Writing Inrochester

Being an editor can be difficult (especially when you have a writer living inside you). However, I have some tips for those of you who have to deal with those Big Blue Meanies! But first, let me tell you how this all came about before we go into the Tips part of this little piece.

I moved to the Sierra Nevada western slope (the beginning of California gold country) and somehow wrangled my way onto the local newspaper staff. (In my formative years I never took an English class past the 7th grade. Either on the newspaper or yearbook staff, I cut my teeth on a typewriter). Previously in marketing and advertising I could not find a decent-paying job in the mountains. Newspaper work I knew I could do so I started as a typesetter which means I typed the newspaper and headlines and we are not talking about using computers here. This was over 20 years ago.

As things go on a local weekly newspaper - the only true bastion of pure and free journalism left in this country - I was on assignment the first week, camera in tow. The publisher and I left in his banged up Chevy Blazer, crossed the Merced River Gorge on two wheels, and headed into the heart of gold country where I was to report a new gold discovery.

Within six months I was managing editor of California’s oldest continuous published weekly, The Mariposa Gazette and Miner and a tabloid shopper The Poise ‘N Oak and feeling like I finally found a job made in heaven. To this day that was the best job I ever had. When the ink gets under your skin, you are an addict for sure – there is no cure.

The great part about the job was not just the writing (which I did a lot of and have loved all my life) it is all the other stuff you get to do. Work the dark room, develop pictures, work the big and small cameras, lay out the newspaper, handle subscriptions, edit, write, report, and typeset - everything.

I think my favorite part was interviewing people (a technique I have refused to let go, even today). Being a women AND a reporter makes me incredibly curious - period. Working on a weekly newspaper is the one place where you get to learn the entire publishing business from start to finish. I cherish those moments forever. I highly recommend finding a job on a small weekly paper. You get paid pennies but the experience is worth a million bucks!

A matter of personal style

Editing itself is a matter of personal style, except of course, for - ahem - spelling, grammar, and usage. Style, that is one thing. Errors in the grammar, usage, and spelling department - that’s a whole ‘nother banana - one you are likely to slip on if you do not pay attention!

This will turn an editor off quicker than you can say journalism! This will make him or her drop your piece like a hot potato.

An editor, cynical creature that he or she is, thinks like this: What the hell is this crap? If you do not take the time to check these things out - what kind of writer are you? I am not talking about the words you make up or colloquialisms you use. Metaphors and analogies - these things are all great - in their proper place.

But grammar and spelling - c′mon people - these things are basic. I am not saying I have not made these errors - we all have - but it is hard on your readers.

Ever stumble over a sentence you have read? Go back and re-read it. Are there pieces missing? With the advent of computers, we have taken to editing on screen.

Big mistake!

Print your document out - and here is a tip for proofreading - read backwards. Start at the end and read each word backwards. You will catch more than a few errors.

Nowadays with computers and tools (that option on your Microsoft Word toolbar) grammar and spelling issues should virtually disappear. Bottom line is - if you have not taken enough time to get the grammar and usage right or the correct spelled word – who is to say your facts are correct? You have lost credibility with the first misspelled word or poor grammar.

My problem is that it is hard for me to proofread what I have written. What do I do? Walk away from it. Let it sit. Give it to someone else. What ever you do - find something that works for you. Make it work! It is worth the wait.

Do not be so impatient to get on line with this stuff. Remember when you are writing online generally you are you own editor except for one thing - all readers become editors. Repeat it to yourself: All readers become editors!

Understand what you are writing. Never call an opinion piece a news article. Or a feature a hard news piece. You will look like a fool.

Here are a few clues to differentiate between the various kinds of articles that might appear in a newspaper, in an ezine, or online.

News Articles should include the sacred who, what, where, when, why and how! (Actually any piece should have this element). It does not matter if your verbiage is creative - your facts just cannot be.

Ever heard of libel? I have been sued for it (of course I was safe - I had my facts in a row - besides it was a frivolous lawsuit anyway - the guy was against my series of articles on a local hot topic). Stick to the facts. Convey all sides of the story, where ever possible.

You cannot express your opinion in a news piece. It is verboten! Though of course, at any time, turn on your television and what do you have? Opinion, not news! But then again we know these folks are not true journalists. Most of them are just actors. Someone else writes their copy. (This is opinion here).

Feature Articles are those soft pieces you will be most likely to find in the Lifestyles sections of your newspaper, magazine, or ezine. They are usually written about someone or something of interest to the community. The artist down the road who used to paint backdrops for Disney - or the old Miner working the last gold of the SweetWater Mine. These pieces are more about people than events.

Sports Articles are by far, in my opinion of course, the hardest to write. You do not have a lot of latitude with and he scored 6 points after an end-line run. The crowd went wild!

Columns(or the more prevalent online Blogs) tend toward more essay-op-ed pieces (opinion-editorial). Columns and Blogs are a great place to break out. Erma Bombeck was one such columnist.

How To Articles are not really news, not really features. They are in a class all by themselves. Generally, how-to pieces I used to put into the shopper because they usually focused on something around the house. How to fix the furnace, how to build that garden shed, etc. You will find these next to the cartoons, crosswords and all that fun stuff.

Creative Writing is what it says. It is writing and it is creative. Not a lot of definition needed here.

Fiction generally not found in a newspaper or newsletter unless it is seasonal and if long, can be run in a series. And the genres here are too numerous to mention.

Nonfiction we have come full circle. Nonfiction is generally fact-based, unless you are Truman Capote and then it reads like a story. In Cold Blood was fact-based but he presumed a lot by creating dialogue that he really was not party to. In Cold Blood created a whole new genre of non-fiction writing. But you should know that by now if you have seen Capote.

If you are a real writer then you will keep at your side (until you memorize it) this simple little book, a bible of sorts, of grammar and usage errors. It is called The Elements of Style written by William Strunk, Jr., E.B. White, and Charles Osgood. It is a very inexpensive book. You can log on to Amazon and pick it up for a song.

It addresses all those harrowing issues. Its or it’s? Lay or Lie? Affect or Effect? Complement or Compliment? He and I or Him and me? Assent or Ascent.

These may seem like small things - but as a writer - you, of all people, must know the difference. Most editors do!

If your writing is strong and clean (less is more!) and you have taken care of your grammar, usage and spelling issues - before long you will find people clamoring for more.

©2007 by Laurie Brenner. All Rights Reserved.

Publishing guidelines: You are more than welcome to publish any of my articles as long as you include my byline and provide a link back to one of my websites. As a courtesy, please send me an email at mailto:wildwind@wildwindenterprises.com wildwind@wildwindenterprises.com when you publish my article or story.

About the Author: Laurie Brenner, formerly editor of California’s Oldest Continuously Published Weekly, The Mariposa Gazette and Miner, and author of The Little Book of Becoming - Understanding the Law of Attraction now writes for The View From The Western Slope where she shares insights into the law of attraction, the art of becoming, being happy now and stories of her own experiences. Visit wildwindenterprises.com wildwindenterprises.com where you can read the story of how she and her husband built the house of their dreams using the law of attraction! Also check out: wildwindebooks.com wildwindebooks.com and law-of-attraction-masters.com law-of-attraction-masters.com

Mini-articles, sometimes called ‘briefs’ or ’short takes’ can be anything from 200 to 500 words long, and they bear close similarity to everyday fillers, being both easy to produce and very rewarding if published. This is what you need to know to generate regular income from writing mini-articles.

* Writing mini-articles is a good way to get yourself known to editors who may commission you for longer features later.

* Begin by writing about subjects that interest you in magazines you read yourself.

* Watch out for special sections in some publications, where editors invite features on a common theme, sometimes a recipe or poem, frequently complaints, and so on.

* Anniversaries and celebrations are ideal subjects for you to concentrate on. Christmas, historic events, celebrity birthdays, make popular fillers for most publication types.

* Sentences and paragraphs should be short and punchy. Longer sentences and paragraphs look out of place and make hard work of reading these shorter pieces.

* Try to be different. Even if the subject is common, look for an unusual feature or aspect to focus on. Make it one that readers can relate to and make sure nothing similar has featured recently.

* Start by listing all main points you might include in your mini-article. List these in order of importance, from ‘1′ for most important down to however many points there are. This is usually the order they will take in your finished piece, but not always, and some editors favour keeping the most important, sometimes second most important piece to close the feature. Careful market research of your target magazines will help you spot what editors like and will increase your success rate.

* Stick to the article’s focus. Make sure each word deserves its place in your manuscript. Go through with a highlighter pen, marking essential pieces and looking for any that might be deleted.

* Avoid all unnecessary duplication. Look for related facts - similar or opposing - which might combine to form one sentence.

* Make your lead as strong as possible. Try including something to shock readers or search for odd and little known fact about your subject. Anything to attract and retain reader interest. This is what will compel the editor, and ultimately his readers, to finish reading your work.

* Try to get on as many press release mailing lists as you can. Press releases are an invaluable source of ideas for all kinds of manuscript. To illustrate, I recently received a press release from Dog’s Trust, formerly the National Canine Defence League, telling me that a new NCDL site was being opened close by. Celebrity Loyd Grossman was opening the event. From this tiny scrap of information I received several commissions to report on and photograph the event for dog lovers’ magazines.

* Don′t combine two or more subjects, albeit related. If you have too much material, save some for a future article on the same subject.

* Don’t pad your work. If you don’t have enough material for an article in your target magazine, rewrite your work for another magazine or research for further information.

* Do not use long, complicated words when everyday words will do. Articles should be easy and enjoyable to read.

Avril Harper is the author of

I had been writing poetry for a couple of months so I showed them to a few friends. One advised me to send them in to a few magazines for publication. I prepared the customary two copies with my name and address on each, copyright information neatly typed at the bottom. The standard self addressed return envelope expensively stamped completed the package. Most were returned, some with “Sorry, we can’t use this material at this time”, a few were unopened with only a RETURN stamp on the back. A few answered with a nice note praising the work and encouraging me not to give up.

My main purpose, as stated in my cover letter, was to write meaningful poetry for the masses, unadorned with words they had to look up, relating to the lives of average people. One editor, who shall remain nameless, answered in a cool manner, ridiculing my work. He commented that their magazine catered to the educated type person and furthermore, he would not consider including such common doggerel in his magazine. Also, it was their policy not to accept unsolicited offerings. His attitude prompted me to write the following reply:

Editors with their well read tomes
Deny the masses their funny poems
Subtle metaphors three times removed
Is the only verse that gets approved.
Why should I bother to rack my brain with
Emotions like grieving and terrible anguish?
To relive my life in poetry helps me unwind.
I have plenty of feelings of the every day kind.
I’ll try to resist, though it may be too hard
Not to descend to the depths of a studio card.

Kenneth Hoffman

Retired portrait photographer. Comments anyone?

You see them everywhere: on the back of books or magazines, listed on websites, on posters if they’re films and sometimes whole sites on the internet are geared to listing them for every possible product. So, what are they and, why are they so important?

They are reviews and they’re important because they help consumers decide whether or not they want to purchase that particular product or service. They are also an excellent marketing tactic for the companies or authors who request them. The trouble is, anyone can write a review but not everyone can write a good review. Quality will be the key factor in encouraging the consumer, to buy or not to buy the product, so the review must grab them almost straightaway.

So, how do you write a good review? To help you, here are my Top 10 Tips to becoming a good and respected reviewer whatever the product. Please note: these tips can apply to anything that you need to review. Some of the suggestions might even be obvious but you’ll be surprised at how often they are omitted:

• The most important tip is to enjoy what you do. You must be an avid reader and enjoy discovering new talent and products. If you don’t, it will show in your review.

• As you read or browse, make a mental note or write it down if you think you’ll forget, of specific areas of the product that spark something in you. This, also, could be an act or situation in a novel that you can personally relate to. For example, I could relate to the title of one novel that I reviewed recently. I was interested to see if the title mirrored my own personal experiences. Whether it did or did not, in the end, is immaterial but what I felt on a personal level was then added to the final review.

• Think about what the product says to you as a reviewer. Do you hate it? Are there particular facts or information that you feel are incorrect e.g. historical dates or myths? Does it excite or anger you? What other emotions does it rouse in you? As an example, I read and reviewed a novel some time ago, that stated, what I saw as, two incorrect historical facts. It did not mean that I hated the novel, far from it, but it did spoil my enjoyment of it. I stated my opinions in the final review, but unfortunately I received no acknowledgment that the author had received the completed piece. So, be warned. It does not automatically mean your opinions will be liked or accepted. You will, however, gain respect and a good and fair reputation as a reviewer. If you’re not honest with yourself and/or your clients, then what’s the point of the review?

• One of my bad habits in writing is using the same word over and over again. Make use of a thesaurus to find another way of saying a similar thing.

• Make sure you have all relevant information correct in your review. Sometimes, it can be easy to forget the name of a specific character in a novel, product name or even contact information for the author/webmaster. Check the facts again. Try not to make any errors in that respect otherwise it looks like you have not even looked at the product or that you care about what you’re reviewing.

• If you’re reviewing a novel or book, don’t just write what the novel is about in your own words and have, at worst, one line of your own thoughts. Believe me I have seen reviews out there like this. This is an example of a very poor review. A review is your opinion. The reader wants to know what you thought of the novel not just what the book or product is about even if it is written in your own words. Remember: That is what the synopsis is for!

• Unless you are working for a review site that asks for this way of writing a review, don’t mark separate areas of the novel or product with ratings or points. This method is extremely hard and boring to read. Reviews for books should be short and to the point. They are designed to attract the buyer in a limited time. Reviews are not always the most exciting things to read unless you’re looking for a specific item. Using this way of reviewing guarantees the loss of interest or sale for your client.

• Develop your own style of writing. When I started reviewing I had to follow a set standard review format because that was what was required at the site I worked for. Over the years, I have stuck to this basic format but have developed my own style and pattern. Personalise your work.

• Communicate with your clients. Have a happy, cheerful, friendly outlook and they will submit to you again in the future.

• And, finally, have fun!

So, there you go. If you follow the tips above I can promise you will be well on your way to becoming an expert reviewer.

Happy Reviewing!

Carrie White has written a number of erotic short stories, self published a few of her own e-books and has been published both in print and online. Her story ‘Casino′ features in The Right Words Anthologized (Stevie Burns, 2005). More of her writing can be viewed at hentracks.co.uk hentracks.co.uk. After reviewing e-books for more than 7 years with Eva Almeida, she now runs her own reviewing service at sexography.co.uk sexography.co.uk reviewing e-book, blogs and websites.

Myth - There are just too many people already writing in my niche for it to be worth it.

Reality - I hear this one from lots of people. There is some truth to it. For example, on a recent search at inventory.overture.com there were 3,480,822 searches for relationships in November 2005. Fairly stiff competition, especially when you multiply that figure by the industry standard of 5.

How many hamburger places are there in your town?

At the same time, here’s a slightly different question:

How many hamburger places are there in your town? I bet there is a McDonald’s and quite a few more.

My point is that even if a niche is crowded, you can still offer your own take or twist on the subject.

The next question is often “So how do I offer my own take or twist on the subject?”

That’s a good question. You do not have to try to come up with some gimmicky sounding buzzword, or the here today gone tomorrow fad. To offer your own take or twist, all you have to do is share your heart, your view, your voice. That’s all there is to it as there are people out there that are waiting to hear your own unique voice.

So get writing, there are those waiting to hear from you.

Visit theinternetarticleguy.com TheInternetArticleGuy.com for more leading edge tips and tools for writing articles that bring you prospects, publicity and profits. You can also subscribe to our monthly theinternetarticleguy.com Article Writing & Marketing Tips Newsletter. You are also invited to visit my

As you know, toddlers are like little sponges, they soak up whatever is directed at them and knowledge is no exception. In fact, toddlers that are taught in a positive and stimulating environment, have an advantage over those that don’t. They are able to read and write very early, and typically score above average in test scores.

In this article, we will teach you 10 ways to totally make your toddler read and write.

1. Create an environment that is conducive to learning. For instance, you can buy or check out library books, purchase a small desk, supplies, as well as a bulletin board. Then, set up a designated area that will be your child’s learning area. Make the area visually appealing and fun so that it will stimulate your child’s learning senses.

2. Have a set time for learning sessions. Toddlers thrive on a schedule and although it won’t always work out, having a set time for learning will give them something to look forward to.

3. Keep learning sessions short. Remember that toddlers have short attention spans so always keep your lessons short and sweet. The best thing that you can do is to stop the sessions before your little one tuckers out.

4. Accentuate the positive. When your child shows a willingness to learn and puts her best foot forward then reward her for her efforts. Stickers and small prizes work wonders for building self esteem in children.

5. Have the right educational tools. Currently there are all sorts of online and offline tools that you can use to teach your child. Hooked on Phonics even offers a Pre-k program that is specifically tailored to teaching toddlers to read. In addition, Baby Einstein has wonderful phonetic videos that you and your child can watch and learn.

6. Use everyday life experiences to facilitate the learning experience. For example, you don’t have to wait until you’re at the learning station to teach your toddler. For instance, if you see a car say car and then spell it out. When you go to the grocery store say apple and then spell it out. Make everyday opportunities learning experiences.

7. Don’t put any pressure on your toddler to succeed. Don’t put any pressure on your child to succeed. Simply make learning fun. This can be done by playing word and rhyming games and even educational board games.

8. Teach your children the phonetic sounds of words. That is, teach them the sounds that the letters make. This will help them develop the ability to write and read.

9. Read to your child. Toddlers love stories so make an effort to read to them every single day but don’t just read the story, talk about it and then ask them to draw pictures about the story.

10. Have fun. Remember to enjoy the process. Don’t get so caught up in the reading and writing process that you forget to have a fun time!

In conclusion, you are your child’s first reading and writing teacher. By making the process fun, you’ll set the stage for a lifetime of learning adventures.

For More Writing Resources to Teach your Toddler to Read and Write EASILY! Visit anecdote.org/ Anecdote.org Also find information about anecdote.org/writing/how-to-write-a-biography.html How to Write a Personal Biography and if you a feeling Creative and Fancy Yourself as a Song Writer! anecdote.org/writing/how-to-write-my-own-lyrics.html How to Write My Own Lyrics

In this first in a series of articles on how you can potentially make money online with your book via digital distribution, we are going to take a look into what formats are best suited for your book or preview along with what tools there are to create these formats cheaply and quickly.

Digital distribution is mostly associated with music downloading and bit torrent. I’ll get to bit torrent later so lets talk about the downloading of music and what we can learn from it.

Instead of covering the well-documented history of music downloads, let’s look at how the practices of music download providers can be applied to selling digital books.

The growing popularity of digital downloads in the music arena can be attributed to three factors: lower cost for the consumer, portability, and accessibility. The digital distribution of books, comic books, or any type of creative work can take advantage and capitalize on any or all of the aforementioned factors.

In order to sell your book online, you have to create a file which can be easily downloaded in the shortest amount of time. Which leads to what format should your downloadable product be in.

If you’ve done any research on selling books online, no doubt you’ve heard the term “eBooks” mentioned a lot. So what exactly is an eBook? eBook is a general term used for electronic or digital book. They offer publishers, self-publishers, and creators the opportunity to either sell or preview portions of their work to anyone with internet access. Typically, eBooks are created as a PDF file but the format of an eBook can vary. They include but are not limited to:

Image Files: An eBook created as a series of image files. This format is aimed at eBooks containing a large number of images. Because of this, this type of eBook can be quite large in file size, possibly making it undesirable for those with a modem connection. This particular type of format is mainly used for comic books and art books in digital format. CDisplay and PicWalker are free programs used to view these type of files. If you’re familiar with bit torrents and where to find them, then you might also know about the increasing number of bit torrents for comic books. This is something I’ll come back to later in this series.

E-Guide: Typically created as a Microsoft .doc or text file, they are usually created as guides or instructional manuals. Due to their lack of security measures, this type of format is prone to editing by individuals who then turn around and resell the product as their own creation.

Portable Document Format: PDFs have become the de facto format used by most eBook creators due to its ability to be easily printed in addition to being viewed on multiple platforms (including some handhelds) and on the Web with an Adobe’s free Acrobat Reader. There is a multitude of available programs used to create PDFs. Adobe’s Acrobat program is very common but there are also some free programs such as PDFCreator and others which you can simply Google for.

So what format should you use for your book, previews, or whatever you plan on creating to sell or market? I would suggest both PDF and Image Files. PDF files are easy to create and most online users are familiar with them. Image Files are not as widely known and not everyone has CDisplay on their computer. But that shouldn’t stop you.

So how do you create a PDF file? There’s a handful of options. Some are free; some are not. The best free PDF creator (in my opinion) is CutePDF. CutePDF integrates itself in most document-creating software (such as Microsoft Word), allowing you to easily create a PDF file from a Word document. I have used it in the past and find it very easy to use. But if you have money to burn, then you could purchase Adobe’s Acrobat software for around $450 US. But I would suggest checking out CutePDF first.

To view your PDF file, the reader will need the free Adobe Reader plug-in available for download at the Adobe web site. According to the Adobe web site, more than 500 million copies of Adobe Reader have been distributed worldwide on 23 platforms and 26 languages. It’s common practice to include a link to the download page for Adobe Reader when you offer a PDF download just in case the person wishing to view your PDF file doesnt have Adobe Reader or doesnt know if they have it.

Image Files are simply image files (JPGs, PNGs, or GIFs). To create a file which is viewable in either CDisplay or PicWalker, you simply have to take the image files of your book or preview, name them so that they are read sequentially, use a program to archive them (such as WinZip), and you’re done. When the reader downloads your archived file containing the image files and loads it into either CDisplay or PicWalker, they will be able to view the image files in a two-page layout- just like a comic- without having to unzip the file. If you are familiar with Photoshop, I would suggest you first shrink the file size of each file/page first just to cut down on the final zipped file size.

Now that we have covered what formats are best and and covered the basics of how to create your preview and/or book, the next step would be what to do with your newly created preview and/or book. That will be covered in the next part of this series. Stay tuned.

Wesley Craig Green runs

Article marketing is a fantastic way to get the word out about what you do, and bring more traffic, prospects, publicity, and profits to your website.

One of the most powerful ways to market your articles is in your own newsletter. You are sending out your own newsletter aren’t you?

If not I sure hope you use the tips in this article to start your own newsletter.

Each week in my and marketing success tips newsletter I used to the my own articles. One article is own article writing and the other article is on article marketing. This newsletter goes out every week, reaches thousands of people, keeps me in touch with my niche, and creates a stream of income for me.

One of the nice things about publishing a newsletter is that once you have the basic structure down you do not have to reinvent the wheel each week. You just fill in the blanks with new information.

Another great advantage to having a weekly newsletter is creating a newsletter archive. You can do to powerful things with a newsletter archive. One, you can use it as a sign up bonus when people subscribe to your newsletter. Once they have subscribed you give them access to all the previous newsletters on your website. The second great advantage is that when you create a new page in your website for each newsletter, that’s one more page in your website with good content and your keywords for both the search engines and your ideal client to find.

Would you like free access to two more of my Article Writing Templates? You can download them by going to TheArticleGuy.com/bonustemplates.htm TheArticleGuy.com/bonustemplates.htm

Would you like to get in on our free weekly Article Guy TeleSeminars? Visit TheArticleGuyTeleSeminars.com TheArticleGuyTeleSeminars.com to get started today!

From Jeff Herring - The Article Guy

“The sky is filled by stars, invisible by day.” - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

How Fierce is Your Intent?
When you want something badly enough you can have it, provided you are willing to do what it takes. It takes time and focus, desire and a dream. Additionally, it takes sacrificing inaction and excuses.

How?
How do you bring something into being if you don’t know how? Don’t just say, “I don’t know how to do X,” and leave it at that.

“Well, then, how do I do X?”

The answer to this question applies to writing AND life, because we write within the context of our lives, of living, not outside it. Art and life are intertwined.

The ‘how’ is the inner steps you take to make space in your mind and in your life for writing. These are independent of technique—plot, character, structure, etc., for in the end what truly matters is the inner you, not all that technique.

Technique shapes good writing, and storytelling. To become good writers — because if you’re writing even a few lines a day, you are a writer — we need to cultivate our intent.

How? By showing up for your writing daily.

THE WRITER’S OATH
Beth Barany, c. 2007

I will show up.

I will write.
I will let myself shine.
I will honor the story and allow the words to serve the story.

I write in the present because writing happens now.

We reinforce our intent by our actions. Showing up for ourselves reinforces our commitment, and we are stronger. The time for critiquing our work will come later. We nurture our creative inner life by doing our art, today.

Over the years I’ve spoken to a number of authors who say they aspire to write a syndicated column. Getting syndicated is a great idea, albeit a challenging one. If you’ve thought of this no doubt most (if not all) of your competition has too. But don’t let this discourage you; while syndication may take a while, it’s still worth pursuing.

There are a number of tried and true ways you can enter this market, there are also a few “back door” methods that might work equally as good. The first thing you’ll need to do however is get to know your competition. For this I recommend that you get a copy of The Editor &amp Publisher Annual Directory of Syndication. Sometimes you can get this in bookstores but I’d recommend just ordering it online at editorandpublisher.com. Explore this book carefully and you’ll find that syndicated columns are listed by both the syndicated service that offers them as well as their topic. This will give you a good starting point in your research and since most newspapers now have on-line archives, you’ll be able to explore past articles and see how these topics differ from your own.

Once you’ve explored this, define for yourself how your topic/angle is different from the ones you found during your research. Then once you’ve defined this, you can start targeting papers or syndication services with your query letter and sample articles. This is the traditional way of entering this market. For most it can be long and tedious and you might find that without prior “clippings” to offer them, the process takes even longer. In that vein, I’d recommend that you try offering your column locally first or to one paper at a time but not in a “syndication deal” but as a filler; newspapers will be a lot quicker to take filler items than to explore syndication options with you. By offering them consistent filler content (and saving those valuable clippings) you’ll start to grow your level of experience, you’ll build a reputation with the editor or editorial staff and you’ll begin to get a sense of what does and doesn’t work with printed media. An associate of mine did this, not with a local paper but with a paper she’d been offering her articles to, and after about two years of consistent submission she may be in line to fill the shoes of their in-house syndicated columnist who is retiring.

Once you have built some exposure for yourself and gathered clippings of your work, then it’s time to start pitching your topic to syndicated services (some of them are listed below) or regional newspapers. For this you’ll need a great query letter establishing your credentials and explaining why your idea is different from the others they might be considering, you’ll need some sample articles (other than your clippings) and perhaps some letters of reference from some papers you’ve worked for. Submit this packet to newspapers or syndicated services that might be appropriate to your topic and then keep good records and do your follow-up just like you would if you were pitching the media on anything else. The same rules apply really, pitch and follow-up and stay on their radar screen.

So, at the end of the day when you find yourself successfully syndicated will you get paid for all your hard work – absolutely! What you’ll get paid varies depending on how many papers feature you and whether you are working through a syndication service. Syndication services are great but they will typically take 40 to 50 percent of your sales. If you self-syndicate you get all the proceeds. While it’s great to do this, keep in mind that you’ll need to have good tracking systems in place once your column takes off.

As an already published author, syndication can be another great way to promote you and your book. Your book will lend you the credibility you need to get that column and from this ongoing printed exposure some lucrative publishing deals could follow suit. Syndication may not be an easy road but if tackled correctly, can be a great way to boost your promotion, expand your platform and get the kind of exposure you only ever dreamed of!

Major syndicates – check online for their submission guidelines

Copley News Service

copleynews.com

King Features

kingfeatures.com

Universal Press Syndicate

amuniversal.com/ups/index.htm

BONUS TIP: If you’re trying to follow the comings and goings of syndicated writers, Editor and Publisher ( editorandpublisher) is a great resource for that. Check out the “Departments” tab on their web site for the latest news on columns that might be coming available!

Penny C. Sansevieri
The Cliffhanger was published in June of 2000. After a strategic marketing campaign it quickly climbed the ranks at Amazon.com to the #1 best selling book in San Diego. Her most recent book: No More Rejections. Get Published Today! was released in July of 2003 to rave reviews. Penny is a book marketing and media relations specialist. She also coaches authors on projects, manuscripts and marketing plans and instructs a variety of coursing on publishing and promotion. To learn more about her books or her promotional services, you can visit her web site at amarketingexpert.com amarketingexpert.com.