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Write
Compilations for Profit
Updated:
Compilations are
simply lists: collections of related facts and figures. These
frequently take shape as mini-articles, sometimes checklists, often
they are a collection of fillers brought together under a common
theme. Examples spotted recently in the press include:
-
10 Ways to Say 'No' to the Man of Your Dreams.
- 100 Things You Didn't Know About Cats.
- Home 3000 Miles: Incredible Canine Journeys.
- Living Dinosaurs: 50 Things to Prove They Still
Exist.
Plentiful opportunities exist for the filler writer, who might
simply clip and store information on a common theme until there is
enough to complete a full-length manuscript. For shorter
compilations, simply produce and submit according to the standard
filler format. Longer manuscripts or topical matters should be
queried with editors in the same way as articles and news breaks.
Try to be topical where possible, as was the writer of a recent
piece in a North of England newspaper. After a marooned
expedition team reported its survival was probably due to taking
along supplies of a well-known chocolate bar, the 'Sunday Sun'
carried a short feature detailing various other people and groups
whose lives are also probably owed to consuming emergency rations of
popular 'Mars' bar confectionery.
Start your manuscript with a basic introduction to what the
compilation is about, what facts will be revealed. Use
asterisks or bullet points to introduce the snippets that follow.
End with a short summary.
Writers' Rules
* Start a clippings file with one section for each
subject. Don't worry about how brief each clipping is.
When you have enough material - 10, 20 or more pieces - on one
related topic, take the material out, check it, arrange the pieces
in order, rewrite them and submit them to an appropriate
publication.
* Be on the lookout for topical events which offer an opening
for your work. The World Cup, for instance, or Wimbledon,
might be just the time for you to search your clippings file and
write up on the '50 greatest football blunders' or 'Early tennis
champions: Where are they now?'
* Remember that most publications are suitable targets for
compilations, including major newspapers and children's magazines
and comics. Don't assume just because a publication hasn't
used similar features that the editor isn't interested in your work.
He simply might not have received acceptable manuscripts from a
reliable source.
Turning Compilations Into Books
This is my particular favourite five minute writing project and,
arguably, the easiest to profit from. All you do here is clip,
collect and collate as many snippets as you can relating to one
particular subject or theme. Cats, dogs, golf, writing,
children, Amish recipes, fortune-telling, witchcraft, and more, are
useful ideas for books that are simply compilations of everything
you find on the topic. A few ideas will help you:
- 1001 Great Golfing Jokes
- Everything You Didn't Know About Cats
- Psychic Cat and Dog Stories
- 500 Amish Recipes
- Candles and Witchcraft: Ten True Stories to Light Up
Your Life
- 50 Ways to Reduce Everyday Stress
- 101 Ways to Market Your Writing
- 1001 Amazing Gardening Tips
Some of these books will probably have been written already and
their creators might have spent hours searching for useful anecdotes
or paid a clippings agency to do it for them.
Many writers use clippings agencies when time is tight. You
don't need to because your book won't be written until you have
located enough facts for yourself, at little expense and without
deadlines to slow you down.
What you do next depends on what writing skills you have and whether
you want to market your work yourself or through a traditional
publisher.
Begin by compiling everything you find about your subject.
Break these down into appropriate sections. In a book about
cats, for example, my sections might include: Cats in History, Cats
in Early Egyptian Society, Cats as Wild Animals, Odd Cat Behaviour,
Famous People's Cats, and so on. Next divide your cuttings
according to their appropriate category. Now start writing,
literally rewriting the facts and adding whatever else of
importance. If you have writing experience, this is easy.
If not, then pay careful attention to changing the way the facts are
conveyed. There is no copyright on ideas, only the manner in
which they are conveyed. When you have finished, put your work to
one side for a week or so and proofread in its entirety. Look
for errors and omissions; check facts, watch out for spelling and
typing errors, and so on.
Now you must decide whether your book is acceptable as it is or if a
more professional finish is needed. Text-only books marketed
by you will usually be acceptable in typed format. Booksellers
and publishers marketing on your behalf might expect it fully-bound
and typeset.
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