Writers Unbound

This video features one of the only live interviews with author Philip K. Dick who achieved well-deserved fame too late. Dick died in 1982, but his remarks are still timely.

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Over the years I’ve accumulated hundreds of links to useful writing sites. I’ve learned about everything from digital cameras to building my own Web site. I got a great education in college, but most of what enabled me to work in the writing biz occurred after college. Here are five of my top writing Web site picks. (more…)

How do you know a contest is fair?

Most writers enter a contest at some point, and it’s often hard to tell when a contest is fair. The poetry world, aka Po-Biz, experienced a severe shakeup several years ago when a librarian founded the site Foetry to help poets make wise decisions before parting with entry fees as high as $35. Poets and Writers recently featured an article about two poetry contests that left entrants empty-handed.

There’s never a perfect method for determining fairness. But along the way I learned to be cautious. Here are some tips I learned the hard way:
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For some writers, reading is just as natural as writing. And studying a publication prior to pitching the editor is a must.

The first thing I do every morning after I find a cup of coffee and pry my eyes open is read the metro section of our daily newspaper The Florida Times Union. I do visit the paper’s Web site during the day for breaking news, but I value the feel of the day’s news in my hands. I’d read the paper even if I didn’t write for it.

I read a lot of different magazines and newspapers, in part because I write for some of them. The Christian Science Monitor is a favorite. This Pulitzer-winning newspaper, is in my opinion, one of the most level-headed publications about world affairs. I’ve published there several times.

I also read The Writer. I’ve read that magazine since I was 17 years old. As an aspiring writer, I determined one day I’d be published there. It took some years and hard work, but I met that goal. And if I had to pick one publication that influenced my career beyond all others, it would be this magazine.

Other magazines that get my subscription bucks include Time, National Geographic, The Atlantic, Reader’s Digest and Inc. Still others come in the mail by way of my daughter and husband’s subscriptions.

I spot surf Web sites like The Drudge Report and Google® News throughout the day.

The latest books I’ve read are George Tenet’s “At the Center of the Storm� and I’m working my way through a bio of Hillary Clinton at the moment. For poetry, I just ordered Shoshauna Shy’s new poetry book “What the Postcard Didn’t Say,� and I’ll write about her poetry in an upcoming column.

Sometimes I have writers tell me they don’t like to read. That’s hard for me to understand. Courtesy of print and Web, I not only learn about what’s happening in the news but also how other people write. I wish sometimes I could read without paying attention to the way writers structure their work. I guess that would be like a car enthusiast looking at a ’57 Chevrolet, without thinking about the engine.

So many of the articles, essays and poems I write are inspired by words written by others.

And naturally, if I want to write for a publication or Web site, I read it diligently. That’s the best method for market study I’ve found yet.

So what’s on your reading agenda?

Word Press, Technorati, Tags, Books, Magazines, Newspapers, Writing style, Creative Writing, Read, Literacy, Biography

Are you the next sensation in children’s writing? Cheerios wants your submission for a children’s book. Previously unpublished adult authors are invited to submit a story.

Your story should be suitable for children 4-8 years old. Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing will review the winning story for a potential book deal. Three top finalists will receive cash prizes.

First-time author Jacqui Robbins’ book “The New Girl…and Me” is one of five books to be tucked inside Cheerios cereal boxes. A press release says, “The children’s book contest is part of the Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories program to get high quality books into kids’ hands. Over the past five years, Cheerios has donated more than $2 million to First Book (www.firstbook.org), and has given more than 25 million books to children inside boxes of Cheerios cereal.

The deadline for submissions is September 7, 2007. Entries can conveniently be submitted online.

Be sure you carefully read the guidelines at www.SpoonfulsofStoriesContest.com.

Ed. Note: For administrative purposes, this code establishes a Technorati Profile.

Word Press, Technorati, Tags, Children’s Book Contest, Children’s Writers, Cheerios Contest, First Book Contest

It happens to the best of us. We have an idea for a book, a burning idea. So there in our cozy writing nook, we eye our laptop, frown at the phone, and stretch back in our ergonomically correct chair. We make a plan and start writing. We might even be lucky enough to meet with an agent, and even luckier still if the agent gives you his business card and says, “E-me with the first three chapters.�

We might then be unlucky enough to simply become stuck. And that is exactly where I am today with a nonfiction book that has been on my desk for 15 months. Half of it is done. The other half begs to be finished. And all of me hesitates every single day when I get a free moment, knowing I should be pounding away at that book. But for some reason, at the moment, I am unable to proceed.

I’ve asked myself if I really believe in the book. My first two books were hard to write, but I stuck to the course and got them down on paper. A publisher gave me contracts, two in a row, with an advance for each. They weren’t bestsellers, but they’re still on his list. One was published in 2004; the other in 2005.

I keep telling myself in order to finish the book, I have to cut back on freelancing. But the freelance work is a sure thing. Book royalties are iffy at best, impossible to calculate, because the bookstore can return the 20 copies that didn’t sell after you left your successful 50-book signing in a blaze of glory.

Somehow, I finished a new poetry collection. I’m editing the poems now. I have several options for publishing. So if I could finish a book that certainly won’t hit the bestseller list, why haven’t I finished one that might have an inkling of a chance?

So I find myself questioning this nonfiction manuscript. Because every thing I ever wanted to write, I simply wrote. I asked myself this morning as I rushed out to do an interview for a story for one of my newspaper clients if maybe I have writer’s block where this book is concerned.

I’ve never had it before. So maybe I’m learning to recognize it.

And maybe this isn’t the book I should be writing.

Word Press, Technorati, Tags, Book, Writer’s block, Manuscript, Home office, Freelance, Author

My publisher Frank Gromling did solid edits on both my books. Small presses sometimes take more pains with a book than a larger house. Gromling’s company Ocean Publishing is a traditional independent press founded four years ago. Several of his titles have won state, regional and national recognition.

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Inspiring words from renowned editor Maxwell Perkins
Regardless of what you like to write, your work ideally ends up in the hands of an editor. But how many editors do we remember? Although this professional plays an integral role in getting a writer’s work refined, the editor’s name is not the one that sticks in the reader’s mind.

An exception is Maxwell Perkins. Perkins is credited with publishing or discovering American writers whose works are now considered classics. Perkins worked with Charles Scribner’s Sons, joining the editorial staff in 1914, then rising through the ranks to become editorial director. Perkins influenced the work of Ernest Hemingway, Ring Lardner, Thomas Wolfe, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and others. Perkins even persuaded Scribner’s editorial board to publish F. Scott Fitzgerald’s first novel “This Side of Paradise.”

A popular saying attributed to Perkins is one of my personal favorites, and I readily recall it when I am feeling lazy or unmotivated. “Just get it down on paper,� Perkins said, “and then we’ll see what to do with it.�

New Web site for copyright info
Professional journalist Bill Hadley, author of the book Online Copyright Manual for Everyone, has launched the site ResearchCopyright.com. A news release says the site will “help writers and authors understand the complexities and myths of copyright law in plain, simple language.� There are links to copyright news, legal forms, free reference books and a patent attorney search. The release also says there’s a job board for “authors and freelance writers with links to writing-related projects.�

The site looks really useful; I spent some time looking it over. But the news release says the founder’s name is Bill Hadley, while amazon.com says the book author is Bob Hadley. Despite sleuthing, I can’t find anything on the site to tell me which is right or if maybe this fellow is Bob Bill.

Word Press, Technorati, Tags, Copyright law, editing, publishing, books, authors, Perkins, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, freelance jobs

Sometimes, self-publication actually works

I wish there were more stories like this one. Editor & Publisher did a story about columnists who also write books. Dave Lieber, who writes for the Fort Worth (Texas)Star-Telegram, published his book The Dog of My Nightmares. Lieber, speaking to the National Society of Newspaper Columnists conference in Philadelphia, said his big mistake was including only one chapter on the dog. Lieber has sold 10,000 copies of his book. Editor & Publisher says the book costs only $1.50 to print and sells for $10 a copy.

Most of the stories I hear from self-pubbed authors are not this encouraging. One asset for Lieber is his column. You establish a reader platform when you write two columns a week for a major daily newspaper. And the fact he’s speaking to groups like NSNC means he’s getting great speaking gigs where he can sell books to an audience assembling for a variety of purposes—as opposed to standing in bookstores, trying to lure customers one by one. Lieber also believes in authors having a Web site as a tool in marketing.

Ginosko Literary Journal call for submissions

In my email, a call for submissions from Ginosko Literary Journal arrived. The journal is accepting short fiction and poetry for the fifth issue. Editorial lead time is 1-3 months. Simultaneous and reprint submissions are acceptable. My message says the journal is “moving towards a printed version,� and the editors are selecting material for an anthology. Also welcome: artwork, photography, CDs for posting on Web site; links to exchange. Authors like Grace Cavalieri and Michael Hettich are listed as contributors, so you’d be in fine company if your work is accepted. For full guidelines, visit the Ginosko Web site.

Word Press, Technorati, Tags, Self-Publish, Authors, Speakers, Books, Newspaper Columnists, Submissions Wanted, Journal, Publish