A Cappela Newsletter for Writers                  July 2002

Your monthly newsletter from Patrika, your Author’s Advocate™

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

Recipient of the Certificate of Merit
Writer’s Digest 2001 Zine Publishing Competition

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DON’T MAIL THAT MANUSCRIPT without a professional review from A Cappela

Before you mail out that manuscript or query, make sure it’s as polished and professional as possible. Send your work to A Cappela Publishing and get the specific tailored advice you need to get an extra edge on the competition — and make all your manuscripts more marketable.

After a thorough evaluation of your submission, one of our published, professional staff writers will give you detailed feedback and recommendations. You’ll learn what is and isn’t working in your writing, and how to fix it.

Your Critique includes:

*Genre-specific Advice

Whether your writing is a novel or a nonfiction book, an article or short story, a query letter or book proposal, you can be sure that your work will be evaluated by a pro who has personal experience with the same kind of writing.

*Grammar and Style Suggestions

Your personal reviewer will evaluate your writing to point out common grammatical, structural and stylistic mistakes — mistakes that can mean the difference between a rejection and a sale.

*Market Recommendations

If your manuscript is marketable as is, or with slight revision, you’ll get recommendations for marketing your work — including how to identify the publishers which buy your kind of writing.

For complete information, including submission guidelines and rates, visit

http://www.acappela.com/critiques.htm

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PAT’S PICKS:

Want to learn how you can get published? Need help editing or marketing your manuscript? Want to take virtual classes to improve your writing skills? Visit this award-winning website to learn what options await you. http://www.acappela.com.

New Class: The long-awaited class on Dialect Writing is now available. See www.acappela.com/classes.htm for details

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MARKETS

~Interviews/Fiction/Poetry

The Sun Magazine Publishes essays, interviews, fiction and poetry. Tends to favor personal writing, but also looks for thoughtful, well-written essays on political, cultural and philosophical themes. No journalistic features, academic works or opinion pieces. Pays up to $1,000 for major essays, $300 to $750 for other essays and interviews, $300 to $500 for fiction, and $50 to $200 for poetry, the amount determined by length and quality. May pay less for very short works. Gives contributors a complimentary one-year subscription to The Sun. Will read previously published works, though for reprints pays only half usual fee. Discourages simultaneous submissions. No minimum word length; rarely runs anything longer than 7,000 words. Don't bother with a query letter, except perhaps on interviews; subject matter isn't as important as what you do with it. Responds within six months. Submit to (no e-mail submissions, please): Sy Safransky, Editor, The Sun, 107 N. Roberson St., Chapel Hill, NC 27516 ~Nonfiction

parent-teen.com Buys mainly material which can be used both on this website and in the teen section of the print magazine, Parent's Press, which is distributed free in the San Francisco Bay Area (75,000 circulation). Normally purchases all rights, including electronic. Payments range $35 to $500, depending on complexity of the material, quality of writing, amount of research, and length. Payment within 30 days of publication in the print edition. Rarely purchases first rights only - if they do, payment substantially lower than rates for all rights. Looks at second rights material only if accompanied by a list of publications where it has appeared previously and where it is currently under consideration. Payment for simultaneous submissions or reprints is generally in the $25 range. HOW TO SUBMIT: Send complete manuscripts rather than queries. State whether photographs are available. Require a signed model release from each person identifiable in a photo (must be signed by a parent or guardian if the person is under 18). By mail: Editorial Department, Parent.TEEN, 1454 Sixth St., Berkeley, CA. 4710.Send SASE for return or reply. By e-mail: ParentsPrs@aol.com. No queries or submissions by phone or fax, please. In the body of e-mail only, no attachments. Include your complete name, street address, and daytime or message phone number. No "lectures" about how to raise teens or in humor at the expense of either generation. Prefers a "magazine-y" approach, with anecdotes, quotes, expert and popular opinion, good research. Write as tightly as possible while covering the topic appropriately. Open to a wide range of subject matter, as long as it's relevant to audience of families with teenagers and preteens. Articles may be addressed primarily to parents, to teens, or both. PUBLISHED BUT NOT PAID FOR: items for the "From the Backpack" feature. Can include -(but not limited to) favorite quotations, anecdotes, historical and multi-cultural material relating to teens and parenting of teens, and your favorite stress-busters (G-rated only, please!). Submit by mail or e-mail as outlined above.Include your first name or nickname, age (if a teen) or relationship (if an adult, e.g., mother of 13-year-old, high school biology teacher, etc.), city and state or country of residence, and - a must - the source of your submission. (That might be a book, another website, personal experience . . . )

~Nonfiction eAI Journal

Published online and in hardcopy. Accepts business and technical articles on all aspects of e-business and application integration. To be considered for a hardcopy issue, copy with diagrams, author photo and short biography must be received six weeks in advance. All articles published in the hardcopy journal are also published online. Submissions for online publication only can be made any time. Once accepted, they will normally be published online (www.eaijournal.com) within seven days. Copy must not include extraneous product or vendor specific information, i.e. no hype or "pitching". Ideal word length 2,500 words, but articles will not be rejected on length alone. Write enough on the subject to do it justice without losing the attention of the reader. Longer articles have been published frequently in eAI Journal. Use diagrams and graphics whenever possible Relevant articles will be published regardless of whether they are consistent with the cover story. Submissions should broadly fit into the following categories: e-Business, m-Commerce, c-Commerce, ERP Integration, Application Integration, Data Integration, Middleware, Process Flow, e-Services, Systems Management, and Legacy Integration. If you have an article on a more general business and IT theme, please check with the editor. Submission Procedure: Submit a 4-5 sentence synopsis of the proposed article to the editor-in-chief, who will accept, decline, or ask for more information. On acceptance, write and submit the article. Subject to a successful editorial review, the article will be published. Submission Procedure for existing material: Submit the article, stating clearly if the material has been published, or is under consideration for publication, elsewhere. Article will be reviewed, and either accepted, declined or amendments requested. Include head/shoulders photo of the author (3" by 2", TIFF of EPS format, four-color) and a short bio. Send to Sarah Miller, Production Manager, eAI Journal, at send2mac@airmail.net. Send copy to Tony M. Brown,EIC, eAI Journal tony@eaijournal.com

Whispers From Heaven Bi-monthly, inspirational magazine features about 30 stories per issue. Although each story is unique, they all involve some sort of message or spiritual lesson. Common themes involve humanity, faith, prayer and family. Pays $100-$200 per story. Submissions should be 800-1,200 words in length and focus on one particular event or story. All unused manuscripts will be returned. Purchases all rights to stories. Ssend stories w/ a SASE to: Vicki Smith, WHISPERS FROM HEAVEN, 373 N. Cicero Avenue Lincolnwood, IL 60712 or via e-mail to vsmith@pubint.com.

~Pop Culture Writer Publisher seeks Pop Culture Experts. Applicants must be published pop culture writers who specialize in the 1950s, 1960s and/or 1970s, for books on each decade. Each book will be 250 pages with up to 650 total photographs. There will be some running text but mostly the books will be picture and caption heavy. Books will cover the decade and include topics such as: politics, sports, fashion, cars, television and entertainment. Writing should be informative but engaging and interesting. Quotes and sidebars may also be featured. Experts will be responsible for book outline and topic list, photo list and all text including captions. Submit an updated resume and 5-7 published writing samples (with an emphasis on pop culture and these eras).Include unedited samples as well. Include decade preferences in cover letter. Send all materials by fax to 847-329-5387, Attn: Decade Books

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CONTESTS

NOTE: Writers interested in entering literary contests should check out the Literary Contest Caution (http://windpub.org/literary.scams/index.htm), a site that lists poetry and creative writing contests known to rip-off writers

~Deadline July 15, 2002 The Galleria Eros Writer's Lounge and award-winning renowned author/journalist D. J. Herda have joined forces to present the first ever Galleria Eros Short Fiction Awards , open to writers of every ability, everywhere. Herda is the author of more than 70 books and countless thousands of articles and short stories, as well as president of the professional media organization, the American Society of Authors and Writers (http://AmSAW.org). Awards to be announced to newspapers and magazines throughout the U S and Canada, and interviews are being made available to television and radio stations throughout the world. Prizes amount to more than $12,000 in cash and awards, plus a literary-agent contract for book-and film-rights' representation to the winners in eight different short-fiction categories. Submit works in one of the following categories: Novella (under 40,000 words) Science Fiction/Fantasy (under 10,000 words) Detective/Mystery (under 10,000 words) Action/Adventure (under 10,000 words) Romance (under 10,000 words) Western/Historical Americana (under 10,000 words) Humor (under 10,000 words) Coming-of-Age (under 10,000 words). The first-place winner in each category will receive a cash honorarium and publication in the Galleria Eros Writer's Lounge "Short Fiction Awards" section, which will be seen by editors and publishers around the world. Winners in all eight categories will also receive a Meritorious Fiction Award, plus an opportunity for literary agency representation for publication of a book-length anthology of the winning authors' short fiction. All runners-up in each category will receive Galleria Eros Short Fiction Award Certificates of Meritorious Literary Achievement. Send submissions to Short Fiction Awards, 2150 Balboa Way No. 29, St. George, Utah 84770 or (http://www.writerslounge.org/0402shortfictionawards.html) . Include Writer's Name, Physical Address, Telephone Number, E-mail Address and Category Entered. Manuscripts submitted to the competition cannot be returned. Enter only one short work per package. Winners will be announced in August. For more information, please e-mail hortfictionawards@writerslounge.org.

~Deadline August 1, 2002 Mocha Memoirs announces its Summer of Short Stories contest. Send entries to the mocha_memoirs@lycos.com address with the Subject reading SUMMER OF SHORT STORIES CONTEST. Guidelines: * You must 18 or older to enter. * The story must be between 500-2000 words. * The theme is Summer. * The entry fee is $3 per story (money order or PayPal). * All entries must be sent via electronic mail and in the body of the e-mail. No attachments. PRIZES: First place $30; Second place $15; Third place prize $5Allprizes include publication in September's issue. ~Deadline August 25, 2002 Fiction 2002 Writing Contest. $5 per entry, maximum of three entries per person. All entries must be: 1. Original, unpublished work of fiction of the contestant 2. Typed on 8 1/2 x 11 paper, standard manuscript form 3. Double-spaced, 12-pitch font, all pages titled and numbered 4. Paper clipped rather than stapled 5. Printed on one side on white bond paper 6. No more than 2002 words, excluding title 7. Accompanied by a coversheet with contestant's name, address, phone number, e-mail (if you have one), and title of entry 8. Postmarked by Aug 25, 2002 9. Mailed (flat, not folded) with sufficient postage on the envelope to: SC-LC Fiction 2002 Writing Contest 32 Country Crossing Estates Drive St. Peters, MO 63376 10. Accompanied by check made out to St. Charles-Lincoln County Chapter, MWG. $5 (U.S. dollars) per entry, maximum of 3 entries per person (may send in same envelope). Contest is open to everyone Open subject, open genre, but no pornography or gore. Contestant's name or pen name may not appear anywhere on the manuscript, except on the cover sheet. . Money winners will be notified by phone or e-mail on or about Sep 20, 2002. Awards will be presented at SC-LC monthly meeting on Sep 28, 2002 or mailed if the winner is unable to attend. 1st Place $25 + certificate 2nd Place $15 + certificate 3rd Place $10 + certificate 4th-10 Place - Honorable Mention (Certificate only) Winners' names will be published in the SC-LC Newsletter. For a list of winners, include an SASE with your entry. Manuscripts will not be returned, so be sure to keep a copy. Winning manuscripts are not published, so author retains all rights.

WRITING Q&A

If you have questions about general writing issues, send your questions to acappub@aol.com with "Ask Pat" in the subject line. The questions with the greatest general interest will be answered here.

Q: Why do some magazines, journals, and even some writing contests require submission of your social security number? I'm trying to market my short stories, and have come across a few publications that request your SS# with your query/submission. Call me paranoid, but in this day and age of identity theft, I'm reluctant to do so. So far, I have just avoided the publications that request this. What’s the reason for this and am I being too cautious?

A: Good question. I think you are quite reasonable to be concerned about giving out this personal information along with every query/contest entry you submit. Often a publication or contest requests your social security number for accounting reasons: the editors need it to pay you. But I do not think this means you need to send your SS# along with the submission/entry. My advice is to wait to provide your SS# until you receive a contract. Or if the publication specifies to include your SS# along with your submission or contest entry, note that you recognize this is the protocol but you feel uncomfortable sending until you’ve been notified that your submission or entry has been selected.

You may be disqualified by bending the rules but I think, especially in the case of a query, if you send a strong idea the editor likes, that editor isn’t going to let lack of an SS# upon submission (information they can obtain on the contract) deter him or her from accepting your piece. If you still feel uncomfortable about sending your SS# via mail on the contract, note that you will call the editor and give it to him/her over the phone.

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WORDPLAY

And still more from The Washington Post contest for readers: Oyster (n.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddish expressions. Circumvent (n.), the opening in the front of boxer shorts. Frisbeetarianism (n.), The belief that, when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck there.

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QUOTE OF THE MONTH

Notable quotes from those who’ve done it:

"You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what's burning inside you. And we edit to let the fire show through the smoke." --Arthur Polotnik
(Discover the 12 Ways to edit your work in WRITE PUBLISH & MARKET YOUR BOOK, available through http://www.acappela.com

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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