Nancy I. Sanders's Blog, page 25

Oldie But Goodie: Resumes

Here’s an Oldie But Goodie series I posted about resumes. I hope you find it helpful!

For a writer, a resume is part of a standard manuscript proposal. However, not all resumes look the same.

My older son is a social worker. He helps clients locate career-level jobs. He also helps clients prepare their resumes. In fact, he wrote guidelines the company uses to explain how it’s done. My younger son is graduating from college and just got accepted to grad school. Recently, he wanted to prepare a resume to apply as an intern to a local Hollywood company. They needed to know his academic background as well as his publishing accomplishments in the world of academia. His fellow grad students who already work at the company gave him tips on what to include in his resume. With this in mind, I turned to both my sons for advice on how a professional resume should be prepared. Here are key points they shared:

Keep resume one page long.

Use a professional font such as Times New Roman.

Use a font that is easy to read such as size 12.

Use standard margins on your page layout.

Make information pertinent to the project.

List experience that matters for the project.

Include educational background.

List job titles that relate to your field of expertise.

List honors or awards related to your project.

In my next post, I’ll share what to do about a resume if you’re just starting out as a writer and don’t yet have writing credits established or necessarily have an educational background.

Filed under: Tips and Strategies

Faith Building Fridays: Report

So Moses went out and reported the Lord’s

words to the people.

-Numbers 11:24, NLT

Before we can report God’s word to others, we need to hear what God wants to say. Let’s take time today to sit at God’ feet. Let’s ask Him what is on His heart to share with our generation for such a time as this. Let’s listen for His still small voice. Let’s read the Bible and pray. Then, after God speaks to our hearts, let’s go out, sit down at our computers, and write a report of God’s words for others to know.

Dear Father, thank You for giving us the Bible. Thank You for giving us prayer. Thank You for giving us each new day where we can meet alone with You and hear the words You want us to report. In Jesus’s name. Amen.

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Scribes: Devotions for Christian Writers is available at Amazon.

Filed under: Faith-building Fridays, Inspiration, Uncategorized

Oldie But Goodie: Why Are You A Writer?

Here’s the second part I posted several years ago on this topic…Enjoy!

Why are you a writer? Is it because you can’t NOT write? I know I can’t stop writing. It’s one of my favorite things to do.

Sure, I like to quilt, crochet, play the piano, take walks, garden, and watch the birds. Plus do all sorts of fun things with my family when they come home at the end of a long day of work.

But when I sit down to relax and put my writing away for the day, what do I do? I write! Even if I start to read a good book, I soon put it down because a brand new idea pops into my head that I just want to get on paper.

Even if I plan to crochet in the evening while my husband’s grading papers (he’s a teacher) and I’m sitting in the chair next to him, without thinking, I’ll pick up my notebook that I keep next to my chair. Before I realize it, I’m writing a little poem for kids or jotting down ideas for a fun, new manuscript.

I even place a notepad on the ironing board while I iron. I always get such great ideas while I’m standing there!

I have a notepad in the car because when we’re driving somewhere something always pops into my head. I have a notepad in my purse for when I’m out shopping. I just love to write.

So I just gotta write! That’s one of the reasons I write, too.

How about you?

Filed under: Oldie But Goodie, Uncategorized

Oldie But Goodie: Why Are You A Writer?

Here’s an oldie but goodie I posted on my blog several years ago. I hope you find it helpful!

Why are you a writer? Is it to change your world? I know that’s one of the reasons I write. I yearn to make a difference in this world…and I truly believe I am.

I’ll never forget the librarian who told me recently that she wanted to create a display at her school for Black History Month–but all the books she found were so sad she felt overwhelmed with the thought. Until she discovered my book, D is for Drinking Gourd: An African American Alphabet. She said the illustrations and information on each page were so inspiring that it gave her the motivation to decorate the library to likewise inspire students to follow in the footsteps of the many African Americans who dared to stand up and make a difference in their world.

Through the easy readers I’ve written over the years, I know I’m helping give the gift of literacy to children. And if I can help just one child learn to read–and love it!–then all the hard work, piles of rejections, and lonely hours of writing have been worth it.

I’ve written puzzles and crafts and poems for kids. How awesome it is to think that I’ve brought joy and fun and laughter into the lives of children. Truly, in this day and age when children have to grow up long before it’s time and deal with amazing levels of stress and disappointment, even the most simple puzzle or basic craft becomes a very precious jewel.

I want to change my world and make it a better place. That’s one of the reasons I write.

Why do you?

 

Check out my how-to-write book for writers, Yes! You Can Learn How to Write Beginning Readers and Chapter Books.

Filed under: Oldie But Goodie, Uncategorized

Faith Building Fridays: Pure

The words of the Lord are pure words,

Like silver tried in a furnace of earth,

Purified seven times

You shall keep them, O Lord,

You shall preserve them from this generation forever.

-Psalm 12:6-7

It’s easy to slip into writing words that will be accepted by publishers because they are edgy, or deal with current trends in immorality, fortune tellers, or psychics. But God’s words are pure words, refined and purified. As we write our manuscripts, may our words be pure and holy as well.

Dear God, purify me! Try me! Refine me as a writer until the words I write are pure and will stand the test of time.

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Scribes: Devotions for Christian Writers is available at Amazon.

Filed under: Faith-building Fridays, Inspiration, Uncategorized

Oldie But Goodie: Why Are You a Writer?

Why are you a writer? Why do you write for kids? Is it because you’re a child at heart? I know that’s one of the reasons I write.

Here are some “secrets” about me that reveal that yes, I’m still a kid at heart:

* I usually eat lunch on my Winnie-the-Pooh plastic children’s dishes set.

* I bought a Dr. Seuss T-Shirt last week–with One Fish, Two Fish on it. (It was a great buy! $9 at Kohls in the Young Men’s Department–similar to the one pictured above.)

* When my friend came over to my house last week, she asked me why I have a bunch of red, blue, yellow and green balloons hanging from my chandelier. “Ummm,” I said weakly. “They were from my son’s celebration because he finished college.” “When was that?” she asked. “About a month ago…” I replied. Well, hey! I LIKE red, blue, yellow and green balloons! (I haven’t tossed them out yet, but I hung them upside down because they lost their ability to float after the first day.) They make me smile.

* I finally convinced the same son to watch My Friend Flicka with me!

* I’d rather walk to the park than drive to the mall.

* I like to stop and smell the roses and hide behind our fence to watch a pair of grackles feed their babies in a nest under our neighbor’s eaves.

* I haven’t read an adult novel in so long that I can’t remember when. But recently I read Charlotte’s Web and listened to The Secret Garden on tape and am in the middle of the Laura Ingalls Wilder series!

*When I’m at home all day by myself writing and the phone rings, I have to turn down the CD that’s blaring before I answer it. It’s usually one of the records from my childhood. Most recently it’s an old Disney recording of nursery rhymes and songs from “A Child’s Garden of Verses.”

So there you have it. The cat is out of the bag! One of the reasons I write is because I’m a child at heart. And that’s why I write for kids.

Why are you a writer?

Filed under: Oldie But Goodie, Uncategorized

Hymn: Theme Song for Writers

Do any of you know the hymn, Blessed Assurance? I think it’s a great theme song for us as God’s scribes.

Recently, my husband and I had lunch with a dear writing friend Sherri Crawford, and her husband. Sherri and I wrote a bunch of books together for Scholastic Teaching Resources!

Sherri’s son, Dave Crawford is the lead singer on an album called No Less Days. He sings an amazing version of Blessed Assurance. It’s so awesome I’ve been listening to it over and over again since we had lunch that day and she e-mailed me the link to it.

It inspires me so much as a writer!!!!

Here’s No Less Days’ version of Blessed Assurance.

And if you want to download the entire album, (like I did after listening to it on Youtube over and over and over again!) CLICK HERE to purchase it on Amazon.

 

Filed under: Uncategorized

Oldie But Goodie: Contact an Editor–Today!

Here’s another oldie but goodie from several years ago on my blog. Enjoy!

I just contacted an editor I know about the possibility of writing a new book for an idea I have.

“Are you crazy?” you might ask. Aren’t I in the middle of a huge, overwhelming book contract that will take me until December to write? Don’t I have a historical MG novel to write, too?

Yes. But by the end of the year, both those manuscripts will be written. Done. I’ll want to have a new book contract to start working on.

And so I e-mailed an editor. If she’s not interested, I’ll e-mail another editor with a different idea to fit her publishing house. One I may never have worked with before. I’ll keep contacting editors until one sends me a contract. And I’ll schedule the deadline for sometime next year.

To establish a successful writing career, it takes planning for future deadlines while you’re working on current projects.

So go ahead. Look through your writer’s market guide and find a publisher who invites you to contact them by e-mail. (There’s lots, I just checked!) E-mail the editor and ask if she’d be interested in seeing a proposal for a topic that would dovetail with her product line. If she doesn’t respond within a couple of weeks, e-mail a different editor with a different idea that would suit her list. Plan ahead…and contact an editor today!

Filed under: Oldie But Goodie, Uncategorized

Faith Building Fridays: Bold

The wicked flee when no one pursues,

but the righteous are bold as a lion.

Proverbs 28:1, NKJV

Our Father is the King of kings! Jesus, our Savior, is the Lion of Judah. We can be bold in our writing to proclaim the words God is calling us to write. We can be bold to represent our faith in the writing conferences and writer’s groups God has called us to join. We are ambassadors of Christ, shining God’s glory wherever we go.

Dear God, please anoint me with a holy boldness to step out and carry your Gospel to a lost and lonely world through the words I write. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Scribes: Devotions for Christian Writers is available at Amazon.

Filed under: Faith-building Fridays, Inspiration, Uncategorized

Oldie But Goodie: Work for Hire–Now!

Here’s another oldie but goodie from the past on my blog. I hope it helps you on your own writing journey today!

If you go to a writer’s conference or read a writer’s magazine or talk with other writers, you’ll hear a variety of opinions about writing on work-for-hire projects.

So today you get to hear mine! Smile.

My first book contract was a work-for-hire project. So was my second book contract and my third and I think my fourth and my fifth.

And I’m glad they were. To a brand new writer like I was, the structure and training a work-for-hire project provide landed me on solid ground as a writer. Work-for-hire projects are usually under tight deadlines. You’re forced to write. Work-for-hire projects usually come with unbelievably detailed writer’s guidelines. You’re forced to examine punctuation details and spelling preferences and word count. Work-for hire projects have to fit a certain series as tight as a glove. You’re forced to step out of your fairy tale castle wanna-be-a-writer world to learn the nitty gritty details of writing what an editor wants.

And the amazing thing was that as I listed more and more published books on my resume, whenever I contacted an editor for a royalty-based, stuff-of-your-dreams kind of book contract, that editor didn’t come back to say, “Stop! Were those books you’ve written work-for-hire?”

No. On the contrary. The editor would say, “Wow! You’ve published ten books! We want to sign a contract with you, too!” Wahoo!

In fact, I still write books for work-for-hire in between my sweet royalty-based dream books. It’s good training for me as a writer and an extra perk is that it gives me quick cash to pay my bills.

So, how do you land a work-for-hire book contract? If you haven’t yet had many books published, start with small publishers. Step out of your favorite genre and look for something you think you can write rather than for something that you want to write. Get out of your box and look around at what’s out there for work-for-hire writers.

Sunday School curriculum, school library books on animals or science or personal profiles, craft or puzzle books, recipes books, gift books, books about pet care, how-to books. Look for books that don’t make it to the New York Times best-seller list but are written to meet the everyday needs of ordinary people.

Google their publishers and look them up in market guides. Search the publishers’ websites for information about how to contact them for work-for-hire projects. It might take some searching. Often, first find a little link and click “Contact us” and then click another little link that says “Submissions.” When you find an actual editor’s name, only contact those who list an e-mail address. State simply in your initial e-mail that you are interested in writing for their work-for-hire projects. Tell them you’d be interested in sending them a writing sample.

One thing I’ve noticed is that some work-for-hire publishers ask for a writing sample. I’ve sent these in and don’t land a contract. I think it’s because what I’ve already written doesn’t match the style they are looking for. So instead, I tell the editor that I’d prefer sending in an original writing sample that I write for a topic and series she’d like to give me. Then I’m writing something for her exact need and she can better see if it’s what she’s looking for.

So–have some fun! Go out there and start a new journey today. Make it your goal to land a work-for-hire contract! And then another!

Filed under: Oldie But Goodie, Uncategorized