The Fabulist Flash

Issue 21
ISSN: 1554-0804

Buttermilk Falls Framed Print

In This Issue:

1. This Week
2. The Writer's Bookshelf
3. Featured Article
4. A Writer Tidbit
5. About The Fabulist Flash

1. This Week

Welcome to Issue 21 of The Fabulist Flash. Forward it to all your writing friends.

It's been another week of research and writing for the book. I feel a sense of accomplishment over two things. First, I made a small editor deadline and turned in my catalog copy on time. Second, I had set a personal goal of having my 50 gay-friendly cities chosen by January 31st and I accomplished that, too.

I was reminded this week that my career is more than just this book-I've been feeling a little tunnel vision about this project recently. But, I received a check from Nevada Magazine as payment for some photos they published in a recent issue and a busy Ohio newspaper editor finally got around to rejecting a reprint article I offered to them last summer. I realized that my focus has been so book inclusive lately that I haven't been submitting anything else. This is an important lesson and I'm pretty sure I'll better understand it when there's a lull in a few months. But, lemons to lemonade, maybe I'll begin planning for a few weeks of summer vacation.

I hope you enjoy this week's feature article, Publish or Perish by Elaine Ernst Schneider. Elaine connects our writing lives and experiences to two classic men of inspiration.

Until next week,

Gregory
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Gregory A. Kompes is a freelance writer and photographer. Learn more about Gregory and his work at www.Kompes.com

2. The Writer's Bookshelf

The Well-Fed Writer by Peter Bowerman

A review by Gregory A. Kompes

What are you trying to accomplish in your freelance writing career? If you have an interest in the business world and your writing goals are to profit from those interests The Well-Fed Writer: Financial Self-Sufficiency as a Freelance Writer in Six Months or Less by Peter Bowerman is the PERFECT guide for you.

In his book, Mr. Bowerman focuses on making money by writing for corporate America. He goes through the steps from start-up to scheduling, to success with lots of great "how-to" information in between.

Mr. Bowerman's writing style is easy to follow and very hands-on. It's obvious that he's writing from his own experience of the field. I like approachable prose when it comes to how-to books.

Both large and small firms outsource many of their writing projects. These projects run the gamut from brochures to newsletters, to advertising and marketing letters, to manuals and policy guides. Once you're an established corporate writer and build a contact list, which takes some tenacity, you're set. Many firms turn again and again to their regular writers.

Even if you decide this isn't the book for you, keep your eyes open for Mr. Bowerman's articles. They show up from time to time in the writer's magazines, newsletters and Ezines. While the book's focus is on corporate writing, many of his articles are on universal topics for freelance writers.

So, I recommend The Well-Fed Writer: Financial Self-Sufficiency as a Freelance Writer in Six Months or Less as an important addition to your own Writer's Bookshelf.

For this title and others of inspiration to writers visit The Writer's Bookshelf.

3. Featured Article

Publish or Perish
by Elaine Ernst Schneider

Publish or Perish-it's an old adage. But, it still bears down on the writer today. If you don't have your work "out there," you have no clips to send, nothing for publishers to see, and no reason to be offered future assignments. But how do you get started?

First, enlarge your offerings. Write when you have an idea, even if you have no specific market in mind for it. Beethoven carried paper and pen with him everywhere he went. When he heard a bird's warble that sparked the melody of a song or the theme for a symphony, he quickly drew five lines for a staff and penned in the notes. To preserve such incidental melodies where he found them, Beethoven was never without his notebook. Every writer needs a Beethoven Notebook-a special place for recording ideas in their infancy until such time as they metamorphose into the great stories or essays for which they are no doubt intended.

I carry a small notebook with me at all times. When something intrigues me or leads me to an interesting topic, I jot it down. At home, it goes into my Beethoven Notebook. Then, when I am surfing the net or paging through writer's magazine advertisements, I may see a publisher who is interested in something I have in my notebook. Even if the topic isn't exactly the same, my notes may give me a place to start or an interesting slant from which to address the desired topic.

As your Beethoven Notebook begins to fill with ideas, consider another great writer with innovative ways of networking and marketing that are strategies worthy of our consideration today, Shakespeare-a man of middle-class origin, a man of small means, an actor, a writer. Not the elements for success, most would say.

So what gave Shakespeare his edge? Yes, he was talented. His plays and sonnets have influenced English literature for more than three hundred years. But, he was also a good businessman. He was resourceful. He wrote plays that he himself starred in. He was part owner in two theaters. And, Shakespeare networked. He understood marketing. Two of Shakespeare's fellow actors, John Heminge and Henry Condell, published a collection of Shakespeare's plays, the First Folio in 1623. Shakespeare and Ben Jonson, a friendly, rival author, exchanged critiques of each other's works, including the First Folio. In fact, it was not unusual to see one name mentioned in the writing of the other. Everywhere and in every way that Shakespeare could get publicity for his works, he did.

How can we adapt that today?

• Join writers groups. If you don't have one in your geographic area, look for eGroups or other web-based writing clubs. Read the articles of group members and ask them to read yours.


• Create a web site. Showcase yourself and your writing. Link to other authors' sites in exchange for a link to yours. Refer to other authors and their works in some of your writings. Ask them to return the favor.


• Trade postings for freelance writing jobs. They are around, but it's hard to find them all if you are working by yourself.


• Don't rule out the practical jobs. Shakespeare didn't quit acting. He did not sell his theaters. Maybe your dream is to write a novel or a how-to book on your favorite subject; but, in the meantime, you may have to write a few insurance manuals to pay the bills.

Be creative. Assemble a portfolio of your work sparked by the ideas in your Beethoven Notebook. But, don't stop there. Learn to network and market. It worked for Shakespeare without the benefits of today's technology. How much more can modern authors do? Give it a shot. Remember our motto: Et tu Brute! er, ah.thou kisseth by the book.no, hmmmm.out, out, damned spot? Well, you get the picture.

About the Author
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Elaine Ernst Schneider is a freelance writer who has published articles, songs, and children's work. Her work has been sold to Catholic Digest, FellowScript, Parenting Today's Teen, This Christian Life, HomeLearning Canada, and Whispers from Heaven. Presently, Elaine is a freelance curriculum author for Group Publishing, Inc. and the managing editor of Lesson Tutor, a lesson plan site found at http://www.lessontutor.com. Her most recent books, 52 Children's Moments (Synergy Publications) and Taking Hearing Impairment to School (JayJo Books and the Guidance Channel) can be found at Amazon.com .

4. A Writer Tidbit

Peter Bowerman of The Well-Fed Writer: Financial Self-Sufficiency as a Freelance Writer in Six Months or Less (see review above) also has a writer-friendly website for freelancers.

Mr. Bowerman's website offers a free monthly newsletter, free reports, and lots of other helpful information for freelance writers. Check it out at http://www.wellfedwriter.com/

5. About the Fabulist Flash

ISSN: 1554-0804

The Fabulist Flash is dedicated to helping freelance writers find resources and inspiration.

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