To market, to market...

Almost anyone can be an author; the business is to collect money and fame from this state of being.
A. A. Milne

So you want to market what you write? I have subscribed to hundreds of Writing related newsletters only to be let down. I’ve canceled most of them because the links to a market was either useless because it went nowhere, or the link took me to something to buy, like a BOOK on markets.

I find that in a world where every dollar counts, even the Writer's Marketing industry is trying to make that buck too. Here’s an example: I get the email, open it to find an authors note, oh he or she is so sweet when they use my name like we’re friends from way back.

Joni, how would you like...etcetera. Here comes the sales pitch. To keep our newsletter FREE we’re making this offer to you at no charge. Link link link. Free market database this is not!

Okay where is the free market database? You click the link and it takes you to sign up pages, offers of purchasing a market data base, or our site is under construction.

I don’t know, people. I think I’ll just stick to blogging since the writing industry is so overwhelmed with competition. NOT! As a writer we need to persevere in this dangling economy and dig until our nails bleed!

So without further adieu, here is some legitimate markets that might look good to you!

p.s. excuse the blood smeared page. *wink*


A Cup of Comfort
Frequency: 4 books per year
Circulation: 60,000-250,000 (depending on book)
Accepts Email Submissions: Yes
Website URL: http://www.cupofcomfort.com/GeneralMenu/
Description: Best-selling series of books featuring inspiring true stories
Editor(s): Colleen Sell
Email: wordsinger@aol.com
Phone: 541-942-3405
Fax: 508-427-6790
Guidelines URL: http://www.cupofcomfort.com/WritersGuidelines/ for writer's guidelines information.
Address: P.O. Box 863
Eugene, OR 97440
USA
Needs: Stories must be true, original, inspiring or uplifting, written in third or first person, and in English.

Preference given to anecdotal and emotionally evocative creative nonfiction stories and narrative essays. Please, no poetry, journalistic articles, commentaries, profiles, eulogies, letters, journal entries, diatribes, composition papers, book chapters, or fiction.
Length: 1000-2000 words

Payment: $500 grand prize per book/contest; $100 each for all other published stories. Upon publication. Contributors receives byline and free copy of book.
Length: Up to 6,000 words

Art/Photo Needs: Accept artwork (typically photography) for cover, no inside artwork.

Payment: $5 and contributor's copy

Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine
Publisher: Penny Publications
Established: 1956
Website URL: http://www.themysteryplace.com/ahmm/
Description: Alfred Hitchcock Mystery is a monthly publication that presents stories packed with suspense, mystery, and intrigue.
Guidelines URL: http://www.themysteryplace.com/ahmm/guidelines/ for writer's guidelines information.
Newsstand Listing: Subscription Information http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000066SZO/writerswrite
Address: Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine
475 Park Avenue South
New York , NY 10016
USA
Needs: Because this is a mystery magazine, the stories we buy must fall into that genre in some sense or another. We are interested in nearly every kind of mystery, however: stories of detection of the classic kind, police procedurals, private eye tales, suspense, courtroom dramas, stories of espionage, and so on. We ask only that the story be about a crime (or the threat or fear of one). We sometimes accept ghost stories or supernatural tales, but those also should involve a crime. You might find it useful to read one or more issues of AHMM; that should give you an idea of the kind of fiction we buy.

Length: We prefer that stories not be longer than 14,000 words; most of the stories in the magazine are considerably shorter than that.

Christian Science Monitor
Established: 1909
Frequency: daily
Accepts Email Submissions: Yes
Website URL: http://www.csmonitor.com
Description: International, general-interest daily newspaper published as a public service of the Christian Science Church. Pulitzer-Prize winning; est. 1908.
Guidelines URL: Click here http://www.csmonitor.com/aboutus/guidelines.html for writer's guidelines information.
Address: One Norway Street
Boston, MA 02115
USA

Needs: The Home Forum is looking for upbeat, personal essays of from 400 to 1,100 words. We also publish poetry (25 lines is a long poem, for us). Every Tuesday we publish Kidspace, feature stories (main story and at least one sidebar) aimed at children ages 6 to 12.

Payment: Personal essays: $75 to $150, depending on the way it's used, length, and the editor's subjective assessment.
Poetry: $20 (haiku) to $40.
Kidspace articles: $150 for main story of 750 to 900 words, $50 to $75 per sidebar. We like to have at least one sidebar per Kidspace, ideally two.

You want more??? More markets? Don’t let me do all the work. Try and find some on your own. You’re welcome to come back and share with me!

Have a gracious glorious day! And remember... always find something within every single day that you live, to be thankful for. You’ll be better off!