March 31, 2008 • 9:06 pm 0
Theresa Chaze will be our guest blogger tomorrow, talking about her book From Blank Page to Book Shelves: How to Successfully Write and Market Your Book.
Join us and ask any questions you might have.
Filed under: writing , blog, guest, guest blogger, Jen Nipps, jennipps, Theresa Chaze, write, writing
March 25, 2008 • 10:00 am 0
If you’re writing and want to be published, you should be submitting. For a long time, I wasn’t. Therefore, I wasn’t published. It’s honestly a mindset that you have to overcome. Do it. 
Here’s a non-paying poetry market for today.
Yes, I know. Paying markets are better, but this lets you get your feet wet, too. Sometimes small successes give you the confidence to go for the larger ones.
Filed under: writing , confidence, Jen Nipps, jennipps, poetry, submissions, success, write, writer, writing
March 24, 2008 • 10:00 am 0
(No title yet.)
Anxiety –
Sharp as knives –
Stabbing my heart and lungs…
Breathe.
(Take a ride on Rhian’s Poetry Train. No reservation required.)
Filed under: poetry train, writing , anxiety, breathe, Jen Nipps, jennipps, Monday Poetry Train, poems, poetry, write, writing
March 23, 2008 • 4:11 pm 0
The problem with not doing a status report last week is twofold: I have to do a double report this week and my records are all kind of jumbled.
That said, I’m going to take the cheater’s way out and say I have made my goal of a minimum of two submissions a week. I will list my successes in this regard in a minute. It’s rather obvious I have not maintained my blogs to that same standard, however, in large part because I’m revamping my personal work schedule for the day job and that has things a bit off-kilter at the moment, but that will soon become more routine.
I got one rejection via ground mail from a submission I made back in September. I was not surprised. The pages were quite wrinkled, so I have no doubt the submission was read at least twice over.
Success with the Just Hit Send challenge has been…slow in coming by my standards. You know how it is. You want something and you want it NOW. I’m no different.
The best part is: All of these pay. True, they may not pay a lot, but every little bit helps and it all adds up in the long run.
Filed under: writing , assignments, Atlantic Publishing, book reviews, books, Jen Nipps, jennipps, write, writer, Writers Journal, writing
• 9:12 am 0
Testing the delayed post function for a later daye.
I will do a two-week Sunday Status Report this afternoon.
Filed under: writing
March 18, 2008 • 7:27 pm 2
BLOGS COUNT TOO
Many of the most helpful websites I have come across on the Internet aren’t static sites. They are web logs (blogs) that are updated regularly. The best ones update once a week.
One thing about blogs is since they are constantly changing, links may or may not always work. If a blog has been around for any length of time, it can have more links in it than a website. For these reasons, I will not be doing a summary of broken links. You can be fairly certain the newer posts in a blog will have working links, unless an address has been typed incorrectly. Older posts in the blog may have broken links since the websites they linked to may have changed their layout, thus the links as well, or simply have disappeared.
I say here the blogs are “maintained” by whoever owns the blog. That means they both write the entries and do whatever maintenance and site design their platform (Blogspot, WordPress, etc.) allows. Some of them have other people who also write posts from time to time. These people are generally called guest bloggers unless they are a regular contributor.
I will not include a rating since I consider these to be among the best.
Jenn Hollowell: Working Writer: Maintained by Jenn Hollowell, a freelance writer in Maine. She covers things from how to make your workspace work for you to free resources available on the Internet to how to find work. She also offers reviews of books and websites.
The Renegade Writer Blog: Maintained by the authors of The Renegade Writer, Linda Formichelli and Diana Burrell. They have occasional guest bloggers. They answer questions from readers and talk about their own experiences with the principles they discuss in their book. You do not have to have read the book in order to benefit from the blog.
PubRants: Maintained by Kristin Nelson of the Nelson Literary Agency. Kristin Nelson’s agency is located in Denver, Colorado. In her blog, she talks about such topics as what happens in an auction, software problems, eReaders, and what to look for in a book deal.
Writer Beware: Maintained by A.C. Crispin and Victoria Strauss. They also have occasional guest bloggers. A.C. Crispin, who will be one of the conference presenters in May, is a science fiction writer and scam-buster with Writer Beware. She and Victoria Strauss discuss many of the scams and maintain a list of literary agents and publishers to avoid.
Freelance Writing Gigs: Maintained by Deborah Ng and some co-bloggers. They provide a (mostly) daily listing of links to various ads looking for freelance writers. Some are magazine guidelines. Some are copywriting jobs. All of the jobs posted pay. Non-paying jobs and scams are deleted immediately when they are discovered.
There are too many blogs maintained by writers (published and not), editors, and agents to give any kind of a comprehensive list, which is why I chose these as representative of the best. Use Google or Yahoo search to find out if others have blogs that you might be interested in.
# # #
SIDEBAR
Other blogs maintained by writers, editors, and agents that give good information:
Miss Snark: Unfortunately, Miss Snark has retired her blogging pen, but the blog is still up with a wealth of information in the “Snarkives.”
Squiggle: The Writing World of Plaid Earthworm : The Earthworm shares “surf and turf” links (a website and a brick-and-mortar store) on Saturdays.
Writers on the Rise: A variety of authors write about topics ranging from how they got started to taking care of your taxes to interviews/profiles and everything in between.
# # #
BIO
Jen Nipps is a member of the Tulsa Nightwriters, McAlester McSherry Writers, and Web Writing Wonders. Her website is www.jenifernipps.com. Her own blog, Creatif, can be found at http://jensorganizedwriter.wordpress.com.
# # #
(Originally published in the OWFI Report, March 2008.)Filed under: writing , blogs, Jen Nipps, jennipps, OWFI, reviews, web site reviews, write, writer, writing
March 13, 2008 • 6:30 pm 0
A question posted on the Absolute Write Water Cooler was about how did other writers organize their lists of submissions/queries.
Once upon a time, I tried to use a Microsoft Access database. That turned out to be too complicated for me. Now I use a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet
I have several columns: Title, Date Written, Date Submitted, Market, Status, Rights Sold, Published, Pay, and Notes.
The “Rights Sold” column is a new addition for what rights were sold to what market. In the original question asked on the Water Cooler, someone else said they used a similar column so it would be easier to keep track of what reprints may be available.
It’s easier for me to go in to an Excel spreadsheet than it was to go through all the steps involved in opening an Access database.
Filed under: writing , Absolute Write, Jen Nipps, jennipps, organization, queries, rights, submissions, write, writing
• 9:24 am 0
March 11, 2008 • 4:13 pm 0
My Business celebrate the people who lead the creation of new small-businesses, educates and inspires others to pursue their passions for business and for life, and provides the knowledge, tools and resources to help small-businesses succeed.
Cover stories are written in-house, but the following departments are open to freelancers:
Guidelines can be found here.
Filed under: writing , freelance writing, Jen Nipps, jennipps, market, My Business Magazine, write
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