Money The Write Way A free eMagazine for writers of integrity *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ April 2, 2003 Volume 1 Number 10 *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ To join our more than 4000 subscribers, and receive the FREE eBook, "So You Want to be a Travel Writer," click on: http://www.ebookstand.com It's FREE! *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ In this issue: 1.) Letter From The Publisher---On The Home Front 2.) Ask an Expert/Questions and Answers 3.) COMP-ortunity of the month 4.) Online Success-Internet Marketing Tips and Strategies For Writers 5.) The Business of Writing by Duane Newcomb 6.) Editor's Pick/Reviews 7.) The Boast Post---Bragging Board of Writers Triumphs and Victories *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Money The Write Way eMagazine is a division of The Magnum Group ISSN pending. Copyright 2003 Write Spirit Publishing. All rights reserved. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Start Comping today by purchasing our best selling eBook: "BEEN THERE---COMPED THAT!" Free Travel, Dining, and Entertainment, All for the Cost of Some Ink Available at: http://www.ebookstand.com *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ~*~ On The Home Front Carmel L. Mooney Fellow writers and friends, I'd like to offer a suggestion. Have you looked at the number of new and quickly growing online markets available these days? I'm amazed to see how the online magazines are really starting to compete with the paper periodicals when it comes to payment and quality. Don't overlook this opportunity! Of course new magazines online are popping up each month, but many established print magazines are now publishing supplements. Additionally, new onlines are born each month. Many of these pay writers very attractive rates. Although I admit I have a love/hate relationship with my computer, any writer these days can't discount the many new opportunities that the Internet offers us now, whether it be eBooks, online magazines, or print-on-demand. A new world exists. If you live on the West coast, I teach seminars on these subjects and would love to have you attend. And if you live in other areas of the country, please let me know of any writers groups or organizations where my speaking might be of benefit. As we head into spring here in the next few weeks, I hope you'll all look at the season as a chance for new birth and life in our writing. Try the fresh avenues that exist, and keep the ink flowing. Best wishes for a wonderful spring, Carmel Mooney *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ~*~ This week's newest COMP-ortunity Plasse's Resort Website: www.plassesresort.com Address: 30001 Plasse Road, Silver Lake, CA 95666 Phone: 209-258-8814 Contact: Chesney Grant Description: A beautiful, historical, family-friendly outdoor resort. Horse camping, RV and tent sites, restaurant and bar, general store, canoe and kayak rentals, arcade, basketball, volleyball, horseshoe pits, ATV/4 wheel trails, boat launch, and more. Location: In the high sierra of the Silver Lake basin, 30 minutes from Lake Tahoe and Nevada. Coverage desired: Family destination, outdoor recreation, and resort camping. Prefers writers with: clips or assignment Possible comp: Comped camping accommodations when available. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ~*~ "Ask a Pro" Publishing/Comping/Writing Q&A "Your Questions---You Always Wanted To Ask," answered by professional writing consultant/coach/author/instructor, Carmel L. Mooney To ask Carmel a writing, publishing, or comping question, email her at: Carmel@ebookstand.com. Questions may be edited for length or content if necessary. Question: I've heard that some writers send a manuscript instead of a query when querying travel articles. Do you do that? Also, I have given up sending SASE's because most editors don't return them and those who are interested contact me by email or phone. What are your thoughts on SASE's? M. Caster, Auburn, CA Answer: I still firmly believe that you should query a magazine when pitching a travel article. (Unless they are the minority who state they prefer a complete manuscipt). However, if you are offering reprints to a newspaper, it is customary to send the manuscript with a short cover letter, as most newspapers want hot news now, and they don't have time for the turn around time involved with the querying process. As for SASE's, I have good luck with more than 75% of the editors returning them. But some writers choose not to send them. It's up to you if you are willing to never receive a concrete answer from the ones who reject your query. Another reason to consider sending a SASE, is that a response, much like a query, may serve as proof of your attempt should a tax audit occur. Question: Are email queries acceptable most anytime? G. McDonald, Conifer, CO Answer: Always follow what the publication's writers or submission guidelines dictate. Although, email queries are becoming more and more acceptable with a greater number of publications each year, many still prefer a paper (snail mail) query. If writers guidelines or the Writers Market don't clearly state, "email queries okay," then do not send a query via email. To ask Carmel a writing, publishing, or comping question, email her at: Carmel@ebookstand.com. Carmel Mooney is also available by phone and/or email for private consultation, editing, and coaching. Carmel has helped hundreds of writers achieve writing and publishing success. Email her at: Carmel@ebookstand.com or call her at: 916-205-4763 *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ~*~ Internet Marketing Tips and Strategies For Writers How to sell your publications online by Hazel Nieves, Our E-business Marketing Expert and Consultant 7 Ways to Collect Email Addresses Online and Off Your email campaign starts with a strong list. Without a good list of people who "opt-in" you aren't going to be able to make email marketing work for you. Here are 7 little-used ways to collect email addresses: 1. Subscriber box You should prominently provide an email subscriber box on each of your site's web pages. This will significantly increase your sign-ups. 2. Postcard If your customer list is mainly offline you can send out a postcard and offer an incentive for them to send back their email address. 3. Contests Contests are a great way to capture opt-in email addresses because most people will have to give you their correct address so they can be informed when they win. 4. Advertise Your Autoresponder Address Many people will run ads advertising their web site. A smarter way is to run ads or promotions and use an autoresponder email address - this way you will capture all email information from interested prospects. The autoresponder will be set-up to automatically deliver your promotion to people that request it. A Great autoresponder program is at: http://www.autoresponseplus.com/) 5. Capture Using Simple Forms Most offline stores and businesses completely miss an opportunity to capture the email addresses of their customers. Any time a customer or prospect phones you, walks in, or does business with you is an opportunity to capture their email address. 6. Give Aways (free ebooks, software, etc.) Give aways are highly effective means of capturing emails. You need to provide people with an incentive to give you their email address. People are becoming more hesitant to hand out their email addresses for fear of rampant spamming - but if your incentive is big enough and legitimate...you'll get lots of emails to build your list. 7. Ask! Ask for referrals. Think of friends, family, and business associates you know who have a network of other contacts, and ask for their referrals. There are 7 highly effective ways to capture email addresses. Next month we'll look at more marketing that writers and authors should consider. See you then. ---Hazel Nieves, expert on Internet Marketing and Online business success is owner of Web Development Company, Sierra Technology Solutions, Inc. She has 20 years experience in sales, marketing, and technology and is a committed crusader in helping take the confusion out of taking your business online. You can Contact Hazel at 530-367-2915 or customerservice@sierratechnologysolutions.com Special Offer! Writers Special E-biz Website Package Turn-key Package Includes: *5 Custom Pages *Shopping Cart (up to 10 products) *Secure Server *One year hosting service *Uses your own domain *Up to 15 Email accounts *Attractive Professional designs to choose from *Copyright Statement page Special Price: $ 600.00 complete Get started today with your Affordable Professional E-business website here: http://www.sierratechnologysolutions.com/writers/writers_special.htm Learn more from Hazel at: http://www.sierratechnologysolutions.com *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ~*~ The Business Side of Writing by Duane Newcomb Roundups Roundup articles provide a place to tap the material you have already collected, gathering it into an overview of "ten best..." or "three ways to..." or " new developments in ..." Several years ago I wrote a number of articles on individual outdoor restaurants that could be reached by boat. Each article covered a single restaurant. When I finished the series of nine, I took the recipes and some of the information in each article and rounded them up into a piece entitled, "Cooking Tips from Waterfront Restaurants." Several years ago, I wrote a number of travel articles for Trailer Life magazine. Later I used the information in "Ten Hot Spots for RV Travel on the West Coast." Maybe you have written articles on resorts that make a big production out of the Christmas holidays. One of these I covered several times is the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park. This old hotel goes all-out at Christmas and has become so popular that you have to book reservations far in advance. If you have a number of these, you might round them up into "Five Great Spots for a Christmas Vacation." Or perhaps you have written some in-depth pieces on particular methods or systems for giving up smoking. These might become "Ten Tips to Help You Quit Smoking." Periodically review the articles you have written to see if they offer round up possibilities. This way you make extra income without doing much extra work. Duane Newcomb is a literary consultant with 36 non-fiction books to his credit, over 5000 articles and more than 150 client books in print. He has taught article and non-fiction book courses at numerous colleges, universities and writer's conferences across the United States. He welcomes new clients who need a manuscript evaluated. dnew@thegrid.net . Subscribe to his free, monthly professional author newsletter at: dnew@thegrid. Visit Duane Newcomb's websites: Duane has three websites representing his interests, profession, and published books. For Authors (published and unpublished) The Booksite at www.bookforce.bizland.com offers a cornucopia of information on publishing and promoting and writing your nonfiction book. You can reach all the other websites through this URL. Go to the bottom of the home page. For Gardeners: The Postage Stamp Gardening site is for every gardener who wants to grow more vegetables in a small space with less work and less watering. It will also include pocket gardening for people with apartments or tiny lots. Buy our best selling Postage Stamp Gardening Book on site. For Do-It Yourself Home Builders: Visit the Owner Built Adobe Home site. The site shows you how to build all the adobe bricks you'll need on site and construct either a post adobe or a double wall reinforced adobe home. It includes everything you need to know. Buy the Owner Built Adobe Home (published by the University of New Mexico press) on site. Duane Newcomb's Writing Guides help you write proposals and book query letters, and find 20-30 markets for every article idea and more. http://www.ebookstand.com/cat.grp/besthow-to.html *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ~*~ Editor's Pick Book, Magazine, Website, and e-Book Review by Victoria Beninga, Editor This Week's Review: 60 BEST U.S. TRAVEL NEWSPAPER MARKETS By Gordon Burgett and Linda Lange Many people who write travel articles don't even consider selling to newspapers because they think they can't make much money. Big mistake. Although newspapers pay an average of about $100-200 per travel article, you can turn that $100-200 into $800 - $2,000. How? If you buy the very entertaining, informative "60 BEST U.S. TRAVEL NEWSPAPER MARKETS," you can find out how to make lots of money selling travel articles to newspapers. Gordon Burgett and Linda Lange teach readers how to use simultaneous submissions in order to sell one article many times, paying particular attention to where the newspapers are located. They talk about how to include photographs in order to increase your paycheck. They cover what to put in your article in order to increase its likelihood of being sold. They list the word lengths of articles that newspaper editors prefer. They include a section on what to say in a cover letter in order to make an editor want to read and buy your article. Best of all, Gordon Burgett and Linda Lange took lots of time to research which newspapers buy freelance travel articles. They compiled what they learned into a list of newspapers, complete with the Editors' names, the Editors' titles, the names of the newspapers, and the addresses of the newspapers. They even made the list available in a format where you can print it directly onto mailing labels. I highly recommend this publication. If you would like to order "60 BEST U.S. TRAVEL NEWSPAPER MARKETS," go to http://www.sops.com/100best.htm . The cost is a very reasonable $10 - $12, depending on which format you choose. Perhaps after you've read this excellent publication, we'll all be reading about you in our "Boast Post." Victoria Beninga * Travel Columnist/Publisher/Editor, GOLD COUNTRY FAMILIES, http://goldcountryfamilies.com * Associate Editor/Columnist, MONEY THE WRITE WAY, http://www.ebookstand.com * Ebooks RV PACKING SIMPLIFIED and BEYOND THE TENT: AN INTRODUCTION TO CAMPING TRAILERS AND MOTORHOMES available at http://www.ebookstand.com and http://www.hadami.com *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ~*~ The Boast Post Don't be modest-we applaud you! Whether it's an assignment victory, a publishing accomplishment, comp, or a writing goal achieved, we'd love to hear it. Please include your full name or initials, and your city and state. Send your boast in 75 words or less to: Carmel@ebookstand.com (may be edited for length or content) Boast: Melanie Caster's story, "My Sister Julie" has just come out in a new book entitled, HOPE: True Tales of Answered Prayers. Released by Red Rock Press in New York City, it's available through any bookstore, Amazon.com, or Redrockpress.com It's edited by Sophie Elise Lalazarian. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Coming Soon/Around the Corner: Carmel Mooney's online Travel Writing/Comped Travel Course. Take it from the privacy of your home and have email access to your questions from the instructor. COMING SOON! Email for more information; there's no obligation. Carmel@ebookstand.com Carmel Mooney's Upcoming Writing and Publishing Classes/seminars: 4/5 Ebooks/Print on Demand, Sierra College, Rocklin, CA 4/12 Ebooks/Print on Demand & Travel Writing, Butte College, Chico, CA 4/19 Ebooks/Print on Demand Publishing & Freelance Writing for the Internet Nevada Union Adult Education, Grass Valley, CA 4/21 Ebooks/Print on Demand, Placer School for Adults, Auburn, CA 4/26 Travel Writing/Comped Travel, Learning Exchange, Sacramento, CA *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ It's FREE---List your inn, resort, restaurant, entertainment venue, business, or destination seeking written coverage---contact the publisher at: Carmel@ebookstand.com *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Money The Write Way eMagazine TO SUBSCRIBE: Send an e-mail with "subscribe" as the subject to: subscribe@ebookstand.com TO UNSUBSCRIBE: Send an e-mail with "unsubscribe" as the subject to: unsubscribe@ebookstand.com *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Write Spirit Publishing P.O. Box 3405 Auburn, CA 95604 Contact us at: Carmel@ebookstand.com We welcome your comments/suggestions/requests/contributions Carmel L. Mooney, Publisher Victoria Beninga, Associate Editor http://www.ebookstand.com Should the links we provide not work, this may mean your E-mail program doesn't like our code. If this occurs, please go directly to our current online issue at: http://www.ebookstand.com/newsletter_archive.htm You may freely distribute this eMag to friends, discussion lists, and writing groups as long as the issue is included in it's entirety. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~