The Writers Network News, April 2018 issue
The Writers Network News, April 2018
In This Issue
One: From the Editor's Desk: Glaring Errors
Two: Ask the Book Doctor— Book Doctors, Book Coaches, Reality in Fiction, and Supporting Ourselves
Three: Subjects of Interest to Writers
Four: Contests, Agents, and Markets
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The Writers Network News
No Rules; Just Write!
Editor: Bobbie Christmas
Contents copyright 2018, Bobbie Christmas
No portion of this newsletter can be used without permission; however, you may forward the newsletter in its entirety to people in your network.
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http://zebraeditor.com/
Follow my Write In Style creative-writing blog at http://bobbiechristmas.blogspot.com/
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Meet Fellow Writers
Do you live in or visit metro Atlanta? Sign up for notices of local (but sporadic) meetings today! Send your name and email address to Bobbie@zebraeditor.com.
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CHANGING YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS?
If your address changes, you must sign up again with your new address. We cannot change your address for you, because of our double-opt-in, no-spam policy. Go to www.zebraeditor.com, click on the yellow box, and sign up with your new address.
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Some links in this newsletter are shortened with help from www.tinyurl.com, a free service that converts long links to short ones.
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Writer's Quote of the Month
“I love being a writer. What I hate is the paperwork.”
--Peter De Vries
Peter De Vries was an American editor and novelist known for his satiric wit. He has been described by the philosopher Daniel Dennett as "probably the funniest writer on religion ever". --Wikipedia
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One: From the editor's desk: Glaring Errors
Dear Fellow Writers:
I can’t believe it myself, but it proves even editors need editors. I worked diligently on the sixth and latest edition of my book titled PURGE YOUR PROSE OF PROBLEMS for weeks. The book helps writers edit their own work by listing and explaining common manuscript errors as well as what I call “missed opportunities for improvement.” I added new entries, updated older entries, tightened some of the writing, updated references to technology that has changed over the years, and included the latest important changes in Chicago style. After hard work I finally sent the book to the printer, who offered me a printed proof. I received the proof and flipped through almost every page, especially interested in avoiding design flaws, certain that the editing was as good as it could be (given that I’m human). I made a few changes and sent it back to the printer, ready to go to press. The printer asked if I wanted another proof. I didn’t think I needed one, but it would not charge for an electronic proof, so I said to go ahead and email it.
It arrived, and I opened it to page one. Page one—the title page—the opening page in the whole book—and discovered that part of the title of the book was missing. It said PROSE OF PROBLEMS instead of PURGE YOUR PROSE OF PROBLEMS. This edition is the sixth one of my book doctor’s desk reference book. I don’t have any of the older editions; they have all sold out, so now I wonder if all the prior editions had the same glaring (but missed) oversight on the title page. Thank goodness I caught it before the sixth edition went to press.
How can we miss things that should be so obvious? It’s the old saw, “Writers are too close to their work to see their own mistakes.” We know what we meant to say, and we think we said it. Only someone else (preferably a professional editor) can see the errors in our work. That’s why editors get paid the big bucks, folks, and they are worth their weight in gold if they save us from embarrassment, add to the marketability of our book, and add to the value for our readers.
The sixth edition of PURGE YOUR PROSE OF PROBLEMS is finally off the presses and ready to ship. I can take a deep sigh of relief that I caught the most glaring error possible before the book went to press.
Have you missed any glaring errors in your own work? Tell me about it. Make me feel better!
Yours in writing,
Bobbie Christmas Bobbie@zebraeditor.com or bzebra@aol.com
Author of two editions of WRITE IN STYLE, owner of Zebra Communications, director of The Writers Network, and coordinator of the Florida Writers Association Editors Helping Writers service
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
Book Doctors, Book Coaches, Reality in Fiction, and Supporting Ourselves
By Bobbie Christmas
Q: What's the difference between book doctors and book coaches?
A: In a nutshell, book coaches work on you, whereas book doctors work on your manuscript.
Coaches encourage you, guide you, give you deadlines, and check on your progress with your book. Coaches may also edit as you go along, depending on the services the coach offers, but not all coaches are editors—or good editors.
Book doctors takes what you think is a final draft of your manuscript and examine it for technical flaws, gaps in the information or plot, lack of creative style, and any other errors that might keep it from being marketable. Depending on the services the book doctor offers, he or she might also line edit for errors in grammar, punctuation, syntax, and noncompliance with Chicago Style. Based on feedback from the book doctor, writers can then create a true final draft ready to be sent to potential agents, publishers, or printers.
Book coaches make sure you write your book, good or bad. Book doctors make sure the book is the best you can make it.
Q: How accurate do fictive details have to be? Must the time lines, street names, and names of famous people all be accurate, even if the story is made up?
A: Fiction writers have the key to their own worlds and can create their own cities and street names. They may even create famous people who never lived. If, however, they choose a setting that is real, the street names are best if kept accurate, to enhance the story. Read Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code or Grisham's The Broker, to see how real their settings are in Paris and Italy. A new industry has grown up around certain books, in fact. When I was in Paris, I learned of tours that focused on tourist spots mentioned in The Da Vinci Code. The same is true of Savannah, which has tours to the places mentioned in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Yes, that book is nonfiction, but the movie added Hollywood twists that weren’t real.
Even when writing fiction, though, the basic facts must be accurate. For example be sure that weapons used in your novel were available in the era in which your novel is set. Double-check the spelling of any brand name you use. Be sure animals act in normal ways for their species, unless you are writing children’s books, science fiction, or horror. When the author inserts popular song titles or real news from the period of the novel, readers feel more ensconced in the era as well.
Research and accuracy is essential, no matter what you write. If your facts are accurate, people learn something from your novel, too, which is a bonus. I learned a great deal from reading novels by John D. McDonald, James Michener, and Lawrence Sanders, for example. I also edited a fascinating novel that involved deep-sea divers, and by the time I finished, I felt as though I had been underwater myself. What a grand experience!
Q: How do we support ourselves while we're writing our books?
A: If you're writing nonfiction, you can write a proposal instead of the whole book, and if you're lucky, sell the book based on the proposal and live on the advance while writing the book. My advance paid for only a month's expenses, though, so I continued to edit books and write articles to maintain my income while I wrote my book at night and on weekends.
Writing and selling magazine articles is a great way to work on your own time, but you need to know how to write an article and how to find the work, and writing articles can be a full-time job in itself.
At one local meeting of The Writers Network I posed your question about how to support ourselves while we write our books. The consensus was that most of us kept our day jobs, whatever they were, and wrote our books at night and on weekends.
In reality most of us writers don’t make enough money off our books once they are published, anyway, so we’d better have another solid source of income, no matter what.
Bobbie Christmas, book editor, author of Write In Style: Use Your Computer to Improve Your Writing, 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.
For much more information on these subjects and hundreds of others of vital importance to writers, order PURGE YOUR PROSE OF PROBLEMS, a Book Doctor’s Desk Reference Book at http://tinyurl.com/4ptjnr.
Bobbie Christmas’s award-winning second edition of WRITE IN STYLE: How to Use Your Computer to Improve Your Writing is available at http://tinyurl.com/pnq5y5s.
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Three: Subjects of interest to writers
MEMBERS WRITE…
Last month’s newsletter included information about Olympian Maribel Vinson, who was also the first female sportswriter at The New York Times. Vinson was a bronze medalist behind the gold medalist Sonja Henie.
Lawrence Yester responded: “I have skated at Sonja Henie's ice rink in Westwood California and even have seen her skate there, where once in a while they cleared the ice for her to skate.”
Wow!
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Pat Gresham, who wanted to put her reference book on a CD, sent this information:
In case another newbie like me comes along wanting to publish on a CD, I found a wonderful, very inexpensive CD manufacturer, www.kunaki.com. It took me three tries to get the CD and the jewel case paper the way I wanted. There is a learning curve with the free software they offer. They give one free CD and then charge about $5.50, including shipping, for additional single copies. I ordered two more before I got things right, but they caught my mishap and only the free one is incorrect. The other two are great. They offer a free sales page and will also link to your sales page or a third-party sales page and drop ship directly to the customer for you, if you want. They did a great job on the artwork. I am beaming from ear to ear to see my collection in real time.
Thanks for being there to tell things to. This is quite an experience for me, as I guess it is for all new authors.
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Mary Ellen Gavin wrote, “Thank you for allowing me the joy of not using a comma before the word “too.” I had secretly dropped that comma a few years back and no one complained. Still, I shivered when I skipped over it.”
Thank you, Mary Ellen, but it was the University of Chicago Press who made the change in its 17th edition of THE CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE. You were a pacesetter!
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MORE MANUSLIPS
In my Manuslips file I keep a list of errors I find that either tickle my fancy or prove a point about clear writing. I use quite a few manuslips in WRITE IN STYLE too. Read the example below a few times and determine if you saw any errors and then read my explanation.
“Things sometimes befall us against our will, causing loss and sufferage.”
Okay, did you notice the word “sufferage?” Well, it is not a word. The closest word would be suffrage, which means voting. The intended word was “suffering,” and this incorrect word caused me much suffering indeed.
Have you ever found any errors in your own work? If so, share them with me by email. If I use them I won’t use your name, should you wish to remain anonymous.
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MORE CHANGES TO CHICAGO STYLE
In prior issues of The Writers Network News I’ve explained some of the changes in the newest edition of THE CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE.
Here is one more thing that differs from earlier versions of the book that sets the standard for the book publishing industry:
Telephone Numbers
Either format is acceptable for telephone numbers in narrative: 1-222-433-1234 or 1 (222) 404-1234. The country code is not vital in most cases, but the area code may be, because many areas require that all ten numbers be dialed. Unacceptable: 1.222. 433.1234.
Remember, however, that numerals used in dialogue are spelled out. To avoid an awkward and long piece of dialogue, then, don’t add phone numbers to dialogue, because characters might be saying things like this: “I dialed two two two four three three one two three four, but no one answered.”
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WORLD BOOK DAY
World Book Day, or World Book and Copyright Day (also known as International Day of the Book or World Book Days), is a yearly event on April 23. Organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Book Day promotes reading, publishing and copyright. World Book Day was celebrated for the first time on April 23, 1995.
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FINALLY AVAILABLE: SAVE THOUSANDS ON EDITING
The latest edition of PURGE YOUR PROSE OF PROBLEMS—the sixth edition—is hot off the press. It has been expanded and updated to include the most important changes in the latest edition of THE CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE. It answers all the vital questions you may have as you work through the editing phase of your manuscript.
Where do the commas belong? (page 59)
What’s the difference between “which” and “that?” (page 174)
Why do publishers dislike the word “realized?” (page 127)
How do good writers create believable characters? (page 53)
What is a dangling modifier, how can you recognize it, and how can you repair it? (page 66)
What is better, “towards,” or “toward?” (page 180)
What’s the difference between “assure,” “insure,” and “ensure?” (page 40)
Why and how strong writers avoid all forms of the verb “to be?” (page 185)
When should you write out a number, and when should you use the numeral? (page 128)
How and when should you use abbreviations? (page 28)
When is x-ray capitalized, and when should it be lowercased? (page 193)
Which is correct, T-shirt, tee shirt, or t-shirt? (page 171)
PURGE YOUR PROSE OF PROBLEMS answers these and more than 700 other questions, all vital to writers who want to edit their own books.
Editing is costly because editors must charge for their time and expertise. What if an editor put all her time and expertise into a book that allowed you to edit your own book? You could save thousands of dollars using such a book. PURGE YOUR PROSE OF PROBLEMS, A Book Doctor's Desk Reference, is that book. It’s even the resource that many book editors use.
SAVE FIVE DOLLARS BY ORDERING TODAY!
Order the sixth edition of PURGE YOUR PROSE OF PROBLEMS today at fifth-edition prices by clicking here: http://tinyurl.com/4ptjnr. The information will say you are ordering the fifth edition, but you will receive the sixth edition, not the fifth, and pay only $29.95 plus shipping and handling. TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS OFFER, YOU MUST ORDER BEFORE MARCH 31. After that date, the price will be $34.95 plus shipping and handling. Note: This offer good only on the print edition.
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BE A GUEST ON A RADIO SHOW
IN THE SPOTLIGHT is actively seeking authors and others in the publishing industry for its Internet podcast. Guests interview from home or office via Skype (a free download). Although IN THE SPOTLIGHT is a production of Crimson Cloak Publishing, you do not have to be a CCP author to be on the show. To be considered, go to Crimson Cloak Radio on Facebook or follow this link to fill out the form: https://www.facebook.com/Crimson-Cloak-Radio-2273020019591254/?notif_id=1520456734895437¬if_t=page_admin&ref=notif
If you’re not on Facebook, write to Cynthia@cynthiamacgregor.com.
The show is broadcast every Tuesday at 2 PM ET. To listen, go to crimsoncloakpublishing.com/crimson-cloak-radio.html.
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BOBBIE’S BLOGS
In my Write In Style blog, you’ll find tips on creative writing. For my latest blog on some of the Oscar nominees, see http://bobbiechristmas.blogspot.com/
Neurotica: Crazy Stories of Love, Lust, and Letting Go—If you like relationship stories, I’ve got a ton of them. Some are funny, some a little sexy, and all true. I reveal some of my stories at https://neuroticastories.blogspot.com.
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EDITOR’S PET PEEVES
Single Quotation Marks
Where did writers get the idea that it’s appropriate to use single quotation marks for emphasis, irony, or whatever? In America we use single quotation marks only when one piece of dialogue or quotation is quoting another. For example, “Mary said to Sam, ‘Get out before I throw you out.’” That’s it. Single quotation marks never stand on their own, for any reason whatsoever.
The Brits use single quotation marks and then double quotation marks, but in America, it’s double and then single. Period.
Wow! It felt good to get that pet peeve off my chest.
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BECOME MY FRIEND ON FACEBOOK
Follow my adventures, opinions, and observations: http://www.facebook.com/bobbie.christmas
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Get news, writing-related cartoons, immediate updates, and other good stuff for writers.
Like and follow Zebra Communications at http://tinyurl.com/7vcxaxu.
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CMOS ONLINE Q & A
Someone wrote to the Chicago Manual of Style Online to ask the following question:
When did Chicago Manual of Style first state that ending a sentence with a preposition is not wrong (section 5.180 in current CMOS)?
The answer may surprise you. To get the answer to this question and many more based on Chicago style, go to http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/latest.html.
THE CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE sets the standard in book publishing for issues such as punctuation, capitalization, whether to spell out numbers or use numerals, and much more. If you write books, you will want to know more about Chicago style or be sure to use a professional book editor intimately familiar with Chicago style. The seventeenth edition was just released, changing some old issues, so be sure your editor is familiar with the seventeenth edition of Chicago style, rather than an older version.
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WRITE IN STYLE: How to Use Your Computer to Improve Your Writing
My book on creative writing titled WRITE IN STYLE has won seven big awards. Copies are selling fast on Amazon, but please order it here, directly from the publisher: http://tinyurl.com/zeq6z5g. WRITE IN STYLE is not about grammar. It teaches writers how to find their fresh voice. If you want a book on grammar, order PURGE YOUR PROSE OF PROBLEMS, mentioned elsewhere in this newsletter.
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COMMA CONFUSED?
Member Arthur Doweyko wrote to ask me to identify the three most necessary instances of comma use in writing fiction (excluding attributions). He said, “I ask this because using commas correctly as phrase separators appears to be a bane for many writers, including me.”
I had to think about my answer awhile, because I could identify when to use commas, but which commas confuse writers the most was a harder question. I finally came up with the following three instances of comma use that many writers either don’t understand or simply forget about:
1. Use a comma with nonessential clauses and phrases. We will examine the following sentences:
She mimicked her husband, David, often.
The room, which had been painted, smelled of turpentine.
How do you determine if a word, clause, or phrase is essential or nonessential? Take it out and see if it still makes sense. In the first example, readers can assume that American marriages permit wives to have only one husband at a time, so someone who knows the couple would know that David was the one and only husband; therefore the name is nonessential and should be set off by commas. If, however, a couple has more than one daughter, and the writer wants to show which daughter specifically, then the name becomes essential and is not set off by commas, as in this example: Dora called her daughter Ellen for help.
Let’s look at the second sentence if it were written like this: The room that had been painted smelled of turpentine. In the recast the sentence now means that a specific room was painted, so the phrase “that was painted” is essential and should not be surrounded by commas. Note that “which” often indicates a nonessential clause, whereas “that” often indicates an essential one.
2. Use a comma after yes and no. Yes, I will be there.
3. Use a comma in direct address. Mother, I will be home late. No, sir, I did not take it.
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NEED TO GET AWAY TO WRITE? CONSIDER THIS OPTION
Writeaways
810 Lancaster St.
Durham NC 27701
writeawaysinfo@gmail.com
https://www.writeaways.com
Contact: Mimi Herman.
"We created Writeaways--writing getaways--to help you find the time you need to write. We provide writing instruction, fabulous food and company in beautiful places, and an inspiring place for you to take a writing vacation with your muse. We pamper you while providing rigorous, supportive assistance to help you become the best writer possible. We have week-long workshops in France and Italy, and weekend-plus-optional-retreat programs in North Carolina."
Editor's Note: For 2018, consider these dates: Writeaway by the River (NC): May 4-6 and Aug. 3-5, Retreat by the River (NC): May 6-9, Aug. 5-8, Italy (Villa Cini): Sept. 29-Oct. 6, France (Chateau du Pin): Oct. 8-15.
Accommodations: North Carolina: The Whitehall, Camden, North Carolina. Italy: Villa Cini, near Bucine, between Siena and Arezzo. France: Chateau du Pin, near Champtocé-sur Loire (28 miles west of Angers).
Costs: North Carolina workshop: $395 single room/bath, $345 shared bath. North Carolina retreat: $160/night, $145/night workshop participants. France and Italy: $2,350 single room, $2,100 shared rooms. The Grand Tour (France and Italy back to back): $4,200 each single room, $4,000 each shared room.
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FLORIDA WRITERS ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE
The FWA puts on one of the best and biggest conferences in the Southeast, and you can get a discount if you sign up early for the October conference near Orlando, Florida. I’ll be one of the many people giving helpful seminars. I hope to see you there. See
https://floridawriters.net/conferences/florida-writers-conference-2018/
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NEW BOOK IMPRINT
Publishers Weekly noted that Hay House has announced the creation of a new imprint, Hay House Business, a dedicated business imprint. Patricia Gift, publisher and v-p of Hay House, will oversee the imprint, which will release its first book in January 2019. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/industry-deals/article/76371-hay-house-launches-business-imprint.html
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Four: Contests, Agents, and Markets
MARGRET MCBRIDE LITERARY AGENCY
The Margret McBride Literary Agency has been in business for over 30 years and has successfully placed over 300 books with mainstream publishers such as Hachette/Hyperion, HarperCollins, Penguin/Random House, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan/McGraw Hill, John Wiley & Sons, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Workman and Thomas Nelson. We are always looking for new and interesting projects to get excited about.
Our agency welcomes the opportunity to review your book ideas, and encourages you to submit a query letter or book proposal to us via email (staff@mcbridelit.com). In the subject line, please include your name and the title of your work.
See https://mcbrideliterary.squarespace.com/submission-guidelines/ for full submissions information.
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INTERNATIONAL SELF-COUNSEL PRESS
International Self-Counsel Press Inc. is a business and legal books publisher. We pioneered do-it-yourself law books in the United States and Canada in 1971.
If you would like to write for us, please have a careful look over our backlist www.self-counsel.com to see if your proposed book might fit one of the categories in which we publish, and to make sure we haven′t already published the book you wish to propose. We do not publish fiction of any genre, nor do we publish adult books, books on mental health, psychology, religion, or the paranormal.
We are currently interested in:
Books for our Start & Run series
Books about personal and small business tax matters
Books about personal finance
Books about legal/business nonfiction topics that would appeal to Baby Boomers
Short books on topics related to those described above. These are books of 10,000 to 15,000 words, succinctly written, dealing clearly with a single topic.
For full submissions guidelines see http://www.self-counsel.com/news/write-for-us-scp/.
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MSI PRESS
1760 Airline Hwy., F-203
Hollister, CA 95023
"We are a small boutique press that specializes in award-winning quality publications, refined through strong personal interactions and productive working relationships between our editors and our authors. A small advance may be offered to previously published authors with a strong book, strong platform, and solid sales numbers. We will accept first-time authors with credibility in their fields and a strong platform, but we do not offer advances to first-time authors. We may refer authors with a good book but little credibility or lacking a strong platform to San Juan Books, our hybrid publishing venture."
See full submission information here: https://msipress.com/contact-us/
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WRITER’S DIGEST SELF-PUBLISHED BOOK AWARDS
While I’m not convinced the odds are very good for this competition, with only one grand prize, I am still passing along the information.
The Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards are open. Early-bird deadline April 2; entry deadline May 1. Entry fee $99 - $125, depending upon when you enter your book. One grand prize winner wins $8,000 in cash, a feature article in Writer’s Digest, and a paid trip to the WD conference. See WritersDigest.com/competitions for all details.
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Do YOU have news for The Writers Network News? Please send it in the body copy, not an attachment, to Bobbie@zebraeditor.com. Deadline: The 15th of each month.
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Send a copy of this newsletter to all your writing friends. Tell them to join The Writers Network F-R-E-E by visiting www.zebraeditor.com and clicking on Free Newsletter.
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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 enter a competition, pitch or accept an assignment, spend money, or sell your work.
To access past issues of The Writers Network News, click here: http://live.ezezine.com/feeds/ezine/886_2.
The Writers Network News: a newsletter for writers everywhere. No Rules; Just Write!
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