When I quit my day job four years ago to become a freelance writer, I aggressively threw myself into the digital and physical world. I signed on to Elance, Examiner and content farms. I tacked up flyers around town advertising my services, called local businesses asking if they needed my help and proselytized former professors and friends about the array of writing and editing I could do. On the side, I did commissioned artwork and opened an Etsy store to sell my existing paintings.

Despite this lofty expenditure of energy, I had little success. In three months I made $100 on Elance, $30 on Examiner and averaged $30 a day writing content-farm material. In my desperate attempt to do everything, I did nothing — and earned nothing.

Then I honed in, focusing on copyediting, parenting essays and service pieces on writing. Ironically, narrowing my focus broadened my opportunities. Though the sporadic nature and pay of our work as freelancers makes it tempting to cultivate every random idea, here’s my advice: don’t. Specialize first, and branch out within your specialty. Here’s how.

Become an expert

Whether you’re a new freelancer or an established one, you may already gravitate toward a specific subject or two. Focus on a topic you’re truly interested in, and the writing will come naturally. Don’t worry about markets just yet. There are paying markets for every niche, and you’ll land those gigs if your work is strong.

“Though the sporadic nature and pay of our work as freelancers makes it tempting to cultivate every random idea, here’s my advice: don’t.”

Camilla McLaughlin, a real estate writer for more than 20 years, fell into real estate writing from a place of passion. “I have worked with an architect and had my house designed and built. I’ve bought new houses and old houses, so I have those insights___ It just gives me a little background. Once you start writing in a specialty and you do it for awhile, you just start to accumulate a lot of knowledge.”

Nicola Joyce has been a freelance fitness writer, based in England, since 2004, when she sold her first piece on her experience swimming the English Channel. “It was always my intention to be the go-to person in my field,” she says of being a writer specializing in fitness. “After nearly nine years, I think this has slowly become the case.”

Reaching out across social media can boost your presence and reliability as an expert in a specific field. Joyce uses social media to “communicate and share relevant, useful information. I position myself not just as an expert voice but as a curator of information and a knowledge hub.” Alerting your readership to news and the work of other writers in your field not only expands your own knowledge, but also generates interest in you as a writer and person.

Choose opportunities wisely

You cultivate your career with both opportunities you accept and those you pass up. Rae Francoeur operates the New Arts Collaborative, a creative services business, after decades of writing and editing on the subjects of fine and literary arts. She recounts a job offer she had as a night editor. “It was a step up for me, but I was a single parent and the commute was a long one. I tried it out; I spent two weeks there, and I just couldn’t do it. It was too disruptive to my daughter. I often tell my friends, just because there is an opportunity, it doesn’t mean you have to take it. There are times I think people should say no and try to stick to the track that they really want to be on.”

If the pay is too low, the amount of work too demanding or the subject is outside of your area of interest, don’t be afraid to say no. A former client connected me with a man who needed help getting his mystery novel published, and when I read his email it seemed that what he really needed was a literary agent. I could have given him advice, working as a sort of consultant. But he seemed a little too proud and inflexible, and I wasn’t sure I would enjoy working with someone like that. Additionally, this type of work wasn’t in line with the direction I wanted my career to follow, so I politely declined.

“One of the most rewarding aspects of specializing is enabling yourself to write what you love.”

Joyce emphasizes the importance of finding paid opportunities, even as a newcomer. “Don’t write for free. It devalues what we, and you, do. Explore the extra avenues of digital. Digital publications often need content for more than main features___ snippets to promote forthcoming issues of a magazine, promotional content for eBooks and add-ons and content to tie in with social media projects.”

McLaughlin also highlights how opportunities can unfold within your specialty if you get creative with it. “Real estate writing can be a story about a property, home or commercial. It can be about an unusual renovation or the experience of the homeowner with the property. Keep a pretty broad focus [within your field of interest], and follow every avenue that you can.”

Never stop honing your specialty

Getting your name and face out into the world can be intimidating, but you don’t have to reinvent the wheel to do it. Start by having your byline out there, Francoeur suggests. Also, consider writer’s conferences, book expos and blog conventions. Joyce accumulates fitness knowledge by signing up for email alerts from fitness organizations, attending business networking and industry-related events, and she is also a member of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the UK and Ireland and the Fitness Writers’ Association. McLaughlin connects with local editors and homeowners and attends trade shows to keep her finger on the pulse of real estate.

Or, if you’re a bit of an entrepreneur like Francoeur, consider coordinating your own events. Francoeur has put on literary panels, regional writers conferences and fundraisers to benefit her community. This type of effort may seem Herculean, but even a handful of literary connections can be enough to pull a conference together and get the word out. However, for writers looking to start on a smaller scale and earn some extra income, Francoeur says, “I have friends who have writers groups in their homes for a fee. You can put it on Craigslist or MeetUp, or just posting something in the library.”

Pursue your passion

One of the most rewarding aspects of specializing is enabling yourself to write what you love. Joyce shares this sentiment about her fitness writing, “I sometimes work seven days a week and often start earlier than I would have if I was still in house. But I never feel like I’m working.” Specialization may sound like something you have to fall into by luck, like Internet stardom or lottery winnings. But in reality, if you make valuable contacts with people in your field and take time to brainstorm new or unusual outlets for your writing, you can fuel your career by writing only what you love.

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

@AmandaLaymanLow.

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NEXT >> Finding The Right Market For Your Work

You’re passionate about food, and have devoted hundreds of hours to your food blog. But is it realistically possible to make a career out of cooking, taste-testing, and talking about food to anyone who will listen?

Adam Roberts, who started the Amateur Gourmet in 2004, was able to turn his humorous failures and successes into the kitchen into a book of essays, and later parlayed his food savvy into shows on FoodNetwork.com and Food2.com. Molly Wizenberg, who also started her blog Orangette early on, acknowledges that although newer bloggers have to stand out in a more crowded blogosphere, it’s not impossible if you stay focused and develop your strengths, whether it’s photography or writing about a niche subject. Jaden Hair, who started Steamy Kitchen in 2007, recalled, “After a few months of blogging, I thought seriously about doing it as a full-time job,” she said. She has a cookbook on the shelves and a built-in audience craving for more.

Here, three food bloggers share six tips for making the leap into a mainstream or high-profile food career.

Take stunning photos. If you focus on food, you can’t just dash off one-paragraph posts or cull headlines from other sources. Trying to make your braised pork recipe or dinner at El Bullí evocative requires great photos, and food bloggers almost always take their own. “Food is so multi-sensory, and blogs are only visual, so you have to appeal to that one sense,” says Jaden Hair. She takes about 50 photos for each of her recipes before whittling down to the “money shots” and editing them. The perfect leading photo draws readers into the story, so work on developing your photo skills and look to sites like TasteSpotting.com or FoodGawker.com for inspiration.

Teach yourself all aspects of making a great blog. In addition to fine-tuning her photography, Hair also taught herself photo and video editing with tutorial sites like Lynda.com. She designed her site by learning to tweak WordPress. “I didn’t know a food stylist, so I just picked up cookbooks and studied them page by page.” Don’t be afraid to ask for advice. Most bloggers, photographers, and Web designers are happy to share tips with anyone who sends a friendly email.

“Some bloggers suffer for not putting themselves out there enough… Ask yourself what you can do to stand out.”

Take initiative in branching out. Chances are, you’ll find gigs that pay. After her blog started to gain momentum, Hair contacted a local paper and wrote for free, which eventually led to paying assignments and a column with the Tampa Tribune. She also contacted a local ABC affiliate and offered to do cooking segments, which led to gigs with NBC and CBS affiliates. “I made it a point to get as much media experience as possible,” she said.

Roberts got on the Food Network’s radar by initially emailing a Food Network blogger who showed up in his traffic stats. The email eventually led to a meeting with an executive who was casting for The FN Dish, then a more permanent show on Food2.com. “Some bloggers suffer for not putting themselves out there enough,” said Roberts. “You have to look at what’s out there and ask yourself what you can do to stand out.”

If you take time to develop great writing and photographs, chances are opportunities will also eventually find you. Because of the popularity of Orangette, Wizenberg was contacted by editors at Town & Country, Modern Bride, PBS.org, and NPR.org to contribute freelance articles, and by Bon Appétit to write a monthly column.

Monetize. If you have at least a few hundred readers a day on your blog, you can make money on your blog. Ad networks like BlogHer, Glam, and Foodbuzz typically pay rates that range from $3 to $6 per thousand page impressions, or more if you boast very a high readership. Over the course of a month, the pay begins to add up. With Steamy Kitchen’s wide readership, Hair said that ad revenue account for 50 percent of her earnings, but “even if it was ad income alone, it’s still a really, really good income.”

Whether your ad earnings can pay for just groceries or allow you to live off blogging, joining an ad network is an easy way to finance your passion.

You can also syndicate your content, like Hair does with the Tampa Tribune, but you should weigh the pros and cons. “I’m more in favor of creating new content vs. syndication,” said Hair. “It hurts SEO when you have duplicate content.”

When you finally score multiple projects, don’t neglect your blog. Learn to manage your time well. “Over the years, I’ve learned to manage my time and my creative energy so I can do the blog, write book proposals, come up with episode ideas for the Food2 show, and so on,” Roberts said. “The secret, I find, is in dividing the day. In the morning I blog, then I clear my head at lunch — taking some time for lunch is important (plus it’s fodder for future blog posts) — and then, in the afternoon, I work on all my other projects.”

While Wizenberg was working on her book, A Homemade Life, she took breaks by posting shorter pieces on her blog. “Blogging still felt like a lot of fun while I was writing my book,” she said. “It was like coming up for air.” Jaden Hair maintains a balance in her schedule, by doing TV only twice a month and limiting the amount of work to eight hours a day. And she continues to blog because she enjoys it. “I get to play in the kitchen,” she said. “That’s not work to me.”

Be a part of the conversation. Popular food bloggers stay popular by taking time to engage with their readers, by answering comments and emails. But you can also chime in on Twitter; the large pool of food editors, cookbook authors, and bloggers there means you can get instantaneous feedback on your posts, find out other other’s kitchen pet peeves, or discuss a hot sustainable food topic. And besides, writing from home can get lonely. “Twitter is my lifeline to other food bloggers out there,” said Hair.

Highlight your strengths. Wizenberg believes that great food blogs can come in all forms, whether the focus is photography, Japanese cooking, or story-telling, as long as the writing is not sloppy and the voice is authentic. Roberts added, “Whether it’s your concept, your voice, your design, your subject matter, or all of the above, those are the factors that’ll determine your success. Plus, your resilience: you’ve gotta keep blogging, even when no one’s commenting. Eventually, they will come.”

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Diana Kuan is a freelance writer who divides her time between China and the U.S. She often blogs on the road for AppetiteforChina.com.

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

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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

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

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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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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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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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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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