| guestspeaker | I'm here in Stage 1, which sounds too much like a disease diagnosis. But I think this is where I should be, right?
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| janfields | Join us this afternoon in the AUDITORIUM-Scheduled Events Room for an "Open Forum" with Web Editor Mel Boring and Editor-in-Training, Jan Fields. Together we have many dozens of magazine articles and stories, as well as books for the young readers market. Between us, we also have over 38 years of experience teaching writing. We welcome your questions on time management, getting started, writer's block, marketing, writing rights, writing earnings, or anything else you'd like to discuss. Bring your QUESTIONS to this open forum-in five minutes.
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| janfields | The Tuesday afternoon "Open Forum" will begin promptly at 4 Atlantic/CANADA, 3 p.m. Eastern, 2 p.m. Central, 1 p.m. Mountain, and noon Pacific. While you wait for the "Open Forum" to start, feel free to use your ASK A QUESTION button RIGHT BETWEEN THE YELLOW "MAP" AND THE RED QUESTION MARK IN ICHAT to post some questions for the discussion group-two minutes from now.
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| janfields | Good afternoon! Welcome to this Tuesday afternoon's "Open Forum" session. We're your moderators, Jan Fields, Web Editor in Training, and Mel Boring, experienced and wise Web Editor for this site. We're back for an informal time of answering any questions you might like to ask, on any subject. So feel free to ask what's on your mind--and I'll tell you what's on mine! First, please read these announcements, then we'll get started….
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| janfields | IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS: Send questions you'd like answered or discussed by using your "Ask a Question" icon/button. (It looks like a thought bubble icon, RIGHT NEXT TO THE RED QUESTION MARK.) One of the moderators (Jan Fields or Mel Boring) will post the questions one at a time in the chat room and do our best to answer them. Also note: If you want to make it possible to ask the longest question you can, first type "/ask" (without the quotation marks), then leave one space after the end of "ask", then type as many characters of your question as you can. If your question is not complete, send the second part next, then if necessary the third, etc…
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| janfields | WARNING: If you don't post anything at all, SOME of you will be bounced off the system in 15 minutes. TO PREVENT THIS, type something (either a question to the moderator or even a private message) every 15 minutes to stay active and remain online.
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| janfields | Greetings everyone...I'm going to try to take the lead here and hope I don't mess up too badly.
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| janfields | If I do, I expect Mel will catch me...right, Mel???
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| mel boring | YES! But you won't need catching, friend!
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| janfields | I would like to open with some good news...because, well, I love good news.
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| mel boring | GOOD NEWS from Margie Hillenbrand: My article, "Skunks and Other Real Life Conflicts," will be published in ONCE UPON A TIME’s next issue!
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| mel boring | It is a GOOD article, Margie, CONGRATULATIONS!!!
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| janfields | Congratulations to Margie -- I LOVE One Upon A Time!
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| janfields | And more good news...
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| mel boring | Donna Marie West sent us this GOOD NEWS: My article, "The So-Called Modern Myth of UFO's" has just appeared in the latest issue of WHAT IF?
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| janfields | Yahoo, Donna...I love UFOs...that is so cool.
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| mel boring | Donna has become a REGULAR at WHAT IF? WAY TO WRITE RIGHT, Donna!!!
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| janfields | It's always nice to find a magazine that loves your work.
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| janfields | Now, let's get into some tough questions.
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| MH | I started blogging on a very specific topic in May. It's time-consuming and takes up a lot of creative writer energy. But it's something I care about and it’s been an interesting way to brainstorm and make some contacts. From a professional writer's perspective are there advantages and disadvantages?
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| janfields | I blog, so I am constantly aware of good and bad sides. On the plus side: it's a great way to work out what you think about a subject. And blogs do tend to be read by a small viewership, so it feeds our need to communicate. But, you want to make sure your posts always look professional in terms of writing quality if you blog is easily found when searching on your name. And you really have to guard how much writing time you spend because blogging is inferior to writing in terms of improving your craft and producing stuff to submit.
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| janfields | What about you, Mel...you ever blog?
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| mel boring | No, I never have, but I read a LOT of blogs, including yours, Jan....
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| mel boring | and I must say, YOUR blog is MOST interesting, along the lines of what you answered....
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| mel boring | It is VERY PROFESSIONAL, and that is what I believe EVERYthing we send out over the "cyberwaves" MUST be!
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| janfields | Awww.
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| iluv2write | what is blogging?
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| janfields | Blogging is keeping a journal online.
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| janfields | They are usually public...but not everyone exactly is dying to read them.
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| janfields | I figure mine gets like a dozen readers...but they ARE public and that's something to remember.
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| mel boring | I've forgotten what "blog" is short for, Jan. What does it signify?
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| janfields | It's a corruption of "web log" -- and two of the big blog spots are livejournal and blogger
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| mel boring | GOOD places to sample blogs!
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| janfields | Personally, I always read Jane Yolen's blog and Meg Cabots...but theirs are not on the big blog groups.
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| janfields | They are tied to their websites.
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| gladys1 | jan you are another one who starts a sentence with And. Can you tell me when this started. When I went to school and was a joiner not a word to start a sentence. Got Mel on this too
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| mel boring | GUILTY as charged!
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| mel boring | And what is more...
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| mel boring | every time I post at forum...
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| mel boring | I start with "and" so many times....
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| mel boring | And what is more, I guess I'll never get over the habit....
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| mel boring | And...SORRY gladys1!
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| janfields | I've discovered that most of what we learned in school doesn't apply to publication...
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| mel boring | (-:}
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| janfields | Which helps make publishing even more confusing!
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| HighHopes | Do you know if HIGHLIGHTS accepts more than one cumulative (step story)—such as “What Floats?” by Marilyn Kratz in their April 2005 issue—at a time, since they are so short?
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| janfields | Yes, when you are sending very short material to HIGHLIGHTS -- cumulative stories, action rhymes, poetry -- you can send up to five (though I probably would not send more than three, since you don't want to look like you're just whipping these things out).
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| mel boring | Yes, I agree.
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| arnalda | I've just completed two poems that I think are a good fit for CRICKET. But because I've heard they're in the middle (are they?) of a move, I wonder if I should hold off my submission? If so, how long should I wait?
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| janfields | I've heard from some of the retired editors that things at CCRICKET are in a bit of a jumble. Personally, I'm holding off until I hear something about the new staff. But I would recommend waiting until sometime in February anyway.
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| janfields | About the only "old" editor still at Cricket group is Adam Oldaker.
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| mel boring | On the other hand, if CRICKET's submissions let up, you MAY have an advantage, submitting now.
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| janfields | Like anything, you play the odds...but if you sent something just before the big move...
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| janfields | There is a chance it might be lost...so if it gets past the reasonable wait...I would simply submit it again.
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| mel boring | RIGHTforSURE!
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| mel boring | May I ask you all, please...
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| mel boring | not to type to the screen through your bottom slot?...
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| mel boring | What happens is that for every two lines of Q&A, MANY lines of just chatting appear....
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| mel boring | It's disconcerting for many. So if you want to talk to someONE person else, use Private Messaging, please, OK?
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| mel boring | [End of lecture!]
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| janfields | Ohhh..you're really good at that.
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| mel boring | LOL!!!
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| Passion | How come I don't always receive a response with an S.A.S.E?
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| janfields | Unfortunately, many publishers (book and magazine) are woefully understaffed and it is ONLY going to get worse. As a result, some are switching to a "we only answer if we are going to say yes" policy." Others simply lose the SASE (though some will send responses in their own envelopes if they lose your, others simply don't respond at all) or otherwise do a rotten job of responding. Unfortunately, dealing with submissions is considered the least important aspect of an editor's job -- and that leads to pressure and mistakes. You can inquire after their listed response time passes or simply write them off and move on to the next market.
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| mel boring | True, very true, passion!...
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| mel boring | What I have found when I've visited editors' offices astounded me...
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| mel boring | They were doing so MUCH MORE than just sitting at their desks reading submissions....
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| mel boring | They were going to meetings (a LOT) and talking necessarily among themselves, and other duties....
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| mel boring | So my WHOLE concept of what goes on in editors' offices was CHANGED....
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| mel boring | They do MOST of their manuscript reading AFTER HOURS, AT HOME, would you believe?...
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| mel boring | I know, because I've talked with them...
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| mel boring | So while we WRITERS think manuscript evaluation is MOST important, and editors do TOO, they don't have time to do as much as WE want and THEY want, passion.
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| gladys1 | Jan can instead of sending a SASE ask to be responded to by e-mail. It would save money for the second stamp?
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| janfields | I'm afraid you're back to the problem of only getting a response if they want the piece.
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| mel boring | Yes.
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| janfields | If they want it, they will respond in some way...but if they don't want it, they won't email unless that's already an accepted method of response.
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| mel boring | If I'm a magazine editor, and I must have THREE pieces for the issue being planned...
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| mel boring | and I get 1113 submissions, I'm going to have to VERY quickly, and with GREAT effort, find the THREE I need among the 1113....
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| mel boring | So the 1110 are going to have to get short shrift, I'm afraid.
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| janfields | With their schedules so busy...it's a bit of a "my way or the highwayituation. You
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| janfields | Oppss.
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| janfields | Situation. You have to do it the way they specify in the guidelines.
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| mel boring | By the way, when I have been in the office of Paula Morrow's BABYBUG and LADYBUG...
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| mel boring | I had NEVER seen such an ORGANIZED editor....
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| mel boring | She was REALLY on top of things. And what I've heard from submitters is that she was very prompt and attentive....
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| mel boring | But not all are as ORGANIZED as Paula.
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| janfields | Okay, Mel...this next question is more your speed than mine...
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| mel boring | High Hopes also needs to find out: Last week you mentioned making sure that you got a "permission to use form" for photos, quotes, etc. Is there a standard form for this or can you just make up your own? I have just been keeping my e-mails where people have granted me permission. Should I get back with them and have them fill out a form or just wait to see if the manuscript sells first?
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| mel boring | I keep mine very simple, High Hopes....
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| mel boring | It says: "I _______, give my permission on this 16th of January, 2006, for the use of the photo of me and my two sons in the _____ issue of HAPPY MAGAZINE by author Mel Boring.
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| mel boring | Some magazines may HAVE a form for you to use....
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| mel boring | but the IMPORTANT thing is just to get the permission down, dated and identified.
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| janfields | And minors cannot sign their own forms...you'll need a parent.
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| mel boring | AWOMEN!
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| mel boring | MW needs to find out: Do you know of somewhere that would help me develop well rounded deeper characters? I seem to be blocked and I pick up my characters at a certain point in time and I don't really think why are they like this, what happened. I just say well this is what they feel, this is who they are. I would like to change this for 2006.
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| janfields | First, we have a GREAT article on this in the Writing Tips section of the website...
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| janfields | It's called "Food for Thought..."
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| janfields | For me, fattening up characters is a process...
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| janfields | Because often I don't know them as well as I should at the beginning...
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| janfields | and a giveaway is if they all sound alike or sound like ME
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| janfields | So, I find it helps if I talk about the character to myself...
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| janfields | And figure out why this person is doing what he/she is doing...what they care about...stuff like that...
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| janfields | I don't need to know what toothpaste they use or pointless details but I really need o
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| janfields | to know all about them in the context of the STORY.
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| mel boring | There are some SUPER CHAPTERS of writing books that are devoted to characterization, MW, like Jim Giblin's book about writing for children, and Jane Yolen's book on writing for children...
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| mel boring | Track down those "bibles" of writing for children, and just only reading the CHARACTERIZATION chapters will do WONDERS for your characters!
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| kmyhre | write4kids.com has some character building workbooks.
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| janfields | Good point, kmyhre.
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| mel boring | YES, THANKS, kmyhre!
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| dell | Jan and Mel, do you know how books are chosen for review? My book was recently reviewed (favorably but not as fabulous as Mel's!!!) and I was curious what makes School Library Journal (and other reviewers) select some books but not others???
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| janfields | Well, your publisher submits the book, of course...
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| janfields | And we (reviewers) can usually tell which books the PUBLISHER loves...
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| janfields | Cause they get a big push and that sometimes trickles down to the reviewer...
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| janfields | But beyond that, reviewers are so swamped with books...
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| janfields | They are drawn to pretty covers...topics they like...stuff like that.
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| mel boring | A GOOD editor will be on their toes to submit copies to review organs, dell....
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| mel boring | but I have been surprised with SOME publishers that they DON'T....
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| mel boring | It may be, as Jan hinted, that they don't like a certain book....
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| mel boring | but as a kind of "matter of course" they SHOULD submit reviewers' copies to the SLB and other important children's book reviewing organs.
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| mel boring | ONE editor....
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| mel boring | of a MEDIUM-sized publisher....
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| mel boring | when two colleagues and I were writing for their series...
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| mel boring | said to us, kind of, "How do you submit review copies?"....
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| mel boring | So NOT every editor at EVERY publisher realizes the tremendous value of doing that....
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| mel boring | When you publish a book, with ANY publisher,...
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| mel boring | it's worth it, dell, to ASK them what they plan to do in submitting your book copies to reviewers.
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| colleen s | ok, this may be a taboo question, and if so - I'm sorry! I know what children's mags pay for articles, but would like to find out what companies like Enslow, Compass Point, Capstone, etc. might pay authors for WFH's for their series? I know some folks don't like WFH's, but I love the idea of an assignment to get into that nook of children's writing.
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| mel boring | NOT a taboo question, colleens!...
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| mel boring | I have been offered, for example by Enslow...
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| mel boring | three thousand dollars to do a WFH book....
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| mel boring | I turned it down because I had other projects to do....
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| mel boring | I have talked to writers who WFH'ed for Chelsea House and...
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| mel boring | another WFH publisher I can't remember, and...
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| mel boring | they said the same. The range might be from, say a thousand dollars to a newcomer....
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| mel boring | to five thousand dollars for an "oldcomer". (-:}
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| janfields | There are also WFH fiction ... usually through packagers...
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| janfields | And the money tends to be similar...I've been offered between and consistently.
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| mel boring | And that is how I first published, through WFH with what used to be Dillon Press. I received three hundred dollars for the first book...
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| mel boring | and a WHOPPING four hundred dollars for the second,...
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| mel boring | but this was WAY back around 1980. I recommend it as a GOOD way to start publishing books.
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| janfields | WFH = Work For Hire, usually a flat fee and no royalties.
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| mel boring | GOOD def, Jan!
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| janfields | Many educational publishers do flat fee work for hire books...
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| janfields | And you'll see them with book packagers...usually you don't even get your name on those, though.
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| mel boring | A GOOD source for info about educational publishers is the Guest Chat with Joanne Mattern,2 interviews.
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| janfields | And anyone who asked...don't feel badly, lots of folks wondered.
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| janfields | I wanted to slip in some great comments on building characters...
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| caq | Writing up notes on each character and his/her traits is a help too. You can see what you have done and what you need to change etc. and you can fall back as you go along and see if what you are doing is in line with the character traits you defined. Also, jot down notes as to how they relate to each other.
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| colleen s | there is an entire book called "Buidling Believable Characters" through Writer's Digest. It's incredible.
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| writermom | Mel and Jan Donald Maas also has a good book on characterization Writing the Breakout Novel
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| lizr | also about characters, the book -- Creating Characters Kids Will Love - by Elaine Marie Alphin is a GREAT resource
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| mel boring | YEA EMA!
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| janfields | All wonderful ideas AND resources...thanks.
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| mel boring | There is also a Guest Chat with Elaine Marie Alphin specifically about characterization.
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| janfields | Okay...I see a great question about selling reprints...
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| SM | If this magazine were to buy the article and the article was published previously should I state that in the cover letter when I send it with the article or wait until the magazine buys the article? The magazine buys first or second rights, rights vary. The guidelines don't say if you should state if the article was previously published.
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| janfields | Yes, you should always tell in the cover letter if you are selling previously published material. Tell where it was published and when so that the magazine can determine if that publication means many of their readers have seen the material already.
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| janfields | I've never sold tons of reprints...have you, Mel?
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| mel boring | Yes, and you SHOULD tell the new buyer, by all means!...
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| mel boring | or else there might be "trouble ahead for piggywiggy!"
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| mel boring | NOT telling them...
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| mel boring | is KIND of like...
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| mel boring | selling someone a car as NEW...
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| mel boring | and NOT telling them it was actually pre-owned!
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| minkadoo | My question has to do with authors who don't use their real names or a pen names as I've heard them called. Could you please tell me why someone wouldn't use their own name?
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| janfields | Pen names are used for a number of reasons. Some people write in a variety of genre and they use pen names to keep their younger readers from looking for their more mature works. Others simply like the sound of a simpler name or want to guard their personal lives from the time when they are well known. Third, some bookstores look at past sales to determine future book purchases...so if your first book didn't sell so well, doing the next book under a new (pen) name can keep bookstores buying.
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| janfields | That's about all the reasons I've run into...do you know any others, Mel?
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| mel boring | I think that covers it, Jan...
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| mel boring | the one I've heard most often...
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| mel boring | is from the person who writes for CHILDREN and also writes...
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| mel boring | STEAMY ADULT ROMANCES--and I've known THREE people who do. So they separate their names for obvious reasons.
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| janfields | Oh, I do know one author who used a pen name because her own name was so long she didn't want to sign books with it!
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| janfields | Oh, and I know a couple who were asked to do a pen by the publisher...
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| janfields | To disguise that they were women writing "male reader" books..
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| janfields | or men writing "girl reader" books.
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| mel boring | I've been asked, of course,...
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| mel boring | why I don't use a pen name and not "Boring." (-:}...
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| mel boring | I was FIRST asked that by a boy in a school class I was talking to....
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| mel boring | It surprised me, and I just told him I'd never thought of using any other name.
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| mel boring | Enough BORING! (-:}
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| janfields | We could suggest some...Mel Lively...Mel Marvelous...
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| janfields | The Great Melvini
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| mel boring | Or M. Hardly Boring? (-:}
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| janfields | -)
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| HighHopes | What is the standard format for submitting riddles to magazines? How many can you submit to one magazine at a time? Should they follow the theme if there is one? Do you give them a title?
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| janfields | Submit riddles like you do a play with the speaker a colon then the text, like this -- Question: Why couldn't the flower ride a bike? Answer: It had too many petals (pedals). With short material, a good rule of thumb is five. Sometimes the manuscript guidelines will tell -- and do be certain they PAY for riddles. A lot of magazines milk their young readers for the riddles, free. A themed magazine will need riddles related to the theme. And I would just title the piece "Riddles."
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| janfields | By the way, the flower joke was created by my 6 year old...
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| janfields | She's sooooo smart.
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| mel boring | LOVE that riddle, Jan!
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| gladys1 | is it only American publishers that submit to review copies or do Canadian publishers do it also
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| janfields | I review books a bit and I have had a Canadian publisher ONCE...but not usually t
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| janfields | I think they don't sub to US reviewers.
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| mel boring | Because Canadian publishers, especially children's,...
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| mel boring | are very subsidized by the Canadian Gov't, you coudln't blame them for wanting to serve Canadian authors, and patronize Canadian reviewers.
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| eggamy | Do you know anyway to keep mailing cost down?
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| janfields | Well, there are an ever growing number of online magazines...
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| janfields | or magazines that take submissions via email...
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| janfields | which helps keep down costs...
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| janfields | Also sending queries ahead of manuscripts for books (when appropriate)...
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| janfields | keeps weight down and therefore postage...
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| janfields | And when I send a BOOK manuscript, I send an SASE only for reply...
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| janfields | I don't get the manuscript back.
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| mel boring | That's what a LOT of writers are starting to do--good savings!
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| omalizzie | Book Packagers are???
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| janfields | A book packager puts together a book for a publisher...
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| janfields | often they take on series books that are very popular...
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| janfields | and require lots of authors to fill the demand...
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| janfields | so the packager hires writers, puts the book together, then the...
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| janfields | publisher sells the book under their imprint.
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| mel boring | It saves the publishers a LOT of time and expense in the consideration of manuscripts.
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| janfields | I'm afraid that's just about our time up...do you want to grab a last question, Mel?
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| mel boring | One last characterization suggestion...
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| mel boring | and I don't THINK this one's been posted:...
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| mel boring | It is Elaine Marie Alphin's book SPECIFICALLY about characterization, I THINK it's HOW TO CREATE GREAT CHARACTERS.
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| mel boring | That's all, folks!
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| janfields | I want to thank everyone for hanging with us today.
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| mel boring | YES!
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| janfields | This was fun!
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| mel boring | You did a MARVELOUS solo, Jan!
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| janfields | Don't forget about Mel's guest speaker chat this Thursday.
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| mel boring | It will be...
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| mel boring | Dandi Daley Mackall...
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| mel boring | who has published more than 300 books...
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| mel boring | from BOARD BOOKS to YA NOVELS....
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| mel boring | and practicing with Dandi last Monday,...
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| mel boring | I was SO STRUCK with the SPONTANEITY of her answers, FRESH, NEW and EXTENSIVE! Y'ALL COME!
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| janfields | I'll be there with bells on, Mel.
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| mel boring | OK! I'll listen for those bells, Jan!
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| janfields | Thanks again, folks...see ya back here for Open Forun NEXT Tuesday.
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| mel boring | So long!
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| janfields | BUT the time is going to change to 2pm Eastern.
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| janfields | So...um...Mel, what does that make it for the rest of the world?
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| mel boring | It makes it 1PM here in Central Time, Jan.
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| janfields | I'll put it in the newsletter and get all the times right...I'm a number mess.
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| mel boring | 12Noon Mountain, 11AM on the West Coast.
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| janfields | Ah, thanks for rescuing me.
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| mel boring | No prob, though I'm not much at numbers either!
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| mel boring | The standard joke between me and Carol is...
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| mel boring | "Could you explain Daylight Savings Time to me, Ben?" (meaning ME!)...and I CAN'T!
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| mel boring | I'd better let you go and get the transcript down. GOOD JOB, JAN!!!
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| janfields | Thanks.
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