New Article at 'the traveler's notebook'...

I have a new article online at the traveler's notebook ...

How To Work New Zealand Wineries

FYI: Am off to Wellington for the weekend so there'll be no posts till Monday.

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365 days later….

Wow! I just realized that today My Year of Getting Published turns ONE…



Seems like only yesterday that I decided to go out on a limb and announce to the world (ie cyberspace) that I was on a journey to become a freelance travel writer.

Here’s what I said (October 31, 2006)

“I’ve been saying for years that I am a writer. Problem is, I haven’t done much about it, expecting, I guess, someone to come along and say ‘want to write for us’. This year, I finally decided to do something about this desire to write - I started writing and reading and planning. A business plan was developed, I researched the business of freelance writing, created a website and started blogging. And now it is time to get published.

So this is ‘my year of getting published’ and it starts on Halloween night . Might as well feel the fear and do it anyway.”

Since then I have written 368 posts discussing my successes and failures, provided writing tips and resources, and generally rambling on…

Along the way I have learned a great deal, made lots of ‘blogging’ friends, and discovered the joys and trials of freelance writing. And I found other travel writers, many of whom were generous enough to offer tips and advice and even participate in my ‘Interview with a Travel Writer’ series..

I also discovered online writing.

Before My Year of Getting Published, my focus was tunnel visioned - trying to get published in print magazines and newspapers. Now I realize that there are just as many, if not more, writing opportunities online.

I can now call myself a ‘professional blogger’ with my paid writing gig over at Alzheimer’s Notes and Christchurch Tour Guide.

I feel that I have managed to dip my toes into the water but am still a long way away from being able to swim.

A BIG THANKS to everyone for spending time with me and my blog. Without you all, My Year of Getting Published would have quickly sunk. The support, comments, and help that been offered throughout the year has ensured the survival of the blog and my determination to continue pursuing my dream...

Stick around…there’s so much more to come.

So much more to learn…
So much more to discover…
So much more to share…

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Monthly Roundup...(September)

Hi everyone. I am now back in New Zealand and am trying to recover from jetlag and the post-travel blues…plus the cold weather that has greeted me.

Needless to say, I haven’t done much on the writing front in September. No articles or query letters were sent out. I was too busy in Spain and New York City experiencing the travel to actually write about it. But I hope to fix that this month by sending out numerous query letters and articles about places and activities that I have discovered during my travels.

I had a great month travelling. I meet so many interesting and entertaining people along the way. In Madrid, I met up with Abha Malpani from the Written Road blog…you can read about our meeting here. It was great to talk with Abha who has done something that I often consider but haven’t quite yet got the courage to do. She dropped out of her former life in Public Relations/ Media and moved to a foreign country - ie Spain - to learn the language and pursue her desire to become a successful writer. She’s doing okay with this, teaching English to Spaniards, writing online content for Gridskipper, Written Road, Map Magazine, and now Vagablogging building up both contacts and content, and immersing herself in the Spainish culture…it really is quite inspiring.

In New York City, I finally got caught up with Wendy Perrin of Conde Nast Traveler magazine and The Perrin Post. We had a great lunch at the Gramercy Tavern and chatted away for a couple of hours about writing and blogging.

I’ll be spending the rest of this week posting some more about my travels and then will be back to the usual format of resources and interviews…

Meanwhile, here’s few interesting articles about the post-travel blues…

6 Simple Ways To Beat the Post-Travel Blues

Post Holiday Blues

The coming home blues

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Monthly Roundup...(August)

August seems to have flown by. Between organizing and pre-posting for Alzheimer’s Notes and getting ready for the trip to Spain and New York, I’ve once again found very little time to send out query letters. I did manage to send out a few (I think around 4 but lost track somewhere) but none of them resulted in an assignment (yet!!!).

One more sleep and then I’ll be on the plane heading for Madrid (via Sydney, Bangkok, and London). It’s going to be a long, long, long flight. I get tired just thinking about it…

I’ll be turning this blog into a travelogue (technology allowing!!) while I’m away. I’m armed with a laptop and digital camera, so providing I can find WiFi hotspots, I should be able to post. Time will tell.

So stick around and follow my adventure…

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Monthly Roundup...(July)

July was the month that I discovered that you cannot squeeze any more than 24 hours out of a day…in other words, I ran out of time.

Between work, trip planning, and learning how to use all the new technology (iPod and digital camera), I had no time to write.

So, for the first month since I started My Year of Getting Published, I did not send out a single query letter…

I had drafts written, ideas and markets in my head, and a determination to get them sent out. But time just ran out…

I did manage, however, to manage to continue to post to this blog, as well as Alzheimer’s Notes and Christchurch Tour Guide.

I did complete my trip planning - flights, accommodations, sightseeing timetable.

I have been downloading music, audio books, and travel information to the iPod.

I am gradually becoming more comfortable with the new digital camera.

And I will send out the query letters this month…

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Monthly Roundup...(June)

Another month gone. And what did I do::

Query letters

- eight query letters sent (2 responses so far: “Thanks … but will give this story a miss” and “Sorry…we already have someone doing just this …”)

- one application sent for blogging position at Creative Weblogging (no response yet!)

Blog Carnival

- Hosted Carnival of Cities over at my Christchurch Tour Guide blog.

Blogging

- wrote (almost) daily posts at My Year of Getting Published.
- wrote 4-5 posts a week at Alzheimer’s Notes.
- wrote 2-3 posts a week at Christchurch Tour Guide.

Miscellaneous

- starting to organize my trip to New York and Spain.

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Monthly Roundup...(May)

Another month done. It’s the first day of winter here in New Zealand. And so far, it’s been a mild one. In fact, the last couple of weeks have been great - sunny days which have warmed up nicely after a slight frost. But you know winter is coming because there’s less daylight. Personally, I can’t wait for the shortest day to get here and then we’ll be heading back to summer….

It was a slow May writing wise. I think I overdid things in April and early May with the two freelance conferences and completing a couple of writing assignments. I seemed to have run out of energy….so I did very little for the rest of the month.

What I did do:

Query letters

- one to an online magazine (no response as of yet)
- one answering ad at Freelance Writing Jobs (got response but decided it wasn’t for me)

Blog Carnival

- Creating the Travel Writers Carnival seemed like a good idea at the time but it fell through as all the submissions were travel articles rather than on the craft of travel writing.
- submitted two posts from Christchurch Tour Guide to the weekly Carnival of Cities.

Blogging

- wrote daily posts at My Year of Getting Published.
- wrote 18 posts at Alzheimer’s Notes.
- wrote 20 posts at Christchurch Tour Guide.

Contests

- entered the Problogger Top 5 group writing project.
- sent entry to the Travel Rant Blog a Thon Challenge

Miscellaneous

- organized for a guest blogger (Sheila Scarborough) to report on SOBCon07.
- joined Media Bistro so that I could access the How to Pitch articles.

....

And that was May...

Stay tuned for June as I have great plans afoot...

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Monthly Roundup....(April)

Can't believe it's the end of April and time for another monthly roundup for 'My Year of Getting Published'.

I've been very slow in sending out any query letters this month, in fact only sent out 3. And two of them were related to paid blogging positions (one for a travel blog and the other for a green blogger). Still waiting to here on these...

The only actual query letter that I sent out for an article idea was sent just yesterday so haven't had any feedback yet.

But just in case you may be thinking that I've been slacking off, here's what I have been doing...

Drinking lots of coffee (just kidding!)

Eating lots of chocolate (again, just kidding!!!)

Taking lots of plane rides (not kidding). I came back from the Australian Freelance Writers Conference at the beginning of the month. Two weeks later I was up in the air flying to Wellington for a family birthday. And in two days, I will be flying off to Auckland for the NZ Freelance Conference....

Posted over 20 posts at Alzheimer's Notes.

Got my Christchurch Tour Guide blog up and running and added 15 posts.

Finished a writing contract for a new internet site.

Completed a print article I have been procrastinating over.

Got invited to become an expert on NZ for Matador.com - not sure what that actually entails...

Participated in two writer's carnivals at The Writer's Block and at Writerly Types

Oh, and posted here daily...

No wonder the house and garden look like they have been neglected...they have!!!

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Monthly Roundup... (January)

It’s the end of the month, so time for another look at how ‘My Year of Getting Published’ is getting on…

Results from the 15 query letters sent:

1 acceptance

‘I am interested in your article idea – as long as it is ‘Australianised’

...

7 responses (but no assignments) - here are some of the comments:

- ‘it does not meet our current editorial needs… Best of luck to you in your writing endeavors,’

- ‘ I have something very similar in the pipeline so the answer, this time, is no.’

- ‘I’d like to keep your idea on file as there are changes afoot with the magazine’s format .’

-’ I am afraid it is not quite right for … magazine.’

- ‘we do not pay for this type of article.’

- ‘thanks for your interest in (…magazine). I’d suggest you may like to contact one of the following press organisations about your idea.’(he then preceded to provide a list of 5 alternative placement locations) saying ‘…each of these newspapers have large weekly travel supplements…’

...

5 no response
............................................................................

Am now on "Journalists" mail group for one magazine I queried.

- They send out general ideas they are looking for and if you’re interested, then you send in a developed query. So far, no ideas that I can help with but it’s a foot in a door.

............................................................................

Two requests to interview me: - Amazing! I’ve been interviewed twice this month.

- One was a writer who was writing about ‘blog promotion’ for Ideolog, a New Zealand business/technology magazine (will let you know what the article says when it comes out)

- Second interview was for ‘The Traveler Next Door’ that runs every Friday over at Traveler's Pen

............................................................................

Signed up for the ‘Query Challenge 2007’

- another great motivator to get those query letters out.

MORE QUERY LETTERS OUT = MORE ASSIGNMENTS IN

...........................................................................

2 applications for Paid Blogging postitions

- one positive response for me to ‘come on board’. However, after reading the fine print, I decided against signing up. The amount of output required was too much for the small amount of compensation offered. Signing on there would have meant I would not have anytime to develop other writing options.

- 1 no response.

...

Conclusion: I am definitely the tortoise not the hare in this journey. but I'm having fun and learning lots along the way...

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Success....

After giving it much thought, I decided last night to email the editor. Calling on the phone would have put me too far out of my comfort zone. Anyway, I emailed this morning and got a reply a little while ago - ‘they are happy to accept my story’ - cool huh! But (there’s always a but…) they can’t confirm when it will be published. Still, it’s a start. Meanwhile, I have to send them an invoice - wonder what that should include. Better go back to the books!!!

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Goals

I’ve been creating some goals to keep me on track. First and foremost is to ‘write every day’. But writing alone will not bring success. Marketing, it seems, is the key. Therefore, I must make myself more visible by
- updating my website at least monthly,
- send out at least one query letter out a week (Wednesdays)
- link to other sites

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