WordSmitten. Get ready to write. WordSmitten Media, Inc All Rights Reserved.

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1 WordSmitten the people, the books, the business of publishing Welcome. Get ready to write. WordSmitten.com a digital media company WordSmitten Media, Inc. Writing. Who are those writers? Who A Career Path your chosen profession A Creative Outlet as forms of expression A Talent for Observation unique perspectives Ask yourself these questions to define your personal goals These questions also happen to be the conventional journalism rules for writing a good news story. Who What When Where Why How (c) Copyright 2007 WordSmitten Media, Inc. 1

2 Writing. What are we writing? What In 2006, 324 new magazines were introduced to satisfy many consumers growing need to be informed and entertained. For more details, visit: Writing. When to send it. When Select a topic for your feature article and decide if it is thematic, timed appropriately, in other words, is it Seasonal or Timely? Lead Times for Magazines (3-6 months) Editorial Calendars (themes, special sections) Deadlines (editors are seriously attached to these) Ask yourself: Are you reliable, consistent, and able to meet deadlines? Does your topic for your feature article have traction? Is it timely and/or ahead of the news curve? (c) Copyright 2007 WordSmitten Media, Inc. 2

3 Writing for Writing. Where do we send it? Where commercial publications Magazines Newsletters Ezines Electronic Magazines Writing for literary publications Quarterly Journals Monthly Magazines Chapbooks Writing. Why the topic matters. Why Why selecting a topic for your feature article matters to more than just you. Why do you want to write and on what topic? What does the reader want and why? What does the editor want and why? Ask yourself: Are these all similar goals? Not necessarily. (c) Copyright 2007 WordSmitten Media, Inc. 3

4 How Writing. How How do we compare the pubs? How does a literary publisher differ from other publishers? Literary publishers are those that produce books or magazines that focus on creative writing: fiction, poetry, literary nonfiction. In the United States, it is difficult to support a publishing enterprise on literature alone. What is the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses? The Council of Literary Magazines and Presses, or CLMP, is a service organization for independent literary presses and magazines. Why query a literary journal instead of a commercial magazine? In the commercial realm, publishers with literary content support creative writing genres with more financially viable projects that are part of what they publish (cookbooks, fashion spreads, celebrity features). A strong contingent of literary publishers have found that becoming not-for-profit is a better option for maintaining their work. Writing. Resources for you. ArtsandLettersDaily.com Lists anything you want to hear, know, and read, including magazines from American Heritage to Canada s The Walrus. AWP s The Writer s Chronicle from George Mason University in Virginia Editor and Publisher - Monthly and Online Poets & Writers The Council of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP) Writers Market Annual Directory and of course, Internet Google is your search engine (c) Copyright 2007 WordSmitten Media, Inc. 4

5 Writing. Where are the jobs? Search Results for Where Editor and Publisher. October Found 230 jobs National Network found 1,895 jobs Category: Writing / Journalism Writing. Who looks for writers? Who News/Editorial Teacher at Southern Illinois University Employer: Southern Illinois University Location: Carbondale, IL Date: News/Editorial Teacher Southern Illinois University Carbondale School of Journalism ( is seeking an outstanding teacher and scholar in news/editorial... read more Director of The Publishing Laboratory Employer: UNC-Wilmington Location: Wilmington, NC Date: Lecturer in Editing and Book Design and Director of The Publishing Laboratory The Department of Creative Writing seeks a writer/editor with a passionate interest in the book arts to... read more Reporters Employer: The Paducah Sun Location: Paducah, KY Date: The Paducah (Ky) Sun has openings for an experienced reporter with demonstrated abilities in a range of assignments, including business, crime, and local-government reporting The Sun... read more (c) Copyright 2007 WordSmitten Media, Inc. 5

6 Writing. What do they require? What Manager, Written Communications Employer: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Location: Burbank, CA Date: Burbank Television Enterprises seeks a Manager, Written Communications for the WWTVM-Publicity & Talent Relations department. Position is responsible for writing and/or editing press... read more Reporter/Editor for Insurance Trade Pub Employer: Providence Publications Location: Sacrame nto, CA Date: Insurance newsletter quickly migrating towards going all Web-based needs a seasoned professional all-in-one reporter and editor who can write with authority at a senior level. We are... read more Seasoned News Reporter Needed Employer: The Standard Times Location: New Bedford, MA Date: The Standard-Times, a 30,000-circulation daily and Sunday newspaper in historic SouthCoast, Massachusetts, is seeking a seasoned reporter to cover the city of New Bedford. This is an... read more Production Editor Employer: Sage Publications Location: Thousand Oaks, CA Date: SAGE Publications, a leading academic and professional publisher of books, journals, and electronic media, located in Thousand Oaks, California, with offices in London, India, and Singapore,... read more Writing. How to break in? How Staff Reporter Employer: Mansueto Ventures LLC Location: New York, NY Date: Reporter- Staff Reporter (NYC)-Write/research/edit web content for 2 websites. Gather info via research, i interviews. Edit copy; correct errors using formatting guidelines. Res to:... read more Copywriter- Pro Bono Employer: Taproot Foundation Location: San Francisco, CA Date: Copywriter- Pro Bono Volunteer Your Skills: The Taproot Foundation is a volunteer organization that builds teams of marketing and creative services professionals, human resources professionals,... read more Advertising Copywriter Employer: Garfield Group Location: Newtown, PA Date: Advertising Copywriter Garfield Group is looking for a creative and talented Copywriter. A writer able to work in a creative team environment dedicated to developing exceptional concepts... (c) Copyright 2007 WordSmitten Media, Inc. 6

7 Writing. What s a lede? What And why do I need to know that. A Lead (sometimes spelled lede, a word that is a throwback to hand composed stories in which each letter, in hot type made from lead, was set by hand) starts a first paragraph in a news story. One or two sentences at the beginning of a news story that encapsulate the news. Write it so that the reader would still understand the main point of the story even if he or she only read the lead. Edna Buchanan the greatest lede writer and police reporter "Gary Robinson died hungry." Edna Buchanan covered this murder for the Miami Herald there are policemen in Miami who say that it wouldn't be a murder without her and her story began with what the fried-chicken faction still regards as the classic Edna lead: "Gary Robinson died hungry." Writing. How do I grab a reader? How Traditional Lead introduces and pulls the reader into the story. All stories, news, novels, short stories, and poems will benefit from a great beginning. Note that a lead does not have to answer "who, what, when, where, why, and how" in a single sentence, in that order. Avoid cramming the lead with every single detail you have learned. An explosion leveled a house in Townsburg this morning, starting a fire that forced the evacuation of 30 downtown residents, rescue workers say. After the above lead, the second paragraph might provide a description of smoke billowing above the treetops, a sleepy child being carried by a parent, or a quote from an eyewitness. The third paragraph might include a direct quote from a named official (one of the "rescue workers" mentioned in the lead). (c) Copyright 2007 WordSmitten Media, Inc. 7

8 Writing. Great beginnings. Great Great beginnings. Select your topic for your first feature article. Write your lead. Write your topic. Plan your thesis. Examples of Lead, Topic, and Thesis. Lead/Lede: Children should be seen and not heard. (Debate this either way.) Topic: Manners and social graces in children, are they disappearing, are they necessary? Thesis: With the increase in availability of video games, the Internet, TV, and ipods are children in large cities interacting less with each other, with parents, and with society and how are these distractions affecting their ability to be successful and responsible citizens. Is this trend causing isolation (seen, but not heard) and is it impacting their future. Plugged in, tuned out? Writing. Great beginnings. Great beginnings. Research your topic. Great Primary and Secondary. Write the Draft 800 Words. Revise and Finalize. News Story Checklist who, what, when, where, why and how. Fiction (Short Story) Checklist title, lead, story arc, character development, conflict, scene/setting, story resolution. Marketing Your Story: Writers Market, CLMP, and Regional Media Writing the Query Letter: Create a one-page query letter or . (c) Copyright 2007 WordSmitten Media, Inc. 8

9 Writing. Great beginnings. Great ANNOUNCING THE WINNER OF THE 2007 WORDSMITTEN FICTION COMPETITIONS WE DISCOVER WRITERS We are pleased to announce that we have selected Jessica Pettigrew, nursing student at Yale for her story, The Prince and Me as this year's winner of the TenTen Fiction Award. In selecting her for this award, author and professor Janet Burroway comments: "I have chosen The Prince and Me as the winner because although it skirts very close to sentimentality, it also conveys the mystery and the emotion of a relationship that cannot really be a relationship. The changing of the stockings is original and moving, the use of the second person unusually skilled. And it is a story, moving from the 'mask' to 'speechless' loss." -- Author and Educator Janet Burroway Jessica Pettigrew has been writing stories for herself since she was a child in South Dakota. Only recently, has she discovered that others enjoy reading them too. Jessica graduated from McGill University in 2006 with a degree in International Development and is currently enrolled at Yale University pursuing a Masters of Science in Nursing with a Midwifery specialization. She is passionate about women s issues and when she is not in class or working clinically, she travels to far off places. She is currently working on her Masters thesis which will examine health issues affecting pregnant women in Haiti. PREVIOUS WORDSMITTEN WINNERS INCLUDE MARIA D. HEADLEY, AUTHOR OF THE YEAR OF YES Today s Schedule WordSmitten Smitten Workshop Schedule Coffee and Muffins provided by Starbucks for WordSmitten s Writing Workshop Registration, Coffee, Introduction 8:30 9:15 Author Roy Peter Clark 9:15 10:45 Break 10:45-11:00 Editor Kate Sullivan 11:00 Noon Lunch provided by KooKoo Cafe. Lunch Noon-1:15 Author Elaine Fantle Shimberg 1:15 2:30 Break 2:30-2:45 Author Susan R. Braden 2:45-3:30 Book Publicist Scott Manning 3:30-4:30 Reminders From WordSmitten! Write every day, even if it is only 500 words each day. Read everything. The good, the bad, the ugly. Really, read everything. Most important reminder, set your clocks back 1 hour on Sunday night. Remember spring forward, fall back. Daylight Savings Time ends November 4 at 2 AM. Complete your survey, please, we value your feedback. Thank you all for joining us today, we enjoyed having you at our workshop. (c) Copyright 2007 WordSmitten Media, Inc. 9

10 Background Company History : : WordSmitten Media Digital Media : : Launch of WordSmitten.com Company established in 1999 WordSmitten Media, Inc. incorporated in 2006 Print Media : : Launch of WordSmitten Quarterly Journal (WSQJ) Magazine (WSQJ) launched in 2004 with national distribution Hurricane damages suspend print media in 2005 Business Marketplace : : The Business of Publishing Audience : : More Than 3 Million Readers, Writers, and Editors audience that is well-informed The Revolutionary Generation Existing authors and beginning writers John Grisham s Tax Return Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Rankings : : Google, Yahoo, MSN Top5% in every niche; consistent Google s Page One ratings Categories include authors, books, publishers, and book-to-film Now you know who we are and we want to know who you are, what are you writing and what do you want to achieve? WordSmitten the people, the books, the business of writing We welcome your comments and participation at this writing workshop. For more information, we invite you to contact: Kate Sullivan, CEO and Executive Editor :: editor@wordsmitten.com Jan Golden, Manager, Business Development :: sales@wordsmitten.com Jennifer Tanck, JD 07, Advisory Board Member :: JTanck@Law.Stetson.edu David Dean, Radio Broadcast Production :: DavidDeanRadio@gmail.com Susan Johnson, Fiction Editor :: story@wordsmitten.com Bill Loewenstein, Senior Editor :: editor@wordsmitten.com Adrienne Mand Lewin, Senior Correspondent :: story@wordsmitten.com WordSmitten Media, Inc. :: :: P.O. Box 5067 :: Beach Boulevard South :: St. Petersburg, Florida (c) Copyright 2007 WordSmitten Media, Inc. 10