Tue May 27 14:55:20 2003

Event end time:

Tue May 27 19:53:39 2003

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.

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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

Hello, and I wish I could tell you that my webmail is working again, but it is NOT....

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So remember, if you want to e-mail me, use my Yahoo, TRUE-NAME (-:} address, which is:...

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BoringMel@Yahoo.com

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Here is a good starting question sent in by Patricia:...

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Since a majority of work are articles and a story at a time, agents are not required....

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Books are published though. Do successful authors go through agents for books?

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SOME successful authors go through agents, Patricia....

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I consider myself successful, though I do NOT have an agent....

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Agents are as difficult to get as it is to get an editor to publish you....

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So, until you have a track record of SOME publishing, it's best to do it on your own....

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When you DO have a track record, agents will consider you....

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There ARE both NEEDED and NOT-NEEDED agents....

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The way to tell the difference is, if an agent asks for a reading fee, they are one you DO NOT NEED....

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NEEDED agents don't make any charges for expenses, except occasional phone calls, if they get expensive, and perhaps a copying fee....

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THESE fees are quite expectable from an agent--but NOT a reading fee.

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I see some questions coming in from you....

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While I want for them to "click down," here's ONE left from last time....

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It's from topcat, who asks:...

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Should I submit my manuscript to more than one publisher?

topcat

should I submit my manuscript to more than one publisher...

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If you are just starting out, topcat, it's not advisable....

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After you have had some experience with getting published, then you MAY want to "simultaneously submit," as it is called....

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With magazine articles and stories, especially, submitting when you are first starting out to only ONE publisher at a time is your best bet.

ekuffmom

I have a character in a book, a Vietnam vet., I have tried to get with some of them to do an interview to make my character real, but they don't want to talk about it. What should I do to research their experience for the book?

mel boring

I can understand the dilemma, ekuffmom, because I KNOW one Vietnam vet who was terribly emotionally damaged by that war, and does NOT talk about it....

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But I have talked to his mother and father about it, and his wife, all three of whom WILL talk about John's experience if he is not there....

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I suggest this as a possibility for you. Sometimes the loved ones of a Vietnam vet NEED to talk about it....

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The next-best to first-hand accounts would be books and magazine articles written by Vietnam vets....

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I wish I knew of some good ones to recommend to you, but I don't. If anyone in the chat knows of a book or few, could you give us the titles and help ekuffmom, please?

verada

I have to decide between a cash prize and attending the Highlights conference in Chautauqua. I already attend local SCBWI conferences every year, so is there that much of a difference between these and the Highlights one that I shoud pass up the cash prize?

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Having been at BOTH SCBWI and the Chautauqua conference, verada, I would recommend...

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that, since you have ALREADY attended SCBWI conferences--which are EXCELLENT--that you take the cash prize...

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and go to the HIGHLIGHTS conference!...

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By the way, CONGRATULATIONS on that cash prize!!!...

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The HIGHLIGHTS conference IS different from others....

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For one thing, it goes for a whole, entire WEEK....

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So you really get to know the other writers, the authors and illustrators invited to present at the conference...

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and VERY importantly, you get to chat with editors who are there. ALL of you are there for the entire week, staying overnight, hanging around one of NY's loveliest spots--Chatauqua--so I recommend you go to Chautauqua! Can WE go with you? (-:}

dragginlaydee

Hi Mel, Ibecause of my work schedule, I only get to come to half of the open forums. I read in the message boards that you sent one of the students a transcript of last weeks forum. Is that something any of us can request?

mel boring

Yes, it is, dragginlaydee....

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The transcripts made of these Open Forums are totally UNedited. That is, I don't go back and edit the spelling and such,...

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but they are very readable. And YES, available!

knk

What are the advantages of having an agent?

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The MAIN advantage, knk, is that the AGENT presents your work to publishers....

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That means s/he decides WHICH publishers your manuscript would be best for....

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Then the agent submits them. Since most agents are in New York City, they can send your manuscripts to a publisher by courier, or other ways than the U.S. Mail, more quickly....

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PLUS, an agent can usually get a publisher or editor on the PHONE at the drop of a call, so they are more accessible to agents than they are to us....

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Also, an agent becomes THE person who knows your work BEST, so s/he can decide best where it should be submitted....

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PLUS, the agent keeps track of the monies, both in negotiating the amount of payment in the contract, keeping you free from the tensions with an editor of negotiating....

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For that, agents receive sometimes 10% of your gross receipts from each publisher they negotiate for you with, though that is now becoming more often 25%.

heartim

Are web publishers a better way to go these days?

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When you are just getting started in writing, especially, web publishers are a better way to to, heartim....

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That is because they most often pay less than hardcopy magazines, so the competition is not so strong....

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Also, what is published on the web is considered more "transient," passing by more quickly,...

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so more is used per unit of time....

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Another advantage of the web is that it takes very little time at all to get into print....

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If you submit to a children's magazine, it will take at least a month or two to find out if your work is accepted....

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Then, because hardcopy magazines must have a LONG lead time, it'll be six months at least to a year or more before you see your work in print....

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With web publishing, it's much quicker. So my suggestion is to go web publishing at first, then later on, go BOTH!

margieh

An author friend had an article published with a magazine ..

margieh

for first rights and was asked by a text book company...

margieh

to purchase her article. Is that common?

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It isn't TOO common, margieh....

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For example, in my own, very limited experience, with about 25 magazine stories and articles published over about 30 years,...

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I have been asked for reprints about ten times. It IS more common for more "famous" authors, I know....

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The KEY as to whether they ask you for a reprint of an article you've published is two-fold, in my opinion....

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First, the article must be catchy. That is, it must unearth FRESH info about a subject, whether the subject is new or old....

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The textbooks that ask for reprints are usually reading textbooks--and they want fresh, catchy stuff for kids, of course....

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The SECOND part of the key, I THINK, is the title....

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I co-wrote with Leslie Dendy, an article about the building of Mount Rushmore, titled,...

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"America's Favorite Rock Group."...

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We have gotten about FOUR reprint requests for that article, and I think that title (which I took from a READER'S DIGEST joke page) is what I think textbook people find "catchy."

goingbuggy

Do you have an update on the editor of Babybug and Ladybug?

goingbuggy

I understand she recently had a detached retina?

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No, I don't have an update about Paula Morrow, goingbuggy,...

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the editor of BABYBUG and LADYBUG....

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I understand, from my wife Carol who is a nurse (and the BEST one in the universe!)....

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is that in a YOUNGER person, a detached retina will reattach itSELF,...

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unless there are complicating circumstances of health or vision. So I assume Paula's will reattach....

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She told me she had to stay away from reading of any kind for about 3 or 4 weeks. I plan to contact her for possibly coming back to our chat room in August....

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But of course, I DON'T want to bother her right now, or press her....

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I found that she's become a GOOD friend, as a result of being in the chat room, though I didn't know her before her first appearance last October. So I am also eager to know news of her healthy recovery. I'll let you know--and thanks for asking. Paula will appreciate that when I tell her!

anitapen

Other than just the "love of writing"- how does one stay motivated keep writing amidst all of the rejections?

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For those of you who joined us after we started, 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--the sky isn't even the limit!

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anitapen, I have to admit that sometimes, even the "love of writing" isn't enough motivation....

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And even when there are NOT so many rejections, I still find it hard....

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Example, and I hope you don't mind the personal....

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For about the past YEAR, I have "had it made," in one respect...

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because I have 1) been finishing up a middle-grade novel that an editor had ASKED to see, and...

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2) I am doing the FINAL rewrites for a co-author project I'm going with Leslie Dendy, called GUINEA PIG SCIENTISTS....

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So I haven't had much rejection, anitapen, because, of the two projects I've been working on,...

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one is already contracted and scheduled to be published in 2004, and the other, though not certain, at least has a chance....

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STILL, I find it hard to write, to be honest....

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but what REALLY has helped are my school visits....

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When I go out to talk to kids, I see THE REASON why you and I write, and that gives me a shot in the arm....

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So my recommendation to you is to visit a school, ask to talk to kids, just to even read to them, or to tell them about your writing....

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It will do something GOOD for you, I promise!

tigger

I found a list of craft ideas on a website. Each idea is written as a sentence or two describing the craft. Do I need to get permission from the website people to use some of the ideas in my NF book? (I would be describing the craft in greater detail and including a photo or drawing of the finished craft.)

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No, you don't, tigger. That website knows (or SHOULD know) that IDEAS are not copyrighted or copyrightable....

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So whereEVER you see an IDEA, it's yours for the writing. The only thing you can't do is to copy an already-written craft ARTICLE--and of course I know you wouldn't do that....

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If you would like me to check out the site for sure for you, send the URL to me at BoringMel@Yahoo.com, tigger, but I see no problem--go write it!

anitapen

Hi Mel, I was just wondering...If a story is rejected and returned , should it be sent out until it is accepted?

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My "rule of thumb" is to send it out TWELVE times before I consider stopping, OR consider a major revision....

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In twelve submissions, to various magazines, or book publishers, I figure ONE of them would have at least given me a nibble if the piece didn't need changing....

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And to me, TWELVE rejections says: "Mel, you need to discard this one, or CHANGE it MAJORLY!

verada

In a query, how do you estimate a word count for an article you haven't written? And how closely will the editor expect you to stick to that estimate?

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What I do is submit the wordcount that the magazine/editor I'm querying states they want....

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THEN, I write and rewrite and rewrite and rewrite...

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until I'm within THEIR word limit. Because THEY are as limited to that word count as I am....

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Magazines canNOT expand the number of pages each month--that is set in stone, so that's why they set us writers those very stingy limits. But plan to write your article WITHIN their word limit, verada--and they will LOVE your for that! (-:}

mel boring

Though I can't seem to get her question down,...

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margieh wants to know if there are any web publishing cautions....

margieh

Any web publishing cautions?

mel boring

GOOD question! Because web publishing is so NEW, there are not an awful lot of ANY cautions or advice or suggestions for it...

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The one caution I would give is that, since they usually agree to publish your piece for ONLY a limited time (which would be taken care of in hardcopy magazines just in their coming out and then fading)...

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and could just leave it on their site forever, keep watch and make sure they don't leave it on after the six months or whatever time you agreed to, margieh.

rightwriter

Please explain how you "co author" an article or book?

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This is an EXCELLENT question that I've never been asked before, rightwriter!...

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With the article that Leslie Dendy and I did together, it resulted from what ICL called "The BOring Challenge." (-:}...

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I had written an article (when I was an ICL instructor) for the front material of THE CHILDREN'S MAGAZINE MARKET about writing effective article beginnings....

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At the end of the article, I put it out to the readers that if someone would send me a good beginning for "America's Favorite Rock Group," I would give them HALF of the profits,...

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because I was saying in the article that a good beginning is worth spending HALF of your time of writing the article on....

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Soon, ICL had received over 600 responses with beginnings! I was SURPRISED!...

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Well, Leslie Dendy's beginning was judged winner in "The Boring Challenge," and I put it in the article with both our names in the byline....

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It sold to CRICKET for, I think, I immediately sent Leslie

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Then she asked if I'd be willing to co-write a BOOK with her...

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I said yes,and we began TEN YEARS AGO on what will now be called GUINEA PIG SCIENTISTS, a book about self-experiments....

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THere are TEN chapters, and each of us has written FIVE of them. And we BOTH have contracts, for half of the advance and royalties for the book, which will be published by Holt in 2004. That's a heartwarming story for me that I LOVE to tell!

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heartim tells me this is the first successful forum since the new Ichat. THANKS for letting me know, heartim, and WELCOME at last! And MANY HAPPY RETURNS to you!

rightwriter

must a writer be published first to make school visits?

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No, rightwriter, you DON'T have to be published....

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You could volunteer in a classroom just to read to the children once a week, or even just once....

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Read Dr. Seuss, or any books you know they'll like....

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AND of course you can talk about--AND READ ALOUD--whatever you ARE writing that isn't published yet!

anitapen

Just trying not to get bounced out of the room, Mel. Hee Hee

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I THINK anitapen knows me WELL! (-:}...

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but I haven't gotten bounced out of the room today...yet!

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Time for one more question,...

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Here is is, from paige...

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asking, "I rewrote a piece for a magazine, which they...

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subsequently rejected. Should I send out the original piece to other mags, or the rewritten one?

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Send out the REWRITTEN one, paige, because it's surely better.

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I'm sorry to have to quit, but I will be eager to see you this Thursday evening in the chat room, if you can make it....

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Pam Zollman, the crafts and young nonfiction editor at HIGHLIGHTS FOR CHILDREN will be our guest....

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I hope YOU can be there, and I'd LOVE to see you back here next Tuesday too! BYEforNOW!