ARE YOUR ARTICLES WEB 2.0 FRIENDLY?

BEACON FLASH # 28 - MAY 2008

Mid-April found me in Powell River, BC, presenting at the 8th Festival of Writers - a small gathering of seriously aspiring and published authors. Daniel Wood, the award-winning freelance writer, was the other speaker. I was privileged to hear his two hour session, "The Art of Facts: Non-Fiction Storytelling in the 21st Century," and will deliver some of his wisdom over the next few months in Beacon Flashes.

Here is the first pearl:

Daniel urged the attendees, whether they were writing books or articles, "to get modern." He made everyone realize that non-fiction is changing due to the influence of the Internet and interactive websites. Writers should no longer submit mss that are solely text. Daniel said that articles and books need a multi-media feel today to interest editors. Writers need to offer magazine publishers a couple of side-bars, illustrations, maybe a video, pull quotes, and/or a podcast, etc., along with the main story.

Why? Publishers like to buy stories that work on the web, as well as in print. Stories on the web need more, much more, than dense text to captivate readers. Daniel cautioned everyone to make sure the contract covers these eventualities. The publisher should pay more for additional features. For example, Daniel's half hour podcasts net him $500.00 on top of the article fee. He adds 10% for web rights (NOTE: not all e-rights) in a "step-up" clause, and photos that you take are always extra too.

Writers must think beyond the written word today and offer editors material that is Web 2.0 friendly. Are you offering more?

(For more articles about the business of writing, please visit: www.beaconlit.com/freearticles.htm)

FREELANCERS' RESOURCES

BEACON FLASH # 27 - APRIL 2008

I joined the Professional Writers' Association of Canada (PWAC) a couple of years ago. The benefits it provides have proven worthwhile; perhaps PWAC's most valuable asset is the discussion groups, the digests of which plop into my inbox daily. They help me keep up to date with what to charge for articles and work for hire, how freelance contracts are changing, copyright issues, and periodicals that are difficult to work with, etc. I feel less isolated and more supported stuck here alone in front of my computer. PWAC also has local chapters around Canada that put on workshops and have monthly meetings, as well as an annual conference.

Many countries have similar associations for freelancers - just Google for yours - and get connected with like-minded writers.

PWAC runs two web sites, both of which are worth visiting:

• Go to www.writers.ca which is PWAC's site that lists the members and their talents for editors and companies seeking freelancers. The site also has resources for writers, such as copyright info, professional practice, what fees you should charge, etc. The most useful resource is their sample contract for freelance writers at: www.writers.ca/Downloads/agreementFINAL.pdf.
  Writers should always ask for a contract when undertaking work, whether big or small. I am astounded that many writers don't do so, and then wonder why they find their "print" article on a magazine's website or passed along to another organization or individual to use with no remuneration.
• Go to www.pwac.ca for more info about joining PWAC and to see their blog. PWAC membership always looks good in bio paras of your query letters, and costs about $250.00/year.

PWAC also has a webpage (www.pwac.ca/eventsandresources/pwacpublications) with books on writing and the business of writing, which members have written, and are available to non-members to buy. I bought three and have been delighted with them. The list includes the following titles:

• PWAC Guide to Editing as a Sideline: The freelance writers guide to setting-up an editing business
• PWAC Guide to Roughing It in the Market: A Survival Toolkit for the Savvy Writer
• Your Book, Your Way! Powerful Publishing Pointers
• Book Magic: Turning Writers into Published Authors
• Crafting Irresistible Query Letters that Get You Published
• The Writing Fairy Guide to Calling Yourself a Writer: Coaxing closet writers to emerge and make their magic known
• Motivation for Non-Fiction Writers: Learn how to start up or step up a successful freelance non-fiction writing career
• The Business of Freelance Writing: How to Develop Article Ideas and Sell Them to Newspapers and Magazines
• The Six-Figure Freelancer: How to Find, Price and Manage Corporate Writing Assignments
• Regret the Error: How Media Mistakes Pollute the Press and Imperil Free Speech

Enjoy the browsing!

PITCHING A NOVEL

Powerful fiction pitches: verbal and written

Donald Maass, a famed New York literary agent, led a three hour master class a while back, which I attended, on perfecting your novel's pitch. His major thrust was teaching us to avoid the mistakes that most aspiring authors make when pitching their books to agents and editors. Pressure, nerves, and lack of preparation cause writers to talk about how good their work is, why they wrote the novel, and about themselves.

Agents and editors are only interested in the story and if it will sell…! They want to know the essence of your novel and what makes it original. Answer their question, "Why should I read this book?"

According to Maass, a verbal pitch should take no more than 60 seconds and a written pitch should have only four sentences. Both pitches must contain the title and category, the novel's milieu (time and place), the name of protagonist and what s/he does, and the main problem, conflict, or goal of the protagonist. Maass urged authors to clearly define the protagonist's problem and to inject some "out of the ordinary" into the pitch because these are most often left wanting.

When to send a written query with a four sentence pitch? Maass advises not to send them during Christmas week or immediately after a major writers' conference that the editor/agent has attended.

For more details, try reading some of Maass's own books on the subject, such as The Career Novelist: A Literary Agent Offers Strategies for Success. Can$19.11 or Writing the Breakout Novel, Can$12.69.

THE SERIAL COMMA—So Much Over So Little

by Joyce Gram, writer and editor

Who would have thought that the serial comma, quietly bringing clarity to a list or series in a sentence, would be the subject of passionate argument, much ink in grammar texts, and, yes, even surveys?

The serial comma, also called the Oxford or Harvard comma, is that innocuous squiggle before the final and or or in sentences such as “The flag is red, white, and blue” and “I want no ifs, ands, or buts.” It is optional—but be careful where you say that. Lynne Truss writes in Eats, Shoots & Leaves, “There are people who embrace the Oxford comma and people who don’t, and I’ll just say this: never get between these people when drink has been taken.”

The purpose of the serial comma is to prevent ambiguity, especially where the last element in the series consists of a pair joined by and, as in “We ate soup, salad, and macaroni and cheese.” Omitting the comma in the sentence “The flag is red, white and blue” might not cause much ambiguity, but what about “He went to the store to buy milk, butter and eggs”? Is there a product on the shelf called “butter-and-eggs”? Maybe somewhere. Garner’s Modern American Usage says that the argument whether to include the serial comma is “easily answered in favor of inclusion because omitting the final comma may cause ambiguities, whereas including it never will.”

The authors of an authoritative-looking website set out to trace the origin of the “Wrong Rule,” taught by so many English teachers, that says the final comma in a series should be omitted. In the course of their research, they found that “except for journalists, all American authorities say to use the final serial comma.”¹ Newspapers and magazines omit it to save space. My own research has yielded the same result, and I am an unapologetic proponent of the serial comma. Interestingly, Truss does not use it and says, “My own feeling is that one shouldn’t be too rigid about the Oxford comma.” Whether you choose to use it or not in your writing, all readers and editors of your work will agree: be consistent!

As to that survey I mentioned, it is being conducted by the West Coast Editor, newsletter of the Editors’ Association of Canada, B.C. Branch, and asks members, are you for it or against it? Results in March 2008. I’ll let you know.

¹http://www.protrainco.com/essays/serial-comma.htm

© Joyce Gram, 2008. All right reserved
Contact Joyce Gram for all your editing needs: gramkend@shaw.ca

RESEARCH TOOL FOR ALL WRITERS

BEACON FLASH # 26 - February 2008

If you need to do some research for a writing project about a place, event, or era, there is a fascinating website that is collecting historical newspapers from all over the world. The site has a powerful search engine and I tested it on a person living in Victoria, British Columbia, from 1859-1892. I pulled up mountains of useful info about my subject, the town, and attitudes of the time. Searches deliver images of newspaper pages that have your keywords highlighted in yellow. Enlarging these pages does not degrade the text and illustrations. Magic!

Go to www.paperofrecord.com and sign up – it’s free. Then go for a test drive.

MAGS AND EZINES THAT PUBLISH YOUNG WRITERS' WORK

YOUNG WRITERS CAN GET PUBLISHED

When I speak in elementary, middle, and secondary schools, teachers and students often ask me if there are magazines and ezines that publish young writers' work. Yes, there are. Here are some recommendations for your talented writers, at home or in your classroom.

The most highly regarded literary magazine for kids in Canada is, of course, The Claremont Review, run by real editors especially for kids: http://www.theclaremontreview.ca/.

Here are some other links to publications for young writers:
http://www.youthactionnetwork.org/projects/forum/ (Canada)
http://www.youngpoets.ca/ (Canada)
http://www.youngwritersclub.ca/ (Canada)
http://www.amazing-kids.org/writers.htm#top
http://www.cobblestonepub.com/kids.html (US) magazines for all ages
http://www.merlynspen.org/ (US) fiction, essay, and poems by teen writers
http://www.mgfx.com/kilit/artlit/poetry/index.htm (US) poetry
http://www.stonesoup.com/links/in-print/ (US)
http://www.ypp.net/ (US)

In the US, this link will lead you to magazines and ezines that publish student work:
http://www.writing-world.com/links/young.shtml

Get browsing…! If a publication appeals, make sure you check out the submission guidelines and follow them exactly. Who knows? Your kids or your students may be published writers sooner than you think.

LOSING CREATIVITY IN A NANO-SECOND

Recent experience has just taught me what sucks creativity and motivation out of a writer in a nano-second.

On January 2nd, my husband had a massive heart attack and emergency cardiac surgery. He spent the next 7+ days on life support. Although he is now home and doing well, I still have no focus or ability to concentrate. Writing is quite beyond me.

My last three weeks certainly bear out what research tells us: if you are significantly stressed, your adrenalin runs high. It is this high level in your bloodstream that stops creativity in its tracks. I'm not impatient to regain it--I know that it will return when life re-establishes its rhythm and tranquillity. In the meantime, I am relaxing in hot baths, and with my photos, music, and my husband.