On Hiatus – Check Back Soon! October 31, 2007

Meagan and Toni aren’t updating the site at this time, but we wanted to leave the archives up because we feel there’s some useful stuff there that writers with kids might find useful.

Great News! We’ll be updating the site again with new content and information on upcoming classes for freelance writers with kids. Click the little orange RSS feed icon at the bottom of this page and updates will automatically come to you via your feed reader. Or, drop us an email and we’ll notify you with more news.

WTF Wednesday July 11, 2007

Namely, WTF happened to Tuesday’s entry? Sadly, a confluence of a deadline and a dearth of child care meant–and will mean–an occasional hole in our weekday posting. Hopefully we’ll have a great WooHoo or two to share next week!

On Writer’s Conferences May 2, 2006

I meant to write this entry from New York City, where I just (Monday) returned home from attending the ASJA (American Society of Journalists and Authors) annual conference.

But, as we all know, the life of a writing parent is full of curve balls. The baby got an ear infection while we were there, and I spent most of my free time literally running back and forth from the conference to my hotel room to feed and comfort him. I missed a lot of the socializing opportunities at the conference, but still got to do my fair share of meeting people–other writers and editors alike.

I went to my first writer’s conference last year, the Editors & Writers/One-on-One conference in Chicago (often referred to as simply "One-on-One"). It was my first face-to-face with editors from national magazines, and imagine my shock and (happy) surprise to learn that they were–gasp!–regular people! Even friendly, kind, warm, and approachable regular people. The other thing I realized is that having a face-to-face connection, at least once, with the people you want to write for is invaluable. No longer are you then just a name on a piece of paper or an e-mail address on their screen, but a living, breathing, personable human being they can’t help but want to work with.

Within a few weeks of One-on-One I had enough work as a direct result of the conference to pay back the fees and then some. And not only that, but I had the opportunity to hang out with other writers: eating at nice restaurants and talking shop with other adults is not something I get to do all that often as a busy mom, and it inspired me to be productive, successful, and organized. In short, I came away from the conference with both valuable contacts and a renewed sense of motivation.

The ASJA conference (which, by the way, is relatively inexpensive and open to non-members) was like One-on-One on steroids. Hundreds of people, lots and lots of panels on everything from the craft of narrative nonfiction to the life of a bestselling book to earning more money as a freelancer. It–plus all the traffic and big buildings–was all a bit overwhelming for this small-town Midwestern gal (possibly my most newbie-ish moment came in the middle of a cocktail party, when I said incredulously to anyone who might be within a ten-foot radius, "EIGHT dollars for a glass of house wine? EIGHT?"), but I came away with a purse full of business cards, a head full of ideas, and a stomach full of butterflies–the kind that say "Let’s get cracking!" It was a much-needed early-spring shot in the arm.

You don’t need to travel to New York or Chicago, or out of your state at all, to find a writer’s conference. Universities, colleges and community writer’s groups host them all the time. Writer’s Digest.com maintains a searchable listing of conferences. And when you go to one, whether it’s in your hometown or the Big Apple, keep these tips in mind:

*Follow the rules and be considerate. Editors don’t necessarily want to hear your ideas while they’re using the bathroom. If you go to a conference that includes editors, there will likely be rules about when it’s appropriate and expected to "pitch" them. Follow those rules. If there aren’t rules, just use your common sense. It doesn’t pay to be a wallflower, but don’t come on too strong (read: desperate) or the editor may be afraid of you–or just plain annoyed. Also, be considerate of your fellow attendees. If a panel asks for questions from the audience, don’t try to monopolize the microphone. If you eat a group lunch or dinner with an important guest or editor, don’t hog the conversation. It’s just good manners.

*Dress appropriately for your goals, and the way you want to be perceived. At ASJA there were everything from jeans to suits, any of which may have been appropriate depending on the writer’s area of speciality and the image she or he was trying to convey. I went pulled-together business-casual all the way, because while I don’t need to come off as a fashion maven, I also wanted to overcome any negative "mom-writer" stereotype the editors might have had in the backs of their minds–stereotypes that may have included rumpled jeans or a stained sweatshirt. (And I packed twice the amount of clothes I actually needed, so when Owen puked on me during a between-panel nursing session, I just threw on another top that matched my pants!)

*Relax. If you go to a conference where there will be big-name writers or editors you would like to meet, try not to freak out or develop an inferiority complex. Remember, they’re human too, and they wouldn’t go to the conference unless they were interested in meeting writers–writers like you! As your mother said, be yourself, and you’ll do fine.

Please stop by the message boards, where we’re talking about style and networking. Also, share your worst fashion mistake for a chance to win a free style makeover and a copy of Hello, Gorgeous! by Rachel Weingarten!

I’ll be writing about the networking–what it really is and why it’s so crucial for writers–in the next few days, so check back often!

Happy writing!

–Meagan

One Day Left… March 16, 2006

To enter our "Do Something that Scares You" contest for a free copy of The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide To Freelance Writing Success!

Details here: http://www.diaperstodeadlines.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=160

And coming next week, we’ll talk about putting your best foot forward with advice about looking professional, networking, dressing for success, and more!

Wrapping up the Rule-Followers VS Renegades Theme… March 7, 2006

I hope you came away from February with some usable resources, a better grasp of the basics, and also, the confidence to think outside of those basics when it suits your career and goals.

I think one of my favorite parts of our interview with Diana Burrell (if you haven’t read it, head over pronto–it’s definitely worth your time!) is when she said this:

"One thing I tell moms or people who work full-time outside the house while building a freelance career is that it’s important to construct your own definition of success…with five hours a week you can do one or two short pieces per month. As you get more experience, you’ll build in efficiencies. You’ll figure out ways to borrow more time. One of those editors will give you a feature story to handle. You build off small victories. Focus on what you can do, not what some other writer is doing. "

And that, I think, is the most valuable "take-away" from the Renegade Writer’s principles. Do what works for you and your career. If you find that it’s working for you to, say, send totally unconventional queries, then why would you do it any other way?

One more especially brilliant and useful quote from Diana: "It’s human nature to think everyone’s staring at you and waiting for you to goof up. But when I finally "got it" — that everyone’s so busy thinking about themselves they don’t have time to think about little ol’ me — I just always did what felt right, even if the books said, ‘No, don’t do that, do it this way.’ "

That’s what it’s all about. Being a renegade writer is about focusing on what’s good for you and your career–not what somebody else might be thinking, whether that person is a colleague or that one fabled editor who might, maybe, find your unconventional methods off-putting.

And on that note, I’d like to announce our next contest:

From today through March 17 (St. Paddy’s Day!) D2D will be hosting another giveaway–this time for a FREE copy of the updated version of The Renegade Writer by Diana Burrell and Linda Formicelli! (If you haven’t read our interview with Diana, go to our Interview page now!)

But this isn’t just simple drawing. We’re asking a little more of you this time–that you step outside of your personal comfort level and do things that scare you. It can be anything you’ve been too afraid to do before: follow up on a query. Send a query. Call an editor. Use e-mail to query. Submit a story to a contest. Anything, as long as it scares you. Then, come back here and post about it in this thread. We’ll enter your name in the drawing once for each post you make in this thread on our message boards up until midnight on March 17. We’ll draw a name on March 18 and the person we draw will win a copy of The Renegade Writer.

Ready? Set… Do something that scares you! (And don’t forget to post about it!)

March’s theme is Put Your Best Foot Forward–so be ready for more great content and contests as we talk about making a great impression!

–Meagan

What Won’t You Do? January 16, 2006

Writers tend to be great at figuring out what we will or would do, if only given a chance.

"If Dream Market magazine accepts this query, I’ll write an article the likes of which they’ve never seen!"

"If only Big Publishing House would buy my novel, I’d work my fingers to the bone promoting it!"

Many of us, however, aren’t quite so good at figuring out what we aren’t willing to do. Where do we draw our lines in the sand?

Every so often on a message board or e-mail list, a writer will ask his or her colleagues "I’ve been offered $X to write a 2000-word article for Y magazine. Should I accept?"

The problem is that nobody can answer that question but you. And you won’t know how to answer that question, either, unless you’re honest with yourself about your motives and really understand your goals.

There are a lot of reasons people write, and a lot of ways to be a working writer. Some people want to have a career writing for prestigious markets like Harper’s and the Atlantic Monthly, and know that they may have to do long, investigative pieces for little pay in order to build up the clips needed to break in. Some simply want to make a good living freelancing and will write for any publication or on just about any topic so long as the pay justifies the hours spent working on the piece. Some writers are just starting out, and though they’d love to take on big assignments with well-paying publications, they’ve got to fill in the gaps before that’s happening with regularity. Some writers hope to eventually publish a book, and take on assignments that will build a platform, whether or not they pay well. And for some, money is not an object, but they will only write about topics that move them or for publications they respect. And so on.

The point is that for every smart writer whose motto is "I won’t take less than ___", there’s another smart writer who will. What makes them smart is not what work they’re willing to take on, but that they’ve thought out their reasons for accepting assignments–or not. They’ve got a plan, and the work they seek reflects the goals they’ve set out in that plan.

Personally, I’ll accept little money–or sometimes, no money–for certain kinds of assignments. Sometimes, there’s a topic I feel personally invested in or would really like to know more about, or a gig that I know will stretch me as a writer. Sometimes, an assignment that looks low-paying on the surface is actually great money when you consider how easy the publication is to work with or how little time the piece will take to write. And sometimes, the clip or exposure will help move my career in the direction I’m trying to go. But when looking at my plan, I understand that I can only take on a certain number of each of this kind of work and still meet my overall goals.

It can be really hard to say "no". All kinds of factors can come into play when you’re considering turning down an assignment work: fear ("If I don’t take this job I may not find anything to replace it and I’ll go broke"), ego (The editor likes your writing, and it can be hard to turn somebody down when you’re feeling flattered), and insecurity ("Who do I think I am, anyway?"). But if you’ve clearly mapped out the path you’re on and where you draw your line in the sand, saying "no" becomes less emotional and more businesslike: You’ve already decided you won’t accept (less than a certain amount of money, a contract you think is unfair, a topic you find boring, etc). It’s no longer personal, it’s just following your plan.

So while you’re thinking about what work you would love to take on, also consider what might need to go in the circular file. Do you want to retain rights to your work so that you can re-sell and re-slant at will in the future? Then you may want to be a stickler for writer-friendly contracts. Are you trying to meet specific financial goals? You may want to set the hourly rate you need to maintain and make sure your workload averages out to that rate. Do you need clips of a certain caliber, or on a specific topic in order to meet your goals? Then you may want to consider avoiding work that won’t provide the clips you need.

Whatever you decide, remember that, while it’s great to look at how other successful writers are running their careers, ultimately your career is your own. What do you want to accomplish? What do you need to get you there…and what will only stand in your way?

Once you’ve figured it out, come on over to the message boards and join in the discussion. We’d love to hear what you plan to do–and what you won’t do.

Have a great week!

–Meagan