My goal for summer is to take a critical look at everything to do with Shelmar Publications, update what needs to be updated, organizing, re-doing, and so on. In June I’m focusing on all things Internet-related, including my blogs (I started a new one–more on that later), website, and newsletter.

I’m seeking God’s guidance and leading in all I do (although I wish sometimes that instead of gently guiding he would give me a firm kick in the right direction!). I want whatever I write–be it in a blog, newsletter, book, study guide, workbook, or even in an email!–to benefit the reader–to, in the words of the mission statement of Shelmar Publications, “To inform, encourage, and inspire.”

Since motherhood is one of my passions (I wrote a book about it–Home is Where the Mom Is–you can read an excerpt at www.shellyburke.net) I’ve decided to start a blog titled, Between Cooing and College; Surviving the Middle Stage of Motherhood–the Teenage Years! You can check it out at www.themiddlestageofmotherhood.blogspot.com. I hope to provide information, encouragement, and inspiration to moms who have kids of any age, but especially those in the teenage years. Catch up with my latest joys and trials on the blog.

This blog will focus exclusively on hints and tips for writing, as well as goings-on in my business, Shelmar Publications. I have come to the conclusion that most people dream of writing . . . and most, if not all, people would like to improve their everyday writing. Both aspiring writers and those looking to improve everyday writing will benefit from this blog. I’ll give suggestions for writing an outstanding “thank you” letter, comforting “sympathy” message, and so on.

The newsletter will also have a new format, focusing on practical hints and tips for the everyday writer as well as the aspiring professional writer, a short excerpt from one of the Shelmar Publications books or workbooks, short Bible verse and devotion, and one of my personal book or website recommendations. I want the newsletter to be fun as well as useful.

My overall goal is to benefit you, my readers. Please tell me what YOU want to see on my blogs, website, and even in future books or workbooks. You can reach me at shelly@shellyburke.net, or leave feedback on either blog. Thanks in advance for your input!

I was helping Morgan do some research for a paper she’s writing. The topic of her paper is how rising fuel and corn costs are affecting the beef industry, so I was looking through some of the agricultural magazines we get. I ran across an article titled, Gut Feeling: Farmer Forecasts Weather with Pig Spleens. Apparently the spleens are 85% correct (better than weathermen, the spleen-readers point out . . . ) giving much food for thought . . .

My thoughts, however, went to the topic of writing. As I paged through the rest of that magazine and several others, I saw articles about cooking, health, and even family issues. The magazines each have several editorial articles in each issue, with writers sharing their thoughts about showing cattle, the price of hay, and just driving down the road.

I thought, “WOW–I didn’t realize that I could write for farming magazines!” And since I’m always thinking in some way about writing I thought, “I should write about this on my blog, so my readers can look at different magazines to write for, too!”

My challenge to you? Look through several new magazines this week. When you visit a friend, ask her if you can look at the magazines she and her family receive. At the library, take some time to page through a magazine you’ve never read before. Bookstores are a great resource for unusual magazines; you can read them while enjoying a cup of coffee!

When you find articles similiar to those you write (or could write), either purchase the magazine or write down the information so you can check it out more in detail online. You just found a new market for your writing! 

And even if you don’t find a new source for writing, you’ll probably learn something. Now, excuse me while I go check out my pig spleens and decide if I’ll need an umbrella today . . .  

It was a day filled with diverse activities!

1. Received a new password so I could get into my amazon.com/advantage account (something was messed up and it took several e-mails to resolve, but it’s resolved now!) and get their order for another book. Confirmed the order, printed the mailing label and invoice, and packed the book!
2. Visited one of my home-health patients to evaluate his Home Health Aid (OK, maybe it didn’t advance my writing career, but it was a bright spot in my day to talk to the family and the aid!), which will pay a bill or two.
3. Did an interview with the man in charge of the new Missouri Synod Lutheran Mission Church in Columbus–the 1C church (you can check it out at www.1Cwhatever.com) for an article in the Nebraska Family Times. It was neat to hear how the mission church came about and how it’s meeting the needs of the community.
4. Mailed taxes! Note to self (and husband!): don’t be in such a hurry to get everything signed that you forget to see whose name is on the actual form . . . our 16 year-old son brought in enough money from his cattle to have his own form to sign . . . Tim and I accidentally signing it, which necessitated an extra trip to the accountants office for a “revised signature form” . . . people who work in accountants offices do NOT have a sense of humor the afternoon of April 15th! Along with mailing taxes, mailed book to Amazon.com, sample goal book, and paperwork for private duty patients.
5. Read several local newspapers for ideas for Nebraska “good news” or service articles for the Nebraska Family Times.
6. Researched JobDig.com. I received an e-mail yesterday requesting excerpts from How to Find Your Perfect Job in Nursing, to possibly use on the site! (you can check out an excerpt at www.shellyburke.net) I’m doing the research to make sure the sample excerpts I send them will fit in with the focus of the website. I’ll submit them tomorrow!

WISH FOR TOMORROW: Less wind!!! It’s been blowing about 40 mph all day . . . but we’re thankful that the sun was out and the temperature was near 60 degrees.

I’ve had many people ask me why I wrote the books I wrote. I hope that by telling readers why I wrote what I did, I’ll give you ideas of what you can write about, based on your own experiences and expertise.

I’ve worked in many areas of nursing. I started my career working in a psychiatric hospital for children and adolescents. My next job was in a brand new telemetry (heart monitoring) unit in a large hospital in Lincoln, NE. A few months later we moved back to Genoa when I got a job in a nursing home as the inservice director.

That was followed by part-time jobs (several at one time, usually!) in home health, private duty, teaching at our local community college, teaching Lamaze, and teaching CPR. It’s probably obvious that teaching is one of my favorite areas of nursing!

The Director of Nursing in one of the nursing homes I worked in, and I, became good friends. We were both pregnant at the same time and had to quit our respective jobs because of pregnancy complications. After our babies were born we both talked occasionally about going back to work, part time. Because we live in a rural area, job opportunities are somewhat limited.

After much searching, she found a part-time job, that fit with her family life. I started teaching again, blessed to be able to choose when and what I’d teach.

Although we didn’t work together any more, we talked often. We felt fortunate to have found jobs that were “perfect” for us at that point in our lives . . . and felt bad for other nurses we knew who were working jobs that did not work for them and their families. These nurses often didn’t realize that there were other jobs “out there,” so just settled for the jobs they were in.

I don’t remember exactly when or how we hit upon the idea of writing a book for nurses, but we did it out of a desire to help nurses relize the wide variety of jobs that were availible. We were well-qualified to write the book–between us we’d had experience in about 30 areas of nursing (some experiences very good, and some very bad!), and new many nurses in other areas of nursing.

It was so exciting to plan our book! We worked together very well in coming up with ideas and sharing the workload. It was a great experience and very rewarding. And we’re still friends!

What have you learned in your job or career? Do you have a unique perspective or qualification that you could write about?

Please, e-mail me with any questions you have about writing! I’d love to answer them in a future blog entry.

Long ago I read a hint for writing success; I think it was on the Para Publishing website (www.parapublishing.com).  The hint was to do five things related to writing/the reader’s business, every single day. The tasks could be large or small, quick or time consuming . . . the power was in doing something every single day.

Here are the five things I did today:

1. Worked at my private-duty nursing job (to make money to pay bills until the books do that!)
2. E-mailed the lady who does my blog and website, asking her if she’d have time to put seveal new items on the site (I’m learning how to use it, but depending on what she will charge, it might be more efficient to have her do that until I can learn advanced techniques like connecting items to PayPal and so on).
3. E-mailed the publisher of the Nebraska Family Times with questions about the article I’m working on, and when the deadline is.
4. Cleared over 100 e-mails from my in-box!
5. Worked on my schedule for the week. I work best when I make a list of things I want to accomplish, and map out on paper when I intend to do them.
6. Used the leftover chicken to make chicken and broccoli pasta casserole. There was enough chicken to make three casseroles, and it feels great to have two in the freezer to simply thaw for an evening I don’t want to cook!

I challenge YOU to do five things related to writing, or any other project you are working on!

In Zechariah 4:10 the Bible tells us  “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin.” This verse refers to the re-building of the temple, but I think these words are good advice to anyone beginning a project or working to reach a goal.

How does this verse apply to aspiring authors? If your goal is to become a published author, one of the most important things you can do is practice–practice writing every single day, even before you have an “official” assignment to write an article or book.

How can you make these small beginnings? Here are several ways you can practice writing.

• Write letters to the editor of a local newspaper or magazine.
• If you live in a small town, offer to write an article for the local newspaper. They’ll probably be happy to have you do so! (larger newspapers will probably have employees to which they assign articles).
• Offer to write an article for your organization’s newsletter. You could write about an employee, a project, or an accomplishment of an individual or the whole company. Or report on a workshop, lecture, or class you or someone else recently attended.
• Start your own blog! You can set up a blog, FREE, from Blogger. There are blogs published that cover anything from parenting to writing to being a nurse in a neonatal intensive care unit.
• If you don’t want to start your own blog, comment on someone else’s!
• Communicate with family, through a Christmas letter, post-Easter letter, or even a monthly update of family happenings.
• Thank you notes or letters of encouragement to friends, family members, acquaintenses, or a particularly helpful salesperson or waitress.

The above ideas will pay very little, if at all! But remember, you’re just beginning . . . the pay will come later. You will benefit greatly from these small beginnings. As you practice writing, you’ll learn more about:

• Grammar and spelling Be a perfectionist! Editors demand it, and so do readers. Use your dictionary and thesaurus (a word I always have to look up in the dictionary! ). If you have trouble determinig when to use a colon vs. semicolon, or whether to put punctuation inside or outside of parentheses, one of the best guides I’ve found is a tiny book called Write Right! by Jan Venolia. Another classic is The Elements of Grammar by Margaret Shertzer.  
• Flow  With practice, you’ll figure out how to best tell a story logically, whether it’s from beginning to end (following the progress of a project, for example), by topic (if you’re giving an overview of the company organization), or in another way that works for whatever topic you’re writing about.
• Style As you write, you’ll develop your own style–how you put sentences together, how you tell a story, words you like to use, and so on. 
• The process of writing When you write every day, you’ll figure out your own way to get into the mood to write, and do that writing. Do you like to write for an extended period of time, or in small chunks of time? Do you write better in complete silence or with the radio on? When writing is a habit, it will take less time to get into the mindset of writing when you sit down to do so.

There is no feeling like that of seeing your name in print! Remember to save every sample of writing that you’ve done. You’ll be encouraged by proof of your accomplishements, and it’s fun to look back and see how your writing changes over the years.  

I think that any time you write–whether it’s just a few lines or a lenghty dissertation about whatever is on your mind–you learn and grow as a writer. Take advantage of these small beginnings and remember that they are taking you closer to meeting your goal of becoming a published author!

In most professions/jobs/hobbies, “who you know” can give you an advantage, and writing is no exception. “Who” you know can give you an in whether you’re writing for a magazine, writing a book, looking for publicity, or just need information for an article.

More than 10 years ago a cattle friend of ours (he’s not a cow, but we know him through the cattle business, hence, a “cattle friend”) was starting a new monthly newspaper (it later evolved into a magazine). He and my husband Tim talked extensively about the business/money aspect of starting the magazine, what information to include in the magazine, and so on.

Mike, the new magazine’s editor, knew I was a writer. At some point in one of our conversations, I approached him with the idea of submitting a “Top 10″ list of humorous farm/ranch/livestock related items for the magazine every month. He was happy to print my Top 10 lists and I was thrilled to see my name in print every month. (You can check out Livestock Plus at www.livestockplusinc.com)

This experience gave me a taste of what it was like to be a “real” writer . . . including the sometimes difficult task of coming up with a column–even if it was “just” a list!–every month. Because the magazine was brand new, I didn’t ask to be paid. Instead, Mike ran ads for my book every few months and at the end of each article listed my name and contact information.  

In my previous post Write What You Know; Teaching Lamaze Classes I talked (well, wrote) about writing for a childbirth magazine. I wrote for that magazine for as long as it was published. I developed a good relationship with that editor, turning in articles according to her specifications, on time, and cheerfully making any changes she requested.

A year or so later, she called asking me to write an article about breastfeeding for a one-time magazine she was producing. The article was an adaptation of one of the articles I’d written for the previous magazine, and she asked me to do it because I already had the information and she’d worked with me.  It was a fun article to write–I interviewed several friends to get quotes for the articles and they were thrilled to see their names in print.

In Sept. of 2006 I was one of the speakers at Husker Harvest Days in Grand Island, NE. As part of doing my talk every day, I was provided with a booth in which I could display the books I had published. On the first day of Husker Harvest Days the editor of a fairly new magazine, Rural Life (www.rurallifemagazine.com) introduced himself to me and, after looking through my books, bought several of them.

Even though we’re both in the same general business (publishing), we have a different point of view–me as an author, and Dan as a publisher. It was interesting to talk with him about how his magazine came about and his vision for his magazine.

After he paged through one of my books, Home is Where the Mom Is; A Christian Mom’s Guide to Caring for Herself, Her Family, and Her Home (read an excerpt at www.shellyburke.net), he asked me to write an article for Rural Life!   

Talk about an ego boost–the editor of a magazine was asking me to write an article–and he was going to pay me very well for doing so! I wrote several more articles for Rural Life over the next year or so.

About a year ago, Dan contacted me to see if I was interested in being a speaker at the Farm Progress Show in Decatur, IL, in August of 2008. Was I?!?! Of course! My first out-of-state speaking engagement! What a thrill! (OK, I know one of the rules of writing is not to use too many exclamation points . . . but another rule of writing is that it’s OK to break the rules . . . my high school English teacher told me so!)

It was more than fun to travel and speak out of state, and I met a lot of new contacts and got many new ideas at the Farm Progress Show.    

I’m going to e-mail Dan at Rural Life this afternoon with several article ideas. I don’t know if he’ll be interested in my proposals, but I do know that even if he doesn’t need any articles right now, he’s keeping me in mind for any future projects.

The take-away information for readers? Think about who you know, who is involved in any way with any type of publication. Don’t be shy–talk with them about writing, and suggestions and ideas you have.

When you meet someone new, tell them you’re an author! You might have just met your next editor, or someone who knows someone who IS an editor and needs someone with your expertise.

When you do get an assignment, carry it out professionally–you’ll be remembered in a positive way and that person will remember you for future articles or projects.

When opportunity knocks, be ready to answer!

I began teaching Lamaze classes in 1990. I knew that I enjoyed teaching, and absolutely loved teaching Lamaze classes! After I’d been teaching for several years, I came across a magazine called Childbirth Instructor. The magazine was written for people teaching any type of childbirth class.

As I was reading the magazine, I read a column called In the Classroom, which gave teaching tips and suggestions for situations an instructor might face while teaching. I immediately thought, “I could write this column!” After reading several back issues of the magazine (to get a better feel for what the editor wanted covered in that column), I started a list of topics I could write about.

As I looked back on several years of teaching many classes, I realized I’d developed my own techniques for teaching large classes, small classes, classes with non-traditional couples, and so on–perfect topics for In the Classroom.

I wrote a query letter, outlining the first article I wanted to write, and was thrilled to receive a positive reply in the mail several weeks later! (remember, this was in the early 1990s when e-mail wasn’t widely used . . . today, many magazines accept e-mail queries, drastically cutting down on time waiting for a response). I was just as thrilled to see that my payment would be $500! It was my first paying writing job and I was determined to do a great job.

It was an even bigger thrill (I know I’m overusing that word, but if you’ve been published, you know what I’m talking about . . . and if you have not been published yet I do hope you will have the experience in the future!) to receive a copy of the magazine in the mail (authors usually receive at least one copy of the magazine in which their article appears, free!) and see the article with my name on it!

Shortly after my first article appeared in Childbirth Instructor, I wrote another query letter, outlining the next article I wanted to write. That article, too, was accepted, and I ended up writing for the magazine for several years.

The message for my readers–read magazines related to your career, profession, job, or even hobby.  Because of your experience in the area, you’ll be very likely to have ideas for articles for that magazine and the experience to write those articles.

When you do write for a magazine for the first time, begin developing a positive relationship with that magazine; submit the article on time, according to specifications, and written to the very best of your ability. As well as writing an article, you’re developing a relationship with the people on staff at that magazine. When they know they can depend on you, they’ll be willing to hire you again and again!

Please e-mail me with any questions or comments you have about writing!

Have you ever read a magazine article and thought, “I could have written that article!”? Well, you probably CAN write that article, or another one that will be published.

Here are a few tips to get started.

As you read through your favorite magazines,  pay attention to the topics covered. Magazines do not want to publish many articles on exactly the same subject, so find a topic for which you have a unique view. For example, if you experienced a rare complication during your pregnancy, you probably are somewhat of an expert on that topic, and also have a personal view of the experience. 

If you have a unique way to save money, organize your home, or discipline your children, you have an article idea!

Many magazines publish “personal experience” stories–about getting out of debt, unusual medical problems, building a home, and so on.

As you read through your favorite magazines, jot down ideas for articles you could write.

Next, check out the requirements for writing for that particular magazine. With a little searching you can find writer’s guidelines on that magazine’s website. You can also refer to a comprehensive book, published yearly, called “Writer’s Market.” (The book is available in libraries, but if you decide to focus your career on writing for magazines, you’ll probably want to purchase your own copy.) This book contains information about thousands of magazines–requirements for writing for them, etc.

 Before you write an article for a magazine, most ask you to write a “query letter”–that is, a letter outlining the article you’d like to write. Writing a query letter allows the magazine to request anything particular they’d like in the article, and also saves you time–if the magazine is not interested in the article, you haven’t written the article for nothing. You can find more information about query letters in “Writer’s Market” and books about writing for magazines.

The process of writing for a magazine–research, writing a query letter, etc.–might seem overwhelming at first. “Breaking into” writing for a magazine can be a lot of work, over many months. But once you’ve had an article accepted, you’ll often be able to write for that magazine many times. I’ve written many articles for several magazines, and I’ll talk about them in future posts. As you begin, though, read every magazine with this question in the back of your head; What article could I write for this magazine?”

One of the basic rules of writing (and everyday etiquette, for that matter) is to have the correct name and spelling of that name, of the person you’re writing to. This applies whether you’re writing a thank-you note, query letter (which is a letter outlining an article you’d like to write), sending a book with a review request, or any other type of communication.

That’s what I was working on today–sending out copies of What Should I Say? The Right (and Wrong!) Words and Deeds for Life’s Sticky, Tricky, Uncomfortable Situations, for possible review in newspapers.

I know the importance of addressing the review package (book, review request letter, sample review, review slip, etc.) to the correct person, and it’s not always easy to figure out who that person is from the masthead (the list of who works at the paper in what capacity). But I was pressed for time–making dinner, doing laundry, and so on, so was tempted to take shortcuts.

For one paper, it seemed obvious who the reviewer was; he had written several reviews in the last few weeks. However, I made the call to the paper, just to be sure . . . and I was asked to send it to someone different (sometimes one person recieves all the review requests, and then distributes them individually to the staff member most qualified to review each book).

I also wanted to send What Should I Say for possible review to a Lutheran newsletter which had given my last book, Home is Where the Mom Is; A Christian Mom’s Guide to Caring for Herself, Her Family, and Her Home, a good review. I went to the website for that newsletter and saw that the person to whom I’d sent Home is Where the Mom Is was still listed, so figured I should send it to that person again.

It was just a few minutes before 5:00, when the office would close. It was time for me to check supper, but I wanted to get the last review request letter printed out. Again, I was tempted to just go with the name I “knew” was right . . . but something told me to make that phone call again.

And yep, it happened again . . . the person to whom I was to send the review package wasn’t even listed on the website! Obviously, the site hadn’t been updated after some staffing changes had been made. The first name was a common one; something told me to ask how it was spelled, and it was spelled in one of the unusual ways (thank goodness for that little push from the Holy Spirit!).

As an additional bonus, the lady who answered my questions was very polite and interested in me and my books; our conversation was short but it made my day to talk to such a helpful and cheerful person.

The take away lesson here? No matter what stage of your writing career you’re in, and no matter what you’re doing, make absolutely sure you’re addressing it to the right person. One short, simple phone call (even if if it’s not so short and simple and you have to go through the voice mail maze for a few minutes) can make the difference between making a good first impression and a bad one . . . and getting your letter or book package to the right person . . . or the wrong one.