The Fabulist Flash

Issue 58

Hint of Autumn Journal

In This Issue:

1. This Week
2. Feature Article
3. Feature Article
4. A Writer Tidbit
5. About The Fabulist Flash

1. This Week

Welcome to Issue 58 of The Fabulist Flash.

We've had a taste of fall here in the desert. Cooler temperatures, dramatic cloudy skies, and rainstorms don't happen here very often. It's been a treat.

The weather has me in a contemplative mood. As I watch the clouds move through the sky, I daydream about my future. We each have our own, changing definition of success. As the release date for my book grows closer, I'm contemplating and redefining my own. Will this book do well? Will the critics be positive or harsh? Will I be interviewed by my favorite radio and TV people? Are these benchmarks of success?

Is it really true that no idea is too big? I hope this is the case as I plan promotional events and enlarge the campaign. Is everything really possible? I hope so as I learn about book tours, book signings, speaking events and corporate sponsors possibilities.

As I stand on the eve of publication, I wonder how my life will change. Will my shifts in thinking and feeling be subtle or dramatic? Maybe a combination? There are no answers when the questions are about the future. All we can do is contemplate and dream. But, there is one unquestionable benchmark: I'll have a book on my shelf with my name on the cover. That's one goal accomplished. That's one success achieved. It's time to move on to the next one.

In moving on and forward, this week's issue has two informative articles. Janel Atlas offers advice on increasing writing your profits in "Loving the Locals" and Sophfronia Scott explains "How To Get Your Book Reviewed In Magazines."

Until next week,

Gregory
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Gregory A. Kompes is a writer, photographer, professional speaker and author of 50 Fabulous Gay-Friendly Places to Live. Learn more about Gregory and his work at www.kompes.com

2. Feature Article

Loving the Locals
Janel Atlas

When freelancing seemed like an impossible fantasy and before I had any published articles to my credit, I would drift off to sleep every night with visions of Woman's Day, Parenting, and Smithsonian covers floating before my eyes. After all, those are the real magazines, the ones you can buy at any drugstore or supermarket.

One day, in the foyer of my local library, I saw a stack of Delmarva Quarterly magazines. The sign above them read, "Take one; it's free!" I assumed that, because the publication was complimentary, it wasn't a paying market. But I was wrong. When I picked up a copy to investigate, I saw these marvelous words: "Submissions, letters, and advertising welcome. We pay for all items published."

I read the magazine from cover to cover. The editor seemed to publish a variety of articles ranging from 750 words to upwards of 2,000. Each article was accompanied by several good quality photographs, and the content directly related to the places and people of the region. When I got home, I fired off an e-mail suggesting a short article about a little-known local history museum. Then I got back to working on queries for the "real" magazines.

The editor of the Delmarva Quarterly e-mailed me back within a day to say that he was interested in the story and that he wanted me to provide photos. I read the e-mail through, then through again, and did a dance right there in front of my computer.

I set up an interview with the museum's curator, toured the museum, and wrote the article. It was published two months later, and I got a $200 dollar check in the mail with my contributor's copy. Since breaking in, the editor has published four of my articles in the last three issues, and my pay from this magazine alone is over $1,000. That's nothing to scoff at!

The moral of the story? Whether you're a newbie or an experienced freelancer, don't ignore local publications. Some places to look for local magazines:

• libraries
• doctor's offices
• drugstores and grocery stores
• local bookstores

Publications right in your own city, county or region may offer great opportunities. But you may feel like you don't know much about the area--I had only lived on Delmarva for two months when I broke in to the Quarterly. Here are some leads to help you get started:

Have you heard any legends about a local place? For example, a tavern in my town was reputedly visited by Edgar Allen Poe, who sloshed into a cold puddle of slush while getting out of his carriage. Legend has it that he put a curse on the town. I bet people in my area, whether they've heard the story or not, would be entertained by the story, as well as interested to learn whether historians give the story any credence.

Is there an athlete or musician who is from your area but ready to move on to the big leagues, either figuratively or literally? What about an piece on a homegrown talent before he or she becomes so big that you'll never have a chance at an interview?

Where did the name of your town come from? Who were its first settlers? Why did they choose that location to settle? People love history, especially if you can tie the subject to the present.

Look around at the concerns in your community. For example, some of my town's streams are being polluted. Why should people care? Maybe readers don't even know about the problem, and I could write a public service piece about the issue, interviewing a local ecologist.

So while you're shooting for the huge circulation magazines, don't forget about gems right in your own backyard. Now that I'm finished writing this, I'm going to call our local town historian to ask about the Poe curse!

About the Author
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Janel Atlas is a freelance writer and editor living in northern Delaware with her husband and daughter. In her first year of freelancing, Janel has had more than two dozen articles published in regional and national magazines. Her stories have appeared on Babyzone.com, Reading Today, Delaware Parent, Byline Magazine, and CollegeBound Teen Magazine. To see some of her work, visit her website at www.thewriteatlas.com.

3. Feature Article

How To Get Your Book Reviewed In Magazines
Sophfronia Scott

In one of my past magazine jobs my office was next to that of the book editor. He would get boxes and boxes of books daily. There was a separate room devoted to storing these books, but that still didn't keep them from piling up in his office. Whenever he returned from vacation he practically had to use a bulldozer to get his door open!

You see the problem, right? How do you get your book noticed, let alone reviewed, when it is just one among stacks of books in an editor's office? Here are a few tips to help you map out a winning strategy.

1. Determine which magazines are the best for reaching your target market.

As you plan to market your book, decide first who your ideal reader is. Is it a 35-year-old urban professional man? Is it a stay-at-home mom who lives in the Midwest? Is it female college graduates who also happen to be sports fanatics? Once you decide who you're targeting, ask yourself: What magazines does my ideal reader read? Those will be the magazines you'll focus on. That way, you won't waste time and money pursuing dozens of magazines which, even if they did review your book, wouldn't give you much in terms of gaining readership. With my novel we focused on magazines with large female audiences. Ideally you should be doing this a few months before your book comes out because the goal here is to either write a story for the magazine or get interviewed in the magazine, and have the article appear before or just as your book is published.

2. Find out what the editors need.

When you have chosen the magazines, buy them and read them. Do they have a certain writing style? What kinds of articles appear in the magazine again and again? If you can, write, email or call the features editor and find out what kinds of stories the magazine is looking for. You'll have more success if you can fill the editorial holes the magazine is already working on.

3. Let an editor know what you have to offer.

Start sending query letters to get article assignments. If you have a particular expertise, you can let an editor know that you're available for interviews if they ever need an expert on a particular subject. Often an editor will assign a story to a writer and give them a few possible interviewees to help them get started. I contacted editors at Essence a full year before my book came out to let them know that I was working as a personal and career coach. Within a few weeks I began getting calls from reporters to interview me for working mom stories for Essence.

4. Mention your book or get it mentioned.

When your article gets published, make sure you get the little italicized blurb at the end that says that you are "a writer whose next book, The Best Book in the World, will be published this month by Big Press, Inc." You get the idea. If you are being interviewed for an article, chances are they won't have room to mention your book but you should still tell the reporter about it anyway. You can even ask them to put it in their notes. As the story gets discussed in meetings, someone might say "Did you know she also wrote a book?" This builds awareness.

5. Check in with your contacts, but don't pester them.

Once your book is sent out for review, you can call or email to make sure that the editor got the book, but leave it at that. You've done all you can. I've never met the book editor at Essence, but when I heard that he was aware of my novel I was totally psyched. I kept my fingers crossed after that. You can see the review here. One last note: Some magazines and newspapers don't review self published books. Find out beforehand so you can make your efforts elsewhere if that's necessary.

About the Author
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Author and Writing Coach Sophfronia Scott is "The Book Sistah" TM. Get her FREE REPORT, "The 5 Big Mistakes Most Writers Make When Trying to Get Published" and her FREE online writing and publishing tips at http://www.TheBookSistah.com.

4. A Writer Tidbit

Looking for information? "Writers Free Reference" is a site with hundreds of links for all kinds of information. This fun and useful site is maintained by Charley Brindley

http://www.writers-free-reference.com

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5. About The Fabulist Flash

ISSN: 1554-0804

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