WriteSuccess

Dedicated to the Success of Aspiring, Stalled and Struggling Writers

October 16, 2007

ISSN 1543-8090

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WriteSuccess Quote

"My mother drew a distinction between achievement and success. She said that 'achievement is the knowledge that you have studied and worked hard and done the best that is in you. Success is being praised by others, and that's nice, too, but not as important or satisfying. Always aim for achievement and forget about success.'"

--Helen Hayes (1900 - 1993)

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WriteSuccess is sent by voluntary subscription only. Ads in WriteSuccess allow me to keep the e-zine fr.ee for subscribers. By subscribing to WriteSuccess and remaining on the list, you are giving your consent to receive these advertisements along with the rest of the newsletter's content.

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1. From My Desk to Yours: What a Great Time to be a Writer
2. Article: Taking Advantage of Writing Contests
3. Setting Your Sites: Useful Sites for Writers
4. Free Resources for Writers
5. WriteSuccess Product Review
6. WriteSuccess Stories
7. Calls for Writers
8. E-zine Ad Swaps

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This issue of WriteSuccess is Sponsored by…

Wouldn’t you love to join that elite group of writers who actually earn more than $80,000 a year? Wouldn’t you love to be so in demand that you actually need to turn work away? There are thousands of companies that need skilled writers. This course not only helps you hone the skills these companies are looking for, but helps you find these high-paying assignments. Just one assignment will more than pay for this course.

http://www.thewriterslife.com/wsb3/

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Hello:

While I’m not in the six figure income club (yet!), I am becoming increasingly convinced that writers can make a decent living with their craft and skill, now more than ever before.

The Internet has opened up a tremendous amount of opportunities and possibilities for us. Although publishing houses and some print periodicals bemoan its impact on their ability to survive, writers can indeed rejoice. No longer do we need to rely on costly snail mail (what an appropriate name) for all queries and proposals, as so many publications accept e-mail queries now. No longer do we have to put together cover letters, writing samples and references to solicit business freelance writing work; we can hang our shingle online via a Web site and post our credentials, samples, rates and testimonials there.

And as for those publishing houses that quake in the shadows of its formidable electronic competition? Well, they were only deeming to let a miniscule number of us past their doors anyway. Now we don’t need to rely on only them if we want to be published. We can create e-books, or opt to go with one of the many print on demand companies available to us, and market our work ourselves.

Moreover, we can make our writing living in whole news ways that didn’t exist a little more than a decade ago. We can provide e-mail marketing services for businesses, ghostwriting services for entrepreneurs, and Web content for them all. We can build our own Web sites on any topics that excite us, and make money selling related products through affiliate and partner programs. We can start up our own newsletters for fr.ee, or get work editing and proofing the e-zines that others send out.

Even if we choose to submit to traditional paper markets, we can now do a great deal of research from the comfort of our own homes. We can also search for freelance jobs in our sweat pants or skivvies or even in the nude if that’s our preference (frankly, it’s not mine—give me a comfortable pair of blue jeans and a sweater or sweatshirt any day!)

This is truly an exciting time to be a writer. Our options are robust, and our skills are in demand. We need only to pick a path and go after it with gusto or, better yet, develop multiple streams of writing income.

As I continue to revamp the WriteSuccess site and lay out future issues of this e-zine, I am curious to know which writing avenues you are most interested in learning more about. Feel fr.ee to drop me a line and let me know. It will help me develop my Web content and give me ideas for future issues.

In the meantime, here’s to your writing success.

Mary Anne

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ARE YOUR THOUGHTS GETTING IN THE WAY OF YOUR WRITING SUCCESS?

Mike Brescia has developed the ultimate mental conditioning programs that can help anyone wipe out intense fears and enjoy huge successes in all areas of life.  FREE details: http://tinyurl.com/yvyrec

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© 2007 Mary Anne Hahn

Until recently, I’d never been a huge fan of writing contests. Putting up an entry or reading fee for a piece that might ultimately get rejected seemed to be the opposite of what I wanted to accomplish as a writer. I mean, I wanted to make money as a writer, not spend money to have someone consider my writing. Wouldn’t that even be worse than writing for fre.e, as so many sites want us struggling writers to do? And the prizes offered by the no-fee contests didn’t seem worth my writing effort.

Besides, contests struck me as something amateurs would enter. I considered myself to be a professional writer, albeit an erratic one—contests were for those who didn’t have enough confidence to submit their work to "real" editors, right?

Then a funny thing happened on my way through my e-mail inbox. I would occasionally come across a writing contest in an e-zine with a topic that piqued my interest. I’d think, hey, I have something to say about that. A half-formed idea would come immediately to mind. I’d glance at the contest deadline date, discover I had time to pull something together, then go back to look at the rules. More importantly, I would then start to write.

My haughty attitude about writing contests began to evaporate. I began to see how entering writing contests could help me, or any writer, get a stalled writing career up and running. If you could use a little extra push to get back into writing regularly, writing contests might just be the ticket, for the following reasons:

1. Most contests provide writers with a broad topic, or writing prompt, so you don’t need to start from scratch to come up with something to write about.
2. All contests come with a submission deadline. As any struggling freelance writer knows, its that lack of a deadline that often makes it easy for us to procrastinate, or abandon half-started projects. Contest deadlines provide the motivation to actually complete what we start.
3. Even if you don’t win the writing contest itself, you can now take that completed piece and submit it elsewhere. Or you can tweak, polish and reslant it to suit the guidelines of other publications.
4. Finally, there’s a chance that you could actually win the contest, and whatever prizes and exposure that come with winning, which is not only a lot of fun, but a nice boost for your writer’s ego. Moreover, if the rules indicate that you are not surrendering all rights to your piece (and I recommend entering contests that do not), you can resell it to another publication. Talk about making it worth the effort.

Where can you find writing contests to enter? While a quick trip to Google-land showed me that some writing sites have given up trying to maintain current contest listings, here are a few that still do:

My own experience with writing contests has been primarily positive, as I have a number of finished pieces to show for it, and do win one now and again (see today’s WriteSuccess Stories section for my latest little triumph). Even when the contest charges modest reading fees, it’s worth it if it gets your writing butt in gear. No longer do I look down upon these contests as "for amateurs only." Entering writing contests can be the best way to rejuvenate one’s writing ambitions.

Want a simple, professional Web site for your writing business? Then use the company I used to create http://writesuccess.com , http://henchenmarina.com and http://hendersonharborny.com. For $9.95 a month you get free domain registration, a selection of hundreds of templates to choose from, a ridiculously easy to use site builder, and much more! http://tinyurl.com/223672

SETTING YOUR SITES: Useful Sites for Writers

WORD SPY

This Web site and its associated mailing list are devoted to recently
coined words, existing words that have enjoyed a recent renaissance,
and older words that are being used in new ways. These aren't "stunt
words" or "sniglets," but words that have appeared in newspapers,
magazines, books, press releases, Web sites, and newsgroups.

http://www.wordspy.com/

THE WRITER'S POCKET TAX GUIDE

What a useful site. Includes what expenses you can
deduct, how to keep records, how to file self-employment taxes and
more.

http://www.foolscap-quill.com/wptg2003.html

THE SHORT STORY GROUP
The Short Story Group is a small, friendly and free critique group devoted to the purpose of helping writers to refine and polish their writing skills through group interaction and critiquing.Membership includes published authors as well as nonpublished writers. Some members write for profit and others for enjoyment.

Short Story Group is also a meeting place for writers to exchange ideas or find help and inspiration. Through the sharing and analyzing of each others' work within a friendly atmosphere, many who have joined this group find their writing skills improving.

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* Get Paid to Write Book Reviews

* Short and Sweet—Markets for Your Fillers

* Cooking Up Recipes—Markets for Your Recipes and Food Tips

* Quick as a Flash—Markets for flash fiction 100-500 words

* Just Hit Send—Markets that You Can Query via E-mail

These ebooks provide you with specific markets for these kinds of pieces, saving you hundreds of hours of research. You can download them within minutes by going here: http://tinyurl.com/2gep2r .

Rob Middleton’s Marketing Workbook and E-zine

Setting up a writing and/or editing service? Want it to thrive?
Then you need a marketing plan. Get your fr*e workbook here:
http://hypertracker.com/go/writesuccess/plan/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/writingandpublishing/

WRITESUCCESS STORIES

In this section, we’ll share the successes of WriteSuccess subscribers. Have you won a writing contest? Sold a story, article or essay? Landed a freelance writing gig? Whatever the success, drop me a line at MaryAnneHahn1@aol.com and tell us about it!

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As I indicated Above, I have my own WS story to share. My essay, "My Butterfly Year," was selected as the winner of the August/September essay Boomer Women Speak contest sponsored by the National Association of Baby Boomer Women! I won a year’s membership to the organization and other prizes. You’ll find my entry here:

Also, see below for details on how to enter the October/November NABBW contest.

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A ghost hanging around can really mess up a blossoming romance, especially when the ghost grows jealous and angry. Jan McDaniel's paranormal romance Inseparable is currently available as an ebook from The Wild Rose Press and set to be released in print November 9.

Jan McDaniel
Inseparable, The Wild Rose Press
http://www.thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=557&zenid=3ba8c638f16227a0bd4691db55c2e3ac
http://www.myspace.com/janmcdaniel

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