Coming in January
- Web Cafe
- On-demand Video Class
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| 2011 Report |  | |
2 students a month were published in 2011
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| Sign up to Beta Test Our Novel Class |  | |
Just give us your opinion in return.
Space is limited.
Class starts when you do.
Beta Opens Jan. 23rd
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Now is a New Opportunity
A
new year psychologically brings a new beginning. And, I for one, am
grateful for that. Life for me gets to be a do-over. I make changes to
how I live my life. I look back at the good and the bad--I expand the
good and vow to get rid of the bad. I promise to give more attention to
important things.
Of course, I'm going to eat better and
exercise more, but that is not the crux of my changes--I'm still
addicted to potato chips.
This new year is another opportunity
for making dreams come true. I am taking dream acquisition
seriously. I, like you, am in control of whether a dream leaves
the realm of the ethereal and moves into reality. I am respecting my
dreams and giving them the credibility they deserve.
Join me.
It may take courage, but you have that. You have always had it. If your
dream is to get published, there is no reason not to. There is no
reason for that novel to languish in the back drawer. There is no
reason to wonder if money can be made writing.
Writing success
is not the same as climbing Kilimanjaro. Thousands--literally
thousands--are successfully writing. Take a walk through Barnes &
Noble if you don't believe me. The books are written by people just
like you--teachers, housewives, blue collar and white collar workers.
The only thing they may have that you may not is information.
Remember, time is promised to no one.
Nora
Executive Director
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Protecting Your Ideas:
|  You've
finished your book and you're ready to send it out. Then a nagging
question hits, what if someone steals my idea. You want your baby to be
adopted, but you don't want her kidnapped. Here's what you can and can't claim as your own:
- Copyright protects "original works of authorship"--the original expression the author fixes in some tangible form.
- Copyright does not extend to an idea, procedure, process, system, concept or principle.
- Copyright protects original characters like superman, Peirot, and James bond.
- Copyright does not extend to characters that are simply elements to getting a story told.
- How
to protect a concept: one option is to ask for a nondisclosure
agreement (NDA), a promise not to use without your consent. Note: this
is rarely used in publishing.
- Protecting an idea: Will courts
recognize an idea as property, holding accountable a publisher who uses
it without permission? The answer, except in very rare cases, is
no.
So, what's a writer to
do? Don't worry about it. Keep focused on your work. What counts most
is executing a good idea, writing a great story, and getting it in the
hands of readers.
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The Grammar Grappler: Farther vs. Further
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If
you're talking about physical distance, use farther. Further is the
word to use when you mean "more" and aren't referring to physical
distance. |
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Writing E-mail Queries
|  Thank goodness for technology.
Email now makes it quick and easy to communicate with agents and
publishers, and have them communicate with you. So, before you send
that email, make sure it is just as professional as it can be.
- Get a professional email address. Pooky23 just doesn't cut it. Present a professional image.
- Have an appropriate subject line.
The best way to alert an editor to an incoming query or submission is
to simply start your header with "Query:" or "Submission:"
- Address the email to the correct person.
- Don't cut and paste from Word into
your email. It may create formatting issues and create peculiar
characters within the email text. Write it in Word then rewrite it
directly into your email.
- Don't use HTML formatting.
- Don't use colored fonts or backgrounds.
- Don't use emoticons or cutesy insertions.
- Don't send attachments without the editor's approval.
- Do include contact information.
- Do keep your query as short as possible.
Hint:
A query letter is a sales letter. Back up your information with facts.
Your query should answer a publisher's/editor's/agent's most
pressing question, "Will I be able to sell this book?" Good luck!
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