With a place to stand and a long enough lever, Archimedes claimed he could move the world.

Let your readers do the travelling – to your neck of the woods. It may be home to you, but to the rest of the world it's "abroad". You don't need to drink coffee in the States and write about being sleepless in Seattle. For far less effort you can tell overseas readers how to get legless in Luton.

Let the Train Take the Strain
Do you live within easy reach of a railway station? Then source a cheap ticket and write about the journey.  It doesn’t take much imagination to come up with some interesting day trips which include a linear journey.

Take the Strain off the Train
Motoring or bus and coach travel will be of interest to many visitors to your region, especially if you live in an area of great scenic beauty. Take your reader along the scenic route. Do you have magnificent hills, beaches, forests or even gardens in best-kept villages? So write about them. Photograph them too.

Happy Campers
Perhaps you're a family orientated writer and have experiences you can share on caravanning or camping with the kids. There are lots of magazines aimed at this market keen to hear about personal experiences.

Memory Lane
The "mature" market might well be interested by a "then and now" article using old and new photographs of the same area. Old postcards can provide the "then" aspect. If you don't have any of your own, a local collector may be prepared to loan items from his collection. Just don't lose them – I hate to see a grown man cry.

Have Wheelchair – Will Travel
Does your area have a reputation for treating people with disabilities sympathetically? If so try your luck with an article covering the facilities for the disabled at local attractions.

Museum Piece
Ask yourself: Who lived here? Or, better still, who died here? Did they leave their ghosts to weep and wail and wring out blood-soaked clothing?

Cheers!

Do you want to know the secret of successful
Freelance writing?

At whatever stage you may be in your writing career if you need a kick start to get you motivated writing fillers can give you a real boost. Not only do you stand a good chance of seeing your name in print but often the rate per word is better than you may receive elsewhere. Once disregarded by writing books and tutors, today writing filler items is often promoted as a way to hone skills such as editing and get the creative juices flowing.

If you thought fillers were simply reader letters and tips think again. There are outlets for flash fiction, poetry, rants and opinions, travel writing and longer pieces up a 1000 words in length and the range of publications seeking such material is as wide as the market itself. Many publications now actively seek the input of readers and if you can take a photograph as well your rewards may be more than doubled.

Where to find outlets.

Market research is just as important for submitting fillers as for longer pieces. Start with publications you may have to hand, including trade titles, newspapers and freebies, and check to see where reader participation is required. Do they need book or music reviews, people to test out products and review them or is there a regular slot reserved for reader participation? Note the title and requirements, keeping a copy to hand for reference, and move on to the next.

Once you have exhausted your personal selection ask friends and relatives if they can pass on or lend recent copies of other titles they have and don’t forget opportunities such as larger libraries and those hours spent in waiting rooms. Doing a bit of market research can help the time to pass.

Newspapers do not usually pay for letters but some, especially the weekend editions, have slots for readers to contribute so search carefully in the travel and motoring sections or on the lifestyle pages.

NB It is important to use up to date material for research and to repeat the exercise at intervals. Requirements change as do editors, contact details and so on. Don’t waste your time on defunct titles or discontinued slots.

Letters and tips

This is often the starting point for filler writing. Today many titles like to have photographs with their letters and especially with the tips. A digital camera makes this relatively easy and with the increase in rewards worth the effort. With many titles allowing you to email submissions this is cost free. A few, such as Take a Break, even let you know if an item will be used. If not you can submit it elsewhere although probably best to tweak the words a little first. Original work only is considered and with personnel moving around your item could be recognised although unlikely. If you are not told an item has been rejected best to leave six months before resubmitting elsewhere.

Make sure you only send the type of letter they print. Not all TV titles print TV comments. Many magazines only use items commenting on material from previous issues or suggesting ideas for the magazine. Check to see if letters and tips are paid for or if there is some other reward. In many instances only the star letter is rewarded and some offer no reward at all. Check the length of published contributions. Some magazines want to fit in as many letters as possible so print only very short letters. Editors usually reserve the right to edit for length but if your contribution is already pared to the bone it saves the editor work, increasing its appeal.

Travel

Wherever you have been on holiday there is always scope for writing, especially if you have photographs too. Yours magazine offers a Travels on Test opening for a 300 word feature accompanied by photographs, at least one of which must include the contributor whilst Prima wants Holiday Memories in the form of a photograph with caption. The Daily Telegraph offers £200 for its “Just Back” Travel Section feature. Although generally for travel overseas UK stories have been selected, too.

Rants and opinions

Not such a popular choice these days. The Lady’s Viewpoint has long gone although they now have a slot called The Lady and I for a 350 word story about you related to reading The Lady. The Oldie has a regular Rant slot of around 300 words. If you have a gardening related issue consider the Soapbox feature in Gardeners’ World Magazine.

Poetry and short fiction.

Very short stories have been popular for a while with requests for 50 -100 word stories and it can be a challenge to keep to the word count. Real Magazine asks for a story in 60 words or less. Be careful, some rules require you have the exact word count whilst others state a maximum.

Poetry used to be common on the letters page of magazines and one still using poetry is Prima for their Month in Verse item.

Hobby or work related material

Specialist magazines may require book or product reviewers from suitably qualified readers. Others may use Reader’s own stories. Gardeners’ World uses garden make-over stories accompanied by before and after photographs for example.  A few magazines even reward a selection of questions to the experts. Amateur Gardening has done this and Writers Forum awards a book for their prize letter query on writing to “Dear Della.” In addition to a letters page for comments on the magazine Writers Forum has the “First Draft” feature, a sort of reverse editing exercise where a reader adds twenty errors to a published passage and the opportunity to send news features for a possible magazine subscription.

Magazines with a number of filler opportunities

Some magazines rely heavily on reader contributions.

Best of British

http://www.bestofbritishmag.co.uk/

The magazine looks for personal stories from the 30s up to the 70s and in some instances even into the 80s, such is the changing nature of life today. Their website carries guidelines and suggestions for requirements whilst requests for follow-up stories to published articles often appear at the end of features. NB The Postbag feature does not pay although sending your own account to the Yesterday Remembered slot qualifies for the £20 fee for up to 1000 words.

Yours

http://www.yours.co.uk/

Besides their Meeting Place letters pages and Travel on Test features they are looking for When I was Young – stories of up to 1000 words on a special event in your life, Fashions We Wore – photograph with caption, Senior Moment and Small Talk contributions and I Followed My Dream – a story up to 200 words.

Prima

http://www.allaboutyou.com/prima/

Prima have a number of openings with £25 reward. These include Gardening Hints, Craft Notes, Reader’s Kitchen (recipe) as well as letters and tips. There is also a What’s It Worth slot for readers to submit photos of old items for valuation, the most expensive featured each issue being awarded £50.

The examples given are but the tip of the iceberg. Once you start to look the opportunities are everywhere and someone has to supply the material so why not you. Instead of boring the family write it down and send it off. Why not aim to send out at least one item a month? The more you exercise the writing muscle the stronger it gets and from these small beginnings hopefully bigger things may grow. Indeed, I have turned former letters into articles with just a bit more research so give it a go.

Written by Ann Williams (Wordsmith)
writer@adbwilliams.co.uk
www.adbwilliams.co.uk

Do you want to know the secret of successful
Freelance writing?

Which comes first, the pictures or the text?
It is true to say magazines prefer the whole words and pictures package for non-fiction work but which comes first, the image or the feature?

I started using transparencies rather than print film whilst on holiday in Lincolnshire some fifteen years ago. As well as providing holiday memories my intention was to use the slides to illustrate talks to groups. During the next few years I increased the range of subjects and gave a few talks, a surprisingly scary experience for one whose career had been spent in the classroom. At the end of one of these I was asked if I wrote about my subjects and so the seed was planted.

Initially the subject for an article was dictated by the photographs. Having chosen a topic I would write a piece to submit to a magazine on spec. Some made it into print and most used my photographs although a few magazines still preferred to source their own. For example, an article on working windmills for which I felt my Lincolnshire pictures ideally suited was illustrated by pictures of mills from around the country. First lesson learned – for a national magazine try to have pictures from a variety of locations.

As the gallery grew it became clear a number of articles could be generated from a single subject. Around the country there are many regional and county magazines. With sufficient examples within an area you can submit an article on Mills of Blankshire for example. Grouping your photographs not only by subject but also by region may suggest publications to target but sorting the photographs in this way involves a lot of time and space. I realised an easier way had to be found. I opted for listing images on the computer using Excel. If you have a large collection making a database by subject which can be sorted by county or any other criterion may help you make choices

My earliest camera, a Brownie 127, used films offering just 8 prints a roll. These black and white photos were very small but I had enlargements of the best ones. The market for Sixties black and white prints would be limited I thought but sorting through I found several depicting local history including pictures of the notorious 62-63 winter and a toll-keeper at work on a road in Hampshire. A picture of my grandmother with her brother standing beside the well in his garden prompted memories of the day I refused to drink the well-water. I could see plants growing inside. The day was chiefly remembered for a walk with my Great Uncle. He introduced me to the beauty of our wild flowers, a passion that remains to this day. I wrote of this for a competition on childhood memories. I didn’t win a prize but an expanded piece found publication, along with the photograph, in The People’s Friend. Other pictures from this small collection have inspired more fillers for publications using nostalgia and personal features.

When I switched to a digital SLR the number of photos taken on a week away rose tenfold. Keeping track of such vast numbers makes cataloguing a necessity. I often store photos in their original date order and copy them to subject folders. If a magazine requests photos be transmitted digitally making up a separate folder to send helps keep the material together and can be combined with a copy of the text.

Photos do not have to be about locations. I have taken pictures of unusual or quirky signs, gardening problems and even illustrated reader’s tips and submitted them as magazine letters. The rate of pay per word or image is vastly superior to that offered for many articles.

Writing about photographs kick-started my writing but writing is just as likely to trigger photography. Research before day trips and holidays often reveals unusual stories. When Swansea was our destination I learned of a dog whose life-saving exploits in the 1930s lead to a public memorial being raised on his untimely death. I researched the story and made contact with various bodies verifying details. It only remained to take suitable pictures of the memorial and an article was ready for submission. With a piece already published in a dog’s magazine another slant to the story has been submitted to a different publication requesting stories of unusual statues and memorials

The guidelines for photographic requirements have changed over the years. Most used to ask for transparencies or black and white prints. Now the majority ask for digital images of 300dpi. Keeping up to date with latest guidelines is particularly important. If you have photographs in a different format, however, it is worth contacting the magazine to check their suitability.

Recent writing about exploring locations using old town guides or photographs involves trying to replicate earlier shots, showing both changes and retained features. Starting with photographs inspiring the writing, progressing to photographs illustrating the writing I have finally come around to writing about taking photographs. So, which comes first, the pictures or the text? In truth each can be the inspiration for the other. A group of pictures may inspire a whole range of topics for different markets. A single story may require a number of pictures to illustrate it for a variety of publications. Even the taking of pictures can be an inspiration for writing.

Tips

> Take a fresh look at your photographs. Can you group them by subject rather than location?
> Do you have several linked photos from a single location that could inspire a local feature or photos on a single subject from a variety of locations that may provide material for a national publication?
> Catalogue your photos. Do not rely on memory. Prints and slides should be clearly labelled. Create digital folders for specific subjects.
> Don’t overlook old photos. They can be used to inspire and illustrate historic or nostalgic features.
> Check you are using up to date guidelines on submitting photographs and do not send your only copy.

Written by Wordsmith
writer@adbwilliams.co.uk
www.adbwilliams.co.uk

Do you want to know the secret of successful
Freelance writing?

If you are not using book trailers to promote your novel, you are missing out on a very cheap and effective way of racking up sales.  There are dozens of places on the web you can post a book trailer and they can be made good use of in the terrestrial world too.

As with anything involving technology and the web, there is a learning curve, but fortunately the software you need is quite easy to use and if you’ve got a few pounds to spare, you can get these done for a pittance so keep reading!

What Is A Book Trailer?

Think of those teasers at the cinema of forthcoming block busters and you’ll get the idea.  The aim is to tempt the reader to buy your book by creating a package of words, music and pictures to give an enticing over view of what your book it about.

What Do You Need To Create A Book Trailer?

You can create your book trailer in various ways with different types of software, most of which you can get free.  Here’s what you need:

1. An image editing programme to crop and enhance photographs.  I use Photoshop, but this is expensive and you really don’t need a full blown package of this magnitude.  A quick search of the web will point you to some free options which will be perfectly adequate.  Here’s one to get you started:
   Picasa
   

2. A compiler to turn your photos, captions and music into a movie.  Again there are lots and lots of these about.  You may have Windows Movie Maker on your machine which is free and will do the job O.K.  I personally use Pic to Exe as this lets me create a stand alone file which enables you to offer a version on disc that will play on any machine.  It isn’t free though, so best practice with Movie Maker before shelling out cash.
   Pic To Exe 

3. An audio editing programme.  You may be able to get away without this initially, but eventually you will almost certainly need one if only to create atmospheric fade ins and outs and trim to the required length. 

My favourite is Audacity.  I’ve been using it for years and it’s totally free!  There is good documentation and once you get the hang of it, you can edit your audio files and record too which means you can add voice overs as well as music.  Make sure you download and add the lame encoder which is an add on then you will be able to export your file as an mp3.
Audacity  

4. Images and music.  You may have your own which is to be preferred, but if you have to use those belonging to someone else, you must have permission from the copyright holder!  There are places you can get free images and sound tracks from, but you will probably have to credit the copyright holder and maybe link back to their work. 

There are also online stock image agencies where you can purchase credits to download quality images.  Prices are usually so low it hardly makes it worth while spending hours scouring the web for something free and probably inferior.  Tip: If you do decide to purchase images, do a search for a coupon code for the relevant site.  Nearly all offer discounts for new accounts. 

If you really don’t feel like parting with hard cash, you can try Wikipedia.  Run a search for what you are looking for and then click the Wikipedia link which should appear near the top of the listings.  You will usually find images posted which can be used.

Be careful to check the license terms, many allow free use with accreditation, but not all.

As for audio, I’m quiet lucky in the fact I have several friends who are accomplished musicians, but if they can’t supply me with anything suitable, I go to Kevin McCloud’s site.  He allows free use of his music as long as you give him credit. http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/

You can also try Partners In Rhyme.  They have a collection of music loops which you can download and use f.o.c. as long as you link back to their site.
Partners In rhyme

5. Captions.  This is one job you really should be capable of doing yourself!  Write the script out before you start putting your trailer together as this will dictate what images you need.

How Do I Create My Book Trailer?

This really depends upon which software you are using, but they nearly all work in roughly the same way. 

Basically, you create a timeline of images by dragging and dropping into position.  Add captions plus any special effects such as fade outs and spins and then the music file.  You can edit to your heart’s content and then when satisfied, upload to Youtube and or one of the many other video sharing sites.

A Few Tips To Create A Good Book Trailer

1. Less is best!  Keep your trailer short.  Web readers are notorious for short attention spans so around 1 – 2 minutes is best.

2. Create buzz!  You have just one shot to entice your viewer to find out more about your book so make the most of it by grabbing attention with the first frame! 

3. Write a good description beginning with the web link to your book page on your own site or wherever you are selling it.  This will help drive traffic. 

4. Take some time to fill in the “tags” box when you upload to a video sharing site.  These tags are important as they will help Google list your book in search results and may even get you listed on the first page.

5. Ensure the final frame of your video contains a link to your website and ordering details.  Make sure it remains viewable long enough to be read!

Where To Post Your Book Trailer Video

Youtube is the number one video sharing site and you should definitely post there.  Don’t go rushing off to create an account though as there are a lot of other places to post which you should also use.

Here is a quick way to post to as many or as few as you wish!  (Be warned, you will still have to create accounts for each, but once done, this will save you a lot of time).

1. Go to http://www.tubemogul.com/ and create an account.

2. Add the channels you wish to post to.  There are a lot of them!

3. When your book trailer is complete, upload to Tubemogul and it will be distributed to all the video sharing sites you have signed up to.

Tubemogul has lots and lots of features you can use including stats to track views and an advertising service if you’ve got cash to play around with.

Twitter & FaceBook

Facebook allows you to posts videos so, do it!  Also let everyone know about it by posting frequent status updates. 

If you haven’t got a Twitter account, get one and post frequently to that.

Using Your Book Trailer For Off-Line Promotion

Few authors think of using a trailer to promote their book to the terrestrial world, but it can be quite affective.  Depending on the capabilities of the software you are using, the chances are you can publish your trailer to a DVD.

Once you have done this, it can be played on your laptop at author talks and or given away as a freebie.  Even better, if you have a digital projector, create a special version to play on screen behind you while you give your talk.

A word of warning!  Do make sure you use attractive and appropriate packaging!  People not only judge a book by its cover, but also DVDs.  Amateurish graphics and a collection of weird fonts are likely to devalue your book no matter how good your story.

The Easy Way To Make A Book Trailer!

If you really don’t want to spend the time learning how to use new software then you can simply get someone else to do it all for you!  No you can’t get this done for nothing, but surprisingly, it won’t cost a fortune either.

Assemble your graphics, audio and script then head over to Fiverr.  This is an out sourcing site where you can get almost anything done for $5.  That’s about £3 in our money.  When I last looked there were at least 14 suppliers offering book trailers. Fiverr 

Some Good Book Trailers

A Halloween Homicide by David Robinson
http://youtu.be/kl-yiU9VQ6s

The Aristocratic Neck by Sue Kendrick
http://youtu.be/PmrDgM-lfkQ

Do you want to know the secret of successful
Freelance writing?

River Teeth's editors and editorial board conduct a yearly national contest to identify the best book-length manuscript of literary nonfiction. The winner will be announced in March of the prize year. The winner will receive $ 1,000 and publication by the University of Nebraska Press.

All entrants will receive a one-year subscription to River Teeth with their submission fee.

The 2012 Contest Deadline is December 1st  2011.

General Guidelines:

Manuscripts must be between 150-400 pages long
Manuscripts must be double-spaced
Include a title page with title only
Include a cover page with title and contact information
Include a $ 25 contest fee
Postmark Deadline is December 1 , 2011.

http://static.ashland.edu/riverteeth/guidelines.htm

Do you want to know the secret of successful
Freelance writing?

Each issue of Literary Laundry is accompanied by a writing competition. All pieces submitted to us for review will be entered into consideration for our Awards of Distinction. We offer the following cash awards:

$ 500 for best poem
$ 500 for best short story
$ 250 for best one-act drama

In addition to considering undergraduate works for the Awards of Distinction, we will also consider them for the following undergraduate awards:

$ 250 for best poem
$ 250 for best short story

Lastly, each issue of Literary Laundry will feature the work of one visual artist. The "Featured Artist" will receive an award of $ 100.

Submissions for our fourth issue are due December 1, 2011. There is no fee to submit.

http://www.literarylaundry.com/
http://www.literarylaundry.com/submissions

Do you want to know the secret of successful
Freelance writing?

Your Chance to Win $ 1,000 and Get Your POETRY Printed in The Center for Book Arts’ 2012 POETRY CHAPBOOK COMPETITION

The Center for Book Arts invites submissions to its annual Poetry Chapbook Competition by December 1, 2011.

The winning manuscript will be chosen in April 2012 and will be awarded with the publication of a beautifully designed, letterpress-printed, limited-edition chapbook printed and bound by artists at the Center for Book Arts. The edition is limited to one-hundred signed and numbered copies, ten of which are reserved for the author and the remainder of which will be offered for sale through the Center. The winning poet will also receive a cash award of $ 500, and a $ 500 honorarium for a reading, to be held at the Center in the fall of 2012, as well as an exclusive opportunity to stay at the Millay Colony for the Arts in Austerlitz, New York as one of their Winter Shakers. This year’s judges will be Phillis Levin & Sharon Dolin.

Reading Fee: Please send a $ 25 check payable to The Center for Book Arts.

http://www.centerforbookarts.org/
http://www.centerforbookarts.org/oppo … hapbook2012guidelines.pdf

Do you want to know the secret of successful
Freelance writing?

Winter Short Story Competiton Story:

Open Theme/Genre, 3000 words max

Prizes: £100, £50 & £25 plus firstwriter.com vouchers

Fee: £5 per story

Eligibility: Open to new and published authors, see website for full details

Closing Date: 31st December 2011

Critique service available Website:

http://www.meridian-writing.co.uk/competiton_2.html

Do you want to know the secret of successful
Freelance writing?

Open poetry contest

Open Poem
• Judge: Andrew Motion
• Length: Up to 40 lines
• Style: Unrestricted
• Theme: None
• Prizes: 1st £1000, 2nd £500, 3rd £200
 
Short Poem
• Judge: Andrew Motion
• Length: up to 10 lines
• Style: Unrestricted
• Theme: None
• Prizes: 1st £1000, 2nd £500, 3rd £200
 
Poem for Children
• Judges: Final judging by the children of local schools and home
education groups
• Length: Up to 40 lines
• Style: Poem suitable for reading by or to children of primary
school age (5-11yrs)
• Theme: None
• Prizes: 1st £100, 2nd £50, 3rd £25
• Short listed poems published in chapbook anthology
Special prize for best Devon poem entered
• Any subject, poet resident in Devon
• No additional entry fee.

Postal entry: £4.50 per poem, four poems £16, £4.00 thereafter.
Online entry: £4.85 per poem, four poems £18, £4.50 thereafter
Entries close at midnight on November 30th 2011
All long and short listing results published.

More details at http://www.theploughprize.co.uk
 

Do you want to know the secret of successful
Freelance writing?

I have an artist friend who has been approached by a writer who has asked her to illustrate children's books which he is hoping to publish.  

The deal he is proposing is that my friend will only get royalties, but no up-front payment. 

The author will not disclose the name of his prospective publisher but apparently seems to be quite genuine.  

Is it standard practice for an illustrator to be on a royalties-only deal?

Do you want to know the secret of successful
Freelance writing?