There are basically two types of people. People who accomplish things, and people who claim to have accomplished things. The first group is less crowded."
-Mark Twain

I get your submissions. Every day they pile into my inbox and I read every one of them. Maybe not in a timely fashion, maybe not with diligent concentration you'd like, but I do read them. The thing about Rudius, content is king. When I read a submission all I'm worried about is if I want to keep reading. Is it compelling? It's not a conscious question that I ask myself. It's compelling if I keep reading. It's not if I find myself doing something else, flipping to a new browser window, picking up a book, wondering what's on TV.

I don't worry about the market for your material. I don't worry if it will or won't sell. If I want to read more then there are other people out there who want to read more. Good content creates it's own market. People aren't worried about what demographic they fit into or whether they're supposed to like something. They just like what they like. It's those who are trying to sell to them that have to worry about demographics and interest groups.

So for everyone out there who wants to write for Rudius, here is your first, last and really only tip. Don't pitch me an idea. Don't tell me what you're planning to write or what you'd like to write about. Don't tell me about your life or your current job and don't tell me and how it would make a "totally awesome fucking story." Don't send me character sketches or plot outlines. Don't do any of that. Just tell me a story.

Just tell me a story. It's that simple. That's all you have to do. Tell me a story that I want to keep reading, that I can't put down. Because any writer will tell you that the genius isn't in the idea, it's in the execution. The magic happens in the details, because it's not what happened but how you tell it.

So please, save the pitches for people who don't know what they like, for people who worry about demographics and the "key 18 - 35 crowd." And once you've stopped worrying about selling me, once you've taken the time to tell your story, that's when it's time to send it to me.

Posted by Ben Corman at 10:56 PM

Print Friendly · Digg it · del.icio.us · StumbleUpon · Netscape

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.festeringass.com/mt/mt-tb.fcgi/1851

Comment Policy:

Anonymous comments are allowed. All anonymous comments and comments from those not registered with TypeKey are moderated. They WILL NOT appear until they are read and approved by a moderator.

It is strongly encouraged that you sign up and login with a TypeKey account. Once you do that, your comments will be immediately posted.

Comments

Posted by: Sean at November 28, 2007 09:40 PM

Post a comment

Name:

Email Address:

URL:
Remember Me? YesNo

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)

Please type the phrase 'bencorman' in the box below (required):