|
mary rosenblum
|
Hello all.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Welcome to our Friday Forum
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor. It's an open question night!
Anything goes. I've published seven novels (number eight will be out in
November) , more than 60 short stories, and will do my best to answer any
questions you have. If you're new here, remember that you need to click on
the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red question
mark at the top of the screen in order to ask a question. Your regular
'send' bar won't reach me! Or you can use /ask and type your question into
the regular send bar if that works better for you..
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I thought I'd do an open
question night to give anyone who has a question...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
that hasn't come up in one of
our recent forums...to ask it!
|
|
sallyk
|
Would you mind going over
queries again? The vital elements...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Sure, sally...what kind of
query? To a NF magazine editor? An agent or book publisher?
|
|
sallyk
|
Yes, I'm thinking non-fiction
magazines
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Those are important, sally,
and really worth practicing because that is where you either sell your idea
or fail to sell it.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Most pros don't even write the
article until they get a 'yes' back from the editor.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Essentially you are trying to
sell your idea for a cool article.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
So you need a strong 'hook' to
catch the editor's attention as she skims through the stack of queries on
her desk...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and then you need to let her
know why her readers want it, and why YOU are the person to write it.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Generally, a strong hook for
your article will also work as the first line of your query letter.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The 'why your readers want it'
comes from analyzing the magazine.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Before you query, you should
know who reads it and what issues they seem to be interested in.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The 'why you should write it',
is generally that a: you are an expert, b: you have interviewed experts.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Editors rarely rarely buy
articles without some original source material.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That means comments from an
expert, usually...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
expert meaning someone who has
a direct connection to the topic you're addressing.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If I write an article about
writing, I can be the expert. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If I write an article about
lilac varieties, I'll need comments from a well known lilac breeder.
|
|
geezer
|
You use "she" a lot
when speaking of editors. Are editors predominately female?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I don't really know if they
predominate or not, geeze. I don't think so. I just consciously balance
genders....we have no neuter third person pronoun except it...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and he/she is klunky...so I
just mix he and she in examples.
|
|
foxx
|
I've heard titles, receipes,
jokes arn't copyrighted. True? If so are there more?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Titles aren't copyrighted,
foxx.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I believe receipes are, and
I'm sure jokes are...but you can check on the US copyright webpage to be
sure.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
copyright webpage
|
|
janecj333
|
We're writers. We should come up
with a neutral pronoun.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Oh, it was tried...back in the
late eighties, I believe? Big push for yeye meaning he/she...didn't catch
on.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And by the way, all images on
the internet are copyrighted.
|
|
geezer
|
"himer"
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I like that one better.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Ideas are not copyrighted
either, by the way.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But it is a very common myth
that the idea sells the story...that it is all that matters.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And that's totally false.
|
|
janecj333
|
How about 'nee'? It was good
enough for MOnty Python, after all.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's good too. Now we just
have to get people to use it.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
A lot of new writers are very
discouraged because they don't feel that they can come up with something
'really new'.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And that really doesn't
matter.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Everything has been done.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It's what YOU do with these
characters, this situation, this place that makes your story work...or not.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
A very nice workshop exercise
I use is to give all the participants the same story idea...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
the resultant stories are
widely different.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It's just that when you're
first writing, you can't see the subtle reasons why THIS story is so
powerful and THAT story is not...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
so it seems that it must be
something like idea. But it's not that simple at all.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor. It's an open question night!
Anything goes. I've published seven novels (number eight will be out in
November) , more than 60 short stories, and will do my best to answer any
questions you have. If you're new here, remember that you need to click on
the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red question
mark at the top of the screen in order to ask a question. Your regular
'send' bar won't reach me! Or you can use /ask and type your question into
the regular send bar if that works better for you..
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I do have a question from roe
on paraphrasing.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is when you paraphrase
what a character is thinking rather than trying to 'quote' that character's
actual thoughts.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
After shoveling out the drive,
Liz felt exhausted. Almost had a mind to turn around and go back in the
house and crawl back into bed. But she had a lot to do today. The wedding
flowers needed to be packed up and ready for the church. The ones for the
hall had to be delivered today, not that she looked forward to going
anywhere in this weather. Poor Emma. Liz hoped tomorrow faired better. The
snow was bad enough but the blowing made it darn near impossible to see.
She heard on the radio that schools were closed. They said if you didn't
have to go out not to. Maybe she should have stayed home. At least until it
stopped later this morning. Oh well too late now. Besides,she had too much
to do to stay home.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is a narrative that gives
us the gist of what Liz is thinking and it's very well done.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
We get sentence fragments and
turns of phrase that suggest this is her voice, so the reader 'hears' it as
her thought.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It tends to be less noticeable
to the reader than trying to create 'actual' thoughts. If you pay attention
to how you think...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
you'll realize that it's
rarely in grammatically correct sentences, but often in fragments, images,
single words...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
which don't translate well to
the page. But the grammatical sentences sound utterly phony because we all
know we don't think like that all the time.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If she did all this with 'I'
as if Liz was talking to herself it would sound clunky.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
.This is our After Hours
Forum, with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor. It's an open question
night! Anything goes. I've published seven novels (number eight will be out
in November) , more than 60 short stories, and will do my best to answer
any questions you have. If you're new here, remember that you need to click
on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red
question mark at the top of the screen in order to ask a question. Your
regular 'send' bar won't reach me! Or you can use /ask and type your
question into the regular send bar if that works better for you..
|
|
janecj333
|
That explanation, that the idea
is not key, is the crux of my suspicion toward queries being successful:
they contain no part of the story that the author is hoping to sell. Who
can tell from a query if a writer is merely competent or extraordinary?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Jane there's no way an agent
or editor can tell if the book is any good or not, unless the query is
really poorly written.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Then it's an instant fail.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's not the purpose of the
query.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Agents and editors use it to
triage the many many dozens of totally inappropriate submissions they get
every day.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Many people write 'the great
Americain novel' and simply start trying every agent or publisher on
whatever list they can find...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
paying no attention to what
that publisher publishes or that agent handles. I kid you not.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
So when the publisher who ONLY
publishes nonfiction gets the mystery novel query, it's less hassle to say
no than if he had five pounds of paper on his desk...multiply that by 100.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Since computers and printers
came on the scene, submissions to publishers/agents has skyrocketed...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and most of those are awful.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This query barrier and the
agent only barrier went up because of that. Alas.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you're offering something
that the publisher publishers or the agents handle, usually they'll ask for
a synopsis and three chapters.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
a little note. A lot of
'agents' most of whom are not located in New York...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
have a cute little business
going, where they charge clients and dutifully submit their novels...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and they do just that...start
with A and head for Z and the naive writer pays as that ms...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
is sent to publishers who
don't even publish that type of work.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And the publishers know who
these agents are.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Needless to say the publishers
don't bother to open the packages, most of the time...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and needless to say, the
'agents' are not members of AAR.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Always know whom your agent is
submitting to and do a little checking yourself.
|
|
geezer
|
Do you mean there is a fee for
each submission?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
These are not real agents,
geeze.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They're scams. They might even
sell a book or two when they run across something saleable...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
but they mostly make their
money in fees, yes.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Legitimate agents get 15% of
everything you make on whatever they sell...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and they don't get a dime
until you DO sell.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Now can you guess why agents
are leary of new writers? :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They don't get paid for your
work until they sell it. So they're very picky.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's why a 'yes' from an
agent is not a guaranteed sale, but it's a darn good bet it's going to
sell.
|
|
foxx
|
Who's AAR?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Association of Authors'
Representative
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's the professional
organization of agents.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They had a stiff code of
ethics, and a wonderful FAQ page that will educate you in how to acquire an
agent...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
what questions to ask, and
what to be careful of.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
AAR homepage
|
|
janecj333
|
I wish that were all so, Mary.
Of 50 or so agents I have queried (two novel manuscripts) who accept
science fiction or commercial fiction,, one has asked for synopsis and
sample chapters.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Well,what can I tell you,
Jane? What you have may be something they don't feel is marketable right
now. Work on something else and try them later...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
trends come and go. What you
couldn't sell a few years ago (fantasy) is hot right now.
|
|
geezer
|
If you have an agent and sell a
book, is it a good odea to have a lawyer too?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
No, geeze. If you have a
reputable AAR agent, he or she will have a lawyer on retainer.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
My agent routinely sends my
contracts to her lawyer for a second opinion from time to time.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor. It's an open question night!
Anything goes. I've published seven novels (number eight will be out in
November) , more than 60 short stories, and will do my best to answer any
questions you have. If you're new here, remember that you need to click on
the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red question
mark at the top of the screen in order to ask a question. Your regular
'send' bar won't reach me! Or you can use /ask and type your question into
the regular send bar if that works better for you..
|
|
molly22
|
How much insight will an agent
have? And how hard is it to get an agent who knows how to make a quick sale
to the right publisher?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's kind of where you have
to do your homework, molly.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Agents have a string of
editors they are familiar with, and they sell mostly to them...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
so most agents handle a
limited range of work.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You really want an agent who
handles a lot of books of the type you write.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I kind of got caught that
way...my agent is a very good SF agent, but her mystery contacts are a bit
limited...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
but I'm not about to dump her
for an agent with more mystery connections. SF is my primary love...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and she's very well
established there. But it does hurt me a bit when I have a mystery novel to
sell.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Then ask for a client list.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Check out those authors on
amazon.com.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Are they published by major NY
houses?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If not, if they're mostly
published in small press....I'd be wary.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If most of them were published
ten years ago and not more recently...I'd be wary.
|
|
molly22
|
Sorry Mary, one other part to my
question...Can you get an agent first if you feel you have a good story and
want to send it to a house that only takes agented manuscripts, i.e., send
the ms first to an agent, then they market it?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's how most ms are
handled, molly.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
A few SF houses and one...I
think...mystery house still accept unagented ms.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Romance accepts unagented ms,
too.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But for everything else, you
must submit to an agent first and the agent then sells the book.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You can certainly help!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I often suggest an editor to
my agent if I've met someone at a con and that person expresses an interest
in a future project.
|
|
geezer
|
Would an author say who his
agent is if contacted? Or is that bad form?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Well, I'd do that in person,
geeze.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's partly why you do those
writers cons!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You ask people...'who's your
agent? Are you happy? Are they taking new people?'
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And if you hang out with a
writer and you get to be buddies, you may get a personal recommendation to
that writer's agent.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's a nice toe in the door.
:-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It IS rude to ask how much
money they got for thier advance. :-) The agent question is fine.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Of course, geeze, if you write
to an author and it's a glowing fan letter, you love that author's book...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and you end by saying you're a
new writer and how is his agent...he/she might tell you, or might not.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Depends on how that person
handles fan letters, whether you 'connected' to that writer...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and so forth. But probably
not.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Best to do it in person.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor. It's an open question night!
Anything goes. I've published seven novels (number eight will be out in
November) , more than 60 short stories, and will do my best to answer any
questions you have. If you're new here, remember that you need to click on
the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red question
mark at the top of the screen in order to ask a question. Your regular
'send' bar won't reach me! Or you can use /ask and type your question into
the regular send bar if that works better for you..
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and this is the REAL reason
you spend those conference bucks...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
you can skip the agent and
send direct to an editor even in a 'no unsolicited ms' house.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
you do that by meeting editors
at conferences. You chat with them.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You do NOT thrust your ms at
them. VERY big no no.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
BUT...in the course of
chatting, you ask that editor 'What are you looking for these days?'
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And if that editor describes
something that could possibly suit your book, you say, Gee, I have this
thriller, set in whereever... Would you be interested in taking a look at
it?"
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And if it's what that editor
just got done saying he wanted, and you're not being obnoxious, he'll
probably say yes.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And then...it is a solicited
ms.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You send it to that editor
addressed to him by name, and you remind him of the meeting in your cover
letter.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I had such a great time
talking with you at Midwest Writers Con. Thanks so much for being willing
to look at Meister Dawn. I know you're busy...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and I really appreciate your
time. I hope you enjoy it.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And you're on the editor's
desk without an agent.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If the editor says yes, then
you get an agent.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
NEVER sign a NY publishing
contract without an agent!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Actually, let me except
Romance from taht...at least Harlequin .
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Those contracts are iron
bound.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
My agent tells me they can't
make many changes at all, and that you can safely sign it without an agent.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
So if you're pitching romance
to Harlequin, why spend the 15% if you don't have to?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If Harlequin likes your style,
you can keep publishing with them forever.
|
|
robastor
|
Why such a difference between
romance and other genres?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Romance is an interesting
industry. It has the biggest readership of all fiction an the BIG fish is
Harlequin.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Now I did NOT say you should
sign any other NY romance publisher's contracat without an agent!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
All the publishers do romance
lines, and those contracts are nine pages long, legal size paper, 10 point
type, single space.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And my agent makes changes in
just about every paragraph!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Harlequin simply won't
negotiate and doesn't have to. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Doesn't mean they're
fair....just means they won't negotiate. But they're pretty straightforward
about what they're offering.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
A lot of what agents fix are
arcane issues such as how returns are accounted, and how royalty money is
calculated...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and so forth. And of course,
rights.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Which rights you assign and
for how long and which you retain.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The small press contracts are
much simpler, but if you don't clearly understand what you are signing...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
you should get a publishing
attorney to look at it. That'll cost you a flat fee.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Most of the time.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Maybe an hourly rate.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor. It's an open question night!
Anything goes. I've published seven novels (number eight will be out in
November) , more than 60 short stories, and will do my best to answer any
questions you have. If you're new here, remember that you need to click on
the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red question
mark at the top of the screen in order to ask a question. Your regular
'send' bar won't reach me! Or you can use /ask and type your question into
the regular send bar if that works better for you..
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Gee, you all are short of
questions, tonight. Have I covered everything so thoroughly then? :-)
|
|
wolf122
|
Could you cover the theoretical
meaning of the universe again? :)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Sure, wolfie. It's 44.
|
|
telcontar
|
off the beaten topics, but how
do you poison a half-tiger, half-human in a fantasy?? grins
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Oh, these are fun. :-) Well,
tel,it's YOUR universe...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
how about a nice plant?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Plants can be SO lethal. :-)
|
|
geezer
|
How about the Heisenberg
Uncertainty Priniple?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Ha, I get to deal with that in
my SF from time to time. :-)
|
|
janecj333
|
44. I didn't know that! ...so,
I'm thinking that ten years ago, before the internet, we writers didn't
have a place to vent our frustrations or search for solutions.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You know Jane, it's true. I
started breaking into the writing world right before the internet had its
birth, and when...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
the first chat site went
up...clunky tho it was.... GEnie...it was a HUGE hit.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Suddenly we could all
whine...er talk...to each other all the time.
|
|
sallyk
|
Would you go over reprints -
reselling non-fiction?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
reprints are free money,sally.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I love them.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They work for both fiction and
nonfiction...some of my stories have been published four or five times.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's why you do NOT sell ALL
RIGHTS.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Once you have sold first
rights, you can sell second (reprint) rights, anthology rights, book club
rights, movie rights, electronic rights...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
if you haven't sold those
rights.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Geneally you get less money
for reprintes...anywhere from 10% to 50% of the original sale price.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But all you do is....nothing.
Generally an editor will contact you with a request, or you...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
may find markets...like
LR...that buys reprint rights preferentially.
|
|
lore alley
|
I have characters who insist
they're part of a story that...
|
|
lore alley
|
I don't think they suit. I've
tried playing God and kicking
|
|
lore alley
|
them out but they're being
rather firm...
|
|
lore alley
|
Could I be wrong?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Well, Lore, that's something
YOU have to decide. I"m going to shake my finger at you a bit here.
While it's fun to pretend...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
that characters come to life,
and of course, that's what we are trying to do to them...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
they are still YOUR
constructs, and they don't have ONE bit of say over whether they're in your
story or not. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But it rather sounds as if
you're not really sure whether they do or not.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Maybe you should put it aside
for a week and let it percolate in your back brain.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
See what decision finally
seems right. OR..
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and this is something that has
sometimes worked for me...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
try changing your plot.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You may simply not realize
what the strongest issue is for this group of characters..
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and maybe if you change your
plot a bit, you'll find that suddenly they all fit.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Sometimes you just miss the
central issue in a story.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor. It's an open question night!
Anything goes. I've published seven novels (number eight will be out in
November) , more than 60 short stories, and will do my best to answer any
questions you have. If you're new here, remember that you need to click on
the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble' next to the red question
mark at the top of the screen in order to ask a question. Your regular
'send' bar won't reach me! Or you can use /ask and type your question into
the regular send bar if that works better for you..
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Hello, sundale. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Do feel free to comment...send
it as a question so it'll show up in the transcript.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Beryl asked what do we need to
think about as far as promoting a book.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's up to you, Beryl, and
depends on how you publish.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you publish through a small
press house or on your own...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
you really won't have wide
distribution,so a serious effort on your part is going to result in sales.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The more publicity you create,
the more books you'll sell.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Send copies to the reviewer at
your local paper, and major metropolitan papers all over the US if you can
afford it.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Try to set up signings at
local bookstores, offer to come talk at local events...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
do anything and everything you
can to get yourself noticed.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you publish with a big NY
house you're going to get a MUCH wider distribution and...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
your own promotional efforts
won't have as big an effect.
|
|
robastor
|
How you feel about press
releases as a form of promotion?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
By all means!
|
|
geezer
|
Some magazines take book
reviews. Do you think they'd take a review of the author's own book?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Not usually, geeze. :-) You're
hardly unbiased.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Usually they have regular
reviewers and when authors send books (do that!) they...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
distribute them to their
reviewers who then write reviews.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Many publishers will do that
for you even in small press. NY houses always do.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They publish bound galleys or
review copies and distribute them very early. My novel, due out in
November, went out as review copy a month ago or more.
|
|
ltsonya
|
what about in nonfiction when
you want to interview someone and have different slant ideas, can use a few
of the quotes over again? or do they have to be different ones all
together?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Good question, lt!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You can repeat the same quotes
in various articles.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
In fact, when you interview
that expert, ask all the questions you can think of.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You may come up with a new
slant and want to do a different article later, and hopefully you'll
already have the quotes for it.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I have indeed run across the
same quote in two different article written by the same author. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
One article was a commentary
piece and the other was an informational piece.
|
|
ltsonya
|
great! that makes my life a little
bit easier if i can reuse some quotes
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It's the slant that matters,
lt...not the actual material.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The idea is that your second
article is not taking readers away from the publisher of the first article.
|
|
janecj333
|
How about a short fiction piece
published in one form, then offered to another publisher in expanded form.
Is it considered a reprint?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Tha'ts a fuzzy line, Jane. It
has to be 'significantly different' but that's going to be open to
interpretation.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Certainly a couple of my short
stories had a rebirth as chapter one in a couple of novels. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But those rights are different
and they didn't conflict.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I don't think you could
dramatically alter the length of a story without changing the plot
significantly...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
not if both stories were good.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Plot dictates length.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
So there shouldn't be a
problem.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Well, you all came up with
some good questions.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Do join us Sunday for our
casual chat...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
where we get together to
simply talk.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It's a lot of fun,and you can
meet potential readers, for when your story is ready for that critque. :-)
|