Writers' Digest through the years

Over the years, I have read and collected tons of useful articles by top people in the writing community.

I subscribed to Writers' Digest long before I published anything. I was a very young person down in south Georgia when I applied for a correspondence writing course through Writers' Digest magazine. That was the only writing course I had taken until I moved to North Carolina and became involved with the NC Writers' Network and NCWN-West.

Some literary snobs scoff at Writers' Digest but I think it is an excellent source for beginning writers who have no idea how to format and submit a manuscript. There are many helpful articles that teach us the basics of writing. That is why I have saved articles by Robert Lee Brewer. Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes editing Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. He once came up from Atlanta to teach a workshop for Writers Circle around the Table, my studio. He is a very nice, personable man and I follow him on Facebook.

From reading some of the older posts by Robert, I came upon this blog that I now love. I am struggling with my blood sugar and nothing seems to help get it down to something resembling normal. Carol Early Coney has a great sense of humor and she shares recipes that only require four or five ingredients. Her husband has diabetes and, like me, he loves the white stuff. You know, potatoes, rice, bread, which I consider the staff of life.

Carol says she is not a good cook and she doesn't like to cook. But this blog, The 9-inch plate, is entertaining as well as good for me. The recipes she shares actually make me want to cook!

Carol found proof that having a cluttered room, home, office, or anyplace, increases stress and stress makes us crave foods that are not good for us. I think that is really an issue with me lately. 

My sister is having some of those problems because workers are in and out of her house as they remodel her basement to make an apartment for me. This will be my home away from home when I visit the big city. The work has gone on for months now and she wants to lose some weight, but feels her eating is untameable at this time. Of course, I think she looks fabulous. See the photo of her I took tonight as she and her husband were heading out to a party.

Back to writers and Writers' Digest and Robert Brewer:

Read my essay on Robert's blog: 

https://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/interviewing-poets-why-and-how

A reader could spend hours on the Writers' Digest website and still come back for more. I like to take online courses from Jane Friedman who was once an editor for Writers' Digest and is still involved with the company. I have found that a subscription to certain writers' magazines is extremely helpful for writers who want to write but have no way to learn the basics. 

Thanks, Writers' Digest, for always being there.

Self Pub, Traditional or Small Press?

Recently I spoke at a writers conference and the subject of how to publish is always the first thing novice authors ask. Which is best? Self-publish or go the traditional route?

In this article, Robert Brewer discusses the other alternative which I would recommend to anyone who has a manuscript ready to submit. Try a small press.

I like that a small press is not limited to a three month window for selling the book as are the major publishers. The process of marketing by a small press goes on and on, unlimited. Of course, the author has to be doing his part to promote the book as well.

Brewer says that when asked about the top advantage small presses offer to authors, Erika Goldman, publisher and editorial director of Bellevue Literary Press, says, “Tender, loving care.”




The book's cover and design is accomplished with the cooperation of the author and the small press.
“I work directly on each book, designing it along with the author to produce something that a reader will want to purchase, as well as an object that best fits how the author wants their writings to be displayed,” says Geoffrey Gatza, founder, editor and publisher of BlazeVOX [books].

Brewer's poetry collection, Solving the World’s Problems was published by Press 53. When he visited and taught at Writers Circle last year, he spoke highly of his editor and all the folks at Press 53, a North Carolina company.

Read the full article here.

You have time to enter these contests from Writers Market

Writers Digest lists some writing contests with deadlines in May.

Check them out on www.WritersMarket.com.

3 MAY WRITING CONTESTS

WritersMarket.com lists hundreds of contests for writers of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, writing for children, and more. Here are three with May deadlines:

• The Alexander Patterson Cappon Fiction Award is offered annually for the best unpublished short story. The winner receives $1,500. Deadline: May 18.
• FIELD Poetry Prize is offered annually for the best unpublished collection of poetry. The winner receives $1,000, standard royalties, and publication. Submissions are received only during the month of May.
• Slapering Hol Press Chapbook Competition is offered annually for the best previously unpublished chapbook collection of poetry. The winning manuscript earns $1,000, publication, and 20 copies of the chapbook. Deadline: May 15. 

Scott Owens on blog by Robert Brewer, editor of Writers Digest

  Below is a link to an article by poet and editor, Scott Owens, and includes some of his poetry.
http://robertleebrewer.blogspot.com/2012/01/bending-rules-or-poet-has-to-be-poet.html

If you are not familiar with Robert Brewer, he is editor at Writers Digest.


I subscribe to Writers Digest and to Writer Magazine. I enjoy the articles and find them useful for my classes with beginning writers and seniors who want to write about their lives.

Robert Brewer is from the Atlanta area and many of us enjoyed his workshop at the Blue Ridge Writers Conference in 2011 in Blue Ridge, GA.