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Writers write.

Want more money? Then memorize this phrase: "Writers promote."

Think you don't have time to organize a marketing plan foryourself, your books, your website? Try this six-week plan to a sustained program of self-promotion and you, too, will find new friends who will help you, editors who approach you, and readers who will follow you throughout your writing career.

Week One: Focus on online message boards and lists. Yahoo, MSN,Topica and Smartgroups all have online discussion lists that you cansearch by topic. Sign up, read past messages, then decide whetheryou'll stay with the list or move on. Some lists have nothing butspam messages; others are packed with information. Register withmessage boards that focus on writing. Do the same with these as youdid the lists. Choose at least five to participate in. Choose twodays a week, at a minimum, on which you will send messages to thelists. Be aware than many of the same writers will be on more thanone list so don't just write a canned message and send it toall. Show that you've read previous messages - answer a question, aska question, share a valuable link. Once in a while you can mention afavorable review or a "Hurray, I got the assignment" message.

Week Two: Keep up your week one efforts. Study local newspapers,both daily and weekly. Investigate any magazines published for localreaders. Keep a running list of local media contacts. Some of thethings you should note: who is writing about food, what type ofstories are turned into juicy features, what kinds of announcementsrun in the business section, how many food articles are syndicatedfrom another source? This list of media contacts will save you timewhen you have an article you want to write or you are seeking anarticle to be written about you, your business or your book.

Week Three: Weeks one and two plus a trip to an office supply store.Buy some great paper - matte, two-sided coated paper, color orwhite. Write a brochure for yourself. Don't feel it'sappropriate for what you are writing about? Then design a business card and print it up. Or ask a graphic designer to create a unique look foryour business card. I was at a business fair, manning the table formy employer at the time (a college), and I realized that I couldhave networked my own writing business if I'd only had a businesscard to hand over to the advertising and web design businesses. Getsome business cards.

Week Four: This is the week when you take your writing business onthe road. Go to the local Chamber of Commerce's Business AfterHours event. Chat with people, and hand over a brochure or businesscard when you meet someone who can hire you, or who can connect youwith a publisher or editor. Keep posting on those message boards andlists; have fun with them.

Week Five: Write a press release about your recent success. Did youpublish an article, finish a workshop, win an award, or open forbusiness? Write your press release in third person as if you arewriting an article. Send it to someone - your discussion listbuddies for a critique, a local weekly that runs news releasesunedited to fill in the news holes, post it on your website(don't have a website * that's what you can do on week seven). Needhelp? Visit prwire.com for advice on writing press releases.

Week Six: Two tasks this week: This is the week you make contactwith three new editors. Call the local food editor or featureseditor and take him or her out to lunch. Email a magazine editorwith an article pitch. Contact an online newsletter editor and seeif you can trade ad space for an article you'd love to write forhim. Your second task is to subscribe to online newsletters forwriters - www.writesuccess.com, and www.fundsforwriters.com are onlytwo that consistently provide essential information for writers.

Throughout these weeks, you should also be writing, researchingmarkets for publication, and submitting your work. Keep up with thelist discussions. A great one for information and markets isworkforwriters@yahoogroups.com.

Keep up the good work - network with writers online and potentialclients and editors in person to sell yourself and your writing.

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