current newsletter.htmThe A Cappela Newsletter for Writers December 1999

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: Research your markets; advertise your book FREE

*News You Can Use: post articles for royalties; poetry journal relaunces; free emag for child writers

*Trivia: First novel ever written on a typewriter

*Book gossip: George for sale; Fatwah issued; Bradbury suffers stroke  

*Contests:Write your tombstone message

*Websites of Interest: U.S. 2000 elections; 40-70% book discounts; e-books

*Writing Q&A: How should I decide my publication date?

*Wordplay: When you rearrange the letters....

*You can do it! "Let's find ways to encourage the artfullness of life."

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PAT'S PICKS

Classes: Oh my Gosh, no new classes until the 21^st Century!. Register now for January classes (www.acappela.com). Classes cover every aspect of writing, submitting and publishing. There's bound to be one that's what you need now.

Our Christmas gift to you:

We're offering a 10% discount to our friends who want to share our books, audiobooks and classes with their friends, as holiday gifts. (Of course you can treat yourself to a gift, too. Just be sure to mention your subscriber's discount.) Order by 12/15

Get Published:

• You've got to research the markets if you expect to get published. To find out how, read Write Publish & Market Your Book. Once you know what to search for, look for publishers' guidelines. Several websites and e-zines are dedicated to providing guideline directories on the Internet. Good choices to surf are:

Inkspot (http://www.inkspot.com)

Writers Guidelines Guide (http://mav.net/guidelines)

Writer's Digest (http://www.writersdigest.com)

DarkEcho (http://www.darkecho.com)

Ralan Conley's Spec. Fiction Markets

(http://members.xoom.com/_XOOM/RalanConley/home.htm)

Inscriptions (http://www.inscriptionsmagazine.com)

E-Markets:

• Advertise your books free. You are allowed to put your information about your ebook or print books for sale under general merchandise for 30 days. After you register, a screen will pop up and ask for information about your book. Go to http://classifieds.yahoo.com and click on the submit free classified ads on the left-hand side.
•  
• Wordbeams (http://www.wordbeams.com), a full-service, royalty paying e-publisher, recently premiered.

*****

Trivia

• The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer
• 
  
  
• "The only sensible ends of literature are, first, the pleasurable toil of writing; second, the gratification of one's family and friends; and, lastly, the solid cash." --Nathaniel Hawthorne

*****

Feedback

• Dear Pat,

Where's the suggestion box? The only way I can read this document, which runs off the right edge of my screen and printer both, is to print it in "Landscape" mode. Maybe this should be suggested to your subscribers.

Les

• Dear Pat:

Please forward your newsletters to my daughter's email address. She shows great imagination in writing but of course since I'm mom I can't tell her that and have it taken seriously. So I've been researching different sites that could continue to sway her into enhancing her natural writing and drawing abilities without being pushy. I think the information she can gain from your newsletters will be helpful.

Thanks, Risa

*****

NEWS YOU CAN USE:

• Wordarchive.com (http://www.wordarchive.com), a Website that lets freelance

writers post their articles in exchange for annual royalty payments, debuted Thanksgiving week.

• The Amateur Poetry Journal (http://www.amateurpoetry.com) plans to relaunch as a new community for rising poets on December 1.
• 
  
  
• The Writing Child (http://www.onelist.com/community/TWChild) is a free e-mag for children writers and readers. Delivered bi-weekly by e-mail, each issue features creative stories, poetry and advice from other children, as well as stories for children by adults. Work may also appear at Website (http://www.geocities.com/soho/study/6219/TWChild.html).
• 
  
  
•  

*****

BOOK GOSSIP

~George for sale: The Kennedy family has agreed to sell its half of George Magazine (AOLKeyword: George) to co-owner Hachette Filipacchi Magazines. No price was disclosed. Hachette will continue to publish the magazine.

~Fatwah Issued Against Playwright: Members of Al-Muhajiroun (The Defenders of The Messenger Jesus) handed out copies of a Fatwah last week against playwright Terrence McNally. McNally has written a play that depicts Jesus as a homosexual. The Fatwah is a death sentence signed by Sheik Omar Bakri Muhammad.

~Bradbury Recuperating Science fiction author Ray Bradbury suffered a stroke a few weeks ago at his home in Palm Springs, Calif. He is expected to recover the use of his right side, and a friend of Bradbury says he is as "sharp as ever."

*****

MARKETS

(Just passing on the information. I haven't checked them out and they don't come with my endorsement)

Rhapsody Magazine (RhapsodyMG@aol.com)

The editor is actively seeking submissions in the following: Short Fiction - Traditional Romance - Inspirational - Mystery - Paranormal/Fantasy - Science Fiction - Horror. - Also seeking poetry and nonfiction articles on writing, creativity, and the writing market. For more information visit www.rhapsodymag.com

March Street Press

Publishes poetry chapbooks (to about 40 pages); a semiannual magazine, Parting Gifts; and a quarterly e-zine, Fatal Embrace. Pays 10 free copies plus 15% of sales for books of 10-20K words; contributor's copy for poems to 50 lines and stories to 1,000 words in Parting Gifts; no pay for Fatal Embrace. http://users.aol.com/marchst

*****

CONTESTS

INSCRIPTIONS TOMBSTONE CONTEST

Today you're writing your latest masterpiece. Tomorrow you drop dead. After your death, your writing becomes wildly popular. Thousands flock to your grave site to pay homage to your genius. What do they see on your tombstone?

GUIDELINES: Write your tombstone inscription in 25 words or less. Entries may be serious, humorous or downright morbid. No fee. All entries must be in English. The writer can live anywhere in the world. For details:Contest@inscriptionsmagazine.com with the subject heading "Tombstone Contest."

PRIZE: 1st place -- $50 gift certificate from amazon.com (or cash equivalent) and publication in Inscriptions

Deadline for all entries is 5 p.m. EST December 24, 1999. Winners will be announced in the January 7th weekend issue of Inscriptions.

*****

WEBSITES OF INTEREST

The Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com) recently launched OnPolitics (http://www.washingtonpost.com/onpolitics), a Website for the U.S. 2000 elections. This site will publish searchable databases, profiles and Web-only political analysis from Post reporters.

AllBooks4Less.com Inc. (http://www.allbooks4less.com), a discount online bookseller, recently debuted. Book buyers can expect to find 40 to 70 percent discounts.

Simon & Schuster, Inc. (http://www.simonsays.com) recently added a new page to its Website, dedicated to e-books (http://www.simonsays.com/ebooks). The page shows a selection of Simon & Schuster's current e-book releases and provides information about other e-book publishers.

WRITER'S Q & A

Q. How do I determine the publication date of my self-published book?

A. Set your official publication date about four months AFTER you actually receive books from the printer. (If you're getting books in January, set your pub date for May.) The publication date is actually an artificial date the industry requires to give publications like Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Library Journal time to review the book before it is officially published. It has nothing to do with when you can sell books; hopefully you've been working on marketing from the very beginning. Some books even sell out their entire first print run before the pub date.

WORDPLAY: When you rearrange the letters:

Animosity                      Is No Amity

Mother-in-law              Woman Hitler

Snooze Alarms              Alas! No More Z's

Alec Guinness              Genuine Class

Contradiction              Accord not in it

WEBSITES OF INTEREST

1) Writer's Guidelines http://www.writerswrite.com/guidelines

2) Journalism resources http://www.writerswrite.com/journalism links t journalism resources, media news websites, associations, organizations, jobs, awards and grants, plus a message board for journalists to network

3) Free Biorhythm analysis by e-mail. Learn when you'll be strong... or vulnerable.

http://www.lifesines.com

*****

YOU CAN DO IT

"As writers, agents, and publishers, we are in position to make a difference. We can bring books to market and publish voices from abroad that inspire and educate. We can share ideas within the global publishing community that will help solve our common problems. Let's put our Yankee ingenuity to work and find ways to encourage the artfulness of life."

Jim Barnes, Associate Publisher, Independent Publisher magazine!

Hope you all enjoy the happiest of holidays and here's wishing you all the best in the new century. See ya next year!

Patrika

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