|
=====================================================
T h e B a h a m a s W r i t e r - I s s u e # 6
=====================================================
Release date: Tuesday, April 30, 2002
THIS ISSUE'S HIGHLIGHTS:-
*"When it's O.K. to be a Copycat" by Canadian writer Bill Stephens - great advice on studying markets!
*More success! - Canadian writer Art Montague goes from "Chicken Soup" to "Donkey's Serenade'!
*"Obituary Notice - In Advance"- K.T.Rajasingham from Thailand is being satirical ("author's licence"), but how much freedom of speech do we writers now have?
REGULAR SECTIONS:-
*Market News (New)
*Writing Tip
WELCOME:-
Welcome to another issue of The Bahamas Writer. Please feel free to forward it on to anyone you know who's interested in writing.
You are invited to submit your articles, stories, poems, scripts or writing tips for inclusion in upcoming issues.
Although there is no payment for submissions to The Bahamas Writer, this is an excellent way to promote your writing worldwide. We can also include your email address and/or provide a link back to your web site.
Please try to keep the number of words within 1,000 if possible, with "BW Submission" in subject line. Single space with one line space between paragraphs.
Topics should not be political, involve sensitive issues, be inflammatory, pornographic or objectionable.
And, if you haven't done so already, how about joining the Bahamas Writer Forums? It's free and you can meet other writers from around the world, as well as having work critiqued or sharing writing opportunities with others. Please keep topics relevant to writers.
Forum guidelines at:-
http://www.bahamaswriter.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=52
Back issues of this newsletter can be found at:-
http://www.bahamaswriter.com/back_issues.htm
See the end of this newsletter for unsubscribe information.
Want to print out this Newsletter?
Here's a super little printing utility that will allow you to print 2 or 4 pages to a single 8.5" x 11" piece of paper. It saves you paper, space, and money...
click here: http://www.fineprint.com/
================== CONTENTS ===========================
1. Article: "When it's O.K. to be a Copycat" by Bill Stephens
2. Kudos - Art Montague
3. "Obituary Notice - In Advance" by K.T.Rajasingham
4. Market News
5. Writing Tip
6. Poetry.com
7. Published articles
8. Work in progress
9. Completed sections
10. Write The Bahamas Writer
=======================================================
1. Article: "When it's O.K. to be a Copycat" by Bill Stephens
I am pleased to welcome writer Bill Stephens who lives in London, Ontario, Canada. Bill has been freelancing since 1987.
He emailed me at the beginning of the month: "Thanks to your wonderful, friendly website, I feel I know you personally. I lifted your web address from the Mentoring forum on Absolute Write's Water Cooler, where I hang out under the handle 'Wordaholic' (a poorly chosen, if not only too descriptive nickname)!"
Bill's web site can be found at
http://members.tripod.com/hiredpen0/index.htm
and you can email him at bill_stephensca@yahoo.ca
"WHEN IT'S O.K. TO BE A COPYCAT" BY BILL STEPHENS
This is straight talk for all you beginning nonfiction writers out there. I'll break it down. You have at least four core skills to master. You have to learn to write, you have to learn to research, you have to learn to interview, and you have to learn how to sell what you write.
Imagine yourself in dance class. If there's a step you can't get, the teacher will usually demonstrate it for you. Then, all you have to do is copy his movements. It works the same way when learning to write.
Fortunately, you can teach yourself every thing you need to know without taking a single writing course. The answer is to copy from the smartest kid in class --in the writing world, the smartest kid is the writer who's already selling. That kid's homework is always available to you, the resourceful copycat, and the price of your education is no more than the price of a few dozen magazines.
Here's what you do: buy every issue you can find of the magazine you hope to sell to. If you have a used magazine store handy or access to a public library, super. With those magazines piled around you, it's time to start reading. Before you is the perfected template, the kind of article that particular magazine wants to print, and it will pay well for other articles, just like it -- only different.
But wait a minute! Don't just read those articles; you have to read them like a writer. That means not just taking in content, but trying to see just exactly how every article was put together. Are they written in the first or third person? Are they chatty or crammed so full of information you couldn't get another fact in edgewise?
See if you can tell, just by looking through the article, the sources that the writer must have consulted in researching it. If it's about pets, did the writer choose to interview vets, owners, or biologists? Did the writer use statistics? What kind of statistics? Who provided them? Imagine you are researching this article -- who would you want to talk to? For fun, jot down a list of the information you would like to have on hand.
Go to your library and ask a reference librarian where you to find the key information on that list. You may be surprised at some of the shortcuts she may suggest.
Back to our magazine. Do the articles use many direct quotes? Are they filled with them or do they include only one or two? How the speakers introduced and identified?
Do the articles focus on expert opinion? What type of expert? Where could you locate someone with inside knowledge of the same field? If you live near a university, look for the department that conducts research in that area. (Tip: most experts are members of associations; look for the association that matches the subject.)
Does the publication use numerals or words for numbers? How frequently do colons and semicolons crop up? How are dashes used? Even their preferred style is all laid out for you. You don't even have to buy a manual.
Do a word count. What length of article are they looking for? How many paragraphs? How long do the paragraphs run?
Consult several issues of the magazine to get an idea of the kind of subjects they keep coming back to. Remember, they are looking for that exact same article, only on a topic they've never covered before. Oops! I lied. You can even get away with selling them the exact same article they've already bought -- if enough time has gone by.
Here is how it works. Look over old issues of the magazine. See if you can come up with articles that could use updating. If, five years ago, the magazine ran an article on political corruption in the Philippines, they might be ready to run another article on that very same topic.
If the first article focussed on corruption, suggest one covering the things that have been done to clean up the situation. Twist it, turn it, stand it on its head, but it's the same darn article.
The magazine tells us even more. Look at the advertisements. They are there because a gang of savvy media buyers considers this magazine a direct pipeline to their ideal customer. Are the ads selling luxury cars or home improvements, pet foods or shotgun shells? Think for a moment about that ideal customer those advertisers are hoping to reach. Get to know him or her well, because, folks, that is your ideal customer, too.
Check the masthead. There you'll find such tidbits as the mailing address and the name of the editor. Pay particular attention to any changes in the editorial department. A new editor needs new writers. Transition times are particularly rich opportunities for new writers. Get your carefully formulated query onto his desk, and you may find yourself on the way to regular sales at that publication.
(A lot of contributing editors and writers on the masthead can mean that the magazine doesn't accept much freelance material.)
Don't forget the writer's number one tool: the internet. That's right folks, that keyboard you're hammering away on can help you do rough research on almost any topic with a few finger taps. E-mail can connect you with experts on the other side of the world. It can also link you with all sorts of instruction on writing and support from other writers. It's great. Yep, but you have to take every piece of information you get off the net with a grain of salt. And that's true for information from any source. Never ever think of putting into your article any piece of information that you haven't confirmed from two or three independent sources. It's a handy journalistic trick for avoiding embarrassment and lawsuits.
A final word. It is easy to make your career reading about writing rather than writing. There is an endless amount of helpful hints out there on how to write this way or that way. The best thing for a beginner to do is to take such advice with moderation. Find your own way. Think, instead, about your topic, find connections, implications. Those original thoughts are the way to your own unique voice.
Now, remember those four skills we talked about? As you can see, most of them can be learned by studying the magazines you're trying to sell to. Try writing some practice articles and compare them to the ones you've read.
This learning-by-example has another bonus. Editors spend their days going through queries from people who have never even looked at a single issue of their magazine. Imagine how impressed they'll be with a query that demonstrates a deep understanding of the kind of article that keeps their magazine selling. Which one do you think will get the positive nod?
© Bill Stephens
=======================================================
Note: You may distribute this Newsletter. Feel free to post it to your website or BBS if you like. However no part of this Newsletter may be reproduced in whole, or in part, without keeping the links within this newsletter active.
=======================================================
2. Kudos - Art Montague. From "Chicken Soup" to "Donkey Serenade"! Art's done it again!
My favourite local bookstore "Logos" (Greek for "The Word") now has "Chicken Soup for the Grandparent's Soul" in stock. I'd been waiting for it with some excitement, as it contains Art Montague's K.C. essay "Rainy Day Rainbows". Although I am not a grandparent yet, I had a real chuckle reading Art's story featuring his little granddaughter. It's great!
I recently read an excellent short story by Art - "Selling the Farm". Art's wife Joanne, who handles Art's marketing, says: "I'll be adding it to Art's short story collection and am looking down the road for a small press publisher." (Joanne's also a writer and writes under her former name "Joanne Hoople").
Joanne says Art's novel "DONKEY SERENADE" (two parts, total of 100,000 words) will be for sale on line in a few weeks.
She says: "We decided to go with digital publishing rather than suffer months finding a traditional publisher. It will have an ISBN number. It's a brand new UK site, not fully operational yet - www.virtualbookworld.com."
Apparently the site was mentioned in "Sir Alan Sugar's column" in the British Daily Mirror on April 15, but Joanna says she hasn't been able to find it on the web - "maybe in the public library."
She adds that Art's book is "a rollicking comedy (mystery), different for Art, you will agree, and we felt it was closer to the Brit sense of humor rather than North American."
Congratulations to Art on yet another success!
Art's web site: http://amontague.homestead.com
Email: arts-place@rogers.com
=======================================================
3. "Obituary Notice - In Advance" - K.T.Rajasingham
In these difficult times, are we inhibited in what we write? Writer K.T. Rajasingham from Thailand doesn't seem to think so. He's written this satirical look at how the media prepare themselves for the possible demise of people in the public eye.
After all, when the British Queen Mother recently passed away, was all the pomp and ceremony that surrounded her funeral quickly put together? I don't think so! Nearly everything must have been pre-orchestrated and the media probably had advance copy, photos and film ready at short notice to launch over the air waves and through the print media.
To read K.T.'s story in AsianObserver.com, go to
http://www.asianobserver.com/page1001.html
Check out K.T.'s web site at http://ktrcom.tripod.com/ktrajasingham/ where some of his published articles are posted. K.T. can be contacted at ktraja@loxinfo.co.th
=======================================================
4. Market News
If you have discovered some interesting markets, please email them to for possible inclusion in upcoming issues. You'll get a link back to your web site or email address.
Corporate & Incentive Travel and Insurance Meetings Management are looking for experienced travel writers who can write destination stories from the corporate meeting and incentive travel perspective on the following areas: Bermuda, The Bahamas, the Midwest and Puerto Rico. I understand from Joanne Hoople that Canada is now included.
C&IT and IMM say: "We can only consider writers who actually reside in these locales. Pay: $400 (covers expenses, which should be limited to phone calls) for 2,200- word features, based on tight story specs, all rights purchased. We are excellent credit, four-color process publications, with high editorial standards and top production values. Looking to establish relationships with reliable and resourceful writers who can handle repeat assignments. See previously published stories on our website at www.corporate-inc-travel.com. We must job these stories soon. Those interested should respond by email with résumés and samples. Send to Mike Murphy, Managing Editor, at ccceditor1@worldnet.att.net".
Nice publications. Should give contributors great exposure. However when they sent me their writers' guidelines ("specs") I found these quite overwhelming - more than 3,000 words for the guidelines alone! However, it seems that their required 2,200 words is only the minimum and when you submit the article to them it is "on approval".
If you have more perseverance than me, give it a try!
=======================================================
5. Writing Tip
When an interview for a feature story is coming up, email or fax the subject of the interview in advance, asking them to answer some general questions by return email or fax. I always dream up a multitude of questions. I let my subject know all of their answers may not necessarily be used in my article, but that the information will give me a feel for the story.
Print out the questions and answers. Take them with you to the interview, for further discussion with your subject.
Doing this little bit of homework in advance cuts down on the amount of note taking. Most helpful if your shorthand is not too dependable any more!
=======================================================
6. Poetry.com
Sorry folks. There's a warning on WritersWeekly.com about Poetry.com - http://www.writersweekly.com/warnings/poetry.html
However, Bahamas Writer member Hazel McLoughlin whose poem "Blue" made it to the semi-finals of a Poetry.com poetry competition, along with an offer to publish it in a new poetry anthology they are preparing (cost to author - $49 for first copy), remains optimistic. She says: "I figured it was their way of making money and a relatively inexpensive way for me to get into print - at least it isn't just a fee - you do see something for your money, so I thought it was worth doing. They assure you that you keep the copyright to your work, too, which I felt was important. And who knows - one of us just might win the big prize!"
Hazel adds she's "inclined to think it's OK but will certainly be wary of any future requests for money from Poetry.com. Will let you know if I ever receive the book!"
Hazel publishes an excellent newsletter, "The Corona Chronicle", for members of the Bahamas branch of Corona (an international ladies' service group of which I'm an inactive member). You can reach Hazel at Hazelmcloughlin@coralwave.com
Keep us informed, Hazel.
=======================================================
7. Published articles:
Bahamas Writer published articles this month:
(http://www.bahamaswriter.com/publishedarticles.htm)
"Group calls on public to sign save-turtles petition"
(The Punch, Nassau)
"Campaigners call for ban on all turtle fishing"
(The Tribune, Nassau)
"Woman In Action - ARTISTIC APRYL" (The Punch)
"Woman in action: NEWSWORTHY NIKKI" (The Punch)
"Some Like It Hot" - Knowles Realty April Newsletter
(http://www.knowlesrealty.com/mlistbi.asp)
=======================================================
8. Work in progress section updated
(http://www.bahamaswriter.com/workinprogress.htm)
If you go to my "Work in progress" section from time to time, you'll see I share some of the ways I try to market my work. Of course, I'm not actively working on everything listed there all of the time - some of it is written; some is on the "back burner"; some is still in note form; other work is still in the planning process.
=======================================================
9. Completed Sections of BahamasWriter.com
"Promotional Writing" is completed and on line.
=======================================================
10. Write The Bahamas Writer
I hope you've enjoyed this issue of The Bahamas Writer.
Please email your comments or questions to . Put "Write the Bahamas Writer" in the subject line if you would like them included in future issues. We can also include your email address and/or provide a link back to your web site
Comments and questions should be relevant to writing and please keep them as brief as possible.
=======================================================
Copyright © 2002 The Bahamas Writer. All rights reserved. You may distribute this Newsletter. Feel free to post it to your website or BBS if you like. However no part of this Newsletter may be reproduced in whole, or in part, without keeping the links within this newsletter active.
The Bahamas Writer does not necessarily agree with and is not responsible for any of the views and/or content submitted to issues of this publication.
=======================================================
This Newsletter is Powered by: http://www.audiofilter.net
"Small Business Website Solutions Made Simple"
To unsubscribe completely, please click the link below:
http://www.audiofilter.net/mlist_TheBW/unsubscribe.htm
|
