Archive for ◊ 2006 ◊

20 Dec 2006 Keep ‘em on the Move
Author: Mridu Khullar |  Category: Uncategorized  | Tags: , , , ,  | Leave a Comment

When a query comes back rejected, what do you do? Cry? Yeah, me too. But what do you do after that? Jot down a quick note in your submission tracker, place the e-mail in a special “Rejected” folder and hope that your luck will be better next time?

How about increasing the circulation?

No, not your dead brain cells, silly. I mean the query. Whenever something comes back to me rejected, I copy the whole query to a new e-mail message, hunt out another market where that article could be placed, edit a bit if required, fill in the e-mail address and send it off. Immediately. How much time did that take? Five minutes? Ten maybe?

I’ll then take a close look at the market it came from. If it’s a market I’m particularly interested in, I’ll probably have a couple of ideas lying around for it already. If not, I’ll browse through the magazine’s website, check out back issues or do whatever I need to, in order to find another idea that would fit into that magazine. Another query is written quickly and sent off to the assigning editor with a note saying, “I’m sorry you couldn’t use that idea. Here’s another one that I think would better fit your needs.”

That’s two queries sent out for each rejection. Not only am I making sure that all my ideas stay in rotation but that I’m regularly pitching to magazines I want to break in to as well. And I just sent two queries. That’s a day’s worth of work that I just ticked off my schedule.

17 Dec 2006 It’s My Birthday Today…
Author: Mridu Khullar |  Category: Uncategorized  | Tags: , , , ,  | Leave a Comment

… and as I’m blowing out the candles, I’m wishing that in the coming year, my editors will say the following things:

1. “I’m doubling your rate.”
2. “Your piece was perfect. I didn’t change a word!”
3. “We need someone to write a story on relaxing in Paris. Interested?”
4. “Forget the deadline. Just send it in when you’re ready.”
5. “Go first class. Send me the bill.”

16 Dec 2006 And… we’re back!
Author: Mridu Khullar |  Category: Uncategorized  | Tags: , ,  | Leave a Comment

Apologies for being Missing Mridu yet again, but I’ll be good in the New Year. It’s a resolution!

I’ll be back with updates very soon. In the meantime, check out some of my latest work here: http://www.mridukhullar.com and a whole new “About Me” section (with photos), here: http://www.mridukhullar.com/about/

Hope you’ve been writing!

27 Sep 2006 Reading it Out Loud
Author: Mridu Khullar |  Category: Uncategorized  | Tags: , , ,  | Leave a Comment

Story not working? Read it out loud.

A little less than a year ago, I was working on a very important story for a very important magazine. The piece had involved some travel, and by the time the deadline arrived, my photographer and I were already behind schedule, had been through one major rewrite, and knew that this was possibly our last chance of getting it right.

I fretted over each word, got defensive over any suggestions offered and was totally convinced that there was no way I was ever going to be able to pull it off. In typical writer style, I envisioned the editor spewing hatred in my direction, “I can’t believe I trusted you with such an assignment. I will make sure that you never work again!”

And then I panicked. “It sucks,” I whined. “It totally and completely sucks.” My photographer (who also happens to be my boyfriend, which explains the immense patience he demonstrated), made a hurried but wise decision. He told me to relax, lie down, close my eyes and just listen. He then read the story out loud to me, word by word, sentence by sentence, slowly, clearly, unrushed.

Hearing my story through his voice, I could see where it stumbled. I could hear the structure, the highs and the lows. The long sentences. The words, the rhythms. I could see how some passages were stronger than I’d intended. I saw where things fell flat. But most of all, as he read, I could hear what I’d written with distance and clarity. And it was good. Great, even. I stopped panicking.

A few minutes later, I was able to smooth out the rough edges and send off the story with confidence.

The editor’s response confirmed it. “It moved me to tears,” she said.

Now when I’m stuck on a story, and even when I’m not, I’ve found that reading it out loud is a great way to see where it stumbles. I do prefer that someone else read it because they don’t already know which parts to emphasize, but if there’s no one around, taping my own voice in a recorder and then playing it back helps.

What do you do when you’re stuck on a story that doesn’t work?

26 Sep 2006 Anthology Publishers: The Bad Guys?
Author: Mridu Khullar |  Category: Uncategorized  | Tags: , , ,  | Leave a Comment

I’m confused. Seriously, there’s something I don’t understand, and I’d like someone to help me see why this is such an issue. You may not know this, but I’m a big fan of anthologies. I read them, I write for them, and one of the highs of my life has been being published in a Chicken Soup for the Soul book. The other day, I was showing around a few Americans who were new to the city, and I took them to a bookstore. Right there on the display was one of the books I’d written for, and I proudly pointed to it and said, “See that? I wrote for it!” We quickly picked one up, headed to the back of the store, and one by one everyone read the story. It was great! Obviously, I have no issues writing for more of these anthologies, especially since they’re actually available in my country.

However, some writers do. And I respect their opinion. But I don’t understand it.

The reasoning is that writers who work for such anthologies have to do the work upfront and that the publishers receive thousands of these submissions, and only a few are published. These advocates argue that you’re better off sending your work to publishers who give you a guarantee of contract.

I guess I’ll never be reading any fiction by these writers.

I have three issues with their argument.

1. The same websites that recommend that you avoid these avenues for your work hold regular contests. Several hundred writers submit stories (yes, finished stories, a.k.a on-spec) with no guarantee of publication and among those, a few are selected for a prize and publication. And these writers pay for entering the contest. So not only do you submit on-spec, but you pay for it! And that’s somehow better than submitting to anthologies that have much more name-recognition than these contests?

2. Humor and essays are not like non-fiction, in that they’re not dependent on the topic. Rather, it’s the presentation that’s important. I once read a brilliantly funny essay by a writer who described in detail how he recovered an orange from behind the fridge. Can you see an editor commissioning an essay on the topic? If you were an editor, wouldn’t you either reject it outright or want to see the final piece to be able to decide whether or not it works? That’s the thing with humor. That’s the thing with emotion. They’re not in the topic. They’re in the writing.

3. Being published is wonderful. It’s addicting, it’s validating, and of course, it helps keep the bills paid. But is it the only goal? If money is your primary goal, what are you doing becoming a writer? Go do corporate work; that’s where the money is. Most writers choose the writing life because they enjoy writing. They enjoy the process just as much as they enjoy the publication. And if they have a sudden flash of inspiration, they’re not going to stop writing because there’s no guarantee of publication.

Don’t get me wrong, I make a living from my writing. I believe writers should be paid fairly for the work they do. I believe that writers should fight for their rights and stand together against outfits that scam. But I don’t understand how anthologies are different from contests, and why to some, they seem to be taking advantage.

Anyone else know what I’m missing here?

25 Sep 2006 Three at a Time
Author: Mridu Khullar |  Category: Uncategorized  | Tags: ,  | Leave a Comment

I rarely come up with a single idea. I come up with them in multiples of three. That’s because I take the initial spark of an idea and try to transform it into something that would fit into a number of different magazines. So my query on how busy women can keep fit won’t just be sent to a women’s magazine, but a magazine for working women (”The One-Minute Fitness Program for Executives”), a parenting magazine (”Fitness Tips for the Time-Crunched Mommy”) and then maybe a general women’s magazine (”Fitness on a Stopwatch”).

That way, while the basic query letter remains essentially the same, I’ve reslanted it to meet the needs of several non-competing markets. Much better than simultaneously submitting!

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