Becoming publishable
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Choosing a non-fiction book topic
Beyond this site:
Letting Go of the Words: Writing Web Content that Works by Janice (Ginny) Redish
Writer's Digest Handbook Of Magazine Article Writing by Michelle Ruberg (Editor)
Writing for BellaOnline.com
Writing a weekly column is powerful training for both new and experienced writers. It’s often said a writer must write a million well-edited words before becoming published, and writing a column is a fast way to build the word count. Columnists learn discipline, idea generation, and rapid writing. While it can be difficult to get a column into a newspaper, the Internet provides many opportunities for columnists who want to build their credentials.
There are a number of content management sites on the Internet, including BellaOnline, where I wrote for many years. Yes, I wrote for free, other than what little I earned from affiliate ads, but the benefits were more important than the paycheck would have been. For one thing, my publisher found me there and invited me to write a book, saving me years of searching for a publisher.
Writing an online column, however, is not a decision to make lightly. Are you willing to write for free? Are you willing to take this job as seriously as you would a paying job? Remember, it will serve as a resume of sorts for your writing skills. If a potential publisher or employee searches for you online, he is going to find what you wrote. It must look as professional as if you got paid millions for it. Your readers might include your dream publisher, who will notice if you write sporadically. Your articles may stay around forever, since there are websites that host archives of sites from long ago. That means that even if the place you are writing for removes your articles, it may be saved elsewhere. Be proud of every word you write because many of them will rise up to haunt you later. Be certain a future employer won't be shocked by what he reads. Make sure you are able to write every week whether you feel like it or not. If you don’t have a schedule for writing, set one and establish the writing habit before applying. This is one of the most important benefits of writing a column. You'll learn that writing can happen whether or not you're "inspired."
How well do you know your topic? Your readers will expect you to be more experienced than they are, so if your baby is two weeks old, wait until she’s much older to apply for a parenting advice topic, even if you’ve read every parenting book in the library. Most sites require first hand experience in the topic. You will need to be able to write on it every week for a year or two. You may be surprised how soon you run out of ideas. Sit down and make a list of all the articles you’ll write for the next several months.
The biography you submit in your application, if you're asked for one, should clearly outline your qualifications for doing the job. If you have writing credentials, list them, but if you don’t, explain why you're qualified to write the topic. Explain how long you’ve been doing it, how you feel about it,and what unique experiences you have that are related to the topic. Focus most of your biography on topic-related material. If you want to write on Spain, don’t exclaim over your enthusiasm for crochet. The staff is usually looking for passion for a particular subject, so treat it like the love of your life. Confidence is good; arrogance is not. It's great to tell the editors you have many contacts through your participation in festivals based on your topic, and can bring us new traffic. It's not effective to say the site will fail if they choose anyone but you or that you are the best writer in the world for this topic. The best writers in the world usually don't apply for these sites. They are frequently the training ground for newer writers.
If you are given space to write your thoughts about the subject, demonstrate that you've spent time on the site and understand how it's set up. Saying, "If you have a forum, I'd like to use that," shows you didn't bother to find out if they do or don't.
Write a sample article before you apply. Before doing so, study the site carefully to understand how the site works. Make sure you’ve checked to see where your chosen subject is located on the site—the channel (department) and subchannel, if there is one, determine the focus of the topic. The sample article you submit should be a typical article, not one on yourself or on how you found out you have cancer, or what happened when your baby was born, even if these apply to your topic. Show the person making the decision that you can write on topic, never wandering away into unrelated subjects, and that you can give valuable advice. Your article should show off your writing skills, so avoid list articles, interviews, or those with mostly single sentence paragraphs. Put your article through a spelling and grammar checker. As with any other manuscript, perfection counts. Poor grammar, spelling, and punctuation will get you immediately rejected and is, actually, the most common reason for rejection.
Follow any rules outlined in the application. You are demonstrating you can be trusted to follow the rules after you are chosen. Do your homework and read the entire application area to make sure you understand what is expected.