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Working From Home – 10 Keys to Survival

This is a guest post by Anne Varia.

Conference calls in your pajamas. Two-hour lunches. Unlimited vacations and endless sick time. Indeed, working at home is every writer's dream.

The truth is, writers and non-writer's alike tend to glamorize the notion of working at home. And the obvious perks don't always outweigh the unique challenges of being your own boss. In fact, many work-at-home writers I know share the same complaints: disorganization, isolation, and lack of motivation, just to name a few. But none of these challenges is insurmountable. Here are just a few suggestions to get your home-based writing business on track. (more…)

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Please The Editor: Make A Sale

This is a guest post by Beth Fowler.

Have you ever thought that editor should appear in your thesaurus under devil somewhere between Beelzebub and fiend? I felt that way until I become one…an editor, that is.

My job, like every editor's job, was to acquire, repair and publish manuscripts. Although I had only 50 manuscripts to edit and enjoyed a flexible deadline, the less tutoring and rework I had to do the greater the odds were that that author's work would be published in the anthology. (Write "Travel anthology" in the subject line of an email to b2fowl@aol.com for your free copy.)

Generally, manuscripts submitted to me were interesting and demonstrated an understanding of the basic principles of composition. Deviations from standard practice, however, made "me want to cry and run away," as Simon & Schuster's (http://www.simonsays.com) Rebecca Saletan put it. I developed sympathy for editors who hadn't thought that my submissions were brilliant. Maybe, just maybe, the editors were right. (more…)

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When Writing Gigs Slow Down

This is a guest post by Lorraine Cote.

So you have been busy writing lately. You may have had more work than you wanted and were not in short supply of clients, which is great for you and for business. Now, all of a sudden, the well seems to have run dry, things may have slowed down quite a bit, so now what? What do you do when your writing projects seem to literally dry up?

The first thing you should know is that you shouldn't PANIC, it's bound to happen and things will bounce back, sooner or later. I have been running my writing business for twelve years now and there hasn't been one year when I didn't experience at least one slow down. For me, things usually slow down around holidays, especially around Christmas. It's understandable that people are wrapped up in shopping and the festivities of the season and are not likely to move forward with projects. I also experience a little lull during summer months when people enjoy the outdoors or are on vacation. As I said, it is expected, especially if you run your own small business, but usually doesn't last very long. (more…)

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Breaking Up Is Hard to Do

This is a guest post by Jenna Glatzer.

You finally broke into a market you’d been dying to break into. Some Big Magazine has hired you to write an 800-word article for their front-of-the-book, and you’re ecstatic! You work hard as can be, proofread like crazy, and send it in, sitting by your inbox and waiting for the note back telling you how fabulous your article is, and by the way, where have you been all their lives? They want you to write all the articles in the magazine from now on!

But days turn into weeks, and no response. You check in and get “Thanks for the article! Sorry I haven’t had time to look at it yet. I’ll get back to you as soon as I have a chance to read it.”

Hmm. Is this the same editor who told you the article absolutely HAD TO be in in 10 days so it could make it into the September issue? How come she now has weeks to sit on it? Grumblegrumble. You could have spent more time researching if you had all this extra time.

But, you tell yourself, that’s okay. She’s busy. Maybe there’s been a scheduling change. I’m sure everything is fine.
(more…)

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