Question: How does a stay-at-home mom and avid volunteer become a published writer?

Answer: When mother-of-two Mary Jo Rulnick turned 35-years-old and hit a pivotal point in her life, she decided it was time to pursue a goal she had always wanted to achieve—to become a published writer. But, how would she do it? She applied the same tactics to her new goal that she had used as an avid volunteer in her community. She mapped out a plan of action and followed it up one step at a time. 

Those actions consisted of reading the latest books on the market and taking classes. Mary Jo had registered for several non-credit courses taught by local authors: freelance writing by Loriann Hoff Oberlin; greeting card writing by Sandra Miller-Louden; and writing fiction for children by Karen Waggoner. 

Though Mary Jo’s heart was in children’s fiction, her writing voice was not. Through the months of rejections, success had come in quick two liners sold to a greeting card company, Palm Press, Inc. And she hit a major coup when Broderbund Software Company bought 12 of her captions for their software program Print Shop Ensemble II. During the next two years, she continued writing and pitching children’s stories to no avail. 

However, a change of direction would occur unexpectedly. While hosting a holiday party for her son’s third-grade class, one mother coined her the “Party Expert” and another called her the “do-it-yourselfer.” Mary Jo shrugged it off at the time, but the comments stayed with her. After receiving yet another rejection on her chapter book, she decided to act upon the party moms’ nudging. She sent the bingo craft/game idea she had created for her son’s classroom party to Disney’s FamilyFun Magazine. And to her surprise, the magazine bought it. Not one to throw in the towel easily, Mary Jo refused to give up on fiction and rewrote several children’s pieces she had started. But, at the same time, a little niggling in the back of her mind pushed her to pitch “how-to” articles to Pittsburgh Parents Magazine and her weekly community paper. And each one was accepted. Slowly, as non-fiction writing assignments were given to her, she allowed the children’s stories to take a backseat. 

Three years after she had taken her first writing class, she admitted her time was better-spent writing articles offering tips and advice to parents. With a new goal to pursue, she specialized in home, family and life issues and approached other parenting publications, capturing additional assignments. 

The spring of 1997, she wanted to add another dimension to her professional life. An opportunity to become an Events Coordinator for seniors with a major western Pennsylvania corporation struck a chord with her people-oriented personality. She gained extensive knowledge in dealing with the corporate world, nonprofit organizations, senior citizens and various stages of planning and marketing to the public, giving more depth in her writing ability. 

In 1998, Mary Jo moved into the next phase of her writing career—she developed a four-part class giving others a step-by-step plan to write and sell what they knew. Community College of Allegheny County and www.writerscollege.com (formerly WritersClub.com) offered her a place to teach. Additionally, she accepted several contracts to present “how-to” workshops at annual conferences, including the long-running Columbus Writer’s Conference and Business and Professional Women, Inc. Next, she turned her experiences and course instructions into a book and self-published Write Well & Sell: Easy Writing, Easy Money. 

By 1999, she had self-syndicated her published articles to other parenting publications throughout the United States. Once, she sold the same “camp” article 12 times as a reprint. With the knowledge she gained as a self-published author, she developed another class geared toward this particular topic. This long-running course became her second solo project, The Self-Publishing Workbook.. 

Two years later, Mary Jo created a Web site, www.FranticWoman.com, with another writer who specialized in personal essays. “Direction,” one section of the site, was dedicated to tips with a “nuts and bolts” theme, a take-off of her writing expertise in the self-help how-to articles. In March of 2002, Time Warner Book Group contracted Mary Jo and her co-creator to write a nonfiction book, The Frantic Woman’s Guide to Life: A Year’s Worth of Hints, Tips, and Tricks. With more than 100 published articles intended for today’s busy households, several of Mary Jo’s previously published pieces were incorporated in the book’s content. 

Since then, she had expanded her Internet presence by becoming a featured contributor on such high-traffic Web sites as MainStreetMom.com, Mommysavers.com, Myria.com and Teach-at-home.com. These sites showcased her niche for providing unique ideas for a variety of topics including, party plans, organizational tips, handcrafted gift items, and much more. 

Living the life of a working mother, Mary Jo knows first-hand how to juggle career and family. With this knowledge, speaking engagements were another opportunity to help other women. Some of her speaking engagements included: Viacom/MTV Network, Pennsylvania Governor’s Conference for Women, American Heart Association, Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Mine Safety Appliance, Romance Writers of America, Women’s Business Network, and UPMC Senior Living Division. 

Looking back, her goal was to become a published writer. By taking that goal and breaking it into smaller steps, she learned that she could achieve what she wanted to accomplish and fit it into her family life. 

What’s on the horizon for Mary Jo? She's the Pittsburgh Event Manager for National Subaru Women's Winter Tour and her next book The Frantic Woman's Guide to Feeding Her Family, a solo project that will be released in the fall of 2006 from Time Warner Books.