Word Magic

“I’d be lost without this book as a reference. It would be like paddling a canoe without the oars. It’s well done and informative—a must have.”

—Sr. Mary Laerence Hiti, Columbia, PA

Dear Fellow Writer,

Established writers and newcomers alike keep sending us unsolicited praise that our annual Writer’s Guide provides them with valuable advice, tips, and guidance to help them on the road to publication. It is information they don’t find anywhere else.

The one constant in today’s publishing world is that there is no constant—almost everything is changing, and quickly too. This year’s edition of Writer’s Guide offers insights from more than 200 editors, publishers, and other leaders in the industry, giving you thousands of insights you need to navigate the major transformations and the subtle shifts taking place. Filled with shrewd insider tips, market-tested strategies, and publishing wisdom, Writer’s Guide to 2012 is 432 pages of writers’ pure gold. For example—

After two years of demoralizing sales and profit declines, the American book industry has rebounded with two years of growth in both sales and profits. Overall industry sales were up by 5.6% in the latest year, unit sales by 4.1%.

Inside those numbers is the huge advance made by ebooks. E-reader use has doubled in a year. Amazon made huge news by having its first month ever when it sold more ebooks than traditional books, and that excluded free Kindle titles.

For decades self-publishing has been derided by traditional publishers. No more. Today, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and e-tailers like Smashwords have dropped the pejoratives and improved self-publishing’s standing with consumer acceptance, reviews, and mounting sales.

Then there is On-Demand’s Espresso Book Machine, which allows a bookstore customer to print out a book in three minutes. No more waiting for a shipment to come in. The Machine offers self-published books, those in the common domain, and those from HarperCollins, the first major publisher to sign up. The smart money is on other publishers to follow suit. It’s relatively new, but it’s up and coming.

Do you know about book publisher and imprint start-ups like Electric Monkey, Scholastic Ruckus, Albert Whitman Teen, Jericho Books, Splinter, Downtown Books, Kensington Teen, Confluence Books, Signal, Fenn/McClelland & Stewart, and others? They are all reviewed in Writer’s Guide to 2012.

Also in the news are changes among important editors. Do you know where these people are now: Gillian Blake, Phyllis Grann, Elise Howard, Jennifer Hunt, Julie Strauss-Gabel, Lauri Hornik, Larry Kirshbaum, Betsy Mitchell, Elizabeth Van Doren, or Linda Zecher?

Writer’s Guide reports that 438 new consumer magazines were introduced last year while business-to-business publications declined. Weekly celebrity titles’ sales also declined, but still make up 30% of newsstand units, while men’s titles really softened. Three women’s publications with bargain cover prices took up the slack: Woman’s World, First, and All You—perhaps a reflection of careful consumer spending. Parenting magazines are also growing in number.

And, like the e-reader with books, tablets are changing the face of magazine publishing. Although unit volume for these applications is still low, their sales could easily blossom into Kindle and Nook proportions. Probably not with kids, however, where experts think the paper experience will thrive.

Do you know about all the new magazines such as Mash Magazine, Film Threat, Lucky Kids, Pynk, Everyday Bride, Rebel, Sportsnet, Astonish, HGTV Magazine, Timbuktu, i.Business, Vibrant Living, ATX Man, Knitting Today, Kore Magazine, Peloton, AKA Mom, and Little Bit?

Profiles are in demand in almost every type of magazine. Editors from five publishers talk about how to best prepare for an interview with your profile subject, how to adapt profiles for different magazines, and the one major secret ingredient, “tell a story.”

Short fiction is hot. With word counts from 50 to 1,000 words, this material is especially well-suited to Internet publications. Do you know about flash fiction, minute fiction, quick fiction, skinny fiction, sudden fiction, postcard fiction, microfiction, nanofiction, the drabble, or 69ers? Guide also details 22 possible markets for you.

Nonfiction series represent terrific opportunities for long-term work. Writer’s Guide reviews the pluses and minuses of going this route, with input from editors at Sterling Children’s Books, Morgan Reynolds Publishing, and The Creative Company.

Regional publishers, both magazine and book, are perhaps the best place to seek freelance work these days. These markets are flourishing and they are open to new authors, especially the seven publishers interviewed by Writer’s Guide.

Editors from Marshall Cavendish, Absey & Company, Capstone Fiction, Stories for Children, and Eerdman’s Books for Young Readers talk about what makes good writing for the youngest readers. Writer’s Guide reviews 36 high potential markets.

Screenwriting has a realistic side that is sometimes lost in the desire to write blockbuster scripts: production costs. Writer’s Guide takes you through an evaluative process to determine if your script is cost—and therefore production—friendly.

Tablet apps have very tight writing specifications, but once you master them, there is a burgeoning market available. Eight agents and publishers recommend the rights and wrongs, ten publishers to approach, and a dozen top-selling apps to study.

“Voice” is as important in writing saleable nonfiction as it is in fiction. The author still has to pull readers in, hook them, and not let them leave. Guide provides exercises and techniques to help you bring out your voice.

The structure of your novel needs to be developed from the inside out, not by copying a book you have read and liked. Guide’s analysis will help you decide whether to adopt linear or circular structure, flashbacks, dream sequences, multiple viewpoints, or the many other tricks of the trade.

“Tension is what changes well-written to a great read,” says Lea Wait. She and several other accomplished authors review the best techniques for creating page-turning tension.

What contemporary fantasy should and should not do.
How to write your very best resume.
Defining your audience as the first step to a successful writing project.
How to promote yourself: website creation and design.
How to double the traffic to your personal website.
Optimizing social media to help you build a following.
And lots more.

“These Guides are wonderful. I found them extremely helpful in targeting my writing to new markets and magazines.”

—Kimberly Stone, Toronto, ON

“This book is extremely helpful-even for a published author. I was amazed at the new insights I learned from it.”

—Mary Wronko, Edmonton, AB

“I find Writer’s Guide extremely helpful in keeping me updated in these economically difficult times . . . It helped me to successfully publish my first book (at age 84!) . . . with National Geographic.”

—Doris Gayzagian, Chelmsford, MA

Use the Guide for 30 days. If you don’t find the Writer’s Guide to 2012 as valuable as we think you will during your free examination period, simply return the book to us and we’ll refund the full purchase price you paid.

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