DEADLINE SET FOR THE ANNUAL

WRITER’S DIGEST COMPETITION 

Writer’s Digest Magazine has announced May 14 as the deadline for submission to its annual writing competition, now in its 79^th consecutive year. The grand prize winner will be given a three-day visit to New York City for meetings with editors and agents. More than $30,000 in cash and prizes will be given out to winners in a variety of categories. 

The ten categories for submissions include:

• Inspirational Writing (Spiritual/Religious)
• Memoirs/Personal Essay
• Magazine Feature Article
• Genre Short Story (Mystery, Romance, etc.)
• Mainstream/Literary Short Story
• Rhyming Poetry
• Non-rhyming Poetry
• Stage Play
• Television/Movie Script
• Children's/Young Adult Fiction

For more info and entry forms, click on www.writersdigest.com/annual.  

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US CONSULATE SEEKS BOOKS

TO DISPLAY AT LEIPZIG BOOK FAIR 

As they did last year, the American Consulate based in Leipzig, Germany, is soliciting books from American authors and publishers to be displayed at the annual book fair in that historic city. The American Association of Publishers traditionally assists the Consulate in rounding up a substantial representation. 

When the fair ends, stickers explaining they were donated will be placed on the books and they will be given to university, city and high school libraries. Since this year is the 20^th anniversary of the falling of the Berlin Wall, the American presence at the fair is of particular significance. Leipzig is located in the former Communist East Germany. 

The fair will be held March 12-15. Books can be sent at domestic postage rates to US Consulate, Leipzig, Public Affairs Section, PSC-120 Box 1000, APO AE 09265.  Further information is available by e-mailing hoelkermm@state.gov.

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THE CURRENT ECONOMIC CRISIS MAKES ATTENDANCE

AT THIS YEAR’S ROUND TABLE MOST IMPORTANT  

Are you wondering how you can get your new book published in the current economic climate? Only 200 writers will be admitted to the Fifth Annual New York Round Table Writers Conference, and previous events have been sellouts. It is scheduled for April 24 and 25 in New York City. 

The highly respected New York Center for Independent Publishing, sponsor of the event, is offering a $25 discount to early enrollees if they are members of the organization. The event has not been announced to the public as yet. 

Join the more than 75 publishing experts—agents, editors, publicists, publishers and authors as they discuss their strategies. More info is available at www.writersconferencenyc.org.  

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SOME IMPORTANT TRENDS IN ARTICLE MARKETING

AS SEEN BY PREMIER DISTRIBUTOR EZINE ARTICLES  

In a recent newsletter to participating writers, ezine articles President Chris Knight offered his predictions on a number of trends in the article marketing industry for 2009. He anticipates strong growth resulting from the sluggish economy and the fear of unanticipated costs in pay-per-click (PPC) programs. 

Knight also predicts that specialization in preparing articles is becoming more important (probably because readers are becoming far more sophisticated), and sees a trend away from generalist ghost writers who grind out articles in quantity, but with little quality. Nonetheless, Knight sees an emerging industry of well-informed service providers to support people who have the expertise in their subject, but little skill in writing and submission techniques. Listen up, because this is another way for writers who are qualified in a subject to improve their income stream. 

Another important concern voiced by Knight is the proliferation of dead links in older articles. Many articles that were published on the Internet some time ago are still highly relevant, but the links in the text and in the bio boxes are out of date. Links still point to many web sites that no longer exist. So check your older articles to be certain the linkage is still relevant.  

For more trends, click on www.ezinearticles.com

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MORE GLOOMY NEWS FOR FREELANCERS 

I hate to be the carrier of gloom and doom, but the news for those of us who rely for much of our income on placing articles in print publications just doesn’t simply continue to be negative, it gets worse. Meg Weaver’s excellent Wooden Horse ezine began its weekly report with the warning, “Take a deep breath. This won’t be pretty.”  And it isn’t. But it is important that you as a freelancer have the trending information to be able to protect your bottom line. 

Of the 250 titles that Publishers Information Bureau currently tracks, only 47 saw year-to-year ad page gains this past quarter. The Bureau reports that year-to-date ad pages overall have fallen 9.5% with the third quarter plummeting by 12.7%.   

Now Standard & Poor’s is weighing in with its prediction that the decline in ad pages will continue through the end of the year.  “High debt levels, migration of ad spending to the Internet, declining newsstand sales…suggest a near-term decline in credit risk.” 

It’s a tough outlook as the heaviest ad spending months are upon us. 

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OUTLOOK IS DREARY FOR

ARTICLE FREELANCING  

With ad lineage already falling over the past few months, magazines are tightening their belts in anticipation of the rippling consequences of the economic malaise that’s sweeping the country and even the world.  

Following the closing by Hearst of Cosmo Girl, MediaPost interviewed a cross section of magazine execs who agreed to speak off the record. The general outlook was quite negative. One of the surprises for me was the weakness in the financial category. Kiplinger’s newsstand sales fell by 19.6%, with ad pages down 13.6%. SmartMoney’s experience is even worse, with newsstand off by 20.1% and ad pages slipping by 25.7%. 

The execs also pointed to drastic slides in ad pages of some children’s titles, and you know how that impacts the editorial hole. Ad pages in Nickelodeon are off by 30%. National Geographic for Kids fell by 42.7% with Sports Illustrated for Kids down by just short of 25%. (The adult version of Sports Illustrated fell by 7.9%. 

The execs fingered several additional titles as well. So monitor pages in your best outlets carefully to make certain you don’t get caught short. Prepare yourself by cultivating alternative placements now. 

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HERE ARE SOME INCOME FIGURES

THAT WILL START YOUR “AUTHOR JUICES” FLOWING 

Take a look at the earnings of top-selling authors from June, 2007 to June, 2008 as reported by Forbes magazine. Of course, JK Rowling tops the chart with a cool $300 million. (That includes movie royalties.) 

James Patterson, who usually cranks out two books a year, comes in second, posting earnings of $50 million during the one-year period. Coming in third is former school teacher Stephen King with $45 million. 

Some of the other big winners are Tom Clancy at $35million, Daniel Steele at $30 million and John Grisham at $25 million. 

Isn’t this inspiration enough to rekindle your dreams of topping the Best Seller lists and send you back to the computer?  

A FEDERAL COURT UPHOLDS

ANOTHER ASSAULT ON YOUR FREELANCE  INCOME 

Wooden Horse, the highly reliable and helpful directory of magazines reports that a Federal court ruled a magazine publisher has the right to re-publish its content, photographs included, as long as it reproduces it in its original layout. 

In a case involving the National Geographic Society, the US11th Circuit Court held that magazine publishers had the right to reproduce an article in a CD-ROM that included all of its issues published since the magazine’s inception. The CD will include computer programs for accessing and indexing the individual articles. 

This battle for equitable compensation never seems to end. So be on the alert and make sure payment for any additional usage is built into your contract when you sell the original article. 
 
 

The Digital World 

WHILE THE ECONOMY SAGS, THE WEB SURGES AHEAD

SO SHARPEN UP YOUR ONLINE PROMOTIONS 

At least one segment of the publishing world is weathering the economic downturn quite well. Bullish on the Web, eMarketer  predicts ad spending on the Internet  will reach $24.9 billion this year, followed by continuous double digit growth.  

The heaviest spending and strongest growth is generated by search engines. eMarketer anticipates a total of $10.4 billion  in search advertising this year, doubling that figure by 2012. That makes sense after reading the report by Pew Internet & American Life Project that states just under one half of all Internet users conduct at least one online search daily.  

Of course, Google tops the list. Last year, the portal garnered 57% of online ad revenue, an amount greater than the combined receipts of Yahoo, MSN and AOL.  

David Hallerman, senior analyst at eMarketer, opines that search will actually benefit from the faltering economy. He says, “Reduced revenues due to the economy will entice some marketers to not only increase their paid search programs, but also potentially to bid higher for core keywords that give good results.” He added that with money as tight as it is, consumers will head to their favorite search engines and scour the Internet for bargains.  

Sounds like we authors ought to take the cue and crank up online promotions for our books. 
 

UPDATE YOUR CONTACTS

THE 2009 EDITION OF WRITER’S MARKET IS NOW AVAILABLE 

Many believe it’s the most useful volume a freelance writer can own. In addition to endless numbers of periodical listings for which it is famous, Writer’s Market this year has grown to more than 1,100 pages chock full of info on agents, book publishers and a front section of advice. 

This invaluable resource contains guidelines for writing, submissions and a lengthy chart that answers the difficult question of how much you should charge for your work. Beginners who need lots of guidance can savor the articles, tips and excellent suggestion of the authors and impressive guest writers. 

Professionals use the book to update themselves each year on changes in staffing at publications and to see whether the needs and wants of editors have changed. It belongs on the “handy shelf” next to every writer’s work desk. 

A DISPUTE OVER USE OF COPYRIGHTED TEXT

PRESAGES POSSIBLE CHANGES IN THE “FAIR USE” RULE 

After reversing its decision demanding the Drudge Report remove seven posts that used quotes from its newswire, the Associated Press announced it was going to rethink the limits it placed on quoted text.  

The “fair use” rule exempts writers who use short quotations for specific purposes. For example, when a brief quote is used for non-commercial purposes like comment, criticism, teaching, research and the like, it is not a violation of copyright as long as it doesn’t serve as a replacement for the entire article. But there are no hard and fast rules.  

The issue is highlighted by the widespread growth of blogging. The essence of the blogging world is comment, and many bloggers present the actual quotation before commenting on it. That makes a lot of sense, but A.P. officials don’t totally agree. They urge bloggers to summarize the text, not quote directly. They also suggest urging readers to link to the complete article. 

A.P. plans to ask for input from the Media Bloggers Association before revising its guidelines. The deciders have to be extremely cautious not to stymie independent commentary and opinion no matter how controversial. These are key elements of successful blogging. Hopefully, a fair balance will come out of these efforts.