Any Published Writters?

[Joy]

Hi. I was wondering (if I am allowed) how many published writters are on this website. If you are a published writter could you tell us and maybe give us some advise? I just cannot find paying places to publish Christian fiction. Thanks.

[firstacts]

Joy,

I've had some success in publishing. What type of fiction are you wanting to place? Is it short story - novella, full length novel?

Have you ever written for free (or have you had other pieces placed before)?

The reason I ask is that by doing so small pieces that garner some publishing success you can build a portfolio to help when you're looking at publishing something more that may command a price.

Glenn :)

[Joy]

Hi, and thanks. I plan on writting a couple of things for free publishing, like for one of the magizines in the "Writers for Hire," but no I have nothing no where. I have a short shory, about 1,600 words. It is posted in the fiction seciton here, "Through My Daugher." I need to find more time to write, which would also help. I am the wife of an assistant pastor, the church secretary, and a mother of a three year old. So I end up doing a lot of mothering and church work.

[firstacts]

Joy,

One of the best things you can do is to grab hold of your best work, have others look it over for grammar and spelling issues. Then send to someplace like Parables - they work exclusively with Christian fiction. If they don't use it - they will tell you why - giving you an idea of what you may want to work on. Either way you are a bit further ahead for the next time you submit. Rejection is a writers close companion :p

It is often best to try a non-paying market first to learn how everything works, then start spreading your wings.

Write On,

Glenn !thumbsup!

[Joy]

You mentioned "Parables." I am new to writting for publication and fairly new to this site. What is "Parables?" I have seen it named a few times, I think it is a magizine of sorts, but I am not completly sure. Thanks for the help.

[DrRita]

One of the best resources for markets is Sally Stewart's Christian Writer's Market. Her website http://www.stuartmarket.com/ has a great deal of information on it. You can also go the the individual magazine's websites and get their writer's guidelines. Hope this helps.

[dbrianshafer]

Hi Joy--

Not sure if you are for real or not based on your posts, but I am a published writer. I know ONE thing that will help you is to use a spell checker. Publishers frown on poorly written error-ridden stuff. So get a dictionary and keep writting...er writing.

brian

[Joy]

I looked at the site. It looks wonderful. Thank you for your help.

[Joy]

Real or not?

Well, I am a real person. Real about writting, yes; but I know I have a long ways to go. Spelling? Yes, I know it's bad, but you don't have to be so rude. There are many good writers who have bad spelling (sometimes typeos). That is why they spell check their stories and have others read it. If you want to see a story of mine, then read "Through My Daughter" in the fiction workshop.

[dbrianshafer]

Hey--
Sorry. wasn't trying to be rude. Just didn't want to write a long email response. The fact is the business has a brutal side to it that you have to expect if you want to be published--including rejections, critiques, etc. And EVERY advantage you can give yourself helps. Spelling is one of those things that can make or break a manuscript really quick depending on the editor. Not saying you aren't going to be published some day--but your question was along the lines of "What do I need to be doing?" and the first thing I saw was the errors in your email. Anyway--hope you continue writing and have a great experience. I'll check out your story. Blessings!

brian

PS--The reason i was suspicious is becaus eso many people get on these sites and write dopey letters just to get a rise out of people and I thought maybe you were misspelling, etc. on purpose. See ya!

[DrRita]

Joy,
Since this forum doesn't have a spellchecker, what I do is always have a blank word document up in the background so if I am unsure of a word, I type it on my blank word document and then check it with the spellchecker. It works like a charm and hides my sometimes bad spelling :rolleyes: Maybe this will help you too.
R

[Rebecca]

Joy,

I'm working on a markets listing feature right now which will come in handy. I'm expecting to have it in beta by the end of this month. Of course, it'll take time to fill the listings up, but it will be an excellent place to start. :)

Rebecca

[venavino]

Hi--

I was looking to see if anyone answered Joy's question about "Parables." I'm also curious about what it is. Fill me in, please?

--Venavino

[wgjones3]

http://www.parablesmag.com/

More info about it from this site can be found using the search function.

[Joy]

Hi Joy--

Not sure if you are for real or not based on your posts,

brian


Hi. I know there is a rough side of writing. My husband has received several rejection letters. I know that there are a lot of writers and every little thing counts. It is the above that I took offence to. I do not mind a short answer or a truthful one. I guess I also was not in the best of moods this morning, I found out that my horse is dying. All is fine. Thanks.

[Joy]

Thank you for posting the website for Parables. It looks good and I will look more at it later.

[Joy]

Thank you to all the published writers who responded. If there are any more who would like to give us beginners any advice, of any kind, please feel free to respond.

[kriswrite]

My advice is to read everything you can about writing and the business of getting published. Writer's Digest Books are a tremendous resource: http://www.writersdigest.com/store/books.asp

Also, of course, study new books being written in the genres you favor.

It's not only vitally important to have polished writing, but it's also vital to be up to date on what publisher's are seeking today, and approach publishers in a professional manner.

I hope this helps!
Kristina
www.kristinaseleshanko.com

[BrotherDave]

I got a letter to the editor published today. Yahoo!
Every little printing is a thrill.

Getting published is a lot of work, even more work if you want to get paid for it.
It really affirms me when someone pays for one of my stories. I figure I must be good if someone wants to hand me some of their hard earned or tightly budgeted money for a story. Anybody can give you compliments and tell you how good you are, but when they lay down cash, well, money talks.

I try to send out at least one story a month, sometimes more, to different publishers. I've been averaging one or two sales to magazine publications a year. I'm always looking for new markets and new contacts for future stories. It may take me a few days to a month to write a story worthy of publication, that includes research and editing, and then a few weeks to find the right markets, and then I may not hear from a publisher for 3 to six months.

Work, perservere and patience are the keys.

brotherdave

[Joy]

Hi. Thank you to each of you for your advice. It sounds like a longer, harder project than I expected.

I hope that those reading this thread will be helped by those who have been there.