Editor: A. S. Burack
Genre: nonfiction, how-to
Publication info: The Writer, 1974
Pages: 115
This was the latest edition my library carries, which is a shame, but maybe it was the last one printed. I picked it up because I had heard that fillers can be a great way for a writer to break into the publishing industry, a way that is often overlooked. I thought it would be useful to learn a thing or two about it.
It's a collection of essays, which look like they were written expressly for this book, by a number of successful authors and editors in the wonderful field of fillers and short humor. Overall, it sounded like a lot of fun, and something very doable. It sounds like, basically, you need to be observant of everything around you; pay attention to things that make you laugh, or little things you know that might be useful to others. Write those things down as concisely as possible. Then send them in!
Of course, you have to have a talent for writing, and very compact writing too (a talent I obviously don't have yet), but I think it can be developed. The book was good in that it opened my eyes to a writing market I hadn't really considered before. I don't want magazine fillers to be my focus in writing, but it might be a good thing to do on the side if I ever come up with anything good.
The problem with a book this old, though, is that market preferences change, especially in magazines. If I were really serious about it I would have to look at what kinds of things magazines are publishing right now. The book includes a handy short market reference at the end, but I imagine it's next to worthless at this point. However, the book teaches some good basic principles of short writing that I think still hold true. I hope to try them out sometime.
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