being, they are like the rest of us, mere mortals, and sadly the day will come when their names will no longer appear in the publications they seem to have patronised for so long. Without beginners who would fill the subsequent gaps? 'But I don't have time to write' - the claim of many an apprehensive frustrated writer. 'Then get up an hour earlier, or put the telly off an hour earlier, or use your dinner break, etc, etc...' There's no answer to that excuse is there? With the exception of certain stages in our lives when time is at a premium, perhaps when looking after very young children, or taking examinations, or starting a business, we almost always can make a little time in which to fulfil our ambition of a life time - to become a published writer! 'But I don't know where to start!' Great! Then you'll have no pre-conceived notions as to what lies in store, no worries to deter you from picking up your pen or plugging in the typewriter this minute. So let me just say, writing is one of the most rewarding of careers, and yes the first few months will need to be spent reading, studying, learning, and above all practising for that career. After that induction period you'll wonder why on earth you didn't make the move years ago. 'I'm afraid no-one will like my work'. By this you mean you're afraid of the dreaded rejection slip, and you too have heard those stories of would-be writers papering their living rooms with the pesky things. No-one was ever overjoyed to receive a rejection slip, unless of course they'd received a better offer for their work elsewhere. Anyone who repeatedly finds themselves at the receiving end of such rejections must be doing something wrong, and that something can be corrected. Please don't let me convince you that your work will never be rejected; almost no-one can achieve such excellence. But a strategy can be devised for minimising the chance that your work will prove unsuitable. The methods for safeguarding against rejection include: • Prepare a list of potential markets for every piece of work, arranged in your descending order of priority for publication. If the first market rejects it, send it to market number two, and so on. • Start your writing career by submitting to the lower paying and lesser known markets, which the majority of experienced writers will long since have abandoned. • Write about what your know, or what you will enjoy getting to know. Make yourself an authority on your chosen subject, and the relevant markets will be clamouring for your work. BUT writing about what you know is, in itself, insufficient for any sustained degree of success. You must also present your facts or opinions in an interesting manner. • Always make your work a little DIFFERENT. Even a subject almost worked to death by your contemporaries can gain new life if presented from a different angle. Always look for the less obvious facts on the topic concerned. • When you've 'finished' your work, don't send it off hoping it is of an acceptable standard, know it is. • Think and behave like a writer, and a professional one at that. Read as much as you can on the subject of writing. Read the work of other writers. Present your work in a professional manner. And above all stop thinking of yourself as an amateur; if you can't convince yourself you are a professional writer, you'll stand no chance of convincing an editor. • When you get your 'foot in the door' with a particular magazine or publisher, keep the relationship alive and submit work at regular intervals, always making reference to past dealings. • Wherever possible undertake solicited work. For this you query the editor or publisher in advance of preparing your article, story or whatever. You can save yourself a lot of time and disappointment if you subsequently find he or she does not as yet require what it is you propose. Quotes 'Dabble. I've published everything from op-ed to verse to colouring books to fantasy to non-fiction. If you keep doing the same things forever.........you may miss your area of greatest talent'. Mary Lou Carney, Authoress. 'Don't forget that a magazine or book publisher wants to publish books and stories: that's what he's in business for. And if he can discover a new talent, he is happier than anything else can make him. They do not reject manuscripts they can accept'. John Steinbeck, Pulitzer Prize winner. To receive the rest of the book drop me an e-email at jonevans@webmailstation.com I will send you by return an email outlining just how to do this. Good luck ! Jon
Thread Navigation
This is a paginated view of messages in the thread with full content displayed inline.
Messages are displayed in chronological order, with the original post highlighted in green.
Use pagination controls to navigate through all messages in large threads.
Back to All Threads