Alyce Wilson

So, my 30 Queries in 30 Days project ended more with a whimper than a bang: with 21 queries/submissions/job applications submitted during the month of September.

Not one to give up easily, I’m resetting the clock and starting over. In my 31 Queries in 31 Days project, I will attempt to send out 31 submissions/queries or job proposals in the month of October, beginning with:

1) Submitted four poems to Poetry literary magazine.

Wish me luck!

I’m finding more intriguing prospects at Elance.com by searching under the “Creative Writing” filter:

19) Submitted job proposal and writing sample via Elance.com for a job writing thoughtful essays for a new app.

20) Submitted job proposal via Elance.com for a job converting podcast transcripts into PDF and ebook formats.

21) Submitted job proposal via Elance.com for a job copy-editing a novel.

Looked through some writing ads on Donanza.com and found another worth applying to, originally posted on the New Orleans Craigslist:

18) Sent a cover letter, poetry samples and a CV to Interactive Picture Books, which is looking for ghost writers to create children’s books for the iPad.

I spent much of the day either writing a sestina for a client or procrastinating before writing said sestina. Once it was finished, I took a break away from the computer to spend some time with my son, and then I managed to put together one submission for the 30 Queries in 30 Days project.

17) Put together a submission of children’s poetry for the magazine “Jack and Jill.”

Hmm. I’ve got 13 queries left and three days to do it in. Can I pull this off?

I spent much of the day formatting a PDF of two poetry manuscripts, which are another perk that had been promised to contributors to my Indiegogo campaign.

So it was back to Elance, which tends to be a simpler, more time-efficient process than putting together a poetry submission:

14) Submitted a proposal via Elance.com for a job proofreading, editing and formatting a self-published book.

15) Submitted a proposal via Elance.com for a job collaborating on Vaudeville-inspired skits.

16) Submitted a proposal via Elance.com for a job writing newsletter articles on an ongoing monthly basis.

Update: The podcast transcription job I applied to yesterday has been awarded to someone else already, and so has the Top 10 list writer job.

I’m finally done with the ebook project and am going to work hard to catch up with the 30 Queries in 30 Days project.

Did some applying at Elance.com today:

11) Submitted a proposal via Elance.com for a job writing a Top 10 article.

12) Submitted a proposal via Elance.com for a job writing social media phrases for a Web start-up.

13) Submitted a proposal via Elance.com for a job transcribing a podcast.

As far as updates are concerned, the job writing creative musings was awarded to someone else, although the other applications I’ve submitted are apparently still under consideration.

As you might have noticed, I’m taking a break from the “30 Queries in 30 Days” project in order to focus on finishing a big project, the Kindle version of my personal history of the Penn State Monty Python Society, titled “Dedicated Idiocy.” I’ll let you know when it’s done! When it is, I’ll get back to the queries project, and double up or triple up each day until I get caught up.

I did receive a response from one of the queries I’d sent out, though. Sadly, West Branch rejected my submission to them. But I was also just reading an article in Writer’s Digest about Joe Hill, better known as Steven King’s son, who’s also a writer. Since he wanted to rely on his writing ability, not his connection to his famous dad, he created his nom de plume and, especially in the early days, got rejected a lot. He said, though, that he liked to keep at least six queries for stories out at a time, because that way when he got the rejection slips, he only felt “one-sixth rejected.” I like that attitude.

My son’s second day at preschool, and everything’s going swimmingly. It’s fun to see him running around singing nursery rhymes that are new to him.

Today got away from me again, but I did manage to do something:

10) Submitted proposal via Elance for creative writing job writing short blurbs for newsletters based on a prompt.

Since I was too busy in the early morning hours wondering how my son was doing on his first day of preschool, I stuck with something simple today, submitting a proposal via Elance:

9) Submitted a job proposal via Elance for an assignment proofreading a 70-page e-book.

Regarding the rejection I received for the press release writing job, I tried to send a message to the client to ask what specifically they didn’t like about the style of my press release examples. However, it turns out that on Elance.com, you’re not allowed to contact a client about a rejected proposal unless they contact you. Then again, as any writer knows, it’s rare to get ANY sort of feedback for rejections, so I should be grateful I even got what I did.

I’m only a little more than a week into this project, and I’m finding that it’s very easy to work into my schedule. This could, indeed, become a habit.

Today is my birthday, so I’m going easy on myself. I meant to do two queries yesterday for my 30 Queries in 30 Days project, but between a hair appointment and spending some quality time having a “Sesame Street” dance party with my 3-year-old boy, I didn’t get the chance.

So here goes:

7) E-mailed a request for Writer Guidelines to the editor of “Parents Express,” a Philadelphia-area parenting newspaper.

Then I put together a poetry magazine for West Branch, the literary semiannual of Bucknell University, down the road from where I grew up. Going through my poetry submission file, I saw that they’d written a note on a rejected submission years and years ago, but I’d never sent them another!

8 ) Submitted six poems to West Branch.

And now an update:

I got an e-mail earlier today, regarding #6, my proposal submission via Elance to write a press release for a new business book. The client rejected my proposal, giving the reason “preferred another style.” Well, I guess there’s nothing I can do about that! It would have been nice for them to tell me what sort of style they preferred. Perhaps, if possible, I’ll follow up and ask them.