So You Want to be a Published Essayist?

Melissa's high school yearbook . . .

Today, I jotted down notes on how to get essays published, for my students at the University of Oregon and U.C. Berkeley’s online extension program.  I thought blog-readers might be interested, as well.  Enjoy, and as always, feel free to comment with tips of your own!

–Melissa

So You Want to be a Published Essayist:

Tips and Tricks for How to Begin

I’ve been writing and publishing essays in magazines and newspapers for 20 years.  You, too, can move beyond publication in your high school yearbook.  Below, I’ll explain briefly how to research publications and approach editors professionally.

1.  Write and rewrite your piece.  Think you’ve written a perfect first draft?  Think again.  Professional writers work through several drafts of an essay, and then give it to trusted friends to edit.  With this feedback, they polish up a final draft, read it out loud to catch mistakes, and then consider publication.

2.  Research the markets.  By markets, I mean magazines and newspapers that might be interested in publishing your piece.  Spend a few hours at your favorite library or bookstore and read through your favorite publications.  Make a list of five that publish essays like yours.  Write down the website for each publication (usually on the front of the magazine or newspaper) and look on the masthead for the editor’s name.  Write that down, too.

3.  Do your homework.  On your computer, visit each publication’s website.  Study it carefully to make sure the editors run essays like yours.  Find the link that says “Writer’s Guidelines,” “Submission Guidelines,” or “Contributor’s Guidelines.”  Click on it and print it out.  These guidelines will tell you exactly how long to make your essays, as well as how and when to send it and to whom.

4.  Craft a cover letter.  Editors prefer a brief letter along with your manuscript.  It can go something like this, if you’re submitting via e-mail:

Your Name

Your Address

Phone/E-mail

Editor’s Full Name

Publication’s Title

Address

Dear Editor’s Full Name,

I enjoyed Michelle Nijhuis’s essay examining the history of the land on which she lives, which you ran in the September 14th issue of High Country News.  With this in mind, I’m hoping you’ll enjoy my 800-word essay “My Home Town has Vanished.”  I’ve pasted the essay below for your consideration.  Thanks very much for your time.

Sincerely,

Your Name

When you’re writing a cover letter, always:

* Use the editor’s full name (never write to “Dear Editor” as this showsthat you didn’t do your homework!

*  Mention a specific essay in a specific issue that you enjoyed.  This lets the editor know that you’re familiar with his/her publication.

*  Mention your other publications or the fact that you’re a student or a professional skydiver or a stay-at-home dad only if these facts are relevant to your essay.

*  Thank the editor for his/her time and close with your full name.

5.  Submit your essay.  The writer’s guidelines will let you know how to submit your piece—through e-mail or snail-mail.  Most publications accept e-mailed submissions now, so simply open an e-mail window and type in your cover letter.  Save your essay in Rich Text Format, then cut and paste it just below your cover letter.  Again, make sure the editor has all of your contact information.  Read over the e-mail one more time to catch errors, then hit SEND!

6.  Rejection and Acceptance.  An editor may e-mail you and say that he/she has to pass on your essay.  This is usually no reflection on your writing, or on you.  The editor may have just published a similar piece, or is holding one for future publication.  Your essay might not be quite right for the publication.

Regardless, now you get to submit the piece to another editor until one day, you get that magic phone call or e-mail that says “We’d be delighted to publish your work in an upcoming issue.”  Request a contract, if the editor doesn’t send one, so that you know how much you’ll be paid and what rights you’re selling.

Regarding the rights in your contract—try to sell only First Rights(Also called First Serial Rights and First North American Rights).  This means you can sell your work as a reprint later on.  Try never to sell All Rights—if you do, the essay no longer belongs to you!

Fame and Fortune.  A few weeks to a month after your essay appears in print or online, you can expect your paycheck and a copy or two of the print publication, if applicable.  It’s a good idea to post the link to your published piece (or a PDF) on your website, if you have one, and on Facebook, Twitter, etc.   This will help you to build an audience for your writing.

The Most Critical Part of Publishing.  Think it’s the fancy limo and fabulous wealth?  Think again.  In my mind, the most critical part of publishing is the thank you card.  Invest in a box of ten to start with, and some stamps.  Any time an editor publishes your work, send a thank you card.  You’ll have shown genuine gratitude, and the editor will remember you fondly.

Why Go to a Bookstore Reading?

Photo by Debbie Williamson Smith

Why not go to a bookstore reading?  Actually, I can think of numerous excuses, most of them revolving around toddlers and exhaustion.  But when I actually haul myself out of my house, walk into a bookstore and spot the chairs around a podium set up for an author event, I feel re-energized.

Bookstore author readings meet my two main requirements for entertainment–they’re fun and they’re free.  Surrounded by members of the literary community, I’ve witnessed some incredible readings–most notably, a passionate presentation by Portland author Brian Doyle, who’s one of my favorite essayists, and a powerful and poignant reading and discussion by author Debra Gwartney.

All this month and next, I’m doing bookstore readings of Gringa: A Contradictory Girlhood.  There’s little more embarrassing than showing up at a store to find an audience of three–my husband, my child, and the bookstore manager.  And there’s nothing more exhilarating than arriving to find a store packed with people in search of some good storytelling.

Do consider attending one of the Gringa events, below.  You don’t have to buy the book–just come on over for some fun, free entertainment.  Ask questions, have a few White Girl Cookies (available at most events), and enjoy yourself!

October 15th–University of Oregon Bookstore, Eugene, Book Launch Party, 5-5:45 Reception–5:45-6:30 Reading and Q&A

October 22–Powell’s on Hawthorne, Portland, 7:30 PM

October 23rd–Elliott Bay Book Company, Seattle, 7 PM

October 29th–Books Inc., San Francisco, 7:30 PM

November 7th–Latitude 33, Laguna Beach, CA, 6 PM

November 8th–Book Soup, Los Angeles, 2 PM

November 15th–Northwest Author Series,  “Memoir that Sells”–Wilsonville, OR 3:30 PM

December 3rd–Third Street Books, McMinnville, OR 6:30
memoir writing workshop and Frito Boats!

December 5th–Author and Artist Fair, Lane County Fairgrounds, Eugene, 10 AM-6 PM–Stop by to chat and get a book signed.  No formal reading that day.

To arrange an event, please contact Melissa’s publicist Andie East at Seal Press.

Rebecca K. O’Connor, author of “Lift”

Any memoir which blends exciting descriptions of falconry, witty observations on one’s relationship with a peregrine falcon, and painful childhood truths has got to be a good read.  I received a galley of Rebecca K. O’Connor’s new memoir Lift (Red Hen, 2009) a few months ago, while writing this essay-slash-book review for High Country News that explores the concept of “home.”  I literally could not put the book down.  Gifted with a toddler’s nap and a sunny afternoon, I read Lift in one sitting.

Happily for me, O’Connor agreed to let me interview her for Butt2Chair.  Here’s the interview in full, conducted on 9/28/2009:

MH: Previously, you’ve written natural history guides, a romance novel, and a guide to training parrots.  What inspired you to write a memoir?

RKO: I always planned on writing a “real” book, I just wasn’t quite sure what I meant by that. Then I bought my first peregrine and decided to start a blog. It was the first time I had trained a falcon and I knew there would never be another “first time”. I wanted to have a written record and also be accountable. There were other falconers reading along as I made mistakes and stumbled through the training. Still, I was very careful to leave the personal elements out of my blog. When that first season was done and recorded, I knew there was a much richer story I wanted to tell.

MH: Falconry is demanding, and on top of it, you have a full-time job.  When and where did you find the time to write Lift?

RKO: I find that if I have all the time in the world, I get nothing done. I wrote in spare moments, long weekends and occasionally when I was supposed to be doing other things. I daydreamed and pondered storylines on long drives and on airplanes. This is how my next book is getting written as well.

MH:  You reveal some intense biographical truths in Lift.  What led you to be this honest about your childhood and adolescence?

RKO: Of course writers want to be read and to share; it is the best reason to write. Mostly though, I wrote LIFT for me. I was certain that digging into some of the darker truths about why am I the way I am and do the things I do would make me more whole and a better writer. I also know that readers are very smart. If I was going to spelunk into my past, I better go all the way into the depths. Readers would know if I glossed over the hard stuff and cheated.

MH: What advice do you have for potential memoirists who aren’t sure how to get started on a booklength work?

RKO: First of all read as many memoirs as you can get your hands on. I found that all of my favorite memoirs do two things. First, they tell a universal story, a story that makes the reader say, “I feel that way too!”. Second, they also take the reader through a landscape they couldn’t or would be unlikely to explore themselves. I would tell a potential memoirist to figure out what these two elements are in your story and then start telling.

(Editorial Sidenote: O’Connor’s favorite memoirs are Terry Tempest Williams — Refuge, Kim Barnes — In the Wilderness, and Norman McLean – A River Runs Through It)

MH: You completed the MFA program in Creative Writing at U.C. Riverside.  MFA programs are generally time-consuming and expensive–or at least mine was! Given those challenges, would you recommend them to writers, or not?

RKO: I would say it depends on what you are willing to put into it and expect to get out of it. I wanted three years of focused time to finally write a literary book. The program was successful for me because I sought out experiences and mentors. For me it was permission to focus with no expectations of having anything but a completed manuscript to show for the work. If these are your expectations, you’ll be pleased with the expense of time and money. If you’re expecting to graduate and become rich literati, well, you may want to rethink it.

MH: Your relationship with the Peregrine falcon in Lift is lovely.  Will you give us an update on how he’s doing these days?

RKO: Anakin is coming up on his 7 ^th season with me. We’ll be out hunting again at the end of October. He doesn’t fly away much anymore, but he’s still a little reckless with plenty of attitude. He’s the consummate bad boy all us good girls are infatuated with and will go down in a blaze of glory one of these days. In the mean time, I cherish every moment with him.

For further information on Rebecca K. O’Connor and her work, please visit  www.rebeccakoconnor.com

Writing Contests–Win Publication and Free Stuff

When I was a sophomore in high school, I entered a writing contest sponsored by our local cable company.  The topic–what makes your neighborhood special? In vivid–no doubt purple–prose, I described the abundance of cats prowling the sidewalks, my neighbor’s smooth turquoise driveway just perfect for roller skating, and the cute paperboy from my English class.  I won first place, earning myself a black jacket emblazoned with an MTV logo (totally awesome) and a regular gig as a high school correspondent on local access television.

Do a little research on writing contests, say, on the websites for NewPages.com or Poets & Writers, and you’ll be overwhelmed by the numbers of organizations that offer up money and publication.  Are you a full-time college student?  The Writer Magazine just announced the Sylvia K. Burack Scholarship Competition which offers $500 and a yearlong magazine subscription to the writer who can best articulate, in a short personal essay, how a particular piece of fiction or poetry has affected him/her.

But maybe you’re less motivated by money and publication, and more inspired by free stuff?  In that case, let me direct you to one of my favorite contests–The Writer Mama Back to School Giveaway, hosted by author Christina Katz. Christina gives away a book a day for a month, in a drawing of participants who answer questions such as “what was/is your most nagging, worrisome question about launching a writing career?”

To celebrate Seal Press’s release of Gringa: A Contradictory Girlhood, I’m hosting a recipe contest, and I’ll give away five copies of the book.  To enter, become a Facebook fan of Gringa and post the first recipe you remember making from childhood.  The recipes in the book are narrative (you’ll see samples on the Facebook page), and I’m encouraging participants to write their own recipes as narratives, as well.

Good luck in whatever contest you choose to enter . . . and rock on!

–

Important addendum to this post–American Standard, yes, the company that makes commodes, is holding a contest for your best toilet story.  The prize if you win?  A brand new toilet!

Submissions are being accepted until Oct. 9; information: facebook.com/AmericanStandardBrands.

What’s a Book Trailer?

A while back, I complained on my Facebook fan page for Gringa about my summer struggles to make a book trailer.  One of my friends e-mailed back, “Wouldn’t it be easier if you just searched on Craigslist for a used Library Bookmobile and called it good?”

Tempting as it was to simply pack our VW bus with copies of the book and hit the road, I nevertheless slaved away for two months learning Final Cut Express so that I could create a 3 1/2 minute book trailer to promote Gringa. A book trailer functions like a movie trailer–both are short and compelling, with the goal of selling a product.  More and more authors are making book trailers, or having them made.  Here’s a good article from Poets & Writers Magazine which explains further.  You can also watch numerous trailers at http://www.book-trailers.net/.

I first became aware of the genre when I viewed the trailer for Marc Acito’s book How I Paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship, and Musical Theater.  VidLit does a marvelous job, but I didn’t have the money to pay for a professional trailer.  I know of one author who’s paying a multimedia journalism student to create a book trailer, but–crazy as it sounds–I wanted to learn to make one myself.  I knew I didn’t want the footage to include merely shots of me talking, interspersed with a photo of the book.  Kirkus Reviews called my book “quirky,” and I wanted the book trailer to reflect that . . . but how?

I thought about the themes in Gringa, as well as the tone of the writing.  As the book includes recipes, I structured the trailer around teaching viewers how to make one of the key “meals”–Frito Boats.  I scanned numerous old photos and composed some new ones.  It took me several hours to record clips with a Flipcam and an external microphone, and more time searching for a suitable tune on FreePlay Music.  I spent dozens of hours putting it all together.  I ate way too many Fritos, and relied way too much on the technological expertise of two friends, but in the end, I came away with a book trailer that’s flawed, but funny.

Feel free to view the book trailer for Gringa: A Contradictory Girlhood, and pass it on!

Setting the Scene

I used to teach film studies at Ventura Community College.  I fell into the job when the previous teacher took a sabbatical.  Somehow, I convinced the dean that my appearance in a Japanese potato chip commercial at age 17 qualified me for the position, and I soon found myself possessed of a lecture hall packed with eager students every Thursday at 4 PM.

I learned a great deal about film from the textbook I’d assigned, and discovered how the careful study of a movie can better our own writing.  In pausing the DVD player on the scene in Harold and Maude in which Harold takes Maude’s hand as they watch the sun set over the bay and glimpses the tattooed numbers on her arm, I saw how carefully the director composed the shot so that viewers could smell the ocean, hear the cries of seagulls, feel the shock running through Harold’s body as he realizes the significance of the tattoo.

In film, directors make use of a concept called mise–en–scène.  It refers to the way visual elements appear in each shot and includes the placement of characters, set pieces, lighting, weather details, etc.  I’ve been thinking a lot about mise-en-scene lately, as I edit manuscripts for aspiring authors.  In two such manuscripts, I’ve penned “show us in a rich, full scene” into the margins ad nauseam, but scene setting is critical in fiction writing and memoir.

Here’s an example of what I mean.  In one of the manuscripts, a scene goes something like this:  “My brother, traumatized,  wouldn’t stop calling at midnight, and again at five in the morning, and finally, I had to tell him to stop or I’d disconnect the phone.”

That’s narration.  It’s informational, but it doesn’t build character and it doesn’t make readers feel like they’re right there with the narrator who’s dealing with the conflict. Here’s one way to expand upon this narration and create a  brief, more evocative scene:

“I’d been dreaming about swimming with sharks when my cell rang–the theme song from The Lion King.  Eyes closed against the street light just beyond the stained paper windowshade, I flipped open the phone.  “George,” I muttered.

“But you don’t understand.”  My brother’s high, frantic voice sent the sharks swimming for safety, and I snapped fully awake.

“I do understand,” I snapped.  Suddenly, the down comforter smothered me in the tiny, arid studio apartment and I kicked it off along with my pink wool socks.  I jammed my index finger toward the phone, putting my little brother on speaker, and lit a Camel.  “I understand that you lost your pet chinchilla,” I said and inhaled, pondering my next words.  “I understand that you need to get a prescription for sleeping pills.”  I snatched up the half-eaten peanut butter sandwich on the milkcrate that served as my nightstand.  “And I understand that I need to change my freakin’ cell phone number.”

This re-crafted scene appeals to the reader’s five senses.  We get the smell of cigarettes, the taste of an old sandwich, the feel of a hot stuffy room, the sound of a young man’s despair, and visual details that give us clues about the narrator’s financial and emotional status.  We also get dialogue which reveals the brother’s motivation for calling, and the narrator’s mounting frustration.

My graduate school advisors, years ago, used to write in the margins of my own manuscripts, “Take your time.  Trust your material.”  Kirkus Review came out with a review of Gringa last month.  “The book is filled with detailed conversations and particulars of dress, mannerisms and facial expressions that give it the feeling of a novel,” the reviewer wrote.  I felt like I’d finally succeeded in scene setting.

My favorite films for studying mise en scene:

Everything is Illuminated

Let the Right One In

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Harold and Maude

and, with apologies to my husband, The English Patient

Build Relationships with Editors

“Melissa, we’ve got a short essay spot to fill in our holiday issue of the magazine.  Do you have anything?”

This is the type of e-mail I love to receive from editors, because I’m busy, and sometimes lazy, and it’s gratifying to write a piece knowing in advance that it’s going to get published, and I’m going to get paid.

How do you build relationships with editors so that they solicit your work?  Here are my tips, based on many years of experience as a freelance writer:

• Send your best work.  Approaching an editor for the first time reminds me of the years I spent auditioning for theater productions.  You’ve got to wow the person in charge with stellar material.  (This is why I turned out to be a writer, and not an actress.)

• Be easy to work with.  Turn drafts in on time and accept editorial advice graciously, without arguing.  Early on, I wrote a short essay about a photography class, for an in-flight magazine.  The editor asked me to delete one of my funniest scenes, about photographing a dead bird.  “No dead birds in an airline magazine,” she said.  I saw her point and killed the deceased sparrow.

• Offer multimedia.  I’ve noted before that if you can pitch photos, sound slides, and short documentary clips, you’ll look awfully attractive to editors who want to keep up with current technology.  Sometimes, they’ll even pay you extra for these supplemental materials.  The aforementioned airline magazine paid me $50 for a photo of a weed.

• Express thanks.  Usually, when an editor publishes your work, he or she will send you a copy or two of the publication.  Regardless, send a thank you note.  Doesn’t matter whether it’s through e-mail, on pink scented paper, or via pigeon—a note of genuine gratitude deepens a working relationship with editors.

• Give them more.  Once an editor has published your work, you have a relationship.  If you’re an essayist or short fiction writer, craft another good piece and send it to him or her.  If you’ve written an article, send the editor another well-researched query letter or two.

To close, here are a few of my favorite editors and their publications.  Feel free to peruse their writers’ guidelines (I’ve linked them, below), and begin building your own relationships.  As always, feel free to comment on your favorite editors, as well.

Sarah Lange and Ron Kovach at The Writer Magazine.

Michele Andrus Dill at Horizon Air Magazine

Michelle Nijhuis and Jodi Peterson at High Country News

Liz McMillen at The Chronicle of Higher Education, Chronicle Review

And a heads-up for those of you submitting to literary magazines–here’s a new batch of reviews, from New Pages!

Off to the Willamette Writers’ Conference

I’m just about to take off for the Willamette Writers’ Conference in Portland.  If you haven’t attended this three-day event, do consider going this year or next.  First, it’s just so much fun to hang out with other writers all day.  Energy and ambition course through every workshop room, and the power suits are out in force.  Teen writers mingle with authors in their 70s at the lunch table.  Literary friends normally separated by geography meet in the halls and embrace.  Agents and editors drink martinis at the bar after hours, and deals are made.

Here are ten reasons to consider attending a writing conference, in no particular order:

• Many writers find their literary agent or book editor through this venue.

• If you volunteer to help speakers with their workshops, you’ll rub shoulders with published authors who can be of help to you.

• You’ll learn a vast amount about writing, no matter which workshops you attend.  I always come away with a notebook full of helpful information.

• You’ll make like-minded friends, provided you don’t sit in the back of each workshop and hide in the restroom on breaks.

• Conferences provide an easy way to begin a local critique group.  Don’t be afraid ask your workshop speakers for help when organizing this type of group.

• If you’re in a writing slump, you’ll come away re-energized and excited to work again.  I promise.

• Often, you have the opportunity to have a piece of writing critiqued by a professional author, editor and/or agent.  Sometimes, these people will share professional contacts with you, as well.

• Published authors attending the conference often have books to sell, and you can get your copy autographed–which increases both the monetary and emotional value.

• If you’re single, you just might find a compatible person to date at a writing conference.

• And maybe most important of all, on breaks between workshops, there are almost always cookies.

Can’t attend the WW Conference this weekend?  Find another conference here.

Know other reasons to attend a writing conference?  Readers would love to hear your success stories.  Feel free to post your best stories about finding your agent, your mentor, your soulmate, or your favorite chocolate chip peanut butter cookies.

Handling Public Criticism with Grace and Humor

This week, The Chronicle of Higher Education published my essay railing against microblogging as a reporting tool.  Titled “The Trouble with Twitter,” the essay inspired comments and e-mails ranging from profound gratitude on the part of many of my UO colleagues to scathing critique from anonymous Twitter devotees on CHE’s website.

Ten years ago, many of the comments would have darn near killed me.  Now, I read them carefully, learn what I can from them, laugh at some of the more inane responses, and then let them go.  But many of my students–new to the business–find themselves genuinely devastated by public opinion on their published pieces.  I’m thinking of two young writers in particular, who enjoyed seeing their first op-ed articles published in the online section of a major newspaper . . . until readers started posting vindictive responses.  “Do we write back?” they asked in class one morning.

I don’t find it necessary to dignify attacking e-mails with a response.  Other writers might feel otherwise, and I’d love some comments on the subject.  However, I always respond to people who’ve e-mailed either to compliment a piece or respectfully suggest that I look at a topic in a new light.  This practice has gained me interesting new contacts, and a satisfying exchange of ideas.

Reeling from public criticism of your writing, or too terrified to send out a piece lest you find yourself in the middle of an e-mail flame war?  Check out the piece I wrote for Writer’s Digest, titled “Surviving the Spite,” and see how authors ranging from Chelsea Cain to Rich Lowry handle angry public response to their writing.

Yours,

Melissa (aka the “Greener Than Thou Guttersnipe”)

“Fun Up” your Writing

Early in my career, I wrote an essay for Woman’s Day about how my great-aunts in Missouri bought the front piece of a crazy quilt from a thrift store, sewed a velvet backing on it and proceeded to exhibit it at county fairs—winning blue ribbons and cash for someone else’s fiber arts.  My editor, an ultra-chic Manhattan woman, called with a request.

“You need to fun this essay up,” she said.

Fun it up?

How does a writer like David Sedaris turn the tragedy of his beloved cat’s death into the stuff of humor?  How does Augusten Burroughs write an entire dark comedy about growing up under adverse circumstances?

They know how to fun things up.

One humor writer I know takes a blue highlighter pen and a yellow highlighter pen.  On every page of her printed-out manuscript, she highlights all the sections with conflict in blue.  She highlights all the humorous sections in yellow.  Then, she can easily gauge whether or not she has a balance of conflict and humor on each page.  This helps her to fun up her pieces if they’re falling a bit flat.

I thought I’d use the beginning of my own tedious blog post of last week as an example.  Here’s the start to the old post:

Do I need a literary agent?

It’s the question most writers ask themselves at one point or another.

You need an agent if you’re working on a book and you’d like to approach one of the large publishing houses.   You also need an agent if you’re working on nonfiction articles, short fiction, or essays and you long to see your work in magazines such as Esquire, Cosmopolitan, and Harpers’.

Obviously, I wasn’t having the most stellar of weeks, as evidenced by my unimaginative prose.  Here, fueled by a liberal dose of chocolate, is an example of how I can make a really dull blog post a little more exciting with imagery, anecdote, and dialogue.

As a callow writer in my twenties, I listened—my face emerald with envy–to the blasé conversations of seasoned writers around me as they lounged in their eccentric embroidered vests and caftans at readings and workshops.

“My agent and I had lunch last week, and she’s really excited about my new novel.”

“My agent called me yesterday and said she’s got five editors interested in my book.”

“My agent just got me a six-figure advance, and she thinks she can sell the film rights.”

I’d finished a memoir as part of my graduate work, and now it sat in my bedroom, functioning primarily as a pedestal for cats.  I’d sent query letters out to random editors, for which I received exactly one response.  “I publish books on reptiles,” the hand-scrawled note said.  “Not on lesbian mothers.”

Discouraged, I approached my long-suffering local librarian.  “Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book Publishers, Editors, and Literary Agents.”  She passed me a thick tome that could easily have functioned as a doorstop during a stiff breeze.  “Read it.”

From Herman, I learned that a writer needs an agent if she’s working on a book and she’d like to approach one of the large publishing houses.   She also needs an agent if she’s working on nonfiction articles, short fiction, or essays and she longs to see her work in a magazine other than Cat Fancy.