Melissa asks: “I’ve noticed that most writers’ websites include a headshot or similar photo for ‘branding.’ I haven’t put a headshot on my website yet because I am only 22 (graduated from college last spring a year early) and I worry that my obvious youth would prejudice editors against me (especially since most of...
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This may sound a little odd, but one of my favorite times of the year is the week AFTER Christmas! No, I’m not a scrooge. I really do love the holidays, but by the time I’ve sung my last Fa, La, La, La, La I’m worn out. My family is in vacation mode so I take a...
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Many of the questions the students of my 8-week e-course ask me stem from the fear of not getting everything just right. “What if I say this and the editor gets offended?” “What if I miss a typo?” “What if I read a year’s worth of back issues and it turns out the magazine...
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I wrote this article a few years ago as part of a book proposal that never flew; I hated to see it sitting on my hard drive unused and unloved, so I breathed new life into an old article by updating it for 2007. A potential client asks for your card. What do...
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Stephanie Chandler is the author of From Entrepreneur to Infopreneur: Make Money with Books, eBooks, and Information Products (John Wiley & Sons, December 2006). We spoke with Stephanie about how freelancers can make more money as infopreneurs. Can you tell us a bit about your experiences as an infopreneur? It all began when I...
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Today I decided to change my sig line. For the last few months it had read, “Hire me to write your stuff! I’m swell.” It got nice comments from clients, but I became tired of seeing it. So my husband Eric and I spent longer than we should have today playing with ideas like:...
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Ginny writes, “I just read your answer to Stephanie regarding Writer’s Market, and I’ve got a follow-up question. I’ve noticed, while perusing my WM online, that some of the women’s magazines I’ve been interested in pitching say that they are now closed to pitches, as you mentioned in your answer. But when I go...
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Stephanie asked, “Are books like the Writer’s Market reliable? How many opportunities am I missing by taking their word as gold? Or how many bridges will I burn by not listening to them and querying editors that really don’t want to be queried?” I love Writer’s Market. I subscribe to their online version every...
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This past week I made Christmas cookies: lemon drops, spice cookies, and oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips and cranberries. I’m a pretty good cook and a fair baker, so I anticipated that in a few hours, I’d have dozens of delicious cookies to mail to my in-laws. The recipe for lemon drops, which was...
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Jennifer sent me a photo of her office space. I noticed that she had a couple of horizontal slots in the bookcase that sits on her desk. I guessed that this is where paper piles up. Clutter loves those horizontal surfaces! I suggested that she designate one slot for incoming papers that she has...
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