February 2010

February 2010 issue

The Writer

The essential resource for writers

Join thousands of successful writers when you subscribe to The Writer magazine. Each month The Writer is full of features you can use to improve your writing, including before-and-after examples of improved writing, more literary markets than ever before, practical solutions for writing problems, selected literary magazine profiles, tips from famous authors and hands-on advice.

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Features
Get Started: Start your blog in 7 steps
By Andy Hayes
Launching a blog is a great way to showcase your work and impress potential customers. Our writer walks you though the process of establishing one.
pg. 11
Breakthrough: An editor's specific need was her ticket to success
By Nancy I. Sanders
Our writer made good on her longtime dream of getting a children's picture book published. In the process, she also sold 70,000 copies of it and won some awards.
pg. 12
By Robert Dugoni
In writing, as in baseball, you have to stick with it to hit one out of the park. The author, a former successful attorney turned thriller writer ("The Jury Master"), knows all about it.
pg. 13
Poet to Poet: Writing to the letter
By Marilyn Taylor
Experiment with three playful forms to take your composition to a new micro-level. Learn about the acrostic, the abecedarian and the lipogram.
pg. 15
To 'entertain and educate'
By Mort Castle
Ron Hansen, author of such novels as "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" and "Mariette in Ecstasy," follows his fictional values and restless imagination, which ranges from historical characters to religious themes.
pg. 18
What retail-sales work taught a veteran freelancer
By Caitlin Kelly
You may be surprised at how similar the selling challenge is.
pg. 21
Archive: Know the 8 C's of effective nonfiction
By Don Ranly
Follow these tips to entertain your readers with a creative yet credible story.
pg. 22
2009 Short-Story Contest winner: The Trip to Goodbye
By Douglas Crago
See why our contest judge, Shelby Hearon, called this "a perfect story ... [without] a single unnecessary word." And after you've read the story and the judge's comments, learn a little about the winning writer.
pg. 24
Traditional or do-it-yourself: Which way to go?
By Lu Ann Brobst Staheli
An author who's been down both publishing roads describes the most important issues worth considering.
pg. 26
Step by Step: How to format your self-published book
By Moira Allen
Here's a 10-step guide (mainly for Word 2007 users) to help make the inside of your book look professional--without hiring a pro.
pg. 28
Finding a market in nooks and crannies
By Gordon Mathieson
This self-publisher succeeds with his fiction set in Cape Cod by thinking small and specialized.
pg. 31
Take a productive break from writing
By Arthur Plotnik
Guilt be gone--here, from an especially wise and learned author, are seven avoidance activities that are actually good for your work.
pg. 32
Freelance Success: No more one-story sales
By Kelly James-Enger
Are you getting only one bang for the buck? What a waste. Make the most of your research time by reslanting multiple article ideas for different markets.
pg. 34
Market Focus: Clue in to mystery short-story markets
By Brendan DuBois
Ever think about taking a shot at publications like Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine? Here's a useful review of a story genre that can not only earn you recognition and credibility--but maybe even land an agent for your novel.
pg. 38
Literary Spotlight: The Southeast Review
By Melissa Hart
This month's spotlight is on the literary journal The Southeast Review, describing its tone, preferences and contributors.
pg. 40
Departments
Letters
Letters from our readers
Take Note
Bloggers beware: The FTC wants you to own up to freebies
By Chuck Leddy, others
The FTC has a few things to say about full disclosure by bloggers, plus other literary notes, Lisa Shearin's regular column, and more.
pg. 8
WriteStuff
Can-do spirit rules novel-writing guide
By Chuck Leddy, Steve Weinberg
Reviews of "Is Life Like This? A Guide to Writing Your First Novel in Six Months" by John Dufresne, and "Now Write! Nonfiction: Memoir, Journalism, and Creative Nonfiction Exercises From Today's Best Writers and Teachers, edited by Sherry Ellis.
pg. 36
Market listings
Agents
By Compiled by Martha Lundin
How I write
By Michelle Reale
For Pia Z. Ehrhardt, short stories in progress sometimes want to hold on to their truths and not let her in. She has some techniques for showing who's boss.
pg. 50
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