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Writing Etc. - August 15, 2007

ISSN: 1545-5580

Make your writing sparkle. Write killer queries. Get published.

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To subscr*ibe to Writing Etc. and receive the fr*e e-book, “Power Queries,” surf here:

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Hey, did you know you can get your hands on 150+ webpages of fre* writing info? Just head to http://FilbertPublishing.com and dig around. Be sure to sign up for one of our fre* writing courses. Here’s to some great high profit writing.

Forward Writing Etc. to all your writing friends. They’ll be glad you did.

For easier reading and red hot links, surf to

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In Today's Issue...

Notes from Minnesota

(Nearly) Unlimited Markets by Beth Ann Erickson

Highly Recommended

~~~~~Highly Recommended~~~~~~~~~~

One more week... by popular demand. :)

I'm currently teaching an exceedingly interesting online course. It's an advanced how-to writing class.

All is going super, I see exceptional writing talent... except one thing haunts me: Despite their drive, despite the obvious talent, very few of these aspiring freelancers know how to land paying assignments.

I know the feeling very well. As a card carrying introvert, someone who would rather die than make a cold call, a person who prefers to concentrate on creativity rather than marketing, I finally whittled out a freelance writing career that more than pays the bills. And I share all my drop dead easy strategies in my first two nonfiction titles.

So in honor of all my incredible students, I've bundled the two volumes together and slashed the price to an unheard of level.

Details are here: http://filbertpublishing.com/special.html

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Notes from Minnesota

So, you probably noticed that I've recently played with the style of Writing Etc. Looked great, eh?

Well, despite my experimentation, I discovered something very interesting about sending e-mails.

You see, most sp*m filters don't really care for HTML (read, really pretty e-mails). In fact, they block them all together. So, I'm back to the tried and true easy, breezy, text style.

I kinda like it, actually. I can really give you a ton of great information without nary a worry about angry filters.

That being said, I'll apologize up front for making you click to the website to read everything. I wish I could send you the entire issue of Writing Etc., but filters also look suspiciously on long e-mails as well.

So, we're back to the tried and true.

Just thought I'd keep you in the loop. And despite my lack of Notes from Minnesota these past few weeks, let me assure you that Rudie, Jake, and Hector are all doing absolutely wonderful. Jake, the Min Pin) celebrated his one year anniversary living with us. Rudie (the C' nardly... as in you c' nardly tell what dog breed she could possibly represent... read it out loud, it'll make sense.) is headed to the UN to spread world peace. (Yeah, she's a friendly dog.) Hector bit Jake's nose but all is well. That's what you get for trying to dig into a rat's cache of popcorn.

And I'm still writing.

Life is good. :)

Beth

P.S. HEY! I almost forgot. I just launched a new e-course yesterday. Here's the deal: I've been inundated with e-mails with mindset questions. Mindset is a misunderstood yet intriguing topic. So, in light of the flood of questions, I decided to launch Mindset Monday. Each week you'll receive a short message designed to ignite your creative juices and shore up your mindset for the week ahead. Of course, it's free. Just click the following link to get in on the ground floor.

Http://filbertpublishing.com/mindset.html

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Everything you ever wanted to know about article writing but didn't know who to ask. Get your answers here:

http://www.highprofitwriter.com/AnswersOnArticles.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~ Feature Article ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Nearly) Unlimited Markets

By Beth Ann Erickson

Every now and then a Writing Etc. subscriber will ask, “Why don't you publish paying markets anymore?”

The answer's simple. First, a story.

Back in '95, I received some specialized training for writing articles. All went well, and I easily landed writing assignments. However, as the company I trained with, grew, it began to churn out more and more writers into a once nearly vacant field.

Still, that was fine. After all, I had a leg up on the competition considering I got into the biz early and had far more experience under my belt.

Then something interesting happened.

The training company began to publish the names, addresses, and contact information of companies that hired freelance writers. Before you could say “aye carumba” I found my little fishing pond filled with innumerable other fishing poles.

Worse yet, with all the newbies flooding the field, many of them with a strong poverty writing mindset, fees began to nose dive as new writers accepted dirt-cheap rates just to build a larger portfolio.

Today, this situation has grown to such an extent that taking inflation into account, freelance fees have actually dropped these last ten years.

After all, just ponder the current freelance scenario a moment.

Suppose you ferret out a market that you think might be a good fit for your talents. You craft your query. You knock yourself out researching the publication. You even know the exact person to contact.

Then I (or another zine owner) come along and publicize this little-known gem to nearly 10,000 (or more) other freelancers. Next thing you know they're inundated with queries... many of them completely untargeted.

Chances are you just lost a carefully researched assignment because something completely out of your control bulldozed its way into your carefully constructed scenario.

To make matters worse, the publisher you tried to contact more than likely has now developed a bad taste in their mouth for freelancers. After all, it's one thing to receive a few untargeted queries per day, it's quite another to receive a flood of queries that don't remotely follow your guidelines.

Now, I'm quite sure that anyone who has read Writing Etc. for any period of time wouldn't send an untargeted query. But stranger things have happened. :-)

When I realized that I, by supplying random freelance market information, played a hand in this sad scenario, I knew I had an ethical responsibility to stop artificially stimulating submissions to publishers.

That being said, here's how I approach writing markets: I carefully watch the markets and when an advertiser posts their contact information through a large zine, I scratch them off my potential client list post haste and ferret out a less populated pond where I'll have a much better chance of landing the assignment at a fee I can live with.

Publishing random markets willy nilly doesn't serve freelancers. Especially when for an incredibly nominal price... often free... you can get your hands on highly targeted freelance market information that isn't subject to the whims of an ezine publisher. You also decrease your chances of contacting someone who has been recently been inundated with untargeted queries. And best of all, you can peruse the listings and unearth publications that you're truly drawn to.

My favorite resource? It's gotta be the Writers Market. For around thirty bucks a year you've got more markets than you'll ever possibly plow through.

You can find one of the best no cost directory of market listings at WritingForDollars.com. Plus, I can vouch for the awesomeness of Dan Case. He's a tremendously kind person.

WritersWrite.com has a nice directory of guidelines as well as well as WorldwideFreelance.com (although the latter does charge for some markets).

Another of my favorite ways to snag a few new guidelines is to place “writers guidelines” into Google and see what pops up.

It's simple to find markets. It's even easier to find markets that aren't about to get inundated with queries. With just a few keystrokes, a couple original thoughts, and the proper mindset you can carve out a lucrative freelance career with basically no real competition whatsoever.

There's no reason to artificially flood certain markets with freelancers. Instead, when you find your own markets, you call the shots, you reduce your competition, and you have far more control over the submission process.

That's what I did... and continue to do. I hope you'll join me.

~~~

Beth Ann Erickson is the publisher of Writing Etc., the free e-mag that will make your writing sparkle. Help you write killer copy and get you onto the road to publication ASAP. Get your hands on her latest project right here: http://filbertpublishing.com/creative.html

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I Recommend:

Writing For Dollars! The FREE ezine for writers featuring tips, tricks and ideas for selling what you write. Receive the FREE ebook, 83 WAYS TO MAKE MONEY WRITING when you subscribe. Email to subscribe@writingfordollars.com -*-

http://www.WritingForDollars.com

WRITERS FIND MARKETS EASILY - Worldwide Freelance has a NEW fully-searchable Markets Database. Discover writing markets from North America, Europe, Australia and other places. It's free, so come and try it out

here: http://www.worldwidefreelance.com

Information Marketers! Discover the copywriter who knows the unique demands of your industry and can help you sell a ton of product. http://BethAnnErickson.com

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