October 28, 1999
Ronnie L. Smith
Writer’s Relief, Inc.
Dear Ronnie and staff:
I am writing to let you know what a difference Writer’s Relief has made in my life. I have been writing stories and poems since I was ten years old. Although I make my living as a psychotherapist, my bachelor’s degree was in English and I have never lost my love of writing. About seven years ago, I began working with a writing coach and taking writing workshops. My writing improved a lot but I rarely found the time to send my work to publishers. The few times I did, the result was discouraging, since I only had time to submit to one publisher at a time.
Since I signed on with Writer’s Relief, I finally feel like a real writer. Because you set up multiple submissions, my work is being seen by many people. The result has been a lot of rejections (of course), but also plenty of comments from editors, and enough acceptances to convince me that I am legitimate at last. The difficult struggle to find time to write finally seems worth it.
Thank you so much. My motivation and confidence have expanded. And, as a result, I think I will be able to finish my book this year.
Sincerely,
Judith F.
October 22, 1999
Ronnie L. Smith, President
Writer’s Relief, Inc.
Dear Prospective Client:
Writer’s Relief lives up to its name! I have been a client since June and have had three poems accepted for publication, more than I had accepted in the four years I had been sending work out on my own. Because Writer’s Relief is constantly updating its records, the staff knows which publications may be receptive to the kind of poetry I write. On my own, I would never be able to reach the number and range of publications to which Writer’s Relief is able to direct my work.
Just as importantly, I have found the staff to be thoroughly professional and efficient. Ms. Smith was extremely helpful when I had a question about how to respond to an editor. I feel that I can rely on Writer’s Relief to have my best interests at heart and that I can turn to them for reliable and ethical advice about publishing (about which I know very little).
I unreservedly recommend the services of Writer’s Relief.
Sincerely,
Stuart G.
September 15, 1999
Ronnie L. Smith
Writer’s Relief, Inc.
Hi Ronnie!
Just a small note with a HUGE thank you for your unerring guidance in helping me to find a home for my story and group of poems-all in the same literary review! The story is to be published this fall and the six poems (plus others in the writing) will be featured, probably in spring 2000 (which, at the moment, seems an eon away, but is, I hear tell, really just around the corner).
Thank you for your suggestion that I submit to that review-not to mention your constant and steady being there when my spirits flag. Writer’s Relief is indeed a gem!
Best to all-
MVC
September 3, 1999
Ronnie L. Smith, President
Writer’s Relief, Inc.
Dear Ronnie Smith
I began employing the expert submission services of Writer’s Relief, Inc. during their April to June 1999 period.
They professionally prepared six of my poems and submitted them to twenty-nine publications.
To my great satisfaction, two of my poems have been approved for publication plus two journals have encouraged me to re-submit based on their assessment of my work and their scheduling plans.
Writer’s Relief, Inc. followed up with detailed feedback and instruction throughout the process.
I intend to continue contracting with the company based on the efficiency of Writer’s Relief, Incorporated’s excellent work and on the personal support provided with their comprehensive, quality services.
Sincerely satisfied,
EWS
September 3, 1999
Ronnie Smith
Writer’s Relief, Inc.
Dear Ronnie Smith:
We submitted six of my poems on May 4, 1999, and now, four months later, five of them are being published! I’m just thrilled. However, I’m convinced acceptance for the sixth one is on the way!
Thank you so much, let’s get some more out!
Sincerely,
Ruth B.
August 29, 1999
Ronnie L. Smith, President
Writer’s Relief, Inc.
Dear Ms. Smith:
I want to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude to you and your staff for providing invaluable assistance in gaining my first acceptance for my work. You’ve probably heard this from many of your clients, but it is deeply gratifying after many years of work to finally see my work published in AIM MAGAZINE and my name in print.
No doubt like most you serve, I am extremely busy in my professional life, and finding time for writing is difficult. Finding time to research publications, read sample issues, study guidelines, and execute the mechanics of submissions is nearly impossible. Your professional help has allowed me to minimize my time investment on these tasks, freeing up time to devote to writing, rewriting, rewriting . . .
Again, thank you sincerely for all your help on into the future. I certainly intend to continue to fully avail myself of your services.
Regards,
John D.
August 27, 1999
Ronnie L. Smith, President
Writer’s Relief
Dear Ronnie,
Writer’s Relief has been the literary equivalent of a personal trainer, great for trimming that backlog of unplaced work that tends to accumulate in your most creative, and least organized, moments. With five stories accepted this year, I’m beginning to lose track of what’s placed where, but I know I can look it up, thanks to your periodic updates. While I am very pleased about acceptances in journals I know, such as the Virginia Quarterly Review, I have also enjoyed corresponding with the dedicated editors of small, new publications. You do a great service in helping readers and writers make connections. Many thanks.
Sincerely,
Mimi S.
August 26, 1999
Ronnie L. Smith, President
Writer’s Relief
Dear Ronnie,
Thank you so much for all your good work. You and your staff do a great job, and I’m very appreciative of the thought and care that you put into what you do. I definitely recommend your services to anyone who wants to send out their writing.
For the past 20 years, I’ve earned my living as a free-lance writer. I’ve written articles and essays and several prize-winning nonfiction books, most recently Not by the Sword (Simon & Schuster, 1995), Women in Prison (1996 edition by Northeastern University Press), and You Must be Dreaming (Poseidon Press, 1992, basis for the NBC movie “Betrayal of Trust”). All of this time, I also have been writing fiction “on the side.” But between teaching and writing and raising a family, it’s been hard to find the time to actually send out my short stories.
When Writer’s Relief made its first round of submissions for me last year, the number far exceeded my lifetime total of stories submitted for publication. Indeed, the process has given me a whole new perspective. When the mail comes in now, I yell, “Oh good, more rejections!” Who would guess that rejections could make me happy? But they do, because I know the stories are circulating. At the same time, I’ve gotten some very insightful critiques from editors. And, four fine journals have accepted three stories and a new essay for publication!
Overall, you’ve inspired me to polish and continue working on stories-and you’ve presented them in a very professional way. You have made the whole process fun as well as efficient-it’s been an extraordinary help. Thanks again.
All best wishes,
Kitsi W.
August 26, 1999
Ronnie L. Smith, President
Writer’s Relief, Inc.
Dear Ronnie:
This letter comes to thank you for the significant help Writer’s Relief has given me during the past year. I’ve had two short stories accepted-in Florida Review and Westview-and received expressions of interest from a number of agents for my novel, which won the 1998 PEN/New England Discovery Award for Fiction. I’m also proud to announce that my short story collection was a Finalist for the 1999 Iowa Fiction Awards.
As a writer of short and long fiction, poetry, and direct mail copy-and a mom to two children-my time is valuable and limited. It is a great relief to me to not have to spend time personalizing submission letters and tracking responses. I have had part-time secretarial help in the past, but find your cycle-based work to be much easier and more focused to my needs.
Thank you. I’ve given your name to two writer friends who have signed on for your services. And I look forward to the coming year of our own working relationship.
Sincerely,
Donna S.
August 25, 1999
Dear Writer’s Relief,
I am so grateful for a service such as yours. I would never have the time or energy to effectively submit my short stories. Your service is honest, organized and energetic. It’s the answer to a dream.
I would be happy to provide you with further references if you need them.
Yours truly,
Andrea W.
August 24, 1999
Ms. Ronnie Smith
Writer’s Relief
Dear Ronnie:
I wanted to express my appreciation to you and your team at Writer’s Relief for the assistance you have provided this year. When I came to you in January, I had never had a poem or short story accepted for publication. I had just left my job in general management to write full time, and while writing my first novel, I had a loose plan to establish writing credentials through short stories and poetry. Of course, I had not the slightest idea of how to go about this, but fortunately, several Chicago writers referred me to Writer’s Relief.
Now, eight months later, three of my short stories have been accepted and will appear in upcoming issues of Pangolin Papers, Medicinal Purposes and Reader’s Break. I’ve also had my first poem accepted.
I have found that your process provides a discipline that keeps me involved and responsible, yet allows me to devote most of my time to writing.
I appreciate your thoroughness and attention to detail, and especially your experience and expertise in understanding the markets for poetry and fiction, and how to reach them. You have offered encouragement and coaching at just the right time, and you help me stay on track.
I look forward to our continued working relationship, and thank you for helping make this progress.
Sincerely,
M. J. G.
August 24, 1999
Ronnie L. Smith, President
Writer’s Relief, Inc.
Dear Ronnie:
I’ve been writing all of my life and have managed to publish a few things, mostly by blind luck. It wasn’t until I employed your service that I began to understand what it really takes to make a concerted effort in finding a readership. Over the past year or so, with your help, I have published poems. With your steady support, I have come to realize that placing poems in today’s market is truly a “numbers game.” It also illustrates one of my personal tenets: if you want professional results, hire a professional.
I look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship.
Warm regards,
JRS
August 19, 1999
Ronnie Smith
Writer’s Relief
Dear Ronnie:
I want to thank you for moving me so quickly and efficiently along from being a barely published local poet to a poet with poems accepted by Seattle Review, Phoebe, Puerto del Sol, Talking River Review, Pikeville Review, GW Review, and many others. Before signing up with your service, I would send out a poem or two occasionally and then let a rejection stop me from trying again for months, even years.
I think the most valuable thing I have gained from our association is help getting over the psychological block that had kept me from keeping my poems in constant circulation. Not to even mention the invaluable logistical help keeping track of it all and on a set schedule! I have also found that knowing my poems have a good chance of finding their way into print has inspired me both to write more and to attend more closely to the quality of what I’ve written.
Bless you and your staff for all you’ve done and continue to do.
Sincerely yours,
Diane G.
August 16, 1999
Ronnie L. Smith, President
Writer’s Relief, Inc.
Re: Commendation
Dear Ronnie:
Thank you for having made my life easier for the past couple of years. I appreciate the punctuality and the dedication you have shown to me and my work. I also appreciate that you and your staff have more stringent standards for perfectionism than I do! In other words, thank you for dotting my i’s.
I recommend that if someone does not have the courage to send their writing to journals, they should use your service. I also recommend that if someone is too busy to send their writing on a regular basis, they should use Writer’s Relief.
However, I think that the feedback I have gotten by getting rejected on a steady basis is as valuable as the acceptances. I am not writing in a void any longer. I have a good sense of what editors want because of the regular sending out of my material. It is not that I have changed my writing; it is that I have become more sensitive in selecting what should be sent. Know what I mean?
Carry on!
Best wishes,
Anne S.
August 16, 1999
Ronnie L. Smith, President
Writer’s Relief, Inc.
Dear Ronnie Smith,
As a recent client of yours, sending my first group of poems to you last February, I am happy to accede to your request for a reference.
Your service has been very helpful to me and there are many things that I appreciate. Among these, good editing of the kind that respects an author’s work and does not impose on it. This is important to me as sometimes I use English rather than American spelling because it is essential to my feeling and genesis of the poem.
I also appreciate your understanding of the writing-submission business and knowledge of markets, which saves my time in researching these matters. It was a pleasure to have one of my first group of poems accepted for publication. It is due out next month.
In the past, I have been somewhat erratic in sending work out: one or two here and there. Not surprisingly, I have had only a few poems accepted. I believe the number is six, including one that won a prize. Using your service has made me more disciplined in this respect and has alerted me to the need for greater exposure if I am to be more successful. I do have some good testimonials for my work from Amy Clampitt, Brigit Pegeen Kelly, David Lehman, Robert Cording, and from the editors of The Atlantic Monthly and the Harvard Review, so I am encouraged to think that better marketing should lead to more publications. (I was nominated last year for The Pushcart Anthology.) Writer’s Relief, Inc. provides me with this help and incentive.
Thank you very much for your continuing assistance and support.
Sincerely,
Eileen B.
August 15, 1999
Dear Ronnie & the rest of the staff at Writer’s Relief,
I just wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you for all your diligent, friendly, and helpful work. I came to you three years ago with considerable poetic earnestness but no publications. I have nine now, seven of which were born of your hard organizational work and constant letters out. Given how many aspiring poets are out there sending out poems, it’s hard for me to imagine having achieved these results myself-I just wouldn’t have been able to do it and teach my courses and tend to my family at the same time. If the world of publications was ever such that one could just send out a handful of good poems to three or four respectable journals and expect results, it certainly isn’t that way now. One has to push, push, push, and send, send, send-and who has that kind of time? That kind of time is worth paying for, and I feel I have spent my money at Writer’s Relief wisely. While I of course look forward to the day I no longer need your services, until that day arrives I will be using them hopefully and confidently.
Sincerely,
William R.
August 15, 1999
Ronnie L. Smith, President
Writer’s Relief, Inc.
Dear Ronnie,
Thanks to you and your staff, my first published story will be available in the fall issue of the quarterly Reader’s Break in November of 1999.
After years of trying to find the time to write and research markets-to no avail-the Writer’s Relief team helped me get published after only three cycles of submissions. Your prompt attention to writers’ concerns and questions are also a valuable asset to the service you provide.
For writers like myself who have busy lives but who also have a voice to share, Writer’s Relief is just the helping hand we need.
Thanks again.
Sincerely,
Phyllis A.
August 14, 1999
Ronnie L. Smith, President
Writer’s Relief, Inc.
Dear Ronnie:
Figuring out a successful strategy in today’s publishing world has been challenging. I appreciate your industry knowledge and skill in selecting magazines and journals for me. Thanks too for your support and wisdom.
In the last several years as I have attended various writers’ workshops and studies with C. Michael Curtis, Sr. Editor of The Atlantic Monthly, my skills have grown. I’ve been frustrated with the lack of response to my submissions. Had I continued the way I was going, I would have assumed that my work was not publishable, and in fact, I might have given up writing altogether. Thanks for keeping me in the game.
Sincerely,
Holly H.
August 1, 1999
Dear Ronnie and staff:
I am taking the opportunity to thank you all for the wonderful job you have done on my behalf. You have researched and found a literary journal that not only has made a publishing offer, but which is one that I would have submitted to on my own, had I been aware of it. I have received an acceptance letter that is encouraging and beautiful, because the editor has taken time out of her busy schedule to express her thoughts personally. I have received from another journal a letter expressing interest in another poem, where the editor offered to do some revision, if I were willing to entertain editorial revision prior to publication.
I have been truly impressed by the quality and value of the work done by you and your staff. If I were to take the time to do this research and submission work myself, I would need to take time that I do not have at present. You have been informative, have helpfully reminded me about details that I may not always remember, and altogether have made me feel that I was in the hands of a writers’ service that is trustworthy and professional.
Best regards to all of you and I hope that the working relationship that has been already established will continue in the time to come.
Sincerely,
Elisa C.
July 28, 1999
Ronnie Smith, President
Writer’s Relief
Dear Ronnie,
Many thanks to you and your staff for helping me find a literary agent to represent my first novel. I’m very pleased, particularly because the agency has represented writers whom I greatly admire, including Joyce Carol Oates and Annie Dillard. Also, I’m struck by the importance of sticking with the submission process, since we had about 40 rejections before this acceptance.
Fortunately, the contract I’ve negotiated allows me to continue working with Writer’s Relief for the submission of my short fiction and essays. I’m happy about this too. So far, you’ve helped me find publication for three short pieces, which I’m sure helped get the attention of this literary agent.
In any case, I look forward to continuing to work with you. Thanks again.
Sincerely,
Wally L.
July 28, 1999
Ronnie L. Smith, President
Writer’s Relief, Inc.
Dear Ronnie L. Smith:
It occurred to me recently that Writer’s Relief, Inc. is the one part of my writer’s life that I often take for granted. Every submission period, you and your competent staff systematically prepare reminders, accurately edited stories, cover letters, publisher’s address labels, and more. In fact, every necessary detail is accomplished in a timely and highly professional manner. If I have questions about the submission process, my phone calls are promptly returned with just the information I need.
In the last two years, I have had six pieces published, something I could never have accomplished without your assistance and resources.
Please know that, although you may not get a letter of thanks as often as you deserve, I am genuinely grateful for your continued and extremely valuable service. My decision to become one of your clients is the best one I’ve made for the advancement of my writing career.
Sincerely yours,
Alex C.
July 25, 1999
Dear Ronnie and staff:
It has been a joy working with you for these past months. You don’t know how much excitement you have helped to create in this grand adventure called writing. I have been in the past a ‘vanity writer’; I had been published in contests but not what I had hoped. With Writer’s Relief, I have followed my dreams and I am so grateful that I will be published in the September issue of Orange Willow Review.
For the seasoned veterans this might not seem like a big deal. I can hardly wait until that day comes. For me, it has been a lifelong dream that has been fulfilled and not deferred. I almost gave up on me, in my health, in my writing, and in my career. But thanks to professional individuals I have never seen, I am finally doing what I love. I look forward to seeing my words in print in a major publication. I would not have had the time, the skills, the contacts or know-how to reach the markets that Writer’s Relief has in its database. We all want to win big. We all crave recognition and legitimacy and validation.
I mailed out close to ninety submissions and the fifteen rejections I received don’t seem that bad now that my work has been accepted, and not just one of them, but three of my very best. I have finally gotten what I came here for and the month is still young. Who would have thought?
Sincerely,
Alphonso J.
March 26, 1999
Ronnie L. Smith, President
Writer’s Relief
Ridgefield Park, NJ 07660
Dear Ronnie L. Smith:
Please accept my sincere thanks for the successful efforts of Writer’s Relief in publication of two of my poems (My Twelfth Birthday and December Notes).
Prior to working with Writer’s Relief, publication of my poems came only as a result of personal contacts, and the many submissions I had sent out produced no more than pre-printed rejection slips in return.
With the help of Writer’s Relief, not only did I find a publisher on the first round of submissions, but also, even when rejected, I received many handwritten notes of encouragement.
Writer’s Relief lets me focus on writing, and the time I have saved out of my otherwise hectic “day job” schedule, more than compensates for your modest fees.
Thanks again.
Regards,
Ralph S.
March 1, 1999
Dear Ronnie and crew,
I’m writing to thank you for the tremendous boost you’ve given my writing career. Before I joined your service I was beginning to wonder if I’d ever get published. Each month it was an ordeal to send my stuff out and then wait for the rejection letters. Sending a check to you to help me market my stories was a much-needed vote of confidence-IN MYSELF. It was my saying to me: “Your stories are worth the money to try and break into the market.”
Imagine my great delight when I received my first acceptance! I now have one story that’s been accepted by two magazines, another story that’s been accepted by another magazine, and a poem being held for consideration. I know that it’s my writing that they like, but I was just as good a writer six months ago with no publication credits. As the man said about the Real Estate market: “Location, location, location,” and you know where to send my stuff.
Even if I don’t have any more stories chosen for publication in the next few months, the discipline of reviewing what I’ve written and choosing the best piece(s) to send to you every two months is very helpful to me as a writer.
I would advise all aspiring writers to join your service as long as you promise to keep giving me the responsive, personal service I’ve come to expect.
Thank you,
Karen G.
February 14, 1999
Dear Ronnie,
I am grateful from my heart-of-hearts for your prompt, well-organized, and courteous service. When I first sent you my work, I was skeptical: I have a MFA in Creative Writing from New York University, and have been writing poetry my entire life. I have some publications to my credit, read literary journals, and know the market. If my efforts to gain publication were meager at best, how could your service produce better results? I am now considerably less skeptical: your system works! Since signing on, I have had five or six poems published: the nice thing is that I have lost count, and no longer collect rejections like little hurts. Writer’s Relief has made the process of submitting poems less painful, and less personal. I am thrilled to send off my latest efforts to you, and be free of the tedium (and anxiety) associated with the details. Now I have more time to write, and I am collecting a list of acceptances for the acknowledgment page of my next book! I intend to be a client for a long while, and look forward to working with you in the future.
Yours truly,
Penny C.
February 9, 1999
Ronnie L. Smith, President
Writer’s Relief
Ridgefield Park, NJ 07660
Dear Ronnie:
I want to take this opportunity to thank you and the rest of your Writer’s Relief staff for everything you have done on my behalf. As you know, I have been writing novels and short stories for many years, I had, for a time, submitted my stories to a small number of high-profile literary magazines, but with no success.
In 1989 I closed my law practice to concentrate solely on writing, and completed five novels during the next ten years. I submitted these novels to agents, but still had no success breaking into the literary market, and remained unpublished.
In 1996 I earned my first paycheck as a writer, contracting with a large publishing house to write a book in their well-known series of crime novels for young adults. (Contractual obligations prevent me from naming the series, since these books have been published under a famous pseudonym for fifty years.) Still, however, my own literary pursuits remained unfulfilled. To further aggravate matters, I was loathe to resume the submission process, unwilling to waste valuable time and energy which I considered better spent on the writing itself. Moreover, even had I been willing, the directories of literary magazines are of little use without a corresponding familiarity with the content of each publication.
For these reasons I was, perhaps, a model candidate for Writer’s Relief, and when I first espied your ad in Poets and Writers Magazine it seemed to be speaking directly to me: need time to write? I almost could not believe there was a service out there dedicated to doing exactly what I was unwilling and unable to do: circulate the work in the literary marketplace. I wasted little time submitting writing samples for your consideration.
The first story prepared through Writer’s Relief, “Mean Yellow Jacket,” was edited quite professionally, submitted to thirty literary magazines, and quickly accepted for publication by Reader’s Break. I am sure that words could never convey the exhilaration and fulfillment I felt when I answered the telephone and was asked for permission to use my work. The story was published in December ’98, thanks solely to you and your staff.
And in today’s mail I received another acceptance, from The Licking River Review, advising that “My Stranger” will be published in their ’98-’99 issue, due out in August. Once again, words cannot adequately express my gratitude. Without Writer’s Relief I could still be unpublished.
Needless to say, all my work is being submitted through Writer’s Relief these days. I will always be greatly indebted to you. Thank you for everything you have done, and for your continued efforts on my behalf.
Sincerely,
G.D. P.
February 9, 1999
Ronnie L. Smith, President
Writer’s Relief
Ridgefield Park, NJ 07660
To Whom It May Concern:
I have had the pleasure of being a client of Writer’s Relief, Inc. since late1997. I have experienced nothing other than complete professionalism from Ms. Smith and her staff.
Through Writer’s Relief, I have had an essay accepted for publication in The Distillery, and a prose poem in American Writing: A Magazine. I had previously published a number of health, nutrition, sports, environmental, and political articles, op-ed pieces, and letters in such publications as Sierra, Greenpeace, Newsday, World of Sport, Ultrasport, and The New Yorker, and metaphrased a chapter in the life of the Buddha for the inaugural issue of a new Buddhist magazine, The Wheel of Dharma.
I highly recommend the services of Writer’s Relief.
Sincerely,
William H.
February 8, 1999
Ronnie L. Smith
Writer’s Relief
Ridgefield Park, NJ 07660
Dear Ronnie:
Many thanks for the fine support that Writer’s Relief has given me since I came on board as a client last year. In the course of 1998 three of the short stories on which we’ve worked together were accepted for publication. That represents three steps forward in the world’s largest English-language literary market-and a market particularly difficult to break into at the present time.
I’m impressed by your firm’s knowledge of the various sources available and by your promptness in replying to the questions which arise on my side from time to time.
Writer’s Relief’s services are all the more valuable to me in that I live in Europe and have a less direct access to the market which interests me most than do writers who live within it.
I look forward to a continuing relationship with you and Writer’s Relief and wish you ever success in the future.
Yours sincerely,
Charles B.
