Now is a good time to sit down and mark up your calendar for the upcoming year. Since many magazines and publishers want material months in advance, you need to plan ahead and note deadlines.

Are you planning on writing any holiday or seasonal material? Now is the time to think about markets and find their deadlines. You might be surprised to find that you’re almost certainly too late for Valentine’s Day for most pubs. Mother’s Day? Maybe, but it could be close.

Ralan is a great source for market info, both paying and non-paying.

The West Virginia Writer’s yearly contest is getting underway.  I’ve been told that some of these categories get rather sparse participation, so it might be a good way to get a win under your belt.