How to break into a publisher's office

It is hard "breaking into" the writing market, but not impossible. One problem is supply and demand. There are simply more articles being written than the market can bear. (About 1 percent of articles and book proposals submitted to publishers are actually printed.) But you can break through if you will work at the craft of writing:

1. Read. Read. Read. Read "how to" books on writing at your public library. My book, Communicate to Change Lives is available by calling Wesley Press at 1-800-4-WESLEY or visiting my online bookstore. Also read books that contain great writing such as Annie Dilliard, Madeline L'Engle, and C. S. Lewis, and Philip Yancey.

2. Take a course at a nearby college or university. You'll receive the kind of feed-back and critique that is so necessary.

3. Attend a writers' conference. "It's not what you know, but who you know" in writing also! Conferences allow you to show your writing samples to some of the top magazine and book editors in the country. Plus the workshops are invaluable.

4. Join a writer's club or critique group.

5. Research what the market is buying. Writer's Market (Writers Digest Books, annual), which is available at most public libraries, lists hundreds of markets. Always send for a writer's guide and sample copy before submitting. Magazines are much easier to break into. In fact, I'd suggest you do not attempt a book until you've established a good publishing track record in magazines.

6. Don't quit your day job! If you want to make money, become a greeter at Wal-Mart rather than a writer. Fewer than 5 percent of writers actually make a living at it. Writing offers great satisfaction, but little money.

7. Most of all, be persistent as well as patient. Persistent because the majority of your—and my—articles and proposals will be returned. But, because I'm persistent I've had over 2,000 articles and fourteen books published—in spite of hundreds of rejection slips. And be patient. Most magazines take up to three months to respond; books up to six months. Editors, unfortunately, are too busy to be able to tell you why they can't use your material, so don't ask. I realize that is frustrating—to new and old writers! And remember, it takes ten years to become an overnight success!

Copyright © 1997 James N. Watkins. All rights reserved.

Click here for an excellent overview of your publishing options by Patricia Haley

Top ten great things about being a writer

November 15 is national I Love To Write Day, so I have in my right hand, direct from my home office today's top ten list. Today's category . . .

Top ten great things about being a writer

10. No heavy lifting. Since no physical skill or strength is required to be a word jock, your career isn't over by age 30 like most major league athletes.

9. It's cheaper than collecting antique cars or Longaberger baskets. For the price of a ream of paper ($3.95 at Office Depot) you can write an epic novel or two nonfiction books. (Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was written on the back of an old envelope.)

8. It's one of the few occupations you can perform in your underwear without the vice squad breaking down your door.

7. You can get your picture in the paper without the vice squad breaking down your door.

6. You have the power to speak your mind long after you're dead. All those authors from American and English Literature class had met their final deadlines long before you read them (or scanned the Cliff Notes).

5. It's a great soapbox. Instead of annoying just your family and friends with your rants and raves, you can annoy thousands of people with your rants and raves.

4. On election day, you can vote more than once—legally. An editorial, a letter to the editor, even an email note, can sway readers' votes, so get out and vote - repeatedly.

3. You can receive notes like this email from last week: "I am a 38 year old mother of four: two teenagers and two under the age of nine. I am writing to let you know how much your writing has lifted my spirits."

2. It's the closest thing to God's "creation ex nihilo"—creating something out of nothing; using words to bring order out of chaos.

1. And now writers have their very own holiday.

Yep, my friend John Riddle has single-handedly created the national I Love To Write Day (www.ilovetowriteday.org).

Apparently it's not that difficult to create your own holiday since this month also celebrates Saxophone Day (6), National Bittersweet Chocolate With Almonds Day (7), National Pizza With The Works Except Anchovies Day (12), Operation Room Nurse Day (14), National Toilet Day (19), Use Even If Seal Is Broken Day (24), and Square Dance Day (29). And don't forget Veteran's Day (11), Thanksgiving (fourth Thursday), and my wife's birthday (24).

Unfortunately, we writers have to share the 15th with National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day.

According to the official press release, over 11,000 schools nationwide have already signed up to celebrate the day. Riddle writes, "One million authors, writers, editors, reporters, journalists, teachers, librarians and other volunteers will help celebrate I Love To Write Day. On that day people of all ages will be encouraged to write something: a poem, a love letter, an essay, a letter to the editor, start a novel, finish a novel...the possibilities are endless."

So don't forget to celebrate national I Love To Write Day on November 15. But, please, if you serve refreshments, avoid anything from the National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day!

(c) 2002 James N. Watkins

Note: November is also National Novel Writing Month. Check out their inspiring and informational website.

Top ten column-writing secrets revealed

Writing a weekly column isn't exactly like creating something that high school students will be required to read 100 years from now. It is, however, a challenge coming up with a fresh, insightful essay every seven days--or at least some ink spots to fill 10 inches of column space.

So, I have in my right hand, direct from my home office, today's top ten list: Top Ten Column Writing Secrets.

10. Eat cold pizza for breakfast

Wash it down with large quantities of Diet Coke. After three cans, I can type 467 words per minute but unfortuwythdly nonr ofit makerigh anv senze aftcher tke thirddddddd . . .

9. Travel

I had great fun filing columns from India ("The Land Without Toilet Paper"), as well as southern Africa and the Caribbean.

But some of my best ideas have come while stuck in traffic in downtown Chicago in August with a stick shift with no air-conditioning and two kids in the backseat waging a fight to the death.

And, of course, anytime I fly, I always come back with new column ideas. You can read "Top Ten Things Not to Say at Security" at www.jameswatkins.com.

8. Get married, have kids

Dave Barry provides positive proof that marriage and raising children is a source for hundreds of columns, thousands of dollars, and even a Pulitzer Prize. However, he's also on his third or fourth marriage and is buying baby diapers with his AARP discount card.

That's why you won't find Lois mentioned in many of my columns. I love my wife and I want to stay married to her.

Kids, on the other hand, provide a great—and printable--source of humor. (You can read all about them at www.jameswatkins.com)

7. Read

Read everything: fortune cookies, warning labels, airline magazines, junk mail, movie credits, etc. etc.

Recently, I was waiting in the foyer of a restaurant and noticed a marker board sign that should have read PLEASE WAIT TO BE SEATED. Someone had erased the second S, making me wonder if I was on the menu.

The best comedy, however, comes from the Department of Political-correctness. After reading about Native Americans being offended by use of "Redskins" and other "Indian" terms in sports, I got thinking, where will this end? Is my state going to be forced to change it's name to "Native Americana"?

6. Pass a kidney stone

I keep reminding students at writers conferences, "nothing terrible happens to authors, just terrific anecdotes."

So, when I experienced the sensation of having a Greyhound bus overloaded with passengers on their way to a Weight Watchers convention parked on my lower back, I knew I had a great column. You can read it all about it here.

5. Tackle a home-improvement project

For example, I don't believe in paying a repair technician $50 per hour when I can fix it myself. What do I have to lose? It's already broken, so I really can't do too much more damage.

Such was the case with the "simple"—watch out for that word—task of removing the bathroom stool so the tile crew could install new floor covering. And I'd save $50 by doing it myself!

Eventually I had to bring the City Water Department in on the project, but it did make a great story which has appeared in several magazines and in a book. You can read about it here.

4. Use your column for shameless self-promotion

I'm not above using excerpts from my 14 books for columns, and then shamelessly mentioning that they are available at www.amazon.com. And if you have a Web site with your best (?) columns archived, you can make references to it through out the entire column.

3. Don't be afraid of people thinking you're crazy

Henri Nouwen writes of the successful communicator:

"He does not allow anybody to worship idols, and he constantly invites his fellow man to ask real, often painful and upsetting questions, to look behind the surface of smooth behavior, and take away all obstacles that prevent him from getting to the heart of the matter. The contemplative critic takes away the illusionary mask of the manipulative world and has the courage to show what the true situation is. He knows that he is considered by many as a fool, a madman, a danger to society and a threat to mankind."

2. Have a friend who is even crazier than you

I enjoy having lunch with a fellow columnist who wishes to remain anonymous (I'll call him "Michael Fraley"). Michael describes his mind as "a box of kittens" and he never ceases to get my brain cells firing on all neurons. Most of our brainstorms, however, aren't fit for print such as low-tech terrorist "Amish bin Laden"!

1. Create a top ten list

That never fails!

(c) 2002 James N. Watkins

Why do you write?

Dear Mr. Watkins,

My name is Tom Cochran. I am a student at Indiana Wesleyan University and am taking an independent study on writing. I was hoping that I could ask you a few questions about your writing habits and get some advice from you personally.

Why do you write?

For the money, of course. Ha! Authors who write for the Christian market generally make about one-third of our secular counterparts, but we have a "retirement plan" that's out of this world!

Honestly, I can't not write. It's like Jeremiah who had a message burning in his heart and if it didn't get out, he would be consumed.

What other motives, that you have witnessed, for people to write?

Money, some kind of "agenda" (political, etc.)," fame, a need for "group therapy" through publication, a "call," etc. Motives are mixed at best. I'd like to think my primary motivation is summed up in my mission statement "To communicate the Gospel of Christ in as creative and effective manner as possible with as many people as possible."

When and where do you write?

One famous author answered, "I write 24-hours a day. I type about three hours a day." I write where ever there's a pad of paper, my lap top, or at home on the main computer. Ideas are always pin-balling inside my skull.

My prime time for "typing" is from about 6-10 am. I use the afternoons for paperwork or research. But I'm always "writing."

Where do you draw ideas from? I know that you write on a broad range of issues, do you get these ideas from observations or do you see a need and then address it through writing?

Check out The Write Site: Writing Resources for that answer. I get asked these kinds of questions enough that I finally just set up a page for the answers.

How do you file your ideas for a book and for articles?

Mostly I copy and paste things I read onto my computer. I also try to journal each day, so that becomes a resource as well.

What is your style of writing and why do you write like that?

Nonfiction with lots of humor. I've written just about every genre there is (except romance novels), but nonfiction with lots of humor seems to be what I do best. So, I go with my strength.

In The Persuasive Person, you advised to write for anyone and everyone, is it wrong to write to a specific group of people concerning a specific idea?

Yikes, did I say that?! That was way back in 1987. (There really needs to be an expiration date on books!) It's important to know your specific audience and write with them in mind.

Keith Drury told me that you write what is in you. What do you do if there are days when nothing is coming out?

That Prof. Drury is such a joker! Writing whatever is in me would be scary—and dangerous! No, I try to write what would be helpful (and occasionally, convicting). "Blogs," those ego-centric Web logs, are a good example of writing whatever is in you. Most of it is a waste of bandwidth.

Write only those things that will make your readers mad, sad, glad, or rad(ical).

Okay, enough of that. I wrote a weekly column for a few newspapers and there were weeks, when the deadline came around, "nothing was coming out." So . . .

I pray! (My most popular column was written in about fifteen minutes when an editor called and said, "I've got a hole on page 8. I need a Good Friday piece by the end of the day. I simply said, "God . . . help!" 24k Cross has been reprinted in a ton of periodicals. "Thank you, Father!")

I also check the Internet news sites. I try to keep up with what is occurring in our culture—both "Christian" and "worldly." I'm always reading so that when an editor calls for an article by the end of the day, my "well" is full of ideas.

But if I'm completely at a loss, I'll run a "best of Jim Shorts" re-run. (That's the joy of having hundreds of old columns on file!)

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and answer my questions.

Great hearing from you! I wish you God's best in your writing.

"Naked in a public building"

Writers are often depressed people. At times it seems like an occupational hazard. So, it was encouraging to read Writers' Digest's interview of Oprah Book Club writer, Janet Fitch, author of White Oleader. We're not alone!

You write about the creative process in Paint it Black: “You gave away things you couldn’t afford to lose. Private things. You showed yourself and you couldn’t take it back.”

You have to work as deeply as you can to give the reader something worth reading, but you’re also showing things about yourself that you’re not pleased with. It’s your flaws, not your strengths that go down in the depths of your books. You’re exposed, like dreaming you’re naked in a public building.

When you’re in this depressed state, does it help or hurt your creative abilities?

The wonderful thing about being a writer is that you value the whole experience. A lot of people think they should be happy all the time. But the writer understands you need the whole piano, the richness of the whole experience. Depression, suffering and anger are all part of being human. Even thought it’s very painful as an individual to go through these things, for the writer, it’s essential.

Some of the poets you quote in your books—Dylan Thomas, Anne Sexton, T.S. Elliott and Oscar Wilde—all suffered from depression. Like your character Michael in Paint It Black who “could never see what he had, only what he failed to achieve.” Is this the bane of the writer’s existence?

That’s always a problem. As an artist you can never get what you want. What you do never approaches what you want to be. If you hold yourself to some high standard, there’s always the disappointment that the book on the page isn’t the book in your mind. It helps you to have a fair scoop of realism. You have to let go of what you wanted to do and just say, “This is what I’m able to do.” Some people’s aspirations are very high, and whatever they do they’re deeply unsatisfied with. That’s a terrible trap for artists and writers to not be able to enjoy something that’s imperfect, because everything in the physical world in imperfect.