| mel boring | The Tuesday afternoon "Open Forum" will begin promptly at 4 Atlantic/CANADA, 3 p.m. Eastern, 2 p.m. Central, 1 p.m. Mountain, and noon Pacific. While you wait for the "Open Forum" to start, feel free to use your ASK A QUESTION button RIGHT BETWEEN THE YELLOW "MAP" AND THE RED QUESTION MARK IN ICHAT to post some questions for the discussion group.
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| mel boring | Join us this afternoon in the AUDITORIUM-Scheduled Events Room for an "Open Forum" with Web Editor Mel Boring. He welcomes your questions on time management, getting started, writer's block, marketing, writing rights, writing earnings, or anything else you'd like to discuss. Bring your QUESTIONS to this open forum. Mel has published some 25 magazine articles and stories, as well as eight books for the young readers market. He taught writing for 18 years, while being home husband and parent to two of his four children, and doing his own writing.
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| mel boring | Here's a leftover Holiday greeting sent on last Open Forum that is just as appropriate for the New Year....
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| bettyboop | Good Luck to eveyone and Merry Christmas. Hope 2003 brings us all lots of successes in our writing to share with one another.
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| mel boring | THANKS, bettyboop, for those GOOD words!
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| mel boring | Here is the Simple Quiz question unanswered from last time....
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| mel boring | What was King George VI's first name?
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| mel boring | And the answer...
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| mel boring | Albert...
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| mel boring | Perhaps the history buffs among us can explain WHY about that one.
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| mel boring | Here is the Simple Quiz question for you to chew on for today....
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| mel boring | What colour is a purple finch?
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| emi | Albert?
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| emi | Was I right?
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| mel boring | Yes, emi, you were right if you said Albert!
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| mel boring | Good afternoon! Welcome to this Tuesday afternoon's "Open Forum" session. I'm your moderator, Mel Boring, and the Web Editor for this site. We're back for an informal time of answering any questions you might like to ask, on any subject. So feel free to ask what's on your mind--and I'll tell you what's on mine! First, please read these announcements, then we'll get started.
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| mel boring | IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS: Send questions you'd like answered or discussed by using your "Ask a Question" icon/button. (It looks like a thought bubble icon, RIGHT NEXT TO THE RED QUESTION MARK.) The moderator (me, Mel Boring) will post the questions one at a time in the chat room and do my best to answer them.
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| mel boring | WARNING: If you don't post anything at all, SOME of you will be bounced off the system in 15 minutes. TO PREVENT THIS, type something (either a question to the moderator or even a private message) every 15 minutes to stay active and remain online.
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| mel boring | This is a record, even before we started, we have a correct answer to the quiz question about the "purple finch."...
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| mbvoelker | Raspberry pink. I did a color birds story for the Children's Writer pre-K concept contest and discovered that there are no truly PURPLE birds. :-)
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| mel boring | And THANKS, MB, for that "extra," that there are no purple birds!
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| mel boring | While you're sending in your questions, I wanted to share with you an e-mail I received about the Writers Retreat....
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| mel boring | From: Becky Crum
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| mel boring | I had a suggestion for the Writer's Retreat. Could we have a Topic that was specifically directed towards Marketing Tips and helping each other with Q & A directed towards marketing? In talking with other students, I think that is one subject that we all seem to have trouble with the most.
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| mel boring | For instance, if we have a story that we are unable to find a market for, we could list it there, and anyone who comes across a market that might be suitable could reply. I know we could do this under any of the other topics, but if it specifically said Marketing, then maybe more people would share their experiences and expertise on this subject and it could benefit everyone.
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| mel boring | SO, we soon will have a "Marketing Tips" topic on the ICL Discussion Boards....
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| mel boring | I have to confess, the term "Discussion Boards" is one I ONLY learned last October--THANKS to so MANY of you for patently teaching me Mel! (-:}
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| mbvoelker | Moderated or unmoderated?
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| mel boring | GOOD question, MB, and for now it will be moderated because...
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| mel boring | the kind of data info that will probably go out needs some check, I think....
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| mel boring | For example, if someone is giving an editor's name and/or address, I think it important...
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| mel boring | to make sure it's accurate, and while all of us will be watching that, I'd like to keep it moderated for checkover, at least for now.
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| emi | George was probably named after his great-grandfather (or grandfather) Albert, the husband of Queen victoria.
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| mel boring | Here's some enlightenment on the George/Albert question, thanks to emi!...
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| navarrejudy | I thought there are purple martins.
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| mel boring | I just flipped through my Audubon bird book...
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| mel boring | to check out the purple martin. While the colors are not ALWAYS faithful...
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| mbvoelker | Purple Martins are blue-black. The closest I could get to purple for my concept story was a glossy ibis which has a purple sheen over black. :-)
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| mel boring | I am sorry, but I seemed to have gotten frozen, anyone else?
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| mel boring | We were talking about the purple martin, and I tried to say I looked it up in my Audubon bird book, and...
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| mel boring | it LOOKS to have a blue-spots-on-purple breast.
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| casey | purple martins are blue/black, aren't they?
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| mel boring | Yes, casey, I think you're right, in real-life color, it would be blue-black.
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| mel boring | And here's Mary Beth's comment again--THANKS, MB!
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| mbvoelker | I don't know if this went through before the freeze so a repeat. Purple martins are blue-black. The closest thing I could come to true purple for my concept story was a glossy ibis -- which has a purple sheen over black.
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| mel boring | I have now found the glossy ibis in my Audubon book...
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| mel boring | and it looks to have, yes, a purple sheen.
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| mel boring | Here's more enlightenment on British royalty, thanks, paige!
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| paige | British royalty have many names -- mostly after their forebears. They do not always use the first one, although the Queen mum used to call her husband Bertie before the coronation. Perhaps Bertie did not have quite the royal ring to it that George has.
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| mel boring | GREAT answer, and fun too! (-:}
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| dolly | How soon after an article is posted at ICL can we send
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| dolly | it out? Do we have to wait the 6 months?
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| mel boring | ALSO a GOOD question, dolly!...
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| mel boring | Since ICL buys ONLY Electronic Rights and the rights to pub it in a future newletter, you may send it out for other rights (like Reprint) right away....
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| mel boring | And you don't have to wait.
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| mel boring | dolly, it'd be great for you to make another sale!
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| mel boring | I wanted to tell you, too, about the Writer's Retreat...
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| mel boring | that we'll ALSO be putting in an UNmoderated topic called "Winter 2003," to kind of keep up with the season....
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| mel boring | BUT we will STILL KEEP the "Autumn 2002" topic untouched, which you can still also use.
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| mel boring | I've been really pleased to see the way you've been using the Discussion Boards....
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| mel boring | I ESPECIALLY appreciate how many of you are helping students who have basic questions--I know it means a LOT to them because they TELL me!
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| mel boring | For those of you joining us late, this is an "Open Forum" session where you are free to ask any writing and publishing questions you have, and your moderator (Mel Boring) will do his best to answer them!
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| mel boring | IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS: Send questions you'd like answered or discussed by using your "Ask a Question" icon/button. (It looks like a thought bubble icon, RIGHT NEXT TO THE RED QUESTION MARK.) The moderator (me, Mel Boring) will post the questions one at a time in the chat room and do my best to answer them.
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| mel boring | WARNING: If you don't post anything at all, SOME of you will be bounced off the system in 15 minutes. TO PREVENT THIS, type something (either a question to the moderator or even a private message) every 15 minutes to stay active and remain online.
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| mel boring | Here are some Japanese computer error messages I thought you might enjoy. They were sent to me in the e-mail....
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| mel boring | When you see the sign that says a web site can't be reached, here is the error message in Japan:
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| mel boring | The Web site you seek
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| mel boring | Cannot be located, but
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| mel boring | Countless more exist.
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| mel boring | These messages are in Haiku poetry, which has 17 syllables total, 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the second line, and 5 in the third line.
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| mel boring | Here is the one I LOVE, instead of the Blue Screen of Death:
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| mel boring | Chaos reigns within.
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| mel boring | Reflect, repent, and reboot.
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| mel boring | Order shall return.
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| mel boring | Good follow-up question from ccollier:
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| ccollier | Mel, that would mean we can submit to online markets as well
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| ccollier | on submitting articles that were at ICL
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| mel boring | Yes, it does, Christine. But a second online publishing would be technically a Reprint.
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| mel boring | Here is a kindly remark about helping students on the Discussion Boards:
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| mbvoelker | We're just passing on the favor that more senior students did for us when we were new. :-)
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| mel boring | It was Jane Yolen, LOOOONG ago, from whom I first learned what a helpFUL group children's writers are....
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| mel boring | I learned it NOT because she TOLD me, but because by her helpFULness to me, she SHOWED me.
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| kimf | Is it unusual for a magazine to say, "Yes, we have accepted your piece" but then give no details as to rights and payment?
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| mel boring | I can't answer that, kimf....
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| mel boring | because as I flip back in the "Rollodex of Mind," I THINK mags have always told me the details of rights and payment when they accepted. I have not experience otherwise, as I recall. Anyone else who has, please tell us through the question buttom, OK?
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| b-marie47 | Good Morning from Okinawa. I am very new at this and I.....
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| mel boring | HELLO THERE in Okinawa! WELCOME to you!...
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| mel boring | In a way, we are ALL new at this, b-marie47!
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| b-marie47 | Wonder what you guys are referring to when you say "publishe
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| mel boring | When we say "published," we mean that an article or story...
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| mel boring | has been printed in a magazine, or on the Internet, b-marie....
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| mel boring | Does that answer your question? Please let me know.
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| silverdove | What are the pros and cons about submitting to ebooks?
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| mel boring | VERY timely question, silverdove!...
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| mel boring | Others will have answers, I hope, because electronic publishing is new for ALL of us. But one pro is...
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| mel boring | that the publishing of your writing happens much more quickly and easily....
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| mel boring | That is, electronic publishers have a very short lead time, and what you sell them is usually published very quickly....
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| mel boring | Also a pro is that it is easier. Those publishers are MADE for submitting via e-mail, and have to do their own formatting,...
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| mel boring | so we writers don't have to be so particular about the formatting and such for e-publishers.
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| mel boring | I can speak from experience with the publishing we have done on the ICL web site....
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| mel boring | An article is submitted to me, and (right now) it is about exactly six weeks until I can reply to the sender....
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| mel boring | and at that point, if we're using the article, it will be published as I reply to the submittor....
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| mel boring | Of course, I have also responded at the time of receiving the article to let them know about the six weeks....
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| mel boring | AND, they need to NOthing more for the publishment, because I format the article for our web site.
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| b-marie47 | published at ICL" .
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| mel boring | Here is the last part of your question, b-marie47, that came through separately....
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| mel boring | ICL is the Institute of Children's Literature, who maintain this web site....
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| mel boring | On the site, we mount, or put up, or publish, 2 articles a week. You can see last weeks articles, for examples, at...
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| mel boring | http://www.institutechildrenslit.com/rx/ws02/kessler.shtml
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| mel boring | and the second one at:
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| mel boring | http://www.institutechildrenslit.com/rx/wt05/stauffer.shtml
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| mel boring | Look at them sometime, b-marie47, and you'll see the kinds of articles we print there on our web site....
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| mel boring | For each of those articles, the writer is paid
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| mel boring | and then another IF the article is picked up by the ICL Newsletter....
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| mel boring | At this point, I am told that that newsletter will begin about February 1 next, and I assume it will be hardcopy, by mail, not on the web site, not electronically published.
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| b-marie47 | I meant "Published at ICL".Is there a forum for submitting?
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| mel boring | Yes, b-marie47, here is how to submit. You put the article INSIDE an email to me, and send it to this address:...
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| mel boring | webeditor@institutechildrenslit.com...
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| mel boring | So, if you have an article to submit, b-marie, do send it on!
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| linny | Sorry guess I had another seniors moment. Wrong bubble!!! What exactly is autumn 2002 involvement. How are the boards working now? Different from when K. was here. I am a ICL student and would like to be more involved. Are the boards less personal and more about learning to write?
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| mel boring | linny, I have about 60 senior moments every minute! (-:}...
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| mel boring | The "Autumn 2002" is one of the topics on our ICL Discussion Boards, where...
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| mel boring | you can write questions or comments or advice, and submit it immediately....
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| mel boring | It is an UNmoderated part of our discussion boards. The boards have THREE topics right now, one for General Discussion, one for Waiting and Rejection, and the third called "Autumn 2002."...
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| mel boring | The boards are MOSTly about learning to write, linny....
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| mel boring | There ARE personal comments, but not as many as I have seen on OTHER boards....
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| mel boring | I am very NEW to discussion boards myself, and have lurked (without making comments) at two other boards about children's books.
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| paige | Mel, speaking of websites, a contest website that was up and running when I sent in my entry, complete with fee, but now is not available appears to have gone out of business, or was a scam. It is still listed in the ICL Market Magazine. Are contest listings checked out at all before they are printed up? I found a warning posted about No Noun-sense on the Internet -- after I had sent in my entry.
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| mel boring | I'm REALLY glad you asked, paige, and I might not know the WHOLE answer now, but...
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| mel boring | That contest is STILL running, but has been taken off the web site. You STILL can enter as stated in the CHILDREN'S MAGAZINE MARKET. About the contest listings being checked out before they are printed up, I'll have to find out about that and tell you later, paige.....
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| mel boring | It MAY be that the contest was taken OFF the Internet because they ran into "Noun-sense." I'll find out, and let you know. If you will send YOUR e-mail address to my address, which is...
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| mel boring | webeditor@institutechildrenslit.com...
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| mel boring | I can let you know when I've checked it out, paige. THANKS for asking!
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| jim | What does an editor mean by 'uneven humor'?
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| mel boring | jim, I'll have to answer this off the top of my head because I've never read that comment before....
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| mel boring | Here is my guess, based on editorial experience....
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| mel boring | A joke inserted SOMEwhere in an otherwise nonhumorous article, would seem to me to qualify for "uneven humor."...
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| mel boring | I'm thinking that that editor wants CONSISTENT humor woven NATURALLY throughout an entire article or story, not just "tacked-on jokes."
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| silverdove | Do u think ebooks are a good way to add to your resume?
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| mel boring | Yes, I think ebooks ARE a good way to add to your writing resume, silverdove....
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| mel boring | Here is my LATEST and off-the-braintop feeling about e-publishing as it is perceived by editors....
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| mel boring | It is more TRANSITORY than hardcover magazine publishing....
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| mel boring | By that I mean that the articles/stories are published more quickly, with less effort, and come and go more quickly than a hardprint mag...
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| mel boring | Hardcopy magazine stories are also MORE TRANSITORY than BOOKS....
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| mel boring | That is, magazines come and go more quickly than books--...
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| mel boring | although if a book of yours has sunk quickly out of print--as has happened to some of mine--you may not think books are any less transitory than mag pieces--LOL! (-:}
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| florfam | Can you lose control of your work if epublished?
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| mel boring | It seems to me, florfam, there is LESS control of e-published pieces than of hardcopy publishments....
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| mel boring | For one thing, there is not the "paper trail" left behind an e-published piece that there is behind a hardcopy mag piece....
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| mel boring | So it may be more difficult, in all practicality, to "write to" an editor and say,...
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| mel boring | "I mailed such and such an article on ____, 2002, and haven't heard from your...."...
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| mel boring | But I think that is just the changing EVOLUTION of publishing, evolving now to include electronic publishing.
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| mel boring | linny wants to know....
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| linny | Can I get there through writers retreat?
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| mel boring | Yes, linny, you can get to the ICL Discussion Boards through writer's retreat....
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| mel boring | You'll be asked to sign in with your UserName and Password, and then you'll see the three boards...
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| mel boring | Then click on one of the board topics, and the questions, answers and comments will come up in one-line form. Click on the link-line for any one of them, and the entire comment/question/answer will come up. THANKS for asking!
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| kay kay | What is this newsletter? How can I get it?
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| mel boring | kay kay, the newsletter doesn't even have a name, as far as I know yet. BUT,...
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| mel boring | I will be announcing it in the Friday Update just before it appears so you can find it. So stay tuned.
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| mel boring | Our new Christmas clock just chimed 3:00, so I'm going to have to stop. You have ALL had SUPERGOOD questions and answers today. THANK YOU! Please come back next Tuesday, same time and place. And have a PRODUCTIVE WEEK!
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| kristi holl | Hi, Mel!
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| mel boring | Hi, you're early, unless I missed a tick!
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| mel boring | It feels warm just to talk with someone from Florida today, although...
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