Customer Reviews

2008 Writer's Market

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Before you buy a Writer's Market, it might be helpful to understand the audience - those wishing to start a freelance writing career, especially writing for magazines. The vast majority of the book (several hundreds of pages) is composed of detailed information about consumer magazines and trade journals. While there are listings for other markets (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, newspapers, and even greeting cards), if you want to write novels, you should probably invest in Novel & Short Story Writer's Market 2008 (available July 31, 2007). And if you write novels, you'll likely need an agent, and so you should look at Guide to Literary Agents 2008 (available July 19, 2007).

However, Writer's Market 2008 is helpful for all writers, because it frames writing not in terms of the creative process - that is left to the writer - but in terms of business and marketing. The book opens with a series of essays and articles that explain how markets are constructed for fiction writers, poets, nonfiction writers, and of course writers of magazine articles. Not all of the opening essays are helpful. A few of them read like stories of how someone stumbled into publishing a book. The rest of the essays are in agreement that you, the writer, have control of your marketability. And so, the message of what it takes to break into a writing market is sometimes confusing.

The book introduces you on how to query and propose book ideas to publishers, editors, and agents: A proposal for a nonfiction book on the history of guitars will likely take more time and be more detailed than a proposal for a fantasy novel. The "good" query samples aren't particularly well written, and the "bad" query samples are truly silly. There is a "How Much Should I Charge?" table for a variety of freelancing work, including ghosting writing, copyediting, proofreading, fiction writing, poetry, and so on. I was somewhat annoyed that the table is incomplete; over half of the table is "n/a." And there is a small section on agents, all of whom are currently seeking new and established writers.

Overall, the book is a wealth of contact information - places to send your work, people to contact, and a rough idea of how much money you can make in a certain market. It's a great introduction to the business side of writing and the practicalities of publication.

I bought 5 books to help me find an agent or publisher, and Writers Market ended up being the book that helped me find my publisher because of the online features. The fact that it had my publisher in it helped too! I was able to track my submissions for many months, which was good, since it took my publisher one year to finally call me up and tell me they wanted to publish my young adult fantasy book, Paraworld Zero. So if you're going to buy this book, I suggest you also use the online service from Writer's Market.

All of the books I bought were basically in the same format, but Writers Market had way more in it. However, if you're just looking for a specific function, like agents, then you might want to buy a book specifically on that, since you'll get more articles and tips on that subject... and you'll probably save some money. Writers Market has helpful articles, but since the book covers so many areas, they might not have enough articles on your topic.

One tip I'll suggest is to ALWAYS go to the publisher or agent's website before submitting, since the info you read in Writer's Market might be old. For example, Writers Market (the 2004 version) said that my publisher didn't do children's books, but if you go to my publisher's site, half of their books are children's books! Publishers and agents often will give you additional instructions on their sites that will help better your chances of not getting rejected by them.

The Writer's Market is an essential tool for serious writers and is updated every year. However much of the information is inaccurate or simply faulty. Publications that are supposed to accept unsolicited MSS for consideration, don't. Editors move from publisher to publisher so often the risk of addressing an editor no longer employed at your chosen publisher is about 50-50. Magazines go out of business so quickly that it is essential to call before submitting anything or you will end up wasting postage, copying costs, etc. At over a thousand pages it does an excellent job of being all inclusive, but writers need to be careful because specifics are often inaccurate too - word limits are wrong, time periods for submitting change, and ones that say they will accept unagented MSS seldom do, and as for encouraging new writers, almost none do to any great degree. But, if you want to be a professional writer, it is still a necessary resource.

My source of information when I submitted my first manuscript. This is such an informative means of support for any writer, whether interested in fiction or non-fiction. Poetry or screenwriting. Even for the freelancer looking to submit articles to various magazines, in a wide range of subject matters. Extremely helpful guidelines to the proper formatting of manuscripts, and writing query letters. And the list of literary agencies comes in quite handy.

I've purchased several copies of The Writer's Market. It's a very valuable source for freelancers, no doubt about that. The book contains addresses and contact information, tips and pointers for a broad range of publications. My only quibble with The Writer's Market is that its section containing agent and book press information isn't really in sync with what I need as a freelancer who writes for magazines. Bottom line: well worth purchasing but a freelancer needs to make sure to cover all bases. If you regularly read a publication or have your own area of expertise/interest, check out submission guides from those on your own if they are not listed in The Writer's Market.

The Writers' Market has long been the place I have gone to research small literary magazines in the U.S. It has been the backbone of such information for me. However, this year I am very disappointed with the Market. I went to it looking to find out if a certain literary review was still up and running, and what I found was that Writers' Market no longer has a section for small magazines. If America is bent on killing its small magazines and dealing the final death blow to the poetry market, I am sorry to say the Writers' Market has its hand swinging the axe. A flippant introductory essay by a woman whose last name--I think--is Breen advises poets to get "a reality check" because since there is no money to be made in poetry, evidently, it's not worth anybody's time (or space in the Writers' Market 2008). She also advises poets to make like Emily Dickenson and write poems for the sake "of writing good poems" and forget about publishing books of poetry. She admonishes the public in general, and poets in specific, for not spending their money on works of poetry. Those may be her views, and such may be the case in America, but there are still poets in our nation. Poetry and poetry writing is still being taught in our educational institutions, small magazines still exist in America, writers still publish in them, readers still read them, and poetry is still one of humanity's most basic, most intimate forms of communication. I hope the editors will rethink their position in the next editions. Bring back the support of America's small magazines.

Hey,everytime someone asks me how I, a Flight Attendant, got a three book deal with a division of Random House - or how my first book (with a small publisher got translated into so many lanquages) or how I now market my work to magazines or agents - I always refer them back to this book! It is the stand alone BEST BOOK you will ever use to find publishers and agents who WANT your work! Don't make me stop this car - buy this book NOW!

Having used previous editions of The Writer's Market in years past, I must say the 2008 edition is arguably the best to date.

The common misconception that many authors have these days is that, once they feel they have "cornered their market", they don't think they need a book that tells them about hundreds of markets for subjects they've never considered writing about. Quite to the contrary, this book is an invaluable source of information for writers of EVERY level of career success. By flipping though its pages, untapped ideas and resources for markets that many wouldn't think to look for in the first place are made easily accessible, and almost at random, providing an excellent source of creative stimulation. In my own experience (and on many occasions), I have found myself wondering "why haven't I tried writing about (insert new subject here) sooner?"

Aside from being resourceful to writers seeking new markets, there are detailed listings of agents, publishers, and even standard suggested rates of pay for various freelance jobs. Lastly, beginning and intermediate writers will no doubt find the opening commentaries from established writers both enjoyable and invaluable.

Altogether, any writer who suggests that they've got all their bases covered already might still consider picking up a copy of this book. A writer should write; this book helps you find ways to spend more time doing just that, and less time trying to figure out what to write about, where to sell it, and who could possibly help you land the next contract.

This book is good, there is no question about that. However, if you're tight on money, go to the library and bring you laptop with you. Firstly, there are a number of links that are no longer active, despite it being the 2008 edition.

I ranked this 3 stars because if you're new to writing, there is a wealth of information here. But if you've been at it for a while, most of this you can find on the web for free thru various other writing sites [...].

Normally, I'm pretty succinct about what I like, or dislike about books, but this time, I just feel that I could've gotten bigger bang for my buck. What I have found most disappointing is that the links are no longer valid or accurate. I understand that by the time this type of volume goes to print, approx 6-12 months have passed, but this only furthers my argument for using the internet.

I will probably keep this for the next 3 years before I even begin to consider purchasing another one.

If you're a writer, good luck and whatever you do, don't quit!

Some years back, this reviewer made his first sale to a magazine through an earlier edition of Writer's Market. It was a humor piece. Back then there were more listings for specific humor publications. But dealing with all kinds of writing, the Writer's Market continues to provide up to date opportunities for writers.