Dianne E. Butts About Writing

 

The Writing E-zine for Beginning and Intermediate Writers

March 2008 ~ 231 Subscribers

 

 

Cover Story: 

 

"Getting Organized"

 

    The more organized we are, the more productive we can be. When we can find what we need quickly, we can get more done. And when we have a system...a way of doing things...tasks are streamlined and take less time.

    I have read many articles by freelance writers describing how they organize their offices. Some of these articles make sense to me--many don't. I think organizing is highly personal--what works for some doesn't work at all for others. So I think the best we can do is grab onto the ideas that work for us and scrap the rest. Or try some ideas, experiment with them, and if they don't work out for us, either modify them for our own needs or scrap them

    I've tried different things over the years. Some have worked really well for me. Others haven't so I've ditched the idea and tried something else.

    I'll tell you how I organize my files. I like to keep things simple, uncomplicated. If you're just getting started, I hope this will help you get organized. If you've been at this for a while, maybe there will be some ideas here that will help you improve your current system.

How I organize my Sample Copies

    I learned early in my writing career that I needed to have a way to organize my sample copies of magazines and my writers guidelines. After attending a writer's conference, I always bring home sacks of magazines, Sunday school take-home papers, theme lists, and book publisher's catalogs from the freebie table. These are valuable tools, and costly to gather individually. I needed a way to store this material and be able to find it easily when I needed it.

    I bought a box of file folders and made a file for each market. I used to keep everything having to do with that market in its file. That way I could pull the file and study the sample copies, review the guidelines, and check the theme list all at once. This worked great for me for a while.

    I have a four-drawer, upright file cabinet where I store my market files--three drawers hold all my files for periodical markets and the fourth holds files for book publishers.     

Keeping Writer's Guidelines at my fingertips:

    As my files and business grew, I wanted my writers guidelines at my fingertips and available at my desk without having to pull one or several files. So I created a three-ring binder to hold my guidelines. I purchased a set of colorful alphabetical dividers and filed them by the periodical's title. I've gathered guidelines from so many periodicals that I've now graduated to two three-ring binders, and I split the alphabet between them. These binders sit on a shelf above my desk where they're handy.

    As you gather guidelines, either by writing for them, printing them off the internet, or from conferences, it's helpful to write the date you get them on everything. That way if you get another copy from another conference later, you'll know which copy is the most recent and can toss the old one. It's important to keep your guidelines up to date. Editors and periodicals change, and their guidelines along with them. If you notice your guidelines are a few years old, it's wise to check them against a current copy on the internet or request new guidelines to make sure you have an up-to-date copy. Take special note if you hear there has been a change of editors because guidelines often change after that.

Keeping up with Theme Lists:

    Some periodicals publish some or all of an issue on a certain theme, and they let writers know what those themes will be well in advance. The Christian Writers' Market Guide 2008: The Essential Reference Tool for the Christian Writer (Christian Writers' Market Guide) notes when a market uses a theme list. But how can we keep up with themes so we get our query letter or article submitted in time? I've tried a couple different methods to stay on top of themes:

    I keep what I call a "rotating" three-ring binder for my Theme Lists. I purchased a colorful set of monthly dividers. After reviewing the themes and making notes on article ideas or topics I'd like to write on, I decide when I'll need to have the query letter or manuscript in, how much time I'll need to prepare it, and then I put the theme list in that month of my binder. Then each month, I take last month's divider and put it at the back of the binder, rotating the current month to the top or front of the notebook. I can easily review my notes and see what queries or submissions I need to send off that month.

    My other method is to keep a file stacker on the table next to my desk. Using a sticky note, I mark any theme l wish to submit to by writing the month I need to submit in large letters on the sticky note and fastening it to the theme list so it's sticking up where I can see it. I put them in order in the stacker from the closest dates to the date farthest away.

Keeping my Manuscript Files

    When it comes to keeping my manuscripts organized, I started out making a file for each article manuscript (with all my notes, research, and printed hard copy of the article, query letters, cover letters, correspondence with editors, e-mail, and contracts) and filed them alphabetically by article title. That, I'm sure, is a no-brainer. But as my writing business grew, I ran into some challenges. What if I wrote several different but similar articles on the same topic?  If I filed them by title, they'd be all over the filing cabinet. So at times, when I'm writing multiple articles on the same topic, I make a topic file and put all the article files in it just to keep them together. This also helps keep me from submitting articles that are too similar to competing markets.

    Another occasion where I group articles together in the same file is when I submit often to one market. For example, if I submit regularly to a certain Sunday-school take-home paper, I have a file under the name of that market--but it's in the lateral file with my manuscript files. That way I can see what I've sent them. If there's a chance I can submit one of those articles elsewhere for reprints, I'll make another printout of it and it will get its own article file. I also have one file titled "Anthologies" where I keep all my submissions and contracts for compilation books to which I've submitted.

    I'm old fashioned, I guess. I just can't keep all my manuscript files only on my computer. Even with backups, I feel better having a hard copy so I can recreate an article in my computer if I need to.

        For a additional help, check out these articles for writers on www.DianneEButts.com:  "Writer's Plan for Success" and "Office Shopping List."

 

 

Section 2:

 

Dianne's Time-Saving Tip

 

    Have you received your Christian Writers' Market Guide 2008: The Essential Reference Tool for the Christian Writer (Christian Writers' Market Guide)  or  2008 Writer's Market? To get organized and save time, I read through every periodical listings and put a star by those I might write for. These might include markets that fit my style of writing, the topics I write about, or the pay scale I need. That way, throughout the rest of the year, I can save time by easily seeing which markets work for me and ignoring the rest.

    I also make notes in the margins of which articles I might send to a market or which topics I can write on that might fit that market. This helps during the year as I'm looking for submission ideas.

 

 

 

Q & A: Dianne Answers Your Questions about Writing

 

Q: I need to get organized in tracking my submissions. How do you track yours?

A: I use 4 x 6 cards and a double-entry system with one card for each market and one card for each manuscript. I record the date I send off a query or manuscript, who I sent it to, and the result. For more details, see my "Sidebar" article in the August 2007 issue of this e-zine. Archived issues are available on the "For Writers" page of www.DianneEButts.com .

 

Q: Do you keep track of your publications?

A: Yes. I can't believe how many writers I've talked to who, when I ask them how many publications they have, they give me a funny look and say, "I don't know." This is your resume! I think it's important to keep track of how many publications I have, when they were published, and where.

    I keep track of my publications in two ways:

    1. I keep a running list in a Word table. In the first column I have the number from my first publication to now (just over 200). Then I have columns for the date published, the market, and the article title. I also record the rights sold and the amount paid. I print this list out occasionally and hang it on my bulletin board so it's handy when I'm writing my credentials for a cover letter or query.

    I also add extra lines so I can write in new publications or acceptances that are awaiting publication.

    2. I keep a copy of every publication I have in sheet protectors in a nice notebook.

    These records make it easy for me to write a resume, bio, author's credentials section in a book proposal, or writer's credentials in a query or cover letter.

  

Do you have a question you'd like me to address? E-mail it here: dbwrites@comcast.net. Include your first name, city and state (optional), and, if you wish, a link or two to your web site, blog and/or online article(s).

 

Didn't receive your e-zine last month?

 

    On occasion e-zines bounce as undeliverable. This happened with numerous addresses (mostly aol.com addresses) with the December '07 and February '08 issues. I worked with aol.com to resolve the problem, but it took several weeks before I was able to forward the December zine to those who had not received it, and I was not able to forward the February zine. Please know I try to have the e-zine out by the last Friday of the previous month so you'll have it by the first, so if you don't receive your Dianne E. Butts About Writing E-zine by the first of the month, please feel free to let me know at dbwrites@comcast.net and I'll forward you a copy.

 

Sidebar

"Miscellaneous Files and Fighting Clutter"

 

    I'm pretty organized. And yet I'm constantly fighting clutter. I've discovered the clutter in my office is all the things that don't fit in my filing system I described above. "A place for everything and everything in its place" is great advice. The clutter in my office consists of items that don't have a home, a place. I'm constantly trying to figure out how to create a place for these miscellaneous items where I can store them and yet not forget them. I have miscellaneous files for:

    I also have an inbox to place items that I need to watch to see that they're taken care, that I need to follow up on, or that I need to do.

    I also have files in my desk drawer for my income records where I keep a running sheet of my income for the year and check stubs, and a 13-pocket file for expense receipts filed by month.

  

sidebar -- a short article, statistics, graphs, or other information that accompanies an article. It's usually set off in a box or separate area on the same pages of the article.     Find more definitions of writing terms here: Glossary of Writing Terms

 

Section 3:

 

Period.

 

    Get organized. Get more done.

    You can do it! Period. No buts about it.

 

 

Back Cover Copy

How to support this e-zine: Do you know another writer who might be interested in this e-zine? Please feel free to forward this e-zine in its entirety to others who may be interested. They can get their own free subscription at www.DianneEButts.com.

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Bio: Dianne E. Butts has been writing for publication since 1989 with 200+ articles in more than 50 periodicals and contributions to fifteen books. Her articles have appeared in Focus on the Family magazine, The Lookout, Light and Life, The Salvation Army's War Cry, The Plain Truth, On Mission, Bible Advocate, Live, Evangel, the Christian Motorcyclists Association's HeartBeat, The Quiet Hour, Christian Communicator, SpiritLedWriter.com, and more. Book contributions include stories in Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul 2, For Better or Worse: A Devotional for Married Couples by Marlene Bagnull, Beauty is Soul Deep, A Cup of Comfort Devotional for Women and Mothers, and Zondervan's New Women's Devotional Bible. Her work has appeared in Great Britain, Poland, Bulgaria, Canada, and Korea.

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Subtopic 1:

 

Pull Quote

 

"If you don't know exactly where your manuscript is going in the publishing world, then you're in essence writing to follow your dream. By all means, continue on that first trail. But at the same time, start traveling down the second trail and write to get published." Nancy I. Sanders in "The Two-trails Traveler," Christian Communicator, January 2008, page 7.

 

 

~ ~ ~

 

Dear America: A Letter of Comfort and Hope to a Grieving Nation (Ampelos, 2002). Available from www.DianneEButts.com or Amazon.com:  Dear America, - A Letter of Comfort & Hope to a Grieving Nation.

   

 

 

 

Subtopic 2:

 

Resources

Christian Writers' Market Guide 2008: The Essential Reference Tool for the Christian Writer (Christian Writers' Market Guide)

 2008 Writer's Market

 

 

 

 

 

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    The March 2008 issue is packed with info you need to know:

 

 

 

  Religion of Peace?: Why Christianity Is and Islam Isn't

 

 

 

Subtopic 3:

 

Coming Conferences:

Dianne's Writing News

 

    CBN.com published THREE of my articles in February!

Writing Opportunities

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