SPAWN Market Update – September 2005

WPN Market Update – September, 2005

By Patricia L. Fry

Editor’s Comments – Get true value from your newsletters
Going, Going, Gone – Only two to report
Here’s What’s New – 4 new magazines, 2 new editors
Opportunities for Authors – 7 opportunities and resources
Opportunities for Writers – 8 writing gigs, a writing org & a
directory of writer’s conferences
Opportunities for Script Writers – Two showcases for scripts
Opportunities for Artists – 3 jobs for cartoonists/artists
Notes From the Editor – PODs Produce P.U.ey Books; Promote Books Through Newsletters; 4 giant newsletter directories
Feature Article – How to Promote Your Book By Writing Articles
Bonus Item – Make Good Money Writing Fillers; 16 Magazines that publish fillers
Editor’s Comments
It occurred to me as I started to compile the September edition of the WPN Market Update that many of you probably are not benefiting from these newsletters in equal proportion to the work involved in producing them. I spend the good part of one weekend per month writing the Market Update. But that’s not the end of it. I receive probably a dozen or more writing/publishing/book promotion-related e-newsletters per week and I read them all. This is how I stay informed and in touch. Not only do these industry newsletters help me compile and focus the Market Update, they are also valuable to me professionally.
I wonder how many of you take the time to really look at the newsletters to which you subscribe and those to which you’re entitled as a member of various organizations. It’s hard to keep up with it all. Some of you are writing full-time and don’t like to be interrupted. Others spend only smidgeons of time at your computer after working at a traditional job all day and consider large e-newsletters a rather overwhelming intrusion.
Yet, you know that you will get out of the organizations to which you belong and the magazines and newsletter to which you subscribe what YOU are willing to put into them. Delete them, toss them, burn them in the fireplace or just pass them on to someone else and you are depriving yourself of potentially useful information and opportunities.
How often do members ask a question in WPNDiscuss or bring up a topic that has been covered in the Market Update or WPNews? How many ask for resources that have been given generously in the Market Update?
Members, I challenge you to pay more attention to the good information and resources that come your way via key e-newsletters. (Maybe some of you have additional ideas you’d like to share. Please send them. I will publish them.) In the meantime, here’s what I suggest:

  • Really scrutinize the newsletters you receive and decide which ones offer you the greatest benefit. If you write articles for magazines, you’ll definitely want to continue subscribing to the Wooden Horse newsletter, for example. If you are hot and heavy into book promotion, don’t give up the Book Promotion Newsletter. If it’s writing instruction and tips that you need, pick your favs out of those that are out there and unsubscribe to the rest. Add to your list of newsletters, those that report on writer’s conferences; writing and book promotion opportunities and other tidbits and information you find useful. I’d say keep any newsletter that has ever given you a useful lead.
  • When your newsletter arrives (or in the case of the Market Update, on the first day of the month), print out the newsletter NOW, staple the pages together and place it in a HOT FILE. I stack mine on the coffee table in the living room as they arrive and I read them while half listening to the news that evening.
  • Circle or highlight any appropriate or potentially useful news bites, resources, references, articles and leads you find in the newsletter and either act on them immediately or file them appropriately. Hopefully, you have file folders or a place in your computer to file potential book promotion ideas, new magazines you might like to write for, writing-related sites you’d like to visit, book review opportunities and so forth.
  • Set aside an hour or so once a week—yes, once a week—you can do it. Get up an hour ahead of the family on Sunday morning, sneak away to the computer room after dinner when everyone else is otherwise occupied or just schedule time after your short day at work every Thursday afternoon. Use this time to check out the sites referenced in the newsletter. Print out information from those sites that you want to pursue and just forget about the rest. How hard can it be? I like to do this sort of exploration first thing in the morning before the phone starts ringing and the emails start flowing in.
  • Pay close attention to the enormous amount of information coming to you via your favorite newsletters and follow through and you won’t have to spin your wheels later trying to locate a directory of newspapers world-wide, a Web site listing author’s agents, a publisher for poetry, lucrative markets for fillers and some unique book promotion ideas, for example.

Going, Going, Gone
National Motorist
Caesars Player
Here’s What’s New
Iron Horse Magazine
Do you live near or frequent a lake? You might enjoy writing for Lake Life a new Santa Barbara, CA-based magazine edited by Dave Fritzen. The site doesn’t give much information, yet—it’s still under construction. But I do know that they want stories related to lakes and life around those lakes. Keep visiting their Web site to learn more.
SB Fitness
is another new Santa Barbara-based magazine. The editors are interested in health and fitness stories related to the central coast of California. Their Writer’s Guidelines do not appear on their Web site, yet. You might email http://www.lakelife.net. Or contact Greg Corso, Associate Publisher at greg@lakelife.net.doug@sbfitness.com and ask for a copy. Visit their site at http://www.sb-fitness.com.ASX Magazine
Jane
Susan Ungaro is no longer editor-in-chief of Family Circle. I can hardly believe it myself—she was there for so long. But when Meredith bought the magazine, they decided to replace her with Linda Fears. Make this note in your Writer’s Market.Opportunities for Authors
 
Just recently, we had a discussion at WPNDiscuss about getting your book reviewed. A member was concerned because she had missed her window of opportunity to have her book reviewed by the big library journals. We all agreed, however, that it’s never too late to get a review. I still solicit reviews for some of my older books.
For members who happen to be women and for those who have written a book related to women, here’s some good news. Women’s Review of Books will return in January. This is an old magazine that has published reviews for nonfiction, fiction and poetry books for years. They quit last year, presumably for financial reasons and Wellesley College has bailed them out and brought them back. If you are a woman author, or if your book relates to women’s issues, send it to Amy Hoffman, Women’s Review of Books, Wellessley College, 106 Central St., Wellessley, MA 02481. http://www.wellessley.edu/womensreview
Southwest BookViews
Would you like to earn $1,000 writing a children’s book? This publisher is looking for 1,500-2,000-word action-adventure stories for the 3 to 8 year old set. Email your idea to tdirby@hotmail.com.
Now here’s an interesting opportunity for all of you authors out there. Dan Snow, U-Publish.com co-author wants to test a few new books for paperback publication at his site. He’s seeking short non-fiction only. Writing, publishing, technology or marketing books are preferred. There are no fees and authors will receive royalties. Such a deal!!! Email a query to co-author@u-publish.com.
Do you want to know which publishers are legit and which aren’t? The Romance Writers of America Web site at http://www.rwanational.com lists those publishers that they recognize as eligible publishers. What do they consider when choosing legitimate publishers? According to their site, it’s royalty-paying publishing houses that are not subsidy or vanity that have been releasing books for national distribution at a minimum of at least one per year and have sold a minimum of 1,500 trade paperback copies or 5,000 copies in any other format, for example. Check out their list at http://www.rwanational.org/industry/recog_pub_links.htm.
Are you tired of being the shipping clerk for your publishing company? I rather enjoy shifting gears and shipping books. In fact, I bless the opportunity because it means I’m selling books. Yeah!! But many of my colleagues hate it, so I’m offering you this information in case you’re seeking a way out of this task. This came to me via my Web site. There’s a shipping service that goes by the name, Ship-Logic. Evidently, they somehow integrate with your Web site shopping cart. When you get an order, you collect the money and do the paperwork, but they automatically do the shipping for you. For more information, contact Bill Price at Ship-Logic, Inc. http://www.ship-logic.com. Remember, this is not an endorsement. Please do your homework before signing with any business or organization.
Here’s a site for all of you who HATE PayPal. I stumbled across this site a few weeks ago and thought that some of you might find it useful. I do not use PayPal. They scared me off right away years ago when they wanted to know my mother’s maiden name and other personal bank stuff. So far, I have managed my business without them, thank heavens. For those of you who love them, those who dislike them and those who are on the fence, check this out: http://www.paypalsucks.com.
Opportunities for Freelance Writers
The editors at Association for Ingenious Writing (AFIW) are looking for good articles for inexperienced writers. They pay 25 cents/word for 250-2500 words. Hey, that computes to as much as $625 per article. Send your queries to
admin@ingeniouswriting.org. Go to http://www.ingeniouswriting.org for more information.ForWriters.com
Are you interested in big cats? Tigerstyle Magazine will pay $350 per article related to tigers. Get more information by emailing Tiggertigerstyle@hotmail.com.
HappyNews.com
Sweets Magazine
For Me Magazine
needs nonfiction articles for young women. Send a query to For Me Magazine, Submissions Editor, 1633 Broadway, 42nd Fl, New York, NY 10019. To locate their submission guidelines, go to is looking for articles about sweet things, how the world views sweets, events involving sweets (a strawberry festival, for example), the history of a particular dessert and pretty much anything about sweets. Send story ideas to is a new Web site seeking writers. But there’s a catch—they want only good news. They pay 15 cents/word. See complete guidelines at http://www.happynews.com/submitstory.htm. stories@sweetsmagazine.com. Web site at: http://www.sweetsmagazine.com.http://www.formemagazine.com, click contact and then click article submissions.Shaw Guides lists writing conferences, workshops and retreats at their site. If you’re interested in more writing education, visit
The editors at The American Prospect love to receive essays and commentary related to public issues. And the pay is good, if you don’t mind sticking your neck out and stating your opinion. They pay 50 cents to $1.00 per word for 1,500-5,000 words. If you have something to say, this might be the place to get it off your chest while earning as much as $5,000. Learn more at
The editors at Tin House are soliciting your fiction, nonfiction and poetry and the deadline for this edition is September 30. The theme this quarter is apologies and regrets. If you have something to say along these lines, check this magazine out.
http://www.tinhouse.com. They pay $50 to $200 per piece.For those of you who live in New Mexico and surrounding states, you might want to join the SouthWest Writers Organization. Learn more at http://www.southwestwriters.com.
Opportunities for Script/Screen Play Writers
Jerrol LeBaron sent me an email this week letting me know that they’ve raised some of their prices as of September 1. It now costs $50 to place a script with InkTip and their Preferred Newsletter is now $50 for a subscription. Find out more at http://www.inktip.com/pref.php.
While you’re at it, be sure to check out the showcase opportunities for your scripts at InkTip.com. According to Jerrol, this is the only site where producers consistently acquire scripts and representatives consistently find writers.
Do you want to turn your book or screenplay into a movie? BookstoFilm helps you promote your project to filmmakers. Just as with any other showcase opportunity, it’s not cheap and I urge you to check it out thoroughly before participating. To list in their catalog, it’s $250 for fall and $375 for fall and spring. http://www.bookstofilm.com
Opportunities for Artists
Tigerstyle Magazine
Are you a cartoonist? Comic book publisher, Antarctic Press is searching for work from artists and writers. Submit a 1 to 4 page typed synopsis or treatment and send published clips. Guidelines at http://www.antarctic-press.com/html/submissions.htm.
South Florida Business Journal
Notes From the Editor
POD Produces Too Many P.U.ey Books
Did any of you read Randall Williams’ article in the August edition of PMA Independent. The title was “Up POD Creek Without a Paddle.” In this article, he reports that because of the ease in getting our books produced today, we are a nation with many more books than readers. He said that for years it has been known that we have 50 million poets but only 50,000 poetry buyers. Now it’s the same story across the board of genres. We’re producing more books than we have readers. And, as I’ve been saying for a long time, a lot of those are bad books. Williams agrees. He says, “Of the 200,000 new titles coming in 2005, only a discerningly selected 2,000 to 5,000 will be shelved in a typical independent bookstore.” We’ve created a glut of books here in America and that’s making it rough on all authors and publishers. Williams is Co-founder and editor of NewSouth Books in Montgomery, AL.
Promote Your Book Through Newsletters
Do you know how many newsletters there are? I don’t either—but I’d guess that they are in the millions. Think about it, there are newsletters and e-newsletters on every topic imaginable—even the topic of your book. In fact, if your book is on a common subject such as, religion, gardening, parenting, the military or writing, you can probably locate hundreds or thousands of related newsletters.
Why not write articles for newsletters on the subject of your book, advertise your book in these newsletters and/or even write letters to the editor promoting your book. Where else are you going to find such a targeted audience? This month, I’ve gone to the trouble of finding you four great sites offering lists of newsletters and e-newsletters and they’re separated by category for your convenience. Go to http://www.ezinelocater.com, http://www.ezinedepot.net/index.php3, http://www.ezinehub.com or http://newsletteraccess.com.
Few of these newsletters will pay, but the editors are generally not fussy about publishing reprints. So write new articles or dig out some reprints and get some exposure for your book.
Here’s an article that might help you get started writing articles to promote your book

Promote Your Book
Doing What You Love Most—Writing!

 

By Patricia L. Fry

What does the author of one book have in common with someone who has published fifty-two? They both want readers. They want to sell their books and lots of them.
I’m the author of 22 self-published and traditionally published books. Like most other authors, I’m also the marketing manager for these books and I take my job seriously. Why? The more books I sell, the more easily I can justify the time I spend writing. And, the more books I ship out, the more room I have for new titles.
My marketing plan for each of my books is multi-faceted. But my favorite promotional activity is writing articles for national magazines. Think about it, you can reach thousands of people through one article. If that article is reprinted in several magazines, your audience can reach into the millions. And, unlike most promotional material, an article is read—that is, unless it reads like an advertisement.
While editors love publishing articles by authors, they don’t love articles that come across sounding like commercials.

Avoid Making a Sales Pitch

Magazine editors want their readers to take something away with them—useful information, a new idea, a different perspective or a good feeling. Concentrate on achieving one or all of these things when pitching your article.
How will you sell books if you don’t tell readers about it? By demonstrating the value of your book. Instead of telling the reader how beneficial your book might be to them, illustrate this point through the information you share.
If your book features the history of scooters in America, write an entertaining and informative article about the evolution of scooters, famous people who rode scooters as children or a service piece featuring scooter safety tips for children. Anyone interested in these topics would probably buy your book.

 

The Book Excerpt

Many popular magazines use book excerpts. Of course, they generally want excerpts from books that relate to their magazine—cooking magazines want excerpts from cookbooks, a travel magazine will quote travel books and a poetry magazine wants to excerpt poetry books.
What’s an excerpt? A chapter or sections extracted from your book. Use your imagination to come up with some possibilities. If your book features Native American art, for example, a California history or travel magazine might be interested in publishing your chapter on California tribes. An excerpt from a book on tax tips for home-based businesses might provide a good article for a writer’s magazine. A retirement or senior magazine editor would most certainly welcome an excerpt from a book featuring Elder Hostel travel stories.

 

You, The Expert

Once you’ve written a book, you become known as an expert. The instant my book, Creative Grandparenting Across the Miles was published, I was considered an expert on grandparenting issues. Because of this, I’ve easily sold articles featuring how to be a better grandparent in the millennium, how to bond with your new grandbaby, how grandparents can uphold the family traditions and travel tips for grandparents traveling with their grandchildren.
I’m also frequently asked to participate in interviews for articles by other journalists on this topic and those related to my other books.

 

Make the Stretch

Submit articles on topics only remotely related to your book and still promote it. I’ve sold articles on storytelling techniques for grandparents, how to teach grandchildren money awareness and great gifts for grandkids. But I can also plug my grandparenting book if I’m writing an article about snails, caregiving, empty nest syndrome or scrapbooking.
For the snail piece, I might mention that when I was writing Creative Grandparenting Across the Miles, I met a grandfather who paid his 5-year-old grandson a penny-a-piece to catch his garden snails in a bucket. Likewise, I could draw a relating story from the book to use in articles about caregiving and empty nest syndrome. For the scrapbook article, I could suggest that scrapbooking is a great way for grandparents and grandchildren to bond and then, of course, I’d introduce my book.
Almost all editors add a tagline after your article. This typically includes a brief bio. So even if your book is on iguanas and your article features flower arranging, you can include a tagline at the end of your article that mentions your book. You might say, “Karen Simpson is a freelance writer living in Chicago and the author of The Scaly World of Iguanas (ABC Publishing, 1998). Ordering number, 123-456-7890.

 

Your Great Ideas

Article ideas related to your book will come easy at first. Here are some suggestions to keep the flow of ideas coming for a long time to come:

  • List topics related to your book. If your book features healing and therapeutic gardening, for example, you could conceivably write articles on healing, meditation and therapeutic gardens and gardening; tips for attracting butterflies and other critters and creatures; wheelchair gardening; how to build a simple water feature and so forth.
  • Brainstorm with friends, family and colleagues. More heads generate more ideas.
  • Do something newsworthy and then write about it. Start a gardening club, head up a community garden for the homeless, appear on a television garden show or teach classes on some aspect of gardening.
  • Study a variety of magazines from cover to cover. Look at the articles, ads and even the letters to the editor. Not only will you better understand the article requirements of that particular magazine, you’ll find more article ideas. The copy in a retirement magazine might prompt you to pitch them about a piece featuring the latest in ergonomic gardening tools, for example. While looking through a family magazine, you might be inspired to write an article about children’s gardens.

Writing for magazines not only satisfies that urge all writers have to write, it’s also an excellent way to gain exposure for your self-published or traditionally published books and, hopefully, to make some sales.
Patricia Fry
http://www.matilijapress.com
Bonus Item
Fun With Fillers
We talked about reprints last month. If you missed that issue, be sure to visit it in the archives. This month, I’d like to talk about fillers—those fleeting ideas, concepts, humorous situations, interesting facts, bits and bites of information and statistics that don’t quite make up an entire article. Most magazines need more fillers than anything else. They don’t pay much unless you consider per word and the smidgeon of time it takes to write a filler. Multiply that smidgeon of time and that 50 cents per word by several fillers published in several magazines and you could make some good money.
Fillers include quotes, brief how-to’s, humor/jokes, news bites, puzzles, anecdotes, advice and interesting facts. Some magazines pay as much as $2 word and need as many as 200 fillers per year.
Here are some filler markets:
All About Kids
Family Digest
Generation X National Journal
Arthritis Today
American Health and Fitness
Healing Lifestyles and Spas
Nostalgia Magazine
Almanac for Farmers and City Folk
The International
Connecticut Magazine
Good Housekeeping
Delaware Today
Atlanta Magazine
Lake County Journal
Message Magazine
Catholic Digest
Now, just look at the possibilities. If you sell just one filler each to 5 of these magazines this month, you could walk away with as much as $1,000 in your pocket. So dig out your best short how-to pieces, dust off your great jokes and try to remember some of your favorite personal stories. This could be your lucky year.
publishes 200 fillers per year of from 200-500/words. They pay $2 per published line. Send your ideas to Joop Koopman at cdsubmissions@bayard-inc.com.publishes recipes, news reports, health bits and children’s stories of up to 500 words for various departments. And they pay from $50 to $300 per piece.pays $25 for fillers of 100-500 words. They prefer anecdotes and short humor. publishes 80 fillers per year and they prefer 75-175/words. They pay $50-100 per piece. Of course, the article must reflect Atlanta. Contact Scott Freeman at sfreeman@atlantamag.emmis.com. uses fillers. They buy 10/year and pay $50-75 for 100-200 words. They prefer anecdotes, newsbreaks and short humor. Contact the editor at editors@delawaretoday.com. pays $1/word for 300-600 words of advice. They also appreciate how to’s and pieces on money and health. Locate editor Mary Kate Hogan’s contact information at http://www.goodhousekeeping.com. publishes fillers of 150-400 words on short subjects and trends related to Connecticut. They pay $75 – $100 each. Dale Salm is the contact. http://www.connecticutmag.com is the Web site. is looking for twenty-five 200-600-word fillers per year and they’ll pay $25-$100 each. Contact Anthony Williams at Tonyattomr@aol.com. uses 600 gardening hints, anecdotes and facts in bite-size bits. They pay $10-45 for 125 words. Contact Lucas McFadden at http://www.thealmanac.com. publishes 50 fillers per year of 50-200 words. They pay $10 per anecdote, fact or humor piece. Contact Mark Carter at http://www.nostalgiamagazine.us.needs fillers of 50 to 200 words on new health trends, alternative meds, medical updates, personal experiences, fitness and reviews. They pay 25 cents/word and up. Learn more from Melissa Scott at http://www.healinglifestyle.com. publishes 100 to 200 fillers each year and they pay 35 cents/word and up. Contact Kerrie-Lee Brown at http://www.ahfmag.com. uses only 2 fillers per year. But they pay $80 to $150 for 40 to 100 words. If you have appropriate facts, humor or gags for this publication get in touch with Marcy O’Koon Moss. http://www.arthritis.org. uses fillers of from 10 to 100 words and they pay $5 to $10 each. Contact Kathy Stoops at genxjournal2004@yahoo.com. buys about 100 anecdotes, facts, jokes and humor bits of from 50-250 words each year. They don’t pay a lot, but remember, there is moneymaking potential if you can produce fillers in volume. Contact John Starch at editor@familydigest.com. publishes about 20 jokes, anecdotes and facts per year. They want fillers of 350-800 words and they will pay $50 to $1.00/word. Contact Tom Wynne. You’ll find his contact information at http://www.aak.com. is auditioning cartoonists. They want to see a cover letter with resume and five of your best clips. Send to Leslie Kraft Burke at lkraftburke@bizjournals.com. pays $500 for artwork related to Tigers. This is a Craig’s List listing. tiggertigerstyle@hotmail.comhttp://www.writing.shawguides.com. http://www.prospect.org. Contact editor Erin Pressley at articles@prospect.org. is a new Web site dedicated to writers and artists. They established in March of this year and already offer quite a number of references and resources. Some of you might be interested in their list of writers groups in your area. If you have a Web site showcasing your writing or art, link to ForWriters.com in order to attract more traffic. Go see for yourself at http://www.forwriters.com. also reviews books. If you have a book related to the Southwest—that is AZ, NM, UT, West TX and parts of CO, CA and Mexico—you might be able to get a review in this publication. Send a review copy to Candelora Versace, SBV, 53 Estambre Rd., Santa Fe, NM 87508. Learn more at: http://www.swbookviews.com. has been without a permanent editor for a while. Finally one has been hired. Pitch your stories to Brandon Holley at jane@fairchildpub.com. covers active outdoor sports such as snowboarding, surfing, kiteboarding, mountain biking and rock climbing. Editor, Brian Metzler, is looking for lifestyle stories featuring top athletes, new gear reports and destination stories. Contact Brian at bmetzler@rfamedia.com. Learn more about the magazine at http://www.asxmagazine.com. has recently re-launched. This is good news for writers who ride and write about motorcycles. The editors are interested in industry news and trends, celebrity profiles, personality pieces and other articles as they relate to motorcycles. Send your story idea to editor@ironhorsemagazine.com or request a copy of their Guidelines for Writers. is gone. is quitting.