Breaking into the history market

One of the nice things about being visible on the Internet is that I hear from all sorts of people. Aspiring history writer James Marushin asked me about how to break into the history market:

"I had a few questions for you after happening upon on article about freelance history writing that you had written.

"First, how is the market for freelance historical writing? Are places still taking, and paying, for articles? As a background, I graduated a couple years back with my BA in History and have been working as a museum curator since then; is there room in the market for someone like me to make some extra money writing articles? Are the places you listed in that article still interested in pieces?

"Second, is contacting a publisher and asking if I can submit an article the proper place to start? Or is it better to just submit an article without a first introductory contact? Do most have a call for specific types/themes of articles or is it pretty well open?

"Lastly, how critical is the need for primary sources? I understand this may sound like a naive question but I mean to pose it in a business sense not a historiographical one. If I have article ideas but struggle with finding primary sources for them, will an article based on secondary sources be acceptable? Or should I not bother unless I have primary source material?

I work for the Martin County Historical Society in Fairmont, MN. I would be primarily interested in Military History and our Local History and Stories. A lot of my collegiate research and writing was done on a wide array of Military topics while my time at the museum has focused more on local history."

OK, first thing's first. Yes, there is room for someone like you to earn money writing history. It won't be a lot of money to start with, but you can work your way up and with time and persistence you can make some decent money. As far as I know all the places I mentioned in the article are still interested in pieces. I know for a fact that Weider History Group is always open. Your job as a curator puts you in a good position because it lends you some authority as a professional historian. Always mention that when pitching articles, even if your proposal isn't about Martin County. The BA degree doesn't hurt either, but is less impressive because, as we all know, anyone with a pulse can earn a college degree. This cheapens the efforts of enthusiastic students like you and I were, but such is life.

Since you've been reading Writing World you probably know the basics about submitting a proposal, researching your market, etc., so I won't go into that here except to say don't knock yourself out writing an article, just write up a short proposal. The editor will probably tweak your idea anyway! Most history markets have some sort of niche, a region or a period or a specific subject they cover, so be sure to cater to that niche. The magazine market is very specialized. People buy magazines because they already have an idea what they're going to get.

Articles based on secondary sources are fine; many of my own articles fall into this category. That said, primary sources are a goldmine of information and make your articles more interesting. An old diary of a pioneer brings your subject to life. Quotes from period newspapers or speeches suck your readers into the time. Primary sources can lead to full articles or can be used to liven up articles that mostly rely on secondary sources. They aren't necessary, but they sure do help.

Since you want to do local and military history, and have daily access your society's archives, that's a good place to start. Perhaps your town paper would like some local history articles? Newspapers are always hungry for content. Pitch one or two ideas and if you get a good working relationship with the editor you may find yourself writing a regular column. That's happened to more than one of my colleagues. Then you might want to branch out into the magazines, either local or national.

Don't forget your biggest resource--the local historians you meet every day. I bet more than one of them has written articles and they can help with contacts, ideas, course material etc.

I hope this helps. If you have any other questions feel free to drop me a line.

Does anyone else have any suggestions for James? There's more than one professional history writer in my readership!


[In case you're wondering, the photo is of some Norman reenactors in front of Durham castle. The link leads to an article I wrote about the town]

Writers interacting with readers

I have an article in the latest issue of America's Civil War magazine. It's a reappraisal of Bloody Bill Anderson, a notorious Confederate bushwhacker who was a tactical genius. It includes a lot of material that couldn't fit into my book American Civil War Guerrilla Tactics.

Within a week of it being out I got an interesting email from a WWII veteran who 65 years ago met a man who claimed to have known Bloody Bill. This fellow said Bloody Bill didn't really get killed by a Union militia in 1864 (a scene in my Civil War novel), but faked his death and laid low for many years in Texas. He even showed my reader a grave with the name "Bill Anderson" on it.

I'd heard about this before, but he supplied some more details I didn't know. That's my idea of a perfect reader! While I believe Bloody Bill really did die in the war--his death photo looks like him and all his comrades say he died--these stories are part of the lore of the Old West. I have an insatiable appetite for stories like this.

I've gotten some nice responses from my Civil War book too. It's a subject that touches a lot of people. I'm always happy when people track me down through this blog and send me personal emails. Writing can be a lonely business and I'm grateful for messages from my readers. So if you like my stuff, feel free to comment or write, especially if you have a story to tell!

Websites for Writers: The Internet Public Library

Welcome to Websites for Writers, where every Monday I feature a site that offers inspiration and/or reliable information for writers.

Last week we went a century into the past with Mostly Victorian. This week we're mixing traditional institutions with cutting-edge technology by featuring the Internet Public Library.

At this site you get what it says on the tin--everything you could possibly want from a good library is here, or linked from here. Online books, encyclopedias, and a massive list of links to international newspapers are all easily searchable. Looking for a database of Native American authors? They got one. A literary encyclopedia? Got that too. Info on copyright law? Check. If you're stumped, you can even ask a librarian. It's a massive hub of reliable information run by consortium of universities and a handy first stop for any writer needing to look something up.

Of course for the true bibliophile, there's nothing like a real library, where you can hold a 500 year-old book in your hands.

(Mostly) good times for ebooks

Things seem to be on the up for electronic publishing. One of my publishers is expanding into ebooks and wants to renegotiate my contract to include an electronic edition. We're currently haggling over the royalty rate. As is typical with print publishers new to electronic publishing, they're offer a rate far less than market standard. The math is different for electronic editions, since there's much less overhead, and the author thus deserves a bigger share.

In other news, my short story is almost out from Damnation Books and I've found out that one of the distributors will be Shortcovers, which among other devices offers ebooks for the iPod and Blackberry. i didn't even know you could read ebooks on those! Shows how much I still have to learn.

In more general news, romance giant Harlequin has opened up a new epublisher called Carina Press. Harlequin already puts many of its print books into ebook format, but now they've made a separate imprint just for ebooks. Their first catalog will be Spring 2010 and they'll feature not only romance, but other genres as well. They're wide open for submissions at the moment. I'm curious to see just how their acceptance policy will differ from their parent company.

But not all the news is good in the world of digital publishing. Arkham Tales, a fine electronic magazine specializing in horror, is closing its doors after only its fifth issue. It garnered quite a lot of attention and readership in its short life, but sadly became yet another victim of the economic downturn. All five issues are available for free on their website. Yup, free! They relied on advertisers and donations, and apparently neither of these two sources were sufficient.

New Year's Resolutions: Ten Months On

At the beginning of the year I posted my New Year’s writing resolutions in order to pressure myself to keep on track. Let's see how I did in September and October. Yeah, I skipped a month. I was busy going from Oxford to Missouri to London to Madrid, researching and writing as I went.

Write 7,000 words per week minimum, 10,000 preferred.
I've been keeping up the word count, helped by my job at Gadling. I've written more than 60,000 words for them, enough for a short book. My nonfiction books keep me busy too.


Get through that huge list of magazine article ideas I'm going to pitch. As I send them out, the list will be added to, so this is a perpetual goal. Same goes for several book proposals I have.
I haven't sent out any new pitches for two months, being too busy with other stuff. I really should send out more though.

Search for another paid blogging job.

This is no longer a goal now that I'm blogging for Gadling, but I have been casually looking for a second blogging gig. Nothing has come up. I already blog about travel, so I want something in a different subject like history or archaeology. Unfortunately nothing along those lines have come up. Most blogs want someone to blog about tech or pop culture or other things I have no interest in.

Finish a how-to book on writing that a publisher is interested in.
This project has been put on the back burner since I'm in crunch time for one of my Osprey military history books.


Try to get an agent for my fiction and nonfiction.
Working on it. Still no luck.


Do another round of edits on all three of my novels.
I've already done this. I also wrote a summary for my Civil War novel, which I submitted to a contest.


Write my next novel, set in London and Oxford.
I did some writing these past two months, although not nearly as much as I like. I've been struggling with this one and having a lot of nonfiction work doesn't help. I'm still only a quarter of the way through the first draft, about 22,000 words.


Finish two short stories and two novellas I've been fiddling with.
Fiddled a bit with one of the short stories and both novellas, but haven't made too much progress.


Write and send out "Willoughby: England's First Great Explorer", a book proposal I was supposed to write last year (whoops!).
Still haven't done anything with this proposal.


Increase my online presence.
I've been slacking off on my personal blogs, as you can see, but my work with Gadling is gaining ground. Several of my posts have made it to the front page of AOL, which gets me lots of hits and tweets. One of my stories got more than 400 diggs and 200,000 hits last week! that made me feel good.

All in all, a decent two months. the main focus has been blogging for Gadling and research and writing for Osprey. Since these two markets pay and pay on time I really shouldn't complain, but my fiction has taken a beating. I'm gearing up to do some serious work on that front once I get past my deadline with Osprey on Dec 15. The new year is always a good time to start a new novel.

New Year's resolutions: eight months on

At the beginning of the year I posted my New Year’s writing resolutions in order to pressure myself to keep on track. Let's see how I did in August. Yeah, it's a bit late to be blogging about this. More on that later.

Write 7,000 words per week minimum, 10,000 preferred.
I've been keeping up the word count this month, helped by my job at Gadling. Today I wrote my 100th post for them. My nonfiction books keep me busy too.


Get through that huge list of magazine article ideas I'm going to pitch. As I send them out, the list will be added to, so this is a perpetual goal. Same goes for several book proposals I have.
I sent only one magazine pitch this month, but I got a yes from a magazine I'd never written for, so that's nice.

Search for another paid blogging job.

This is no longer a goal now that I'm blogging for Gadling.

Finish a how-to book on writing that a publisher is interested in.
This project has been put on the back burner since I'm in crunch time for one of my Osprey military history books.


Try to get an agent for my fiction and nonfiction.
Working on it. Still no luck.


Do another round of edits on all three of my novels.
I've already done this. Right now I'm working on a summary for my Civil War novel, which I'm submitting to a contest.


Write my next novel, set in London and Oxford.
I did some writing this month, although not nearly as much as I like. I've been struggling with this one and having a lot of nonfiction work doesn't help.


Finish two short stories and two novellas I've been fiddling with.
I haven't done anything with these.


Write and send out "Willoughby: England's First Great Explorer", a book proposal I was supposed to write last year (whoops!).
Still haven't done anything with this proposal.


Increase my online presence.
I've been slacking off on my blogs, as you can see, but my work with Gadling is gaining ground. Several of my posts have made it to the front page of AOL, which gets me lots of hits and tweets.

All in all, a pretty good month. I'm especially happy about breaking into a new magazine market.

New Year's resolutions: seven months on

At the beginning of the year I posted my New Year’s writing resolutions in order to pressure myself to keep on track. Let's see how I did in July.

Write 7,000 words per week minimum, 10,000 preferred.
I've been keeping up the word count this month, helped by my job at Gadling. Having to write a minimum of five posts a week keeps me busy, plus I'm in crunch time with my next book for Osprey. I want to get the rough draft done before heading to Missouri in mid-September.


Get through that huge list of magazine article ideas I'm going to pitch. As I send them out, the list will be added to, so this is a perpetual goal. Same goes for several book proposals I have.
I sent out a couple of magazine pitches this month, and got one no and one yes.

Search for another paid blogging job.

This is no longer a goal now that I'm blogging for Gadling.

Finish a how-to book on writing that a publisher is interested in.
This project has been put on the back burner while I get up to speed with Gadling and take advantage of the research opportunities while I'm here in Oxford.


Try to get an agent for my fiction and nonfiction.
Working on it. Still no luck.


Do another round of edits on all three of my novels.
I've already done this, and while I want to do another pass of my latest novel before year's end, I'm working more on my next one.


Write my next novel, set in London and Oxford.
I did a fair amount of writing this month, although not as much as I like. It's in a different genre and a very different voice, so I've been struggling.


Finish two short stories and two novellas I've been fiddling with.
I haven't done anything with these.


Write and send out "Willoughby: England's First Great Explorer", a book proposal I was supposed to write last year (whoops!).
Still haven't done anything with this proposal.


Increase my online presence.
I've been slacking off on my personal and writing blogs, in case anyone noticed, but my work with Gadling is gaining ground. Several of my posts have made it to the front page of AOL, which gets me lots of hits. I quit writing for Charge of the Write Brigade, however, because I need to focus on my paid blogging.


In general, it's been an OK month dominated by my current nonfiction work. I'd love to get more fiction done, but that will have to wait until crunch time is over.

New Year's resolutions, five months on

At the beginning of the year I posted my New Year’s writing resolutions in order to pressure myself to keep on track. Let's see how I did in May.

Write 7,000 words per week minimum, 10,000 preferred.
I haven't been keeping up the word count this past month. This is due to a large amount of editing I've been doing. Useful, but it doesn't get more pages written, only gets the older stuff looking nicer. I hope.

Get through that huge list of magazine article ideas I'm going to pitch. As I send them out, the list will be added to, so this is a perpetual goal. Same goes for several book proposals I have.
I haven't been doing much pitching, although I did send out a book proposal.

Search for another paid blogging job.
This is now no longer a goal, because three weeks ago I started blogging for Gadling, the single largest travel blog on the web. It's going well and I'm learning a lot about what makes a popular blog work.

Finish a how-to book on writing that a publisher is interested in.
Umm. . .haven't done much on that. I really need to get cracking.

Try to get an agent for my fiction and nonfiction.
I've been keeping my novels and nonfiction book proposals on agent’s desks, but so far no luck.

Do another round of edits on all three of my novels.
I did an edit on my very first novel, which I finished a few years ago. I'm now going through it again and pruning out a lot of excess wordage. A common first novel mistake is overwriting, and I certainly made that mistake! I plan to send it off to a certain publisher when they open for submissions in July. I checked out the sequal to that novel, which is about halfway through the first draft, and noticed I hadn't opened that file since January 5, 2007. If I get to work on that again it will certainly be with a fresh set of eyes!

Write my next novel, set in London and Oxford.
I did a fair amount of writing this month.

Finish two short stories and two novellas I've been fiddling with.
I haven't done much with these.

Write and send out "Willoughby: England's First Great Explorer", a book proposal I was supposed to write last year (whoops!).
Still haven't done anything with this proposal.

Increase my online presence.
I'm continuing with my personal and writing blogs, and my work with Gadling accounts for another five posts a week, so I'm getting my name out there. I'm also writing for another blog with eight other writers.

In general, I'm not terribly satisfied with this month's progress. I did a lot of research for a history book due at the end of the year, and a bit of fiction as well as a lot of editing of older fiction. The job at Gadling was a plus too. On the other hand, there are several projects that are languishing for lack of proper attention. I'm finding springtime in Oxford to be very distracting! One way of coping is to go hiking and then write it up for Gadling. Perhaps a long spell of English rain will get me back on track.

Straight From The Horse's Mouth: What Editors Want

I recently had a couple of pints with an editor of mine who happened to be passing through London. I've been working with him for a few years now and it was nice to finally put a face to a name. As we talked about the magazine, he made a comment that really struck me as good advice for writers of all levels.

"Writers pitch me subjects all the time, but what they really need to do is pitch me stories."

Something to remember.

New Year's Resolutions: Four Months On

At the beginning of the year I posted my New Year’s writing resolutions in order to pressure myself to keep on track. Let's see how I did in April. Like last month, I’m posting this late. Maybe I should have added “post on time” as one of my New Year’s resolutions!

Write 7,000 words per week minimum, 10,000 preferred.
I've been keeping up the word count this past month. Quality is more important than quantity, but a writer needs to maintain a certain level of productivity to keep the money coming in. Much of my time has been spent working on my latest novel and my next book for Osprey.

Get through that huge list of magazine article ideas I'm going to pitch. As I send them out, the list will be added to, so this is a perpetual goal. Same goes for several book proposals I have.
I’ve been doing a lot of pitching this month and have landed a couple of good magazine gigs.

Search for another paid blogging job.
A breakthrough! After four months without a paying blogging job (after my last job decided to go to a crappy “pay per click” payscale) I finally landed a job at Gadling, the single most popular travel blog on the web. I’ll be doing a variety of travel news and features, including a series of articles on my upcoming hike along Hadrian’s Wall and trip to The Gambia. I’ll post on this blog when I start to work.

Finish a how-to book on writing that a publisher is interested in.
I haven't done much work on that this month. Sorry Ms. Editor, I know you read this!

Try to get an agent for my fiction and nonfiction.
I've been keeping my novels and nonfiction book proposals on agent’s desks, but so far no luck. I’ve gotten a few rejections this month, and immediately sent the books out to the next agent on my list. This is my coping mechanism. :-)

Do another round of edits on all three of my novels.
I did another light edit of my second novel, a fantasy, and am continuing with a major edit of my Civil War horror novel.

Write my next novel, set in London and Oxford.
I did a fair amount of writing this month.

Finish two short stories and two novellas I've been fiddling with.
I did a lot of research for one novella and started with the writing, but haven’t done anything with the other pieces.

Write and send out "Willoughby: England's First Great Explorer", a book proposal I was supposed to write last year (whoops!).
Nope.

Increase my online presence.
I'm continuing with these blogs, and started work on a new blog with eight other writers. Gadling will also increase my online presence.

So all in all, not a bad month. I only wish one of those agents would finally say yes to a novel!

New Year's Writing Resolutions: Two Months On

At the beginning of the year I posted my New Year's writing resolutions in order to pressure myself to keep on track. Let's see how I did in February.

Write 7,000 words per week minimum, 10,000 preferred.
I've been keeping up the word count this past month. Quality is more important than quantity, but a writer needs to maintain a certain level of productivity to keep the money coming in.

Get through that huge list of magazine article ideas I'm going to pitch. As I send them out, the list will be added to, so this is a perpetual goal. Same goes for several book proposals I have.
I sent out a nonfiction query in January to a publisher and they asked for a full proposal, so a lot of my work this month has been dedicated to that. I haven't had the time to send out any new proposals. I plan to in March.

Search for another paid blogging job.
I applied for a paid blogging gig and got the job, and then they turned around and decided that the position would be for "exposure only". Sorry folks, but I have bills to pay, and leading me on is not a good way to start a working relationship. I'm applying for another job tomorrow.

Finish a how-to book on writing that a publisher is interested in.
I haven't done much work on that this month.

Try to get an agent for my my fiction and nonfiction.
I've been keeping my novels and nonfiction book proposals on agent's desks, but so far no luck.

Do another round of edits on all three of my novels.
I've been doing another major reedit of my Civil War horror novel and it's going well. I just finished chapter four today and hope to be done by the end of March so I can start my new novel once I'm up in Oxford. I also did a pass through another of my novels, a fantasy that's sitting on an editor's desk. I found very little I wanted to change, just a few tangled sentences and the inevitable typos. You can never catch all of those. I'm glad I took the time, though, because it proved to me that I'm done with that book.

Write my next novel, set in London and Oxford.
I've been writing it in my head already, but I'm not going ot put pen to paper until I'm up in England starting in April.

Finish two short stories and two novellas I've been fiddling with.
I haven't done those yet.

Write and send out "Willoughby: England's First Great Explorer", a book proposal I was supposed to write last year (whoops!).
I plan to do that when I'm able to research at the Bodleian Library in Oxford. I'll also have access to London's Maritime museum.

Increase my online presence.
I've been networking with a lot of writers on Facebook, one of the more useful timewasters on the web. I've also been keeping up with my two blogs.

I've also had other work to do from existing jobs from last year. This month I had to write up a battle map and description for a Civil War book I'm doing, and right now I'm working on an update for a Madrid guidebook. I also wrote an article for British Heritage.

So all in all a pretty good month. I'd have liked to have done more, but there are only so many hours in a day and I need to be a husband, father, and friend too. Perhaps I should hire a personal secretary. Perhaps I should get a good enough book contract that I can afford a personal secretary!

How have your writing goals been this past month? Leave a note in the comments section or post it on your own blog and leave a link.

New Year's Writing Resolutions: One Month On

At the beginning of the year I posted my New Year’s writing resolutions on my blog. Now that a month has passed how have I been doing?

1. Write 7,000 words per week minimum, 10,000 preferred.

I’ve not been making this goal most weeks because I’ve been doing a lot of editing. I wrote several pitches, but these tend to be both short and labor intensive. My average word count has been about 5,000 words per week this month. I plan to do better next month.


2. Get through that huge list of magazine article ideas I'm going to pitch. As I send them out, the list will be added to, so this is a perpetual goal. Same goes for several book proposals I have.

I’ve sent out a dozen pitches this month, mostly for books since there’s generally a longer turnaround from editors. One publisher was interested enough in my query to ask for a full proposal. I’m working on that now. This would be a new publisher for me, so I’m quite excited.


3. Search for another paid blogging job.

I quit my job at PlanetEye when they reduced their pay from a good wage to almost nothing. This month I’ve been offered two blogging jobs, one unpaid and one with low pay. I turned down both. It seems getting a well-paid blogging job is more difficult than getting magazine work. I’m applying for another major blog site that does pay well. Fingers crossed!


4. Finish a how-to book on writing that a publisher is interested in.

I’ve been organizing the chapters and worked out an outline. I have a ways to go, but now I know where I’m going.


5. Continue to try to sell my three novels to agents. Getting an agent, both for my fiction and nonfiction, is a major goal for me this year.

All my novels and nonfiction book proposals are sitting on various agents’ and editors’ desks. I keep a list of possible agents, and when I get a rejection, I send it out to the next one on the list. I’m always tinkering with the proposals to make them better.


6. Do another round of edits on all my novels, especially my Civil War horror novel, which I believe is the most marketable. Every work is a work-in-progress until it's published, so it's always good to do more editing.

I did a major edit on my Civil War novel this month. I haven’t gotten around to the other two novels yet.


7. Write my next novel, set in London and Oxford. I'm going to outline it in the first few months of the year and really start writing when I go there in April.

I’ve been giving this novel a fair amount of thought, but I’m saving the writing part for when I get there.


8. Finish two short stories and two novellas I've been fiddling with.

I haven’t done any work on these.


9. Write and send out Willoughby: England's First Great Explorer, a book proposal I was supposed to write last year (whoops!).

I haven’t done any work on this either


10. I also have some work already lined up for this year, including a book for Osprey, editing the page proofs for a book for Globe-Pequot, a few magazine assignments, and updates to a Madrid guidebook.

A whole week of this month was taken up with checking the page proofs of Outlaw Tales of Missouri (TwoDot, upcoming April 2009). I also did the research for a magazine article and did the proofs for another one. I’ve also done some work on the Madrid update.


11. Increase my online presence. I'll be getting Authorsden and Myspace accounts, and working on and promoting my blogs a bit more.

I decided to get on Facebook instead because I think it offers better networking opportunities for writers. I’ve caught up with many writers I knew when I still lived in Tucson, as well as ones I was on panels with at various conventions. While there’s a lot of silly timewasting aspects to Faceook, I can see how it can be a good networking tool. A friend of mine, who’s far more experienced and connected than I am, has gotten several jobs through Facebook connections. I also signed up for Authorsden but haven’t completed my profile yet. I've been posting more regularly on both my blogs.


So all in all, a pretty productive month. I haven’t written as much as I’d like, but January is a good month to send out lots of pitches that will hopefully bear fruit later in the year, so that’s what I’ve been concentrating on.

How has your first month of writing been? Drop me a line in the comments section or post your progress on your blog and send me the link

Writing Goals for 2008

Yesterday I took a look at my writing goals for this past year. It was interesting to read through what I thought I'd be doing in 2008. I made some goals, missed others, and had some unexpected work come my way. How did you do on your writing goals for 2008? Drop me a line in the comments section or post on your blog and send me a link.


GOALS FOR 2008


"7,000 words per week minimum, 10,000 preferred."

To succeed at writing you have to write and write and write. I made this goal nearly every week, but it was more like 7,000 words. Ten thousand is just too much for me unless I'm really inspired.


"Write A Fine Likeness (80,000+ words) and submit it to agents/publishers"

I started this Civil War horror novel on Jan. 2. It ended up being 94,000 words and went through several revisions. It just received its first rejection by an agent last week. I'll be doing another revision and sending it out again after the holidays.


"Continue to pitch Hard Winter."

This is my first fantasy novel. It's been making the rounds for a few years now. Currently it's in an agent's inbox.


"Edit Roots Run Deep and submit it to agents/publishers."

This is my second fantasy novel. I did a couple of revisions early this year and it's sitting in an editor's inbox.


"Break into four major magazines"

Here's where I fell down, mostly for lack of trying. Early in the year I got discouraged after sending out several well-crafted pitches tailored to specific magazines, on subjects they hadn't published. Most of the time the editors never even replied, even to my followup queries. One editor strung me along for most of the year, saying he'd give me two features, before lapsing into unresponsive silence.


"Continue to pitch to The Writer, British Heritage, and Missouri Life."

These are my regular magazine markets. I landed two or three articles in each of these in 2008.


"Continue to submit existing short stories."

Been doing that. One fantasy novella, "The Quintessence of Absence" was accepted by Black Gate magazine. The rest gathered rejections. I finished no new short stories in 2008. I prefer novels, both to read and to write.


"Resell old articles."

A mixed level of success. It's way easier with my writing articles than with my history articles. Anyone know of history markets that take reprints?


"Finish proposal for To Take St. Louis: The Confederacy’s Last Gamble in the West, and submit it."

This is a Civil War nonfiction book. It's making the rounds, having gathered a couple of rejections on the way.


"Finish proposal for Willoughby: England’s First Great Explorer, and submit it.
Finish proposal for The Last Emperors of Rome, and submit it."

I didn't get these done.


On the other hand, I got some unanticipated work. Osprey accepted my Guerrilla Tactics of the American Civil War proposal, so I spent a good chunk of the year writing that book. I finished last week. I also wrote up three more proposals for them. Two look like they're going to be accepted and the third was rejected.


I also wrote another Civil War nonfiction proposal, They Faltered Not: How A Few Runaway Slaves on the Frontier Changed the Course of the Civil War. It's making the rounds. I started two blogs, finished up Outlaw Tales of Missouri (started in 2007) and got hired by Pulse Guides to update their guidebook to Madrid.

All in all, a pretty good year. More income than last year, but I'd still be making better money as an office drone. I'd also be going not-so-quietly insane. I wonder what 2009 holds for me?

What Book Reviewers Think About Self-Publishing

I've come across a couple of great articles about self-publishing, the temptation every struggling writer faces. They confirm my earlier argument that most writers should avoid it. Paul Krupin at Direct Contact PR interviewed a long list of book reviewers about their feelings when they receive a self-published book for review. The article is here.

It isn't pretty. There were comments such as,

"They go to the bottom of the pile."

"Do not send them, I will not read them."

"So far I have not found one that I would recommend to any reader."

"Rarely do I examine such a book, the quality is likely unappealing to readers."

Ouch. The thing is, book reviewers cover books their readers are likely to read. Since self-published books rarely make it into bookstore shelves, and are usually ranked so low on Amazon that nobody sees them, readers aren't going to find them. A common theme among the responses was an aversion to the poor editing, self-indulgent plotlines, and amateurish cover art found on so many self-published books. There was also a distressing confusion between POD (a method for making books) and self-publishing (which often uses POD)

On the other hand, several reviewers said they occasionally found good ones, and that they're far more likely to review a self-published work if it has a local angle. Check out Paul's excellent article for more information.

Kel Munger, book reviewer for the Sacramento News & Review has an informative rant on the subject here. The skinny: if you're a worthy writer, you'll put in the time and effort and eventually you'll be rewarded.

It worked for me. Well, with my nonfiction. Apparantly I have more time to put in before my novels are up to snuff. I guess I could self-publish them, but then what? Sell a dozen copies?

Christian Science Monitor Goes Digital

The Christian Science Monitor has just announced that they will be the first national newspaper in the U.S. to go all digital, according to an article in the New York Times. Its regular weekday publication will now only be on their website, but they will start a new weekly print magazine.

It's hard to say what this means for the industry as a whole. The Monitor is a nonprofit organization funded by the First Church of Christ, Scientist, so it's always had a different business model, but this move has been spurred on by market forces any editor can relate to: a declining subscription base and financial belt-tightening.

Will print newspapers soon be a thing of the past? Maybe. I'm a news junkie but I get almost all my news from major websites such as CNN, BBC, and the Guardian, all of which I check daily. I buy an actual paper maybe twice a month. I bet most people younger than I am could say the same thing.

With the latest scary report on the environment, killing a few million fewer trees every year might not be a bad idea.

Electronic Newspaper Unveiled in Germany

A company in Germany, helped by researchers from Cambridge University, has unveiled a new electronic e-reader for newspapers, the BBC has reported. It uses plastic chips instead of silicon, making it tough and flexible, and it's about the size and weight of a magazine. The report didn't mention, but I presume there's Wi-Fi installed in order to download newspapers the reader has subscribed to.

This is a great idea for reducing paper usage, which takes up almost half of the landfill space in the developed world. The question is, will it catch on? As a newspaper publisher says in the piece, people are accustomed to paper and losing a newspaper is no big deal, while losing the e-reader would be expensive.

If it's promoted properly, and comes at the right price, it may do well, but we have to remember that ebooks have been around for years and haven't yet made a serious challenge to traditional publishing.

Plagiarist Beats A Hasty Retreat

In a previous post, I talked about how some idiot on LiveJournal uploaded the latest issue of Newbie Writers onto his blog, thereby breaching copyright with the editor, me, and all the other contributors. Newbie Writers Dawn Copeman and I made complaints to LiveJournal, but Idiot either realized the error of his ways or someone clued him in to copyright law, because the post was taken down before they could take action.

I have to say I'm a bit disappointed. I wanted to get his account terminated. This guy claims to be a writer, but thinks nothing of using another writer's work without compensation. Well, I'm willing to bet that's one "Newbie Writer" who'll never make it into the Midlists, or anywhere else!

Getting Plagiarized

On my other blog, Grizzled Old Traveler, I talked about plagiarism at the White House press office, and wondered if I've ever been plagiarized. Well, not two hours after posting that entry I found out that I have! Some idiot on LiveJournal cut and pasted the entire July issue of Newbie Writers onto his blog.

What an idiot. Just because something is freely available on the internet doesn't mean you can copy it. The newsletter isn't even on the webpage, but only available through a free subscription, so he's obviously a subscriber. Well, a certain "newbie writer" needs to educate himself before he gets sued. Not only did he violate the copyright of the newsletter editor, but he violated my copyright and that of all the other contributors. Both the editor and I have filed abuse reports to LiveJournal.

Interestingly enough, I can't provide you a link to Idiot's post because that would be aiding and abetting a breach of copyright, and therefore would open me up to getting sued too. Plus I wouldn't want to subject you to his insipid prose and atrocious poem about erectile dysfunction. No, I'm not making that last bit up. I really, truly wish I was, but I'm not.

Reader's Eden Ezine Issue #1 Out Now!

Well, the fruits of my first efforts as an ezine editor are out now. Click here to see the first issue. The cover is by my publisher's 13 year-old daughter. I think she's got a promising future. If you click on the cover you'll go inside, where you can hear more of my nattering, read three short stories by Sally Odgers, Will Greenway, and Margaret Pearce, and see a few other goodies. It's all free!

If you're interested in submitting something, check out the guidelines. We're always open for submissions.

This is turning out to be an interesting experience. I like the challenge of building up an ezine with no budget, no name recognition, and lots of competition. Of course, my job would be easier if I had a big budget, lots of name recognition, and no competition, but where's the fun in that?

The Difference Between Professional and Amateur Writers

Well, besides the Civil War novel, which is moving along well, I've been busy with editing the first issue of the Reader's Eden Ezine, due out in early June. I and the publisher sent out the submissions guidelines to several newsgroups and already stories are coming in. I haven't been snowed under like every other editor yet, but the drifts are beginning to form.

I've also sent out requests for submissions to several authors I know, professionals who might have a story to spare for this new venture. Luckily, a couple have already responded. One thing I noticed first off was that they kept strictly to the submission guidelines. It didn't matter that our emails were informal, with talk of babies, recent publications, and idle chit-chat; when these folks sent me their work it was all business.

I wish I could say that about all the submissions. While the majority stuck to the guidelines, I got several that did not. One writer sent his article as an attachment, even though my submission guidelines said I would delete emails with attachments unread. I don't want to fill my computer with viruses, after all. I even put that notice in all caps. Others used improper title format, and one fellow asked on a newsgroup why there wasn't an email address to send submissions to, even though it was, of course, in the submission guidelines. Everyone else seemed to find it!

I can practically hear all the jaded old editors out there laughing, "Oh, you think that's bad, just you wait!"

Yeah, there will be a lot worse, I'm sure. But I'll try to resist the urge to create a Hall of Shame like Alien Skin Magazine does.