Rx for Writers

Writer's Support Room - Open Forum Transcripts

Event start time: Tue Nov 15 13:56:41 2005
Event end time: Tue Nov 15 15:16:26 2005


Legend:
Questions from the Audience are presented in red.
Answers by the Speaker are in black.
The Moderator's comments are in blue.

mel boring Join us this afternoon in the AUDITORIUM-Scheduled Events Room for an "Open Forum" with Web Editor Mel Boring. Mel has published some 25 magazine articles and stories, as well as eight books for the young readers market. He taught writing for 18 years, while being home husband and parent to two of his four children, and doing his own writing. He welcomes 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.
mel boring 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.
mel boring Good afternoon! Welcome to this Tuesday afternoon's "Open Forum" session. I'm your moderator, Mel Boring, and the 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….
mel boring 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.) The moderator (me, Mel Boring) will post the questions one at a time in the chat room and do my 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…
mel boring 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.
mel boring Here is our Tasty Word of the Forum, SPECIAL THANKS to Suzyn Jackson: "jejune" -- do you know what it means? I'll take replies in a while!...
mel boring Gladys Senns sent us her GOOD NEWS: YAHOO, YIPPIE!!! I am being published again, this time with www.LongStoryShort.us in December, January, and February, 2006 as it is a three-parter.
mel boring CONGRATULATIONS, Gladys!!! And that gives you at LEAST three published pieces that I know of!!!...
mel boring I found www.LongStoryShort.us to be a very attractive Web Site that I invite you to check out. And CONGRATS again, Gladys!!!
mel boring Rose Zediker just sent us this GOOD NEWS: CRICKET accepted my article on National Poinsettia Day. It will be published on the "Old Cricket Says" page. This is my first acceptance from Carus Publishing. Of course, since they work so far in advance, there is no publication date set yet.
mel boring That is just GREAT GOOD NEWS, Rose! You are IN at the Carus group!!!...
mel boring It is not easy to be published in CRICKET, so our CHIRPS are for YOU, Rose Zediker!!! THREE CHIRPS!!!...
mel boring Rose, as you probably know, has contributed many articles to our ICL Web Site.
mel boring GOOD NEWS from Brenda/brenbo: I thought I would share some excerpts from my first rejection letter with you and the chatsters. I received the letter back in August, but at the time I skimmed the letter and tossed it into my file of rejection letters. I pulled out that file and read the letter again. This time, I realized that it had some words of encouragement in it. In the first paragraph it states: "We realize that you have gone out of your way to create something fresh and engaging, two qualities we look for when considering new projects." Then it goes on to say they are only publishing a small number of picture books and that mine doesn't fit into their current publishing needs. The last paragraph says, "We do, however, welcome new projects from you and wish you the best of luck in placing your work with another publisher." Since this was my first rejection letter (it was from Running Press), I was thrilled to get more than just the blanket "thanks but no thanks."
mel boring CONGRATULATIONS to you, Brenda, on what may seem to some not to be such GOOD NEWS...
mel boring but we've talked about how you might receive a NOTE on a rejection, or a rejection that is worded so POSITIVELY as Brenda's is, which is a REAL STEP in the publication direction--way to GO, Brenda!
mel boring Now, here are some FOLLOW-UPS on the question of whether it should be "A SASE" or "An SASE," that we talked about last week:...
mel boring Anne Marie Pace sends us a NEW outlook on whether we should say "A SASE" or "An SASE," as we talked about: “Some people, including Harold Underdown, pronounce the acronym as SAY-ZEE, thus requiring ‘a.’ This is in his COMPLETE IDIOT’S GUIDE TO WRITING FOR CHILDREN, which is highly regarded. I suggest writing out "self-addressed stamped envelope" to avoid the problem altogether!
mel boring THANKS, Anne Marie, for what seems like the REAL solution to the problem, just to write out Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope--which would indicate using "a."...
mel boring But then chiaristeph added humorously to the confusion:...
mel boring chiaristeph also responded about the "A SASE" or "An SASE": I was just reading the "Answered, Unanswered, and Leftover Questions" and noticed that number 5 related to "SASE" in cover letters. The
SASE" is the correct form. However, the examples in the ICL's Children's Magazine Market Guide, show "an SASE." Just thought I'd add to the confusion! :
mel boring So my suggestion NOW is that EITHER "A SASE" or "An SASE" will work! (Though I still think "A SASE" is correct. (-:})
mel boring On the serious side, we were asking for info about www.FanStory.com last week, and some people sent me info this week:...
mel boring Azulazul has sent me the FIRST outside information about the FanStory.com Web Site we talked about last week: "I have just recently started to review some of the stories and poems in FanStory.com and I am surprised at the nonstandard and no rule of form for prose and short stories. The short stories that I have reviewed have left me with a headache, to say the least. The writers are not using the grammar/spell-check and thesaurus at all. Puntuation is terrible; they have a lot of sentence fragments, run-on sentences and you name it, you got it. It is very faustrating to review something that is a first draft. The poetry is a little better but it follows no form or rules for prose. They do have a lot of contests that one can enter without cost, I hope. Anyone, whether you have some insight to poetry or not, is allowed to review, which leaves me wondering if I am wasting my time."
mel boring BUT Azulazul followed up with THIS e-mail today, to put the info about FanStory in context:...
mel boring Azulazul added this about FanStory: I recently sent you an e-mail concerning fanstory, As I indicated in that letter, the stories that I read were first drafts and needed a major review and rewrite. Since I am a new evaluator of stories and poetry, I really don't know if that is how they start you out, with the hope that you are discouraged. I continued reading and found that some of the writers are really new and some are accomplished authors. I am not allowed to write until I send in to upgrade to author which includes a fee. I have not yet done so, I need to find out if this is something I would like to do. The fanstory ranks you as you evaluate the prose and poety. The system awards you with stars as you progess in rank. You also have a chance to be nominated to win You can not participate in this if you have been nominated in the last 3 or 4 months. Fanstory also has many opportunities to submit contest entries, also with a fee. I hope this helps.
mel boring THANK YOU, Azulazul, for this info, it DOES help!...
mel boring Then Victoria Strauss of WRITER BEWARE--which organization is very trustworthy in giving information about the GOOD ones and the BAD ones, sent me this e-mail today:..
mel boring Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware also send this info about FanStory.com: "Fanstory is basically an online critique group. There are many of these online; some are free, and some charge a fee. Fanstory has a free membership level, and its "premium" membership isn't all that expensive as these kinds of groups go. They don't make
writers that agents and editors will be impressed by high rankings on the site, or that participating on the site will improve their chances of publication. They're straightforward in their terms of service, and their contests and contest rules look OK
at one point, they were involved with PublishAmerica, a questionable publisher about which Writer Beware has received more than 100 complaints. I don't see any mention of
so it may be that the arrangement has lapsed. - Victoria Straus
mel boring THESE e-mails from people put www.FanStory.com in GOOD perspective...
mel boring and the note we got FROM FanStory last week makes them look OK, trustworthy...
mel boring and THANKS to you for bringing up the questions about them!
mel boring Here are some GOOD-for-YOU announcements people have sent that you may find VERY helpful:...
mel boring Lucie Antoniazzi let us know about this great fiction contest at Mom Writer's Literary Magazine, a quarterly online magazine for mom writers--a short fiction contest with every issue. As senior editor for the magazine, I am one of the judges. The URL for the writing contest guidelines is: http://www.momwriterslitmag.com/WritingContest.htm
ongoing contest is December 2, 2005. There are cash prizes for the top 6 winners every quarter and the top 3 winning stories are published in the next issue of the magazine (i.e. winners from this contest will be published in the Winter issue, due out Dec. 19, 2005). You must be a mom to enter
mel boring Lucie is a writer and editor of note, and we really appreciate your letting us know this, Lucie!
mel boring caq encouragingly sent us this valuable information: November 2005 BYLINE has a terrific article about writing nonfiction for children. A short article, but very inspiring. Can't wait to get into trying a nonfiction book. If you don't subscribe, see if you can find a copy. It took the fear out of it for me. Their URL is:

mel boring I was very impressed to go to http://www.bylinemag.com...
mel boring and find a REALLY helpful Web Site that I urge you to check out--and THANK YOU, caq!
mel boring THANKS to John Prophet for letting us know about this poetry contest:WRITER'S DIGEST POETRY CONTEST--Writer's Digest is sponsoring a competition exclusively for poets! Regardless of style—rhyming, free verse, haiku and more—if your poems are 32 lines or fewer, you can enter. The deadline is Dec. 20. The first place-winner receives second place, third place, fourth through 10th place, and 11th through 25th place, a gift certificate for Writer's Digest Books. For more information or to enter, visit the contest Web site:

mel boring Appreciation to YOU, John!
mel boring Thanks, Michelle Dyett-Welcome, for letting us know about this contest: Saga Magazine has a contest, deadline 1/31/06, check it out. The link below is for the contest information. Good luck all:



mel boring THANK YOU, Michelle, for letting us know of the Saga Contest, which will be NEW to MANY!
mel boring southpaw gave us this warning last week, and I wanted to be sure to pass it on to you: "I just wanted to let you and all of our other writer friends know that I was approached by Author House to publish my book and I don't recommend it because it costs over just to start. This is just my opinion."
mel boring I think it's the opinion of many others, too, southpaw, who think that is a bit stiff--THANKS for letting us know your experience, friend!
mel boring writersblock made a very important about the Nano write-a-novel-in-the-month-of-November challenge. I had said not to worry about how long it is, just write it. But writersblock told us: "It's not just a novel, it has to be a 50,000 word novel! :) So word count does matter."
mel boring That Nano novel-writing month is half over today. I hear a good report of many who are RIGHT ON COURSE to accomplish writing a 50,000-word novel in one month. And THANK YOU, writersblock, for letting us know about that word limit!
mel boring Last week crabby j asked about ICL 2006 market guide books: Do you happen to have an update of the 2006 market book getting out to all of us? I recall that a few had gotten it in October. I haven't yet, have you?
mel boring Only this, crabby j, that I have not received MY copies, either, of the ICL market guides. So they're still coming!
mel boring Now about that Tasty Word: jejune!...
casey jejune-uninteresting. Hope our writing is not jejune.
mel boring RIGHT you are, casey, and the ONLY one who came up with it so far!...
mel boring Here is my OWN personal definition:...
mel boring jejune \jih-JUNE\ adjective: : devoid of significance or interest (boring? (-:})
lilwriter Tell me about when I need to use a bibliography
mel boring lilwriter, you should use a bibliography with ALL BOOK manuscripts and ALL NONFICTION article manuscripts....
mel boring What the bibliography does is "turn lights on" for the editor,...
mel boring and the editor will be VERY grateful to you for doing that....
mel boring Editors know a LOT, believe me, but they can't know EVERYthing...
mel boring So a bibliography shows them what has been written about the subject, the sources from which you derived your information for the book or article....
mel boring With a magazine article, about THREE bibliographic references are sufficient...
mel boring With a BOOK, well we had some 100+ sources, books, magazines, and other sources, in our GUINEA PIG SCIENTISTS....
mel boring Remember that a bibliography turns on lights for you to show editors what's been written about the topic, and where YOU got your info!
grandy1983 My middle-grade novel is 30,000 words appx. Is this too long? I got my last assignment back from my instructor, and he said the plot and structure are great.
mel boring CONGRATULATIONS on those instructor comments!!!...
mel boring For a FIRST middle-grade novel, 30,000 words are risky, grandy1983....
mel boring About 15,000 would be MUCH safer, and even 20,000 words would be safer....
mel boring But if you can't go that low and still leave what you feel must be in the novel, then I would cut to 25,000 words, friend....
mel boring DO count the words in RECENT middle-grade novels....
mel boring One not-so-recent one that I just read is MOOSE TRACKS by Mary Casanova....
mel boring I would guess it to be close to only 12,000 words, grandy....
mel boring But check out some published in 2005, and make a guesstimate of the word length. You MIGHT be surprised!
mel boring Here is southpaw--THANK YOU!--weighing in on the word "jejune":...
southpaw Hi Mel. Jejune: Not mature, childish!
mel boring GOOD definition, southpaw!
casey I read that Alma Little (Elva Resa Publishing) is looking for childrens books. Do you know anything about that small publisher?
mel boring No, I don't, casey...
mel boring but I just made a note to check them out for NEXT Tuesday, OK? And THANKS for asking, my friend!
cosmos I think that a SASE is correct too.
mel boring Hey, THANKS, cosmos!
mewf The good old standard applies: i.e. Use 'a' in front of a word starting with a consonant and an in front of a word starting with a vowel.
mel boring Thank YOU, too, mewf!
lauriet Educational vs trade publisher: should I care?
mel boring That versus was mentioned by our Chat Guest, Sharene Martin, last Thursday, lauriet....
mel boring Educational publishers (like Lucent, for instance, and Chelsea House)...
mel boring are considered by SOME, to be of lesser significance,...
mel boring since they publish educational books, mostly nonfiction, used VERY dependingly by libraries and schools...
mel boring I DON'T consider them to be lightweight at all, NOR does Sharene Martin consider them lightweight....
mel boring It's just that SOME people think they are less signification because they are NONfiction AND "just" library books....
mel boring But the REAL reason, I believe, why educational (or sometimes called "institutional") publishers are considered "insignificant," lauriet,...
mel boring is that they are "Work for Hire" payers. That is, they will pay you a set amount to write a book for them,...
mel boring sometimes several HUNDRED dollars, sometimes several THOUSAND dollars...
mel boring In my OWN case, my first two books were for educational publishers, and netted me and respectively,...
mel boring BUT they got my foot in the door. So I HIGHLY recommend writing for an educational publisher,...
mel boring at least FIRST, so you can get a published book under your belt...
mel boring I should have mentioned Enslow Publishers, who are also an educational publisher.
inky Mel would be a young mom or older mom with older children? any preference there?
mel boring If you mean preference by EDITORS for a young mom or older mom, inky, I don't think there is ANY preference....
mel boring Editors ARE impressed to hear that you have children,...
mel boring because many editors believe it helps you to be a BETTER writer for children....
mel boring A YOUNG mom may be better able to write for YOUNGER children, since she HAS younger children...
mel boring An OLDER mom with older children may be better able to write for TEENS (because of what she's learned from her own teens! (-:})
spotslover2 Can you be a grandmother age mother, Mel, or must you be actively raising children?
mel boring No, you can be a grandmother age and still write effectively for children, spotslover2....
mel boring By grandmother age (or in my case, grandFATHER age (-:})...
mel boring you have not only raised your OWN children, but watched your children raise THEIR children...
mel boring I think that gives you a very helpful perspective in writing for children!
mel boring Here is more advice about paying for publishing:...
inky You should never have to pay UP FRONT fees for anything to be published. Just my experience with chat rooms an dother authors advice.
mel boring THANKS, Inky!
tolkienlvr Mel, in the chat the other day there was a question we'd like you to weigh in on: When a publisher seeks "contemporary YA novels" what does the "contemporary" mean? Are sci-fi and fantasy excluded from that grouping?
mel boring It's easier to answer what it does NOT mean, tolkienlvr:...
mel boring CONTEMPORARY (or present-time) YA novels are NOT about prior times, not even the 90s now, or the 80s, technically....
mel boring It would be as if they are happening NOW, or could happen now....
mel boring Because sci-fi and fantasy are considered TIMELESS, yes, they ARE contemporary....
mel boring There MIGHT be some science fantasy that is TIMED,...
mel boring and I'm thinking about an adult novel written about the 1890s, which did some time-travel...
mel boring But any sci-fi or sci-fantasy or fantasy that is not TIED to old times would be contemporary....
mel boring Brian Jacques' REDWALL novels for young readers are timeless, and considered very contemporary, though they are set WAY back in time.
mel boring But the term "contemporary" refers MAINLY to novels that are not sci-fi, and they would be realisic novels that could happen.
grandy1983 Since i am taking the Book Course, will ICL be sending me the 2006 Market books? I want to order them but don't want double copies. Thanks!
mel boring Yes, they will send them to you, grandy1983!
mel boring Karen Rathbun sent us this question: Would it be bad form to submit a poem with an illustration to a children's magazine? (Assuming that the illustration is considered professional quality.) I'm interested in doing small poems that partner with illustrations -- just as the text and artwork in a picture book partner to put across the idea. Kinda like a miniature picture-book, I guess, for publishing in a magazine.
mel boring No, it would NOT be bad form, Karen. The ONLY "bad form" is to send an illustration that is NONprofessional, or to send illustrations when the publisher says NOT to in their guidelines....
mel boring But I think a magazine would LIKE to receive your professional-quality illustration with your poem....
mel boring Of course, they would NOT necessarily use the illustration,...
mel boring since magazines have their own "stable" of illustrators they use...
mel boring But send it, and who knows, they might use it, OR they might want to give YOU an illustration assignment someday!
mel boring PL asks: Do you know who is the editor of LADYBUG magazine? Is it Heather Delabre?
mel boring The editor of LADYBUG (and BABYBUG both) is Paula Morrow, PL....
mel boring BOTH Paula Morrow and Heather Delabre (who is editor of SPIDER Magazine) are DELIGHTFUL people, whom we've had in our chat room previously!
mel boring Here is more, thanks to cosmos, about the NANO novel writing contest word limit:...
cosmos It's my understanding that yes, you do write a 50,000 novel for NANO but it's just the first draft. In the second draft, you can add words and work out plotting problems. It's just a challenge of trying to get everything in there that's needed and to jumpstart your writing.
mel boring Inky ALSO let us know just a few minutes ago, that a NANO novel COULD be over 50,000 words. THANK YOU, cosmos and inky!
susan ralston jejune. sophomorish, juvenile
mel boring RIGHT, susan ralston, and MORE GOOD facets on that tasty word! Your definitions of the word are certainly NOT jejune! (-:}
inky At times I feel so jejune some ways, even though I'm an adult. (get it!! :-)
mel boring HA, don't we ALL feel that way at times, inky!!!
mel boring jolie has this GOOD question about movie writing:...
jolie How can we get permission to write a sequel to a movie?
mel boring USUALLY sequels are done by the screenplay writer(s) who wrote the prequel, or the FIRST movie, jolie....
mel boring What I would suggest is that you contact that or those original writer(s) and ask about writing a sequel...
mel boring If THEY don't intend to, I don't see why they'd object to YOUR doing it.
charweb Is there any format for writing bibliography? Can we...
charweb use internet sources as bibliography?
charweb For Mag. N/F - is the internet resources bibliography OK?
charweb Can we use the names of the persons we note down during....
charweb our internet research for an article. Any permission require
mel boring THANKS, charweb, for asking!...
mel boring The format for a biblio is, if it's LONG, to separate it into sections:...
mel boring BOOKS, then MAGAZINES, PAMPHLETS, then OTHER SOURCES that don't fit the first three....
mel boring But if your biblio is only 1 or 2 pages long, you just list FIRST the author's NAME: like "Boring, Mel"...
mel boring Then SECOND, list the title of the BOOK, like "THE BORING MANUAL OF MANNERS"....
mel boring THIRD list the PUBLISHER, then the CITY and STATE and then the DATE....
mel boring If it's a MAGAZINE ARTICLE, list the AUTHOR, then the TITLE, then the MAGAZINE, then the ISSUE DATE AND VOLUMNE NUMBER, then the PAGES.
mel boring In the BACK of most larger dictionaries, there is usually a SAMPLE BIBLIOGRAPHY to follow, charweb. And the ICL materials give sample bibliographies, too, friend.
cjlm k 30,000 words represents approximately how many typed pages?
mel boring About 300 pages, depending on the print font size, cjlm.
inky I think some of the new releases are longer. I was at the library the other day. Just my Opin. My novel is longer than that which is being critiqued for my new agent
mel boring It's true, inky, many ARE longer...
mel boring but if you are an ESTABLISHED novelist, like J.K. Rowling, Scholastic would probably like HER
mel boring next novel to be about a million pages long! (-:}
mel boring But FIRST novels are usually shorter. Check this out in the library. Find a FIRST novel (like Mary Casanova's MOOSE TRACKS) and I think you'll find they are shorter than an author's SUCCESSIVE novels.
lilwriter is there an easy way to format a formal cover letter
mel boring A cover letter should be NO MORE than one page, lilwriter, to start with...
mel boring And I suggest THREE paragraphs. First, "hook" the editor with the first short paragraph, with something out of your actual story, article or book...
mel boring If I were writing a biography of Dr. Seuss, for instance,...
mel boring I might say in the first paragraph: Would you resubmit a book that had been rejected twenty-seven times? Well, that is what Dr. Seuss did with his first children's book, TO THINK THAT I SAW IT ON MULBERRY STREET.
mel boring SECOND paragraph: Tell them about YOU as a writer, what you've written, what you're interested in, and your EXPERIENCE, such as teaching....
mel boring Then in the final and shortest paragraph, tell them you're sending the article or story or book, and will be pleased to hear from them if they are interested in publishing it. PERIOD!
delima-e the 2006 children's writer book is in the ICL bookstore
mel boring THANKS, delima-e, it CAN be ordered there, and I don't know how long books take sent from there, does anyone?
bechu Do editors know that antispam programs block subs?
mel boring Yes they do, bechu, and I'm GLAD you mentioned that, because I don't think anyone has ever brought it up...
mel boring MOST publishers have Norton, or McAfee, or another anti-spam program that sorts out and blocks true spam...
mel boring If a submission SHOULD be dropped in the spambin, they know how to look for it, to see that it's a SUBMISSION, and get it back.
mel boring I know that because SOMETIMES submissions to our Web Site are put in the spambin, but I know how to program it so that doesn't happen,...
mel boring OR to look in the spambin to pull out submissions, bechu.
dell Mel, there are also publishers such as Seedling Publications and Bebop Books that are 'educational publishers' of beginning readers aka little books for K-2 classrooms. You're right, though, they pay significantly less thatn trade publishers , but they're a wonderful credit and allow you experience in revision and working with editor, etc
mel boring THANKS for that word, dell!!! And coming from a picture book AUTHOR, it is a GOOD word....
mel boring SOME of those educational publishers DO pay on royalty contracts, though not many. And SEEDLING and BEBOP BOOKS are ESPECIALLY GOOD bylines for ANY author, because it gets themn started!
mel boring YIKES, I haven't looked at the clock, and LOOK what time it is! THANK YOU for coming today!!!...
mel boring No Guest Chat this Thursday, and I'll hope to see you NEXT TUESDAY at Open Forum!

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