Find Writing Sources

Beginning freelancers are often stumped about how to find people to interview for an article. I just learned about a (new?) free resource operated by Peter Shankman "If I Can Help a Reporter Out". You don't have to be a reporter to use it. Several times a day, Shankman emails batches of queries to people who have signed up as sources. Often these are publicists and public relations reps, seeking placements for clients (experts for you to interview).

On the other hand, if you are an expert at something/anything or have a cause to promote and are willing to be interviewed, you can sign up as a Source.

And I don't see why you couldn't play both sides of the street at the same time. Say you want to promote one published book or product while writing a different topic, or you need fresh interviews for a sequel. Sign up for both of Shankman's services, and make the man doubly happy.

Finding Your Writing Online

Use search engines to scour the Internet for plagiarism of your works, mentions of your name, blog and website and every variation of those elements. I know I've written about this practice before. However, if you do it regularly, every so often a surprise will pop up. This is because new material, like databases, come online and eventually register in search engines' indexes. The engines themselves are always changing, sometimes improving; and they begin to catch older references that had escaped notice in the past. Only a fraction of the Internet is "visible" at any given time.

Search engines also make specialized searches available. These find material that you may have not seen. The results can be slightly jarring. At least, one was for me. Crank up the Wayback Machine, Sherman: someone ran a Yahoo search for this site's domain name, linked to any educational or governmental sites. I found the resulting page in a Google Alert. The Yahoo search string looks something like this: "linkdomain:writers-edge.info AND (site:.edu OR site:.gov)". Feeds That Matter for Writing was familiar, but one from Eastern Illinois University took me by surprise.

Apparently a graduate student in an English program had researched women writing on the web. She gave mini-reviews of several women's blogs, including A Writer's Edge. I'm not certain whether to be amused or aghast at the assertion that I have "a bit dorky sense of humor". It is good, however, to discover other people's reactions to your writing, even if two years late. Shakirova's description of the blog as "a compilation of mostly reviews of the new books the author read and offering the list of websites on poetry and writing" displays where the blog has evolved from. I hope the visual description is still accurate:

The imagery and colors are appropriately arranged and make the site easy to navigate. The site, although more educational than entertaining, is targeted toward certain audience interested in books and writing.

Writing Contest That's Legit

For the third year, The Writing Show is holding a contest for first chapters of novels. See all the information about this year's version, prizes and rules as well as the results for 2006 and 2007. I was a judge during the launch year, and I know the website owner. This one is not a scam, and it has a low entry fee.

First Prize

* $1000
* An interview on The Writing Show
* Chapter posted on The Writing Show Web site

Second Prize

* $400
* Chapter posted on The Writing Show Web site.

Third Prize

* $300
* Chapter posted on The Writing Show Web site.

Fourth Prize

* $200
* Chapter posted on The Writing Show Web site.

Fifth Prize

* $100
* Chapter posted on The Writing Show Web site.

Plus, for 10 lucky winners, chosen at random

* 750 words of feedback

The early deadline is May 20, final deadline, June 20. Please read all the rules carefully, and if you have any questions still unanswered, only then do I recommend emailing them to "Paula at writingshow.com". Most often people ask, "If they post my chapter on their website, does that count as published?" and "Do they take the rights?" Ask Paula, but here's my take: of course you must grant the right for the entry to be published on the website. Technically that one chapter is published, but only if it is a contest winner (a plus in the eyes of an agent or traditional publisher). In the final count, whether or not it counts as "previously published" is determined by the purchaser of your manuscript.