
I’m on sabbatical from writing in September and am running reprints. Based on an experience I had recently, I thought this one was worth another look. Enjoy!
A couple of things happened today that inspired this post. First, someone posted on a forum for professional writers asking for tips on how to get started as a …
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Sep 15, 2011
Advice, Rants, Rules, Writers

I’m in the process of moving from New Hampshire to North Carolina, and things will be crazy around here until we get settled in. I’ll be running some oldie-but-goodie posts on the blog until I’m back to work. Enjoy!
In January, I wrote a post called I Just Got an Assignment. Holy Crap! Now What?, where …
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Jun 20, 2011
Advice, Editors, Rules, Sources, Writing

I’m in the process of moving from New Hampshire to North Carolina, and things will be crazy around here until we get settled in. I’ll be running some oldie-but-goodie posts on the blog until I’m back to work. Enjoy!
1. You have the right to say no.
An editor asks you to write for exposure? “No.” A …
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Jun 16, 2011
Observations, Rants, Rules

photo credit: mollypop
A couple weeks ago, one of my students — a talented writer with a couple national clips to her name — told me she’d taken a class where the writing instructor said beginning freelancers should write 15 articles for regional parenting magazines before pitching national parenting magazines.
I was flabbergasted when this dog …
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Apr 18, 2011
Advice, Editors, Ideas, Magazines, Query letters, Rants, Rules, Writing

This is an excerpt from my e-book Editors Unleashed: Magazine Editors Growl About Their Writer Pet Peeves. I spoke with 10 assigning editors at national and trade magazines (under condition of anonymity) to find out what writers do that piss them off — and how to avoid being an editor’s nightmare.
Interested in reading the …
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Feb 14, 2011
Advice, Editors, Rules