Writing Bootcamps

Writer extraordinaire Bob Bly’s got a fantastic entry on his blog today. He asks:

Is it just me, or does it seem to you that yet another of the new crop of self-styled marketing gurus is announcing yet another “Marketing Boot Camp” just about every other week?

(I’ve cut a lot of his post here.)

He goes on to say:

… does it bother you when every speaker ends his talk by handing out an order sheet offering you an expensive bundle of his videos, DVDs, and coaching services…

(I’ve cut more here.)

I know I’ve been to seminars… paid big bucks… only to be hit up again for an additional grand or two to receive the rest of the information I thought I’d be getting for my initial investment.

Personally, it drives me nuts.

What do you think?

Here’s the link to Bob’s blog. Highly recommended reading if you ask me.

http://www.bly.com/blog/?p=166#comments

Talk later,

Beth

P.S. Tomorrow. Back to queries. Promise.

News for Novelists

Read it and weep.

http://tinyurl.com/h36dr

Talk later,

Beth

P.S. Tomorrow, back to queries.

Query Secrets Revealed, Part 1

Rejection is a part of every freelancer’s life. We all hate it, but it’s a reality we need to face.

However, now that I’ve sat on both sides of the writing desk, that of freelance writer and editor, I view at rejection differently than I used to.

Quick note: although I make a point to not read too many Filbert Publishing queries anymore I recently spoke to the person who has taken over that task for me. Things haven’t changed much in the six months since Elizabeth become our first line of defense in filtering appropriate projects toward the correct people in our tiny organization.

Here’s what she tells me:

Nineteen out of twenty queries she receives are for works of fiction. Unfortunately we aren’t accepting any new fiction until 2007… probably later. Sad fact is, fiction doesn’t sell very well. Fiction that doesn’t sell doesn’t pay our bills. When we don’t pay our bills we don’t stay in business.

We mention that we aren’t accepting fiction in our online writer’s guidelines, but evidently many writers don’t check online guidelines before querying.

So… Query Tip #1 – Check your market’s most current online guidelines if you can. The Writer’s Market often lists publisher’s website URLs so take that little extra step to give you a big edge when it comes to your queries.

Tomorrow… Query Secret #2.

Till then, keep writing.

Beth

Brown Wins DaVinci Court Case

Great news for all writers.

Here’s the link:

http://tinyurl.com/ovdrd

Talk later,

Beth

A New Writing Partner

One week ago today, my dear husband and I ventured to the local Humane Society and adopted a little puppy.

Actually, we had every intention of simply “taking a quick look” at what kinds of dogs they had available, but once a tiny brindle-colored baby in the corner cage caught my eye, I was hooked. Utterly hooked.

Her name’s Rudie. Three months old. They called her a Doxie-cross but I have no idea what her breed is. My lovely sister calls her a “Canardly” as in you “canardly” tell what breed of she is.

Doesn’t matter, though. Right now she’s five pounds of pure pleasure.

One small fly in the ointment, though. Lucy (our Rat Terrier Wonder Dog) isn’t sure she likes Rudie very much. But they’re working on it.

In the mean time, Rudie loves her new job at Filbert Publishing. She’s not much of a writer yet, but she’s great at comic relief.

As soon as I figure out how to post pics, I’ll let you meet Rudie in person.

Talk later,

Beth