How To Get The Real Scoop About Writer’s Relief

Dear Writer,

I know you want to be confident about Writer’s Relief services before trusting us with something as personal as your writing. I also know that it’s difficult to get to know a company via a Web site. As part of our commitment to the writing community, we strive to be as open and transparent as possible. Our goal is to make our clients’ and potential clients’ lives easier, and for that reason we’ve compiled a number of resources to help you get to know us.

Want to hear from a Writer’s Relief client? You can—instantly. Get to know us through our writers by visiting this page and clicking “play” on any of our clients’ home videos.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I get the real scoop on Writer’s Relief?

– Read about Writer’s Relief on TheBalancesMB.com!

– Give us a call. We’re here. We are real people, available to answer your questions one-on-one. Or you can send us an e-mail at info@wrelief.com.

– Read our clients’ testimonials on our Web page. We have over 15 years’ worth of testimonials on this site—all certified authentic. The testimonials are diverse and varied, reflecting our clients’ voices. Client signatures or original e-mails are available upon request. Read for yourself why we’ve been in business since 1994.

– OR read recommendations that creative writers have posted about us on LinkedIn.

– Sign up for our e-publication Submit Write Now! We love writers and are happy to share our expertise. Submit Write Now! is a FREE weekly e-publication containing lots of important information about the ins and outs of publishing.

– Try one of our A La Carte Services. With our affordable A La Carte Services, you’re not obligated to any long-term commitment. Give us a try and see why we’ve been around for so long and why we have a good reputation among the members of the writing community. The proof is in the pudding, as they say.

– Come hang out with us on Twitter or Facebook. We love making new friends online, and we’re always happy to answer your questions. See you there!

Who exactly is working at Writer’s Relief?

Our staff members have diverse backgrounds. Some begin their careers in the publishing industry with us, while others have been involved with publishing for a very long time. Some staff members and clients have been editors at literary magazines (both major and minor). Some have literary agency experience, and one of our staffers is a multi-published author of novels with one of the biggest publishers in the world.

But, as much as it’s important that we have experience in publishing, what may be more important is our talent for research, organization, and successful targeting. The bulk of what we do is the “grunt work” of making submissions; our time-saving research and organization skills go to work for you. You focus on constantly improving your writing, and we’ll handle the paperwork of making submissions.

Since we’re creative types, we have something of an alternative workplace. We work a shorter workday than most and we always have a canine mascot or two! Click here for photos of the Writer’s Relief staff (including me!).

Can I talk to someone who is or was a client of Writer’s Relief?

Many writers who have been newly accepted to our client list ask to speak with our current and former clients. We LOVE our clients; our job is to make their lives easier—to save them time, not to ask them for time-consuming favors. In an age of identity theft and other dangers, it would not be ethical for us to give out our clients’ personal information. We protect the privacy of everyone who works with us; we hope you can find assurance in that.

That said, you can speak with one of our long-time clients upon request. But frankly, our client will essentially be giving you a testimonial—and you probably already know there are literally thousands of (unedited) testimonials available to you on our site right now.

If for some reason you don’t trust the testimonials on our site, you can also see testimonials written by third parties on our LinkedIn profile.

Can I see a list of Writer’s Relief clients’ recent successes and publications?

Some of our clients do not like to be identified publicly, but a number of them do enjoy having their books, awards, and other publications promoted in our e-publication, Submit Write Now! (which goes out to over 30,000 creative writers every week). Promotion in Submit Write Now! is just another optional perk of being a client.

You can see a list of SOME of our clients’ successes in our Client News section. NOTE: We only list “newish” information. If we listed everything our clients were up to, the list would be unwieldy.

Can I contact you directly?

Sure! Use the contact form to send your question, or call us toll-free at (866) 405-3003. You can also get to know us through our Twitter and Facebook profiles (where we regularly host writing and publishing discussions and give away great tips and leads!).

How do I know Writer’s Relief is legit?

There are many publishing industry schemes out there: fake contests and anthologies, unscrupulous “literary agencies,” literary magazines that don’t respect writers’ rights.

Writers have every reason to be suspicious of companies that claim to help them. We frequently warn our clients and our readers when such things come across our path. You can find some articles we’ve written to warn our readers about such issues here: The Seduction of Shady Poetry Contests, How to Spot a Bad Literary Agent (Part One), How to Spot a Bad Literary Agency (Part Two), Who’s Who Directories.

With Writer’s Relief, you can rest assured. There’s a reason we’ve been in business since 1994. We are what we say we are: a team of highly specialized personal assistants here to relieve you of the burden of submitting your work and to improve your submission strategies.

Our clients love writing but don’t love mucking around in the business of it. Many people can learn how to change the brake pads on their car or learn HTML to build a Web site. But often they don’t have hundreds of hours to spend acquiring such expertise. That’s where we come in—we give you the time you need to do what you love most: write.

How much money will I make from using Writer’s Relief?

Writer’s Relief works with creative writers, not with freelancers who wish to submit their work for profit. As you most likely know, there isn’t a lot of money to be made in creative writing. There are a number of reasons for this.

Regarding shorter works, most literary magazines and journals are affiliated with colleges and universities, and they are increasingly underfunded and can’t pay their writers. Those that can pay offer small honorariums and/or contributor copies. This segment of the publishing industry thrives because of its commitment to the arts, not to profits.

As far as submitting to literary agencies, there is no guarantee of profit. Often it can take a while before advances on a book contract are paid out. If you want to get an idea of how long it might take before you see a return on your book, read A Top Virtue for Creative Writers.

To learn more about writing profits, read How Much Money Can I Make Writing Poems, Stories, and Books?

We do not take a commission and never charge reading fees. Our clients use our services for many reasons. Some just want the pleasure of seeing their creative writing published in highly reputable literary magazines. Others want to build up (and diversify) their portfolio so that if/when they approach an agent, publisher, or potential employer, they will be more warmly received. Others seek our help in finding those agents most likely to enjoy their book. Whether you’re seeking an agent, an academic position, or a publisher, building “smaller” publication credits for your short prose and poetry is vital to success. Read our article Building Publication Credits to learn more.

How do you target work to the best-suited markets?

Our submissions are designed to be strategic and effective. We base submissions on many elements, including your publication history, length of work, content of work, reading dates, editorial preferences, topics included in your work, and other important criteria.

We target books to literary agents, not publishers (click to learn why). We target short stories, creative essays, and poems to literary magazines (to print magazines and to some reputable online literary magazines). Clients must be capable of making submissions both online and via traditional mail from their homes.

What makes our targeting process different than what you could do on your own? First, we have thousands of literary journals on file, so we know what the journals are looking for and what topics they have previously published. Second, in addition to researching guidelines on a continuing basis, we receive daily updated information from our clients’ responses (rejections and acceptances), and we know agents’/editors’ preferences down to their feelings about point of view or verb tense. Because we receive so many responses and do so much research, no other source (including print market books) updates their records in such a timely and regular way.

Do you charge a fee for Review Board consideration?

All writers applying for inclusion in our Full Service client list must first submit writing samples to our Review Board for review. We do not charge a fee for our Review Board. Although our Review Board cannot offer you a critique of your work, our response will give you an honest indication of whether or not we believe your writing is strong enough for serious professional submission services. Also, we don’t submit our clients’ work to any markets that charge a reading fee.

Do you work with self-published books?

Provided that the writing is strong and that you (the author) hold all rights, we will work with self-published novels that are accepted by our Review Board. We create cover/query letters that specifically emphasize the positive aspects of self-publishing and that downplay any drawbacks.

Can you tell me what books you helped get published?

We have had some rather big name clients working with us, including major award winners and bestsellers, but when writers get agents using our services, they move on to bigger and better things. After all, once they have an agent, our job is done!

Please view our Client News for updated information on some of our clients’ recent achievements, including recent releases.

What’s the bottom line with your services? Are you ethical and successful?

As you may know, fifty percent of small businesses don’t make it. But we’ve been doing this since 1994. If we weren’t offering writers a service that worked, and if we weren’t ethical and sensitive to clients’ needs, we simply would not have survived this long. We do what we say we do: lift much of the burden of making strong, effective submissions.

Do you NEED to work with us to get a literary agent or to get your poems and short prose published? No, not if you have the time and skill for making your own submissions.

Should you work with us if you want the process of submitting to be simpler and more efficient? Yes, our assistance will give you more time to write.

Please call or write to us with your questions.

Best,

Submit to Review Board

 

 

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Reviews

“Getting that first poem published was the hardest threshold to cross. My team at Writer’s Relief kept encouraging me…then came the acceptance! We celebrated…then I continued writing, and Writer’s Relief continued doing the wonderful work they do!”

—King Grossman, Writer
(Watch King’s video testimonial here!)

“Every piece I have sent out with their help has been accepted for publication! I am looking forward to working with the team on getting my new novel out into the world.”

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