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Inklings Issue 2.23
================================================================
i n k l i n g s
Newsletter for Writers on the Net
Issue 2.23 Wed, Dec.11, 1996
================================================================
<http://www.inkspot.com/inklings/issues/ink0223.html>
SELLING TO THE WORLD: Double Your Income through Foreign Sales
by Michael Sedge
NET FOCUS: RANDY CASSINGHAM, author of "This Is True"
FRESH INK - resources for writers on the net
Market Information - Subscriber books
COLUMN TOPICS:
SUSAN GRAHAM: Will agents only represent novels?
CAROL HENSON: Do new writers have a chance?
MICHELLE SAGARA: Where do you get your ideas?
Congratulations to Steven Edwards (steve-edwards@mindspring.com)
for being the 6000th subscriber to Inklings! Check out Steven's
webpage at http://www.mindspring.com/~steve-edwards/ which
includes samples of his writing, a bio (he used to be an air
circus performer!), and a great picture of Elvis. :-) Steven will
choose a writing-related book as his prize.
Thanks to Reid Goldsborough for mentioning Inklings in his
MSNBC article, "Messaging The Masses With E-Zines". You can
see the article at: http://www.msnbc.com/news/45253.asp
Inklings is now available on both Compuserve and on AOL. In
AOL, check the Business Of Writing library in the Writers' Forum.
In Compuserve, issues can be found in the Markets library of
the Writers' Forum.
Note to those sending me info for Inkspot and Inklings: please
don't send attachments - include your information within the body
of your email message instead of in a separate file. If you send
me an attachment, I have to hunt for it on my hard drive (I tend
to get a lot of attachments these days) then open it in a
separate application, which is time-consuming. As a result, I
tend not to read unsolicited attachments.
Thanks to those who have sent in their surveys. *Please* show
your support for Inklings by completing the annual Reader
Survey at:
http://www.inkspot.com/~ohi/ink/survey1996.html
The next issue of Inklings will be delivered Wed. Jan. 8, 1997.
* S E A S O N ' S
.#.
.###. G R E E T I N G S,
.#%##%.
.%##%###. E V E R Y O N E !
.##%###%##.
.#%###%##%##.
# From Debbie, who still hasn't started
# her Christmas shopping =:-O
This issue sponsored in part by:
================================================================
* Mercury Mail * http://www.merc.com
We deliver personalized news, stocks, sports scores and weather
updates directly to your e-mail. Every day. Absolutely FREE.
Visit http://www.merc.com or e-mail signup7@merc.com
================================================================
* Samurai Consulting * http://www.samurai.com
Services include internet consulting, WWW page design, electronic
newsletters, mailing lists, FTP sites, system maintenance,
training. Email: Bryan Fullerton <bryanf@samurai.com>
================================================================
ISSN 1205-6413. Copyright 1996 Debbie Ridpath Ohi. See end of
issue for more copyright details, and info on how to subscribe
and unsubscribe. Send questions and comments to
editor@inklings.com. For information on how you can become an
Inklings sponsor, send e-mail to editor@inklings.com with "rate
card" in the subject header.
================================================================
FRESH INK
=========
New Inklings column: ASK THE JOURNALIST
---------------------------------------
Bob Sablatura is an investigative reporter for the Houston
Chronicle. He is also director of The Reporters Network
(http://www.reporters.net/), a media directory and resource for
journalists, editors, producers, and freelance writers. Send
questions to bob.sablatura@reporters.net with "inklings question"
in the subject header. Bob Sablatura will reply to selected
questions in future issues of Inklings.
Mary Soon Lee's Mailbox Blues
-----------------------------
Mail anxieties of an sf/fantasy writer. See bottom of page for
useful writing-related links.
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~mslee/mb.html
Screenwriters/Playwright's Home Page
------------------------------------
The best resource for screenwriters and playwrights on the web,
IMHO. Maintained by Charles Deemer.
http://www.teleport.com/~cdeemer/scrwriter.html
Writer's Hotspot of the Week
----------------------------
Site also contains "Ask The Agent Online".
http://GrahamLiteraryAgency.com/hotspot.shtml
Internet Writing Workshop
-------------------------
Open to new and published writers, all styles and genres. Free.
Members submit works to be critiqued by other members.
http://members.aol.com/writewkshp/index.html
Hotbot
------
Hotbot is my new "search engine" favourite. Simple design,
powerful search capabilities without overwhelming you with
options.
http://www.hotbot.com
The Craft Of Superhero Telling
------------------------------
Focuses on the "serialized superhero prose" used in the Mythic
Heroes publications (see Market Info section for guidelines), but
some of these tips can be applied to other genres.
http://www.channel1.com/users/fishbone/tips.html
The Writer's Page
-----------------
Free weekly electronic newsletter for writers. Published by
Kathryn Toyer, author of LEARN INTERNET RELAY CHAT. "The focus of
the newsletter is to give writers as much positive feedback and
encouragement as possible as well as to give them assistance in
their writing by including information on useful sites, paying
markets and also interviews with published authors they can meet
online." To subscribe, send email to
WritersPage-request@niestu.com and type "subscribe" in the
subject line. More info from tokat@flash.net.
Internet For Writers
--------------------
New course offered by Charles Deemer. Sponsored by Writers on
the Net. Fee $50.
More Info: http://www.teleport.com/~cdeemer/syl5-home.html
Writers on the Net: http://www.writers.com
Hewlett-Packard/ACM97 Writing Contest
-------------------------------------
HP/ACM Science Fiction Contest, 1501 Page Mill Road - MS6U-A, PO
Box 10151, Palo Alto CA 94303-0889. Held in conjunction with ACM
97, a computer conference. Open to anyone except HP employees and
professional SF writers. 1st prize: HP notebook computer. 2nd &
3rd prize: HP palmtop computers. Max 10,000 words on "the next
fifty years of computing" (see website for full details, or send
SASE to snailmail address above). Deadline: January 2, 1997.
http://fog.hpl.external.hp.com:80/acm97/scifi/index.html
Updates
=======
Amy McBay reports that her FREELANCE WRITER'S GROUP (previously
announced in Inklings) is no longer in operation. Lisa Jean
Bothell reports that HELIOCENTRIC NET/STIGMATA is closed (the
anthology is filled up, and there is no 1998 anthology).
================================================================
MARKET INFORMATION
==================
Please note: Inklings does its best to print only accurate market
info. However, it cannot be held responsible for lost postage,
time, etc. that you may incur due to inaccuracies. Do not send
submissions by email before inquiring first. You should get
current, detailed guidelines before submitting. Include SASE for
snailmail replies. More market info at:
http://www.inkspot.com/~ohi/inkspot/marketinfo.html.
SPECIAL THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING MARKET SOURCES:
SCAVENGER'S NEWSLETTER
Monthly market info letter for sf/f/h/m writers &
artists.
More info at:
http://users.aol.com/Lemarchand/scavenger.html
THE GILA QUEEN'S GUIDE TO MARKETS
POB 97, Newton, NJ 07860-0097 Email:K.Ptacek@genie.com
http://www.teleport.com/~alecwest/gila.htm
CHILDREN'S WRITERS MARKET LIST
Available by e-mail or snailmail. Email
mshauers@midusa.net.
==-----------------------------------------------------==
"FNASR" = First North American Serial Rights, "SASE" =
self-addressed, stamped envelope, "simsubs" = simultaneous
submissions, "mss" = manuscript, "RT" = response time, "GL" =
guidelines, "wds" = words.
PAYING MARKETS:
Shadow Sword Presents: The Heroines Of Fantasy #5
-------------------------------------------------
Glenda Woodrum, Editor, 1085 NE 179th Terrace, North Miami Beach,
FL 33162-1256. Heroic fantasy/sword & sorcery/high fantasy.
Annual (these GL are for 1998 edition). Full-sized. One-time
rights. Fiction up to 10,000 wds. Query for works over 8,000 wds.
Nonfiction. For fiction/nonfiction pays 50 cents per text page
before illos + 1 contributor's copy. Poetry, pays $1/poem.
Reading period: Jan.1/97-Dec.1/97. (As this title fills rapidly,
it's wise to send your submission early in the year). Adult
publication specializing in stories, articles, & artwork by and
for fantasy enthusiasts. No firearms, no modern or real world
settings, no computers or technology. "Remember, the basis for
the genres I publish is that the worlds are ones where magic,
not machinery, is the technology of the world." Seeking stories
with an action/adventure basis only. "I want to see sword
fights, magic and conflict." (Source: Scavenger's Newsletter,
Dec/96).
A Splash Of Crimson
-------------------
Amy Grech, 125 Greenpoint Ave., Apt 4-D, Brooklyn, NY 11222 or
Tasha Young, 25 Peppermill Ct., College Park, GA 30349.
Originals and reprints. FNASR. Fiction 250-10,000 wds. Pays
3-5c/wd on publication. "We are looking for elegant,
understated dark fantasy and horror stories for this anthology
that will stir our blood, speed our heart and chill our souls...
outright gore won't cut it. Neither will gratuitous sex or
violence." No email submissions.
Faces
-----
7 School Street, Peterborough, NH 03458: Denise Babcock, Managing
Editor. This secular publication for 8 to 14 year olds uses
fiction 500-1000 words, nonfiction of 300-1000 words. They like
folk tales, legends, stories from around the world. Pay varies
from .20-.25 word. They have theme lists. (Source: Children's
Writer's Market List)
Strange Fiction
---------------
Michele Keener, c/o Strange Fiction, POB 1207, Ashland, NH
03217-1207. Bimonthly hardcopy literary magazine which accepts
unsolicited submissions in the genres of SF, Fantasy, Horror and
Speculative Fiction. Payment: Flat Rate - $10.00 per accepted
submission. Short stories 500 -- 10,000 words, may consider
serializing longer works. We have published works ranging from
500 to 10,000 words and may consider serializing longer works.
Responds in 3 months. Write to email below for full guidelines.
Reserves 1st US Serial Rights. Considering anthology at later
date. Subscription rates : $15.00 for one year (6 issues) NO
EMAIL SUBMISSIONS. All submissions should be double spaced with
the author's name, phone number address and Email address (where
appropriate) appearing on the first page. (verified Dec.9)
Email: m_keener@oz.plymouth.edu (queries only)
Tropi-Ties
----------
Tropical travel ezine and online catalog. Seeks articles. Travel,
food, gardening sections. Focus on exotic destinations, sensual
gardens, tropical foods. "Articles must be informative and have a
sense of adventure to them and must be fairly short (1500-2500
words.) Good pictures are a must!" Pays $50/article.
Email: C. Alpers, tropitie@silcom.com
URL: http://www.silcom.com/~tropitie/
Family Values
-------------
Carlene Smart, Editor. Family Values, P.O.Box 34, Lee, ME 04455.
Family publication. March Issue theme: "Spring Fever", need
material on remarriage, adoption, only children, homeschooling,
pets, computers. June issue deadline: Feb.28 - features unique
family vacations, child care on vacation, when traveling solo
(without the children), Empty Nest Syndrome. Articles can run
750-1,000 words. "We need column writers - these will rotate each
issue unless we find one person that really seems to have several
good ideas to develop." Columns are 500-750 words. $10/column
each on acceptance, $10/article for 750 wds, $15 for 1,000 wds.
Buys one-time, FNASR. For full guidelines, send request to
address below. (info verified Dec.9)
Email: Carlene Smart - Carlene@agate.net
Byline magazine
---------------
PO Box 130596, Edmond, OK 73013-0001. FICTION: general short
fiction, mainstream, literary, or genre, 2,000-4,000 wds. $100 on
acceptance. FEATURES: Instructional or motivational articles
useful to writers, especially how-to-write or how-to-sell to
specific market areas. 1500-1800 wds, query or submit full mss.
$50 on acceptance. END PIECE: A strong, thoughtful, first-person
essay of 700-750 words, related to writing. May be humorous,
motivational or philosophical. Read several back issues as
examples. $35 on acceptance. DEPARTMENTS: read magazine for
examples. $20/first sale story, 300-400 wds.
$15-25/writing-related humour, 200-600 wds. $5-10/writing-related
poetry. See website for full guidelines. Receives 175-200 short
stories a month and buys four. Except for the short story,
everything else MUST have something to do with writing. Writers
warned not get specs for submitting to Byline confused with rules
for entering their contests. Be sure to send SASE...mss without
one are neither read nor considered. No email submissions or
queries. (info verified Dec.9)
GL: http://www.bylinemag.com/guide.htm
Renaissance Books
-----------------
James Robert Parish, Acquisitions Editor, 4338 Gentry Avenue #1,
Studio City, CA 91604-1764. Seeks book proposals. Los
Angeles-based mainstream trade publisher. "As a new member of the
RENAISSANCE BOOKS team,I would very much like to hear from
you-now or at any time in the future-if you have non-fiction book
projects (e.g., biographies, mass appeal pop culture, trivia,
coffee table pictorial, etc.) that would be suitable for
publication by RENAISSANCE BOOKS. Please keep in mind that
RENAISSANCE BOOKS is geared for reaching the broad-based consumer
marketplace and, as such, is not seeking library reference
books." Query first; do not send completed mss. (info rec'd
Dec.2)
E-mail: jrparish@pacificnet.net.
YES magazine: Canada's Science Magazine for Kids
------------------------------------------------
Shannon Hunt, Managing Editor, YES Mag, 4175 Francisco Place,
Victoria, B.C. V8N 6H1. A quarterly nonfiction children's science
magazine based in Vancouver, B.C. Started in April 1996;
published in partnership with YES (Youth Engineering and Science)
Camps of Canada. Accepts queries and manuscripts by e-mail. Query
before submitting. Each issue is themed; query must be
appropriate for theme. Payment $.10/word (Canadian). Departments:
"Earth Update" "Sci and Tech Watch" -- short current newsy
pieces. Upcoming themes: Minerals (deadline Feb.17), Weather
Phenomenon (May 12), Science of the North (Aug 4). (Info rec'd
Dec.3)
E-mail: <yesmag@islandnet.com>
Website: http://www.islandnet.com/~yesmag/
MARKET FOCUS: MYTHIC HEROES
===========================
Mythic Heroes is a monthly speculative pulp fiction magazine in
the heroic genre. Individual stories range from light
contemporary fantasy to alternate historical drama,
anime-inspired comedy to dark mystery, with everything imaginable
in between. It pays $15 per "episode" plus royalty if sales goal
met. A Mythic Heroes story arc is six episodes or less, each
episode about 3,000 words in length. Email submissions are
encouraged (required, in fact).
Greg Fishbone is Chief Editor of Mythic Heroes and has the
following tips for writers:
"The most important thing is craftsmanship -- all of the elements
that go into writing a successful story for any market apply to
us as well. That covers everything from putting commas in the
right places to designing a believable story world and developing
interesting and unique characters. The second most important
thing is to follow our submission guidelines, especially
regarding subject matter and format. Even though our magazine is
called "Mythic Heroes," we are not looking for stories about how
the Earth Goddess battled the Fire God and brought life to the
universe (yes, that was an actual submission)."
According to Greg, there are several things to keep in mind when
writing serialized superhero prose: allow for shades of grey
("Very few people in the real world are totally good or totally
evil -- the vast majority fall somewhere in between."), don't
make your hero too powerful, don't feature trademarked characters
like Superman, don't destroy the world/galaxy/universe just to be
cool, remember that heroes can exist anywhere ("Detroit in 1997
is a good setting for a superhero story. So is Boston in 1775.
Or Mars Colony Beta in 2116. We are looking for variety. There
are no limits, except for those in your imagination."), if you
use science/history/magic make it good science/history/magic, be
consistent with humor ("We like funny stories as well as serious
ones, but it's jarring to the reader if you jump from one extreme
to the other."), avoid cliches.
See complete guidelines at website below.
GL: http://www.channel1.com/users/fishbone/writers.html
Email: fishbone@user1.channel1.com
Main URL: http://www.channel1.com/users/fishbone/mythic.html
================================================================
SELLING TO THE WORLD: Double Your Income through Foreign Sales
----------------------------------------------------------------
by Michael Sedge
<pp10013@cybernet.it>
Like many writers, I began selling articles to local newspapers,
moved up to regional magazines, then made the giant step to
national publications. Unlike others, however, I did not stop
there. I expanded my sales even further by tapping foreign
markets, and so can you.
Today, more than eighty percent of my articles sell not only in
the United States, but also in Africa, Asia, and Europe. It is
not difficult to sell overseas. In fact, I would go so far as to
say it might be easier to place your work abroad than it is at
home.
A query letter is the best way to approach international
publications for the first time; it saves on expensive overseas
postage and often will bring a faster reply than an unsolicited
manuscript submission. Don't try to sell to foreign language
magazines. Initially, it is easier to concentrate your
international marketing efforts toward publications printed in
English. Australia, England, Ireland, New Zealand, and South
Africa all have English language periodicals, as does nearly
every country in the world. In Japan there is MINI-WORLD; in Hong
Kong, OFF DUTY; in Singapore SILVER KRIS; in Italy, GOING PLACES
DOING THINGS; in Sweden, SCANORAMA; in Germany, R&R; in Spain,
LOOKOUT.
Finding these markets is not as difficult as you might think.
Sheila O'Connor (2531 39th Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94116),
publishes "Worldwide Markets for Freelance Writers" in four
volumes, which can be very helpful for the newcomer to
international sales. Another place to begin is the "International
Writers' and Artists' Yearbook" published by A.C. Black in
London, and distributed to bookstores in America by Talman
Company. This annual lists more than 4,000 overseas markets.
Article rights are one of the first topics one should understand
when approaching international markets. In the United States, one
speaks of first North American serial rights, second and/or
reprint rights. When your work travels aboard, you include
language rights, geographical rights, and exclusive market
rights. Let's say, for example, that you have sold a story to
TRAVEL HOLIDAY (first North American serial rights). At the same
time, a German language magazine takes the article (exclusive
rights in the Germany language). Shortly thereafter, OFF DUTY in
Hong Kong wants it. Since they publish for the U.S. military
overseas, you offer exclusive military market rights abroad.
What you're doing is self-syndicating your article--chopping up
the pie and giving out small pieces. Using this system, you do
not overstep any markets and can sell a single article as many as
ten, twenty, or thirty times. I try, through multiple overseas
sales, to make at least $1,000 on each article I produce--and I
rarely fail.
Most editors abroad still prefer to get letters, rather than fax
or e-mail queries. Don't expect an immediate reply from
international markets. International mail, while getting faster
in recent years, still takes about 10 days to arrive and 10 days
to return. Then there is another week-to-fourteen-day wait for
the editor to read your proposal.
Working with foreign editors will cost you about double what
domestic marketing does because of higher postage rates and
telephone expense. At the same time, however, the return also can
be greater. The average payment for a foreign in-flight magazine
is $800 for a text-photo package. Women's magazines pay in the
range of $450 (without photos) and general interest, $250. Most
international publications will pay in a bank draft in U.S.
dollars, often drawn on a U.S. bank.
It is true that some agencies will handle your foreign market
sales. For their efforts, however, they often take fifty percent
of the profits. Personally, I like marketing--and money--too much
to give it away. When you work with an agency, you never create a
working relationship with an editor, never know where your
material is, almost never get assignments from editors that might
otherwise consider you for particular jobs, and delay payments as
much as six months to a year.
When I first began marketing my work aboard, I came up with a
system which also might help you. I decided to send one query a
week to a foreign editor, based on articles I had written and
sold in the United States. After sixty days, I had received three
replies (one sale), and had another five queries out. I continued
sending a query overseas each week.
Today, eighteen years later, I have nearly 150 queries and
manuscripts out to foreign markets. During the past three months,
I have had articles published in England, Germany, Italy, Spain,
South Africa, the Middle East, Singapore, Hong Kong, the
Philippines, and Japan. And these are in addition to the stories
I sold in North America.
It sounds great, and it is. Why not give it a try?
==-------------------------------------------==
For several years, Michael Sedge published the Markets Abroad
newsletter. He now lives in Italy where he not only freelances,
but is foreign correspondent for several publications. Mr. Sedge
welcomes comments via e-mail to pp10013@cybernet.it.
Copyright (c) 1996 Michael Sedge. All rights reserved.
================================================================
NET FOCUS: RANDY CASSINGHAM, AUTHOR OF "THIS IS TRUE"
----------------------------------------------------------------
by Debbie Ridpath Ohi
<editor@inklings.com>
THIS IS TRUE is a syndicated weekly newspaper column by Randy
Cassingham which reports on bizarre but true news items. It has
been publishing continuously since June '94 and is available in
print in four countries in three languages. THIS IS TRUE is also
available by email free-of-charge.
Randy quit his day job last July to focus on THIS IS TRUE. Now
the electronic version of the newsletter has about 154,000
subscribers and its sponsor income is steadily increasing.
I asked Randy if he had any advice for writers on the net:
"The net has been held out as a panacea for creators to bring
their work to an audience without having to invest in a lot of
expensive infrastructure (printing presses, etc.). I find that
bogus: you still have to have something people want to read or
see! The net DOES allow you to find people of similar interests,
and then reach them cheaply, so in that way it's a real benefit.
But even with something with a tremendously wide appeal, such as
humorous illustrations of human foibles, you still reach a
relatively small number of people. I mean, there are something
like six billion people on the planet, and "only" about 40
million of them have 'net access; of those 40 million, I "only"
reach about 154,000. So while I am gratified that I entertain a
lot of people, I don't have any illusions that I might be
changing the world.
The net, however, allows you to cheaply experiment -- do people
want to read this stuff? If it's successful on the 'net, then
perhaps you have some "proof" that it can be successful in print.
In a year or two, I hope, that won't really matter: if we get
some good payment mechanisms in place on the 'net, say charging
people a nickel or a dime to read an essay or column, you won't
NEED to sell the material to print publications in order to make
the money you need to live on. But we're not there yet, and I
don't really see a viable net payment mechanism in the very near
future.
So why do *I* do it? Because my net exposure brings me editors
willing to pay to run my stuff in their pages; so far, all of my
print sales except one came from editors finding me, not from me
doing sales work."
To subscribe to THIS IS TRUE, send email to listserv@netcom.com
with the message "subscribe this-is-true" (without the quotes).
Website: http://www.freecom.com/
Email: Randy Cassingham - arcie@netcom.com
================================================================
Ask The Experts
---------------
*** Please put "inklings question" in the subject header. ***
Judith Bowen (ROMANCE WRITER) jbowen@max-net.com
Susan Graham (AGENT) slgraham@atl.mindspring.com
Paula Guran (HORROR WRITER) DarkEcho@aol.com
Carol Henson (BOOK DOCTOR) UBKX12C@Prodigy.com
Ken Jenks (ELECTRONIC PUBLISHER) MindsEye@tale.com
Bob Sablatura (JOURNALIST) bob.sablatura@reporters.net
Michelle Sagara (SF/FANTASY WRITER) Michelle.Sagara@sff.net
Lee Wardlaw (CHILDREN'S BOOK WRITER) Katknip2@aol.com
Marcia Yudkin (FREELANCE WRITER) send to editor@inklings.com
Sharon Zukowski (MYSTERY/SPY WRITER) 76372.2252@CompuServe.COM
Columnists may be unable to reply privately to every message, but
will answer selected questions in future issues of Inklings.
================================================================
ASK THE AGENT
----------------------------------------------------------------
by Susan Graham
<slgraham@atl.mindspring.com>
Will agents only represent novels?
----------------------------------
Q: I have had several poems and stories published. I've been
considering approaching an agent. Is it true that agents would
rather have a novel or short story collection to place rather
than individual short fiction pieces?
A: Agents prefer to represent novels because of the amount of
money involved. It takes a lot of time and effort to market and
otherwise represent any work. If the agent gets, for example,
only $100 per year out of it (10% or 15% of the author's income),
it won't even pay the agent's marketing expenses.
If you want to make more money writing original fiction, thereby
working on a writing career as opposed to a writing hobby, I do
think you should focus on book-length works. Here are some
really great books that I regularly recommend:
"Getting The Words Right" by Theodore Cheney
"Beginnings, Middles & Ends" by Nancy Kress
"Theme & Strategy" by Ronald Tobias
"Characters & Viewpoint" by Orson Scott Card
"The Art of Fiction" by John Gardner
The other books in the little white hardcover Fiction Writing
Series are also quite good. I highly recommend getting the whole
set if you're serious about writing fiction. John Gardner's book
has some interesting points about word rhythms and psychic
distance in viewpoints that no other books have.
If you have more money than time, or can't seem to get the hang
of it by yourself, you can also look on my Editors Page for
referrals to some excellent independent editors.
http://GrahamLiteraryAgency.com/ataoedit.shtml
Good luck with it!
==-----------------------------------------------------==
Susan L. Graham owns Graham Literary Agency, Inc. She represents
genre fiction as well as commercial fiction and nonfiction. Her
unique Website (http://GrahamLiteraryAgency.com) helps to
promote her authors and the agency.
Copyright (c) 1996, Graham Literary Agency, Inc. All rights
reserved.
================================================================
ASK THE BOOK DOCTOR
----------------------------------------------------------------
by Carol Henson
<UBKX12C@Prodigy.com>
New writers and today's publishing climate
------------------------------------------
Do you think it's true that new writers don't have a chance in
today's publishing climate?
A:
Absolutely not! I hear this all the time, especially on internet
newsgroups and bulletin boards. It seems that a lot of new
writers think they can't get published because of some
"conspiracy" against them . The truth is that getting published
is an adventure in learning. A new writer has to be willing to
learn the craft of writing and hone that craft. They also have
to write something that a publisher is willing to INVEST in. I
can guarantee there isn't a publisher in the world that would let
the next best seller slip through his hands just because the
writer is new! Study the markets. REALLY study the markets, not
just say you've studied the markets. Learn how to write good
copy and get the manuscript out there. It can happen.
==-----------------------------------------------------==
Carol Henson is a Book Doctor/editor/author and is happy to
respond to your questions about Book Doctors, editing, writing,
etc. Her web page is located at:
http://pages.prodigy.com/books/bookdoc.htm.
Copyright (c) 1996 Carol Henson. All rights reserved.
================================================================
ASK THE SF/FANTASY AUTHOR
----------------------------------------------------------------
by Michelle Sagara
<Michelle.Sagara@sff.net>
Finding ideas
-------------
Q: Where do you get your ideas from? I would like to start
writing
books, but none of my ideas seem to work. Can you help me?
A:
I would like to gently say it's the ideas that drive the desire
to write books, and not the other way around; once you have an
idea, there is a passionate life to that idea that makes you
refine it, work at it, -make- it work. I have a hundred ideas a
day, little notions that come from things as simple as when a
walk to the corner and back is interrupted by a scrawny little
cat, a squeaking squirrel, a skidding car -- but the ideas
themselves are like half-thoughts, things not carried through
from beginning to end.
I take one of these ideas -- in fact, in might be more accurate
to say that there are little ideas that suddenly come up and grab
-me- -- and I work with it, with the emotion inherent in it; I
look at it from all angles that I can possibly think of at the
time. There are very few ideas that are in and of themselves
workable or unworkable.
Often when someone asks me a question like this, what they mean
is something more basic: How do I tell a story? How do I
structure a story? How do I begin a story? Which is to say,
it's not the idea itself that's the problem -- nor the ability to
write a wonderful sentence -- but how to actually write about it
within the structure of a novel.
If you haven't tried it yet, I'd suggest that you try to write
something with less scope than a novel, to start. Short stories
and novels are entirely different creatures in many respects, but
you can learn a lot about developing an idea within the shorter
form. I started out writing shorts until one day one of my ideas
simply would not fit within the framework of a short story.
Good luck!
==-----------------------------------------------------==
Michelle Sagara is the author of The Sundered novel series (Del
Rey) the Hunter Series (Daw, under her married name Michelle
West), as well as many short stories. _Hunter's Death_ was
recently released.
Copyright (c) 1996 Michelle Sagara. All rights reserved.
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