The formula in Writer's Digest and other things
This is just a short little post about a great article in the March/April issue of Writer's Digest, written by Perry P. Perkins called Doing the Math.
Because I'm lazy, I won't link to it in this post. You'll have to search for it yourself. Trust me, it's worth the effort.
His point is that one needs to be writing more in order to make more money. Okay, it's not that trite. The big point is he has a nifty formula by which one can figure out how many more articles a person should write in order reach their goal income. For someone like me who's just starting out, the goal income is really all I need.
In addition, he points out that if you want to increase submissions without destroying quality, you must increase the efficiency of your submissions. He recommends using a template for queries, focusing on queries as opposed to writing the article first, and making the queries you write as tight and to the point as possible. If I do this, it means my queries are going to get shorter and that seems to contradict what I've been reading in Writer Mama. However, WM was written before the current economic downturn.
There's more advice in there that some may find basic but I saw as an interesting take on the subject and a reminder of a few things I already knew (like moving from best paying to least paying in submissions).
The only thing I'm not sure of is if his advice applies to someone who doesn't have a bunch of clips in her portfolio. If I can track him down (in this day and age I'm sure I can) I'll see if he'd be willing to answer that question for me.
I highly recommend reading the whole issue. The articles are fantastic for those who want to know more about the business side of writing. There's even an article on taxes, for cryin' out loud. I had no idea that subject got my nerves that irritated.
Better stop thinking of taxes or I won't be able to write. :)
Because I'm lazy, I won't link to it in this post. You'll have to search for it yourself. Trust me, it's worth the effort.
His point is that one needs to be writing more in order to make more money. Okay, it's not that trite. The big point is he has a nifty formula by which one can figure out how many more articles a person should write in order reach their goal income. For someone like me who's just starting out, the goal income is really all I need.
In addition, he points out that if you want to increase submissions without destroying quality, you must increase the efficiency of your submissions. He recommends using a template for queries, focusing on queries as opposed to writing the article first, and making the queries you write as tight and to the point as possible. If I do this, it means my queries are going to get shorter and that seems to contradict what I've been reading in Writer Mama. However, WM was written before the current economic downturn.
There's more advice in there that some may find basic but I saw as an interesting take on the subject and a reminder of a few things I already knew (like moving from best paying to least paying in submissions).
The only thing I'm not sure of is if his advice applies to someone who doesn't have a bunch of clips in her portfolio. If I can track him down (in this day and age I'm sure I can) I'll see if he'd be willing to answer that question for me.
I highly recommend reading the whole issue. The articles are fantastic for those who want to know more about the business side of writing. There's even an article on taxes, for cryin' out loud. I had no idea that subject got my nerves that irritated.
Better stop thinking of taxes or I won't be able to write. :)
posted by cavamil at
8:39 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home