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mary rosenblum
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Hello all, and happy New Year
to you!
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mary rosenblum
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Welcome to our first Friday
Forum of 2005. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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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..
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mary rosenblum
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For those of you who either
read Talebones, remember Patrick Swenson the editor fondly from his
interview here...
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mary rosenblum
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or will submit to the
magazine, I just posted a new newsletter that Patrick is doing, featuring
Fairwood Press and Talebones.
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mary rosenblum
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It's available in the Review
Section in Surviving and Thriving. Patrick gave me permission to post it
for the website folk.
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writelegends
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What is Talebones?
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mary rosenblum
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Talebones is a SF/dark fantasy
magazine, writel...
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mary rosenblum
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Patrick Swenson, the editor
has been a guest here and has been VERY good...
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mary rosenblum
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about giving website people
personal responses and a bit of a critique when they submit.
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mary rosenblum
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He really likes Long Ridge and
the website. If you write SF or dark fantasy, put it on your list of good
potential markets.
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writelegends
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Awesome, I love SF/fantasy, I
will have to check it out
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mary rosenblum
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It's a good magazine. I
subscribe to it, and I'd say it's right up there with F & SF and
Asimov's in quality.
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mary rosenblum
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Patrick is getting better and
better pro work as his reputation increases.
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mary rosenblum
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And he really likes to find
and develop new writers.
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mary rosenblum
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Fairwood Press, his publishing
house, also publishes The 10% Solution, the best book on 'how to tighten'
I've seen and very inexpensive at about 7 dollars.
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mary rosenblum
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Tonight is an open question
night.
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mary rosenblum
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If you have a question I
haven't answered in a Forum...now is your chance!
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writelegends
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Is there a Talebones URL?
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mary rosenblum
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www.fairwoodpress.com
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mary rosenblum
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If you go look at the
newsletter, it has a live link to the site.
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mary rosenblum
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It's Tell Tales, the Talebones
Newsletter. In Reviews: Surviving and Thriving.
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mary rosenblum
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I do have a couple of
questions that people sent me ahead of time. They couldn't make the Forum.
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mary rosenblum
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I sent a short story to
Fantasist Enterprises for their anthology, well, it is already beyond the
deadline and more than a month since I sent it. Is it a good sign or a bad
sign or not a sign at all that they have not yet replied to my submission?
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mary rosenblum
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I wanted to address this
particularly, because anthology practices are not always obvious when
you're first starting out...
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mary rosenblum
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and anthologies can be GREAT
markets.
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mary rosenblum
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The way an anthology works is
like this...
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mary rosenblum
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the editor first gets promises
from some established pros for stories...she uses these promises to pitch
the anthology to a publisher and sell it.
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mary rosenblum
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Then she opens up the
anthology to fill in the vacant spots.
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mary rosenblum
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If she LOVES a story or it's a
good story from a big name, she'll buy it outright.
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mary rosenblum
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Then she'll put aside
promising stories until the 'closing date'...
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mary rosenblum
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after which she will narrow
down the stories to the number she needs to fill the anthology.
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mary rosenblum
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So if you don't hear back
until after the deadline, then you made the final cut!
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mary rosenblum
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And since she has a publishing
deadline, you will usually hear for sure about 6 weeks after the deadline.
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mary rosenblum
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This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor, her for an Open Question night. I've
published seven novels and 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..
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writermom
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Mary can you tell me what
courses are offered at Longridge for a graduate from ICL I was offered the
bookwriting course at ICL and was wondering if Longridge had anything like
it
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mary rosenblum
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The novel writing course
should be available this summer, writer. Last I heard it's still on
schedule.
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mary rosenblum
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I'm writing the manual, and
we're nearly done. :-) It's a good course.
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mary rosenblum
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There is also a 12 assignment
course on writing fiction and nonfiction for adults...short fiction and
magazine pieces.
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mary rosenblum
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As well as a shorter eight
assignment course.
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chatty lady
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I entered a poem in Cosmic
Brownies. Mya Anjalu did as well.
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chatty lady
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My poem was accepted and will be
in with hers and others.
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mary rosenblum
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That's cool, chatty! Way to
go! Nice New Year's present! :-)
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mvallin
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I teach writning in high school,
what do you feel is the most important form for them to master?
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mary rosenblum
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ooh, mvallin, what a lovely
question. Lessee...do you have a couple of hours, heheh? I teach HS writing
workshops from time to time and love it...
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mary rosenblum
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My own feeling is that
characterization and show don't tell are always the strongest underpinnings
of good prose.
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mary rosenblum
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Good for you for teaching
writing to HS kids. A lot of schools are really reducing that.
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mary rosenblum
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At least around here.
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writelegends
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http://www.worldwidefreelance.com/guide.htm
-Any good?
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mary rosenblum
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Dunno, writel. You'll have to
use it and see. There are a lot of market lists out there...I''m assuming
it's a market list?
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mary rosenblum
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If it's a for-pay list, I'd
use the free ones before I paid for one.
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wolf122
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Is there a good source to find
additional verbs for writing, esp. after speech (such as she 'said', he
'asked')--is there a better source than a thesaurus?
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mary rosenblum
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I'll tell you, wolf, that is a
huge fallacy....that you should replace 'said' with words like 'announced'
or 'murmured' or 'complained'.
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mary rosenblum
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The reason is this. 'said'
following a line of dialogue is pretty invisible until it occurs too often.
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mary rosenblum
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But announced, complained,
etc, are VERY noticeable and draw our attention to you, the author, telling
us that this person just spoke.
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mary rosenblum
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Instead of using another verb,
just quit using said. Use action tags instead.
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mary rosenblum
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They will do a LOT for your
dialogue.
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mary rosenblum
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Here's an example:
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mary rosenblum
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"Just be here on time
tomorrow." Royce slammed the door.
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mary rosenblum
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Who said 'Just be here on time
tomorrow'?
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mary rosenblum
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I don't need to use said at
all. The fact that Royce's action immediately follows the line of speech
instantly identifies him as the speaker.
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mary rosenblum
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And no 'said' tag is
necessary.
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mary rosenblum
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And remember. You do NOT need
a tag with EVERY line of dialogue...
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mary rosenblum
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only often enough so that
readers aren't lost. You can usually go three lines of 'stripped' or
tagless dialogue before readers lose track.
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mary rosenblum
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Unless you have three or four
people talking, of course.
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writelegends
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It's an e-book full of market
lists, just curious about it
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mary rosenblum
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Sorry, writel. I haven't used
it and so far nobody has reviewed it.
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mary rosenblum
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If someone does use it, review
it for me, and I'll post it on the website.
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mary rosenblum
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Remember...if I publish your
review about a website, market list, or book on writing, I may not pay you,
but it IS a published clip.
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mvallin
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Where is the best place for
students to submit work for publishing? Not novels but prose or short
stories?
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mary rosenblum
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There are quite a few
magazines, mvallin, that take work from kids only...not adults.
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mary rosenblum
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Stone Soup is one.
Gerry....uh, forgot her last name...is editor.
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mary rosenblum
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And there are several others
including a Pen competition for teens.
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mary rosenblum
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I found a lot for some of my
students by searching the internet. Use google and search young writers
markets.
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writelegends
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How does one submit a review to
you?
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mary rosenblum
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email me...you can reply to
one of the email updates you get.
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mary rosenblum
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Or directly at
maryrsn@comcast.net
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t green
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Gerry Mandel is the editor of
Stone Soup
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mary rosenblum
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That's it. I kept thinking
Mandella and knew that wasn't quite right. Thanks, t.
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mary rosenblum
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She's VERY nice.
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wyrde
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what about BIG students that
want to submit short stories
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mary rosenblum
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That's where you need to do
your market research wyrde.
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mary rosenblum
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Start with your market lists.
What do you write? Mainstream? Mystery? SF? Fantasy? Horror?
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mary rosenblum
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If you are writing nonfiction,
head for your local big bookstore and start browsing the magazine racks for
inspiration.
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mary rosenblum
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In all cases, I would read at
least two copies of any magazine, fiction or non, before you submit a story
or a query.
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mary rosenblum
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All guidelines sound more or
less alike.
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mary rosenblum
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What you want to know is what
does THIS editor seem to want?
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mary rosenblum
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The guidelines for Analog,
Asimov's, and F & SF for example, are nearly the same.
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mary rosenblum
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The fiction in the magazines
is very different in each case.
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klmiller
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what is the best way to querry a
newspaper?
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mary rosenblum
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Write a query to the editor of
the page you want to write for, kl...or to the senior editor if you want
your own regular column or page.
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mary rosenblum
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I would go read my interview
with Deborah Wood.
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mary rosenblum
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She went to the editor of the
Oregonian and convinced him to give her a weekly pet page in the paper.
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mary rosenblum
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And she goes into detail about
why he said yes. Her method is VERY good and I would follow her example.
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info
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I have trouble sometimes when I
have a paragraph talking about how say a grown son talking about knowing
what his father is thinking. How do you deal with keeping the he's straight
in the paragraph without confusing the reader?
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mary rosenblum
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Sometimes you really have to
use one character's name, info, or you sure can confuse the reader.
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mary rosenblum
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That is something I look for
on revision. I tend to use names sparingly so am constantly adding them
when I have two 'hes' talking to each other a lot! :-)
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mary rosenblum
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He knew what his father was
thinking. He was always right.
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mary rosenblum
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Who was right? Son or father?
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mary rosenblum
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Let's call son Carl here.
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mary rosenblum
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He know what his father was
thinking and Carl was always right.
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mary rosenblum
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Here's the other version.
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mary rosenblum
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He knew what his father was
thinking and Dad was always right.
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mary rosenblum
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Look how different the
meanings of these sentences are, depending on who is right!
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mary rosenblum
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It's important to make those
pronouns clear!
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roe
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Mary can you explain what Dark
Fantasy is?
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mary rosenblum
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That's a very 'fuzzy' genre
definition, roe. One editor's dark fantasy is another editor's horror...
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mary rosenblum
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but generally, it tends to be
more downbeat, the evil often triumphs, and there is often, not always,
more gore.
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mary rosenblum
|
This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor, her for an Open Question night.
I've published seven novels and 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..
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speckledorf
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I'm working on a ghost story. Do
you think it is best to explain the ghost or let the reader deal with it on
their own?
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mary rosenblum
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You know, you can get yourself
into hot water by explaining too much, speck.
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mary rosenblum
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There are certain things that
we don't KNOW...how a serial killer thinks, how a ghost can manifest...
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mary rosenblum
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and if you give too many
details, a lot of readers will respond with 'no, that's not how it is!'
because of course...
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mary rosenblum
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we all imagine those things
and we all imagine differently.
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mary rosenblum
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So making something seem
plausible but not explaining is often your best move.
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joanc
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Mary, it is often said to write
what you know or what you read..I read pretty much everything, I can write
in all styles, but alot of the stuff I write, I just don't know where it
fits or what genre it best suits how do you figure that out?
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mary rosenblum
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That can be a problem, joan.
It helps to know your genre...
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mary rosenblum
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and then you have to decide
what drives your story...what is the STRONGEST part of your story.
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mary rosenblum
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What is so fundamental that if
you took it out you wouldn't have a story?
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mary rosenblum
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If the romance is central to the
story, if it's the MOST important part of the story, then it's a romance.
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mary rosenblum
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If there is romance in it, but
the murder is the most important part of the story...
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mary rosenblum
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it's probably a mystery, if
the murder is getting solved.
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mary rosenblum
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If it's a mystery set on a
space station, you're probably going to sell it to a SF market.
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mary rosenblum
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If you have ghosts and a
mystery you can probably sell to either a mystery or fantasy market.
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arfelin
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I submitted a story to a mag a
week ago and haven't gotten a response as to if they received it. Do you
think it's okay to email the editor and ask her?
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mary rosenblum
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A week? I'm laughing, afrelin.
I doubt it's even made it into the slush pile yet! Even if you emailed it!
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mary rosenblum
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Goodness.
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mary rosenblum
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Realize that editors put in
about a forty-plus hour week BEFORE they read slush. That's extra.
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mary rosenblum
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Which means it may be fifteen
minutes a day!
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mary rosenblum
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And you do not get a 'I got
it' contact from print magazines when they received your ms. Some email
submissions will send you an auto-reply and if you know that the publisher
does this and you don't get one...
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mary rosenblum
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then resend.
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mary rosenblum
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But editors get testy when you
bug them after a very brief period of time.
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mary rosenblum
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That slush pile is a huge
mountain always nagging at them. They don't like to be nagged by writers
before they really ARE late in getting out a response.
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mary rosenblum
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I'd look up their response
time in the writers guidelines...
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mary rosenblum
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and myself, I double it before
I query.
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mary rosenblum
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I have other projects out.
I'll wait.
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mary rosenblum
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Sometimes an editor will hold
your story or query if you're new, waiting to see if something opens up
where they can use it.
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tory
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Mary, re: trying to get a novel
published, one needs to get an agent before most places will accept the MS
submission. How important is it to get just the right agent for your
future? Or is it typical to get one early on and later a choose
diffeent/presumable better or better known agent?
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mary rosenblum
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It's really important, tory,
to get the best agent you can, right off the bat.
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mary rosenblum
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I know some stories that
illustrate that...
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mary rosenblum
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of agents who sold movie and
foreign rights to the book to the initial publisher...so that the author
got nothing when the book became a blockbuster movie.
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mary rosenblum
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And agents who let the ms sit
on the desk for a year without ever sending it out.
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mary rosenblum
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And remember that the
publisher pays the agent who deducts her fee and pays YOU.
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mary rosenblum
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And that happens as long as
the book is in print, whether you are still a client of that agent or not.
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writeaway
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If I sell a short story and
decide to do it as a novel, is there anything (besides length) I must
do?... change the names... make reference to short story, etc.?
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mary rosenblum
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Nope. If you read my novel
Stone Garden, the first chapter is nearly word for word a story that was
published in Asimov's Magazine..
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mary rosenblum
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and a story that will be out
in Asimov's shortly: Green Shift, is chapters one and two of Eternity
Shift, my current SF novel.
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mary rosenblum
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Different rights.
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roe
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Don't most mag guidlines give a
response time period?
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mary rosenblum
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They do. And they are usually
way off. :-) But they're a guideline for when to nag. :-) Twice the
response time is a good rule of thumb.
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mary rosenblum
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This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor, her for an Open Question night.
I've published seven novels and 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..
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writelegends
|
What are your thoughts on
Simultaneous Submissions?
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mary rosenblum
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Well, writel, far be if from
me to tell you to break the rules and submit simultaneously when the
publisher says not to....
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mary rosenblum
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buuuutttt....
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mary rosenblum
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considering how long the
response time is...lots of writers do it.
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mary rosenblum
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Can it hurt you? Sure. You can
tick off an editor so that you don't sell as much to him or her as you
might.
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mary rosenblum
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But if you bcome a big name
they'll buy from you anyway.
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mary rosenblum
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So it's a gamble.
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mary rosenblum
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But if you have to tell the
editor who sends you a contract that 'sorry, I sold this elsewhere' you
won't sell your next story to that editor.
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mary rosenblum
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Keep it in mind.
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info
|
if you leghten a short story
into a novel, would the novel still be considered under first rights? Even
if part of it was sold as such?
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mary rosenblum
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First rights are First SERIAL
rights, info. They don't apply to novels.
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mary rosenblum
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Novels are BOOK rights.
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joanc
|
Do you recommend purchasing the
'Best of the Magazine Markets' every year?
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mary rosenblum
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You really do have to have a
current market list, joan.
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mary rosenblum
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Editors play musical desks.
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mary rosenblum
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If you submit to an editor and
that editor is gone, your ms may go astray.
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mary rosenblum
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magazines go in and out of
business...
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mary rosenblum
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and if you send to one that
closed down, you will wait and wait to hear and may never get the ms back
to let you know it didn't end up where you sent it.
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tory
|
Yes, Mary, simultaneous
submissions. Many agent guides say agents will accept multi0ple/simultaneous
submissions--but mentioning that in the query sounds so manipulative, like
you're pressuring them. Any suggestions?
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mary rosenblum
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Oh goodness, ALL agents know
that you're sim subbing! You HAVE to. Agents take forever to reply and they
mostly say no.
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mary rosenblum
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And you WANT to shop.
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mary rosenblum
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If two agents say yes, you
need to decide which one is better for you.
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mary rosenblum
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The reason editors don't like
it (although agents can do it, by the way) is that when an editor says Yes,
I'll buy it...
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mary rosenblum
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that editor has usually
reserved space for your story in an issue. And if he/she can't use
it...another story has to be found to fit.
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t green
|
if an editor is holding one of
my submissions for a previous publication (they pay on publication) is it
all right to send him another piece?
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mary rosenblum
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Sure, t.
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mary rosenblum
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You can send as many subs to
an editor as you want.
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mary rosenblum
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I suggest you NOT send three
or four at a time.
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mary rosenblum
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The editor is likely to read
them and buy the one he/she likes best.
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mary rosenblum
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But if he buys the first, and
you send the second later, he likes it, he buys it, too...and then you send
him the third and he likes that....get the picture?
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roe
|
Actually the Writers Digest
Market Guide online is better since they update every day
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mary rosenblum
|
I actually like Gila Queen's
Guide to markets better, roe.
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mary rosenblum
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She updates regularly, too,
and she includes more small press and fringe markets in both fiction and
nonfiction.
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mary rosenblum
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But it's also for pay.
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speckledorf
|
I need to add some backstory to
a work in progress. Is there a way to do so without stopping the forward
progress of the story?
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mary rosenblum
|
Sure speck. You can do it
through thought...internal monologue...as events/people/placles remind MC
of the past...
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mary rosenblum
|
or through dialogue with
someone who knows the MC...
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mary rosenblum
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Those are the easiest ways to
do it.
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roe
|
never heard of that one do you
have an address you can insert into the transcript?
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mary rosenblum
|
AS I recall, Katherine
Ptachek, the editor, allowed me to post some sample issues in New Market
Listings.
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mary rosenblum
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Don't search on Gila
Queen...it's a porn site!
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mary rosenblum
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I posted them awhile ago, so
you'll have to scroll down the list.
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mary rosenblum
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New year's resolution...clean
up New Market Updates category!
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mary rosenblum
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Here's another question I
received.
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mary rosenblum
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My problem. I wish to use
third person omniscient for a tense scene between antagonists that use
short sentences and phrases for their words and thoughts (Ex. A thinks:
Odious man, A says: OK. Deal; B thinks: Gotcha!, B says: Good move.).
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"he thought, he
said" won't work. Using quotation marks around just the dialogue seems
confusing. Any suggestions?
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mary rosenblum
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Personally, I wouldn't use
omniscient here for that very reason.
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mary rosenblum
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If you want the scene to be
tense and taut, you need to use a minimum of words...
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mary rosenblum
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but if you have to identify
two speakers and two sets of thoughts..
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mary rosenblum
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you're going to have to use a
lot of tags in order to make it clear.
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mary rosenblum
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I suggest that you can let one
POV infer the other's throughts pretty easily if it is absolutely
necessary...
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mary rosenblum
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and that you'll have a much
stronger scene with a single POV here.
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mary rosenblum
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Realize that sometimes what we
WANT to do is not the best thing for the STORY.
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speckledorf
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http://gilaqueen.us/
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mary rosenblum
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Thanks, speck. NOT the porn
site, I take it. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor, her for an Open Question night.
I've published seven novels and 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..
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mary rosenblum
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I actually subscribed to Gila
Queen way back when, when it was still published on paper. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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actually, referring back to
Geezer's question...
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mary rosenblum
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omniscient is rarely a good
choice of POV unless the story is STRONGLY plot driven and the characters
are just fine as cardboard cutouts
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speckledorf
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The gilaqueen site hasn't been
updated since Oct...Her hubby has been sick...had a stomach feeding tube so
not sure what is going on there.
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mary rosenblum
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Uh oh...well might be a good
idea not to subscribe to it. He was in a car wreck last spring...she had to
cancel as my guest.
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mary rosenblum
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I suspect she has her hands
full.
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vic
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when do you give in and hire
someone to sell your manuscript
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mary rosenblum
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Well, vic, if you're talking
book length, then you really will have to let someone sell it for you if
you want to sell to the traditional NY publishers.
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mary rosenblum
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Although small press
publishers are quite willing to take unagented ms. The NY publishers insist
on agents except for some SF and fantasy houses.
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mary rosenblum
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You don't need anyone to sell
your short work.
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mary rosenblum
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You just need to keep writing
and sending out, writing and sending out.
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mary rosenblum
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It is HARD to break in and
perseverance is part of it.
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mary rosenblum
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Editors DO know who you are.
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mary rosenblum
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They WANT stubborn writers who
will write lots of stories or articles and keep them supplied.
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mary rosenblum
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If you quit after three
pieces...oh well too bad.
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mary rosenblum
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If you keep showing up in the
slush and getting better, they watch you...
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mary rosenblum
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because they want to buy your
first, discover the next King.
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mary rosenblum
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It happens every conference...
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mary rosenblum
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some unpublisher writer
timidly approaches an editor and is shocked to the soles of her feet...
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mary rosenblum
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to discover that form
rejections notwithstanding, the editor not only knows her name, but
remembers the last story she sent in.
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mary rosenblum
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I've seen this very scene play
out many many times. :-)
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vic
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i've been at it for 3 yrs..not
even a nibble, what now?
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mary rosenblum
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I don't know how many stories
that means or what you've sent out. Either you aren't giving editors quite
what they want...
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mary rosenblum
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or you're not quite at a
publishable level yet. Keep writing, keep striving to get better, get
feedback from good sources on your work...other aspiring writers,
workshops, etc...and keep doing it.
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mary rosenblum
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If you can, go to conferences
and talk to editors. Just be pleasant.
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mary rosenblum
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Ask them what they are looking
for. And read their publications!
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writermom
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Mary I am struggling with POV in
a YA fantasy novel, How many pov's cand you safely use before it gets to be
too many and at the end of the story i have two of the pov's dying can I
then add pov's to fill the void and keep the story moving
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mary rosenblum
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There's no exact rule, writer.
I would say that you are better off with fewer rather than a cast of many.
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mary rosenblum
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Most YA fantasys that I have
read have a couple of strong central POVs and some strong secondaries. The
more time readers spend in the POV of a character, teh more real that
character becomes.
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mary rosenblum
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If they don't spend much time
in any one POV, then those characters may not be very real and your story
will suffer.
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mary rosenblum
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I'm assuming you are talking
about a Book Two when you ask about adding characters after killing off two
POVs at the end of Book One?
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mary rosenblum
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You can always add characters
in a series. It's often wise to do so to keep the story fresh.
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writermom
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if I have a novel that is in the
final revisions stage can I start querying agents or do I need to wait
until the book is completely finished
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mary rosenblum
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You might as well wait until
you are finished, writere.
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mary rosenblum
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If the agent decides to
consider you, he/she will want to see the entire ms. As a new and
unpublished writer you need to send that agent a POLISHED and finished
product.
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mary rosenblum
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You only get to sell
unfinished work when you have proved that you can turn in a completed book
on deadline. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Then you can sell a proposal.
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mary rosenblum
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Not for a first book!
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mary rosenblum
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For those of you contemplating
acquiring an agent.
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mary rosenblum
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Go to the homepage of the
Association of Authors Representatives and read their FAQ page.
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mary rosenblum
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It is a crash course in how to
select an agent and be safe from scams.
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mary rosenblum
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They also have a list of
contact infor for agents who are accepting new clients.
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mary rosenblum
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http://www.aar-online.org/index.html
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mary rosenblum
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That website offers solid gold
advice on how to deal with agents. Do read it.
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mary rosenblum
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There are a ton of scams out
there to prey on new writers.
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mary rosenblum
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Any final questions before we
run out of time?
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jr souza jr
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Are you familair with anyone who
writes for comics and how similar is thatt to script writing
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mary rosenblum
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Well, jr, Dark Horse is
practically my next door neighbor. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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I suppose there are a lot of
similarities to script in that you are working with visuals, graphic rather
than stage...and are mostly creating a strong story arc.
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mary rosenblum
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But in comics you also create
the character, where the actor does that in a play or movie.
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writelegends
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Any challenges for the coming
week?
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mary rosenblum
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Hmmm...how about put that 'no
to be verbs' stuff into general use. It will do more to improve your
writing than any one technique.
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writeaway
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Mary when I read your words I
feel confident that I can do it... I can be a published author..then I open
the writers market...ooh
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mary rosenblum
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Well, writers market will do
that to you!
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mary rosenblum
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It just seems so overwhelming.
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mary rosenblum
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But editors are real people
very much like writers and it's a lot less...
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mary rosenblum
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of an unscalable wall than you
could ever guess when you start out.
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mary rosenblum
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Mostly, discouragement defeats
people...or their realization that it's just not worth the work.
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mary rosenblum
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I had a talented NF student
recently who is probably going to quit.
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mary rosenblum
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She has been selling regularly
to small magazines and the like...
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mary rosenblum
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but she's thinking in terms of
bottom line and she can make more money doing other things.
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mary rosenblum
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So she will.
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mary rosenblum
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The people who can't NOT do
this, who keep sending their work out no matter how 'down' they get at the
100th rejection slip..
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mary rosenblum
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and who, most importantly,
keep trying to improve...make it.
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mary rosenblum
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Eventually.
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mary rosenblum
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Obsessives, block heads,
terminally stubborn... you call it!
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writeaway
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the truth is..I'd write if I
never sold a word. I have family and friends who love my work. And there's
nothing better than having someone ask if they can read your story again.
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mary rosenblum
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and you know what?
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mary rosenblum
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If you define your success
that way... that people LOVE to read your work...you will find writing
truely satisfying.
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mary rosenblum
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If you define it as winning a
Pulitzer, being in the NY Times top ten, making a million dollar
advance...well, prepare yourself to forever be miserable unless you are
very lucky.
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mary rosenblum
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And it's hard not to fall into
that money/sales = success trap.
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mary rosenblum
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But every time a fan comes up
to me to tell me what they loved and why...THAT'S why I write. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Well, you all asked good
questions!
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mary rosenblum
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I'll post this with the other
Forum Transcripts.
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arfelin
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Thanks Mary. You saved me from
falling out of grace with an editor. I've always gotten an auto-response to
my email subs--thought they all did it:-).
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mary rosenblum
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Well, you might read the
guidelines, arfelin.
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mary rosenblum
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But many do not auto-reply.
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mary rosenblum
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Go ahead and query...but wait
another week or two at least!
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mary rosenblum
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Thanks for coming all!
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mary rosenblum
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do drop by on Sunday for our
casual chat..
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mary rosenblum
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same time same place.
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mary rosenblum
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If you suddenly remember that
question you forgot tonight, bring it then.
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mary rosenblum
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See you all Sunday!
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