In this Issue:

• "Welcome" - Dan Case, editor
  
• Feature "Crafting for Kids" by Marie E. Cecchini
  
• 27 Paying Markets - High, Medium, and Low
  
• Feature "Write your Novel in your Spare Time"
  by Kelly James-Enger

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Welcome

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9. THE SUCCESSFUL WRITER'S HANDBOOK by Patricia Fry
   
10. JUMPSTART YOUR WRITING CAREER & SNAG PAYING ASSIGNMENTS by Beth Erickson.
    

Dan Case, editor
editor@writingfordollars.com (put WFD in the subject line)

Creating craft projects for kids is a great market, yet it is seldom written about. It is a simple way to add a tidy sum to your present writing income and it’s also a lot of fun. I have been paid anywhere from $15 to $200 per project, depending on who publishes the piece and how much is involved in completing it. Some publications even pay just for the “ideas”. If you are creative in any way, and most writers are, this can work for you too.

You don’t have to be an artist, but you do have to think like a kid – a little “outside-the-box,” with a lot of imagination. Think you won’t be inspired? Just take a look at children’s toys, books, favorite games, and television shows. What makes kids smile? What excites them? That’s your inspiration. Now, what can you take from this and turn into a simple puppet, mobile, mask, or hat?

While your brain is busy formulating ideas, check out magazine racks and internet sites for children’s and family “zines” that publish children’s craft projects. Be sure to request guidelines, as each publication has different requirements. Guidelines will also tell you whether or not the publication is a paying market. Believe it or not, several places love contributions, but cannot afford to pay for them. This may be okay with you if you have a business, website, or book to advertise in your bio. However, if you do not, is it really worth your time and effort? Only you can decide.

What do publishers look for?

• Most want projects that are quick, easy, and will appeal to a wide range of children – both sexes and several age levels.
• Everyone wants something innovative – even if it’s just using familiar materials in new and different ways.
• Some want projects that use recyclables.
• Some want projects that can be used with groups of children, such as scouts or church groups.
• Everyone wants projects that use items you would normally find at home, like construction paper, or items that would be readily available from your local craft store or the craft section of a department store.
• Some publications want photos with instructions for the craft first, some prefer you send the actual craft for consideration. Guidelines will tell you which.

To seal the deal you will usually need to deliver a well-made sample, along with step-by-step instructions. Directions need to be explicit. Write every word – leave nothing out. Instructions also need to be written in language kids will understand.

If you think this is something you’d like to try to add to your writing income, the following will get you started.

• Highlights.com – guidelines are on the website
• craftideas.com – look for Pack-o-Fun – guidelines are on the website
• cricketmag.com – Carus Publishing – publishes several children’s magazines – guidelines for each are on the website

If you have a creative bone in your body, additional income is at the end of your fingertips.

© Copyright 2007, Marie E. Cecchini

Marie has been designing and publishing craft projects for children for 15 years. She also writes articles for teachers, writers, and parents as well as children’s poetry.

• Adventure Cyclist - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, photos/artwork. Subjects: bicycling . 

• BAY NATURE - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, fiction, columns/departments, fillers, photos/artwork. Subjects: natural places, plants, and wildlife of the San Francisco Bay . 

• Deer & Deer Hunting - Guidelines:  Pays on acceptance.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments, fillers, photos/artwork. Subjects: deer and deer hunting. 

• enRoute - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments, fillers. Subjects: travel lifestyle magazine interested in everything from wine to design, popular science, pop music. 

• Gray's Sporting Journal - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, fiction, photos/artwork. Subjects: fishing, hunting. 

• MC Magazine - Guidelines:  Pays on acceptance.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments, photos/artwork. Subjects: precast concrete. 

• The Volunteerist - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments, photos/artwork. Subjects: promote corporate citizenship and community volunteerism. 

Medium - $125 - $500

• American Angler - Guidelines:  Pays on acceptance.  Seeks nonfiction, fillers, photos/artwork. Subjects: fly fishing. 

• American Cheerleader - Guidelines:  Pays on acceptance.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments, fillers, photos/artwork. Subjects: cheerleading, nutrition, beauty, heros. 

• Baja Life Magazine - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments. Subjects: tourism, culture, environmental concerns, economic development in the Baja peninsula. 

• Decline Magazine - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, photos/artwork. Subjects: mountain biking. 

• Family Energy - Guidelines:  Pays on acceptance.  Seeks nonfiction, photos/artwork. Subjects: family health, fitness and fun. 

• Four Weeks Magazine - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments. Subjects: women, DIY, food, shopping. 

• Hinduism Today - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments, fillers, photos/artwork. Subjects: Hindu thought, practices and culture. 

• Just 4 Kids Magazine - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, fiction, columns/departments, fillers, photos/artwork. Subjects: children of ages two through teens. 

• Listen Magazine - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments, fillers, photos/artwork. Subjects: basic conflicts and concerns that teenagers face. 

• Mysteries Magazine - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments, photos/artwork. Subjects: historical/ancient mysteries, the paranormal, conspiracies, unusual archaeological finds, lost treas. 

• North of 50 - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments, fillers, photos/artwork. Subjects: issues of people 50 years plus of age. 

• Pink Magazine - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments, photos/artwork. Subjects: issues dealing with highly successful female business executives or entrepreneurs. 

• Tennessee Wildlife Magazine - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, photos/artwork. Subjects: Tennessee wildlife, fishing, hunting. 

• Wanderlust - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, photos/artwork. Subjects: travel. 

Low - Less than $125

• Athens Area Parent Magazine - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments, photos/artwork. Subjects: health, teen, single parenting, family life. 

• Dog & Driver - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, fiction, columns/departments, fillers, photos/artwork. Subjects: racing sled dogs and sled dog care. 

• Make Magazine - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments, fillers, photos/artwork. Subjects: do-it-yourself technology . 

• Outreach Magazine - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments, fillers. Subjects: Christian values, inspirational, practical, academic. 

• Spun Magazine - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction. Subjects: knitting, crochet, needlepoint, weaving. 

• The Raven Chronicles - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, fiction, columns/departments, photos/artwork. Subjects: art., literature, food, culture. 

It’s a dream of many writers to have time off—say six months or a year—to finally have time to write that novel that’s been brewing for years. The reality, though, is that most of us can’t take months from our jobs, families, and daily lives to hammer out our novels.

The solution is to write your novel in your spare time, using a three-draft method. The first step is to plan for success. Set a goal for your novel and write it down. Do you want to finish your first draft in six months? A year? Two years? Then determine how you’ll do that—by writing a page a day, a certain number of words a day, or for a certain time period (30 minutes or an hour) each day. Commit to your writing time in your daily planner or calendar—and use a pen! Once you’ve made that commitment to yourself and planned how you’ll accomplish this admittedly large task, you’re ready to start writing.

The First Draft: Write Like a Shark

Let me explain. Have you ever seen the movie Annie Hall? If you have, you may already know what I mean. There’s a scene near the end of the movie where Woody Allen and Diane Keaton are on a plane, returning to Manhattan from Hollywood. Allen’s character realizes the relationship is over, and explains his epiphany like this: “A relationship, I think, is like a shark, you know? It has to constantly move forward or it dies. And I think what we got on our hands is a dead shark.”

What does this mean for writers? Keep moving. Keep writing. Don’t let yourself get blocked or stopped while you’re writing your draft—you’ll lose valuable time, momentum and motivation. Can’t think of the right word? Need to add a statistic, quote, or example? Use the old editor’s “TK” trick. If you get stuck, type the letters “TK” and keep going. The TK means “to come;” it’s basically shorthand for “fix this before the magazine goes to print.”

I suggest that when you’re working on a first draft, you write every day. This will help you maintain your momentum and commitment. Better still, when you write every day, your story is always in the back of your mind—and you’ll be amazed at what your subconscious may come up with during all those hours when you’re not actually writing.

Novelist Robert B. Parker is credited with saying, “I can’t edit a blank page.” Get the words down. Write what Anne Lamott would call a “shitty first draft.” Just get it down—you can fix it and clean it up and make it beautiful later.

The Second Draft: The Big Clean-up

After you finish your first draft, take some time off—at least a couple of weeks. Then come back to the manuscript with fresh eyes, and read it all the way through. Make notes about your overall impression—things like whether the story flows smoothly, the balance of dialogue and exposition, and overly repetitive scenes (e.g., if your character's always in the place and doing the same things.)

After your initial read-through, go through the manuscript scene by scene. Each scene in your novel should either move the plot (or subplot) forward and/or help develop your characters—ideally both. If not, consider cutting the scene. The second draft is where you clean up the mess of your first one, eliminating subplots and unnecessary characters and addressing any TKs. At the end of the draft, there should be no remaining TKs and your manuscript is almost ready to go.

The Third Draft: Where Every Word Counts

This is the last step, and it shouldn’t be rushed. Take the time to go through your manuscript word by word. I suggest you read it out loud—this will help you identify awkward language and missing or unintentionally repeated words. After you work your way through this last draft, fine-tuning and changing a word or two here and there, your masterpiece will be ready for submission for publication.

© Copyright 2007, Kelly James-Enger

Kelly James-Enger has written two successful novels using this method—White Bikini Panties (Strapless, 2004) and Did you Get the Vibe? (Strapless, 2003.) She's also the author of six books including Six-Figure Freelancing: The Writer's Guide to Making More Money (Random House, 2005.) She can be reached through www.becomebodywise.com.