More from Marvin

Note that the information below is from Marvin Powell, and is the text of a presentation he gave this afternoon. I gave him a writer/teacher tee shirt, but it was too small. After reading this post, I think you'll say he deserved the shirt!

The Top Three Rules in order to get a career in the Writing IndustryAfter interviewing a dozen or so Authors at the AWP Writer's Conference, here are the three basic rulesthey told me in order to get a career in the industryas a professional writer.

* Number One - Attend a Lot of Workshops

The key thing to do is to get your work out there, and you can start doing so by getting your work read by asmany people as possible. This will not only give youfeedback on what's good and what's not, but it willhelp you differentiate yourself from the others (if you want to do that) or it will help you find out what's good in other's work, allowing you to see what worksand what doesn't. The feedback you'll receive is veryvaluable and the other work you read will help mold,or define, your own work, based on others.Plus, workshops can help you gain a lot of friends,and networking is always a good idea for getting intothe industry.

* Number Two - Prepare Yourself For What Publishers Want

While trying to get your work out there, make sure that anything and everything you send out is whatpublishers are looking for. Research a lot onpublishers and what kind of material they accept.Publishers are surprisingly very accepting of new or"unprofessional" pieces of work. As long as you'regood and you fit their niche, they won't have anyproblem accepting your work. The problem, though, istrying to find out what your style of writing could bedefined as, and then, trying to find the exact openmarket for your work. Workshops are what will help youdefine your genre and become well-versed in it, aswell.

* Number Three - Persistence

You can do everything right, and still not get thejob. The key is persistence, though. Most famousauthors have said that they rejected at least 20 timesbefore their work gets published. The key thing though, is being persistent. Being talented, and lucky enough to apply at the right time doesn't hurt,either. The hardest part is getting your first pieceof work published. However, once you can get thatdone, it becomes a lot easier to find more and morework in your field. Your first piece published, inmany ways, has to be your best, as it will end upbeing your most important, thus far.So, if you want to take this job seriously, beexpected to be rejected numerous times. Often times,writers or editors will write you back and tell youwhy your work wasn't accepted. Many times, it's due tothe sheer volume of the work that gets submitted tothem. Other times, it's your work, itself, that is theproblem. That's why, you need to be ready and preparedl ong before you send anything out.

Wesleyan University Press

I spoke to Parker Kersmathers, the direct editor at Wesleyan University Press for info about their press,as well as trying to break into the writing field, ingeneral.Wesleyan University Press, located in Middletown,Connecticut, focuses on amateur Poetry, Dance, Music,and Film style writing. Perspective writers apply toWesleyan, if their writing focuses on those themes ofwriting. Out of all of those who try to get their workpublished, about 5% will actually get through toWesleyan.

Kersmathers recommends being persistent intrying to get your work published, as Wesleyan justlooks for all-around good writing, that will grabtheir attention starting on the first page.In fact, for trying to get published for any press,Parker Kersmathers recommends having all-around wellwritten work, that is formatted correctly, and spellchecked, of course. Kersmathers says if just one thingis misspelled, then they won't consider your work"professional." Something that grabs the editors (or anyone's) attention from the get-go is a definiteplus. Your work doesn't have to be unique, but itshould be different enough that it doesn't fit thesame old formats. Remember, these men and women readhundreds of thousands of pages in their career, and they'll know what's similar to what.

Attending workshops will help you find your craft, and to makeyour work (either the writing style or material written) different from everyone else's out there.Kersmathers other tips for success are to get lots offeedback, and improve upon your work by doing so.Also, expand your craft, so that you know enough to beable to write good poetry, fiction writing, andnon-fiction writing. While you don't have to be at"pro" level at these, the more genres you arewell-versed, the better off you have in breaking intothe industry.

Kersmathers has told me that many multi-versed writers land their jobs in the industryby submitting in something that isn't theirgenre-of-choice. This is mainly because, "you neverknow what an editor will like about your writing."Kermathers last bit of advice is to meet others who share your style and genre of writing, and hang aroundthem often, exchanging ideas and feedback to eachother. He says, this is the most effective way todefine your craft, improve your skill as a writer, and to prepare yourself for becoming a professional.

Richard Foster, author of The Burning of Troy

I spoke to author/poet Richard Foster, 42, about how an aspiring writer would get into the industry. Hisadvice was to:- Read a lot of others work to find your own niche- Be self-aware of your own work. If it's good or notso good, you'll need to know why it is/isn't, and whatyou need to do to improve it.- Gather as many opinions on your work as possible.While you can't please everyone, you can know what todo to get better.- Always be inspired to write more. Foster says a goodwriter never gets tired of writing or runs out ofthings to write about. Always keep yourself inspiredby figuring out "What haven't I done yet?" or "Whatcan I do next?"- Always be willing to push yourself. Masterpieces arethe result of countless hours of editing and re-doing.Never be complacent in your work, thinking that you've"completed" it to it's fullest. The best writers are always looking for something to fix or improve upon.

Lastly, be persistent. Foster says that even at age 42, he's a relatively new writer and poet, as he'sbeen rejected well over 50 times. But, because he wasdoing what he loved to do, he never let it get to himand now, in his early 40's, he's able to do booksignings at AWP 2008. Foster's last advice is to neverquit doing what you love to do. That is the life of awriter. Even though you may get rejected over and over again,You can’t let it get to you. Because if you love writing, thenYou’ll persist in doing it, no matter how many times you get rejected. Eventually, one day, it may not happen, but you won’t get that far if you let rejections stop you from what you love doing.

So, improve your work and talent for writing it,attend workshops to better your own work and find outwhat your craft is, as well as your peers', know what publishers want from you, and don't let a fewrejections stop you. Follow these tips and you'll haveyour first poem or novel published before you know it. Good luck out there in the writing industry!

Gracie in New York Post 7

Getting from A Short Piece to A Big Book

Well, I’ve got a ton of ideas on how to promote my Great American Novel on the road. My next stop is to nurture these short stories into a Great American Novel. That quest leads me to my next seminar, “From Stories to Novels: Crossing the Great Divide.” This enlightening meeting was monitored by Jonathan Liebson, a professor at The New School. He was joined by Thisbe Nissen, Anthony Johnston and Michelle Wildgen.

Jonathan has published a few short stories and has just completed his first novel, so the pain was fresh. I suppose the best insight from him was to not confuse a messy short story with a lot of characters and plot threads for fodder for a novel. The best quote for inspiration was “Do what you want. Don’t feel pressured into writing a novel if that’s not what you want.” And the best indicator of an upside to struggling through the novel writing process, “Writing short stories becomes easier once you start writing a novel.”

The major goal while writing isn’t to finish. Finishing will come if you can figure out how to get the reader to keep turning the page. So writing a novel is really solving that problem. The other panelist pretty much “Amen-ed” to that.