Writing World Newsletter Archive
***************************************************************** W R I T I N G W O R L D A World of Writing Information - For Writers Around the World http://www.writing-world.comIssue 6:04 16,200 subscribers April 6, 2006*****************************************************************SPECIAL NOTICE: Please DO NOT REPLY to this e-mail; any messagessent to the listbox address are deleted. See the bottom of thisnewsletter for information on how to subscribe, unsubscribe, orcontact the editors.***************************************************************** CONTENTS================================================================= From the Editor's Desk NEWS from the World of Writing THE INQUIRING WRITER: The Comfort Zone by Dawn Copeman FEATURE: Keeping A Writer's Journal by Sheila Bender The Write Sites -- Online Resources for Writers WRITING DESK: Should You Send Unsolicited Manuscripts to an Agent by E-mail? by Moira Allen FEATURE: The Beginner's Guide To... Writing Terminology by Dawn Copeman WHAT'S NEW at Writing World WRITING CONTESTS with no entry fees The Author's Bookshelf*****************************************************************EARN AN MFA IN WRITING through the brief-residency program atSpalding University in Louisville, KY. Call (800) 896-8941x2423or email mfa"at"spalding.edu and request brochure FA90. For moreinfo: http://www.spalding.edu/mfa*****************************************************************WRITERSCOLLEGE.COM has 57 online courses. Prices are low.If you can reach our web site, you can take our courses.http://www.WritersCollege.com*****************************************************************DISCOUNTED SOFTWARE FOR WRITERS -- PowerWriter, DramaticaPro,StoryCraft, WritePro, MovieMagic, StyleWriter, plus many more.HUGE SAVINGS! GREAT SELECTION! Save online at:http://www.MasterFreelancer.com*****************************************************************THE WELL-FED WRITER by Peter Bowerman - Learn how you can make$50-100 an hour as a freelance writer and easily earn $1000 aweek or more working 2-3 good days. Details:http://www.writingcareer.com/pb001.shtml*****************************************************************I FINALLY FOUND A WAY TO MAKE A LIVING AS A WRITER! I'm averagingabout $150 an hour and I only work a few hours each morning,leaving me with most of the day to pursue my first love: Fiction.Here's how you can learn the secrets of this little known,lucrative business:http://www.theromancewriterslife.com/ltc/wworlda6/***************************************************************** FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK=================================================================Writers Wanted is Back!-----------------------Yes, folks, the much beloved and much lamented "Writers Wanted"section is now back online. We don't have many listings yet, buthopefully as the word gets out, the section will grow.I finally gave up on my search for an inexpensive (or free)"classified" system that would enable people to post their ownlistings but that would also enable me to pre-screen listingsbefore they went online. The old system (which was lost when theserver crashed in 2005) had one significant problem: It keptgetting cluttered with the "ads" of writers who chose to ignorethe posting rules, and insisted on posting their "im a riter andi want to find a job" listings, or announcements of their latestvolume of work, or whatever. That paled, however, before theproblems of some of the replacement systems I tried; I finallyyanked the whole thing when I discovered that it had becomespammed with dozens of lengthy ads for cell phones from Nigeria.I've probably spent more hours combing the web for a replacementsystem that would work (without having to pay hundreds of dollarsfor a "free" service") than I would have spent if I'd justdecided to do what I'm doing now: Listings are now processedmanually. If you wish to list a "call for writers," you cansimply fill out an online form. This form gets e-mailed to me,and I've rigged my e-mail response form so that it arrives in myinbox already formatted for posting. So all I have to do isverify that it's a legitimate listing (and not someone's ad for acasino or nifty dorm room pix), and slap it online.The listings are divided into two categories: "Payingopportunities" (defined as an opportunity that pays more than $10for an article) and "low- and nonpaying opportunities" (definedas a call for writers that pays $10 or less, or nothing at all).Visit the new section athttp://www.writing-world.com/admin1/wanted.shtmlPost a listing athttp://www.writing-world.com/admin1/postlisting.shtmlThat's Me All Over!-------------------My name isn't quite in lights, but it's definitely "out there"this month! If you've been considering whether (or how) toself-publish your book using POD, you may enjoy my article in theApril "Writers on the Rise" newsletter, "Why Publish withLulu.com?" The article appears in two parts, one toward thebeginning of the newsletter and the second on the "back page" atthe very end. A follow-up to the article, "DIY Publishing:Formatting Your Book for Lulu.com" appears on theWriting-World.com site. (By the way, Writers On the Rise hasjust been listed in the May 2006 issue of Writers Digest as oneof the top 101 websites for writers - Congratulations!)Read the articles at:http://www.writersontherise.com/newsletter.htmlhttp://www.writing-world.com/selfpub/lulu.shtmlThen, my one and only published short story, Truthseeker, has nowbeen republished on Afterburn SF. Editor Wade Kimberlin says,"It is one of the best stories I have ever read, and exactly thekind of story I had in mind when I started Afterburn SF." It's amagical whodunnit, complete with werewolves and a heroine with anappropriately (for fantasy) unpronounceable first name. (I don'tthink she even has a last name...)Read it at:http://www.afterburnsf.com/Fantasy.htmAway From My Desk...--------------------With any luck, I'll be out of town from April 12-17, and won'tbe answering e-mail during that period. I say "with luck,"because I've managed to acquire my apparently annual springsinus infection, and until that gets cleared up, I'm not goinganywhere. Today I'm heading off to the doctor for some much-needed antibiotics... Drugs, give me DRUGS! -- Moira Allen, Editor*****************************************************************2006 WORD/WORK PRIZE - An international literary competitionawarding $2,000 in cash prizes to new and established writers.Unpublished fiction & nonfiction of any length and genre welcome.Please visit: http://www.mediadarlings.org/wordworkprize/*****************************************************************NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF WRITING=================================================================Humourist elected as President of Authors' Guild------------------------------------------------The Authors Guild, the nation's largest organization of publishedbook authors and freelance journalists, announced that itsmembers elected Roy Blount Jr. to be the organization's newpresident. Judy Blume and James B. Stewart were re-elected asvice presidents. Susan Choi, Mary Higgins Clark, Jennifer Egan,David Levering Lewis, Stephen Manes, Michele Mitchell, VictorNavasky, Peg Tyre, Rachel Vail, and Nicholas Weinstock wereelected to the Authors Guild Council, the group's board ofdirectors. One of Ray Blount Jr's first tasks is the lawsuit withGoogle. "Nick (the outgoing president) told me to just fix theGoogle thing and the rest would be easy," said Mr. Blount."Sounds like a job for a humorist. Google wants to give away"snippets" of authors' work. Maybe we could work something out,there. But what constitutes a snippet? We might begin bystipulating that no snippet shall be as large as a fullwitticism. Then we might measure how many snippets there are in,for instance, 'A Million Little Pieces.'" Roy Blount Jr.(http://www.royblountjr.com) is the author of 19 books, his mostrecent being "Feet on the Street: Rambles Around New Orleans."For more information visit:http://www.authorsguild.org/news/roy_blount_jr.htmlPublishers Report Increases in eBook Sales and Revenue------------------------------------------------------eBook publishers reported a 36% increase in eBook units sold inQ2 2005 compared to Q2 2004, and a 69% increase in eBook revenueearned over the same period. They also reported a 24% increase ineBook titles published. Publishers reported 484,933 eBook unitssold and $3,182,499 in revenues for the second quarter of 2005.They also reported 1024 eBooks published during this time. Thereport was commissioned by the International Digital PublishingForum (IDPF). The International Digital Publishing Forum,formerly the Open eBook Forum (OeBF), is the trade and standardsassociation for the digital publishing industry and is supportedby its members. For more information visit: http://www.idpf.org.Google Invites Publishers to Register Books for Paid Access-----------------------------------------------------Google recently announced a new initiative by which publisherscan elect to sell "perpetual online access" via Google BookSearch to the full text of individual books in Google's program.Publishers have full control over the pricing of every book theychoose to make available in this way, and prices and availabilitycan be changed as often as publishers wish. This program providesonly for selling access to the entire text of the book;different, more limited models may be offered at a later date.Google will take an unspecified portion of the revenues, and willreport to and pay publishers in a similar manner to the currentsharing of ad revenue (such as it is), with expanded reporting tofacilitate publishers' royalty reports to authors. For furtherinformation visit: https://books.google.com/partner/faqSafer Surfing thanks to SiteAdvisor?-----------------------------------Five percent of all the world's websites are dangerous to visit,according to SiteAdvisor, a new internet security start-up basedat Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This company hasdeveloped automatic crawlers that have spent the past threemonths searching the web for spyware, viruses and spam. It giveseach site it visits a color-code: green = safe, yellow = caution,red = warning. A free trial version of the browser plug-in isavailable for Internet Explorer and Firefox users. For thedownload visit: http://www.siteadvisor.com/ For furtherinformation visit:http://www.eweek.com/article2//0%2C1895%2C1933818%2C00.aspShrinking Support for Australian Novelists-------------------------------------------According to "The Australian" there are three problems facingAustralian literature today: fewer books are being published,sales are falling and shelf-lives are shorter. They cite theexperiences of Australian novelist Brian Castro. Despite havinghad six previous novels published by mainstream publishers, hehad to turn to an independent publisher, Giramondo, to publishhis seventh novel, "Shanghai Dancing." This book, which will bepublished in the US by Kaya Press, then went on to win two majorliterary awards in Australia, even beating a submission by Nobellaureate J.M. Coetzee. Publishing is certainly going through adifficult time in Australia: Between 2001 and 2004, sales ofAustralian fiction fell 40 percent. Mainstream publishers havereduced the number of new Australian novels they produce from 60a year in 1996 to 32 in 2004 and The Australian went on todiscover that Penguin only plans to issue six literary novels thisyear; last year they issued twelve. For more information visit:http://tinyurl.com/nyc62Penguin to Cut Australian Paperback Royalties---------------------------------------------As if life wasn't difficult enough for Australian writers,Penguin has recently announced plans to reduce royalties onsubsequent printings of paperbacks from the current 10 percentstandard, to 6 or 8 percent. According to Penguin's publishingdirector Bob Sessions, the company is "attempting to draw ourcontracts more into line with international practice" andindicates the lower royalties are already specified contractuallybut had not previously been enforced. Australian publishers havetraditionally paid higher paperback royalties than in otherterritories. For more information visit: http://tinyurl.com/n8ltrVerdict Against Amazon.com and Lightning Print Overturned---------------------------------------------------------Last year, a St. Louis jury found that Lightning Print andAmazon.com (which produced books through the Lightning Printtechnology) had infringed upon the print-on-demand patent of OnDemand Machine Corporation. On March 31, the U.S. Court ofAppeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington overturned the $15million verdict against Amazon.com and Ingram Industries, sayingthat "no reasonable jury could find they infringed a patent forprinting books." The Court of Appeals ruled that the St. Louisdecision (which would have required Lightning Print to pay OnDemand nearly 13% in royalties) was based on a misinterpretationof the patent held by On Demand, which applies to a system thatallows shoppers to view electronic copies of books and havecopies printed through a kiosk. Lightning Source, owned byIngram, prints books individually and in bulk for distributorsand booksellers such as Amazon.com. The court ruled that thiswas different from On Demand's "immediate printing." The Appealscourt noted that "The printing of a single copy of a book, usingcomputer technology and high-speed printing" was known before OnDemand won its patent.****************************************************************LOOKING FOR AN AGENT OR PUBLISHER? Bookblaster E-Query Servicecan email your query to 650 agents & publishers on your behalfwith all responses going directly to your email address. It's thequickest, most effective way to connect with agents & publishers.http://www.scriptblaster.com/bookblaster.php*****************************************************************THE INQUIRING WRITER================================================================= by Dawn Copeman (DawnCopeman"at"Write-away.biz)Okay, okay, so you don't want to talk about agents. I know thisfrom the few responses I received to last month's question from EMasters, who wanted to know about good experiences with agents.Those of you who did reply said broadly the same thing: it's hardto get an agent and if you do get an agent who is interested inyour work, then work with them, as it is in their best intereststo get you published. Fine, matter closed.But now I really need your help with something that's beenbothering me lately: am I stuck in the Comfort Zone?You know how it is; you break into writing by writing a specifictype of article for specific magazines. You find it hard atfirst, but then it gets easier to produce more articles on thistopic and so, naturally you do so and in the process you begin tobuild a healthy portfolio of clips. Which is fantastic, and afterall, we are all told that this is how to begin: by writing whatyou know. But then, gradually, slowly, without even realizing itat first, you begin to find yourself trapped in the Comfort Zone!(Play scary tinkly music here!)Now, once you're in the Comfort Zone, it can be hard to get out.I know. I'm there! And I now find I'm as scared as an absolutebeginner when it comes to phrasing query letters for new subjectsand new magazines. I find myself procrastinating so long afterI've seen a 'Call for Submissions' that I know, in the heart ofme, I could write an article for, that by the time I get aroundto writing my query, I know that all the slots will have beenfilled. End result: I don't write the query and stay stuck inthe Comfort Zone.So, what I want to know this month is this: Have you ever beenstuck in the Comfort Zone? If so, how did you break out? Or,did you choose to stay in the 'Zone' and become a nichespecialist? Also, is it so bad to be in the Comfort Zone or dowe need to stop writing what we know to develop as writers?Email your answers to me at DawnCopeman"at"Write-Away.biz with thesubject line: Comfort Zone.Please, please help me to either escape the 'Zone' or show me howto relax and enjoy it!Till next time!Dawn.For advice on whether to specialize or generalize visit: http://www.writing-world.com/basics/specialize.shtml >>-----------------------------------------------------<>-----------------------------------------------------<>-----------------------------------------------------<>-----------------------------------------------------<>-----------------------------------------------------<>-----------------------------------------------------<< 2006 Hendrickson Memorial Prize in Short FictionDEADLINE: May 1, 2006GENRE: FictionOPEN TO: International applicants; third year of contest; pleaseread the rules and regulationsPRIZE: $300, 100, 100, honorable mentions:URL: http://www.dirtpress.comEMAIL: editors"at"dirtpress.com >>-----------------------------------------------------<< I Love Puerto VallartaDEADLINE: May 15, 2006GENRE: Nonfiction and poetryTHEME: "Why I Love Puerto Vallarta". Experiences can be in anyform -- poem, limerick, narrative, song lyrics set to awell-known melody, even haiku. Judging is based strictly oncontent, not writing prowess, but extra consideration will begiven to entries that can rhyme with "Vallarta".OPEN TO: all 18+.PRIZES: Free holidayURL: http://www.vallartasource.com/ >>-----------------------------------------------------<< Like Heaven Short Story CompetitionDEADLINE: May 7, 2006GENRE: FictionTHEME: Original, unpublished stories only. Max 3,000 words. Titleof Story must be 'Like Heaven.PRIZES: Week-long Writing Holiday in TuscanyURL: http:// www.nialamaharaj.comEMAIL: ssontheimer"at"iol.it >>-----------------------------------------------------<< Oneswan Productions 2006 Inspirational and Short StoryDEADLINE: May 1, 2006GENRE: Fiction and poetryOPEN TO: AllTHEME: Inspirational: A story with an explicitly religious,spiritual or inspirational slant or focus. A story about thepower of religion, power of prayer, or how the power of Christtouched you will be considered inspirational. Short Story Genre:Romance,Mystery, Science-fiction, Horror or Fantasy. You mayenter a maximum of two (2) submissions for each of the followingcategories:* Inspirational: 1,500 words maximum.* Short Story: 2,500 words maximum.* Rhyming Poem and Non-rhyming Poem: 65 lines maximum.PRIZE: $100URL: http://www.janetteowens.com/ >>-----------------------------------------------------<< Willi Paul Adams Foreign Language Book AwardDEADLINE: May 1, 2006GENRE: BooksTHEME: Biennial award for the best book on American historypublished in a foreign language. Book published between July 1,2004 through June 30, 2006PRIZE: $1000.ELECTRONIC ENTRY: NoURL: http://www.oah.org/activities/awards/foreign/index.html >>-----------------------------------------------------<< Short Story ContestDEADLINE: May 10, 2006GENRE: FictionTHEME: Short stories must be original and unpublished. Maximumlength 5000 words. No restriction on theme or style. Winners willbe published in the 2nd annual Pale House anthology, scheduled tobe released late July. We look forward to reading your work!PRIZE: Publication and authors' copies.ELECTRONIC ENTRY: YesURL: http://palehouse.comEMAIL: palehousepress"at"yahoo.com*****************************************************************New Listings on THE AUTHOR'S BOOKSHELF:---------------------------------------Have you just had a book published? If so, let the readers ofWriting World know: just click on the link below to list yourbook.THE ANCIENT ONE (AUDIO), by Sheri McGathyFULL CIRCLE: ESCAPE FROM BAGHDAD AND THE RETURN,by Saul Silas FathiHOW TO WRITE FOR MAGAZINES, by Moira AllenMEDLEY OF MURDER, edited by Susan Budavan and Suzanne FlagTEN YEARS RUNNING, by Mary Johnsen Find these and more great books at http://www.writing-world.com/books/index.shtml Advertise your own book on Writing-World.com: http://www.writing-world.com/books/listyours.shtml*****************************************************************ADVERTISE in WRITING WORLD or on WRITING-WORLD.COM! For detailson how to reach 50,000 writers a month with your product, serviceor book title, visit http://www.writing-world.com/admin1/adrates.shtml****************************************************************Writing World is a publication of Writing-World.comhttp://www.writing-world.comEditor/Publisher: MOIRA ALLEN (writing-world"at"cox.net)Newsletter Managing Editor:DAWN COPEMAN (DawnCopeman"at"write-away.biz)Copyright 2006 Moira AllenIndividual articles copyrighted by their authors.Back issues archived athttp://www.writing-world.com/newsletter/index.shtmlWriting World is hosted by Listbox.com - http://v2.listbox.com*****************************************************************Subscribers are welcome to recirculate Writing World tofriends, discussion lists, etc., as long as the ENTIRE textof the newsletter is included and appropriate credit is given.Writing World may not be circulated for profit purposes.*****************************************************************Do not reply to this message to subscribe or unsubscribe! Tosubscribe to Writing World, send a blank e-mail tosubscribe-writing-world"at"v2.listbox.com. To unsubscribe, send ablank e-mail to unsubscribe-writing-world"at"v2.listbox.com.To change your address, please unsubscribe your old address andsubscribe your new address. You can also use the subscriptionbox at the top of the page at http://www.writing-world.com