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C. Hope Clark, Editor

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Find Your Next Writing Gig on Twitter
by Julie Bloss Kelsey

Twitter, the popular social networking site, is everywhere.
Time magazine even honored Twitter on its June 15, 2009 cover.
Posting your activities in 140 character increments and reading
updates from others may appear frivolous, but Twitter is
actually changing the way that writers and publishers do
business. Here are some ways that you can cash in.

SUBMIT YOUR WORK TO MICRO-MARKETS

The next generation of writing markets has arrived! Twitter
markets, or "twitterzines", are popping up online looking
for 140 character "nanofiction" (also known as "twiction" or
"picofiction") and poetry.

Thaumatrope, believed to be the world's first professional,
paying twitterzine, opened its cyber doors in December 2008.
Right now, paying twitterzines offer one to five dollars per
submission, or tweet. That may not seem like much, but
remember, you are only writing one to four sentences. You
can dabble in nanofiction as a way to flex your brain and
earn a buck or two in the process.

Some writers have earned much more from writing small.
Robert Swartwood recently closed a deal with W.W. Norton
to publish an anthology of "hint fiction," which he defines
"a story of 25 words or less that suggests a larger, more
complex story." (http://www.robertswartwood.com/) Visit his
website later this summer for details on how to contribute
to this anthology; contributors will be "paid $25 and given
a contributor's copy for World and Audio rights."

Twitter magazines are a growing market at a time when many
print publications are closing. Swartwood sees a bright
future for short prose. "Regarding the future of twitterzines,
I think they'll remain popular just as long as Twitter remains
popular. Flash fiction, micro fiction, nanofiction, hint
fiction ... they'll always remain popular."

PAYING TWITTER-BASED MARKETS
(Note: @anything means www.twitter.com/anything)

Outshine (@Outshine)

http://shineanthology.wordpress.com/outshine-submission-guidelines :
$5 per prose poem; submissions re-open July 6th

Nanoism (@nanoism)
http://nanoism.net/submit : $1.50 for unpublished literary
fiction; $1 for reprints; $5 for serials

Thaumatrope (@thaumatrope)
http://thaumatrope.greententacles.com/submissions : $1.20
per science fiction/fantasy/horror entry and currently needs
serials

Tweet the Meat (@tweetthemeat)

http://tweetthemeat.blogspot.com/2009/04/submission-guidelines.html

Horror/weird/speculative, pays $1 per tweet

ENTER WRITING CONTESTS

Some twitterzines and conventional publishers are using
Twitter-based writing contests as a way to promote their
markets. Nanoism recently ran a contest

( http://nanoism.net/meta/nanoism-nanofiction-contest/ ) with
a $20 prize for the best tweet. A similar contest was held
recently at Copyblogger ( http://www.copyblogger.com/ ). Prizes
included iPods and gift cards. Search for "writing contest"
on Twitter to find active competitions.

TRY MICROBLOGGING

Looking for a steady gig? Check online writing boards for
microblogging jobs. Busy companies and celebrities are
turning to ghostwriters to update their Twitter feeds, as
reported in the New York Times

(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/27/technology/internet/27twitter.html?_r=3) .
A recent online search for "Twitter writers" turned up gigs
at GetaFreelancer.com and oDesk.com.

RECEIVE MESSAGES FROM JOB BOARDS

Writing contests, writing jobs, and more can be sent to you
via your Twitter feed. Some writers, like Hope Clark
(@hopeclark), send tweets whenever they've updated their
newsletters. Others, such as Writers Jobs (@writersjobs),
post links to jobs directly.

GETTING STARTED

Writing compelling copy in 140 characters is harder than
it looks. Check out Copyblogger's contest results

( http://www.copyblogger.com/twitter-writing-contest-winners/ )
for some examples of award-winning microfiction. Use Letter Count

( http://www.lettercount.com/ ) to ensure that your submissions
clock in at the right length. Familiarize yourself with TinyURL
( http://www.tinyurl.com ); you can't easily post links to
Twitter without it.

Signing up with Twitter is easy. Navigating your way around
is more challenging. Search for an editor, journal, or writer
whom you like and peek at their follow list to identify
contacts and job leads. It's a bit like unpeeling an onion
to get through the layers of Twitter, but it is well worth
the effort.

BIO
Julie Bloss Kelsey writes magazine articles, poetry, and
children's stories. Her creative nonfiction has appeared in
Motherwords and Chicken Soup for the New Mom's Soul. You can
find her online at Mama Joules ( http://www.mamajoules.blogspot.com )
and @MamaJoules on Twitter.

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