A Surpising Benefit for the Writer Who Reads

I recently had the opportunity to write an article about Helen Keller for a children’s magazine. (This article was written on spec and I won’t find out until January if they will accept it or not.) As I wrote this article, I included information which was not in any of the online sources I was using.

 

So where did that information come from? A book which Keller wrote about her life!

 

I read this book several months ago. I was actually surprised to come across it while at the library one day. As someone who is deaf, I have always been interested in other historical figures who were deaf as well, though Helen Keller was also blind. I loved the movie, The Miracle Worker, so of course I was interested in the book. It opened up a whole other world for me in learning about the kind of life that Helen Keller lived.

 

Information that was nowhere to be found online, but it was in her book.

 

This is just another example of how reading books can offer benefits to the writer.

 

When I was writing an article about Cleopatra, not only did I rely on online sources, but I turned to a biography about her for information. Reading biographies about Thomas Edison also shed light on some of the controversies surrounding the famous inventor.

 

Reading books can help writers to write better and understand things better, but it can also provide us with information we may not get anywhere else. We may not use this new information right away, but chances are good that it will come in handy later in our writing careers.

 

So the next time you feel compelled to read a book you had not otherwise planned to read, take that chance and read the book. You never know what new information it will provide you for your life, and your writing.

Not Every Writer Has the Same Daily Writing Goals

Writers on the Internet like to talk about how many words they wrote today. Some writers even measure their success by their daily output. Other writers have a rule to write X amount of words every day. I am not like these writers.

 

For me, I will consider my writing day successful only if I wrote the things that I wanted to write that day. It’s usually something original, like a blog post or short story, in addition to the normal work I do on my books. And even with my books, I don’t rely on writing X amount of words in them every day, because it depends on the book I am working on. The book might call for revision, editing, research, or writing. Even there, when I’m writing a current WIP (and I have several), it’s usually a chapter or two or a handful of poems.

 

The point is that while all the writers out there are talking about how many words they wrote that day, now especially since a lot of writers are doing NaNoWriMo, I’m taking satisfaction in the writing work that I got done for the day.

 

This only goes to show that not every writer has the same daily writing goals. For some of us, just being able to write at all is enough. For others, being able to write that first draft when they are under a deadline can be a sufficient daily writing goal. Still other writers are happy to go about the rest of the day after writing one chapter in their WIP or getting X amount of words written.

 

Daily writing goals can vary, so don’t feel bad if your daily writing goal is not the same as everyone else’s. That is perfectly fine. Focus on what you need to do for your writing. Go at your own pace and stick to what feels right for you.

 

Of course, you can try adopting other writer’s daily goals. I have done this, and it was interesting to see just what I could get done when I pushed myself to stick to this goal. One goal I tried to achieve was to write 15,000 words in one day. I did manage to do this, for an ebook I was writing, but I certainly could not do it on the regular because it took me all day to get that done. And my life is just too busy to allow for that kind of thing. I’m not just writing books; I’m also working as a freelance writer, reviewing books, putting together a monthly newsletter that I work on all month long, working on self-publishing projects, and working on ghostwriting projects. I also try to squeeze in some book promo here and there! Plus, I’m busy with my kids (thank goodness one of them is finally able to get a driver’s license!). My life is just too busy to spend all day on one goal.

 

And this is another reason why we writers should not all try to have the same daily writing goal that other writers out there have. Everybody is living a different life with different schedules. A lot of us are VERY busy! We can only get so much writing done. And in my opinion, any writing we are able to get done each day is what I call a successful writing day.

 

And now for some paying markets!

 

These paying markets for writers were removed from an article I recently submitted because they use Submittable to accept submissions. The site I submitted the article to does not accept markets which use Submittable.

 

3rd Wednesday

https://thirdwednesdaymagazine.org/   

This literary magazine was created by a group of poets in Ann Arbor, Michigan. They publish work from writers everywhere. They accept poetry, short fiction and artwork. Their guidelines

https://thirdwednesdaymagazine.org/submissions/ state that payment is $3 and a copy of the issue the creator’s work appears in.

 

Zone3

https://zone3press.com/

"We are a literary journal accepting poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. We pay $10 per page for prose and $15 per poem, with an individual maximum of $100." They charge a $3 fee. You can read their guidelines here: https://zone3press.submittable.com/submit  

 

Third Estate Art

https://www.thirdestateart.org/

Their About Us page shares detailed information about who they are and what they support. Their magazine Decapitate (formerly Quaranzine) publishes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, art, comics, photography and “anything else that we can reasonably put into this format.” They also accept hybrid submissions. According to their submission guidelines https://www.thirdestateart.org/decap-submissions:“Please send us art and writing with an underlying social justice theme, or any kind of activist work that you’d like an eclectic audience for.” Pays $25.

 

Third Street Review

https://third-street-review.org/

From their submission guidelines https://third-street-review.org/submissions/: “Located on the Pacific Ocean in the artists’ colony of Laguna Beach, California, Third Street Review lives on the edge, both literally and figuratively. California has always been synonymous with exploration and innovation and, in creative expression, with boundary expansion and the dynamic re-invention of artistic forms. Third Street Review is no different. Share your best writing and visual art. We welcome traditional formats as well as pieces that push boundaries, embrace experimentation, and reflect artistic excellence.” Accepts fiction, nonfiction/creative nonfiction, poetry, art and photography. All submissions blind. All submissions must be previously unpublished. Pays $25 via PayPal upon acceptance.

The Power of 3: Three Nonpaying Markets for Writers

 

I work as a freelance writer, which is something I am quick to admit to anytime someone asks me, “What do you do?” What I’m not so quick to admit to is that I submit to nonpaying markets in addition to the ones that do pay.

 

I know, I know. Writers should be paid for all of their hard work. You can’t pay bills with exposure. Etc., etc. I know all of the arguments put forth on why writers should be paid for their work.

 

And while I DO rely on any income that I earn from freelance writing to help pay bills, pay for my medications and fund my self-publishing ventures, I don’t ACTIVELY rely on that income. I don’t need that kind of stress! Seriously. I basically just hope for the best. It’s NICE to get an acceptance where I will be paid for my work, but it’s not the end of the world if I don’t.

 

One of the reasons why I have adopted this mindset with freelance writing is because I am more focused on getting my name out there than I am in being paid to be published. Also, as a publisher of a newsletter myself, I know how hard it is to have the money to pay writers for their contributions to my newsletter. And if I pay too little, I get slammed by other newsletter publishers who are paying double digits.

 

If I did pay writers that amount for their contributions, I would not be able to publish my newsletter. So, unfortunately, I am unable to pay writers.

 

So, yeah, I get it. I know it’s hard.

 

Also, I didn’t feel comfortable turning my nose up at publishing opportunities that do not pay writers. I have had some very pleasant experiences in being published in nonpaying markets, and have worked with amazing people.

 

All of this is to say I bring you three nonpaying markets who all have a “3” in their name. To those of you who would find this useful and submit to those markets, I wish you the best of luck!

 

3:AMMagazine

This market is currently closed to fiction submissions. From their Facebook page: "3:AM Magazine is an online journal of radical literature and philosophy. Featuring literary criticism." Currently accepting poetry, criticism and nonfiction. Their submission guidelines can be found here. Note that they request you contact the correct editor for your submission, which can be found on their Contacts page.

 

3Elements Review

According to their submissions guidelines: “We appreciate good writing in any genre. We especially like edgy writing that offers insight into darkness. We prefer character-driven stories as opposed to plot-driven ones. We relish a piece with a great deal of heart and more than a little bit of Truth (note the capital “T”). We want to read a story that makes us feel edified or philosophical or amused or creeped out or angry or melancholy or inspired or, best yet, all of these things together.”

They provide three elements to include in your story to submit. Deadlines to submit stories are on a rolling basis. Length for fiction and nonfiction submissions is 3500 words max, and poetry must be limited to two typed pages. All submissions must be previously unpublished. They also accept art and photography which capture the three elements provided in some way.

 

3centsMagazine

From their submission guidelines page: 

“Remember that at 3cents Magazine we are looking for works that can enter into a conversation with two other pieces–works that have something to say.” Current theme is “companionship” and the submission deadline is December 3. They accept poetry, fiction and nonfiction. Submissions must be previously unpublished and each submission must go into one category: poetry, nonfiction and creative nonfiction/essay/memoir.