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    DOING IT WRITE!

    A circle of fabulous friends' feetA FREE newsletter providing information on all aspects of writing, from beginning to advanced. DOING IT WRITE! has subscribers throughout the United States and around the globe.

    DOING IT WRITE!, a weekly e-zine, features a regular Hot Topic column on some aspect of writing or an interview with an author, updates on contests and conferences, news about the publishing world, and links to websites for authors.

    All this -- FREE -- delivered right to your email box every week. All you have to do to join friends and other writers from around the world is: SIGN UP

    The easiest way is to use the sign-up form in the left sidebar. If you have problems, email me: (mailto:helen@helenginger.com)

    Informative, free, and easy to subscribe -- what more could you ask for?



    Light and ShadowsSample Issue of Doing It Write!

    -----------------------------------------------------------------

    Welcome to DOING IT WRITE!

    A FREE newsletter providing information on all aspects of
    writing, from beginning to advanced.

    Doing It Write!, now in its tenth year of publication,
    has subscribers throughout the United States and around the
    world.

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    HOT TOPIC:

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    Pre-Published or Unpublished?

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    About a week ago, I joined an online discussion group for
    mystery writers. So far, I've just been reading the comments
    and haven't "spoken" up.

    The entire week has been taken up with discussion of the
    term "prepublished." You've probably heard the term; I have.
    Prepublished is basically an euphemism for "unpublished."
    Writers who use the term aren't pretending to be something
    other than unpublished, but prepublished has a softer ring
    to it, a hint of their surety that they'll be published in
    the future.

    Some writers prefer the term. Some writers do not.

    The consensus online is that even if you use it to describe
    yourself, you should be careful where and around whom you
    use it. A lot of agents, apparently, hate the term. To them,
    it screams amateur. It also conflicts with what an agent
    would view as an author who is prepublished. To them, a
    prepublished author would be one who has sold their book,
    but it's not out in print yet.

    Not to say you don't want to ever use the term, but you
    might want to be careful around agents.

    It is a term that a lot of authors and writers use, though.
    I did a google search on the phrase "pre-published author."
    Got back results for 42,300 hits.

    If you haven't been published yet, which term do you use:
    prepublished or unpublished? If you'd like to comment, you
    can do so at my blog, Straight from Hel:
    http://straightfromhel.blogspot.com/

    ============================================================
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    *---------------The Email Bag is Open--------------*

    Send in your questions, ideas, and comments to:

    *------------- helen@helenginger.com -------------*

    Visit Helen at:

    *------------ http://helenginger.com -------------*

    *------ http://straightfromhel.blogspot.com/ -----*

    *--------- http://twitter.com/MermaidHel ---------*

    ============================================================
    ============================================================

    << Endeavor continues to build up its presence in the book
    business with the hiring of Dutton editor-in-chief Trena
    Keating as an agent in the New York office. >>

    Publishers Lunch

    ============================================================
    ============================================================

    UPCOMING CONTEST/OPPORTUNITY:
    (To view other contests and opportunities, visit:
    http://helenginger.com/contests.htm)

    ------------------------------------------------------------

    78TH ANNUAL WRITER'S DIGEST WRITING COMPETITION

    Deadline: May 15, 2009

    ------------------------------------------------------------

    Compete and Win in 10 Categories!
    * Inspirational Writing (Spiritual/Religious)
    * Memoirs/Personal Essay
    * Magazine Feature Article
    * Genre Short Story (Mystery, Romance, etc.)
    * Mainstream/Literary Short Story
    * Rhyming Poetry
    * Non-rhyming Poetry
    * Stage Play
    * Television/Movie Script
    * Children's/Young Adult Fiction

    Entry Fee: Poems are $15 for the first entry; $10 for each
    additional poem submitted in the same online session. All
    other entries are $20 for the first manuscript; $15 for
    each additional manuscript submitted in the same online
    session.

    GRAND PRIZE: $3,000 cash and a trip to New York City to meet
    with editors or agents. Writer's Digest will fly you and a
    guest to The Big Apple, where you'll spend three days and two
    nights in the publishing capital of the world. While you're
    there, a Writer's Digest editor will escort you to meet and
    share your work with four editors or agents! Plus, you'll
    receive a free Diamond Publishing Package from Outskirts
    Press.

    The Grand Prize manuscript, the First Place manuscript in
    each category, and the names of the top 100 winners in each
    category will be printed in a special competition
    collection, published by Outskirts Press.

    http://www.writersdigest.com/competitions

    ===========================================================
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    UPCOMING EVENT/OPPORTUNITY:
    (To view other events and opportunities, visit:
    http://helenginger.com/events.htm)

    ------------------------------------------------------------

    FORENSIC TRENDS: PSYCHIATRIC & BEHAVIORAL ISSUES

    Las Vegas, NV

    May 27 - 30, 2009

    ------------------------------------------------------------

    Highlights of the 2009 conference include:
    * An international, multidisciplinary faculty of experts who
    are thought leaders and active practitioners in the forensic
    arena.

    * A full-day Preconference focusing on multiple aspects of
    Sexual Predators including perspectives on assessment,
    treatment, special populations and the multi-faceted concepts
    of denial, deception and manipulation.

    * 16 Concurrent Session topics offering in-depth content to
    meet a variety of unique educational needs and interests.

    * Conference Luncheon and presentation by D.P. Lyle, MD,
    award winning author, TV consultant and online resource for
    mystery writers and readers

    NOTE from Helen: In an email, DP (Doug) Lyle wrote:
    << The program has many talks that I think would be of
    interest to writers. >>

    Early Fee: $220 (pre-conference) or $435 (main conference)
    Regular Fee: $250 or $475

    http://www.cforums.com/m412509/main.asp

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    IN CASE YOU MISSED THIS:

    ------------------------------------------------------------

    "Don't Discount the Newbery"

    << There are "no limitations as to the character of the book,"
    so authors of fiction, nonfiction and poetry for kids up to
    age 14 are all eligible. >>

    << Valerie Strauss reported in the Washington Post last
    month that "the literary world is debating the Newbery's
    value, asking whether the books that have won recently are so
    complicated and inaccessible to most children that they are
    effectively turning off kids to reading. >>

    << The intent of the Newbery, like certain adult literary
    awards, is to "encourage good writing," whether or not the
    book has broad popular appeal. >>

    << Even though I was a slow reader and some of the books
    were hard for me (and some I didn't like at all), the ones
    I loved held me in their grip and made me want more. >>

    << The book made me decide to become a writer. >>

    << In my experience, children who read award books by
    choice and for pleasure became, as readers, more confident,
    competent and eager. >>

    To read this January 11, 2009, article by Susan Patron in
    The Los Angeles Times, go to:
    http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/commentary
    /la-oe-patron11-2009jan11,0,5330448.story

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    LINKS TO SITES OF INTEREST TO WRITERS:

    ** Kate Monk's Onomastikon
    http://www.gaminggeeks.org/Resources/KateMonk/
    Looking for character names? Here's a great source, from
    the Ancient World to Africa to Medieval to the Middle East
    and beyond.

    ** The International Association of Media Tie-In Writers
    http://www.iamtw.org/
    Wonder what this is? "Our books are original tie-in novels,
    comic books and short stories based on existing characters
    from movie, TV series, books, games, and cartoons..."
    Check 'em out.

    ============================================================
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    Feel free to share this newsletter with friends. But,
    please, forward it in its entirety.
    ------------------------------------------------------------

    To subscribe, visit my web site or send an email with
    subscribe as the subject to:

    helen@helenginger.com

    Send questions, comments, or suggestions to
    helen@helenginger.com

    To visit Helen's blog, go to:
    http://straightfromhel.blogspot.com/

    ============================================================
    ============================================================

    CONCERNING ADVERTISEMENTS, CONTESTS & EVENTS

    Doing It Write! is a FREE ezine and does not take
    advertisements. In order to keep expenses down, I use
    Topica to distribute the newsletter. In return for doing
    this at no charge, they sometimes tack on an advertisement
    at the beginning and sometimes the end of an issue.

    Please note that these ads are neither endorsed by me or
    Doing It Write! nor are they even available for me to
    screen ahead of time.

    Please feel free to do as I do: Scroll right on past them
    without even reading.

    As for the contests and events mentioned each week: Although
    I try to find contests, conferences, workshops, and other
    events that are legit and beneficial to writers, I can't
    guarantee anything. I always try to include as URL so you
    can check them out and make your own decisions.

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    Copyright 2009 Helen Ginger