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Copyright: 1997-2008
DOING IT WRITE!
A 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?
Sample Issue of Doing It Write!
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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Pre-Published or Unpublished?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Prepublished is basically an euphemism for "unpublished."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other than unpublished, but prepublished has a softer ring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 ---------*
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<< 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
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UPCOMING CONTEST/OPPORTUNITY:
(To view other contests and opportunities, visit:
http://helenginger.com/contests.htm)
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78TH ANNUAL WRITER'S DIGEST WRITING COMPETITION
Deadline: May 15, 2009
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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)
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FORENSIC TRENDS: PSYCHIATRIC & BEHAVIORAL ISSUES
Las Vegas, NV
May 27 - 30, 2009
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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:
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"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.
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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/
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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