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Sunday, February 1, 2009
New York Writers Workshop's Non-Fiction Pitch Conference/Feb. 13-15
New York Writers Workshop's Non-Fiction Pitch Conference
w/editors from Scribner's, Rodale, Viking, Penguin, Random House, Simon & Schuster, and others.
Friday, February 13 - Sunday 15, 2009
Ripley-Grier Studios, 16th Floor
520 8th Avenue (btw 36th & 37th St's)
New York, NY
http://www.newyorkwritersworkshop.com/
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Writing Quotes of the Day
"The job of the artist is to omit that which is tedious and irrelevant, and to suppress that which is tedious and necessary."
Robert Louis Stevenson
"Immature artists imitate; mature artists steal."
Lionel Trilling
"Three hours a day will produce as much as a man ought to write."
Anthony Trollope
"I really don't want to encourage young writers. Keep them down and out and silent is my motto."
John Updike
"Writing is a solitary occupation. Family, friends, and society are the natural enemies of the writer. He must be alone, uninterrupted, and slightly savage if he is to sustain and complete an undertaking."
Jessamyn West
Spotlight Sites of the Day
http://www.alanataylor.com/
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http://therenegadewriter.com/
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http://randalhoule.blogspot.com/
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http://www.bosackerbooks.com
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http://www.thebackroomat.dehanna.com
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Five Myths About Freelance Writing
Five Myths About Freelance Writing
By Michael P. Geffner
1) That it's all about pitching ideas and query letters and resumes.
Fact is, in my whole freelancing career, which has produced over 8,000 published stories in mostly big markets, I've gotten less than a handful of assignments from this approach. The reality is: It's all about having a great reputation, good contacts, and a broad network of editors as allies (people you can easily hit up on the phone with an idea).
2) That it's nearly impossible to make a living at it.
I won't lie. It's not easy. I've seen depressing stats about most freelancers not even earning $30,000 a year. But if you're talented and work hard and network like crazy and keep building your rep, you can definitely beat the odds. At my best, I've made as much as $3 per word and anywhere between $5,000-$10,000 a story (which doesn't include getting expensed to go to places like Mexico and Vancouver and all over the U.S.).
3) That once you make it, it's a glorious life.
I'll admit that when it's going well and you're hot, it can be a dream of an existence. Prime assignments. Awesome travel. No boss hanging over your shoulder. No hours when you have to wake up and sleep. But...on the bad side, it has no 401K plan with matching money, no paid health benefits, and when it cools off, you sweat out paying the your phone bill and the rent. If you don't have the stomach for that, you need to get a staff job.
4) That it's a constant hustle.
At the beginning, it most definitely is. But if you're really good, you can move within time into that exclusive realm of "contract freelancer." If you look at the masthead of magazines, you'll see the categories of "Contributing Writers" or "Contributing Editors." Those are almost always the contract freelancers, and they're the divas of the publication, getting the most money for the hours they put in. A typical contract guarantees the writer a certain amount of money (as much as six figures) for doing a certain amount of stories. This is the top of the top for a freelance writer, and if freelancing is what you want, then this is the prize you should always have your eyes on.
Note: I was a contributing writer for The Village Voice for over a dozen years (which also included a bargaining unit freelancing agreement that paid for my health insurance and three weeks of vacation!), a contributing editor for Details and Maximum Golf (a short-lived News Corp pub), and a contributing writer for The Sporting News. Trust me, it's the only way for a freelancer to live. Takes all the struggle out of it.
5) That in order to get freelance work you need to buy Writer's Market or Google for freelance sites, etc.
Believe it or not, I never did this once. Nor have any major freelancers I know--and I know a ton. Although Writer's Market is a fine tool for beginners to learn the freelancing landscape, my advice is this: Go to your local Barnes & Noble or Borders, check the magazine racks for publications you'd like to work for, and start copying down titles, addresses, and names of editors. Follow this by writing letters of introduction to editors, expressing how much you'd like to work for this magazine, and that you're going to call them on such and such a day to discuss this. Cold calling is nerve-wracking, but it's the best way to establish a close relationship with an editor. Just make sure you have five ideas to hit them with when they ask, "So what do you have for me?"
Good luck!
"For the young who want to" by Marge Piercy
For the young who want to
by Marge Piercy
Talent is what they say
you have after the novel
is published and favorably
reviewed. Beforehand what
you have is a tedious
delusion, a hobby like knitting.
Work is what you have done
after the play is produced
and the audience claps.
Before that friends keep asking
when you are planning to go
out and get a job.
Genius is what they know you
had after the third volume
of remarkable poems. Earlier
they accuse you of withdrawing,
ask why you don't have a baby,
call you a bum.
The reason people want M.F.A.'s,
take workshops with fancy names
when all you can really
learn is a few techniques,
typing instructions and some-
body else's mannerisms
is that every artist lacks
a license to hang on the wall
like your optician, you vet
proving you may be a clumsy sadist
whose fillings fall into the stew
but you're certified a dentist.
The real writer is one
who really writes. Talent
is an invention like phlogiston
after the fact of fire.
Work is its own cure. You have to
like it better than being loved.
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