Writing Short Fiction – A Good Ending

As the editor of an online Literary publication, Ramble Underground, I see way too many Fiction pieces fall short at the end. After writing a tight story with a clear and enticing beginning, most writers pull us through to the middle and then drop us flat on our faces. I have read several stories where I was looking for the next page, wishing they went that extra mile or minute. Those stories have not been published.

I am not advocating Disney endings or endless short fiction stories without direction. Your ending can be anything you want, but spend at least as much time on it as you did the beginning. Be sure that your ending serves the purpose of the story.

The most common ending pitfalls we see in short fiction writing:

Hurried endings (Big build-ups, epic tragedy, all resolved within a paragraph – ain’t life grand)

Loose ends (You don’t have to explain everything. Not everything has an answer, but don’t leave key things out.)

Pointlessness (Many stories end where they began, nowhere and none the better for it. Have the reader be changed: give them a new prospective or understanding)

We all know the importance of the first sentence, but what about the last? Don’t sell your work short and toss away countless hours, spend time on the ending. You’ll never get published without one.

Joseph Thomas is the editor of Rambleunderground, a Quarterly online publication of Fiction, Poetry, Art, and Photography. Read his blog at What The H?

January 16th, 2009

How to Identify Great Book Ideas and Writing Opportunities

The first and maybe the most important step in writing a book is coming up with a great idea for some really useful or interesting book. The great idea makes the writing fun. The great idea makes the book easier to sell to a publisher. In the end, the great idea means you’ve got a shot at making good money from your writing. Unfortunately, many new writers don’t have a clue as to how to do this. Accordingly, I offer the following tips based on the 150 or so books I’ve written and the three dozen books I’ve published:

Don’t pick something big and obvious…

The first thorough book on any important topicthe last war, the current big business success, the next medical breakthroughcan be a good book that succeeds even to the point of becoming a bestseller. But I respectfully suggest that you leave the big topics to the big writers. The problem with big, well-known topics is that they are well-known. And that means, very probably, that big publishers are already talking to big authors about writing books. Sorry. But that’s the reality.

Find your own space…

A related point to this idea of staying away from the really big topics is that you need to find your space. You will find it very hard to succeedespecially as a new writerif you’re doing what’s already been done. Publishers, booksellers and readers will too easily respond to your book or book idea with the feeling, “Well, yes, but hasn’t [insert name of well-known, bestselling writer here] already done that?” By innovating, however, you may be able to find your own empty spacea niche that isn’t already occupied by some successful book or series or author.

Fortunately, you often don’t need to be wildly innovative to create the illusion of existing in a new space. Incremental innovation usually works well. All you need, sometimes, is to be just enough different that publishers, booksellers, and readers will say, “Oh, that seat is empty.”

A warning must be made, however. Your innovation can’t be to “write a better book.” And it’s not that writing a better book isn’t a good idea. It’s just that “writing a better book” isn’t innovative. Too many writers think of the idea.

Test the market appeal of your idea…

Here’s another technique for filtering and refining your ideas: You ought to write a press release for your idea to verify that the ultimate book sells well as a concept. A press release is a one-page news story that touts your book and proves to people who will help sell and promote your bookdistributors, wholesalers, booksellers and magazine editorsthat your book is special and unique and worth looking at. Your press release gives your book a chance to break out from the pack of other books and get noticed. Any idea that can’t be distilled into a great press release is risky.

You can see what book press releases are by visiting publisher web sites. You want to visit web sites and look for press releases for books like the book your idea may produce. While you’re doing this, look at any magazines that review books like the one you’re contemplating: Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Booklist, and so on. Get an idea about the sorts of books get people talking.

Build a list of periodicals that will blurb your book…

If you’re considering a nonfiction book, you ought to be able to come with a list of a handful of special interest periodicals (magazines, newsletters, newspapers, and so forth) that prove people are interested in the topic of your book. If you want to write a book about raising Guinea pigs, conspiracy theories concerning the last president, or monetary policy in emerging economies, for example, one of the best ways you can confidently predict people will buy and read your book is to verify that people are already buying and reading periodicals about the topic.

If you do construct such a list, include the list and subscriber count information in your proposal to a publisher. The publisher can use your list to promote your book. In fact, as a former publisher, I promise you a publisher will look more seriously at any proposal that shows this level of author insight into the marketing of a book.

Try to fit your idea into an existing series…

Here’s another technique. If you can fit your idea into a publisher’s existing series, you ought to try that approach. While of course, we writers find it most satisfying to go our own way creatively, you’ll find it much easier to sell another idea that fits in an existing successful series.
I’ve always written about how to use technology for business and for personal finance. That’s my space. And I’ve got lots of good interesting ideas for books. But my bestselling book has been Quicken for Dummies (Hungry Minds 1993-2005). Would I like to write a different sort of personal financial management book? Yes. But to date Quicken for Dummies has sold one million copies in its numerous editions. The royalties on those salve away any creative disappointment.

Focus on a small niche…

That last number I mentioned, the one million copies of Quicken for Dummies, raises an interesting point. As you manage your research time, you can make good money on a book that sells ten thousand copies. Maybe as much as $15,000. A book that sells twenty thousand copies or more is a big hit for both you and your publisher. And that means your best bet is often to go after niche. Don’t just write another whodunit mystery, write a whodunit for children. Or better yet, write a whodunit mystery for Christian children or Muslim children or Jewish children. And then promote your book not just like all the other mystery publishers do but also using religious education periodicals that go out to churches or mosques or synagogues.

Don’t worry about slicing the market too small. Few booksalmost no bookssell more than ten or twenty thousand copies. If you find a group of one hundred thousand or one million people with a special interesteven though that’s a very small slice on a planet with billions of peopleyour book idea can produce a successful work.

Verify your idea is big enough for a book…

One final idea and this is especially important for new writers. You need to make sure that your idea is big enough for a bookthe content you’ll create is big enough to fill 250 pages or 500 pages or whatever. Experienced authors can do this intuitively. I know which ideas of mine support two hundred pages or four pages of writing. But new writers often can’t gauge this very well. Ever read a book where by the third chapter the author just rehashes material already covered in chapters 1 and 2? That’s a book where the idea wasn’t big enough.

Especially for nonfiction books, you ought to try writing a couple of example chaptersmaybe chapters 1 and 4to make sure you’ve got a big topic. Your chapters don’t need to be pristine or perfect. But make sure that you can write a couple of good, rich chapters that aren’t redundant. When you’re done with those chapters, look at what other topics you want to cover and make sure that there’s still stuff left for at least two or three more interesting chapters. A bit of rehashing is okay, I think. But you don’t want people reaching for the television’s remote control in the second chapter.

Seattle author and accountant Stephen L. Nelson is the author of more than 150 books which have collectively sold more than 4,000,000 copies in English and have been translated into a dozen other languages. He is also a former book publisher.

January 16th, 2009

Public Speaking: How to Deliver a Punch Line

The punch line gets its name from the delivery technique used. You must punch the line out a little harder and with a slightly different voice than the rest of the joke. Lean into the microphone and say it louder and more clearly than you said the setup lines. If the audience does not hear the punch line, they are not going to laugh.

Just before the punch line you should pause slightly
(see Timing article)
to emphasize and draw special attention to the line.

After you deliver the line, don’t utter another sound. Give the audience a chance to laugh. Words or phrases appended to the climax tend to delay or impede laughter. Until you get some experience, it is really tough to wait. Beginners tend to be afraid that no laughter will come, so they keep going. If you keep talking during this period, you will easily squelch the laughter. As your confidence builds, pausing will become easier and easier. Sometimes waiting the audience out will actually give them a cue to laugh even if the joke wasn’t that great.

Deliver the line to one person

When you deliver your punch line, deliver it to one person and one person only. It doesn’t matter how large the crowd is, you can look one person right in the eye and deliver your line.

The person to whom you deliver the punch line is NOT randomly chosen. I deliver punch lines to a person I know is going to laugh. How do I know? I pay attention. That’s how I know. It all starts with my pre-program research. If I have spoken to any of the audience members and they were laughing with me on the phone, I’ll seek them out before the program so I know where they are sitting. That way I can look directly at them during the program. Before the program starts, I mingle with the participants, not only to meet them, but to see who is and who is not in fun (mingling with them helps to put them
in fun (see the “in fun” article).

In addition, I watch the audience when the emcee or program coordinator is talking. This gives me a mental note of the people who are not only having fun, but also paying close attention to the person speaking.

Watch out for alcohol

Don’t be fooled by an audience who appears to be having great fun. It could very likely have been induced by alcohol at their social hour. They may be oblivious to what’s happening on-stage.

Head nods

After you have begun your presentation, another way to tell who to deliver to is by closely watching the audience. Some audience members who are really in tune with what you are saying will nod their head gently in approval. You should have great success delivering to these people.

Why deliver to the laughers?

There are two reasons for delivering your punch line to someone you know will laugh. The most important is that you want that person to be a good example for the rest of the audience. If you direct a punch line or comment to a person in the audience, the other members of the audience will naturally look in that direction. If they see someone laughing, there is a high probability they will laugh too. If you deliver your line to some sourpuss that hasn’t laughed for 20 years, the rest of the audience will see an example of someone NOT laughing and they will be negatively influenced.

A 1976 study by Antony Chapman and D. S. Wright supports the notion that the lack of laughter or inappropriate laughter (the kind of laughter you would get if you pick on someone or some group inappropriately and they laugh to save face) are inhibitors of laughter.

The second reason for delivering your punch line to someone you know will laugh has to do with confidence. There is little chance that you will get old sourpuss to laugh no matter what you do. If you kill yourself trying and fail, as you probably will, it will knock your confidence level and affect the rest of your performance. Combine this with the fact that you will be ignoring the rest of the audience, who will be watching this person not laugh, and you’ll be quickly swinging in the wind. Deliver to the ones that appreciate you!

Copyright © 1998 – 2005 Advanced Public Speaking Institute

Tom Antion provides entertaining speeches and educational seminars. He is the ultimate entrepreneur, having owned many businesses BEFORE graduating college. Tom is the author of the best selling presentation skills book “Wake ‘em Up Business Presentations” and “Click: The Ultimate Guide to Electronic Marketing.” It is important to Tom that his knowledge be not only absorbed, but enjoyed. This is why he delivers his speeches laced with great humor and hysterical jokes. Tom has addressed more than 87 different industries and is thoroughly committed to his clients’ needs. http://www.antion.com

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January 15th, 2009

Article Submission Websites; What Good Are They really?

One of the new fastest moving sectors in the Internet in the Online Article Submission OAS craze. Some have recently said it may surpass the BLOGs. What started as an Internet hybrid of the print Trade Journal writer from Industry, who put their short Bio or contact information below, has been growing exponentially on the Internet. One site leads the field as the premier OAS and that site is EzineArticles.com, but some critics ask, what good is it anyway?

Of course such critics are now looking silly eating the dust of 14,000 authors who have contributed 100,000 articles to the site. Several authors have posted over 300 articles to the site and one over 2900. But what good is it the critics say, refusing to acknowledge the obvious success?

Well the OAS EzineArticles.com, for instance is whatever you want it to be; It is an information library for the human race, it is a way to be heard, it is a way to promote a product or service, it is a place to store your creative work, it is an avenue of distribution, it is a mini-Internet, it is a way to enlighten the next generation, it is a way to boost your self esteem, it is all that and more.

One only needs to ask them selves where do you want to go today? Anyone who cannot see that is missing all there is to offer in the new OAS Trend. It would not be the first time mankind has missed the point, but there is no sense in allowing us to be doomed to repeat when we all have the greatest place on the Internet right there, to meet!

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

January 15th, 2009

Debt Advice Information – a Government Requirement

Debt Advice Information – A Government Requirement

The right debt advice, at the right time, can make all the difference. How many struggling borrowers wouldn’t be struggling today if they’d had a bit of guidance yesterday?

In June, Justice Minister Bridget Prentice announced new proposals designed to help borrowers get the debt advice they need before it’s too late.

Under the new proposals, all creditors will be required to write to borrowers before they take legal action against them, telling them how to get in touch and where they can find independent, free debt advice. According to the Ministry of Justice website, nearly nine out of ten respondents think that early advice like this ‘would go a long way in helping people find ways to settle their debts’.

Debt advice “can make the difference between keeping your home or losing it”
“Getting the right advice at the right time can make the difference between keeping your home or losing it,” said the Justice Minister. “Today’s proposals give people a chance to look for ways to tackle their debts, where to go for advice and the different ways repayments can be managed.”

The Minister also pointed out that most creditors already encouraged people with debt problems to talk to them and/or get in touch with a debt advice provider, but she stressed that “this new step will make it the norm for everyone.”

Debt advice where it’s needed
Before they come into effect, all the proposals will have to be included in civic procedure rules, which means they’ll have to be recommended to the Civil Justice Council and the Civil Procedure Rule Committee.

From July onwards, all county courts will display posters telling people how to get in touch with organisations that provide debt advice for free – and later on in the year, the online claim form ‘Possession Claim On-Line’ (which creditors use) will contain a similar list of free debt advice providers.

“There’s no question that early access to debt advice can make a huge difference to someone who’s struggling to keep up with their debts,” said a spokesperson for debt management company Gregory Pennington. “As one of the UK’s largest debt help companies, we’ve been providing free debt advice for 15 years. Everyone’s situation is different, but one thing is true of all debt problems: they don’t go away on their own. In general, the earlier someone takes independent debt advice, the greater their chances of resolving their debt problems as easily (and cheaply) as possible.”

Get free debt advice on debt management, debt consolidation and IVAs at GregoryPennington.com

January 13th, 2009

Heli Boarding Is an Exciting Mode of Savouring Snowboarding

Okay you are searching for a novel method to savour skiing? You’re tired of the same old ride, the skiing lift then snowboard down the black run that every body is boarding? You need embark on heliboarding. You will be able to ski pure skiing domains that hardly any other people have a chance to ski and one can do it so close from Geneva Chamonix.

So what is heli boarding? Heliboarding is skiing, only instead of catching a chair lift to climb up to the crest of the track, you jump in a helicopter. Heliskiing opens up unique untouched mountains for your snowboarding fun.

Characteristically heli-skiing trips call for a modest group of skiers steered by a knowledgeable skiing guide who knows intimately the mountain. Skiers are flown to the summit of the field to be snowboarded jump off the helicopter and snowboard to the end of the slope. When at the end they are greeted by the whirlybird to make some other descent. One might enjoy a lot of runs in a day. It is a pleasant and exciting trip where you see views and feel adventures other people can just aspire to.

Heliboarding isn’t without dangers. Because you are skiing away from normal snowboarding slopes there will sometimes be hidden risks. You likewise run a greater likelihood of avalanche. Luckily many of these hazards can be decreased when you go heli-skiing with a skilled skiing guide who recognizes the domain intimately.

January 13th, 2009

Jesus Christ, King of the Jews

In 132 CE, Simon Bar Kosiba organized and led a large guerilla army in revolt against Roman occupation. He succeeded in actually throwing the Romans out of Jerusalem and Israel and establishing, although for only a brief period, an independent Jewish state.

Jewish accounts describe Simon Bar Kosiba as being a man of superior intelligence who possessed tremendous leadership abilities and incredible physical strength. His success caused many to believe that he came from the line of David. He was nicknamed “Bar Kochba” or “Son of Star,” an allusion to the Book of Numbers (24:17). In fact, he was actually proclaimed the long awaited Messiah of Israel by the Sanhedrin. Strangely, very few people know of him or have even heard of him today.

But there is another Jewish son we have heard of. He was born poor and, like Kosiba, was also of the family of David. He, however, fought no battles, was not known for His strength, and virtually ignored the politics of His times. He never attended college, starred in any movies, or won any awards. Yet, His personality has somehow been fused into the very soul and consciousness of humanity. More books have been written about Him, more changes have resulted because of Him, more conversation and controversy has taken place because of Him than any other figure in human history. In His name, the apostles conquered the world. For His sake, martyrs sacrificed their lives. He is like a portent moving through two thousand years of history touching lives. Jesus Christ, King of the Jews!

Rev. Saundra L. Washington, D.D., is an ordained clergywoman, veteran social worker, and Founder of AMEN Ministries. She is also the author of two coffee table books: Room Beneath the Snow: Poems that Preach and Negative Disturbances: Homilies that Teach which can be reviewed on her site. Her new book, Out of Deep Waters: My Grief Management Workbook, is expected to be available in July.

You are welcome to visit AMEN Ministries: Your Soul’s Service Station for spiritual refreshing, soul edification or to browse our newly expanded mini shopping mall.

Blessings to all!

January 11th, 2009

Finding the Right Quotation for Your Paper or Speech Online

Imagine the applause, the appreciation, the pats on the back you’ll get after you’ve delivered your speech. The feeling is probably like…wow! This is the kind of ‘high’ you’re looking for. And you want to achieve this level of appreciation every time you deliver a speech, right?

No problem.

Your best bet is to ‘ice’ your cake with a lot of quotes from respectable figures. Simple, you say. Well, good quotes are pretty hard to come by, given the fact that most lame quotes available are from celebrities who are either high on one thing or the other. Good quotes you want to use for your speech should be of substance, something that makes perfect sense, suits the audience, suits the mood and suits your personality. Quoting Schwarzenegger for an English Language speech is nonsensical. One of the most powerful ways to add ‘punch’ or ‘oomph’ to your speech is to add some logical and quirky ‘quotes’ into your speech.

For example, Christian Nevell Bovee noted that if you don’t have the wits to write your own quotes, quote another. “Next to being witty yourself, the best thing is being able to quote another’s wit”. And what about this quote from the 28th U.S. President, “I not only use all the brains I have, but all that I can borrow”. Using quotes from others in your speech is like borrowing another person’s brains and wits.

A popular source of quotes is this website – http://www.quotationspage.com/. It doesn’t rank highly on Google for nothing. There are thousands upon thousands of quotes in there that you can sort by author or topic. For your speech, find the topic that you’re going to speaking about, type the keyword in and you’re on your way. Recently, http://www.quotationspage.com/ implemented a new tool whereby you can compile your favorite quotes into your own quotations page which is useful for those who uses quotes in their speeches consistently.

http://www.quoteland.com/ is another popular quotation website that has tons of quotes that you can use in your speech. And who can forget http://www.brainyquote.com/ when it comes to quotes for speeches? By far, http://www.brainyquote.com/ has the most extensive list of categories to choose from in terms of quotes for speeches. This makes searching for quotes very easy indeed.

Now after finding all the quirky and funny quotes you think you like, it’s time to slip it into sections of the speech that you think it will fit into. Don’t be hasty in choosing your speech quotes because you might want to save the best few for last. It’s good to end with a good quote from someone famous.

Woodrow Wilson, the 28th U.S. President, said, “I not only use all the brains I have, but all that I can borrow.”

Dakota Caudilla, journalist, and website builder Dakota Caudilla lives in Texas. He is the owner and co-editor of http://www.daily-quotes.net on which you will find a longer, more detailed version of this article.

January 11th, 2009

Is Ghostwriting Immoral?

Writing without a byline is a much more secure way to make a living than publishing in your own name. If fortune attracts you more than fame does, contract writing (which is writing on a particular subject without much input from your client) and ghostwriting (writing something in your client’s “voice” and which their own friends couldn’t tell wasn’t their own) should definitely be part of your freelance writing repertoire.

Of course, you may face the question I occasionally get: “Ghostwriting? Is that, you know, ethical?”

Ghostwriting in a Nutshell

From a contractual perspective, of course, ghostwriting is perfectly ethical: the writer and the author have a contract in which the writer creates anything from a short blog post to a full-length book which the author then publishes under his or her own name. The writer gets paid a nice sum of money and the author gets the creditand, if it’s a book still in search of a publisher, takes the chance that the book won’t garner a large enough advance to cover what the ghostwriter earned. The ghostwriter signs a document transferring copyright to the author, usually for additional consideration (that means money), and the author then owns all rights to the material. The ghostwriter may get an “as told to” credit on the book’s cover, or may sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement and promise never to tell anyone who really wrote that book.

Is Ghostwriting Cheating?

Unless the ghostwriter’s client is under some pre-existing contractual obligation to produce original work, both hiring and acting as a ghostwriter are legal. Nevertheless many people can’t escape the suspicion that if you hire someone else to do your writing, you’re cheating in some way. Of course, there are those who feel that if they delegate any of their responsibilities, they’re cheating. (I blame the Puritans.)

Ordinarily, however, hiring a ghostwriter is no more cheating than hiring an accountant is. Successful professionals have certain highly marketable and valuable skills and knowledge, and they can usually charge more for providing them than they’d pay a ghostwriter. This holds even more true for celebrities.

The one case in which hiring a ghostwriteror an accountant, lawyer, or scientistwould be cheating is if you’re a student. Paying for someone else’s expertise in that situation means not developing your own skills. The number of people who forget that they’re in school to learn, not to get grades, is disturbingly high, but they make up a very small percentage of a professional ghost’s clients. (While I like to think that this is because ghostwriters have scruples, it probably also has something to do with the fact that students pay a lot less than CEOs and celebrities.)

In the normal course of things, ghostwriting cheats no one. The readers get something better than they would have gotten without the ghost’s participation. The author gets the chance to reach a much wider audience and attract a higher level of client. Both author and ghostwriter get appropriate financial reimbursement.

Is Ghostwriting Lying?

If a celebrity biography has “as told to” on the cover, most people know that it was the tellee who put the celebrity’s story into writing. This practice is widely accepted, even expected. Very few people assume that film stars and sports champions will be literary or intellectual giants. Even fewer people buy a celebrity’s autobiography for its literary qualities. What the readers want is all the personal details and the first-person account of the glitter and excitement.

This also means that most people who buy the book won’t care what the ghostwriter’s name is, even if it’s on the book’s front cover and not buried in the acknowledgements. The only people who care who the ghostwriter is are others who might want to hire her. (Of course, those are the people one really wants to have notice one’s name.) Otherwise, even a publicly acknowledged ghostwriter may remain invisible.

“I could tell you more, but then I’d have to kill you.”

What about cases where the ghostwriter signs a contract promising never to reveal that she was the one doing the writing? This kind of work usually commands a higher fee, because the ghost can’t list the book among writing credits or get testimonials and referrals from the client. Other kinds of non-disclosure agreements usually pertain to the client’s proprietary information, trade secrets, and the like. The information which the contractor or employee is asked not to disclose is not necessarily incriminatingit’s just not meant for public consumption.

So if a client doesn’t want you to disclose the fact that he didn’t write his own book, it doesn’t automatically mean that there’s something unethical. It might, however, mean that it would be embarrassing for your client if her use of a ghostwriter became public knowledge. Authors may also include this kind of clause for self-protection. What if you spent your hard-earned money on having a book written and worked your tail off to market it, only to have the ghostwriter step up to take the credit and steal your thunder?

Ghostwriting Fiction

Because people read fiction at least partly for the quality of the writing, fiction is a gray area of ghostwriting ethics. In any case, most aspiring novelists really want to write, and not just to have books. So why would a fiction author hire a ghostwriter anyway?

In some cases, the would-be author has the germ of an idea and the kind of fame which would sell books, but no experience and not much skill. Such a person would find it well worth the investment to find an unknown but talented writer and pay him or her to write the book. For an aspiring novelist who hasn’t published much, ghosting such a book would provide a publishing creditnot with the public, but with the publisher who buys the book.

Another possibility for ghostwriting fiction is the case of the author who has actually written the first draft of the book and just doesn’t have the craft to make it salable. In this case, the author might hire a ghostwriter to rewrite the book. This kind of work might be called “book doctoring” rather than “ghostwriting,” but there isn’t always much difference between these two activities.

Not every professional writer will have the aptitude or inclination for ghostwriting. But if you write well, listen well, enjoy collaborating, and have the gift of mimicking someone else’s habits of expression, don’t be afraid to try ghostwriting. Invisibility has its rewards.

Author-izer and Collabowriter Sallie Goetsch specializes in turning busy professionals into authors. Get more free articles for your e-zine, newsletter, or website from her article blog or e-mail authorizer@fileslinger.com and take the pain out of writing.

January 9th, 2009

How to Triple Your Article Sales Writing Media Package Proposals

Dogs bark, birds fly, and writers write. It’s what we do, right? So why should a writer now become a shutterbug? Well, how about to increase your marketability, boost your article sales, improve your query acceptance rate and increase your income? Are any of those reasons that might interest you? Then read on Bunky, here’s the scoop.

Offer a complete package

Overworked editors will often jump at the chance for a complete package of text plus art. It means they don’t have to search for photos and graphics to accompany your article, saving them time, costs and stress. Most markets also pay extra for photography as well giving what might be a mediocre rate for an article alone a stiff boost when the photo fees are added in. Again padding the pay envelope – and you don’t mind THAT now do you?

What kinds of photos to take

To learn about composition and types of photos look at examples of what your target publications are using. Take a short photography course. Many community colleges offer them. You could also check at local photo shops or try one of the several good ones online.

Digital or film?

In today’s market there are a wide variety of choices for shooting your article photos. Films differ in format, speed and sensitivity. There are choices of from less than 100 ISA up to 1600 ISA or even faster for specialty films in 35mm format. Color, B/W, sepia tone and infrared films are also available for adding special effects. You needn’t chain your brain with these options if you’re not interested. Just stick with 100 to 400 ISA film in 35mm format. Shoot prints or slides depending on what the publication photography guidelines say.

Have it BOTH ways

Another point: film pictures can be scanned and digitized. Many photo shops offer to burn film negative photos onto a CD for a small additional fee, so you can have it both ways. Take them up on it. Find out from two or three different photo shops, what cross-media services they offer. Selling one good photograph can pay for months of photography. It’s not unheard of for a writer to actually make more money for the “art” than the article.

The debate over digital vs. film cameras rages on. Call me a wimp, call me a cop out, call me whatever you want: I use both when shooting on location. So whether I find a market that asks for prints, negatives, slides or high resolution digital images, I’m covered. So go ahead and snicker at me all you “purists”; you can follow me all the way to the bank.

On Location: what to shoot?

On location, a range of images from close ups to scenic overviews are useful. Try different angles and different heights. Take portraits, group and individual shots of unposed people doing everyday tasks. Photograph food, plants, products and people. Keep an eye out for splashes of color, interesting scenes, unusual clothing or costumes. While walking down a busy street in Quito, Ecuador, I saw a live donkey standing in the back of a double-parked pickup truck. I just had to take the shot. Waiting for the driver to come out also netted me a story about where the donkey was going to be sold – as food! In parts of Ecuador people eat donkey.

Quick keys for better photos

So you’re not exactly a pro at taking pictures? No problem. Here are a couple of quick tricks excerpted from the 5-week online course “Develop a Specialty and Get Published on the Web for Fun, Fame or Fortune”, that will boost the quality of your images right away.

• Get closer to your subject – fill the frame

Don’t stand there a mile off from that cute scene, get right up there as close as you dare and take the shot. Take two or three to be sure. Start from a bit away and shoot each picture closer than the last one by a lot. After a couple of shots you should be right up close. The vast majority of the time people who see you photographing them will either allow it politely, ham it up for you or throw rocks. Leave the third group alone.

• Use a tripod – take sharper images

Get yourself one of those small tripods, you know the ones around a foot tall. Use it to stabilize the camera whenever you can. Turn the car off and set it up on the hood, roof or trunk of the car. If your photos aren’t sharp, often they’re no good for commercial sale. If there’s a sign that says, “No tripods allowed”, be discrete. Plead innocence, plead ignorance, plead illiteracy or plead insanity, but get the shot. I get away with murder all the time. I just don’t push it or make a scene or an issue about it. Usually there’s no problem.

• Don’t “center” the subject – compose your shots in different ways

Look at any magazine. What direction is the cover image? Horizontal or vertical? Now, guess which way most people shoot their pictures? Shoot about half your images vertically and you’ll boost your odds for a possible cover shot. Don’t put the subject or horizon in the middle of the photo. Move it up to feature the foreground more or down to show more sky as with sunsets. Your photos will demonstrate better composition as a result.

Graphics anyone?

Photos aren’t the only form of “art” editors want and need. Data charts, tables and other information graphics can be produced to augment your articles. They show the editor you’ve researched and organized your topic data. Look at your favorite magazines, do they use only photos? Likely not. If you’re not familiar with Excel or another computer graphics program then expand your mind and income by doing so. Although it can be a bit challenging at first; No. it’s not THAT hard. Computers have turned themselves Off when they saw me coming. If I can do it, so can you.

In your queries to editors, if you offer a selection of photos and graphics to illustrate and accompany your articles, you’re going to start getting much more of the editor’s attention. Don’t send any photos, just say that they’re available. You’ll know what format the publication uses from reading the guidelines. Usually six or eight photos should do it. That means if you have around a dozen items available to send in for review and approval, you have an excellent chance of making the pitch sell. My first few months doing this more than tripled my success rate without changing anything else. If you need a virtual kick-in-the-pants to get you going or have a question, please feel free to e-mail me.

So get out there and take a few shots with your next article pitches in mind. Dogs bark, birds fly, and writers write – and offer media packages with photos for extra income. It’s what we do, right?

Prof Larry M. Lynch is a bi-lingual copywriter, expert author and photographer specializing in business, travel, food and education-related writing in South America. His work has appeared in Transitions Abroad, South American Explorer, Escape From America, Mexico News and Brazil magazines. He teaches at a university in Cali, Colombia. To get original, exclusive articles and content for your newsletter, blog or website contact him for a no-obligation quote and current rates. For free information on the 5-week online course “Develop a Specialty and Get Published on the Web for Fun, Fame or Fortune”, e-mail your request to: lynchlarrym@gmail.com

January 9th, 2009