I Don’t Only Submit to Paying Markets, But I Keep in Mind the Writers Who Do

 

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Before the month of August came around, I decided to take a break from not only my monthly newsletter, The SPARREW Newsletter, but also from my weekly Substack posts. My brother passed away close to the end of July and I needed time to focus on my grief. Plus, I had eye surgery coming up (or so I THOUGHT I did; it’s being rescheduled again! This time, possibly in September), so I did not want to stress over gathering material for my newsletter while recovering from eye surgery. (But rest assured, subscribers, that even with my eye surgery being in September, the September issue will STILL go out! I have a cut-off date of the 20 for every month on curating material for the newsletter, and the eye surgery will likely be AFTER the 20 and then that issue will go out on the 30 of September, which gives me a few days to focus on recovering from surgery!)

 

However, because there is a submission deadline coming up for one of the anthologies mentioned in previous issues of the Substack, I decided to take a break from my break to send out an “upcoming submission deadlines” issue tomorrow, August 18, to remind everyone about it. And because I recently gained 100 subscribers to my Substack (thank you, readers!), I am celebrating by throwing in other submission calls that also have forthcoming deadlines.

 

So, as I was gathering that material over the past couple of days, there is one call for submissions that made me pause.

 

This particular call for submissions did not pay writers. However, it was also hosting a contest, and only one lucky winner would receive $100.

 

That still counted as a paying opportunity for writers, right? Not in my book. Why? Because the odds of winning that contest and getting the $100 was seriously stacked up against anyone entering it, because they probably would receive a ton of submissions for it, making the competition fierce.

 

Even so, while I submit to both paying AND nonpaying markets, I understand that there are writers out there who ONLY submit to paying markets. I respect these writers, especially since I tried doing that once myself and I know how hard it can be to get an acceptance! I also keep these writers in mind when I am writing articles containing paying markets.

 

These writers would not be interested in the nonpaying markets! 

 

So in order to keep my own list of pending deadlines something that subscribers would want to know more about, I should only list the markets with forthcoming deadlines that pay writers.

 

This does not mean I frown upon the nonpaying markets. Heck, I used to be a nonpaying editor too! I have no ill will towards the nonpaying markets. They can go about doing their thing!

 

Also, the WOT anthologies which Twisted Dreams Press is still accepting submissions for only pays with a print copy of the anthology and not with money. With 70 writers in all 7 books, paying each writer with money would create bankruptcy! (Everything is out of pocket for us.) So until one of us gets an angel investor or someone makes a generous donation to the press or one of us wins the lottery, we can only pay our anthology writers with a print copy of the book.

 

But when I am the author of an article sharing about OTHER submission calls for writers, then I will list the paying opportunities. This will also apply to other submission calls I list in my Substack posts. I think that sharing only the paying opportunities for writers is my best bet, and what a majority of writers would be most interested in.

How Body Language Can Help Create Subtext in Your Writing

 

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One of the things a writer can use for subtext in their writing is body language, and if there is anything I know a thing or two about, it’s body language.

 

As a person who is deaf, I have paid a lot of attention to body language. When I am in situations where people are speaking but I have no idea what they are saying, it’s their body language and facial expressions I pay attention to instead. Do they tense up as they speak? Are they clenching their fists? Shifting their weight? Do they hunch their shoulders in disappointment or sadness, or are they standing taller with a burst of excitement?

 

I can’t hear their voices, so this gives me a chance to gauge what they are feeling as they speak, and how they may be speaking.

 

On the other hand, a person’s body language can also reveal what they are NOT saying, or how they are communicating with someone.

 

As someone with social anxiety, it’s hard for me to make eye contact with people. This is especially true when I am busy trying to read their lips so I must look at their lips as they speak instead of their eyes (I make up for this by trying to make eye contact with them when it’s my turn to talk). So it bothers me a lot that there’s ALL of this expectation resting on making eye contact as to whether or not you can trust or respect that person, but there is a lot to be said about eye contact.

 

For example, on whether or not someone is being honest.

 

The thing about eye contact is that it’s not easy for people to do this if they are lying. Yes, some people can look you straight in the eye while they are lying, but for most people, it doesn’t happen when they are lying. This is especially true when they “nervously look away” or “shuffle their feet and look down as they replied.”

 

In one scene of a story I wrote, a character responds to someone’s question with a lie while he is looking at something that seems to catch his attention on the wall. A plain wall.

 

And while we’re on faces, facial expressions are another thing I notice when I read a person’s body language. Are they smiling as they talk? Perhaps they are saying something funny. Are they rolling their eyes? Throwing in a look of surprise? Reacting to something with alarm? These are things which tell me more about what they might be saying or what they might be talking about.

 

Then there is the way a person reacts to surprise noises while they are talking.

 

There was one time I was talking to my toddler. In the middle of the conversation, she shook with surprise and looked behind her.

 

“Did you hear something?” I asked.

 

She nodded and said, “Big truck.”

 

Other examples are when someone immediately takes off running in the middle of a conversation (maybe they heard an alarm?) or they hold up their hand for a pause because they heard their phone go off.

 

Sometimes, the cues we notice when talking with people may hint at things the person may not want to say. A person may be uncomfortable talking about something when they seem to cringe or respond with one-word answers to questions. Or someone may not feel safe while talking, or talking about something, because they are constantly looking around to see if the coast is clear or they may be responding with nods, gestures or a shake of the head. A person might be angry about something or someone they are forced to talk about, and this will show when they clench their fists or hunch their shoulders, or they might be too sad to talk about something because doing so makes them tear up. Sometimes, we have to use a little detective work to figure out the subtext of communication with others. Body language can help, but so does how a person communicates by the words they choose to say.

 

Body language can tell us all kinds of things about a conversation, but it’s also good for providing clues for the things we might not be picking up on in what or how a person responds. Keep this in mind when you write, and see how you can put body language to use to achieve subtext in your writing.

I Failed at My New Plan for the Freelance Writing But I Will Try Again

 

 

From Monday through Friday, there are several things that I do throughout my day. They usually fall under these categories:

 

Book Review (reading books I review, writing the reviews, posting and sharing reviews)

Writing (I try to write something new every day)

Freelance Writing (fiction, essays, poetry, articles)

Author (either writing, revising or editing a book – and doing book promo!)

Self-Publishing (rare but I do this sometimes)

The SPARREW Newsletter (gathering material, interviewing people, finding people to interview)

 

And, as Dawn Wilson, I’m usually reading or editing submissions for Twisted Dreams Press. I also try to do promo work for the press when that need arises.

 

(Note: Colclasure is my maiden name. All of my writings are published under this name. As Dawn Wilson, however, I am an editor and marketing rep. Wilson is my married name. I’m also a wife and mother!)

 

And in addition to publishing my own newsletter every month, I also publish and promote The Big Scream, which is the newsletter for Twisted Dreams Press. Unlike my own newsletter, these go out any time.

 

The work I do for both the press and my newsletter can take several hours to complete.

 

During the weekends, I do website updates, send out my latest Substack, do the book reviewing, hunt for new markets to submit to, work on my books, continue research for either a book or an article, and try to write something.

 

So, yeah, my days are pretty full. Which is why I’m not going to beat myself up too much over being unable to try something new with the freelance writing this week.

 

See, with the freelance writing, I was just submitting stuff. I hardly ever pitched any articles. Predictably, the work dried up, which was not good, given that I have recent financial problems. (A job I had my eye on to apply for won’t have any openings until September.) So, I tried to change things up a bit. With all of my market research, I was able to put together a list of markets to pitch every day of the week this week. And submit something. And write something.

 

Thing of it is, though, the stuff I wanted to submit this week was not up to snuff. They needed some serious revision! In fact, an essay I wrote was turned into an article which I needed to do more research for.

 

Another essay needs a lot of work, so that, too, was not submitted.

 

A short story I wrote also required more revision. After two rounds of revision, it still isn’t ready to submit!

 

And while I had ideas for articles and short stories to write this week, there were only so many of them which were written.

 

The reason? I didn’t have enough time in my day to do all that stuff, in addition to all that other stuff I do, along with my work for the press.

 

And I need to be there for my kids, too. And try to keep clean laundry and dishes in the house.

 

Yeah, life is pretty busy and my days are pretty full. So of course I was not able to perform my new plan for the freelance writing this week. I have been posting about my progress every day on BlueSky and Facebook.

 

Things worked out well for the first couple of days. Then things got busy! And my time with the work for the press is very important to me. In fact, I wanted to finish developmental edits on a manuscript today and thankfully, I was able to do that. And edit a short story. And read another submission. Got ‘em all done today.

 

But the new plan for the freelance writing? Not so much. I submitted a short story today, but I did not pitch as many articles or write certain stories for my book. The week started off strong but then I wasn’t able to do all the rest of the other things.

 

I won’t give up on those tasks I had planned for the week, though. I have kept all of those Post-It Notes with markets to submit to, articles to pitch, and stories to write. I’ll get them all done, too! At some point. Maybe after I get the newsletter out tomorrow – and even THAT might be going out late!