Get Paid to Write! (Culture Tools Series): The No-Nonsense Guide to Freelance Writing
184Get Paid to Write! (Culture Tools Series): The No-Nonsense Guide to Freelance Writing
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Overview
Williams shares the trade secrets for defining the style and editorial slant of the publications you want to write for, crafting the all important query letter, finding good ideas for articles, structuring an article, selling information on the internet, and much, much more.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781591810124 |
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Publisher: | Sentient Publications |
Publication date: | 11/01/2003 |
Series: | The Culture Tools Series |
Pages: | 184 |
Product dimensions: | 6.38(w) x 8.96(h) x 0.53(d) |
About the Author
In 1979, he bought the Mecklenburg Gazette, a weekly newspaper in North Carolina. In three years, he increased circulation 400% and revenues by 1000%, and sold out to a newspaper chain for 50 times the purchase price. Subsequently, he founded Venture Press.
He started and published many magazines, including Tar Heel: The Magazine of North Carolina (state-wide), the New East Magazine, NCEast Magazine, and Washington Magazine. He published association directories and chambers of commerce "quality of life" magazines, newcomer guides, and tourism guides.
Williams is a student of hard knocks. He learned how to position his publications for success on his own and shares his knowledge with us in his books.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 | The Freelance Facts of Life | 11 |
What is a magazine? | ||
How much can you make? | ||
Don't give up your day job | ||
The writer's ego, and how it helps and hurts | ||
The bad news | ||
The good news: what you don't see may be bigger than what you see | ||
Chapter 2 | How to Read a Magazine and Know What Editors Really Want | 21 |
Check out the masthead | ||
What kinds of articles does your target magazine publish? | ||
Analyze style and technique | ||
Study the advertising | ||
Chapter 3 | The Query System and How to Make It Work for You | 28 |
How to write a query | ||
The terrible ten-second sort | ||
Nine characteristics of good queries | ||
Nine beginner's mistakes you must avoid | ||
Why many editors steer clear of beginners | ||
Exceptions to the rule | ||
Why good queries are rejected | ||
Chapter 4 | Ideas and How to Get Them | 40 |
A good idea is worth its weight in gold | ||
We just don't believe it | ||
We are our own worst critics | ||
The idea vanishes before we capture it | ||
The importance of specialization | ||
Mind-mapping | ||
Basic human needs and desires | ||
Read, clip and file | ||
Chapter 5 | The Professional Writer's Toolkit | 52 |
How did he do that? | ||
A personal example | ||
The six most common flaws and how to remedy them | ||
Poor structure: the anatomy of a magazine article | ||
Inappropriate tone | ||
Omission of the telling detail | ||
Awkward handling of quotes | ||
Transition trouble | ||
Lack of anecdote and illustration: the freelancers' paradigm | ||
The paradigm is a pattern | ||
The paradigm is basic | ||
Everybody uses the paradigm, even highbrows | ||
The greatest teachers | ||
Chapter 6 | Eight Success Secrets of the Masters | 71 |
The masters specialize | ||
The masters recycle | ||
The masters write every day | ||
The masters revise what they write | ||
The masters observe the Rule of One | ||
The masters observe the Rule of Twenty-Four | ||
The masters observe the Rule of Seven | ||
The masters overcome writer's block | ||
Chapter 7 | How to Write for Newspapers and Syndicate Your Own Column | 77 |
Chaos is real and time is short | ||
The big dailies | ||
Niche-market tabloids | ||
To pitch an idea | ||
The real opportunity: syndicate your own column | ||
Profile of a column | ||
What a column does | ||
Profile of a columnist | ||
How much do you earn? | ||
Marketing your column | ||
Create a sales package | ||
Assemble your package | ||
Plan your marketing campaign | ||
Market in concentric circles | ||
An example | ||
Sending out the package | ||
Secondary profit centers | ||
Chapter 8 | Need an Agent? Here's How to Get One | 94 |
What an agent is | ||
An agent is born | ||
What the agent is selling | ||
What agents are looking for (do you fill the bill) | ||
Three questions agents may ask you | ||
The reading fee | ||
Getting the ball rolling: how to make contact with an agent | ||
Querying an agent | ||
A sample letter | ||
Get an agent by publishing your own book | ||
Not just an agent, but a good agent | ||
Questions you want to ask | ||
Legitimate agent charges | ||
Chapter 9 | Will They Steal My Idea? and Other Scary Questions | 111 |
My own experience | ||
Ideas and words | ||
Ideas and editors | ||
Slant and style | ||
When it looks like theft, but isn't | ||
What about copyright? | ||
What copyright does not cover | ||
Trademarks and fair trade practices | ||
A work made for hire | ||
New dangers: the electronic frontier | ||
A minor case of e-grabbing | ||
Life after life | ||
Plagiarism | ||
The POD Blues | ||
Why a union? | ||
Chapter 10 | How to Sell Information on the Internet | 127 |
The World Wide Web: a chaos of opportunities for writers | ||
The web is in a constant state of change | ||
Information sells: a story from pre-Internet days | ||
The light dawns | ||
What kind of information can you sell? | ||
Trolling for information | ||
Ideas from newspapers and magazines | ||
Building your website | ||
What you say on your site | ||
Getting the money | ||
If you build it, will they come? | ||
The secret: attract traffic with classified ads | ||
Write articles promoting your products | ||
Other web sales opportunities | ||
Chapter 11 | Business Details: Rights and Contracts | 145 |
The rights you are selling | ||
Check out this source of information: NWU | ||
ASJA on electronic rights | ||
Your compensation | ||
By the word or by the piece | ||
"On spec" assignments | ||
The kill fee | ||
Be careful what warranties you give | ||
Copyright your work | ||
Chapter 12 | Writing for Businesses | 153 |
Capabilities brochures | ||
Annual reports | ||
Operations manuals | ||
Business plans | ||
Work with accountants | ||
Employee manuals | ||
Seminars | ||
Editing and ghost writing | ||
Chapter 13 | How to Build Your Reputation as a Writer | 161 |
Prepare a media kit | ||
Small but powerful publications | ||
Bombard the world with news releases | ||
A release for every occasion | ||
How to get on television | ||
The payoff | ||
Appendix 1 | Contacts and Sources | 170 |
Appendix 2 | Glossary | 176 |
Index | 182 |