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Free Mags as markets

In the past week I have received copies of a couple of magazines containing articles I have written. The pieces were of similar length but on different topics. Both magazines are distributed free of charge within different areas of the country but there the similarity ends. In one case the article was published for no fee but does carry my name so can be used as an addition to my writing CV whilst the other piece has netted me my highest fee to date.   Looking back over the past couple of years during which I have seriously increased the number of submissions I have made I note that around a third of published items have been to titles distributed in this way and not generally available in newsagents. More than half of the items published by this type of market have been paid for but the others have all had the advantage of adding to my CV and in many cases can be accessed online as well allowing me to post links to them on my website. In a couple of instances I was writing on a new subject area so had the chance to try my hand without risk.   When approaching new editors I include a link to my website and they can read the material there saving me the need to send samples of my work when requested and even the unpaid for items serve that purpose. There is no distinction between paid and unpaid articles when listing published work. I wouldn't like to suggest writing entirely for non-paying markets but they help to build the CV quickly and on the whole material reaches publication more quickly. After all one paying market has held onto my work for almost four years now and another for a couple of years. I may see the work in print someday and receive recompense but meantime I do not even have an entry for my CV for my time and effort.

Competition

I have been writing articles for a number of years now although it is only recently that I have made a real effort to get things published. Most of the articles resulted from the photographs we enjoy taking as we travel around of items that are now disappearing yet were common in our childhood and beyond. I generally take the photos whilst OH does the driving and is a dab hand at finding a suitable parking spot at short notice when something is spied en route. (I only realised how good he was at this when out driving with our son. I spotted a suitable photo opportunity and he found the nearest parking place. We spent a week with him driving and I must have walked miles tracking back to take the shot and catching up again. He hadn't got the knack even by the end of the week.)   In August OH said he had an idea for an article. He sat down and wrote it out and was going to just leave it at that. Persuaded to type it out and submit it to Best of British he took it with a pinch of salt when they said they had retained it for possible publication and could they please have the photos. After all, he knew that although I have had three pieces published by them in the past they have been holding five of my articles for several years now. Anyway, photos were duly despatched.   Saturday he had a letter to say his article is in the October issue. Today our copy arrived - we are subscribers. Contributors can buy copies for £2 but there are no freebie contributor copies. He seems moderately pleased with himself as indeed he should be but whether he will put pen to paper again it remains to be seen. I think this is certainly the shortest turn round I have ever heard of with this magazine. Generally it's a case of patience being a virtue with them.

To query or not to query...

Last week we had the decorators tackling the exterior wood stain on the house. It was not conducive to writing. You never knew which window they would appear at next and with all the doors and windows open wide papers would not stay still. There was also the added distraction of constant requests for tea and coffee. Not that I begrudged them that. They have done an excellent job. I did however manage to send out a couple of queries to magazines to see if they had guidelines for those submitting work.   Setting out today to make a start on some new writing based on recent travels I looked to see if I had any replies. I had queried two magazines. Each is a county magazine and it is not always clear if they accept freelance material. In the past I have gritted my teeth, written an article and emailed it if an address appears on the website. Recent rapping of knuckles for emailing a piece where only paper copies are now accepted made me wary, hence the query letters. I have also been caught out sending an idea to a magazine and receiving an enthusiastic reply from the editor who then pointed out the magazine did not pay for contributions.   One magazine has replied. Apparently if I had clicked on four different links, none of which mentioned contact or freelance or copy or any other recognisable link for contributions, I would have found the guidelines. Having read them I see it suggests sending ideas before writing the article. Now, the editor could save valuable time by having guidelines readily available on the site or a clear indication that they exist. Having now wasted some of her valuable time replying to my first query I now have to wait for a second time to see if the idea appeals.   There is no reply yet from the other magazine but that does not surprise me. I know from actually visiting the offices of our local magazine that there are just the two of them and even they do not work full time in the office. However, once again valuable time could be saved if it was clear whether freelance material is used.   Maybe I should have stuck with just sending material on spec and hoping for the best. After all, it has worked in the past. I was just trying to do what the books say but it seems editors, like babies, have not read the manual!

Keeping track of your little treasures.

I thought I did pretty well for keeping track of writing sent out. It is not as though I have reams of the stuff out there at any one time. I have a spreadsheet to list each item as it is sent and I also list things by magazine titles so I thought I was OK.   When OH was looking at my latest piece in print he asked what had become of the article I wrote after our holiday last summer for one of the regional titles. The editor had mentioned using it during the winter and requested colourful photographs should be sent for this reason and I suppose winter could be said to be almost at an end. I checked their website to see when the March issue was due out and then discovered they have added a facility to view back copies on line. And there it was. My article. In one of the autumn issues.   A few emails back and forth and the necessary forms have been signed, sorted and posted and a copy of the magazine has been found so I don't have to print a copy of the finished piece. It seems an email requesting the details was sent but it either disappeared into the ether, the spam box or simply got deleted in error. Whatever the reason I shall certainly be keeping a closer eye on progress in future. A case of the curse and the blessing of technology.   Anyway, it is nice to relive our summer break through the pages of the magazine and having a hard copy means I can now examine a copy in detail. You never know, we may visit the area again and come up with a new idea for this market.

Sales success of a different sort

Still haven't visited the sales this year but they continue to make their mark on others. Family members have shared their successes in the field and I have had a success of a different kind. The current issue of Best of British uses a piece I submitted this time last year (when sales shopping was fresh in the mind) comparing the sales of my childhood with those of today. A long time to wait for publication? Not really and especially not in the history of this piece.   The writing on sales began with a listing session around six years ago. I was making a list of things that had changed since my childhood. (You don't need to be that old to try this as things change so rapidly now. Indeed when I worked in primary schools our leavers  wrote of their time in the school and often mentioned changes that had occured in that time.) Anyway, after listing twenty items I picked three to develop into lists of their own giving the bare bones of an article on each and then chose one to write up as a completed article.   The article was submitted to a magazine whose editor retained it for possible use and then sat on it for three years before sending it back. When B of B asked for personal stories of sales shoping I dug it out and rewrote it more to their style and sent it off. The editor asked to keep it for possible publication and I know from experience that this publication also returns some material after some time  so apart from being recorded as work sent out I forgot about it until the latest magazine turned up on Saturday. A good end to the year or an inspiration for the coming one? A bit of both I suppose. Maybe I should dig out some more of those lists.

Hidden Treasures

At the end of last week we set off for one of our short breaks. Originally only booked for one night but the hotel was ideally situated and the weather promised to remain fine so we stayed over another night. Came back all inspired to write and share with others and found the site unavailable. I wish I could say I have spent the time normally occupied with viewing the site doing some usefull writing but it would not be true although I have carried out a lot of research based on our trip.   Had intended taking a break in East Anglia but clearly so had a lot of people and the places we aimed to stay had no vacancies. Headed instead for the Herefordshire/Welsh border and unearthed a wealth of treasures. These included not only places but also people, all willing to talk and share their time.   This is Kilvert country and we visited many of the churches with which he was associated as well as admiring the beautiful countryside he had roamed. There were villages and scattered buildings that had probably changed very little in the intervening years at least in terms of size and structure.   Hay on Wye got a short visit and yes, we did check out some of the bookshops although surprisingly for us we didn't actually make any purchases. Walking country footpaths, talking to the people who knew them and had known them all their lives, we learned a great deal.   Even the hotel had its story to add. An old coaching inn it was bound to have an interesting past and it didn't disappoint.   Finally we drove back via the Golden Valley with all the delights that offered. A truly beautiful part of the world and one that is largely unspoiled. Needless to say the list of possible articles to stem from even a short stay is growing daily. We set off with nothing in view to visit as we had planned a trip in quite another area so everything we found was pure serendipity and it really does work.    (No pictures at present. Imaging software is on main computer which crashed this morning!)

All that glitters

It’s been a busy couple of weeks.  I had been asked to write a couple of Christmas pieces. I submitted them Monday and received an immediate request for photos for illustration. Trouble was I hadn’t actually taken any so spent another afternoon surrounded by Christmas decorations until I finally put together a number for consideration.   I was contacted through my website with a request to use some photos for a book. The pictures are basically there to show I have illustrations to add to articles but it is true they draw more attention than any writing references judging by the site stats. Indeed, people have been in touch telling me the location of more examples to photograph for many of the topics.   No sooner had I sent those off than David posted a request for Christmas material for the Writelinkers Christmas Magazine. Once again I am trying to get into the festive mood. I had planned to write some articles based on our recent break and that is fast fading into the background under a shower of glitter. In desperation to get some of the many ideas turning around in my head out of the way I submitted a couple of filler items today. Now maybe I can settle to a gentler, steadier pace once more. It would be nice to return to the tranquility of this evening scene.

Pictures as inspiration

Since Moosey nominated me for WOM I thought I had better add a new Blog entry quickly! In my reply to her questionnaire I wrote a bit about using photos to inspire and even suggest article topics and I certainly use this way of working a great deal. I have also entered writing competitions where photos or paintings have been offered for inspiration so I thought maybe I could place a photo here for people to use as an inspiration for a piece of writing in whatever form they prefer. I would love to know if anyone uses this technique themselves and obviously if you find this particular image helpful.   A bit of background. This was taken on the Ridgeway, north of Swindon in February - yes February - 2008. (Looking at more recent years around that date I can record photos of local floods, snow and one of our fire burning fiercely which suggests to me it was a rather chill day as the fire draws best then!) I think this could illustrate an article on walking, long distance walks, exploring the countryside to name but a few but could also be used for a story. Who are the people in the picture for example and why are they there? Equally I think trees are often seen at their most beautiful in winter when the structure is exposed so maybe a poem springs to mind - spring again. Definitely on the mind at present.

Catch up

It's been a while since I have had much time for posting. Always seems to be something getting in the way and not always able to side-step the distractions.   Have been writing some articles, trying out a few more filler items and generally looking for new places to send writing. Each year I set out to find new people to approach - partly because I like to spread my wings a bit and partly because there are only so many pieces that a magazine will accept at a time. I also run out of items to submit for certain markets yet I can recycle work already published in a different format - letter from article or vice versa, story from funny photo and so on. I have just submitted an article on a theme I have often written on, village signs. This time I won't be paid but I have other ideas for the magazine and if they like what they get this time there is a better chance of being accepted for other topics. A couple of weeks ago I came across a website looking for short factual gardening pieces in exchange for vegetable seeds. Well, I would buy those anyway, so if I wrote for seeds it wouldn’t be unrewarded. I was even asked to select the seeds I would like.   Next task is to re-write an article I have submitted unsuccessfully. The article was fine, I was told,  but the magazine is not accepting new material at present and this is time sensitive so a quick jiggle to fit it more closely to another magazine's style and it can be sent back into cyberspace with the hopes of hitting the mark second time around. I can do another re-jig for a different market again and hopefully one (or even both) with prove acceptable.   Now I need to think what to do with these photos, just some of a group I took before the snow fell yesterday. On a trip out we came across these frozen scenes alongside a puddle on a country road. The water splashed up had frozen into magical scenes but elsewhere there was no sign of frost. The hedges were dull brown, the verges green and the road clear. We were not the only ones to stop to take photos. I was really thankful I have taken to always having a camera in my bag or pocket, even on a trip to the shops!

Stir Up Sunday

Are you ready for Stir Up Sunday? The Sunday before Advent, traditionally the day for making your Christmas pudding, is 28th November. An event with this name was held yesterday at Blenheim Palace and the very name brought back memories of a school where I once taught. The Deputy Head was renowned for recycling his assembly topics and the children regularly reported the appearance of his Stir Up Sunday offering.   The name has nothing to do with the making of Christmas pudding although it acts as a timely reminder that these puddings improve with age and need to be made in advance. The name derives from the Book of Common Prayer which includes a Collect for each week, the Collect for the Sunday before Advent being   "Stir-up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen”   It is not difficult to see how the words might be applied to making a Christmas pudding.   Yesterday we were to see how the Victorians made their pudding and learn the tradition behind it. The pudding derived from frumenty, a medieval dish of meat.  Around Christmas it was varied, first with the addition of spices – probably to mask the bad meat – and later prunes or plums. Gradually the fruit and spices took over from the meat element although suet was still used as the fat in the dish. Thirteen ingredients made up the recipe representing Christ and his disciples and the pudding should be stirred from east to west representing the journey of the magi to see the baby Jesus. Coins were added ensuring good fortune to the finder (providing one assumes they did not break their teeth on them first.)   The preliminaries over the pudding was created. All the ingredients had been weighed out into dishes. They were added to the bowl, one by one, as they were ticked off the list. Then the children were given the job of stirring it altogether and having a wish, a privilege also available to adults who wished to take part. How much the Victorians would have recognised I’m not sure. The suet was shredded suet and bore little resemblance to the “fat from the loin area of beef and lamb” we were told were used. The basin was topped off with parchment paper and then a sheet of aluminium foil. Whatever happened to pudding cloths? This was then tied down and a string handle created to ease removal from the pan of boiling water. (The single strand used would have been more of a hazard but one doubts it was actually going to be used anyway.)   The pudding was taken off to the kitchens for its six hours boiling and we were given recipes sheets for the pudding and a slice of Christmas cake to eat. Checking the ingredients I counted fourteen – but that did include the pinch of salt which is really how this should have been taken as a demonstration of Victorian cookery.

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