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Mary Rosenblum
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Hello all!
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Mary Rosenblum
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I hope you had an excellent
weekend and are catching at least a promising glimpse or two of spring!
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Mary Rosenblum
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Marketing is the yang to the
creative ying of writing. That is, you can write all you want but if you
don't get your work out there, nobody but you reads it.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Well, yeah, you can put it up
on your blog, but you're going to have a pretty limited audience.
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Mary Rosenblum
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And for those who actually
want to get paid for their words you're stuck with marketing. Since editors
don't call you up and tell you they heard you had a great piece for sale.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Although....just a
warning....a couple of scam 'agencies' DO that. So if you DO get a letter
saying something like that, throw it away quikc.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You'll find a host of market
lists out there...compilations of publisher names and needs with submission
guidelines and market info.
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Mary Rosenblum
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They have proliferated on the
internet.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Most are free and some are for
pay.
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Mary Rosenblum
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So let's talk about how to
decide which one to use.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I strongly suggest that until
you start selling your work or publishing it in respected ezines that you
don't shell out a lot of money for a 'paid' online list.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You'll find LOTS of freebies
and while you'll spend a bit more time searching, you won't be shelling out
money you won't get back.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you want a 'paper'
reference, the two best are the LR Best of the Magazine Markets and the
Writers Digest Writers Market.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The LR list is better, in my
opinion, if you're writing the sort of pieces that are featured in the LR
course -- short personal narratives, and informative articles, and some
fiction.
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Mary Rosenblum
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It's stronger in the
nonfiction category than the fiction category. So is the Writers Digest
general market list.
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frightwrite07
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Where can you find these lists?
Are they all in one place?
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Mary Rosenblum
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The general lists put
everything in one place, yes.
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Mary Rosenblum
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And because they cover ALL
genres of F and NF, they tend to include major markets only.
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ginas
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I just got that book yesterday
from Longridge and it's great
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Mary Rosenblum
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It is, Ginas. I think it's
better for what it does than the WD version.
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frightwrite07
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I'm sorry, I meant online
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sss1208
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do we need both?
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Mary Rosenblum
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No, sss. They may include
different stuff, and LR focuses on markets that are more friendly to novice
writers than does the WD list, but if you have one I would not get the
other.
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Mary Rosenblum
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NOW...realize that a paper
market list is only good for the year in which it's intended.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Publishers change all the
time, editors leave, new ones open, some close.
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Mary Rosenblum
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And addresses change!
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you send your mss to a
market that was listed in a two year old market list, your mss may not come
back to you, but that publisher may have moved and it didn't get to them
either.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The PO stops forwarding after
a certain length of time and doesn't forward all classes of mail.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Once you have focused on a
particular arena where you mostly intend to write and sell, then it's time
to start looking for an 'advanced' list.
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Mary Rosenblum
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By that I mean a list that
focuses specifically on your area of interest.
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Mary Rosenblum
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And I would look online first.
So I'll get to your question in a second, fright.
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h.p. lovesauce
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How best to politely confirm
editor
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Mary Rosenblum
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How best to confirm that the
editor got it, hp?
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Mary Rosenblum
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That depends. Start by being
SURE you have the current address.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you query, realize that
editors will NOT respond to your query if you don't send them something
that suits their magazine and seems professional.
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Mary Rosenblum
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They don't want to deal with
you.
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Mary Rosenblum
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So if you don't hear back on a
query, you 'missed the mark' with that magazine.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you propose something that
they might have used but the editor doesn't want this piece, you'll get a
polite rejection and a 'try again' letter.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you send in a manuscript
and you don't hear back for 1 1/2 times the 'response time' listed in the
submission guidelines, then send a polite query.
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Mary Rosenblum
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'Gee, I think maybe you didn't
get my manuscript. Would you like me to resend?"
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Mary Rosenblum
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Sometimes things DO get lost.
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h.p. lovesauce
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...and current contact info for
a market?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Sorry, the other half of your
question came in slow.
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Mary Rosenblum
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To confirm current contact
info, just check a current online market or if you can find the magazine in
a local bookstore or library check for the 'editorial office'
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Mary Rosenblum
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on the inside cover pages of
the magazine. Those are listed separately from the subscription address
most of the time.
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h.p. lovesauce
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Is a quick call to confirm the
editor's name acceptable?
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Mary Rosenblum
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No. Publishers do NOT want you
to call them and the receptionist will simply tell you to send it to
Submissions Editor.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If yoiu can't find an editor's
name, just do that. The right person will get it.
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Mary Rosenblum
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So let's talk about advanced
markets.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You have lists that specialize
in a particular genre. Some of these charge money. Some don't.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Because they don't try to
cover ALL categories they can include more small and niche markets than a
more general list.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you're writing Christian
articles and stories, you need The Christian Writers Maket for example.
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Mary Rosenblum
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And you might want to get the
Cross and Quill a Christian Writers newsletter
http://www.cwfi-online.org/crossquill.html
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you're doing serious
freelance nonfiction with an eye to a career, you probably want to
subscribe to a 'for pay' market list.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The nonfiction market changes
much more quickly than the fiction market and you can follow publishing
trends in time to submit usable queries. But these market lists do cost you
money, some of the top ones up to 100 bucks a year or more.
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Mary Rosenblum
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They are designed for
professionals not for novices. Don't subscribe until you can make use of
them. You'll find plenty of free market lists
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Mary Rosenblum
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to help you establish your
clip list.
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Mary Rosenblum
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http://www.absolutemarkets.com/
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Mary Rosenblum
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https://secure.infotoday.com/lmp/us/index_us.asp
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Mary Rosenblum
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These are both 'for pay'
market lists.
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Mary Rosenblum
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http://www.nwu.org/nwu/index.php?cmd=showPage&page_id=1.3.12.2
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Mary Rosenblum
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The above is the National
Writers Union.
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gail
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The following site which offers
a good search engine for fiction and poetry, and in varying pay ranges. http://www.duotrope.com/index.aspx
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Mary Rosenblum
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Duotrope is a good general
market list and it's free.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you're writing in the
speculative fiction field, THE market list is Ralan.com
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Mary Rosenblum
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http://www.ralan.com/
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Mary Rosenblum
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The man is a type A and
obsessive about keeping up the best market list out there in this genre!
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Mary Rosenblum
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DO be a good citizen and
follow his paypal link and contribute will you? We want him to stay in
business.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You can consult publisher
directories for publisher names and then search specifically for their
guidelines.
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Mary Rosenblum
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http://www.ebookcrossroads.com/epublishers.html
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Mary Rosenblum
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This is an ebook publishers
directory.
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Mary Rosenblum
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http://www.fictionfactor.com/fiction1.html
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Mary Rosenblum
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This is another general
fiction list, another freebie.
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sss1208
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writers digest offers online
market for a month
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Mary Rosenblum
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It does. To be honest, if you
are going to use the Writers Digest list, I would use the elist rather than
the paper list since it can be updated more regularly. It takes six months
to put together a market list so when you buy it in january it's six months
out of date already.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Now LR does it in a smaller
window...their list comes out in February and it's very regularly updated,
so you're a bit more on target there.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You can simply search for
market lists: romance market list....something like that. You'll get a lot
of sites.
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Mary Rosenblum
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But...BE CAREFUL>
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Mary Rosenblum
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Recently I checked an old link
for RWA (Romance Writers of America) and got a warning from my Firefox that
the certificate didn't match the registered user.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Some sites can become spam or
virus sites. But if you're surfing around the internet anyway, you of
course have a good and constantly updated firewall right?
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Mary Rosenblum
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And realize that some clever
'scam publishers' know that novice writers are hunting for markets and they
have some nice 'traps' out there for you.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You won't get a virus but
you'll get some lovely promises about how easy it is to publish with them
and make millions.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Remember...if it sounds too
good to be true...it IS.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Once you know where you
writing interest lies, try to find market lists that focus on that genre.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Once you're selling enough
nonfiction to justify a hefty yearly fee, do use a for-pay market site for
professional freelancers.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The nonfiction market lists,
the professional ones, are useful in terms of selling four or five
subsidiary articles once you're researched your feature.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Anyone else want to contribute
a market list that has worked well for them?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Bookwire is another good
publishers directory: http://www.bookwire.com/index.html
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Mary Rosenblum
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Take a look at the publishers
they list and then search for that publisher's website and submission
guidelines.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Remember that you will often
find more detailed, even different guidelines on the publishers website
than you will find in any market directory.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Remember, too, that you should
never really depend on that market list alone.
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Mary Rosenblum
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It's hard to justify spending
money on an issue of the magazine when you're not selling yet, but how
badly do you want to break in?
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Mary Rosenblum
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In terms of nonfiction, it's
critical to understand the SLANT of the magazine before you pitch a query
and you really cannot do that from the description in the market list.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Asimov's and Analog and F
&SF sound almost alike in the market directories. They are HARDLY
alike.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The main reason that editors
reject a fiction story or fail to respond to a query letter is that the
query or story is not suitable for that magazine. And guess what?
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Mary Rosenblum
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The editors remember the near
misses. They also remember the names of the people who obviously know
nothing about the mag and guess what happens next time they see your name?
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gail
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Pamelyn Casto's newsletter
offers news of flash fiction markets, but it's only available to
subscribers of her free Yahoo group
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FlashFictionFlash)
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Mary Rosenblum
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Yes! I often mention her
newsletters in my Web Editor's pick in the LR Newsletter. You can subscribe
for free and she lists four or five flash fiction markets every issue
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Mary Rosenblum
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including at least one paying
market.
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acook
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Is one copy of the magazine
enough to become familiar with the market - most submission guidelines say
that the writer must be very familiar with the magazine.
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Mary Rosenblum
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It is advisable for a fiction
magazine to read more than one. Unless you're very experienced you probably
can't tell what the editor is looking for in a single issue.
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Mary Rosenblum
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But if you're serious about
breaking into a NF magazine I would read a full year's worth of issues if
you can get them.
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Mary Rosenblum
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(Try the library first).
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Mary Rosenblum
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That way you will get a solid
feel for the slant of the mag and you'll know what that editor has covered
in the last year.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You won't duplicate something
he/she has already run and you can refer to those articles (I noticed that
you treated readers to an inside lookat the LA county fair back in the
August issue. My piece will...._
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gail
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For me, that is the hardest part
of market research, is deciphering the listing's information enough to
decide which markets deserve further investigation by me. Any clues on
market-list phrases and their general meanings?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Alas they ARE very similar.
You know why? The editors don't want you to depend on them. They want you
to READ the magazine.
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k c morlock
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some libraries have back issues
of various magazines brought in by the public in give away stacks.
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Mary Rosenblum
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And many libraries get a wide
variety of magazines. Back issues are often archived.
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Mary Rosenblum
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AND....most magazines have a
website and often you can read archived articles or a sample of the
articles in the current issue.
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Mary Rosenblum
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AT LEAST do that much.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Remember....if you take up an
editor's time with queries or submissions that are entirely unsuitable for
the magazine, the editor will simply stop
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Mary Rosenblum
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bothering to look at your
queries or submissions.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The market list is your
starting point, so that you don't waste your time buying issues of
magazines that you don't need to read.
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gail
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Reading the magazine often means
(for me) subscribing. This is why I try to interpret the listings as well
as possible...I can't afford to subscribe to all possible markets. I need
some help in narrowing the field. : )
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Mary Rosenblum
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I also subscribed to magazines
I really wanted to break into, like Asimov's and F &SF, and several
others. It was expensive, but I considered it a capital investment.
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Mary Rosenblum
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It certainly paid off.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I have had several LR students
who have gone on to establish successful freelance careers.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Every one of them used a full
year of back issues as research to target two or three likely magazines.
They broke into those magazines, quickly started getting assignments, and
parlayed those clips
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Mary Rosenblum
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into sales to other large
circulation magazines.
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k c morlock
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In MT I find myself often,
purchasing copies from publishers. I have the flu right now and can't think
of what the sample copies are called.
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Mary Rosenblum
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They're called sample copies,
KC. (ooooh, sorry you're sick!).
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Mary Rosenblum
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You can write to the editorial
offices, include the cover price for a copy or two or three and ask for
their submission guidelines.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Editors LOVE writers who do
their homework and don't waste their time.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I have gotten several back
issues where I have paid for one, and often have received tips about what
they are or are not looking for.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Now the larger the magazine
the less likely you'll get that kind of personal TLC, but you'll at least
get the back issues.
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Mary Rosenblum
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And if you send in a well
written query soon after, the chances are good that your name will ring a
bell. Oh, that’s' the writer who asked for the sample copies...'
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Mary Rosenblum
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It's hard to remember that
this is not a faceless juggernaut of editorial judgment but an actual
office with a very few people in it
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Mary Rosenblum
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and they WILL see you as a
person. :-) So make that introduction a good one.
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k c morlock
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besides the market listings in
the paper books, short story and novel writer's market, for example, I
learn a lot from the articles.
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Mary Rosenblum
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One of the reasons the writers
magazines exist is to offer writers the kind of information they need.
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Mary Rosenblum
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And that often includes a
spotlight on markets.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I try to include a market in
every LR newsletter that is accessible to novice writers/LR students.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I look for paying markets
although I do include some no-pay markets that I think are worth publishing
with.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The main thing to
remember....don't use the list only.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Back it up with a look at the
magazine itself.
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Mary Rosenblum
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And for you book
publishers....use the market list to decide what publishers take the kind
of work you are writing and then go check on the publishers listing
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Mary Rosenblum
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and if possible, go look at
the books on the bookstore shelf.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Every publisher has their own
'take' on the genre they publish in. In the speculative fiction arena, what
Baen will accept, Spectrum won't.
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Mary Rosenblum
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That sort ot thing.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Same with any genre. See what
type of books this publisher is producing. If you're book is quite
different, you probably want to try a different publisher.
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Mary Rosenblum
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And in the book world,
remember....publishers are looking ahead two years when they read your
query or manuscript.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you are offering the same
thing you see on the shelf now, they probably want to move on to something
new.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Of course again, that depends
on the publisher. If all they publish is dark urban fantasy with vampires
and werewolves, that's probably what they want.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Well, I hope this gives you a
little more insight on market lists and how to use them. Google and the
internet has made it a whole lot easier to find market information
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Mary Rosenblum
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than it was even a few years
ago. But remember....it's just a starting point!
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Mary Rosenblum
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It's the difference between
throwing a handful of seed out into your back yard, or digging a garden bed
and planting it.
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frightwrite07
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Are all genres' considered
speculative fiction, horror/SF?
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Mary Rosenblum
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'Speculative Fiction' is the
umbrella term for any book that includes 'unreal elements'.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Well, I'll post the
transcripts in the usual place: Writing Craft: Forum Transcripts.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Have a good week! Don't forget
that this Thursday I'll be visiting with Kelly Christianson, aka Crystal
Wizard, a small press publisher.
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Mary Rosenblum
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She's going to be talking
about how she chooses a book and how small press publishing works.
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Mary Rosenblum
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See you Thursday!
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