SiteHappy anniversary to me!
This month marks the tenth anniversary of my first published article. I had gone on some informational interviews at publishing companies in Boston. I didn’t like what I learned well enough to seek a job in the publishing industry, but I thought my experiences would make a great article for a career magazine. Using Thomas Clark’s book Queries & Submissions (now out of print), I wrote up a query for an article called “The Art of the Informational Interview,” packed it with a SASE and my only clip (a review of a text on dialectology for the journal Language — so not a real clip), and sent it off to a few magazines.
A few weeks later I had an assignment from EEO Bimonthly magazine — for $500! I wish I could remember how I sleuthed out expert sources with my 1200-baud modem, no ProfNet, no online forums, and no clue. But I completed the article, turned it in, and have been writing for that magazine group ever since. In thanks and celebration, I just sent my editor (a different one by now) and his staff a box of Fairytale Brownies.
I think I have that very first query on floppy disk somewhere…I’ll try to dig it up and post it here.
What writing milestones have you reached recently? [lf]
14 Responses to “Happy anniversary to me!”
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Joanne
Said this on February 7th, 2007 at 11:19am:Happy Anniversary!
I’m not sure if this is a writing milestone, but I recently got a dba certificate with a company name for my writing business. I know that it’s probably not necessary, but it gave me this feeling of “yes! I am really doing this!”
BTW, Linda, why do you say that the piece from Language was “not a real clip”? Just curious! : )
LindaFormichelli
Said this on February 7th, 2007 at 11:50am:Thanks, Joanne! And congrats on getting your dba certificate.
Looking back, I don’t count that piece from Language as a “real clip” because it was highly technical — no style at all, just a 500-word description of what was in each chapter of a very specialized text. I didn’t query (I got the gig through my advisor in the Slavic department at Berkeley), and I didn’t have to deal with an editor at all. But apparently the editor of EEO Bimonthly was not turned off!
Liberty
Said this on February 7th, 2007 at 11:55am:Happy Anniversary, Linda!
My milestone: My first assignment (and a paying one, at that!) Made up my mind to do freelancing “for real” and mentioned my intentions to a friend at a paper; three days later I had an assignment writing a fashion article with more opportunities to come. I am now a TOTAL subscriber of the “Ask and You Shall Receive” theory!
It’s fun to know we’ll be sharing close to the same anniversary, Linda! And also MUCH fun to look ahead with awe at what the next ten years might bring!
Cheers!
DianaBurrell
Said this on February 7th, 2007 at 12:28pm:Happy anniversary, Linda!
Geez, thinking about it, I just passed my 10-year anniversary for getting published in December! I wrote a story on romance novelists for Connecticut Magazine, which appeared in their December 1996 issue. I know I have the two-page, single-spaced query for it around here somewhere.
I was working full-time back then as a marketing manager for a packaged goods company while taking graduate classes in writing at Wesleyan University. I continued working full-time for the next three years, publishing every now and then, but not really going at it whole-heartedly. So I consider April 30, 1999 my real day of entry into the freelance world. That’s when I left my tech writing job and said hasta la vista to my last moronic boss for good.
Rachel
Said this on February 7th, 2007 at 12:29pm:I just made it into my First Really Really Big Newspaper and I am so happy. I want to thank both of you for all the inspiration you’ve given me. I really wish I could bake you both a cake, I am that grateful.
Linda
Said this on February 8th, 2007 at 3:30am:Congratulations!
Well…a couple of weeks ago I sent off several queries for articles…my first. I am currently waiting to hear back from editor #1 who liked my idea whether the pictures I sent are suitable and I can therefore get my first assignment. And I am also due to send a writing sample to editor #2 to see whether my style fits in her magazine: she already likes my idea. So, in other words, I’m close, I think, to finally becoming the writer I said would be when I grew up.
It’ll feel like more of a milestone when it’s for real…but still, it’s exciting.
HisGirlFriday
Said this on February 8th, 2007 at 12:13pm:Hurrah to everyone!
Linda - you had a great reply to a post I put on mediabistro that helped me reach one of my goals: I got my first assignment for a trade mag this week. I answered an ad seeking writers, shot off a resume and clips and had an assignement (with sources, phone numbers, etc.) in hand within a few hours. Pay is about .50 a word. If it works out, editor says more work to follow.
Over the last few days I’ve also banished that fear of hitting the “send” key on pitches and submissions - and sent off a few essays totally blind - they were not taken but I got an assignment from a web site and possibly more to follow.
Thanks again for such a great, inspirational site!
LindaFormichelli
Said this on February 8th, 2007 at 12:24pm:Wow! Congrats to Diana on your 10-year, Liberty on your assignment, Linda on your query success, and Rachel on your first Really Big Newspaper. Maybe we should post a weekly brag etry where people can post comments on their successes. What fun!
Rachel, why can’t you bake us a cake? I think FedEx could get it to us while it’s still good. ;->
LindaFormichelli
Said this on February 8th, 2007 at 12:25pm:And HisGirlFriday, congrats on your trade assignment! 50 cents a word is pretty good when you consider how much less work a trade assignment generally is than an assignment for a consumer mag. I’ve been writing for more and more trades myself. Hooray!
Melissa
Said this on February 8th, 2007 at 1:38pm:I don’t know about milestones, but I’ve banished “send” button fear and am getting more regular assignments this year. Not making a living quite yet, but it’s progress.
Brian Westover
Said this on February 8th, 2007 at 3:16pm:I can’t beleive I forgot to celebrate this… one year ago, January 3rd, I decided that I wanted to write professionally. I’ve since focused my Communications major on Journalism, collected about a dozen good clips and made a couple bucks in the process.
Erika Dreifus
Said this on February 8th, 2007 at 9:22pm:Congratulations, Linda! And what a great lesson about writing what you know (or learn)!
Isabel
Said this on February 9th, 2007 at 2:05am:Wow, come to think of it this month is my own five-year anniversary of getting my very first (unpaid) writing assignment. I’ve come a long way and still have lots more to learn and conquer.
Francie
Said this on February 9th, 2007 at 7:08pm:Congratulations, Linda and everyone else who is marking milestones! I’m still inching along, sometimes going in too many directions at once to reach a milestone
Linda, thanks for all the insights you lend and sharing that you still find frustrations, even with 10 years of success under your belt.