Date: September 1st 2003

HANDY JOB HUNTER FOR WRITERS
ISSUE #4 (9/2003)
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Compiled by Michael A. Arnzen, Ph.D.
http://www.gorelets.com
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KEEPING TRACK
by Michael Arnzen

I realized the other day that I'm the sort of writer who obsessively tracks my own progress. I have lists and calendars scattered all over my desk. I keep spreadsheets and charts on my computer. My resume and bibliography are updated compulsively. Whenever someone asks to see my curriculum vitae, it's nearly updated to the day.

I keep track.

This is not a matter of ego or anal retentiveness. I don't track my growth because I'm narcissistically preoccupied with seeing my name in print or racking up awards. I don't sigh and fawn over my biography like some nostalgic starlet. I just go through the process of noting accomplishments and other data when they're earned. I add entries to various writing-charts like an accountant keeps a ledger book (and I do keep a ledger or sorts, too, for all my writing income and expenses). Why? Because no one else will. And because keeping track of your accomplishments is an integral part of the business of being a productive freelancer. Keeping track keeps you ON track toward reaching your goals. And it can also provide documentation when you need it to appease anyone who might require it, from the boss to the taxman.

There are lists that everyone should keep and others that some of just keep because we're odd. To each his own. Here are the sorts of accounts or lists I regularly update... if you haven't been keeping good track of your writing life, you might want to emulate them:


A "POSSIBLE STORY IDEAS" LOG
One big file on my computer stores brainstorms written in terse little synopses and summaries. I'll never in my lifetime get to write all those stories or articles or poems. But I turn to it whenever I'm feeling blocked. It's like a toy chest when I open it and I'm ready to start something fresh. If I have a larger project in mind, or if I'm woolgathering for a specific story I've already planned on writing, I'll give it its own file.

A SUBMISSION CALENDAR
I print out a big, boxy monthly calendar from my word processor and keep it underneath my keyboard. Whenever I submit a project to a publisher, I jot a note in the box for that particular day (my entries are abbreviated like this: "SUB: "title"--->market"). Whenever I've heard from a publisher, I place checkmark next to the submission entry on its original date. If I get a rejection, I note it on the current day ("RJCT--->market"). Acceptances are noted likewise (ACPT: "title"--->market"), but I circle them so I can generally eyeball my success rate and productivity from a distance. Book projects, by the way are written in red, since the process takes more time and I may need to flip through calendar pages to track them. I also have column submissions noted graphically in diamonds. I sometimes put deadlines or phone calls or other editorial matters in this calendar, too, but I try to keep it as clean as possible so I can follow my submission process.

A WORKING BIBLIOGRAPHY
I have to be my own librarian when it comes to the works of Arnzen. So anything I write that sees print or gets posted by an online journal gets listed in the bibliography. I write multiple genres (fiction, poetry, literary criticism) so I keep separate subgroupings for each. I also keep electronic publications under its own heading, mostly because those are entered differently. I use "MLA Style" to dictate what information has to be noted for each entry.

A PUBLIC BIBLIOGRAPHY
Since I began maintaining a web site, I realized that if anyone was interested enough in surfing it, they might also be interested in reading my work. I use the "front page" of my site to list news, or publications "hot off the press" whether online or off. (Some folks keep a blog -- web log -- for this purpose.) But I also keep a bibliographical list of major publications on a separate subpage and I break it down into different categories, like books, anthologies, journals and more. Naturally, this is to promote my work, so I include live links to places where readers can buy books or read the material online. In the case of online journals, I tend to just list the journal title rather than the title of my piece, so that I can help those markets get new regular readers.

AN ACCOUNTING SPREADSHEET
Spreadsheet programs like Excel or 1-2-3 can be tough to figure out, but if you use their built in templates and read the help file, you'll find it's easy enough to tally up basic income and expenses. You keep this to know what to report on your taxes, obviously. Not everyone will send you a "1099: Misc. Income" report, so you'll have to chart the nickels and dimes that come in. (A good, but little known, book that includes sample spreadsheets for you to emulate (like keeping a working Schedule C on your computer) is called Money Smart Secrets for the Self-Employed by Linda Stern). I also use my spreadsheet to track income in the various genres I work in (using categories like fiction/poetry/non-fiction/other) and have a bar chart that helps me visualize my productivity in each. A line graph also shows whether my average writing income is on the decline or not.

A PDA TO DO LIST
Ever since I started using handheld computers for a poetry writing experiment [see: http://www.gorelets.com/retro/ ], I've become more accustomed to keeping track of things on my Sony Clie. Every PDA I've seen includes a "to do list" program, but I use a program called Shadow Plan [ http://www.codejedi.com ] to generate lists and outlines of every kind; it also integrates with my PC in a decent way. I've got a list called "Idea Catcher" which allows me to jot down any story ideas that pop into my head on the road or at work; a "Publicity Checklist" of places I consider contacting when a new title is published; a "Reviews Pending" list of books I still need to review, organized by deadlines; and special lists for nonfiction projects, like "Instigation" which is a column of writing prompts I provide for both Hellnotes [ http://www.hellnotes.com ] and the readers of my other newsletter, The Goreletter [ http://gorelets.com/cgi-bin/mojo/mojo.cgi?f=list&l=goreletter ]. I also keep
a group of academic-oriented lists and a number of categories for getting things done inspired by organizing-your-life guru David Allen [ http://www.gettingthingsdone.com/pdfs/tt_palm.pdf ]. If I'm caught in "down time" (like waiting in a doctor's office or kicked back on a recliner when the power goes out), I find it useful to have all these lists in one receptacle, where I can organize and plan. And maybe I'm a little crazy, but I get a tiny thrill out of watching a bold line automatically scratch through some task I've had on that list when I check it off.

A WORKING VITAE/RESUME
Any new accomplishment, publication, performance, award, and activity goes right into my resume, which I edit down and save under a different file name when it's required to share with others. I do this because I am so forgetful and I have difficulties remembering when I, say, edited a manuscript ad-hoc for this literary journal, or sat on a panel discussion about horror literature at a library function. The vitae is important in my non-writing field (academia), but it also offers a place for me to list my most worthy publications and to gauge "the big picture" of my career from a wider angle than the bibliography I mentioned above. I try to keep this a living document on my computer but I also archive a formal copy annually, just in case something dies.

BOOK WORD COUNTER
Here's one that's quirky: a book word count chart. When I work on a book-length project, I keep score. Using my word processor, I print out a two-column table: the left column heading is "chapter number"; the right column heading is "current word count." Every time I work on a chapter, I check the word count using the word processor, then I pencil this number into the corresponding part of the table. At the bottom of the table is -- you guessed it -- a "total" place to tally up my book's current total word count. I also have a spot where I divide that number by 250 to generically approximate the number of book pages this manuscript might actually hit when it sees print. Since most novels these days range somewhere between 80,000 and 120,000 words, having these numbers visible allows me to see where I currently stand in relation to the end game. It's demoralizing in the early stages, obviously, but when I get traction on the book and the table fills out, I can tell that I'm re
ally getting somewhere...and it encourages me to finish.


I'm sure there are other lists I (and you) use regularly, but those are the key ways I organize my writing work and track my progress. When I was job hunting, needless to say, I approached it like I do freelance writing and made a table to keep track of everything I ever put in the mail, said on the phone, or performed online. And speaking of job hunting, here's another list: the "Handy Job Hunter for Writers"....

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THE HANDY JOB HUNTER FOR WRITERS

key
± = new/revised entry
SF/F/H = Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror


>>GOOD OVERVIEW TO GET STARTED<<

Writer's Guide to Finding Jobs Online
http://www.sunoasis.com/tutorial.html

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>>JOURNALIST-ORIENTED<<

Power Reporting
http://powerreporting.com/category/Journalism_shoptalk/Jobs

Journalism Jobs
http://www.journalismjobs.com/

Job Link for Journalists (Newslink.org)
http://newslink.org/joblink/

Detroit Free Press Job Portal
http://www.freep.com/jobspage/links/jobboard.htm

J-Net
http://www.journalism.berkeley.edu/jobs/

Journalism Net
http://www.journalismnet.com/jobs/

Media Bistro
http://www.mediabistro.com/joblistings/

New York Times Media Jobs
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/jobs/jobs_media/index.html

Society for Technical Communication
http://www.stc.org/

Sun-Oasis Job Bank
http://www.sunoasis.com/

Nat'l Diversity Newspaper Job Bank
http://www.newsjobs.com/

JournalismNext for Persons of Color
http://www.journalismnext.com

TV Jobs
http://www.tvjobs.com

NewsJobs
http://www.newsjobs.net/usa/default.asp

Copyeditor Jobs
http://www.copyeditorjobs.com/default.asp?id=5

Nat'l Assoc of Broadcasting Career Center
http://www.nab.org/bcc/

Writer Classifieds
http://www.writerclassifieds.com/

Publishing News (UK)
http://www.publishingnews.co.uk/pn/pnc/index.asp

American Copyeditors Society Job Bank
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ACESjobs/

Non Profit Times Jobs Bank
http://nptjobs.nptimes.com/search.cfm

± Editor and Publisher Career Center
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/editorandpublisher/classifieds/index.jsp

± Media Life Want Ads
http://209.61.190.23/features/classifieds.html

± Just Tech Writer Jobs
http://www.justtechwriterjobs.com/JSSearchJobs.asp

± American Society of Business Publications Editors Job Bank
http://www.asbpe.org/

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>>CREATIVE WRITING-ORIENTED<<

Publisher's Weekly Job List
http://publishersweekly.reviewsnews.com/index.asp?layout=classifiedsJobsPub&category=Publishing+Jobs&publication=publishersweekly

The Write Jobs
http://www.writejobs.com/jobs/

Writer's Weekly
http://www.writersweekly.com/

WriterFind Jobs
http://www.writerfind.com/freelance_jobs/

About.com's Job Listings
http://freelancewrite.about.com/cs/assignmentboards/index.htm

Writer's Retreat
http://www.angelfire.com/va/dmsforever/main.html#jobs

FreelanceWriting.com Full Time Jobs
http://www.freelancewriting.com/fjb.html

Inscriptions Magazine Job Listing
http://www.inscriptionsmagazine.com/Jobs.html

Preditors & Editors
http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/pubjob.htm

Craig's List - New York editing/writing gigs
http://newyork.craigslist.org/wri/

WritingContests.net's Joblinks
http://www.writingcontests.net/job_websites.htm

Telecommuting Jobs for Writers
http://www.tjobs.com/new/writers.shtml

Writer's Resource Center
http://www.poewar.com/jobs/

Society for Scholarly Publishing
http://sspnet.org/classifieds/

Creative Hotlist
http://www.creativehotlist.com/index.asp

Sharp Writer
http://www.sharpwriter.com/jobmarket.htm

Burryman's Freelance Opportunities
http://www.burryman.com/freelance.html

Work for Writers Yahoo Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WorkForWriters/

± Support for Writers Yahoo Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/supportforwriters/

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>>GENERIC JOB-HUNTING<<

Monster.com (aka Jobs.com)
http://www.monster.com

Headhunter.net
http://www.headhunter.net/

HotJobs
http://www.hotjobs.com/

Alta Vista Worklife
http://altavista.worklife.com/

Career Builder
http://www.careerpath.com/

JobHunt.org
http://www.job-hunt.org/general.shtml

Search Classified Ads from Many Local Newspapers!
http://www.realfind.com

Google.com's good, but use Copernic.com to Metasearch
(This is a handy tool for journalists, anyway! I recommend the pay version)
http://www.copernic.com

Job Hunt Resources by Academic Major
http://www.uww.edu/stdrsces/career/jobsearc/d12.htm

Job Star
http://www.jobstar.org/

± Dice
http://www.dice.com

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>>GUIDELINES & MARKET LISTINGS<<

Writer's Write Paying Markets
http://www.writerswrite.com/paying/

Poets & Writers Classifieds
http://www.pw.org/mag/classifieds.htm

Writer's Weekly Updates
http://www.writersweekly.com/markets/markets.html

Writer's Digest Guidelines
http://www.writersdigest.com/guidelines.asp

Gila Queen
http://www.gilaqueen.com

Worldwide Freelance Writers
http://www.worldwidefreelance.com/

Writing for Dollars
http://writingfordollars.com/Guidelines.cfm

Art Deadlines List
http://artdeadlineslist.com/subscribe

Mary Wolf's Guide to E-Book Publishers
http://my.coredcs.com/~mermaid/epub.html

Piers Anthony's Survey of Electronic Publishers
http://www.hipiers.com/publishing.html

Ralan's Extravaganza (SF/F/H & Humor)
http://www.ralan.com

Spicy Green Iguana (SF/F/H)
http://www.spicygreeniguana.com/index2.html

Write Market (SF/F/H)
http://www.writemarket.com/

The Market List (SF/F/H)
http://www.marketlist.com

Fleming's List of Markets (SF/F/H)
http://home.att.net/~p.fleming/Sfmarket.html

Speculations Rumor Mill (SF/F/H)
http://www.speculations.com/rumormill/

Jobs in Hell (H)
query jobsinhell@hotmail.com

Hellnotes (H)
http://www.hellnotes.com

Horror Scripts (H)
http://www.tcnj.edu/%7Eberes/horror.htm

Little Behemoth (genres)
http://www.littlebehemoth.com/

FlashFictionFlash (very short stories)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FlashFictionFlash

SpecFicWorld's Market Listings (SF/F/H)
http://www.specficworld.com/markets.html

Funds for Writers
http://www.fundsforwriters.com

Places for Writers
http://www.placesforwriters.com/archives/cat_calls.html

± Engen's SF&F Market Engine (SF/F/H)
http://engine.freeshell.org/

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>>WRITING TEACHER ORIENTED<<

Chronicle of Higher Education
http://chronicle.com/jobs/

Academic Position Network
http://www.apnjobs.com/

Education Week
http://www.edweek.org/jobs/

Association of Writing Programs
http://www.awpwriter.org/careers/careerlinks.htm

Adjunct Nation
http://www.adjunctnation.com/jobs/

Internat'l Teacher Recruitment
http://www.teachers.eu.com/

Academic360
http://www.academic360.com/

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>>FREELANCING FOR HIRE<<

Elance -- Auction Your Services
http://www.elance.com

Free Agent -- Sell Yourself
http://www.freeagent.com/Myhome.asp

Guru -- Post Your Portfolio
http://www.guru.com/

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>>ACADEMIC PUBLISHING CALLS<<

UPenn's Calls for Papers
http://www.english.upenn.edu/CFP/

E-Server's Calls for Papers
http://eserver.org/calls/

Tech Comm Calls for Papers
http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Academic/Calls-For-Papers

Custom Conference Alerts
http://conferencealerts.com/

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>>INTERNSHIPS<<

Internships.com
http://www.internships.com

College Central
http://www.collegecentral.com

Internship Programs
http://www.internshipprograms.com

Get That Gig
http://www.getthatgig.com/media/index.html

Envision
http://www.emagnify.com/envision

BackDoor Jobs -- Adventuring
http://www.backdoorjobs.com/

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Compiled by Michael Arnzen, Ph.D.
http://www.gorelets.com

Look into the low residency Master's Degree program
in Writing Popular Fiction @ Seton Hill University:
http://fiction.setonhill.edu/

SUBSCRIBE FOR UPDATES:
http://gorelets.com/cgi-bin/mojo/mojo.cgi

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>>MICHAEL ARNZEN'S LATEST<<

The following books will be available in Sep/Oct:

SPORTUARY
http://cyberpulp.netfirms.com/index2.html

"Sportuary" is the culmination of what could
happen if sport and the win at all costs attitude
it breeds were to go unchecked, and the dark
side were to take over. Plus, it is one hell of
a fun read...." -- The Dream People

preview here:
http://www.gorelets.com/demos/sportuarysampler.htm

GORELETS: Unpleasant Poems
http://www.fairwoodpress.com
http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com

52 macabre little poems, originally distributed
in a series to handheld computer readers, now out
in book form! The collectable book from Fairwood
Press includes Arnzen's digital artwork; the e-book
from Double Dragon includes 21 bonus poems!

"Michael Arnzen, award-winning poet and fiction writer,
can always be counted on to approach the grotesque
and the visceral with wit, and often, compassion... but
be prepared, he doesn't hold back...." -- Star*Line

preview here:
http://www.gorelets.com/gorelets/retro/retro.htm

Find out more about Arnzen at http://gorelets.com
******************************************************
>>YOUR COUPON FOR SUBSCRIBING<<

WRITEAGAIN is a very useful product for freelancers
to track submissions, reprint rights, project
schedules, market listings and income.

Try WRITE AGAIN manuscript organizing software
and get a 10% rebate when you register if you tell
them that Arnzen's newsletter sent you!
http://www.asmoday.com/WA.htm

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"A writer is somebody for whom writing is more
difficult than it is for other people."
-- Thomas Mann