The World is Round, Small and Highly Connected

Someone will read FundsforWriters for the first time and email me . . . "Love your newsletter, but most of the markets were for Americans. Do you have anything for those of us in the UK/Australia/Africa/India/fill-in-blank." Then I'll post an edition that has many European markets and I'll receive a request for more American markets. I have advice for Americans, Brits, and everyone around the world:

1. Read more than one issue of FundsforWriters and you'll see markets from around the world.
2. Consider applying to markets other than those in your own country.

We don't think twice about emailing people five thousand miles away, but when it comes to markets that pay in other than our own currency, we stop in place, step around them, and look for something closer to home.

The world is round, people. And if you leave your front porch and travel East, you'll eventually wind up at home again, after passing a wealth of continents, countries and markets. Why not taste of few of them, give them a chance?

The best way to deal with the currency situation is via PayPal, in my opinion, since PayPal makes the conversion for you. But if the market doesn't pay in your dollars, see if your bank makes exchanges or international money transfers. Check for a currency exchange location. This world is too small for there not to be a local place to change sterling to dollars, euros to pesos.

And what about postage? Come on . . . most markets take online submissions. FundsforWriters no longer takes postal submissions, and many editors have taken the same stance. But let's say you need stamps for that famous SASE.

• Talk to your post office. Depending on your country, your post office may have an international reply coupon (IRC). An IRC is a coupon exchanged for one or more postage stamps representing the postage for an unregistered priority airmail letter of up to twenty grams sent to another Universal Postal Union (UPU) member country. They aren't in every post office (I had to go to the state capital to find a post office large enough to carry them).
• Order online. Some post offices may sell you the proper postage online. Again, depends on the country. The US postal service has a complete store. The UK post office is amazing, offering currency exchanges and insurance.
• Western Union - You can wire almost everywhere, but you might not like the cost.
• 
  Have a friend send you the postage in real stamps from his/her country. I've exchanged stamps with friends in Canada, UK and Africa. One sent it to me as a favor. I paid another. Yet another exchanged me a book for an equal amount in postage.

If you see a tantalizing market or publisher, don't let geography stop you from submitting. Travel writers have conquered this obstacle, why not you? I have a friend who travels and submits everywhere he goes. I have an author friend who earns more from international rights to her women's fiction novels than in the US. Dare to be global in your writing. Why restrict yourself when the world could be yours?

Resources for international markets:

Writing World - http://www.writing-world.com/
European Writer - http://www.euwriter.com/
Worldwide Freelance Writer - http://www.worldwidefreelance.com/
Wooden Horse - http://www.woodenhorsepub.com/
Australian Journals - http://www.nla.gov.au/ajol/
The UK Writers Handbook - http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/023057324X/
Writer's Market - UK & Ireland - http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/023057324X/
The Canadian Writer's Market - http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0771095856
Australian Writer's Marketplace - http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1920892354/
Africa Media Online - http://www.africamediaonline.com/

And don't forget to research international writing groups, writing magazines and journals. Sign up for their newsletters. You'll find the best contests and calls for submissions!