The Writers Network News, May 2011 issue http://ezezine.com
The Writers Network News, May 2011 Issue
In This Issue
One: From the editor’s desk – Which is More Important, a Fast Edit or a
Good Edit?
Two: Ask the Book Doctor – About Capitalizing Seasons and Attributing
Dialogue
Three: This Month’s Writing Tip from Bobbie Christmas – Snuck or
Sneaked?
Four: Subjects of Interest to Writers
Five: Contests, Agents, and Markets
Six: Creative Writing Assignment – Break out of the Box
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Writers Network News
No Rules; Just Write!
Editor: Bobbie Christmas
Contents copyright 2011, 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/
Follow my "Write In Style" creative-writing blog at
http://bobbiechristmas.blogspot.com/
Follow my "Don't You Dare Call It a Diet" weight-loss blog at
http://dontyoudarecallitadiet.blogspot.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meet Fellow Writers in Metro Atlanta
Do you live in or visit metro Atlanta? Sign up for local meeting
notices today! Send your name and e-mail address to
Bobbie@zebraeditor.com. Hurry! A local meeting is planned for April 23
at Martino’s Pasta, 690 Holcomb Bridge Road, Roswell, GA 30076 at noon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some links in this newsletter may include “tiny url” with the help of
www.tinyurl.com, which takes long Web addresses and converts them to
short ones.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Writer’s quote of the day
“Find the work you love and do it, and you will not work another day of
your life.” —Confucius
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One: From the editor’s desk — Which is more important, a fast edit or a
good edit?
Dear Fellow Writers:
I urge you to join me for my small, personalized seminar on memoir
writing slated for April 30. See Write Your Memoirs for Fun and Profit
in the newsletter below or go to http://zebraeditor.com/speaking.shtml
for more information. Limited seats available
Okay, besides planning for and giving seminars for the past few weeks,
I have a personal project, in addition to all my clients’ projects. I’m
updating Purge Your Prose of Problems, my book doctor’s desk reference
book, in preparation of releasing the fifth edition. The newest edition
covers dozens more subjects than the fourth edition and expands and
updates information on many other subjects.
My only drawback, I thought, is that my printer, Apex Book
Manufacturing in Alpharetta, Georgia, is a forty-five minute drive
away. Apex, which also owns BookLogix, a company that helps authors
self-publish their books, asked me to give a seminar at its location
last Saturday, so a couple of weeks ago, I decided I would finish
editing and updating Purge Your Prose and send it to the printer in
time for me to pick up my printed copies Saturday. It sounded like a
perfect plan.
Remember the Murphy’s Law that states that everything takes longer than
you think it will take? That law certainly applies to the process of
editing. To ensure the latest edition had no flaws, I read and edited
it for days, often editing until well past midnight. The editing took
much longer than I thought it would. I couldn’t believe how many items
I found that I could add, improve, correct, or update. Finally I felt
certain I had polished the manuscript to perfection, but by then I had
given up on my hope of picking up the finished product in only two
days. Instead I sent the file and said I would approve the proof when I
was there Saturday.
I thought I could flip through the proof, sign the approval, and pick
up the printing by the next Thursday. Ha! When I glanced at the proof,
I almost fainted. Even with a quick glimpse, I spotted inconsistencies,
typographical errors, and unclear sentences. Okay, I told the printers,
I’ll take a day or two to edit the book a final time, send a new file,
and still pick up the printing on Thursday.
Determined to meet my revised deadline, I took the proof home and went
to work on it. Alas, I found something I could improve on almost every
page. I spent several more days working on it, until my eyes grew
bleary and my energy level sank to zero. Wait a minute! I set my own
deadline, which meant I could change it. I needed to spend whatever
time it took to get the fifth edition of Purge Your Prose of Problems
right.
In my desire to avoid driving the forty-five minutes to the printer
more than once, I set myself up for failure. Even worse, when I didn’t
get the manuscript edited as quickly as I had hoped, I expected the
printer to rush the job, to make up for my tardiness. Forget all that!
I called the printer and said, “Disregard that deadline; I’ll get the
manuscript to you when it’s ready.” I heard the voice on the phone sigh
in relief. I put down the receiver and took a deep breath, too. Getting
the book right is so much more important than getting it quickly. Wait!
I tell my clients the same thing, all the time. Why couldn’t I see it
myself? I explain to clients that careful editing takes time, and
getting a good job is much more important than getting a fast job. Why
did I forget that truism when it came to my own project?
I’m thankful I did finally see the error of my ways, and I’m being a
better client to myself. The edition should last a great deal longer
than the few days I would have saved by rushing the job. I want the
book to reflect well on me and be the best possible resource for fellow
editors and writers. Rushing through the editing phase would have been
counterproductive. Getting the job done right takes time. I accept my
own advice at last. Watch for the fifth edition to come out in the
future, though.
One more note: Write In Style, my award-winning book on creative
writing, is officially out of print. New copies are selling for as much
as $138.00 on Amazon. While they last, however, you can still buy one
of the few remaining new copies at the original price of $12.95. To
purchase, go to http://zebraeditor.com/book_write_in_style.shtml.
Hurry! Supplies are rapidly dwindling. Only a few dozen are left.
Yours in writing,
Bobbie Christmas (Bobbie@zebraeditor.com or bzebra@aol.com )
Author of Write In Style (Union Square Publishing), owner of Zebra
Communications, and director of The Writers 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.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Two: Ask the Book Doctor — About Capitalizing Seasons and Attributing
Dialogue
By Bobbie Christmas
Q: I read an article in the newspaper that referred to the season of
autumn, which we also refer to as fall. In the article, the word “fall”
was not capitalized. I have always wondered about this issue, usually
capitalizing it, but never feeling sure of what’s right.
A: To answer your question, I'll quote from my own book doctor's desk
reference book, Purge Your Prose of Problems. It is available through
my website, www.zebraeditor.com.
Autumn, Fall, Spring, Summer, and Winter
Seasons of the year are not capitalized unless they appear at the
beginning of a sentence or in a headline. Examples: I’ll see you in the
spring. Fall weather dries my skin. The headline said Save Now on
Winter Coats. Aren’t the autumn leaves beautiful?
By the way, you’re not alone in your confusion. Many writers
incorrectly assume that seasons should be capitalized, and when no
editor is on the staff to correct the error, the mistake makes its way
into print. Others see it in print and assume it’s correct, if it’s in
print. No wonder people get confused!
Q: I have noticed that in a lot of books, whenever you see a
conversation, not every response ends with something like John said,
John asked, John replied, etc. Sometimes the characters just talk, and
that part is omitted. Many times there is a mixture. Could you please
explain to me how this works?
A: Creative writers avoid any type of repetition, including patterns.
When every piece of dialogue begins or ends with words that attribute
the dialogue to that person (these words are called attributions or
tags), the writing grows repetitious and boring. Some writers avoid
repeating the words “said” or “asked” by using other attributions, such
as replied, responded, requested, retorted, denied, agreed, and such,
but those words stick out even worse than “said” does.
Attributions ensure that readers know who spoke. Because correct
dialogue format calls for a new paragraph for each new person who
speaks, when only two people are in a scene, writers need to attribute
only the first couple of pieces of dialogue. After that, the format
(each new paragraph) indicates that the other person is responding, so
no attributions are necessary. Below is an example of a two-way
conversation. Notice how the first two pieces of dialogue are
attributed to the speakers, but after those first two attributions,
readers clearly know who is speaking. If the dialogue goes on too long,
though, some sort of attribution may be needed again, to ensure readers
do not lose track of who is speaking.
Notice, too, that I put one attribution after the dialogue and one
attribution before the dialogue, to avoid placing the attribution in
the same place in both sentences.
“John, would you please take out the trash?” Mary asked.
John said, “I took it out yesterday. It’s your turn.”
“I just cleaned the whole house, while you read the newspaper. The
least you can do is take out the trash.”
“Can I please finish reading this article? Why do I have to jump up
instantly and perform every command you make?”
Another great way to reduce the volume of attributions is to use action
that shows who is speaking, and again, correct format puts each
person’s actions in a separate paragraph. Below is the same
conversation using action for the attribution. Notice how the use of
“asked” and “said” is no longer necessary, because we clearly see who
did and said what, by the format.
“John, please take out the trash.” Mary pointed to an overflowing
trashcan.
John dropped his newspaper into his lap. “I took it out yesterday. It’s
your turn.”
“I just cleaned the whole house, while you read the newspaper. The
least you can do is take out the trash.”
“Can I please finish reading this article?” John threw his hands into
the air. “Why do I have to jump up instantly and perform every command
you make?”
When three or more people are speaking in a scene, each piece of
dialogue must be attributed to a specific speaker, so some form of
attribution is required. In that case, interspersing tags with action
keeps the repetition down. Below is an example.
“John, please take out the trash.” Mary pointed to an overflowing
trashcan.
John dropped his newspaper into his lap. “I took it out yesterday. It’s
your turn.”
Five-year-old Sammy walked into the living room with tears in his eyes.
“Please don’t fight, Mommy and Daddy. I’ll take the trash out.”
Mary turned to her son. “You’re a dear, but I just cleaned the whole
house, while your father read the newspaper. The least he can do is
take out the trash.”
“Can I please finish reading this article?” John threw his hands into
the air. “Why do I have to jump up instantly and perform every command
you make?”
Send your questions to Book Doctor Bobbie Christmas at
Bobbie@zebraeditor.com. You’ll get a personal answer ASAP.
Would you like to read, save, or share the Ask the Book Doctor column
as a PDF file? At http://zebraeditor.com/files/ask_the_book_doctor.pdf,
the newest column is posted around the first of each month.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Three: This Month’s Writing Tip from Bobbie Christmas – Snuck or
Sneaked?
Common use does not guarantee acceptability. People commonly use
certain words incorrectly in conversation, but good writers avoid
variants, slang, and misuses in narrative. Yes, we say snuck instead of
sneaked, just as we say things like wudn’t instead of wasn’t. Snuck is
not an acceptable form of the past tense of sneak, though. Use sneaked.
The Chicago Manual of Style 16th Edition says this: Sneak is conjugated
sneak—sneaked—sneaked. Reserve snuck for dialect and tongue-in-cheek
usages.
Use my trademarked Find and Refine Method to locate any misuse of
“snuck” in your manuscript.
Go to the Find function on your computer (Control + F) and under Find
What, type “snuck.” When the word shows up in your document, decide
whether it’s in dialogue or narrative. If narrative, change the word to
“sneaked.” If it’s in dialogue, decide whether that character would use
that term and be unaware that it was incorrect. Change it or not,
according to the character who is speaking.
For more opportunities for improvement, buy one of the few remaining
copies of Write In Style (Union Square Publishing) by going to
http://zebraeditor.com/book_write_in_style.shtml.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Four: Subjects of interest to writers
Write Your Memoirs for Fun and Profit
Saturday, April 30, 2011
1:00 – 5:00
$109
Home of Bobbie Christmas
230 Deerchase Drive, Woodstock, Georgia, 30188
You may simply want to write your memoirs for your family, but what if
you could also sell them to publishers? Would you mind the added money
and notoriety? Of course not.
In this workshop you’ll uncover:
Where to start and how to plan your memoir
What publishers look for in a memoir
Why you don’t have to be famous to write a bestselling memoir
What type of publishers buy memoirs and how to find them
How to write memoirs that people want to read
How to write from the heart—the simplest, most creative way to write
What is vital to a memoir and what is not
What to delete to make your memoirs more powerful
In addition to spending her entire career as an editor and writer,
Bobbie Christmas has sold personal memoirs to publishers John Wiley &
Sons, Adams Media, St. Martin’s Press, and others.
This seminar takes place in the workshop space in the home of Bobbie
Christmas, and space is limited. Act now to reserve your seat, because
her seminars sell out early.
ADDED BONUS: Every attendee will receive a FREE copy of Bobbie’s latest
book, Ask the Book Doctor: How to Beat the Competition and Sell Your
Writing, a $14.98 value.
Attendance is by prepaid reservation only. Mail your check for $109 to
Bobbie Christmas, 230 Deerchase Drive, Woodstock, Georgia, 30188 today
or call 770-924-0528 with Visa, MasterCard, or Discover Card
information. You can also use www.PayPal.com and send the funds to
Bobbie@zebraeditor.com.
Coming in from out of town? E-mail me at Bobbie@zebraeditor.com for
information on nearby accommodations.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
American Punctuation versus British Punctuation
After my newsletter that discussed single quotation marks, I’ve had
several members write from England and Australia asking about British
punctuation. I edit in American English most of the time, so I’m not as
intimately familiar with British punctuation, except I knew that it is
the opposite of American punctuation in several ways. Member Tony
Bennett sent me a link to an authoritative website that states the
issue clearly:
(It is from :http://writing.umn.edu/docs/sws/quicktips/quotemarks.pdf)
Know the difference between using quotation marks in American and
British English. The rules about using double and single quotation
marks in American English are the exact opposite of the rules for using
them in British English. In addition, the rules for using other
punctuation with quotation marks differ between the two systems
(periods and commas go inside quotation marks in American English but
outside quotation marks in British).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Member Larry Davis wrote the following:
Think spaceship or submarine: airlock or air lock? Oxford has it both
ways, Webster’s has only "air lock," and most encyclopedias have it as
"airlock."
Stuck in a vacuum,
Larry Davis, Malabar Fl.
Here’s my take on such issues: Encyclopedias and dictionaries reflect
current usage and change with each new edition. Dictionaries also list
variants, vulgar terms, and incorrect usages, such as “ain’t.” In other
words, even a dictionary can be unreliable, unless you read through the
entry to be sure the word is acceptable in written English as spelled
and used. Because of all the differing opinions, consistency becomes an
issue. Publishers choose one or two reference sources (such as The
Chicago Manual of Style and Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary) and stick
with them, for consistency. As a writer, unless a client specifies
which dictionary to use, we should choose one dictionary we prefer and
use it for all our word-choice references and preferred spellings. At
least we will be consistent, even if our choices will not always comply
with every available source.
I’m led to remember an incident with a coworker years ago who insisted
the spelling l-e-a-d (pronounced “led”) was correct for the past tense
of the verb lead (pronounced “leed”). She pointed to the word in the
dictionary, to prove her point, and there it was, l-e-a-d, pronounced
“led.” When we read the whole entry, however, it explained that the
l-e-a-d spelling referred to a noun, the metal. Only when we looked
under the verb usage did we see l-e-d as the correct spelling for the
past tense of the verb “lead.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Muffin top, California Roll Admitted into Oxford English Dictionary
It's taken a few years to catch up, but the Oxford English Dictionary
now officially acknowledges that the “five-second rule” is a legitimate
phrase. The UK-based dictionary has also decided that the term “muffin
top,” both the dome top of baked goods and the excess flesh or
"protuberance" that hangs over waistbands, and “banh mi,” a Vietnamese
sandwich, were ubiquitous enough in everyday conversation to add to the
canon of existing 600,000 English words.
"As the culinary appetites of the English-speaking world grow ever more
diverse, loan words referring to new cuisines are a perennial source of
new OED entries," reads a statement about the inclusion of the
culinary-themed additions.
Look up the expression “five-second rule” in the revised dictionary,
and you now get a clinical definition of a term people often blurt out
as an excuse to eat food off the floor. "The five- or ten-second rule
allows for the eating of a delicious morsel that has fallen to the
floor, provided that it is retrieved within the specified period of
time," the dictionary reads.
Non-culinary additions also include terms like “smack talk” (boastful
or insulting banter), “couch surfing” (the practice of spending the
night on other people's couches in lieu of permanent housing), and
initialisms like OMG, LOL, and WAG, short for wives and girlfriends.
For the full article, see http://tinyurl.com/677kbx9.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From The Chicago Manual of Style website Q & A this month:
Q. If “e-mail” is spelled with the hyphen, should “voicemail” also be
hyphenated? I’ve seen it as voice mail, voice-mail and voicemail. Which
is correct? If it is not hyphenated, why is it treated differently from
e-mail?
A. Why, why, why. Thank goodness there are rarely sensible reasons for
these stylings, and people still need a style manual. Chicago uses
Webster’s 11th Collegiate Dictionary to arbitrate spelling; thus we
write “e-mail” and “voice mail.” Get yourself a dictionary, and you too
can stop asking why.
For more CMOS Q & A, see
http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/CMS_FAQ/new/new_questions01.html.
Chicago Manual of Style
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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. Spiral binder lies flat for easy use. You can also 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.
To save thousands of dollars by editing your own book, order Purge Your
Prose of Problems today at http://tinyurl.com/4ptjnr.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Words Writers Should Know
Pleonasm
Pronunciation: (PLEE-uh-naz-uhm)
Meaning: noun: The use of more words than those necessary to express an
idea; redundancy Example: free gift
Pleonasm is often used for emphasis, as in free gift, true fact, or
revert back. While such repetition is discouraged, sometimes it becomes
part of the language and is used idiomatically, as in a hot water
heater.
Usage:
"Why some people walk around with a little dark cloud over their heads
all the time, while others ceaselessly view the world through
rose-colored glasses, to use a tired cliche ('tired cliche' is also a
cliche, as well as a pleonasm, but what the heck)."
Otto Penzler; What a Wonderful Year!; The New York Sun; Dec. 28, 2005.
Today’s word comes from one of my favorite sources, A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg of www.wordsmith.org.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Scribblers’ Retreat Writers’ Conference
St. Simon’s Island, Georgia
Ten Speakers at each conference; below is a sampling:
MAY 12-14
Phillip Margolin is a major New York Times bestselling author.
Dr. Anya Silver is an inspiring award-winning poet.
June Hall McCash is Jekyll Island’s beloved historical fiction author.
AUGUST 11-13
Bert Roughton, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Managing Editor
Susan Percy is the editor of Georgia Trend magazine.
Krista Reese has covered the dining scene for Atlanta magazine, and now
is dining editor for Georgia Trend.
NOVEMBER 10-12
Laura Day, New York Times bestselling author of “Practical Intuition”
Dr. James Fleming, Prof. of Science, Technology, and Society at Colby
College
Terri Garey is a whimsical and witty paranormal romance writer.
Conferences include Meet & Greet Party and Evening with the Author
cocktail reception with live music.
www.scribblersretreatwritersconference.org
Venues: King and Prince Beach & Golf Resort for our May Conference.
The Lodge, a Sea Island Resort on St. Simons Island, is our venue for
our August and November Conferences. www.seaisland.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
Paperback: $14.95 plus $4.99 S & H (total: $19.94 US) E-book: $8.95, no
S & H, with almost instant delivery. You’ll save almost $10 by buying
the e-book! To order either, go to http://tinyurl.com/lexp7n.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From Wooden Horse Magazine News
JW Marriott, the luxury brand of Marriott International, is partnering
with Phoenix, AZ-based McMurry to develop an exclusive in-room magazine
for guests. The yet-to-be-named publication will be distributed at the
upscale hotels both in the United States and internationally. Content
will focus on travel, arts and culture, unique cuisine, and wellness.
The first issue will be in rooms this summer. Contact the publisher,
Tracie McLaughlin, tracie.mclaughlin@mcmurry.com for information.
Custom publisher McMurry also produces the RITZ-CARLTON Magazine, also
an in-room publication for another Marriott property.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Don’t pay $176 for this book!
New copies of Write In Style, Bobbie’s Award-Winning Textbook on
Creative Writing, are selling for as much as $167 on Amazon.com. Don’t
believe me? See http://tinyurl.com/4hc2bxu. Like-new used copies are
selling for as much as $138. Don’t pay those prices! For a very limited
time, you can still buy this book, brand new, at the original cover
price of $12.95 plus shipping, and I’ll even sign it for you. To order,
to go http://zebraeditor.com/book_write_in_style.shtml.
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 and Best in Division (Georgia Author of the Year Awards).
Available at http://zebraeditor.com/book_write_in_style.shtml. Hurry!
Supplies of new books are dwindling quickly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Northwest Georgia Valley Writers Conference
May 6 & 7 at the Harris Arts Center in Calhoun, Georgia
Only $50 for four workshops, two panel discussions, and more.
For more information or to register, call the Harris Arts Center at
706-629-2599 or visit www.harrisartscenter.com and click on
Programs/Literary Guild.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Keep up with Bobbie’s activities on Twitter:
http:twitter.com/BookDoctor4u
Become Bobbie’s friend on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/bobbie.christmas
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Five: Contests, Agents, and Markets
Echelon Press Seeks Book Submissions for Electronic Publication
Echelon is seeking to fill publication slots for its 2011 production
schedule. General submissions are for electronic publication only. All
queries must include a full marketing strategy. This report must be
sent as an attachment. Queries that do not include a marketing strategy
will be deleted without consideration.
Echelon Press: The main division of Echeon Press LLC, committed to
offering readers the most entertaining reader experience we can. We are
accepting queries in the following genres and lengths. E-books only.
Send submissions to echelonpress@gmail.com. The acquiring editor for
Echelon Press is Sean Hayden.
Genres:
Romance (no erotica)
Mystery (cozy, hard-boiled, police procedural, noir)
Thriller
Western
Inspirational
Women’s Fiction
Historical
See http://www.echelonpress.com/ for complete submissions details,
because submissions that don’t follow guidelines will not be
considered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aesthetica Creative Works Competition
Aesthetica Magazine is inviting all artists, photographers, writers and
poets to submit their work into the Creative Works Competition. Now in
its fourth year, the competition is dedicated to celebrating and
championing creative talent across the disciplines and welcomes entries
from poets and writers working in short fiction.
The Competition has three categories, Artwork & Photography, Poetry and
Fiction. Winners and finalists are published in the Aesthetica Creative
Works Annual. Winners of each category receive £500 prize money (apx.
$800) plus other prizes. Entry to the Creative Works Competition is £10
(apx. $15). The entry fee allows the submission of 2 images, 2 poems or
2 short stories. The deadline for submissions is August 31, 2011. More
guidelines on how to submit can be found online at
http://www.aestheticamagazine.com/submission_guide.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Agent Holding Historical Fiction Pitch Contest
Irene Goodman Literary Agency
27 West 24th Street
Suite 700B
New York, New York 10010
GoodmanPitchContest@gmail.com
I am looking for brilliant new historical fiction and am holding a
pitch contest to find those hidden pearls.
Here's how it will work:
1. The event will start with pitches only. Please submit your pitch in
the body of an e-mail to GoodmanPitchContest@gmail.com. If you have a
question, send it to this e-mail address, as well. Your pitch should
consist of no more than three to four single-spaced paragraphs. It
should include a brief plot description, the major characters, the time
period, and setting. The final word count of the novel should be
indicated.
The cutoff date for pitch submissions is July 1, 2011. If you want to
submit after that, you must go through the regular channels of this
agency. You will hear from me if I am interested. If you don’t hear
anything by August 1, 2011, it means that your pitch wasn’t right for
me. I will personally read all pitches. I reserve the right not to read
anything that is not submitted in the specified manner.
For rules two through six (important that your read them—the agent
wants only certain settings and only edited manuscripts, for example),
see http://www.irenegoodman.com/historical_fiction_contest.php.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Beach Book Festival Competition Seeks Hot Summer Reads
www.beachbookfestival.com
The 2011 Beach Book Festival has issued a call for entries for its
annual program spotlighting the hottest reads of the upcoming summer
season. The Beach Book Festival will consider self-published or
independent publisher nonfiction, fiction, biography/autobiography,
children's books, teenage, how-to, science fiction, romance, comics,
poetry, spiritual, compilations/anthologies, history, business and
health-oriented books published on or after Jan. 1, 2007.
Our grand prize for the 2011 Beach Book Festival is $1500 cash and a
flight to New York for our awards program. The winning work will also
receive a two-week public relations campaign touting your beach-read
victory.
Entry forms are available at www.beachbookfestival.com. Entry fee: $50
per submission. Submissions must be postmarked by May 25. See
http://www.beachbookfestival.com/ for full guidelines.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do You Have a Bullying Story?
Bullying is exploding around the world. In fact, bullying has gone mad.
Our new book will help parents, victims, and bullies.
Tell us your story if you
• have children who are being bullied
• have children who are bullies
• have been bullied, or
• have been a bully
tell us your story.
Tell us your story if you
• made your children apologize for bullying
• were a bystander and did something to stop bullying, or
• were a bystander and did nothing
tell us your story.
If you were a bully or you were bullied, how has it affected your life?
Let us know in a summary of one hundred words or fewer. Don’t worry
about grammar, punctuation, and all that boring stuff. We can fix that.
E-mail it to us at info@seashell.com.au.
We will reply to every email we receive. If we need more detail, we
will let you know.Should we include your story, Julie or I will speak
with you personally. Andrew Matthews’s books are published in
thirty-seven languages, and he is a regular speaker at corporate
conventions worldwide.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Young Writers Contest for Writers 18 and Under
Winners get books published
Entry deadline and manuscript submission: May 31, 2011
Finalists announced: July 1, 2011
First Place Prize Winners announced: August 10, 2011
The Young Writers Contest seeks to encourage young people to express
themselves and their thoughts through writing and literacy skills. The
contest encourages entrants, age 18 and under, to consider the ability
to become a published author at any age, and to learn about the process
of self-publishing their work. Winners will be selected based on
originality, creativity and writing skill.
First place winners in the Young Writers Contest will have their
manuscript published by BookLogix Publishing Services, Inc. Publishing
of the winning manuscript includes: layout of inside pages, soft cover
design, online distribution through BookLogix via Amazon.com with
quarterly royalty payments, 50 printed copies, eBook conversion, and
eBook distribution through BookLogix via Amazon.com, Apple iTunes, and
BarnesandNoble.com with quarterly royalty payments. (Estimated prize
value $5,000.)
Nine finalists (3 per category) will be selected from among the contest
entrants.
Three first place winners (1 per category) will then be selected from
among the finalists.
By entering you are giving your consent for BookLogix Publishing
Services to publish your manuscript if you are selected as a first
place winner.
See http://www.booklogix.com/Young_Writers_Contest.html for complete
information.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Six: Creative Writing Assignment – Break out of the Box
What do you usually write, fiction or nonfiction? Both types of
writing—storytelling and fact-telling—have many categories. In fiction,
those categories are called genres, and they include crime, horror,
mystery, science fiction, suspense, fantasy, and romance. Each genre
has many subgenres, as well, so the types of novels seem endless. In
nonfiction, we have categories such as autobiography, memoir,
biography, how-to, cookbook, reference, and so forth.
For this creative assignment, look at the types of things you have
already written and choose a genre, subgenre, or category you’ve never
tried. If you normally write paranormal romance, try your hand at a
mystery or a memoir. If you usually write cookbooks, try writing a
science fiction short story or perhaps a biography.
Whenever we step out of our comfort zone, we risk failure, but unless
we try new things, we’ll never know the full range of our passions and
capabilities. As writers we must always be willing to learn, grow,
expand, and try new things. We should also have fun and enjoy the
learning process that goes along with breaking out of the box.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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.
…………………………………………………………………………….
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 “Free Newsletter.”
…………………………………………………………………………….
To view past issues of The Writers Network News, go to
http://tinyurl.com/c4otf6.
…………………………………………………………………………….
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!”
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++