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Resources for Writers

NOTE: Mention on this page does NOT constitute a recommendation from Meredith Sue Willis. These are things that looked interesting to me-- please check for yourself, and let me know of any broken links or information that needs to be updated.
                                        -- MSW

 

FOR SELF-PUBLISHERS, but maybe for everyone, take a look at Publishing Basics. They are selling services, but are very upfront about it, and understand the importance of sharing knowledge for free as well as selling it.

LOOKING FOR FREE CRITIQUING? HarperCollins supports a site that is a community of writers who upload work for others to critique. Things that get a a lot of attention from other users is sent to the "Editor's Desk", where it is given a close look by the actual publishing company: http://www.authonomy.com

Chuck Sambuchino's Guide to Literary Agents, especially his blog 
Blog about using Movie Techniques to Organize novels: Beat Sheet Central.

One writer's experience with CreateSpace

Highly Recommended: Zamzar.com.  Do you ever need to get a .jpg out of a .pdf or to turn a .pdf into a .doc file? These folks do it for free. They'd like you to sign on for the paid version, but happily do the free conversions if that's all you want.

Some Blogs by literary agents (thanks to Jessica Word)

Creative Writing Now: A new web page with classes, prompts, and lots of resources: http://www.creative-writing-now.com

 

 

For information about my online writing classes, go to mswclasse

 

Dear Writer,

This page has various pieces of information and links to other sites that I hope will be helpful to you. If you come to this as a complete amateur-- and keep in mind that amateur means you do something for the love of it-- you will find some basic ideas about getting published and the book business. For others, there are lots of odds and ends that you can find by scanning the topics in the column at the left.

The ideal publishing situation, which has become increasingly hard to achieve, is to get a literary agent to represent your work. The agent sells the finished book manuscript to a commercial publisher, and the editor at the publishing house works with you to perfect the book. And you, the writer, get paid. Usually, you get 10-15% of the cover price of each book that sells, and your agent gets 10% of everything you make on the book. This scenario has become more and more difficult to turn into reality. Even a published writer often discovers that if the first book doesn't become a best seller, then the publisher may turn down the second book.

More and more people have begun to pay for their own editing and even publishing their own work-- often before it's fully ready.  Before going to a book doctor or private editor, and certainly before self-publishing, I'd strongly suggesting taking a class or joining a writing group for mutual critique, or just getting friends to read your manuscript for reactions and suggestions.  I've belonged to a group of writers for about 25 years who get together every two weeks to critique one another's work. But non-writers can give excellent suggestions, especially about what seems to be missing or if there are things that don't make sense.

There is a lot of good material on the web and also lots of good books about writing. Explore, have fun, and good luck--

                                                -- MSW

 

The back pages of these two publications have information about contests, literary magazines, and many other matters of interest to writers:

Poets & Writers Magazine
Poets & Writers
72 Spring Street
New York, NY 10012
http://www.pw.org/

Writers Chronicle
Associated Writing Programs
Tallwood House Mail Stop IE3
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030
http://www.awpwriter.org/

 

For more commercially oriented information, try:

The Writer Magazine
http://www.writermag.com/wrt/

Writers' Journal

Writers Digest
1507 Dana Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45207
http://www.writersdigest.com/

Also useful is Writers Digest's yearly publication Writer's Market.

 

Writers' Conferences

Start with the listings at NewPagesat  http://www.newpages.com/writing-conferences/
Or the Associated Writing Programs list at http://writersconf.org/

Here's information on one specific conference about Pitching your book. It's the New York Writers Workshop "Perfect Pitch" workshop.

Suzanne Rahn recommends the Algonkian conference in San Francisco. She says, "I enjoyed this conference very much. I stayed at the Fort Mason Hostel which was a 5 minute walk to the conference and 20 min walk to Fisherman's Wharf. I would recommend the hostel as an extremely affordable place to stay. There is even a small cafe in the building where you can overlook Alcatraz Island sipping a cup of chai tea. Very nice area.

"[Workshop leader] Michael Neff's credentials are listed on the website and his style is that of a literary 'Simon Cowell' but not so heartless. His workshop is designed to help a writer improve but he also won't sugar coat his opinion. His goal is to further a good story or help rescue a terrible story. I met several agents and publishers during the week and established a cordial friendship with Michael and the owners of the Larsen/Paloma agency.

"I would highly recommend this conference to any writer who wants to take a serious step towards firming up and pitching his or her novel."

Copyright information:

Here is the government's information: Copyright
For a quick primer, look at the copyright article from the American Society of Journalists and Authorss.

All You Need to Know About ISBNs from Ron Pramschufer

http://www.publishingbasics.com/2009/09/20/whats-all-this-talk-about-isbn%E2%80%99s/

 

A few Best Selling books (fiction and non fiction) famous for being rejected again and again:

Joyce's Dubliners
Richard Hooker's Mash
Thor Heyerdahl's Kon-Tiki
James M. Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice
Patrick Dennis's Auntie Mame
Frank Herbert's Dune
Laurence Peter's The Peter Principle
and oh yes...
J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series

 

Grammar Questions 

For questions about straight American style grammar, try this Site. 

Free advice for writers:

(By the way, I don't necessarily agree with all this advice, but it's fun to read!)

Elmore Leonard's Ten Rules of Writing

My Q & A page

Here's a free article from Book Doctor Carol Gaskin called "The Top Five Errors of New Writers." Click here for article.

Sol Stein (editor, novelist, teacher, developer of how-to-write software) shares advice he gave famous writers.

Vonda McIntyre the science fiction writer has some wonderful, funny pitfalls of novel writing at http://www.sff.net/people/Vonda/Pitfalls.htp

 

Improving your style

The Princeton Writing Center Resources

The Fog Index-- check how clear your writing is!

Readability Tests!

 

 

Places to Study Writing

There are many, many places to study writing both in person and online. Check your local area for adult school classes.

The places I know best are in the New York-New Jersey area, but there are also a lot of possibilities online, including my occasional online classes. I will only list places here that I know at least a little about, or have heard something about from people I know. Mention here, however, does not constitute a recommendation by MSW. If you have a specifict recommendation, please sent it to me at meredithsuewillis@gmail.com for inclusion here.

 

The Writers Studio has been around for twenty years and has in-person classes in New York and San Francisco plus online classes. Some people swear by it, but others say that the exercises, which are good, take all your writing time. Certainly worth looking into.

I teach at NYU's School of Continuing and Professional Studies Center for Writing and Speech and it has a full range of courses that range from basic creative writing to advanced poetry, nonfiction and fiction. Very complete and solid.  The New School (also in New York City) offers a similar panoply of classes, as do  Columbia University and other universities and colleges.

Gotham Writers'  Workshop offers both online writing classes and in person classes. They run a tremendous number of sections, and, like the Writers Studio, some people swear by them and others find the classes unmemorable. This probably has to do with which teacher you get. They have several levels for most classes and pretty strict rules about how their classes are run, including what they call "The Booth," which is a technique that requires the writer to listen and not defend his or her writing. Many teachers do the same thing informally in their classes, calling it listening to what people have to say.

Another New York City area place to study writing is The New York Writers Workshop which does a lot of courses plus a special "Perfect Pitch" conference on marketing your work.

Also consider Mediabistro, which has a full and interstsing list.

There is also the Sackett Street Writers' Workshop in Brooklyn. The instructors all have MFAs, and the website says that "classes are held in instructors’ brownstone apartments in Carroll Gardens."

A new online resource is WriteFine.

My online courses are usually short, and I run them irregularly-- often in the summer or in January. I don't list MFA programs here in general (although I might someday), but I did recently receive a strong recommendation from Lita Kurth, a recent MFA graduate, who wrote:

"For people who want to get really serious about writing, I'd like to suggest my alma  mater, The Rainier Writers Workshop, a low-residency MFA program in Washington State that makes its on-site sessions convenient for students (You go there 10-11 days per year as opposed to many which require you to travel twice a year), has a wonderful esprit de corps, is willing to be flexible in a crisis, and offers superb teachers (of course, not everybody loves everybody). They send free shuttles to the airport to pick you up, and  they provide quite a few meals and a spartan but lovable dorm room, so you don't waste time making arrangements instead of reading and writing. Though the cost is similar to many other programs on the surface, these savings really add up.

"RWW is for people who want to study fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry or some combination (no screenwriting or plays). The student body also has an impressive age range (which I felt kept the neurosis level lower).

"Anyway, I just received my MFA there and have extremely warm and grateful feelings towards the people and program, so thought I'd let others know."

 

 

Looking for Free Peer Critiquing?

HarperCollins supports a site that is a community of writers who upload work for others to critique. Things that get a a lot of attention from other users is sent to the "Editor's Desk", where it is given a close look by the actual publishing company: http://www.authonomy.com

Sources of Literature Online

I have short stories, samples, and links to longer pieces online here. There are several sites that specialize in classics, generally out of copyright. Shop around, as some are more readable than others. Here are two:

Read Print New and very readable, a couple of Google ads at the top of the page.

Bartleby One of the first of these online libraries

Quotations: Mostly Writers on Writing:

 

Novelists Who Are Gardeners versus Novelists Who Are Architects

George R.R. Martin (Game of Thrones) says that he thinks of himself as a " 'gardener'—he has a rough idea where he's going but improvises along the way. He sometimes fleshes out only as much of his imaginary world as he needs to make a workable setting for the story. Tolkien was what Martin calls an 'architect.' Tolkien created entire languages, mythologies, and histories for Middle-earth long before he wrote the novels set there. Martin told me that many of his fans assume that he is as meticulous a world-builder as Tolkien was. They write to say, 'I'm fascinated by the languages. I would like to do a study of High Valyrian' '—an ancient tongue. 'Could you send me a glossary and a dictionary and the syntax?' I have to write back [says Marting] and say, 'I've invented seven words of High Valyrian.' -

- Laura Miller Full Article here:

 

 

 

"I usually begin with endings, with a sense of aftermath, of dust settling, of epilogue. I love plot, and how can you plot a novel if you don't know the ending first? How do you know how to introduce a character if you don't know how he ends up? You might say I back into a novel. All the important discoveries—at the end of a book—those are the things I have to know before I know where to begin."

                        -- John Irving http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/2757/the-art-of-fiction-no-93-john-irving

 

Walter Mosely says: "For me there is no such thing as fiction without poetry and politics. If you excise either one, you have taken the heart of us all. You won't get rich following my advice, but you may come up with something close to true."

 

 

"I've always agreed with William Faulkner—he said that the human heart in conflict with itself is the only thing worth writing about. I've always taken that as my guiding principle, and the rest is just set dressing. I mean, you can have a dragon, you can have a science fiction story set on a distant planet with aliens and starships, you can have a western about a gunslinger, or a mystery novel about a private eye, or even literary fiction—and ultimately you're still writing about the human heart in conflict with itself. So that's the way I try to approach this thing. And while I may work within a genre, I've never liked to be bound by them. I have a lot of fun in frustrating genre expectations, using a bit of this or a bit of that, and doing something that hasn't been done before."

-- George R.R. Martin in an online inteview with The Atlantic
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/07/george-r-r-martin-on-sex-fantasy-and-a-dance-with-dragons/241738/

 

 

 

Lewis Hyde writes about art and the market economy: ".....there are categories of human enterprise that are not well organized or supported by market forces. Family life, religious life, public service, pure science, and of course much artistic practice: none of these operates very well when framed simply in terms of exchange value. The second assumption follows: any community that values these things will find nonmarket ways to organize them. It will develop gift-exchange institutions dedicated to their support.

– Lewis Hyde, “On Being Good Ancestors,” The Gift (New York: Vintage, 1979-2007) pp 379-379.

 

 

Grace Paley once said in an interview, "I'm an ear believer--I think the ear is smarter than the eye. The experience of reading your work aloud in a class carries you back to that original impulse, 'I want to tell you something.' 'What did you want to tell me? Tell me.' When you tell a story, it's your voice telling a story. You really can hear what's wrong with it. People think you can just sort of smear over it, but that's not true. What I'm trying to do is to remind students they have two ears. One is the ear that listens to their own ordinary life, their family and the street they live on, and the other is the tradition of English literature."

 

 

Michael Chabon believes that three things are required for success as a novelist: talent, luck, and discipline. He says, “Discipline is the one element of those three things that you can control, and so that is the one that you have to focus on controlling, and you just have to hope and trust in the other two.”

 

 

For me there is no such thing as fiction without poetry and politics. If you excise either one, you have taken the heart of us all. You won't get rich following my advice, but you may come up with something close to true..

                                                        -- Walter Mosley

[Charles Dickens and H.G. Wells ] are, both, humorists and visualizers who get an effect by cataloguing details and whisking the page over irritably. They are generous-minded; they hate shams and enjoy being indignant about them; they are valuable social reformers; they have no notion of confining books to a library shelf. Sometimes the lively surface of their prose scratches like a cheap gramophone record, a certain poorness of quality appears, and the face of the author draws rather too near to that of the reader. In other words, neither of them has much taste: the world of beauty was largely closed to Dickens, and is entirely closed to Wells.

                         -- E.M. Forster in Aspects of the Novel

                                                    

                                                    

 

 

“The two most engaging powers of an author are, to make new things familiar, and familiar things new.”
-- attributed to Samuel Johnson, in reference to Pope’s Rape of the Lock

 

 

"I don’t know if Native Son is a good book or a bad book. And I don’t know if the book I’m working on now will be a good book or a bad book. And I really don’t care. The mere writing of it will be more fun and a deeper satisfaction than any praise or blame from anybody."

-- Richard Wright

 

 

"Taking a book off the brain...is akin to the ticklish & dangerous business of taking an old painting off a panel--you have to scrape off the whole brain in order to get at it with due safety--&even then, the painting may not be worth the trouble."

-- Herman Melville

 

 

A story is...."a narrative of events arranged in their time sequence. A plot is also a narrative of events, the emphasis falling on causality. 'The king died, and then the queen died,' is a story. 'The king died, and then the queen died of grief,' is a plot. The time-sequence is preserved, but the sense of causality overshadows it. Or again: 'The queen died, no one knew why, until it was discovered that it was through grief at the death of the king.' This is a plot with a mystery in it, a form capable of high development. It suspends the time-sequence, it moves as far away from the story as limitations will allow. Consider the death of the queen. If it is in a story, we say, 'and then?' If it is in a plot we ask, 'why?'"

-- E.M. Forster in Aspects of the Novel

 

 

People don't turn themselves over to writers as full-blown literary characters– generally they give you very little to go on and, after the impact of the initial impression, are barely any help at all. Most people (beginning with the novelist– himself, his family, just about everyone he knows) are absolutely unoriginal, and his job is to make them appear otherwise. It's not easy. If Henry was ever going to turn out to be interesting, I was going to have to do it.

– Phillip Roth (as Zuckerman) Counterlife

 

 

...Coming back and reading what I have produced, I am unable to detect the difference between what came easily and when I had to sit down and say, "Well, now it's writing time and now I'll write." There's no difference on paper between the two.
                                         — Frank Herbert, author of Dune

 

Articles (and more) for writers:

Piece about "the Gawking Character"

An all-purpose editorial and support site

Articles and Sites for Readers and Writers

Literature and the Internet entry on the Future of Devices

Blog about using Movie Technique to Organize novels: Beat Sheet Central.

More than an article, a blog about self-editng at http://www.selfeditingblog.com/

A book review about a book about the state of publishing:  "The Business of Books, by André Schiffrin by Meredith Sue Willis.

On politics and poetry in fiction writing by Walter Mosley

Article about digital versus conventional publishing.

Resurgence of interest in readings and lectures? See article  

Free writing exercises! Need a jump start? Try one of Meredith Sue Willis's ideas for writing.

Vonda McIntyre the science fiction writer has some wonderful, funny pitfalls of novel writing at http://www.sff.net/people/Vonda/Pitfalls.htp .

Need names?

20,000 names at http://20000-names.com/

Random name generator at : http://www.kleimo.com/random/name

 

Digitalize Your Books

A Good Company I've used for turning my hard copy books that were written on typewriters (yes, yes, I know...) into .pdf or .doc files, is Golden Images, LLC. Write to Stan Drew, who is very responsive to email, and does the work for what seems like a reasonable price to me.

 

Proofreader's marks

For Women

Check out the International Women's Writing Guild

Feminist Literary Journals

(Thanks to Suzanne McConnell)

Calyx
Box B
Corvallis, OR 97339
Reads from Oct. 1 to Dec. 15

Mary Sue Koeppel, Editor
Kalliope
3939 Roosevelt Blvd.
Jacksonville, Fl. 32205

Caroline Zuschek, Fiction Editor (07)
So To Speak
SUB 1 Rm 254A
George Mason University
4400 University Dr. MSN 2C5
Fairfax, VA 22030

13th Moon
http://www.albany.edu/13thMoon/13mmag.htm

THESE BELOW ARE OLD, SO CHECK THEM BEFORE SENDIN

IRIS: A Journal about Women
Fiction Editor
Box 323 HSC
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA 22908

The Editors
Earth's Daughters
P.O. Box 41
Buffalo, NY 14215

Room of One's Own (Canada's oldest fem. mag)

 

Some Small Presses:

Academy Chicago http://www.academychicago.com/. Don't use electronic means of getting in touch with them.

Black Heron http://blackheron.mav.net/

Brighid's Fire Books  specializes in first fiction.

Bright Hill Press http://www.brighthillpress.org/

Carolina Wren Press http://www.carolinawrenpress.org/index.html Andrea Selch, president, carolinawrenpress@earthlinknet

Chronicle Books http://www.chroniclebooks.com/site/catalog/

Coffee House Press http://www.coffeehousepress.org/

Four Walls http://www.fourwallseightwindows.com/

Ghost Road Press http://www.ghostroadpress.com

Grey Wolf http://www.graywolfpress.org/

Iris Publishing Group (Iris Press and Tellico Books) has been run by Robert Cumming for more than ten years and publishes writers like Ron Rash,Cathy Smith Bowers, and Jon Manchip White. They plan 10 books for 2007. Lately they have done more literary fiction and at least one work of nonfiction.

Leapfrog http://www.leapfrogpress.com/

Marsh Hawk Press is committed especially to publishing poetry that has an affinity to the visual arts. The artistic advisory board includes Toi Derricotte, Marilyn Hacker, Allan Kornblum, Alicia Ostriker, David Shapiro, John Yau, and Anne Waldman.

Midlist http://www.midlist.org/

MotesBooks is a new educational and literary press. The publisher is Kate Larken.

Nightboat at http://www.nightboat.org

Press 53 :  Small literary press, some emphasis on North Carolina and Appalachian writers, but much broader. Reprinting novels by John Ehle; upcoming includes Valerie Nieman.

Pudding House http://www.puddinghouse.com/

Red Hen http://www.redhen.org/

Sarabande http://www.sarabandebooks.org/

Shoemaker & Hoard has a wonderful list that includes Wendell Berry and Donald Barthelme, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Anne Lamott, and Romulus Linney among many others. Publisher Jack Shoemaker was the cofounder, editor, and publisher of North Point Press and Counterpoint Press. See the webpage at http://www.shoemakerhoard.com/about.html

Toby Press http://www.tobypress.com/

Wind Press at http://windpub.com publishes poetry of the Appalachian region.

Word Press publishes poetry.

Publishers Specializing in Nonfiction and Self-Help

Morgan James Publishing is a new model publisher that works cooperatively with authors of nonfiction and self-help only. So don't take them your literary work, but do check them out if you have a high concept idea for a book on how to do something.

 

 

Literary Agents and others

• Chuck Sambuchino's Guide to Literary Agents, especially his blog.

• Some basic information about agents can be found on the Poets & Writers website at literary agents.  A big commercial publication about literary agents is Writers Guide to Book Editors, Publishers, and Literary Agents by Jeff Herman. Prima Publishing P.O. Box 1260BK Rocklin, CA 95677 (916) 632-4400.

• Literary Agents of North America is the most comprehensive alphabetical listing of over 800 U.S. and Canadian literary agencies. It can be found in most libraries, or from: Author Aid/ Research Associates International 340 E. 52nd Street New York, NY 10022

• Here's a site with agents listed: http://www.publication.com/aylad/aaragent4.htm  (This group was formed in 1991 through the merger of the Society of Authors'  Representatives, founded in 1928, and the Independent Literary Agents Association, founded in 1977.

• To get up-to-date free information about which agents are selling what, go to Publishers Lunch  Free newsletter on publishing deals, and the Publishers Weekly "Hot deals."

The Science Fiction Writers of America's website has lots of good information, including a list of "Writer Beware" agencies whose sins range from being fronts for vanity presses to charging for editorial work and never sending out your work.

 

Some Literary Agents' Blogs (thanks to Jessica Word)

 

"Pub Rants" (http://pubrants.blogspot.com/)
Nathan Bransford (http://blog.nathanbransford.com/)
Janet Reid (http://jetreidliterary.blogspot.com/)
Jessica Faust (http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/)

 

 

Some Agents Who Are Taking Submissions

 

Thanks to Donna Tobin and Writers Digest for the information below from late 2009:

• Emmanuelle Alspaugh
  Judith Ehrlich Literary Management
  880 Third Ave., Eighth Floor, New York NY 10022
  ealspaugh@judithehrlichliterary.com
  judithehrlichliterary.com
  FICTION INTERESTS: romance, women’s fiction, historical fiction.
  NONFICTION INTERESTS: narrative nonfiction, memoir, business and how-to.
  ACTIVELY SEEKING: paranormal, futuristic and historical romance, and urban fantasy.
  DOES NOT WANT: detective stories, spy thrillers, cozy mysteries or any novel with a dead body in the first chapter.
  HOW TO CONTACT: “E-mail queries preferred. A nonfiction query should clearly describe the project and the author’s qualifications for writing it, emphasizing any platform and existing audience the author has developed for the book, and listing any professional published work. A fiction query should include the genre or category of the work, the approximate word count, a brief synopsis describing the plot and main characters, and the first chapter or first 7–10 pages of the ms. If sending by e-mail, please paste this sample after the query.”
  RECENT SALES: Cooking and Screaming by Adrienne Kane; Falling Under by Danielle Younge-Ullman; Oysters & Chocolate by Jordan LaRousse and Samantha Sade.
  TIPS: “It’s useful to mention any trade press books to which your work might be compared. If we are sufficiently intrigued by your project, we will ask for samples or the complete proposal or ms.”
  
  Bernadette Baker-Baughman
  Baker’s Mark Literary Agency
  P.O. Box 8382, Portland OR 97207
  info@bakersmark.com 
  bakersmark.com
  SPECIALIZES IN: nonfiction and graphic novels.
  NONFICTION INTERESTS: image-rich books, pop culture, light sociology and narrative nonfiction.
  OTHER INTERESTS: beautifully illustrated works of non-fiction, memoir, YA fiction (especially oriented toward female readers) and contemporary literature. Agent is also willing to talk to writers who have comic scripts without art attached.
  DOES NOT WANT: sci-fi, Western or children’s books.
  HOW TO CONTACT: “We prefer a query before you send us your ms. Query via e-mail. Your query should be one page with no attachments and no chapters included in the body of the e-mail. Queries sent with attachments will be deleted unread. If, based on your query, we ask to see more of your work, we will request more material to be sent via the U.S. Postal Service. Work without a SASE will not be returned. Please do not submit any original materials.”
  RECENT SALES: Friends With Boys by Faith Erin Hicks; City of Spies by Susan Kim and Laurence Klavan, with illustrations by Faith Erin Hicks; War Is Boring by David Axe and
  Matt Bors; The Wrenchies by Farel Dalrymple; Comic Books 101 by Chris Ryall and Scott Tipton; Boilerplate: History’s Mechanical Marvel by Paul Guinan and Anina Bennett.
  
  Michelle Brower
  Folio Literary Management
  505 8th Avenue, Suite 603
  New York, NY 10018
  michelle@foliolit.com
  foliolit.com
  NONFICTION INTERESTS: memoir, pop culture, humor, animal/pet books, popular science and narrative nonfiction.
  FICTION INTERESTS: literary and commercial fiction, including thrillers, graphic novels, select YA titles, books that capture elements of the strange and wonderful, and those that offer a unique perspective of the world.
  DOES NOT WANT: cozies, romance, picture books, genre sci-fi or horror.
  HOW TO CONTACT: Put "Query" in the subject line of the e-mail. “For fiction, send a query with enough information about the novel and your writing credentials for me to evaluate whether the material is going to be right for me. You are also welcome to include the first chapter. Please include information about your previous publications, awards, and conferences and workshops you have attended. For nonfiction, send a query with a clear description of the proposed book, a TOC or outline, and a sample chapter. The writer’s qualifications and credentials (such as expertise in the subject area and promotional experience) are essential to our assessment of the salability of the material. Only queries with SASEs will receive responses. Please specify whether or not the material is being considered by other agencies. I generally respond to all queries within four weeks. I now accept e-mail submissions; please include my name in the subject line.”
  RECENT SALES: The Naked Pint: An Unadulterated Guide To Craft Beer by Christina Perozzi and Hallie Beaune; The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors by Michele Young-Stone; Through the Eyes of a Cat by Mieshelle Nagelschneider.
  
  Danielle Chiotti
  Upstart Crow Literary
  danielle.submission@gmail.com
  upstartcrowliterary.com
  NONFICTION INTERESTS: narrative nonfiction, memoir, self-help, relationships, humor, current events, women’s issues and cooking.
  FICTION INTERESTS: commercial women’s fiction and multicultural fiction (with a “literary” edge), romance, paranormal romance and YA fiction for girls.
  DOES NOT WANT: sci-fi/fantasy, hard-boiled mystery or thrillers.
  HOW TO CONTACT: Query through e-mail.
  
  Stacia Decker
  Donald Maass Literary
  sdecker@maassagency.com
  maassagency.com
  FICTION INTERESTS: hard-boiled mystery and crime fiction.
  HOW TO CONTACT: E-query letter with the first 5 pages pasted into the body of the e-mail. She will request more if interested.
  
  Amberly Finarelli
  Andrea Hurst Literary Management
  P.O. Box 19010, Sacramento CA 95819
  amberly@andreahurst.com 
  andreahurst.com
  NONFICTION INTERESTS: humor/gift books, crafts, how-to (financial, house and home, health and beauty, weddings), relationships/advice, self-help, psychology, travel writing and narrative nonfiction.
  FICTION INTERESTS: commercial women’s fiction; comic and cozy mysteries; literary fiction with a focus on the arts, culture and/or history.
  HOW TO CONTACT: Query with a SASE by mail, or send an e-query. For fiction, submit a synopsis and two sample chapters. For nonfiction, submit the complete proposal.
  RECENT SALES: Imagine Life With a Well-Behaved Dog by Julie A. Bjelland; How to Host a Killer Party by Penny Warner; The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Barter and Trade Exchanges by Jerry Howell and Tom Chmielewski.
  TIPS: “Do your homework. Submit a professional package.”
  
  Diana Flegal
  Hartline Literary
  123 Queenston Dr., Pittsburgh PA 15235
  diana@hartlineliterary.com 
  hartlineliterary.com
  NONFICTION INTERESTS: how-to from an “in the know” perspective, with credentials to back that up. Looking for “where the rubber meets the road” realistic solutions to life’s trying circumstances and issues with a broad base of interest (nonacademic but not in conflict with a Christian worldview). Parenting, marriage, arts and health. “Non-preachy is fine, but heavier spiritual material is welcome as well.”
  FICTION INTERESTS: contemporary fiction with deep characterization and compelling, fast-paced story lines that show characters facing realistic circumstances, and sort of wrestling out their faith issues to a satisfying conclusion.
  DOES NOT WANT: memoirs or biblical historical fiction. HOW TO CONTACT: E-mail submissions with a complete proposal per the guidelines on the agency’s website. Allow 60 days for a reply. For fiction, submit a package that includes your cover letter, bio, synopsis, market analysis, marketing strategies (if any) and the firstthree chapters. For nonfiction, include a query and a comprehensive book proposal with at least three sample chapters.
  RECENT SALES: Love Finds You in Hershey, Pa. by Cerella Sechrist; Prevailing Love by Loree Lough; Fat to Skinny Fast and Easy! by Doug Varrieur.
  
  Loren S. Grossman
  Paul S. Levine Literary Agency
  1054 Superba Ave., Venice CA 90291
  lrg@ix.netcom.com  
  paulslevinelit.com 
  NONFICTION INTERESTS: child guidance/parenting, education/academics, health/medicine, science/technology.
  HOW TO CONTACT: Writers are encouraged to refer to one or more books for writers on how to query. Send a one- page, single-spaced query, preferably via e-mail (although snail mail is acceptable). Place the word “Query” in the subject line or “Re:” field of your query. No phone calls. In your query, note your target market, with a summary of specifics on how your work differs from other authors’ published work. All submissions should be free of spelling and grammatical errors. If you’re asked to submit material and you would like it returned should the agency not represent you, enclose a SASE.
  
  Sammie L. Justesen
  Northern Lights Literary Services
  11248 N. Boyer Rd., Suite A, Sandpoint ID 83864
  sammie@northernlightsls.com
  northernlightsls.com 
  NONFICTION INTERESTS: health, biography, psychology, self-help, how-to, food, parenting, new age, medical and business.
  FICTION INTERESTS: women’s, romance, mystery, Christian and suspense.
  DOES NOT WANT: horror, children’s, erotica.
  HOW TO CONTACT: E-queries only. For fiction, send a query, a one- or two-page synopsis of the plot, and the first few pages. Also include an author bio relating to your writing experience. Don’t send entire ms unless requested. For nonfiction, send a query and the book proposal. “We love writers who have a platform and will help market their books. Due to the overwhelming number of submissions, we cannot respond to all queries, but we do read them and will contact you if interested.”
  RECENT SALES: Intuitive Parenting by Debra Snyder; Thank You for Firing Me by Candice Reed and Kitty Martini; The Never Cold Call Again Toolkit by Frank Rumbauskas, Jr.
  
  Jennifer Laughran
  Andrea Brown Literary Agency  
  jennl@andreabrownlit.com  
  andreabrownlit.com
  FICTION INTERESTS: children’s and YA only—realistic YA and middle-grade, humor, mystery, adventure, light fantasy and YA romance.
  DOES NOT WANT: adult fiction, picture books, early readers, nonfiction, high fantasy or religious stories.
  HOW TO CONTACT: E-mail queries only. Put “Query” in the subject line. Send the query and the first 10 pages in the body of the e-mail.
  RECENT SALES: The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z. by Kate Messner; Beautiful Yetta (The Yiddish Chicken) by Daniel Pinkwater.
  TIPS: “A ‘no’ from one of our agents is a ‘no’ from the entire agency. If your work is declined, please do not resubmit the same work to another agent at our agency, as we do communicate with each other about projects under consideration.”
  
  Alexandra H. Machinist
  The Linda Chester and Associates Literary Agency
  submissions@lindachester.com
  lindachester.com 
  NONFICTION INTERESTS: narrative nonfiction, pop culture, popular science and travel narrative.
  FICTION INTERESTS: literary fiction, literary suspense, upmarket women’s fiction, anything and everything that explores a subculture, historical, historical romance, paranormal romance and any other novel that will keep her up turning pages all night.
  DOES NOT WANT: memoir, prescriptive nonfiction or chick lit.
  HOW TO CONTACT: Agent responds only to submissions that follow these guidelines: “Please send a query that includes a comprehensive synopsis of the project, as well as a bio listing your writing and life credentials, to submissions@lindachester.com.” If she’s interested in your work, she will respond within four weeks. Snail mail submissions will not be reviewed.
  RECENT SALES: Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth; The Cheater’s Diet by Marissa Lippert; Some Girls by Jillian Lauren; The Wet Nurse’s Tale by Erica Eisdorfer.
  
  Jennifer Mattson
  Andrea Brown Literary Agency  
  jmatt@andreabrownlit.com  
  andreabrownlit.com
  FICTION INTERESTS: picture books that are real, storytime-ready stories (no one-joke tales or mood pieces). For the older set, she’s drawn to richly imagined fantasies that depart from old-hat heroic quests (alternate realities, magical realism and steampunk are all styles/premises to have recently caught her notice).
  ACTIVELY SEEKING: dystopian fiction for middle-graders and sprawling, atmospheric tales with Dickensian twists and satisfying puzzles. But as much as high-concept novels pique her interest, the most mind-blowing premise can’t hide a flat narrative that rarely reaches for unexpected descriptions, fully fleshed characterizations or a zinging narrative voice.
  DOES NOT WANT: fables and folktales.
  HOW TO CONTACT: Send the query and first 10 pages via e-mail. If you haven’t heard from her within eight weeks, please assume she is passing on your project.
  RECENT SALES: Party by Tom Leveen; Bobo Goes to Daycare by Gail Page; Ten on the Sled by Kim Norman.
  TIPS: “A ‘no’ from one of our agents is a ‘no’ from the agency as a whole. If your work is rejected, please do not resubmit the same work to another agent at our agency. We do communicate with each other about projects.”
  
  Jeffery McGraw
  The August Agency
  submissions@augustagency.com  
  augustagency.com
  ACTIVELY SEEKING: women’s fiction, well-written melodramas (consider Gone With the Wind or The Hours) and witty comedies-of-manners (All About Eve). His other favorite areas are nonfiction subjects: political science, history, biography, self-help, health, lifestyle and the
  social sciences.
  HOW TO CONTACT: E-query with the word “query” in the subject line. Include a detailed summary of your book (one to two paragraphs only), a chapter outline (for nonfiction only), a brief paragraph explaining who you are and why you have chosen to write this particular book, and the first 1,000 words or first chapter (which must be pasted within the body of your e-mail; all unsolicited attachments will be deleted).
  RECENT SALES: Clintonomics: How Bill Clinton Reengineered the Reagan Revolution by Jack Godwin;  Plum Blossoms in Paris by Sarah Hina.
  TIPS: “I always welcome submissions from new authors. Follow the submission guidelines on the agency website.”
  
  Kate McKean
  Howard Morhaim Literary Agency
  30 Pierrepont St., Brooklyn NY 11201
  kmckean@morhaimliterary.com 
  morhaimliterary.com
  NONFICTION INTERESTS: narrative nonfiction, sports-related books, food writing, pop culture and craft.
  FICTION INTERESTS: literary fiction, contemporary women’s fiction, paranormal romance, romantic suspense, urban fantasy, mystery, YA and middle-grade fiction.
  DOES NOT WANT: epic fantasy, sci-fi or children’s picture books.
  HOW TO CONTACT: Agent prefers e-mail queries, and generally responds in six to eight weeks. Send a query letter and three sample chapters.
  RECENT SALES: How to Take Over Teh Wurld by Professor Happycat and icanhascheezburger.com; Cardboard Gods by Josh Wilker; The Blind Contessa’s New Machine by Carey Wallace.
  
  Courtney Miller-Callihan
  Sanford J. Greenburger Associates
  55 Fifth Ave., 15th Floor, New York NY 10003
  cmiller@sjga.com  
  greenburger.com
  NONFICTION INTERESTS: practical/how-to books, self-help, pop culture, lifestyle and narrative nonfiction.
  FICTION INTERESTS: historical fiction, commercial women’s fiction and kids’ books.
  DOES NOT WANT: religious/spiritual titles, talking animal books, thrillers and sci-fi.
  HOW TO CONTACT: “Query via e-mail. Please submit a query, book proposal or the first three chapters of the ms, a synopsis of the work and a brief bio or résumé. I generally reply to queries within six weeks.”
  RECENT SALES: Unclutter Your Life in One Week by Erin Rooney Doland; The 12 Days of Christmas in Georgia by Elizabeth O. Dulemba; Crazy Aunt Purl’s Home Is Where the Wine Is by Laurie Perry; Whip-Up’s Mini Quilts by Kathreen Ricketson.
  
  Robin Mizell
  Robin Mizell Ltd.
  P.O. Box 1270, Athens OH 45701  
  mail@robinmizell.com  
  robinmizell.com
  NONFICTION INTERESTS: long-form narrative journalism, neuroscience, psychology, sociology, pop culture, memoir and biography.
  FICTION INTERESTS: literary and commercial fiction, graphic novels, YA and book-length short-story collections.
  HOW TO CONTACT: Query via e-mail with a summary of the book, the word count and an explanation of your platform, credentials and expertise. Also include the first five pages of your ms.
  
  Tamela Hancock Murray
  Hartline Literary
  10383 Godwin Dr., Manassas VA 20110
  tamela@hartlineliterary.com  
  hartlineliterary.com
  NONFICTION INTERESTS: work submitted from writers with a great platform and media presence who can partner with the publisher to sell books.
  FICTION INTERESTS: Christian fiction, primarily romance. Historical is of special interest at this time.
  HOW TO CONTACT: E-queries only, sent to the above e-mail address. For fiction, submit a package that includes your cover letter, bio, story synopsis, market analysis, marketing strategies (if any) and the first three chapters. For nonfiction, include a query and a comprehensive book proposal with at least three sample chapters.
  RECENT SALES: Hearts on the Road by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer; Columbine Trail Series: The Jewel of His Heart and Kickin’ up the Dust by Maggie Brendan; When Your Aging Parent Needs Care by Candy Arrington and Kim Atchley.
  
  Ellen Pepus
  Signature Literary Agency
  ellen@signaturelit.com  
  signaturelit.com
  NONFICTION INTERESTS: narrative nonfiction, memoir, food and travel writing, pop culture and self-help.
  FICTION INTERESTS: high-quality literary and commercial fiction, women’s fiction and romance, historical fiction, erotica and mysteries.
  DOES NOT WANT: sci-fi, fantasy, short stories or children’s books.
  HOW TO CONTACT: Send your query by e-mail. No unsolicited attachments. Responds in two to three weeks.
  For fiction, send a query and the first five pages pasted into an e-mail. For nonfiction, send a query and a detailed document stating your bio and platform.
  RECENT SALES: Dealing With the Others by Jess Haines.
  
  Katharine Sands
  Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency
  200 E. 62nd St., Suite 30D, New York NY 10065   
  katharinesands@nyc.rr.com
  NONFICTION INTERESTS: books that have a clear benefit for readers’ lives in the categories of food, travel, lifestyle, home arts, beauty, wisdom, relationships, parenting and fresh looks, which might be at issues, life challenges or pop culture. For compelling reads in “faction,” memoir and “femoir,” she likes to be transported to a world rarely or newly observed.
  FICTION INTERESTS: literary fiction, chick lit, commercial fiction.
  HOW TO CONTACT: Send an e-query. If sending nonfiction, send the book proposal.
  RECENT SALES: The SAT Word Slam by Jodi Fodor; Taxpertise by Bonnie Lee; For Better, Not Worse by Janice Green; Elvis and You: Your Guide to the Pleasures of Being an Elvis Fan by Laura Victoria Levin and John O’Hara.
  
  Jessica Sinsheimer
  Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency
  submissions@sarahjanefreymann.com
  sarahjanefreymann.com
  NONFICTION INTERESTS: food memoirs, travel memoirs, Parenting, Psychology, and cookbooks
  FICTION INTERESTS: women’s fiction, literary fiction, young adult
  HOW TO CONTACT: Please put “Query for Jessica” at the start of the e-mail subject line to get your work read. All queries are read and considered, though she can only respond to those that interest her. “I won’t object to a few sample pages (attach them as a Word document, please): I know that writing queries is a skill separate from writing manuscripts.”
  
  Gretchen Stelter
  Baker’s Mark Literary Agency
  P.O. Box 8382, Portland OR 97207
  info@bakersmark.com 
  bakersmark.com
  FICTION INTERESTS: middle-grade and YA fiction, magic(al) realism, contemporary fiction and women’s fiction. Agent is interested in anything with an urban-fantasy touch (more Mike Carey than Maurice G. Dantec), and the middle-grade and YA should have edgy, true-to-life characters and dialogue. The contemporary and women’s fiction should have a wide entry point for its audience but a strong hook that makes it stand out from the crowd.
  HOW TO CONTACT: “We prefer a query before you send us your ms. Query us via e-mail. Your query should be one page with no attachments and no chapters included in the body of the e-mail. Queries sent with attachments will be deleted unread. If, based on your query, we ask to see more of your work, we will request more material to be sent via the U.S. Postal Service. Work without a SASE will not be returned. Please do not submit any original materials.”
  RECENT SALES: Never After by Dan Elconin; The Choyster Generation by Amalia McGibbon, Claire Williams and Lara Vogel.
  
  Jon Sternfeld
  Irene Goodman Literary Agency
  27 W. 24th St., Suite 700B, New York NY 10010
  queries@irenegoodman.com  
  irenegoodman.com
  INTERESTS: literary fiction and narrative nonfiction that combines a love of literature with an adventurous spirit. Agent is open to all writers with an original voice, and he has a particular interest in nonfiction that focuses on cultural, historical and social issues.
  HOW TO CONTACT: Send a query and the first 10 pages, along with a detailed synopsis of the book, in the body of an e-mail. Agent responds in two months. E-mail queries to personal addresses will not be answered. No snail mail queries.
  RECENT SALES: Children of Disappointment by David Chura; The Sleepwalkers by Paul Grossman.
  
  Ted Weinstein
  Ted Weinstein Literary Management
  twliterary.com
  FICTION INTERESTS: None.
  NONFICTION INTERESTS: All nonfiction subjects, including but not limited to: business and personal finance, politics, health, food, history and biography, popular science, and pop culture.
  HOW TO CONTACT: E-queries only. Send a query or query & full, polished nonfiction book proposal. Put the words “Author Submission” in the subject line and paste materials in the e-mail, rather than as attachments (which will not be opened). Submissions e-mail available on website.
  RECENT SALES: Fibonacci's Bridge of Numbers: the Medieval Genius and the Book that Launched the Modern World, by NPR's "Math Guy" Keith Devlin; Soldiers of G-d: Two Hasidic Gangs and the Battle for Brooklyn's Toughest Neighborhood, by Christian Science Monitor reporter Matt Shaer; 100 Plus: Getting Ready for the Coming Age of Longevity, by Sonia Arrison with a foreword by PayPal founder Peter Thiel; Down & Derby: The Insider's Guide To Roller Derby, by NPR host Alex "Axles of Evil" Cohen and Jennifer "Kasey Bomber" Barbee.
  
  Christine Witthohn
  Book Cents Literary Agency
  2011 Quarrier St., Charleston WV 25311
  cw@bookcentsliteraryagency.com 
  bookcentsliteraryagency.com
  NONFICTION INTERESTS: women’s issues/experiences, gardening (herbs, plants, flowers), fun/quirky topics (particularly those of interest to women) and cookbooks. Agent also has a real fondness for travel and outdoor adventure.
  FICTION INTERESTS: great YA/tween/teen projects, romances (contemporary, romantic comedies, paranormal, mystery/suspense), women’s lit (must have a strong hook), mainstream mystery/suspense, as well as exceptional literary fiction.
  DOES NOT WANT: sci-fi, inspirational, erotica, horror/dark thrillers, short stories/novellas, poetry or screenplays.
  HOW TO CONTACT: Agent accepts e-queries only. No attachments. Nonfiction queries should clearly describe the project and include the writer’s qualifications and the first chapter. Fiction queries must include the genre, word count, a clear summary of the plot and characters, any writing credentials and the first chapter in the body of the e-mail. Agent loves edgy stories and authors who think outside the box. It always helps when authors know their target market and competition.
  RECENT SALES: My Unfair Lady; Beneath the Thirteen Moons; and The Talismans of Elfhame series, all by Kathryne Kennedy.
  

 

 

Media Development International ...

....is a new writers management and services company, with a production arm.  MDI is headquartered in New York City but with associates in Europe and India. Approach them with material that might be developed for film, and especially with pitches for your project in a few paragraphs-- not full manuscripts or film scripts.  Check out their website for more details and contact information.

 

More Resources. Most have links to other resources as well:

Creative Writing Now: A new web page with classes, prompts, and lots of resources: http://www.creative-writing-now.com

Clicklinks:  For students, teachers, and others

Winslow Eliot's "Write Spa," articles and newsletters to get you in the mood.

Best All Around Resources:  New Pages

Duotrope.com Excellent listing of places to submit

More (bold face for my favorites):

 

Aeonix.com Good site with lots of links for small presses.

Allaboutwriting.com is a center of the writing scene in Johannesburg, SA-- take a look! Take a course, if you're in town! Also resources, online classes in romance writing, and more.

Authorlink.com

Booksinprint.com

Book Packagers This is the home page of the association of book producers and packagers.

Bookwire.com

Duotrope allows you to put in information and it searches for the magazines that might publish your piece!

DUSTBOOKS is one of the oldest (1964) and best sources of books on publishing. I have used their directories of small presses and little magazines for years.

For Writers.com

How to Do Things  Articles on all kinds of subjects--not only writing, but the writing articles include items like "How to Write Flash Fiction" and "How to Choose a Workshop." Worth looking at.

John August 's web page about screen writing-- interesting tips for other writers too.

Literary Marketplace.com 

New Pages  Excellent site with all kinds of magazines to submit etc.

Poets & Writers.org

The Practicing Writer "Supporting the craft and business of excellent writing"

Publishers Weekly.com 

Screenwriting

Self editing

Sensible Solutions.com

Short short novels: Here's something interesting: a site for writing novels in 25 words or less: http://espressostories.com/

Winning Writers.com A site about poetry contests.

The Writer

Writers Digest

Writers.net

Contests to beware of:

These sites have massive mailing campaigns and try to part aspiring writers from their money: poetry.com (also uses names Watermark Press, International Library of Poetry, and International Society of Poets); Circle of Poets, League of American Poets, FamousPoets.com, and Noble House Publishers (not to be confused with the American LIterary Press's Noble House in Baltimore.)

Sites for genre writers:

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America

Children's Book Writers and Illustrators

Romance Writers of America

Harlequin also has a nice site with information about how to write romance novels. More Harlequin hints here.

 

If you Write for children:

Children's Book Writers and Illustrators

A blog about writing and illustrating for children: http://kathytemean.wordpress.com/

The Rutgers University Council on Children's Literature and their famous Rutgers One-on-One Plus conference with children's editors, agents, writers and more.

Convert from One Kind of a file to another: Highly Recommended: Zamzar.com.   Do you ever need to get a .jpg out of a .pdf or to turn a .pdf into a .doc file? These folks do it for free. They'd like you to sign on for the paid version, but happily do the free conversions if that's all you want.

How long should a novel be?

The categories of prose fiction do not have precise lengths. Publishers of novels generally like manuscripts of at least 80,000 words and no more than 120,000. This is clearly a rule that is often broken. Since a double spaced manuscript page runs 250 to 300 words, this means a manuscript of 250 to 350 pages. This turns into considerably less as a printed book– maybe 200 to 300 book pages.

A short story is usually 2000 to 7000 words (less than 10,000 words); a short short is 1000 to 1500 words. A novella is 15,000 to 40,000 words (in science fiction, for certain awards, between 17,500 and 40,000). There is also in science fiction a form called novelette for contest purposes that runs 7500 to 15,000 words. In literary fiction, people would probably call something of that length a long story.

Generally, a memoir, personal narrative, or collection of linked short stories is treated like fiction for length.

Prose Fiction Lengths

Here's another way of counting :

Flash fiction or vignette:     Up to 500 words (1 - 2 double spaced pages, one inch margins, 12 point Times New Roman or similar font)

Short short                         500 - 2000 words (2 - 9 pages)

Short Story                        2000 to 7,000 words ( 10 - 30 pages)

Long Story                         7,000 to 14,000 words (30-60 pages)

Novella                            14,000 to 40,000 words (60 - 175 pages)

Novel                               40,000 words and up (175 plus pages)

Short Story Definition

The Short Story has its origins in oral story-telling and in the verbal sketches of situations called anecdotes. Some stories are more like miniature novels, with exposition, rising action, and a turning point or climax. They are, however, generally less complex than a novel, focused on a single plot and setting, a brief period of time, and a handful of characters. A contemporary short story typically starts in the middle of the action (in medias res), and many modern short stories also end abruptly or leave things hanging. Lengths vary, but typically a short story runs as long as 7000 or perhaps 8,000 words, with shorter more usual.

Showing and Telling

Anyone who has every taken a writing class has probably heard about Show and Tell. Often, we're told it's better to "show" ("His smile was brilliant and toothy, and his laugh was deep and welcoming") than to "tell" ("He was nice.") This is true part of the time but not always. I don't want a writer to show me every action a character takes upon rising in the morning (brand of tooth paste, how she turns the door knob...) unless there's a reason. Sometimes a summary is better. I like to think in terms of learning when to tell or summarize, and when to show or dramatize in a scene. Both things are part of writing narrative, and knowing when to use which is one of the most important things to learn. Here are some examples of successful scene and summary at http://www.meredithsuewillis.com/materials.html#scenesummary .

Process and Product

A review in 2-27-08 New York Times Book Review  of an unfinished novel by Richard Wright makes the point that (a) this should never have been published because (b) it is a very rough draft, and while drafts are an essential part of the process of writing, they are not finished products. Wright is, of course, one of our really fine American writers-- if you haven't read Black Boy and Native Son, I recommend them highly.

Notes on How to Revise a Manuscript

 

After you've drafted your prose narrative manuscript (story, memoir, novel), or at least drafted a substantial portion of it, try some of these steps for revision:

 

• Add material to enrich– and to learn more. This should be done early and often

• Ask yourself if you’ve put in all the things that a reader needs. What is missing will depend on each writer’s strength, weaknesses, and methods of drafting, but might include anything from feelings (do the characters show how they are reacting to events?) to essential background facts (will your readers born in 1980 have heard of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade?).

• Go through your manuscript to see if the essential conflicts have been dramatized. This is an especially good technique for improving flat or boring dialogue, to add drama.

• Cut your material so that only the best parts (adjectives, images, lines of dialogue) stand out.

• Cut even more out of respect for the reader’s time.

• Make changes to fit your audience. This can be permanent (if I decide to make my story for young adults, I may have to get rid of explicit sex) or temporary (I decide to make a short version for a reading when I only have 15 minutes).

• Revise action scenes and other narrative sections for logistics. Is it easy to visualize the physical movement of the men having the fist fight? Is the city street where the fight takes place described in a way that makes it easy to picture? Are the parts of the fight described in the best order?

• Revise for continuity or consistency. Did the character change eye color between page 10 and page 210? Indeed, did the character’s motivation change in a way not consistent with the events in the story?

• Revise for style: are your verbs active? Do they carry more weight than your adjectives? • Polish (correct grammar, typos, and format) to get the most respectful response from readers – especially potential agents, editors, and contest judges. If you can’t spell, you may need to ask your aunt-the-retired school teacher to go over it. There are also editors for hire who will do this work.

• Read through the entire manuscript in order, as a reader would. Read fairly rapidly for style, shape, and rhythm.

• Put it away and come back later. There is nothing like time passing for getting perspective on your manuscript. Write something else, too, a story, an article. Anything to get some distance on your novel.

Thanks to many people for contributions to this list, including: June Adler, Chuck Arguello, John Birch, Nicole Dweck, Richard Errington, Kyle Frisina, Yorker Kageyama, Mark Podolsky, Olugbenga Opesanwo, and Andrew Silver.

Book doctors, writing consultants, editors, and coaches:

(Listing here does not constitute a recommendation by Meredith Sue Willis. In some cases, however, there is a personal recommendation from students or agents or other people I know.   The fees for these editors and coaches vary considerably, but an hourly rate of $60 to $90 is not atypical. Prices for a full length manuscript, for example, hover around $1500, depending on various factors, including the fame of the editor.)

 

Featured Book Doctor:

Marc Acito has taught online classes for NYU among many other credentials as writer and performer. He offers web based services as a book doctor as well as private coaching and manuscript analysis. He was highly recommended to me by a former student. See http://marcacito.com/coaching.htm . He specializes in story structure. See a video about his approach to story structure here.

Featured Copy Editor:

Nerd Services Proofing and Copy Editing

 

Book Doctors and Editors

Marc Acito has taught online classes for NYU among many other credentials as writer and performer. He offers web based services as a book doctor as well as private coaching and manuscript analysis. He was highly recommended to me by a former student. See http://marcacito.com/coaching.htm . He specializes in story structure. See a video about his approach to story structure here.

Paulette Alden: says she critiques shortstories, novels and memoirs. but "specializes in book-length projects." See her websitals has an interesting blog as well at http://paulettealden.com/blog/ .

Susan Borkin: "Coach approach" – http://www.susanborkin.com

Charis Conn is an editorial and writing consultant. She is a writer herself as well as an experienced editor. I heard her speak at the North Wildwood Beach Writers Conference and very impressed with her practical and warm personality. Get in touch by email at charisc@earthlink.

The Editorial Department at http://www.editorialdepartment.com/ claims to be the oldest independent editorial firm in existence. They were founded by Renni Browne, co-editor of Self-Editing for Fiction Writers

Emma Dryden offers services for both writers and illustrators, specializing in works for children. She has a blog, too, at http://emmaddryden.blogspot.com/ .

Carol Gaskin, Editorial Alchemy. "Professional editor, literary midwife, award-winning author...offers extensive critiques, tutorials, revisions, support." http://www.editorialalchemy.com . Phone 941-377-7640; email: Carol@EditorialAlchemy.com   This book doctor comes highly recommended by students from my novel writing classes at NYU and others. One student says, she is "worth every penny," and another says "Carol Gaskin was a marvelous choice and I think she really helped me make it shine. "

Hollywood Writers Studio: "Adapt novels and stories into screenplays"   http://www. HollywoodWritersStudio.com

Inspiration for Writers, Inc.  This is a full service place for writers to get help-- informative blogs and lots of free stuff plus editorial help (or proof edition, or ghost writing) for a fee.

Dave King, coauthor of Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, does private editing. His web page is http://www.davekinged.com/ .

Susan E. Lindsey of Savvy Communications does editing and more. See Savvy Communications.

Nerd Services Proofing and Copy Editing

Kristin Ostby is a manuscript editor for writers who want to get published (she corrects grammar, spelling, etc.). She charges the standard rate, $25/hour to copyedit a manuscript. She corrects grammar, meaning, continuity, punctuation, spelling, etc. Contact her at
kristin.ostby@gmail.com .

Candice Ransom specializes in children's books, and is recommended by an agent I know who says, "I’ve sent two writers to Candice who were happy with her work....Candice does not offer an opinion on a manuscript’s prospects for publication."

Savvy Communications does editing and more. See Savvy Communications.

Scribendi: "Editors available 24/7"   http://www.scribendi.com/

Words into Print calls elf "an alliance of independent book editors and consultants offering a wide variety of services to writers....Each editor has approximately twenty years experience with leading New York trade book publishers or in the television and film industries....Our aim is to provide whatver help or advice writers may seek in their efforts to have material successfully published." See their website at http://www.wordsintoprint.org/  I don't know these folks' work, but I met two of them at the AWP Conference in New York in 2008, and they seemed highly professional and eager to answer questions.

 

 

 

 

Publicizing Your Book

 

• Whether you publish with a huge commercial press or with a small co-operative, in 2008 you are generally expected to participate in publicicizing your book.

• Check out a website with lists of bookstores all over the United States.

• I haven't checked this out personally, but you might want to take take a look at Booktours.com

• I hope to add ideas here as time goes on, but just to get you loosened up as you think of this, consider....

Cakes!

( Learn more about Frances Madeson's comic novel Cooperative Village here."

Hooks and more:

http://www.publishingbasics.com/2008/04/17/publicize-your-novel-2/

 

Notes on Magical Realism

[From an article by Scott Elliott: “Warranted Magic: Writing and Discussing Magical Realism,” The Writer’s Chronicle, Volume 40, Number 6, May/Summer 2008, pp. 42 - 49.]

The term “Magical Realism” was coined in 1925 as a way to name the post-expressionist art produced in Weimar, Germany. It was first used for a kind of fascination with objects and a kind of magic that comes out of the objects themselves. Later, especially with Latin American fiction, it was used to describe writing with mythic and supernatural things and events.

Scott Elliott in the article referred to above suggests it is “an organic relationship between the extraordinary and the ordinary” that stretches the confines of traditional realism. Usually, early in the writing, even in the first line, there will be “clues that commonly accepted verities will be blurred, exaggerated, or played with.” (42)

A good example of Magical Realism would be Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude. Other examples include the Henry James’s story “The Jolly Corner;” Toni Morrison’s novels Song of Solomon and Beloved; Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian; and Nathaniel Hawthorne in his tales of Puritan New England.

The problem with writing magical realism– as with fantasy and experimental fiction– is to avoid the looseness of Anything Goes. How can you talk about Magical Realism? How judge its success beyond liking or disliking a particular work? Elliott suggests looking for the “warrant,” the thing that connects it (its “claim”) to the grounds and/or reasons for the thing (46). Thus one asks, Are the magical elements here warranted? What in this story requires the supernatural? The warrant is the “organic, connective tissue binding marvelous or magical elements to psychological truths.” (46)

Bibliography of Books about Writing

Comments in quotations by various colleagues and students. If there are no quotation marks or other indication, the comments are by MSW.

Beginnings, Middles, and Ends. Writer's Digest Books, Cincinnati, OH.

Bernays and Painter. What If?: Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers, ;Harper Perennial, New York, 1990.

Bickham, Jack M., Scene and Structure. 1993.

Booth, Wayne C., The Rhetoric of Fiction, Second Edition, University ;of Chicago, 1983.

Bradbury, Ray, Zen in the Art of Writing, Bantam, NY 1990.

Buchman and Groves, The Writer's Digest Guide to Manuscript ;Formats. Writers Digest Books, Cincinnati, OH.

Burroway, Janet. Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft. Many ;editions, HarperCollins.

Chatman, Seymour, Story and Discourse: Narrative Structure in ;Fiction and Film. Cornell, Ithaca 1978.

Dillard, Annie, The Writing Life.

Edelstein, Scott, Manuscript Submission. Writer's Digest Books, ;Cincinnati, OH, 1989.|

Elbow, Peter. Writing With Power, Oxford, New York, 1981.

Fugard, Athol, Tsotsi.

Gardner, John, The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers. ;Vintage, 1991.

Goldberg, Natalie, Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within, Shambala, Boston 1986. Also her Wild Mind.

Kernen, Robert Builing Better Plots, Writer's Digest Books, 1999.

Kundera, Milan, The Art of the Novel, HarperCollins, 1986.

The Literary Press and Magazine Directory 2006/2007: The Only Directory for the Serious Writer of Fiction and Poetry, Soft Skull Press, 2006. ISBN: 1933368160

Meredith, Robert, From Basic Idea to Finished Manuscript, Harper and Row, 1972.

Novel & Short Story Writer's Market 2007, 26th edition, by Lauren Mosko (Editor), Michael Schweer (Editor), Writers Digest Books, 2006. ISBN: 1582974306

Rockwell, F.A., How to Write Plots That Sell

Rodale, J.I. , The Synonym Finder , Warner Books, 1978. Recommended by a veteran journalist and writer of thrillers.

Sexton, Adam, Master Class in Fiction Writing: Lessons from ; Austen, Hemingway, and Others, McGraw-Hill, 2005. Excellent book on learning the tricks of the fiction writing trade by reading the masters from a well-known writer and teacher of writing.

Shertzer, Margaret, The Elements of Grammar, Collier Books. Recommended by a veteran journalist and writer of thrillers.

Stein, Sol, How to Grow a Novel: The Most Common Mistakes ;Writers Make and How to Overcome Them.

Sol Stein, Stein on Writing . "Author of nine novels, publisher, teacher and editor (he’s edited the work of James Baldwin, Jack Higgins, Lionel Trilling, W.H.Auden and Dylan Tomas), knows more than a thing or two about writing fiction. His 320-page book STEIN ON WRITING (ISBN 0312136080) has invaluable advice on every aspect of writing a novel."

Strunk, William and White, E.B., The Elements of Style, Macmillan, ;Many editions.

Willis, Meredith Sue. Blazing Pencils: A Guide to Writing Fiction & Essays, Teachers & Writers, New York, 1991; Deep Revision: A Guide for Teachers, Students, and Other Writers, T eachers & Writers, New York, 1993; and Personal Fiction Writing, Teachers & Writers, New York, 2001.

Ueland, Brenda, If You Want to Write

Types of Publishing; Pros and Cons of Self Publishing

Types of Publisher (A Publishing Continuum): Commercial; University presses/ larger small presses; Small Presses; Micro-mini presses; Co-operative Presses; Self-publishing; POD companies; Vanity Presses

Commercial Press: Advances! Puts you on T.V.! Author tour-- but-- sometimes no commitment at all. They often demand that you present a marketing "platform," make you do your own publicity, and they will drop you fast if your book does not sell a lot of copies very rapidly.

University press and large "small" press: Vary considerably: may make a real commitment, or not. Usually pay low advances or none, but do pay royalties. They often give little publicity, but are in many ways the mainstay of literature at the present time.

Small press: No cost to you, usually, but little profit either. They will expect in-kind support (set up your own readings, send out your own publicity). A good resource for more information for small presses is http://www.aeonix.com

Micro-mini press: No advance, possibly some shared costs with the writer. Like others, this type of press expects the author to do publicity and share the work.

Co-operative publishing: Shared costs and labor by a group-- often author owned, run, and managed (Otherwise, like micro-minis and small pressess).

Self-publishing: Join the likes of Lord Byron, Walt Whitman, and Anaïs Nin. You have to do everything, and might use a conventional printing press or print-on-demand technology. Note: Important distinction a technology called "print-on-demand," used by great conglomerates like Random house as well as tiny micro-mini presses, and POD companies. For more on this topic, see below.

POD companies like Xlibris, Iuniverse, 1stbook, and others will, for a reasonable cost, print anyone's book. They have lots of packages with rapidly escalating prices for fancy covers etc. Reviewers and bookstores tend to be suspicious of these companies, which make their prof by accommodating authors more than by selling books.

Vanity Presses: Expensive and very low prestige. In most cases, avoid them. (Dorrance, Vantage).

 

 

Self-Publishing and Print-on-Demand

 

 

Self-publishing has always been a respectable option for writers who can't find a satisfactory commercial publisher. In self-publishing, the author does all the work, from having a cover made to finding a printer. Vanity publishing (sometimes called subsidy publishing), on the other hand, has a somewhat unsavory reputation. A Vanity Publisher does all the work for an author in exchange for a hefty fee.

The ideal is a commercial publisher who will pay the author for her or his work, giving royalties or other compensation. Such a publisher expects to make some profit on the sale of the author's books, and is thus willing to pay for review copies, advertising, attractive covers, etc. Now, however, well into the twenty-first century, getting a commercial book publisher can be extremely difficult – even for books that would have been considered commercial twenty-five years ago. For a quick outline of why, read André Schiffrin's book The Business of Books, or, for a précis of his argument, see my review of it at http://www.ethicalreview.org/articles/bookbusiness.html .

Falling between self-publishing and vanity publishing is an option called POD for "print-on-demand," which is actually the name of the technology it uses. The print-on-demand technology is a means of digitalizing books and printing one book at a time or many books at a time. (Read a 2010 summary of what is happening in Print-on-Demand in The Economist.)

This technology creates trade paperbacks that are indistinguishable from those printed by conventional offset presses. These books can be prepared to print for less than $100. Many commercial and small publishers use this technology to keep books in print that sell in small numbers or to bring into print books with niche markets. Without knowing it, you may have ordered a book from a large or small press that was printed by the print-on-demand technology.  Large commercial presses and small presses with very selective standards are openly and unapologetically using this technology as a way around the enormous costs of warehousing large print runs of their books.

The POD companies, however, are large profit-making businesses who use the POD technology and work in much the same way as vanity publishers, but at less cost. Like vanity publishers, the POD companies generally work with amateur authors. There are exceptions: the Author's Guild, for example, a professional authors' organization, uses IUniverse to bring members' out-of-print books back into print.

The POD companies take care of all the details for the author and offer many different packages and services. Like the vanity publishers, they don't do much publicity, but they do list your book on their web site and often link it to Amazon.com and other outlets. They have attractive web sites and enticing packages, some priced very reasonably, as well as lots of fancy ways of separating the author from more money.

There is another problem: setting up your book is reasonably priced, but but if your intention is to sell copies yourself at readings or other events, it costs a LOT to buy copies of your own book from the POD companies.    The standard author discount from a commercial or noncommercial publisher is 40%-- so I just bought copies of my book ORADELL AT SEA which sells for $15 retail at $9 each-- I'll sell them at readings etc. maybe even at a discount, and still make a little.   The POD companies will charge you much  more, so buying copies becomes an issue.

Some of the best known POD companies like http://www.iuniverse.com and http://www.authorhouse.com/are now part of AuthorSolutions.com . They also have a Do-it-yourself subsidiary called Wordclay ,  apparently designed to compete with Ron Pramshufer’s Self-Publishing.com and Lulu.com. For a blog on the experience of publishing with Lulu go to http://www.hyperorg.com/backissues/joho-aug21-06.html#hundred . Finally, here's an online version of an article (and review) from The American Book Review by Rochelle Ratner and one from PC M agazine  at http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1045933,00.asp.

In sum, the POD producers are not a scam: they do what they promise, but read the fine print. Generally, even if you find ways to sell the books published with these companies, you still have to pay rather a lot to buy books to resell. Read also the following online article from Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. about possible dangers of using the POD publishers: http://www.sfwa.org/beware/printondemand.html.

Another article with a personal experience (and a blurb for Self-Publishing.com) is Jeannette Stricklen's piece “Writers—Beware of Subsidy Publishers, Vanity Publishers, and Poetry Websites ."

 

 

 

 

Some POD publishers that people I know have worked with:

-- Book Locker at http://booklocker.com/
-- Infinity Publishing at  http://www.infinitypublishing
-- Lulu at http://www.lulu

-- The Virtual Bookworm
-- www.Blurb.com
-- www.createspace.com (this is Amazon's business)

 

One-Book-at-a-Time Printers (not POD Publishers)

Better than self-publishing, if you have the inclination, is to form your own small press with other people. This requires a dedication to literature and other people's works beyond your own book. If you do this, you will be entering a respectable and even admirable tradition of small presses. You also approch book producing companies-- printers, not publishers-- as you and your colleagues are the publisher. More and more book producers do both conventional printing and one-book-at-a-time printing, using the same technology as the POD companies. These companies may require your group to prove that you are a press, not an individual. You will be responsible for getting your own ISBN numbers and registering your copyright-- very doable, if you have a group to share responsibilities.  Lightning Source, Inc., for example, welcomes small presses and is helpful as long as the small press acts reasonably professional.

 

Conventional/Mixed Printers

Most printing companies, whatever type of press they use, work from digital files, so it hardly matter, as long as the final book looks good.

One good printing company is Morris Publishing. You'll have to buy 500 or 1000 books at $1.50 to $4.00 each, so this is a fairly large investment that you then have to store as well as distribute.

Another full service printer with a long history and a reputation for being helpful to everyone is Edwards Brothers . Edwards also does Print-on-Demand ultra-short-run printing.

Two more conventional printers are McNaughton &Gunn, Inc. and Whitehall Printing Company

 

Also, look into 48hrbooks.com/ , who seem easy to use, friendly, and not unreasonably price-- and will happily do smaller numbers of books.

 

Getting Your Own Web Page

Lots of great information at Web Site Ideas 4 Writers.com

If you don't have a web presence yet, you really ought to. To get your feet wet, you might try one of the free (meaning with ads) webpages at places like Geocities Yahoo. Click here to see one that I set up in about 5 minutes.  I don't especially like it-- especially not the ads-- but it is REALLY quick and REALLY easy to do. If you can fill in info to buy stuff on the web, you can do this. Also consider buying the domain name with your name--thus, I own meredithsuewillis.com.  You can get these at several places, including www.domainbank.com .

Another web host that has been recommended to me makes things easy and cheap for you: Homestead.com. Some people use the free Blog spaces as their presence on the web (one that a lot of people use is Blogger), too. But one way or another, the Web is rapidly becoming an important place for writers to get a pieds-à-terre, or is it apied-à-cyberspace?

 

 

Online and hard copy publications that publish fiction (Some of my favorites are in red):

Avery  http://www.averyanthology.org/

Big City Lit http://www.nycBigCityLit.com

Black Bird www.blackbird.vcu.edu publishes poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and drama as well as multi-modal works exploring the electronci possibilities as well as the traditions of the best in print journals.

Bloodroot Literary Magazine has a nice reading series they do for people who they publish. See their website at http://www.bloodrootlm.com/

The Broken Plate   Run by undergraduates, but they welcome submissions from eeryone. See  http://brokenplate.iweb.bsu.edu/

Collected Stories http://www.collectedstories.com (This has links to lots of online places that publish fiction)

Contrary Magazine http://www.contrarymagazine.com/Contrary/Autumn-2007.html

East of the Web http://www.short-stories.co.uk/ out of Britain.

Ep;phany http://www.epiphanyzine.com

The Hamilton Stone Review   http://www.hamiltonstone.org/hsr.html

jmww http://jmww.150m.com/ Online lit zine-- reads all year round.

The King's English This magazine wants long essays and novellas!

Land Grant Colleges Review http://www.land-grantcollegereview.com

Long Story Short (flash fiction only) http://www.alongstoryshort.net/

Mountain Echoes http://www.mountainechoes.com

Muse & Stone, Buhl Hall, Waynesburg University, 51 West College Street, Waynesburg, PA 15370. Mixes undergrand and unsolicited. See website. Cover letter plus SASE for response only.

Mystic Review http://acarts.org/mystic

The New Ohio Review http://www.ohio.edu/nor/

Passager at www.passagerpress.com has as mission to publish writing that brings to light the collective imagination of those who are over 50.

Peeks and Valleys: A Southern Journal has a focus on short fiction: http://www.peeksandvalleys.com/index.

The Pedestal Magazine http://www.thepedestalmagazine.com

Perigee is an online journal of fiction and poetry, up to 5,000 words for fiction. It's at http://www.perigee-art . SUSPENDED PUBLICATION

Persimmon Tree at http://persimmontree publishes literary work by women over 60.

Pif Magazine www.Pifmagazine.com

Prick of the Spindle http://www.prickofthespindle.com

The Rambler http://www.ramblermagazine.com/

Raving Dove http://ravingdove.

R.KV.R.Y. http://www.ninetymeetingsinninetydays.com/    Poetry and Fiction, theme of "recovery" in broadest sense.

The Rose & Thorn Literary E-zine http://www.theroseandthornezine.com/

rumble (publishes micro-fiction)

Salt River Review http://www.poetsersv.org/

Slab http://www.slablitmag.org/

Steam Ticket http://www.steamticket.

Storyglossia  http://www.storyglossia.com/front.html

Story South You need a Southern Connection.

Terrain.Org http://www.terrain

Tin House http://www.tinhouse.com/

Upstreet: a Literary Magazine http://www.upstreet-mag.org/

Vestal Review Flash fiction only.

Women Writers  http://www.womenwriters.net/index.html

 

Shelley Ettinger's list of Markets for Writers of Literary Short Fiction

Shelley Ettinger sent information from the Poets & Writers' Speakeasy discussion board where some writers listed fiction markets by degree of impossibility of getting published in them. She points out that it is not comprehensive (and recommends the fuller list at http://www.newpages.com) but says she likes the way this one breaks it down.

Shelley also recommends Duotrope.com/ , an often-updated service listing markets by category.

I. Too competitive for words:

Atlantic Monthly ( Michael Curtis, fic. ed.) www.theatlantic.com
Harper's (Ben Metcalf, literary ed.) www.harpers.org
Esquire (Adrienne Miller, literary ed.) http://www.esquire.com/about
GQ http://us.gq.com
Ms. www.msmagazine.com
The New Yorker (Deborah Treisman, fic. ed.) www.newyorker.com
Playboy (Christopher Napolitano) http://www.playboy.com/...tion-guidelines.html

II. Ultra Competitive:

DoubleTake www.doubletakemagazine.org/
Granta (Ian Jack, ed., London) www.granta.com/about/contacts
Glimmer Train, www.glimmertrain.com
McSweeny's www.mcsweeneys.net/
The Oxford American (Southern writers/themes) www.oxfordamericanmag.com/
Paris Review (Brigid Hughes) http://parisreview.com/
Ploughshares (guest editors) www.pshares.org/index.cfm
The Sun (Sy Safransky, ed. www.thesunmagazine.org
The Threepenny Review (Wendy Lesser, ed) www.threepennyreview.com/
Tin House (Rob Spillman, ed.) http://tinhouse.com
Zoetrope www.all-story.com

III. Very very competitive:

Agni www.bu.edu/agni/
Antioch Review www.antioch.edu/review/
Boulevard www.richardburgin.com/boulevard.htm
Conjunctions www.conjunctions.com
Epoch www.arts.cornell.edu/english/epoch.html
Georgia Review www.uga.edu/garev/
Gettysburg Review www.gettysburg.edu/academics/gettysburg_review
Iowa Review www.uiowa.edu/%7Eiareview/mainpages/tirweb.html
Kenyon Review (Nancy Zafris, fic. ed.) www.kenyonreview.org
Michigan Quarterly Review www.umich.edu/~mqr/index.html
Missouri Review (Speer Morgan, ed.) www.missourireview.org/
New England Review http://cat.middlebury.edu/~nereview
North American Review www.webdelsol.com/NorthAmReview/NAR
Ontario Review www.ontarioreviewpress.com/review/home/hm_index.html
Prairie Schooner www.unl.edu/schooner/psmain.htm
Southern Review http://appl003.lsu.edu/...hernreview.nsf/index
Tri-Quarterly (Northwestern U) www.triquarterly.org/
Virginia Quarterly Review (Ted Genoways) www.virginia.edu/vqr/
Zyzzyva (West Coast writers; Howard Junker, ed.) www.zyzzyva.org/

IV. Darn Competitive:

Alaska Quarterly Review http://aqr.uaa.alaska.edu/
Another Chicago Magazine www.anotherchicagomag.com/
Bellingham Review www.ac.wwu.edu/~bhreview/
Beloit Fiction Journal www.beloit.edu/~english/bfjournal.htm
Bellevue Literary Review www.blreview.org/
Black Warrior Review http://webdelsol.com/bwr/
Blue Mesa Review http://www.unm.edu/~bluemesa/
Chicago Review http://humanities.uchicago.edu/orgs/review/
Boston Review www.bostonreview.net/aboutBR.html
Carolina Quarterly www.unc.edu/depts/cqonline/
Cimarron Review http://cimarronreview.okstate.edu/
Colorado Review www.coloradoreview.com/
Conjunctions www.conjunctions.com/njhome.htm
Cutbank www.umt.edu/cutbank/
Denver Quarterly www.denverquarterly.com/
Fiction (Mark Mirsky, ed) www.fictioninc.com/
Fiction International http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/dept/press/fi/
Fiddlehead www.fiddlehead.ca/
Five Points (Ga. SU) www.webdelsol.com/Five_Points/
Greensboro Review www.uncg.edu/eng/mfa/review/review.htm Gulf Coast www.gulfcoastmag.org/index.html Harvard Rev http://hcl.harvard.edu/...tments/harvardreview
Hayden's Ferry www.asu.edu/clas/pipercwcenter/publications/haydensferryreview
Indiana Review http://www.indiana.edu/~inreview/ir.html
The Journal www.cohums.ohio-state.edu/english/journals/the_journal/
Land Grant College Review www.land-grantcollegereview.com/index.php
Literal Latte www.literal-latte.com/
The Literary Review www.theliteraryreview.org/
Malahat Review http://web.uvic.ca/malahat/
Manoa www.hawaii.edu/mjournal/
The Massachusetts Review www.massreview.org/
Meridian www.engl.virginia.edu/meridian/
Mid-American Review www.bgsu.edu/studentlife/organizations/midamericanreview
New Orleans Review http://www.loyno.edu/~noreview/
Nimrod www.utulsa.edu/nimrod/
Open City www.opencity.org/main.html
Phoebe www.gmu.edu/pubs/phoebe/main.html
Puerto del Sol www.nmsu.edu/%7Epuerto/welcome.html
Quarterly West www.webdelsol.com/Quarterly_West Seattle Review http://depts.washington.edu/engl/seaview1.html
Sewanee Review www.sewanee.edu/sreview/home.html
Shenandoah http://shenandoah.wlu.edu/
Stand Magazine www.people.vcu.edu/~dlatane/stand.html
Swink (new, Leelila Strogov, ed.) www.swinkmag.com
Western Humanities Review www.hum.utah.edu/whr/
Witness www.occ.cc.mi.us/witness/ Yale Review www.yale.edu/yalereview/

V. Still plenty competitive:

American Literary Review www.engl.unt.edu/alr/index.html
Ascent www.cord.edu/dept/english/ascent/
Crab Orchard Review www.siu.edu/~crborchd/
Crab Tree Review www.crabcreekreview.org/
Cream City Review www.uwm.edu/Dept/English/ccr/index2.html
Crescent Review www.crescentreview.org/
Florida Review www.flreview.com/
Global City Review http://webdelsol.com/globalcityreview/
Nebraska Review www.unomaha.edu/~fineart/wworkshop/subm.htm
New Letters www.newletters.org/
New Delta Review http://english.lsu.edu/journals/ndr
Ninth Letter www.ninthletter.com
North Dakota Quarterly www.und.nodak.edu/org/ndq/
Notre Dame Review www.nd.edu/~ndr/review.htm
Other Voices www.uic.edu/depts/engl/othervoices/index.html
Painted Bride Quarterly http://webdelsol.com/pbq/
Potomac Review www.montgomerycollege.edu/potomacreview/index.html
Small Spiral Notebook www.smallspiralnotebook.com/
South Carolina Review www.clemson.edu/caah/cedp/scrintro.htm
South Dakota Review www.usd.edu/sdreview/
Spinning Jenny www.blackdresspress.com/
Southeast Review www.english.fsu.edu/southeastreview/default.htm
Southwest Review www.southwestreview.org/
Sycamore Review www.sla.purdue.edu/academic/engl/sycamore/
Tampa Review http://tampareview.utampa.edu/
Third Coast www.wmich.edu/thirdcoast/
West Branch www.bucknell.edu/About_Bucknell/Publications/West_Branch/

VI. Web magazines (many paper mags also publish larger web versions.):

www.blackbird.vcu.edu;
www.collectedstories.com ;
www.Pifmagazine.com;
www.vestalreview.net;
www.vorticalmag.com

A Selection of Prose Narrative Books...

...recommended by my friends and students as exemplary and worthy of enjoyment and even study. Also see Novels for study.html

 

What I Loved Siri Hustredt "Innovative Book of Ideas"

The Time Traveller's Wife Audrey Nuffeneger "Brilliant handling of flash forward and flash back and point of view"

The Glass Castle

The Case of the Dog in the Night "Excellent consistent voice"

Vernon God Little

The World According to Garp "John Irving"

King Kong on East 4th Street "Social Study Lower East Side in 80's"

100 Years of Solitude Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Black Swan Green David Mitchell

Three Junes Julia Glass

The Secret History Donna Tratt

Cat's Eye Margaret Atwood

Possession A.s. Byatt

The Wind Up Bird Chronicle Murakai "Freedom to be imaginative"

Nine Stories J.D. Salinger "Simplicity in setting up complex characters"

Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte "Just Perfect"

THe Eyre Affair Jasper Fford "This is jsut for fun i fyou love Jane Eure"

Thank you for Smoking Christopher Buckley

Special Topics in Calamity Physics Marisha Pessl "Clever literary murder mystery"

The Alchemist Paulo Cochlo

Woman Warrior Maxine Hong Kingston

 

Perfect Pitch Fiction Conference

Joanne Wetzel reports on attending the New York Writer's Workshop's "Perfect Pitch Fiction Conference" 11/13/09 to 11/15/09. She writes:

The conference is for writers who have complete manuscripts and want to hone their pitch or synopsis to be used when communicating with agents or editors. Day 1 was spent reviewing our pitches in a small group of about ten people and teacher, and in Days 2 and 3 we pitched to 3 different editors. It also included an Agents Panel, where 4 different agents answered many questions, including how to find an agent, how the editor/agent/writer relationship works, what not to do, etc. Pros: at the end, you have a sharp one-page pitch to use in your query letters for agents. Its a GREAT networking opportunity to meet passionate teachers (Charles Salzberg and Tim Tomlinson led this conference), fellow writers, agents, and editors. In some cases, if the editors connect with a person's pitch they ask that the manuscript be sent to them. Cons- none, really. Since its a 3 day conference, it is a substantial time commitment, but its well worth it if you need help taking a finished work to the next step. You're also not guaranteed to get the interest of an editor.

Where to find more info:
http://www.newyorkwritersworkshop.com/
4 workshops are held each year, 2 fiction and 2 non-fiction
(Next “Perfect Pitch” conference in February 2010)

 

 

 

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Special Price on Meredith Sue Willis's new book of stories from myths and other stories: Re-Visions. Regular Price $14.95 plus S&H now $13.00 plus S&H.

Click on the Book or here.

Re-visions: Stories from Stories is a collection of spin-offs from myth, fiction, and the Bible. From a new look at Adam and Eve and why they left the Garden to a grown-up Topsy from Uncle Tom's Cabin to the confessions of SaintAugustine's concubine- each story offers a gloss on the original as well as insights into how we canlive today.

 

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If you have suggestions, corrections, or updates, or if you find broken links, please e-mail MSW

Contents:

Advice from experts

Agents

Agents' Blogs

Agents to avoid

Articles of interest to writers

Bibliography  

Book Doctors & Private Editors

Book Packagers and Producers

Book Publishers (small)

Book Publishers (Nonfiction and Self-Help)

Books about Writing

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Characteristics list

Characters: What they Want

Children's Writing

Close-up & Long-shot

Conferences

Contests to avoid

Convert One Kind of File to Another

Copyright

Definitions:
Short Story

Dialog tags

Dialog - Tom Swifty

Digitalize Books

Discourse Types

Dreams

Editors

Feminist Lit. Journals

Film terms for narrative

Flashback

Flashback sample

Flashback, Undramatized

Formatting Fiction

Free Advice!

Free exercises 

Free Indirect Speech

Grammar Resources

Grounding

Hero's Journey -- Story Structure

How Long Is a Novel?

Illusion in prose narrative

Improving Style

ISBN Numbers

Journals & Literary Magazines

MFA Programs

More Links

Literary Agents

Literary Agents' Blogs

Literary Agents to avoid

Literary Magazines & Journals

Literature Online

Lengths for stories

Logistics, physical

Magical Realism

Management for Writers

Marketing Your Book Conference

Monologue & Minor Characters

Markets for Literary Fiction

Memoir

Memoir and Fiction

MFA Programs

More Resources

Multiplot Novel

Names for characters

Novel length

Notes on omniscience

Online magazines 

Physical Action

Places

Places to Study Writing

Plot and Structure

Plot Notes

POD Publishers

Point of View

Present Tense

Presses (Small)

Printers

Book producers (not publishers)

Proof Reader's Marks

Pros and Cons of Present Tense

Process and Product

Publicizing Your Book

Publishers (Small)

Query Letter Samples

Query Letters: Worst

Quotations

Quotidian Scenes and Objects

Readability of your prose

Reading

Resources Online

Scene

Scene example

Scene versus Summary

Screenwriting

Self-publishing
and Print-on-Demand

Self-Publishing:
One Writer's Story

Short Story Defined

Small Magazines & Journals

Small Presses

Smaller Publishers

Some Tricks of the Narrative Trade

Structure for Novels

Structure for Long Narratives

Story lengths

Style

Tags in Dialogue

Tenses

Tom Swifties

Types of Discourse

Types of publishers 

Undramatized Flashback

Weather

Web Pages: Getting Your Own

What Characters Want

Women Especially

Worst Query Letter

Writing for Children

Writers on writing

Writers' Conferences

Writing Romance

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