Making $$$ The Write Way A free eMagazine for writers of integrity *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ November 27, 2002 Volume 1 Number 5 *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ To subscribe, and receive the FREE eBook, "So You Want to be a Travel Writer," surf here: http://www.ebookstand.com *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ In this issue: 1.) Letter From The Publisher---On The Home Front 2.) Ask an Expert/Questions and Answers 3.) COMP-ortunity of the week 4.) Online Success-Internet Marketing Tips and Strategies For Writers 5.) The Business of Writing by Duane Newcomb 6.) Editor's Pick/Reviews 7.) The Boast Post---Bragging Board of Writers Triumphs and Victories *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Making $$$ The Write Way eMagazine is a division of The Magnum Group ISSN pending. Copyright 2002 Write Spirit Publishing. All rights reserved. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Start Comping today by purchasing our best selling eBook: "BEEN THERE---COMPED THAT!" Free Travel, Dining, and Entertainment, All for the Cost of Some Ink Available at: http://www.ebookstand.com *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ~*~ On The Home Front Carmel L. Mooney News from the "Home Front" It's that time of year to be especially thankful. As our one-month mark for this eMagazine passes, I'd like to show my appreciation for all the people who have made this eMagazine a success. Thanks so much John Nightingale for embracing my vision and helping to make it a reality. Thank you, thank you, my dear friend and editor Victoria Beninga. Some friends in life are a special jewel and you are one of those. Duane Newcomb, I respect your wisdom so very much and am so grateful you share it with our readers each week. And Hazel Nieves, what a blessing to know you on a professional and personal level. You inspire me, motivate me, and all our readers too. I have to say a special thanks to our 3000+ subscribers whose kind words, encouragement, feedback, and questions are the driving force behind this eMag. I wish I could know you all personally but I feel we're all connected as writers and authors through this great eMagazine. Happy Thanksgiving to every one of you! Many thanks and COMP-liments to all, Carmel *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ~*~ This week's newest COMP-ortunity Sierra Nevada Recreation Website: www.caverntours.com Address: PO Box 78, Vallecito, CA 95251 Phone: 209 736-2708 Contact: Lisa Boulton Location: 5 Sierra Nevada Locations including: Black Chasm, Boyden Cavern, California Cavern, Moaning Cavern, Sutter Gold Mine Tours Description: Underground mine trips, cavern tours, repelling, walking tours. Coverage desired: History, tours, and adventure activities. Prefers writers with: any professional writers Possible comp: Comped tour or mine trip *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ~*~ "Ask a Pro" Publishing/Comping/Writing Q&A "Your Questions---You Always Wanted To Ask," answered by professional writing consultant/coach/instructor, Carmel L. Mooney To ask Carmel a writing, publishing, or comping question, email her at: Carmel@ebookstand.com. Questions may be edited for length or content if necessary. Question: I recently took your Travel Writing Class. You told us about a recent trip you took to a major theme park with your family. We've been planning a family trip to the same theme park for Christmas this year. This trip is actually our family's way of escaping from the hustle and bustle of Christmas and we have chosen to do this instead of buying gifts. Can you give me some tips on how to comp this and who to contact? –Wanda, California Answer: Theme parks and large entertainment venues usually have a marketing department, sales & marketing department, or publicist. This is generally the place to ask for a comp. I have done several articles in years past on traveling to this theme park for the holidays. My editor just comped a trip to another theme park recently. (read Victoria's column below) It's not difficult---just explain the story you plan to write and go for it. BTW, you may be surprised when you do comp this or any theme park, that when you go to pick up your tickets, they will have stacks of tickets marked, "comps." On any given day, theme parks usually have dozens of comped tickets just waiting to be claimed by media people! Have fun. To ask Carmel a writing, publishing, or comping question, email her at: Carmel@ebookstand.com. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ~*~ Internet Marketing Tips and Strategies For Writers How to sell your publications online by Hazel Nieves, Our E-business Marketing Expert and Consultant Your Seven-Step, One-Day Marketing Plan ***PART ONE. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to create an effective marketing plan. In fact, you can create a successful plan for your small business in just one day! To begin, don't worry about your writing style or making your marketing plan fancy. Just go get a pencil and paper and let's get started! Step 1 - Understand Your Market and Competition A big mistake that many small business owners make is to latch on to a cool product or service without first understanding the market and what it wants (not what it needs). If you try to sell something that people don't want, they won't buy it. It's that simple. A profitable market consists of people who have dire wants that are being unmet, so much so that they will jump to buy your solution (product or service). A profitable market can be compared to a lake with thousands of starving fish. All you need to do is throw in the bait and it turns into a feeding frenzy! To get an understanding of your market you should ask yourself questions like: - Are there segments in my market that are being underserved? - Are the segments of my market, for my product or service, big enough to make money? - How much share of that market do I need to capture, to just break even? - Is there too much competition in the segment of my market to be competitive? - What are the weaknesses in my competition's offering that I can capitalize on? - Who are my competitor's? Do I really know anything about them? - Does my market want or value my unique competitive offering? ***Don't miss next week's PART TWO, Understand Your Customer ---Hazel Nieves, expert on Internet Marketing and Online business success is owner of Web Development Company, Sierra Technology Solutions. Inc. She has 20 years experience in sales, marketing, and technology and is a committed crusader in helping take the confusion out of taking your business online. You can Contact Hazel at 530-367-2915 or customerservice@sierratechnologysolutions.com Special Offer! Writers Special E-biz Website Package Turn-key Package Includes: *5 Custom Pages *Shopping Cart (up to 10 products) *Secure Server *One year hosting service *Uses your own domain *Up to 15 Email accounts *Attractive Professional designs to choose from *Copyright Statement page Special Price: $ 600.00 complete Get started today with your Affordable Professional E-business website here: http://www.sierratechnologysolutions.com/writers/writers_special.htm Learn more from Hazel at: http://www.sierratechnologysolutions.com *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ~*~ The Business of Writing by Duane Newcomb The ASJA Contracts Watch In this column I want to point out a service that every writer should take advantage of. It's called the American Society of Journalists (ASJA) and Authors Contract Watch. When magazines and newspapers accept your article or give you an assignment, many ask you to sign a contract which spells out which rights you are selling, the price and so forth. Some of these contracts are fair, but some absolutely not. Some magazines and newspapers want you to give them a right to use your article any way they want later, including publishing in their electronic publications as many times as they wish without additional compensation. ASJA has been fighting this for a number of years, especially for publications that want to put a writer's material on the web without offering additional compensation. Writers working for the New York Times and others have found their material published on the magazine's website without ever knowing that it was there. The publication's answer in many cases, "look at all the publicity you are getting." Contract Watch will keep you informed of a publisher's policy. You will find it at www.asja.org/cw/cwfiles/cwlatest.php Here is an item from their latest edition. (Arrogance takes many forms. In the last CW, we mentioned that the Chicago Tribune properties seem to have three versions of a contract, with the third the only one that seemed promising. Now a source of ours who has written for the Orlando Sentinel says that she finally received that rare version - and that it still grabbed all rights for previously run articles as well as "a host of other problems." We can only presume that it's the spirit of Al Capone confusing a contract with a protection racket.) I urge you to look over every contract you receive and take a stand. Do not sign a contract that grabs all rights. As you get more articles published, you will find, this is a very important income source for writers. I urge you to visit the ASJA Contracts Watch site regularly and be extremely diligent with your own work. Duane Newcomb is a literary consultant with 36 non-fiction books to his credit, over 5000 articles and more than 150 client books in print. He has taught article and non-fiction book courses at numerous colleges, universities and writer's conferences across the United States. Duane's The Professional Author Newsletter is a free monthly newsletter that is full of tips and techniques for writing, finding a publisher and publicizing your book. It is the writer's ultimate helper. Subscribe at dnew@thegrid.net. For writing information, visit his Writing web site at www.bookforce.bizland.com. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ~*~ Editor's Pick Book, Magazine, Website, and e-Book Review by Victoria Beninga, Editor This week's review: Been There---Comped That! Free Travel, Dining, and Entertainment, All For The Cost of Some Ink By Carmel L. Mooney I can count on one hand, the number of books, that have changed my life, and Carmel L. Mooney's, Been There Comped That, is one of them. In this 103-page book, Carmel tells you everything you need to know about using your writing skills to become a travel writer. She presents the information in an extremely thorough, organized manner. This information is in no way boring and dry; in fact, I found myself occasionally letting out belly laughs that startled my family. Carmel shows you how to get over your fear of failure and successfully secure media comps for free meals, lodging, and entertainment in exchange for your coverage in travel publications. She even gives you tips on how you can get started with small children at home, as she has done. Carmel includes a list of comp ideas, a glossary of travel writing terms, sample comp letters, some of her hilarious comping moments, and much more. She also covers how to do all this in an ethical manner, which to me is a refreshing thing to see in publications today. You can find BEEN THERE – COMPED THAT! as a paperback at major book retailers and online at http://www.ebookstand.com/carmelmooney.htm. How did this book change my life? I was searching for a way to earn extra money by doing something I love and still be home with my children. By following Carmel's guidelines, I was recently able to successfully get over my decades-long fear of risking rejection of my writing. I secured three out of my first four comp requests, started a travel column on a web site, published an eBook, and treated my family to a free stay at a hotel and a free day at a major theme park. All this without being away from my family for a moment. Believe me, if I did it, you can too! Victoria Beninga, Travel author/columnist/Associate Editor eBook, RV PACKING SIMPLIFIED, available at: http://www.ebookstand.com/m/victoria *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ~*~ The Boast Post Don't be modest—we applaud you! Whether it's an assignment victory, a publishing accomplishment, comp, or a writing goal achieved, we'd love to hear it. Please include your full name or initials, and your city and state. Send your boast in 75 words or less to: Carmel@ebookstand.com (may be edited for length or content) My suspense thriller Evil Angel is out in paperback, download, and CD- ROM. Set in Aspen it's a "crackerjack story" says one reviewer. Lad Moore says, "The writer really never lets us know Terri-that twisted soul who stumbles headlong into her self-made abyss. We know there is something deep and dark inside-a raw and unnatural force that guides her. We wait patiently to understand the source of its power. In the end, we must only guess. Larson keeps it from us--like candy offered, then withdrawn." It's available at www.BeWrite.net and www.amazon.com, Barnes&Noble and Booksellers in Grass Valley or any local bookstore. ---RD Larson, Penn Valley, CA After years of writing nonfiction, my first novel "The Visionaries " was published last year by Publish America. Response has been overwhelming. Great reviews, and "When will the next book be out?" It's out! "Glory Road" is now in all on-line bookstores. Check my web site. www.Bernicecurler.com. ---Bernice Curler, Central Point, Oregon. My second play to be produced at Spotlight Theatre is underway. We have the first three weekends in December. It is a parody, The Grynch Who Didn't Believe In Christmas. My book available at Wal-Mart.com is: Exposing Religious Strongholds In The Church. The plays are in Tulsa. I began to write them because my daughters are actresses in the Children's Theatre in Tulsa. It was an open door to be published I hadn't ever consider before. Thank God. ---Tom, Broken Arrow, OK My latest column, "Why Males Don't Go to College," just came out in She Thinks, a magazine/webzine put out by the Independent Women's Forum. The article criticizes anti-male bigotry in our universities and details many of my classroom experiences at UCLA, where I was a graduate student from 1999 to 2001. To comment on the article, write to shethinks@iwf.org. I will be discussing the article on the Al Rantel Show at 7 PM PST on AM 790 KABC in Los Angeles. Listeners can call in to the show at 1-800-222-KABC. Those interested in my other articles about anti-male bigotry in our universities might find "Hate My Father? No Ma'am!", "New Study Finds Myths, Misrepresentations in Women's Studies Textbooks" and "Popular Women's Studies 101 Textbook: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics" interesting. ---Glenn Sacks GlennSacks.com *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Coming Soon/Around the Corner: -Guidelines, rules, topic, and prize listings for the upcoming winter writing contest Carmel Mooney's Upcoming Writing and Publishing Classes/seminars: 1/11 Making Money The Write Way Seminar/Intensive-Part One, Auburn, CA (Making Money The Write Way For Magazines and Newspapers in the morning and Travel Writing and Comped Travel in the afternoon.) 1/18 Making Money The Write Way Seminar/Intensive-Part Two, Auburn, CA (Writing and Selling eBooks and Print on Demand Publishing in the morning and Freelance Writing for the Internet in the afternoon.) (These intensive full day seminars combine Carmel's most popular courses and are designed specially for those individuals serious about Making Serious Money as a Writer NOW)---to learn more or to register go to: http://www.ebookstand.com Or call; 530-823-7075 These other weekday evening and weekend seminars are at various organizations throughout California. You may email Carmel at Carmel@ebookstand.com for specifics on registering: 3/9 Ebooks/Print on Demand, Always Learning, Elk Grove, CA 3/23 Travel Writing/Comped Travel, Always Learning, Elk Grove, CA 3/24 Ebooks/Print on Demand, Placer School for Adults, Auburn, CA 3/29 Effective Business Writing, Sierra College, Rocklin, CA 3/31 Travel Writing/Comped Travel, PSA, Auburn, CA 4/5 Ebooks/Print on Demand, Sierra College, Rocklin, CA 4/12 Ebooks/Print on Demand & Travel Writing, Butte College, Chico, CA 4/26 Travel Writing/Comped Travel, Learning Exchange, Sacramento, CA Carmel's sell-out online class, Profitable and Exciting Travel Writing is available at: http://www.writersweekly.com Take this course from the privacy and comfort of your own home while interacting with Carmel and the other students at your leisure. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ It's FREE---List your inn, resort, restaurant, entertainment venue, business, or destination seeking written coverage---contact the publisher at: Carmel@ebookstand.com *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Making $$$ The Write Way eMagazine TO SUBSCRIBE: Send an e-mail with "subscribe" as the subject to: subscribe@ebookstand.com TO UNSUBSCRIBE: Send an e-mail with "unsubscribe" as the subject to: unsubscribe@ebookstand.com *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Write Spirit Publishing P.O. Box 3405 Auburn, CA 95604 Contact us at: Carmel@ebookstand.com We welcome your comments/suggestions/requests/contributions Carmel L. Mooney, Publisher Victoria Beninga, Associate Editor http://www.ebookstand.com If our links don't work for you this may mean your E-mail program doesn't like our code. If so, please click directly from our online issue at: http://www.ebookstand.com/newsletter_archive.htm This eMagazine may be FREELY distributed to friends, discussion lists, and writing groups as long as the entire issue is included. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~