Writer's Market 2014 Paperback – August 31, 2013

I took the advice of another reviewer and have been going through with a red highlighter and a yellow highlighter, marking through the publications that pay on publication or those I don't know enough about to write for and highlighting those I'm interested in looking into for later review. Although the 2015 version is out, I went with the 2014 version because I don't feel it changes from year to year all that much and this was cheaper.It's a great tool for writers and for most publications it has all the information you need to decide whether to submit with them or not. It's a large book and is organized well, so it's easy for me to find exactly what I'm looking for. I highly recommend for any freelance writer.

I have used the Writer's Market, the Artist's Market, the Photographer's Market books many times over the years. There are lots of good tips in the book for people who are just starting out. I've been freelancing since the 1980s, so, I am not new at this, but, there is always something new to learn. These books are great time-savers. They give you the information you'll need to get your foot in the door.You want to pay close attention to what each agent, publisher, or other representative wants. Follow those guidelines to the letter and you CAN get results.Don't shotgun submissions to publishers or publications. Pick your potentials from the fields that various publishers say they accept. You want to use these books to identify those publishers that work within your niche. If you don't have a niche, trust me, you need one. Figure out what your particular area of interest is and specialize in that until you are just too good to ignore. Then, follow that niche to the publishers that would give you an opportunity.Whatever you do, never give up.

Let's face it, Writer's Market is the one book every writer who expects to market their work will have on their shelf. And annual updates make it a repeat buy (you can get away with skipping a year or two at most). The deluxe, or online, edition includes perks that make it valuable for current authors, such as continual updates, by keeping the information as current as possible. It's also a lot more convenient than lugging ten pounds under your arm. After you've read the stories, hints and helpful columns, it becomes a reference work anyway. Might as well make it as universally useful as Google, Wikipedia or dozens of other references writers use daily.

I would gladly pay twice the price for a resource that is more up to date. One of my hobbies is technology so I naturally checked to see what kind of magazines are looking for technology articles. As best as I can determine -- only one, listed in Consumer Magazines -> Personal Computers. There is no "Technology" section nor "Internet" section. This seems a bit odd -- the Internet is well-established and computers (in one form or another) are here to stay.You could argue that market leaders like Popular Mechanics or Wired don't need to be listed in Writer's Market to get submissions, but surely there are other technology magazines out there that could benefit. Laptop Magazine is popular enough to be found in my local CVS, but could perhaps benefit from being listed in this book nevertheless.

A terrific product. Lots of educational information in the first chapters if you are new to selling your writing or if you have been away from the market for a while. The information on the individual companies is detailed and updated yearly. I like the hard copy because I like to highlight, make notes, add post its, bookmarks, dog ear and otherwise love (abuse) my book. For those of you who prefer glowing screens there is a digital option as well. Writer's Market is a must have for the freelance writer.

I hadn't purchased this book in a few years. I purchased the "deluxe" edition for the online benefits. The book's listings are comprehensive and I found them useful. However, the accompanying articles are woefully out of date. They looked similar to ones I read in Writer's Market ten or more years ago. Seriously, does anyone really send an SASE anymore? When I left the magazine publishing world twenty years ago, I only saw SASEs from novices who really didn't know what they were doing. Sadly, the truth is that editors assign stories to people they know -- either former staffers they know from current or previous employment, or writers known to other staff members who can vouch for them. Editors want to know that you can deliver what they need, and deliver it on time. Your clips of previous work won't tell them that. And it helps to have access to the magazine's editorial calendar. If you know that the issue ten months from now will focus on X, you can pitch a story on X to the editor and they might be interested...or at least will know that you know something about the magazine.

I've been writing professionally for over 30 years. I have had 24 books published, and received some endowments, while also attending and directing writers' conferences. My companion has always been Writers' Digest and their books, especially The Writer's Market. This book is dynamic! They structure the book for beginners through veteran writers, with categories of utmost necessity for any writer, such as list of literary agents, publishers, contests, and so on. The book also features articles and many other bonuses. No matter how much I've written or how long I've been writing, I do it with companion--The Writer's Market. It's easy to read and simple to find what you need, I would recommend this books to anyone wanting to write or having already been established. This is a writers ' must!