Color Me Green with ...

• a feeling of grudging admiration and desire to have something that is possessed by another
• feel envious towards; admire enviously
• spite and resentment at seeing the success of another (personified as one of the deadly sins)
• be envious of; set one's heart on

Envy is universal. The Germans say "Envy eats nothing but its own heart," and the English offer "Envy shoots at others and wounds itself."

And where you find success, you find envy -- yin and yang, white and black.

"If you want to get rich from writing, Don Marquis once suggested, write the sort of thing that’s read by persons who move their lips when they’re reading to themselves. Marquis had rock-steady sights and, once, this remark would have thudded home clean and true. But no longer. If we have learned anything from JK Rowling, Britain’s most celebrated typist, it is that if you want to get rich from writing, write the sort of thing that ends up as a plastic action-figure buried deep inside a Happy Meal."

The complete attack, one carried out by a writer named Tom Eaton, can be found on-line, apparently in a newspaper originating in South Africa.

I was amused, primarily because it illustrates the consequences of disobeying one of the admonitions offered during my childhood. "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything." I envisaged the fellow being drowned in irate emails from Potterites. Being off-shore, I assume, he need not worry, though, about that peculiar American propensity to nose-punch when the chip is knocked from a shoulder. See the "Nerd who burned the trailer" story.

I sent the link to the story to two writer friends I greatly respect, suggesting it might provide fodder for an article or a blog post.

One replied, "The only thing palatable anyone could possibly write about this twaddle would have to be funny. It's too stupid to be taken seriously ... "

Hmm, that's so. I believe it's extraordinarily ignorant to take on a publishing elephant (millions of copies in circulation) with a fly-swatter (a column). Eaton accomplishes nothing other than to reveal some of his lesser qualities.

Given the Warholian concept of "15 Minutes of Fame," I suppose attacking JK Rowling and Harry Potter is a simple, straight-forward way to become noticed, although slightly more boorish or peu sophistiqué than simply showing up on a red carpet in a short skirt and a pout.

---

"Even those who write against fame wish for the fame of having written well ... " Pascal.

Exercise: Opening the door (Version 3)

Originated by: Florence Cardinal as "The Doorway"
Posted on: 21 Oct 2001
Reposted, revised, on: 29 July 2007

__________________

Exercise: In 300 words or less, let your readers see a character
opening a door, and then show us what the character sees on the other side.
__________________

This is an exercise in creating a setting--keep that in mind.
Your submission may bethe beginning of a story or a scene,
or it may introduce a character. But above all, this is your
chance to practice developing a backdrop.

Imagine your character at a door. What does it look like?
Where does it lead? The character opens it. Did she need a
key? Did he knock, ring the bell, or just turn the knob and
walk in? Or is there a knob? Does the door lead inside, or
outside?

The door and what the character sees need not be anything
fantastic, although they can be if you so choose. Make sure
you take the time to fully visualize the setting before you start
writing. What counts is not a budding plot, but the place in
which the action gets underway.

Once the door is open, what does the character see, hear,
smell? How about the sense of touch? What does he touch?
Does anything touch her? The wind, perhaps? Describe it all
so your readers can experience it along with you or your character.

__________________

IWW Members in Print and Published

Not many today--after all, it's summertime and the livin' is easy! But the ones
we have are choice.


Robert Hyers

My fiction piece, "Channeling Fitzgerald," is now up at
Fictionville. To read it, just click here.

Thank you to everyone who critted the original and revised versions!


Carey Link

Whatever Remembers Us:An Anthology of Alabama Poetry has been
released by Negative Capability Press. I'm pleased to have a poem in the
volume. Thank you for your encouragement! For those interested in
purchasing a paperback copy the information is below:

Negative Capability Press
62 Ridgelawn Drive East
Mobile, AL. 36608-6116

Paperback cost: $24.00 per copy, plus $ 3.50 for shipping/handling


Wayne Scheer

Notre Dame Magazine accepted, "Wayne Has Left the Building," a
nonfiction essay about my decision to take an early retirement. As
always, thanks to all who critiqued this one.

This is really an example of patience and perseverance. I wrote the piece
about a year ago and sent it out to a number of print and online publications,
ranging from AARP to Christian Science Monitor to flashquake. It was
rejected outright by all. Even my usually reliable Dana Literary Magazine
didn't want it.

Each time, I fiddled with it a bit and sent it somewhere else. Two weeks
ago, I tried Notre Dame Magazine and today the editor said she'd like to buy
it for $400. That's like real money.

This confirms my belief that publishing is a matter of connecting the work
with the right editor. Sometimes it takes a while; other times you get lucky
and it finds a home right off. Patience and perseverance. And luck.

At any rate, I feel good.

_______________________________________________________________

How I Found the IWW

... Or "Another Love Letter to Google"

• I found you via the internet and have been on an off some lists for the last couple years.
• To be honest, I think I was just googling away with no specific destination in mind. Luckily for me I stumbled across this invaluable site. I'm new to the craft and so don't think I have much to offer in terms of critting others, but will certainly try my best anyways. Am looking forward to honing my skills though.
• I was looking for critique groups and fell upon Miss Snark the literary agents blog which numerous writers listed good sites to visit- this was one of them.
• I've researched several forums through Google - this site appears the best.
• The Writer's Network Blog.
• I found this by reading a quilting book by author Jennifer Chiaverini. She gives this site credit for her beginnings in her acknowledgments.
• I found your group by making a general Internet search for writing critique groups.
• I found your website by using a google search.
• I was introduced to this site by a former member the old AOL writer's site by Wvcheers known to me by first name Wayne.
• I was directed to this group by Julie Vogt whom I've been discussing writing with.

Internet Writing Workshop: The Best of Both Worlds

Writers have a love/hate relationship with editors. Or maybe a
like/tolerate one is more truthful, less hyperbolic.

We love them when they accept the fruits of our labor, demonstrating
their intelligence and good taste.

We're not so pleased when they turn around and change our words, write a
new lead, or take out the best part of our whole essay. Where is their
good taste then?

In a Salon.com essay "Let Us Now Praise Editors," former editor Gary Kamiya describes editors as: "craftsmen, ghosts, psychiatrists, bullies, sparring partners, experts, enablers, ignoramuses, translators, writers, goalies,friends, foremen, wimps, ditch diggers, mind readers, coaches, bomb throwers, muses and spittoons -- sometimes all while working on the same piece."

Those of us who have worked with editors would say, "All of the above,
and then some."

Those of us who have worked with good editors understand, accept,
and even welcome the dynamics. Good editors polish, making writers work
shine.

"Bedside manner is important," Kamiya says. "An editor needs to remember
that writing is much harder work than editing. Sending something you've
written off into the world exposes you, leaves you vulnerable. It is a
creative process, while editing is merely a reactive one."

The key to being a good editor according to Kamiya is being tactful in
communicating with the writer.

Tactful communication--this is where I paused to think of the Internet Writing
Workshop.

Members join to write. Their goals vary: improve writing skills,
develop voice, practice, receive solid critiques, but no matter what
else, to write.

After submitting a story for critique, writers take a seat at the
editor's desk, critiquing other's submissions.

With visors pulled low, writers make suggestions for editing, organizing
text, tightening, improving clarity, and more. In other words they
edit. Bedside manner is impressive; after all they are writers.
They know how editor's comments might be received. They tread with
sensitivity, but complete honesty.

Combining what Kamiya calls the creative process of writing with the
reactive editing process works double duty to improve writing. Sitting
on the other side of the desk, writers gain a soft spot in their hearts
for the editors they work with, and improve their own writing skills by
helping others do the same.
~~~~~
by Ruth Douillette, IWW Practice Administrator

Write for Cup of Comfort

The bestselling Cup of Comfort book series is seeking submissions for publication consideration in three new books. Stories must be true, uplifting, and 1000 to 2000 words. Writer’s guidelines.

A CUP OF COMFORT FOR CHILDREN AND SPOUSES OF PEOPLE WITH ALZHEIMER'S
What happens when the person who raised you or the person with whom you raised your children slowly becomes a child who doesn’t know you? What if that loved one changes so drastically that he or she is virtually a stranger to you? What if that person is difficult to deal with and requires substantial assistance? How will the reality of having a spouse or parent with Alzheimer’s affect you and your family—emotionally, financially, physically, socially, personally, professionally? The inspiring stories in this collection will answer those questions and more—and will show how love prevails and how lives thrive when a spouse or parent has Alzheimer’s.

$500 grand prize; $100 each, all other published stories; plus copy of book. Submission Deadline: October 1, 2007.

A CUP OF COMFORT FOR DIVORCED WOMEN
Divorce in the 21st century should come with an instruction manual, a release valve, and a support system. This anthology will serve essentially those three purposes, in the form of comforting, insightful, and inspirational stories about surviving and thriving during and after divorce. We seek uplifting, contemporary stories on a wide range of topics of importance to divorced women—including but not limited to: dating, children, relationship with ex, in-laws, finances, friends, solitude, personal transformation, healing, revenge, mending fences, the ex’s new wife or lover, empowerment, rediscovery of self. The majority of stories will be written by women who are or have been divorced. Stories can be poignant, irreverent, humorous, witty, or wise.

$500 grand prize; $100 each, all other published stories; plus copy of book. Submission Deadline: November 1, 2007.

A CUP OF COMFORT FOR BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS
It has been said that “stories are medicine” and that “one of the most valuable things we can do to heal one another is to share our stories.” This collection will include compelling, inspiring, and uplifting personal essays about the experiences and emotions of living with—and living after—breast cancer. Possible story themes include but are not limited to: diagnosis, treatment, emotional impact, support systems, healthy lifestyle practices, emotional healing, coping mechanisms, impact on loved ones, effect on friendships, effect on career/work, effect on romance/intimacy, life lessons learned, personal transformation, silver linings, gratitude, triumph over trials, body image, and more. All themes and writing styles considered, as long as the story is positive.

Exclusively for the Breast Cancer Survivors volume, Adams Media is working in partnership with Redbook Magazine and will award a $5,000 grand prize, a $5,000 donation to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in the grand prize winner’s name, and bonus prizes to three runner-up stories.

A Dream Come True

An Essay on Success
by Dawn Goldsmith

Ever since word got out about a single Mum writing in cafes to save on heating bills selling her first book of a series to Scholastic, writers have renewed their faith in dreams-coming-true. "It could happen" is the mantra for just about every fiction writer no matter what genre they labor over. "If J.K. Rowlings can become a billionaire, why can't I have my dream, too?"

And yes, the author of the Harry Potter series is reported to be a billionaire, having sold 325 million copies in 64 languages. She's richer than the Queen of England and has almost as many houses, I mean castles. And that's just the first six books.

The final book "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" first print run was 12 million books in the U.S. Amazon had orders for 2 million.

Writers should also take note, or maybe singles mothers should. That during this whirlwind rise from the ashes of poverty, Rowlings also found true love and gave birth to two babies, plus don't forget her dear Jessica who sat by her mama in that cozy little cafe way back when poverty was a member of their family.

In her recent interview with USA Today, Rowlings gives writers more motivation to follow their hearts. When asked about the future, she said she has no plans.

"I can never write anything as popular again," she said. "Lightning does not strike in the same place twice. I'll do exactly what I did with Harry — I'll write what I really want to write, and if it's something similar, that's OK, and if it's something very different, that's OK. I just really want to fall in love with an idea again, and go with that."

Great advice for all of us writers who think we'd like to contend with the success, the wealth, and yes, maybe even the death threats.

My copy of the latest book was in my mailbox when I came home from work today. I haven't started reading it yet. But for me, a writer, a dreamer, Rowlings story is as captivating as her fiction. I feel like that little boy in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory searching for the golden ticket each time I sit down to write. I look at the writing landscape and wonder what the next phenomenon will be -- or will there be anything like this again in my lifetime.

And like every other fiction writer I'm saying, "Yes! Yes! Let it happen again and let it be me!

---

Dawn Goldsmith has published in national venues like the Christian Science Monitor and the Washington Post. This essay originally appeared on her blog, Observations.

Speaking of Self-Publishing

by Bob Sanchez

Twelve days and counting; will it be terror or triumph? Public speaking is one of those great betes noires of human existence. Which do you fear more, a terrorist attack, or standing in front of a group of strangers and giving a talk? For some people, it's a close call. On the last night of one of my business courses many years ago, I had to present my project in front of class. Every molecule in my body felt like it would shake loose in a separate direction - God, the fear.

On August 4, Southwest Writers will allow me, the world's leading authority on nothing at all, to speak to an estimated assemblage of 100 to 110 of their members in Albuquerque. The topic will be "Publishing Your Pride and Joy," and here's the pitch:

"When should you consider self-publishing, and what does the term mean, anyway? In this talk you will learn about print on demand (POD), self-publishing versus subsidy publishing, and the advantages and pitfalls of the do-it-yourself approach. The speaker will use his own experience with iUniverse as a case study, freely sharing the lessons he has learned."

The schedule says it'll last two hours, though the talk itself will likely be less than half that, with the floor open to questions thereafter. In my nightmares, the first question will be, "Why are you wasting my valuable Saturday morning?"

My scant experience in public speaking is mixed, really. Somewhat unexpectedly, I am comfortable with public readings and answering questions about my book. My tentative conclusion is that a high comfort level with the material is the key to reducing anxiety about public speaking. It is fingers crossed here) all in the preparation.

So how to prepare? This week I'll be working on an outline and practicing sections of my talk. My wife knows well after lo, our forty-two years together, that I tend to go off and talk to myself, and she will hear lots of that in the next week or so. I'm counting on lots of mini-rehearsals to carry the day.

Ideally, it would be nice to speak without notes, but that might be a tad ambitious. I hope to have some solid handouts - "Don't worry about taking notes, folks, 'cause it's all in the handouts." We'll see.

By the way, they'll not only sell my book for me (for a $1 commission) but they'll pay a small honorarium. How cool!

---

Bob Sanchez is the author of the novel When Pigs Fly, which is available on his Web site or via the usual suspects among Internet retailers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. However, I think Bob would appreciate it more if you went to a local bookstore and demand it be ordered for you. If you do that, you should tell Bob on his blog.

IWW Members in Print and Published

A nice crop of successes for IWW writers this week. A novel and some stories, and the non-fictioneers and the poets are doing very well. Read about them here.


Elizabeth Joy Arnold:

My novel, Pieces of My Sister's Life, about the broken bonds of identical twins
living on Block Island, RI, will be published by Bantam on July 31. Publishers
Weekly said: "A winning debut. . . . This well-observed story is vibrant and rich
with the subtleties and nuances of family life. . . . Make room in [your] beach
totes."

For information, check out my website.

Thanks!


Ann Hite:

I join Wayne at Brink. My story "Ebb Tide" is up.


Kristen Howe:

Today I got my much delayed May issue of Remark in the mail. Better late than never.

Last week, I got my issue of Current Accounts with my poem in it.

There's my two recent Yahoos!


Mridu Khullar:

A piece I did on a troupe of poor blind performers who have used theatre as
therapy appears in the July issue of Elle magazine, the Indian edition.

Thanks for all the support!


Terri Main:

I sent a proposal to McGraw-Hill for a book entitled From Face-to-Face to
Cyberspace: Student Success in Online Education on Thursday. The next
day, the editor got back to me, was impressed by the completeness of the
proposal and wanted to talk with me. We talked once before after I sent her
a three paragraph "pitch" and she requested the proposal. But I'm still a
long way from publication. Now it has to go to a peer review committee and
then a publication committee, but she is excited about the project.


Shayla Mollohan:

"Whatever Remembers Us: An Anthology of Alabama Poetry"
arrived yesterday from Negative Capability Press. It's lovely, and how
amazing it is to be in the same book with Marge Piercy, Rita Dove --
wow, just so many poets I love! You can read the poem here.

It was dedicated to my grandfather that raised me (who is my daddy
for all purposes), gone 24 years this month, I believe, which is why
I'm weepy-happy. But if I'd never had anything appear in a book or
anywhere, I think this might have been enough.

Oh, the IWW is famous in the poetry South now, too! In my bio:
"She is the facilitator for Poetry-W, a sub-group of the Internet Writers
Workshop." :-)

________________________________________________________________________

Exercise: In a Flash (Version 2)

Prepared by: Eric Petersen
Posted on: January 20, 2002
Reposted, revised: July 22, 2007

Exercise: In 500 words or less, write a flash fiction story that includes a
beginning, a middle, and an end. One or more characters must be involved.
__________________

A flash story must begin immediately and move quickly
toward the end--no long descriptions, no unessential words.
The goal is to present a single effect resulting from a single
cause. The character(s) must experience and react to events,
and the outcome must be swift.

Use your own ideas or write a flash story based on the
following scenario: a man notices a curious object abandoned
on a park bench and investigates it. The object could be a
toy that brings back happy or unhappy memories that cause
him to make a choice, a document that sends him on a quest,
or anything else that sets the story in motion.

Flash stories may be from 100 to 1,000 words long;
publishers vary in their requirements. In this case, we chose
the middle ground.
______________________________________________________

Nonfiction Writing Conference

NONFICTION NOW 2007
A Conference Exploring Nonfiction
Its History, Its Present, Its Future And Its Myriad Forms
November 1st to 3rd, 2007
The University of Iowa
Sponsored by the University of Iowa Nonfiction Writing Program

The Bedell Nonfiction Conference
Featuring Richard Rodriguez, Patricia Hampl & Ross McElwee

---

Early registration fee, on or before Oct 1st, 2007
full registration $200.00, Panelists $100.00 and Students $75.00.

Late registration fee, after Oct 1st, 2007
full registration $225.00, Panelists $125.00 and Students $75.00

Safe Computing

The Internet Writing Workshop's list server does not process attachments, and so members participating in the various lists generally feel they are in a safe environment.

Nevertheless, if we write, we research. We send emails. We upload and download files. And there are bad guys out there. We need to protect ourselves and our computer systems.

A non-writing list in which I participate recently had a discussion about spyware, cookies, and viruses that can damage computer systems, and, as it happened, the membership of that list includes several computer professionals.

Here are a few of their recommendations, all of which are available as freeware or shareware.

• AdAware
• Spybot-Search and Destroy
• AVG
• CCleaner
• SPYWARETERMINATOR
• AVAST Antivirus
• Windows Defender

---

Disclaimer: As with anything we recommend on the Internet Writing Workshop Blog, we note neither the individual administrators or members of the IWW nor the IWW as an entity can be responsible for the truthfulness or usefulness of the material anyone finds on the sites to which we link. We are all responsible for ourselves and the consequences of our actions, and the best approach to Internet activities is caveat emptor, even if something is free.

How I Found the Internet Writing Workshop

• I found your page through a link from Other World's Writer's Workshop. As someone who wishes to move outside the fantasy genre I feel that your site is more appropaite to my needs.
• I searched on Yahoo for writing workshops and came across yours. It was listed on the first page and I liked the concept.
• I used to be part of the list 3 years ago, but due to time constraints I had to quit. I’ve recently decided to focus on my writing and have decided to join again.
• I found your site as a search on the Internet by looking for writing groups online.
• I was referred by a friend on another web critique site, EditRed.com.
• I heard about the IWW by searching Google for the phrase "online writing groups." From there, I went to Writing-World, where I found the link to IWW. I was formerly a member of the Fiction and Novels lists on IWW, but felt that they were too advanced for me right then.
  
• I found this site during my search for a workshop ... pushed to work on my craft.
• I found you by surfing.
• forwriters.com listed you as a resource and I was lucky enough to try you out!
• I read about you two years ago, while reading "The Writer." A woman had mentioned the I.W.W. as a source of assistance for writing her book. She described the entire process and I was "hooked" -- and overwhelmed.
• I found the group through Google, after having some sudden motivation to get some writing done over the summer.

Selling Books, Editing Books

One of the Internet Writing Workshop's long-time members -- and newest administrators -- Bob Sanchez is the author of When Pigs Fly, a comic novel.

Bob published his novel through iUniverse, a choice that leaves the marketing of his novel in his hands primarily. Recently, he made a post on the IWW's WRITING list about his latest effort to get his work out there.

Last fall, a friend asked me to proofread his novel, and he would pay me a fee. Already familiar with his writing, I knew it would be a lot of work. I quoted him an amount that was more than he was willing to pay, and he reluctantly passed.

Then an idea came to me, and I proposed a deal. I would give his novel a thorough line edit and charge him nothing. He, in turn, would purchase copies of my new novel, When Pigs Fly, as Christmas gifts for friends and family. The quantity he bought would depend on the value he placed on my work, on what he could afford, and the number of people on his Christmas list.

My friend was delighted. He not only got a desperately needed edit but took care of his holiday shopping as well, purchasing 25 copies from Amazon.

Since then, another friend asked me to edit his novel as well (these fellows are both in my local writer's group). At this point he has my edits, and shortly I'll expect him to purchase a quantity of my books. Again, the number is up to him. He'll be on his honor to pay me fairly -- buying just a couple of copies won't cut it -- but on the other hand I won't make a huge issue in the unlikely case he stiffs me.

Anyway, this has me thinking that bartering edits for book sales may not be a bad marketing tool, given that I have the necessary skill set technical editor) and experience. But there may be others on this list with circumstances similar to mine: you have a book published by a small press, you have strong editing skills, and you want to boost your sales. Edits for books may be worth a try.

Whenever someone treks off the beaten path, there's another someone eager to yell, "Hey, watch it!"

The reaction to Bob's post was generally supportive, but mixed. As much as I found Bob's idea novel and innovative, I found his response to the nay-sayers worthwhile.

1. If I needed to make money, I would have to be a blooming idiot to try earning it by peddling my book. I am an optimist, but not a fool. If the stars align properly, I might make back my investment someday. More likely, I will wind up defraying most of my expenses, and that's okay with me.
2. I want people to read my book. I much prefer that they pay me, not because I need grocery money, but because it makes me feel good to know that someone will pay real money for something I created.
3. I've heard that very few self-published books (by which here I mean POD through iUniverse) ever sell 500 or more copies. Call me a dreamer, but that's what I want to do because someone has said I can't.
4. Editing for me is both work and fun. There is a certain pleasure to be had in pointing out the errors in other people's work, you know. It may not swell my wallet, but it swells my head.
5. Every book I sell is the result of hard work anyway, whether it's the result of a reading, a signing, a talk, or an edit. Much of my effort is uncompensated (or poorly compensated) monetarily. When fair pay becomes important, I'll get a job.

---

You can find out more about Bob Sanchez -- and When Pigs Fly -- at the link above, or via his blog.

IWW Members in Print and Published

We have a good crop of success reports this week for members of the
IWW. I'm back to plain old alphabetical order for the present.


Karna Converse:

1) My essay about family reunions was published in The Christian Science
Monitor on July 5. Last fall, lots of folks on NFiction helped me figure out
exactly what I wanted to say -- so Thanks! It was nice to open a week's
worth of vacation mail this morning and see a check :)

If this link doesn't work, go to the Monitor's Home Forum page and search
for Karna. The essay is the first one listed.

CSM pays promptly on publication. (The essay appeared on July 5; the
check was cut on July 5.) The time between this particular essay's
submission and publication was a couple of months. Submissions are
supposed to receive an automatic "got it" reply but technology isn't always
working. But when I sent a short inquiry to the editor, addressing the fact
that I had received automatic replies in the past and didn't here, her reply
was immediate and friendly. CSM does not tell you when the essay will
appear so it's up to the writer to check the website.

2) In my week of vacation mail, I also opened a package from Chicken
Soup (Celebrating Brothers & Sisters). My ping pong essay about my
brother is one of nine chosen for Chapter 2: We Are Family.

Again, lots of folks on NFiction helped me shape this piece -- so Thanks! I
think my brother will be surprised.

The Chicken Soup folks always have a variety of story needs. The website
maintains an ongoing list. Since I've published a couple of stories with
them, I'm also on a list and receive e-mails about specific needs with
specific e-mail addresses to submit to (as opposed to submitting through
the website).


Ruth Douillette:

Several months ago, I got a message saying my essay was a finalist for
Chicken Soup for the Coffee Lover's Soul. Now I've received notice that
my story, "Caffeine and a Smile," made the final cut. The book will go on
sale this November, "just in time for holiday sales" they inform me.
That should make my Christmas shopping easier. My poor friends who
don't like coffee will have to excuse my choice of gift.


Peg Frey:

Hi All!

Just received word that Thema will be publishing my flash fiction,
"Because History Was Passing," in an upcoming issue. This particular
piece received comments from the folks on the practice board. Thanks to
all who read, commented and made suggestions.

Thema is a tri-annual literary journal, print-only, published out of the
New Orleans area. The journal pays a small honorarium on acceptance.
For those of you who enjoy writing to a prompt, Thema might be a good
choice. The editors accept short stories, flash and poetry and the only
requirement is that the issue's premise be an integral part of your
submission.

Further info can be found here.

Thanks again.


Charles Hightower:

I'm happy to say I won first place in the electric dragon cafe competition
that recently ended. I mentioned this before, but as of today, you can find
the winning entries here.


Louisa Howerow:

Two of my poems, "March Rain" and "My Sister's View of Motherhood
Was Found at the Movies," appear in The Nashwaak Review (Volume
18/19, Spring/Summer 2007).

The Nashwaak Review is published twice a year by St. Thomas University
in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. Volume 18-19, a handsome,
perfect bound, 290-page magazine, contains short stories, poetry, essays,
reviews, and travel pieces. The front and back covers feature original
artwork from living Canadian artists.

A look at the cover and more information on the magazine can be found
here.

Click on the volumes to get a list of titles and contributors. Each volume
features sample work.

Thank you to the members of the Poetry group for their help and
encouragement.


Carey Link:

My poem "My Alabama Home" has been accepted for the Alabama
Anthology: Whatever Remembers Us, which will be distributed soon. The
anthology is being published by Negative Capability Press in Mobile, and
is edited by John Chambers and Sue Walker. "My Alabama Home" is also
part of the On-line edition of The Alabama Anthology


Sarah Morgan:

This is my first sale, so for me it is momentous, significant, historic,
noteworthy, and consequential. Hey, can you say Red Letter?

Thanks to all of you people on the Nonfiction List who critted this piece,
originally subbed as "A Lament for Anyplace." Notre Dame Magazine
changed the name but changed very little else.

A special thank you has to go to Gary for his steadfast opinion that the
piece was worth that oh-so-sought-after commodity: money. He
consistently recommended that I not settle for "the lights" when I could
be paid. I feel honored and humbled to share space with him in such a
prestigious publication.

You can find both of our essays at the Notre Dame website. Look for us
under Perspectives.

I have touted IWW to anyone who would listen since I joined last fall
sometime. The exact date escapes me, but the feeling of community support
remains. Thanks to all the great critters out there in IWW land.


Cathy Moser:

IWW folks can read my article appearing in the July/August issue of Wild
Blue Yonder, the in-flight magazine for Frontier Airlines. Check out the
Mavericks department to read about mustang technician Kayla Grams.

Even three of the five photos are mine! Thanks to everyone on the
nonfiction list who critiqued the piece.


Gary Presley:

I do scribble a few rambling lines of essay now and again, when I'm not
roaming the halls of the IWW.

In fact, I like to write. What I don't like to do is to market, to tilt at the
editorial windmills of this world. The folks at Notre Dame Magazine,
though, are pleasant sorts, willing to "say not quite there," and give a guy
another chance.

"The Power at My Fingertips"

I also have an essay titled "Prejudice" in the print magazine New
Mobility, but it's not available on-line.


Monideepa Sahu:

Dear friends,

My short story, "Monsoon," which I workshopped ages ago in the Fiction
List, has finally found a home. Thanks to everyone who helped with this.
Special thanks to Louisa Howerow, who helped me zero in on this market.

It's in Apocalypse Literary Arts Magazine, an annual publication of
Northeastern Illinois University. The latest issue, Vol. 14, is 115 pages,
neatly bound and with colorful artwork on the cover. Contents: plays,
poetry, short fiction, excerpts of longer works, and non academic essays.
Though their guidelines give a 3,000-word limit for prose, they seem to
prefer much shorter pieces, around 1,000 words or so. They respond
within about three months, and are now accepting submissions till March,
2008. Payment in contributor copies. From the guidelines: "All
Manuscripts must be typed and submitted on a CD (for artworks), e-mail
attachment, or through snail-mail. All manuscripts should be submitted in
either .DOC or.RTF format. . . . Please contact the Apocalypse Literary
Arts Coalition via e-mail at alac88@yahoo.com."


Wayne Scheer:

An old story of mine, "Prairie Flower," is up at Brink Magazine.

Thanks to the folks at Fiction for critiquing it.


Marci Stillerman:

My second book, Swimming Lessons, is available on Amazon and
bookstores.

The stories in Swimming Lessons--audacious, poignant, mystical, ferocious
--are about ordinary people, mostly young and female, at a pivotal time in
their lives where there is no turning back and the future is fraught with
ambiguity.

______________________________________________________

Exercise: Remember When--free choice

Prepared by: Ruth Douillette and Practice-w administrators
Posted on: July 15, 2007

__________________

Exercise: In 300 words or less write about a memory in which you experienced
a particular emotion. Choose the emotion from the ones listed below.
__________________

This week's exercise offers a choice of the remembering exercises
found in the Practice archives. (Click here.) Visit the archive and
choose from "Remembering . . . beauty, fear, peace, fun,
embarrassment, anticipation, sadness, awe, anger or faith." Be
sure to read the original directions for the exercise you choose.

To complete any of these "Remembering" exercises draw upon your
memory of an event and write honestly of what you felt, thought,
and did. Include people who were with you, and conversation, to
make the drama real.

Each exercise asks that you write without embellishing the event,
but do more than simply tell us about your memory--let us
experience it with you by showing us the situation as it unfolded.
____________________________________________________________

It's All About Getting Known

Ruth Douillette, one of the the IWW's administrators, posted a link on our group's discussion list to an interesting article about self-publishing.

Patricia Kitchen covered the idea in the Business section of the July 6th, 2007 Newsday, "Can self-publishing help your career?"

The consensus is, "Yes," but there are caveats. One self-published writer cared more about getting her message about diabetes "out there" and so she hired a publicist. Total sales: 600 copies of Eating Soulfully and Healthfully with Diabetes.

It is about the book, of course, and the article addressed professional how to works rather than novels, but it seems if you have the right product and work hard enough, you might stumble onto the road to success.

---

Related information from Newsday ...
How print-on-demand publishing works

Not Everyone Loves Flash

I've noticed in my reading through literary magazines that the car-exploding, building-collapsing video game, punch-the-remote mindset doesn't apply to most of the fiction and creative nonfiction published.

Five thousand words? No problem. Write 'til you're finished.

There are not many electronic markets for longer works on the Internet, but there are several sources for writer's who need more room for their stories.

• NewPages.com lists Literary Magazines here, nearly 600 of them.
• Poets & Writers Magazine has a searchable database here.
• The Council of Literary Magazines and Presses keeps a registry of its members, complete with URLs.
• Creighton University has a list of Literary Magazines in "Nebraska and beyond."
• Open Directory has a specific list for writers in Canada.
• Canadian Literature, A Quarterly of Criticism and Review, also maintains a list.
• Lollipop's List of Little Press Publications covers the United Kingdom.
• OzLit provides information about literary publications Down Under.

---

"Whoever desires, for his writings or himself, what none can reasonably contemn, the favour of mankind, must add grace to strength, and make his thoughts agreeable as well as useful. Many complain of neglect who never tried to attract regard."
Samuel Johnson.

A Newsletter of Interest to Flashers, Flash Fiction Writers, That Is

Flash fiction, it seems, is of great interest to both writers and readers. I see multiple "Yahoos!" on the IWW's Writing list for short pieces published on the Internet or in print.

What is "flash fiction?" Wikipedia notes ...

Flash fiction, also called sudden fiction, micro fiction, postcard fiction or short-short fiction, is a class of short story of limited word length. Definitions differ but is generally accepted that flash fiction stories are at most 200 to 1000 words in length. Ernest Hemingway (1899 - 1961) wrote a six-word flash: "For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn." Traditional short stories are 2,000 to 10,000 words in length.

There are hundreds of markets for flash fiction, and there's even an associated genre of flash creative nonfiction. The premier market for that short creative nonfiction is Creative Nonfiction Magazine's associated Web-based publication, Brevity. That magazine has a blog, and it's feed is available in the right-hand column of this blog.

If you find flash your forte, or if you'd simply like to learn more about the genre, a good place to start is the IWW's Prose or Practice lists, and a good resource is Flash Fiction Flash, The Newsletter for Flash Literature Writers, a free email newsletter.

Nine Times Published

An Essay on Writing
by Bob Liter

I recently posted notice that my ninth novel had been published on the Internet. One of the fine administrators of the IWW site suggested I report on my experiences with Internet publishing. So here goes.


THE WRITING

First of all, of course, is the writing. I'm a retired journalist who had dabbled at writing fiction for years but seldom finished anything as long as a novel. My best writing was done only in my head when I was sitting around sucking up beer and talking about sports or girls. Sometimes both at the same time.

Soon after I retired a female friend, upon learning I had a partially finished novel, insisted on reading it. Then she insisted I finish it. I am often influenced by females.

It was something I wanted to do anyway, and since I was retired, had no excuse for not doing it.

This evolved into a method of writing that has produced a steady stream of novels and short stories since. Breakfast in the morning then writing. Nothing else after breakfast until I write.

Sometimes I write two pages, sometimes more, but always at least two. Two pages a day, every day, adds up. I edit the first draft as I go. I go back five pages each day and edit what I'd written before. That gets me into the storyline and a desire to write more. After I've finished the novel I do more editing, whatever rewriting seems necessary and set the thing aside. I start a new novel and after a couple of weeks, but not on my writing time, I read the first novel, make whatever changes seem necessary, and begin the process of trying to get it published.

I wish I could stomach writing an outline. It would make writing the novel so much easier. What I do instead is start with a loose idea for a plot, sometimes think of the ending before I get to it and just write. For instance, I am now writing an erotic about a girl who is raised in a tavern and loves the local athletic hero. He believes in spreading his seed she becomes promiscuous and blames it on him. I'm writing it with each chapter involving a different lover. I'm making it as good as I can. I've learned that no matter what you write you have to stay in the habit of doing the best writing possible.


THE SELLING

I've tried to interest a literary agent or print publisher in each of my novels before sending them to an Internet publisher. My first novel, August Is Murder, the first of four Nick Bancroft mysteries, was published in 2003.

All of my novels have been published with the same publisher. You can get a list of e-book publishers by searching with those words. Pay attention to the author guidelines. Publishers or agents are owlish it you don't follow them. Rejections are part of the procedure. Keep sending your work out to one e-book publisher at a time. In the case of agents and print publishers multiple submissions are accepted by most. The important thing about trying to find an agent or publisher, print or e-book, is to keep looking.


THE PROMOTING

Plenty has been written about this and most of it is available on the Internet. The Internet itself is becoming one of the most effective tools to promote sale of books or at least draw attention to them. My writing this is a form of Internet promotion. I have a website and a blog but neither has drawn much traffic, and I haven't done enough to promote it. My books are available at Fictionwise .

Any questions?

---

You can keep up with Bob Liter -- and Nick Bancroft, for that matter -- via Bob's two places on the Web, his site and his blog.

Safe Writing

Recently, someone asked IWW administrator Greg Gunther a question that should come to mind before a person joins the Internet Writing Workshop.

"I was discussing this list with a friend of mine today and he asked me if the writers' work is protected in some way. In other words, is it safe from theft? ... out of curiosity, I thought I'd ask about it anyway."

Greg directed the person to the IWW's Web page where the facts are outlined, as well as other good information.

Q: What if someone steals my work?

Unfortunately, plagiarism can occur anytime writers share their writing with anyone else. Writers have had their works plagiarized by family members, friends, or writing instructors.

However, plagiarism is not as common as some people believe. Remember also that a similarity in ideas or plots does not automatically indicate plagiarism — there are only so many ideas and plots around, after all.

That said, the IWW offers these safeguards against plagiarism:

• Membership to the critiquing lists is restricted to active members (no lurkers).
• List postings are not archived. The only people who see them are the list members who receive the posts.
• Anonymous or hidden members are not allowed.
• Since several people will see any given submission, this increases the chances any plagiarism will be discovered.

In the end, each writer must weigh the risks and benefits before sharing work with anyone else, in the IWW or elsewhere.

From personal experience, as a member and an administrator of the IWW since the last century, I can remember only one instance hinting at possible plagiarism. As writers on the Internet, however, we must understand we have opened a window to the world. We can pull the shade. We can lock the window. We can do everything right, and be harmed.

Every sophisticated and rational person realizes the world is not a safe place, and copes.

Every member of the IWW should realize IWW administrators work hard to keep the lists as safe as possible, and we believe we're doing the best we can.

---

"If it wasn't for faith there would be no living in this world; we couldn't even eat hash with any safety."
Josh Billings, Irish playwright & critic

IWW Members in Print and Published

Here's the latest list of successes for distinguished members of the IWW!
I said I'd start with "S" this week, so Wayne finally gets to the top!


Wayne Scheer

I just got back from a week in the North Georgia Mountains and received  word
that my story published in the May issue of Conceit Magazine won a $100
readers' prize.  Information about the magazine and the announcement of my
prize  can be found here.

Also, a humor piece, "Zen and the Art of House Painting," is up at The Rose 
and Thorn.  This one earned me a clean $5.

I need to take more vacations.

Thanks to all for your continued help and encouragement.

Peggy Duffy

I'm pleased to Yahoo! that two of my longer short stories (in the 5,000 words
each range), the ones that take more years than I care to admit to find homes,
have been accepted for Trillium Literary Journal. The stories are "Head
Over Heels" and "Last of the Richardsons." Peg, Wayne, and Susan read and
commented on the second story, and I thank them for their input in getting
that story into its final publishable form.

I can't recall where I came across the Call for Submissions; it may have been
Poets & Writers. Trillium Literary Journal is a new publication; its inaugural
issue will appear in July, 2007. Since they accepted both of my stories, I was
given the option of having them both appear in the same issue, or in two
separate issues. I chose the latter option. Impatient though I am to see these
pieces in print, I figure by issue 2, due out in October, 2007, the publication
will have more of a readership.

I've had good luck placing pieces in new publications, Smokelong
Quarterly (where some other IWW people here have had stories appear)
being another example. When I evaluate a pub that's been around for a while,
I look at the quality of the work as well as the writers' bios to see where else
their stories have appeared in deciding whether it's a good venue for my work.
In a new pub, I look at the bios of the editorial board. Trillium Literary
Journal has, in my opinion, an impressive one.

On other Yahoo and news notes, Cup of Comfort for Writers comes out in
August 2007 and will include an essay of mine. This is my third appearance in
a Cup of Comfort anthology, and Colleen is an excellent editor to work with.

Months ago I wrote that I'd been contacted by a writer in Italy looking for
permission to translate another of my stories, "First Thing in the Morning,"
into Italian. She recently emailed me that the translation is complete and she
will send it to me. I believe she is submitting to a translation contest.

I also have an essay, "Connecting," coming out in October, 2007, in Voices of
Breast Cancer, published by LaChance Publishing, affiliated with The
Healing Project. I was actually paid for this one.


Alice Folkart

If you'd like to take a look, five poems of mine and a lot of wonderful
photography and poetry are in this week's edition of Here and Now.

These were invited.


Dawn Goldsmith

I sold a blog post to FundsforWriters: "Freaky Friday."

My article "Paper Piecing Magic in Munich" is in the August 2007 issue
of Quilters World.

Christian Science Monitor accepted "One Stitch at a Time," an essay. No
date set for publication, yet.


Nan Hawthorne

My book, Loving the Goddess Within: Sex Magick for Women, is now
available as an ebook!!!

If you are an Amazon.com Associate, the book is supposed to be available as an
ebook there too, as well as on Barnes and Noble's site.

I will be grateful if you can help get the word out! If you need the cover art for
a web site, just let me know.


Laurel Lamperd

I've had a poem, "Gifted Teachers," published in The Recessive Type IV, a
print journal of rejected submissions to other publications.


Roger Poppen

My short story 'Nits' has been accepted for the Fall issue of Skyline
Magazine. Thanks to all in Fiction who critted this.

The downside is that it will be in the print rather than online edition, so
all my 'friends and family,' whom I am encouraged to inform, will have to
pony up 15 bucks to see this cultural contribution :-(.


Bob Liter

My latest novel, Fork in the Road, is up at fictionwise.com

Welcome to Fork, a community with a dirt street and a snow plow, where, for a
change, there are things to talk about in the nowhere prairie town. The
unsolved murder of exotic stranger Francesca Evans is the main topic until
Daniel Owens plows six feet of snow onto the road commissioners' driveway.
And then a guy digs up the outhouse on Ezra Brigg's farm and won't say why.
And Hester DeWitt, the town's self-appointed conscience, gets drunk on
elderberry wine while trying to close the only tavern in town. There are other
distractions, like Daniel's courting of sexy Rosemary Allen until he realizes
she is the whore who taught him about sex. And John Turner, the stranger
who has some kind of power over Rosemary, announces plans to develop
the area. After a deputy sheriff is charged with the murder, Turner builds
a golf course, and Daniel stops trying to resist the lure of Rosemary's body.

For the curious, the first chapter of the novel is up at my blog spot. All comments are welcome.


Dennis Rizzo

Just a note to thank all the critters who helped me refine my style. Though
it's not fiction, I've been published through History Press, Charleston, for a
complete updated history of my home town, Mount Holly, NJ.

Hey--it's a book and it pays. I got to write a narrative history instead of
the plodding, dismal, Genesis-like tomes we usually get.

Thanks for the help.

This Week's IWW Practice Exercise

Exercise: Creative Non-Fiction (Version 2)

__________________

This is a two-week exercise, posted last week (July 1). If you need to look at it, go here.

There's still plenty of time for you to join the IWW Practice group and post a submission, if you're not already a member.

________________________________________________________________________
IWW PRACTICE Exercises are archived.

How I Found the IWW, or One More Love Letter to Google!

• I found you guys because I typed in "Writer's group" in google, and you were the first I clicked on. Hooray!
• I typed in Poetry Workshops and your entry there on Google looked the most promising.
• I found out about this site through google search engine.
• I really don't remember how I found the workshop - I've participated sporadically on critters.org for several years, and when I went to re-activate there recently, I found that I also had IWW bookmarked in the same folder. I think someone from critters must have given me the link originally, but it's been ages.
• Found you while surfing.
• Google is how i found ya'

A Special Publication Yahoo

A former long-time member of the IWW's Nonfiction list recently received "Honorable Mention" during the American Horse Publications 2007 Awards ceremony.

American Horse Publications
2007 Awards
PERSONALITY PROFILE
Honorable Mention
EQUUS
"A One-Of-A-Kind Mustang"
By Lee Farren
February 2006
Great blurb/deck to introduce a very, very good
story. It is well organized and has an ending that
makes it worthwhile to read the whole piece.

The entire program file is available here. Be aware that it is a very large file.

Self-Publishing Notes

Small Press/Self Publishing notes, from experience
by Clive Warner
Citiria Publishing

This series of notes was originally a set of emails to the Internet Writing Workshop.

They are archived here as a set, for convenience. Take what seems useful, ignore the rest.

---

1. Why POD/PRQ?

After you . . (delete as applicable)

. . are beginning on the second layer of rejection slip wallpaper and only the baby's room still has real wallpaper

. . have been published by someone else and had a bad experience

. . have been published by a major house but then relegated

. . have decided that by the time you get an agent you will be using a walking frame

. . you might decide to self publish.

Once you have self published, that's pretty much 70% of what you need to know to operate as a publisher. I'm not going to discuss whether you should self publish or continue to look for representation. That's up to you. All I will say is that there might come a point when you come to realise pretty much how the book industry works, and take another path. This is about what happens if you do. . .

The Alternatives

* Traditional: First off, you have to decide if you should go the traditional way still used by all the big Houses, i.e. a print run, typically of 2500 books.

I've been through the experience of having someone else produce a print run of 3000, and I can't say the economics were favourable.

What happened in the end was that a lot of books got shipped out; some were damaged; of the remainder, many were returned, usually damaged; one of the distributors (B&T) had serious problems affecting many publishers; and so on. The publisher takes a beating.

It is not a good business model, especially not for the newbie.

Even after having had a novel published, I still couldn't find an agent to represent my next book.

* PRQ (Print Required Quantity) or POD (Print On Demand) is rapidly gaining acceptance. Even the large houses are now using it, as demonstrated by a recent and ongoing dispute between the Authors Guild and a major House, concerning when a work is "out of print". It's the ideal technology for the newbie, because:

* You need little working capital

* The quality is excellent

* It provides the ability to revise a book anytime at little cost

* The main players are also major global distributors

* There are a range of services from beginner to expert

For a beginner, someone wanting for instance to publish a family memoir, Lulu's Petals provides an appropriate level of service. Moving up to the commercial level of general fiction and nonfiction, Booksurge, owned by Amazon.com, provides a range of choices at various prices. And for those who can produce their own covers and bookblocks in-house and buy their own ISBN block, Lightning Source is an excellent choice.

I probably wouldn't have taken my first steps into publishing if it hadn't have been for an old friend and author who runs a small indie in the UK, Hideaway Books. But now, there are some excellent books that are must-haves, if you want to publish. More on this later.

But I will say this: It is within your reach.

2. Sourcing and methods.

If you'd like to jump ahead and look at what's out there, take a look at this site and navigate to "Publisher Reviews". Unfortunately there aren't *that* many reviews as yet. You'll note that some of the reviews are so negative that you would not want to go near that particular company.

The major player - Lightning Source - is neither mentioned nor reviewed. (Disclaimer: I am a Lightning Source customer.)

While I have been chewing over what to write here, I have been busy investigating Booksurge, Amazon's POD company. I requested pricing info., and this is what I got:

"If you are providing us with a camera ready PDF file for the interior the fee is $99, and the cover submission is $499 if you're unable to provide us with a camera ready PDF file. The suggested retail of a 300 page, 6x9" book is $17.99 and our author discounts vary depending on the quantity you purchase. For example if you order 100 copies the discount is 50% off."

50% might seem attractive, but note this: the standard discount a publisher must provide to Amazon.com is 55% of retail. And, by US law, you must provide the same discount to other book sellers operating at the same level - meaning B&N, Borders, Books A Million, etc.

So Booksurge expects you or I to invest in 100 copies and then have to pay $8 each? That is a recipe for losing money. Besides that, the whole idea of PRQ (print required quantity, otherwise known as POD) is to NOT have book stocks.

Also, Booksurge refuses to state who prints for them (Lulu uses Lightning Source) which makes me wonder if they also use Lightning. It appears to me, at this point, that Booksurge is merely emulating Lulu.com which is OK for amateurs, but not for the indie publisher who actually wants to grow a company in the book business.

My costs from Lightning for the same book would be roughly half the Booksurge price, and I can drop-ship directly, plus I don't have to keep any stock. So why doesn't everyone simply establish an account with Lightning? Good question. You can open a Lightning account but first you need to know how to produce a book, and that is where the majority of would-be self publishers fall down. They haven't got the knowledge and skills.

What's involved in book production?

* You need to be able to edit at a professional level. Until you have successfully edited other people's books (which I have), you're really risking a lot if you self-edit the finished product, because most writers don't make professional editors.

* You need to be able to design the interior layout and this is an art form. Will you use drop caps? What font, point size, leading? To hyphenate or not? Did you know that the first paragraph of a chapter should not be indented? There is a host of such detail.

* You need to be able to design and lay out the cover. Do you know the difference between CMYK and RGB and which one isn't acceptable? What is "bleed" and how much is required? What are the "danger zones" for text? How do you generate a bar code? Where are you going to source the graphics / artwork?

(I have to tell you, here: A book sells on its cover. Books with "template" covers look cheap. Why would you spend years writing the book and then settle for a crummy template-cover? That's just plain dumb.)

At Citiria we pay serious money for cover art even though we have in-house graphics design capacity.

For instance, REBODY, my new SF-satire, (in proof as I write this), has cover art by David Rabbitte. David did graphics for Star Wars and X-Men and is a well known comic illustrator. I negotiated the art contract with him because I wanted a specific look for the cover, and because he is very well-known in the business. Illustrators of his calibre typically charge $500 for a cover.

Even after that, however, we still have to design the rear cover and spine, and do the glyphing (glyphing means all the font work, we use Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Indesign for this.)

* You need to be able to typeset. And I am not talking about using MS Word.

Microsoft Office is all well and good for the office, but it cannot typeset a book to professional standards. For that, you need to be competent with a program such as Quark Express, Pagemaker, or Indesign.

At Citiria we use Indesign, a heavyweight package that costs serious money and takes serious time to learn.

The basic items you need are a good graphics package - Photoshop is the standard; a desktop publishing package such as Indesign; Acrobat Pro (to Preflight and check PDF files as necessary); plus MS Office. Quite a lot to learn and be expert in.

And there is one thing you should know: Publishing requires enormous precision and accuracy of work.

Slight errors cost lots to fix.

3. Production prices.

Continuing my remarks about different methods and suppliers, I have to report it's been a week now and Booksurge failed to respond to my question about discounts, which was basically: "Is Booksurge designed for self-publishing authors or can you supply books also for indie publishers?" Here's a story from someone who published with them. (Retrospect: Booksurge did eventually reply. I understand they are aiming at helping the individual self-publisher rather than at small presses.)

I was curious about the mentioned publisher and so I took a look at the price list area. Using my present job as an example, it would cost me $9.07 per copy in a 50-off quantity (9x6 trade paperback)

Since I need to supply booksellers at a 55% discount, let's do the math: RRP = $17.95 (almost the same as Booksurge's recommended price, but I arrived at the price through research, not through them!)

Discount of 55% = $9.87 Sale price = $17.95 - $9.87 = $8.08

My price = $9.07

Profit/Loss: LOSS of 99 cents per book.

Does this seem like a good business model to you? Evidently not.


4. More on selling price.

** Short run (50) per copy = $9.10 Shipping for 50 copies = $32 (with luck) Cost per copy = $9.74 LOSS 1.66 **

Short run offset, 1000 cpy, = $5 shipping? warehousing? interest charges for the $5000 tied up in stock? Profit? Loss? Hard to say. **

Lightning Source, per copy, PRQ: Cost per copy = $5.10 Drop shipping, no warehousing. Shipping per copy is about 65c, so the profit is about $2.35.

(Those of you who enjoy playing with spreadsheets might like to set one up for the price versus discount, and see how the profit/loss with 55% discount skews high cover prices. In practice, Amazon etc. discount the books by up to 25% , so if they discount by 25% they are still making about 30%)

Now, out of this, the publisher has to pay all the expenses of producing the book, plus promotions, plus author's royalty . . . and typically the author will get $1 royalty, leaving $1.35 for the publisher.

If you have ever thought publishing was a GRQ (get rich quick) business, think again. It's only when (if) you get a runaway seller, the economies of scale take over and you start to make real money. But it can happen; Bloomsbury was tiny when they took a risk on a silly schooldays-and-witchery story about a lad called Harry Potter . . .


5. Useful books.

I just found a very useful piece about online book marketing.

Required READING: The number one book on how to become a self publisher or indie, is: DAN POYNTER'S SELF PUBLISHING MANUAL, ISBN 978-1-56860-134-2, and the other one, about marketing and sales, really essential, is: 1001 WAYS TO MARKET YOUR BOOKS by John Kremer, ISBN 978-0-91241-148-4. (Disclaimer: I have no connection with these authors or books)

Poynter's book is a real eye-opener, aimed primarily at nonfiction authors but also very very useful to fiction authors.

6. POD presses - profit/loss (2)

The POD book review at Blogspot.com has a piece which states: 'When I refer to "small POD presses," I am not speaking of Lulu.com, iUniverse, and BookSurge, etc. I view those as subsidiary "printers," as they are all signed with a large printer based in LaVerne, TN.' (the only such press would be Lightning Source)

I think the site gives some useful insights into the various options, but really, it all comes down to this: If you decide to go your own way and publish yourself/others, you are not going to be able to get down to the price level required to sell successfully on Amazon, B&N, and the like, unless you either take the (big) risk of a print run - say 1,000 books - that you then have to arrange distribution for (another nightmare according to the emails from my first, defunct, publisher), or you go with Lightning Source.

The output costs of every other method that I've discovered so far, are simply too high to allow you to make any kind of profit.

Frankly I find this very disturbing as the implication is of a monopoly situation, unless anyone can provide an equivalent source of cost-effective PRQ printing?

Finally, another book recommendation (I have no commercial interest in it): Adobe InDesign CS, by Deke McClelland, was a great help in getting up to speed on InDesign.

7. Making a book.

Let's assume that you have a finished "final draft" in front of you, it might be yours or someone else's. Now you want to publish it.

A. Edit it.

About 2 - 3 weeks minimum. In house, but we also edit for others, and a typical 100,000 word book will cost about $1,000 in editing fees.

The text needs to be perfect down to the last word. No typos, no miss-spellings, no run-ons, all brands must be capitalised.

In other words the edit is composed of final text edit plus copy edit.

At the same time I edit (using MS Word), I put the text into a standard format: *page size 9x6 with the margins I will use in the finished book *single line spacing *the correct font(s) will be used. (This is just to give me an idea of how many pages, appearance, etc. and allow me to do a bit of adjustment if necessary)

B. Typeset it.

About 3 days, but very time-intensive. We do set for others, at $50/hour. About $350 for the setting work. You need to use a package such as Pagemaker, Quark Express, or InDesign. MS Publisher doesn't cut it! Publisher is great for greeting cards or calendars but it doesn't have the necessary abilities.

Using Indesign, I first create a MASTER page. This sets things like page size, margins, tabs, etc. All other pages will take up this basic layout, allowing me to change all pages with one adjustment.

After making the master, I then create an InDesign document for each chapter, and flow the chapter pages as required, adjusting tabs, placing page breaks, adjusting justification, and so forth.

The end product will be a collection of InDesign docs, one for each chapter. There will also be a doc for the "front matter" that precedes the chapters.

Finally I combine all the chapters into an InDesign "Book" document, where I sort out the page numbering. Then I export it as a PDF, compliant with the correct press standard (X-1A); add the origin info, and "Preflight" it using Acrobat Pro (a check to make sure it will pass the printer's standard tests.) And upload it.

C. Design and layout the cover.

Impossible to say how long this takes. Cost of the illustration: $300 - $500, depending. Plus a lot of time involved in generating the back cover, quite often using elements from the front cover and/or additional graphics. However this is NOT the final cover - this one is for the ARC (advanced review copies)

We use Photoshop for most of this work. We have in-house graphic capacity allowing us to absorb a lot of this cost.

A complete professional cover layout to a template can be very expensive, up to $1000 by the time you have finished. This involves laying out the front and rear covers plus the book spine.

It is tricky. First you have to calculate the thickness of the spine according to the number of pages and type of paper. Then you make a cover template that includes front, spine, and back. Then you place the cover art on the front and rear covers, (also spine as required), and do the "glyphing" - design and placement of all the font work such as title, author, and so forth. You also have to place the images for the cover price and the bar code.

Finally you check that that the template complies with the printer's specs. for bleed, danger areas, etc. and you upload it. (Danger area = the area where text may be cut off when the cover is trimmed. Bleed is surplus cover area allowed for trimming to size. I have personally fallen foul of both these things!)

D. Proofing.

After uploading the cover and book block, I have to wait from 1 - 3 days to find out if there is a problem. There usually will be . . . and each error costs $40 revision fee, plus of course the work to fix the problem.

Let's say the design is perfect. Then I order a proof copy ($30) which will arrive by courier a couple of days later.

I examine the proof, page by page, and it it is OK (should be, by now!)

I go ahead and order as many ARCs as I intend to send to reviewers, anything between 32 and 128, usually, at an average cost of about $5.50 each.

E. Waiting and redesign.

Now I have to wait up to 3 months to get review comments back. I will pick the best comments for the back cover "blurb".

At the same time, I am finalising the new cover design for the commercial version of the book, going through stages 3 and 4 all over again.

F. Hold the publication party.

Which is where you blow several grand to entertain alkie media people who may or may not write about your new book . . . no guys, I am joking, this step is only for the big Houses! Unless you are very rich.

Probably I have missed some stuff, but I hope it gives a picture of what's involved in publishing a book.


8. nonfiction vs fiction

I've been getting some correspondence on the small publisher issue. In particular, Dehanna sent me some useful and interesting information - (thanks!) First, on the history of Booksurge.

Dehanna also reminded me of a very useful list of self-pub outlets, which I should have remembered to include since I already have (and use) the book.

Now there is one thing that I should have pointed out earlier -- much earlier! One of the members commented about editing and layout rates etc., and I should point out, the rates I quoted are those I use in-house. If you look for editing and layout from a professional company specialising in such services, you may get an unpleasant shock.

Secondly, please remember that I have been talking about FICTION books. Nonfiction is a rather different beast.

NF books usually have additional baggage to deal with.

This includes:

1. Table Of Contents: Usually more material to deal with than nonfiction.

2. The Index: Publishers of serious nonfiction works often hire specialists known as INDEXERS to create this. (yes I know MS Word can run an index for you, but do you think it will be up to the job of doing this for a NF book with lots of index entries and/or with specialised subject matter?) Actually, indexers are subdivided into specialities, too: e.g. medical, surgical, financial, computer books, and so on!

3. Other NF stuff: Even after the TOC and index, you may well have a table of figures, a glossary, a bibliography, etc. - not to mention the "notes" often found at the bottom of each page or at the end of a chapter.

4. Layout for NF is a whole mess of pottage. Think of a textbook: Masses of images, each of which must be accurately set in place. Text has to be flowed. Sidebars embedded. Often, different colours are used for text. And so on! I don't know what a professional layout editor charges for that kind of thing but I bet it is at least $100 per hour. Lightning Source for instance will charge me over $40 per half-hour for a simple adjustment, if I need to do that. (No, I don't go that route, I fix any issues myself and reproof.)

If you still haven't been put off the idea and want to investigate further, you really need to buy the books I mentioned earlier. Just as an example, I haven't mentioned any of the tasks such as copyrighting, drop shipping, pricing of US vs. UK books, and so on.

Independence Day

by Thomas Jefferson
with the incorporated thoughts of John Adams and Benjamin Franklin

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776.
THE UNANIMOUS
DECLARATION
OF THE
THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

WHEN, in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's GOD entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the Causes which impel them to the Separation.

We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their CREATOR, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate, that Governments long established, should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security. Such has been the patient Sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the Necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The History of the present King of Great-Britain is a History of repeated Injuries and Usurpations, all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World.

HE has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public Good.

HE has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing Importance, unless suspended in their Operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

HE has refused to pass other Laws for the Accommodation of large Districts of People, unless those People would relinquish the Right of Representation in the Legislature, a Right inestimable to them, and formidable to Tyranny only.

HE has called together Legislative Bodies at Places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the Depository of their public Records, for the sole Purpose of fatiguing them into Compliance with his Measures.

HE has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly Firmness his Invasions on the Rights of the People.

HE has refused for a long Time, after such Dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining, in the mean Time, exposed to all the Dangers of Invasion from without, and Convulsions within.

HE has endeavoured to prevent the Population of these States; for that Purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their Migrations hither, and raising the Conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

HE has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

HE has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure of their Offices, and the Amount and Payment of their Salaries.

HE has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their Substance.

HE has kept among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies, without the Consent of our Legislatures.

HE has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

HE has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

FOR quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us:

FOR protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

FOR cutting off our Trade with all Parts of the World:

FOR imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

FOR depriving us, in many Cases, of the Benefits of Trial by Jury:

FOR transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended Offences:

FOR abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an arbitrary Government, and enlarging its Boundaries, so as to render it at once an Example and fit Instrument for introducing the same absolute Rule into these Colonies:

FOR taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

FOR suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Power to legislate for us in all Cases whatsoever.

HE has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection, and waging War against us.

HE has plundered our Seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our Towns, and destroyed the Lives of our People.

HE is, at this Time, transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to complete the Works of Death, Desolation, and Tyranny, already begun with Circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous Ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized Nation.

HE has constrained our Fellow-Citizens, taken Captive on the high Seas, to bear Arms against their Country, to become the Executioners of their Friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

HE has excited domestic Insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known Rule of Warfare, is an undistinguished Destruction, of all Ages, Sexes, and Conditions.

IN every Stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble Terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated Injury. A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by every Act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free People.

NOR have we been wanting in Attentions to our British Brethren. We have warned them, from Time to Time, of Attempts by their Legislature to extend an unwarrantable Jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the Circumstances of our Emigration and Settlement here. We have appealed to their native Justice and Magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the Ties of our common Kindred to disavow these Usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our Connexions and Correspondence. They too have been deaf to the Voice of Justice and of Consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the Necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the Rest of Mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

WE, therefore, the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in GENERAL CONGRESS Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and Declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political Connexion between them and the State of Great-Britain, is, and ought to be, totally dissolved; and that as FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which INDEPENDENT STATES may of Right do. And for the Support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of DIVINE PROVIDENCE, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honour.