Kevin Kuzma is a fiction writer and freelance journalist. His poetry has been featured in the FreeXpresSion and WestWard Quarterly literary journals. Other feature writing and essays have appeared in The Kansas City Star, Urban Times, Career College Central and weekly newspapers in the Kansas City metropolitan area.
2 Comments so far
Linda SherryPosted on11:08 pm - Jan 3, 2015
Kevin, did your mom mention to you that I’m writing a book? It’s about people and situations pertaining to the 34 years of postal service that I somehow managed to muddle through. I’m actually done with it and am now re-reading and tweaking it here and there. I, too, first wrote everything down in a composition notebook (sometimes getting up in the middle of the night to write down an idea or thought), then transferred everything into 2 hardback blank books. I’m techno-challenged, therefore did not trust typing it all on the laptop (not to mention I’m a one-finger key pecker!) Any suggestions as to what steps should be taken next?
Kevin KuzmaPosted on5:32 am - Jan 4, 2015
Yeah, she told me you’d written a manuscript and I immediately said, “I bet she has some hilarious stories.” The fact that you filled two empty books is an accomplishment in itself — one that many writers don’t attain — so my first advice would be to celebrate. Are you feeling pretty good about the material you wrote? Even if you are feeling confident, it might not hurt to share it with a few editors/writers you trust to see what they have to say. Personally, I’ve always found it best to obtain feedback even when I don’t think it’s necessary because certain aspects of a story that might seem clear to me are not to others. You can always decide whether or not you really want to incorporate the edits that come back. The important thing is not to let the criticism sidetrack you. Once you have a manuscript where you want it, I would suggest heading to the library or bookstore to find companies that publish works similar to yours. You can pick up a Writer’s Market Guide on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/2015-Writers-Market-Trusted-Published/dp/1599638401) and it will show you what publishers accept material from new writers. You have to prep the manuscript before you send it off to potential publishers — they are very picky about format and cover letters and so forth. I can help you with that. And I would love to read your work!