Tag Archives: advice

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The Pay Off

by Mike O’Mary

In 2009, I started a book publishing company called Dream of Things. A month later, I started doing posts on Freelance-Zone. Since then, I’ve periodically shared thoughts and stories about publishing in this space that are different than what I share elsewhere. FZ sort of feels like home to me (or at least one of several “homes” on the Internet), so it’s nice to come here and kick off my shoes and talk about some of the behind-the-scenes stuff.

Most of the behind-the-scenes stuff is hard work done over a lot of hours. But I’m not going to rehash that today. Instead, I’m going to share some of the rewards of the hard work. What’s the payoff?

The past month was pretty good in terms of pay off, in emotional reward if not yet financially.

For example…

Dream of Things published a memoir called Everything I Never Wanted to Be by Dina Kucera. I read Dina’s manuscript in January 2010. I edited her book in the spring and released it in October 2010. Ten months is a ridiculously short amount of time from acceptance to release. It was a lot of work in a short period of time. The payoff this past month: Dina did a reading in Los Angeles in April, and several people expressed an interest in the movie rights. I’m bringing her to Chicago for book readings/signings in July. I hope we will be able to announce a movie deal between now and then.

NAUTILUS SILVER - BESTOn January 1, 2011, Dream of Things released a book about creative writing called MFA in a Boxby John Rember. John’s book didn’t require a lot of editing. It was more of an assembly job. He had the material — from craft talks given at the Pacific University MFA program over many years. We started talking about the book in 2009, then worked on it in earnest from May to December 2010. Again, a lot of hard work in a very short period of time. The payoff: Publishers got a “heads up” in April from several awards programs, many of which plan to announce official results at BookExpo America in New York the third week of May. I can’t reveal details yet, but I can tell you that MFA in a Boxwill be recognized by the judges of the Nautilus Awards, the Hoffer Awards, the Midwest Book Awards and possibly two others.  Such awards are very gratifying emotionally, and they can help garner the attention to make a book a financial success, too.

Living Now GoldThe other “payoff” good news in April was about one of my own books. The Note is a book I wrote about the power of appreciation and how a simple note can change a person’s life. It’s the book behind the Note Project, a campaign to inspire 1 million people to write notes of appreciation. The Note Project launched on April 18, and I was very pleased to learn on April 21 that The Note has been named Best Gift Book of 2011 in the Living Now Book Awards.

So all in all, April was a pretty good month. I tell you all of this not to be boastful, but to remind you and myself that hard work does, in fact, pay off. We all know that, but we all also go through times where we wonder “what’s the point?’ and “is this worth the effort?” There have been many times in the past two years when I told myself I was nuts for starting a publishing company and doing all of the related work. But having people inquire about movie rights and having peers in the publishing industry recognize your work…that’s the kind of news that will keep you going for at least a couple of more years and several more books.

Mike O’Mary is owner of Dream of Things, and founder of the Note Project.

advice, editorial

What’s Your Writing Advice?

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Catherine L. Tullyby Catherine L. Tully

What is the best writing advice you ever received?

I’m sure the answer is different for each of us. For me, the following pieces of advice were very helpful in the beginning of my career:

+ Try not to use exclaimation points.

+ Show don’t tell.

+ Use adjectives sparingly and choose them carefully.

Later in my career, the advice that helped was geared more toward finding work. For example:

+ Cultivate clients. Go back to them again and again–and overdeliver. Having a few select clients is better than having to find new ones all the time.

+ Keep an eye on your web presence.

+ Think about what you are putting out there on the web–it reflects on you as a professional.

These pieces of advice helped me greatly. I didn’t really know much about this career field when I started–so everything was news to me. Some people come in with experience–some don’t. Either way, I am of the opinion that we should pass along what we know to one another. Help each other out. After all, it’s tough out there.

So here goes…

I’m putting out the call to you. Can you share a piece of advice that might help a newbie writer get a foothold? Or a nugget of wisdom that will turn the lightbulb on over the head of an intermediate writer? Share one here today.

And may good karma come back to you tenfold.

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Hey, Tweet Thang

by Mike O’Mary

iStock_000005848850XSmallOkay, I never thought I’d say this, but there’s some fascinating stuff on Twitter for writers. I see lots of job postings and writing advice. Have you gotten a freelance job via a Twitter contact? I haven’t gotten that far, but I’m finding decent advice and interesting revelations in 140 characters or less. Here are some of the results from a recent #writing search (followed by selected parenthetical comments from Yours Truly):

“Marry somebody you love and who thinks you being a writer’s a good idea.” Richard Ford @AdviceToWriters (Do you think Richard Ford really abbreviates writer + is = writer’s?)

I have a Leadership Devel (sic) Freelance Writing Jobs (sic). @writingjobs_in (As they say, the devel is in the details)

Article Writer Needed for 20 Articles on Health. @TWeelanceWriter (Writing the articles is cheaper than actually going to the doctor.)

To (sic) Good Online Writing Websites. @williamswafford (Because to is better than won?)

I have an online class. I want you to take it and do it for me. @Elance_Writing (That was my post from 30 years ago. Except classes weren’t online back then, so I had to pay somebody to actually go to class for me too.)

A brief rundown of novels and historical fiction set in Vancouver. @vancouver_rt  (I think that was the full text.)

Never use an adverb to modify the verb “said.” Elmore Leonard (He said knowingly.)

Writer wanted for occasional work. @writingjobs_in (Is there any other kind of work for writers?)

FlashFiction vs Short Stories: What’s the difference? @iwritepoetry (That’s what I keep saying!)

Have a new idea for a story. Gotta start writing it down. @AntMan0623 (Doh! Too late. I forgot it!)

The Impotance of Edditting @OnUrge (Very clevver.)

I just cried writing a scene. So either it was really good, or I’m totally delirious from being locked in this room all day! @capetownbrown (I cry when I read my own writing, too. Good writing? Delirium? I attribute it to writing with an onion.)

Possibly the best book I’ve read about writing and living the creative life. @DreamofThings (Hey! I said that!)

Bottom line: Don’t waste a lot of time there. But if you have a few minutes, get your Tweet self on over to Twitter and find some occasional work!

Mike O’Mary tweets as @DreamofThings and @TheNoteProject

advice

Varying Word Count — The Key To Reselling Articles

coffee shop writing noodleOne of the keys to being a successful travel writer (i.e. one that actually gets paid) is being able to sell the same article more than once. I’ve often wondered how this is done in practice. I mean, how many places really have the same requirements that enable you to do this?

I recently stumbled across a Devin Galaudet post in which he explains that the key to solving this problem is rewriting the same article in varying word counts. You take your 1000-word article and then make 600 and 800 word articles as well.

Devin adds some important advice on the process:

…writing the same story does not mean writing 1000-word article and then deleting random paragraphs to change the word count. It means revising the story so it becomes a well-told 600-, 800-, or 1000-word story. While this may take more time in the beginning, the action creates templates for future stories and helps speed up future editing processes.

You can read the full article over at Technorati: http://technorati.com/lifestyle/travel/article/step-three-to-travel-writing-varying/

Jason Demant is the co-founder of Unanchor.com, where you can find self-guided tour itineraries for your next trip. For the latest on travel-writing you can follow him on Twitter @Unanchor, or join the I Love Travel Writing Facebook group.

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No Resolutions

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17 ny resolutions copyby Mike O’Mary

I don’t make resolutions on New Year’s Eve anymore.

Now before you put me in the “Scrooge” category, allow me to add that it’s not because I think resolutions are a bad thing.  For the most part, I think they may be a good thing.  They give people goals, and goals help us live our lives in an orderly fashion.

But we also need hope, and my concern is that too many goals–especially goals in the form of New Year’s resolutions–can have a bad affect on hope.

All too often, we rush blindly from one goal to another or from one project to another without really examining what we’re doing.  I’ve been guilty of this on more than one occasion.  I love to take on household projects–paint the dining room, build some new shelves in the basement, refinish that old table–all of which give me some degree of pleasure and satisfaction, but all of which, if taken on in quick succession, ultimately serve as distractions and diversions from our real purpose here.

What is our real purpose here?  I won’t pretend to be able to answer that question.  But I suspect that our purpose–and whatever meaning there is to our lives–is something we have to discover for ourselves.  Some think meaning comes through the pursuit of knowledge.  Others feel art and self expression hold the meaning of life.  Still others feel that to leave behind a healthy, well-adjusted child is no small feat.

Whatever the meaning of life may be, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t have to do with a fresh coat of paint on the dining room wall.  Not, as I said, that there’s anything wrong with doing a little home improvement–I personally find it relaxing at times–but we have to guard against letting such projects take on lives of their own.

So I don’t make resolutions any more.  I’ve got enough things I’m trying to do in my life without putting more pressure on myself.  Instead, what I do is to sit down sometime before the end of the year??and hopefully, a few times during the year, too–and think about why I’m here and what I’m doing with my life.  I figure that if I keep working on home improvements, I’m eventually going to have a pretty nice house.  When that time comes, I want to make sure there’s a pretty nice human being to occupy that house.

Mike O’Mary is founder of Dream of Things and of the Note Project, a campaign to make the world a million times better by inspiring participants to write 1 million notes of appreciation. “No Resolutions” is taken from his books Wise Men and Other Stories.

advice, travel

Travel Writing Advice From Around The Web

sunset on a truckHere’s a quick digest a few great travel writing advice articles I’ve run across lately:

Get Published Now: Be Interesting – Simple travel-writing advice from Devin Galaudet. On writing a good travel story: pretend the reader is your friend. Your friend gets all of the dirt and detail, as should the reader.

Nuggets for New Travel Writers: 6. Sweet Taste Of Rejection – This is a great article that discusses the different types of rejection you’re likely to receive when submitting your travel articles. Allen’s advice is to learn to take rejection as an invitation. “No” does not always mean no.

What is wrong with travel writing – in microcosm – This post comes from the Grumpy Traveler (a great new blog I’ve recently started reading). This rant is a travel-writer blasting travel-writing. Two of my favorites points from the article: travel-writers have an odd obsession with hotels and writers tend to stay at expensive hotels that their readers can’t afford.

100 Favorite Travel Writers – Tripbase has put together some pretty impressive original content on their blog. If you’re looking for a few (or a hundred) good travel-writers to start reading/following, this is the place to start.

Jason Demant is the founder of UnAnchor.com, where you can find detailed self-guided tour itineraries for your next trip. For the latest on travel-writing you can follow him on Twitter @UnAnchor, or join the I Love Travel Writing Facebook group.