What type of humor are you writing and selling? (LONG)

determined2finish · Mar 28, 2005

Hi everyone,
I haven't posted in the humor area before, but I have done some lurking

If you don't mind I'd like to ask a few questions about writing and selling humor.

I've noticed that many writers here are working on books. Are these humor books? Do most of you work exclusively in humor or do you write in other genres as well? Is it hard to sell humor?

I am trying to find my own writing niche, and have always been interested in humor. For me this is an area that is hard to figure out. I've tried my hand at everything from satire articles to t.v. sitcom scripts yet haven't known how to piece this all together to find a writing goal.

I have been lucky enough to have several of my humor articles published on a non-paying website, but would now like to take my writing to the "next level" and get paid! Can anyone recommend markets that might be a good start for sending submissions? Right now I am working on more humorous personal essays, but am unsure if they'd be better suited as magazine submissions or piled together in hopes of completing a book.

My apologies for this long rambling, but thank you to those who stayed to the end!

mommie4a · Mar 28, 2005

I love to hear about folks who venture to other styles because it helps me think, hell, I can try that too.

There's at least one thread that has market listings for personal essays (humor included) and one thread in the humor writing genre that lists humor writing resources. You could start with www.humorwriters.org which has a lot of info and links.

I'm sure others from the humor forum/subforum will chime in, but that's a good place to begin. I do more human interest than humor which I say tentatively since just a few months ago I had to ask someone else, what's the difference between humor and human interest!

Good luck and I hope this helps you get started.

mommie4a · Mar 28, 2005

Oh - my humor writing is in the form of essays (duh) and revolves around...me. That sounds vain huh? But what I mean is that the topics are usually first person and based on some experience I've had.

determined2finish · Mar 28, 2005

mommie4a said:
I love to hear about folks who venture to other styles because it helps me think, hell, I can try that too.

There's at least one thread that has market listings for personal essays (humor included) and one thread in the humor writing genre that lists humor writing resources. You could start with www.humorwriters.org which has a lot of info and links.

I'm sure others from the humor forum/subforum will chime in, but that's a good place to begin. I do more human interest than humor which I say tentatively since just a few months ago I had to ask someone else, what's the difference between humor and human interest!

Good luck and I hope this helps you get started.

Thanks for your response. Where do you submit your human interest writing? How long have you done this? I'm going to check out that website now - I need some inspiration and motivation!

Birol · Mar 28, 2005

I published a piece of satire last fall, but no, the books I'm working on aren't humor. At least they aren't meant to be.

ritinrider · Mar 28, 2005

don't write humor, have no talent for it, at least I don't think I do. If I do write humor it's on accident. I stumbled on the wpr thread and they kindly let me join in. It keeps me a little more focused on my writing in general. Barb, you may take a bow now. *shamelessly brown-nosing*

Nita

Humourwriter · Mar 29, 2005

*waves arms frantically* Columnist over here...

Being lousy at both plotting and characterisation, I'm writing columns most of the time. Very short (~650 words), it means I can keep everything in my head long enough to get it all down before it all goes screwy.

While I've got an idea for a book floating around in my head (there's certainly plenty of room in there), it will be more a series of humour essays rather than anything else (I'm thinking of Dave Barry's "Homes and other black holes" as the style).

Not really selling anything yet, but I'm still getting back up to speed after a fairly long break, so that's okay... for now.

Bill.

batyler65 · Mar 29, 2005

*Waving at Bill from the back row*

Another humor columnist here!
I write mostly personal humor pieces. I have a local column and write humorous essays for Family Circle.
I do humorous flash fiction as a sideline and have had the good fortune to be paid for some of that as well.

There is a link to humor resources stuck to the top of this forum. You might try exploring those for ideas.

A brief note of explanation about the Weekend Progress Report. This thread started at the beginning of 2004 between myself and two other people in the humor forum (who also needed motivation). At the time, it was intended as a motivational tool to keep us moving forward on various projects. Since then, it has mutated... er... evolved into what it is today. Most of the folks posting in WPR are working on books. Some are writing humor. I welcome everyone who wants to play, regardless of what they write.

Barb

mommie4a · Mar 29, 2005

determined2finish said:
Thanks for your response. Where do you submit your human interest writing? How long have you done this? I'm going to check out that website now - I need some inspiration and motivation!

Human interest writing can be soft news items, based on studies that have come out or weird things people have done that you've observed, or about unique and unusual occurances or facts. There's a magazine called Mental Floss that can be a great jumping off point for human interest stories if you want to follow some of their threads of information.

I write a bimonthly column for a regional parenting publication (my very first essay for it won the top medal in Personal Essay in the highest magazine circulation category from the national organization for parenting publications, Parenting Publications of America - BUT I didn't even know the thing had been submitted so I can't really take credit for competing or anything). But it's definitely more human interest than humor.

Where I submit: not many places right now just because of other time issues. But it also depends on what you're writing. I'm not the Funny Times or MAD magazine material. There's a big range. Review Writer's Market, Absolutewrite markets etc. And ask others!

Here's a piece of an email exchange I had with Tim Bete who oversees the Erma Bombeck competition, which has a humor category and a human interest category. I had a hard time figuring them out, but that was several months ago and the more I write, the more I figure it out.

I've read the 2005 contest rules for the Erma Bombeck competition and last year's winning entries, but I still don't have a clear sense of what distinguishes the humor entries from the human interest ones. The winners seem to have elements of both categories.

Good question. All I can say is that to win the humor category, you need to be REALLY funny. Humor is allowed in the human interest category but not a requirement.

I've been submitting work for publication almost three years now. (I worked in another field for several years, had kids bla bla bla and then someone I know and trust who's a professional journalist suggested I try freelancing.) And my first published pieces were die-hard serious opeds, then slightly more light-hearted features and now this column. I also have a freelance contract with a large educational foundation connected to the Gates Foundation and am doing a year-long work for them related to high school reform.

So flex your fingers, read, read, read, take a class even. If you want to do it, I'm sure you can. It's just another learning curve to concure.

Good luck!

determined2finish · Mar 30, 2005

Boy I can't believe all the humor columnists here! Do you all have links to your writing? I'd love to read some of your work.

mommie4a: Dang! I can't believe I missed the deadline to that Erma Bombeck contest! Did you enter? Maybe I'll try for next year. I still don't know the difference between humor and human interest, though.

Barb: The humor links are a great resource. I'll have to check out the progress report - it seems to be a great way to keep moving forward with writing goals. I find it is sometimes difficult for me to write without having someone to keep me on track.

Bill: A book on humor essays is what I'm kind of thinking of right now, too. Are you writing columns for newspapers or magazines?

mommie4a · Mar 30, 2005

I wouldn't really call myself a humor columnist, but some of what I write is humorous and I try to use humor in all my work, with very few exceptions (like an oped that compared the US government's duty to warn to a mental health professional's duty to warn).

Another good site and contest is www.brashcyber.com, the Mona Schreiber Prize for Humorous Fiction and Nonfiction. That site has some entries you can view to help you get a good idea of the kind of humor or wackiness they like.

You can find some of my work on www.jillmillerzimon.com. Also, my bimonthly column "Mommy Matters" can be found at www.clevelandakronfamily.com. The April one should be up any day but older ones are in the archived articles (there's a button for those). Epstein's Episodes is a column written by a dad and he's very funny.

I did enter the Bombect contest this year but I have no expectations. They got 1500 entries this year, 2/3rds in the humor category and the rest in the human interest category.

I know - Tim Bete's answer about human interest wasn't particularly illuminating but I guess it's a "you'll know it when you read it" thing. Writing it is harder.

determined2finish · Mar 30, 2005

mommie4a said:
I wouldn't really call myself a humor columnist, but some of what I write is humorous and I try to use humor in all my work, with very few exceptions (like an oped that compared the US government's duty to warn to a mental health professional's duty to warn).

Another good site and contest is www.brashcyber.com, the Mona Schreiber Prize for Humorous Fiction and Nonfiction. That site has some entries you can view to help you get a good idea of the kind of humor or wackiness they like.

You can find some of my work on www.jillmillerzimon.com. Also, my bimonthly column "Mommy Matters" can be found at www.clevelandakronfamily.com. The April one should be up any day but older ones are in the archived articles (there's a button for those). Epstein's Episodes is a column written by a dad and he's very funny.

I did enter the Bombect contest this year but I have no expectations. They got 1500 entries this year, 2/3rds in the humor category and the rest in the human interest category.

I know - Tim Bete's answer about human interest wasn't particularly illuminating but I guess it's a "you'll know it when you read it" thing. Writing it is harder.

I just checked the Erma Bombeck site and they have the 2005 winners posted. It's good to see what they look for and how they separate the two categories. Thanks for the websites - I look forward to reading some of your columns!

mommie4a · Mar 31, 2005

Human interest v. humor (for others who want to try and figure it out!)

Here's the website for the Bombeck winners in human interest and humor.

http://www.wcpl.lib.oh.us/adults/erma2005winners.html

Enjoy. I usually print out winners that I think are instructive and keep them in a file called personal essay or profile or whatever category applies.

aka eraser · Mar 31, 2005

I write and occasionally sell humour too, usually in column/essay form. I have some difficulty in not inserting humour, even in supposedly-straight articles (which I also write occasionally). One editor I've worked with a fair bit will sometimes assign a piece and say "semi-loopy" or "all-out loopy" on this one.

I hope to compile a "best of" book too, sometime down the road. Maybe a few of us can share shelf space.

arrowqueen · Mar 31, 2005

My women's mag short stories are usually humorous. (Hopefully!)

Will_Helm09 · Jan 17, 2008

Oldies Are Goodies

I know this is a bit of an old thread, but -- as the title states, Oldies Are Goodies. I'm currently a humor columnist for an independent pop-culture website, but I'd say my genre spreads out into cinema and pop-culture -- makes sense -- as well.

This is an archive of my work so that you get the gist: http://www.411mania.com/author/?author=254

I'm not quite sure if the cross-genre appeal of what I do helps or hurts, but I've just started looking for an agent and I guess I'll find out from there!

What type of humor are you writing and selling? (LONG)

determined2finish

something from nothing

mommie4a

Mother of All Addictions

mommie4a

Mother of All Addictions

determined2finish

something from nothing

Birol

Around and About

ritinrider

Humourwriter

Insert witty slogan here

batyler65

Plot Monkey

mommie4a

Mother of All Addictions

determined2finish

something from nothing

mommie4a

Mother of All Addictions

determined2finish

something from nothing

mommie4a

Mother of All Addictions

aka eraser

Fish Whisperer

arrowqueen

RIP, our sarky besom

Will_Helm09