Market Update – December 2010

Message From the Editor
This is the last issue of the WPN Market Update for the year. I hope you have received the type of information and resources you need in order to sell more books, get more exposure, find the right publisher, gain new/interesting perspectives, experience more success as a freelance writer, find more work as an artist/photographer and more successfully meet the challenges of the publishing/writing profession.
I came up with the idea and the format for this newsletter when WPN became an online presence. This is issue number 110. For nearly ten years, we’ve attempted to bring you publishing news and a variety of opportunities you can pursue in order to have a greater chance to succeed as an author, artist, graphic designer, photographer, publisher, editor, freelance writer, etc.
Here’s what you got if you studied each issue of the WPN Market Update this year and here’s what you missed if you didn’t:

  • over a dozen interviews with publishers, publicists and others you need to know
  • 80 news items related to the publishing industry
  • 148 opportunities (read paying jobs) for freelance writers
  • 60 leads for authors seeking publishers
  • 27 resources and opportunities for screenplay writers
  • nearly 100 book promotion opportunities and ideas.

PLUS
You received links to nearly 30 directories focusing on writers and artists’ jobs, book review sites as well as lists of publishers, book festivals and other book promotion resources. That’s somewhere between 3,000 and 10,000 actual resources.
We’d like to hear from you with regard to which aspects of this newsletter are important to you and what we can provide to make this one of the most valuable newsletters available today.
Sincerely,
Patricia Fry, Executive Director
WPN
Here’s What’s New
The Santa Barbara Writers Conference is back. Circumstances closed the conference down a few years ago, but it is being revived. If you live in southern or central California or you want a reason to travel to Santa Barbara, mark the dates on your calendar: June 18-24, 2011. The website is still under construction, so keep checking back. http://www.sbwriters.com.
Time Magazine is making some changes. It’s the first major redesign since 2007. We’ll let you know what changes they make.
National Journal has a new print magazine and a new website. http://www.nationaljournal.com.
Allbooksreview.com has a new email address. It used to be allbookreviews@aol.com. It is now allbooksreview1@aol.com.
WritingRaw.com has made some changes and they need your help and support. They provide a forum for writers of literary works and they invite your submissions. Learn what they need at http://www.writingraw.com.
AuthorMania is closing their Google group and starting a new one at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/authormania.
Caitlin Hamilton Marketing and Publicity, founded in Denver in 2003, has relocated to Knoxville, TN. Their new address is: 269 Newport Road, Knoxville, TN 37934. Contact them at 865-676-3776. To learn more about this group, http://www.caitlinhamiltonmarketing.com.
Sapling is the new title for Black Lawrence Press’s publishing tips newsletter. According to Diane Goettel, each issue will include information related to literary contests, profiles of literary magazines and small presses, an interview with a writer or editor and a Q and A section. But it isn’t free. Fifty-two issues will cost $50. Sign up at: http://www.blacklawrence.com/sapling.html.
Editor’s Note: When you see newsletter editors charging $50 for a newsletter, it puts the value you’re receiving from your $65 annual WPN membership fee in a whole new perspective, doesn’t it? You get two newsletters, a free book of your choice, free monthly teleseminars with a publishing expert, access to our discussion group and more.
Opportunities for Freelance Writers
The Sun Magazine uses essays, interviews, fiction and poetry with political, cultural and philosophical themes. While they do not want academic works or opinion pieces, they are otherwise open to just about anything. And they pay as much as $2,000 for nonfiction, $1,500 for fiction and $500 for poetry. They also use previously published articles and stories and pay half of their regular fee for reprints. While there’s no minimum word length, they do not publish anything longer than 7,000 words. And they want to see the complete manuscript sent by regular mail, only—no emailed manuscripts, please. Send to Editorial Department, The Sun, 107 N. Roberson St., Chapel Hill, NC 27516. http://www.thesunmagazine.org.
Recreation News is a paying market. They pay up to $300 for articles on leisure activities for government and corporate employees in DC, Virginia and Maryland. Don’t forget, in many instances, it is not necessary that you live in an area to write for their regional publications. But you’d better know something about the region, the culture, the activities available, etc. See submission guidelines at: http://www.recreationnews.com. Click on “Writer’s Guidelines.”
Are you looking for a good writers’ conference near your home or in an area you plan to visit next spring or fall? Here’s a site that lists hundreds of them all over the country: http://www.newpages.com/writers-conferences
Here’s an interesting concept. The editors at Yes Magazine ask that you check the writers’ guidelines before each issue of the magazine. This magazine focuses on how people are creating a more sustainable and compassionate world. They negotiate payment separately for each submission accepted. http://www.yesmagazine.org/about/writers-guidelines
Luna Park is a new magazine (founded in 2008) and it covers fiction and poetry, mostly. They also publish book reviews and book excerpts as well as interviews. They indicate that they are a paying market, but there is nothing about payment in the online guidelines. http://www.lunaparkreview.com.
So where is the money in article-writing? Have you ever looked into the trade journals? Perhaps you have expertise in some of the topics. Find publications on topics you know and get creative. Study several issues and come up with something no one else has thought of. Write a piece related to business management, office politics, organizing people or offices, intuition in the workplace, procrastination or even something as off-the-wall as pets in the workplace, for example. Write about interviewing jobseekers, training issues in a particular industry, leisure time for employees/management in this industry, how to keep employees happy and healthy, creating a more family-friendly environment, how to deal with an irate customer—as you can see, the possibilities are endless.
Here are 13 high paying trade magazines:
Interior Construction pays up to $800 for 1,700 words on new product and technical aspects of this business. Contact Rick Reuland for the guidelines at: rmgi@comcast.net. http://www.cisca.org.
Conduct an interview with the right person for ACP Internist/ACP Hospitalist and earn yourself $2,000. http://www.acpinternist.org.
Teaching Tolerance is all about multicultural education. I once sold them a piece on how children of different ethnic backgrounds can work together successfully in a garden. They pay as high as $3,000 for an essay or how-to. http://www.teachingtolerance.org.
Unique Opportunities pays $750 to $2,000 for features of interest to physicians in career transition. http://www.uoworks.com.
Direct Selling News pays a dollar a word for general interest and how-to articles covering direct selling for the network marketing industry. http://www.directsellingnews.com
Operations and Fulfillment needs articles on practical solutions for catalog online and direct response operations management, material handling, bar coding, facility planning, transportation, warehouse management, fulfillment and human resources. They pay up to $1,800. http://www.opsandfulfillment.com.
Remodeling pays a dollar a word for 1,000 words. They need interview articles as well as pieces on new products and small business trends. http://www.remodelingmagazine.com.
Black MBA Magazine http://www.blackmbamagazine.net, pays up to $1,000 for articles covering business career strategy, economic development and financial management.
Overdrive pays $1,500 for essays, exposé, how, to, truck operation and maintenance, personal experience and photo features. Anyone can interview a trucker who has some good stories to tell. http://www.etrucker.com.
Welding Design and Fabrication seeks general interest, how-to, new product, opinion, personal experience and photo features and they pay up to $1,200 for 2,400 words. Since this magazine is aimed at the owners and managers of welding shops, management techniques is one of their pet themes. http://www.weldingdesign.com.
InsideCounsel is designed to provide the information attorneys need to help them manage their corporate law departments. Perhaps you could interview a key player in this field or write about a related event and collect $2,000. http://www.insidecounsel.com.
American Journalism Review wants personal experience stories, exposé pieces and articles on ethical issues. They pay up to $2,000 for 4,000 words. http://www.ajr.org.
Pizza Today publishes interview and business management pieces. They publish over eighty articles per year and they pay 50 cents/word. http://www.pizzatoday.com.
Opportunities for Authors
I’m including this piece of information here in order to encourage authors who write for or who want to write for teens. According to a recent Publisher’s Weekly report, the managers of Barnes and Noble Bookstores are rearranging their teen fiction sections. It seems that teen fiction is the fastest growing category at mega-bookstores and it is the second largest subject behind adult fiction. Evidently, the two most popular genres in teen fiction are paranormal romance and fantasy-adventure. You might keep this in mind when choosing a genre for your next book.
Here are ten new or fairly new publishers of both fiction and nonfiction books.
Sterling Children’s Books plans to launch a new teen fiction imprint called Splinter. If you have a teen fiction manuscript, check the submission guidelines here http://www.sterlingpublishing.com/sterling/author-guidelines.
Mandaley Press is fairly new. President, Mark Satterfield produces business books, particularly those involving sales training. They do not appear to have a website. But you can contact Mark at msatt@mindpspring.com. Write to them at 720 Rio Grande Dr., Ste. 100, Alpharetta, GA 30022.
Loving Healing Press publishes fiction and nonfiction books. In the nonfiction category, they want to see psychology, self-help, personal growth, trauma recovery as well as child guidance, health and memoirs. Fiction subjects include multicultural and social change. http://www.lovinghealing.com. Contact Victor Volkman at info@lovinghealing.com.
Vanhook House in West Virginia publishes both fiction and nonfiction only from first-time, unagented authors. They are interested in nearly all fiction and nonfiction on many subjects including, foods, gardening, memoirs, military, music, New Age, nature, photography, politics, religion, sex, sports, animals and architecture. The only thing they don’t want to see is science fiction and erotica. Contact Jim Whyte at editor@vanhookhouse.com. http://www.vanhookhouse.com.
American Carriage HousePublishing has a full range of topics they’re interested in, including child guidance, parenting, young adult, education, women’s issues and fiction, too. http://www.americancarriagehousepublishing.com. Contact Lyn Taylor at editor@americancarriagehousepublishing.com.
To Be Read Aloud Publishing is only four years old. They publish both fiction and nonfiction for high school drama students. Learn more about this unusual publisher at http://www.tobereadaloud.org. Contact Michael Powell at Michael@tobereadaloud.org.
Soto Publishing Company publishes a lot of books from first-time authors on many nonfiction subjects and fiction genres. http://www.sotopublishingcompany.com. Contact Pedro Soto at info@sotopublishingcompany.com.
Lucky Press publishes both fiction and nonfiction and 95 percent of those books they publish are from first-time authors. http://www.luckypress.com.
Goodman Beck Publishing is only three years old. Most of their published books are from nonagented, first-time authors. They produce nonfiction books in areas of health, medicine, philosophy, and spirituality and fiction genres including mainstream, mystery, suspense and more. http://www.goodmanbeck.com. Contact David Michael at info@goodmanbeck.com
Conifer Books has been producing what they call “Sleuth Guides” since last year. They are seeking authors who can write guides for the senior community on any number of subjects—animals, art, lifestyle, cooking, crafts, nature, real estate, religion, travel, sports, science… http://www.sleuthguides.com. You’ll see author guidelines here: http://sleuthguides.com/sleuthAuthor.htm
Book Promotion Opportunities
Fran Silverman of Book Promotion Newsletter and the author of Talk Radio Wants You: An Intimate Guide to 700 Shows and How to Get Invited ($75.00), also offers ebooks covering specific areas of interest for authors. For example, you can purchase an ebook listing thirty-three shows related to animals and pets for $12, 138 shows related to business for $20, fifty food and travel shows for $12 and thirty nine shows on parenting for $12, for example. Other categories include relationships, science and technology, self-help, sports, New Age, health, entertainment, environment and authors (publishing/writing). Contact Fran at franalive@optonline.net. Subscribe to her weekly newsletter for $7.50 per year. Visit her website at http://www.bookpromotionnewsletter.com or http://www.talkradioadvocate.com.
Do you want to participate in book festivals with your book in 2011? Here’s a site that lists approximately fifty book festivals around the world. http://www.lights.ca/publisher/bookfairs.html
Eric Theigs has issued WPN members an invitation to be featured writers at the Stage of Life website. If you’re interested in additional exposure for your short essay, contact Eric at eric@stageoflife.com. The website is here: http://www.stageoflife.com.
The Wall Street Journal now has a pull-out book review section in the Saturday edition. We’ll bring you more information as we receive it.
Are you familiar with blog carnivals? A member introduced many of us to the concept during a recent WPNDiscuss post. A blog carnival is a blog community—a collection of good blogs on various topics such as DIY home tips, pets, income, eldercare, health and even book marketing. When you visit a blog carnival (a blog community), you can browse by topic and/or submit your own article. What are the benefits of getting involved with a blog carnival? Research and exposure. Check it out at http://blogcarnival.com/bc.
If you are a business woman living in New Jersey and you happen to have a book on some aspect of business, you may want to answer this call: Woodpecker Press will interview 100 New Jersey business women for a book they’re producing. http://wwwodpeckerpress.com.
Opportunities for Artists and Photographers
Did you know that Sterling Publishing has a calendar division? They call it, Silver Linings. http://www.sterlingpublishing.com. They produce calendars reflecting animals, travel destinations and more.
Learn how to sell your art at Art Business: http://www.artbusiness.com. Here, you’ll find articles on how to sell art, art law, strategies for expanding your art career, choosing a gallery, tips for increasing sales, pricing your art, common artist web mistakes, finding an agent and more.
ArtJob is a job site for artists. While some job sites are free, they want $25 for three months access to this site. http://www.artjob.org.
ArtJobs is a free job search site for artists. http://artjobs.artsearch.us/art-jobs
All Freelance Work is a directory of resources for artists. http://allfreelancework.com/artsdirectory
If you are a photographer seeking freelance work, check out this site: http://www.freelancephotographerjobs.com
Opportunities for Scriptwriters
The folks at Scriptalooza are offering to evaluate the first 20 pages of your script for $55. Learn more at http://www.coverageservice.com. Or call, 323-654-5809
Scriptapalooza announces the 13th annual Scriptapalooza International Screenplay competition. The early deadline is January 5, 2011—regular deadline, March 4, 2011. Over 90 production companies are reading scripts and the top 100 scripts will be promoted. http://www.scriptapalooza.com. info@scriptapalooza.com.
Resources for Authors and Freelance Writers
The New Single Copy is a leading source of publishing news. It’s delivered once a week via email. But it is NOT cheap. They charge $425 for an annual subscription. You can check out their 2007 archives in order to decide if this enewsletter is for you. http://www.nscopy.com
LitSay is an online creative writing community. http://www.litsay.com
EssentialWriters.com offers information and resources for writers. Learn more at http://essentialwriters.com.
Are you familiar with AllTop? This is a website where you can find all of the top stories in every category imaginable. http://alltop.com. You can go there to find out what’s happening in your industry, topic of interest, genre. If you want to know more about what’s going on in publishing, use this link: http://publishing.alltop.com.
Going, Going, Gone
127 magazines folded in the first nine months of 2010. A whopping 383 magazines went out of business last year.
US News and World Report has produced its last print magazine.
Bonus Item
I announced last month that the 2011 (90th Anniversary Edition) of the Writer’s Market is out. I’ve had an opportunity to thumb through the directory and I’ve noticed some changes this year. For those of you who are not familiar with the Writer’s Market, it is a directory of listings for publishers, magazine editors, agents, production companies and more. There is also a most helpful section on how to get published, how to write a winning query letter, building a platform and even a chart showing how much you should charge for the various writing work you do.
One thing I miss in the 2011 edition, which has been of value to me these past few years, is the Book Publishers Subject Index. I considered this a big help for authors. If you wanted to find a publisher within a certain genre and/or topic, you just used this list to conduct your research. I found it useful in determining the potential popularity of certain genres and topics, as well.
There are 145 fewer pages in the 2011 edition. Sixty-three of those missing pages are probably the subject index. But I’ve found that there are also fewer publishers/magazines listed. There are 113 fewer pages of publisher listings. There are more agents listed and only slightly fewer consumer magazines. There seems to be more International publications.
Where you see the small “n” in front of a magazine or publisher listing, this means the listing is new to this issue. It seems to me that there are fewer “n’s” in place. I used to LOVE seeing those “n’s” show up in my new Writer’s Market. To me this represented new blood—fresh opportunities. Actually, this is a little misleading. Some magazines with the “n” have longevity. Camping Today, for example, has an “n” and it was established in 1983’ Harvard Review was established in 1992; Connecticut Review was established 1967; Bust Magazine was established in 1993 and Keystone Motorcycle Press was established in 1988. And if this isn’t a misprint, American Agriculturist (which is also marked by an “n”) was established in 1842, for heaven sakes. Sometimes these magazines are posting for the first time in Writer’s Market, but in most cases, they took a year or two off and came back with the “new” rating.
If you are seeking a publisher this year or you continue to submit your work to magazines, you’ll want to become intimately familiar with your 2011 Writer’s Market in the process. Do this: study every issue of your WPN Market Update in 2011 and pursue those leads that make sense to your publishing goals and your writing income and book and article sales are bound to increase accordingly.