Announcing a New Course on How to Get Published

I have published in over three dozen publications outside of Medium (these are the places where they will pay you a flat fee and a possible bonuses) and am charging $25 for a two-hour interactive zoom seminar. Please leave comments here or e-mail me at okonh0wp@gmail.com for personalized attention with your pieces (included in the seminar).

Here’s a sample of the kind of advice I give. This is what I wrote to a class of journalism students nearly a decade ago:

The real first step is knowing where you want to send your pitches. To add to that, if you’re going for money you have to manage risk. Publications with broad guidelines and big payouts (GQ or Salon Magazine) will have tons and tons of people pitching them so don’t be a needle in a haystack if you want a chance. For me, a steady paycheck is preferable and specific pitching guidelines help big-time. I’m more comfortable expending time on a pitch with clear guidelines: “We’re currently taking stories on dogs” doesn’t give me as much confidence that I’ll hit the mark as “We’re looking for a story about mixed-breed 2nd hand dogs.”

Additionally, if it’s something abstract like humor, a short story, or a poetry contest, it’s generally up to the tastes of the editor, and that can be frustrating. When you pitch a humor piece, the rubric really boils down to one single thing: Did the editor laugh when he read it. If you have a concrete pitch with something to bring to the table, then experience of subjectivity matters less.