In this Issue:

• "Welcome" - Dan Case, editor
  
• Feature "Think Chunks" by Susan Sundwall
  
• 26 Paying Markets - High, Medium, and Low
  
• Feature "Rewrite Your Way to Publication" by Kathryn Lay

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Welcome

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4. THE RIGHT WAY TO WRITE, PUBLISH AND SELL YOUR BOOK by Patricia Fry
   
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6. WRITING HUMOR FOR MORE THAN LAUGHS by Phil Truman FREE SHIPPING!
   
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8. BE YOUR OWN BOOK DOCTOR: So You Can Cure What Ails Your Writing by Robyn Conley.
   
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)

People constantly look for ways to do things smarter, cheaper, better and faster. This fact of life is a boon to magazines, books and websites that utilize list articles to address this need. Editors know that readers often have only limited time, maybe ten or fifteen minutes waiting in the doctor’s office, to glance through their publication and an eye catching list article is the perfect vehicle for giving the reader small chunks of information to take away and use later.

So, how do you write a list article? First, find out what’s already out there. Take a look at some of the magazine covers vying for your attention the next time you’re waiting in a checkout line. Here is a sampling from some familiar magazines.

1. Woman’s World (April 2006) Are you ready for surgery? This article lists five tips from experts to help you decide.

2. Family Circle (March 2006) Weather report: rain, Forecast: Fun, a top-12 guide to games, crafts, movies and more.

3. Family Fun (May 2006) What’s for Dinner? 5 Easy Chicken Dinners. Busy parents love it.

4. AARP The magazine (February 2007) 9 Secrets to Better Health

If any of these titles or others like them strikes a cord in you, then you may have the skills and enthusiasm needed to write a list article.

Next, you’ll need to target your market appropriately. Recently I targeted BRIO, a Focus on the Family magazine for teen girls. I had a list article in mind for them and did a little research. I took the time to read several issues and discovered that the magazine has a slant towards service. Articles about helping others and missionary work were featured along with recipes, spiritual health, teen profiles and quizzes. I settled on ten areas of service I knew young girls could handle and would be interested in. Some of the items came from life experience and some I researched, like item #7 about how to become a Salvation Army Christmas bell ringer. I was confident my idea would be a good fit for the magazine. I used lively, teen friendly language in the style and format of the magazine. I also sent it well in advance of the holiday season. When the contract for my submission arrived a few months later I did a happy dance around the kitchen. In December of 2005, BRIO published my article, “10 Terrific Ways to be Someone’s Holiday Angel.

Ideas are not hard to come by and the topics are legion. Keep your eyes and ears open and your curiosity tuned to unique possibilities for a list article. Think top ten this or the most popular that. Research your subject and get any expert opinions you need. Make sure you’re on target with your desired publication, then slice and dice your findings into inviting, readable chunks. You’re bound to meet with success.

© Copyright 2007, Susan Sundwall

Link to BRIO article http://www.briomag.com/briomagazine/reallife/a0006483.html

Susan is a freelance writer and children's playwright. She writes from her home in upstate New York.

• AeroSafety World - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, photos/artwork. Subjects: aviation, safety. 

• AmericanStyle - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments, photos/artwork. Subjects: Arts travel, profiles of contemporary craft collectors, and established studio artists. 

• Arizona Highways - Guidelines:  Pays on acceptance.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments, photos/artwork. Subjects: Arizona. 

• The Beaver - Guidelines:  Pays on acceptance.  Accepts simultaneous submissions.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments, photos/artwork. Subjects: Canadian history. 

• Journey magazine - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments, photos/artwork. Subjects: CAA clubs , travel, lifestyle. 

Medium - $125 - $500

• America - Guidelines:  Pays on acceptance.  Seeks nonfiction, fillers. Subjects: Catholic theology, spirituality, current political, social issues. 

• Army Magazine - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments, photos/artwork. Subjects: Military interests, resent conflicts involving the Army. 

• Austin Home & Living - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, photos/artwork. Subjects: Austin homes, food, gardening and decorating. 

• Black Belt - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Accepts simultaneous submissions.  Seeks nonfiction, photos/artwork. Subjects: Martial arts styles & techniques, training methods, history, health and fitness, interviews . 

• Blue Ridge Country - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments, photos/artwork. Subjects: Blue Ridge region, traditions, recipes, recreation, travel, country stores, bed-and-breakfast inns. 

• Catholic Digest Publications - Guidelines:  .  Seeks nonfiction, fillers. Subjects: religion, family, science, health, human relationships, nostalgia, good works. 

• Chatelaine - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction. Subjects: women's health, recipes, women's issues. 

• Chesapeake Family - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction. Subjects: parenting. 

• Desert Dog - Guidelines:  Pays on acceptance.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments, photos/artwork. Subjects: dog training, health, nutrition, activities, activism, events of Tucson. 

• THE GROWING EDGE - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, photos/artwork. Subjects: gardening. 

• Guideposts Sweet 16 - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, fillers. Subjects: Teenage girls 11-17, true stories, humor. 

Low - Less than $125

• Adirondack Sports & Fitness - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, photos/artwork. Subjects: outdoor recreation sports and fitness topics in New York State's Adirondack Park and Capital-Saratog. 

• Ancestry Magazine - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments. Subjects: history, genealogy. 

• Art Calander Magazine - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments, photos/artwork. Subjects: Art Careers, and How-To. 

• Arts & Activities - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, photos/artwork. Subjects: Art education. 

• AskMen - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, photos/artwork. Subjects: movies, entertainment, cars, women, sports. 

• Bitch Magazine - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments. Subjects: feminist, pop culture, social trends . 

• Capper's - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, fiction, columns/departments, fillers, photos/artwork. Subjects: historical, nostalgic, family-oriented, travel, serialized novels, poetry, jokes.. 

• Family Chronicle - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments, photos/artwork. Subjects: genealogy, how-to. 

• Sunset - Guidelines:  Pays on acceptance.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments, photos/artwork. Subjects: gardening, home design, food, travel. 

• Treasure Valley Family Magazine - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction. Subjects: parenting, crafts, family excursions, and health. 

You’ve finished that article, essay, short story or book? Is it time to print it, stuff it in an envelope, slap on those stamps and shove it in the mailbox?

Nope.

Writing is rewriting and rarely is a first draft ever ready to be a final draft.

For some, the rewriting is the fun part. For others, it’s a drudge. You’re having to switch from your creative brain to your editor brain. But it’s important if you want to make that manuscript truly sellable.

By following a few steps, you can make sure that your written piece is as polished as it can be before that editor takes a first look.

LET IT SIT

At first glance, your first draft may seem to you to be utterly brilliant or totally trash. Rarely is it either. It’s time to step away from that particular piece. It’s difficult to rewrite while it’s completely fresh in your mind. You’ve just finished it and you’re either sick of it or convinced you could never make it any better.

Depending on you and the type of piece it is, you may want to let it sit for a day, a week, or months for longer pieces. When you pick it up again, you’ll have a new perspective and you’ll more likely see it as it really is.

Now’s the time to begin rewriting.

READ IT ALOUD

Try reading into a recorder or just reading the piece aloud. You’ll be able to notice places that are jarring or sentences that ramble, don’t make sense, or are difficult to read.

Listen for the voice for fiction or if the sequence of events or steps you are sharing make sense for an article. If it’s an essay, does it flow easily? Does the ending seem abrupt? Are there parts where you think, huh?

REWRITE

It’s time to fix those big and little problems. Maybe you need to rearrange thoughts in your article, add more emotion or less telling to your essay, and strengthen the ending to your short story.

Cut, add, expand, tighten, delete. Don’t be afraid to take the red pen to your beloved words.

READ BACKWARDS FOR PUNCTUATION

Try reading your piece backward to check spelling that your Spellcheck may have missed or missing punctuation. This way you won’t get involved again with the actual writing, focusing only on punctuation and spelling.

FIND A CRITIQUE GROUP OR ANOTHER WRITER

Get an unbiased read from another writer. Mom, the kids, your best friend…they may not be your best critiquers. “It’s just wonderful and perfect just like it is” or “Boy, this is a stinker” may influence you the wrong way. Sure, they are readers, but in this raw state, can they give your manuscript a professional look-see before it’s edited and typeset and sitting on a shelf?

Check your library, bookstore, or book editor of the newspaper to see if an established critique group exists in your area. Not one? Consider beginning one. Put an add at the library bulletin board or a local college and begin creating a group who will be both supportive and helpful.

Once you’ve let your piece sit, read it aloud, rewritten, checked the punctuation and perhaps had it critiqued before rewriting again, and you feel it’s in the best shape possible, you’re ready to send it out and wait for a response.

Your piece may sell as is, or an editor may express interest if you’d do a rewrite. Do you get discouraged? No way. Now’s the time to prove to an editor that you can and will rewrite.

When I sent a short story for consideration to Cricket Magazine for children, they were very interested in the piece but felt it might be better for the younger age. The editor of Spider magazine, their younger publication, liked the piece but said it would need to be cut from 900 words to 600, and a few more details added in.

Right away I worked on cutting it down to 600 words, then found ways to use a few words to add the information the editor wanted, then cut it back to 600 words. It took some work, but the story was bought and published. Recently, a story to Cricket was accepted after doing a few rewrites.

Many of my pieces for magazines have been accepted without rewrite suggestions. But those that have asked me to do them, I am quick to run to the challenge. If I completely disagree with the suggested changes, I’ll talk with the editor. Often, once you share your reasons for keeping something a certain way, the editor will agree. If not, you must decide whether it’s important enough to lose the sale, or the sale is more important than those specific words or ideas.

Remember that your words are not written in stone until they are actually published. And by then, any changes are too late. So consider the importance of rewriting and revising to polish your well thought out ideas, make your words sparkle, and editors want to get more and more from you because you send them writing that needs little-to-no tweaking.

© Copyright 2007, Kathryn Lay

Kathryn Lay is the author of over 1400 articles, essays, and stories in magazines and anthologies. Her first children’s novel, CROWN ME was published in 2004 and her first picture book was recently accepted. She is also the author of THE ORGANIZED WRITER IS A SELLING WRITER by AWOC Books. You can learn more about her writing and writing classes at www.kathrynlay.com