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mary rosenblum
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Hello all!
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mary rosenblum
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I hope you had a great
weekend.
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mary rosenblum
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I was sorry to miss the Sunday
casual chat, but didn't leave the dog show I was attending until it was
over!
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. Today
we're talking about how to analyze a fiction market. If you're new here,
remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word
bubble' next to the red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the
ask a question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar
won't reach me! You can also type /ask in front of your question to reach
me
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mary rosenblum
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Last week we talked about
analyzing a nonfiction magazine to determine just what the editor needed
and wanted.
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mary rosenblum
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I used Women's World as an
example, and I'll do other magazines for future Forums.
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mary rosenblum
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Today, I want to talk about
analyzing fiction markets.
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mary rosenblum
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This is a much tougher topic,
because in many ways, fiction is MUCH more subjective than nonfiction.
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mary rosenblum
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The editor of a nonfiction
magazines knows her readers and their likes/dislikes and merely has to
select...
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mary rosenblum
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well written articles that
appeal to those likes and dislikes, and make sure she offers a wide variety
of topics to keep readers subscribing.
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mary rosenblum
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But fiction...a good
story...is a MUCH less well defined genre.
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sande
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Are we limited to fiction
magazine markets or others too
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mary rosenblum
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Sande, I'll always answer off
topic questions in any forum...
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mary rosenblum
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but if you have a lot of
questions about nonfiction markets, you might want to read the transcript
of last Tuesday's Forum.
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mary rosenblum
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It's archived in Writing
Craft: Forum Transcripts. We went through a magazine issue and looked at
all the clues...
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mary rosenblum
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that indicated the editor's
needs. You can apply that process to any magazine.
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wyrde
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you have suggested that we
analyze an editor's preferences for non-fiction articles, is the same true
of fiction editors?
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mary rosenblum
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Yes, wyrde. Every fiction
editor has his or her own idea of what a 'good story' actually is...
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mary rosenblum
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and while it's more difficult
to determine that editor's tastes, you can get enough of a sense of what
does and does not work for that person...
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mary rosenblum
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that you can waste less
postage and gain fewer rejections.
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sande
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I meant can we talk about
fiction novels market too?
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mary rosenblum
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Sure. Fiction is fiction...it
is the story that matters and an editor's taste is just as important in the
novel market as in the short fiction market.
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wyrde
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I guess my real question is, is
it better to write a fiction story to a magazine's editor's preferences, or
write a story, then try to find a market that might be interested?
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mary rosenblum
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That depends on you, wyrde. I
have never written a good story unless I loved the story...
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mary rosenblum
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if I write to a magazine
market, I have to still love the story...
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mary rosenblum
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even if I mean, in the end, to
sell it to Analog, say.
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mary rosenblum
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If the story is 'artificial'
to you, it will likely seem artificial to your reader.
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mary rosenblum
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So write what you love and
then choose the magazine...that's usually the best bet.
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mary rosenblum
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But by analyzing the mags, you
will save yourself the four or five months of wait time only to earn a
rejection you could have seen coming.
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wyrde
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that makes sense, if one wants
to keep a degree of art in his/her writing, is this incompatible with
making a reasonable income?
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mary rosenblum
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No, it's not, wyrde.
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mary rosenblum
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If you want to earn a living
wage writing fiction, get used to writing anything you can sell regardles
of whether you care about the story or not.
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mary rosenblum
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OR..
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mary rosenblum
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you can catch the 'brass ring'
and end up with a blockbuster best seller...
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mary rosenblum
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and while you need to believe
that every book you write will BE that ...
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mary rosenblum
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you must realize that it's
like winning the lottery...
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mary rosenblum
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it's luck.
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wyrde
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the blockbuster isn't
necessarily the one with guts, though, is it?
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mary rosenblum
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It can be, wyrde. You never
know. While publishers tend to be conservative about what they buy...
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mary rosenblum
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a book that they don't expect
much from can suddenly explode...
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mary rosenblum
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Snow Falling on Cedars is one
such example...
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mary rosenblum
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and of course, so is Harry
Potter and in a big way.
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mary rosenblum
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BUT...intentionally trying to
write the blockbuster doesn't tend to work very well...
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mary rosenblum
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I can cite dozens of examples
of THAT!
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mary rosenblum
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Just write what you love and
hope you catch the brass ring.
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mary rosenblum
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Predicting the next big trend
is pretty much a dice roll.
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wyrde
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would you put Smila's sense of
snow in that category also?
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mary rosenblum
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That's another good example. And
they then went back and published some of Hoag's early work that hadn't
sold. :-)
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bengalrose
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Hi Mary. Great topic. But I'd
like to interject for a second. I just got a hand written rejection notice
from Honna over at TaleBones. Said something like "A lot to like about
this one, but in the end it did not exceed my expectations. Please submit
again." I just had to share with you!
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mary rosenblum
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Great, bengal..
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mary rosenblum
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and here's a lovely example of
info gathering.
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mary rosenblum
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Did not exceed my expectations
means loosely, it should have been somehow stronger...
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mary rosenblum
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you don't know whether she
means characters, end, plot, what...
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mary rosenblum
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but you DO know that the type
of story worked for her but it wasn't 'enough'.
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mary rosenblum
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I would make a note of that...
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gail
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Do fiction publishers/editors
ever request stories from writers who have established their style with
them?
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mary rosenblum
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All the time, gail.
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mary rosenblum
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They're casual requests...gee,
I'd really like to see something from you...I'm short of hard SF right
now...
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mary rosenblum
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that sort of thing.
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mary rosenblum
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And then you DO get a lot of
requests to submit to themed anthologies..
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mary rosenblum
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And these are actual requests
for a committment.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. Today
we're talking about how to analyze a fiction market. If you're new here,
remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word
bubble' next to the red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the
ask a question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar
won't reach me! You can also type /ask in front of your question to reach
me
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t green
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exactly how do you read these
fiction mags to get a feel for what the editor wants? i usually end up just
reading and get caught up in the stories then go back and think... i'm
still not sure what it was that sold the story...
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mary rosenblum
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Ah...this is where things get much
harder than with nonfiction.
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mary rosenblum
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And alas, more expensive,
since most fiction markets contain from one to a handful of stories.
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mary rosenblum
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And unlike nonfiction...names
matter.
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mary rosenblum
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So a fiction editor will buy a
story from a big name that maybe isn't exactly what he/she likes...
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mary rosenblum
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but the readers will like it,
and the name will sell...
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mary rosenblum
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but when you're a newbie, you
will only sell if the editor loves your story and then feels that the
readers will like it.
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redheadedturtle
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Mary, we all know marketing is
tough. Do you have any advice on what to do when your work is fairly
different than a publisher's material, but still within the genre and
guidelines?
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mary rosenblum
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redhead, that's always a tough
one. I have always felt that you need to make your own market...
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mary rosenblum
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that trying to write carbon
copies of what is out there is a dead end, unless you are writing Romance.
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mary rosenblum
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BUT...it is very frustrating
to break into the market when you are 'different'...
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mary rosenblum
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essentially you need to find
the editor who says, 'wow, cool, this is the next big thing!'
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mary rosenblum
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If you know SF, Bill Gibson
did this when he broke into SF with 'cyberpunk'.
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mary rosenblum
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It was VERY different and once
he got published, boy did it take off.
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mary rosenblum
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And editors know this happens,
so they DO take unusual things...
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mary rosenblum
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So all I can say is write as
powerfully as you can, keep your work circulating to as many editors as you
can...
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mary rosenblum
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and wait until it clicks with
someone.
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gail
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When requested, by an editor to
write a story, is the word count, genre, style, etc., made a requisite?
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mary rosenblum
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Word count probably Gail..but
generally they want your name so it's pretty flexible, up to a point. No,
normally the only request from an anthology editor is that you stick to a
theme...
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mary rosenblum
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women and language, dogs in
space...what have you.
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mary rosenblum
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Requests from magazine editors
are MUCH more vague... :-)
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redheadedturtle
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you caught me...I was getting
frustated with the romance market
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mary rosenblum
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Well, redhead, the romance
market really has no room for 'different', at least in the big
markets...Harlequin/Sillhouette.
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mary rosenblum
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They are VERY formulaic.
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mary rosenblum
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You're probably better off
trying some of the regular publishers like Putnam or Random House.
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mary rosenblum
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They all have romance lines
and they're not quite as tight...I think...as Har/Sil...
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mary rosenblum
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but your best bet there is to
join Romance Writers of America, read their newsletter and attend their
conferences...
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mary rosenblum
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where you can ask authors who
buys what and where to sell your 'different' romance.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. Today
we're talking about how to analyze a fiction market. If you're new here,
remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word
bubble' next to the red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the
ask a question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar
won't reach me! You can also type /ask in front of your question to reach
me
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mary rosenblum
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To get back to the question of
how to read a story...
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mary rosenblum
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Read 'em first for fun. :-)
Then turn off the 'fun' part of your brain...
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mary rosenblum
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and start looking at the
stories.
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mary rosenblum
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What is the theme of each one?
Coming of age?
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mary rosenblum
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First meeting/romance?
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mary rosenblum
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Getting old? Coming to terms
with family conflict?
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mary rosenblum
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Man/woman relationships?
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mary rosenblum
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Alternative gender issues?
Being a woman?
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mary rosenblum
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Make a note of what you see in
each story.
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mary rosenblum
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Now look at the type of story:
Does it have a traditional plot structure? Beginning/middle/end
conflict/resolution?
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mary rosenblum
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Is it a 'vignette', ie a scene
rather than a story.
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mary rosenblum
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Does it have a 'closed'
ending, or does the story simply end with no real resolution?
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mary rosenblum
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What characters feature?
Young? Old? Race? Ethnicity?
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mary rosenblum
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Rich? Poor?
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mary rosenblum
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How about settings?
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mary rosenblum
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Present, future, past?
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mary rosenblum
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Exotic? Everyday?
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mary rosenblum
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Not only will answering all
these questions give you a general sense of what the editor is buying...
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mary rosenblum
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but they will also help you to
become more aware of theme and content in your own work. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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And DO realize that editors
tend to group stories in an issue according to some mental theme of their
own...
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mary rosenblum
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so you REALLY need to read at
least three issues to get a more general sense of what this editor likes.
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mary rosenblum
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If you read one issue and it's
all cat stories...
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mary rosenblum
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and you send in a cat story,
you may not realize that this was a one-time theme...
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mary rosenblum
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and now the editor won't use
another cat story for the next two years!
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margieh
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And you want to read more than
one issue to see if the patterns hold?
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mary rosenblum
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Exactly, margieh...
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mary rosenblum
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Fiction is very subjective,
and you will never be 100% 'right' about what an editor likes...
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mary rosenblum
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but you can better your
chances of sending that editor something he/she likes...
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mary rosenblum
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and here is a VERY critical
hint, folks.
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mary rosenblum
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Editors WANT to buy your first
story.
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mary rosenblum
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Most of us have a strong sense
of loyalty to that editor who gave us our 'break'.
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mary rosenblum
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I sent nearly every story I
wrote to Gardner Dozois at Asimov's first...because he bought my first
story.
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mary rosenblum
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And he bought most of them,
and I actually got grumbled at by other editors...
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mary rosenblum
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So...here's the important part
of this...
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mary rosenblum
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if you routinely send the
editor stories the he/she likes, but maybe they're not quite strong enough
yet, or there's already a similar story in inventory...
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mary rosenblum
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that editor will be more
likely to buy from you sooner...
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mary rosenblum
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because you're clearly going
to write many more stories he/she can use...
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mary rosenblum
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and that editor wants to see
them first as you grow and gain a name for yourself.
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mary rosenblum
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So if that editor waits too
long...someone else will buy from you.
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mary rosenblum
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BUT...
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mary rosenblum
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if your stories don't normally
suit the magazine anyway...
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mary rosenblum
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why not wait until your name
is established elsewhere and then buy something from you eventually.
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gail
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Will themes change from issue to
issue? Should writers read a few issues -- as with N/F -- to get a feel for
the range of themes covered over time?
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mary rosenblum
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Yes, and yes, gail.
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mary rosenblum
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Each issue will be somewhat
different in tone and it's a good idea to analyze three at least.
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bjrpark
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if you are an unknown as far as
publishing fiction goes..is there a good place to begin the process?
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mary rosenblum
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bj, if I were you, I'd sit
down with the market list and pick the three fiction markets that seem to
fit your stories the best...
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mary rosenblum
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and check your library...you
might find them there if they're large circulation mags.
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mary rosenblum
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Otherwise, send in the cover
price to the editor and request a sample copy and writers guidelines. (That
always impresses editors!)...
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mary rosenblum
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and if it still seems to fit
your stories....send your best one off to the editor.
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mary rosenblum
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Do the same with other markets
and other stories...and keep them in circulation...
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mary rosenblum
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Soon as you get one back with
a rejection, send it somewhere else.
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mary rosenblum
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I used to make a list of five
fiction markets for each new story, and I'd check them off as I got the
story back and THAT DAY send it to the next market on the list.
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mary rosenblum
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Helps you keep your sanity...
:-)
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. Today
we're talking about how to analyze a fiction market. If you're new here,
remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word
bubble' next to the red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the
ask a question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar
won't reach me! You can also type /ask in front of your question to reach
me
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arfelin
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I've been noticing lots of
markets for flash fiction. Do you think that's becoming a trend?
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mary rosenblum
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It is, arfelin, definitely.
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mary rosenblum
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And it's a good way to break
into publishing...you can try a lot of different styles when you're only
writing 1000 words or so!
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mary rosenblum
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It's NOT a big career maker,
but it's a good way to begin and to play with experiments in style.
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sande
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my internet crashed, I missed if
we could ask fiction novels
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mary rosenblum
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Sure, sande...a fiction market
is a fiction market.
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margieh
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Consistency, Mary. Assuming I've
polished my craft and I'm consistanty writing my best but every story's
different, how do I guarantee consistency? What is it? How do I know that I
can continually produce the same quality work or better?
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mary rosenblum
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The only consistency an editor
cares about, margieh, is quality of story.
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mary rosenblum
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You can write stories that
editor won't want, no big deal, but if you are consistently writing GOOD
stories...that's when editors start buying.
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gail
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Word count, for me, is a
stickler. My stories often take on a life of their own. The 2000 word goal
is regularly surpassed. Even with brutal edits, I generally over-shoot my
W/C goal. Any suggestions?
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mary rosenblum
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Gail, word counts are alas,
real. But the LR 2000 count is a teaching device.
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mary rosenblum
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In the publishing world, you
are going to find quite a few markets in the 3000-5000 range and many that
will take much longer work.
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mary rosenblum
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Writing short is a skill you
develope and it comes through plotting, not eliminating words from your
story. :-)
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sande
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Should we try fiction mags.
first then novels?
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mary rosenblum
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Sande what are you good at? If
you're good at writing short fiction, work on that and establish a name
before you do a novel.
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mary rosenblum
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If you write better in long
form, start there.
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sande
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At what point (word count) is it
a novella, not a short stor
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mary rosenblum
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Novel: 40,000 or more
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mary rosenblum
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Novella: 17,500-39,999
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mary rosenblum
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Novelette: 7500-17,499
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mary rosenblum
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short story: 7499 words or
fewer
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bjrpark
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on rejections...is there a time
to take a look at your piece if you start getting rejection letters versus
just sending it off to the next editor?
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mary rosenblum
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Bj, you are GOING to get
rejection letters. LOTS of them.
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mary rosenblum
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And there are many reasons you
will be rejected.
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mary rosenblum
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only ONE of those reasons is
'poor craft'.
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mary rosenblum
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The others are:
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mary rosenblum
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Not right for the mag (the
most common one)
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mary rosenblum
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Editor just didn't like it
well enough.
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mary rosenblum
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Editor has one just like it in
inventory.
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mary rosenblum
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You're unpublished and it's
just not quite strong enough. (You'll sell it later when you have an
established name)
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ling630
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Prism rejected my story but
asked me to resubmit it. Does that mean that they are interested?
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mary rosenblum
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Well, clearly, but did they
ask you to resubmit IT or a new story? In any case...
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mary rosenblum
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ANY time a rejection says
'please send us more' they MEAN it.
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mary rosenblum
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The large circulation mags get
1000 stories or more per month!
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mary rosenblum
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They do not ask for more slush
to read unless they want it, believe me! :-)
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. Today
we're talking about how to analyze a fiction market. If you're new here,
remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word
bubble' next to the red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the
ask a question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar
won't reach me! You can also type /ask in front of your question to reach
me
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gail
|
It was suggested to me that I
should begin my fiction writing "career" with short-shorts and
work my way up the word counts until I finally get a book published. This
seems to contradict what you've just said. Or, am I misunderstanding the
advice?
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mary rosenblum
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That used to be the way
everybody did it, gail, but it's not really good advice anymore.
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mary rosenblum
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For one thing, book readers
and short story readers overlap but not completely..
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mary rosenblum
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so it helps you sell, but not
a lot unless you've won awards and gotten some high-profile reviews in
places like Kirkus and NYTimes.
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mary rosenblum
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And these days, the short
fiction market and novel markets are about equally tough to break into.
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mary rosenblum
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So if you're skills are more
suited to novels, you're better off to start there.
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sande
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is the format the same whether I
am writing long
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sande
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or short fiction. do I still do
my GMC etc for short fiction
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mary rosenblum
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I'm not sure what you mean by
GMC, sande, but ms format is the same for any submission...
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mary rosenblum
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with a novel you'll have a
title page and begin Chapter One on the next page.
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mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. Today
we're talking about how to analyze a fiction market. If you're new here,
remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word
bubble' next to the red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the
ask a question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar
won't reach me! You can also type /ask in front of your question to reach
me
|
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sande
|
Sorry Goals Motivation Conflict
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mary rosenblum
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Well, it totally depends on
what your market publishes, sande. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Which is why you analyze it
before you send your work in...or you tie up your work for a few months to
a YEAR to no purpose.
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jr souza jr
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How useful, if at all, are
non-fiction clips and credits 'when tooting your own horn' during a fiction
submission
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mary rosenblum
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The story sells itself, jr,
but DO mention your nonfic clips.
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mary rosenblum
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It tells the editor that you
can write professionally.
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mary rosenblum
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It should get you out of the
'slush' and into the 'semi pro' pile.
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margieh
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In the past you've mentioned
elements like plot-driven, character-driven. Can you weigh how appropriate
your story is for a market by comparing how much dialogue, narrative, role
of place, etc or is it all how the story affects the editor?
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mary rosenblum
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Hang on..i need to refresh
here..gremlins!
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mary rosenblum
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Okay...back.
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mary rosenblum
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Editors will prefer a TYPE of
story...
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mary rosenblum
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and that is what you look for.
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mary rosenblum
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Things such as
conflict/resolution, pace, types of characters...
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mary rosenblum
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they are all indications of
what catches this editor's attention.
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mary rosenblum
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And they ARE generalizations.
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mary rosenblum
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Just because you see a story
with a ten year old MC, doesn't mean YOUR story with a ten year old MC will
sell!
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mary rosenblum
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But clearly if you see several
stories with young main characters, the editor does like this type of
story.
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bjrpark
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how about the reverse of that
tooting your horn question?
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mary rosenblum
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What's the reverse, bj?
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gail
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It seems that many fiction
markets are much slower to respond to submissions than fiction markets. Why
is this, particulary as they already have the completed MS?
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mary rosenblum
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Well, how long does it take
you to read a two paragraph query lettere, gail?
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mary rosenblum
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How long does it take you to
read 30 pages of manuscript?
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bjrpark
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is it good to mention fiction
publications when submitting non-fiction?
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mary rosenblum
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Sure, bj...
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mary rosenblum
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same reason. You are
published. :-) And to be honest,...
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mary rosenblum
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many nonfiction editors are
impressed by fiction credits because it is much harder...
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mary rosenblum
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to be published in fiction
than non.
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mary rosenblum
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Your query will still have to
be appropriate for the mag and you'll have to write competent nonfiction...
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mary rosenblum
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but yes, it will help you.
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redheadedturtle
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Mary, when you are forunate
enough to be published, do you have any advice on how to go deal with
editors/magazines afterwards if you have any complications receiving
payment? And if you do have complications, is it foolish to try to work
with the editor again?
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mary rosenblum
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red, I make my living writing.
If I don't get paid, I sure won't send that market one more word ever!
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mary rosenblum
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I've never had any problems,
BUT...they do happen...
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mary rosenblum
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and they most often happen
with small press or new magazines that get into cash flow difficulties.
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mary rosenblum
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There's not enough money
involved most of the time to make it worth a legal wrangle..
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mary rosenblum
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so you learn a hard lesson and
send your work elsehwere.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. Today
we're talking about how to analyze a fiction market. If you're new here,
remember that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word
bubble' next to the red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the
ask a question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar
won't reach me! You can also type /ask in front of your question to reach
me
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mary rosenblum
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I do have a couple of
questions that arrived via email.
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mary rosenblum
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Terry asked about what editors
of the fantasy SF markets want, and wanted to know if the placement of the
story matters in a magazine.
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mary rosenblum
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Mostly it does
not...placement, I mean.
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mary rosenblum
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As I recall, Asimov's tends to
run their long story...a novelette or novella...at the end of the
magazine...
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mary rosenblum
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but it's not ordered by 'who's
best'.
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mary rosenblum
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Page layout has a lot to do
with ads, columns,and other pieces that will be part of the total issue.
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mary rosenblum
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As to the SF/F market...
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mary rosenblum
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analyzing editorial likes is
very much a matter of analyzing stories, as I said before.
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mary rosenblum
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Look at Analog, Stan Schmidt's
magazine...
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mary rosenblum
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what does he publish? Ask
yourself what is the common denominator there?
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mary rosenblum
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You'll find that every story
is based on hard science...
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mary rosenblum
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And that the science is
intergral to nearly every story.
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mary rosenblum
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But in Fantasy and SF for
example, you find more stories with..
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mary rosenblum
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strong character conflicts and
very richly described settings...
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mary rosenblum
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and the science is more
'fantastical' than based on reality.
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gail
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I didn't mean to criticize
fiction editors with my question. I assumed -- erroneously -- that fiction
publishers had more staff to read the greater volume of work. I thought the
delay could be in gathering stories of a certain theme which interests the
editor?????
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mary rosenblum
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Absolutely, gail.
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mary rosenblum
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Editing is as much a creative
process as writing.
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mary rosenblum
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You not only consider each
story for how good it is, technically...
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mary rosenblum
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but will it move readers, how
does it work with other stories in that slush pile..
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mary rosenblum
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can you put several together
in such a way that the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts?
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jr souza jr
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A bit off topic and maybe better
as a full forum topic but... As far as the IRS is concerned if writing is a
second business / source of income, can you deduct all/certain expenses
such as submission costs even when the result is compensation other than monetary.
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mary rosenblum
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Yes, jr, as long as you
satisfy the IRS that you are seriously TRYING to be a pro. Go read my
interview with John Caton, CPA who happens to be my accountant.
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mary rosenblum
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He went into a lot of detail
about how to do that, and I'll be posting a short article on the website
this week..
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mary rosenblum
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on that same theme. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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It's in Surviving and
Thriving: Intervew Transcripts.
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gail
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In a recent forum, you mentioned
that publishing our work in our own newsletter would disqualify the piece
for 1st rights sale because "one person has read it." What, then,
are the implications of posting a piece in a writer's group for critique?
Would that also disqualify it for a 1st rights sale?
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mary rosenblum
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Well, gail, the internet has
really blurred that criterion.
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mary rosenblum
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If your story is available to
the public to read you have published it.
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mary rosenblum
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There go your first rights.
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mary rosenblum
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So...technically that critique
group is publishing IF the story is up on a public website.
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mary rosenblum
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DO think about that.
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mary rosenblum
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You're not going to get sued,
but you might well get in trouble with an editor if he finds out through
word of mouth that the story he just paid 500 for.,..
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mary rosenblum
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is up there for free on a
website.
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mary rosenblum
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If it was up on that critique
site for a week, got its critique and is long gone...
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mary rosenblum
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is that a problem? Probably
not. You changed it after you got your critiques, how many people other
than the critiquers actually read it, and me, I wouldn't say a word about
it.
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mary rosenblum
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Use some common sense. The
editor needs to sell something new to the public.
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wyrde
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but that is if it is up on a
public website, what if it is private, and what if it is just a portion of
a story?
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mary rosenblum
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Can the public read it? It's
published, even if the website is owned by you.
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mary rosenblum
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But if it's only a portion of
the story, it shouldn't hurt anything...it's advertising!
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jr souza jr
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most/many writers groups are
listservs and not publicly available you need to subscribe and agree to
keep confidence on writings
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mary rosenblum
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That's not publishing. I give
my work to several readers...that is not published.
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mary rosenblum
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If I post a story on my
website...it IS published.
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wyrde
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sorry, I meant, if the
distribution was limited to your critique group
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mary rosenblum
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You can have a hundred people
read your work for critique purposes.
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mary rosenblum
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If you make it available to
the public at large...you are publishing it.
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gail
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What if the web-site group is
"closed" (meaning, available to select members only)?
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mary rosenblum
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If it's available to the
public it's published. If it is not, it is not published.
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mary rosenblum
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And many editors might take
the story anyway if it was no longer up on your website, but pay you for
second rights instead of first.
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mary rosenblum
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But many editors will NOT take
something that has been on your website.
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mary rosenblum
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So be careful.
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ladybird39pm
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how many Story cover letters can
one sent out
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ladybird39pm
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at one time to different mag.
editors
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mary rosenblum
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Well, lady, I'm assuming you
mean stories, since the cover letter goes WITH the story.
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mary rosenblum
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You can send out as many
DIFFERENT stories to editors as you have stories to send.
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mary rosenblum
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BUT most publishers will not
accept simultaneous submissions...
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mary rosenblum
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that means if you send story A
to publisher Y, you cannot ALSO send it to publisher X.
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mary rosenblum
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Some smaller magazines and
ezines DO accept simultaneous submissions...sim subs...
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mary rosenblum
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I have another question from
an absentee...
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mary rosenblum
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she wanted to know the
difference between 'literary' and 'mainstream';.
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mary rosenblum
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Wow...now there is a
distinction that requires that you read issues of the magazine.
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mary rosenblum
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When you get out of the
'genre' markets like mystery, romance, SF...
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mary rosenblum
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and get into 'general fiction'
and 'literary' markets, the editor's sense of what a story actually is...
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mary rosenblum
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is THE criteria.
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mary rosenblum
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Especially when you are
looking at university published literary reviews and the like.
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mary rosenblum
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Unlike genre magazines, they
do not depend on ads to finance them, so they can be quite
whimsical...based on what THIS editor thinks is good or bad.
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mary rosenblum
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If you do not read them you
have no clue. The guidelines are identical and what the editor actually
accepts will vary enormously.
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geezer
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if you submit simultaneously to
the UK and to something in the USA is that permissable?
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mary rosenblum
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Read the rights before you do.
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mary rosenblum
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If someone wants first world
rights, that won't work.
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mary rosenblum
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I can send something to France
to sell French language rights...
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mary rosenblum
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and sell First North American
here...
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mary rosenblum
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but not if the French mag
wants First World Rights.
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mary rosenblum
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To get back to
mainstream/litereary...
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mary rosenblum
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if you are writing fiction
that does not fit into the genre markets, then DO buy sample copies...
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mary rosenblum
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and take a look.
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mary rosenblum
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YOu will see a much greater
difference in type of story between several mainstream/literary markets
than you will see between two or three mystery or SF markets.
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mary rosenblum
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Any final questions before our
'Oregon hour' runs out?
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wyrde
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what exactly does it mean to be
a "hack" writer?
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mary rosenblum
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Well, that's a rather rude
term for someone who writes for money primariy, wyrde. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Many writers do this under a
pen name..writing true confession stories, erotica, porn, stuff like that.
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mary rosenblum
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It's often work for hire and
if not, it's simply done to pay the bills with a minimum of time and effort
spent.
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mary rosenblum
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It's very much 'writing for
the market'.
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mary rosenblum
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Nothing wrong with it. A day
job's a day job.
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wyrde
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so you mean writing without love
of writing
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mary rosenblum
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Well, without necessarily
loving THAT writing. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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It's a day job.
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mary rosenblum
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Marion Zimmer Bradley did a
lot of that...
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mary rosenblum
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and BOY would she jump down
your throat if you sneered at 'hack writers'. :-) I loved it.
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mary rosenblum
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She said...very rightly...that
if you want to make your living writing fiction, you darn well WILL write
whatever pays the bills.
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wyrde
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MZB obviously wrote from love of
writing too
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mary rosenblum
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Very much so.
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mary rosenblum
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There is nothing wrong with
writing to pay for the writing you love...
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craig
|
is literary working different
from fiction and non-fiction writing and how is it different?
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mary rosenblum
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Literary fiction is its own
universe, tends to have a very inside sort of 'who's who' that has to do
with who teaches at what grad school...
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mary rosenblum
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and is highly dependent on
style rather than plot/character.
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gail
|
If a job, any job, is just
"paying the bills" then the term hack could be applied to many
professionals (and amateurs.) ;-)
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mary rosenblum
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Well, I always figured if you
work at a convenience store so you can eat while writing your novel, is
that better than writing True Crime stories?
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wyrde
|
gotcha, wasn't being a snob,
just interested in it's definition
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mary rosenblum
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Oh, I realize that wyrde...
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mary rosenblum
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but you DO hear it used very
negatively...
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mary rosenblum
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and in reality it's not
negative at all.
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mary rosenblum
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Actually, it always makes me
roll my eyes when the person sneering at 'hacks' is supported by a loving
spouse with a good day job and healthcare! Heheh.
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mary rosenblum
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Well, this has been a fun
'hour'.
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mary rosenblum
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It IS tough to analyze
fiction, but you know what/
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mary rosenblum
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Analyzing those stories for
theme, style, content...will help YOU improve as a writer.
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mary rosenblum
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Do drop in tomorrow, same time
same station, for our casual chat.
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mary rosenblum
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It's our open get together and
we talk about everything!
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mary rosenblum
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See you then!
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mary rosenblum
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I'll post the transcript at
Writing Craft: Forum Transcripts.
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mary rosenblum
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Have a good day, all!
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