Masthead

Located within the first few pages of a publication, the masthead lists the important information you need – editor names, assistant editors, departments, contributing writers, etc. It is also helpful to find out the email configuration of the company – a not so secret tip on getting your queries to the right person without the SASE.

On Speculation

When a writer has a fantastic idea and an editor isn’t so sure, they will ask the writer to write the piece on spec or speculation. This means a writer will write the article in its entirety on the hopes that once the editor sees the piece they will buy it. There is usually no contract and writers should carefully consider their options.

Pitch

When a writer creates a pitch they are trying to sell their idea for an article or project to an editor or client. This is also known as a query.

Portfolio

A specific website or booklet that shows a writer’s body of work. Most portfolios are online so they are easily accessible to editors and clients.

Query Letter

See “Pitch”

SASE (Self-Addressed Stamped Envelopes)

Way before email when writers use to send queries to editors by mail they would spend thousands of dollars addressing envelopes to themselves and stamping them in the hopes that an editor would send their thumbs up or down or at the very least return that query letter or manuscript using the stamped envelope. That usually never happened. Most editors would write back using company stationary and postage, wasting time, money and trees! Now, most editors shoot a reply via email, however there are still some publications that will only accept queries or manuscripts via snail mail.

Side Bar

Side bars are shorter bits of information that accompany a longer article. They can range in size and they usually are there to highlight or further explain important information.

Tear Sheet

In modeling, a tear sheet is a copy of the model’s work once published. In writing, a tear sheet works the same way without the pouty stare and 10 hours of hair and makeup. After the publication is printed, editors will often send a tear sheet to the writer as a courtesy for the writer’s clip file.

Writers Guidelines

These are designed to give writers helpful tips and information about submission guidelines and what the publication accepts. While full of great advice and information, they aren’t always gospel. For example, many publication’s guidelines still tout mail in query submissions instead of electronic means.

Don’t forget to check out the rest of the freelance glossary!

Article Quickie: Freelance Writing Jargon – A – C: From AP Style to Crib Sheet

Article Quickie: Freelance Writing Jargon – D – G From Deadlines to Ghostwriting

Article Quickie: Freelance Writing Jargon – H – L: Headlines to Lede (Lead)

Article Quickie: Freelance Writing Jargon – D – G From Deadlines to Ghostwriting

Headline

The attention grabber,  the big bold letters at the top of the articles that stop readers in their tracks. Example: “Sixty Ways to Drive Your Man Wild” or “Top Ten Blogging Tips for Beginners” or “Why Your Kids Hate You.” Careful with the sensational ones, readers hate a content tease.

HTML

Hypertext markup language. Without getting all techie, it’s the tags that create <b>bold</b> lettering, italics, indentations, hyperlinks, etc. Some gigs – blogs, websites, content providers, etc. will require  writers be familiar with how to use HTML. The good news is if you don’t know the language, you can learn it free. There are tons of sites that provide the basic, more commonly used tags along with online tutorials.

Kill Fee

It’s not a stake through the heart of a writer, but it’s close. It definitely bruises the ego! A kill fee is when a magazine says they love your idea, requests you write it for a set price, you sign the contract and then once the article is written the editor has changed their mind for whatever reason. The article won’t run in the publication, but they give a smaller payment – typically 20 to 50 percent for your trouble. The kill fee practice is controversial, with some writers refusal to sign contracts with kill fees. They argue the kill fee undercuts the value of a writer’s work and that whether the article is used or not, the writer fulfilled their contractual obligations. Editors argue that kill fees protect publications from  paying full price for poor writing. Take a look at a few of FWJ’s write ups about it here and here. The wonderful writers at Renegade Writer has a great piece on kill fees as well.

Landing page

If a client asks you to write something for their landing page, they want you to write ad copy for a lead generator page. This the page that pops up whenever a potential customer clicks the magic button in an advertisement.

Lede (Lead)

A lede (lead) is one of the key parts of an article. Sure, all parts are important, but the lede is the hook. After the headline, it’s what grabs a reader and makes them sit  down for a few minutes to soak in your masterful prose. The lede introduces your piece to readers. “Lede” is the original spelling going back to the great days of newspaper journalism though a lot of writers refer to it as “lead” either way works. Read about lede history and impress your writer friends at your next get together.

Silly you, you never got around to saving that clip or even printing it out. You figured it would always be there, when you needed it.

Not saving your clips, backing up your blog posts, etc. is like throwing money away. Why work so hard, research so thoroughly only to toss your work to the wind? Four steps will save you time and tears:

1. Save your web articles, blog posts, etc. as a pdf to ensure they’ll be there when you need it.

2. Keep hard copies of both web articles and print articles in archive grade storage boxes. Your plastic tub from Walmart isn’t going to cut it. Eventually, the paper will begin to yellow and fade, mainly because plastic continues to give off chemicals speeding the breakdown of the paper.

3. Back it up online. There are a variety of services that allows you to save your work beyond your laptop. Computers crash, fires damage files, but online sources are viable, easy-to-use options. There are both free services and paid services available. Do a little research to find the one that works the best for you. Here are few you can investigate:

MozyHome 2.0

Norton Online Backup 2.0

Carbonite 4.0

Dropbox

A few simple steps will go a long way to protect your work and streamline your job search. Pulling up a clip for a query or client shouldn’t be a needle/haystack search. You’ve worked hard to build your career, take time to preserve it!

A videographer for the Columbus Dispatch newspaper captured his voice and story, published the piece and it went viral. Soon, calls and job offers began pouring in for the man with the “golden voice.”

There’s a lot to be said about the heartwarming story – the power of social media, the ‘aw shucks-ness’ of humanity, the real stories behind our nation’s homeless population… One important lesson, from a writer’s perspective, is the importance of finding or maintaining your voice throughout and despite the challenges writers face in this career.

Rejection

Rejection happens. I once read that the average writer’s pitch is rejected 9 times out of 10. I’m not sure if the stats are that high, but this reality makes it easy for writers to give up or worse, work for less than they are worth. In the middle of the daily grind, a writer may find themselves without a voice. In reality your voice is still there and still powerful. It simply needs the opportunity to be heard. Remember, for every rejection letter there are thousands of other publications and opportunities. Don’t give up.

Business as Usual

Writing is a business – and a tricky one too. You have to manage your deadlines, keep enough work coming in and play bill collector. The business of writing is enough to stifle anyone’s creative juices, but I can attest that the worst part is playing bill collector. Slow paying publications and skip out clients are bitter pills to swallow, but protecting your voice makes it worthwhile. Negotiate your contract terms. Put in as many protections: deposits, legal and late fees as possible.

Comfort & Boredom

When you think you’ve got this business down to a science, comfort and even boredom can set in like a sneaky funk. Your pieces are written by rote and your voice? As soothing as an automated phone – yuck. This is when it’s time to break out of your comfort zone and work to put the passion back into your work.

Ted Williams reportedly began training his voice early. Setbacks and missteps threatened to silence him, but all he needed was someone to hear his voice, regain his passion and hopefully, protect it. It’s a lesson for us all.

Years ago on New Year’s Day I was sick, had the day off from work and was researching information for the beauty and fashion column I wrote for a friend’s site. It was a fun thing I did on the side, but while researching I came across the term “freelance writer.” I realized there were people out there writing full-time from home and earning a decent income to boot. I decided right then to become one of them. I spent the next few days on research and few months later I quit my job and went into freelancing full-time. I was one of those New Year’s Day resolution/goal makers.

So for those of you who have decided today is the day, I wanted to drop by and offer encouragement and my favorite posts from FWJ on getting started:

25 Tips to Become a Successful Freelance Writer

How to Make a Living as a Writer

10 Popular Article Writing Questions – Answered!

10 Popular Article Writing Questions – Answered! part 2

What is a Blog…and How is Blogging Different from Article Writing?

Setting a Freelance Writing Rate Equal to the Task

A Lower Bid vs. Selling Yourself Short

10 Skills Freelance Writers Must Have if They Want to Succeed

How I Landed My First Freelance Writing Jobs Without Clips

1. Revisit the lede.

The lede brought your audience into the article and the conclusion will touch back home on the same thought, feeling or person – if an anecdote – that interested readers in the first place. If you remember writing academic papers in school, we were taught our conclusion should be the introduction/thesis statement reworded. A closing won’t be that simple, but your lede will definitely give you a road map to the end of your journey.

2. Call to action.

One type of conclusion that is very popular is a call to action – it gives readers a task: find out more information, call to donate, share your story, etc. There are times when we struggle for an ending to an article that isn’t there – a call to action moves the reader out of the story and into creating a story of their own.

3. Leave it.

I don’t mean leave the article unfinished, but leave the piece alone. Give it some breathing room and come back to it with fresh eyes. It’s amazing what a few days or even hours can do for perspective and for finding the right way to put an article to bed.

4. Research More.

It sucks, but sometimes when you’ve reached the end of your rope you are there because you haven’t given yourself enough rope to work with – in other words you have holes in your research. Time to do ask a few follow-up questions or dig deeper into a source. Plot holes don’t just happen in novels.

Missing conclusions are unsatisfying and frustrating readers. They look to see if the article continues on another page or if there’s more after the Google ad. They check the headline and previous couple of paragraphs to see if they missed something. The one thing they won’t do is forward or share your piece, so wrap it up – splendidly.

What’s the toughest part of an article to write? The lede (lead) or conclusion? Do you have tips for getting unstuck?

1. Google Tweaks

A big source of info and debate is how best to use this vast resource. One thing to keep in mind while doing a Google search is the items that are listed first are not necessarily the best on the subject and are, at the least, the most mined and over-used sources. Enhance your search by:

• Carefully choosing keywords. “Association,” “organization,” “university,” “trade publication,” “magazine,” and “statistics” are a few keywords that when added to your subject, will help you get to expert sources while weeding out the noise.
• Move beyond the first two pages. “Google-juice” can be signs of authority or signs of a good marketing department experienced in SEO.
• Utilize the other categories Google has available: scholar, books, video, blog search.

2. Twitter Tweaks

Unlike Facebook, Twitter users can see everyone a user is following. If you are looking for experts in a field or other publications, check the people an expert is following. This allows you to branch out deeper into their contacts. Now, you still have to use your own resources to get in touch with them, but this goes a step beyond simply asking your source for their recommendations.

3. LinkedIn Introductions

The introduction feature on LinkedIn is incredibly useful to gaining access to sources. When asking for an introduction, be sure to write that you’re writing an article, post on whatever subject. The drawback to this feature is if you do not have a contact in common, you’ll have to use InMail which is a paid service.

4. Check the footnotes.

White papers, academic articles, even Wikipedia, always have a nice footnote section detailing where they got their information. The kooky thing about academic papers is they have footnotes and those sources have footnotes and it can be interesting to see how far the rabbit hole goes.

5. Who would disagree with you?

I’ve written before about asking interview subjects for recommendations on additional sources, but it’s important to remember they are likely to recommend both those they respect in the subject and those with whom they share similar opinions. Ask the questions that will lead to a well-rounded approach to your information gathering.

While research is the key to a great article, the options and information available can be overwhelming. Using standard search tools more efficiently will help cut through the noise of psuedo-experts and misinformation. Keep in mind, the tools are easy to use, but there are no shortcuts for doing the work. Once you cut through the big mounds you still have to take out the hand shovel and soft brush to excavate the really good nuggets of information. Go get ‘em!

What’s your favorite research resource?

Robo-writing does not compute.

I pride myself on being a journalist. I hold fast and true to the Society of Professional Journalist Code of Ethics and use it to guide me through ethical situations. I also cringe and swear (loudly) when other journalists don’t, and I don’t have much tolerance for ‘personalities,’ ‘commentators’ and ‘hosts’ who pretend to be journalists and break all the ethical rules of journalism. I believe in the power of objectivity and letting the story speak for itself.

But guess what, I also believe in the power of the human voice telling the story. There is a difference between passionate objectivity and cold indifference.

Passionate objectivity is telling the story with a constant watch on fairness and facts, but allowing the story to unfold with an interest in understanding the story and explaining it to readers.

Indifference is stating the facts without care or concern for understanding of the subject or giving the facts of a debate without acknowledging that one set of facts may carry more weight.

Even in newspaper articles when space is at a premium and writers have to cut to the chase, they still allow for emotion and humanity in the form of quotes from those involved in the story.

When you read a stale article, often the dryness is a result of too little focus on humanity. It sounds touchy feely, but a focus on humanity is what turns a listing of facts into an article.

Speaking of facts, humanity and common sense are important in covering a debated topic. Indifference shows up when writers check out and simply recite facts for both sides. That’s balanced right?

Nope.

Balanced objectivity is giving the facts, relaying opposing view, but putting both things in perspective. If a man insists on kicking puppies on Thursdays, your article should not only state why people are upset that the man kicks puppies, but offer insight into why he thinks kicking puppies is okay. Indifference would simply list the opposing views, add required transition words and print the story. Objectivity would delve into the relationship between those who kick puppies and move on to more violent crime. There are facts on both sides, but the weight of not kicking puppies as a moral societal norm stacks higher than one man’s disdain for fluffy animals.

Tell the story of the diversity and magnitude of the human experience boldly, even when it is unpopular to do so. – SPJ Code of Ethics

Puppy Kickers of America may not be pleased with your article, but a balanced article does not simply offer an opposing view point, it is puts the views in perspective. People can read and make up their own minds about whether or not they’d like to spend $7.99 for a Puppy Kickers of America Association membership, but they aren’t led by the article to believe that the actions of the group aren’t illegal and outside societal norms.

Objectivity is what allows readers to trust the journalist/writer and publication that publishes the piece. Don’t check reason and good sense at the door when you open up the laptop or pick up the pen.

Got thoughts on objectivity, indifference and writers? Tell us!

Newbie writers will read article upon article and blog upon blog touting the importance of finding a niche, picking a niche, taking a niche out on a date…Veterans will find themselves bombarded with articles and posts on when it’s time to leave a niche, switch, combine, create a Frankenstein and give a manic laugh…

The truth is – you have a choice.

Pro Niche:

1. Building a good reputation as a writer is important. Getting steady work is important as well. Niche writing can set a writer up as a knowledgeable, working expert in the subject matter, that writer can then leverage their experience for more work.

2. Depending on the niche, not only can you establish yourself as a leader, you can do it fairly quickly. It’s hard to believe given the abundance of writers out there, but there are some niches that are so specialized there aren’t a lot of people writing  for them.

3. A writer who can establish themselves in areas that have a denser concentration of writers earn the distinction of being a pack leader – that translates to dollars and work (and tons of Twitter followers).

4. Passionate pursuits are another reason why people head toward specific subjects. I’m a “write what you live” kindof girl and my body of work reflect my current passions – writing, business/finance and parenting. It is often the passion of a subject that drives a writer to write so staying within their passion is a perfectly natural course.

5. It’s an easy road map, but a challenging road. Say you are passionate about WordPress themes. You review the site daily, keep up on the coolest developers and plug-ins, etc. You decide to to plant a flag in the WordPress blogger game. Everyday you know what you’ll be writing about – in general. You’ll know the types of publications and web sites you want to write for, etc. The challenge? Finding those sites  and publications, breaking in, keeping subjects and angles fresh and continuing to learn more after exhaustive study.

Nah Niche:

1. A writer can build up a steady work and a reputation just by being a good writer, it doesn’t have to be within a niche.

2. Niche burnout. It sucks and without properly identifying it, it can extinguish the passion for writing. Many writers cannot fathom writing about one or two subjects for an extended period of time.

3. This last one is a secret: You can do both. It is perfectly fine to have a core subject or group of subjects while dating other types of articles and writing in general. Freelance writing is the ultimate open relationship. Success comes from great writing, a solid work ethic, and a viable set of goals. How you reach them is completely up to you.

Are you having trouble picking a niche? Thinking about changing or leaving niche writing all together? Tell us below!

It’s true!  By simply asking yourself the six primary questions every first year journalism student learns, you can fix fundamental problems in your query style and pitch success rate.

Why do your query letters fail to generate interest in your pitches?  Check out the six basic reasons based on the 5 Ws and 1 H below.

1. You don’t know where you’re pitching.

Before you can develop a story idea and pitch your idea to a publication, you need to understand that publication.  Read that publication and gain an understanding of the needs of that publication.  The editor who reads your query letter is looking for content that will help him or her meet those needs.  In other words, no matter how great your story idea is, if it doesn’t meet the needs of the publication, your query will end up in the trash.

2. You don’t know who you’re pitching.

It is absolutely essential that you understand the audience for the publication that you pitch your story idea to.  If the audience won’t be interested in your story, the publication will have no interest in it either.  Editors look for content that will engage their readers, encourage them to talk about that content with other people, and motivate them to come back for more.  Your pitch needs to demonstrate to an editor that your story can do exactly that.

3. You don’t know when you’re pitching.

Many publications operate using an editorial calendar.  If you can get a copy of the editorial calendar (either from the publication’s website or by requesting a copy from the publication), review it and try to tailor your pitches to match the overall theme of that editorial calendar.  Also, use common sense when pitching a story to match your idea to holidays, seasons, and so on.  Finally, remember that many publications create content weeks or months in advance of the actual publishing date, which could significantly affect when you send a pitch.  In other words, it doesn’t matter how great your story about summer barbecues is if the publication is working on the Christmas issue.

4. You don’t know what you’re pitching.

Your pitch should be clear, concise and compelling.  Delete all extraneous information from your query letter, and lead with the most captivating part of your story.  Be relevant immediately.  Editors have very little time to read a full page query letter.  If your pitch doesn’t jump off the page within the first few sentences, you’ve wasted your time.  Instead, be specific and get to the point quickly!

5. You don’t know why you need help.

There is a rule that writers can’t always follow, but you should stick to it when it comes to query letters and pitches.  That rule is — never proofread your own work.  However, when it comes to pitches, the rule extends beyond simple proofreading.  It’s difficult to look at your own query letter and pitches objectively, because you know the entire story.  To ensure your query letters are truly clear, concise, compelling, and specific, it helps to have an objective eye review and comment on them.  If you belong to a writer’s group, ask the other members to read and critique your query letter before you send it.  Their feedback could help turn a boring query letter into a successful pitch!  If you don’t belong to a writer’s group or have access to other writers or editors, join an online forum like AbsoluteWrite.com where you can share your work for review and feedback.

6. You don’t know how you’re pitching.

Before you send a query letter, you need to be certain that you’re sending it to the right place, to the right person, and in the right format.  Most publications have rules that you need to follow or your query letter will go straight to the trash can before anyone reads a single word of it.  Check the publication’s website or contact the publication to request a copy of the current writer’s guidelines and submission guidelines, and then follow those rules to the letter.  You can also get a copy of the most recent edition of Writer’s Market for quick access to various publication guidelines, but keep in mind, even the most recent edition of Writer’s Market might not be 100% current as it’s only published once per year.

Image: stock.xchng

Lucy Pearl Brewer

Born Sept. 20, 2010

8 lbs, 20 1/2″

I’ll attempt to bring you more writing-related hilarity as soon as I’ve recovered a bit and Miss Lucy Pearl and I have bonded more.

The Backspace Agent-Author Seminar will include panel discussions, small group query letter workshop critiques, and opening pages workshop critiques with over 20 literary agents in attendance (including someone from the literary agency that represents my books, although not my actual agent).

Attendance is limited to just 150 people, so you’re sure to get some face time with an agent if you want it.  If you’re going to be in the New York City area on November 11-12, and you want to work on your query letters and opening pages for that book that’s been on your mind for years, you might want to check out the Backspace Agent-Author Seminar.

What writers’ conferences have you enjoyed attending or plan to attend in the future?  Leave a comment and share your thoughts!

A few days ago I wrote a post about writing on hot topics, a few do’s and don’ts. At the end I posed a question to the FWJ community: I wanted to hear some of your ideas on how to or how not to write about a hot topic. I asked for web or blog URL as well so your comments and thoughts could be linked back to your work.

I expected a big pile of emails and from FWJ. I got nuttin’. Crickets. Dust. I’ve seen this on other blogs before, an opportunity to write for a large audience walks right on past the hesitant, shy or uninterested.

A few years ago Deb Ng had a blogger contest. I responded to the call & won the gig. I went from responding to an opportunity to being a blogger on the number one freelance writing website. It’s an awesome gig. One of the things that makes it awesome is the community, the second thing is having the opportunity to give other writers tips and breaks.

Which brings me back to my post. Building a blogging community is like building any other relationship. There’s give and take and most importantly communication. We don’t want you to simply read, we want you to participate. I want to help you succeed! This not only a great writing opportunity for me, it’s a great opportunity for the smart people that respond to this post: what’s your tip for writing an article on a touchy subject?

The best answers willl be featured here next week. Send your tip to me at: Terreece@TerreeceClarke.com by Sunday at noon and you just might see your name on the front page of Freelance Writing Jobs!

Don’t be shy, seize this opportunity!

Anyway, here are 53 rules to follow if you want to “write good.”

Avoid Alliteration. Always.
Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
Avoid cliches like the plague. (They’re old hat.)
Employ the vernacular.
Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
Contractions aren’t necessary.
Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
One should never generalize.
Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.”
Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
Don’t be redundant; don’t use more words than necessary; it’s highly superfluous.
Profanity sucks.
Be more or less specific.
Understatement is always best.
Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
One word sentences? Eliminate.
Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
The passive voice is to be avoided.
Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
Who needs rhetorical questions?
Parenthetical words however must be enclosed in commas.
It behooves you to avoid archaic expressions.
Avoid archaeic spellings too.
Don’t repeat yourself, or say again what you have said before.
Don’t use commas, that, are not, necessary.
Do not use hyperbole; not one in a million can do it effectively.
Never use a big word when a diminutive alternative would suffice.
Subject and verb always has to agree.
Placing a comma between subject and predicate, is not correct.
Use youre spell chekker to avoid mispeling and to catch typograhpical errers.
Don’t repeat yourself, or say again what you have said before.
Use the apostrophe in it’s proper place and omit it when its not needed.
Don’t never use no double negatives.
Poofread carefully to see if you any words out.
Hopefully, you will use words correctly, irregardless of how others use them.
Eschew obfuscation.
No sentence fragments.
Don’t indulge in sesquipedalian lexicological constructions.
A writer must not shift your point of view.
Don’t overuse exclamation marks!!
Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to their antecedents.
Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.
If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing.
Always pick on the correct idiom.
The adverb always follows the verb.
Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.
If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be by rereading and editing.
And always be sure to finish what

Each year, the L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival includes a competition for filmmakers and a competition for screenwriters.  Entries are now being accepted for the 2011 competition, which coincides with the April 2011 festival.  The early bird deadline is October 2, 2010.

Following are details from the L.A. Comedy Shorts website:

“Comedy screenwriters from around the world compete for over $10,000 in cash and prizes, including travel, accommodations and two VIP passes to the festival in Los Angeles, CA.”

Entry fees range from $35-$75 depending on what and when you submit your screenplay.  You can submit:

• Feature comedy screenplays: 80-130 pages
• Short comedy screenplays: 1-30 pages
• Half hour comedy TV pilot: no page requirement provided

Here are the complete prize details from the L.A. Comedy Shorts website:

The winner of the Best Comedy Feature Award will receive:

• $2,500 cash
• Two (2) VIP Festival Passes to the L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival in Los Angeles, CA (April 7-10, 2011)
• Up to $1,000 towards round-trip airfare and local accommodations
• In-person meeting with management/production company (TBD). Previous meetings have included:
  • Benderspink, a management/production company (American Pie films, The Hangover)
  • Generate, a talent management (Janeane Garofalo, Ryan Eggold, Patton Oswalt) and production company (David Alan Grier’s Chocolate News on Comedy Central, Comedians of Comedy)

The L.A. Comedy Scripts Best Comedy Short winner will receive:

• $1,000 cash
• Two (2) VIP Festival Passes to the L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival in Los Angeles, CA (April 7-10, 2011)
• Up to $1,000 towards round-trip airfare and local accommodations
• In-person meeting with management/production company (TBD). Previous meetings have included:
  • Benderspink, a management/production company (American Pie films, The Hangover)
  • Generate, a talent management (Janeane Garofalo, Ryan Eggold, Patton Oswalt) and production company (David Alan Grier’s Chocolate News on Comedy Central, Comedians of Comedy)

The L.A. Comedy Scripts Best Half-Hour Comedy TV Pilot winner will receive:

• $1,000 cash
• Two (2) VIP Festival Passes to the L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival in Los Angeles, CA (April 7-10, 2011)
• Up to $1,000 towards round-trip airfare and local accommodations
• In-person meeting with management/production company (TBD). Previous meetings have included:
  • Benderspink, a management/production company (American Pie films, The Hangover)
  • Generate, a talent management (Janeane Garofalo, Ryan Eggold, Patton Oswalt) and production company (David Alan Grier’s Chocolate News on Comedy Central, Comedians of Comedy)

The remaining Finalists in the Comedy Shorts, Comedy Features, and Half-Hour Comedy TV Pilot categories will each receive:

• $250 cash
• Two (2) VIP Festival Passes to the L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival in Los Angeles, CA (April 7-10, 2011)
• Up to $1,000 towards round-trip airfare and local accommodations

You can follow the links to get all the details about the screenplay competition, the awards, the FAQs, and to submit your entry through the online submission form.

Good luck to all aspiring screenwriters!

I scrolled through the list and found several that often cause me to pause as my fingers fly across the keyboard.  Accommodate and embarrass are two such words that always make me second guess myself.

The best part about the list on YourDictionary.com is that most of the words include a helpful little clue so you can remember how to spell it next time you use it in your writing.  For example, remember that accommodate is big enough to accommodate two a’s and two m’s.  That’s a great clue that I never heard before!

What words cause you to pause in your writing as you try to remember the correct way to spell them?  Leave a comment and share those pet peeve spelling words.  Maybe someone else in the Freelance Writing Jobs audience has a riddle or special way to remember the correct spelling!

It’s also a good time to think about writing basics!  The English language has taken on a variety of nuances throughout the past century, and as writers, we’re often put in the precarious position of writing the way people speak (i.e., the way they’re comfortable hearing words and phrases) versus the way we know is grammatically correct.  Even editors at major magazines and publishing houses struggle with the basics sometimes.

There are two criteria I use to help me navigate between being grammatically correct and not sounding like a robotic text book:

1. Consider the audience.
2. Consider the source.

In other words, you need to know who you’re writing for.  Who will read the piece you’re writing?  You need to write in a language they’ll not only understand but also relate to.

Second, you need to know the medium that you’re writing for.  Where will your piece be published or seen by your target audience?  You need to write in a language that is appropriate for that medium.

Can it really be that simple?  Most of the time, I think the answer is yes.  Of course, there are times when writers, editors and publishers clash, but if you follow the two basics listed above, you should be okay in most writing situations.

What do you think?  What are the basics writers should take a moment to remember during back to school time?  Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

A few of these blogs helped me immensely as I taught myself how to get a literary agent and publisher for my first book.

If you want to get published, start reading the following literary agent blogs today:

1.  Nathan Bransford

Nathan is a respected agent working for the well-known Curtis Brown agency in the San Fransisco office.  His blog was one of my key resources as I researched how to get a literary agent.  I loved how Nathan took the time to provide an incredible amount of useful information and was always available to respond to comments.

2. Miss Snark

Even though Miss Snark stopped writing her blog in 2007, it’s still an incredible resource to learn how to write query letters.  Her blunt way of analyzing real query letters left no room for confusion.  Miss Snark’s identity was never revealed (although there was quite a bit of speculation).

3. BookEnds, LLC

This is another blog that I read a lot as I tried to learn how to get a literary agent.  Jessica Faust and Kim Lionetti are the primary agents at BookEnds today.  One of the things that I liked about this blog was that the agents were very communicative through the comments published on blog posts.

4. Query Shark

Janet Reid writes her own literary agent blog as well as the Query Shark blog, which is filled with great information to help you learn how to write query letters.  With a tagline like, “How To Write Query Letters…or really, how to revise query letters so they actually work,” it’s hard to resist this blog.

5. Pub Rants

Kristin Nelson writes Pub Rants, which she describes with the following tagline, “a very nice literary agent indulges in polite rants about queries, writers, and the publishing industry.”  She writes about a wide variety of topics that affect aspiring writers, including submissions, query letters, advances, royalties, and much more.

Image: stock.xchng

Here are the main entry details from the PEN Center USA website:

“Emerging Voices is a literary fellowship program that aims to provide new writers, who lack access, with the tools they will need to launch a professional writing career. Over the course of the year, each Emerging Voices fellow participates in: a professional mentorship; hosted Q & A evenings with prominent local authors; a series of Master classes focused on genre; and two public readings. The fellowship includes a $1,000 stipend.  Participants need not be published, but the program is directed toward poets and writers of fiction and creative nonfiction with clear ideas of what they hope to accomplish through their writing. There are no age restrictions.”

Keep in mind, housing is not provided for the 8-month mentorship program.

You can follow the link to download the application and get all of the entry details on the PEN Center USA website.

Good luck!

The Creative Nonfiction Foundation is a private, non-profit organization described on their website as follows:

The Creative Nonfiction Foundation pursues educational and publishing initiatives in the genre of literary nonfiction. Its objectives are to provide a venue, the journal Creative Nonfiction, for high quality nonfiction prose (memoir, literary journalism, personal essay); to serve as the singular strongest voice of the genre, defining the ethics and parameters of the field; and to broaden the genre’s impact in the literary arena by providing an array of educational services and publishing activities.

The Creative Nonfiction Foundation sponsors a number of writing contests throughout the year and also accepts submissions for publication in the Creative Nonfiction Journal. You can visit the submission guidelines page to see current calls for content and open contests.   Currently, the submission guidelines include the following opportunities:

Call for content

• Book project: stories about immortality (deadline is September 17, 2010)
• Unthemed submissions: accepted year-round (no deadline)

Writing contests

• Issue theme contest: stories about food (deadline is September 3, 2010)
• MFA student submission contest: stories written by MFA students (deadline is November 5, 2010)

You can get all of the submission details, address, contest prize information, and more on the Creative Nonfiction Journal Submission Guidelines page.  Keep in mind, the pay for accepted submissions is low, but for beginner writers or writers trying to break into the creative nonfiction genre, publication in the Creative Nonfiction Journal would be a nice clip to add to your portfolio and boost your credibility.

Good luck!

The contest offers monetary prizes:

• First prize = $600
• Second prize = $400
• Third prize = $200

Winners are chosen through a two-step voting process, which has already started but it’s not too late to enter:

• Community Voting – August 2, 2010, to September 13, 2010 
• Jury Voting – September 13, 2010, to September 27, 2010

Thanks to Freelance Writing Jobs’ Jodee Redmond who is on the voting jury for this contest and told me about it.

Good luck to everyone who enters!

Write with Pencil and Paper

We spend so much time in the digital world, I’m waiting for that scary world portrayed in 1984 where we just think and the computers hear us.  (No more carpal tunnel?)  I think our brains can use a good refreshing with some non-digital time.  I know the Sundays where I stay in bed and do nothing but read and write in my journal is remarkably energizing for my creative energy and productivity.

Many of you will be familiar with Julia Cameron’s morning pages – starting out every day by dumping out all of that crap in your head into a journal.  Not a digital one, but a written one.  It’s a powerful exercise, but

Why Paper?

One of Deb’s 40 lessons learned from 5 years of blogging is to keep pen and paper nearby.  Yes, you could just write down ideas in your smartphone, but sometimes I think that drawing a picture or connecting the dots and lines is useful. When I do new website idea designs these days, or new business models, I draw them on paper before putting them in Powerpoint, with a follow-up word document if I need it.

Deb also says that writing on paper makes writing less of a chore.  I’d agree – you can get worn down into a grind with posts, pages, word counts and spell checks.  Paper is a blank space to be filled as your pencil or pen feels fit.  It won’t crash or freezeup, losing your work.

Insert dramatic pause here:

The act of putting pen to paper encourages pause for thought, this in turn makes us think more deeply about life, which helps us regain our equilibrium.  ~Norbet Platt

Your Challenge

So, I’d like to challenge you for your next blog post, sales page, book chapter, or website copywriting tasks, close your laptop, go sit in  a cafe or somewhere comfortable, and write.  Reflect on the process start-to-finish:

• Do you find it easier to get started without those shiny distractions of Twitter, Facebook, or Email?
• Does the act of pen on paper give you a new perspective on your creative process?
• Can you enjoy the freedom and constraints of making edits, drawing arrows, or the ultimate satisfaction of scrunching up the paper and starting a new sheet?
• Does the process take longer or shorter than normal?  Any idea why?
• Do you feel your creative output was better than usual, or worse?  Again, any idea why?

I’ll join you for this tasks by writing my next FWJ post on paper first.  Let’s meet back here at FWJ and compare notes?

Photo by quacktaculous

The entry fee is $20 and the deadline to enter is August 31, 2010.

Following are the guidelines from the Bona Fide Books website:

Submit a previously unpublished, full-length poetry manuscript of between 48 and 100 pages.

Include two cover pages: one with the title of the manuscript only, the other with title of manuscript, name, address, telephone number, and email address.

Include a table of contents and, if applicable, an acknowledgments page for prior publications.

Simultaneous submissions are permitted; please let us know right away if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere. (Refunds will not be issued.)

A reading fee of $20 (US) by check or PayPal must accompany each submission. Multiple submissions are accepted; each requires a $20 entry fee.

More than one manuscript may be chosen for publication.

Submit via email or post.

Be sure to read all of the submission details on the Bona Fide Books website.  More than one manuscript might be chosen as a winner.

You can email your entry to submissions@bonafidebooks.com and send the $20 entry fee to the same email address via PayPal or snail mail it with a $20 check made out to Bona Fide Books Inc. to: Bona Fide Books, PO Box 550278, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96155.

Good luck aspiring poets!

The winner gets money and a prize packages from MediaBistro.com, including:

• $750.00
• A gift certificate to 1 course of your choice from MediaBistro.com
• A 1-year MediaBistro.com AvantGuild membership
• A 1-one year MediaBistro.com On Demand Videos membership

You can submit up to 2 stories, but to enter you must be 21-years of age or older and from the United States.  Entries must be written by the entrant and unpublished, and they must not have won any other prize or award already.  Entries must be typed on 8-1/2″ x 11″ paper and should include your name, address, daytime telephone number and e-mail address (note that email address is the only piece of information that is optional) on each page.  Send your entry to: Family Circle Fiction Contest, c/o Family Circle Magazine, 375 Lexington Avenue, Ninth Floor, New York, NY 10017.

You can get all the details and rules here.

This would be a great contest to add to a writer’s list of credits!  Good luck!

Do you like getting information about writing contests on Freelance Writing Jobs?  Take the poll below and let me know if this is something you’d like to see more of on Freelance Writing Jobs in the future.