The Writers Network News April Issue http://ezezine.com
April 2010 Issue
The Writers Network News
No Rules; Just Write!
Editor: Bobbie Christmas
Contents copyright 2010, 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
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Bureau-accredited business.
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http://zebraeditor.com/
Note Bobbie’s NEW Blog: http://bobbiechristmas.blogspot.com/. Add your
own comments, too.
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Welcome to this issue of The Writers Network News
In This Issue
One: From the editor’s desk – How Does a Person Find Time to Write?
Two: Ask the Book Doctor – About Book Proposals, Their Purpose and
Format
Three: This Month’s Writing Tip from Bobbie Christmas – Oh, My,
Good-bye!
Four: Subjects of Interest to Writers
Five: Contests, Agents, and Markets
Six: Creative Writing Assignment – Something New from Something Old
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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
“We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is knowing
how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.” —Ray
Bradbury
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One: From the editor’s desk — How Does a Person Find Time to Write?
Dear Fellow Writers:
I spoke at the North Georgia Valley Writers Conference in Calhoun,
Georgia, last weekend, and the predominant question that kept arising
was this: How does a person find time to write?
I responded this way: “When do you find time to eat? You don’t ‘find’
the time to eat; you ‘make’ the time to consume your meals, don’t you?
In the same way, writers—those serious about writing, anyway—make the
time to write.
Other speakers mentioned writers who wake up at five in the morning and
write for an hour or so until the children wake up. Some people turn
off the TV at 9:00 and write from then until bedtime. For me, I put it
on my schedule. I make an appointment with myself, in my daily
appointment book, and say when I will write, especially when I am
facing a deadline. I treat writing like other project I undertake to
make a living, because writing does, after all, contribute to my
living.
When I went to college, all eager and innocent, I soon found myself
flunking history. I made an appointment with the professor, to gain any
tips that might help me pass. The first words out of his mouth were
these: “What are your extracurricular activities?”
I puffed out my chest and listed my activities with pride: “I write for
the school newspaper; I’m on the yearbook committee. I am a member of
the chess club, and I’m thinking of joining the staff of the literary
magazine.”
The professor pulled his pipe out of his mouth and said, “Quit them
all. Use the time to study.”
His heretical suggestion nearly knocked me out of my seat. I didn’t go
to college to study! I went to college to have fun. He hit the nail on
the head, though. If I wanted to pass, I had to clear my schedule and
study, just as if you want to be a writer, you have to drop some
activities and use the time to write. If you write only one page a day,
250 words a day, you can write a book in six months. Just do it!
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. 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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Two: Ask the Book Doctor — About Book Proposals, Their Purpose and
Format
By Bobbie Christmas
Q: I'm thinking about writing a controversial book about [subject
deleted for privacy]. There have probably been a number of books
already written on this subject, and there is a ton of information
about the subject on the Internet.
I have two concerns. One, could plagiarism be involved if I take
information from the Internet? My next concern has to do with the
market. I wrote to some of the Web sites for permission to use their
material, and a person wrote back and claimed that books of this nature
do not sell well, even if you are an experienced writer. Any thoughts?
A: Research statistics and information are available to us all. You
plagiarize only when you use the exact sentences and paragraphs someone
else has written, but if you take information and rewrite it in your
own words, you are not plagiarizing.
As to the issue of marketability, obviously the subject goes against
popular thinking, which means one of several things can happen. It
could hit a controversial note, catch a publisher’s eye, get published,
get a great deal of publicity, and sell many copies. A few
controversial books have done so. At the opposite end of the spectrum,
it could be too controversial and not unique, and no traditional
publisher will want to touch it. How can you guess which it will be?
Here’s the thing to remember: Only one percent of all manuscripts
written ever get traditionally published, but people keep writing
books, and publishers keep buying them, so people who are passionate
about their subjects and diligent about polishing their writing and
editing skills are still being successful, even in a tough market.
Self-publishing means you take all the risks, but you could reap the
benefits if your book becomes a hit.
The reason traditional publishers want a book proposal for nonfiction
books is simple: Proposals make the author research the market and
estimate the size of the market as well as the size and toughness of
the competition. My suggestion is this: Instead of writing the whole
book, write a proposal. Get a book on how to write a book proposal and
perform all the research a proposal requires. Study the size of the
market. Find other books on that subject and find out how they fared.
Don’t listen to one person’s vague comment. Go to the publishers of
similar books and ask for sales figures.
See what, if anything, you can do to make your book unique, better than
others on the market, and more appealing to a broader audience. If you
can’t come up with a unique selling point, you may decide not to write
the book, or you may decide to self-publish a small quantity and test
the market yourself, if you have an outlet for your book—that is, if
you can find a way to reach into the niche market to which it is
geared.
Q: This "book proposal" stuff is a fine kettle of fish. Too much
advice, and much of it contradictory. Double-spaced, single-spaced,
some of each, etc. When YOU write a proposal, do you use strict
Standard Manuscript Format, including a Courier-style font, or do you
write more like you’re writing a long letter and using a more
Roman-type font? Do you single space ANY PART of the proposal? Do you
underline, or do you italicize? And what about bold? And what about
these double hyphens? (--) You see what I'm asking. A manuscript is
written the way it is because it’s written for a typesetter. A
proposal, however, is written for an agent to use to sell a manuscript.
Can the proposal be written more like a letter, or is sticking close to
the Standard Manuscript Format the best advice?
A: I, too, have seen conflicting guidelines about book proposals,
including a recent one, in which a publisher allowed me to submit the
whole proposal in the body of an e-mail, and to heck with all the
formatting, because e-mail takes most of it out, anyway.
For the publisher who bought my most successful book, Write In Style,
though, I followed the style set forth by Michael Larsen in his book
simply titled How to Write a Book Proposal. His suggestion, and I
followed it to a T, was that the entire book proposal as well as the
sample chapters be in Standard Manuscript Format: double-spaced,
12-point Courier type, no boldface type, and underlines to indicate
italics. Double hyphens are used to indicate a dash, and no space goes
before or after dashes.
Yes, manuscripts are written in Standard Manuscript Format because it
used to be the style typesetters required. Agents and publishers got
used to seeing manuscripts that way, and most still want them that way,
even though computers have changed things.
One ghostwriter I know zips together a quickie proposal in
single-spaced Times New Roman and still gets many a job, but he has an
extensive successful track record, and several of his books have won
national awards. Until you feel as confident, you can never go wrong by
following the rules, but you can sometimes go wrong by breaking them. I
worked with one publisher who said he never even reads the first line
of a manuscript that is not in standard manuscript format, because any
writer who can’t or won’t follow rules is either uneducated or too much
of a prima donna to make a good client.
Bobbie Christmas, book editor, author of Write In Style (Union Square
Publishing), and owner of Zebra Communications, will answer your
questions, too. Send them to Bobbie@zebraeditor.com. Read more “Ask the
Book Doctor” questions and answers at www.zebraeditor.com.
Send your questions to the Book Doctor Bobbie Christmas at
Bobbie@zebraeditor.com.
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Three: This Month’s Writing Tip from Bobbie Christmas – Oh, My,
Good-bye!
What’s the right spelling? Good-bye, Goodbye, Good-by? Confused? That’s
because any one of these spellings is acceptable, although the first
one (good-bye) is preferable. More important than choice is
consistency. Stick to one spelling throughout the manuscript.
Refine your manuscript using Bobbie’s techniques
If you think you have used goodbye or good-by or if you have been
inconsistent in the spellings of this word in your manuscript, use my
trademarked Find and Refine Method to search for and repair misuses. To
use the Find and Refine Method, pull down the Edit menu in your
software program and go to Find. Next click on Replace. Type in the
word goodbye in the Find box and type the word good-bye in the Replace
box.
Press Enter on your keyboard or Find Next in the dialogue box, and the
computer will stop on the next instance of the word, and you can fix
it.
You can probably safely tell your computer to repair all; however, you
will also have find and replace Goodbye (capitalized) with Good-bye
(capitalized) and check Match Case to ensure that the manuscript
maintains the correct capitalization at the beginnings of sentences.
Repeat the process by typing in good-by and replacing it with good-bye
and then check Match Case and replace uses of Good-by with Good-bye.
Send me an e-mail if you wish to receive a report on how to apply the
Find and Refine Method to other issues in your manuscript.
For even more opportunities for improvement, buy Write In Style (Union
Square Publishing) by clicking here:
http://zebraeditor.com/book_write_in_style.shtml
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Four: Subjects of interest to writers
Where is Bobbie Christmas Speaking?
The Spring Book Show, scheduled for the Cobb Galleria Center in Atlanta
March 26-28, 2010, offers two days of workshops for writers in
conjunction with the show.
Authorship 101, “How to Become a Successful Author – The Basics,” is
scheduled for Friday, March 26. Featured presenters include
• Peter Bowerman, author of several books on making a living as
an author and publisher, speaking on “The Well-Fed Self-Publisher: How
to Turn One Book into a Full-Time Living.”
• Ahmad Meradji, president, Apex Book Manufacturing, covering
"How To Get Your Self-Published Book Manufactured."
• David Fulmer, author of several mysteries published by Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt and a Shamus award winner, now creating a new
publishing house in Atlanta, speaking on "New Games in Town - The Shift
in the Publishing Paradigm," and
• Angela K. Durden, author of children’s books, editor of a new
anthology of business essays, publisher, businesswoman, covering
“Problems of self-editing, level of quality to seek, benefits of hiring
an editor, different types of editing.”
Details on program and registration are at
http://anvilpub.net/Authorship_101.htm
Authorship 201, How to Become a Successful Author - Getting Down to
Business," is scheduled for Saturday, March 27. Bobbie Christmas will
be the moderator.
Featured presenters include
• Chris Roerden, author of several books on editing and how to
get published, including Don’t Murder Your Mystery and Don’t Sabotage
Your Submission. Topics: "Secrets of Surviving the Manuscript
Submission Process;" "How to Make a Good Living as a Ghost-writer;" and
"Become the Master of Dialogue, Description, and Show v. Tell."
• Tony Burton, publisher and author who resides in Ranger, Ga.
Topic: "Conflict as the Foundation," about using conflict as the
driving force to build a good story and keep readers interested, and
• Dr. David Ryback, author of five books on various aspects of
psychology, sixth due out shortly. Topic: “The Six Important Steps to
Getting Published Despite All Obstacles: Conceptualizing, Scheduling,
Writing, Titling, Agenting and Re-writing.”
Details on program and registration are at
http://anvilpub.net/authorship_201.htm
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Scribbler's Writers Conference
St. Simon's Island, Georgia
May 13 - 16, 2010
http://scribblersretreatwritersconference.com/speakers
Subject:
“Yes, you CAN make a living with words!”
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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.
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Self-publishing and need an ISBN? Buy them from Bowker (as you should,
but at a discount by going to:
https://www.myidentifiers.com/index.php?ci_id=1479 .
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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. The metal binder lets the book lie flat for easy use. To
order as a printed book or e-book, go to http://tinyurl.com/4ptjnr.
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Freelancers: Save $400 on your taxes!
If you earn under $75,000 as a full-time freelancer, you might qualify
to receive up to $400 through the Making Work Pay tax credit. Make sure
you get the credit by completing IRS Schedule M.
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A few of Bobbie’s seminars are available as downloads. To view all, go
to http://zebraeditor.com/seminars_on_cd.shtml.
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What to Charge a Client? What to Pay an Editor?
These prices are a year and a half old, but you can get an idea for a
range, anyway.
Editorial Freelancers Association
Last Updated: September 2008
Common editorial rates, regardless of whether a project is flat rate or
hourly, tend to fall within the ranges indicated below.
Type of Work Estimated Pace Range of Fees
Copyediting, basic 5–10 ms pgs/hr $25–40/hr
Copyediting, heavy 2–5 ms pgs/hr $35–50/hr
Substantive/line editing 1–6 ms pgs/hr $40–65/hr
Developmental editing 1–5 pgs/hr $50–80/hr
Proofreading 5–10 ms pgs/hr $25–35/hr
Researching $25-50/hr
Writing 1–3 ms pgs/hr $50–100/hr or $1–$2/word
NOTE ms = manuscript, pg = page, wd = word
These should be used only as a rough guideline; rates vary considerably
depending on the nature of the work, the time frame of the assignment,
the degree of special expertise required, and other factors. The
industry standard for a manuscript page, however, is a firm 250 words.
http://www.the-efa.org/res/rates.php
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Write In Style by Bobbie Christmas teaches her trademarked Find and
Refine Method along with dozens tips that power up your prose. Bobbie
Christmas reveals secrets only a book doctor could know.
http://zebraeditor.com/book_write_in_style.shtml.
Writers Network member Sue Nash sent this additional helpful tip. After
she uses Write In Style as a guideline to make a list of words she
wants to remove or revise using the Find and Refine Method, she tells
her computer to “find all,” one word at a time and then goes to “font
color” and changes all the highlighted words to red. After she’s marked
in red all the words she wants to check for possible improvement, they
are all highly visible, and she can make one pass through the
manuscript, addressing all the words she wants to refine. Thank you,
Sue, for your tip! (If you don’t understand this note, read Write In
Style to discover a quick and easy way to improve every manuscript you
write.)
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“In the National Gallery of Writing we’re collecting all kinds of
writing from people from all walks of life—people just like you.”
Submit stories, poems, recipes, e-mails, blogs, even audio, video, and
artwork. See http://www.ncte.org/dayonwriting.
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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.
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George Orwell's six rules for authors, contained in his Politics and
the English Language (1946)
1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech that you are
used to seeing in print.
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if
you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright
barbarous.
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Are you on Facebook? Do You Twitter?
Keep up with Bobbie’s activities on Facebook (search for Bobbie
Rothberg Christmas) or on Twitter at http:twitter.com/BookDoctor4u.
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Five: Contests, Agents and Markets
PEARSON, MORRIS & BELT
3000 Connecticut Ave., NW
Suite 317
Washington, DC 20008
Phone: (202)723-6088
E-mail: dpm@morrisbelt.com, llb@morrisbelt.com
Web site: www.morrisbelt.com
This literary agency specializes in nonfiction, computer books, and
exceptional fiction.
Member Agents: Laura Belt (nonfiction and computer books), Djana
Pearson Morris (fiction, nonfiction, and computer books). Her favorite
subjects are self-help, narrative nonfiction, African-American fiction
and nonfiction, health and fitness, women's fiction, technology and
parenting.
Query with SASE. Submit proposal (nonfiction), detailed synopsis and
two to three sample chapters (fiction). Query only with a finished
manuscript. Accepts e-mail queries but no attachments. Responds in 6-8
weeks to queries.
Obtains most new clients through recommendations from others,
solicitations.
Does not want to receive poetry, children's literature, science
fiction, thrillers, or mysteries.
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Listen Magazine
55 West Oak Ridge Drive
Hagerstown, MD 21740
Listen is a magazine primarily aimed at teenagers, but some younger and
many older readers are subscribers as well. It encourages development
of good habits and high ideals of physical, social, and mental health.
It bases its editorial philosophy of primary drug prevention on total
abstinence from tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs. Listen regularly
seeks professionally written, teen-oriented articles from 350-750
words. For full submission guidelines, go to
http://www.listenmagazine.org/article.php?id=17.
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ELDER SIGNS PRESS, INC.
P.O. Box 389
Lake Orion, MI 48361-0389
E-mail: editor@eldersignspress.com
Web site: www.eldersignspress.com
Contact: William Jones, editor
This book publisher publishes dark fiction, science fiction, fantasy
and horror; does not want multiple submissions (send only to this
company and wait for reply before sending your submission elsewhere).
E-mail for writer’s guidelines.
Responds in 1 month to queries. Responds in three months to proposals.
Responds in six months to manuscripts.
Tips: Strong characters that are round, with developed personalities
that motivate them, are important to the story. Intriguing plots and
the unexpected are also essential. Exploration of the human condition
and the unknown are works that make ideal candidates for publication.
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"ART IN THE AIR" POETRY CONTEST
Inventing the Invisible/"Art in the Air" Radio Show
3128 Walton Blvd.
PMB 186
Rochester Hills MI 48309
Fax: (248)693-7344
E-mail: lagapvp@aol.com
Web site: www.inventingtheinvisible.com.
Contact: Margo LaGattuta, award director.
Offers biannual award of 1st Prize: $100, 2nd Prize: $50, and 4
Honorable Mentions. ("All winners read poems on the radio.")
Submissions may be previously published. Considers simultaneous
submissions. Submit 3 poems maximum in any form, typed, single-spaced,
limit 2 pages per poem. Accepts inquiries by fax or e-mail. Guidelines
available for SASE or on Web site. Entry fee: $5 for up to 3 poems.
Deadline: April 30 and October 30
Winners will be announced 2 months after deadline. Copies of winning
poems or books may be obtained by sending a SASE to the Inventing the
Invisible address. "'Art in the Air' is an interview radio show on
WPON, 1460 AM, in Bloomfield Hills, MI, hosted by Margo LaGattuta and
may be heard on the Web site Fridays at 1:00 pm EST. The theme is
creativity and the creative process, especially featuring writers both
local and national. Send only your best work--well crafted and
creative. Judges look for excellence in content and execution.
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Anthology Editor Seeks True Stories for Several Collections
Colleen Sell, the long-time editor of the Cup of Comfort Series (Adams
Media) is branching out on her own, as well, so be sure to check out
her Web site for all the series for which she is seeking stories. For
all the information, go to http://thewordsinger.com/up-coming-5/.
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Six: Creative Writing Assignment – Something New from Something Old
Quick like a fox, smart as a whip, clear as a bell–clichés such as
these pop into our heads almost automatically, but strong writers know
to avoid using clichés. Clichés appear in many similes and metaphors,
but they also appear as predictable patterns of combined words, such as
broad smile, uncontrollable laughter (or uncontrollable sobbing),
shocked silence, in my mind’s eye, bone tired, and thousands of other
overused and predictable combinations.
For this exercise we will break apart some predictable patterns to
create fresh descriptions. Here’s how it works: Pick an adjective from
the first column and a noun from the second column, but do not pick two
words that are on the same line. For example, “crazed lunatic” has
become a cliché, but a crazed timepiece or an absent-minded lunatic
would be new. After you have picked two words on differing lines, write
a poem, essay, short story, or scene combining those two words your
piece.
Adjectives……………Nouns
Crazed…………………Lunatic
Bestselling…………..Author
Two-faced…………...Liar
Enchanted…………...Forest
Lightweight………….Boxer
Absent-minded………Professor
Uncontrollable………Tears
Strawberry…………..Blonde
Chiseled……………..Features
War………………….....Hero
Skin-tight……………Pants
Prodigal……………..Son
(Added note: make no assumptions! Look up the meaning of prodigal to be
sure you use it correctly; it does not mean someone who has traveled or
been gone a long time, as some people think.)
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Tools for writers plus free reports, information, and answers for
writers like you: www.zebraeditor.com.
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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
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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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