A Cappela Newsletter for Writers May/June 2004

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
Zine Publishing Competition

IN THIS ISSUE:

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I’d like to hear from you, so if you’ve got a comment or question, email it to our Q&A and read your answers in this newsletter. Send to: acappub@aol.com, Subject: Q&A. I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

Patrika

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Think about that. You want to be a published author, possibly of a best-seller book. But your fears stand in your way. You’re afraid your works won’t be good enough. You’re afraid of rejection. You’re afraid of the hurt you’ll impose on people you’d have to give less time to if you were seriously writing. What’s the solution? WRITE! When fears arise, acknowledge them and keep writing. Some of your fears may turn out to be true. If so, admit that truth to yourself (at least for now) and keep writing. Just keep writing as well as you can, and get some feedback -- through classes, critiques, and individual writing coaching. As time goes on, your fears will have less and less power over you. Remember, "everything you want" really is within your reach. You just have to do the reaching.

Patrika

Here’s a little self-quiz to help you figure out just where you are, and to point you toward where you want to go. The links following each question will lead you to some answers. For more information, email me: acappub@aol.com

Where are you?

1) have an idea but haven’t written anything (WP&M, Consult; Writing Coaching)

2) got started, but bogged down (Classes, Writing Coaching, WP&M)

3) have first draft, but don’t know if it’s any good (Critique)

Where do you want to go?

1) improve my writing skills (WP&M, Classes)

2) edit what I’ve got into something publishable (Editing, Book Doctoring)

3) have a great piece of writing, and need to get it published (Selling to Ims; eLitAgent)

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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Writers! Protect your original work and important documents in minutes! Instantly establish the date and time-of-creation of all your files, including screenplays, proposals, Web pages, treatments, inventions, lyrics and ideas. Register and protect your original work online at ProtectRite.com. ($18.95 US dollars for 10-year registration) Go to: http://www.protectrite.com/default.asp?SessID=318256989&AffID=9jlw0RTAF8

Also:Writers Guild of America, West online Registration Service - for concepts, documentaries, manuscripts, lyrics, etc. ($20)

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This newsletter is sent by subscription only. Please pass this newsletter along to people you feel may benefit by this information. This issue has been sent out to 520 writers. Won't you help this ezine grow? Tell your friends to subscribe at http://www.acappela.com

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Media Contacts

This new column is for those of you looking for ways to get your writings reviewed, to get a radio or TV interview, or to in some other way promote your writing.

Robert Weibezahl does reviews for Bookpage. Contact him at: 2143 Belcourt Avenue, Nashville, Tn 37212 or P (805)381-9279 F (805)381-9179 weibezahl@rocketmail.com

2)Get mentioned in Glamour

Submit an Exerpt or and Article about your book to Sara Nelson, Sr. Contributing Editor, Glamour, 4 Times Square, New York, Ny 10036

3) Get interviewed by Regis and Kelly Send your Press Room and a copy of your book, along with 10 interview questions, to: Ann Marie Williams Gray, Producer - Live with Regis and Kelly -7 Lincoln Square, New York, Ny 10023 Ann.m.williams@abc.com

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PAT’S PICKS:

Mother’s Day is coming!

Get the answers to all those questions you had about the family. Give Mom a present that will help her create a family legacy. The audiobook, How to Write Your Own Life Story or Your Family’s Saga (www.acappela.com/WriteOwn.htm) will guide her, step by step - even if she’s never written anything before.

How to Become an EXPERT in Your Field

Write a book! Here’s why:

* Authoring a book will help you gain instant credibility and differentiates you from your competition.

* People will listen to you and respect you because a book proclaims you as an expert.

* Your book will introduce you to new, more affluent clients.

* It will open the door for interviews on radio, TV and in newspapers, and a book review gives you FREE advertising.

Need help writing your book? See http://www.acappela.com/AH.htm  

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Writing and Selling Your First Book? If you've ever dreamed of writing a book, now is the time to start. With Write Publish & Market Your Book you'll get all the information you need to get started, as well as learn what to do when you're finished writing!

* Find out how to pace your novel like a pro * Get the inside scoop on what editors really want * Discover 25 tips for publishing success * And of course, pages and pages of information on how to choose the markets that are best for you!

Donate $5 to the A Cappela Newsletter for Writers and receive a free copy of the e-book, The Manual of Book Signings and Other Promotional Techniques. Your donation helps in keeping this publication free for all writers!

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WRITING TIP

You’ve written an article. How do you get it published? Try putting the cart before the horse! There may be no publication that can use exactly the focus, length, sources, etc. you’ve used. You have a much better chance of success if you send off queries before you write the article, then tailor it to the preferences of an editor who has expressed interest in it.

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MARKETS

FICTION

NONFICTION

- Chicken Soup for the Dog and Cat Lover's Soul (http://www.yourpetstory.com). Two book anthologies of true stories, one on cats and the other dogs. Publisher, Health Communications Inc, accepts Email Submissions. Email: info@yourpetstory.com or: Chicken Soup for the Cat/Dog Lover's Soul, P.O. Box 1262, Fairfield, IA 52556

~ Boardwatch magazine, 13949 W. Colfax Ave., Suite 250, Golden CO 80401 <www.boardwatch.com> Monthly covering Internet/information technology and networking. Needs: Expose, interview/profile, new product, opinion, personal experience. - BackHome Magazine (http://www.backhomemagazine.com) is a down-to-earth, how-to bi-monthly magazine whose primary purpose is to help people gain more control over their own lives by doing more for themselves. Accepts Email Submissions. Guidelines at website. Lorna K. Loveless, Ed. : backhome@ioa.com or : P.O. Box 70 Hendersonville, NC 28793 - BWIA Caribbean Beat (http://www.meppublishers.com/online/caribbean-beat) the bi-monthly inflight magazine of BWIA West Indies Airways.Email: info@meppublishers.com (868) 622-3821 Fax: (868) 628-0639 Guidelines at website or 6 Prospect Avenue, Maraval, Port of Spain , Trinidad and Tobago

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CONTESTS Poetry

Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award offers a prize of $100,000 "for a work by a poet, one who is past the very beginning but who has not yet reached the acknowledged pinnacle of his or her career." Past winners have included Alan Shapiro and Linda Gregerson. Claremont Graduate University, 160 E. 10th St., Harper B7, Claremont CA 91711-6165. Phone: (909)621-8974 Fax: (909)607-8438 Website: www.cgu.edu/tufts

Deadline June 4^th 2004 Writing Contest, by The Cincinnati Celtic World Festival. Open to entries in three categories: Poetry, Short Story and One-Act Plays. Each must have a theme incorporating "Celtic People in the Modern World." Poetry limited to 32 lines; short stories no longer than 2,000 words; plays must last no longer than 25 minutes. Entry fee: $5. Details: http://www.CincinnatiCelticFestival.com/cf-writers.html or e-mail: writers@cincinnatifolklife.com.

~Deadline June 30^th .SPS Studios biannual Poetry Card Contest is "looking for original poetry, which can be rhyming or non-rhyming, although we find non-rhyming poetry reads better." The prizes range from $300 for 1st Prize to $50 for 3rd Prize.SPS Studios, Inc., publishers of Blue Mountain Arts®, P.O. Box 1007, Boulder CO 80306 Phone: (303)449-0536 Fax: (303)447-0939 E-Mail: editorial@spsstudios.com Website: www.sps.com

Fiction/Nonfiction

~Deadline May 5^th Books For Life Foundation, the not-for-profit literary arts foundation dedicated to educating aspiring authors and poets about traditional publishing alternatives, announces its call for entries for the 2004 John T. Lupton "New Voices In Literature" Awards. The largest prize of its kind for submission of a one-page query letter and a thirty-page book proposal, winners receive $12,500 each in the categories of fiction and non-fiction. "Christine Montross, one of our finalists from a year ago, just received a publishing deal with Penguin. Liz Hartman Musiker, another finalist, also has had her book published. They should be a great inspiration for those who consider entering this year." Guidelines and rules: www.booksforlifefoundation.com.

~Deadline: May 15th Writer's Digest 73rd Annual Writing Competition. More than $25,000 in prizes in 10 categories. Grand-prize $1,500 in cash and the choice of a trip to New York City to meet with editors and agents or a trip to the 2005 Maui Writers Conference. In addition, the first- through 10th-place winners in each of the categories will win cash and merchandise prizes. There are 1,001 winners in all. http://www.writersdigest.com/contests/writing_comp04.asp

~Deadline: May 31^st The Power Of Purpose Awards is an essay writing competition open to anyone in the world. No entry fees. Grand Prize is US$100,000 and there are other awards. The winners will be announced in September 2004. 

LAST CHANCE TO SUBMIT Below are submission guidelines for a new book, "Sacred Fire," to be published by Adams Media, Inc. in 2005. They'll complete the series of anthologies on the impact of the four sacred elements (earth, air, water, and fire) on our lives. Stories should be written in first person and based on actual events that show the impact of water or fire on your life. They should be 500-1,500 words in length, double spaced. View sample stories at www.sacredfeathers.com. Original poetry will also be considered, length and style variable but limited to one printed page. Contributors will receive one copy of the book. The deadline for "Sacred Fire" is June 10^th. Send contributions via e-mail to maril@prodigy.net (e-mail preferred, Word attachments are okay). You can also fax them (913-831-4623) or send them through the mail (Maril Crabtree, 3728 Tracy, Kansas City, MO 64109).

~Deadline June 15 - The e-Writer's Place Biannual Postcard Stories Contest. Stretch your imagination. Create a dazzling story. Write it in a postcard, then send it to us! Theme: Reversal-of-roles. Postcard must not be bigger than 4.5" by 6". Your story must be written on one side of the postcard only! The number of entries you send is limited only by your postage budget. No entry fees.

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A: Simply go to your local public library and look up the title in "Books in Print," which you can probably find in the Reference section of your library.

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Wordplay

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

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