Yahoo! Here’s my first Market-view with a writer mama. The purpose is to provide insights that will help all of us writer mamas get our words into print. Hope you like it!
Christina: What was your writing and revising process like for your recent Christian Science Monitor essay, “Maybe being different isn’t so bad”?
Abby: The essay started out as an entry for my blog, http://diaryofanewmom.blogspot.com last March when I was 6 mos. pregnant. With several of my entries, I had the intention of turning them into stand-alone essays that I’d try to get published elsewhere. For this one, the blog entry was the rough draft, and then I revised the essay as I tailored it for different markets. I submitted versions of this piece to the Washington Post, Women’s Health, and a Writer’s Digest contest before selling it to the Christian Science Monitor. They wanted it cut down by about 300 words, which I did. And by that time I’d had my baby so I had to modify the ending a bit!
Christina: What do you now know about what it takes to break an essay into the CSM that you didn’t know before?
Abby: CSM has very clear writers’ guidelines which usually come as an autoreply to submissions. For instance, this was the response I got:
[Our essays] are first-person, nonfiction explorations of how one responded to a place, a person, a situation, an event, or happenings in everyday life. Tell a story; share a funny true tale. The humor should be gentle. We accept essays on a wide variety of topics. At the moment, we are looking for more first-person essays on gardening, travel, parenting (your personal experiences, not just advice for someone else), home, family, and food (including, if it’s pertinent, a recipe. Word count should be less than 1,000 words. Essays of less than 450 words are always needed, and there’s a current need for essays of 800-950 words.
For the record, I have submitted several essays to them in the past that didn’t sell.
Christina: Any general advice for moms who are trying to get their essays published in paid markets?
Abby: Tailor your essay for your ideal market. As much as possible, mimic the subject matter, voice, and headlines of the essays they publish. No matter how good your essay about your newborn is, it won’t sell to a magazine that’s targeted to moms of preschoolers, for example. Similarly, if a publication runs 500-word essays, they’re not going to make an exception for your 1,200-word masterpiece.
That said, I will often end up with 3-4 versions of an essay — different lengths, different leads — and modify them slightly each time I send them out to fit that particular market.
Also, if you’ve got a good idea for an essay, go ahead and write it even if you don’t have a market in mind. I have dozens of essays sitting on my computer that I periodically dust off and send out again, perhaps tweaking them slightly or updating them with a more timely lead or ending. I have sold essays years after I wrote them. Fortunately, many essay topics don’t have an expiration date.
Abigail Green
Freelance Writer
http://diaryofanewmom.blogspot.com
Thanks for visiting Abby’s blog! Tell her, the WM sent you!
Thanks for this, Christina and Abigail. You really inspired this writermama! I can’t wait to get the book. I’ve bookmarked your blog and look forward to visiting often. Trying to do this writer/mom thing one day at a time and not get too overwhelmed. This was good for today. Thank you for reminding me that it’s all possible, and for sharing your stories.
Hi Christina and Abigail,
Thanks so much for that message. One thing I ask is how do you get over the fear of rejection. This keeps me from submitting. Not only that, but working full time, raising my son and starting my last year of grad school are all things that make it difficult for me to put my work out there. I try to write everyday and review old ideas. I just don’t know where to find the nerve to send my work out there. Thanks again for sharing your insights and keep up the great work.
Heiddi