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January 7, 2009
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Writer Mama
March 18, 2008
  • The first ever writing book geared toward stay-at-home parents
  • Lively format and content offers a fresh look at the freelance life

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Writer Mama: How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids
by Christina Katz
Writer's Digest Books, 2007
ISBN 978-158297-441-5
$14.99 paperback, 256 pages

Get an excerpt
Chapter 2: Identify Your Audiences
Chapter 5: Tackle the Clips Catch-22


Kids change your life, but they don’t necessarily have to end your career. Stay-at-home moms (and dads!) will love this handy guide to rearing a successful writing career while raising their children.

The busy mom’s guide to the writing life, this book gives stay-at-home moms the encouragement and advice they need, including everything from getting started and finding ideas to actually finding time to do the work—something not always easy to do with the pitter-patter of little feet.

With advice on how to network and form a business, and also instruction on crafting fiction, nonfiction, and children’s writing, this nurturing guide covers everything a writer mama needs to succeed at her second job.

About the Author
Christina Katz balances writing with motherhood in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon. She has written over two hundred articles for magazines, newspapers, and online publications and has appeared on Good Morning America. Christina is editor and publisher of the online zines Writers on the Rise and Writer Mama. She teaches and speaks at writing conferences. Visit Christina at www.thewritermama.com


Table of Contents
I. PREPARATION

1. Accumulate Ideas
Idea-Keeping

2. Identify Your Audiences
The Benefits of Freelancing

3. Tear Apart Target Markets
Six Benefits of Being a Write-at-Home Mom

4. Digest the Guidelines
Scrounge for an Hour in the a.m.

5. Tackle the Clips Catch-22
Gather Every Afternoon Moment

6. Connect With Cover Letters
Wring Every Second From the Evenings

II. PRACTICE

7. Tip Off Everyone
Stake Out Spaces and Start a Wishlist

8. List Your Way Into Print
How to Handle Procrastination

9. Satisfy Editorial Needs With Fillers
Streamline Household Management

10. Show Your Readers How It’s Done
Heroine Worship

11. Trumpet Your Personal Stories
Practicing Good Boundaries

12. Become a Serial Specialist
The Possibility of Childcare

III. PROFESSIONALISM

13. Prewrite Your Feature
Find Your Tribe—Live!

14. Draft Your Query
Find Your Tribe—Online or Via E-Mail!

15.  Plan for Query Success
Uncover Your Beliefs About Editors

16.  Go Get the Interviews
Rolodex Power

17.  Negotiate Like a Barter Queen
Set Satisfaction-Based (and Monetary) Goals

18.  Run With Your Assignment
Writing Career Ups and Downs

IV. POISE

19. Wear All the Right Hats
Seventeen Ways to Avoid Writer Mama Burnout

20. Establish Expertise in Your Field
Imitate the Attitude of Writer Mama Pros

21.  Get Your Name Known
Develop Multiple Income Streams

22. Count Down Days to a Conference
Be a Prepared Conference Attendee

23. Pitch a Nonfiction Book Concept
How to Pitch a Book Concept

Afterword: There Is No End, Just More to Learn
Appendix: Recommended Reading


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