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Market Watch

Nancy B. Leake

Marketing Professionally

An important part of marketing your work is presenting a professional image. Before your story or article is read, things occur that may decide the fate of your manuscript. Positive first impressions are necessary. If not, your stories may end up at the bottom of the pile the editor needs to read and may remain unpublished. I will give you a few pointers to move your story near the top of the editor’s pile.

envelope - A plain white # 10 or (for a thick manuscript) a large manilla envelope with business postage (the flag, in the US), no flowers or picture stamps. Type or print in neat block letters all addresses, or if using any labels, plain white is appropriate.

SASE - Enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope with the appropriate postage, using the same professional style as above.

Query letter - Use plain white good quality 20-pound letter size paper. The only exception is if you use business letterhead. A12-point type, Times New Roman or similar with 1" margins is the standard. Letters should be confined to one page, if possible. Jerri Ledford has a good example of a query letter in the Chat archives at WVU. Of course, enclose your address and phone/fax numbers, (which I am sure she omitted for privacy) and the address of the editor you are sending your article to. I enclose a final listing of my enclosures at the end of the letter -- Encl.: SASE and the name of the article enclosed. Another excellent reference is Writer’s Digest’s book "Formatting & Submitting your Manuscript" by Jack and Glenda Neff, Don Prues and the Editors of Writer’s Market.

Manuscripts – Paper, font, and margins are the same as in query letters. Paper clips or loose leaf is preferred to staples. Do not reuse coffee-stained, crinkled manuscripts this is the hallmark of an amateur. There are slight differences for the first page of a manuscript depending on the type of submission, but most follow this general outline: double spacing; page numbers in upper right corner except on the first page; word count in the upper right corner of the first page; name, address, contact numbers, and e-mail listed in the left upper corner of the first page; the title is centered one-third of the way down the page in capitals, skip one line, "by", skip one line, authors name in capitals, skip four lines then begin manuscript using paragraph indentations, where needed.

Spelling and Grammar check – Always check again before sending. I suggest leaving the manuscript one day and then rereading. You always notice mistakes after mailing otherwise.

Professional Language – Business grammar rules, including no contractions, are the acceptable form. A word here about e-mail, we tend to equate email use with speed and familiarity. When submitting something by email consider it a business activity and use the same standards as above.

A tip on saving time in our busy schedules- make a template of your query letter, save it and slant it toward your article and audience.

"We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master."
–Ernest Hemingway.

I would like to hear about your experiences in submitting your writing, whether good or bad.

When you send your suggestions to me please enclose: The name and type of the market, What type of writing they publish and the word count, The guidelines for submission or how to get the guidelines, How to contact the company, and who to contact, What they pay, and If they accept submission from new writers, if noted.

Print Markets:

F&P Magazine (Fiction and Poetry) will launch December 1. They want up-to-date character driven stories in any genre, or any style poetry. But, prefer no talking animals, except in fantasy and no old technology in science fiction. Stories up to 5,000 words. Poems up to 60 lines, no boy meets girl and falls in love poems. Submission by e-mail, in the body or by disc is preferable, no attachments. No simultaneous submissions. Payment is $14.00 per 1,000 words for first rights only. Rates may be increased by offering free subscriptions, free books, or other benefits. Regent Publications, 14 Honor Avenue, Goldthorn Park, Wolverhampton WV4 5HH U.K. E-mail voyagemag@zyworld.com, subject "F&P, Sean Brown, Editor.

Somerset Studio is a bimonthly magazine devoted to paper arts, art stamping, and letter arts. For holiday arts query nine months in advance. Query for articles on artistic techniques. Short-short stories (500 - 600 words) or poetry that incorporate the above themes are needed for the "Storyteller" page. Payment for first North American serial rights (FNASR) is $.25/ word for articles, $50 and a one-year subscriptions for short fiction and poetry, and a one-year subscription for calligraphy. Response time is 3 months. Sample copies cost $5.95. Send to Somerset Studio, Sharilyn Miller, Managing Editor, 22992 Mill Creek, Suite B, Laguna Hills, CA 92653, or e-mail someditor@somersetstudio.com.

Bird Watcher’s Digest is a bimonthly magazine for all levels of birdwatchers. They want articles emphasizing the joy of bird watching in North America, including travel or attracting articles, species profiles, feeding and housing backyard birds, backyard how-to projects for birds, and improving birding skills, but no pet bird stories. (700 - 3,000 words). Payment for first rights is from $100 or second rights $50, and two copies. Do not indent, use italics, or pica type. Response time is 1 - 2 years. Sample copies are $3.99. They prefer regular mail. Send on a 3 ½" disc in ASCII text to Bird Watcher’s Digest, William H. Thompson, III, Editor, PO Box 110, Marietta, OH 45750.

Zoetrope: All Story is a "quarterly literary magazine specializing in high caliber short fiction," literary, mainstream/contemporary, and one act plays. (7,000 words maximum). Pays $1,200 for first serial rights and two-year film option. Accepts simultaneous submissions. Response time five months. Zoetrope: All Story, AZX Publications, 260 Fifth Ave. #1200, New York, NY 10001-6408. Adrienne Brodeur, editor-in-chief. Does not accept submissions from June to August.

Freelance Markets:

Oatmeal Studios Greeting Cards purchases humorous greeting card ideas for everyday and holidays. Send a SASE for guidelines and pay schedule. Pay is per piece. Dawn Abraham, Oatmeal Studios Greeting Card, Oatmeal Studios, Box 138-cu, Rochester, VA. Phone (800) 628-6325, fax (802) 767-9890.

Home Cooking is a monthly magazine looking for articles including recipes that have nationwide appeal. An introduction of 200 – 750 words followed by six to ten unpublished recipes. They purchase all rights. List ingredients in order used, temperatures, cooking times, container sizes, number of servings, etc., spelling out amounts. Response time two months. A sample copy may be requested by sending a 6 x 9-inch envelope with three first-class stamps. Mail manuscripts, requests or queries to Shelly Vaughan James, editor, Home Cooking, 306 East Parr Road, Berne, IN. 46711. Home_Cooking@whitebirches.com.

P.S. Greetings manufactures everyday greeting cards including an extensive Christmas program of boxed and rack cards, stationary and note cards. Verses, poems, or written samples should be submitted by e-mail. Payment is a one time flat fee based on individual submission for all greeting card or stationary rights. Response time is 30 days. Art Director, P.S. Greetings, 5060 North Kimberly Avenue, Chicago, IL 60630.

Fillers:

Angels On Earth is looking for short angel stories and quotes about angels. Sample copy and guidelines available by sending a 6 x 9-inch self-addressed envelope with $1.01 postage to Angels On Earth: Guideposts, Inc., 16 E. 34th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Chesapeake Bay Magazine is looking for boat and boating anecdotes, news and more. Mail to Chesapeake Bay Magazine, 1819 Bay Ridge Avenue, Annapolis, Maryland 24403.

Get It In Writing is looking for short quotes, advice, tips, comedy, and more related to writers and/or writing. Pays $.01/word, but no less than $1.00 for one time rights. Send to: Get It In Writing, PO Box 20336, Carson City, Nevada 89721-0336.

Web Markets:

CityTripping.com is a website covering nightlife, fashion, restaurants, trends, gossip, and more for New York, Los Angeles and beyond. They encourage new writers and publish word counts of 200 - 1,000 for $.25/word for first electronic rights, no reprints. Seventy-five percent freelance written. CityTripping.com, 24 Fifth Ave., Suite 1124, New York, NY 10011, Tom Dolby, Editor. E-mail editor@citytripping.com.

Frightwriter.com is a horror website dedicated to unpublished writers. They accept stories from 1,500 – 3,500 words for $10.00 for first publication rights. Starting October 2001, they will have a yearly anthology with payment in royalties. Notification of publication occurs on the 13th of every month. No simultaneous submissions or previously published work. E-mail in plain text in the body of an email to Frightwriter@yahoo.com. Website has more guidelines about content at Frightwriter.com

Science Fiction Bi-Weekly is a website looking for well-written entertaining science fiction, or nonfiction book reviews, science fiction author interviews, advice on writing and getting published, and articles relating the world of sci-fi to reality at 1,000 – 10,000 words (around 4,000 words preferred) for $.01 per word for one time rights. Sci-fi poetry of any length is accepted (preferably 40 - 50 lines) at $.50 per line, up to $40. They accept simultaneous, multiple submissions and reprints. Submit by mail in hardcopy or disc, or in the body of an e-mail with "Submission" as the subject line. E-mail bencolwell@scifibiweekly.com Ben Colwell, Science Fiction Bi-Weekly, 10580 N. McCarran Blvd #115, 239, Reno, NV 89503.

The Writing Parent is seeking instructive or motivational articles of interest to writing parents, tips and advice (500-700 words), and poetry connected to writing. Payment is $20 for original submissions, $10 for reprints, and $8 for poetry for one-time rights. You will also receive free advertising for books you are selling and a link in their e-mag. Submit by email TWParent@klockepresents.com or by mail to Angela Giles Klocke, editor, The Writing Parent, 127 Bishop Rd. NW, Cartersville, GA 30121-7324.

Don’t Bother:

Suite101.com has poor terms for writers. They pay approximately $7 - $15.00 per article and they may use it elsewhere without additional payment to you. After 90 days if you resell one of these stories, you must link the new site the story was sold at back to their suite101.com.

Writeforcash.com has poor terms for writers. They pay $10 - $20 for all rights to your story. They own your story for pennies.

Read the contract before submitting to a site. In instances like above you are selling away your reprint rights and future salability of your story forever.

Planetknowhow.com has a relationship to Back to Howto, which did not pay writers when under this name. So, be cautious. Courtesy of Ian at Byteoutofcrime@egroups.com.

Contentville.com has been mentioned frequently by writers about selling reprints of copyrighted materials.

Email your markets to me.

All opinions stated in this column are my own and not opinions of T-zero or Writer’s Village University.