Writers in the Storm

by Ericka McIntyre

So you want to write for magazines and websites…great! Writing articles can be an excellent way for authors to promote their work, build a platform, hone their skills, and get paid. How do you start? With a pitch, of course. But how do you make sure your pitches will land the way you want them to? Allow me to share with you some of the wisdom I have gleaned from over twenty years working in media and publishing, most recently as Editor-in-Chief of Writer’s Digest magazine.

After so much time on both sides of the editor’s desk—as a full-time freelancer, and as an acquiring editor – I’m confident I’ve seen the best pitches, and the worst ones. I’ve sent out both kinds of pitches in my own career too!

Here’s a list of some of the biggest OOFs! I’ve seen writers make (myself included). This list isn’t intended to shame anyone—I’m giving it to you so you can avoid making these mistakes in your career.

Know Who You’re Pitching

This one may seem obvious, but believe me, it is not. If I had a nickel for every pitch I’ve gotten addressed to “Dear Sir” or “Dear Mrs. McIntyre,” I could pay someone (well) to write this blog for me. It’s the twenty-first century and dated forms of address make you look behind the times, and possibly even sexist. Even if you mean it respectfully, it lands with a thud. Don’t assume an editor’s gender or marital status.

Do your homework.

Most publications have submission guidelines on their websites. Find them and follow them. If for some reason the editor’s information is not in these, it is simple to discover. Most of us live on Twitter and many of us give you our pronouns in our bios. Ninety seconds of Googling will usually make it clear how and to whom you should address your pitch, regardless of whether the outlet is big or small, national or local, print or digital. If you have found an editor’s email or postal address, go the extra three inches and figure out how best to address them. Those three inches can carry you miles.

Know what the outlet has published recently

This dovetails with my first point. If you have sent a pitch addressed to “Dear Sir” and it is also clear that you have no idea the kind of content an outlet publishes, the editor is going to make an assumption about you, and it is very likely going to be correct: You’re spaghetting it.

What’s “spaghetting it”? The term I made up for writers who are throwing out pitches everywhere at random to see what sticks.

Don’t do this. It’s the fast track to the slush pile. Editors want to know that you have taken the time to find out who they are, and what their publication is all about.

• For print publications, read at least six
  months’ worth of issues. Better still, read a year’s worth, or be a subscriber.
  
• For online, read at least a month’s worth of
  posts. Three months is even better.

When you pitch an editor something they’ve recently done a piece on, or something that they seem never to cover at all, it proves that you’re not a regular reader of the outlet you’re pitching. Before I query a website, I go out to the site’s search bar and type in the topic I am thinking of—usually in seconds I know if they’ve done a piece recently, and if my angle is unique enough to pitch. Or, if my topic is the right one to pitch at all.

Editors sometimes field dozens of pitches per day so it is critical that you pitch correctly. Editors don’t have time to spend more than a few minutes assessing your pitch -- why it’s good, and why you should write it. They just don’t. It’s not personal.

Make it as easy as possible for them to pick up what you’re putting down. In my freelance life, I have one cardinal rule for myself: Never make my editor’s job harder than it needs to be. It has served me well over a decade of freelancing.

Know WHEN to pitch, especially with print outlets.

For websites, content calendars are generally set only a month or so out. For print? Whoa. It can be up to a year. I would get great pitches at WD, only to have to email a writer, “I’m so sorry, but print is full for months. This would have been great for July, but July has been full since October.”

Print publications work far in advance, and with limited space. A print magazine needs to allot a significant portion of page count to advertising and regular columns, leaving sometimes only twenty or so pages for freelancers’ work. Last-minute pitches are typically not accepted.

Here’s a good rule of thumb for pitching print: Pitch at least six months out. If it’s July, pitch for February. Many print pubs actually provide their editorial calendars online, or, will let you know what they are if you ask (nicely). Do that quick web search again, and you can set yourself ahead of your competition.

It’s also important to note that while websites generally have shorter lead times than print, and more space, they still have methods for publishing, and for good reasons. If a site only does two posts per day, don’t pitch them a third. If they only post short pieces (because they know their readers don’t have the attention span for more than 500 words), don’t pitch them a 2,000-word deep dive on a topic.

Following up on a pitch (Dos and DON’TS )

So you’ve sent a great pitch—it’s addressed to the right person, the right way; it’s the right topic with the right angle; and you’ve sent it at the right time. Great! But then, you don’t hear anything back from the editor. For a week. For two weeks. For a month. Sigh.

When and how do you best follow up?

Keep in mind how many pitches editors get, and that most in-house editorial staffs these days are thinner than a sheet of paper, and know this: The editor probably very much wants to get back to you quickly, but is simply too buried to do so.

I advise waiting two to four weeks before following up on most pitches (six weeks for print). Then send a very calm, friendly, easy-going follow up. If an editor wants your piece, they’ll say so.

I do not recommend doing what I have seen some writers do: call every day; email every day; send increasingly aggressive follow-up emails; tag editors on social media (repeatedly); go down the masthead and call the sales director wanting to know why the editor hasn’t responded (seriously: DO NOT do this). An already overloaded editor will not appreciate this. At all.

Is it frustrating to put all the hard work and effort into crafting a pitch, and not even get the common courtesy of a “thanks, but no thanks,” in return? Yes, it is. Which is why, when I was in the editor’s chair, I tried to give this courtesy to everyone. But at some publications, that line about “due to the volume of requests we receive, we cannot respond to each one” is not bogus—it is completely legit. Don’t take it personally.

Do what Sinatra sang: “Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again.” To be successful in this business, patience and resilience are key. Make sure you hone yours.

4 Tips for a Great Pitch

Now that I’ve shared what not to do, here are four tips that will help you deliver a winning pitch:

1. If your pitch is similar to something recently done, but you feel strongly that it should still be considered, clearly delineate WHY your pitch is different. Share what sets it apart from the rest. Do you have access to experts that other writers may not? Do you have a truly unique angle on an oft-covered topic? Say so.

2. Refer to a recently-published piece you enjoyed, and tell them WHY you enjoyed it. Give specifics.

3. If you are pitching this piece to multiple outlets, say so. (Note: You increase your chances of acquisition if you are pitching exclusively.) Keep in mind, many publications will not accept simultaneous submissions. Do your homework and check the submission guidelines. Always.

4. Break your pitch down clearly for the editor. Give a headline/title, summary graph, bullet points. Give the reasons why you’re the best writer for the topic. (Are you an expert in this field? Do you write regularly on this subject?)

Further Reading

This blog really can only scratch the surface of the art of and science that is pitching. I recommend two resources for good advice on how to pitch specific outlets: Mediabistro’s “How to Pitch,” and Writer’s Digest’s “Market Spotlight.”

Do you have pitching experiences to share, from either side of the table? Are there questions you’d like to ask Ericka? Share them with us in the comments below!

About Ericka

Ericka McIntyre is a freelance writer and editor. She has over twenty years of experience working in media and publishing, for a wide array of employers and clients. She is also currently Editor-at-Large of Writer’s Digest, a 100-year-old brand serving the writing community. In her current work, she focuses on writing for a handful of regular clients, with a heavy emphasis on editing and book coaching for independent authors. She works on fiction and nonfiction, across multiple genres. She development edits, copyedits, and proofreads. Learn more about her and her work at www.erickamcintyre.com.

By Miffie Seideman

Ever ended a rough week by killing off one of your characters? Yeah, me too. No matter what people say, it can be cathartic. Even therapeutic. But, for authors with little to no drug knowledge, plot twists involving an overdose (accidental or otherwise) can seem complicated. To maintain credibility with readers, authors should make sure to get at least a few crucial drug-related facts right.

Written well, an overdose scene is a page-turner. But if your character instantly drops dead from an insulin overdose, the thud you hear won’t be from the body dropping to the ground.

It will be from readers closing your book in utter disappointed.

It’s fiction. Why not just make up facts?

I hear this argument quite often. As authors, we spend an inordinate amount of time researching historical data, geographic facts, magical lore, and so much more, to craft well-developed stories. Drug scenes should be no different.

Our readers may be one of the millions of healthcare workers, from paramedics to doctors. Some may be diabetics or cancer survivors. Some may be struggling with alcohol or opioid addiction. Today’s readers are savvier than ever before about drugs.

Writing blatantly inaccurate drug scenes can ruin a story for these readers, risking negative reviews. For example, the recent movie Knives Out relies on a flawed drug-related plot twist that ruins an otherwise fun, well-plotted (and mostly well-acted) story. Numerous online reviews were quick with grievances.

How to write drug-related scenes well (without medical knowledge)

Before writing these scenes, whether they involve smoking pot at a frat party or spies using lethal injections, I recommend researching the following key points:

Historic validity

Verify that the drug, and the way you depict it being given, existed in the historical time period of the story. For example, an early 1800’s historical fiction with an insulin-using diabetic character would be grossly inaccurate. Neither insulin nor injections were discovered until the 1900’s.

Societal trends

The socioeconomic circumstances of your characters will impact the drugs used and abused. A character living on the street might smoke crack cocaine, while a high-society hostess may serve an Ecstasy-laced cheese platter.

In addition, many drug use trends, and their prescribing habits, change over time. It was no accident that Agatha Christie’s pivotal scene in Murder on the Orient Express revolved around barbital, a popular sedative during the story’s time period.

Accurate Side effects

Consider these two important questions:

• What
  are typical side effects for the drug? A character should have a few realistic side effects.
  Hallucinations of paint dripping down walls are obviously more likely with an
  LSD trip, while a heart attack might end an energy drink chugging contest.
• How
  long do the effects take to develop? While instant effects are tempting, almost no
  drug works instantly. But this is actually wonderful for dramatic writing! For murder
  and overdose scenes, this fact gives authors a built-in real timeline to evolve
  the danger, creating a page-turner.

Putting it all together

Once you’ve gathered some basic clear facts, you can create a believable three-dimensional scene the reader won’t soon forget.

That insulin scene? It’s now set in the 1990’s. A woman measures insulin from a vial into a syringe, and gives herself a dose. The anticipation grows, as the reader watches helplessly, knowing the woman’s husband secretly switched the insulin concentration. As the woman sits back to watch an evening movie, the danger slowly evolves. She starts to feel dizzy, examines the insulin bottle, confused. The dose seemed right. Slowly, she realizes what has happened, knows she needs to find help. But she can’t think clearly. She tries to get up, stumbles, falls, her breathing strained. Does help arrive in time? The reader has no choice but to turn the page to find out.

Happy Plotting!

Note: Miffie has agreed to share her pharmaceutical know-how with us as an ongoing feature! If you have questions and scenarios you'd like her to explore for future posts, please share them in the comments.

Feel like you're killing your readers with unrealistic drug scenes? I’d love to hear your comments and questions!

About Miffie

Miffie Seideman has been a pharmacist for over 30 years, with a passion for helping others. She’s a published non-fiction author, with another peer-reviewed journal article coming out this month. An avid triathlete, she spends countless hours training in the deserts of Arizona, devising drug-related plot twists. She can be found hanging around onwemerrilystumble.com and on Twitter @MiffieSeideman.

By Ellen Buikema

Every writer dreams of developing characters who continue to lurk in a reader’s memory long after the story is over. Memorable characters, well-rounded dynamic beings who grow and change over the course of a book, will make a great story even better. Often static characters, who remain unchanged throughout the story, can be memorable too. However, every character must show emotions the reader can relate to if they want to achieve “memorable” status.

Emotion directs action.

Emotion, which is a blend of energy and motion, directs action. The four basic emotions -- happiness, sadness, anger, and fear -- can be woven into your characters’ frameworks to cement them into the reader’s mind.

How can you do this?

Using facial descriptions in your story paints a vivid portrait for your reader.

The following physical descriptions may be helpful to use while writing your characters’ actions to indicate these four emotions:

For happiness: 

• Smiling with teeth exposed or not
• Wrinkles near corners of the eyes
• Facial cheeks raised
• Crescent-shaped eyes

Showing sadness:

• Inner corners of the eyebrows are
  squeezed in and upwards
• Jaw protrusion
• Lips downturned
• Lower lip pushed outward
• Eyes cast down

To indicate anger:  

• Eyebrows pressed together to make a
  crease
• Eyelids taut
• Head lowered to a minor degree
• Eyes look upwards through a lowered brow
• Strained facial muscles
• Flaring nostrils
• Lips pressed tight
• A severe gaze (Disgust looks similar to
  anger.)

For fearful looks:

• Eyebrows are raised and drawn together
• Raised upper eyelid
• Forehead wrinkled
• Tensed lower eyelid
• Whites of the eyes visible
• Mouth open, and lips pressed (Surprise
  looks much the same as fear.)

Every character needs…

A reason to exist

Your characters live in a world you’ve built for them that is just as real to them as our world is real to us. Characters need a reason for being to keep the story alive and in motion.

Balance of strengths and flaws

Whenever I read a book or watch a movie I feel very uncomfortable if there isn’t balance, or at least someone to have faith in. The first time I watched The Night of the Hunter I had the worst time until the children found a sensible adult to help balance the pursuing murderous, grifter character, played by Robert Mitchum. (I based the main antagonist for my WIP on this nasty fellow.)

In order to be well-rounded characters, the protagonists and antagonists require both strengths and weaknesses. A character without flaws is unnatural and irritating. Think of the fun you can have giving flaws to your antagonist! Perhaps she has an irrational fear of bunnies or a revolting personal habit. This website on Character Flaws is comprehensive.

Internal and external conflicts

Internal and external conflicts are obstacles to the character’s goals. Both force your characters to grow and change. These tensions create conflict and propel the story forward. Consider how internal and external conflicts might collide. A character may be fiercely independent yet find himself in the middle of a disaster and need help from others to survive.

Distinctive mannerisms

Your characters may have unusual speech, repetitive gestures, or walking patterns. For her distinctive walk, actress Marilyn Monroe had a half inch removed from one of her shoe heels, adding to her swinging gait.

Mannerisms help the reader understand the character’s self-image. For instance: “He sat at the kitchen table, eyes glazed while he chewed his fingernails to nubs.” This sentence gives us a good understanding of the character's frame of mind. He is showing us how he feels. Mannerisms can also show how one character feels about another. For example: “The sixth-grade boy sauntered up to a girl from his class and punched her lightly on the arm, grinning a sloppy smile.” He definitely had a crush.

Backstory

Consider the physical and mental health, and how the character has been affected by family and local environments. Was she ignored as a child, leading to a great need for attention?  Did he grow up well-to-do and then lose everything as a preadolescent, completely changing his personality? This background information doesn’t need to be included in the story, but truly helps the writer understand character motivations.

Research Homework for Your Story

One or more of your characters may have a physical or cognitive disability, be of a culture foreign to you, or have an unusual ailment or psychological profile. The character’s believability will stand or fall squarely on research. Today’s readers are more diverse and discerning than ever before.

Some tips:

Internet searches are helpful. If at all possible, find and interview professionals in the needed areas and add their names to your acknowledgment page if they’d like to be included. In my most recent book, The Hobo Code, I needed information on a psychopath and wanted to be sure I had the correct profile. I happen to know a retired forensic psychologist. We had a lovely, albeit weird, luncheon discussion all about psychopaths.

Final Thought

Layer your fictional folk with emotional reality. Finding perfection in the imperfect will give you beautifully flawed and memorable characters.

Above Image by Виктория Бородинова from Pixabay

What do your characters need? Do you tend to favor certain emotions in your characters? What type of characters do you have the most fun writing?

******

About Ellen

Author, speaker, and former teacher Ellen L. Buikema has written non-fiction for parents and a series of chapter books for children with stories encouraging the development of empathy—sprinkling humor wherever possible. Her Work In Progress, The Hobo Code, is YA historical fiction.

Find her at http://ellenbuikema.com or on Amazon.