| mel
boring |
Join us this afternoon
in the AUDITORIUM-Scheduled Events Room for an "Open Forum" with Web
Editor Mel Boring. 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. 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
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.
|
| 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.
|
| 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.
|
| 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.
|
| mel
boring |
HAPPY HOLIDAYS to you
all!...
|
| mel
boring |
I have some GOOD NEWS
first today:...
|
| mel
boring |
Barbara Kanninen shares
this HAPPY NEWS: My story, "The Best Game on Earth" is in the Jan.
2004 issue of Highlights. It's a sports/science fiction story and I
originally wrote it for assignment 6 in the ICL course! I revised it
according to my instructor's comments and submitted it to
Highlights. They bought it!
|
| mel
boring |
CONGRATULATIONS to you,
Barb!!! And many more happy returns to you!...
|
| mel
boring |
GOOD NEWS from Margie
Hillenbrand: A package from Continental Press [& Seedlings]
arrived a few days ago. It was a box of hand-sized emerging
readers--copies of my first book, SCOOP BOTTLE BALL! It was only
accepted about nine months ago. A special unexpected Christmas
present!
|
| mel
boring |
I recalled learning
when Margie sold the book to Seedlings when we had their two editors
as guests in our chat room,...
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| mel
boring |
and it's ESPECIAL good
news that our chat room was involved in bringing this about!
CONGRATULATIONS to you, Margie!!!
|
| mel
boring |
Last week we had an
especially good question about resumes, but I forgot to post
it....
|
| mel
boring |
So here it is, along
with my answers presubmitted:...
|
| mel
boring |
Diane wants to know:
What does a Writer's Resume look like?
|
| mel
boring |
...
|
| mel
boring |
That’s my question,
Mel. But since it’s Christmastime, I’m going to
be...
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| mel
boring |
greedy and ask for a
long answer. Maybe even an article from someone...
|
| mel
boring |
really in the know on
the subject? Or even (hey, it doesn’t hurt to
ask)...
|
| mel
boring |
a couple of examples
posted at the ICL? ...
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| mel
boring |
In applying for various
freelance positions, I’ve often started, but never finished,
revamping my old, chronological resume. The reason I haven’t
finished the task is I feel overwhelmed. I’ve been writing fulltime
for 4 years, so I have a lot of clients and writing credits. But how
to list them? I settled for just updating my resume with a
few
|
| mel
boring |
...
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| mel
boring |
lines about my "latest
job" but I suspect there’s a better way to present myself to editors
when a job posting specifically calls for a resume and
samples....
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| mel
boring |
Oh, heck. As long as
I’m being greedy, how should...
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| mel
boring |
a writer’s
business...
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| mel
boring |
card look? Should it
say, "Professional Freelance...
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| mel
boring |
Writer" or "Author"
or...
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| mel
boring |
what? I know a lot of
writers write like I do a W I D E variety of...
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| mel
boring |
stuff, from technical
manuals to poetry, for kids and adults, but I
don’t...
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| mel
boring |
know how to put that
kind of message on a business card.
|
| mel
boring |
So that’s my Christmas
wish list, Mel. Please tell me (and the rest of...
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| mel
boring |
your readers) how to
use conventional marketing tools (resume,
business...
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| mel
boring |
card, maybe even
letterhead) to look good and more importantly, get more paying
work.
|
| mel
boring |
Here is my pre-recorded
answr to Diane:...
|
| mel
boring |
THANKS for asking,
Diane. The BEST resume site I could put you onto for the basics of
writing a WRITER's resume, is:...
|
| mel
boring |
http://www.writing-world.com/basics/resume.shtml
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| mel
boring |
There, Moira Allen
gives complete instructions on writing the resume. Her site is the
reason I've never even thought to publish a resume article on our
site, though I'd be open to that, of course.
|
| mel
boring |
A good example of a
currently used resume is Harold Underdown's own resume
at:
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| mel
boring |
http://www.underdown.org/resume.htm
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| mel
boring |
Though Harold is also
an editor, his resume has the brevity needed, and covers the main
points of his career and publishing.
|
| mel
boring |
As for the business
card, the following advice is my own personal advice. I prefer a
business card that simply gives my name and contact numbers, without
any title, such as "Freelance Writer" or such. That is because I use
them to give to contacts as I make the contact. And the person I
give the card too will already know I am a writer. It has always
seemed to me a little pretentious to put a lable like "Freelance
Writer" on my card. I don't think of my business card as a form of
advertising, but as a way to give needed info to someone I've met.
If you had some technical qualifications such as writing technical
manuals, you might want to list that on your card. I do use a
picture background on my card that shows me with kids in a school
presentation--and I use that because it SHOWS, rather than TELLS,
what I do.
|
| mel
boring |
tigger needs to know
before Christmas: I have been working on assignments from two
different editors on an ongoing basis since September. Would it be
appropriate for me to send each of them Christmas cards with my
writer business card inside? I don't know what is proper etiquette
in this situation. (I received a Christmas card from one of the
publishers, signed by all of the editorial staff, which I guess they
send to anyone who has written for them in the recent past.)
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|
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| mel
boring |
Yes, the Christmas card
would be VERY appropriate, tigger!...
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| mel
boring |
But I wouldn't
recommend sending your business card with it....
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| mel
boring |
The editors WILL
remember you by name, and it'd be better in my
opinion...
|
| mel
boring |
just to make it a
friendly Christmas greeting, without the "business attachment."
(-:}
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| mel
boring |
By the
way,...
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| mel
boring |
It's fairly typical and
a happy happening,...
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| mel
boring |
for editors we've
worked with to send us Christmas cards. A FRIENDLY
touch!
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| mel
boring |
lisalisa would like to
ask: I just read the ICL article by Shari Barr and getting
publishers' attention. She suggests sending a thank you note to them
for a form rejection. Should you really do this? It seems like this
would be just more unwanted mail.
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| mel
boring |
BR wonders, too: In her
article "The Elusive Editor" on the website, Shari Barr suggested
sending a thank you note to editors who send you a rejection, even
just a FORM rejection letter. I have NEVER sent a thank you note for
a rejection! Have I been remiss in my writer etiquette?
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|
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| mel
boring |
I agree, lisalisa, it
would be just extra mail to send an editor a thank-you for a
rejection slip, so I wouldn't do it myself....
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| mel
boring |
It ISN'T part of
writer/editor etiquette, BR, to send a thank-you for a
rejection....
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| mel
boring |
You WOULD want to send
a thank you, in my opinion, if the editor had written you a letter
of rejection,...
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| mel
boring |
taking the time to
explain why they were sending it back....
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| mel
boring |
In THAT case, I would
write a thank-you letter to the editor for an unexpected
favor.
|
| mel
boring |
Last week we talked
about censorship here, and I've been hoping it can be an on-going
thing, because there's a LOT to it. THANKFULLY, here's a today
comment about it:...
|
| mbvoelker |
A comment on an issue
from last week. Censorship is the government telling people what
they can and cannot say/write. People expressing their opinions
about a book, even to say its so horrid it should not exist, is
"free speech". People demanding a voice in what the local library
should spend their tax dollars on is "local politics". A book store
owner deciding what to buy or not buy based on what his/her
customers expect is making a "business decision." IMO writers should
not be sloppy about the use of words -- especially a word as loaded
as "censorship". :-D
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| mel
boring |
Very clarifying,
mbvoelker!...
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| mel
boring |
When a school board
removes a book from the school library,...
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| mel
boring |
that is a governing
board saying the book shall not be read,...
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| mel
boring |
so therefore,
censorship....
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| mel
boring |
So if you get a
rejection, the publisher is not censoring your book, but making a
business decision! (-:}
|
| mel
boring |
BA is asking: In
October of this year I sent out a story to PRIMARY TREASURES. On
December 15 of this month, I was sent a reply of acceptance. The
reply read: "I like it. We will not be able to use it until next
winter, but will be sending a check in a few weeks." My question to
you is, Do I send any kind of response to this or do I wait for
further instruction?
|
| mel
boring |
First of all,
CONGRATULATIONS, BA!!!...
|
| mel
boring |
I would suggest you
wait to receive the check,...
|
| mel
boring |
then write to let the
editor know you've received it....
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| mel
boring |
That would be a way of
keeping contact, and the editor would probably be glad to know the
check reached you.
|
| casey |
I have never sent a thank
you note for either an acceptance or a rejection. An editor I heard
at a writer's conference said that she hesitates to write notes on
rejection letters because she gets notes back from the authors and
doesn't have time for that.
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| mel
boring |
GOOD point to make,
casey!...
|
| mel
boring |
It seems to boil down
to doing whatever an editor will have time for.
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| paige |
Greetings, Mel, Is it
appropriate to thank a mag. for forwarding "fan" mail. And would it
be acceptable, as the author, to write to children who have written
in to say they liked a story/article?
|
| mel
boring |
No, it's not necessary
to thank a magazine for forwarding the fan mail to you,
paige,...
|
| mel
boring |
BUT YES, DO answer the
kids who write....
|
| mel
boring |
The fan mail is usually
just forwarded on by the mail room, rather than an editor, so no
thanks is necessary,...
|
| mel
boring |
but for a child to take
the time to write and thank you, it's VERY important to thank that
child, in my opinion!
|
| mel
boring |
KC e-mailed to ask: In
the chat with Verla Kay, she talked a little about flat fees for
books. I am a little confused as to what a flat fee is. I know it's
a one time payment for a book. But the questions asked to her made
it sound like a bad thing. Why is it worse than other types of
payment? Is it because you may not make as much money as if you got
royalties?
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| mel
boring |
A flat fee is a
one-time payment to an author, KC....
|
| mel
boring |
The alternative is an
advance-and-royalty contract, in which...
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| mel
boring |
you are given a kind of
"down payment,"...
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| mel
boring |
then given further
payments all the while the book is in print....
|
| mel
boring |
So this last
alternative is longer, not just one-time....
|
| mel
boring |
Here's a point that a
couple of our chat guests have made....
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| mel
boring |
Here's an example to
show it....
|
| mel
boring |
Suppose a publisher
will pay you for a book, period, one-time
payment,...
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| mel
boring |
sometimes called
work-for-hire....
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| mel
boring |
Suppose, instead, you
asked for a advance, and 5% royalties....
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| mel
boring |
You'd get the for sure,
even before the book came out...
|
| mel
boring |
But you would only
receive royalties as the book sold....
|
| mel
boring |
Now suppose the book
only sold for one year, then was dropped because of lack of
sales....
|
| mel
boring |
It's quite possible
under the advance/royalty contract, you might get about , as opposed
to the you might've gotten for a one-time, flat
fee....
|
| mel
boring |
So SOMEtimes, a flat
fee MIGHT amount to more than an advance and royalties would amount
to, KC.
|
| mbvoelker |
For a personal rejection
I like to send a thank you note with another submission enclosed. It
serves as the cover letter for the new one. "Thank you for your
comments on XXX. I think that this piece has more visual elements as
you suggested. ..."
|
| mel
boring |
That's a VERY GOOD idea
toward CONTINUITY with a publisher, MB....
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| mel
boring |
It "keeps the
connection" with them so they don't forget what you've sent
previously.
|
| mel
boring |
Anonymous asks: I am
just finishing up the course on writing for children and I have a
poem that is a rewrite of an old
|
| you tell me how
best to go about presenting it to publishers |
|
| mel
boring |
First of all,
anonymous, poetry is not most editors' favorite thing to receive in
submission....
|
| mel
boring |
That is hurtful to all
of us who write poetry, I know, but it is a fact of publishing
life....
|
| mel
boring |
And especially because
this appears to be your FIRST submission,...
|
| mel
boring |
I would suggest you
rewrite the story NOT in poetry, just in prose....
|
| mel
boring |
THAT would be much more
inviting to most editors....
|
| mel
boring |
You might ask why,
Anonymous, most editors prefer not to receive
poetry....
|
| mel
boring |
Mostly it's because
they receive so MUCH poetry that is not well written, mostly
doggerel, forced rhymes and unsteady meter....
|
| mel
boring |
So I suggest you'd be a
LOT better off if your first submission were NOT
poetry.
|
| casper |
hope i did not miss the
question on anwering an acceptence
|
| mel
boring |
There was a question
from a writer who received notification, casper,...
|
| mel
boring |
that the magazine was
purchasing the story, but not using it until a year from
now....
|
| mel
boring |
And the answer to the
question was...
|
| mel
boring |
that when the writer
received the check for the article, THEN they should respond to the
editor,...
|
| mel
boring |
saying they'd received
the magazine's check.
|
| rite
1 |
But maybe poetry will
come back. Most 2nd graders in the...
|
| rite
1 |
Twin City area study
poetry throughout their school year.
|
| mel
boring |
I think it IS a matter
of the demand on the part of kids for poetry, rite
1,...
|
| mel
boring |
but keep this in mind
as well....
|
| mel
boring |
A magazine can only use
a very limited amount of poetry, at least the
way...
|
| mel
boring |
most magazines are set
up nowadays....
|
| mel
boring |
So HIGHLIGHTS, for
instance, may have one poem, or a couple of small
ones....
|
| mel
boring |
The demand for poetry,
even good poetry, is not huge.
|
| mel
boring |
Here
|
| mel
boring |
is a follow-up to last
week's...
|
| mel
boring |
discussion about the
male character description problem:...
|
| mbvoelker |
Figured out the male
character description problem. Have to give credit to Truckman
because he led me to the idea. I'll have the bully insult the
character about his "pretty" face. That will get people thinking the
right direction until a slower-paced scene where I can camera-view a
more detailed description.
|
| mel
boring |
EXCELLENT idea,
mbvoelker!...
|
| mel
boring |
and THANKS for the
ASSIST to Truckman!
|
| rite
1 |
I was thinking more of a
collection of poems in a book.
|
| mel
boring |
GOOD rejoinder
question, rite 1!...
|
| mel
boring |
I know from experience
that kids LOVE the poetry books of Shel Silverstein and a few other
poets,...
|
| mel
boring |
so there's no doubt
that the "kid demand" is there....
|
| mel
boring |
Still, to write enough
poems to fill a book takes a lot of effort, and usually over a long
time....
|
| mel
boring |
YOU sound like you
could accomplish that effort, rite 1, and will take the time to do
it. GO FOR IT!!!
|
| mel
boring |
Any Christmas greetings
today? If so, send them along in a message....
|
| mel
boring |
Here is my "Christmas
story":...
|
| mel
boring |
I have spent most of
the last three days down in our basement,...
|
| mel
boring |
building our daughter
Katy a dollhouse!...
|
| mel
boring |
Actually, we gave it to
her for Christmas when she was EIGHT,...
|
| mel
boring |
and she is SIXTEEN now!
(-:}...
|
| mel
boring |
so it's taken me EIGHT
years to build the dollhouse!...
|
| mel
boring |
The GOOD news is that I
AM GOING TO FINISH IT by tomorrow night, Christmas
Eve!
|
| mbvoelker |
Here's wishing everyone
at ICL -- students, instructors, and staff -- a very merry and
blessed Christmas. And, writers, remember that when your family
gasps at you for picking up a notebook instead of a camera to record
the memories we here understand. :-D
|
| mel
boring |
THANK YOU, Mary
Beth!--and what a great comment about the notebook!
|
| rite
1 |
I was thinking more of a
collection of poems in a book.
|
| rite
1 |
Like Bruce Lasky's
poems.
|
| mel
boring |
THANKS, rite 1, you've
put me onto a NEW poety I don't know about....
|
| mel
boring |
I haven't read Bruce
Lasky's poetry, but I WILL now, thanks to YOU!
|
| soradina |
Merry Christmas and Happy
New Year!
|
| mel
boring |
THANKS,
soradina!...
|
| mel
boring |
By the way, on our ICL
Discussion Boards, there is a new section,...
|
| mel
boring |
called "A Winter 2003,"
for the new season just begun yesterday....
|
| mel
boring |
I hope you'll go there
and leave a message for us all....
|
| mel
boring |
It's an UNmoderated
part of the board, meaning you don't have to wait for the moderator
(me, (-:}) to read your message before...
|
| mel
boring |
it comes out for people
to read. It will be available right away.
|
| mel
boring |
There are also other
sections on our boards, one for Autumn 2003, that we've been using
before winter....
|
| mel
boring |
And there are sections
about General Discussion, Course Lessons and
Rejection.
|
| mbvoelker |
What kind of goals do you
set for hte New Year? Do you do them now, after the New YEar, or not
at all? What kind of goals would you recommend for newer
writers?
|
| mel
boring |
I'll start the
answering here, but I'd really like you ALL to contribute your own
answers via a message!...
|
| mel
boring |
I set my own yearly
goals by first evaluating the projects I have in submisssion or
being written....
|
| mel
boring |
If I have, for example,
any manuscripts that have been out for an inordinate length of time
to a publisher, I'll write to check on them....
|
| mel
boring |
Also, if I have books
under contract, I'
|
| mel
boring |
will
evaluate...
|
| mel
boring |
how I'm doing on
reaching whatever deadline I have....
|
| mel
boring |
If it seems I might not
make the deadline, which was once WAY OFF, I'll put more time in on
that particular project....
|
| mel
boring |
My recommendation for
newer writers would be to work toward having...
|
| mel
boring |
a DOZEN pieces in
submission, each with a limit of 12 rejections before you rewrite,
or withdraw, them....
|
| mel
boring |
Keeping a dozen pieces
out means they can't all come back at once,...
|
| mel
boring |
and there is hope as
long as even only ONE piece is still in submission. How about the
others of you
|
| mel
boring |
do you have specific
goal-settings which you do around the first of a New
Year?
|
| mbvoelker |
I'm not good at goals.
Or, to be more precise, I do OK with MAKE
|
| mbvoelker |
...Making goals, but not
with making effective plans to achieve said goals.
|
| mel
boring |
That seems common with
parents responsible for small children, MB, and with only bits and
pieces of time....
|
| mel
boring |
Here's a
suggestion:...
|
| mel
boring |
Next time you have one
"bit or piece" of time,...
|
| mel
boring |
devote it entirely to
JUST making an effective plan to achieve your goal of, say, selling
ONE story or ONE article or ONE book....
|
| mel
boring |
In other words,
concentrate like focusing the sun's rays through a magnifying
glass,...
|
| mel
boring |
and limit your scope.
Maybe it wouldn't work for YOU to have a dozen pieces out in
circulation at a time, for example.
|
| mel
boring |
Here's a Christmas
story:...
|
| paige |
My Christmas story is: I
lost my pocketbook yesterday in a mall crowded with shoppers. It was
returned to me within ten minutes. the person who found it would not
accept a reward. I will be giving the Salvation Army an additional
contib this year but feel thankful that there are so many good
people in the world. Wishing you all a "write" Merry Christmas and a
"write" glad New Year.
|
| mel
boring |
That is SUCH AN
ENCOURAGING story, paige!...
|
| mel
boring |
It makes for a Merry
Christmas and a GLAD HEART!
|
| casey |
Information for those
submitting to Hopscotch Magazine. I just got a rejection for a story
submitted for Dec. 2007 theme as that issue is
full.
|
| mel
boring |
WOW, 2007!!! That's WAY
ahead--thanks for letting us know, casey!...
|
| mel
boring |
SOMEtimes, if a
magazine sees what they think will be financial hard times
ahead,...
|
| mel
boring |
they will "fill their
freezer," as HOPSCOTCH evidently has done....
|
| mel
boring |
That way, they've made
their acquisitions, "paid their bills," for some time to come, and
won't have to worry about expenses.
|
| mbvoelker |
Announcing my goals in
the Writer's Retreat or in the chat helps because then I get so
embarassed by people asking me about projects I haven't accomplished
that I am driven to FINISH them. LOL
|
| mel
boring |
HA!!! Embarrassment is
a VERY proper way to make goals, mbvoelker!
|
| mel
boring |
Here is a Christmas
THANKS story from me:...
|
| mel
boring |
I've told you before
about the ongoing court case that I was a part
of,...
|
| mel
boring |
dealing with a
publisher....
|
| mel
boring |
Well, I JUST heard that
the settlement check from the publisher has been RECEIVED by our
lawyers!...
|
| mel
boring |
So as soon as they take
out expenses, they will be sending the check. I am SO THANKFUL that,
here in 2003, that whole messy matter has been
settled!
|
| katiebug |
A VERY Merry Christmas to
all! May writing ideas
|
| katiebug |
be plentiful this
holiday!
|
| mel
boring |
THANK YOU,
katiebug!
|
| mel
boring |
Well, the time is up. I
WISH YOU ALL THE MERRIEST OF CHRISTMASES!!!...
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| mel
boring |
We will be back next
week on Tuesday for the final Open Forum of 2003. THANKS for coming
today!
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