I continue to write only for paying magazines, but this grows increasingly difficult as print magazines either go under or go online. Many e-magazines either don’t pay or pay little. Even when they continue paying the same word rate (X number of dollars or cents per word), online articles usually have shorter word counts. Fewer words, less pay. Sometimes writers can recoup some of that with graphics, photos, video, or games, but planning for these additional items requires a bit different mindset.

This last week, I also heard that a major women’s magazine plans to switch entirely to reader-written content. I wonder whether any of the reader-writers will be paid.

Times are changing. I’m taking note, adjusting, and continuing to sell . . . thankfully.

“Writing is easy. All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.” — Gene Fowler

“Almost anyone can be an author; the business is to collect money and fame from this state of being.” — A.A. Milne

“The profession of book writing makes horse racing seem like a solid, stable business.” — John Steinbeck

“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” — Jack London

“A man may write at any time, if he will set himself doggedly to it.” — Samuel Johnson

“Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” — E.L. Doctorow

“How do I know what I think until I see what I say?” — E.M. Forster

“The cat sat on the mat is not a story. The cat sat on the other cat’s mat is a story.” — John Le Carré

If you would not be forgotten,

As soon as you are dead and rotten,

Either write things worthy reading,

Or do things worth the writing.

– Benjamin Franklin

“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.” — Robert Frost

“All fiction is largely autobiographical and much autobiography is, of course, fiction.” — P.D. James

“Journalism largely consists in saying, ‘Lord Jones is dead’ to people who never knew Lord Jones was alive.” — G.K. Chesterton

“There is so much to be said in favor of modern journalism. By giving us the opinions of the uneducated it keeps us in touch with the ignorance of the community.” — Oscar Wilde

“I’m all in favor of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools. Let’s start with typewriters.” — Frank Lloyd Wright

“What I would say to a young person trying to become a writer is ‘Don’t.’ It won’t make any difference because they’ll do it anyway, but they really shouldn’t.” — A.L. Kennedy

“Some writers take to drink, others take to audiences.” — Gore Vidal

“Most editors are failed writers–but so are most writers.” — T.S. Eliot

“Nature fits all her children with something to do, He who would write and can’t write, can surely review.” — James Russell Lowell

“Beyond talent lie all the usual words:  discipline, love, luck–but, most of all, endurance.” — James Baldwin.

If you’re near Cambridge, Nebraska, on Saturday, December 3, come visit with me at the Butler Memorial Library! The library, found at 621 Penn Street (77 miles southwest of Kearney), will host me from 10:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. as part of a holiday celebration with patrons. From 10:30 to approximately 10:50 a.m., I will read my picture book, The Time-for-Bed Angel, and talk with young children about how an idea for a story becomes a book. Following this short presentation, children will have the chance to color sketches from the book while parents and patrons can purchase autographed books or discuss writing, publishing, and my books with me. (I will be bringing five of my titles, including the teen books A Shadow in the Dark and Living It Up to Live It Down, which can be harder to find without ordering directly from the publisher and paying shipping and handling.) From approximately 11 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. will be an informal question-and-answer time with parents, teens, and other adults. If you’ve ever had a question about writing or getting published and have never had an author around to ask, this will be the perfect time. I’ll also be taking questions about my books and my life as a writer and author. The event is free to the public, and the library is expecting a good turnout. Should a blizzard pass through, the celebration will be postponed to one of the following Saturdays. Hope to see you December 3!

Merry Christmas!

Authors have expenses such as transportation, hotel stays, meals, day care for their own children while they’re gone, and time spent preparing, traveling, and speaking on-site. That time spent on school visits is time that could have been spent writing and, perhaps, generating sales.

Books sold at schools seldom amount to enough to pay for an author’s expenses because authors receive only a fraction of cover prices. One bounced check or stolen book can wipe out the profit from numerous books. Any books donated to the library or classroom come out of the author’s own pocket.

School visits aren’t free. Authors see this, and those seeking to establish or maintain a writing career charge for their professional services.

I like writing for anthologies because it’s a relatively quick and easy way to publication. I have a goal to fill at least one shelf in my home library with my own books. Anthologies help.

When I first started writing for anthologies,  I made the mistake of thinking that since the stories were personal, they should be the type that might appear in True Confessions magazine. But what most publishers of anthologies want is stories that are uplifting for a broad spectrum of people, not overly personal. Once I paid more attention to the types of stories that were selling, I started selling too.

Years ago, they would have been slim to none, but authors are becoming more common. The United States has a population of about 312 million, and each year about one-half million books are published here. More than half of these books are self-published (publication paid by the author) while somewhat less than half are traditionally published (publication paid by a publisher).

Some authors may have more than one book published in a year, but if we figure one book per author, this calculates to roughly 1 in 600 Americans getting published every year. If we just look at traditional authors who are getting paid for their work, the figure drops to 1 in 1,200 people, but still, this is every year. With people living into their 70′s and 80′s and having many years to write a book, it isn’t so unusual to be an author or come across others who are . . . even at family reunions!

The review was positive, although not 100 percent positive, but that’s the great thing about teens and younger kids: they tend to give it to you straight.

I’m happy seeing evidence that my books are getting into the hands of teens. True, this review comes almost two years after the book’s release, but it disproves teachers and parents who say teens don’t read. Some teens still read full-length novels. I wonder if the numbers reading are truly that different from those when I was a teen. I was an avid reader, but I don’t remember many of my friends or other teens enjoying reading as much as I did. They missed out.

• It makes use of multiple-syllable rhymes. Anyone can rhyme words like “tree” and “bee”; it takes more effort to rhyme multiple-syllable words like “withered greens” and “tangerines” or “baloney” and “macaroni” (as Shel Silverstein does in “Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would not Take the Garbage Out”).
• Some editors dislike “nonsense” poetry, in which a poet makes up words; for example, the poet might make up the word “porange” to rhyme with “orange.” Again, this method of rhyming words is sometimes seen as a cop-out.
• Saleable poetry uses perfect rhyme, not near-misses like “lean” and “greens.”
• It uses current, natural language structure. It’s better to say something like “he goes” rather “he goeth” or “go does he.” Using archaic language or unnatural sentence structure just because it rhymes or improves meter doesn’t make for good poetry.

Recently, in a flash of inspiration, I wrote a poem and submitted it to a children’s magazine. The editor rejected it but said she liked the rhythm and rhyme in the piece and said she’d like to see more from me. She will. Her comments inspired me to write three more!