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mary rosenblum
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Hello all.
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mary rosenblum
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I hope you have a very fine
weekend.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about slant and nonfiction today. 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, or use the ask a question
icon in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You
can also type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to
reach me.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the final day to
submit to the LR New Beginnings anthology, remember. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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When I check my email before
bed...probably about 11 PM Pacific Time the anthology is closed.
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mary rosenblum
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If you want to do a last
minute quickie...the guidelines are on the website...
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mary rosenblum
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Just click on the LR Christmas
Anthology and you'll find the details there...
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mary rosenblum
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as well as my comments on the
previous anthology. They'll help you understand what I'm looking for.
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mary rosenblum
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I haven't done a nonfiction
topic for awhile, and thought it was about time to return to that.
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mary rosenblum
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Many of my LR students falter
when they hit Assignment Three, a required nonfiction project.
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mary rosenblum
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If you think of writing in
terms of fiction only, it can be a sudden change of gears.
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mary rosenblum
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But actually, nonfiction
writing has a couple of benefits for you, even if you're primarily a
fiction writer.
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mary rosenblum
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Your writing will
improve...you have to write tight, clean prose in order to publish in
nonfiction...
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mary rosenblum
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and publishing in NF is going
to boost your confidence when you get those rejection slips.
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mary rosenblum
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You know you CAN write
publishable material!
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mary rosenblum
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Plus, nonfiction simply pays a
lot better than fiction...to the tune of about ten times as much overall.
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mary rosenblum
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If your dream is to support
yourself entirely by your writing, you really do need to look to
nonfiction...
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mary rosenblum
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to keep the rent paid. Write
fiction for your spirit. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Writing nonfiction is much
easier than writing fiction.
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mary rosenblum
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Why?
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mary rosenblum
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Writing strong fiction
requires a strong sense of 'story'.
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mary rosenblum
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Your writing has to be strong,
but you must also tell a strong story that interests readers...
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mary rosenblum
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and that is a very subjective
thing! A 'strong story' to one editor is ho hum to another.
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mary rosenblum
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But in nonfiction the only
real requirement is good writing.
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mary rosenblum
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Once you understand slant it's
just a matter of breaking in.
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kungfumama
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Mary, the biggest show stopper
for me in writing non-fiction is making sure I get my facts straight ...
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kungfumama
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I double-check everything, but
I'm so afraid that I might have missed something that it just stops me
cold.
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mary rosenblum
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This is probably a personal
issue you're just going to have to face, kung...and probably..
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mary rosenblum
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when you've published a couple
of pieces and the police do NOT show up on your doorstep...
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mary rosenblum
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to arrest you for 'false
statements', you'll begin to gain confidence. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Either you have found your
facts or you have not, kung. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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But it's very easy to feel
insecure.
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geezer
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Why I don't care for NF in
magazines is that the stories don't tend to have enough depth.
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mary rosenblum
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And that's not the writer's
fault, geeze.
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mary rosenblum
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That is what the editors want.
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mary rosenblum
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If you want to cover a NF
topic in real depth, you have to write it in book length form...
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mary rosenblum
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What magazines offer is
something like a digest of interesting topics...you get a brief glimpse.
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mary rosenblum
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Authors often go on to write
extensive, book length works, that cover a topic in depth...
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mary rosenblum
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but they may have published a
dozen or so short articles on the same general topic, first.
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mary rosenblum
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And that is where novice NF
writers often run into trouble.
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mary rosenblum
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You TRY to cover the topic in
depth.
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mary rosenblum
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The editor takes one look at
your query letter and knows that if you do the job you're proposign to
do...
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mary rosenblum
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it's going to run WAY longer
than she wants...
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mary rosenblum
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and she rejects it.
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mary rosenblum
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Identifying what an editor
needs is the real work in NF.
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mary rosenblum
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The benefits are great...if
you sell a couple or three pieces to an editor, that editor will often
begin to assign you topics.
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mary rosenblum
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It is very nice to get a request
to write something.
|
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mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about slant and nonfiction today. 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, or use the ask a question
icon in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You
can also type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to
reach me.
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sallyk
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How do you develop balance
between length and scope?
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mary rosenblum
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The real key is to narrow your
topic.
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mary rosenblum
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When you think it's narrow
enough, you probably need to narrow it more.
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mary rosenblum
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It's actually similar to
learning to plot a short short story....think small.
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dfitz
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I am trying to write a travel
piece based on an experience as a young man. I'm running into trouble
finding sources for information on this particular location. So far the
internet has turned up almost nothing. Contacting local people has not
resulted in any success either. Any suggestions?
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mary rosenblum
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Is this destined for the NF
market, dfitz? And as an informational piece or as a personal narrative?
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dfitz
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It is an informational peice for
NF with a personal antedote as the hook
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mary rosenblum
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Travel writing is a very
lucrative type of NR, dfitz. It's pretty competitve, too. Editors look for
primary source material.
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mary rosenblum
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That means you went there, or
your informant went there.
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mary rosenblum
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Most travel writers I know
actually visit the places they write about.
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lapart
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Is it fair to the reader to
cover topics that interest you, or is it better to expand your interests
and topics?
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mary rosenblum
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Well, lapart, the editor isn't
going to let you be 'unfair' to the reader...that editor just won't buy
something readers don't want to read. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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You might be unfair to
yourself if you write on only one topic! :-)
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mary rosenblum
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However, it is a good idea to
begin in an area of interest to you.
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mary rosenblum
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Say you're an avid gardener.
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mary rosenblum
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You know 'garden speak'...you
know the familiar terms for conditions, equipment, and the like.
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mary rosenblum
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You know what concerns
gardeners and you probably read gardening magazines...
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mary rosenblum
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so you will be able to write
an effective piece much more easily than you can write one, say, on
greyhound racing when you've never owned a dog...
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mary rosenblum
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and never attended a race.
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mary rosenblum
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BUT...
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mary rosenblum
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freelance writers write on any
topic they are handed.
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mary rosenblum
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When you get that request for
the greyhound article..
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mary rosenblum
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you go to your nearest
greyhound track and make contacts...
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mary rosenblum
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with the race dog owners...
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mary rosenblum
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and interview a few people so
that you can now write the article.
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dfitz
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This was a place I live in the
early 1950's. I'm sure things have changed. It is a story about a lake
where I used to fish.
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mary rosenblum
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You know, dfitz, considering
the strength of the nostalgia market, I'd write it as a personal narrative,
recalling those bygone days...
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mary rosenblum
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and making some kind of subtle
point.
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mary rosenblum
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If you return to visit the
lake, then you could write a travel piece, but the travel market is all
about..
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mary rosenblum
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what to see NOW and where to
stay and eat NOW.
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janecj333
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An article in Natl. Geographic I
just read, about junk that washes off ships and ends up on Hawaii's
beaches, the author slanted it to shock us with the variety and amount of
junk; I was shocked, however, that the junk just lays on the beach with no
one cleaning it up and so the article lost me
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janecj333
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another section of the same
article showed a baby pelican that had died from a stomach filled with
plastic; but the crux of the article should have been that such deaths are
rare, because most chicks regurgitate the mess and fledge just fine.
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mary rosenblum
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Well, clearly that article
didn't reach you as a reader, jane.
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mary rosenblum
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But as with fiction, no single
piece of writing works for everyone. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Editors try to satisfy the
majority of their readers and believe me, every editor gets complaints from
someone about every issue.
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jyinxy
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Basically are you saying that we
should write what we know?
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mary rosenblum
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Not at all, jyinxy... Like
Rikki Tikki Tavi...go run and find out. :-) BUt as a novice writer...
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mary rosenblum
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breaking into NF you will find
it easier to succeed if you write about something that is familiar to you
at first.
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mary rosenblum
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Think of writing as riding a
bike.
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mary rosenblum
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When you first start learning
you wobble all over the place...
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mary rosenblum
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and if you are also trying to
balance a bag of groceries on the handlebars, you're most likely going to
have ...
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mary rosenblum
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a tough ride home.
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mary rosenblum
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Once you can pedal straight
and you ride easily, you'll have no trouble hauling that bag of groceries
home.
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tolkienlvr
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Mary, how do you deal with
selling rights to magazines for article topics you'd later like to turn
into a non-fiction book? How can you maintain the right to write the book
later?
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mary rosenblum
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You are selling the same
rights to nonfiction mags as to fiction mags, tolkien.
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mary rosenblum
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That is, you are selling first
serial rights, or first world or electronic rights...
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mary rosenblum
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depending on what the magazine
or ezine buys.
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mary rosenblum
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That permits you to use the
material later.
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mary rosenblum
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IT's different for syndicated
newspaper columns.
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janecj333
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I guess it's as if nonfiction
publications use writers who try too hard to slant a piece, instead of just
being objective
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mary rosenblum
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The editor decides what he/she
wants to include in the magazine, jane, and then includes it.
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mary rosenblum
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If the readers stop buying it,
the magazine fails.
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mary rosenblum
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In the publishing world, the
reality is that publishers cater to the people with the money...the
customers.
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mary rosenblum
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They don't publish stuff that
is 'good for us' only, unless it's a nonprofit group.
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mary rosenblum
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LIke it or not, the readers
have the final say in what gets published.
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mary rosenblum
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If you have an agenda you want
to get across in either fiction or non, you have to learn how to do it
subtly.
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barbara blair
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I've written a NF book, do you
recommend excerpts for magazines.
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mary rosenblum
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Certainaly, barbara, but
direct excerpts from a book are not likely to work well for most magazines.
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mary rosenblum
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But what WILL work is to write
articles based on your book. That will help you sell the book later.
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sady
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Please talk about slant on, say,
a history article. :)
|
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mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about slant and nonfiction today. 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, or use the ask a question
icon in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You
can also type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to
reach me.
|
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mary rosenblum
|
Yes, let's talk about slant.
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mary rosenblum
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Actually, when you write as a
pro freelancer, you begin with slant.
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mary rosenblum
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Slant is defining the audience
and interest.
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mary rosenblum
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Let's look at our garden
magazine.
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mary rosenblum
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You might offer the editor an
article about starting a flower garden...and get rejected!
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mary rosenblum
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That's WAY too broad for say,
a 1000 word article or less.
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mary rosenblum
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What kind of garden?
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mary rosenblum
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What climate?
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mary rosenblum
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What size?
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mary rosenblum
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Each of these is a feature
length article!
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mary rosenblum
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So you look at your magazine.
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mary rosenblum
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Ask yourself who the readers
are. The ads will help you there.
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mary rosenblum
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Let's say this is Fine
Gardening Magazine.
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mary rosenblum
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YOu realize that most of the
articles are about specific varieties of plants and shrubs...
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mary rosenblum
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and you realize that this
magazine is written for the serious gardener who is well beyond the need
for a 'how to start' article ...
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mary rosenblum
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and is fine tuning a show
garden or looking for new cultivars.
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mary rosenblum
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But you want to write that
'starting a garden' topic...so you narrow it way down...
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mary rosenblum
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and perhaps come up with
'planning for texture'...
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mary rosenblum
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an article on grouping various
leaf textures to create visual interest...
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mary rosenblum
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and that's still a bit too
broad...
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mary rosenblum
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so now you narrow it to
'texture in the dry climate garden'...
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mary rosenblum
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and you focus on various leaf
textures among dry climate plants.
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mary rosenblum
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And you sell it to Fine
Gardening with an emphasis on specific cultivars...
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mary rosenblum
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and then sell 'Planning the
Dry Climate Perrenial Garden' to a southwest regional magazine.
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mary rosenblum
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For THOSE readers, who are not
as experienced as the Fine Gardening readers, you ...
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mary rosenblum
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include more general
suggestions for types of plants to use for a garden that needs little
watering...
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mary rosenblum
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and you don't focus on
texture, but rather on dought tolerance.
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mary rosenblum
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See how the two articles
differ?
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mary rosenblum
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And they draw on the same
research information.
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tolkienlvr
|
Mary, how taboo is it to offer
an accepting mag editor "first serial rights" (so you can write a
book on the topic using the same info later) when the accepting mag's
website clearly states they "buy all rights?" I'm in a situation
now where the "all rights" mag editor wants the article and I
want to sell to them, (I've sold to them before), but I also want to keep
my options open for a book later. Not sure how to handle this
professionally. Any tips - what are my options?
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mary rosenblum
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It's totally acceptable,
tolkien. I alter contracts now and then. You really cannot afford to sell
all...
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mary rosenblum
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rights here if you want to use
this same piece as part of your book.
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mary rosenblum
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Since you've sold to this
editor before, email or call, explain the problem and see what you can work
out.
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mary rosenblum
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The editor should be able to
accomodate a more specific license.
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mary rosenblum
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I don't know why he would need
all rights.
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lapart
|
Mary, can you write sample slant
for topic Joining bookclubs
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mary rosenblum
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Joining Bookclubs, lapart?
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mary rosenblum
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Well, first define for
yourself whom you are talking to.
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mary rosenblum
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Readers, right?
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mary rosenblum
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Go scout the bookstore for
magazines that will be read by avid readers.
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mary rosenblum
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Skim through magazines until
you find one or two that seem to speak to readers of the sort you're
addressing.
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mary rosenblum
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The 'joining bookclubs' is way
too broad.
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mary rosenblum
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YOu're going to narrow it to
mystery readers or nonfiction readers or SF readers...
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mary rosenblum
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and you'll then address the
question of finding bookclubs that offer the best in the genre you prefer.
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lapart
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or starting a bookclub in your
community
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mary rosenblum
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That's an entirely different
article. Again...who are your readers? Probably people who are active in
their community.
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mary rosenblum
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Look for magazines that offer
articles on community action.
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mary rosenblum
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You might find some in the
Christian category, others of a secular nature.
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mary rosenblum
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Write your article for THOSE
readers only.
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mary rosenblum
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Say you pick a Christian
magazine. It features articles on community outreach through the church...
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mary rosenblum
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so you pitch the editor a
'Starting a Community Christian Bookclub' article...
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lapart
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and interview other book club
members
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mary rosenblum
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That would be a very good
idea, lapart.
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mary rosenblum
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Realize that editors don't
usually pay for 'secondary reasearch' only...ie books, internet.
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mary rosenblum
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They want 'original or primary
research'. That means you are an expert, or you interview an expert.
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mary rosenblum
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You interview someone who has
started a communith book club.
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barbara blair
|
what's the best way to query to
NF magazines and what source has a list of the NF magazines?
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mary rosenblum
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Start by familiarizing
yourself with the magazine, barbara.
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mary rosenblum
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The writers market lists are a
good place to start, but to succeed you really do need to read a few issues
of the magazine.
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mary rosenblum
|
Fine Gardening and Organic
Gardening magazines may have similar guidelines...
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mary rosenblum
|
they want gardening articles.
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mary rosenblum
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But they are VERY different
magazines and what suits one will not suit the other.
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mary rosenblum
|
If you just guess, you become
an annoyance to the editor...
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mary rosenblum
|
Every single editor I've asked
....and I have asked many...has told me that the biggest reason they...
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mary rosenblum
|
reject both fiction and
nonfiction is that the submission or query is inappropriate for the
magazine.
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mudhen
|
is there any discount single
issue place or other
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mudhen
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economical way to get sample
issues, no library available
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mary rosenblum
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You know, mud, you can try
used book stores or the thrift stores...sometimes they sell back issues
cheap.
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mary rosenblum
|
I'd try the internet.
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mary rosenblum
|
Try ebay.
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mary rosenblum
|
Or one of the 'swap lists'
like Craig's List...
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mary rosenblum
|
and see if someone will sell
you a few back issues for cheap.
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sallyk
|
Any tips on how to develop
"subtle"?
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mary rosenblum
|
Yes, sally. :-)
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mary rosenblum
|
Subtle is not beating the
reader over the head with something.
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mary rosenblum
|
Let's look at Jane's example
of the Nat'l Geographic article on beach trash.
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mary rosenblum
|
Say you were asked to write an
article about birding on a Carribean island.
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mary rosenblum
|
You write the article slanted
to birders...
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mary rosenblum
|
listing species, local bird
watching tours, season to go, and you slip in a glimpse...
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mary rosenblum
|
of a dead bird tangled in the
plastic holder from a sixpack of pop cans.
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mary rosenblum
|
That slips by the editor...and
readers who don't really concern themselves with the environment...
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mary rosenblum
|
suddenly find themselves
thinking of this image when a 'ban plastic holders for sixpacks' bill comes
up in their...
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mary rosenblum
|
state legislature.
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mary rosenblum
|
Perhaps you couldn't sell and
article ranting about how these piece of plastic are a problem..
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mary rosenblum
|
and if you did, this
unconcerned individual would not have read it because...
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mary rosenblum
|
he hates listening to all this
doomsaying.
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mary rosenblum
|
But that single brief image of
that dead bird when he cares about birds may actually make an impression.
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mary rosenblum
|
That is being subtle. :-)
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mary rosenblum
|
(Or sneaky...choose your word.
:-) )
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janecj333
|
doctor's offices might give you
their old issues :)
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mary rosenblum
|
Oh, good idea, jane.
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mary rosenblum
|
Try putting signs up on local
bulletin boards or in a local 'want ads' paper...
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mary rosenblum
|
and list magazines you want
back issues of.
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mary rosenblum
|
Mostly they go to recycling.
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kungfumama
|
Mary, can you touch on writing a
query letter?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about slant and nonfiction today. 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, or use the ask a question
icon in order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You
can also type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to
reach me.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Yes, kung.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Poorly written query letters
are another big reason people get rejected...
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|
mary rosenblum
|
Editors skim query letters
quickly if they don't know you as a regular contributor.
|
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mary rosenblum
|
They really don't use a lot of
unsolicited ms...they hand out a lot of assignments..and will start handing
'em to you...
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mary rosenblum
|
once you've broken in there.
|
|
mary rosenblum
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So your query letter needs to
do two things..
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mary rosenblum
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1. Grab the editor's attention
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mary rosenblum
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2. Answer all her questions,
now.
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mary rosenblum
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Her questions are: What are
you offering me? Why should I buy it? Can you actually do this?
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mary rosenblum
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You need to answer ALL of
these.
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mary rosenblum
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That means you cannot be
vague.
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mary rosenblum
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"I want to offer you an
article on starting a garden' gets you a fast 'no thanks'.
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mary rosenblum
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YOu need to be very specific
about what you are offering.
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mary rosenblum
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I see a lot of that vague...'I
am offering an article on family problems'.
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mary rosenblum
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Wow. What does THAT tell me?
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mary rosenblum
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it's not about Zebras, that's
about it.
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mary rosenblum
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I want to know if you're
saying something my readers are interested in.
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mary rosenblum
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What kind of problem?
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mary rosenblum
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Most important is your hook.
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mary rosenblum
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That is your first sentence of
the query letter, and it needs to be powerful.
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mary rosenblum
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Often, you can use the hook
from your article.
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mary rosenblum
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Dry climate gardening
challenges even the experienced gardener. When water is scarce, intesting
plant textures can create dramatic interest...
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mary rosenblum
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even in semi-arid climates.
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mary rosenblum
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That hook tells the editor
what the article is about and tells her that you can write a good
hook...maybe you can write a good article, too.
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mary rosenblum
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So she reads on to see what
you're offering.
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mary rosenblum
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Now you're pitching to Fine
Gardening, so you tell her in your query...
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mary rosenblum
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that you will focus on
specific cultivars. You make it clear you know her readers are already...
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mary rosenblum
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accomplished gardeners, you
won't waste her time with a beginner's how to piece.
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mary rosenblum
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If you have interviewed an
executive from the High Country Gardens nursery, you mention this...
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mary rosenblum
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she now knows you have done
original research.
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mary rosenblum
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She tells you, yes, send this
to me...
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mary rosenblum
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and...here's the real
payoff!!!!...
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mary rosenblum
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if she already has an article
on this topic but is impressed by your very professional query...
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mary rosenblum
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she calls you up. NO, I can't
use this, she tells you. But if you want to do me an article on spring
bulbs for southern gardens...
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mary rosenblum
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I can use one of about 1200
words.
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mary rosenblum
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Nonfic editors always can use
more solid contributors.
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mary rosenblum
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The very first query letter I
ever sent out netted me a rejection...and a monthly column for that
magazine!
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mary rosenblum
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You'll find a couple of
articles on writing query letters on the LR website.
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mary rosenblum
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Look in Writing Craft:
Nonfiction.
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andi
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do you have the questions
already when you are going to interview someone?
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mary rosenblum
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It's a good idea, Andi, to
know what your slant is when you approach an interviewee.
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mary rosenblum
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Have those questions
ready...it's easy to get tongue tied when you're new or if the person...
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mary rosenblum
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is somewhat intimidating.
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mary rosenblum
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Ask way more questions than
you think you need...
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mary rosenblum
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the minute you sit down to
write the article you'll realize you need an answer to a question you
didn't ask.
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mary rosenblum
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It's a good idea to ask the
person if you can follow up wtih email or a phone call later if you come
across some lacking piece of information.
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mary rosenblum
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And be flexible.
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mary rosenblum
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If the conversation takes an
interesting turn, follow it!
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mary rosenblum
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REmember...for every batch of
research you do, you can probably sell three to five articles.
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mary rosenblum
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One of my nonfic students sold
a total of five different articles all based on one topic before she
finished the course.
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mary rosenblum
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She had queries out for about
three more when she graduated, so I don't know what her final tally was.
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mary rosenblum
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Do some homework in your local
Barnes and Noble or any bookstore with a big magazine rack.
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mary rosenblum
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Browse a bit.
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mary rosenblum
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Let the magazines and their
contents inspire you.
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mary rosenblum
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If you think of an idea to try
for this magazine...
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mary rosenblum
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buy the issue. Read it,
analyze the readers. Are they low income? Middle class? Rich?
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mary rosenblum
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Men? Women? Age range?
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mary rosenblum
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What does the editor seem to
be interested in?
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mary rosenblum
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THEN come up with your article
slant.
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paminnapa
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a good source for questions is
checking out the guest transcripts from this website...
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mary rosenblum
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Thank you, Pam. :-) I'll take
that as a compliment.
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mary rosenblum
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Actually, if you do that...
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mary rosenblum
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realize that I have an agenda
when I interview a guest for LR...
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mary rosenblum
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and that agenda is to focus on
topics that will expand necessary knowlege for my audience...
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mary rosenblum
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aspiring and novice writers.
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mary rosenblum
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My questions are all related
to that agenda.
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mary rosenblum
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I list basic questions I want
to see covered...asked by me or by a member of the audience...
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mary rosenblum
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but if the conversation takes
an interesting turn, we explore that interesting turn.
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mary rosenblum
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If I had a different
audience...
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mary rosenblum
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not writers, say, but fans of
this particular writer....
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mary rosenblum
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I'd ask different questions.
Slant applies in this type of public interview just as it does in a written
article.
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mary rosenblum
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Nonfiction is a nice sideline
even for you die hard fiction writers.
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mary rosenblum
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You really do have to learn
how to write 'tight' in nonficiton.
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mary rosenblum
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Editors do NOT pay you a buck
a word for words they are going to edit out!
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gskearney
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Might be interesting to post
that question list in advance for some interview, if you can get the person
to agree. Then we can see how you manage the interview. Give us more of an
idea how it's done. Perhaps even have a session where the audience doesn't
get to ask questions until later. --gk
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mary rosenblum
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Hmmm...I could do that.
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mary rosenblum
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Actually, the only real
difference if nobody asked questions would be that the interview would
proceed in a different order. :-)
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tarsus
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Magazines
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tarsus
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writers to break into?
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mary rosenblum
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Good magazines for writers to
break into, tarsus?
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mary rosenblum
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Well, if you have something
the editor really wants, you can break into the very top magazines...
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mary rosenblum
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but generally, if you start
submitting to the top paying markets...
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mary rosenblum
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like Sunset, Good
Housekeeping, etc..
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mary rosenblum
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you are competing with top
level freelancers.
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mary rosenblum
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If you have a piece that you
are SURE suits these mags to a t, try it...
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mary rosenblum
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but don't feel personally
discouraged if you get rejected. These mags get tons...
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mary rosenblum
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over very poorly written
amateur queries every day.
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mary rosenblum
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The smaller magazines that
don't pay as well don't interest top freelancers much...
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mary rosenblum
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so you have a better chance of
success there when you have no clips.
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mary rosenblum
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The general route is to get
clips from small mags and 'move up the food chain' to larger..
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mary rosenblum
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and larger magazines as you
gain experience in writing articles.
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tarsus
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are magazines easier to break
into than ezines?
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mary rosenblum
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No. A lot of ezines don't pay,
and ezines have proliferated on the web.
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mary rosenblum
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It's pretty easy to get
published in one of the ezines.
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mary rosenblum
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You have a few top level
ezines... Slate.com is one.
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mary rosenblum
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SciFiction is another.
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mary rosenblum
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They pay VERY well and are
VERY hard to break into.
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janecj333
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I thought SciFiction went under
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mary rosenblum
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Oh it may have.
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mary rosenblum
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That's right.
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sallyk
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How important are conferences
for NF writers?
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mary rosenblum
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Anything that improves your
craft is worth your time and money, sally.
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mary rosenblum
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It's a much larger market than
fiction and you can break in just fine without ever networking.
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mary rosenblum
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YOu can do the same in
fiction, too. Networking just makes it easier.
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mary rosenblum
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Well, this has been a fun
Oregon hour. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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I'm waiting for our next
Pacific storm to come stomping in...glad it held off.
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mary rosenblum
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I'll be reading my anthology
submissions over the coming week or two and will get the anthology posted
as soon as I can. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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I'll send an email out to
announce it when it's up.
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tolkienlvr
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Mary please clarify for me. Ex.
If a writer sells "all rights" to a profile piece on say Martin
Luther King Jr. - can that same writer later use quotes from the interview
with king and some info from the profile article in a compilation book on
heroes of the civil rights movement?
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mary rosenblum
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Sure tolkien.
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mary rosenblum
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You didn't sell your
information. You only sold those words in the article...
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mary rosenblum
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as long as what you use in
your book chapter is substantially different from the words in your
article...
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mary rosenblum
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you're fine.
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mary rosenblum
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Thanks for coming all!
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mary rosenblum
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I'll post this in the usual
place:
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mary rosenblum
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Writing Craft: Forum
Transcripts.
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mary rosenblum
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And do join us tomorrow...
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mary rosenblum
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same time and place...
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mary rosenblum
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for our casual chat. No topic.
We just talk about whatever. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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It's fun.
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janp
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And Speck provides the cheescake
and choc.
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mary rosenblum
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Yep!
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