Feminine Wiles: Creative Techniques for Writing Women's Feature Stories that Sell [Paperback]

Donna Elizabeth Boetig (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1998

This is the first book to specifically address how to write feature articles for women. It appeals to both active writers and journalists and those who are just beginning.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Designed to look like a women's magazine, Feminine Wiles lacks gloss but makes up for it in know-how. Donna Elizabeth Boetig writes for such magazines as McCall's, Women's Day, and Family Circle. When she isn't writing about Christa McAuliffe's mother or a couple whose adopted Korean child had ambiguous genitalia, she's teaching workshops on doing so. Feminine Wiles is a great resource for writers yearning specifically to write for the Seven Sisters magazines, as their "rules" for publication really do differ from those for other types of publications. For starters, says Boetig, "When you write to an editor proposing a story idea, write a love letter.... Focus on passion, emotion, a sense of urgency, even a bit of breathlessness." If your subject is photogenic, say so. Give your piece a title that uses words like "you, new, latest, health, happiness, quiz, sex or any superlatives." Editors and readers love sidebars, Boetig confides, and they adore quizzes and lists. Using the intimate tone of a women's magazine, Boetig guides her readers through the complete article-publishing process, from submitting story ideas to interviewing subjects (confide in them, and they'll confide in you) to writing, editing, and fact-checking. --Jane Steinberg

Review

Boetig nails the needs of major womens magazines...I had to hold myself back from dashing off a query to Ladies Home Journal. -- Robert Spiegel, author of Quit Your Day Job!: How to Develop a Successful Career as a Freelance Writer

More valuable than a dozen writers workshops or journalism courses. If you're interested in developing a successful career as a freelance writer for women's magazines, read Feminine Wiles -- and get to work. -- Jane Farrell, Senior Editor, McCall's

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Product Details

• Paperback: 191 pages
• Publisher: Linden Publishing (September 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1884956025
• ISBN-13: 978-1884956027
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,332,820 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not just for beginners, August 28, 2000

By 

Jonathan Clements "muramasa industries" (London) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Feminine Wiles: Creative Techniques for Writing Women's Feature Stories that Sell (Paperback)

There are already too many books on the nuts and bolts of the writing craft, and most trade secrets don't vary with mere genres. But in concentrating on touchy-feely journalism, Boetig has uncovered important points about human relationships within writing in general. Knowing what an editor is likely to want, what is going to fire her excitement or rouse her anger, is a vital component for a jobbing writer, and one which so many ignore. As an editor, I have been reduced to abject rage by writers who give no thought to the needs of the magazine or of the reader, and dumbfounded by their inability to learn from what is done to their pieces in the editing process. Boetig, on the other hand, places great emphasis on the editor's mind-set, the target audience of a piece, and learning from one's mistakes. Her 39 Things Editors Like should be set in stone, and her comments on phone etiquette, interview technique and fact-checking would have saved many a writer (myself included) a few blushes. Although at times she is reinventing the wheel (why have an epilogue, when you can have a "postlude"...?), sometimes revisiting old favourites can pay off - there are quite a few professional foreheads to which I would dearly love to staple Boetig's simple guidelines on structuring a feature, no matter what the genre.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WHAT A GOLDMINE OF INFORMATION - TRULY UNIQUE, March 23, 1999

By 

C. Cohen "An inner adventurer" (Kansas City, Missouri) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Feminine Wiles: Creative Techniques for Writing Women's Feature Stories that Sell (Paperback)

I'm a frequent reader of non-fiction writing how-to books, but this one is far and away the best I've read in YEARS. The author writes in an intimate, tell-all tone that makes you feel as if you are sitting at a coffee shop, and discussing the secret "ins" of writing for the women's magazine market with a mentor who has not only climbed, but reached the top of the feature writing rope. She offers invaluable information I've found no where else, and she explores her topics with entertaining anecdotes culled from her own 20 years of experience as a top women's mag. freelancer. As a reader/student, I felt privy to this author's most hard-won advice. I don't consider myself a beginning writer, and this book offers far more than most writing texts provide. It's a bridge for the intermediate, or more experienced freelancer who may have published pieces in some smaller mags, but wants to cross the line and make it into the "big time" better paying markets. I can't recommend it highly enough. Wish I could personally meet and thank the author.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have for any serious writer., March 15, 1999

By 

Jerri Ledford ([e-mail]) (Tennessee) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Feminine Wiles: Creative Techniques for Writing Women's Feature Stories that Sell (Paperback)

I've read tons of books on the craft and business of writing, but this is by far the best. This book has more information packed into less than 200 pages than any other book on the market. Ms. Boetig writes in an engaging, easy to read style, and she WILL answers the questions no one else does. If there are secrets to succeeding as a non-fiction writer, they are in this book. It should be a constant reference for every serious writer.