Newsletter: August, 2006

Articles in this month’s issue:

-- Tips for Writers: Getting Published, part 2
-- Traveling Topics: Make Money Writing While Traveling
-- On the Road: Read about the big RV gathering each winter in Quartzsite, AZ
-- Quartzsite’s unusual characters
-- Quartzsite area attractions
-- Volunteer on a houseboat
-- Read a review of the book, Taking the Mystery Out of RV Writing.


TIPS FOR WRITERS:

Get published (#2 in a series of career opportunities)
Pitching your ideas to a magazine editor

To get articles published in a magazine, you have to get the editor’s attention. There are some instances where you can send in the entire article, but in most cases, the editor expects a query letter. What is a query letter, you ask?

A query letter basically outlines what you plan to write about and how you intend to cover it—but it’s much more than that. It is your introduction to the editor if you’ve never written for this magazine before. You need to make it the best darned letter you ever wrote if you want to impress an editor.

First, you might start with a strong sentence that opens your article. This is why you should have done a basic outline of what you propose to write. If you don’t have a good opening sentence yet, then write something that captures the essence of your proposed article. Sometimes I can’t come up with a great opening until after I finish an article. Then when I look through it, I find the perfect idea for the opening sentence.

In the next paragraph tell the editor how you plan to handle the article. Will you interview experts, and if so, which ones. If it’s a travel destination piece, how will your article be different from all the others that can be found in any travel magazine? Sure, you want to write about Disneyland, but what makes your presentation different. Depending on the magazine you’re approaching, it might be a piece on the best rides for kids, or what would interest an elderly parent in the park. Your article must be different from the usual.

Next, let the editor know why you’re the best person to write the article and why the magazine’s readers would be interested. This section might include your previous writing credits. If this is your first time out, then let your writing ability speak for itself. No, don’t tell the editor you’re a great writer because you made straight A’s in high school English and your teacher told you that you were the best. That’s not going to fly.

You’ve got to make your letter sing to the editor. Make sure your grammar is as good as it gets. I can’t tell you how many letters editors get from hopeful submitters that are full of typos and grammatical errors. Those go in the wastebasket immediately, but the editor definitely notices your name and remembers it. Read your letter over again and again until you’re sure it’s perfect; that you haven’t been redundant; and that sentences are short and to the point.

When is a query letter not necessary? If you write humor articles, it’s hard to get the humorous aspects across in a letter. So write the article and send it in with a short note explaining that you’re enclosing a humor article on “Title” and you think it will appeal to readers because… Your article will have to stand on its on.

Privacy is a major concern for this newsletter. You can be sure that your e-mail address and name are never shared with any business or Web site.

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Traveling topics:

Working while RVing
Make money writing while traveling

When I first hit the road in 1992, I was publisher of a subscription newsletter and was also producing newsletters for several corporate clients. In addition, I was writing for some magazines that expected regular contributions from me. Here’s how things went those first few months:

After a month on the road, the motorhome broke down and it took three weeks to get it going again. Meanwhile, I had deadlines that had to be met. We stayed with friends during the time the RV was being worked on except for a few occasions when we returned for a day or two and asked the repair shop to hook us up to electricity so I could operate the computer. It wasn’t easy, but I managed to meet the deadlines.

Next, we had arranged to share a booth at Quartzsite with our mail forwarding service, so we spent three weeks there. One problem reared its ugly head quickly—unreliable electrical service. So I worked when I could and shut down when there was no way to keep going. We immediately purchased an inverter with plans to go solar, but we didn’t have solar panels yet, and besides, the desert had one of those rare rainy winters so there wasn’t a lot of sun. Still, I met my deadlines.

What was the worst part of this? No, FUN, that’s what! Stress filled my life for approximately three months until I could find a good location to work. Then that summer we decided to spend a month in Branson, MO to see what all the hoopla was about. And what do you know. We ran into more electrical problems. Branson had grown so much, so fast, that their electric grid wasn’t dependable.

I eventually had to turn my corporate clients over to someone else because I was having anxiety attacks trying to keep up. And, in 1994 I sold the subscription newsletter.

Did that mean I quit earning my living as a traveling writer? No way! I still wrote articles, plus I learned how to focus my business writing on projects that could be produced quickly, and we learned to plan our travels better. We were slow learners, but that didn’t stop me! It just slowed me down a bit.

We found a lot of places that really appealed to us, and spent several months at those locales. That gave me time to find new clients for projects like brochures, sales literature, letters, one-time newsletters and other short-term jobs. I even went to work for a publisher as a writer for a few months until 14 degree temperatures drove us back to Arizona. We have one firm rule about RVing. We don’t do winters!

We started RVing in the dark ages of technology, but today it’s so much easier to work anywhere because of the Internet and other advances. Back then, no cellular service provided nationwide coverage and the Internet wasn’t available to everyone. Now I have a laptop computer, broadband Internet and a reliable cellular phone, all of which make life much simpler for a writer.

We also found opportunities to work in RV parks. I’ll talk more about the pros and cons of doing that if you’re trying to also succeed as a freelance writer in the next issue. It is definitely a way to add to your income or stay for free, especially if you have a partner who can work the parks while you write.

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TRUE GRIT: Glen Canyon National Recreation Area has a second volunteer houseboat program. GRIT stands for Graffiti Removal and Intervention Team. Teams of four volunteers go out on the "True GRIT" houseboat for 5, 7 or 10 days and remove non-historical graffiti from canyon walls and rocks faces within the park. See http://www.nps.gov/glca/grit/grithome.htm for more information.
Reprinted from "RV Lifestyles" a free ezine featuring tips and resources about the RV lifestyle. Visit http://www.rvhometown.com/ for subscription information, back issues, and more RV information.

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On the road . . . Quartzsite, Arizona

Almost every RVer has heard of Quartzsite, but if you haven’t been there during January and February, you’ve missed what has to be the biggest flea market this side of anywhere. Hundreds of booths fill shows scattered along the two-mile stretches of roadway on either side of Interstate 10. You’ll find more booths tucked in among businesses and outside RVs, which park helter-skelter throughout the surrounding desert.

You’ll find everything at Quartzsite, including: RVs and everything related to the RV lifestyle; handcrafted items for every imaginable use; gems, rocks and minerals; jewelry at wholesale prices; tools; antiques; metal detectors and a million other things you can’t possibly live without. You’ll also find merchandise that is unusual, to say the least, and can probably find plenty that’s illegal.

Stay in an RV park or pick your own spot in the desert, where you’ll see million-dollar motorhomes parked amidst RVs in every price range, including tiny campers, home-built wood-shingled sheds on truck beds, and ancient, beat-up school buses.

While Quartzsite is busiest during the show season, the LaPosa Long Term Visitor Area nearby is home to hundreds of snowbirds throughout the winter season. Many RVers seek solitude and serenity while others circle together to form tiny, close-knit, albeit temporary, communities. Some like exploring the desert searching for gems and rocks, others enjoy kicking back to soak up the sun and view the scenery, including gazing upon glorious sunsets.

Be sure to bring your walking shoes and a warm jacket in case it turns cold. You’ll need a vehicle of some sort to travel back and forth to the main show area if you park in the desert. If you plan to drive between shows, though, be prepared to make no better time than if you were walking. We usually park the car at one end of the main drag and walk the two miles down to the end, cross the freeway, and return on the other side after a full day of shopping. Tiring, but then, who cares when you’ve got a world of shopping to explore!

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Unusual Characters call Quartzsite Home

Even without the addition of hordes of visitors this time of year, Quartzsite has its own cast of unusual characters who call this small town home. You can expect to be surprised at times.

My husband entered a bookstore in a tent on the main drag one day while I browsed some newspaper stands outside. I felt more than saw that someone had come up just a few feet from me on my right, so I cast a sideways glance to see if my husband was ready to leave. Instead of him, I saw bare legs. Very, very tan bare legs. This was January, mind you. I thought, surely this person had on deerskin britches, but they would have had to have been skin tight! I decided to get back in the car where I could get a better look without being obvious.

Well, it was a sight! This guy didn’t have pants on at all. He wore a hat and a hooded sweatshirt, but no pants. About that time, Joe walked up behind him to ask a question and I saw his head jerk back, and then he turned to grimace at me. I burst out laughing.

Turns out the fellow had a string bikini thing on, but you couldn’t tell from the side. He’s lived in Quartzsite and owned the bookstore for several years. He’s a nudist who has told reporters that he often wanders the desert in his altogether. (I spotted an article prominently featuring him in the Phoenix paper.) Well, I was certainly relieved that we hadn’t run into him while we were out exploring the desert on foot! Let’s say we’ve learned to expect the unexpected in Quartzsite.


QUARTZSITE AREA ATTRACTIONS

While you visit Quartzsite, be sure to take side trips to see the ancient Indian Intaglios that mystify even the archeologists. Although some figures measure up to 180 feet, the intaglios (now called geoglyphs) are virtually unrecognizable from ground level. For that reason as well as to prevent vandalism, many of the 250 that have been discovered throughout Arizona and California have been fenced.

The nearest one to Quartzsite is the Bouse Fisherman Intaglio located on Hwy. 72 northeast of Quartzsite. It appears that these ancient artworks were designed to be viewed from the sky, but of course, air travel wasn’t possible by humans back then. They are amazing to see, considering the artist(s) could never have viewed the complete design from the ground, or presumably, from the sky.

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Read the book, PORTABLE WRITING: The Secret to Living Your Dreams with 25 Projects to Fund Your Freedom is now available at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble Bookstore.

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RV TRAVEL MAGAZINE published by Chuck Woodbury is a new print RV travel magazine that is distributed quarterly. Chuck is one of my favorite writers, so his magazine should provide more of the same sharp, smart writing that his readers have come to expect over the years. One year's subscription costs $9.95. Learn more at http://rvbookstore.com/shop/detail.aspx?p=869&m=2

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BOOK REVIEW

Taking the Mystery Out of RV Writing by Jaimie Hall and Alice Zyetz. This book clearly explains the process of writing, from forming an idea to submitting a finished manuscript. The book also includes lots of helpful tips from other published writers, editors and writing instructors, along with a sample query letter and book proposal. I particularly loved the exercises and checklists to help writers get their writing projects organized. This is a “must read” for new writers!

Taking the Mystery Out of RV Writing is available as an ebook or on CD. Visit Jaimie and Alice’s Web site at http://www.rvhometown.com/.