Success stories from my last couple of Write for Magazines e-course sessions are coming in fast: A few weeks ago, I was thrilled to see a student’s very first article on the newsstands of Barnes & Noble in Flight Journal magazine, and another student’s article in Redbook (her first time in a national women’s magazine, but not her first time in print). And then, another student wrote to let me know that the query she worked on in my last e-course session was accepted by Alive, one of the biggest health magazines in Canada…this will be her first clip.
If you want to write for magazines and don’t know where to start — or you’re already well on your way but want to break into bigger and better-paying magazines — my 8-week Write for Magazines e-course is for you. My next session starts on Monday, and because I decided to up my student limit from 10 to 12, I have two spaces left.
Please check out the e-course page today, and if you’re interested — sign up before someone else gets there first!
Thanks, and I look forward to helping you make your writing dreams come true! [lf]
Whenever I’m trying to decide whether to invest in my writing career, I think about the returns I’m likely to get. For example, when I went to a conference a few years ago where I was able to pitch magazine editors in person, I told myself that all I needed was one feature assignment and the conference would be paid for. As it turns out, I ended up selling not one but six feature articles to the editor I met from Health magazine over the following two years, all at more than $2 per word, which paid for the conference many times over.
When writers take my 8-week Write for Magazines e-course, my desire is that they’ll land at least one assignment that will cover the $240 they spent on the course. And this often happens when the students are serious about the course and have the courage to send out the query they wrote (and I critiqued and edited).
In fact, one of the students from my session that just ended got an acceptance within a week from a magazine she pitched. She’s still going back and forth with the editor on what they pay at the time of this writing, but let’s keep our fingers crossed that it’s a lucrative assignment! Here’s what she had to say about the e-course:
I intended to take Linda’s course last year, but I manufactured an excuse not to. The truth is, I was too intimidated by her credentials. The good news is that I finally worked up the courage to take Linda’s course “Write For Magazines.” My three ideas for my query letter were lackluster — even I didn’t like them. But Linda worked with me and gave me excellent advice about how to expand my ideas and then zero in on a workable slant. I sent out my first query letter a little over a week ago and I have already received a positive response from an editor.
—Sharon Hill
My next Write for Magazines e-course starts on Monday, April 18, 2011. Previous students have landed assignments in magazines like E: The Environmental Magazine, Washington Parent, Spirituality & Health, SELF, Woman’s Day, For Me, Pizza Today, Cottage Living, and Writer’s Digest. These students all invested in their career and worked hard — and it paid off. If you’d like to invest in your freelance writing career this month, please check out the e-course page. I look forward to helping you reach your freelance writing goals! [lf]
Can anyone really write a book in five days? That was my first thought when I saw the advertisement for Tom Bird’s Writing Retreats. Like most would-be novelists I’ve been working on a novel for several years; in fact, I have several folders of would-be books. I’m a NaNo flunky. I even have a short story I’ve been picking at for a year. In an attempt to get past my unconscious blocks I downloaded a self-hypnosis CD a couple of years ago--I’ve listened to it twice. Considering my history I decided I should just concentrate on building my freelance business and put my book on the backburner…still. I forgot all about the retreat until someone suggested I take the course and write about it.
So, here I am, all signed up and wondering what I’ve gotten myself into. My biggest fear at this point? That I will be at this retreat with all eyes on me and nothing will come out! What was I thinking?
Welcome to my journey! I will be attending
Tom Bird’s Write a Book in 5 Days Retreat in beautiful Sedona, Arizona March 24th through 29th and I’m inviting you to come along—literally! Tom has a number of seats available at a special price for WOW
! readers. It is an unadvertised special so you need to contact Tom personally for details. (You can contact Tom at
[email protected] or call him at 928-203-0265) If you are ready to finally write that book, come along with me! For the rest of you—
I’ll be posting entries on my experience as I go along. Surprise #1 (I guess I’m expecting more?) This is not just a 5 day retreat. I just received my Attendee Information Package; Holy Moly, there is a lot of information here!
There are two books to read prior to the retreat. One titled
You Were Born to Write and the other is
You Were Born to Be Published, both written by Tom Bird. Tom believes that each one of us has a book to write; his role is to assist us in overcoming our inner blocks and bringing forth our inner author. Reading these books prior to the retreat helps prepare us for the journey. The books are accompanied by a subliminal CD called "Transitioning Back to the Writer You Were Meant to Be." In addition to this work-at-home material there are 4 webinars to attend; apparently there are writing assignments given during these sessions.
Whew! I wasn’t prepared for the preparatory work :) My initial sense of overwhelm, however, is melting into a nervous excitement. Can Tom really midwife my inner author into being? Am I ready to fully step into this role I’ve been toying with? We’ll see.
By Robyn Chausse
Note: Tom mentioned he had two spaces available at $795 each on a first-come basis. If you are ready to birth your inner author contact Tom and ask if these two spaces have been filled—it’s a terrific price!
I love teaching my e-course Write for Magazines, and I’m excited to announce that the next session starts on Monday, January 10, 2011. Here’s what a former student has to say:
Since taking Linda’s course, my acceptance rate has gone way up. I have had editors send positive replies immediately in response to my queries. I write for quite a few custom publishers and have actually become so busy since taking Linda’s course that my calendar is full. One editor was so impressed with the first two queries (followed by articles that were on-time, error free and polished, as Linda also emphasizes in her course) that she asked me to send 12 article ideas for her to run throughout the year. I did and she accepted them all.
I can’t say enough about Linda’s course and her ability to tune into what editors really want. She really is the queen of online writing courses!
—Nita Crighton
My students are telling me that thanks to the course, they’ve landed assignments in such magazines and webzines as:
* Cottage Living
* For Me
* Black Health
* Woman’s Day
* E: The Environmental Magazine
* Writer’s Digest
* SELF
* Diabetes Forecast
* Blue Water Sailing
* Pizza Today
* Wines & Vines
* Spiritualty & Health
* New Jersey Family
* Weight Watchers Magazine
* Washington Parent
* Babyzone.com
* Graduating Engineer
* Rhode Island Home, Garden & Design
* Working Mother
I’d love for you to join the ranks of these and other students who are reaching their writing dreams. Because I spend so much time critiquing students’ assignments and answering their questions, I have to limit the number of students in the Premium version of the e-course (with e-mail support) to ten…so don’t wait to sign up!
You may be asking, “Who the heck is this chick to be teaching a course in breaking into magazines?” Well, I’ve written for more than 130 newsstand, custom, online, and trade magazines since 1997, including Health, Redbook, Inc., Writer’s Digest, USA Weekend, Woman’s Day, Family Circle, Alternative Medicine, WebMD, and Wired News. I’ve taught more than 350 students through my Write for Magazines e-course and my phone mentoring for writers in the last five years. Finally, as the co-author of The Renegade Writer’s Query Letters That Rock, I interviewed the editors of two dozen newsstand and trade magazines, from Smithsonian to Parenting, on what makes queries work.
You can get more information on Write for Magazines here.
I hope I get to work with you! [lf]
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By:
Kristi Holl,
on 7/2/2010
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I can’t believe I never thought of this before! I feel ditzy even admitting this, but maybe it will help you like it’s helped me.
Aha! Moment
I have dozens of great writing books, and many of them contain terrific writing exercises to help us improve our craft. Some will improve the quality of your description, some will develop character emotions, some will pep up your dialogue, etc.
When I buy a book like this, I start out with great enthusiasm, using a clean notebook to do the writing prompts and exercises. Less than a week later, I’ve put the book on the shelf. Why?
Doing the writing exercises takes time. And I have so little writing time that I don’t feel I can spend it doing writing exercises.
What’s the Answer?
I never thought–until today–to combine the two things! I can’t believe this never occurred to me. I’m reading The Writer’s Portable Mentor: A Guide to Art, Craft, and the Writing Life. At first, I groaned when I read this: “Basic productivity underlies everything else. Take the chapters one by one. Actually do the exercises!“
I sighed and almost quit reading. But the author, Priscilla Long, added this instruction that created the AHA! for me: “But–and this is crucial–do every exercise in relation to some peice you are working on. Don’t just make up sentences on the fly, out of your head. Instead, in your writer’s
notebook, write out a paragraph from the piece you are working on as it currently exists. This is your ‘before’ paragraph. Then work the paragraph, using whatever craft technique you are currently deepening… When you get an ‘after’ paragraph you like, type it back into the piece.”
Paradigm Shift
Actually doing the exercises in the craft books (or your lesson manual) is what improves your writing craft. So put your study/craft book right beside the manuscript you’re working on and use portions of your current work to do the exercises. You’ll be growing as a writer AND revising your manuscript at the same time.
I’m going to go back and systematically use the writing exercises in all the books on my shelf–while applying the exercises to my current revison. This technique will revolutionize my studying from now on!
I realize that many of you have probably been doing this for years! But it’s news to me–and I’m excited to see how this is going to change the way I write. If you try this, let me know how it works for you.
I love teaching my e-course Write for Magazines, and I’m excited to announce that the next session starts on Monday, July 19, 2010. I was also excited to receive this testimonial from a former student:
Since taking Linda’s course, my acceptance rate has gone way up. I have had editors send positive replies immediately in response to my queries. I write for quite a few custom publishers and have actually become so busy since taking Linda’s course that my calendar is full. One editor was so impressed with the first two queries (followed by articles that were on-time, error free and polished, as Linda also emphasizes in her course) that she asked me to send 12 article ideas for her to run throughout the year. I did and she accepted them all.
I can’t say enough about Linda’s course and her ability to tune into what editors really want. She really is the queen of online writing courses!
—Nita Crighton
My students are telling me that thanks to the course, they’ve landed assignments in such magazines and webzines as:
* Cottage Living
* For Me
* Black Health
* Woman’s Day
* E: The Environmental Magazine
* Writer’s Digest
* SELF
* Diabetes Forecast
* Blue Water Sailing
* Pizza Today
* Wines & Vines
* Spiritualty & Health
* New Jersey Family
* Weight Watchers Magazine
* Washington Parent
* Babyzone.com
* Graduating Engineer
* Rhode Island Home, Garden & Design
I’d love for you to join the ranks of these and other students who are reaching their writing dreams. Because I spend so much time critiquing students’ assignments and answering their questions, I have to limit the number of students in the Premium version of the e-course (with e-mail support) to ten…so don’t wait to sign up!
You may be asking, “Who the heck is this chick to be teaching a course in breaking into magazines?” Well, I’ve written for more than 120 newsstand, custom, online, and trade magazines since 1997, including Health, Redbook, Inc., Writer’s Digest, USA Weekend, Woman’s Day, Family Circle, Alternative Medicine, WebMD, and Wired News. I’ve taught more than 350 students through my Write for Magazines e-course and my phone mentoring for writers in the last five years. Finally, as the co-author of The Renegade Writer’s Query Letters That Rock, I interviewed the editors of two dozen newsstand and trade magazines, from Smithsonian to Parenting, on what makes queries work.
You can get more information on Write for Magazines here. And if you’re more interested in getting a boost in motivation, organization, and productivity, you may enjoy my e-course Get Unstuck! for Freelancers.
I hope I get to work with you! [lf]
By:
Kristi Holl,
on 2/22/2010
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During the past year I’ve done more novel critiques than usual. Some have been so-so, some were very good, and a few have already sold.
What made the difference between the “very good” stories and the manuscripts that sold? In my opinion, it was the overall strength of the novels.
Often the “very good” book manuscript was strong except for just one area. Maybe there was no felt emotional connection with the main character, or all the dialogue voices sounded like the author’s voice. Perhaps the one weak area was lack of suspense despite beautiful prose, or poorly researched historical facts, or terrible mechanics.
Oops!
Often when I mentioned the trouble I saw, the writer emailed me back and said, “I knew that was a problem. I guess I was hoping you wouldn’t notice.” It’s better to listen to your gut feeling and assume if you know there’s a problem, others will see it too.
“Hoping an editor won’t notice” isn’t a solid marketing plan. Even if they had the time (which they don’t), editors aren’t in the business of fixing the story for you or teaching you how to write. That’s up to you-but what can you do?
Back to School
“Unless you’re working with an expert instructor, you need to be designing your own writing improvement program,” says James Scott Bell in The Art of War for Writers. “Work out a systematic plan to overcome your weak areas by setting up self-study programs.”
We all hope our novel’s strengths will over-ride the weaknesses, but you want your novel to be healthy overall, not just mostly healthy with one or two weak areas. If your physique were great except for flabby underarms, you would target that flapping fat with exercises and a program designed specifically for upper arms. In the same way, if your novel is weak in one or two areas, you need a specific exercise program to strengthen that area.
Make a Plan
For example, if your problem is dialogue that all sounds like the same flat voice, you might need a self-study program called “Creating Distinctive Voices.” Your study question might be: How can I create distinctive voices for each character, so distinctive that I can tell who’s speaking without any identification?
Here’s one plan, and you can adapt it for any area you want to improve:
- Make a list of novels where you remember the characters coming through in their dialogue as distinctive. (accent, regional speech, slang, choppy vs. languid speech, hip vs. old-fashioned, formal vs. grammatically incorrect, straightforward vs. flowery speech, etc.)
- Choose several of these novels and re-read them specifically for the dialogue. Keep your study question in mind as you read. Underline passages that do the job and then write a few scenes where you try to accomplish the same thing through dialogue. Don’t copy their words, but try to copy the technique used.
- Buy some books on the particular writing problem you have and study them. There are good writing books available on every area of craft you can imagine. You don’t have to re-invent the wheel, nor do you have to submit stories that are weak in one or two areas.
In today’s economy, your stories need to be the cream that rises to the top. Ensuring that your novel is strong in every area is one way to do that.
Success stories from my last couple of Write for Magazines e-course sessions are coming in fast: A few weeks ago, I was thrilled to see a student’s very first article on the newsstands of Barnes & Noble in Flight Journal magazine, and another student’s article in Redbook (her first time in a national women’s magazine, but not her first time in print). And then, another student wrote to let me know that the query she worked on in my last e-course session was accepted by Alive, one of the biggest health magazines in Canada…this will be her first clip.
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