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Mary Rosenblum
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Hello all.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Sorry to be late.
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Mary Rosenblum
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THey finally opened Interstate
5 between Seattle and Portland and the traffic flood clogged everything.
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Mary Rosenblum
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What should have been a 45
minute drive home took over two hours!
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Mary Rosenblum
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But at least the flooding has
receeded and it IS open.
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Mary Rosenblum
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This is our After Hours Forum
(belatedly)
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Mary Rosenblum
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And tonight is an 'open
question night' where you can ask any question you've been wanting an aswer
to.
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info
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better than Iowa with the ice and
snow
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Mary Rosenblum
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I don't think the folks who
lost whole dairy herds, their homes, and businesses will agree with you.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I have been congratulating
myself on not living in hurricane country...I guess we live in typhoon
country.
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redwagon
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What's the main job of a copy
editor?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Red, a copy editor's job is to
'clean up' the copy -- catch any grammatical errors, logic errors, and the
like in a manuscript.
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Mary Rosenblum
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It is not that person job to
change content, just catch misplaced commas and that blue truck on page 36
that turns into a red truck on page 89.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The editor is the one who
works on content with you. Now in this day, you're only going to meet with
a copy editor if you publish with the big NY publishing houses.
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barbiq
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If you are still in BIP how do
you go about starting to edit your Nano project?
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Mary Rosenblum
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You'll just have to do it on
your won, Barb.
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k c morlock
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Then a copy editor is like a
proof reader?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Yes, KC, a copy editor is a
trained proof reader.
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rae
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I paid a page for a copy editor
to read my work.
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Mary Rosenblum
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That's actually pretty cheap,
rae. They go much higher than that.
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Mary Rosenblum
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About 3 - 5 bucks per page is
more common if the person is really good.
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redwagon
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What is the difference between a
ghostwriter and a co-author?
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Mary Rosenblum
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A co-author has his or her
name on the cover and 'supposedly' contributed to the book
directly...through writing.
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Mary Rosenblum
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(One of the two co-authors may
have done most of the work, as with books where one co-author is a
celebrity).
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Mary Rosenblum
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A ghost writer works for hire
and his/her name never appears on the cover, nor does the ghost writer own
rights to the book.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Usually, the ghost writer does
ALL the writing.
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redwagon
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What is a normal fee for
ghosting an 80K novel, that is only half done? Just a general idea?
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Mary Rosenblum
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That is totally negotiable,
red. You at least need a reasonable hourly rate for the work. Realize that
the book may earn nothing, or very little money. If you think it's going to
be a block buster, you might want to negotiate
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Mary Rosenblum
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for a percentage of the
royalties as well.
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redwagon
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thanks mary! i gotcha'
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Mary Rosenblum
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Do keep that hourly rate in
mind and realize that most people have a totally unrealistic expectation of
how well their book will sell.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Realize, too, that you may be
blamed if it does NOT sell. :-)
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k c morlock
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What is the motivation to ghost
write?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Money, dear. :-) Some of us DO
pay the bills with words you know.
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k c morlock
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I have a pre computer novel, how
do you suggest getting it into a word processor? I don't want to retype it.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Oh, KC, I am SO sorry. Retype
it. I had to retype my novel Drylands when I lost the electronic copy (it
was quite old).
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Mary Rosenblum
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You can scan pages, but you'll
deal with SO many typos, that if you're a fast typist, just retype it and
edit as you go.
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info
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A question about dialogue and
showing by action. Is it better to have a mc say ask questions or leave
things as wondering thoughts? ie: 'Why would Jody think that? Doesn't she
know I'm not like that?' Should this be stated or written as thought?
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Mary Rosenblum
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It's a balancing act, info.
Too much internal narrative tends to spoon feed the reader too much
information and it also slows down the scene.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You can use a bit of body
language. Carol stiffened. That makes us think that what Jody said
disturbed her.
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Mary Rosenblum
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And you can have her reveal
her thoughts through dialogue. "Ann, why would Jody say that? Does she
hate me?'
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Mary Rosenblum
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Use all three tools; body
language, internal narrative, dialogue, and see if you can't achieve a nice
balance that moves the scene along briskly.
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rae
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I now have about 6 stories out
there, and was wondering how long I should wait before resubmitting some of
them?
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Mary Rosenblum
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I take it that you have not
heard back from editors, rae? I personally would wait for at least 1 1/2
times the 'response time' listed in the writers guidelines.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Editors get busy, their kids
get sick, their relatives die.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you want to resub
something, send a polite withdrawal letter to the offending editor telling
him/her that you are withdrawing this piece from consideration.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Don't be snotty. Don't burn
your bridges. You'll deal with the same editors in this field all your
professional life.
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info
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There is such a thing as too
much dialogue and not enough narrative/body language, isn't there?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Absolutely. As I said, it's
all a balance.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Dialogue is not simply spoken
words.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Dialogue is spoken words PLUS body language PLUS internal
narrative.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Be sure to put the slash / in
FRONT of the ask: /ask
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Mary Rosenblum
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Remember that everything in
writing is a balance. The only rule is 'It Must Work'.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Some things work more easily
than others....but those 'do this' recommendations (such as one POV in a
short story) actually
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Mary Rosenblum
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mean 'this is the best way to
succeed'.
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Mary Rosenblum
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They are not 'rules' in that
you cannot do otherwise. However, doing otherwise will be much harder and
probably less successful if you are a novice.
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rae
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Is it better to stick to one
genre, or to write in several?
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Mary Rosenblum
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When you are starting to
write, I suggest you try EVERYTHING! You may find that you're good at
something you didn't expect at all! :-) I've had a number
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Mary Rosenblum
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of LR students who started out
only wanting to write fiction who are now well published in nonfiction and
love it.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You may discover that you
write really good romance, or really good horror, or really great personal
narrative NF.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You won't know until you try,
eh?
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pook
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My writing critique group liked
my romance but I'm not comfortable with it.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you're not comfortable with
it, don't write it. You can either write what you enjoy writing, or you can
write for money, and thus write what sells. It's up to you.
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rae
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Have you ever heard of a blind
author?
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Mary Rosenblum
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I have had a couple of blind
students at various times. I met a woman who is totally blind at the last writers
conference who is writing and publishing. She's using Dragon Naturally
Speaking and an editor to check it.
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jrp
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What sells?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Depends on what you mean, jrp.
If you're asking because you want to break into writing and you'd like to
break into something that pays well, that's the wrong way to do it. As a novice
writer you REALLY need to write what you read.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You know what 'sounds right'
if you read that type of work all the time, whether it's nonfiction,
mystery, horror, romance, what have you.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You simply won't have the
skill set to write something that you don't read a lot of, at that stage.
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jrp
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If you just write for the money
will the work be shallow?
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Mary Rosenblum
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It can be. It depends on your
skill level and how well you can write a story where you the author are not
completely engaged.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I will say that almost always
'shallow' is the best description of a novice's attempt to write in a genre
he/she is not familiar with or does not love.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Before you can consciously
know and control your skills to an advanced degree, you will know what
feels right, what moves you. And that will also engage the readers.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Write what you know, can be
interpreted to mean 'write what you love to read'.
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shmshwn
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Is it permitted to write 1000 BC
mid-east story with characters speaking modern english? Or must I try to
emulate the ancient language?
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Mary Rosenblum
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It's a good idea to make the
English sound a little less modern. You have to REALLY watch out for modern
slang and anachronisms. They creep in. If you avoid using any contractions,
you'll give the dialogue a 'foreign' feel.
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jrp
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So in writing what we feel ,
know we have a much better chance of engeaging our reader. Right?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Exactly, jrp. Many complete
novices sell books that work very well. Not because they consciously know
how to write a strong book, but because that story felt great to them, they
loved it, and that came through.
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jrp
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Mary, how does one go about
selling their first....
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Mary Rosenblum
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It's the same for anything,
jrp. Novel, short story, nonfiction article.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You have to write well, and
then you have to circulate it. Send it to every editor who might be
interested in it. And meanwhile, be working on the next project.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The more editors see from you,
the more they realize you're serious and they'll see that you're getting
better.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Realize that you may write and
try to market several novels before you sell the first one to a big
publishing house.
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sicily
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How often are the chat rooms
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Mary Rosenblum
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Sicily, the casual chats happen most evenings and many
mornings. People just show up to chat. The more formal 'Forums' and live
interviews with people in the writing profession
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Mary Rosenblum
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take place once a week or
more. Sign up for the free newsletter and you'll find out when they are and
what the topic is.
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Mary Rosenblum
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This Sunday we'll have our
usual casual chat where we just hang out in the auditorium and talk about
anything.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Any more questions? I'm
willing to go a bit late since I was late starting the Forum .
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rae
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Because I am not doing very
well, health wise, I was wondering how to keep writing.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Rae, I'm sorry about your
health, and I sure hope it gets better!
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Mary Rosenblum
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Write what matters to you.
Don't worry about whether someone will buy it. Write it because it matters!
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Mary Rosenblum
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I would, jacinda. The problem
with fiction is that you can sell that story again, and use those
characters in other stories...if you retain your rights.
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Mary Rosenblum
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When someone wants to publish
it without defining the rights, they may later claim that they have
acquired all rights...
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Mary Rosenblum
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and you may end up getting
into legal hassles if you use that story or those characters later in a
paying market.
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Mary Rosenblum
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They're not paying you! Don't
give the story away.
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jacinda2
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Mary - should I be wary of an
online publication that wants my story, is non-paying, and has not produced
a contract? I can't find out what rights they want.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Oops. I posted the answer
before I posted the question. Sigh. Sorry.
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shmshwn
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what publication is best for
findingoutlets for stories, novels etc?
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Mary Rosenblum
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I personally like the online
market lists the best...they are updated more frequently than are the print
lists like Writers Market.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Writers Market offers an
online as well as print version. Ralan.com is free and very extensive
although heavily weighted to speculative fiction.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you google around you'll
find a number of writers market lists.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I post them in the LR
Newsletter whenever I come across a new and interesting site.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you're writing sf/fantasy/horror
by all means use Ralan.com. He is the best!
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Mary Rosenblum
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Jacinda were you still in the
chat room when I answered your question or did you miss it?
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Mary Rosenblum
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shmshwn type /ask and then ask
your question again will you?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Otherwise it won't be in the
transcript and that's a VERY good question.
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shmshwn
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I was helping a lady in a
nursing home who had written a novel. She died before final editing. I have
the complete document on my PC. It's good enough to submit. An ideas?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Excellent question, shmshwn!
This is a toughie. She owns that novel. So now that she is dead, her estate
owns that novel.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you publish it without
permission, you are stealing it, legally.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Now you can go to her family
and ask if you can publish her novel.
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Mary Rosenblum
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They'll probably be thrilled
that you asked! BUT...and this is a BIG but...
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Mary Rosenblum
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Get some agreement down in
writing...what you get from the book, what they get from it.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If they want to give it to
you, assign you all rights, go for it. But get it in writing. What if the
book is a best seller and makes a million bucks?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Who gets the money? You better
decide that and have it down on paper with a signature from all parties.
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shmshwn
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I have tried to contact her
daughter to work out an arrangement. No luck yet.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Keep trying. You can't do
anything with it until you get written, signed permission from the
daughter. And make sure you get the rights and payment thing settled.
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jacinda2
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If I'm writing historical
fiction, do I have to credit every source that I used to acquire my
historical facts?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Depends on the publisher,
jacinda. I have read quite a bit of historical fiction with a very sparse
or nonexistant 'bibliography'.
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Mary Rosenblum
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But of course you should file
the bibiography in your notes anyway. If someone questions what you have
written, you can point to your sources.
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Mary Rosenblum
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That way, if an editor wants
those sources you have them.
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Mary Rosenblum
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But you're not going to
footnote everything!
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Mary Rosenblum
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You folks have had some great
questions tonight! Try that daughter again, shmshwn.
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Mary Rosenblum
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In all probability she'll be
happy to let you do what you want with the novel....its if the novel makes
money that you'll have trouble if nothing is written down and signed.
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shmshwn
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tomorrow I will call her again
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Mary Rosenblum
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Good luck with that and feel
free to email me with any questions about the details. You'll find lots of
email links in the newsletter.
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rae
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glad you are all right, and that
your home is safe
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Mary Rosenblum
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Me, too, thanks! I live on a
hill so had nothing worse than wet sheep, a muddy barn, and flooded roads.
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Mary Rosenblum
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A lot of folks had it a LOT
worse!
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Mary Rosenblum
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Great questions tonight,
folks!
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Mary Rosenblum
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Do drop by Sunday, same time
as this, and we'll have our casual get together.
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Mary Rosenblum
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It's a lot of fun. :-)
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Mary Rosenblum
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Have a good weekend, and I'll
see you then. We're even going to get some sun. Woohoo!
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Mary Rosenblum
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I'll post the transcripts in
the usual place: Writing Craft: Forum Transcripts
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Mary Rosenblum
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Night all!
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