The A Cappela Newsletter for Writers May/June2001

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 What to give Dad for Father's Day

*News You Can Use Potter sales at $1 Mil; infringement or parody? What is a "book"?

*Markets fiction, non-fiction and poetry

*Trivia Oprah in Arabia; the sinking library; the whole 9 yards

*Contests Poetry, fiction and non-fiction

*Book gossip Biggs is back; law prof snags $4 mil advance; Bette book bumped

*Writing Q&A Question of the month: "Should I use cliches in my writing?"

*Wordplay: Fun definitions: coffee, rectitude, oyster

*Quote of the Month Stéphane Mallarmé says....

************************************************************************

PAT'S PICKS

What to Give Dad for Father's Day. Always wanted to know more about your dad and his family? Get him to write his memoir. Step-by-step instructions for non-writers in the handsome audiobook, How to Write Your Own Life Story or Your Family's Saga. Available at http://www.acappela.com

*****

NEWS YOU CAN USE:

~HARRY POTTER SALES REACHES 100 MILLION MARK

Harry Potter continues to amaze the publishing industry as sales of the books about the young wizard reached the 100 million mark, Reuters said. J.K. Rowling's universally popular books have been translated into 42 languages and have been bestsellers around the world.

~NEWS ORGANIZATIONS BACK "WIND DONE GONE" Several news organizations, such as CNN, Cox Enterprises and the companies that won several of the country's most notable newspapers, have filed "friend of the court" briefs in support of Houghton Mifflin's "The Wind Done Gone" case, the Associated Press reported. A federal judge blocked the book's publication on April 20 after the Steven Mitchell Trusts sued the publisher, claiming copyright infringement. Houghton Mifflin and author Alice Randall claim the book about a slave's perception of the South during the Civil War is a parody of -- not a sequel to -- Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind." The news groups said they are concerned about the implications of the injunction.

~

JUDGE PONDERS DEFINITION OF "BOOK" RosettaBooks and Random House lawyers faced off in court this month, debating what seems a simple concept: the definition of a book. Random House filed suit against the eBook startup in February for copyright infringement after Rosetta started publishing eBooks of works on Random House's backlist. In the Southern District of New York, Judge Sidney Stein spent three hours hearing arguments and going over eBook features. Stein has yet to rule on whether or not Random House owns the rights to digital versions of its backlist titles. Several major publishers have sided with Random House, while the Authors Guild and the Association of Author Representatives have filed briefs in support of Rosetta.

*****

Trivia

Oprah's Global Reach - If you ever doubted that Oprah has pull, consider this line, which appeared in an Atlantic Monthly piece by Cullen Murphy about camel racing in Arabia:"The one bookstore I found in Dubai had an aisle devoted to 'Oprah's Books.'" (So maybe that's where she'll shoot next)

Things you may not know ----

1. The Main Library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year because when it was built, engineers failed to take into account the weight of all the books that would occupy the building.

2. The term "the whole 9 yards" came from WWII fighter pilots in the Pacific. When arming their airplanes on the ground, the .50 caliber machine gun ammo belts measured exactly 27 feet before being loaded into the fuselage. If the pilots fired all their ammo at a target, it got "the

whole 9 yards."

*****

Feedback

"Thanks, Patrika, for your terrific newsletters. They're filled with fun and facts I don't find in most others - and your web site answers my questions.. When are you going to add more classes?" Pipps21@aol.com

*****

CONTESTS The Penumbra 2001 Poetry & Haiku Contest (6/30 deadline).

Sponsored by the Tallahassee Writers Association (http://twaonline.org) -- a juried competition. * Poetry of up to 50 lines, any style or subject * 3-line haiku . Awards $100, $30, $20 poetry; $50, $20, $10 haiku, plus publication in and one free copy of the Penumbra 2001 chapbook. Information: e-mail Carole Timin (gtimin@unr.net), Contest Director and Poetry Chairperson, Tallahassee Writers Association. FUTURES Magazine's A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words Contest (6/30 deadline) (http://www.futuresforstorylovers.com) -- Write a story about one of the pictures on the Web site and win $100. 1,000 words and under OR up to 3,000 words, any genre. Paste your story into an e-mail to babs@suspenseunlimited.net). At the top of the e-mail, give your full name, street mailing address, city, state, zip, the genre or subgenre, the word count and a short bio. Title your story. The contest name is not the title. Mail $10 entry fee to FUTURES Magazine's A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words Contest, 3039 38th Ave. South, Minneapolis, Minn. 55406. Enter as often as you wish. The story will be forwarded to the judges on receipt of the entry fee.

The Sylvia Lukeman Spring Poetry Series Contest (6/13 deadline)

Open theme (suggested love, relationships, sunsets, Spring). Twenty lines or less, typed or

printed, double-spaced. Entry fee $2 total for up to five poems. 1st Place: $30 plus publication. 2nd Place: $20. 3rd Place: $10.

To request a publishing information packet, application form and contest entry form, write to Alton C. Mc Cloud, President, NTLG, Inc., P.O. Box 6221, Tulsa, Okla. 74148-0221.

FICTION OPEN, Glimmer Train Press (6/30 deadline)

710 SW Madison St., #504, Portland, OR 97205. (503) 221-0836. Fax: (503) 221-0837. Website: http://www.glimmertrain.com/ Contact: Linda Burmeister Davies. Offered annually for unpublished stories as "a platform for all themes, all lengths, all writers." Guidelines for SASE. $15 fee per story. Prize: 1st-$2,000, publication in Glimmer Train Stories and 20 copies of that issue, 2nd-$1,000, possible publication in Glimmer Train Stories, 3rd-$600, possible publication in Glimmer Train Stories. Open to any writer.

*****

BOOK GOSSIP

~ Englishman Ronnie Biggs turned himself in to the authorities after more than 35 years on the lam. But who is Ronnie Biggs? He was a member of the gang that committed the Great Train Robbery back in 1963. Already, his story is being pursued by publishers and producers alike.

~Bette Midler's book deal to write a memoir about the trials and tribulations of producing her sitcom, Bette, was canceled. She would have received $1 million from Simon & Schuster to write the aptly titled, Canceled. The reason behind the decision is reportedly corporate politics. Simon & Schuster are owned by Viacom, as is CBS, which aired the sitcom. Apparently, Simon & Schuster felt that a negative portrayal of the network (and sister company) would be detrimental to the corporate parent..

~LAW PROFESSOR SNAGS $4 MILLION ADVANCE

The era of astronomical advances isn't over, despite indications of a slowing economy. Yale law professor Stephen L. Carter is the latest author to receive a multimillion-dollar advance for his first fiction novel and another to follow, the New York Times reported. The advance, which is said to be about $4 million, is among the highest ever paid for a first novel. Random House Trade Group and Knopf Publishing Group, both imprints of Random House, were the last publishers left in the bidding arena. Carter selected Knopf.

*****

MARKETS

Fiction

Western Main Screen Elbow Creek, a new e-zine featuring western fiction debuts July 2001. Needs quality, traditional western fiction and poetry.. Send submissions inside the text of an e-mail to Tom Rice (editor@elbowcreek.com). No attachments.

Virginia Adversaria (http://members.nbci.com/hroads/) Fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry. Themes open to any genre, as long as the piece is tasteful (i.e., not sexually graphic or extremely profane). Feature articles must relate to life in Virginia or be of a subject that would interest Virginia residents. All pieces must be less than 6,000 words. To best understand what we are looking for, read the journal first. Sample copies may be ordered for $4.50 and yearly subscriptions for $15. Foreign orders add $1.50 per issue. Vignettes (500 to 1,500 words; open to all subjects) may be submitted for the Reflections column. Send complete manuscript along with a cover letter and SASE. Bill Glose (empirepub@hotmail.com), Editor Virginia Adversaria, PO Box 2349, Poquoson, Va. 23662

Nonfiction

Polish News (http://www.polishnews.com) seeks writers to cover the Polish community in their area for monthly bilingual newsmagazine. Must be able to provide professional caliber content on deadline. Knowledge of AP style a plus. May submit in Polish or English. E-mail RJ Kraszewska (rasiakraszewska@journalist.com), Associate Editor, with outline of writing experience.

CampusLife.net (http://www.christianitytoday.com/teens/) -- Writers must understand and empathize with a Christian world view, and must be pros who understand our unique style and

editorial philosophy. Don't query until you've studied at least one issue of Campus Life (sample copy available for $2).First-person stories that capture experiences from the lives of teenagers

are our readers' favorites. Specific guidelines for fiction, first person and humor pieces are

available upon request. Query first. Requested manuscripts should be typed/keyboarded and double-spaced. Simultaneous submissions must be indicated on the first page. Length should

be no longer than 2,000 words. Based on difficulty and length, we pay $.15 to $.20/per word. Response in three to six weeks. Amber Penney (apenney@campuslife.net)Campus Life

Poetry

Clean Sheets (http://www.Cleansheets.com) -- professional online magazine showcasing intelligent and sexy erotic fiction, poetry and art, as well as information and commentary on sexuality and society. Looking for sensual, original work which adds something different to our

perspective on sex and sexuality.We prefer poems of 100 lines or shorter. We request that authors submit no more than five poems per month Pays $10/poem; donations are also gratefully accepted. Your poem will run for four weeks on our front page, and then will be included in our Archives if you grant us permission to do so. Send three to five poems in the body of your e-mail

(poetry@cleansheets.com) -- plain text, no attached files, and all poems in one e-mail to Pasquale Capocasa (poetry@cleansheets.com) Subject line should read: POETRY SUB: Your poem title:

*****

WRITING Q&A

Q: Should I use clichés in my writing? Are there some benefits?

A: In narration, cliches only serve to loose your readers' attention. We live in fast-paced times, and a reader's eye will tend to skim over anything predictable (and what could be more predictable than a cliche?) On the other hand, there may be no better way to make your dialogue sound realistic than to put in those cliches we all use in our every-day speech. Just make sure you use the right cliches for each character. You don't want a traditional Southern Belle using "Does a bear shit in the woods?" nor will you want a ghetto hipster saying, "Gracious me oh my!"

WEBSITES OF INTEREST

~Poets & Writers Online Classifieds:http://www.pw.org/mag/classifieds.htm Offers a hefty classified section, updated once each two months. Lots of calls for anthology submissions, magazine and website submissions, as well as contests, conference info, retreats, and services for writers. Not many high-paying markets listed, but if you're looking for credits, this page is worth a look every couple of months!

~ http://www.dictionary.com (self-expalantory) ~ Writing-related jokes: http://www.absolutewrite.com/fun/jokes_for_writers.htm

~The Author Directory Locator (http://www.ibooktime.com/authordir.shtml), an index to help readers locate their favorite authors.

*****

WORDPLAY (FUN DEFINITIONS:)

Coffee (n.), a person who is coughed upon.

Rectitude (n.), the formal, dignified demeanor assumed by a proctologist immediately before he examines you.

Oyster (n.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddish expressions.

*****

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

Everything in the world exists to end up in a book.--Stéphane Mallarmé.

http://www.pw.org/mag/classifieds.htm

*****

Don't forget to send in your suggestions, feedback, and your writing questions and check our website (www.acappela.com) for our page of website resources

Patrika

TELL A FRIEND Do you know other writers who would be interested in receiving this newsletter? Send them this link, with your suggestion to sign up: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WritersNewsletter/join