Censorship, Alive and Well

admin — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 14:41:06 +0000

I was very upset about a blog that I read so I had to post about it. Below is the link to the blog and my comment that I posted there.

http://blogs.publishersweekly.com/blogs/PWxyz/?p=1620&utm_source=Publishers+Weekly%27s+PW+Daily&utm_campaign=4cf5b12375-UA-15906914-1&utm_medium=email

I also applaud these authors. Whoever arranged this fair knew what the author wrote before inviting her. I applaud any author who is dealing with topics that are relevant to today’s society and today’s teenagers. The dis-ivinite is quite frankly a group of people wanting to stick their heads in the sand and ignore the stark reality of our world. I completely agree with the poster above: Tanita–Evil flourishes in secrets and silence–wonderfully put Tanita. Bravo, Ellen Hopkins for breaking that silence and shame on those who refuse to listen.

Willamette Writer’s Conference 2010

admin — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 17:33:47 +0000

Ok, so I spent the weekend at the conference. Every year I am amazed by how much I learn, and how much I enjoy being there. I learned so much, that I won’t be able to express it in just one post. So, check back, and I’ll be blogging about my experience at the conference and some of the things I learned. Oh, yes I do have a couple of agents who encouraged submissions. I’m quite happy about that, but I feel I have some polishing to do before sending.

A Cool, Custom, Website Header you can do yourself

admin — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 22:14:25 +0000

I hope that you like my web page header. Curious on how I created it? Yes, I did create it. I did not have someone else create it.

Well, I started with photo software

http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/software/photoplus/

You can download the free edition and then upgrade it to the full edition for $10. You can also go to their website and buy their latest and greatest for about $50 or $60. This software, in my opinion, is a great substitute for Adobe Photoshop at a fraction of the cost. I do own the $50 version now but when I created my header it was with the $10 version.

Next I bought a royalty free photo from a stock photo site.

I bought from https://www.123rf.com/purchase.php They had the best pay as you go plan. You can purchase 15 credits for $15.

I opened the photo in my photo program

I typed in my name, picking a font I liked–this automatically creates a new layer

I changed the color of my text to a light, mint type color, green.

On my text layer I applied the difference blend mode.

Once I was happy with the way it looked (different text colors will affect how it looks and so will the position of the text) I exported it as a jpeg and uploaded it to my website server. Now it was all ready for me to use as my header.

The serif website has a lot of tutorials on it to learn how to use the program.

Book Review: Captivate

admin — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 17:12:57 +0000

I recently read Captivate by Carrie Jones. This is the sequel to Need. We see familiar characters and learn about new fairies as well as Valkyries. There are new faerie kings that are invading, her faerie father ends up dying, and the main character makes a drastic choice at the end. The story is engaging with some unexpected twists and, much to my frustration, has a bit of a cliffhanger ending. Overall, we see some character development as well as new plot points. I would suggest reading Need before your read Captivate.

Back To Basics: Writing, Publication, Where do you start?

admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 05:51:42 +0000

Regardless of your age or genre, if you are serious about writing and want to pursue publication then join a writing critique group. A solid group will give you valuable feedback and help you improve your writing. You will be able to get help with plot problems as well as query letters, pitches, and everything else along the way.

Next, look for organizations. See what writing organizations exist in your area and join them.

Find your nearest conference. Writing conference are incredibly valuable for what you can learn as well as who you can meet. I have been pursuing writing for a long time but once I decided to take myself seriously I googled Oregon and writer’s conference, that’s how I learned about the Willamette Writers. Some conferences offer reduced fees if you volunteer so be sure and check into that too.

Volunteer. Volunteering can help you build networks and meet other writers.

Learn. Learn about your craft as well as the business of writing, the industry standards/expectations, and the marketing of books. All of it is important. It’s not enough to be a great writer, you have to know how to sell your book too.

Begin networking, building your name, and creating a platform, NOW. Do not wait until after you get published or even until you are trying to get published. It is never too early to begin building a name for yourself.

There is really no order that you must do these things in, but the one I would place above all the rest is joining a writing critique group.

Check out the resources/links page for additional information and suggested reading.

Are You Conference Ready?

admin — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 05:29:22 +0000

The WW conference is coming up and you are probably tired of me blogging about it, but alas, I take at least a month to prepare for the conference.

This is my check off list for the conference:

Edited Manuscript–first chapter

Query letter–addressed to whomever I am pitching to

Synopsis

Verbal Pitch–memorized AND practiced–in front of other people, but I take it with me just in case.

Elevator Verbal Pitch—The one or two sentence condensed version of my pitch, so that when people ask me, “Oh, what are you writing.” I can answer them in a succinct manner.

Business Cards–I order mine from vistaprint.com–This helps me network with other writers.

You may or may not want to put together a dossier by getting folders, having the first chapter, the query letter, and the synopsis printed and ready to hand to an agent if they happen to request it. Is this a requirement? Heavens no. But I would have all of the above written and ready to email in an instant. If you get a request from an agent, you don’t want to come home from the conference and be rushing around trying to get a submission together.

I would say that one of the most important things to do is practice your pitch in front of other people. Know how long it runs, aim for 3 minutes, 5 minutes at the absolute max and that would only be for one on one consults. If you are doing group consults, keep it to 3 minutes.

Most of all go to the conference of the mind to learn, meet new people, and have fun. I know that it’s terrifying to go in front of an agent and pitch your work, but for the most part they are really nice and understand that you are nervous.

My first year, I remember I was terrified. I rewrote my pitch the night before (no idea why I did that) so I didn’t know my pitch as well as I should have and I sat down and just started to spiel it out (which I know better than that). The agent stopped me, told me to calm down and take a deep breath, and to just talk about my book. He was very nice. So don’t worry, they understand how nervous you are and generally don’t hold it against you.

And the thing is, I like public speaking. I did speech and debate in college. I know how to prepare, but pitching to agents is still nerve wracking. So if you are pitching, practice is your best weapon to combat that nervousness.

If you want some more conference tips, check out Mary Andonian’s website. She has done past articles on how to prepare for a conference.

Harry Potter Plagerism?

admin — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 04:45:58 +0000

According to Publisher’s Weekly The estate of Adrian Jacobs is suing Bloomsbury, J.K. Rowling, and Scholastic for plagiarism found in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Do I think that these accusations are founded? I doubt it. I will be very surprised if the court rules in the favor of the Estate.

Plagiarism as defined by dictionary.reference.com
is : the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one’s own original work.

Notice I quoted where I got that definition.

According to Reuters.com the similar plot elements include a contest, clues, and a bathroom. Well, I don’t know that, that in and of itself is plagiarism. Are all plots that have clues and contests then plagiarized? Is it the bathroom that they find the fault with? From the articles that I’ve read, the characters are vastly different.

The concept of a “hero” overcoming quests/clues/obstacles is found throughout literature. Also if you have a society then you aromatically have to have laws and all the trapping of society like medical care, recreation, etc. That is all part of creating the world. I don’t think that every author who creates a world is plagiarizing simply because their book has a “wizard prison” and so does another book.

The book claiming plagiarism is only 32 pages. Quite a difference from Rowling’s 752 page, paperback edition, tome. I’m curious as to whether this is all a publicity stunt. Sue a renown author to get people to buy the book, if it’s still in print. It will be interesting to see the outcome of the case and if it affects plagiarism laws and definitions.

Back To Basics: Submission Guidelines

admin — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 01:57:41 +0000

So, you’ve finished your manuscript and polished until it shines. Now it’s time to submit. More and more agencies are now accepting online submissions. Generally speaking when you email a submission you are going to paste your query letter and your sample pages into the body of an email, because most places will not accept attachments.

However, always, always, always, check the agency’s submission guidelines. Follow those guidelines and do not stray from them. Often, the simple mistake of not checking and following guidelines will automatically lead to a rejection.

If you are mailing, then make sure that it, again follows the guidelines, and two looks presentable. Do not hand write query letters, type them. Never send your only copy because chances are you will not get it back.

Now, as for the mailing itself, well it’s funny, everybody has their own opinion. Some agents I’ve listened to at conferences have said a basic #10 envelope is all you need. Others like the large, cardboard, letter mailers because of the easy open pull tab. It’s totally up to you.

Personally, I use the priority mail letter mailers, send it priority mail, and add a delivery confirmation on it, but that’s just me and my personal tastes.

Back To Basics: Research

admin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 05:23:29 +0000

Ok, you’ve written your book, edited until your brain turned to mush, created a stunning synopsis, have the basic query letter, and now you need to send out a submission.

Before you start emailing agents or snail mailing them, you need to do your research. Make sure that the agency and the agent and/or editor represent your genre and is looking to add clients to their list.

Have names and addresses and look up their credentials. Have they sold any books lately? Who else do they represent? What percentage do they make? Do they charge you postage for mailing out submissions?

It boils down to know who you are submitting to and know if they are a good fit for your work.

These are my favorite sites for agent research:

www.writersmarket.com - This site is well worth the subscription fee. You can buy the book, but the site is updated more often and the search features are great. You can also save your searches and organize them. If you don’t already know this site has listings of agents, editors, publishers, magazines, etc. It also has useful articles and advice.

www.agentquery.com – This has a database of agents. They have very specific standards and as far as I can tell they are all legitimate agents with sales. It’s a free database and the search features are great. A very good place to start to figure out who to submit your work to.

http://www.querytracker.net/ – This is another database of agents. They have a lot of extra information, like recent sales, and whether they’ve responded based on the information submitted by users. There is a free version (which is what I have) and a paid version.

Editors and Preditors - This site has agent listings with reviews and information. They help you know if someone is trying to pull scams or if they went out of business. A great site.

You want to write for a living?

admin — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 18:24:19 +0000

If you want to write for a living then the first thing you need to do is take yourself seriously, because if you do that then others will believe you are serious about your career as well.

It you treat your writing like a career then it will become one (it just might take awhile.)

Step One: Decide.

Decide if you want writing as a career. Decide that it’s worth your time, effort, and occasionally money.

Step two: Set Goals.

Goals are important. They are like your road map to your life. Even tiny goals like, do the dishes, take the dog for a walk, write 500 words are goals worth setting.

Step three: Track and Achieve your goals.

Setting goals is great, but you have to follow through and complete them. If you were never a goal setter, then start small and work your way up.

Step four: Connect and Learn

Connect with other writers. Join a critique group, attend a conference, go to workshops, do what you can to build a network and you will learn a lot in the process. It’s important to not just learn how to better your writing and submit correctly, but also learn about the industry-the business of publishing, the marketing of books. It’s good to know what’s going on and how it will affect you.

Step five: Read

Yes, read. Read books in your market so you know where your book falls. Read books on writing to improve your prose. Read submission guidelines (more than once) when you submit your work. Read to support your industry and other writers just like you.

Step six: Never give up.

If you are truly passionate about what you are doing, don’t give up. Believe in yourself, even when it seems impossible. If you listen to others who tell you your dream is a “pipe dream” then that is all it will ever be, but if you listen to yourself, believe in yourself, and put in the effort to further yourself, then you really can take a “pipe dream” and turn it into a dream career.

It was in 2007 when I finally decided to take myself seriously as a writer. One of the first things I did was go to the Willamette Writer’s Conference. Then, I joined a critique group. Since then I have met wonderful people, improved my writing, learned about the industry, and had a few nibbles on my book. I am still writing and still submitting and will keep doing so because I believe in myself and my dream.