The A Cappela Newsletter for Writers June 2000

NEWS & VIEWS

YOU CAN USE

Your monthly newsletter from Patrika, your Author's Advocate

Visit her, send an email, at www.acappela.com

IN THIS ISSUE:

*Pat's Picks: No time to Read? Class of the month. Markets and e-markets

*News You Can Use: Libraries gain ebooks; Grisham serial; King ebook pirated

*Trivia :Webster goofs; rhyme this; the case of letters

*Book gossip: Hannibal flick; Grisham screen rights; legal news

*Contests: Prizes of $15,000 from Mighty Word; write a Wishes poem

*Writing Q&A: Who owns your works?

*Websites of Interest: Writers' newsletters, online fiction. Website directory

*Wordplay: New words for the Office of the 21^st Century:

*You can do it! Quotes from those who have

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PAT'S PICKS

NO TIME TO READ? NO PROBLEM! Get an Audio Book:
The Writer's Tool Box Advanced writing techniques for Plot, Voice, Openings and Character Development. Order here: http://www.acappela.com

"I find that most people know what a story is until they sit down to write one." - Flannery O'Connor

Take a class and learn all there is to know about story writing.

Classes: Featured this month: Body-Build Your Story

Learn to build literary muscle and give your writings tone and strength.

(Begins the first Friday of next month)

Get Published:

MARKETS

~Ghostwriters

Best-selling nonfiction author seeks ghostwriter. Must be smart, flexible with some understanding of spirituality and psychology. 50/50 partnership on very commercial idea like, "don't sweat the small stuff." Call Michael at (310) 777-0204 for more information.

~The Weber Group (http://www.webergroup.com) seeks a ghostwriter for book by leading software industry executive. Writer needs to have co-authored such a book before or have published clips. Please send resumes to Julia (jkonstantinovsky@ca.webergroup.com).

~Writers

New gardening Website seeks creative writers who garden in backyards, balconies and roofdecks around the country. Also need 300 to 600 word articles. Send resume, letter describing your specialties and article submissions and/or clips to Erica B. Grivas (cgrivas@ix.netcom.com) or by

mail to 630 West 246th Street, Riverdale, N.Y. 10471.

E-Markets:

From a subscriber:(and yes, I like it when you share.)

Bits & Pieces a motivational company is looking for stories on line on The Most Encouraging Words I've ever heard....stories@ epinc.com....don't think they are paying anything but I don't know for sure...but there it is, if anyone is interested...

~Freelance Writers: An online arts and entertainment magazine looking for new writers: avid readers or music lovers with extensive, detailed knowledge and a flair for commentary. Hopes to find writers who wish to develop and maintain a monthly column, but if you just have an idea or two you'd like to share, please contact. They also publish some fiction. Pay is modest, and per article, but the site is committed to remaining live as an archive of all the published work. You may live anywhere; all contact will be through e-mail and postal mail. To apply, e-mail (info@marmoset.com) three writing samples, either in text format or (best) pointers to Web pages.

The Internet Book Company (http://www.Internetbookco.com), an electronic publisher, recently premiered.

XC Publishing (http://www.xcpublishing.com), a royalty-paying e-publisher, debuted May 1. Cheryl Dyson is editor.

NEWS YOU CAN USE:

~Libraries Gain Access to E-Books

netLibrary (http://www.netLibrary.com) has joined forces with the public library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg Counties in Boulder,Colo., to offer patrons access to electronic books. Libraries will have access to the netLibrary e-book collection of 16,000 titles for six months after which they may choose to purchase all or a portion of the titles.

~Part Three (of six) of John Grisham's A Painted House, serialized in the Oxford American (which Grisham publishes) appears in the magazine's May/June issue:

~Only a few short weeks ago, best-selling author Stephen King was just as skeptical as the other countless millions of online wiz kids. Then he decided to test the water by publishing his latest novella exclusively in electronic format, and overnight, he was convinced. In just five short days, fans from all over the world clogged the Internet, eager to download his latest thriller, "Riding the Bullet," for a mere $2.50. He made a staggering $ 450,000 in those five days, and the sales continue. And then, this news:

Stephen King's electronic novella "Riding the Bullet," was attacked by hackers and pirated after the encryption technology was broken. The title later appeared for free on several non-commercial sites

~Director Christopher Columbus has signed on to make a feature film of J.K. Rowling's book, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."

Trivia

~315 entries in Webster's 1996 dictionary were misspelled.

~There are no words in the dictionary that rhyme with orange, purple, silver or month

~Upper and lower case letters are named "upper" and "lower" because in the time when all original print had to be set in individual letters, the upper case letters were stored in the case on top of the case that stored the lower case letters.

BOOK GOSSIP

~Hollywood News

Hannibal Flick Update: Anthony Hopkins will reprise his Oscar-winning role as Hannibal and Julianne Moore will play Clarice Starling in the adaptation of that embargoed book from last year. rights to his novels.

~Legal News

A panel of the New York Appellate Division recently ruled that Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano may earn money from a book written about his life of crime, even though he is currently in prison. Because Gravano was tried in a federal court, he is not subject to the New York "Son of Sam Law," which prevents criminals from profiting from their illegal activities. Gravano, who is serving a five-year sentence, admitted he took part in 19 mob killings.

CONTESTS

MightyWords' American Perspectives Writing Competition, offering two grand prizes of $15,000. Information on http://www.mightywords.com

Inscriptions Wishes Contest What do genies, wells, stars, four-leaf clovers and necklace clasps have in common? They're all associated with the process of making wishes. Share your wishes and dreams in a poem, any format, any style. All poems MUST be titled.

Paste your poems directly into the body of an e-mail and send to Contest@inscriptionsmagazine.com with the subject heading "Wishes Contest." Include your real name, pen name (if applicable), mailing address and e-mail address at the BOTTOM of each entry. Send each entry separately. $50/$25/$10 prizes. Deadline for all entries is 5 p.m. June 16, 2000.

WRITER'S Q & A

Q. When I "sell" my copyrighted work to a publisher, who owns what?

A. Technically, you don't usually "sell" any copyright. It's yours, even if you sell All Rights (but not if you wrote the work under a legitimate Work-Made-For-Hire agreement)/ What you're really doing is licensing someone to make a certain use of your work. You could, if you wanted, license a publisher for First Outer Mongolian Rights or First Time Published in Podunk, Ohio or Fifth Time Printed in Purple Ink in Siberia. The law doesn't care.

WEBSITES OF INTEREST
Recently launched:

-- Resources for Writers on the Web, a weekly e-mail newsletter offering tips to make the writing life easier, recently premiered. Editor is Claudia Elliott (celliott@onemain.com).

-- The E-Book Ecstasy Newsletter (http://www.onelist.com/group/E-BookEcstasy), a bi-weekly dedicated to introducing readers of romantic fiction to e-publishing

-- Category.Net (http://www.Category.Net), the global Website directory

-- 701 Niagara (http://niagara.701.com/sites/701/niagara), an online fiction magazine

WORDPLAY:
More new words for the Office of the 21^st Century:

*Mouse Potato: The online, wired generation's answer to the couch potato.

*Ohnosecond: That minuscule fraction of time in which you realize that you've just made a big mistake.

And from the old familiar:

* boondoggle -- v. or n. To carry out valueless or extremely trivial work in order to convey the impression that one is busy.

*****

YOU CAN DO IT

Notable quotes from those who've done it:

"Another belief of mine: that everyone else my age is an adult, whereas I am merely in disguise." Margaret Atwood, Cat's Eye, 1988

"Things are seldom what they seem, skim milk masquerades as cream." Sir William Schwenck Gilbert

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