Using Contests and Submission Calls for Ideas

Lately I have been struck by just how many opportunities there are for writers out there, and I'm thrilled. Just within fiction and poetry, there are way too many calls and contests and submission opportunities to even keep track of, let alone submit to. But its fun to try :)

I have recently discovered a way that working on multiple projects has been great for me. I'm not sure I could ever do more than one novel at a time, but working on my novel and then also working on short stories and other pieces for submissions has been an absolute blast.

One of my favorite resources is the Calls for Submissions page on the NewPages website. I like to go through it and several other pages and then curate it into my own list of options that look interesting. (Check the "Paying Gigs for Writers" tab up above for other great resources). A couple of my favorite are are First Line Magazine's upcoming deadline on Aug. 1, and a Mars Colonization anthology due in November. When I am stuck or worked through on my novel for the day, I work on shorter projects like this.

It adds variety, and a feeling of satisfaction that I'm getting more done.

People often talk about how they like absolutely no restrictions in order to feel creative, but I've actually found the opposite to be the case. Rather than staring at a blank screen wondering what to work on, these contests and submission calls provide enough of a prompt to get me going. It's not at all about working on something I don't find interesting; its about searching for opportunities and prompts that spark something. Then when you're done, you know exactly where you're sending it first.

Sometimes random brainstorming works great too, and I think that's a valuable strategy to have. I just wanted to share a strategy that has been working well for me lately. Working well in terms of getting me writing. Publication success on these projects is, of course, TBD. But even if the pieces aren't accepted by the original prompter, I will have more pieces to submit other places.

Do you think this is a useful strategy? What other strategies do you use for getting ideas and/or finding writing opportunities?

Sarah Allen

100+ Paying Gigs for Writers

Remember how I mentioned I've been compiling my own list of all types of paying gigs for writers? Well I've finally posted that list here on its own page.

I'm sure that this list is only the tip of the iceberg. This comes with a standing request for all y'all to send me any suggestions to add to this list. I hope for this list to be a valuable resource.

I tried to separate these links into categories, things like literary magazine databases and paying blog gigs and greeting cards. If there are categories you think should be added to the list, let me know.

I want to recommend two additional resources/strategies to use in addition to this list. Firstly, The Writers Market books are an incredible resource of tons of great consumer magazine options. Way more than I could post here. So get that.

Also, another strategy I like to use is to find the blog or website of writers I love and find the bibliography page. This should give you a really great list of magazines that these writers have been published in, i.e., magazines for you to submit to. For example, I have found it helpful to look at the bibliography of writers like Mary Robinette Kowal, Nina Badzin, and the late, great Jay Lake.

One last word on this. I can intimidate myself by doing this research, just by virtue of the sheer number of possible options. This is why I've come up with the one a day rule. Nobody has to take on all of these options at once. Not even close. Just picking one resource to query or submit to per day, or even per week, is absolutely plenty. Or however you want to do it. My point is to take these options one at a time, and don't let the numbers immobilize you.

Anyway, hope this helps! Again, please let me know if there are ever any resources you think I should add to this list.

Write on!

Sarah Allen

S is for Submissions

In my opinion, the most important thing a writer can do in terms of their career, other than, of course, writing, is to submit their work.

All a writer really needs to do to build a career is to create good work and then put it where people can see it. There are other more subtle things we can work on like social media marketing and other random projects, but those two things are the key. They're the building blocks.

So once we've got a spit-polished piece--a piece we've edited and gotten feedback and edited some more--then its time to submit. At least that's how it works for fiction and poetry. With things like articles and other non-fiction pieces, you submit a polished pitch and they hire you or not based on that.

Basically, with all the genres and types of writing that people need, my goal has been to find and submit one pitch or piece or query per day. I only succeed in that goal about half the time, but I'm getting better.

And with a few good places to look, it isn't even too difficult to find all the possible writing gigs. I'm still working on putting together my own list of resources (so if you have suggestions please leave them in the comments) but here are a few helpful places I've found.

NewPages is one of the best. If you look at the side bar it not only has a list of magazines, it has a list of contests and calls for submissions. This ones worth looking at basically every day.

Poets & Writers is another great one. It has an even more user friendly list of contests than NewPages, in my opinion, and also has a great list of magazines and even small presses.

It's also worthwhile, I think, to keep an eye on the Writers Digest contest page. The entry fees can be a little off-putting, but if you have a piece you're really proud of, this could be a great opportunity.

There are also a couple great freelance writing sites that post the best freelance gigs and writing contests. They are FreelanceWriting.com and FreelanceWritingGigs.com. Check them out. It might even be worth checking out the writing gigs page of your local Craigslist.

And for you non-fiction writers, I can't not mention the wonderful Chicken Soup series, which is always accepting applications for various subjects.

I also have to recommend the Writers Market books. Yes the internet is an incredibly useful tool, but I think the difference of having a physical book in front of us can also be a huge help. With agents, contests, magazines, articles, game writing, blogging, all of the options out there, I'm hoping I can get better and better at submitting something once a day.

Your turn. Where have you found some great writing gigs?

Sarah Allen

The Writers Market Game Plan

So I picked up a copy of Writers Market a couple weeks ago, and I've been having way too much fun going through it. There are so many possible venues for publication it can be intimidating. Like, super intimidating. Not only are there the traditional literary magazines for all our short stories, but there's also a magazine for Christian truckers if I decided I wanted to write something for that venue.

So as I've been going through I've thought of a strategy I want to try and use with this book. See, while I have my own big projects that I'm working on (i.e. novel, screenplay, or short stories) I also think it would be a great idea to start pitching articles to magazines and trying to work on getting some publication credits that way. I think it would be great to have articles in all sorts of different magazines.

So what I'm thinking of doing is this: I am going to make a list of 10 or 15 magazines to start. I'll go through Writers Market and find 10 magazines I think would be fun to write for. Then I'll start going down that list, doing some research, reading some past articles and seeing if I would be a good fit. With smart phones, I can do that research anywhere I have a spare minute. Once I've decided on a magazine I'll work on crafting an article and a pitch and send that off. Then I'll just keep going down the list and see what happens!

Basically I want to use Writers Market as idea inspiration. I feel like tailoring a pitch or story to specific magazines is a good way to come up with ideas in the first place. Researching a magazine and reading past articles can easily be the catalyst for your own great article and story ideas.

Anyway, that's my little idea for the day. Do you guys use Writers Market in any way?

Sarah Allen

Social Media Accounts Turned Books

A little bit ago Mashable put out a list of 12 Social Media Accounts That Turned Into Books. This includes things like Garfield Minus Garfield, Hyperbole and a Half, and Dear Girls Above Me. Maybe you guys aren't as fascinated by all that as I am, but for some reason I think the concept of turning a Tumblr or Twitter account into a book.

I just think its a fascinating glimpse into the world of modern entertainment and communication. Stories of a guy drawing pictures of T-rex trying to do normal, every-day things with his tiny arms can become a viral sensation and then a book. I'm a little bit in awe of the people who can do this.

Most, almost all, of these are in the humor genre, but I love that this is the modern way of bringing smiles and laughter to peoples lives. So that's part of it, the humor. But there are more awe-inspiring things, like Taylor Jones who created a Tumblr where people took a new photograph over-layed in the same place as the old place, and its just beautiful.

And of course, there's an element of luck.

Do you find these things as fascinating as I do? Can you think of any blog, Tumblr, or Twitter accounts that could be turned into books?

Sarah Allen

P.S. So hopefully we're all feeling a little more generous this time of year. If you have thought at all about making any kind of tax-deductible charitable donation before the end of the year, today is the day. Project for Awesome, through YouTube, is running through the end of the day. Donate to The Foundation to Decrease World Suck (Yes, a legitimate, tax-deductible organization) and vote to decide which charitable orgainzations will receive the raised funds. Seriously, this is an amazing event and a great chance to participate in making the world a better place.

Why the J.K. Rowling Pseudonym Story is NOT Depressing News for Aspiring Writers

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So we've all heard the news about J.K. Rowling publishing a book under a pseudonym, right? The Cuckoos Calling by "Robert Galbraith". Slash J.K. Rowling.

Anyway, ever since the news broke I've been seeing all these articles about what a terrible sign this is for newbie and aspiring authors. People saying stuff like OH MY WORD EVEN ROWLING CAN'T SELL BOOKS. People saying that if even Rowling can't have a hit, what's there for the rest of us?

I think this is totally bologna. Totally the wrong way of looking at it.

What I think this actually does is show how level is the playing field. Let's not use Harry Potter as the example for success for a second. Let's define writerly success as having a book accepted, published, be critically well-received and sell moderately well. We'd all be fine with a career made of that, right? So J.K. Rowling did that plus some with Harry Potter, obviously. And then she did it again.

As far as I know The Cuckoos Calling sold okay, and the critics liked it much more than Casual Vacancy. Honestly I think this is a brilliant move by Rowling, and a chance for her to get some unbiased response, some feedback without her name getting in the way. 

I think what this whole thing proves is that you don't have to be J.K. Rowling to be successful. Robert Galbraith is us, is a newbie author who worked hard and produced a good book, got it published, and had some people like it. But comparing it to Harry Potter of course makes it look like a failure.

All in all, I applaud Rowling for a smart move. So maybe the level of success for this book is not the same level as Harry Potter. Maybe it's not even enough to found a career. But its a great place to start one, and you don't have to be J.K. Rowling to do it.

Thoughts? What do you think about this new development?

Sarah Allen

Why I Think Submission Fees are (Sometimes) Worth It

We writers can't go far in the blogosphere without being warned against up front fees, and rightly so. There are too many scammers out there for us not to be careful. Especially any "agent" that wants to charge any kind of up front fee. Big red flag.

So what about writing competitions that charge submission fees? I've often heard people express hesitation, including in blog comments here, about those fees. I think it's wise to be cautious, absolutely, and writing competitions are by no means exempt from possible scams.

However. I think if there's any area where you're going to fork up some cash to invest in your writing career, I think the many awesome legit competitions that go on year-round are a great place to do it. Short of logistical costs for self-publishers (cover designers, editors, publicists, etc.) it may be the best place for writers to put their money.

Why? I'll tell you why.

There are limited ways for us writers to invest in our careers. We're putting in all this work, but there are only so many ways for us to put our writing out there, get it in front of people. If we're serious about our careers, then we want to take every chance we can, don't we?

Think of it from a purely financial standpoint. The chances of winning any of these competitions is very slight, right? That's true. So say you spend, over a year long period, maybe two hundred dollars on entrance fees and win one contest, where you win five hundred. That's three hundred, right? So say its not even that. Say you barely brake even when you finally win a competition. Say that puts you in a magazine that maybe three hundred people read, and ten of those people buy your book. That's ten more people who buy your book, who tell your friends. Profit gained. And because its hard to gauge something so exponential, it just all keeps building and building into a larger career. Bam. Win.

And then there's the people you're submitting to directly. They're members of the literary world. You never know when you're going to get your work in front of the exactly right pair of eyes. Plus building up that list of credits only helps you when you're querying agents and writing bylines.

The end. That's why I think many writing competitions are worth the entrance fees. I'm not suggesting you need to spend half your paycheck on it. I am suggesting it might be worth it to, every so often, stay in for dinner instead, and use the money to put some writing where it might be seen.

Thoughts? Agree? Disagree?

Sarah

5 Places to Submit your Non-Fiction

Non-fiction is not my main thing, but in the recent months I've been wanting to expand my horizons and have done a bit of research into some cool places to send non-fiction. I've had some fun just looking at some of the articles and brainstorming ideas that might work. If you've got some non-fiction ready to go or are just looking for some potential ideas, here are five places to look:

1. Travel Culture Magazine: If you're looking into doing some travel writing, this might be a fun place to start. It seems pretty casual and fun.

2. Atlas Obscura: I know I've mentioned Atlas Obscura on this blog before, but among other things, it is also a great venue for more travel writing. It's a good place to get your feet wet, I think, and one I plan to use.

3. Chicken Soup for the Soul: There are always open submissions for upcoming Chicken Soup for the Soul books. My favorite right now is one about dogs. If you think you can write something suitable for one of these anthologies, it might be a great place to send your work. And if none of the current topics look interesting, check back later!

4. The Hairpin: This is one of the funner magazines I've come across. It seems fairly eclectic and creative, which is perfect. One of my favorite stories lately is called Six Fairy-tales for the Modern Woman. Check it out, read a few articles, see if you can come up with a fun idea that might fit.

5. Bright Lights Film Journal: If you're a film fanatic, as many of us are, then the Bright Lights Film Journal might be worth checking out. The articles in this journal are very smart and deeply analytical, but if you can work that, than I say go for it.

So there you have it. Obviously there are tons of places out there, but these are some that I plan to keep in mind for the future. Do you write non-fiction? Where have you submitted it in the past?

Sarah Allen
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How To Submit to Literary Magazines

Step 1: Write a story. This is not just the first, but the most important step. You're friends and writing group should have already gone over it, given you feedback, and put the piece through the ringer. It should be your best work.

Step 2: Research and read several literary magazines. Skip this step because you're too anxious to get your piece out there already.

Step 2b: Make a quick list of potential magazines using sites like NewPages, Poets&Writers, and maybe even the wikipedia lists of literary magazines that have been selected for Best American Short Stories, even though you know deep inside they're totally out of your league.

Step 3: Strictly follow the guidelines on each magazines website and submit.

Step 4: Eat chocolate to celebrate. Preferably a big bag of Rolos or white chocolate Lindor truffles.

Step 5: Check your email.

Step 6: Watch too many reruns of Frasier and Doctor Who.

Step 7: Sleep. Not really, because you're up checking your email all night on your iPhone.

Step 8: Wake up. And wonder why you haven't heard anything yet when its THE NEXT DAY ALREADY.

Step 9: Repeat steps 4-8 until you're five pounds heavier and the bags under your eyes look like purses.

Step 10: Work on other projects. In those moments when you can focus on something besides refreshing your email or checking your mailbox. This phase, along with number 1, should hopefully take up most of your time and energy, but we all know that some days that doesn't happen.

Step 11: Get an email. Beware of heart attack. You will most likely be driving and checking your phone, so be careful and at least come to a red light before you read the email. You will most likely need a few minutes to breath before you look at it anyway.

Step 12: Get rejected.

Step 13: Eat chocolate.

Step 14: Watch too many reruns of Frasier and Doctor Who.

Step 15: Finish another story.

Step 16: Repeat. Until one day the email you get doesn't start with "Unfortunately" or "We're sorry to inform you," but rather, a personalized note about how fabulous your story is and how they would love to have it in the magazine. Because that day will come. Along with much screaming and squealing and jumping and dancing and hopefully not car wrecking.

And that, my friends, is how you submit to literary magazines.

V is for Volume and Variety

I've heard it said in many places, and in several different ways, that the key to a successful career as a writer (or any type of artist) is two-fold: volume, and variety.

Basically this means to write lots of different things and put them lots of different places. Here are ten different ways we can try and incorporate that advice.

1. Publish novels in different venues: The options for writers are only expanding. It is no longer necessary to be in one "camp," or one side of the publishing fence. Rather, you can focus on traditional publishing while also working on self-publishing projects and submitting to small publishers. Or any combination you choose. All within contract boundaries, of course, but the point is that we can put even our big projects in lots of places.

2. Submit short pieces to magazines: There are so, so many magazines out there. Whether personal essay, short story, flash fiction, poetry, whatever--leave a little portion of your time and energy to these smaller projects and finding them homes in the many fabulous literary magazines available.

3. Submit to contests: There are contests going on all the time for books, short story collections, poetry chapbooks, individual pieces, everything. The Poets and Writers website has a fantastic list. I like the idea of continually working on those shorter pieces until you have something ready to submit to one of these awesome competitions. And then keep submitting.

4. Query articles: Even for us fiction writers, occasionally branching out into non-fiction and article writing could be a good idea. It expands our writing, our readership, and our credentials. Find something you're passionate about, an idea you want to explore, and then magazines that feature that subject. Query, and keep querying. You never know what cool experiences and networking opportunities you will find.

5. Try script: Screen and playwriting come with their own set of rules and guidelines. However, after some research and practice, they could also present some great opportunities. There are also competitions going on all the time for plays, and why not submit a movie script to Hollywood and see what happens?

6. Experiment with genre: This is where I think self-publishing could be fun. I think we all have a genre we like best, that we normally work in. But sometimes you want to try something new. If you write contemporary, try science fiction or a picture book. If you write science fiction, try historical or romance. Often your editor at a traditional publishing house won't want you going too far outside your genre, but within contractual bounds, writing something in a new genre perhaps under a new name and self-publishing could potentially get you a whole new readership. Or if you self-publish anyway, then its just a matter of expanding your circle.

7. Collaborate: I don't think there is any better way of introducing yourself to a new group of people. The group is already there, listening to someone they trust, who is now working with you. This can work for anything from books to YouTube videos. This also includes submitting pieces for consideration in anthologies. Collaboration is a great way to add volume and variety to your work.

8. Experiment in unusual venues: With shorter pieces, (and again, within contractual bounds of course) this could be fun. There are so many cool ways to do this. Make a video poem and put it on YouTube. Make a Tumblr blog or Pinterest board dedicated to your photo-poems. Produce your own mini-script and put it online. Tweet flash-fiction. Anything you can think of, why not try it out?

9. Say it out-loud: Speaking engagements have become, in a way, the modern day writer's bread and butter. This is particularly true for non-fiction. But I think any writer can only benefit from looking in to this side of things. Contact everyone: libraries, schools, book fairs, local colleges, book clubs, conferences, etc. Not every contact is going to pan out, and in fact most of them won't. But in this case I think its best to be like a dandelion, spreading your seeds as far and wide as possible until a few of them stick.

10. Write every day: This is obviously the key point. Whatever you end up doing with your writing, whatever the piece turns out to be, you can't do anything with it if you don't have it. So get those words down. Work on those big projects, the novels and screenplays, and on days when you're not feeling those, work on a short story or poetry chap book. A little bit every day goes a long, long way.

Anyway, hopefully this can get us all started on keeping volume and variety a part of our writing career. Do you think these ideas are worth the effort? What other opportunities would you add to this list?

Sarah Allen

3 Ways to Publish Your Work

From what I've seen, it seems like the battle between Big Publishing and Indie Publishing is waning. Most of us are realizing that it is a false dichotomy. There are multiple ways to go about putting your work out there, and perhaps the best route is a combination of all three.

1. Traditional Big Publishing. Getting a publishing contract with one of the big New York publishers is still the dream scenario, at least for some of us. This route involves finding an agent, who then finds a publisher, and then there's even more waiting while your book goes through the very long process. The waiting and potential frustration is definitely a downside, but the prestige and backing of a big publishing house and its resources might be worth it. Check out AgentQuery.com for agents working in your genre.

2. Small Publishers. Many small publishers accept direct submissions, and you are not required to have an agent. Many writers like this route, particularly if your work is suited for more of a niche market catered to by the small publisher. Personally, I think this might be a cool route to try for short story collections. Check out Poets and Writers list of small publishers for ones that might be a good fit for your work.

3. Self Publishing. Whatever bad rap self publishing has gotten, perhaps for some good reasons, I still think there are some advantages. Maybe you have a backlist you want to get back out on the market. Maybe you're flipping into a completely different genre that your agent and publisher don't work with. Maybe you think that the market for a certain book is one you can reach better on your own. I definitely want to try this one out in the future.

Do you agree that the best route is a combination? Or could that do some professional damage?

Sarah Allen

So I wrote this thing and now what?

If you write every day, that's a lot of words. Maybe most of it is geared towards a bigger novel project, but what about all those other, smaller projects like poems and short stories and flash fiction and maybe just a creative essay of your thoughts? What do you do with those?

It's been on my mind, because I want to write lots and lots and experiment with all types of genre and form and subject. I've come up with five main routes to go with the pieces that turn out well enough to publish:

1. Literary magazines. This is for your top-notch work. There are magazines for every type of project imaginable, so if your proud of your work, don't be afraid to submit. The best places I know of to find magazines are Duotrope and NewPages.

2. Competitions. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like competitions give you the chance to submit to places you wouldn't be able to submit to otherwise. It also comes with a money prize, prestige and potential connections. For writing contests check out Poets and Writers and FreelanceWriting.

3. Self-Publish. There is so much being said about this option, whether its a good or bad one, how one goes about doing it in the first place. My point here is just to say, it's an option. Definitely do your research if you decide to go this route. That goes for every option, but this one in particular. If you have a poetry collection, short story anthology or novella that you just want to get out there, this might be a good way to go.

4. Small Press. This is one I haven't seriously considered until recently, and so my research on it is less extensive than the others. However, while you're querying agents and trying to go the traditional big publishing route, this might be a good choice for the collection of short stories you've been wondering what to do with. There are quite a few small presses that accept unagented submissions, and it might just turn out to be a wonderful experience. You never know until you try.

5. Blog. I've seen several people post short stories and even entire novels via blogs. Honestly this isn't my favorite option, but I can see some uses. If you have a short little something you came up with, incomplete but promising, putting it up on a blog might be a fun way to get some feedback. Maybe the piece doesn't go anywhere or turn into anything, but you can apply the comments you receive to your writing in general, hopefully improving it as you go.

So yeah, while I'm trying for the slow traditional big-publishing route, which I really want, these are other good options to keep in mind for my other projects. Throughout my writing career I would love to use every single one.

Which options are your favorite, and can you think of any I missed? How do you decide which option is best for any given piece?


Sarah Allen

The Once a Day Submission Rule

There are basically only two things a writer needs to do. Two parts to their career. The creative, writing part, and then the submission, selling, business part.

We hear about the writing schedule or word count daily goal thing all the time. I think that rule is wonderful, and one of the most important for writers. We need to always be writing.

I want to extend that to the other part of a writers career though, and say we always need to be submitting.

So, along with the 1000 words per day or whatever your writing goal may be, I have one more to add to it: submit at least once per day. This seems difficult or extreme until you really look at it. It can seriously be anything. A short story or poem to a magazine, a writing competition, a freelance article query, an agent query, a writing project bid on Elance, anything. You only have to do a small amount of research to see how many options there are out there.

For example, today I submitted a short picture book manuscript I've been working on for a while, and yesterday I submitted entries to the Utah Arts Council's Original Writing contest. Tomorrow I might query Dog Fancy, a magazine I've always been fond of, or finish writing and submit my entry to this pretty cool fantasy fiction competition. There are so many options. And if once a day is too much, then do once a week. Just have a specific goal, like with the actual writing. The point is, if you keep submitting, something good will eventually come.

Check out the contest section of Poets and Writers or FreelanceWriting.com. See if your state's arts department has anything upcoming or find the submission guidelines for your favorite magazines. It's actually been really fun.

What other places can you think to submit writing?

Now I just need a way to support this rather expensive habit...

Sarah Allen

C is for Children's Books

So I had a never-happened-before experience last night. I fell asleep quickly (also sort of a first) and woke up from a dream at just before three in the morning. All I remember from the dream is a sparsely illustrated page of a children's book, blue lines and sort of in the style of Amos: The Story of an Old Dog and His Couch. (A fabulous book). Anyway, I remember the words being read "So this could never be a story about hunger". Though I suppose that isn't much to go on, I wrote it down in the notebook by my bed and had basically filled in the rest of the story in my head before I'd fallen back asleep. As Stephanie Meyer as it sounds, a book has come to me via dream.

And now, being me, of course I have to be all gung-ho find a publisher NOW about it. I mentioned a while ago how my sister and I were working on a children's book together. That's still happening, it's just that she has school and, you know, a wedding to deal with right now. But yeah, I want to take this new idea and do something with it, i.e. send it to the people one is supposed to send picture book ideas too. I'm still not as informed with the whole children's book business as I (hopefully) am with adult and young adult publishing, and so...advice?

Anyone know anything about where to send this thing? I do know that publishers like to match writers with publishers-choice illustrators, so I'm planning on just submitting my story and letting that happen. But where? In the research I've done so far, basically going down lists of picture book publishers, most of them don't accept unsolicited submissions, though some do. So should I just submit to the ones that will let me myself? Is it best to submit to agents first? What will that do when I'm ready to submit the novel to agents? I've even heard that the "no unsolicited submissions" statement doesn't really mean anything, that they'll read it anyway. Is that true? What's the best next step for this?

Sarah Allen
(Last year: C is for Cliche)

10 Ways to Get Paid for Online Writing, with Lior Levin

So pleased to have Lior Levin with us today, talking about making money with online writing. Lior is a marketing consultant for a css company, and also consults for a company that works with physicians and patients to evaluate the likely effectiveness of new cancer treatments that specializes in new cancer treatments.Take it away Lior!

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10 Ways to Get Paid for Online Writing
Selling words for dollars is easy, if you are aware of two things:

-How to put down the words together.

-How to sell your piece in the right market.

Be it a full time day job or an online freelance gig, good writing pays. Almost, always.

For the past couple of years, I have made a good amount of money by “writing for the web”. Not with my pen but with the keyboard, to be precise.

When I started out, I was clueless about the sites where I could actually get paid to write about the things I would write on my blog anyway. That time, I had a blogspot blog where I wrote about random topics e.g movie reviews, technology, gadgets, gaming and personal rants.

Over time, I discovered that there are a good number of sources who need full time writers on the topics I am passionate about. If you are a newbie freelancer and want to get paid for writing online, here is a handy list which you should remember:

1. Write in your own blog: 

Writing in your own blog pays and pays better than writing for anyone else. But there is a catch - you have to maintain your blog/website and make it popular in the first place. If your website never topples the average popularity line, it would be hard to make money through sponsored advertisements.

On the other hand, if your blog gets quite a few thousand visits daily, you can monetize it with Google Adsense, BuySellads, Chitika, Kontera and other advertising programs.

This is better than freelance writing as you can write whenever you want to and get paid from clicks on advertisements, banner ads and so on. The result is certainly much more rewarding than writing for someone else.

2. Write in article directories

If you do not have a website and have no vision of creating one, I would recommend starting with article directories. Write for free article directories in early days and build a solid online portfolio first. When you have the trust factor attached with your name, other paid article directories would contact you and you will eventually end up working for them.

3. Join other blogs as staff writers

Blogs and forums is not a one man affair these days. Most large blogs have full time writers and staff authors, who research and write stories regularly. If you are a skilled person and know how the ins and outs of something better than anyone else, contact an authority blog and ask them whether you can join their writing team. Show them proofs of your writing and if you have the talent, they will be more than happy to hire you.

4.  Participate in Freelance gigs

Small and medium sized websites often need part time writers for bi-yearly projects. Keep an eye on freelance forum sites and be-friend other freelancers on Facebook and Twitter. By participating in the community of freelancers, you would be able to crack a deal, sooner or later.

5. Write your own book

Do you have expertise and full proof knowledge over something which people want to know badly? Consider writing an ebook and sell it through your blog, email newsletter or through Amazon. If your blog is not so popular, it will be very difficult to sell the ebook you wrote.

In that case, I would recommend you to contact authority blogs in your niche and make a deal. You can split the sale amount by 70-30, so if your ebook sale crosses 10,000 copies - you would make a decent income through the exposure of the authority site selling your ebook.

Tip: Make sure your ebook is top notch and one of its kind, or else authority sites wont accept your deal in the first place.

6. Help someone write his book

A lot of prolific writers often look for “seconds” who can help them write their ebook. As a “second”, you have to research, prepare documentation, write dedicated sections and complete assignments for the author.

The result is pretty rewarding because when the eBook sells, people will notice your name. This hardens your standing soil and you gain that “trust” factor. Keep an eye on online Job boards and freelance sites for these occasional offers.

7. Look for Internships

Top Technology blogs e.g LifeHacker, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Mashable often hire regular interns, so if you are really passionate about your subject,

8. Write For Startups

Startups are small organizations who are keen on developing their product and often need someone who can spread the word about their product, pitch authority blogs and maintain their official blog. Get involved with a startup and ask them whether they require a blogger or a media person for spreading the word. Almost all startups have interns who are responsible for writing documentation and maintaining their social media brand awareness.

Tip: research well ahead of time and make yourself familiar with industry jargon first.

9. Editing and Proofreading

If you have command over the English language, you can work as a copy editor for clients or blogs. The role of a copy editor is to correct grammatical mistakes, proofread and tweak the writing style of the author. This type of job is ideally suited for folks who are already engaged in a full time day job, as proofreading articles is not that laborious and takes only a few minutes.

But, where do I find these sources?

This is the million dollar question.

You have to be active on social networking sites e.g Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and regularly visit freelance portals/online job boards. Here is a list of sites where you can start:

1. Odesk.com
2. Freelancer.com
3. Problogger Job board
4. Freelance forum
5. Freelance Switch
6. Guru.com

Don’t jump for shortcuts, there aren’t any shortcut to make thousands of dollars within a few weeks. It is going to take some time, be patient and keep looking.

Good luck!

First Forays into Children's Book Publishing

My sister is an illustration major. And not just any illustration major. She is super, super talented. Seriously. She has a gift. I mean, look at that mouse.

So, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity here and asked her if she would be interested in working on some children's books together. She said yes, which makes me very excited. I've got some ideas floating around in my brain, and I'm gonna try and solidify them and let her do some illustrating while I keep working on The Novel, and that will be extra awesome because then I'll feel like I'm getting two things done at once.

Anyway, I'm wondering what the next steps would be after we get something put together. I've done research into regular publishing, and I'm wondering how different it is with kids picture books. I'll do some research into that, of course, but I'm wondering if my wise readers have any beginning advice for me, or recommendations of where to start.

Is it pretty much the same submit-to-agents process? Do we just submit the words and illustrations together, and is that the norm? Can I have an agent and publisher for children's publishers separate from my adult stuff and will there be issues with that?

Yeah. That's kind of what's going on right now. Advice or pointers in the right direction would be fabulous :)

Sarah Allen

p.s. My sister said if I posted this picture I had to include a disclaimer that the photo of it was low res and bad quality. Consider it disclaimed.

Why You Should Not Be Afraid to Submit

All of us have the Big Project we're working on, a novel that we expect to have to submit to someone at some point. An agent or editor, or maybe even just readers. I want to talk about smaller stuff today.

Those poems and short stories you wrote in college or in between novels. That are sitting in a file on your computer, waiting to see the light of day. The more writer type people I talk to, the more surprised I am at how few of them submit those poems and stories. I always kind of assumed that submitting was just what you did after you finished a piece, but it doesn't seem like everyone thinks that way.

Am I wrong? Maybe so, but still, there are for sure very talented writers not sending out their littler children into the world, for one reason or another. I'm not saying that you should send out everything you've ever written, but I definitely think its worth taking out some of those pieces, polishing them up, and sending them out.

Why not? Chances are you'll get rejected, but so what? Dory gives us a good mantra for the submission process..."just keep submitting, just keep submitting." Lit magazine rejection has absolutely no bearing on your self-worth or even your true talent as a writer, even though it can feel like it does. But seriously, what better way to get your work read? Isn't that the point? Maybe you do have reasons for not submitting, but please, don't let that reason be fear. Or laziness. Poetry and the short story are fantastic, beautiful forms to work in. Then submit, like you would a novel. I mean really...why not?

Next question, where to submit? Obviously that depends on the piece, but I can try and help you out here. I use Duotrope and New Pages, both directories of literary magazines, and they both do a great job of helping you find the right magazine to submit to.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree that submitting is just a natural part of the process? Do you have a system for submitting your work?

Sarah Allen

Are Literary Agents Necessary?

It seems like there are as many opinions on literary agents as there are agents. I've heard so many different things: self-publish and take care of it yourself. Self-publish and get an agent once you need help with contracts. Even in traditional publishing, its best to just submit directly to editors yourself even if they say no unagented submissions. Then of course the classic, use an agent to get in the traditional publishing door.

I know this could be opening a pandoras box, but what is your opinion/advice? Those with more experience, what has worked best for you? Obviously each writer has to make their own decisions that works best for their individual careers, but I think we could all use some help.

My opinion and plan is this. Yes, people have had bad experiences with agents, and there are risks signing contracts with anyone. So of course I'll be careful, but as of now, I want to try for the traditional route. Yes, writers are keeping less and less and getting more and more jipped, but its still the best way to get your work out there and reach the most people, which is my goal for right now. I'll go with that at first, see how that works, and then maybe self-publish once I'm out there a bit.

What are your ideas?

Sarah Allen

Making Money Online: Supplementary Income for Aspiring Writers

This is another one of those posts where I have many more questions then I do answers. In fact, I pretty much have no answers as far as making money online goes.

But we have all been there, right? You don't get the book out as quickly as you'd hoped, it doesn't sell as well as you expected, and then you find out your fantastic junker of a car needs a million dollar replacement part or something like that. This is why the majority of writers that I know have day jobs. It is perfectly possible to make a fine living off of your books, but it just might take a bit of time to get there.

So what do you do in the meantime? Obviously a good answer to this question is a day job, but there are two reasons to explore the making money online option: First, even the day-job might not be earning you as much as you need, and second, wouldn't it be nice to make enough money online that a day job wasn't even necessary? I think so.

Not that making money online doesn't take work, and I don't even know where to begin. Do any of you have experience with this? The one answer I can think of is finding freelance writing jobs on sites like Freelance Writing Jobs, but I'm not sure even how to go about it, or if you can make decent money doing it in the first place.

So what are your ideas, oh people who know more then me? People say all the time that you can make a great living online, but how and where? Are there any helpful articles or tutorials that you are familiar with? I've done some research, but there is so much out there that its hard to sort through.

I hope todays post isn't too annoyingly mercenary. However, I think this is something directly applicable to almost every writer, especially the beginning ones. And to be honest, I could really use some advice about this right now. I'm getting ready to move in a couple months, and having even a small source of income would be, to put it lightly, very, very nice. I'm sure most of you feel similarly.

Thank you in advance for your advice. Keep up the writing!
Sarah Allen

p.s. For those interested in the Japanese literature that we discussed a few days ago, a wonderful list of 20 top Japanese writers has been brought to my attention that you might enjoy checking out.

How do you assess a literary magazine?

I've been wondering. I counted up yesterday, and with all my poetry, non-fiction and short stories, my work is submitted to a total of 29 different magazines. So this is something I really need to understand better. How do you assess a literary magazine?

How do you judge the quality of a magazine? The only real litmus test that I know is whether or not a magazine has been anthologized in Best American. Those are some obvious ones, like The New Yorker, McSweeney's, Ploughshares, Black Warrior Review, Granta, etc. What are some other tests? How do you tell if a magazine is considered a "high quality" magazine or not? I believe there are certain awards out there that one could use, but I'm not too aware of what those are.

How do you tell if your work would be a good fit in a magazine? The best answer is to read it, but even then, it is nearly impossible to be objective about ones own work, so even if you read a magazine cover to cover it might still be difficult to judge whether your work is what they are looking for. So how do you tell? Is there a poor persons answer for people who can't afford to buy the magazine, and so can't read it?

I would really appreciate some of your ideas. What are the criteria you use? What seems to work best for you?

Sarah Allen