So, you want to be a writer. Maybe you've even written your first few songs or your first novel, fiction or non fiction. Perhaps you have a collection of poems or you are a technical writer for electronics and want to get published. Where do you begin? While becoming a published writer for pay is one of the hardest things in this world to do, it is possible. The following tips will make your life a lot easier.

The first thing you have to do is identify what type of writer you are. Every area of writing, whether it be song writing, fiction writing or technical writing, has a different avenue that needs to be traveled in order to get where you want to go. Most likely if you're writing for the first time and have never been published you have no clue where to even go or who to approach to get your work published.

In that case the first thing you have to do is research. This can be done in book stores, libraries or even on the Internet, which is probably the most convenient place to start. Simply go to a search engine and type in "How to get started as a..." and fill the rest in with whatever type of writer you are, such as songwriter, fiction writer, technical writer and so on. Your search will turn up a number of results including articles on the subject and organizations for each type of writer. Read as many of these as you can. Yes, it is a lot of work and very time consuming. But think about how much time you spent on your finished work. It's going to take at least that much time if not longer to get it published.

In the course of your search you're going to find instructions on submitting your work, whatever it is. If it's of a musical nature you will probably be asked to submit a CD of your recording. You may also be asked to submit the actual sheet music. If you're not a technically trained person and don't know how to transcribe music, there are two options open to you. You can either go to a service that will transcribe recorded material onto sheet music or you can buy software that will do this for you. Good software will cost a pretty penny, so make sure the cost is justified by how much you will save if you had each of your songs transcribed by a service. When you eventually get around to submitting your work, make sure you follow the instructions to the letter. Because of the number of submissions these companies get, they look for reasons to reject your work. Don't give them even one.

Most companies say it will be 4 - 6 weeks until you hear something. Be patient. Don't call up and ask if they got to your material. They'll get to it when they do. If you should get a rejection letter back, don't let it get to you. You will get a hundred of them before you get your first acceptance letter. Hopefully, the letters will come back with constructive criticism as to why you were rejected, though most will simply say, "Not what we are looking for". If you do get comments, take them seriously and work on what they feel you need to work on. These people are the experts. They know.

If however, you do get your work accepted, make sure you follow all instructions they give you. If they want you to fly out and meet with them you book that flight yesterday. If they send you a contract to sign, get a lawyer immediately. If they say jump, you say "How high and how far?".

Breaking into the business of writing is harder than you can possibly imagine. Once you get that opportunity, the words "I don't want to do that" better not be part of your vocabulary.

This may be the only chance you get.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Writing Tips