Several weeks ago, I contacted Writing Magazine Editor Jonathan Telfer to ask if he would be interested in my story as someone who has negotiated the self-publishing maze to eventually become, ironically, a ‘traditionally’ published author with, it seems, a degree of success, notwithstanding a number of major ups and downs along the way.
I’ve subscribed to Writing Magazine (which contains Writers’ News as a pull-out centre section every month) for many years, and always read the letters page, with pleas for help from those struggling to climb the ladder. I felt I could perhaps contribute something to the “Members’ News” section to both inspire and reassure those taking their first, tentative steps towards eventual publication.
Jonathan said “Yes”, so I sent off a PR piece, offering both first-person and third-person alternatives (an interesting writing exercise in itself). You can see the resulting article below, pretty much a verbatim reproduction of what I sent.
Jonathan was also interested in my story about Battlegames and its eventual merger with Miniature Wargames earlier this year, and put me in touch with journalist Tina Jackson, who called me to do an interview over the phone.
I had expected this to result in a single paragraph in the magazine’s “Introductions” section, which highlights publishers working in a particular field who are open to submissions, such as travel or gardening magazines. You can imagine my surprise, therefore, when I opened the magazine this morning to discover a piece that filled a third of a page!
Naturally, I’m extremely grateful to Jonathan and Tina for the extra publicity this has generated and like any author hoping to build a career, I happily accept this extraordinary turn of events with open arms. Cheers!
Click on the images to enlarge the clippings from the November 2013 issue of Writers’ News whose copyright is acknowledged.
Your journey as a writer/editor makes a good story. It should have been a feature article.
Thank you Jeff, that’s very kind of you.