This edition includes a directory of 65-plus ebook publishers, a new ebook distributor with nearly 75 outlets, a directory of online critique groups, a directory of blogs for authors, a huge guest blogger opp. for authors,10 paying opportunities for photographers, a huge website jammed with good and bad information about hundreds of publishers, new publishers and more.
Here’s What’s New – mag stats and status, new pub and no pay for Huffington Post bloggers
Opportunities for Freelance Writers – 2 major sites for writers/journalists, plus a lit mag seeking submissions
Opportunities for Authors – new publishers for several genres, 65-plus ebook publishers, online critique groups and more.
Book Promotion Opportunities – ebook distributor, library list, book reviews, directory of blogs for authors, huge guest blogger opportunity and more
Opportunities for Artists and Photographers –ten paying opps for photographers
Resources for Writers and Authors – all about hundreds of publishers—good and bad.
Going, Going, Gone – 5 to report
Bonus Item – Interview with Mary Scott of Pitch Your Work
Please note that, as always, inclusion in the WPN Market Update does not imply a recommendation or endorsement of the business or service. It is up to the reader to conduct appropriate research and explore his/her options before making a decision.
Here’s What’s New
According to MediaFinder, there were 52 magazine launches in the first quarter of 2012 and 12 magazines closed. It is interesting when you compare this to what was happening in the world of periodicals in 2008. That year, 383 magazines were started and 766 magazines closed.
Due to the economy, Friction Zone is no longer accepting submissions from freelance writers. http://www.friction-zone.com
The Chicagoan has relaunched after a hiatus of over 75 years. Check with the appropriate editor listed at the website with your story ideas. http://www.thechicagoanmedia.org
Are you a fan of the tailgate party? Watch for the new Tailgating Digest print and digital magazines scheduled for launch in July/August. Maybe you have a story, idea or recipe to contribute. http://www.tailgatingdigest.com
AOL and the Huffington Post won a battle in court recently when a US District judge ruled that they don’t have to pay their blog contributors. Their logic is that bloggers knew from the beginning that there was no pay involved, so the Huffington Post doesn’t owe them a thing.
Prologue Books has been formed to issue out-of-print novels from the 1940s through the ‘70s as ebooks.
Pacific Standard is the new name for Miller-McCune, a Santa Barbara, California-based magazine for a general audience on resolving social problems.
Opportunities for Freelance Writers
Have you spent any time at the Duotrope website— http://www.duotrope.com? They track what’s going on with magazines—both fiction and nonfiction. If you earn your living or supplement your income by writing articles or stories for publication, or if you just want to see some of your stuff published, you should become familiar with this site. They also introduce new publishers and track changes in the publishing industry. Here’s an example of their offerings: This week, they list nearly three dozen magazines and publishers that publish fiction, including seven paying markets for fiction. If you write fantasy, science fiction, horror, adventure/action, mystery, thriller, Western or general fiction, you might find a home for some of your work by studying their list of “What’s New.” Sign up for their email updates. http://www.duotrope.com.
The Sacramento Press Club provides a useful list of links for journalists and freelance writers in and out of the area. Here, you’ll find information about insurance for freelance writers, job boards and Sacramento writers’ groups, for example. http://www.sacpressclub.org/useful-links
Front Row Lit, a new magazine that branched off from Front Row Monthly is seeking submissions. While they don’t pay for material, they do offer internships for college students and there is the possibility that an article, story or poem will be chosen for publication in the original magazine, Front Row Monthly, which has a much larger circulation. http://www.frontrowlit.com.
Opportunities for Authors
The Warbook Company is new. It came into being just last year and has several imprints, including Perlacher Press. I can’t locate any information that indicates they are not a traditional royalty publisher. If you learn that they are not, please let us know. Patricia@spawn.org. In the meantime, check out their submission guidelines. While Warbook Company is looking for military books, Perlacher is currently open to science fiction, horror, short story collections and essays, memoirs, adventure books, historical fiction, paranormal and mysteries. http://www.warbookcompany.com/perlacher_main.html.
Ebook Rising is an independent publishing house whose goal is to give voice to writers who are typically overlooked by traditional publishers. They say there is no cost to authors whose books they accept for publication. They say your book will be placed on the market faster than through traditional methods. They will offer it as an ebook and paperback (using print-on-demand). Books can be ordered through Amazon as well as the Ebooks Rising site. And they say they pay royalties on books and ebooks sold. They are currently seeking submissions in the following categories, fiction, self-help, political, finance, health/fitness, religious and educational. No poetry or books with photos or other artwork. They prefer receiving hardcopy/printed text. Mail to Ebook Rising, 17455 Oakdale Rd., Dallas, OR 97338. Include a SASE. Contact this company through acquisitions@ebookrising.com. http://www.ebookrising.com (for more information).
Bang Publishing is a new publisher of fiction crime series and they’re on the lookout for novelists—even those with their first novel. Learn more at their temporary website: http://www.bangpublishing.com
Ebook Publishers
I get questions often about ebook publishing. So I thought I would provide a short list of publishers of ebooks. Most (if not all) of those listed deal only with ebooks. The services offered may vary—but basically, you’ll find companies that produce ebooks; showcase them; arrange to have them showcased at other appropriate sites; offer printing services if you want to present your ebook in print, as well; help you get your book on Kindle, Nook, etc. and even offer some marketing help (usually for an additional fee).
Here’s a directory of ebook publishers that includes nearly 60 of them: http://www.ebookcrossroads.com/epublishers.html
Book Baby: http://www.bookbaby.com. They claim they “offer the easiest way for independent authors to distribute their ebooks to all the major retailers.” They also have a new service called BookBaby Print. http://www.bookbaby.com/services/book-printing.
SmashWords.com is one of the more well-known ebook publishers. Http://www.smashwords.com
Ebook Partnership. http://www.ebookpartnership.com/ebook-publishing
Open Road Media. http://www.openroadmedia.com. This company is heavy into marketing ebooks.
Member Alert: It would be helpful to other members if you would mention any ebook publishing companies you would recommend. Send this information to Patricia@spawn.org or post it at WPNDiscuss.
Critique Groups
I often suggest to hopeful authors, who are in the beginning stages of writing their first book, that they join a writers’ critique group and participate, at least for a while. This is a good way for new writers to learn more about the process and for budding novelists or nonfiction book writers to find out if they have a viable project or not. While I wouldn’t necessarily suggest this as a final step for an author who has a well-written manuscript ready for an editor, this is an excellent initial strategy for many authors.
New authors who have become involved in a good critique group will tell you that they learned a great deal about storytelling, organizing a how-to book, dealing with character development and dialog as well as gaining a better understanding of grammar and publishing in general.
Did you know that there are online critique groups? Following is a partial list. It’s up to you to do the follow-up research so you locate the best match for you and for your project. Keep in mind that they all have their unique standards and protocol. So what you learn about one might not apply to another. And the people you meet in one group, might be totally different from those you would encounter in another.
CritiqueCircle in Iceland is a very active critique group. They claim to have processed over 65,000 stories and have over 2,500 active members. http://critiquecircle.com.
The promo for Scribophile says this is the best place to be if you want to give and get the best critiques around. They’ve had over 100,000 critiques. http://scribophile.com.
ReviewFuse is another online critique group opportunity. They offer peer feedback for free. http://www.reviewfuse.com.
And then there is WeBook. Check it out at http://www.webook.com.
The folks at LadiesWhoCritique will help you to find a compatible critique partner to work with. http://www.ladieswhocritique.com/groups.
Or locate a face-to-face critique group in your area by doing an Internet search.
Book Promotion Opportunities
Untreed Reads has announced their new division, Untreed Reads Distribution. Learn more at http://www.untreedreads.com. If you visit their website, you’ll see that they distribute ebooks to nearly 75 ebook outlets, including Amazon.com, Powells, Pages ebooks, Fictionwise, Good Reads Ebookstore, BooksonBoard and many others.
Order your copy of Barbara Florio Graham’s Canadian Libraries list at a discount through June 30. The list includes 90 to 100 libraries with purchasing power. The cost is usually $35. Learn more at http://www.simonteakettle.com/canlibr.htm
Slate will start a monthly book review occurring at their website every first weekend of the month. They will also present author interviews, videos and podcasts. http://www.slate.com
For our newest members—those who haven’t bothered yet to visit this site and those who would like to be reminded, here are some links you can use from previous editions of the WPN Market Update to help you promote your book. First: “46 Ideas for Promoting Your Book”: FREE at http://selfpublishing.lifetips.com/cat/59136/promotion-ideas/index.html
Purchase Patricia Fry’s new book, Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author. Available in Kindle and print at Amazon.com, as well as Nook and print at BarnesandNoble.com and at the publishers and the author’s websites: http://www.matilijapress.com. $19.95.
Here’s a list of blogs for authors who need assistance and information about publishing and book promotion. http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2010/11/52-great-blogs-for-self-publishers/
See the April 1, 2011 edition of the WPN Market Update for a list of ten magazines that publish book reviews and ten that use book excerpts.
Be a guest blogger at a site that purports to get an average of 1,000 hits per day. The organizers of Blogging Authors want opinions, tips, short-stories, tools, anything you think the reading audience would be interested in. Check out the site here: http://www.bloggingauthors.com. Here are their explicit submission guidelines: http://www.bloggingauthors.com/be-a-guest-blogger.
Opportunities for Artists and Photographers
Here’s a new list of magazines that use (and pay for) photographs.
Lost Treasure uses color and b/w prints as well as hand-drawn art. While they pay only a token $5 for inside art, they pay $100 if it goes on the cover. http://www.losttreasure.com.
Capper’s pays for photos—pay is negotiable. They use photos with captions. http://cappers.com
Appaloosa Journal http://www.appaloosajournal.com, pays $200 for photos used on the cover and at least $25 for inside photos. Contact the art director here: artdirector@appaloosajournal.com
Cat Fancy Magazine uses photos of happy, healthy, well-groomed cats and kittens in indoor settings. They pay $25 to $200 for inside photos and $200 max for a cover shot. http://catfancy.com
Metropolis Magazine pays for photos. http://metropolismag.com.
Auto Restorer Magazine relies heavily on photos of collector cars and trucks. In fact they buy nearly 50 photos per issue. Check out their guidelines at http://autorestorermagazine.com. Pay is $50 for black and white cover and $35 for inside photos.
Cruise Industry News pays $25 to $50 for the photos they publish. http://cruiseindustrynews.com
9-1-1 Magazine uses photos in high-resolution. They offer $50 to $100 for interior photos and $300 if your photo lands on the cover. Contact Randall Larson at publisher@9-1-1magazine.com
Family Business Magazine pays $50 to $600 for photos. http://familybusinessmagazine.com
Good Housekeeping purchases photos—mostly on assignment. Contact Melissa Paterno, art director or Toni Paciello, photo editor. They pay $100 to $400 (b/w and color). http://goodhousekeeping.com.
Resources for Writers and Authors
Have you visited Preditors and Editors, lately? Among other things, they keep track of companies and individuals who have been reported to have scammed authors or writers. We occasionally list Preditors and Editors and a few other such sites you can use to check the reputation of editors, publishers, and others you may want to check on before hiring. But Preditors and Editors lists nearly 45 additional warning sites at their website. Check it out at: http://pred-ed.com/pubwarn.htm. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page. Their list includes Copyscape, reports of online copyright protection and detection; the Ethical Spectacle; Fiction Addiction’s Watchdog; Internet Scambusters and more.
For an enormous amount of information about hundreds (maybe thousands) of publishers, magazine editors and others in the publishing industry, visit http://pred-ed.com/peba.htm. This link will take you to the first page of listings—many of them complaints. All of the listings on this page start with the letter A. If you want to check the scam status of a company starting with the letter D, you just click on the D at the top of the page. Or type the correct letter in the link when you go to this site. That is, replace the “a” after “peb” (above) with a different letter. You will be astounded by what you can learn at this site.
Author, Raven West has started an online print-on-demand group. Learn more and sign up here: http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Print-On-Demand/
Going, Going, Gone
NFL Magazine has folded after four issues
Florida Wildlife has closed.
The Health Journal has quit publishing
Know and Yes Mag has also gone out of business
Spa Magazine has folded
Bonus Item: Interview with Mary Scott, Pitch Your Work
Q: Tell me a little about your site, www.PitchYourWork.com? How/why did you come up with this idea?
A: A “Pitch” is a vital tool to help individuals advertise and sell their works. At http://www.PitchYourBook.com, our mission is twofold:
- To offer a central location for authors and screenwriters to “Pitch” their work via the Internet to agents, producers, editors and other industry executives to whom they might otherwise not have access.
- To offer a central location for agents, producers, editors and other industry
executives to quickly review the works of new aspiring authors and
screenwriters—whose work is as yet unknown—or that of seasoned authors
and screenwriters who are seeking to make a change.
Authors and screenwriters can have their “Pitches” heard by an unlimited audience.
Q: How/why did you come up with this idea?
A: After I had written my “Pitch” for my own books, Spirit Driven Events and How to Market Your Book, I thought great, now I have my “Pitch” done, so now what? What are the odds of ever getting in front of someone in the literature/film industry, let alone being able to give that person a “Pitch”?
So, I decided to audio record my “Pitches” and air them on my Spirit Driven Events.com website. When I started to share my idea with some of my fellow authors, they thought it was a great. So I helped them write and/or audio record their “Pitches” and put them on their websites.
At a recent writers club meeting I attended, the guest speaker was an agent. He listened to 25 club members give “Pitches.” His evaluative responses were absolutely brutal! While I listened to this, I kept thinking two things:
(1.) I was glad I didn’t volunteer to get up and give my “Pitch”; and
(2.) I thought the members who did, should have started with their loglines first. The guest speaker was constantly interrupting the members, making fun of their “Pitches.” He provided only negative feedback! This experience was horrible and very discouraging, but I learned how important a good logline is to a “Pitch.”
When my spirit allies gave me the idea and name of the website I was to design and develop, it was a “Spirit Driven Event” for me to fulfill. Hence, the birth of http://www.PitchYourWork.com. From the time it was published, the website has engendered a lot of hits and excitement among my fellow authors and friends in the film industry.
Q: Describe how the site works? What can an author or screenwriter expect when they post their work at your site?
A: The author or screenwriter follows the “Submission Requirements” and submits a work product to be added to the site. To get help writing a “Pitch”, one can go to the “How to write a Pitch” page and either learn how to write one themselves by watching the YouTube video or hire one of the three highly recommended “Pitch” Masters listed on that page of the website.
Persons who do not know how to audio record their “Pitch” into a MP3 format, can go to the “Submission Requirements” page and click on the link that will tell them how to record an audio MP3 file from a computer. Or they can pay the extra $25.00 and we will audio record their “Pitch” for them.
Additionally, if one would like a Book or “Pitch” Trailer made, we have provided a page called “Trailers” that one can visit and hire Theresa to create a Book or “Pitch” Trailer, the Newest Marketing Tool.
Once a work product is properly submitted, and paid for, via the “Submission Requirements” page, http://www.PitchYourWork.com, the author automatically receives an email containing all the required information and files. This email then constitutes a Time and Date stamp protection of the work product. The work product then gets processed and added to the website.
The standard layout is as follows: The Title, Author/Writers Name, Author/Writers website address, Cover Art put into a Film strip, logline, then Audio of their “Pitch.” For screenwriters, we can add a YouTube video of their movie trailers.
Work Product placement is added to the www.PitchYourWork.com website on a first come first serve basis.
Q: What can the author or screenwriter expect?
A: Exposure, Exposure, Exposure! Their work products will be displayed on three different web pages of the website, in a format that allows all those interested to contact them directly via their websites.
Q: Are all works posted completed or can you post a manuscript and/or screenplay?
A: All works do not need to be completed, however all works submitted should be either copyrighted with the Library of Congress and/or registered through WGAWest. In addition, Cover Art is required in order to properly display the work product.
Q: Is there a fee?
A: Yes. $60.00 for 6 months, if all files are submitted; or – $85.00 for 6 months if we have to do the Audio recording of their written “Pitch.”
Q: How do you entice screenwriters and others to your site to view your offerings?
A: Through a pyramid of known networking connections, which consists of Authors, Screenwriters, Movie/TV Directors, Producers, Editors, and Agents.
Q: Do you have a happy-ending story you can share? What are some of the neat things that have happened for authors who posted their books at the site?
A: We are in the start up phase, however the website has been currently receiving an enormous number of hits in advance of any formal marketing. So, at this point, the authors currently appearing on the website have been receiving good exposure of their works. We do have a “Feedback” page where authors or writers can provide us their happy-ending stories, if they choose to do so.
Q: Please add anything you would like to share.
A: This website is perfect for the author who hates marketing! If you are one of those, don’t make the mistake of thinking you don’t need a “Pitch.” You do! In fact, the minute you start writing your book or screenplay, you should also be writing your “Pitch.”
As a reminder to all authors, do you know how many books were made into movies? Maybe yours will be the next blockbuster. Be ready for it with your “Pitch.”
Email: Mary_Scott@spiritdrivenevents.com
Website: http://www.PitchYourWork.com