Clip: Ban Bad Habits

As I'm brainstorming for article ideas, I'm realizing that many of my "teen zine" ideas could work for women's mags, too, and vice versa. After all, woman are really just grown-up girls. We may have more spending power and more shoes, but we still think about body image, relationships, self-improvement, and other similar topics. So, some of the ideas that didn't sell last year may get a makeover this year for a slightly different audience.

In keeping with the theme of new year's resolutions, here's a clip from Relate magazine's winter issue: Ban Bad Habits.

5 Ways to Manage Information Overload

With 2007 winding down, I’ve spent a lot of time getting organized for the new year: cleaning out my desk, reading through my old notebooks for lost ideas, and following up on checks from earlier in the year. Information overload is a reoccurring issue for me, and if I want to stick to my resolution of looking at the big picture, I’m going to have to make some adjustments. I think this will improve both my personal and professional lives, so here are some of the smaller steps I plan to take:

1. Use tags to organize my email. Those of you using Outlook can substitute folder for tag. I love that Gmail allows me to apply multiple tags, so I could cross reference the name of the publication with other identifiers like “travel” or “sources.” Whenever I get an email from a potential source, it gets tagged with the name of the publication so all of my sources are grouped together for easy reference.
2. Unsubscribe to newsletters or magazines that I don’t read. I’m writer and a voracious reader of many, many things. I figure, you never know where the next big idea might come from, so I try to read everything. But some of the e-newsletters I’ve signed up for are blatant ads, and I tend to just delete them. And subscribing to so many print mags is a big waste of paper. My new mantra? Less is more.
3. Weed out my idea files more regularly. I have multiple notebooks running at once and they also house my grocery lists and random notes to self. I know I’ve forgotten a ton of article ideas due to disorganization, so next year I hope to go through my old notebooks every month or so. Better yet, I should start different sections for “writing ideas,” “errands,” etc.
4. Manage my web surfing. I spend a lot of time checking blogs that aren’t updated. And I often get sucked in late at night and skip my bedtime because I’m so engrossed. Thanks to Google reader, I won’t have to check blogs that aren’t updated and I’ll have all my RSS feeds organized by topic. My strategy for sticking to a bedtime is to set aside an hour or two each week for commenting (that may explain why some of my comments will be belated, but I think it will help me be more productive). Another issue for me is reading an article, then trying to find it later and not remembering the right search phrase. Hopefully using appropriate tags in delicious will solve this problem.
5. Accept that I can’t do it all. I haven’t blogged in almost a week, which is rare for me and felt almost naughty. But you know what? I still got decent traffic and no one left comments about my slacking off. I’m not traveling for the holidays this year, but it felt good to give myself a little break. Fewer and better written posts are probably more useful to readers than more hastily written ones. Same goes for reading blogs. I don’t have to comment the same day a post goes live, because people are just glad to get feedback.

How do you manage information overload? Let me know!

My Writing Resolution for 2008

All the "cool kids" are doing it, so now it's my turn to post my New Year's resolution. I get overwhelmed by long, multi-pronged resolutions, so next year I vow to...

Focus on the big picture.

Of course, what this really means is “don’t sweat the small stuff,” but I’d rather frame it in a more positive light, to concentrate on something actionable, rather than feeling guilty for being the detail-crazy person that I am.

The past year has been pretty good to me. I’ve gotten in the groove with this blog. I’ve found a day job that lets me apply my writing and blogging skills. I’ve churned out a ridiculous number of queries and broken into several big writing markets (in fact, almost exactly a year before I published my essay in the Boston Globe, I wrote about that as a personal goal – behold the power of blogging!).

Now it's time to focus my efforts on a few key markets, rather than going after them all, and to evaluate how I'm spending my time (does a 500 word short really require 5 hours of research? probably not). Hopefully this will increase my hourly rate, so I can earn more money without sacrificing my personal time. I also want to work on being a marathoner instead of a sprinter and maybe even spend some time on that novel floating around in my head.

For more writer's resolutions, check out these blogs:
Inkthinker: What Can You Do to Improve Your Business in 2008?
CatalystBlogger: My Business Resolutions for 2008
Freelance Switch: How to Apply What You Learned in 2007 for Continued Success in 2008
Writing the Cyber Highway: My Top 10 Goals for 2008

Happy holidays!

3 Fresh Clips

This holiday I really wanted to come up with some clever blog gimmick along the lines of "12 Days 'Til Deadline" instead of "12 Days of Christmas." Alas, I had exhausted my creativity when I got stumped on "4 calling birds" (would have to be some clever pun on telemarketers but with fewer syllables). Thus, instead of 3 French hens, I give you 3 fresh clips:

1. Top 10 Business Movies of All Time
2. Living the Dream: Gitika Ahuja
3. 4 Tips for Surviving the Holidays

5 Posts for Better Web Writing

I crank out a few dozen blog posts per week at my day job (that might explain why things have been a bit more quiet around here lately). This requires a remarkable degree of discipline and coordination that I am still attaining. But there a TON of great blog posts out there that have helped me pick up ideas, inspiration, and general writing tips. Here are a few highlights from my trusty del.icio.us account:

1. 9 Ways to Think about Linking in a Blog Post: Not everyone agrees with Penelope Trunk's approach to careers, but you have to hand it to her, becaues she is a very savvy blogger who knows how to generate traffic and comments with her sharp, no-nonsense style. Read some of her other posts while you're there!
2. 7 Editing Tips for Professional and Nonprofessional Writers: If you want people to read your blog post or your article, then you'd better proofread it first. That's where Lillie's advice comes in handy.
3. How to Generate Post Ideas When You Are Stuck: We've all been there, but Chris G. has the antidote. Thanks, Chris!
4. Writing Your Freelance Business Website: Even great writers can have a tough time writing about themselves. Kristen Fischer offers a step-by-step guide to writing copy for that all-important website.
5. Holiday Online Ettiquette: From Ink to Ether is one of my new favorite blogs and this post is particularly timely right now with many of us either gearing up for holiday downtime (I know, "gearing up for downtime" sounds like an oxymoron, but it's true) or waiting to hear from editors on vacation.

Finding Sources Through Social Networking

Sources can make or break your article. If they are friendly and helpful and answer their phone or email when they say they will, then writing can be a pleasant experience. But if they offer to do an interview and then go MIA or if they ramble incoherently about topics that are outside the scope of your article, it can be downright painful.

I’m still mastering the art of the interview, but I have a few go-to places for sources (and I rarely rely on just one because I don't want to be stuck without a source). Being a child of the computer age, I do almost all of my source searches online at these sites:

MediaBistro has a bulletin board devoted to finding sources. I've used it successfully, but remember that it's a site geared towards the media so you generally get PR people, freelancers, etc. If you're looking for a variety of "real people sources," you might want to diversify. Click the box for allowing email so your sources can contact you personally and get a dialogue going away from the boards.

WritersWeekly also has a forum for those who need sources. Again, it's mostly writers who use the board, but I generally get a good response rate. If you're on a tight deadline, keep in mind that the new edition goes live every Wednesday. Absolute Write also has as section of their forums for research.

Facebook has a group called "If I can help a reporter out, I will..." and the moderator (Peter Shankman) sends out messages whenever someone needs an expert on estate law, a "real person" who's flown around the world, or any other variation. Peter would love to add more users to the group, too. I've also used facebook on my own. Posting notes about source needs hasn't worked too well for me, so now I do an advanced search through all my facebook friends to find people who live in different parts of the country, attend grad school, practice yoga, etc.

LinkedIn has a section for questions and answers. I haven't used it yet myself (I know shame on me for not practicing what I preach), but other people use it a lot and since LinkedIn has a cross-section from many different industries, I could see it working very successfully, although you might get many more responses than you could ever use, which is also a problem with ProfNet.

For more on finding sources and conducting interviews, check out these posts on Ask Allison and Writing White Papers.

5 Q's with Mridu Khullar

Mridu Khullar is a freelance journalist based in India. She's written for Marie Claire, ELLE, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and many other publications. Here, Mridu discusses her approach to writing and managing her time.

Urban Muse: What writing piece are you most proud of? Why?
Mridu: One of my favorite pieces is one that I did earlier this year [for East West Magazine] about rural Indian women starting a newspaper—Mahila Paksh—to talk about their grievances and the injustices in their community. The piece was published in February '07 and received a lot of attention.

Through an interview I did with NPR about this newspaper, someone at an American university learned of the story, and is now looking into sponsoring one of the women to attend a conference there.

In addition to the fact that this story is about people changing their circumstances by refusing to accept injustice, it's also special to me because it proves how important words are. That what we do is important and has the power to create lasting change. If a small newspaper in rural India can change a whole community, can you imagine what we, with our high-tech gadgets and unlimited resources, can do?

UM: Any tips on dealing with rejection?
M: Chocolate helps. Alcohol helps a lot. Obsessing over it doesn't.

UM: Both of us are on writer’s forums, and I sometimes struggle to tear myself away, even though I know that there is no direct monetary compensation. How do you make sure you’re not spending too much time on non-revenue generating activities like posting on forums?
M: I'm only active on three, actually. One's a critique group, the others are discussion lists for professional journalists and writers, where we share contacts, ideas and have discussions on the craft.

I spend an hour on average on these groups every day. But while it may seem that they're time-sucks, they're actually free education. We're all contributing to, and pulling from, a professional pool of knowledge on a daily basis, and that's priceless. It does lead to monetary compensation indirectly in terms of furthering my career and giving me professional contacts.

As for making sure I'm not over-doing it, setting a time limit helps. I also try to limit the number of forums I'm active in. I've found three that I trust, and hence don't feel the need for more.

UM: Any tips for other writers trying to crack markets in other countries? How do you deal with currency exchange or editors and interview subjects who are halfway around the world?
M: Currency conversion works in my favor since I'm living in India. For American writers, pitching to European markets is a good idea, as far as the money aspects are concerned.
I use e-mail for service pieces, but for my other stories, I mostly just call my experts or sources. Skype is good, too, if you're on a budget. There are software packages that will let you record those conversations.

The one piece of advice I'd give to anyone who is either writing for an international market or about an international subject is to: (a) know your audience, and (b) know the culture of the people you're writing about. I often find incorrect information about Indian culture in pieces by foreign reporters, some of whom have spent several years here. I wrote an article on the subject here.

UM: Your website includes some great tips on goal setting. What are some of your goals for 2008?
M: Find work-life balance. I'm either a raging workaholic and can forget everyone and everything around me when I'm obsessed with a story, or I can go two months without writing a single word and feel no guilt. I did good this year by combining both aspects of my life, but think I'll need to work on it a bit more in the coming months.

Then of course, there are the usual how-much-money-will-I-make kind of goals. I have extensive Excel sheets that outline exactly how much work I'm going to do every day of every week of every month, and exactly what that is going to translate into in terms of money and career prospects.

By the end of January each year, I throw them all out.

This year, I'm trying to be saner about the whole thing. That's the goal. Sanity.

Good luck, Mridu, and thanks for sharing your insights. This is the final 5 Q's for 2007. Check back in January for more!

Fresh Clips!

Just returned from a weekend in DC, where I visited some friends and met fellow writer and blogger Jenny Rough. Now I'm buried in rewrites and dirty laundry, but it was all worth it. Here are some of my latest clips:

Go with the Dough - first assignment from DailyCandy, so it was both exciting and nerve-wracking trying to emulate their signature style!
FSA Facts - not everyone can make employee benefits interesting, but I like to think I pulled it off.
Online Portfolios that Work - this was a fun one to write and research, and now I'll really have to think about how I can improve my portfolio going forward.
Resolve to Set Yourself up for Success - that's right, it's time to start thinking about New Year's resolutions, so I'll be posting mine soon.

All I Want for Christmas...

is more time!! But since Santa doesn't have access to the time/space continuum, I'll settle for some books instead. The Anti 9-to-5 Guide and Query Letters That Rock are both on my wish list this holiday. Truth be told, I've already read both of them, but I want to my own copies so I can refer them without running to the library.

Here are some other suggestions for the writer on your holiday gift list...

Fancy notebooks and office supplies. I know you can write just as well in a plain spiral notepad, but frankly it's not as fun. I'm a sucker for cute little notebooks and pens, so I have several sets strategically placeed around my apartment in case inspiration strikes. Right now I'm coveting the mini notebooks and mouse pads from Paperchase, the British paper purveyor that just opened a store in Boston. See Jane Work also some cute supplies.

Magazine subscriptions. Please do not (I repeat: do NOT) buy me a gift magazine subscription, because I'm trying to widdle down my reading list, but it's a good idea in theory. Magazines.com is running a gift promotion right now, so you could help out a fellow writer that way.

Writing course or membership. We writers need to stick together! I love my memberships to Freelance Success (btw, the rates are going up on January 1, so now's the time to join!) and Media Bistro, and I bet the wirter in your life will like them, too. Both offer online courses and some of MB's classes are offered in person, too.

Charitable donation. I'd love for someone to donate money to a childhood literacy program or a local library on my behalf (hint, hint). Alternatively, you could donate a favorite childhood book to Toys for Tots or another organization. Charity Navigator is a great way to research nonprofits.

Inkygirl offers more writing-themed gift ideas. I'm curious... what's on your wish list this year?

5 Q's with Jen A. Miller

Jen A. Miller and I "met" through the forums on Freelance Success (highly recommended and highly addictive, by the way), and I was thoroughly impressed by her depth of knowledge and willingness to share information. She has contributed to the New York Times, Woman's Day, Psychology Today, and also wrote The Jersey Shore, Atlantic City to Cape May: Great Destinations, which will be published in May 2008. Read Jen's secrets to success...

Urban Muse: Could you tell us about your first big clip?
Jen: Early in my freelance career, I wrote a regular book feature for a regional magazine. I had just started learning about repackaging the same material for other publications (within your rights, of course), so I took information about a local author and pitched it to Pages, which was a national publication about books and authors. The editor got back to me right away and assigned the article – my first $1/word assignment! I did that with the next local-author profile I wrote for the regional magazine and was assigned a feature in the national magazine (the local magazine article was only a short piece). Pages became a regular gig for me until it folded.

UM: What is the best way to impress an editor and build a long-term relationship with him/her?
J: BE ON TIME. I can’t stress this enough. Before going freelance, I edited a regional publication and could not believe how many people turned in their articles late. If you are going to be late, for whatever reason, tell your editor in advance. You don’t know if he or she is on a tight deadline, and the last thing you want to do is put him or her in a jam.

Another great way to build a relationship is to not freak out when an editor asks for changes – within reason – especially if this is the first time you’re writing for someone. It’s rare that you’re going to get their style on the first shot, so revisions are normal. Do the changes, and get them back to your editor in a timely fashion.

UM: Any tips on staying organized as you juggle multiple assignments and sources?
J: All of my assignments are in one binder, and arranged the same way. First is a piece of paper with the assignment name, publication name, deadline, work count, and editor name. To this page, I’ll create an article timeline. When did I call this source? When did he or she get back to me? What’s his or her contact information? This also helps if an editor gives you someone to interview, and that person never gets back to you – I have a timeline of every time I tried to call or email. Then I’ll hole punch any other documents or information relevant to the article and put that behind the assignment page. Contracts also go into this section. When the assignment is done and accepted, it goes into a larger binder. This way, if there’s ever a contract dispute, or I want to re-use a source, I know where everything is.

This doesn’t have to be high tech or expensive either. The binders are cast offs headed for the trash before I snagged them, and the loose leaf was bought at a back to school sale.

UM: How did you transition between writing magazine articles and writing your book?
J: By writing a book about the same subject I cover in magazine articles! I write a lot about New Jersey, for both local and national publications. I saw that Countryman Press was looking for new destination travel guides, so I pitched an area I knew: the South Jersey Shore, which is how The Jersey Shore: Atlantic City to Cape May (Includes the Wildwoods) A Complete Guide started. Since I already had contacts in the region, I wasn’t starting from scratch. This has also lead to more magazine work – I discovered so many new-to-me places to stay, eat, shop and play that I had buckets of material for new articles.

I also set magazine-like deadlines for the work. That made the work more manageable. Instead of having to write, say, 400 pages, I just had to write 10 by the end of the week.

UM: What is the one piece of advice that you wish you’d gotten earlier in your freelance writing career?
J: Write for trades, and never expect to be paid on time.

Trade publications make up more of my income than ever before. Even though you might not be able to buy these magazines at Barnes & Noble, they’re still wonderful publications with big readerships. I wrote the cover story to the latest issue of Jeep Magazine. It’s beautiful, was fun to write, and paid more than most of my consumer magazine articles.

I also had to re-learn my finances. It’s not easy going from a regular, direct deposit paycheck to freelance income. And it’s not just the little magazines that are at issue when getting paid, either. I’ve had problems with major magazines and getting paid, sometimes because of an accounting oversight, sometimes not. So stay on top of who owes you what when, and don’t be afraid to ask where your money is. You have to pay the mortgage, too, after all!

Thanks, Jen. Read more on her blogs, Book a Week with Jen and Down the Shore with Jen.

5 Must-Read Marketing Articles

As the year draws to a close, now is just the time to think about how to maximize your marketing efforts in 2008 and increase your visibility as a writer. Here are some articles I've bookmarked recently to spark some marketing inspiration.

1. 101 Ideas to Get More Work and Generate New Client Leads: Many of these great ideas are not writer-specific but scroll to the bottom for more targeted suggestions.
2. 20 Essential Blog Directories to Submit Your Blog To: What's that you say? You don't have a blog yet? Put that at the top of your to-do list so you can join the blogosphere and start building up your readership!
3. 8 Things You Can Do To Get Work Through Linkedin: This is one area that I'd really like to leverage next year (and by the way, here's my profile if you'd like to connect; if we haven't talked personally, please mention that you're an Urban Muse reader).
4. Top Ten Marketing Ideas to Consider in 2008: While not all of these ideas are applicable to individuals, it never hurts to stay current on marketing trends.
5. How to Optimize Your Networking Energy: Jonathan Fields reminds us of the importance of building relationships and offers some suggestions for successful networking.

From the Mail Bag

I knew that my essay in the Boston Globe would probably ruffle some feathers. And it did. That is the risk everyone takes when they publish a personal essay. Here are some highlights from my "fan mail" as my editor so aptly put it...

I thought the writer's negativity towards the older generation was inappropriate in this article.

Though I am usually a model of politeness and decorum, I am tired of reading that my generation is made up of spoiled, lazy, and illiterate wastes of space. Some are like that, but many of us are hard working and socially conscious individuals with a genuine desire to make an impact on the world around us.

The writer's description of the plethora of errors found in the writer's work makes me wonder how the writer lasted long enough to give two weeks notice.

Let's talk for a minute about the difference between editing for spelling and syntax and editing for personal style. I'm not saying we should be sloppy about careless grammar or passive verbs (certainly not!), but there comes a time with every piece of writing when you need to stop second guessing the nuances of every single verb or the number of vowels in a headline and just let it go. As they say, art is never finished, merely abandoned. If that weren't the case, then we'd never be able to move on.

In closing, Ms. Johnston should view PBS once in a while.

Actually, I do watch PBS and attend the theatre and symphony regularly (shocking, I know), but then my taste is pretty eclectic.

I admit I was a little surprised by some of these comments; however, many of the writers I admire get flack for taking a stand (for instance, Penelope Trunk), so I consider myself in good company.

Clip: Sunday Boston Globe

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the moment you've all been waiting for... A moment that has taken numerous phone calls, emails, and frayed nerves. A moment I have alluded to but not actually blogged about for fear of angering the Newspaper Gods. I give you... my essay in today's Boston Globe!