BILL WINKE'S EARLY YEARS OF WRITING

Bill Winke, who writes for what are probably many of your favorite outdoor magazines, lives in Centreville, Michigan, but hunts all across the U.S.

Question: After you started writing, how did you begin to build up your sales of articles so that you could feed your family with your writing?

Answer: I had to still use the same motivation. I didn't have the income I wanted for a solid three years. Hitting my writing hard and talking to people, throwing out ideas and getting rejected were all part of my early writing career.

Question: How did you handle rejection?

Answer: That was the hard part, but I learned I had to be persistent. If I just didn't quit, the opportunities would come along. I keyed into the markets I had opened and really tried to satisfy those editors to pay the bills. Through name recognition, other editors got to know me. Then getting in with those publications became easier. At first there was a lot of rejection. Being a successful writer often is as much who you know as much as what you know. The real pivot point came after the second or third year when I went to enough trade shows and knew enough people that they could put a face with a name when I called them on the telephone to talk about story ideas.

TOMORROW: WINKE'S SECRETS TO BECOMING A FULLTIME WRITER

Editor's Note: To learn about writing as a profession, click on Writing on NightHawkPublications.com's home page.

Check back each day this week for more from Bill Winke...

• Day 1 - Why Bill Winke Started Writing
• Day 2 - How Bill Winke Began Writing
• Day 3 - Winke's Early Years Of Writing
• Day 4 - Winke's Secret To Becoming A Full Time Writer
• Day 5 - What's The Future Of Writing
• Writer's Page