Monday, August 17, 2009

Platform + Goals

Hello writers and friends. As we attempt to establish ourselves it is important to build a platform. Many of us are already doing what we can. Working tirelessly to update our blogs, connecting with people on social networking sites and building experience in our genre/area. Today I wanted to share with you some advice I got from another writer: submit short stories and other pieces to literary magazines for publication. In doing this, it gets your name out there and (depending on who publishes it) adds a bullet point on your writer's resume.

There is a contest for the month of August that I thought a few of you might want to submit to. You may already have written something you can use. If not, it shouldn't take too much time to write something up.

Glimmer Train Press, Inc. is holding a short story (of up to 3,000 words) competition with all entries due by August 31. Click here for more details.

The following is directly from their website:
  • 1st place wins $1,200, publication in Glimmer Train Stories, and 20 copies of that issue.
  • 2nd-place: $500
  • 3rd-place:$300
Moving on. I have a question: do you stretch yourself by setting word count or page goals per day, week, or month if at all? Do you think setting goals is imperative to success? Who checks on your goals?

Where I'm at with my goals:
Articles: 3 of 5 down for the month, 2 more submitted- waiting for response
Book: geez, I need help here, where's my motivation?
Blog: posting pretty regularly, want to get to a weekday schedule with optional weekends; reading and writing on blogs has really helped and inspired me of late. Thanks to all of you!
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3 comments:

  1. Stephanie FarisAugust 17, 2009 at 11:11 AM

    That's a great contest, actually! I'll pass it to my mom. She has some awesome short stories.

    I do a daily page goal but I don't always reach it. I try to do 2 pages per hour when I'm really writing. At the top of each hour I have to be IN CHAIR writing. Once my 2 pages are done, I'm free to do whatever until the top of the next hour.

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  2. BethanyAugust 17, 2009 at 1:30 PM

    I don't have any page/word count goals currently. My goal is to get any amount of writing done...without being distracted. It's hard to do with a kid and the duties that go with being a mother, but I'm working on finding the balance (other authors/mothers have found some kind of balance, so I know I can, too). Today I did some light editing. Everyday I like to post at least one blog post and check up on the blogs I follow.

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  3. UnknownAugust 17, 2009 at 5:18 PM

    I've tried to blog daily during the week and get out one weekend blog if I can. As far as word count goes, I'm removing more than ever in my editing process(before I send it over to my editor).

    I've never submitted anything for a contest before. I'll be honest, the thought makes me a little nervous... I need to get going in that direction though.

    A friend of mine has a popular website and asked me if I'd like to write on it. So, that's exciting...(He's my editor and works for a paper here in town, does movie scripts, ect.)

    My book isn't moving as fast as I'd like. I feel like I need someone asking me how many words I'm at weekly. I wish my editor would call me everyday day asking for more pages.

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