AN INTERVIEW WITH SHIRLEY KAWA-JUMP

By Alyice Edrich Copyright 2002

When did you know you wanted to be a writer and what happened?

When I was eleven, my parents sponsored a family from Laos. Their story inspired me to write an essay about them. My dad's secretary typed it up for me, we sent it off to the local paper, and they published it. Although I'd always loved writing, that moment solidified my career choice.

What was the first piece that you sold for money and how much did you make?

In the old days, I got paid by the inch. I think I made $12 off the first article I sold.

How long have you been writing and in what capacities?

I have been writing for 22 years as a reporter, a copywriter, a public relations specialist, an author, and a freelancer. Although we would all love to have our names on a book and in a print magazine this is a time consuming process and the money doesn't flow in like clockwork.

For those that are thinking of writing as a career, would you mind simplifying the process, so they have a better understanding of what you go through?

Well, I should preface this by saying that even though I am a full-time writer with a couple thousand articles under my belt, I only sell about 40% of what I pitch. It's all about being in the right place at the right time with the right product. I work on assignment with some publications, which means the editor contacts me and asks if I'd be interested in writing a particular story. Sometimes, I pitch an idea to them, but by and large, they already have their editorial list solidified.

Twice a month, I send out queries, both to publications I have worked for before and to at least two new publications I haven't worked for before. Then I wait. And wait. And wait to hear back. Sometimes, I never hear anything. Other times, I get the form rejection letter. And other times I make a sale. I can't count on those as income, so those are usually my "bonus" monies. If I get an assignment, great, if I don't, I keep sending out ideas until I do. The other part of my business is well...business. I have to keep track of my invoices, my billing, and my hours. Chart my mileage, keep up with my bookkeeping, pay my bills, and order supplies. Read contracts, negotiate terms, etc. I wish it were just about the writing, but to be honest, it's about far more than that.

What do you do to supplement your income so that working from home gives you a more steady income?

The marketing writing (brochures, press releases, etc.) really helps keep my income steady. I do a 50/50 mix of freelancing and marketing writing and although the marketing writing generally involves a faster response and shorter turnaround time, I'm paid faster.

There is a lot of talk going around that one should never give away an article for free, under what circumstances have you allowed your work to be printed without monetary compensation and what is your reasoning behind it?

I give articles away for free as a means of giving back to other writers. I wouldn't have reached the point I am at in my career without help from other writers. By providing articles on the craft or book reviews or author profiles, I give back. I should mention that I am also the writing teacher for www.iVillage.com, which is a volunteer position. I teach one class a week and write a monthly writing lesson article and exercise for the Readers and Writers Channel. Although I do get some PR benefit from this and the articles I give away, my main reason is to help other writers achieve their dreams.

This has been a very wonderful year for you. You have sold two books and one is already out in print. Has there ever been a time when you wanted to throw in the towel and give up?

And if so, how did you defeat > those instincts? I have thrown in the towel. A year ago, in fact. After writing 10 novels in 8 years and not selling one, I was getting discouraged. It didn't help that my agent at the time basically told me not to give up my day job in non-fiction and suggested I pursue e-publishing. She refused to represent my other fiction books, refused to send my current book to Silhouette, etc. For me, having my agent tell me to quit writing fiction was the last straw. Right after that, on June 23, 2001, I quit. I literally threw everything away, wiped my hard drive clean, tossed out the manuscripts and gave it all up. My husband encouraged me to put it all back. But it took several weeks before I wrote again. After a number of other issues with this agent, I let her go. I sent my book off to Silhouette myself and waited. In the meantime, I signed with a new agent. At the same time, an editor at Silhouette wrote me a wonderful letter, asking for a few revisions. A few months later, the book had sold to Silhouette. Despite all my past success, I still quit. It is possible to get down in this business. For me, the key to getting back up was reminding myself of my dream...and my own abilities to make it come true. Sue-Ellen Welfonder, who writes books for Warner, once said: "It's a dreadful shame how many wonderful books we will not be able to read because someone gave up their dream too soon." That was the quote that got me writing again, and it's a quote that is taped over my computer to this day.

I heard through the grapevine that your book "How to Publish Articles" has been selected as a tool for teaching writing classes. That must feel like such an accomplishment, how did you find out and how did it make you feel?

A professor at Manchester College in Indiana met me at a book signing, bought my book and liked it so much; she made it a required book for her journalism class. I went up there this year and spoke to the class one day. It was great fun and kind of neat to see all those students with my book, marked up and highlighted and sticky noted. :-)

If you could leave others with one bit of advice or words of wisdom, what would you have to share?

This is from one of my favorite class handouts: YOU are the only one who can make your dream come true. No one else has the keys to your dream, just you. If you don't write, if you don't send stuff out, if you don't learn from and CONQUER rejection, you will NEVER achieve your dream of being published. Remember (and repeat this daily), it's all about having the right product on the right desk at exactly the right time. Rejection is sometimes such an arbitrary thing that you could have caught the editor on a bad day or Venus might have been in retrograde and the moon was a little too full - - whatever the reason, rejection happens and it happens to all of us.

The key is to yes, feel sorry for yourself because it hurts (it hurts sometimes more when you've been at this game a long time and think you know it all J) and then go on and get yourself going toward your dream. Get at that computer and write. I'm going to say it again: If you don't write, if you don't send stuff out, if you don't learn from and CONQUER rejection, you will never achieve your dream of being published. "A professional writer is an amateur who didn't quit." -- Richard Bach

Note:

This interview first appeared on The Dabbling Mum.com's Write Center(http://thedabblingmum.com/writecenter.htm), All Freelance was given special permission to post this interview.

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About the Author:
Alyice Edrich is a Freelance Writer and Telecommunications Representative. Are you a struggling writer looking for ways to cut costs? Check out http://thedabblingmum.com/communications.htm where you can get great deals on internet access -- as low as $12.95 a month -- and pay only 3.9 cents a minute for phone calls.

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