The Writers Network News 1-20-09 http://ezezine.com
January 20, 2009
The Writers Network News
No Rules; Just Write!
Editor: Bobbie Christmas
Contents copyright 2009, Bobbie Christmas
No portion of this newsletter can be used without permission; however,
you may forward the newsletter in its entirety to anyone who may be
interested in subscribing.
Newsletter Sponsor
Zebra Communications: We help you write in style, so you increase your
chances of success. We write, edit, and evaluate fiction and nonfiction
manuscripts, book proposals, query letters, synopses, and articles. We
are a Better Business Bureau Accredited Business.
Zebra Communications
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Note Bobbie’s NEW Blog: http://bobbiechristmas.blogspot.com/. Add your
own comments, too.
----------------------------------------------
Welcome to this issue of The Writers Network News
In This Issue
One: Kudos to John Dillard, Renea Winchester, Dr. Michelle Hutchinson,
Wade Gilley, TC McClenning, and Dan Anderson
Two: From the editor’s desk – I Had a Dream Come True
Three: Ask the Book Doctor – About E-mail Submissions, Standard
Manuscript Format, and Using the Names of Periodicals
Four: This Month’s Writing Tip from Bobbie Christmas – Capitalizing
Titles
Five: Letters from Members
Six: Subjects of Interest to Writers
Seven: Jobs, Contests, Grants, Agents, and Markets
Eight: Writing Assignment – Family Dinner
Nine: Web Sites of Interest to Writers
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To view past issues of The Writers Network News, go to:
http://home.ezezine.com/886_2/
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[Note: Some links may include “tiny url” with the help of
www.tinyurl.com, which takes long Web addresses and converts them to
short ones.]
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Writer’s quote of the day
"Sit down and put down everything that comes into your head and then
you're a writer. But an author is one who can judge his own stuff's
worth, without pity, and destroy most of it." —Sidonie Gabrielle, who
wrote as Colette, author of more than eighty books, the most famous of
which was Gigi, which was made into a stage production and then, in
1958, was released as a musical featuring Leslie Caron, Maurice
Chevalier, and Louis Jourdan.
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One: Kudos to John Dillard, Renea Winchester, Dr. Michelle Hutchinson,
Wade Gilley, TC McClenning, and Dan Anderson
I have been very blessed to be picked up as a writer for the Christian
Post, which averages 1.3 million readers a month. Pieces are available
at
http://tinyurl.com/8qodxh and http://tinyurl.com/8emrpo --John
Dillard, CPA
My story, “One Brief Moment,” has been published in A Cup of Comfort
for Families Touched By Alzheimer's (Adams Media), and a second short
story, “My Own Path,” has been published in Chicken Soup for the Teen
Soul, Teens Talk High School. --Renea Winchester
Dr. Michelle Hutchinson, president of Wordhelper Professional Editing
Services, has sold several book reviews to Feathered Quill and most
recently reviewed From B.A. to Payday: Launching Your Career after
College. The review is posted at http://tinyurl.com/8klq76.
RESTON, Va. – In his first foray into fiction, Wade Gilley leads the
reader into Foy's World (published by AuthorHouse), a riveting novel of
murder, violence and race relations set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of
Virginia during the Great Depression.
TC McClenning has recently published her first nonfiction book, All In
A Day’s Work for Real Estate Agents: Humorous & Heartwarming Stories
(Work Like A Dog Books). The book contains more than one hundred
real-life and entertaining stories of real estate agents in the USA and
Canada. The book demonstrates that Murphy’s Law is alive and well in
the workplace, particularly with real estate agents. Excerpts are
available at www.WorkLikeaDogBooks.com.
Bad Vibrations, Dan Anderson’s humorous mystery published last year,
has won another award. It was selected by the Books and Authors Web
site as the Murder Mystery Book of the Year for 2008. The announcement
can be seen at http://tinyurl.com/75b8n2. This is the fourth award for
Bad Vibrations, which previously captured the Florida Writers
Association Royal Palm Award for Best Published Mystery, the Rockway
Press Best Novel Prize in its International Literary Competition, and a
FWA Lighthouse Book Award in the mystery-suspense category.
Congratulations!
Your successes encourage others, so please send in your accomplishments
for our kudos section.
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Two: From the editor’s desk — I Had a Dream Come True
Dear Fellow Writers:
I find it fitting that yesterday’s celebration of Martin Luther King
Day is being followed by the monumental day that our first black
president is being sworn into office. Many of the older civil rights
workers have voiced the opinion that they were glad they were able to
live long enough to see this day. I am, too.
A product of the segregated South, I recognized the dichotomy between
blacks and whites in South Carolina. I was able to drink at the metal
water coolers, while blacks had to drink tepid water from ceramic
fountains labeled “colored.” I could step into large, clean restrooms
labeled “ladies,” while blacks went to the back of the building to a
small room labeled “colored,” if such a room was even available. I
walked in the front door and sat on the ground level of the movie
theaters, while blacks entered through the side and walked up the
stairs to the balcony.
Even as a child, I sensed something was wrong. By 1950 I wondered why
blacks never ate in restaurants. I did not know they weren’t allowed. I
wondered why blacks never swam in the municipal pool, why they didn't
go to our state park. I wondered why blacks shopped on Assembly Street
in downtown Columbia, which ran parallel to Main Street, where the
whites shopped. I wondered why blacks could only stand and eat hot dogs
at the Woolworth's hot dog counter, while whites could go to the newer
side of the building, sit on stools, and order a variety of dishes. I
wondered, but I did nothing about it, because none of it affected me.
Everything changed one summer day in 1961 when my cousin and I sat down
at Woolworth’s to have a glass of tea. She had an olive complexion that
tanned evenly and quickly within the first sunny days of June. We
chatted and waited for the server to take our order. After a while,
people sat down on either side of us, while we waited to give our
order. Time passed before we noticed that the server had taken orders
and delivered food to all the others at the counter, but not us.
“Miss?” my cousin called to the woman behind the counter.
She turned away and did not make eye contact.
“Excuse me,” I said. “Could we please get some service here?”
The woman looked away, busily wiping the counter.
My cousin’s eyebrows shot up and she turned to me. “Why hasn’t she
taken our order?” she asked me.
I looked at my cousin, tanned and lovely in her sundress, and I looked
at the others all around us, pale and white, and it dawned on me. The
clerk thought we were civil rights workers trying to get service where
blacks were not allowed. She thought my cousin was black.
My face flushed. I felt discrimination firsthand. There was absolutely
no logic in it. Why couldn't we get service? What had we done wrong?
In an instant I became an advocate for civil rights. No more
nonchalance for me. The movement finally hit home and made sense to me.
Why were our schools segregated, when the black schools were so
obviously not equal to our new, fancy ones? Why were blacks required to
stay in the back of the bus, even if the only seats available were in
the front of the bus? What gave anyone the right to refuse service to
anyone else, based on skin color?
I tried to do my part to talk up civil rights, but many of my friends
thought I was crazy. My high school and all others in South Carolina
stayed segregated until forced to do otherwise, but by then I was in
college. In my sophomore year at the University of South Carolina, it
finally integrated, with much protest and hoopla, when three quiet and
studious blacks were “allowed” to matriculate. I gleefully went to meet
and greet the first female black at USC, Henri Monteith, but later my
house mother chastised me for bringing Henri into our dorm, where she
"was not allowed."
Some fifty years have passed since I was refused service because I was
sitting with a person of color, even though her color was the result of
a tan. I’ve seen steady but seriously slow progress over those years,
and for a while I thought I would never live long enough to see total
integration. The election of Barack Obama gave me hope that we are
finally becoming the melting pot America has long claimed to be.
Martin Luther King Jr. and I had a dream, and although we still have a
way to go, we are finally seeing some of that dream coming true.
Yours in writing,
Bobbie Christmas (Bobbie@zebraeditor.com or bzebra@aol.com )
Author of triple-award-winning _Write In Style_ (Union Square
Publishing), owner of Zebra Communications, and director of The Writers
Network
P.S. Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Let me hear from you
when you have questions, kudos, markets, or any other information to
share with your network.
If someone forwarded this newsletter to you, please sign up to get your
own copy. Simply go to my Web site, www.zebraeditor.com, and click on
“Free Newsletter.” I never share your address or send out spam.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Three: Ask the Book Doctor — About E-mail Submissions, Standard
Manuscript Format, and Using the Names of Periodicals
Q: Are literary magazines now accepting short stories by e-mail (Word
documents)?
A: In general, more periodicals than ever prefer electronic (e-mailed)
queries and submissions, but before making any assumptions, always
check the submission guidelines for the magazine you want to approach.
Q: How do you format Microsoft Word 2003 or 2007 to achieve twenty-five
lines per page?
A: The guideline for standard manuscript format is twenty-three to
twenty-five lines per page, and once you set Word for 12-point Courier
type, double-spaced, it automatically comes out to fit between
twenty-three and twenty-five lines per page. To ensure it is
double-spaced and not one-and-a-half spaced, go to the bar at the top
of the page that shows the heavy B symbol for Bold and the italics
letter I for italics, and look across until you see a series of lines
with one arrow that points up and one arrow that points down. That is
the line-spacing window. Open the line-spacing window by clicking on
it, and check 2.0 for double spacing.
If the manuscript is already typed, you can change the whole manuscript
by first selecting all (either go to Edit and move down to Select All
or hold down the Ctrl key and press the A key). When the whole document
is highlighted, then go to the line-spacing option and change it to
2.0. Other fonts and other point sizes may not create the standard
twenty-three to twenty-five lines a page, which is why Standard
Manuscript Format calls for twelve-point Courier type, double-spaced,
with margins of at least an inch on all sides. The margins usually fit
that format automatically as well, unless you change them yourself.
Q: I'm working on a romance about a pair of movie stars and want to
tell parts of the story through media blurbs, news stories, tabloid
excerpts, etc. Is the use of names of actual publications permissible?
Do I have to make up my own media world?
A: I’m not an attorney, but put yourself in the place of the owners of
those periodicals. If you owned a publication and someone simply
mentioned the title your publication, it’s good publicity. If, however,
someone falsely attributed information as having come from your
periodical, it’s a sticky situation.
If someone attributed information to my own newsletter, The Writers
Network News, and I had not put that information in my newsletter, I’d
have a serious problem with the person who did it.
If I were you, I’d play it safe and create my own media world.
Q: I received a rejection from an acquisitions editor, and I am
confused, because I don't understand when she said, "It all felt a bit
device-y to me and got in the way of my identifying with the
characters." I don't know what she means by "device-y." What the heck
is that?
A: In literary terms, a device is something designed to create a
particular effect, something planted within the story with the
intention of evoking a particular response from readers. Contemporary
writing focuses on showing a good story as it unfolds. It draws readers
in with conflict, tension, strong characters, and a good story, instead
of relying on embedded literary devices.
Some small devices that come to mind are uses of terms such as
“suddenly,” “at that moment,” or “without warning,” in an attempt to
build tension instead of creating tension by showing tension-filled
events as they happen. Exclamation marks used incorrectly and strictly
for emphasis can also be considered a device. Here’s an example of an
exclamation mark used as a device: The trunk was open!
On a larger scale, devices might be plot turns that have been used in
well-known books or characters that are stereotypical and therefore not
realistic or believable.
Send your questions to the Book Doctor Bobbie Christmas at
Bobbie@zebraeditor.com.
Would you like to read or save the Ask the Book Doctor column as a
clear PDF file? Now you can! See
http://zebraeditor.com/files/ask_the_book_doctor.pdf. The newest column
is posted around the first of each month.
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Four: This Month’s Writing Tip from Bobbie Christmas – Capitalizing
Titles
With a new president sworn in today, a new question arises: when should
you capitalize the word president? In school we were taught to
capitalize it when it referred to the president of the United States,
no matter what, but we learned business style in school, and now we use
either Chicago Style for books or Associated Style for periodicals,
both of which differ from business style.
The answer, though, is simple. When you are writing a book or an
article, capitalize a person’s title only when it includes the name and
is not separated by a comma. Do not capitalize the title if it stands
alone. Examples: I watched our new president waving at the crowd. I
watched our new president, Barack Obama, waving at the crowd. I watched
President Barack Obama waving at the crowd.
Titles such as senator, congressman, vice president, and secretary also
are capitalized only when the name is included in the title. The
exceptions are CEO or COO, because to lowercase them would confuse
readers. Example: The secretary of the organization introduced the CEO,
who thanked Vice President Jim Smith for his report.
Sometimes you can rely on the lack of an article (a, an, or the) or a
possessive pronoun (his, her, their, my, etc.) preceding the name to
know when to capitalize a title. Examples: The mother of the child came
running. I told my mother everything was fine. I could always rely on
Mother.
Time to Find and Refine
You can use the Find and Refine Method to learn if you have incorrectly
capitalized titles that stand alone in your manuscript. My trademarked
Find and Refine Method is more carefully outlined in my textbook on
creative writing: _Write In Style_ (Union Square Publishing), which
lists many more ways you can easily refine your own manuscripts.
With your file open on your computer, pull down Edit, and then Find.
Type in the title you think you may have incorrectly capitalized in
your manuscript. Click the More button and then click Match Case. Type
in the word with the incorrect capital and let your computer stop on
each instance. Review it and decide whether it is appropriately or
inappropriately capitalized.
For more opportunities for improvement, buy _Write In Style_ (Union
Square Publishing) in your local bookstore or order it from Amazon.com
by clicking here: http://tinyurl.com/2ayh2m.
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Five: Letters from Members
I particularly appreciated your opening editorial concerning the
present financial upheaval. Thanks so much for your wise and positive
view of using these times to prioritize and get creative with our
finances and our time! Your expertise is so welcomed and needed by us
novice writers, and I trust your generous giving of tips will be
multiplied back to you in tangible ways of success and abundance.
Thanks and God Bless,
Angela Brown
----
[I found the Timothy Egan editorial from the New York Times to be] a
very elitist and smug article. You did not note that, even though the
attitude expressed by Egan is totally contrary to your newsletter.
Unskilled liberal writers can write books, but not conservatives?
Steve
[For the full Timothy Egan editorial from the New York Times, go to
http://tinyurl.com/6p36fx.]
[Ed: Thank you for your comment, Steve. Someone in our network sent the
link to me, so I thought other writers would find it interesting as
well. We are a network, after all.
I attempt to allow The Writers Network News to reflect opinions from
all writers, whether liberal or conservative, no matter their origin,
creed, or orientation. The only slant is that good writers must study
and hone their craft.]
----
Hi Bobbie,
Happy Holidays. I appreciate all you do to get out a jam-packed
newsletter every time.
Myrna Lou Goldbaum
www.myrnaloupalmistry.com
www.soulmateconnections.blogspot.com
Author of:
MAY I SEE YOUR HAND?
SOUL MATE CONNECTIONS
DIARY OF A PALM READER
----
Hi Bobbie and Happy New Year! Love the newsletter, and "Write in Style"
has helped me become a better writer
Thanks and keep up the good work. --Marianne Sciucco
I just sent a query, synopsis and sample chapter to Ariel Starr
Productions (listed in the latest edition of your newsletter as looking
for submissions) and received an email saying the economy has put her
plans on hold. I certainly understand that. I am just glad that there
are people like you out there giving us information, inspiration, and
hope. Thought you might like to know. -- Marita Brake
[Ed. Note: I apologized to Marita for any inconvenience I caused her. I
stay as current as I can and often check Web sites, but even the
information on a Web site can be outdated. Information can change in an
instant. It was nice of Ariel Starr to explain her change in status.
Here’s an excerpt from her note: “Until things get a bit easier, we are
not putting out new material. Once things get easier, then we will.”]
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Six: Subjects of interest to writers
Where is Bobbie Christmas speaking next?
Pasco Regional Writers
April 19, 2009
New Port Richey, Florida
For information contact: PascoRegionalWriters@verizon.net
I have not yet firmed up the rest of my 2009 speaking schedule, but you
can watch my Web site (www.zebraeditor.com) for my 2009 speaking
schedule when it gels. You can also order seminars on CD at
http://zebraeditor.com/seminars_on_cd.shtml.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mark Kearney knows crime. He’s been a police officer for decades. A
co-founder of The Book ’Em Foundation, an organization of police
officers who teach literacy to combat crime, his involvement in the
organization launched similar programs all along the East Coast. His
first novel, Twisted Obsession, is about a police officer who kills a
man in the line of duty, but it places the officer on a path he never
could have imagined, awakening evil in the spine-tingling pages of his
critically acclaimed book edited by Zebra Communications.
On January 30, Mark will be interviewed by talk-show host and
award-winning mystery writer Fran Stewart on her weekly Internet radio
show, Mystery Matters. To access the show live at 10:00 EST or to
listen to it on the archives at a later date, go to
http://www.tinyurl.com/a2f3s6
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Attention Writers in Metro Atlanta!
Do you miss our local meetings? We have a solution.
The Writers Network used to have meetings in Atlanta regularly, but we
ceased this year because some of our national and international readers
complained that our local meetings made it appear that The Writers
Network serviced only Atlanta, which is certainly not true.
Along the lines of “You can’t please everybody all the time,” a few
local folks expressed sadness at losing their connection with other
writers. I admit to burnout after attending and leading meetings for
more than a dozen years, but I missed other writers, too.
Here’s our compromise: We won’t meet every month, but when we do plan a
meeting, I won’t announce it to all our members around the globe. If
you’re interested in meeting in Atlanta with other writers, therefore,
tell me by e-mail (Bobbie@zebraeditor.com). I’ll put you on a list of
local members to be notified if and when we plan a get together. We’ll
try that method for a while and see if we can balance my schedule and
your wishes and make more people happy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Purge Your Prose of Problems
A Book Doctor’s Desk Reference, Fourth Edition
Save thousands of dollars by editing your own book!
This proprietary reference book is not available in stores. Written in
easy-to-understand language, the information covers all you need to
know to plow through the maze of the editing phase: grammar,
punctuation, word choices, creative writing, plot, pace,
characterization, dialogue, Chicago Style, formatting a manuscript, and
much more. More than 500 subjects covered. Spiral binder lies flat for
easy use. To order go to http://www.zebraeditor.com. Click on Tools for
Writers and scroll down).
Save almost $5.00 in shipping PLUS instantly get _Purge Your Prose of
Problems_ as an e-book with clickable links and bookmarks that zip you
directly to any subject. Go to
http://www.booklocker.com/books/2225.html.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Interesting fact gleaned from The Writer’s Almanac, produced by Prairie
Home Productions and presented by American Public Media: David Sedaris,
popular NPR commentator and whose books of essays have been huge
best-sellers, has kept a diary for about thirty years. He makes one for
every season, and each one has a cover. He says, "It's a lot of work
for something no one's ever going to see." His books include Barrel
Fever (1994), Naked (1997), Me Talk Pretty One Day (2000), and his most
recent book, When You Are Engulfed in Flames. He says, "I can only
write when it's dark, so basically, my whole day is spent waiting for
it to get dark.”
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Agnes Scott College Offer Writing Classes in Atlanta
On February 2, 2009, the freshly formed "Agnes Writes" program will
debut a series of writing classes taught by several of Atlanta's most
accomplished authors. The series will be hosted by Agnes Scott College.
Classes run about six weeks long, are given in the evening, and cost
between $250 and $300. To see more details and register, go to
http://www.agneswrites.com/.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bobbie Christmas seminars on CD
“Write In Style and You Write to Win”
“Travel Writing for Fun and (a little) Profit”
“Write it and Reap: Make Money Selling Your Expertise”
“An Editor’s 10 Secrets to More Persuasive Writing”
“I’ve Finished My Book; What Should I Do Now?”
Take seminars in the comfort of your own home. Repeat as often as you
want. Invite your friends to join you. To order, go to
http://zebraeditor.com/seminars_on_cd.shtml.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
_Ask the Book Doctor: How to Beat the Competition and Sell Your
Writing_ answers many of the questions you wish you could ask an
editing expert. It’s available in print or as an e-book. Whether you
write books, short stories, articles, reports, or anything else, learn
more about how to write, edit, and sell your work,
To order the printed version, go to http://tinyurl.com/6cr88z.
In the e-book edition, electronic bookmarks take you directly to
preferred subjects, and clickable links take you to Internet resources.
To order the e-book, go to http://www.booklocker.com/books/1906.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do you want to turn your vision for a book into a reality? AuthorSmart
shows you how, with seminars, resources, and tools. To see the upcoming
seminars you can take by telephone, go to
http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=881070 and click on “Get Smart;
Classes and More.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
_Write In Style: Using Your Word Processor and Other Techniques to
Improve Your Writing_ by Bobbie Christmas teaches the Find and Refine
Method ™ to locate words and phrases you can delete, upgrade or rewrite
to power up your prose. Bobbie Christmas reveals secrets only a book
doctor could know. First Place winner of the Royal Palm Award for
education, Best in Division (Georgia Author of the Year Awards), and
Finalist in USABookNews Best Books 2005. Union Square Publishing; Simon
and Schuster, distributor. Available in bookstores and Internet
retailers. To order at Amazon.com prices, go to
http://tinyurl.com/5yncfw.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Free Tools for Writers from Bobbie Christmas and Zebra Communications
Order e-mailed reports on correct manuscript format, how to form and
run a critique circle, how to identify weak writing and repair it,
self-publishing versus traditional publishing, and much more. Sixteen
reports are available, and the list keeps growing. Go to
http://zebraeditor.com/free_reports.shtml. Newest report: How to choose
the correct editor for your manuscript. Surprise! It may not be me!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do You Twitter?
Keep up with Bobbie’s activities on Twitter:
http:twitter.com/BookDoctor4u
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Seven: Jobs, Contests, Grants, Agents and Markets
Science of Mind magazine
Science of Mind magazine publishes several types of articles that
teach, inspire, motivate, and inform. Editorial content addresses the
concerns, interests, and problems of readers, offering thoughtful
perspectives on how they can experience greater self-acceptance,
empowerment, and meaningful living. Achieving wholeness through
applying Science of Mind principles is the primary focus. E-mail
submissions or queries to edit@scienceofmind.com. Be sure to include
your name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address. Allow six
weeks for notification of acceptance. Rejections will not be notified.
For full guidelines and more information see
http://www.scienceofmind.com/site/som_publishing.html#w.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Porthole Cruise Magazine
Submission guidelines: http://216.247.229.94/html/PortholeWriters.htm
We prefer queries by e-mail. Please keep your queries brief and let us
know your credentials as a professional writer. The following are some
style/content requirements essential to any story that is published in
Porthole Cruise Magazine. We are a consumer, not a trade magazine. Look
for an unusual angle. Almost every story/destination/ship you pitch has
been pitched before, usually more than once. Look for the unique aspect
of where you are going, and make that your story. Please read full
guidelines and follow them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Greeting Card Writers Wanted
Welcome to BackHand™ greeting cards, a line of satirical greeting
e-cards for those in a challenging relationship or maybe you are still
dealing with a former relationship. Are you looking to send that
someone special in your life a zinger of an online greeting card? Or
maybe you are looking to spice up your relationship or anonymously you
wish to humorously invoke a reaction from someone.
We are looking for humorists to write greeting card/ecards for those:
-in a challenging relationship,
-still dealing with a former relationship,
-looking to spice up your relationship, or
-anonymously you wish to humorously invoke a reaction from someone
See http://www.backhandcards.com/ for more information.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The PPI Group
A custom publisher of consumer travel magazines
Feature stories generally cover cruise-ship destinations with a focus
on lifestyle issues. For example, “Cuisine of Spain,” “Caribbean Manor
Homes,” “British Fashion.” Payment on publication. Query by e-mail
only. Editors will not return unsolicited queries or manuscripts.
Get in with these folks, and you might be able to write for all ten of
their publications. For full writers guidelines, when assignments are
made, and names of periodicals, go to
http://www.ppigroup.com/html/PublicRelations.htm.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WritersWeekly.com and The Write Markets Report
P.O. Box 2399
Bangor, ME 04401
E-mail angela (at) writersweekly.com.
Web ste http://www.writersweekly.com.
Angela Hoy, Publisher
Electronic magazine featuring new and updated markets and articles on
selling the written word (making more money through writing). 20%
freelance. Welcomes new writers. Monthly. Pays on acceptance. Publishes
ms 1-2 months after acceptance. Buys non-exclusive electronic rights
only. Accepts reprints (pays $40 for feature reprints; $20 for success
story reprints). Responds less than 1 week to e-mails. Sample free at
website. Subscription $8.95/year.
CURRENT NEEDS: Queries. We are seeking articles on various ways writers
can make money from their writing (i.e. unique assignments, corporate
services, self publishing, marketing and networking advice, alternative
products and services that writers can pursue and sell). We also seek
articles on how authors can successfully market their books to the
public. FREELANCE SUCCESS STORIES: In each issue, we publish a
freelance success story and pay $40 for non-exclusive rights to these.
Success stories average 300 words. If you'd like to share your
freelance success story with us, please email it to angela (at)
writersweekly.com. Freelance success stories should, through your
personal story, offer advice to other writers on how they, too, can
succeed. Please note we do not publish "one-shot" success stories -
meaning we don't publish stories on how a writer sold one story to one
publication. We prefer to focus on actions the writer took to become a
successful freelancer or a successful author. For complete guidelines
see http://www.writersweekly.com/misc/guidelines.php.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rosebud
Accepts poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, but may be a submission or
evaluation fee. For full guidelines see
http://www.rsbd.net/Submissions.htm.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Children’s/Young Adult Book Publisher
Absey & Company
23011 Northcrest Dr.
Spring, TX 77389
Phone: (281)257-2340
Fax: (281)251-4676
E-Mail: info@absey.biz
Web site: www.absey.biz
Edward Wilson, publisher
Reviews ms/illustration packages. Send photocopies, transparencies,
etc.
"Since we are a small, new press, we are looking for good manuscripts
with a firm intended audience. We are looking for educational books,
especially those with teaching strategies based upon research, for
children's picture books and young adult fiction. We haven't done much
with nonfiction."
Publishes hardcover, trade paperback and mass market paperback
originals. Publishes 5-10 titles/year. 50% of books from first-time
authors; 50% from unagented writers. Publishes book 1 year after
acceptance of ms. Manuscript guidelines for #10 SASE.
Query with SASE. Does not consider simultaneous submissions. Responds
to queries in three months. No e-mail submissions.
"Absey publishes a few titles every year. We like the author and the
illustrator working together to create something magical. Authors and
illustrators have input into every phase of production."
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The University of North Texas Press publishes books on humanities and
social sciences, with special emphasis on
Texas history and culture
Military history
Western history
Criminal justice
Folklore
Multicultural topics
Music
Natural and environmental history
Culinary history
Women's studies
For complete information on how to submit a proposal, see
http://web3.unt.edu/untpress/potential_authors.cfm
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Eight: Writing Assignment – Family Dinner
Imagine a large family gathering for a holiday meal. Have you ever had
a quiet, calm family dinner where only one or two topics were
discussed, where no one was offended, where no one tried to monopolize
the conversation, where nothing funny was said? Of course not! Family
dinners bring out our true personalities as well as our places in the
family, whether we are narcissistic, reticent, braggarts, peacemakers,
scapegoats, martyrs, or anything else.
For this exercise, create a purpose for a family of at least six people
to gather for dinner, either in a home or a restaurant. Perhaps it can
be a holiday dinner or a celebration of someone’s birthday or
anniversary. Now write a scene that reveals the personality and/or
agenda of each character, and show it all through the characters’
actions and dialogue.
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Nine: Web Sites of Interest to Writers
Writers Write, a one-stop place on books, writing, and publishing. See
http://www.writerswrite.com/.
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Free Resources for Writers
From freelance writer salaries to advice about contracts, this page
offers a wide array of advice for writers.
http://www.asja.org/pubtips/pubtips.php
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
See the Zebra Communications Web site, www.zebraeditor.com, for tools
for writers as well as answers to questions asked by writers like you
and answered by Bobbie Christmas.
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Do YOU have news for The Writers Network News? Please send it in the
body copy, not an attachment, to Bobbie@zebraeditor.com. Deadline: The
15th of each month.
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Send a copy of this newsletter to all your writing friends. Tell them
to join The Writers Network F-R-E-E by visiting www.zebraeditor.com and
clicking on “Newsletter.”
…………………………………………………………………………….
Disclaimer: With the exception of Zebra Communications, information in
this newsletter is not to be construed as an endorsement. Be sure to
research all information and study every stipulation before you accept
assignments, spend money, or sell your work.
The Writers Network News– a newsletter for writers everywhere. No fees.
No officers. “No Rules; Just Write!"
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