Posts tagged: article selling

What do you do with a 5,000 to 30,000-word “book”?

Whatever your fame or literary legerdemain, a “book” like that is a size orphan. It’s too big to fit in a magazine, newsletter, or journal and too small for major publishers to even consider. Of course, you can publish it yourself. It may be too short to get a spine as a paperback at CreateSpace [...]

Interviewing famous men at the urinal

Sorry, ladies, but this is one place where male reporters have a leg up, so to speak… Don’t despair. I only interviewed one famous man, or any man, that way once, and that was by chance. But it worked, and since that was all I needed at that moment it let me dance (better said, [...]

Ebook enhancements, prices, novel distribution, platforms, and more…

Randy Kuckuck spoke at the BAIPA (Bay Area Independent Publishers Assn) meeting this past Saturday, Sept. 8. Let me share some of the key points, as I heard them. Randy is a veteran publisher who began as the CFO at BookCrafters, which was one of the industry leaders in short-run book printing—and, years back, my [...]

What do you do first to deduct your travel-writing trips?

Two premises: (1) you want to write and sell something about a coming trip, and (2) you want to be able to keep all of the money you earn, or at least increase your IRS tax deduction as much as you can. Good thinking—and totally legal. You are supposed to take every deduction allowed. More [...]

Resell your article again and again? Here’s the needed tool.

If you’ve had a good article in print, why not sell it again and again? To do that you need a cover letter to send to the second editor. These are full-page letters sent to editors who buy reprints (same as second rights)—usually editors who pay on publication. If you sold first rights to the [...]

How do you set up a magazine (or newspaper) interview?

Most of the articles you write should include at least one and often three interviews, plus of course facts, perhaps some anecdotal material, and probably some artwork (usually photos). In fact, the most persuasive items selling the article are the interviews or quotes you promise the editor in your query letter. Like a piece about [...]

Getting at least triple use from one booklet…

Two completely disconnected things happened yesterday that reminded me that if I’m going to preach empire building I should do it (and share it) too! I faithfully attend the monthly meetings of BAIPA (Bay Area Independent Publishers Assn) the second Saturday morning each month in downtown San Rafael, CA. It’s a great place to meet [...]

Niche Speaking: Cash in with fewer (but more devoted) listeners

The following excerpt beginning my chapter “Niche Speaking: Cash in with Fewer (but More Devoted) Listeners” first appeared in print on July 1, 2012 in a new book called Speak More! Marketing Strategies to Get More Speaking Business. I thought you might enjoy it’s message as a blog post: When I was new to public [...]

A lifetime formula for selling 75% of the nonfiction you write

If you want to sell almost everything nonfiction that you submit, including 75% of what you send to editors, here’s the not-so-secret formula: • Before submitting any copy, first send a super query letter to the editor asking if she/he would be interested in your preparing and sending an article about ____. (If you’re unfamiliar [...]

See how an excellent website is critical in empire building

How can one double and triple their income quickly from writing, photography, speaking, consulting, teaching, or other related means? The process is called empire building, and I focus on it in my free monthly newsletter. Atypically, I’m going to prematurely share the key article in this month’s newsletter as this blog post because I so [...]