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Birdie

Accumulating Clips – Where to Start

Writing a query or sending a cover letter with a submission fills many fledgling writers with dread. It’s not that they doubt their ability to write, but rather doubt their ability to sell themselves as a writer. What do you say about yourself if you haven’t been published? What do you offer as writing credentials if you have no clips?

Clips are copies of an author’s published writing made available to a publisher or editor during the submission process. Clips present editors with a sample of the writer’s style, voice and quality of work. Without clips, most beginning writers feel unqualified, yet the heart of a writer beats within them prompting them to submit.

It’s no different for the seasoned writer breaking into a new market. If you’ve published fiction in the romance genre and want to move into memoirs or writing an article for a woodworking magazine, the need to sell yourself presents itself like a reoccurring nightmare.

Clips establish the fact that you can write, but they don’t confirm that you can write in the new medium or genre. You need to not only sell your idea, but your letter or query needs to express the reasons why you are the person to write this specific story or article.

No Clips or Breaking Into a New Market

Query and cover letters offer the publisher a glimpse of what your story or article proposes to bring to their publishing company. Check the writer’s guidelines to be sure your submission meets needs specific to the publisher. For example, if the guidelines stipulate no sci-fi or fantasy, you would not submit your fantasy adventure. However, if the guidelines reveal the publisher is looking for authors in your genre, it’s a match. Explain to them what makes your manuscript right for them. In the second paragraph, give essentials to the content of your piece, and in the third paragraph, follow it up by explaining why you are the person to write it.

If you haven’t been published, don’t let that stop you from submitting. If you’re submitting science fiction or horror for the first time, tell them you’ve been an avid reader since you were in the third grade and not only love but understand the genre. You may even offer the names of a book or two to which your story can be compared. Show that you know what you are talking about, but condense what you say to two or three sentences. Don’t draw attention to the paragraph by trying to oversell. Instead, allow it to blend with the rest of the letter.

Use life experience as your qualification. “I work at the corner grocery and talk with hundreds of people each week. Many of them are looking for the information I’ve included.” Or, if you’ve written a children’s book, tell the editor about reading to children at your local library. Tie your topic to your experience. Let them see the connection.

Every writer begins somewhere. When you submit, don’t draw attention to the fact that you’ve never been published. You want to sell yourself as a writer, not highlight your lack of experience. Let your writing speak for you.

Where to Start

• Writer’s Tips
  
  I can’t count how many times I’ve heard the advice to write what you know. That’s exactly how I earned my first clip. I used my experiences as a new writer. I submitted fresh lessons and imaginative tricks that helped me grow in the craft. Many writing newsletters and magazines publish such tips.
  
  One of my writing ideas developed into an online course through the encouragement and guidance of the editor with whom I’d built a relationship while submitting writer’s tips.
  
  
• Online Publications
  
  In today’s electronic market opportunities abound for beginners as well as tested writers. No different than print publications, you’ll have to check guidelines to be sure the site accepts the type of story or article you’ve written.
  
  An added caution when submitting online is the matter of attachments. Some publications accept attachments while others reject e-mail attachments without opening them. Do your homework. The bottom line is that this electronic venue offers another source to establish yourself as a writer and build your collection of coveted clips.
  
  Another factor to consider when submitting electronically is what format the publisher requires. Rich text format (rtf) is a popular format because it crosses software compatibility barriers, other publishers bypass the problem by having the author cut and paste text into the body of an e-mail.
  
  
• Contests
  
  Entering contests provides one more avenue to gain clips. Don’t be over-eager to submit. Take time to polish your work. Have other writers read it and take their comments and suggestions under consideration. Manuscripts flood the mailboxes to popular contests. Be sure to send your best work. Judges look for stories that not only grab but hold their attention. Set your manuscript aside for a few days once you think it’s ready. Take another look at it from a fresh perspective and make sure you haven’t missed anything.
  
  My first fictional clip appeared in an anthology titled, Who Died In Here? When submitting my story to this contest, my published clips included several writing tips, a course written for Writers' Village University and fictional stories published online for non-paying markets. This is how my bio appeared:
  
  “Donna Sundblad resides in Florida with her husband Rick Her published credits include a course developed for Writers' Village University, and short stories published at Writer’s Hood, and Night Wind the Fiction Magazine.”
  
  I had to cut a few hundred words from my entry to fall within the required word count limitations. With the cutting of so many words, I had to be sure the story flowed and logically made sense. With helpful critiques of mentors in my writer’s group, I honed my manuscript to become the best I could offer. Submit your best work. Contests can lead to dividends beyond a useful clip. My story, “Shelter in the Shadows,” was nominated for the Edgar Award, another bit of information to include in my bio.
  
  
• Filler Articles
  
  Filler articles are short (300-800 words) and used by magazines and newsletters to fill empty space on the page around advertising and feature articles. Search for topics that can be used in a variety of publications and submit your article to multiple publications. For example, the topic “five quick ways to keep your kitchen clean” is an idea that could work for cooking, housekeeping and woman’s magazines. The same filler article has the potential to provide more than one clip. Such a clip would be useful if you’re pitching a book on how to save time, a cookbook or can even be tied in to the experience of the protagonist in your fictional book.
  
  Another benefit of writing filler articles is that generally you don’t query but submit the completed article with a short cover letter to a variety of publications. In the top left hand corner of your submission type: “Filler Article” followed by the title. On the next line type: “Word Count” after which you place the number of words in your article not including the title. On the third line you’ll inform the publisher that this is a simultaneous submission, but that you have only sent it to noncompetitive markets. To convey this information type: Simultaneous submission/noncompetitive on the third line. The fourth line would include your e-mail address. (Your brief cover letter will offer other pertinent contact information.)
  
  
• Newsletters
  
  Some newsletters pay for stories and articles. Search for newsletters that support your hobbies and interests. The key is to write what you know. It minimizes the need for research and allows the spotlight to shine on your style and writing voice.