Self-publishing success stories aside, there are still plenty of writers with their sights set on the Big Six and scoring a traditional deal with a major publishing house. And you know the drill: If a traditionally published book is what you want, then a literary agent is what you need.

Assuming you’ve done your homework and already learned the components of a book proposal and how to write an effective query, we’ve decided to drill a little deeper to discover other, lesser-known factors that agents consider before signing an author. And as a bonus, we’ve eliminated all speculation and hearsay and talked directly to agents about what works and what doesn’t.

So if you’ve decided to eschew eBooks and print-on-demand and are holding out for a contract from HarperCollins or Simon & Schuster, this one’s for you. Don’t bury your sales hook

You may write as a means to communicate your innermost feelings or to fulfill your life’s one true purpose, but when you sign with an agent and (hopefully) a publisher, selling books is the name of the game. And for Rachelle Gardner, an agent with Books & Such Literary Agency, a book’s sales potential must be critically examined before she agrees to sign an author.

“As I’m reading [a submission], I’m paying attention to my gut response: Are readers going to enjoy this and want to keep turning the page?” says Gardner. “Then the other side of it is, regardless of my gut response, can I sell this? And could a publisher sell this to readers? And if so, how?”

Gardner recommends writers clearly communicate the sales hook in their initial submission. As in, don’t expect the agent to automatically assume that your cozy mystery featuring a stay-at-home mom turned amateur sleuth will be targeted to unfulfilled women in middle America. The agent may make that connection on her own, but you’re better off displaying your knowledge of the market and the fact that your book actually has an audience (read: buyers).

Do prepare a verbal pitch

As a writer, hiding behind a keyboard comes naturally, and the Delete key is often the most powerful (and often used) tool in a fully loaded arsenal. Even still, there are times when the opportunity to wow a potential agent may come via a face-to-face, on-the-fly meeting as opposed to an emailed query. If you’re frequenting writing conferences and other industry networking events (and you should be!), honing your verbal pitch is a must.

“If you’re frequenting writing conferences and other industry networking events (and you should be!), honing your verbal pitch is a must.”

“The main points with a verbal pitch are to remember that you’re talking to a person, so you’re not sounding like a robot who’s rattling off a written pitch,” says Gardner. “And remember that the purpose of a pitch is to get someone to want to hear more. It is not to tell your whole story.”

Gardner suggests developing a 30- to 60-second, elevator-style pitch as well as one that takes as long as a few minutes. For more tips on how to sell your story verbally, visit Gardner’s personal blog.

Don’t write too niche

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter franchise spawned a slew of sword-and-sorcery fantasies, and Stephanie Meyer inspired scores of other writers to brush up on vampire etiquette following the uber-success of her Twilight series. Certainly, there is an advantage to monitoring industry trends and positioning yourself to best capitalize on the market, but most agents want to work with authors who aren’t bound by sub-genre.

“What I like to see is that [writers] have the ability to be nimble and change,” says Paige Wheeler, a founding partner of Folio Literary Management. “So, perhaps what are the traits within that vampire novel that can be turned into something else? Is this something that could be turned into a YA or a romantic suspense? How do they want to turn what they love into something that may be more commercially viable as tastes change in publishing?”

Do have a long-term vision

Many aspiring authors have visions of retreating to country cottages in the summer or beachside bungalows in the winter to churn out regular tomes that net a full-time salary year-round. And while there are plenty of naysayers to shoot down your career novelist dreams with pragmatic talk about “real jobs” and 401(k)s, the good news is that agents actually prefer a writer with long-term career plans. Agents are just as invested in developing an author’s career as the author herself, so one-and-done writers don’t rank high on client wish lists.

“You have to plan not just on getting you first or second book published, but your fifth or seventh,” says Wheeler. “When I meet with people one on one in conferences, I often say, ‘What else are you working on? What’s project number two? What’s project number three?’ And if they have no idea, that could be a problem.”

So how can you show that you’re an idea machine without coming off like a scatter-brained creative? Wheeler says the best time to share future plans is after the initial query stage, once she asks for additional materials. It also helps to show some cohesion in terms of genre or subject matter; bouncing from business book to YA novel to political thriller is not advised.

“Having your hairstylist’s best friend’s neighbor call her daughter at the big-time New York literary agency may not be possible, but establishing a connection with an agent is.”

Do establish a personal connection

Wouldn’t landing an agent be so much easier if you knew one personally, or had a friend of a friend who could put in a good word? Having your hairstylist’s best friend’s neighbor call her daughter at the big-time New York literary agency may not be possible, but establishing a connection with an agent is — even with one you’ve never met.

“I kind of like it when people say, ‘I finished your client Rory Friedman’s book, and I haven’t slept for two days,'” says Laura Dail of Laura Dail Literary Agency. “So the connection can be through clients or authors that you both like.”

And if mentioning another client’s book scores points with agents, actually getting a referral from that client will definitely move your query to the top of the slush pile. But before you name drop, adds Dail, ask your fellow writer to reach out to the agent first. “Sometimes — and I always say this to my clients — if you haven’t called me or emailed me and told me to keep an eye out for this person, then I don’t give it much weight.”

Don’t get discouraged

As if moving from blank page to completed manuscript weren’t difficult enough, wading through the uncertain waters of landing an agent and securing a publishing deal may seem more daunting than embarking on a Thanksgiving Day juice fast. But if getting published the traditional way is still your ultimate goal, take heart: The industry needs you.

“I actually do think it’s an incredible time right now,” says Dail. “You can still do a traditional deal. Publishers are still paying advances. They still want amazing talent, [and] they’re dying for something fresh and wonderful.”

The fact that publishers and literary agencies wouldn’t exist without authors and their works is a simple, unalienable truth that is often forgotten. Yes, there’s competition, and, yes, the changes in publishing have made it more difficult for a first-time author to break in. But it’s not impossible. And if you follow these tips — along with the wealth of other resources on our site — your odds of landing an agent and a book deal are bound to increase.

Andrea Williams is a freelance writer based in Nashville. Follow her at

@AndreaWillWrite

---

NEXT >> The 7 Biggest Red Flags In Book Contracts

Self-publishing success stories aside, there are still plenty of writers with their sights set on the Big Six and scoring a traditional deal with a major publishing house. And you know the drill: If a traditionally published book is what you want, then a literary agent is what you need.

Assuming you’ve done your homework and already learned the components of a book proposal and how to write an effective query, we’ve decided to drill a little deeper to discover other, lesser-known factors that agents consider before signing an author. And as a bonus, we’ve eliminated all speculation and hearsay and talked directly to agents about what works and what doesn’t.

So if you’ve decided to eschew eBooks and print-on-demand and are holding out for a contract from HarperCollins or Simon & Schuster, this one’s for you. Don’t bury your sales hook

You may write as a means to communicate your innermost feelings or to fulfill your life’s one true purpose, but when you sign with an agent and (hopefully) a publisher, selling books is the name of the game. And for Rachelle Gardner, an agent with Books & Such Literary Agency, a book’s sales potential must be critically examined before she agrees to sign an author.

“As I’m reading [a submission], I’m paying attention to my gut response: Are readers going to enjoy this and want to keep turning the page?” says Gardner. “Then the other side of it is, regardless of my gut response, can I sell this? And could a publisher sell this to readers? And if so, how?”

Gardner recommends writers clearly communicate the sales hook in their initial submission. As in, don’t expect the agent to automatically assume that your cozy mystery featuring a stay-at-home mom turned amateur sleuth will be targeted to unfulfilled women in middle America. The agent may make that connection on her own, but you’re better off displaying your knowledge of the market and the fact that your book actually has an audience (read: buyers).

Do prepare a verbal pitch

As a writer, hiding behind a keyboard comes naturally, and the Delete key is often the most powerful (and often used) tool in a fully loaded arsenal. Even still, there are times when the opportunity to wow a potential agent may come via a face-to-face, on-the-fly meeting as opposed to an emailed query. If you’re frequenting writing conferences and other industry networking events (and you should be!), honing your verbal pitch is a must.

“If you’re frequenting writing conferences and other industry networking events (and you should be!), honing your verbal pitch is a must.”

“The main points with a verbal pitch are to remember that you’re talking to a person, so you’re not sounding like a robot who’s rattling off a written pitch,” says Gardner. “And remember that the purpose of a pitch is to get someone to want to hear more. It is not to tell your whole story.”

Gardner suggests developing a 30- to 60-second, elevator-style pitch as well as one that takes as long as a few minutes. For more tips on how to sell your story verbally, visit Gardner’s personal blog.

Don’t write too niche

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter franchise spawned a slew of sword-and-sorcery fantasies, and Stephanie Meyer inspired scores of other writers to brush up on vampire etiquette following the uber-success of her Twilight series. Certainly, there is an advantage to monitoring industry trends and positioning yourself to best capitalize on the market, but most agents want to work with authors who aren’t bound by sub-genre.

“What I like to see is that [writers] have the ability to be nimble and change,” says Paige Wheeler, a founding partner of Folio Literary Management. “So, perhaps what are the traits within that vampire novel that can be turned into something else? Is this something that could be turned into a YA or a romantic suspense? How do they want to turn what they love into something that may be more commercially viable as tastes change in publishing?”

Do have a long-term vision

Many aspiring authors have visions of retreating to country cottages in the summer or beachside bungalows in the winter to churn out regular tomes that net a full-time salary year-round. And while there are plenty of naysayers to shoot down your career novelist dreams with pragmatic talk about “real jobs” and 401(k)s, the good news is that agents actually prefer a writer with long-term career plans. Agents are just as invested in developing an author’s career as the author herself, so one-and-done writers don’t rank high on client wish lists.

“You have to plan not just on getting you first or second book published, but your fifth or seventh,” says Wheeler. “When I meet with people one on one in conferences, I often say, ‘What else are you working on? What’s project number two? What’s project number three?’ And if they have no idea, that could be a problem.”

So how can you show that you’re an idea machine without coming off like a scatter-brained creative? Wheeler says the best time to share future plans is after the initial query stage, once she asks for additional materials. It also helps to show some cohesion in terms of genre or subject matter; bouncing from business book to YA novel to political thriller is not advised.

“Having your hairstylist’s best friend’s neighbor call her daughter at the big-time New York literary agency may not be possible, but establishing a connection with an agent is.”

Do establish a personal connection

Wouldn’t landing an agent be so much easier if you knew one personally, or had a friend of a friend who could put in a good word? Having your hairstylist’s best friend’s neighbor call her daughter at the big-time New York literary agency may not be possible, but establishing a connection with an agent is — even with one you’ve never met.

“I kind of like it when people say, ‘I finished your client Rory Friedman’s book, and I haven’t slept for two days,'” says Laura Dail of Laura Dail Literary Agency. “So the connection can be through clients or authors that you both like.”

And if mentioning another client’s book scores points with agents, actually getting a referral from that client will definitely move your query to the top of the slush pile. But before you name drop, adds Dail, ask your fellow writer to reach out to the agent first. “Sometimes — and I always say this to my clients — if you haven’t called me or emailed me and told me to keep an eye out for this person, then I don’t give it much weight.”

Don’t get discouraged

As if moving from blank page to completed manuscript weren’t difficult enough, wading through the uncertain waters of landing an agent and securing a publishing deal may seem more daunting than embarking on a Thanksgiving Day juice fast. But if getting published the traditional way is still your ultimate goal, take heart: The industry needs you.

“I actually do think it’s an incredible time right now,” says Dail. “You can still do a traditional deal. Publishers are still paying advances. They still want amazing talent, [and] they’re dying for something fresh and wonderful.”

The fact that publishers and literary agencies wouldn’t exist without authors and their works is a simple, unalienable truth that is often forgotten. Yes, there’s competition, and, yes, the changes in publishing have made it more difficult for a first-time author to break in. But it’s not impossible. And if you follow these tips — along with the wealth of other resources on our site — your odds of landing an agent and a book deal are bound to increase.

Andrea Williams is a freelance writer based in Nashville. Follow her at

@AndreaWillWrite

---

NEXT >> The 7 Biggest Red Flags In Book Contracts

In addition to having the good fortune of goofing off for a living in an office on Broadway across from David Letterman, MAD magazine senior editor Joe Raiola is also responsible for one of only two officially sanctioned annual John Lennon tributes.

The 33rd edition of this great event is set for Friday, Dec. 6 at New York‘s Symphony Space, with a lineup that this year includes Steve Earle, Joan Osborne and Marc Cohn. Raiola launched the event in 1981 with Alec Rubin, the late founder of Theatre Within. All proceeds go to a rotating, designated charity (this year, Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Spirit Foundation).

The 58-year-old Raiola has also been a part for many years of WDST 100.1 FM’s Sunday morning two-hour program The Woodstock Roundtable and performs, when he can, his First Amendment one-man shows (Almost Obscene, The Joy of Censorship). He scales back that part of his busy schedule during the months leading up to the Lennon Tribute but is making time this Saturday, Nov. 16 for a rare free library performance in Long Beach, N.Y., one of the communities devastated by Superstorm Sandy.

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Name: Joe Raiola
Position: Senior editor, MAD magazine; executive producer, John Lennon Tribute
Resume: The best way to summarize Raiola’s professional trajectory is “a charmed life.” He has been for 28 years one of a small group of full-timers responsible for MAD magazine, and for 33 years, the producer of an annual John Lennon tribute held on or around the date of the beloved Beatle’s death. Raiola is also a theater and comedy performer who has now visited 44 states with his one-man First Amendment shows.
Birthdate: October 12
Hometown: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Education: B.A., Adelphi University
Marital status: Married
Mentor: Alec Rubin, founder of Theatre Within
Best career advice received: “Better to die on your feet than live on your knees. Wait, maybe not.”
Guilty pleasure: Sex
Last book read: Furious Cool: Richard Pryor and the World That Made Him
Twitter handle: Non-tweeting and loving it!

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What was the Beatles’ connection to MAD magazine?
The most famous Beatles-MAD connection is in the movie A Hard Day’s Night. There’s a somewhat famous scene early in the film when the Beatles are on a train. They walk into one of the cars and the actor who plays their manager is reading a MAD paperback. The Beatles were also on the cover of issue #121, featuring the band and Mia Farrow visiting the Maharishi. [MAD‘s mascot] Alfred appears on the cover as the Maharishi.

Did you ever see the Beatles or Lennon live?
Not as a group, but I’ve seen all of the Beatles in concert individually. I saw Lennon in 1972 at Madison Square Garden when he did a One to One benefit. I can’t help but think, when I see Paul McCartney doing all these concerts lately, what John Lennon might also be doing if he were still alive. McCartney opened his recent tour with “Eight Days a Week,” which is a song John sang. I’m trying to imagine John Lennon on tour, opening his concert with “Eight Days a Week.” Would John do that? I don’t know.

How did Yoko Ono become involved with the John Lennon Tribute?
It happened by accident. It was a small neighborhood event that had been happening for years since 1981, but Yoko didn’t become involved until 2004. Keep in mind this was a small workshop show that moved around the city a little bit. Over the years it evolved into a charity event, benefiting an education program for homeless kids living in community housing in Harlem.

In 2004, a little blurb appeared in the Daily News about the 24th annual John Lennon tribute. Willa Shalit, Gene Shalit’s daughter, was working with Yoko on a book called Memories of John Lennon featuring celebrity contributors like Elton John and Eric Clapton. Willa was the editor and she tracked me down. She left a voicemail, which basically said, “I work with Yoko; will you call me back?” And I have to tell you — I was scared! I was like, “Oh no, am I in trouble?” We were using some Lennon artwork to promote the show.

“The thing you have to keep in mind about MAD is: If you mature, you get fired. It’s a place where you stay perpetually young or silly or both.”

When I spoke to Willa, she asked, “What are you doing?” I explained, and Willa said, “That is amazing; that is so beautiful.” The next day, I got an email from Yoko inviting me to write an essay for the book. The book is alphabetical by author last name, so my essay appears between Billy Preston and Bonnie Raitt. That put the tribute on Yoko’s radar and because we’d been doing it for 24 years, she intuitively understood that this was the real deal — that this wasn’t something exploitative.

The next year, we did the 25th anniversary at Lincoln Center. We started to get some working musicians involved and recast the show in a more professional way. Since then it’s been unbelievable. It’s one of two tributes in the world that Yoko supports, along with a Dream [Power] Concert in Japan that has been going on for 12 years. This year Steve Earle is among the artists and one thing that struck me as funny — I’d forgotten this — he wrote a piece in that [Memories] book!

What charities has the Tribute most recently supported?
In 2007 and 2008, we worked with Why Hunger. We really helped them a lot because out of that came this relationship with Yoko and Imagine There’s No Hunger Global, which has raised millions of dollars to feed hungry people around the world. In 2010, we raised money to build schools in [developing nations]. Last year it was for Hurricane Sandy relief. And this year, we asked Yoko and she invited us to make it for the Spirit Foundation.

Spirit Foundation was started in 1970 by John and Yoko. Before it was started, John was writing checks to charity organizations and what he was finding was that they weren’t cashing the checks. They were framing them because they wanted a John Lennon autograph!

So as a way to give money without having to sign his name to checks, he and Yoko started the Spirit Foundation. It’s what they call a non-operating foundation. They don’t solicit funds; they don’t have employees. But it’s a great thing because it connects our event with John in a way that we have never [done] before.

Now, back to MAD magazine…What’s the atmosphere like at the office?
Well, the thing you have to keep in mind about MAD is: If you mature, you get fired. It’s a place where you stay perpetually young or silly or both. I don’t have a real job — I’m senior editor at MAD. The MAD creative staff is small. There are five editors, and the art department is three people.

I’m a huge fan of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Stephen recently wrote an introduction to one of our books, and Tim Carvell [head writer] of The Daily Show writes for MAD. He’s got a [column] called Planet Tad, which is sensational. We all are comedy fans. We try to make ourselves laugh and if we’re making each other laugh, we figure someone else will laugh too.

“When I first started working at MAD, movies didn’t want to cooperate with us. That’s all changed. Today, they want to be on the cover.”

What advice do you have for readers interested in pitching MAD?
MAD has always been freelance written. We’re always looking for new talent and new writers. Pitching stuff to us now is pretty easy; you can do it via our website. And we’re actually foolish enough to review everything that comes in.

Writers don’t need to include illustrations. When I sold to MAD for the first time in 1984, I didn’t have any skills as an artist at all. I suggested a couple of art notes and had some ideas as to how I thought something could be done, but that was about it.

Do you ever hear from any of the people you lampoon?
Probably the most famous example of a show or person that loved being spoofed was L.A. Law. When MAD spoofed L.A. Law, with the entire cast on the cover, Stephen Bochco and the cast loved it so much that they actually recreated the illustration in a photo and sent us the photo of them posed, as they were drawn on the cover.

It used to be people didn’t want to be spoofed. Now people want to be spoofed, even politicians. Sarah Palin wants to go on Saturday Night Live, so she could show everyone she has a sense of humor. Al Gore was on SNL. When I first started working at MAD, movies didn’t want to cooperate with us. That’s all changed. Today, they want to be on the cover.

How long have you been doing the radio show The Woodstock Roundtable?
Thirteen years with Doug Gunther. I’m really fortunate, because I have a career as a comedian, a speaker — I’ve performed in 44 states with this First Amendment/censorship show. It also ties in to MAD, which came of age during a tremendous era of censorship in the 1950s.

Last week on the radio show, for example, we did segments on dreams, bats and a half hour of political stuff. It’s a free-wheeling talk show, where literally anything goes within FCC rules. Authors, nutrition, sports, politics, humor, live music… We kind of do it all.

Also, as someone who thinks that George Carlin is the Babe Ruth of comedy, it’s great fun to be able to work with George’s son Patrick. He’s a frequent guest on the show.

Richard Horgan is co-editor of FishbowlNY.

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NEXT >> So What Do You Do, Jay Mohr, Comedian and Fox Sports Radio Host?

I’ve said that writing fiction is the most painful thing I’ve ever done — and I’ve given birth to three children. I’m only half kidding.

But, seriously, most writers know that going from blank page to fully developed novel is no easy task. Thanks to Chris Baty and National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), however, the process is slightly less difficult — albeit it in a “let’s all get our wisdom teeth pulled out together without anesthesia” kind of way. As of this writing, there are more than 226,000 people signed up to participate in this year’s 30-day sprint to noveldom.

As testament to the magnetic pull of unwritten prose, Baty in 2012 stepped down from the organization he founded to have more time for what he spent 12 years encouraging hundreds of thousands of people on six continents to do. Here, the author of two novel-writing guides takes a break from his own literary pursuits to discuss what it’s like to launch a cultural phenomenon and what it really takes to cross the NaNoWriMo finish line.

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Where did the idea for National Novel Writing Month come from? And how did you know it was a strong enough concept to share with others?
First off, I’m kind of one of those people that tends to have a lot of bad ideas. So I love coming up with these kinds of ridiculous ideas and then forcing my friends to do it, and National Novel Writing Month was very much in keeping with that. I was 26 years old, and I absolutely loved books and had a group of book-loving friends, but none of us had written fiction before, much less book-length fiction. But I think this idea just seemed appealing in that it was a good opportunity to get together. The very first year we did it [in 1999], it was July. So we all had a lot of free time. I never in a million years thought that it was going to become an annual event. I thought we were going to do it once, that we would all spectacularly fail — probably in the first week — and then we would sort of never talk about it again.

“I never in a million years thought it was going to become an annual event. I thought we were going to do it once, that we would all spectacularly fail, and then we would never talk about it again.”

The first year, six of us (the group of us that were getting together each night and writing) all crossed the 50,000-word finish line. The books were definitely bad books, but they weren’t irredeemably bad. They had potential, and that’s when I was like, “OK, I’m going to do this again.” The next year we moved it to November just because nobody was available in July the next year. And I sent out the email again, and it got forwarded, and we grew to 140 people. The next year it went to 5,000, and it just kind of took off from there.

If you had to credit one single catalyst as the reason for NaNoWriMo’s breakout success — in the pre-social-media era — what would it be?
The amazing thing is it was truly word of mouth in a time when there were not a lot of easy ways to spread [the word]. It was back when the main social networking tool was email. And also, the year when it really kind of exploded was the third year, and that was 2001, and blogs were just starting to come into their own. I think that National Novel Writing Month was helped by the fact that suddenly there was this category of websites called a blog, which were to be updated regularly, so people needed things to write about. And then a lot of the people who would write about it just to have a blog post would end up blogging about the process. That’s when people started watching folks who had never written a book before really set aside a month of time for it and get a lot out of it.

What advice do you have for someone else who has a great idea to share with the world? What’s the best way to get it to the masses?
Well, the first thing I would say is that you absolutely have to pursue it because whatever it is people have been waiting for it. I never would have dreamed that of all of the bad ideas I’ve had, the one that would completely change my life is this idea that we’re going to get strangers to write novels in a month. It just does not seem possible. But then [I did] it, and it opened part of myself that I didn’t know was there. It completely changed the way I saw the potential in everyone around me. And these little things really can change lives all over the world. So get it out there.

“Making sure you stick with something long enough to give it a chance to start going and growing is really important.”

The second thing is [that] you have to commit to the long game. You really do need to be set on doing it a couple times because it just takes time to build. If I had stopped after the second year I would have said, “Yep, I was right. About 140 people, that’s the most people [I’ll get].” And then this avalanche comes just seemingly out of nowhere. You make that leap from 140 [members] to 5,000 — at that point, the snowball is rolling. It just sustains its own momentum. Making sure you stick with something long enough to give it a chance to start going and growing is really important.

The NaNoWriMo concept kind of suggests that anyone can write a book. Do you think this is true?
Oh my god, yeah. And I think everybody can write dozens of novels. You look back to the time when we were kids, and if you gave me a stick that I could make into a toy, I was basically good for seven hours. We were all so imaginative at a young age, just sort of running amuck in our imaginations and pretending. All of that is still in us. When we hit puberty, we start to do this thing where we ask, “Am I good at this?” We’re looking around and we’re seeing other people who are better than us at these things. That’s when we start to shut down those parts of ourselves. We have internalized this sense of, “Novels are not written by people like me; novels are written by novelists.” And it turns out novels are written by everyday people who give themselves permission to write novels. Everybody can do it, and everybody should do it.

To me, it feels like most people who take part in National Novel Writing Month are doing this just to have this month-long adventure where they do get to lose themselves in their imagination and reconnect with that spontaneous, creative, joyful, making, doing part of themselves that as adults we don’t tend to make time for. It’s not about hitting The New York Times bestseller list. It is about this giddy sense of fun that comes when you set aside time to just make stuff.

“We have internalized this sense of, ‘Novels are not written by people like me; novels are written by novelists.’ [They] are written by everyday people who give themselves permission to write novels.”

What is more important to your legacy — that you are remembered for founding NaNoWriMo or for your writing?
You know, I would be so happy if my legacy was that I founded National Novel Writing Month. I just think I will be proud for the rest of my life and feel so incredibly lucky to have been involved in it. And if that’s it, if I never publish a novel or sell a screenplay or ever get anything else done, I just feel so lucky. But, for me personally, I do need one or two novels. I feel like that will be also a hugely satisfying feeling. Whether or not it ever is read by anybody other than my mom and my dad is almost irrelevant to me at this point. I just really want to finish it, and I feel like then, at that point, the angels will sing, there will be a lot of dancing in the streets of Berkeley.

Chris Baty’s tips for writing a book in 30 days:
1. Lower your expectations. “Writers put a lot of pressure on themselves, and they look at this first draft as sort of a bellwether about the future potential of that book. Inevitably, first drafts are disastrous. Every book that we’ve loved probably started out as a completely nonsensical, flawed piece of writing. I think you really have to shoot for completion rather than perfection.”

2. Make it a social event. “Our lives are just so crazy and busy with work and school and family that the only way that you’re going to build accountability into the system is to have a support network. Part of that is making sure that your friends and family know that you’re doing this crazy thing for a month. I always encourage people to get on Facebook [and] declare your intentions.”

3. Enlist a writing buddy. It pays to have “a friend or family member or somebody that maybe they met on a NaNoWriMo message board,” as a writing buddy,” says Baty. “If they know that there’s one other person out there that they can swap word counts with and encourage, they are so much more likely to make it through to end of the book and win the challenge.

Andrea Williams is a freelance writer based in Nashville. Follow her at @AndreaWillWrite.

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NEXT >> Hey, How’d You Become a Published Author and TV Writer at 23, Kara Taylor?

Filmmaker, musician and entrepreneur Scott E. Moore has come a long way since his teenage garage jam sessions. He has released solo albums, toured the nation, worked for MTV and produced gorgeous, ethereal wellness films. He has formed his own multi-service production agency, Wingtip, and now he has composed two hours of music for Deepak Chopra and Oprah Winfrey’s 21-day Meditation Challenge soundtrack.

His diverse skill set has provided more than just a living for himself and his family: He’s also accrued a wealth of unusual life experiences. He’s shot a music video for VH1 on horseback in Cairo, filmed the removal of a kidney in an operating room and viewed microscopic images alongside world-class scientists working to cure Alzheimer’s disease.

What were you working on before this opportunity with Deepak came up?
I had just started my own agency (Wingtip.net), combining diverse skill sets that I bring to the table that overlap music and film production. So that’s kind of a weird thing, people always go, which one do you do? And I kind of do them both off and on. I started working in broadcast TV as an intern in the late 80s and continued to work for MTV Networks/VH1 for about 20 years. I left my full-time producer/director job in 1995 to go freelance and make time for music pursuits and other film opportunities like music videos. I made my first record in ’95 and made four subsequent records, and spent a lot of the late 90s touring as a modern folks-blues singer-songwriter. During that time I also did freelance TV production jobs and consulting for places like TNT, Turner Classic Movies, VH1, USA Global Japan and others.

Then, I was the creative director at TheVisualMD for five years, a website that provides visual medical information to people who want to better understand health and science.

Tell me more about the VisualMD.
TheVisualMD was renowned for their mind-blowing medical images (like in-utero infant development, for example), so my job was to take their powerful images and then come up with stories and marry it to interviews and storytelling and the music and the sound design.

“For me, coming from an entertainment background and being a musician, every story I tell has rhythm and dynamics to it.”

When you have to explain how the body works, or if you want to teach someone about weight loss or Alzheimers, these are things that might intimidate people because nobody wants to feel like they’re having a biology lesson. But you can make something dynamic and compelling using music, sound and the powerful images that TheVisualMD themselves created. For me, coming from an entertainment background and being a musician, every story I tell has rhythm and dynamics to it. I feel like you can viscerally pull someone in with that and you can treat them like smart individuals without going over their head. That’s really what I try to do with anything I’m working on: to teach something without dumbing it down.

So how did you go from creating videos for TheVisualMD to working on Deepak and Oprah’s Meditation Challenge?
Deepak was one of our colleagues on a project on the physiological science of emotional bonding between mother and infant. An old colleague who was working with Deepak on this meditation challenge told me they wanted to raise it up a couple of notches. Even though a lot of people participated, the product wasn’t at the quality level they felt it should be, so they had an existing producer and they just brought me in to compose music. I worked with Rich Tozzoli; he and I do a lot of film composition work together.

So the person who handles the Chopra Center Digital Properties was in a crisis. And I just so happened to have just started my agency, and this project would be right up my alley. Ironically, I had started playing atmospheric, soul music live in a yoga studio, which would sell out every month. I played Deepak some of that music, and that’s when it all kind of came full circle and I got the opportunity to do this project.

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How long did it take to complete the project?
We did two hours of original music in about five weeks, which is a really big endeavor. We brought in musicians from around the East Coast who could bring different things to the table. Because technology allows us to work in a variety of studios, [for] our first recording/composing session we did a four-day retreat at a lodge on a lake that I had access to, a recording studio. We wanted to put ourselves in a peaceful, open place if we were going to create music that would help people achieve that very feeling. So that was cool. And it got a little bit more intense as we approached deadlines, but it was just fun, you know? It was like scoring a film without the pictures.

What was the role of Deepak and Oprah in this process?
[The team] had a script that Deepak would read, and a list of emotionally charged words that were the outcomes, [depending on] what emotional states they wanted listeners to focus on. Sometimes it was confidence, sometimes it was adventure and sometimes it was peace.

The structure of the project was that Oprah would recite an intro, and then Deepak would do this kind of mantra — usually something about focusing on being your best self and how you are connected to his earth. I didn’t work directly with Oprah on this project, so I couldn’t tell you if she’s nice or not — she’s definitely a professional!

The whole thing was very rewarding and very similar to film score work because you just have to close your eyes and picture what Deepak was talking about.

“A five-minute film, if you’re smart and doing your work right, can go by really fast and leave somebody with a really enriching experience that inspires them or teaches them things they didn’t know before.”

As you made this beautiful music, what did you hope listeners would get out of it?
What we were trying to do was allow someone to… take a journey. I try to do that with my film work, too, and make sure it’s focused on the editing. A five-minute film, if you’re smart and doing your work right, can go by really fast and leave somebody with a really enriching experience that either inspires them or teaches them things that they didn’t know before, or takes them somewhere where they haven’t been, and that’s what keeps me going.

So what’s next on your agenda?
My own agency and a colleague of mine, Eric Feldman, we’re creating a passion project. Imagine an hour-long documentary on a fascinating individual [that’s] only five minutes long. That individual is someone you know who you feel the world should know. The subject of one documentary is our friend Ray Levier, an amazing musician who found his passion for drums after surviving a serious fire [during] his childhood.

These videos aren’t released yet, but at the end of the year we are going to launch our site with five profiles and a profile about the project. Some of the characters are quirky and some have a lot of talent and some are just these beautiful human beings. [Eric and I] thought if we were going to make something for ourselves to showcase what we’re capable of, tell stories we’re passionate about and try to do some good in this world, this would be it.

A Sneak Peek of Scott E. Moore’s Passion Project:
I got an insider look at one of the pilot segments for Scott’s “It’s Who You Know” project. After viewing this piece on Ray Levier, it’s clear that the intimacy of the set (it’s just Scott and Eric behind the scenes) generates an emotional honesty that you wouldn’t get when employing a full film crew. The visual template is clean and simple. The mix of music and well-placed silence mirrors the nuances of Ray’s emotional story. But I don’t want to give too much away — this piece, along with four or five other films, will be released in early 2014.

Amanda Layman Low is a freelance writer and artist. Contact her on Twitter @AmandaLaymanLow.

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NEXT >> Hey, How’d You Become a Published Author and TV Writer at 23, Kara Taylor?

Before any NBC miniseries about Johnny Carson, before Bill Zehme’s long-gestating biography and before Jimmy Fallon grabs the mantle from Jay Leno, there is Henry Bushkin’s book. And what a book it is.

Released this week by Eamon Dolan Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, the recollections of Carson’s longtime former attorney and close friend have already made major media headlines. Bushkin’s no-holds-barred look at the mercurial personality of Carson is not designed to celebrate the late-night NBC franchise. Rather, it’s a deeply personal and often shocking account of the off-air Carson. As such, it is destined to provoke very different reactions from Carson’s fans.

Bushkin is based on the West coast, but when we spoke, he was in the midst of a busy New York visit. He began by explaining how the book project grew beyond his original plans to self-publish under the title A Hard Act to Follow.

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Name: Henry Bushkin
Position: Lawyer and author
Resume: For 18 years, Bushkin was Johnny Carson’s “personal legal adviser, fixer, confidant and close friend.” In the years since, he has continued to practice law in Los Angeles while also investing in real estate, running a large computer distribution business and working for several international concerns. During Carson’s run on The Tonight Show, he became affectionately known as “Bombastic Bushkin.”
Birthdate: August 8
Hometown: New York
Education: LL.B Vanderbilt University
Marital status: Single, but soon to be otherwise
Media mentor: Johnny Carson
Best career advice received: Don’t back down (Tom Petty)
Guilty pleasure: Sleeping late
Last book read: George, Being George: George Plimpton’s Life as Told, Deplored, Admired, and Envied by 200 Friends, Relatives, Lovers, Acquaintances, Rivals — And a Few Unappreciative Observers by Nelson W. Aldrich Jr.
Twitter handle: @henrybushkin

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In the book’s acknowledgments, you explain how the impetus for the book came in 2008 from fellow (and subsequent) Carson attorney Ed Hookstratten. Can you explain a bit how you got from there to here?
Some time ago, I was about to self-publish the book. The book that has come out this week is essentially the same book. Frankly, when I was going to do it on my own with a small staff, it became apparent that Carson wasn’t relevant in the eyes of New York publishers vis-a-vis New York editors. They thought he was just irrelevant.

When I had the manuscript in polished form, I sent it to a friend of mine in New York. She then immediately sent it to a friend of hers at Vanity Fair, and then she asked if she could send it to a friend of hers, an agent in New York. I said yes. And all of a sudden, there were five publishers bidding for it. So it had quite an evolution that took quite some time, with the book going through several gestation periods.

Did you ever cross paths in your efforts to get published with Bill Zehme, who has been working for a long time now on a separate biography of Carson?
Yes. Bill Zehme called me and emailed me countless times, hoping I would help him [with] his book. To be perfectly honest, he was [a] delightful and smart guy; he writes very well. But I had no interest in participating in his project. As far as I know, the book isn’t even written yet. I’m not sure of the status, but I’ve heard various stories at various times about where it stands.

I’m quite surprised by the amount of attention my book has received. But nonetheless, we talk about it in terms of, “OK, now that this book is out, who would want to publish another Carson book? What would the other Carson book say?” Zehme’s book was meant to be the homage to Carson.

“Journalists just accepted whatever was put out by the sort of Carson machinery that was already well in place. I was well aware of that machinery, because I basically helped create it.”

One of the most telling chapters in your book is the final one, “The End,” about how your relationship with Carson ended. You write at one point about how inaccurate and one-sided the media coverage was then of your parting and how no reporters bothered to contact you directly. Can you talk a bit more about that?
Well, whatever that moment in time was, journalists just accepted whatever was put out by the sort of Carson machinery that was already well in place. I was well aware of that machinery, because I basically helped create it. But that machinery spit out these things that the media picked up upon and they all of a sudden, because they were printed, became true.

And what happened with me, I found it very difficult to combat that. It was almost like sour grapes if you tried to combat it. So when the book was sold to Houghton Mifflin, they bought it as is; they had no right to change any of it. However, some of those last few things about how it ended with Carson, I didn’t have that in the original manuscript. My ending ended with me and Johnny shaking hands after a three-minute conversation. That was my ending.

They insisted because of all this regurgitation of reportage about what happened in 1988 to ’89, “Look, this is going to come up, so you better put something in there about what really happened at the end.” I didn’t think the story necessarily gained anything by having it in, but Houghton Mifflin insisted on it. And I didn’t have to put it in, by the way. But ultimately, I agreed.

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NEXT >> So What Do You Do, Michael Musto, Entertainment and Gossip Columnist?

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Your book received a lot of advance attention and coverage in the media in connection with Chapter Two, which recounts you and Carson breaking into his second wife Joanne’s NYC apartment in 1970 to find out who she was cheating with at the time. How was that orchestrated?
I’ll tell you the genesis of that. First of all, it has nothing to do with me. At one point, Vanity Fair, People magazine and some others were talking about running a chapter or chapters of the book. The powers-that-be at the publisher decided that Entertainment Weekly would be the best spot to sell books.

They were given the right of first publication, meaning no other reviews could run until they ran whatever it was they were going to run. Their deal was they got one chapter, pick-the-chapter they want. And they picked that chapter.

That, by the way, is not the entire story. Because prior to that, I had done a phone interview with Jeffrey Trachtenberg of the Wall Street Journal. The response to the interview was such that the online interview then went to the front page of the online edition, and then it went in the newspaper, which they never do. He called me to tell me this never happens. He was amazed at the reaction that his interview was getting, picked up by so many people. The same thing happened with Entertainment Weekly.

And what it proves is that these publishers in New York were idiots, they really were. But maybe the timing is right now. Maybe Johnny is doing his renaissance now, who knows? But I’m happy that the book is attracting attention.

Did you read Kathie Lee Gifford’s reaction to Chapter Two?
No. As far as the media coverage of Chapter Two, that’s something that happened 43 years ago and the point of me writing that chapter was not to create controversy between Carson fans and myself, or between Frank Gifford and me, or whoever. It was to really show how I met the guy. That’s how I met him! What am I supposed to do, not write it? I don’t know what more to say other than to me, Gifford was not the punchline of the chapter at all. The punchline of that chapter is the bar scene, where we’re sitting in the corner of the place at 3 a.m., and there’s nobody else there “except you and me.” That’s what I thought the telling part of that chapter was. And the fact that the media focused on Joanne Carson and Frank Gifford, to me that was like the “So what?” part of it.

“Everybody pays attention to that [chapter], and it’s not comforting to me. That’s like sensationalizing something I never intended to be sensational.”

Everybody pays attention to that, and it’s not comforting to me. That’s like sensationalizing something I never intended to be sensational. That’s what they go for and that’s what annoyed me. Because that had really nothing to do with what I intended in the chapter. The controversy bothers me because it’s so ridiculous. What am I supposed to think, that I didn’t go into Joanne’s apartment?

And listen to this. The CEO of Houghton Mifflin gets a communiqué from Joanne Carson’s personal assistant at the time, saying that Joanne Carson is a liar, please call me, I’ll give you all details if you need them. To the publisher! And I say to myself, “How silly is this? Who cares? Why do they care now about this kind of thing?”

Do you have any thoughts on who should be cast as Johnny in that proposed NBC miniseries?
Look, I’m in New York. This week we’re talking about the book, of course. But it was actually mostly devoted to other things. We are in the midst of some very interesting and confidential discussions about a Broadway play with music centered around a particular year, like 1980, in Carson’s life and my life. Like a snippet. All I can say is that there’s compelling interest in that. The Broadway audience is Carson’s sweet spot. The entertainment value of it is going to be significant.

As far as the NBC miniseries, it’s based on the Zehme book. Now we don’t know if that book exists, so we don’t know if the miniseries exists. But to the extent that it does, God bless. We have a very appealing way of approaching the subject matter because of the intimacy of the characters, versus showing Carson on The Tonight Show doing Aunt Blabby. That’s fun and funny, but there’s no brilliance there.

Finally, what are your thoughts about Jimmy Fallon taking over The Tonight Show?
I’m not really astute when it comes to that. But what I would say is I think it’s a terrific move coming back to New York. Because when you think about The Tonight Show, most of the energy to that show was derived in New York. When it went to California in 1972, it was very successful. He was very much in command of that show. But the real creative energy, I would say, went into it when it was in New York. So I think Fallon is making the right move.

Richard Horgan is co-editor of FishbowlNY.

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NEXT >> So What Do You Do, Michael Musto, Entertainment and Gossip Columnist?

Few things can send shivers down a seasoned freelancer’s spine like the words, “Thanks for the hard work, but I don’t think I can use this.” And, no, the promise of a paycheck doesn’t ease the tension, though it does help. I know because I’ve experienced the early death of piece a time or two in the past.

The truth is, no matter how much time you’ve devoted to crafting the perfect draft and how closely you followed an editor’s directions, killed stories are bound to happen at some point during your career. Fortunately, penning a story that doesn’t make it to press doesn’t mean all hope is lost. Lucky for me, I know a thing or two about bouncing back from disappointment and resurrecting your beloved piece. Mourning writers everywhere, follow these six steps to recovering from a story deferred.

1. Verify the status.

It may seem like a no-brainer, but make sure the story has actually been killed before doing anything else, says Anna Davies, former Cosmopolitan editor turned full-time freelancer. “I’ve written stories that have been on hold for up to a year before they ran, so getting an editor to commit to running the piece is key.”

If and when the editor does confirm the killed status, you’ll want to find out exactly why your story didn’t make the cut. It may not be a reflection of poor execution, but have everything to do with something going on behind the scenes. The publishing industry is constantly changing; therefore, it’s sometimes hard to predict whether or not a story assigned in December will still work for a national publication six months later.

2. Learn and move on.

It’s tempting to wallow in your sorrows once the plug has been pulled. Although you may want to hide for cover, you’ve still got some unfinished business to take care of with your editor. Confronting the situation and asking what went wrong is essential for moving past the incident.

While changes at the publication can result in failed stories, there are times you might be the one at fault. Be prepared to take responsibility for any shortcomings or misunderstandings. Most importantly, be able to learn from the situation. Not every editor is willing to be your mentor, but some are willing to give you feedback as to why something won’t or didn’t work.

“Even if the original assignment didn’t work out, there’s no reason to let all that research go to waste.”

And whatever you do, don’t be overly apologetic. You’ll only appear desperate and needy to the editor, which doesn’t bode well if you hope to work with him or her again. I learned the hard way that editors simply don’t have patience for it. Instead, thank them for the opportunity and assure that you’ll apply the lessons from the experience to future assignments.

Regardless of the reason, it’s never easy dealing with the rejection of an assignment. But instead of getting emotional, wondering if you’ll ever be good enough, try being logical, suggests New Jersey freelance writer, Stephanie Auteri. “I like to remind myself you can’t make everyone happy and you can’t be the right writer for everyone. If someone isn’t head-over-heels in love with something you did, you can’t take it personally. You have to remind yourself of all the positive feedback you did receive,” she says.

3. Fight for your rights.

Now that you know your prized piece stands no chance of getting printed in the chosen publication, it’s time to take some action. Comb through the contract to find out exactly what you are entitled to. If you are lucky, you’ll be paid for the entire piece. In other cases, you may be offered a kill fee.

Kill fees aren’t meant to protect the writer. They’re meant to protect the publication in the event the story was written so poorly it can’t be used or the fact checker found many issues with the story. They shouldn’t be used when editors change their mind, lack direction, leave the publication or just aren’t clear of what they want. That’s why Boston-based freelance writer, Susan Johnston suggests writers advocate for the full pay, if deserved. “If the writer holds up her side of the bargain and the story is killed for other reasons, I think it’s reasonable for the writer to politely and respectfully advocate for the full fee rather than accepting 50 percent or less of the agreed upon fee.”

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NEXT >> 4 Pitch Letter Must-Haves

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Sometimes the editor will agree with you and offer the full amount. However, if the editor does not agree, you’ll have to decide whether potentially straining the relationship is worth the extra bucks. If the editor is one to constantly push back publication dates, kill stories or request constant rounds of edits, it may be worth it to fight for the pay and cut ties.

4. Repurpose and strategize.

I like to revisit the story and see what interesting parts may be used in research for other stories. Even if the original assignment didn’t work out, there’s no reason to let all that research go to waste. Create a list of useable information from the story and file it away in case it can be applied to something else in the future. If anything, it would make for a great, quick reference if ever you’re in need of sources on a similar topic.

5. Alert your sources.

You’d probably let your sources know when the story you quoted them for is available, so you should alert your sources in the event the story doesn’t pan out. Wouldn’t you hate it if you were spending lots of money on every issue of a particular magazine only to find out the story you were quoted in was never published?

I know it can be embarrassing to rehash the fact that your story didn’t make the cut to someone who probably doesn’t understand the industry, but it’s the courteous thing to do. In the past, I’ve sent short emails to my sources, thanking them for their contribution and letting them know that the story wasn’t published as planned because of space constraints, difference in opinions or issues with timeliness. I also promise to alert them if the story gets published at a later date. Most of my sources have responded with a note of support and appreciation for the update.

“No editor wants to receive the sloppy seconds of your story.”

6. Pitch and publish the story elsewhere.

The original assigning editor may have killed your story, but that doesn’t mean it can’t live on at some other publication. “Dust yourself off and start pitching,” says Kristen Fischer, author of When Talent Isn’t Enough: Business Basics for the Creatively Inclined. “If you’ve placed it once, you can probably do it again. Who knows? You may wind up with more money from it the second time around.”

Unless the killed story is a personal essay, I would advise against sending the entire piece to another editor — especially if the story was killed because the editor didn’t like it. Remember the list of useable facts I suggested you create earlier? Well, now is the time to revisit the list and use the information to create a new pitch.

However, freelance writer, Joel Long* finds it beneficial to tweak the work he’s already done for another publication. “I usually pitch the idea, and then, if accepted, re-hash the article while adding some stuff that wasn’t in the original piece or rearrange some [points].”

Even if you’ve repackaged the killed story into a new pitch or altered the story, keep mum about the story’s morbid history. No editor wants to receive the sloppy seconds of your story, warns Davies. “If an article is killed from one publication, you don’t want another magazine to know because their thinking is, if X magazine doesn’t want it, why would we?” she says.

If all else fails, consider posting it on your own blog. It may be better off living in this form to help build your portfolio than rotting away in your hard drive never to be seen again.

*Name has been changed.

Terri Huggins is a freelance writer living in New Jersey. Visit her website www.terrificwords.com or follow her on Twitter @TerrificWords

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NEXT >> 4 Pitch Letter Must-Haves

You don’t exist in a vacuum — and you probably don’t want your writing to exist in a vacuum, either. A poet wants to inspire her readers; a journalist wants to enlighten his. An author of a service piece wants to teach, while a satirist writes to entertain. Regardless of the type of work you do, you write because you have something to say. Your audience is out there, and finding markets for your work will connect you with those people. Depending on your career goals, the best market may be online or in print, paying or non-paying.

Do Your Research

When you start searching for a market for your work, have your audience in mind. Let’s say you’ve developed an idea for a story on your success at quitting smoking using unorthodox techniques. Your piece is a witty personal essay about overcoming your habit at age 35. Who would read this piece? It’s probably not a story for professionals in the health industry, or teen partygoers. Rather than a teen magazine or online health journal, an adult lifestyle magazine may be the perfect fit.

Now, to find markets that attract your “reader type,” search for both print and digital publications that cater to that audience. Googling your topic is a good place to start, but there are other databases and newsletters that can point you toward appropriate markets. Travel writer Susan Barnes (travlingirl.com) uses Mediabistro and Wooden Horse Publishing, which puts out a free weekly newsletter that highlights a variety of publications.

Karen Craigo, poet and former editor of the Mid-American Review, uses the Poets & Writers online database to find markets. She also suggests paying attention to who publishes the work of writers you love. “Read the prize anthologies like The Best American Poetry, The O. Henry Prize Stories ___ and [you] can easily discover new magazines to read and new online publications.” She also recommends reading acknowledgements pages. “At the beginning [of these compilations] it says poems have appeared in such-and-such journals___ check out all of those and you can discover new journals that way.”

“Success doesn’t just come from selling a story to the most prestigious market — it also comes from real connections with people.”

I enjoy the FundsforWriters paid newsletter (there’s a free one, too), which comes out every two weeks and only lists markets that pay their writers fairly. But I’ll still leaf through a hard copy of the Writer’s Market and visit the periodicals section of my library to familiarize myself with magazines as well.

Digital or Print?

When considering whether to submit your work to online or print markets, there are a few key pros and cons for each. Koa Beck, editor-in-chief of Mommyish.com, says that “digital often doesn’t pay as well as print, but you can respond to a current event in a super timely manner and have it go viral___ if it resonates with people.”

Barnes echoes Beck’s observation. “Obviously [with] online it can be more immediate gratification,” she says, “whereas if it’s in print you may have to wait a couple of months___ one of my print pieces was supposed to run next month and it got pushed off a month.” So if you’re working with an extremely time-sensitive topic, unless you have a strong relationship with a print publication, you may be better off submitting to an online market.

Although print does generally pay more, writing for print is a double-edged sword. Barnes states, “I have found for the most part that print pays more, but then again, that market is diminishing.” If you’re a new writer, it can be helpful to bolster your resume by getting published online before jumping into the more competitive world of print. Many popular magazines have online counterparts that are largely fed by the work of new freelancers as well.

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NEXT >> 4 Pitch Letter Must-Haves

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Ongoing Assignments

Successful freelancers, like any entrepreneurs, will tell you that repeat business is essential to furthering your career. Once you’ve established a connection with an editor, it’s much easier to pitch a new idea to that editor than to break into a new market.

Beck gives an editor’s perspective: “Keep pitching and follow up. I receive so many pitches from good writers that aren’t a good fit for us, but that doesn’t mean I’m not interested in anything else you might come up with.” Personally, I often send two or three ideas in my follow-up pitch letters to demonstrate my expertise and willingness to write more on a topic. However, when I’m first contacting an editor, I typically only submit one very fleshed-out idea to make a good first impression.

Barnes says that her work is half comprised of repeat business and half new markets. “There are always new publications or new online outlets debuting, so I’m constantly pitching new editors. I don’t sit on my laurels knowing I have these two or three I write for regularly because they’re not going to want everything I want to do.” She emphasizes diversity in your choice of markets, and I agree — especially if you rely on your freelance income. You never know which opportunities are going to dry up, or when.

___But It Isn’t All About Pay

There’s nothing quite like the rush of wondering how you’re going to pay rent this month (kidding, sort of). And while I will always be an advocate for writers getting paid for their work, there are instances in which this just isn’t practical. And sometimes, an unpaid opportunity leads to other hidden benefits.

“Some writers write to make a living, others do it to inspire or teach. Regardless of your intent, dedication and passion for your craft must come first.”

Craigo describes the non-financial benefits of getting your writing out there. “Because I have published, I’ve had artist residencies. I’ve been asked to read various places, and I’ve had a great time___ I’ve been hosted, taken out to dinner and given a little honorarium to read my work and that’s super fun,” she says. “Some people get jobs from it too, which can be very lucrative.”

Success doesn’t just come from selling a story to the most prestigious market — it also comes from real connections with people. Barnes says she earned a number of assignments after being introduced to an editor, through a friend, who she would have never imagined pitching before. She also affirms the power of social media, especially Twitter: “People want to connect with new people. For instance, I’m the host of [the Go Girl Travel Networks’] #GirlsTravel chat on Mondays. I co-host with six other women I’ve never met before, but we all have a similar passion. We’ve been doing it a year.”

The more writers and editors you meet, the larger your scope of potential opportunities and friendships.

Love What You Do

Some writers write to make a living, others do it to inspire or teach. Regardless of your intent, dedication and passion for your craft must come first. “Write for the love of writing___ and to reach people who might desperately need to hear what it is you have to say,” says Craigo. “Anytime any considerations that are more pecuniary get in the way, anytime considerations that are based on fame and fortune get in the way of it, it’s an impure motive and it’s not going to serve you well.”

I won’t lie and tell you that you should just do what you love, and money will take care of itself. I have written on subjects that bore me because, well, doing so allowed me to afford groceries that week. But I do agree with Craigo in that a lack of passion for the writing itself is unsustainable.

I once heard a writer say, “I write because I am completely inept at everything else.” That’s how I feel for the most part (okay, I’m quite good at Candy Crush Saga, but last I checked that’s not a valid career option). But if the only way to continue doing what I love is to punctuate my career with the occasional piece for a lower-paying market, so be it. Everything I write, published or not, strengthens my skill and restores my confidence in choosing this path.

Amanda Layman Low is a freelance writer and artist. Contact her on Twitter @AmandaLaymanLow.

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NEXT >> 4 Pitch Letter Must-Haves

The blog has come a long way. Blogs used to be personal journals in digital form, platforms for mundane drivel (content that seems to have migrated to Facebook and Instagram). Now blogs are informative to the masses, entertaining and even profitable. If you’ve been curious about tapping into the blog market, there are a few things you need to know about the reality of the work. To get some expert insight, I spoke with Blair Koenig, author of the viral blog that pokes fun at parental oversharing on social media, STFU, Parents — a site that gets around 1.5 to 2 million page views a month.

Basic Blog Types

There are two general types of blogs: MABs (multi-author blogs) and single-author blogs. Under these categories, blogs branch off even further. Some blogs appear on professional websites, nonprofits or corporate websites. Others are intended to entertain or inform, often appearing similar in style to a digital magazine. Other blogs echo the old format, resembling personal diaries. Whatever the style, you’ll know it’s a blog if its stories appear in reverse chronological order (most recent post at the top), and if it has some interactive aspect, like a “comments” section.

Writing for an established MAB is often similar to writing for a magazine — you pitch the editor your idea, she gets back to you with a deadline, you write it and, depending on the blog, you may or may not get paid. Additionally, established MABs may not require freelancers to do any work on the technical side; that is, you simply provide them material and they publish it.

If you’re starting a single-author blog, on the other hand, be prepared to do some serious legwork. Koenig’s blog is her own brainchild, and after four years of blogging she’s still a solo act. “I definitely think it’s a lot more effort and time than people realize,” she says. When she first started, she was working on the blog seven days a week — and even now she’s spending most of every day going through submissions, updating social media, writing, doing interviews and other supplementary freelance gigs. “I might even go through 50 blog comments while in line at the post office or something, just to get it out of the way,” she says. “It’s just a messy ball of work.”

“If you’re going for an idea-driven blog like STFU, Parents, your writing style and content choices will drive traffic to your site.”

Generating the Perfect Idea

Though there isn’t a specific formula for finding that one “perfect idea” for a blog, Koenig believes that you’ll know it when you’ve found it. When she first observed how often parents were oversharing about their children on social media, she realized “this is definitely something people should be talking about because it’s kind of funny, and it’s kind of weird and it’s new.” She emphasizes the importance of freshness in a blog — having a unique approach to style or parenting or whatever your subject matter is essential to success.

The blog to which I contribute, Mommyish.com, is characterized in its title and slogan: “Parenting Imperfect.” I believe what sets Mommyish apart is its candid and humorous take on parenting. Mommyish doesn’t hold back from discussing the gritty side of raising a child, and its contrarian pieces often stir up conversation among the readership.

A successful blog topic also depends on your goals as a blogger. If you’re going for an idea-driven blog like STFU, Parents, your writing style and content choices will drive traffic to your site. When Koenig noticed that her content around the holiday season was especially popular, she decided to “blow up the holidays” and position them as something special for her readers to look forward to.

Monetizing Your Blog

When contributing to a MAB, your pay rate is your pay rate. But when you’re building your own personal blog, it’s up to you to figure out how to make money — whether it’s from ad networks, independent advertisers, book deals, stores or through other media outlets. Koenig jokes, “I know there’s a lot out there that makes it sound like if you’re a popular blogger someone’s going to just ring your doorbell and be like, ‘Hey, I want to make a movie [based on your blog]!’ But it’s really, really hard and usually a lot of that stuff is created from the blogger [rather] than the other way around.”

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Koenig uses three different ad networks and a couple of independent advertisers to earn money on her blog. She landed a book deal after completing the grueling process of writing a 60-page book proposal. She has plans to build a store within her website featuring STFU, Parents-themed merchandise as well. But money doesn’t suddenly start flowing in when your blog becomes popular, according to Koenig. She’s appeared on Good Morning America and various news outlets to talk about her blog, and although these appearances spike traffic to her site, she’s not getting paid outright for any publicity.

Her opportunities for income have primarily stemmed from her reaching out to advertisers, and even then, due to a downward trend in Internet advertising, it’s still “a juggling act, and it’s always shifting. A lot of it is actually money out of my pocket just to maintain the website.”

Dos and Don’ts of Blogging

If you’re in the beginning stages of starting your blog, there are several things you can do now to avoid difficulty down the line.

• Create brand consistency by registering your blog’s name as a domain name and on social media. Koenig admits, “I totally dropped the ball at one point and noticed someone had started an “STFU Parents” YouTube channel___ I could never get it back; I didn’t even try.”
• Once you have a social media presence, drive traffic to your site by updating posts on Facebook, Twitter or whichever other sites are appropriate for your blog. Koenig scours the Internet daily for interesting parenting-related stories, and updates her STFU, Parents Facebook page with links and photos.
• Establish consistency with posting. You don’t have to post every day if you don’t have the time, but choose a posting schedule, perhaps once a week, and stick to it religiously. If your readership looks forward to one post a day, and suddenly you drop it down to one a month, you may lose your audience.

“Choose a posting schedule, perhaps once a week, and stick to it religiously. If your readership looks forward to one post a day, and suddenly you drop it down to one a month, you may lose your audience.”

Because most blogs are community oriented, be prepared for negative feedback. The best way to deal with a “troll” or abrasive commenter, according to Koenig, is to “step away from the computer and take a walk, because it will put things in perspective.” When you get back to your desk, Koenig suggests you defend yourself calmly when there’s a serious misunderstanding — perhaps you chose a word that people are misinterpreting, and some clarification will make a big difference. Otherwise, she says, “it’s a lot like dealing with children. If you show weakness, then people will pile on top of you and make fun of you or call you a hypocrite___ it can really affect your self-esteem, and it can totally affect my output.” Remember, your job as a blogger is to maintain your blog. If negative comments are clouding your mind, the whole thing comes crashing down.

Using Your Blog As a Stepping Stone

Blogging isn’t for everyone. In addition to the time commitment, Koenig states that “there’s also a lot less money to be made, so the combination of those things is not always very helpful.” It’s true — it can be years before you monetize on your personal blog, and selling a piece here and there to a MAB may only supplement your writing career (if it even pays at all).

But if you have something important to say or sell, starting your own blog about it can be gratifying on many levels. You have ultimate control over the design and layout. You can pick and choose your own angles and topics. Above all, says Koenig, your blog “is an extension of who you are. I always wanted to focus on humor. Hopefully in the future I’ll continue to do more humor writing, and this could be a good stepping stone.” Whether you’re a master craftsperson, a burgeoning stylist or the next Stephen Colbert, a blog is a great way to project your voice and talents.

Amanda Layman Low is a freelance writer and artist. Contact her on Twitter @AmandaLaymanLow.

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Maybe you’ve had it with pantyhose and office politics. Maybe you’re a parent who longs to spend more time at home with your children. Maybe you’re an introvert who can’t imagine a better gig than churning out words alone in your office. Writers become freelancers for different reasons, and there are real benefits to working from home — among them, creating your own schedule, having more control over the growth and direction of your work and being able to literally take your work anywhere (spontaneous Grand Canyon trip, anyone?)

I made my decision to freelance because there are few traditional career opportunities for writers in my Midwestern town. Although I’ve been successful over these four years, there have been setbacks and hurdles that I’m still working to overcome. Here’s how I’ve addressed them.

Irregular income.

The most jarring part of going from a “normal” job to freelancing is the lack of regular income. The best way to combat this is to establish an emergency fund while you’re still working your regular job — three times your monthly living expenses is a solid safety net. You can go with less if you’re only taking care of yourself, you have a partner who brings in steady income or you’re willing to live well below your means for awhile.

Did I have an emergency fund when I started freelancing? Nope, and that is my biggest regret. When I quit my waitressing job on a whim to be a full-time writer, my partner was going to school and working as a bartender. We had also just gotten married and had racked up a significant amount of debt on our expensive San Francisco honeymoon.

Three months into my freelance adventures (I’d earned about a measly $200 in that time), my husband lost his job. We started using a credit card for groceries and gas, the same credit card we’d stupidly used on our honeymoon. It took us three years to pay off the debt we’d accrued in just a few months. If I’d thought it through, I would have saved at least $1,000 before starting my freelance career — or I would’ve put off my wedding.

But an emergency fund and frugal living will only work for so long. When you do start making money, you have to ensure it’s going to keep coming in. In my experience, it helps to view each job as a stepping stone to the next. The more work you do, the more you can phase out the small stuff from your resume and replace it with the bigger stuff. As the quality of your work improves, you will gain confidence and experience to pitch higher-paying markets.

“It helps to view each job as a stepping stone to the next. The more work you do, the more you can phase out the small stuff from your resume and replace it with the bigger stuff.”

But I must warn you, this is not a fast career track toward the American dream. I have worked furiously and made small gains over time, while seeing others my age get promotions, buy houses and new cars, adopt puppies, take vacations and give expensive gifts. I am 27, my family of three lives in a two-bedroom apartment, I’ve never purchased a new car and all of our furniture is second hand or something that came out of a box from Walmart. One day we’ll be able to afford curtains, new clothes and trips to visit extended family, but we’re prepared to wait indefinitely for that. Are you?

Challenges as a new parent.

When I was pregnant, I had every intention of continuing my writing with my baby nestled close to me in a sling. I assumed as she got a little older, she would toddle around on the floor while I went about my work. As it turns out, babies aren’t fans of being left alone on the floor. And my daughter happened to be exceptionally skilled at crying out for me whenever I was just beginning to settle in to a writing project.

I decided to enroll her in daycare when she was 15 months old, and despite the heartache and disapproval of some of my traditional family members, it became the best decision I could have made.

While you may be able to “have it all” and squeeze in your writing time while your child naps, it will take you much longer to stabilize and make serious income if you’re only working a couple hours a day. Here are two major fears that held me back from putting my daughter in daycare (and why I’m so glad I overcame them):

• I can’t afford childcare on a freelance income. And even if I can, I’m only breaking even. This seems like a bit of a catch-22 (so you’re telling me I’m going to lose money and someone else is going to get to see my kid all day?), but the reality is actually very different. The more time you have to work, the more money you make. But you won’t have more time until you find care for your child. Yes, the first few months of full-time freelancing may only allow you to break even with your childcare expenses. But as I mentioned above, each writing job paves the way for the next bigger, better one. My real-life example: When my daughter was at home with me, I was earning about $200 a month. After her first month in daycare, I earned $600 a month — I broke even with the cost of daycare. Five months later, I earned $1,500, $900 more than the cost of childcare and with more writing experience to tuck under my belt for future opportunities.
• Having someone else raise my child is detrimental and selfish. Although you will hear reasonable arguments from both sides about whether a young child needs to be home with a parent for the formative years, there is also this undeniable fact: Even very young children are affected negatively when their parents are unhappy. If being a stay-at-home parent or only working part-time is making you unhappy, your child will know. A few hours a day of joyful, quality time with your child is far more beneficial to her health than a full day with a sad or resentful parent.

Regarding parenting and freelancing, do what’s best for your family. I know a few wonderful women who stay at home with their children full time and write whenever they can, and it fulfills them. We are all different, and what’s most important is that you stay true to you. Just don’t let the fear of change stifle your potential for happiness and success.

“Some of my best months as a freelancer were spent drinking bottomless coffee at my favorite caf_?.”

No benefits package.

The way I feel about health insurance and retirement benefits is the same way I feel about unicorns: they seem so lovely and exotic and wouldn’t it be great to have them, but it’s a luxury I’ve never known. I have a Roth IRA to which I don’t contribute enough, and I have utilized walk-in clinics, community clinics with sliding fees and government health insurance to get me through some of my medical emergencies — but there are better options. Here are a few:

• Health. You may qualify for state aid (Medicaid) if your income falls under your state’s threshold. If you are 65 or older, you may qualify for Medicare. According to USA.gov, in October of 2013 you can visit your state’s Health Insurance Marketplace to find care under the Affordable Care Act. You may also consider joining the Freelancers Union, which offers health, disability and retirement benefits to independent contractors throughout the United States.
• Retirement. If you qualify, consider setting up a Roth IRA. Unlike traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs grow tax free, and when you withdraw from one, you don’t have to pay taxes on it. As of 2013, the most you can contribute each year to a Roth is $5,500 ($6,500 if you’re 50 or older). You must also, as an individual, have an adjusted gross income (AGI) of under $110,000; for a couple filing jointly, your AGI must be under $173,000. If you make more than that, you can’t contribute to a Roth IRA, and furthermore, please contact me @AmandaLaymanLow and let me know who you’re writing for and how you scored that gig.

Going stir crazy.

If you’re still working a traditional job, you may be itching to separate yourself from that one coworker who won’t shut up about baseball or last night’s episode of Mad Men. But believe me, having to keep yourself company for hours on end can be just as exhausting.

If you can, get a laptop. Some of my best months as a freelancer were spent drinking bottomless coffee at my favorite caf_?. There were regulars, like the sweet old man who would say sweet old man things like “working hard, or hardly working?” then go chain smoke outside and slowly scratch his lottery tickets. And the intelligent barista, Alex, with whom I had opposing views on religion, and the sassy barista Ashley who would tease my husband and toss us free snacks every once in awhile.

“My first safeguard against distractibility is to have an inspiring workspace used only for writing.”

The caf_? closed, and I went back to being stir crazy. Since then I’ve utilized the library, which is one of the few places where it’s okay to work and loiter without buying anything. A few months ago, I rallied together a community volleyball team — we were horrible, I think we won one game out of 20, but being around people made a huge difference. Most recently, I’ve taken up rock climbing at an indoor gym, and I’m starting to meet some fascinating people there. In addition, the total mind and body workout that comes from climbing helps offset the stagnancy of sitting quietly at my computer all day (you should see my guns, guys).

Difficulty separating home from work.

One of my favorite books is by Marcia Golub, and for all of its chapters on the distractions of working from home, it’s ironically titled, I’d Rather Be Writing. We often choose to become freelance writers because we’re invigorated by the idea of doing what we love all day long, only to realize that, as Golub puts it:

When there’s no boss hovering over your shoulder, and you can’t get that vision of the overflowing laundry basket out of your head, and you don’t really have any immediate deadlines, it’s difficult to stay on task.

My first safeguard against distractibility is to have an inspiring workspace used only for writing. The corner of our second bedroom is my office — everything from the green banker’s lamp to the stack of reference books to the idea-splattered bulletin board is dedicated to my work alone. If my husband uses my computer at night, he knows to clean up after himself like he’s fleeing a crime scene, fingerprints and all. He knows how important it is for me to have this area be a blank slate each morning.

At the end of each work day, I prepare a to-do list on a 3 X 5 note card for the next day. Here’s today’s list:

• Update invoice spreadsheet
• Work on MediaBistro piece
• Find experts for articles due in two weeks
• Follow up with consulting company on new project/start project

My little list serves as a guide, and while it keeps me focused and divides my day into concrete tasks, it also reassures me on days I’m feeling overwhelmed. Being able to cross off each task as I complete it gives me a sense of progress, and makes a busy day feel less daunting. And sometimes I’ll even have time left over for laundry!

It’s taken me four years to develop my little system, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t still duck away for the occasional afternoon nap or throw in the towel early to watch TV on a bad day. But like any other job, when something isn’t working, you adapt to the drawbacks and work to restore balance the best way you can.

Amanda Layman Low is a freelance writer and artist. Contact her on Twitter @AmandaLaymanLow.

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