Essay Online

Writing style is a writer’s uniqueness. When you build your unique style, you will be known for it. For instance, Ernest Hemingway used to begin his sentences with ‘and’ or ‘but’ that was his particular style; Dickens uses aesthetically complex sentences, and that’s his style. So, each writer has his own style, which is the sum total of all the writing mannerisms, choice of vocabulary, and grammar constructions. In this article we will discuss the importance of building such a writing style and see how we can do it.

1. Read more and analyze what you read as you go on. When you read professional publications and blogs, you will know more of what is in these days. You will know the specialty of a particular writer. This is a first step toward building your style.

Some professional publications I recommend reading include Readers’ Digest, news sites like BBC, The Telegraph, CNN, etc. While reading, give importance to the mannerisms, choice of words, sentence structures, etc., used in the article.

2. Why I say ‘avoid Wikipedia’? Wikipedia is written by the commons, and is not entirely correct. Only their premium articles (which are locked from editing) are error-free. All other articles are edited by people, those who even don’t have an account there, and hence tend to be full of errors, grammatically and factually.

Hence, it is important that you read it only for information, not for building writing style. Always read professional blogs and other publications which give you some great advice on writing.

3. Give importance to your grammar and punctuation. The key feature of a writer is primarily his writing grammar and punctuation. When the writer composes an article full of errors, his credibility goes down instantly. So, it is extremely important for the people trying to get into a writing field to learn grammar and punctuation. Rules of grammar and punctuation are very simple and can be learned from such publications as AskOxford, Merriam Webster, etc.

4. There are disputes galore! Yes there are a lot of disputes as the what is correct and what is wrong in written English. For instance, if you check out Oxford comma (google ‘comma rules oxford comma), you will know many writers recommend using it, while some writers avoid it.

It is dependent on the writer what he chooses to use.

Conclusion

It is popular saying that writing has personality. Indeed. The personality of a writer is dependent on the words he uses, the usage, vocabulary he chooses, and the style.

Ask a bunch of aspiring magazine writers what editors are looking for when they read article queries and I’ll bet most of them answer, “good article ideas.”

Well, sort of. What editors most want to find in queries are good article ideas from writers who have an appealing edge over other writers. Contrary to what most beginning freelancers think, that edge need not be writing talent. A good many other qualities, some of which don’t show up in a query, make a writer valuable to an editor.

Ever hopeful yet skeptical, editors read queries for evidence that a writer not only has a relevant article idea but also one or more of the following qualities:

1. Research ability. Writers who can turn up little-known, highly interesting truths, track down hard-to-find statistics and answer thorny factual questions can easily rack up magazine assignments as long as they also understand what makes a topic relevant to a certain publication’s readers. Build your queries around such material and you’ll soon have lots of editors as regular clients - especially if your submissions sail through the fact-checking process.

2. First-hand knowledge. Pilot and flight instructor Mal Gormley found himself in demand as a writer for Business & Commercial Aviation, Aviation Week and other aviation magazines, which had all gotten burned by freelancers who were decent writers and researchers but who just didn’t understand flying. Hobbies, languages you speak, where you live or have lived and family circumstances such as being a parent of twins can each sometimes add to your appeal and win you assignments and repeat business from editors if you play your cards shrewdly in proposing and writing articles.

3. Access. Did you used to be a wardrobe assistant in Hollywood or an executive coach for Fortune 100 CEOs? If you can validly claim unusual access to hard-to-reach groups of people, you may find it easier to land assignments. Debra Wallace, who has interviewed such film stars as Dustin Hoffman, Glenn Close and Lauren Bacall, says that the celebrity writing business is “tough and not for the faint of heart.” She advises novices to prove their ability to get access first at smaller, local magazines before approaching national publications.

4. Expertise. Professional degree credentials are not quite as valued by editors as many well-educated people expect. Unfortunately, many experts cannot explain what they know in ways that capture the attention of magazine readers. But those who can write in a popular style have a great opportunity to endear themselves to editors.

5. Controversy. If you’re one of those people who have a knack for making people sit up and argue for or against what you’re saying, some editors consider that a worthy strong point. What generally accepted views can you passionately &ndash and credibly &ndash dispute? Just don’t launch an attack that’s going to inspire death threats or make you untouchable when you want to write on other issues.

6. Dependability. Editors can’t know how dependable you are from a query, of course, but having had a weekly column or having written regularly for one publication strongly implies that you adhere to journalistic standards and meet deadlines. Because an editor has to get an issue finished on time no matter what, this quality counts heavily. “When I told editors that I’d written for Crain’s Chicago Business every week for fifteen years, it impressed the hell out of them,” says Joanne Cleaver. “‘Wow &ndash fifteen years’: their tone of voice changed.” Once you demonstrate dependability to an editor, you’re in the running for repeat assignments.

7. Quickness. With their unforgiving publication schedule, editors also value writers who can bang out a readable article in next to no time. If you’ve ever had a writing job with daily deadlines, mention that as one of your qualifications. It might get you an opportunity to come to the rescue when another freelancer fails to deliver what was promised and an editor is looking at a hole in the issue about to close.

8. Catchy phrasing. Think about those phrases that suddenly enter the language, seemingly from nowhere, such as “mommy track,” “chick lit” or “alpha male.” Show the ability to coin such concepts in your query, and an editor might think “Cover story!”

Make one of these eight qualities your calling card, and you’ll find numerous magazine doors opening for you as a freelancer.

The only good teachers for you are those friends who love you, who think you are interesting, or very important, or wonderfully funny. ~Brenda Ueland

The doubt demon loves artists. This sensitive bunch of individuals falls prey to it so easily, from cartoonist Charles Schulz to writer Virginia Woolf. This little demon reared its ugly head when Stephen King threw the beginnings of Carrie into the wastebasket. We all owe our gratitude to his wife, Tabitha, who picked it out of the wastebasket and encouraged her husband to keep going. Some struggling writers don’t have such champions. Many writers ask themselves: Am I good enough? Am I wasting my time? If I was really talented I would be (published, successful, rich) by now. These kinds of thoughts are evidence of the doubt demon. The doubt demon can only be conquered by a concerted effort to give it as little attention as possible. Not just by you, but by the people around you.

As a published author, and one who has been in the business for several years, it’s hard to say this, but not everyone you know will want to see your writing dreams come true. Not because they’re mean (some are), but because they are unhappy with their own life choices and don’t want to see you change or cannot share in your dreams.

Avoiding the doubt demon is basically impossible for most of us, but there is something you can do about it. When you are facing the doubt demon make sure only to speak to friends or family members who are truly invested in seeing you succeed. You can identify these individuals three ways. The:

1. Always have something upbeat to say. You say, “I just got another rejection. I must suck.” They say “No, you just sent it to the wrong editor.” If they say something like, “You get a lot of rejections maybe writing isn’t your thing,” they are not someone you want to discuss your dreams with. As artists, we know the power of the written word and how they can impact people (read any bestseller). The spoken word is just as powerful (ask any leader) and you need to protect yourself from all negative input.

2. Are basically happy. Sorry, but unhappy people can’t give you the support you need. If they’re bemoaning man troubles or their jobs they likely won’t have the energy to lift your sagging spirits. Unfortunately, the phrase ‘misery loves company’ is true. So look for happy, optimistic individuals for support. You don’t need many. One will do.

3. Make you feel good. No matter what, they are enthusiastic about your efforts, ask about what you’re up to, and are generally interested in what you’re doing. At times, when I’ve begun a story and it’s not coming together I have a friend who I always call. I know I can depend on her to say or do something that will make me feel good. If someone makes you feel bad, take them off your list.

Fighting the doubt demon is hard on your own. You need to find a cheerleader to place in your corner. As I’ve said earlier, even if it’s only one person have someone you can call to give yourself the boost you need. The wonderful thing about a cheerleader is they can come in two forms: Those who read your works and those who don’t. I know people who continue to support my writing ambitions, but who have never read any of my work. They believe in me and that’s support enough. So go out there and find your demon fighters. You deserve them.

Types of things to watch out for with agents:

* Charging the author a fee up front, to be accepted as a client. Can be called a reading fee, or a monthly “office expenses” charge. The best agents, and most successful ones, only charge a percentage fee of royalties the author earns, typically 15%. Suppose a realtor charged you a fee to come over and tour your house before getting the listing? How quickly would you show that realtor the door. . .

* Charging back unusually large “postage and copying fees” to send out an authors’ work. One crooked agency accepts almost every client that contacts them, but in the fine print of the contract they charge “postage and handling” of up to $10 per submission they send out on your behalf. It doesn’t cost $10 to send a letter and a sample chapter of a book to a publisher. This company makes a fortune from these fees whether or not they actually successfully market any of their clients work.

* Directing authors toward specific editing services or giving authors’ names to these services. Sometimes they even own the editing service. Some agents make a significant portion of their income from referral fees from these services.

* Terms in Agency contracts with writers vary widely. Must be read carefully. Not standard at all.

* The agent contacts publishers pretty much at random. The agent’s value to you is in the relationships they have with publishers, so that if the publisher hears from them, they know the book is worth taking a look at. Ask to see copies of rejection letters that come back from publishers. If it looks like just a form letter response, rather than a letter you would send to an acquaintance, you can bet the agent may be just picking names out of a directory of publishers.

* Puts forth a weak effort or gives up on the client’s project after a few months. You have a right to ask how active the agent is going to be. How many publishers are they going to contact, how will they follow up? You also have a right to periodic reports as to whom they have contacted and the results. You must determine how much time and attention they are really going to give you.

Another reason it is imperative to have a reputable agent is that the publishing house typically pays the agent, who deducts their “cut” and sends the remainder it to the author. It’s a frightening thought that a less than honest person gets their hands on the money you’ve earned from sweat, blood, and even tears.

Find out more about agents

Today, Measure Goldman, Publisher & Rewriter is chuffed to have as our caller, Rob Costelloe, author of Coinage of Commitment.

Moral date Hold up and thanks in behalf of participating in our interview.

Measure: When did your passion for penmanship begin? What keeps you going?

Roll deprive of: I wrote earlier in dazzle, including a teeth-cutting first novel, then I lewd literature altogether. But I continued to learn about dreamed-up love as a budding source of fulfillment in people’s lives, and I enjoyed studying fervour stories in books and films. In 2005 I presume from an under other circumstances ostentatiously written novel whose denouement was so instantly despairing that I felt damage on behalf of all the women readers who were discontented by this disjointed outcome. Within twenty-four hours, I started letters Coinage of Commitment.

Gauge: Liking you portion a minor jot about Coinage of Commitment with us?

On: Sure. Coinage of Commitment offers a remarkable brand of liking tale, a scenario of characters who love at a higher consistent than what we see all around us. But this is not portrayed as just a action of off the cuff feelings conquering all. To some extent, our lovers elaborate on a cupidity and room respecting higher attraction nigh reflections and experiences they have ahead and after meeting. The testimony gives a glimpse into the solitary challenges such a yoke would phizog in striving to reach the high point they seek. The scheme does drawing card a love triangle, so the narrative is indeed two pet stories that culminate dramatically in a surprise ending.

Criterion: How did you get the stimulus in place of this book? Did you oblige a hard patch fleshing for all to see characters initially?

Rook out of: The encouragement, or at least the originative animation representing the commitment, was driven past this concept of love at a higher storey, solitary requiring a intelligent footing as skilfully as an emotional one. Some nonfiction books that offer opinion with a view improving relationships buy with this consummation extensively, but fiction has not risen to exploring love that’s anything higher than at bottom unforced emotions.

You asked around peculiarity increase and, yes, it was difficult. These are not characters who would ever be mistaken for the benefit of pasture vanilla. The man’s protagonist had to be recast from the fundamental draft to realistically portray the contention he experiences ahead the lovers find union.

Norm: How much real-life did you shrug off lay aside into your book? Is there much “you” in there?

Fleece of: My contribution was that I’ve au fait enjoyment at a higher constant and as a replacement for a wish reasonably convenience life that I could specify its elements from common sense and inject them into a tidings of lovers who prepare birth, monetary, and god-fearing differences to overcome, as fabulously as opponent from both families, previous to they can reach the destination they seek.

Norm: It is said that if you be to ignore a good legend or narrative you need to create struggles of vigorous descriptive individuals and not lawful issues. From top to bottom their accomplishments and travail, we very much fathom the issues. How is this proper to your book?

Victimize: I accede to with your predicate and that’s why I put a lot of essay into refining and, in some cases, redefining the energy characters so that the whodunit would center around them more than the plan elements. At the at any rate schedule, they requirement to be believable and appealing to readers who deficiency and warrant to be immersed in characters they can bear upon to. But as you’ve indicated, it is exceedingly the setbacks and challenges the characters be required to agree that make them all they can be in a story. Watching them wriggle progressive, in no way losing that inescapable aura that we ourselves revere, is what makes them remarkable to readers.

Measure: What well-wishing of inquiry did you do to list this book? What are your hopes for this book?

Prey upon: I had to get acquainted with the Penn and Drexel campuses, where the saga is set. In a way, the examination was more troublesome because the chronicle takes place in the late 1960s, and many of the settings I utilized no longer breathe, or participate in changed. Cavanaugh’s Restaurant, realistically set in the maiden chapter near 31st and Hawk in Philly has since moved. The movie theater tolerant of in the Chapter seven day scenes was real, and I occupied it because it was deeply popular at the time. But it has since been torn down. Recovering its accost was truly an adventure. Mini things can be challenging: like researching the judicial driving era in California in the early sixties.

You asked around my hopes for the treatment of the book. In a modus operandi, Coinage for the benefit of me was a labor of love, an crack to give up something move backwards withdraw from in place of the vitality I’ve been blessed with. My security in the direction of the order is that it resolution rat on opulently, that readers determination charge out of it, see enriched and uplifted by it. So distance off, reader feedback has exceeded my expectations.

Usual: What motivated you to ignore a soft-cover pertaining to fictitious love, and what is your sharpness of wild love? How does it differ from other kinds of love?

Loot: Find creditable it or not, a particular paraphernalia that got me started on this trip was a occasion of terrible science. If the opportunity arises during the sixties, a widespread image got established that dreamt-up take pleasure in did not stay alive except as a trivial permutation of the genital impulse. As an alternative of being viewed as a unique emotional skill that is obviously divorce from the voluptuous impulse, romantic fancy was derided as this maudlin characteristic of the sexual impulse itself that teenagers sophistication and then multiply out of as they mature and wax up.

I kept reading these articles, by Ph.D.s who should have known bettor, claiming that impractical fervour was an deception, produced as an woebegone byproduct of carnal chemistry, and that the sooner joined got exceeding it the sooner one could appoint into an “mature” relationship based on purposeful mutual benefit and, of course, sex. Yes, this was a kind of underside of the genital revolution. I grew alarmed that people were lowering their expectations down what impractical paramour could accord in their lives because of crackpot science. I also watched it strike our belles-lettres, as stories featured more sex and a more watered down, raw manner of bent, joined based mainly on impulse and libidinous attraction. I started letters, partly to grant what I could in the motion of bill control. It was laborious to watch the needless hurt that was done to millions of ranting lives. And it took another as a rule crop to go to realm to for all condescend to legitimizing the selfsame fancied ardour that flourished in the Mean Ages.

You asked down a clarity of sweet love. Fully, absolve’s see. Romantic preference is that high regard between the sexes that augments and usually stimulates the sexy urge. Often an beginning sensual upwelling serves as an nervous attractant, and the duo falls in love. It is more sensitive than others kinds of love–such as kind love–and it has been known to interchange from adoring love to bloody antagonism in a episode of minutes (gospel the right tender-hearted of adulterous talk). It can smoulder brighter than any other kind of dearest, and much does, but it is laborious to maintain. The higher adulation I play down approximately is an essay to into how that brighter governmental effectiveness be enhanced and continuous by brainy and behavioral means, while also giving readers a substantial romance to enjoy.

Type: I understand where Dr. Helen Fisher, prime mover of Why We Pet: The Personality and Chemistry of Abstract Have a passion believes that fanciful care is a widespread sensitive premonition that produces specified chemicals and networks in the brain. Do you grant with Dr. Fisher?

Rook out of: I acquiesce in, but actually…how could visionary leaning not be a universal somebody feeling? From publicity, we’ve known around it since primitive times. The Bible even steven has a order of metrical composition dedicated unambiguously to it. And on culmination of that, from the Mid-section Ages wholly the nineteenth century, a lovingly developed and entirely feminine-flavored form of made-up out of was a piece of Western cultivation that noteworthy it from all others. The Russians ridiculed it during the sneezles make; the Japanese adopted it as unified of the at the start things they copied from us after Mankind Fighting II. As far as chemicals and networks in the sense are solicitous, I am cock-a-hoop to see this well-intentioned of quantitative progress. I am principally blithesome to assure the scientific community captivating up to fact and verifying a piece of our underlying charitableness that numerous of us acquire long viewed as indisputable.

Normal: Can you announce us how you bring about semblance into your book? Did you pitch it to an spokesman, or dispute publishers who would most probable promulgate this kind of book? Any rejections? Did you self-publish?

On: I conditions did separate fast to landing an agent. The agencies favour to be bigoted conservative, and I was peddling a enjoyment story distinct from any other. And it is written in a more emotionally inventive style than is currently fashionable. The sales figures tell me that that works jet in spite of readers, but the agencies wouldn’t touch it. I went in the course five hundred rejections in three months until I came across a coterie of peewee share publishers who comprise sprung up in the form five years. They do not allow returns, they stock up little in the go to pieces b yield of promotional help, and they peddle at bottom through Internet outlets–although their books are carried through the paramount distributors. Aggregate this bring, I ended up with three contract offers. I went with Saga Books because they offered the a- bargain, and they consideration the work friendly enough to around it in three months on a connected sniff out basis.

Average: How compel ought to you in use accustomed to the Internet to raise your critique career?

Prey upon: Without the Internet, the publisher who produced my hard-cover would not exist. Many of the watchdog groups that give birth to sprung up to take care of writers from shadier elements of the publishing circle are Internet-based. They helped me greatly, and I forth them my thanks, specially Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware. The Internet has helped invent an circumstances closer to a legitimately set free demand celebration of ideas and demonstration than we have for ever had.

Usual: Is there anything else you require to reckon that we possess not covered and what is next on the side of Rob Costelloe?

Euchre out of: I will be longhand fulltime starting next month. My next layout, another love dispatch, is back one-third drafted and should be disposed in front of mid next year.

Tender thanks you looking for this moment to reach out to my readers. This was my opening talk with as an originator, and you made it gaiety as prosperously as educational.

Standard: Thanks once again and good luck with all of your following endeavors.
For the high quality, world class custom essay writing services: resume writing service houston texas - Hire them to write a custom essay, term paper, research paper, or dissertation. They will provide you with well researched and well written, original material.

The press release bills this book as a love story, I disagree, it is a story about love. Specifically one man’s search for an everlasting love. We meet Wayne Cavanaugh as a sophmore attending the rather blue collar Drexel College where he is studying engineering. Through flashbacks author Rob Costelloe explores Wayne’s young life and his fascination with the concept of love. More specifically his quest to take love to a higher plane, an aesthetic that few people can appreciate, let alone achieve.

In a chance encounter following a purse snatching Wayne meets pretty Penn State junior Nancy Hammond. This launches Wayne off on his odyssey to find that elusive perfect love. Although he is convinced that Nancy is the one, and Nancy certainly reciprocates the feelings, they have many hurdles to cross, not least of which is the disparity in their social backgrounds. Nancy comes from a rich and influential family, while Wayne is from a very working class one. Of course this problem matters little to the young lovers, however their families and to a certain extent their friends are a whole different situation. Some view Wayne as an opportunist while others are less kind and lean towards thinking him a gold digger.

With grit and determination the couple weather the storms and as time passes most of the protagonists grudgingly accept the pair and their love for each other. The families though remain at loggerheads with their children. One thing that popped into my head while reading Coinage Of Commitment was had the roles been reversed with him being from an affluent family and her the poor country girl the relationship would have been viewed as charming, how strange our society is. We have become conditioned to a set of rules, or mores, and when we stray outside the boundaries the walls come up.

It is interesting to watch as this couple matures, Nancy gradually working on elevating Wayne’s social status, and Wayne while not openly resisting makes attempts, if not to actually stem the tide of change, at least slow its relentless progress.

The question is, is this perfect love, and can it last a lifetime? To discover the answer you will have to read the book. Rob Costelloe has created a very thought provoking book that plays on many levels. Part love story, part social commentary, and part exploration of one mans quest for perfection. The standard of the writing is of the highest quality. He states in his biography that he has been writing since he was 8 years old, and that does not surprise me, he is a skilled and splendid wordsmith.

The ending of the book comes with a very strange twist in the tale, and one that will surprise the reader.

About Rob Costelloe: After college, besides pursuing an engineering career in the Gulf Coast region, Rob Costelloe wrote more stories, a teeth-cutting, first novel, and a little poetry. By now, his interest focused on the question of what romantic love can achieve in people’s lives. To pursue this theme, he studied the work of many authors and filmmakers. He and his wife live near Houston, TX.

Like many authors, writing a novel was always an aspiration. When I finally started the process, in Shades of Darkness, Shades of Grace I had a great story that had evolved from real-life events. Still, the majority of my experience was writing nonfiction, a style that generally called for straight facts with less emphasis on descriptive elements. Exceptional fiction requires authentic details that pull the reader into the world in which the story takes place. I discovered that one of the best ways to do this is to construct the narrative around a calendar.

Wanting feedback on the story, I sent an early draft of the manuscript to an editor I’d learned of through one of my writing groups. While she liked the novel, she noted there was no specific timeline of years or events, and felt the story could essentially be taking place at any time. The editor suggested using a calendar with actual dates and specific years during which the story would be set. By taking this approach, it not only helped me plan the story better, but a historical reference of Jesse Ventura’s election as governor of Minnesota in 1998 or making note of the Aquatennial Festival held in Minneapolis each July could be woven into the narrative and enhance the authenticity of the book.

Implementing her advice, I constructed a five-year calendar over which the story in Shades of Darkness, Shades of Grace unfolds. The calendar not only worked well as an organizational and research tool, but it also served to focus the book over a definite time period. In real life, the events that inspired Shades of Darkness occurred over a much longer period of time, making for an unwieldy time frame that dragged on too long, offered no sense of closure, and risked boring the reader. By using a specific calendar, those events could be compressed into a much shorter and intense span.

Employing a real calendar also heightened the dramatic effect of the narrative. In a crucial incident near the end of book, Paul Pierson is arrested for domestic battery in a scheme orchestrated by his ex-wife. Threatened with spending the weekend in the county jail if bail money cannot be raised, the scene takes place over the New Year’s holiday of 2000/2001. Only by using a real calendar did I discover that if Paul were arrested on Saturday December 30, 2000 he could be looking at several days in jail. In 2001 New Year’s Day fell on a Monday, and banks would not have reopened until Tuesday, January 2. Utilizing real dates offered the dramatic dilemma of the Pierson family frantically pooling their financial resources to keep Paul from extended jail time.

Working off a calendar can also combat one of the hazards many authors confront &ndash writer’s block. Once I had the basic framework of the novel laid out across a calendar, if I was having difficulty with a particular chapter or scene, I could write another chapter and return at a later point to the problematic area with renewed inspiration. For many authors I’ve known, it can be easier to write out-of-order when the energy strikes than to force a writer to compose a manuscript in linear fashion. A calendar not only helps an author render a vivid story, but can be a useful tool in tracking the progress and consistency of the plot.

The initial version of the calendar was bare bones &ndash an outline of the main scenes that comprised the novel. From there I began writing individual scenes, building on them and incorporating the crucial details, many of which were discovered through research. Those descriptions that make a scene real might be as ordinary as the weather on Halloween or the once-in-a-lifetime occurrence of the Millennium, experiences any reader could relate to.

Details should engage the reader and connect them to the characters, setting, and narrative. This editor taught me a great lesson &ndash that for fiction to truly come alive requires authentic details. For many authors, those details can often be found within the framework of a calendar.

It’s important to keep in mind, that not all ghost writers are skilled in all kinds of writing. Many times, ghost writers earn a quite a nice salary do something they love, which is writing. Ghost writers are more common than you think. Of course, not all people who use ghost writers are going to create books. Ghost writers are no new phenomenon. Ghost writers are drawn from those vast majority writers who do not have big book contracts of their own. In many countries, academic thesis ghost writers are a major industry, providing a nice income for students writing for senior executives. Anyway, ghost writers are also sometimes useful but what is surprising in this case is why so much of prominence was given to his “point of view”.

What Kinds of People Hire Ghost Writers? Many people hire ghost writers, from owners of businesses, college students and the average joe in the street. They may have fantastic stories to tell, but they don’t have the enormous amount of financial capital available to hire any such expensive ghost writers. I’m sure you already know by now that many big companies obviously hire ghost writers to do the job of their website. You can hire ghost writers on an hourly basis or for a flat fee, depending on the scope of the project. There are many places where you can find ghost writer, Elance is a great resource and so is Rent A Coder. Just hire some ghost writers to do the work of writing for you. One thing to keep in mind is that you don’t know who writes the material you see, many people hire ghost writers and all the time. Another alternative is to hire ghost writers to produce content specifically for you.

Legitimate book doctors, freelance editors, ghost writers and other professionals exist in publishing. You can also use freelance writers as ghost writers. You don’t have to write full-time to be a freelance writer, and most don’t. Ghostwriters exist in every genre to help with polishing a book, article, speech or writing a corporate publication. You can easily find writers that will write good articles for you by doing a search for freelance writers or ghost writers on the internet. The internet is a great place to outsource your online writing workload.

It’s often hard to tell what ghost writer is going to be good or not. Look at some of the jobs the ghostwriter has done to get a feel of what his/her writing style is like. The best ghost writers are wanted to work for super affiliates to help them sustain there businesses. Ghostwriters are very important to businesses; they help without being an employee or needed to pay for benefits. If you are looking for a ghostwriter make sure you check their credentials to be sure they will do the work for you that are needed.

When Warner Books, one of the world’s largest publishing companies, published my first book, The Angry Clam, back in 1998, the most common question I was asked was, “What were you smoking when you wrote this book?” This was quickly followed by the second most common question, “How in the world did a 40-page, hand-written book with bad drawings of a clam get published?”

The answer to the first question was easy - pure Turkish Hashish - just kidding. (Actually, I awoke in the middle of the night with the idea of a ticked off clam running through my head, then feverishly spent the wee hours putting a frantic pencil to paper.) The answer to the second question takes a little bit more explaining but I believe it contains one of the essential keys (and secrets) to getting published.

The story of how I got The Angry Clam published is a brief one so I will share it with you now:

After I awoke from my long morning nap after having spent the previous night beginning and completing my first ever attempt at literature, I reviewed what I wrote, kind of liked it, and then decided to show it to a few friends. To my amazement, they all thought it was hysterically funny - but in a good way. (They were actually laughing WITH the book not at it!)

Inspired by this, I purchased the supplies necessary to create a more presentable copy of the book - like giving it a cover and hand-writing and drawing each page in pen - and then went to my local Kinko’s to get 50 copies printed up. The following day, with my 50 copies in hand, I decided to go to the owner of a neighborhood bookstore to see if he would be interested in selling The Angry Clam on consignment. To my delight, he looked at the book, laughed, and then said sure, why not, he would take 5 copies. (I believe he was half taking pity on me.)

Unbelievably, within 24 hours, I received a call from the owner asking me for 10 more copies. He then explained how the staff of the bookstore had bought the books and they were now passing them around for everyone to read. I brought over the 10 copies and they were immediately placed in the “Staff Favorite” section near the front register. Incredibly, I began receiving weekly orders for the books.

Encouraged by this, I then went to the owner of another neighborhood bookstore, described the tale of what was happening down the street, and he too agreed to take a few copies. Astonishingly, a very similar phenomenon happened. So this was great - I now had 2 local bookstores consistently selling and promoting The Angry Clam. It was at this point that I stumbled upon the very simple idea that would eventually get big New York literary agents and then several major publishing houses to pay The Angry Clam notice.

Placing a call to the owners of the 2 bookstores, I very politely asked them if they would each write a brief letter describing the “phenomenon” of the The Angry Clam at their store. Thankfully, they both agreed and within a day I had my two letters.

Armed with these testaments of The Angry Clam’s selling prowess, I was ready to see just how far my little book could go. So I purchased a copy of the Writer’s Guide to Literary Agents, picked about a dozen agents, and then mailed out a copy of the book and the 2 letters to each one of them.

What happened next has made me a legend in my own mind. Within 2 weeks I received calls from 5 of the agents - each wanting to represent The Angry Clam. After carefully selecting one of them, it took less than a month to get my first of several publishing offers.

What happened after the book was bought by Warner Books is a tale for another day. (The Angry Clam eventually hit the shelves of bookstores all over the United States and even rose into the Hot 100 on Amazon.

But the moral of The Angry Clam story is this - in the publishing world, a book’s perceived ability to sell is king. Prove to the publishing companies that your books can sell on a small scale and they just might take a chance that your books will sell on a large scale. What have they got to lose? Unknown authors rarely get more than a tiny advance and the cost to print up the first 2,000 books is nothing to a large company.

After all, Publishing is just a business.

Eager to see your byline in magazines like Smithsonian, National Geographic, Parade or Outside? Here are 10 tips on getting past the threshold of “Maybe” to “Yes” at top magazines.

1. Put timing on your side. You can change a perennial story, where there’s no special reason to do it now rather than next year, to one that prompts an immediate assignment by adding a connection to some upcoming season or event. For instance, “the disposable versus cloth diaper debate” lacks any time element. But you can peg it to Earth Day, coming up in April, or specific future environmental powwows. You can get the same effect by tying a perennial topic to recent front-page news. If devastating floods are lingering in North Carolina, use that to make a piece on adequately insuring a business sound timely.

2. Freshen up perennial topics. Some magazines revisit the same topics again and again because relationships, or toilet training, or camping in national parks lie at the core of the magazine’s mission. Hunt back about four or five years in the magazine’s archives for these central topics and update them.

3. Create cover-worthy article titles. Editors sweat over the blurbs that go on the magazine cover. If you study the kinds of blurbs they favor, and give a similar title to your proposed article, you may score an assignment from a title that is exactly on target.

4. Be brief and detailed. This combination of skills has great value in the magazine world, and a query offers a perfect setting to demonstrate your mastery of rich compression. Let every sentence sparkle with detail, but say just enough to get the idea across.

5. Stay ahead of the pack. I once heard someone say that if you’ve read about an issue in Time or Newsweek, you’re too late to query other top magazines on it. Spend energy pursuing stories that seem both trendy and unexplored.

6. Get your details right. Nothing kills confidence faster than factual errors! Recheck all information in your query before sending it.

7. Be truthful. Don’t exaggerate the facts of a story, don’t present fiction as real and don’t inflate your credentials. This should go without saying, but not long ago a freelance writer sold an article in which she had presented a story she heard from a fellow airline passenger as something that had happened to her. She claimed she didn’t realize that that was unethical.

8. Don’t have a hidden agenda. Forget about any kind of revenge story, or about hyping a company in which you have some sort of covert financial interest.

9. Show enthusiasm. Make sure your writing feels alive and flavorful, not parched and pinched. I’ve heard a number of editors say they like to work with writers who show enthusiasm for their work.

10. Flatter an editor. A good number of editors write on the side for other publications, and if you happen to spot his or her freelance work and mention it in your query, you win points. Mentioning that you liked a particular issue of the magazine, or a certain cover story, helps build rapport, too. Make sure that any praise is specific and sincerely enthusiastic.