Open Forum, May 6, 2003
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Tue May 06 14:54:46 2003 |
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Event end time: |
Tue May 06 16:08:22 2003 |
Legend:
Questions from the Audience are presented in red.
Answers by the Speaker are in black.
The Moderator's comments are in blue.
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kristi holl |
Join us this afternoon in the AUDITORIUM-Scheduled Events Room for an "Open Forum" with Guest Moderator Kristi Holl. Kristi has published over 150 magazine articles and stories, as well as 24 books for the juvenile market. Kristi has combined teaching for fifteen years and raising six children with her writing, and welcomes your questions on time management, getting started, writer's block, marketing, or anything else you'd like to discuss. Bring your QUESTIONS to this open forum. |
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kristi holl |
My stomach is already growling! Bring on the brownies! |
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kristi holl |
I had forgotten how much fun you all were! |
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kristi holl |
Okay, I think we're ready.... |
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kristi holl |
let me post the usual announcements first,... |
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kristi holl |
and then I will start with some questions that I found in Mel's mailbox... |
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kristi holl |
that were addressed to me, I think, for the forum... |
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kristi holl |
I was only able to read the first of four pages of mail though... |
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kristi holl |
so I apologize if your particular question doesn't show up... |
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kristi holl |
and now where is stormy when I need her? GAVEL, GAVEL, GAVEL!! |
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kristi holl |
Good afternoon! Welcome to this afternoon's "Open Forum" session. I'm your guest moderator and former web editor, Kristi Holl, and I'm delighted to be back here subbing for Mel while he's still away speaking. I see some familiar faces!! 8-) 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! First, please read these announcements, then we'll get started. |
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kristi holl |
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, Kristi Holl) will post the questions one at a time in the chat room and do my best to answer them. |
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kristi holl |
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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kristi holl |
And now the emailed questions first... |
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kristi holl |
Loretta: I joined SCBWI and have been a member for one year. I am unable to find any groups to meet with physically in my area. What do you suggest? Should I be meeting with children's writers groups for added support? I finished the Institutes writing course last week!! I am looking for added incentive to keep my writing skills in working order. |
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kristi holl |
First, Loretta, congratulations on completing the course... |
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kristi holl |
that is an excellent sign that you have the stick-to-it-iveness it will take to be a published writer... |
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kristi holl |
you're welcome! .... |
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kristi holl |
Yes, I think it can only benefit you to meet with other writers, hopefully children's writers... |
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kristi holl |
to keep your writing incentive high and to have accountability... |
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kristi holl |
since you don't have a local writer's group, ... |
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kristi holl |
you may have to start one... |
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kristi holl |
when I moved to Florida, a writer here in town... |
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kristi holl |
who was also knew and wanted a group... |
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kristi holl |
put a small free ad in the local paper in the "announcements" part... |
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kristi holl |
saying she was starting a writing group... |
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kristi holl |
she also joined Friiend of the Library and mentioned it there... |
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kristi holl |
and she also posted a notice on the library's bulletin board for local announcements... |
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kristi holl |
she got about 8 responses, and 6 ended up forming the group... |
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kristi holl |
I would try something like that first to find some like-minded writers. |
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kristi holl |
Jillian: I have a question about copyright involving titles. Can you copyright a specific title? For example, let's say you wrote a mystery book called "The Red Barn" and sent in the manuscript and title to the LOC for copyright. Then you decided you could make a series and want to change the title of the first book to "The Red Barn - Case of the....". Would you need to apply for an additional copyright for the new title? (Even if the manuscript is basically the same.) |
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kristi holl |
Jillian, you can't copyright titles... |
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kristi holl |
although if you try to use a famous one (like a Harry Potter title) they won't let you... |
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kristi holl |
but if you decide to change the title, you don't need a new (expensive) copyright... |
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kristi holl |
I just went through this actually... |
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kristi holl |
I had copyrighted an e-book I wanted to publish--I had heard so much about e-publishing that I wanted to try it... |
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kristi holl |
and when the book was picked up by a print publisher, they changed the title a little... |
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kristi holl |
and tightened it and cut it down a little... |
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kristi holl |
but my copyright was still good for it, even with a modified title and content. |
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kristi holl |
Jillian: Along those lines, if you created a series do you need to copyright each book in the series? Or just the first book? |
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kristi holl |
Yes, you have to copyright each individual title. |
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kristi holl |
Taggy: My questions are about photographs. What do you write on the release? Do you send it on a separate piece of paper? One signature per page or all together? Should the photo be clipped to paper with caption underneath? I just don't know the basics! |
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kristi holl |
On the release you just type that the person is giving you permission to use the photo for such-and-such an article... |
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kristi holl |
and leave a place for them to sign... |
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kristi holl |
if you are getting permission from one person for several photos, you can use one release form and list all the photos on that one form... |
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kristi holl |
I would clip the photo to the release form if you can do it without hurting the photo... |
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kristi holl |
some people put the title of the photo both on the form and on the back of the photo using a mailing label or felt tip pen so you don't hurt the photo. |
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kristi holl |
The main thing is to be sure the photos are identified and not injured by whatever you do... |
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kristi holl |
be sure they don't get dented by paper clips that are too tight or ball point pen writing on the back. |
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kristi holl |
Taggy: I have a nonfiction biography piece and all photos of the person seem to be from a certain Foundation. In my cover letter should I just say that the Foundation should be contacted for archives and release of photographs? |
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kristi holl |
Yes, they will be grateful for that information in your letter... |
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kristi holl |
if you have the contact information (address, phone number and/or email) put that in your letter too. |
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kristi holl |
Jacqueline: My question is about sending copies of an article to those whom I interviewed. For one article, I quoted eight different people and sent each of them a copy of the entire magazine containing the article. Now I've sold reprint rights to a magazine that doesn't pay as much and doesn't provide as many contributor copies. Would it be all right for me to photocopy the pages of the article and send it to the interviewees rather than purchase an entire magazine for each of them? For what some magazines pay for reprint rights, I'd be in the hole if I had to buy all those copies every time the article is reprinted. |
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kristi holl |
Jacqueline, I think you were VERY generous in sending copies to all those people in the first place... |
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kristi holl |
I know that most writers never do as much... |
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kristi holl |
Most don't even send photocopies... |
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kristi holl |
but yes, sending a photocopy is perfectly fine... |
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kristi holl |
since they already have a copy of the article in the first magazine, don't feel obligated to send it again unless you really would like to... |
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kristi holl |
You could mail them in regular envelopes too, which is certainly cheaper than mailing a whole magazine. |
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kristi holl |
Karen: I do have a question I am hoping is not too crazy- I sent a ms. via email approx one month ago to a publishing co. However, I did not code as "return receipt" so I could monitor when it was received. Should I send an inquiry to ensure it was received - or do I just wait out the 1-3 month turnaround??? I am also thinking maybe I should send it hardcopy via snail mail and reference the email I sent??? |
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kristi holl |
Let's see, last question first... |
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kristi holl |
no, I wouldn't send a hardcopy, not yet anyway... |
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kristi holl |
If you emailed the submission a month ago, and their guidelines say their turnaround time is 1-3 months... |
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kristi holl |
then you can email any time now and ask if they received it... |
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kristi holl |
I wouldn't press for a decision on it, though, till the 3 months were up (or whatever their guidelines said)... |
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kristi holl |
Even with email submissions, we don't always know when it is received! Frustrating too! |
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kristi holl |
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 guest moderator (Kristi Holl) will do her best to answer them! |
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kristi holl |
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, Kristi Holl) will post the questions one at a time in the chat room and do my best to answer them. |
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kristi holl |
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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silverdove |
Kristi, Im going to try to start a group at the local ..... |
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silverdove |
library.... can I please have some direction/advice. |
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silverdove |
I would like to keep it for those interested in 0-11age grp. |
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kristi holl |
If you're the one starting the group, it's perfectly fine if you specify that you are looking for people interested in a specific age group... |
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kristi holl |
if you don't get too many people--if your town is small, for example--you can always expand the age range later... |
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kristi holl |
some large children's groups also meet as a whole group to begin with... |
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kristi holl |
sharing their market news and setbacks and successes... |
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kristi holl |
but then, when it is time to critique,... |
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kristi holl |
they split into "under 12" and "over 12" age groups... |
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kristi holl |
so you could do that too if you don't get a huge response from an ad for "under 12" writers... |
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kristi holl |
My friend Jan got her biggest response from the ad in the paper... |
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kristi holl |
she ran it three times in three weeks, and gave the date of the first meeting and her phone number... |
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kristi holl |
and she screened people when they called her to get directions to her house... |
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kristi holl |
You can also meet in a library meeting room... |
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kristi holl |
that's what I would probably do until I knew the people better... |
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kristi holl |
my friend was braver than I would have been about inviting strangers to my house--I'm your basic chicken... |
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kristi holl |
but talk to your librarian and make sure there aren't groups already meeting too--she should know. |
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emi |
Does any publisher need a release form for any photos used? Even iuniverse.com? And where do you obtain the release form., or do you draw it up yourself? |
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kristi holl |
The people I knew who used them drew them up themselves--they are very very simple... |
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kristi holl |
but you could try typing "release form" in a search engine and see what you get... |
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kristi holl |
in the marketing books there are often such "forms" too... |
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kristi holl |
If the magazine needs a release form and you don't supply one, they will ask you for it before using it. |
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kristi holl |
Here is a suggestion from silverdove for the lady who was sending copies of the magazine to interview subjects... |
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silverdove |
Why not just send an announcement to those in the magazine.. |
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silverdove |
telling them which mag its in and when? |
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kristi holl |
I think that's a great idea... |
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kristi holl |
then they can buy and order copies if they so desire. |
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silverdove |
I did speak to the director...and she is meeting with the .. |
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silverdove |
board this week to make sure its ok. |
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kristi holl |
When you're using a public building for your meeting... |
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kristi holl |
this is a good idea to do...that was smart to ask. |
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tawnya |
how much does it cost to go to this school? |
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kristi holl |
To be honest--and this isn't a copout--I don't know... |
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kristi holl |
I can tell you what I paid for it 24 years ago... |
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kristi holl |
but that wouldn't be too helpful!... |
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kristi holl |
I did the monthly payment plan... |
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kristi holl |
you can call 1-800-243-9645 and ask... |
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kristi holl |
for a Student Representative and get the information that way... |
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kristi holl |
I CAN tell you ... |
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kristi holl |
that there is a 100% moneyback guarantee now... |
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kristi holl |
you can take the whole course, but if you don't think it lived up to its claims... |
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kristi holl |
you can get a full refund, no questions asked, just by writing to the school and asking... |
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kristi holl |
you just have to complete the whole course first. |
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dtvest |
can you request an instructor? |
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kristi holl |
Yes, you can... |
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kristi holl |
not all instructors have openings at all times... |
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kristi holl |
but I always encourage potential students to inquire... |
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kristi holl |
after studying the various resumes and seeing where you think you'd have a good 'match'... |
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kristi holl |
I got a lot of students who requested a Christian and/or someone with Christian publishing experience... |
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kristi holl |
and ones who requested someone who had published middle grade fiction... |
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kristi holl |
I think your best chances of success are when your instructor matches what you hope to write... |
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kristi holl |
especially if you're taking the book course or hope to write books at some point... |
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kristi holl |
I know that students can transfer for the same reason. |
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silverdove |
For the photos..Kristi, you can buy clear plastic liners.... |
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silverdove |
at any paper store...like Staples, Office Max. That way no . |
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silverdove |
clips are needed. |
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kristi holl |
That is a MUCH better solution than what I gave earlier... |
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kristi holl |
and you can buy that stuff in bulk pretty cheaply at those big stores... thank you, silverdove. |
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kristi holl |
I have some "cost of the course" info coming here... |
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iamnina |
2 years ago the course was |
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mabrager |
Tawnya, it cost me about tuition for the first course, and that was about a year ago. A real deal, considering the current exchange rate. |
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iamnina |
with monthly payments of if that helps |
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kristi holl |
And here is a happy former student with a lovely "plug" for the course, but I SWEAR i did not pay her to say this...8-)... |
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wendyhaber |
I can say without any doubt that I wouldn't have published anything without the Institute of Children's Literature. The invaluable help from Kristi, my instructor, online forums and interviews, and the course made it all possible. It made me believe that I could do it as long as I worked hard. I'm now taking the second magazine course and also signed up for the course with the LRWG. I believe in it. I recommend it to everyone I know who is interested in writing. |
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kristi holl |
Wow! I am blushing! |
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gladys |
I would like to query an agent, but I have no publishing... |
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gladys |
...credits to date. I finished my middle-grade novel and... |
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gladys |
...I'm ready to send it out. How should I go about this? |
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gladys |
I don't know whether to send my ms to a targeted publisher.. |
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gladys |
...or to query an agent first. I've narrowed them down to 3. |
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kristi holl |
gladys, have I got a book for you!!!!... |
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kristi holl |
I just TODAY started reading a book from Writer's Digest... |
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kristi holl |
called THE PUBLISHING GAME: FIND AN AGENT IN 30 DAYS... |
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kristi holl |
and it gives you chapters to read first to decide if you even want an agent... |
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kristi holl |
and it gives you many, many things to consider... |
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kristi holl |
too many to write here... |
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kristi holl |
and after that, if you want to pursue getting an agent... |
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kristi holl |
it gives you six weeks of daily things to do (Monday through Friday)... |
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kristi holl |
to land an agent of your choice... |
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kristi holl |
From what you said, you've done what they recommend... |
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kristi holl |
having the book manuscript complete BEFORE looking for an agent... |
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kristi holl |
they made a big point of that here... |
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kristi holl |
Anyway, from what I can tell so far, I think this would be a very helpful book to you... |
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kristi holl |
you can order it online at Amazon and have it in just a few days... |
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kristi holl |
the step-by-step approach of pointing out each thing to do... |
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kristi holl |
is so helpful! Takes care of the confusion! |
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kristi holl |
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 guest moderator (Kristi Holl) will do her best to answer them! |
|
kristi holl |
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, Kristi Holl) will post the questions one at a time in the chat room and do my best to answer them. |
|
kristi holl |
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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kristi holl |
Thank you for waiting while I sort through the questions... |
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mabrager |
Who's the author of this book, Kristi? |
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kristi holl |
Oops, sorry! It's Fern Reiss. and it's published by... |
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kristi holl |
believe it or not... |
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kristi holl |
Peanut Butter and Jelly Press. |
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mbvoelker |
I don't remember my exact monthly payment but it was only a little more than my DirecTV bill. And I don't even have movie channels. |
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peanut |
I registered in December 2002 and the cost over 14 monthly payments will be CDN. |
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dixiegirl |
Any helps on finding time to read and write? |
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kristi holl |
I do believe that is our eternal problem as writers... |
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kristi holl |
because we are also mothers and wives and church workers and day job workers and taking care of parents and neighbors and have health issues... |
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kristi holl |
and with children out of school for the summer (or in my case, a teacher husband)... |
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kristi holl |
it's a real challenge... |
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kristi holl |
This is an awful thing to do, but I am going to plug my own book... |
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kristi holl |
this month the Institute will start selling my Writer's First Aid book from their bookstore... |
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kristi holl |
and it is full of 40+ articles about this very thing... |
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kristi holl |
things I learned and read about finding time to write through health issues and single parent issues and moving and money crunches and... |
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kristi holl |
all the other things like divorces that derail us--or try to... |
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kristi holl |
I encourage you to all get the book on a trial basis... |
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kristi holl |
because I saw in the ads that you can look at it and read it for 30 days and return it, no questions asked... |
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kristi holl |
so if money is tight, order and read it in less than 30 days--you have my permission!... |
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kristi holl |
I do think you'll find a lot of good tips there. |
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silverdove |
When I get a contract who can I talk to about translating it |
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silverdove |
Is anyone available at ICL? |
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kristi holl |
I don't believe anyone at ICL does any advising on contracts... |
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kristi holl |
at least, not that I know of... |
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kristi holl |
there are good books on negotiating and interpreting contracts available through Writer's Digest, and also... |
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kristi holl |
Harold Underdown has an article or two on this at his website The Purple Crayon at www.underdown.org |
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zoelynn |
Smallfellow press. Do you have any recent knowledge of them? They were listed in the Feb 2002 Childrens Writer newsletter, but they are not in any current listings I can find. However they still have a website, but no guidelines on their website just email and snailmail addresses... |
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kristi holl |
I am wracking my brain, but I don't recall anything about them... |
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kristi holl |
it doesn't sound particularly good if they have disappeared from the 2003 listings, but... |
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kristi holl |
and this often does happen... |
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kristi holl |
they may simply not have replied to the update request from the market books... |
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kristi holl |
because they were flooded with manuscripts or don't need any more right now... |
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kristi holl |
I would send an SASE with a note to them and simple say that you can't find them in the listings this year and are they still accepting submissions, and if so, would they send you their guidelines... |
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kristi holl |
you can't go wrong with that. |
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kristi holl |
Here's some great help for the contract reading... |
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cup |
Susan Titus Osborn reads contracts for |
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cup |
I was well saitsfied and helped with her expertise. |
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kristi holl |
cup, do you have any contact info you could post for Susan? |
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silverdove |
I went to their website...sent email only to have it return. |
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silverdove |
They will not deal with snail mail ..only email. |
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kristi holl |
I think you have your answer then.. They sound out of business. |
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taggy |
Get books on tape - read whilst you do the washing up! |
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kristi holl |
Good time saving tip! |
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zoelynn |
they were former owners of Price Stern Sloan Pub. Leonard Stern and Larry Sloan.. |
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mabrager |
Is Writer's Digest something we can subscribe to, and if so, who do we contact? |
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kristi holl |
yes, the magazine by that name is subscription only... |
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kristi holl |
check and see if your library has it first, if you like,... |
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kristi holl |
I used to just photocopy the articles I was interested in--was cheaper... |
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kristi holl |
but you can subscribe online... |
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kristi holl |
you can also joing Writer's Digest Book Club online or through an ad in their magazine. |
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gladys |
Thank's Kristi! I've browsed the AAR Web site... |
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gladys |
How can I vastly improve my chances of an agent wanting... |
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gladys |
...to read my ms? It's called "Ding-Dang-Dong it, Ms. Diddle |
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kristi holl |
My brain just glitched...was this a novel? I am assuming it was... |
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kristi holl |
since agents don't handle short stories... |
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kristi holl |
the best way to interest an agent is the same for whatever you've written... |
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kristi holl |
it needs to be fresh and catchy and intriguing and... |
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kristi holl |
and it needs to be scrupulously rewritten till it is so polished it shines... |
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kristi holl |
And I would read some articles on how to approach an agent and what to put in a query, etc. to make sure you send them what they want, but no more. |
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kristi holl |
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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silverdove |
Find a room with a lock on the inside and shut the door. |
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kristi holl |
Yes, I wrote in the bathroom sometimes! |
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kay kay |
How long do you give an editor to consider your ms if they've already said they like it and are passing it around the magazine? One magazine in particular's response time is 4 weeks. It's now been over 2 months. They said they like it, but when are they gonna give me an answer?! |
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kristi holl |
I would most definitely write or email and ask them... |
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kristi holl |
If they've already gone over their response time by that much, they should not mind a query asking about the status. Do ask. |
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kay kay |
Where can you get books on tape like that? The library? |
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kristi holl |
Yes, the library for free ones... |
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kristi holl |
and you can check them out in some bigger video stores... |
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kristi holl |
and you can buy them cheap (used) online ... |
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kristi holl |
do a search for "used audio books". |
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peanut |
How do we provide a resume with a query if we are submitting for the first time and have no previous writing experience? |
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kristi holl |
A resume isn't the same as publishing credits... |
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kristi holl |
So anything that would pertain to your idea would be good... |
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kristi holl |
if you are querying about an idea for a craft for preschoolers, for example,... |
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kristi holl |
do tell them if you taught art or preschool or had a preschool Sunday School class... |
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kristi holl |
or whatever might qualify you to write on this subject... |
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kristi holl |
None of us had impressive resumes to begin with or publishing credits to list... |
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kristi holl |
and publishers know this...it is still the quality of your writing that will see your ms, not your resume. |
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wendyhaber |
Audio Book Club is great! |
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lodger |
the only books on tape I've seen are novels & stuff. are there any books on writing on tape? |
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kristi holl |
Oh definitely!...let me give you a few titles of mine... |
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kristi holl |
also, before I forget,... |
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kristi holl |
you can get tapes of conferences you can't attend... |
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kristi holl |
for example, I couldn't go to the Write-to-Publish conference in Chicago last year that I wanted to... |
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kristi holl |
but I got on their website and ordered l0 of the tapes (five dollars each) of the sessions I wish I could have attended... |
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kristi holl |
I've listened to them over and over... |
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kristi holl |
many conferences sell these tapes after the conference is over... |
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kristi holl |
and certainly for a fraction of the cost of the conference!... |
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kristi holl |
Anyway, here are some tapes you might like.... |
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kristi holl |
I have a two tape set by Anne Lamott who wrote BIRD BY BIRD... |
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kristi holl |
and it's called "Word by Word"...it's great...from Writer's Digest book club... |
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kristi holl |
And i have a two-tape set of Julia Cameron of The Artist's Way and Natalie Goldberg of Writing Down the Bones called... |
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kristi holl |
"A Conversation on The Writing Life"... |
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kristi holl |
and I have a Sol STein tape from a workshop called ... |
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kristi holl |
"How to Make Your Manuscript 98% Better"... |
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kristi holl |
So, yes, listening to tapes in the car or your headset while you clean house or whatever is a good use of writing time. |
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kristi holl |
Ooops. I see we were out of time a few minutes ago... |
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kristi holl |
Thank you all for coming... |
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kristi holl |
it's been such fun to do this again.. |
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kristi holl |
I had forgotten how FAST the time goes!... |
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kristi holl |
Mel will be back home tomorrow, I think, and ready to regale you about his trips!... |
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kristi holl |
You all take care, and let me hear from you from time to time. Bye for now! |
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