The Writers Network News June 2009 Issue http://ezezine.com
June 2009 Issue
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, reports, and
articles. We are a top-rated Better Business Bureau Accredited
Business.
Zebra Communications
230 Deerchase Drive, Suite B
Woodstock, GA 30188
770/924-0528
http://zebraeditor.com/
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 Dan Anderson
Two: From the editor’s desk – Open Your Heart to Possibilities
Three: Ask the Book Doctor – About Negotiating Discounts, Selling on
Amazon, and Organizing a Book
Four: This Month’s Writing Tip from Bobbie Christmas – Which is
Correct, 1970s or 1970’s?
Five: Letters from Members
Six: Subjects of Interest to Writers
Seven: Jobs, Contests, Grants, Agents, and Markets
Eight: Creative Writing Assignment – Constrain Yourself
Nine: Web Sites of Interest to Writers
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To view current and past issues of The Writers Network News, go to
http://tinyurl.com/c4otf6.
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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
"If you don't write your books, nobody else will do it for you. No one
else has lived your life." —José Saramago
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One: Kudos to Dan Anderson
Orlando member Dan Anderson has been awarded a prestigious Independent
Publishers Book Award (the IPPY) for his humorous mystery, Bad
Vibrations. It won a Silver Medal in the Regional Fiction category.
This is the fifth literary award captured by Bad Vibrations. The other
awards include The Florida Writers Association Royal Palm Literary
Award, First Place, Published Mystery, 2008; The Books and Authors
Murder Mystery Book of the Year 2008; The Rockway Press International
Writing Competition Best Novel, 2006; The Florida Writers Association
Lighthouse Book Award, Mystery/Suspense, third Place. Dan can be
reached at dananderson305@gmail.com or through
www.murdermayhemmalice.com.
Your successes encourage others; please send your accomplishments for
our kudos section.
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Two: From the editor’s desk — Open Your Heart to Possibilities
Dear Fellow Writers:
One year ago on Memorial Day a neighbor knocked on my door and pleaded
with me for the third time to take her dog. She had grown allergic to
him, and she knew I had recently lost my dog in a freak traumatic
incident.
I was not ready to take on another animal and felt unworthy of the
task, but I finally and reluctantly agreed to keep him for two days to
see how things went. She left the dog and sent her son scurrying over
with a kennel, bedding, food, toys, and snacks. All you animal lovers
out there can guess the rest of the story. The dog never left my care
again.
The funny thing was this: I was not ready to take on another dog. I was
still traumatized over my loss. I did not want a male dog and knew
nothing about grooming and caring for a poodle. It was not love at
first sight; my heart was not yet open again, but he was a sweet, cute
thing of about fifteen pounds. His weight was about the only thing that
fit my idea of what a dog should be. He needed a home, though, and in
truth I needed another dog to heal my broken heart, whether I knew it
or not. Within two days we fell into a rhythm of mutual trust that
quickly grew into deep love.
What does a dog story have to do with writing? Sometimes we resist the
very thing we need, and we think our reasons are logical and
reasonable. We refuse to learn new writing techniques or to comply with
convention. We resist attending a workshop because we think we know
enough already or we think we can’t afford the fee. We avoid joining a
critique circle or asking fellow writers for feedback. We procrastinate
sending our work out to a potential agent or publisher. If we’re lucky,
though, something keeps knocking on our door and telling us we need to
follow through, just as my neighbor kept returning and asking me to
take her dog. Yes, if we’re fortunate, we open ourselves up to
possibilities, and once we are open, what we need will come to us.
Last year I was closed to the idea of taking on another dog, but I
relented, and now I have the most loving dog in the world, a dog who
insists on cuddling with me when I watch TV, who curls up in his bed in
my office, and who keeps me company all day. This loving creature looks
up at me with large dark eyes that tell me he loves me more than
anything in the world. I never thought it possible to love another dog
as much as I loved my Scottie who died, and it might never have
happened, if I had not opened myself up to the possibility.
Open your heart to possibilities and see what happens to your writing
and your life. A year from now, everything could be different.
One more note: Write In Style, my book on creative writing, is nearly
out of print! Don’t hesitate any longer. Get it now, while it’s still
available through Amazon. For easy ordering, see
http://zebraeditor.com/book_write_in_style.shtml.
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 www.zebraeditor.com, click on “Free Newsletter,”
and follow the prompts. I never share your address or send out spam.
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Three: Ask the Book Doctor — About Negotiating Discounts, Selling on
Amazon, and Organizing a Book
Q: The marketing director at a chain of national stores wants to carry
my book but has mentioned wanting a fifty percent discount off the
retail price. Do you think this is reasonable? She says fifty percent
is average.
A: In the world of negotiation, the average doesn’t matter. What
matters is that the other person has revealed a figure first, so you
can now work that figure to your advantage. You know the store is
willing to buy at a fifty percent discount. Next you need to see how
negotiable that figure is. Personally, I’d tell the marketing director
I usually give a thirty percent discount to stores. If she balks, you
can compromise at forty, and you’ll both be happy that you both gave a
little. If the marketing director will not budge off the fifty percent
discount, I trust you have built in enough profit to handle that deep a
discount.
Q: Would you advise me to sell my book on Amazon? Amazon takes a large
(fifty-five percent) discount, I understand.
A: Only you can decide, once you know the facts. Yes, Amazon takes a
large discount, but so does every other bookseller known to man,
although other booksellers may take less. Shoppers use Amazon.com for a
variety of reasons, including the ease in finding books, the ease of
delivery, and the sometimes discount prices.
Personally, I’m distressed that Amazon offers, on the same page, used
copies at a deeper discount, and the author gets no royalties on used
copies. Amazon may sell more of your books, but you make less per book,
and if shoppers buy a used version, you get nothing at all.
It’s a tossup, and it depends on what you want. Amazon takes a deep
discount, but Amazon sells more books than any other single outlet. If
profit is your only motive, perhaps Amazon is not the best outlet, but
if getting your book out to the public is more important than profit,
Amazon is a good outlet.
Q: I have many letters written by my family between the 1930s and
1950s. Many of these letters were written during WWII, including
letters to and from my two uncles who fought in Europe. One of these
uncles was taken prisoner of war by Germans in Italy. Some of these
letters were written from prison. I have many letters from my
grandmother that give day-to-day life on an East-Texan farm. My family
was poor but hard-working people. I want to write a book based on these
letters, but I do not know where to start. Help! Is it even possible?
A: It’s very possible, but without seeing the material, it would be
hard to say where to start, and as you must be realizing, you can
organize the material in many ways. You might think chronologically
first and see if that works, filling in background information between
each one with the history of the era in which the letters were written.
You may also choose particular people first, concentrating on their
correspondence back and forth. Each chapter could focus on
correspondence between separate couples. You could also organize it by
subject matter, but I think that way might be the least effective.
The biggest thing, though, is simply to start. Don’t worry too much
about whether what you produce will be the final version; it probably
won’t. As you work, though, your ideas will gel, and the book will
quite possibly all come together organically in its best form. Don’t
expect it to be perfect right off the bat. Just begin!
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 – Which is
Correct, 1970s or 1970’s?
Writers have a reason to be confused; even some electronic spelling
checkers want to put an apostrophe in dates. Whether or not to use an
apostrophe depends, though, on whether the date is possessive (as in
“the 1990’s style of dress”) or plural (as in “the 1990s saw many
changes”).
Here are examples of when to use the apostrophe in dates and when not
to:
Plural:
The 1960s were turbulent times in America.
The party called for dressing in outfits from the 1970s.
Possessive:
The gun called for early 1900’s ammunition.
The actors wore 1800’s costumes.
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. Hurry! The publisher is
running out of copies and soon will take the book out of print.
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Five: Letters from Members
What? No letters from members this month? Tell me what you think of the
newsletter, what you’re doing, or any tidbit of information you want to
share with other writers. E-mail me at Bobbie@zebraeditor.com or
bzebra@aol.com.
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Six: Subjects of interest to writers
Where is Bobbie Christmas speaking next?
Write Well University offers telephone seminars you can take in the
comfort of your own home.
“You too Can Make a Living with Words”
Tuesday, July 14, 2009, 6:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
Join this teleseminar to learn how Bobbie Christmas has made her living
with words for more than three decades. Learn avenues and ways you may
never have considered, so you can do what you love for a living.
“Write in Style and You Write to Win”
Wednesday, September 30, 2009, 6:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
Learn the basis of Write In Style, Bobbie’s award-winning textbook on
creative writing. Discover how to make your writing stand head and
shoulders above the rest, so it wins the attention of agents and
editors. Write in style, and you are much more likely to achieve the
success you deserve.
To register for these and other classes, go to www.WriteWellU.com.
===
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Sisters in Crime
Smyrna Library
Smyrna, Georgia
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Attention Writers in Metro Atlanta!
The Writers Network has occasional local meetings in the
Roswell-Alpharetta general area. If you’re interested in meeting with
other writers, send me an e-mail (Bobbie@zebraeditor.com) and ask to be
put on a list of local members to be notified if and when we plan a get
together.
We have a meeting planned at a POD printer in Alpharetta on May 29, so
if interested, let me know by e-mail right away.
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How to Get on the Oprah Show
When Oprah mentions a book, it becomes an immediate bestseller. How can
you get on her show so you can get your book mentioned? The formula may
be easy to follow, even if it gives no guarantees. Go to
http://tinyurl.com/5qym83 and read all the topics she plans to cover in
the future. Find a subject you can talk about or a subject that goes
along with the topic of your book and pitch it through her Web site.
It’s certainly worth a try.
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Strunk and White Turns Fifty
I often tell writers to read The Elements of Style by Strunk and White,
a book so popular among writers that we simply call it “Strunk and
White.” The book just turned fifty years old and is as useful today as
it was when E.B. White, author of Charlotte’s Web, first wrote it. See
an essay on the subject at http://tinyurl.com/ce5ypq.
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Purge Your Prose of Problems
A Book Doctor’s Desk Reference, Fourth Edition
Save thousands of dollars by editing your own book!
This proprietary desk 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. Put your cursor on
Tools for Writers and slide over to Purge Your Prose of Problems.
Save shipping costs 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.
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A word that writers should know (from Wordsmith.org, The Magic of
Words)
Pseudandry (su-DAN-dree) noun: The use of a male name as a pseudonym by
a woman.
Many women wrote under male pen names because in the eighteenth and
nineteen centuries it was considered scandalous for a woman to write a
book. The English novelist Mary Ann Evans wrote as George Eliot. Also,
in olden times, people didn't take a woman's writing seriously.
The counterpart of pseudandry is pseudogyny where a man takes a woman's
name as a pseudonym. The rationale here is that people expect certain
genres, such as romance, to be written by women.
"The first volume contains a short commentary by Dagon Khin Khin Lay in
which she revealed her pseudandry and confessed that although she wrote
these stories she did not believe in things supernatural." --Dagon Khin
Khin Lay's Pseudandry; Myanmar Perspectives; 2000
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Brand New and Inexpensive! Now you can download Bobbie’s newest
one-hour seminars in MP3 format from the Zebra Communications Web site!
Below are the newest seminars, ready to download:
"Write In Style and You Write To Win, an Introduction"
Gail Richards of AuthorSmart presents this hour-long seminar (#1 in the
series) with Bobbie Christmas. Learn the secret of Bobbie's trademarked
Find and Refine Method to make your writing unique, direct, and tight.
This method allows you to be objective about your writing. After you
apply Bobbie's suggestions to your manuscript, it will win the
attention of your intended audience and more likely win the eye of an
agent or acquisitions editor. Instant download. $5.00
"Self-Editing Techniques You Can't Live Without"
Gail Richards of AuthorSmart presents this hour-long seminar (#2 in the
series) with Bobbie Christmas. After you have taken the first seminar,
take this one to learn even more ways to apply Bobbie's trademarked
Find and Refine Method to all your written materials. Learn the most
common flaws and errors Bobbie spots in manuscripts and learn how to
avoid making the same mistakes. Instant download. $5.00
"Tricks You Didn't Know Your Word Processor Could Do"
Gail Richards of AuthorSmart presents this hour-long seminar (#3 in the
series) with Bobbie Christmas. After the first two seminars, you're
ready to learn even more tips and tricks in Microsoft Word or Word
Perfect, tips that can save you hours of time and endless frustration
when you prepare your manuscript for submission to an agent, publisher,
or printer. Instant download. $5.00
SPECIAL! Purchase all three AuthorSmart seminars featuring Bobbie
Christmas and save 20%.
You'll get...
• "Write In Style and You Write To Win, an Introduction"
• "Self-Editing Techniques You Can't Live Without"
• "Tricks You Didn't Know Your Word Processor Could Do"
Instant download. $12.00
To buy and download these seminars go to
http://zebraeditor.com/seminars_on_cd.shtml.
Also available on that site: 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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Experiment, a nonfiction trade publisher, will debut this fall.
Headed by Matthew Lore, the publisher will focus on health, nutrition,
fitness, psychology, relationships, self-help, parenting, sexuality,
science, and the environment.
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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.
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://www.unibook.com/unibook/site/bookdetail/?bookid=3212#.
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
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What Books Are Selling in This Economy?
According to AnvilPub's Southern Review of Books, “Barnes & Noble VP of
merchandising Bob Wietrak says sales of novels with vampires, shape
shifters, werewolves, and other paranormal creatures were exploding,
whether they were found in the romance, fantasy, or young-adult aisles,
but Sue Grimshaw, romance buyer for Borders, sees its customers buying
four or five instead of five or six books a week.”
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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://zebraeditor.com/book_write_in_style.shtml. Hurry! The publisher
is taking the book out of print, so buy now, while supplies last.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Great American Bargain Book Show management has announced the faculty
for the Authorship 101 seminar for writers and authors to be held at
the Hynes Convention Center in Boston on Friday, August 21. For
complete information on instructors and how to register, visit
http://anvilpub.net/gabbs_university.htm.
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Free Tools for Writers from Bobbie Christmas and Zebra Communications
Order PDF 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!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Did you know there is a Limerick Day?
We missed it! May 12 was Limerick Day, which celebrates the birthday of
Writer Edward Lear (1812-1888) as well as limerick poems, which he
popularized in his Book of Nonsense. A limerick is a humorous verse or
poem five lines long, with the first two lines and the fifth line
rhyming. The third and fourth lines also rhyme. Its name comes from the
city of Limerick, Ireland. Limericks are a popular way to use puns and
innuendo. Below is a typical well-worn limerick:
There was a young girl from Madrass
Who had a magnificent ass.
It wasn’t pink
As you may think
But was gray, had long ears, and ate grass.
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To celebrate making the 2009 Writer’s Digest 101 Best Web sites List,
CoolStuff4Writers.com is holding a raffle. Two lucky CoolStuff4Writers
Newsletter subscribers will win a one year (6 issues) subscription to
Writer's Digest.
To enter, sign up for the free newsletter and send an e-mail to
sandy@coolstuff4writers.com with "WDRaffle" in the subject line.
Include your full name and e-mail address. There is no purchase
necessary to enter and win.
Enter before June 30. The winners will be chosen on July 1, 2009.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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
Hellgate Press
P.O. Box 3531
Ashland, OR 97520
harley@hellgatepress.com
www.hellgatepress.com
Historical and Adventure Fiction: As a rule, we publish very little
fiction. We prefer well-researched and documented historical nonfiction
or engaging memoirs. We realize that sometimes memoirs, particularly if
written many years after the fact, can contain a bit of fiction here
and there, especially if the writer uses a lot of dialogue. Artistic
license is allowed in those cases. If you do have a work of historical
or adventure fiction, however, we would be happy to consider it.
Annotated Autobiographies: We prefer books that have an interesting
narrative arc; i.e., they start somewhere other than the beginning and
conclude somewhere other than at the end.
Manuscripts: We prefer a brief query letter or email with a synopsis of
what your story is and who you are. If you sufficiently pique our
interest, we will then ask for a formal proposal. If that grabs our
attention even further, then we'll ask to see the whole enchilada. Some
weeks we receive up to 30 proposals, plus the occasional manuscript.
Our offices can hold only so much paper! Brevity works for us.
Topics: Memoirs and nonfiction accounts of America's soldiers and their
battles are of utmost interest. We are very interested in a good WWI
story. Other country's armies might be of interest, as is ancient Greek
or Roman history. Travel adventure tales are always welcome,
particularly if you have accomplished some extraordinary feat, such as
walking around the world or sailing solo across the Atlantic.
Quality: We do not expect you to be a published author nor have an
absolute mastery of prose, but make sure your query and/or proposal is
typo- and grammar-error free.
For more information and complete submission guidelines, see
www.hellgatepress.com.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Are you the next Mark Twain? Prove it.
To coincide with the publication of Who Is Mark Twain? HarperStudio is
sponsoring a writing contest to find the next Mark Twain.
One of Twain’s pieces being published in the book that went on sale
April 21 was left unfinished by the great American writer, so we want
to see who has what it takes to finish the story.
You can read the piece titled “Conversations with Satan” in the book or
online, and then submit your ending through the online form. Each entry
will be judged by a panel that includes Robert Hirst, editor of the
Mark Twain Papers project, Dave Taffner, member of the Borders Fiction
buying team, and Julia Cheiffetz, senior editor at HarperStudio.
The grand prize winner will receive a free copy of Who Is Mark Twain?,
have the piece published on Borders.com, and give a reading of his or
her work at a local Borders bookstore. The winner will also be
videotaped and interviewed for a segment to air on Borders.com and
theharperstudio.com. Ten Honorable Mentions will also be chosen, and
they will receive a copy of Who Is Mark Twain? and a free audio
download read by John Lithgow.
Hurry! The contest ends May 31, so get writing! See
http://twainia.com/contest/.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
www.DailyNovel.net is looking for books to publish on its Web site,
where books are presented one chapter a day (with previous chapters
archived). Remuneration is small, but the author retains most of the
rights to his/her work and can self-publish or sell to a mainstream
publisher in addition to publication online by DailyNovel. ONLY novels
for adults (no nonfiction, no poetry, no juvenile or YA material) will
be considered.
Preferred length is from 40,000 words and up. DailyNovel is not
interested in novellas. For further information or to upload a
manuscript in either MSWord or RTF (no WordPerfect, PDF, or hardcopy,
please), contact Cynthia@DailyNovel.net.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2009 SSA Writing Contest
Entry Forms Department
P.O. Box 35484
Tucson, AZ, 85740-5484
The Society of Southwestern Authors is seeking writers interested in
submitting entries to its 22nd annual international writing contest.
Contest categories are short stories, personal essay and memoirs,
poetry, and short stories for kids age six through twelve. Entries must
be postmarked on or before Monday, June 1. Visit www.ssa-az.org, or
send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to address above.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Dream Quest One Poetry and Writing Contest
The Dream Quest One Poetry and Writing Contest is open everyone,
international to all poets and writers whether published or not,
regardless of experience. Current and former employees of
Dreamquestone.Com or their relatives are not eligible. Previously
published poems and short stories in other contests, books, magazines,
etc are accepted and welcome as long as they are original to the
contest entrant.
All poems must be thirty lines or fewer, may be either neatly
handwritten or typed, single or double line spacing, on any subject or
theme. All entries must be original works.
All short stories may be on any subject or theme. For example, any
fiction, non-fiction, essays, diary, journal entries and short
screenplays are accepted. Contestants will enter their short stories
either neatly hand printed or typed, single or double line spacing,
within a maximum of five pages or less. All entries must be original
works. For complete details see http://www.dreamquestone.com/.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hurry! The deadline is approaching for The Wolfe Pack's Black Orchid
Novella Award. Each entry must be an original unpublished work of
fiction that conforms to the tradition of the Nero Wolfe series.
Entries must be 15,000 to 20,000 words in length and submitted by the
deadline. Entries must be postmarked by May 31, 2009. See complete
guidelines at http://tinyurl.com/yd6oaz.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Academy Chicago Publishers
363 W. Erie Street
Suite 7E
Chicago, IL 60610-3125
Anita Miller, editorial director/senior editor
312-751-7300: info@academychicago.com
www.academychicago.com
Here’s a rare publisher that accepts submissions from authors without
representation from an agent. It publishes high-quality fiction and
nonfiction. “Our audience is literate and discriminating. No novelized
biography, history, or science fiction.”
In nonfiction it seeks history or travel but does not want religion or
self-help. Submit proposal package, outline, bio, three sample
chapters, and SASE.
In fiction, “We look for quality work, but we do not publish
experimental, avant garde novels.” Subjects: historical, mainstream,
military, mystery. Submit proposal package, clips, three sample
chapters, and SASE.
“We are looking for good nonfiction; we certainly want excellent
original fiction, but we are swamped. No fax queries, no disks. No
electronic submissions. We are always interested in reprinting good
out-of-print books.”
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Eight: Creative Writing Assignment – Constrain Yourself
Oulipo (oo-lee-PO) stands for "Ouvroir de littérature potentielle,"
which translates roughly as "workshop of potential literature."
Comprising mainly French-speaking writers and mathematicians, the group
advocates creating works using constrained writing techniques. The
group defines the term littérature potentielle as "the seeking of new
structures and patterns writers may use in any way they enjoy."
For examples of constrained writing, see Vikram Seth’s novel, The
Golden Gate, written entirely in sonnet form, including the table of
contents, or see Negativeland: A Novel by Doug Nufer. Each sentence in
that book has something negative going on. Lipogram, writing without
the use of a specific vowel or consonant, constitutes another form of
constrained writing.
For this assignment, write an essay, short story, or other piece at
least two pages long without using any form of the verb “to be.” You
cannot use a single is, was, were, be, being, am, are, etc. Anytime you
avoid using the linking verb “to be” and employ action verbs instead,
your writing grows in strength, so this exercise could have a powerful
impact on all of your writing.
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Nine: Web Sites of Interest to Writers
Writer's Goldmine: 48 Free Online Writing Courses: see
http://tinyurl.com/dgcl5g.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How to write a press release:
http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Press-Release
Template for a press release (formatted correctly):
http://www.publicityinsider.com/release.asp
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Free online dictionary and thesaurus:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dictionary.htm
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Tools for writers plus free reports, information, and answers for
writers like you: www.zebraeditor.com.
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For great books online, including dictionaries, thesauri, quotations,
Gray’s Anatomy, Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style, and much
more, go to www.bartleby.com.
Be sure to send us your favorite Web resources for writers to share
with your network.
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body copy, not an attachment, to Bobbie@zebraeditor.com. Deadline: The
15th of each month.
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clicking on “Free Newsletter.”
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