The A Cappela Newsletter for Writers                                      June 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

*Markets

*Contests

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Patrika

Forward this issue to your writer friends NOW and tell them to subscribe (it’s free). Forward the ENTIRE issue, not bits and pieces of it. This issue has been sent out to 510 writers. Won't you help this ezine grow? Tell your friends to subscribe at http://www.acappela.com

PAT’S PICKS:

Father’s Day Gift: Always wanted to know more about Dad’s life and family? Gift him with the audiobook, Even if he’s never written before, this will guide him step by step into successfully completing the job.

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MARKETS

~Fiction
Adventures of Sword & Sorcery Magazine Writers & Artists Guidelines -  Looking for Sword & Sorcery, Heroic and High Fantasy fiction from 1,000 to 20,000 words. We want fiction with an emphasis on action and adventure, but still cognizant of the struggles within as they play against the struggles without: J.R.R. Tolkien, Fritz Leiber and Katherine Kurtz, but with modern sensibilities for a modern audience. Include sexual content only as required by the story, but not excessive/porn. Pays $0.03-0.06/word on acceptance for FNASR. Details: Randy Dannenfelser, Editor, PO Box 285, Xenia, OH 45385, or double_star@yahoo.com.

~Nonfiction
Whispers From Heaven, a bi-monthly, inspirational magazine featuring about 30 stories per issue involving some sort of message or spiritual lesson. Common themes involve humanity, faith, prayer and family. Pays $100-$200 per story. 800-1,200 words; focus on one particular event or story. Sendstories w/ a SASE to: Vicki Smith, WHISPERS FROM HEAVEN, 7373 N. Cicero Ave., Lincolnwood, IL 60712 or via e-mail to vsmith@pubint.com. From Now On wants non-commercial articles of 1,000-2,500 words with a constructivist approach to the use of technologies -- that is, a commitment to student problem-solving, information literacy and powerful reasoning. No press release/articles by companies. Prose should be accessible to lay people, not overly academic in tone. Pays $500 for each article published. Review past issues to make sure your article is consistent with the journal's style of writing then query Jamie McKenzie, the Editor. (mckenzie@fno.org)

~Fiction/Nonfiction

Delasaint's - Southern Writing With An Edge (http://members.aol.com/delasaints) A new 'zine featuring original Southern Fiction and Essays. Short fiction (1500 words) or short essays (800 words). Must have Southern characters, be set in the South, or be about the south. Fiction may be general fiction, literary, historical fiction, creative non-fiction, western or mystery.No horror, sci-fi, erotica, lesbian/gay or romance. No poetry, no essays about grits, iced tea, chitlins, rednecks, road kill or southern accents. Pays $2 for essays, $5 for short fiction. Delasaints@aol.com No attachments.

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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 1, 2002 Fiction Manuscript Contest: Romance, mystery/suspense, sci-fi fantasy, and action/adventure. Entry should be accompanied by the first two chapters of your manuscript. Ten finalists will be selected from among the contest entrants, who will then be requested to submit the completed manuscript for final judging. Wahmpreneur Books will confirm receipt of entry materials and entry status by e-mail. Open to English-language manuscripts only. To enter, send your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, the title and genre of your novel, and the first two chapters of your novel (with SASE if you want your materials returned to you), to: Wahmpreneur Publishing, Inc., Fiction Manuscript Contest, P.O. Box 41, Sidney, NY 13838. Entry fee of $25. by check or money order made payable to Wahmpreneur Publishing, Inc.; unpaid fees will result in the return of your manuscript. First place prize is a publishing contract with Brighid's Fire Books, complete with a $2,000 advance and a spot on our list of 2003 releases. Runners up will be awarded $500 (second place) and $250 (third place).. Ten finalists will be announced on August 1, 2002. Top three winners will be named on or before September 30, 2002. Online contest page: 

~Deadline July 15, 2002 The first-ever Galleria Eros Short Fiction Awards , open to writers of every ability, everywhere. . The Awards are being announced to newspapers and magazines throughout the United States and Canada, and interviews are being made available to tv 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). 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 hand-crafted 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 personalized, specially designed Galleria Eros Short Fiction Award Certificates of Meritorious Literary Achievement. Send to Short Fiction Awards, 2150 Balboa Way No. 29, St. George, Utah 84770. Include Writer's Name, Physical Address, Telephone Number, E-mail Address and Category Entered. Enter as many short works as you wish, but only one per package. Copy-and-paste submissions in an e-mail or into the submissions box contained at Galleria Eros Writer's Lounge . Winners will be announced in August. For more information, please e-mail shortfictionawards@writerslounge.org.

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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.

A: When on-line publishers first hung out their virtual shingles, busy publishers barely looked up from their slush piles long enough to take notice. Now, three years later what began as a "novel" idea has turned into a publishing revolution. These on-demand publishers are churning out new titles by the thousands and early estimates suggest the on-line publishing industry will reach the 78 billion dollar mark this year. Print-on-demand machines once seen as "clunky and expensive" are becoming quite a bit more sophisticated. Even Xerox has thrown their hat into the POD ring offering machines that will soon be able to produce the much sought after color interiors. While the original objective of the on-line publisher was to offer a doorway to ebooks, the electronic book hasn't taken off as industry experts originally thought leaving the terrain wide open for the newest kid on the book publishing block. Naysayers of this industry thought that only sub-standard books would be published this route and lamented that the industry would be deluged with second rate novels. Nothing has been further from the truth. While many more books are now filling the shelves of on-line retailers such as Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble, still only the good ones rise to the surface. Those remarkable books that were overlooked by busy agents and editors have found a voice elsewhere and authors are succeeding by the thousands. This week alone, Xlibris announced that one of their novels (The Pearls of the Stone Man) was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and has since been picked up by a larger house. And by this time of course we all know the success of Legally Blond, Chris Lear's Running with the Buffaloes, and Learning to Fall. With larger publishers no longer able to take the risks they used to on first-time authors, they are closely watching the emergence of these books. Why? Because it's a sure thing. Buying out a contract of a book that is already successful is less of a risk than one that still needs to build an audience. Certainly, this doesn't happen all the time. But it does happen. And making the "best seller list" is a not-too-far-fetched fantasy for an on-demand author anymore. Is there a downside to POD publishing? Of course, nothing's perfect. But I'd rather take my chances with this than leave my manuscript to languish on the shelf, unread and unpublished. So, if you're still on the fence about on-demand publishing why not hop off and join us at Advocate House (www.acappela.com/advohouse.htm). The grass is green, the readers are plentiful, and success is everywhere!

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WEBSITES OF INTEREST

Looking for the best price for a particular in-print or out-of-print book? At http://www.isbn.nu/ you can do a fast comparison of prices at nine online bookstores. Need a book fast? You can also track down the fastest source for a book from ordering to delivery.

English Word of the Day (http://www.geocities.com/phrasesoftheday) is a mailing list to help you build your vocabulary and sharpen your crossword skills.

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WORDPLAY

And still more from The Washington Post contest for readers:
Balderdash (n.), a rapidly receding hairline.
Testicle (n.), a humorous question on an exam.
Rectitude (n.), the formal, dignified demeanor assumed by a proctologist immediately before he examines you.

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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 further website resources.

Patrika