How to Get an Article Published Online

By Lanee’ Blunt

Get Published Today--
Channah

Getting an article published on the internet is an excellent way for a new writer to experience publication. There are many opportunities for new writers online. Decide what is important to you, is it seeing your by-line or is it making money online? This is a question you should ask yourself early on.

Write an excellent article. Article length should be at least 400 or 500 words. The article should benefit the reader; a how to, list, or topic view.  Your reader should gain something after reading your article.

Write a resource box in your article. Tell about the author what you do, your education, your website Url and give the link back to your site. Readers may find your article interesting and want to read more, so they will visit your site.

Submit an article to article directories if you are looking to get traffic to your website. Most directories don’t pay anything, but you can display your articles on Ezinearticle.com, Buzzle.com, Selfgrowth.com, Articlealley.com, and Promotionworld.com for the traffic they deliver to your site. Submit to 9 or 10 popular sites to gain rankings from the search engines.

Some pay up front money, or royalties, and you must apply before you can write articles for them for example Associatecontent.com, Constant-content.com and Suite101.com

Reference:

Writer’s Digest: 25 Best Places to Get Published Online; Katie Struckel Brogan; 2008

Idea Marketers: How to Get Your Articles Published Online More Often; Titus Hoskins

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How to Create a Query Letter

By Lanee' Blunt

Essentials for writing a query letter--

Image by Lupoianfla.

Writers are required to write query letters before sending a manuscript to a publisher. When the editor is interested she will inform the writer that she can write the feature or to submit the full story on speculation. The query letter has two goals, getting the writer from unsolicited to solicited status and the writer doesn’t have to write the story until it is requested. The query letter is single spaced with no indentions, and should encourage the editor to send for the full manuscript. It shows that you are a professional and able to focus on tight writing.

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need

Story idea

Computer

White paper

Step 1

Write the editors name and address in the upper left hand corner of the letter.  Drop down two lines where you will write a subject line followed by a colon. Write the name of the story.

Step 2

Start the first paragraph by writing the lead. Make the lead very interesting by pulling the reader into story. Drop down a double space before beginning the second paragraph.

Step 3

Start the second paragraph informing the editor about the idea.  Narrow down your topic. When you write the query letter you are going to make it interesting and the advantage is that you are going to do a small amount of research for the query.  State what the research is and how you will use it in the story. If you were to do the whole manuscript you would have a lot of research, but with the query your research minimum.

 Drop down two lines for the next paragraph.

Step 4

Start the next paragraph with an encouragement, for example, “My article will fit nicely with your Money Report section.”  This helps the editor visualize where and how it could best fit in with the magazine.  Tell the editor how you are qualified to write the article.  If you are an entrepreneur mention that in the query if you are trying to write for a business magazine. Write about your previous publications, but if you have never been published before, say nothing.

Step 5

Drop down two lines. Write respectfully or sincerely, and print your name and title.  Enclose a self addressed stamped envelope (SASE).

Tips

Proofread the letter making sure that it is free of typos, and make sure that you have checked the spelling of the editor’s name.

Reference

How to Write Attention Grabbing Query & Cover Letters; John Wood; Writer’s Digest

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Self Publishing an Ebook

By Lanee’ Blunt

Creating an ebook is easy and anyone can self publish an ebook in today’s market. Once you purchase an ebook compiler you can get to work writing your ebook. The best part is, all of the profits are yours. 

Know Your Focus

Determine the subject of your ebook. What will be the key information that your customer will want to read about. There are ways to determine what to write about by going to forums in your expertise, and go through all the post reading all of the questions.

Sell Your Ebook

You can sell your ebook on your own website. Once you have written your ebook you can easily sell it. You can get it published with a PDF file and sell it on your own website. For a more professional ebook where you can sell to major online bookstores and have users download from online ebook stores; for example Amazon Kindle Store, Barnes & Noble Nook Books, Apple iBookstore, and Sony Reader Store. You will need to purchase an ISBN number to work with some online stores but not all of them require one.

Reference:

Writer’s Break: How to Self-Publish your Ebook; Gary McLaren; 2011

Web Source: Self Publishing Your Own Ebooks; Shelley Lowery

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Self Publishing: Finding the Right Printer

By Lanee’ Blunt

Self publish your book
Kylpyamme

Finding the right printer for your book seems like an easy task, but you must find a cost effective printer that knows how to work with a small publisher. Some printers don’t want to work with new first time publishers. Selecting the right printer for your book is imperative.

Be Selective

Getting a printer for your book requires you to get bids from printers. Submit a request for quote (RFQ) from their sales department you can usually go to their website and get their contact information. Send out at least 10 (RFQ). Evaluate each by price per book, quality and freight charges. Select your printer by the best price and customer service. You are a new publisher and you will want all of your questions answered before you commit your time and money.

Homework

You must research if you want to find a printer that is cost effective.  Search for printers online with instant pricing and buy from one of them. Work with printers that have their pricing online and compare prices. Most printers offer the same thing, so you can read comments about them or even ask in online publishing communities if anyone has had trouble working with one of them and what their finished product looked like.

Reference:

Creative Minds Press: Find a Printer

Publishing Basics; How Do I Find a Printer to Print My Book Cost Effectively? Ron Pramschufer; 2006

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How to Write a Cover Letter for a Book Proposal

By Lanee' Blunt

A book proposal is the way to get your foot in the door in publishing.  Most book proposals include a synopsis of the book and the first three chapters. The cover letter should identify you, the reason you are sending the proposal, and your submissions that are included with the proposal.  The cover letter is the first impression that you will make. The cover letter should be no more than three paragraphs in length. The cover letter briefly announces that the proposal is attached.

The Fast-Track Course on How to Write a Nonfiction Book Proposal By Mettee, Stephen Blake (Google Affiliate Ad)

Difficulty

Moderately easy

Things you’ll need

Word processing program

Good quality paper

Printer

Know your audience.  This will help with the tone of the cover letter if you know who you speaking too. Think of your letter as speaking directly to the editor and imagine that you are writing to that person. Let your letter be brief and to the point because your audience is a busy editor and should not have to read several pages to determine the nature of the material you are sending.

Address the cover letter to the correct editor. Make sure that the editor’s name, and publishing house is correct. Keep your letterhead simple and use a formal salutation. Start the first paragraph with a single spaced line after the salutation. The first paragraph tells the editor the purpose of the letter. State what you have sent you don’t need a lead; just identify enclosures and their purpose. Open the first sentence by coming right to the point. “I’m enclosing my book proposal for your consideration.” Next say something in the same paragraph about the purpose or reason the proposal is presented. Make sure that you double space between the first paragraph and the second one.

Start your second paragraph with biographical information. This paragraph chronicles your experience, and writes it toward your genre.  Outline your background that’s relevant to the book. Identify if you’ve done work relevant or similar and written in a clear and concise language. Write three or four sentences for each paragraph.

Write closing sentences for the final paragraph. An example of a closing: “Thank you for your attention. I look forward to hearing from you.”

Tips

Keep the cover letter brief no more than one to one and a half pages. Try to stay within the three paragraph limit because cover letters are brief and only identify you and the book proposal presented.

Attach the book proposal after the cover letter

References

“Writing a Convincing Business Plan”; Arthur DeThomas PHD, Stephanie A Derammelaere; 2008

“How to Write Attention Grabbing Query and Cover Letters”; John Wood; 2000

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Query Letter Mistakes

By Lanee' Blunt

If you are a new writer and want to break into the magazine market, you must have a query letter.  Most new writers believe that once an editor sees their story, then a query letter is not necessary. That’s simply not true. 

Query letter mistakes can prevent you from getting your foot in the door of a magazine.  You have only one chance to make an impression on an editor.  There are five common mistakes to avoid when writing a query letter.

A new writer can write an excellent query letter with a few tips.  Here’s how to avoid five common mistakes that some new writer’s make.

Wrong Publisher

Don’t send your romance story to a literary publisher because you think that it’s a work of art.  It’s a romance story and has to go to a romance publisher; furthermore don’t send fiction to a nonfiction magazine publisher with the belief that they may publish one story of fiction after reading your masterpiece.

Wrong Editor

Find out the editor’s name.  Read the magazine’s masthead making sure you have the correct spelling of the editor’s name. Don’t use an outdated reference book. According to John Wood’s book,  How to Write Attention Grabbing Query & Cover Letters, “The best way to avoid the slush-pile is to send your idea to the appropriate editor.”

Tell the Ending

The query letter should tell the whole story leaving the editor with no unsure parts about your story you want to write.  It should talk about the story that you want to write in an interesting way and it should be similar to the stories in that magazine.

Failure to mention what the ending will be in a fiction query is a mistake that new writer’s make also. You must tell what the ending will be here in the query. Another common mistake that new writer’s make is telling the editor there is more to come later and not telling the whole story.

Business Letter

The query letter is not the place to try out your new logo or have fancy clipart with your writing aspirations.  Your query must look professional because you are competing with published writers.

Tell the Editor about the Writer

A new writer may not have published credits, and that is only a minor problem, because you can tell the editor about how you’re qualified for writing the story.  For example, if you’re writing a nonfiction piece on home school, you may tell the editor that you are a teacher and that you have many years of experience.

Demonstrate your excellent writing skills.  This is not the place for typo’s and grammar mistakes.  Rewrite your query letter making sure that you have a tight letter to send to the magazine.  Make sure that you include a self-addressed, stamped envelope with your query (SASE).

Reference:

John Wood’s; How to Write Attention Grabbing Query & Cover Letters; Writer’s Digest

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Examples of Query Letters

By Lanee' Blunt

A query letter can get your manuscript from unsolicited to solicited status. Most magazine editors read only query letters and don’t read slush-pile articles.  A writer should not send a whole manuscript.

If you are a new writer and want to sell your article to a publisher you must have a query letter.  Although, you are a new write that doesn’t mean that you can’t write a good query letter. According to John Wood’s book, How to Write Attention Grabbing Query and Cover Letters, “Editors are looking for clear signs (as many as possible) that you have honed your skills and are ready to join the team, not someone who’s just starting out and trying his hand at writing.”

A Self Addressed Stamped Envelope (SASE)

Include a SASE with your query letter; address the envelope to yourself, and a stamp. Fold the envelope and put it in back of the query letter.  When you hear from the magazine they will send you letter in your return envelope with an acceptance or a rejection.

Slanted Query to That Magazine

Read at least the last six copies of the magazine.  Read every article and note which articles are like the one you want to write. Usually if your article is too close or the same idea it generally will be turned down. But send a query letter with an offer to produce something fresh in your articles.

Have a Great Idea

Your idea should be interesting and original. Express the freshness of your idea in the query; don’t leave anything out including the ending. Tell the editor where you will get your facts and interviews.

How Are You Qualified to Write the Article?

If you are a new writer you don’t have to mention it in the query letter. You are selling an idea to the editor. You are a writer, so write a good query. Tell the editor how you are qualified to write the article.  If you are a nurse mention that in the query if you are trying to write for a fitness magazine.

One Page Query Letter

Your query letter should be one page.  This shows the editor that you are a professional and you are able to focus on tight writing. The query is a business letter single spaced, double space between paragraphs and don’t indent your paragraphs.

You will get better the more query letters that you write.  Keep querying the magazines you want to appear in and you will one day get a go ahead.

Reference:

John Wood; How to Write Attention Grabbing Query and Cover Letters;  Writer’s Digest

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Where to Find a Literary Agent

By Lanee' Blunt

Finding a literary agent can be a challenge. Here are a few places to look for an agent for your book.  Having an agent helps you to free up your time and concentrate on what a writer does best and that is write another book.

Guide to Literary Agents
The Guide to Literary Agents is published by Writer’s Digest Books. It list most of the literary agents the big ones and the smaller ones that may handle new writers. It will tell you what types of books they handle, how to approach them, and what they are looking for.  It lists their agencies, phone numbers and addresses and websites.

Literary Market Place

The Literary Market Place is a reference book that you can get at some libraries. It list literary agents and publishers. It is a thick volume that list publishing houses and it breaks down the divisions and conglomerates.

Yellow Pages

You can use the Yellow Pages to find the names, addresses, and phone numbers of literary agents. This is useful if you know the name of the agent, but it doesn’t tell you what to submit, and what they are looking for.

Writers Conferences and Workshops

Writer’s conferences have information about the publishing industry and sometimes literary agents attend. The Complete Guide to Writers Groups, Conferences and Workshops can be ordered online and should tell you how to attend conferences in your area.

Reference:

Martin P. Levin; Be Your Own Literary Agent; Ten Speed Press

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