Not Prince Hamlet: Windell Middlebrooks Update

I just got an email response to my first query for a freelance story. It came from the Associate Editor of a bi-weekly magazine. The response was not a "yes" or a "no," but rather a "tell me more." There was good feedback about the idea in there too.

It's much more than I expected, whatever it is.

Friday, July 6, 2007

What Did You Do Today?

It's a question these past days have caused me to dread. There really is no dignified way to say that you spent the day getting turned down for waiter jobs. There just isn't.

So here's what I did yesterday: in addition to the standard practice mentioned above, I completed and mailed a resume, cover letter, salary history, and references to a local university for an academic advising job. I also wrote and mailed two queries to magazine publishers for stories I'd like to write.

I trotted down to the local bookstore to find a copy of Writer's Market, which is the Bible of freelance writing. Both Borders and Barnes and Noble have only the "deluxe" edition of the book's 2007 edition, and it costs $50. I held off on buying it. I've always tried to avoid being one of those people who goes overboard about something before he really understands what he's getting in to.

But maybe overboard is where I need to be. The ship itself may be sinking.