Hey, romantic fiction writers! Wondered how to break into Woman’s World Magazine with your story? Then take five, grab some coffee, pull out your laptop and join us for our interview with Kate Willoughby, as she fills us in on how her blog, ‘Writing for Woman’s World Magazine’ can help you with that!WOW: Hi Kate, so glad you could stop by and chat with us today. Let’s start with telling us a bit about yourself and your writing background.
Kate: I’ve been writing seriously since 1999. Most of my published work is erotic romance, but in between those novellas, I pen short romantic fiction for Woman’s World and more recently the 'Trues' (True Confession, True Romance, True Love, True Experience.) I learned a lot of my craft from Romance Writers of America, a wonderful organization for both the published and yet-to-be published.
WOW: I love the concept of your blog! How did it all come about?
Kate: I started out just writing for Woman’s World. When I discovered I had a knack for it, I thought maybe I could teach other people how to do it, so I developed an online class which has become fairly successful. Because I study the stories anyway, making the leap to blogging about them seemed like logical next step. The weekly analyses benefit me and hopefully my students and anyone else interested in selling to Woman’s World.
WOW: My interest was piqued with just one visit! I love that you provide a number of ways to help your readers prepare their submissions. In your opinion, what goes into creating the kind of romantic fiction that catches the eye of the magazine’s editors?
Kate: First and foremost, know what they are looking for, which is uplifting, put-a-smile-on-your-face romance involving “regular” people that could live next door to you. Then, because Woman’s World Magazine often gravitates toward the same plotlines over and over, present those plots to them in a fresh way, be it via sparkling characters, a setting they’ve not seen before (or at least lately), a change in POV, or even taking tried and true plotlines and combining them.
WOW: Studying any writing market is what we writers should be doing anyway, thanks for the reminder. How do you manage to keep your own storylines fresh and interesting?
Kate: Again, I read the magazine every week so I know that if they just published a story set in a flower shop, not to send them a flower shop story. I also try to look at the trends. For instance, there’s such a huge green movement going on in this country, it might be a good idea to write something within that theme.
WOW: Keeping an eye on trends, another good point. Wrapping things up, what’s the one thing you enjoy about your work?
Kate: With the economy, the oil leak in the Gulf, the war on terror, unemployment, there’s enough bad news out there to depress even the most optimistic person. So, the most rewarding part of writing for Woman’s World (and helping others to do it too) is knowing with 800 choice words, I can brighten the days of probably over a million people in one week. That I get paid for it is icing on the cake.
WOW: It sure is! Kate, thanks for telling us about Writing for Woman’s World Magazine. Readers, check out her wonderful blog for yourself here. You never know, we might see your story next!
Thanks for posting the interview with Kate. I follow Kate's blog and belong to the WW email loop, so it's always nice to see more, more, more of WW news. It helps me rededicate to submitting to WW.
ReplyDeleteKate, you said something in your interview that I've "heard" from other writers but never really understood. That quote is:
"I learned a lot of my craft from Romance Writers of America." Can you tell me what from RWA, specifically, helped you learn your craft? Are there courses? tipsheets? author interviews? Call me curious...
Romance Writers of America is an organization dedicated to helping and educating career-minded writers of romantic fiction. They're one of the few writers organizations that accept both published and unpublished members. I have been a member since 1999. They have chapters across the country and others that are strictly electronic. They also have a national conference with dozens of wonderful workshops every year. Go here for more info. :)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rwanational.org/
I love what you said about the value in being able to brighten someone's day. That's how I feel about the romance genre, in general. Yes, you know what to expect at the end, but I love being able to depend on that warm fuzzy. There needs to be more warm fuzzy in the world. :)
ReplyDelete@Anonymous: Kate made the interview. Her blog is such a great service to writers.
ReplyDelete@Eden: Worldwide warm fuzziness---I'm up for it!