In this Issue:

• "Welcome" - Dan Case, editor
  
  
• Feature "Pitching to an Editor or Agent" by Carolyn B. Leonard
  
  
• 12 Paying Markets - High, Medium, and Low
  

Want to contribute to this newsletter? We are a paying market. Read our guidelines for contributors here: http://www.writingfordollars.com/wfdguidelines.cfm

Welcome

One of the best things you can do to become a successful writer or to make more money as a writer is to attend good writing conferences. I’d like to invite each of you to join me at one of the largest and best writing conferences in the country next month on April 29 thru May 1 in Oklahoma City. The Oklahoma Writers’ Federation, Inc (OWFI) is holding its 42nd annual writers’ conference, “Write Every Day,” at the beautiful Embassy Suites Hotel on Meridian Street. There will be thirty speakers and presenters putting on more than forty workshops, panels and speeches. Plus, there will be buzz sessions on Friday night, bonus workshops on Thursday night and Friday and Saturday at lunchtime, appointments available with agents and editors, and plenty of opportunity to smooze with all thirty of the guest speakers. You can take them to lunch, sit in a buzz session in their hotel room, or sit and have a conversation with one at breakfast. There will be a famous authors’ banquet on Friday night and an awards banquet on Saturday night… all included in your conference fee of $175 for the 2-day conference.

Who will be there? NY Times bestselling author Dana Stabenow (www.stabenow.com) will be the Keynote speaker at the Friday night banquet and will be smoozing around at the conference for the entire weekend. There will be an autograph party and booksigning on Saturday afternoon so you can get those autographed books. In addition to Dana, there will such notable speakers as Jane Friedman of Writer’s Digest, writer Kelly James-Enger (www.becomebodywise.com), writer Jessica Burkhart (www.jessicaburkhart.com), writer Deborah LeBlanc (www.deborahleblanc.com), writer Christina Katz (www.christinakatz.com), writer Page Lambert (www.pagelambert.com), writer Jory Sherman (www.jorysherman.com) (Jory Sherman has written over 400 published novels!), writer Nancy Robinson Masters (www.nancyrobinsonmasters.com), writer Margaret Daley (www.margaretdaley.com), writer K.D. Wentworth (www.kdwentworth.com), four agents, eight editors, and many more.

And best of all, the conference will be hosted by ME! Yes, I am the president of OWFI this year and I was able to invite many of my favorite authors, agents and editors, and to put together my dream writing conference. Plan on attending, please! You can find details and forms for signing up on the OWFI website (www.OWFI.org). But hurry, space is limited to the first 400 who sign up and we are already half full. See you there!

You can follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ChickenWriter and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1041077107
I'll tweet you some interesting articles and markets!

How to Promote Your Book Get new ideas to promote your book at promotebooks.blogspot.com. Please visit and leave a comment or two.

Check out the article database. Our inventory of over 500 past articles from WFD is available to search and read. Find just the right information you need to make a few more bucks this year.

Don't forget our database of writer’s guidelines is readily available to everyone for FREE! All links have been checked within the last year (the date that they were last checked is listed) so you can be sure to have the most up-to-date information.

Here are the top-selling writing books at AWOCBooks.com - $1 SHIPPING on selected books! ($2.95 value)

1. The Complete Guide to Writing & Selling Magazine Articles 2nd Edition by Peggy Fielding and Dan Case. $1 SHIPPING!
   
2. Confessing for Money 2nd Edition Writing and Selling to the SECRET Short Story Market by Peggy Fielding $1 SHIPPING!
   
3. Who's Your Daddy? by Carolyn B. Leonard $1 SHIPPING!
   
4. Inspire! Writing from the Soul by Linda C. Apple $1 SHIPPING!
5. Preserving Family Legends for Future Generations by M. Carolyn Steele $1 SHIPPING!
   
6. The Organized Writer is a Selling Writer by Kathryn Lay. $1 SHIPPING!
   
7. Magic Steps to Writing Success by Charles W. Sasser. $1 SHIPPING!
   
8. Devoted to Writing! by Nancy Robinson Masters & Maurice Parsley Mallow $1 SHIPPING!
   
9. Journal Jumpstart for Writers by Jennifer DiCamillo $1 SHIPPING!
   
10. Be Your Own Book Doctor: So You Can Cure What Ails Your Writing by Robyn Conley.
    

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

Pitching to an Editor or Agent

Several years ago I was in Denver for a training seminar. Staying at the same hotel were Debbie Reynolds and the cast and crew of her play, “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.” I greatly admired Ms Reynolds and imagined all the things I might say to her if I had the opportunity. One evening after attending the play I found myself in the same elevator with Reynolds and her daughter. They spoke to me politely. I found myself too star-struck to say a word. If I’d been prepared for this encounter, I might have had something witty or profound or just plain courteous to say. But I wasn’t, and so it was a long, silent elevator ride.

Last year as coordinator of the editor/agent appointments at the Oklahoma Writers Federation conference, I saw the same thing happen once or twice to would-be authors. It was a shame, because unlike my encounter with Debbie Reynolds, they had appointments and had time to prepare. But even many seasoned writers have difficulty pitching their stories. To help you prepare for your next meeting with an agent or editor, here are some tips for you to use—even if the meeting is an unexpected encounter in an elevator.

1. You get your requested editor/agent appointment, or you find yourself in an elevator with one, and you have exactly ten minutes to convince them to consider your manuscript. Are you prepared?
   
   
2. Be sure you know your genre—Women’s Fiction, Mystery, Romance, Western … whatever. And be sure you carefully pick the agent or editor who is interested in that field.
   
   
3. Remember the agent is a human being, so observe the niceties of a greeting and a smile before you (quickly) segue into your pitch. You may want to ask first, “What would you like to know about my project?”
   
   
4. Narrow your plot down to one sentence, at the most two. This is one of the hardest things you have to do, so get this done long before the appointment. Example: “Successful business man with two young children believes his wife died five years earlier in a shipboard accident while on a cruise ...”
   
   Imagine you are telling a friend about a really great movie. Don’t bore them with too many details—remember you only have minutes before the room monitor rushes you out of there, or alternatively the end of the captive audience when the elevator stops and the agent exits.
   
   Hit them with the hook, and leave them wanting more. To follow on the example: “...When the businessman signs the papers with the judge declaring his wife dead, he decides to marry again. However just as the new couple are leaving on their honeymoon flight, the first wife reappears after having been rescued from a desert island.”
   
   It does not hurt to say something like … “it has a similar plot to that successful 1950s movie, ‘Move Over, Darling’.”
   
   
5. Writing the pitch out beforehand is good practice, and helps keep you within your time frame.
   
   
6. Be prepared to answer questions about your project. Think about why you are writing about the subject, and why someone might want to read it.
   
   
7. Do not pitch multiple projects in one session, but be prepared to share ideas about further projects if asked.
   
   
8. Be positive and personable. Sell yourself. Make it easy for an agent or editor to take a chance on you.
   
   
9. Take along a one-page synopsis and your business card with you to leave with them.
   
   
10. Don’t expect an agent to critique your work or sign you on the spot.
    

In brief:

• Do your homework.
  
  
• Be certain that your manuscript is within the range of work the editor or agent represents.
  
  
• Practice your pitch and rehearse it in front of a friend.
  
  
• KISS it—Keep it short and simple, but give them the opportunity to ask for more; such as, genre and word count, plot line and hook.
  
  
• Take a one-page synopsis with you—just in case.
  
  
• If the agent/editor asks to see more, be sure to ask for their business card.
  

After you sell your manuscript and become a bestselling author, you may find yourself in the same situation as Debbie Reynolds—riding in an elevator with a fan. Just remember to speak politely and know that they are probably too star struck to say anything back to you.

© 2010 by Carolyn B. Leonard

Carolyn B. Leonard, author of the just-released book, Who’s Your Daddy? A Guide to Genealogy from Start to Finish, remains a commissioned writer for Persimmon Hill, the award-winning magazine of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. She has contributed to several books including the bestseller In Their Name, a state-endorsed book on the Murrah Federal Building bombing in Oklahoma City. She enjoys presenting programs to help people find their family’s place in history and can be reached through her website www.CarolynBLeonard.com

High - Over $500

• Archaeology - Guidelines:  Pays on acceptance.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments, photos/artwork. Subjects: Art, science, history, culture, archaeology. 

• QSR - Guidelines:  Pays on acceptance.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments, photos/artwork. Subjects: Restaurant, fast food, franchise, quick service. 

• Sky & Telescope - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments, fillers, photos/artwork. Subjects: Astronomy and space science. 

Medium - $125 - $500

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

• Canadian Aviator magazine - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments, photos/artwork. Subjects: Flying. 

• Diabetes Health - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments, photos/artwork. Subjects: Diabetes. 

• Highlights - Guidelines:  Pays on acceptance.  Seeks nonfiction, fiction, columns/departments, fillers, photos/artwork. Subjects: Children art, fiction, crafts. 

• Hobby Farms - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments, photos/artwork. Subjects: All aspects of rural living—from small farm equipment to country cooking. 

Low - Less than $125

• AskMen - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, photos/artwork. Subjects: Men ages 18 - 45, lifestyle, entertainment, cars, women, sports. 

• Rocky Mountain Rider - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, fillers, photos/artwork. Subjects: Horses, western life, cowboy poetry. 

• Today's Pentecostal Evangel - Guidelines:  Pays on acceptance.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments, photos/artwork. Subjects: Pentacostal Religion. 

• Travel Thru History - Guidelines:  Pays on publication.  Seeks nonfiction, columns/departments, photos/artwork. Subjects: Travel. Historical, archaeological, cultural aspects of destination. . 

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