THE
THE NEwSLETTER of PENNwRITERS INC. JULy/AUGUST 2016 • VoL. XXIV No. 4
The Power of a Writer by CHRISTIANA REULING, AREA 1
What does imagination look like? When all is still, and you’ve retreated inside yourself to fling open that inner window, enticing breezes drifting in and your mind drifting out, what do you see? What lies beyond? Perhaps it’s a sunbaked sandy beach, the waves rolling up and studding it with shells. For some it might be the coolness of the jungle floor, with tropical fruits dangling from branches like gems and untold wonders behind every tree. Maybe it’s the pinprick explosion of light that makes up a galaxy of unfamiliar planets to be discovered and explored. In my mind there is a town square. When I roll back into my imagination, the first thing I see is the green, dotted with redbuds and weeping willow trees. There are wellmaintained gardens filled with riotous blooms, benches for the weary, a fountain lined with wishing pennies. A statue of a woman stands in the center, though I have never managed to get close enough to make out her features or determine why she has been immortalized in this way. Through the leaves of the trees, I can see the brick facades that make up the shopping district that borders the square, and beyond those, houses and cottages marching away from it in tidy lines. All day long people walk by, going about their business, living out their lives, just trying to get through the day as I suppose all of us are. The only thing that makes them different, the only thing that sets them apart, is that they are not real. They are a figment of my imagination. Or are they? I often wonder how it is with characters. Am I truly the one who thought them up? The all-powerful creator breathing them into being? Or do they slip like ghosts through different worlds, from one writer’s imagination to the next, staying long enough to pique our interest, but moving on if we do not act upon them? I follow them. On the one hand, it feels creepy, almost peeping-tom-ish, to quicken my steps behind them, ducking around corners and hiding behind trees, trying to discover where they will go. A force drives me on. I can hear my heartbeat pounding in my ears, my breath coming in a rush as I race to catch up. It is the one thing that always propels me forward.
Story. I want to know their story. Though it is truly more of a need than a want. Everyone who has ever been and everyone who ever will be—every animal, every tree, every building, every rock, real or imagined—has a story. Stories are the way we connect, the way we communicate, the way we acknowledge everything and everyone around us. We are all stories. So I follow. Sometimes these imaginary people simply pick up the pace and leave me in the dust to wonder. Others exchange glances, maybe even half-hearted smiles, but remain closed off. Still, I observe quietly and pick up clues about their mannerisms, the way they interact with others. Are they always in a hurry? Are they kind? But every once, in a while I get lucky. I make myself known, sit down, and be still. And if I’m quiet enough and if the peace offering I’ve brought is enticing enough, perhaps one will approach me. Like a baby fawn, unsteady and unsure, but curious. Timid steps and questioning eyes. But in that moment that we make contact—BAM! A flash of story. A scene, a few lines of dialogue, a snippet of prose. But it is enough. Enough to get me started. But it’s not over. The work has just begun. Now comes the trust-building, the cajoling, the eking out of the full picture. It takes time and patience. If I’m too forceful, too quick to judge, if I startle my character, he may dash off into the beyond and disappear. It might take weeks or months or years to build that trust again. Or that character may get spooked and flee, bounding off into some other writer’s imagination. Try it and see. If you are patient and kind, if you listen instead of speak, if you don’t impose yourself into it, if you let your characters tell it their own way, if you are selfless and willing to step aside and be only a vessel, then bit by bit, word by word, page by page, the story will be revealed to you. And it will blow your mind, and you will laugh, and you will cry at the pure pleasure that birthing a brand-new story into this world can bring. Perhaps the true power of a writer is having no power at all. Christiana Reuling was this year's first place winner of the In Other Words Contest for fiction, held during the 2016 Pennwriters Conference. She also blogs and films papercrafting YouTube tutorials as Christy Gets Crafty.
President’s Column It is an honor to greet you for the first time as president of Pennwriters. ank you for the trust you have placed in me. I see my duty as being a guardian of your membership. I intend to make sure being a Pennwriter is a rewarding experience, so it seems quite fitting that this first column comes mid-way through our annual membership drive. It’s a wonderful opportunity to let you know we truly appreciate you.
Hilary Hauck, Area 4 PRESIDENT
Pennwriters Happenings
is an email newsletter that showcases the achievements and writing-related activities of Pennwriters members. Visit www.pennwriters.org to subscribe. Scroll to the bottom of the webpage to PUbLISHING NEwS, submit your email address, then complete the MailChimp form. you must be a current, duespaying Pennwriters member in good standing in order to have your news published in Pennwriters Happenings. Submit your news to PennNews@Pennwriters.org
2016 Newsletter Themes and Submission Deadlines Sept/oct: writers market (selling your work, your writing career, making money, etc.) Submission deadline: Aug. 1 Nov/Dec: short stories, articles, nonfiction Submission deadline: oct. 1
It’s because of you we work hard, year round, behind the scenes. e outgoing board, under the expert guidance of Carol Silvis and Annette Dashofy, brought you outstanding annual and mini conferences, a quality newsletter, numerous workshops and groups, a new website, and much more. Carol and Annette held up the Pennwriters beacon with dedication, expertise and bright spirits. Pennwriters could not do what it does without our board members and other volunteers. Every year, we recognize the work of just one volunteer through the Meritorious Service Award. is year, the winner was Colette Garmer, though you might say we have been the winners of everything she has done for us over the years. ank you, Colette! Bobbi Carducci is your new vice president; I am delighted to work closely with her. Bobbi’s experience and knowledge are an asset to the organization. It’s also a pleasure to work with the board of new and familiar faces. Please take a moment to acquaint yourself with our board members in the sidebar on page 3. Let us know what we can do for you. Your Pennwriters membership gives you exclusive access to online classes. We are offering two courses in the month of August. 50 Shades of Publishing with Deanna R. Adams (August 1-19) will cover, you guessed it, multiple aspects of publishing. Or if you are interested in the premier software application for integrating research, planning and writing into one tool, be sure to sign up for the Scrivener Class with Pat Haggerty (August 1-26). Visit www.pennwriters.org for more information. And don’t forget to register for the Area 1 mini conference, Writers Road Trip, being held in Erie on Saturday, October 17. See our website or contact Todd Main for details. next page
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NoTICE: Publication herein of articles, interviews, and news concerning markets, contests, seminars, classes, etc., does not imply an endorsement, recommendation or any warranty given by Pennwriters, Inc. Readers are urged to determine for themselves the reliability, integrity, and financial responsibility of those with whom they deal. The contents of this newsletter are copyrighted ©2016 by Pennwriters, Inc. All rights are reserved. Permission to photocopy is expressly denied. All rights revert to individual authors immediately upon publication. Any time you change your mailing address or email address, please notify Jackie Shaffmaster at Treasurer@Pennwriters.org. we thank you in advance for helping to keep our member roster current. 2
THE PENN wRITER • May/June 2016 • www.pennwriters.org
Board of Directors President
Hilary Hauck, 814-659-6191 President@Pennwriters.org
is newsletter is another of your member benefits. I always enjoy seeing the themes our editor, Heather Desuta, has chosen. is issue’s theme is poetry and language, a topic close to my heart thanks, incidentally, to Pennwriters. I discovered my love for writing poetry in a conference workshop with Timons Esaias. As fiction and non-fiction writers, we can learn a great deal from poetry.
Vice President
Pennwriters is a reflection of our members; we are so proud to have such a quality organization. Immense thanks for your membership! I hope, through Pennwriters, we continue to share a path on this journey called writing. Happy reading, and Pennwrite on!
Treasurer
bobbi Carducci, 540-338-5064, 540-903-6831 VicePresident@Pennwriters.org Secretary
Susan Gourley Secretary@Pennwriters.org Jackie Shaffmaster, 570-878-7056 Treasurer@Pennwriters.org Author Advocate
Ayleen Gontz, 717-359-9279 AuthorAdvocate@Pennwriters.org Webmaster
-Hilary
Mark boerma, (570) 578-1473 webmaster@Pennwriters.org Newsletter Editor
Heather Desuta, 412-337-6966 Newsletter@Pennwriters.org 2017 Conference Coordinators
Heather Desuta, 412-337-6966 Carol Silvis, 724-327-2725 ConferenceCoordinator@Pennwriters.org
Pennwriters Online
Public Relations Chair
website: www.pennwriters.org yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Pennwriters/join facebook Groups: Pennwriters; Pennwriters Annual Conference you can also join the Pennwriters LinkedIn group and follow us on Twitter.
Bylaws Chair
Leslie Tobin Smeltz, 610-737-3288 PublicRelations@Pennwriters.org Jean Jenkins, 814-774-0557 bylawsChair@Pennwriters.org Internet Activities & Online Courses Coordinator
Pauline Drozeski, 814-392-8819 onlineCoordinator@Pennwriters.org Election Chair
Pennwriters Areas Map
Dave freas ElectionChair@Pennwriters.org Annual Writing Contest Coordinator
D.J. Stevenson writingContestCoordinator@ Pennwriters.org AREA 1 Rep: Todd Main, 814-459-8752
Area1Rep@Pennwriters.org
AREA 2 Rep: Mark boerma (570) 578-1473 Area2Rep@Pennwriters.org AREA 3 Rep: Sherry Piersol
Area3Rep@Pennwriters.org
AREA 4 Rep: Tanya Schleiden
Area4Rep@Pennwriters.org AREA 5 Rep: Sandra bush, 717-891-6412 Area5Rep@Pennwriters.org AREA 6 Rep: oPEN AREA 7 Rep: Terry friedman, 610-331-2558 & 843-236-8189 Area7Rep@Pennwriters.org
All areas outside of Pennsylvania are Area 7 THE PENN wRITER • July/August 2016 • www.pennwriters.org
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Pennwriters Member News & Happenings Area 3 Bari Benjamin’s story “So What is unconditional Love Anyway?” is featured in DAMMIT, I LOVE YOu, a collection of 15 true stories, recently released by Squirrel Hill publisher Brandt Street Press. Benjamin’s story explores her relationship with the daughter she adopted 16 years ago in Moscow. DAMMIT, I LOVE YOu tells the stories of heartbreak and love gone wrong, and of the lessons learned from these challenging loves. e courageous authors who share their stories remind readers of the strength and wisdom that inevitably results from pain. DAMMIT, I LOVE YOu is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and iTunes. (www.DammitBook.com)
Area 6 Kate Brandes’ debut novel, THE PrOMISE OF PIErSON OrCHArD, will be published by Nancy Cleary at WyattMacKenzie in Spring 2017. Agent Katie Shea Boutillier at the Donald Maass Literary Agency made the deal. THE PrOMISE OF PIErSON OrCHArD— pitched as Erin Brockovich meets Promised Land—is about a Pennsylvania family threatened by betrayal, financial desperation, old flames, fracking, and ultimately finding forgiveness. To learn more about author and environmental scientist Kate Brandes, visit http://katebrandes.com.
Area 5 Janet Cincotta’s short, short story “Lost and Found” appeared in the 2016 Writer’s Digest Competition collection, SHOW uS YOur SHOrTS.
“Essences,” a fantasy story by Area 4 Jim Lee, has been published in the e-book anthology 9 TALES FrOM ELSEWHErE #6. It’s available from Amazon’s Kindle store.
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Area 1 Rhonda Paglia has released a new book, A JOurNEY THrOuGH SCOTLAND ~ LOWLANDS AND HIGHLANDS, a nonfiction, pictorial travel book inspired by her “trip of a lifetime” visit to her ancestral homeland. Humor is sprinkled throughout the pages, plus a peek into Scottish culture, life and Gaelic language. is book, which also serves as an educational resource for middle grade students, includes: • Fun facts about Edinburgh and a peek inside Edinburgh Castle. Find out who’s haunting the castle, and discover the meaning of “the Laird’s Lugs.” • Sights along the royal Mile, including the Hanging Pub, Greyfriars Bobby, and a little about J.K. rowling and the inspiration for the Harry Potter series! • rosslyn Chapel, where interest in the chapel has been rekindled by Dan Brown’s novel, THE DAVINCI CODE. • e Highlands, Loch Ness, a visit with Nessie, Eilean Donan Castle. rhonda is an award winning picture book author of GrAMMY PAGS STOrIES FOr KIDS. To learn more, visit www.rhondapagliaauthor.com.
Area 3 rep Sherry Piersol (writing as S.G. Savage) has taken her passion for justice regarding women and children and written a romantic thriller series laced with history, fantasy and reality. e series begins with LYDIA’S LEAGuE OF ANGELS. Extinction of the female gender is not an option... Discover a journey like no other in a five-book series spanning 100 years (1960-2060). Lula Sophia’s life was disrupted the day seven mystical and
To SHARE yoUR NEwS, please email Newsletter@Pennwriters.org w/ “Penn writer Submission” in the subject line. Include your Area # in the message. uniquely individual angels appeared, along with the demons! Suddenly Lula (Lu) is immersed in an age-old conflict between two supernatural powers and realizes that being the modern-day descendant of an ancient heroine comes with life-altering responsibilities and sacrifices. Available as an ebook on Amazon.com and in paperback on Create Space. To learn more, visit www.sgsavage.com.
Area 5 James Rada, Jr. has released CLAY SOLDIErS: ONE MArINE’S STOrY OF WAr, ArT AND ATOMIC ENErGY, a biography of Chuck Caldwell. Chuck Caldwell talked with Civil War veterans, fought the Japanese on Guadalcanal and Tarawa during WWII, and stood under mushroom clouds as they rose after atomic bomb tests. rada interviewed Caldwell over a year and a half and researched the details of his life to write the compelling biography of an ordinary man’s extraordinary life. For more information, visit jamesrada.com.
Area 3 Mary Sutton (writing as Liz Milliron) will have two stories in upcoming anthologies. “ree rivers Voodoo" will appear in Bouchercon’s BLOOD ON THE BAYOu anthology this fall (Down & Out Books) and "e Far End of Nowhere" will appear in the next anthology from the Guppy chapter of Sisters in Crime, FISH OuT OF WATEr (Wildside Press).
Area 1 Janet Wells' short story “Walk Like a Turkey,” appeared in the June 8 edition of Romance Magazine, a subdivision of FictionMagazine.com. ough an artistic mail carrier hesitates to trust another man, the unconventional researcher who only socializes after dark tempts her...until his secret complicates their rural romance.
THE PENN wRITER • July/August 2016 • www.pennwriters.org
Celebrating Success with IPPY Award Winners Kathryn Craft and Lynne Dempsey by HANA HAATAINEN-CAyE, AREA 3
recently, I had the privilege of sitting down (virtually) with Pennwriters Kathryn Craft and Lynne Dempsey, to talk about their May trip to Chicago to receive their IPPY Awards. Kathryn won a Bronze Medal in Contemporary Fiction for her novel, THE FAr END OF HAPPY and Lynne won a Silver Medal in the Best Children’s Illustrated e-book category for her book COLOrS! She shares the award with her illustrator, Mandy Newham-Cobb. I asked Kathryn to tell me about the IPPY Awards. “e IPPYs are the annual Independent Publisher Book Awards, now in their 20th year,” she explained. “ey are meant to honor books that are independently published, whether that means self-published, put out through a small press, or published by a major independent like mine, Sourcebooks. To enter the 2016 awards, your book had to have been published in 2015.” Lynne added this quote from the IPPY website: “Conducted annually, the Independent Publisher Book Awards honor the year’s best independently published titles from around the world. e awards are intended to bring increased recognition to the thousands of exemplary independent, university, and self-published titles published each year.” “Literally from around the world,” Kathryn said. “ere were people at the Awards Ceremony from England, India, Australia, and all across the u.S.—their excitement was something I could not have appreciated remotely.” e decision to travel to Chicago for the ceremony wasn’t an easy one for Kathryn or Lynne. Lynne explained, “I was thrilled about the award, but I wasn’t sure about traveling to Chicago. Travel is a big expense. However, I decided receiving an award on the 99th floor of the Willis Tower was a once-in-a-lifetime event.” “My first reaction was ‘I have to go!’” added Kathryn. “I mean, this might be as close to my Academy Award fantasy as I ever get. My husband and I started planning the trip right away, but as airfare and hotel added up, I saw it made no sense to spend that much just to pick up an award in front of a group of strangers. Because of the number of categories, there isn’t even time for a speech. If I stayed home, they would mail me the medal, at their cost, with the bonus that I could stand in my living room in front of my husband and make a speech!” Attending didn’t seem to be a real option until Kathryn’s lifelong best friend heard about it. “She felt so strongly that I go that she offered up unused Southwest Airlines miles to get me there—and with that, the trip planning was back in motion.” Finding out about the awards was a story in itself for both women. Kathryn found out because Ayleen Gontz posted on the Pennwriters Facebook feed that Lynne and
Kathie Shoop had won medals. “I thought I must not have won anything, until I went to the website and there it was! Turns out the award notification was in my spam folder.” Lynne also missed the email. A friend congratulated her on Facebook after he received notification about his award. As it turns out, both women flew to Chicago to accept their awards. e ceremony was held May 10, 2016, on the 99th floor of the Willis Tower. According to Lynne, “e views were amazing. I had the opportunity to meet authors from around the world. One of the best parts was sharing the experience with Kathryn and her husband.” For Kathryn, meeting authors from around the world was a highlight as well. “At home it’s easy to convince yourself that due to the entry fee, you ‘bought’ yourself an award. [ere is a fee to enter.] In person I realized that it was a pretty big deal. Even the medal around my neck convinced me of its heft.” THE FAr END OF HAPPY was also a finalist in the 2015 INDIEFAB Awards from Foreword reviews. COLOrS! is the 2016 International Book Awards Winner in the Children’s Educational category. In 2015, it was a First Place Winner in the Educational Category for the royal Dragonfly Book Awards and was chosen as a finalist in the Picture Book Category for the readers’ Favorite International Book Awards. Lynne has also won multiple awards for TAKE THE DOG OuT! and NuMBErS!, her other two children’s picture books. Congratulations to Kathie Shoop, as well, for winning an IPPY Gold Medal in the Midwest, in the category Best regional Fiction, for her novel, THE rOAD HOME. Hana Haatainen-Caye is writer, editor, and voice-over talent. She is multipublished in CHICken SOuP fOR THe SOul anthologies and dozens of magazines. She recently submitted her 100th children’s book for publication with iStoryBooks.
THE PENN wRITER • July/August 2016 • www.pennwriters.org
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Time-Travel Through Historical Newspapers by bILL PESCHEL, AREA 5
In the late 1960s, writer Jack Finney had to travel a long way to reach the 19th century. To recreate 1880s New York City for his evocative historical novel TIME AND AGAIN, he had to visit libraries in New York City and Berkeley, California. reading “the first rough draft of history” demanded hours of paging through newsprint and scanning reels of microfilm. Finding the information he needed took luck and keen eyes. Fortunately for today’s Finneys, the internet gives us access to nearly everything published since Gutenberg’s time. Most of it is free, and the rest costs much less than what he paid for travel, food, lodgings, and copying. We don’t even have to pack. Everything can be accessed from our home computer. The key is knowing where to find that information. For five years, I’ve been doing historical research on Sherlock Holmes fanfiction, the 1856 William Palmer poisoning case, and fiction published in the 1920s (now called “historical novels”). I chased after the locations of towns and landmarks; resurrected now-forgotten public figures; and sourced obscure words and idioms, such as spill vase, lock hospital, ammonia pills, and “rich as an Argentine.” My greatest allies were historical newspaper sites. Thanks to scanners, databases, and volunteers, many newspapers are available online. By typing in keywords, it’s easy to uncover details of daily life; the current fashions, turns of phrases, and other imagination-inspiring facts that can flavor your stories. The following are my favorite sites: Chronicling America http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ A few years back, the Library of Congress gave states millions of dollars to digitize as many newspapers as they could. The pages are high-quality scans, and the well-proofed stories are easily searchable. Not all newspapers are included, and the site stops at the public domain border of 1922, but there’s so much available that this should be your first stop. Google News Archive Search http://news.google.com/newspapers Google scanned extensive runs of 2,400+ newspapers, including African-American and French papers. (Yay!) Including copyrighted issues beyond 1922. (Boo!) They were forced to take down links to the main page. (Hooray for copyright enforcement!) But left the newspapers online. (Hooray for researchers!) The scans are hit-and-miss, with gaps spanning decades, but if you need to know, for example, how people on Catalina Island reacted to Pearl Harbor, you’ve hit the jackpot. 6
Brooklyn Daily Eagle http://bklyn.newspapers.com/ The Library of Congress has 14 New York City newspapers in its database, but not this publication that informed and entertained Brooklynites from 1841 to 1955. The borough’s public library also threw in “Brooklyn Life” magazine that ran from 1890 to 1924. The New York Times http://query.nytimes.com/search/sitesearch/ Ignore the folderol about “all the news that’s fit to print.” For most of its history, The New York Times was like any other paper, scrapping for news to fill the spaces around the ads. Their paywalled database is as responsive as the Library of Congress site, and sometimes it’ll let you read a story for free. Fulton History http://www.fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html The internet is a wonderful place with quirky, one-person sites like this. Tom Tryniski of Fulton, N.Y., launched the site in 1999 to display his postcard collection. Then he bought an automated scanner and turned it loose on newspaper microfilms. Today, he’s up to 34 million pages drawn from more than 700 New York newspapers, plus more from the u.S. and Canada. The collection is larger than the Library of Congress’s, but it’s tougher to read, and the optical character recognition is not as good. On the other hand, look at the portions! British Newspaper Archive http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/ http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/archive/ If you want to look at a British newspaper, be prepared to pay. The BNA is stuffed with large and small papers from Land’s End to John o’ Groats, and they offer a one-month, all-you-can-download plan for about $20. Create a free account, and they’ll let you download three pages for free. Not found there, however, is The Times of London. Australia and New Zealand Australia: http://trove.nla.gov.au/ New Zealand: http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/ unlike the Brits, Australia’s Trove site is free to use. They even have a program that lets you correct the articles so you can pay back their generosity. Trove can also lead you to more Aussie archives containing books, photos, government publications, maps, diaries, and letters. Since 2010, bill Peschel has published wRITERS GoNE wILD (Penguin) and 11 books through Peschel Press. He is using the lessons he learned from famous writers combined with his own experiences to write THE CAREER INDIE AUTHoR to be published late this year. He runs his business at www.PeschelPress.com and his personal writings at www.PlanetPeschel.com. He can be reached at peschel@peschelpress.com.
THE PENN wRITER • July/August 2016 • www.pennwriters.org
2016 Pennwriters Annual Writing Contest Winners by D.J. STEVENSoN, AREA 3, wRITING CoNTEST CooRDINAToR
The 2016 Writing Contest was a huge success! We had 51 entries in Novel Beginnings, 27 in Short Story, 8 in Nonfiction, and 31 in Poetry. I would like to thank the Pennwriters Board of Directors for their continuing support of the contest, the judges for all their hard work and dedication to the contest, and the authors for their participation. Without you, there would be no contest. The following are the top-scoring entries:
NOVEL BEGINNINGS 1st place Carrie Jacobs A Much Better Plan 2nd place Joy Givens Beauty, the Beast 3rd place Margaret Rodenberg Finding Napoleon
NONFICTION 1st place Ann Howley One Million Years BC (Baby Crap) 2nd place Hana Haatainen Caye Eden 3rd place Sherren Pensiero Trekking From Homeroom to Home Office
SHOrT STOrY 1st place Amanda Schleicher Home Again 2nd place Terry Dawley The Joke 3rd place Barb D'Souza Flight
POETrY 1st place 2nd place 3rd place -
Kathy Horstman Someday Matt Betts Shakespeare's Twelfth Night of the Living Dead Matt Betts The Night Godzilla Dumped His Chick
Poetry is ordinary language raised to the Nth power. Poetry is boned with ideas, nerved and blooded with emotions, all held together by the delicate, tough skin of words. - PAUL ENGLE
Poetry is a language in which man explores his own amazement. - CHRISToPHER fRy
Language is the dress of thought. - SAMUEL JoHNSoN
THE PENN wRITER • July/August 2016 • www.pennwriters.org
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An Inside Look from a BookExpo America First-Timer by LyNNE DEMPSEy, AREA 5
BookExpo America (May 11-13) returned to Chicago for the first time in 12 years. Although Publishers Weekly reported floor space was down 20%, and major New York City publishers had a smaller presence, I didn’t mind. It was the first time I attended what is promoted as “the largest gathering of booksellers, librarians, retailers, publishers, rights, licensing, and book industry professionals in North America.” I loved the energy and the enthusiasm for all things book related. Publishers had amazing displays. Excited fans lined up for book giveaways. In addition to show admittance, my BEA badge gave me access to the BEA Content and Digital Conference. My favorite panel was “Authorship in the Digital Age.” Joe Konrath, Barbara Freethy and Scott Turow discussed traditional publishing versus self-publishing. First, a little information about the presenters. Scott Turow is a bestselling, traditionally published author and a former Authors Guild president. Joe Konrath is considered a pioneer in self-publishing. Konrath has earned $80K per month selling his e-books, his blog gets several million hits per year, and he has been featured in Forbes, Newsweek, and USA Today. Barabara Freethy is a bestselling author who left a big publishing house to self-publish. I’m a self-published author who follows Joe Konrath’s blog, so I already knew Konrath and Turow didn’t always see eye to eye—and that’s putting it mildly. I expected the program to get a little heated. Nope. Everyone on the panel agreed that keeping control over your intellectual property is necessary for a writer’s success. Turow described intellectual property as a “bundle of sticks.” He advised writers “not to give away your bundle of sticks.” Konrath agreed with Turow. He also advised authors to watch what they sign. Meanwhile, Freethy told the audience not to be afraid of self-publishing. Freethy began the switch to self-publishing five years ago, because she didn’t feel her publisher was doing enough to further her career. Freethy read Konrath’s blog and began releasing her out-of-print backlist titles as e-books. Her first self-published title made it to The New York Times e-book bestsellers list. To date, she has sold more than 5 million 8
self-published books and is the Amazon KDP Bestselling Author of All Time. (A note to romance authors. Freethy said she sells more books when there’s an image of water included on the cover. An interesting tip!) Konrath, previously a traditionally published author, now prefers to self-publish, because he doesn’t like the life-plus-70-years contract terms. He has sold more than two million books in 20 countries. However, when his friend Blake Crouch was offered a traditional deal, Konrath encouraged him to take it. Walking through the entrance to BEA, I could see why. An enormous banner advertising Crouch’s new book hung from the ceiling. Konrath reminded everyone not to confuse goals with dreams. Self-publishing is a “goal.” Becoming Joe Konrath or Scott Turow or Barbara Freethy is a “dream.” All three panelists consider themselves lucky and admitted that their sales results were not average. Whether a writer chooses to go with a traditional publisher or self-publish, everyone agreed that writing and publishing are hard work. The 2017 BookExpo America is scheduled for May 31- June 2 in New York City at the Javits Center. If you plan to attend, wear comfortable shoes. Look for discounts through writing and publishing groups. Concurrent events held during BEA include International Digital Publishing Forum DigiCon, BEA Bloggers Conference, and Audio Publishers Association Conference. There is a fee to attend additional conferences. BookCon will be held June 3-4. The following websites may be of interest: bookexpoarmerica.org; jakonrath.blogspot.com; barbarafreethy.com/resources-for-writers. Lynne Dempsey is the author of the TAkE THE DoG oUT series. To learn more, visit lynnedempsey.com and takethedogout.com.
THE PENN wRITER • July/August 2016 • www.pennwriters.org
Using Venn Diagrams to Choose Strong Language
THE PENN PRACTICE • CoLUMN #3
by fRITzE RobERTS, AREA 1
It happens to all of us. we take our draft to a critique group or beta reader and someone circles a verb and scrawls “weak” above it. At first we think, “but it’s a verb, in active tense. what’s wrong with it?” Still, we brainstorm other ways of showing the reader what is happening. Eventually, we come up with something we know, intuitively, is better. but why is it better? In this practice, we’ll develop a framework for understanding what constitutes strong versus weak language and look at some examples. Then, we’ll discuss methods for choosing strong language appropriate to your work. Defining Weak vs. Strong Words Weak words feel like narrative summary in that they tell what has happened, and move the character from A to B, but they don’t give a strong sense of the character’s experiences. Weak words fail to elicit imagery or other sensory responses. Often they lack specificity. On the other hand, strong words give the reader a clear sense of character, setting, or voice. Strong words are loaded with meaning—they convey a lot information. They are specific and precise to your character’s situation and actions. The reader can see, smell, and feel the character’s experiences. Example 1: “He went to the mailbox.” “Went” is a weak verb. This is a narrative summary of the character’s actions. You’re telling the reader what happened without showing his experience. Narrative summary is okay if the reader has already seen this character check for mail in detail, and we know he does this every day. As it is, however, it could be much stronger. Also, the sentence lacks emotion, and we have no information about this character. Is he racing his brother to the mailbox, yearning for his decoder pin? Or, is he an old man whose Social Security check is late? Sometimes, when we are told our writing is weak, or lacks details, we are tempted to add adjectives and adverbs. unfortunately, these are often another symptom of weak writing. If we revise the example to say “He went quickly through the cold air to the mailbox,” have we improved the reader’s understanding of the character or the setting? Superficially, it seems like we’ve added more detail, but “went quickly” could mean anything really—skipping, running, speed walking. It could also lead to confusion. Since we specify he’s moving through the air, is he “gliding”? rather than added adverbs, try choosing a stronger verb. revised: “He raced outside without his coat and yanked the mailbox open. Nothing.” ... “He shuffled toward the mailbox, careful to lift the toes on his weak right foot.” Both of these revisions give a sense of urgency and detail. In the first one, “raced” shows speed and excitement. The small detail “without his coat” tells us something about the setting without info-dumping. We assume he should have a coat on, but in his excitement he left it behind. The second example paints a very different picture. Here, the urgency comes from the character’s determination
to check the mail. Notice I didn’t tell the reader he was “determined.” The audience gets a sense of determination from the effort the character puts into his movements. Example 2: “She was worried about her family and wanted to hear from them.” In this example, “she was worried” is telling the audience what the character feels. But when we are worried we don’t think to ourselves “I’m worried.” Questions dominate our thoughts. We obsess over a problem or concern, imagining the worst case scenario. In most cases, showing all of the obsessive worries of your character would be overwhelming to your reader. It may make your character seem weak or out of control. When writing in a character’s point of view (POV), you want to capture the essence of her thoughts to convey her emotions without overwhelming the reader. revised: “Auren longed to hear from her family. Was Nana all right without her meds?” Here, “longed” is an emotionally loaded word. By adding the question after it, we get a specific example of what she’s worried about. The reader can surmise that she has similar concerns for other members of her family. However, if I had listed them all, it would have weakened the passage. One poignant example gets the point across without belaboring it. Use a Venn Diagram to Choose Strong Words A great visual exercise for choosing strong words is to draw a Venn diagram. For example, we want to replace the weak word “went.” In the main central circle you have movement, depicted with words like “went.” Intersecting circles might represent speed. To the left fast, and to the right slow. You might have other oppositions, such as elegant versus awkward. As you brainstorm words for movement and fit them into the diagram, you’ll eventually come on one that fits inside the right three circles. “raced” fits movement, fast, and elegant, while “shuffled” fits movement, slow, and awkward. Words loaded with meaning overlap with several concepts. If you can find the one word that fills the most circles, it will be the most loaded word. From there it is up to you to decide if it fits the character and tone of your work.
fritze Roberts is an author-entrepreneur and an active member of Pennwriters Area 1. In 2015 she met her goal of publishing the booklet PROjeCT MAnAGeMenT fOR AuTHORS, in which she describes the SMART goal in detail and gives tips and tricks for becoming a more productive writer. She lectures on the writer’s life and on writing for academics. To learn more, visit www.APeculiarProject.com. THE PENN wRITER • July/August 2016 • www.pennwriters.org
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Pennwriters Membership Renewal date is July 1. Visit http://pennwriters.org/register.
You should have received a membership renewal letter by email, providing instructions on how to renew. If you prefer to mail your renewal, please note that our mailing address has changed: Jackie Shaffmaster, Treasurer, PO Box 685, Dalton, PA 18414. Thank you, in advance, for continuing to be a Pennwriter. We love having you! And we love our mission: to help writers of all levels, from the novice to the award-winning and multi-published, improve and succeed in their craft.
Language is the means of getting an idea from my brain into yours without surgery. -MARk AMIDoN
Words, too, have genuine substance—mass and weight and specific gravity. - TIM o’bRIEN
There is not a particle of life which does not bear poetry within it. - GUSTAVE fLAUbERT
2017 Conference Co-Coordinators Carol Silvis and Heather Desuta are accepting workshop proposals now through August 1, 2016. For consideration, please provide a one-paragraph description of your proposed session(s), workshop title(s), and your bio of up to 60 words. Email ConferenceCoordinator@pennwriters.org. Include “Workshop Proposal” in the subject line of your message. Thank you! 10
THE PENN wRITER • July/August 2016 • www.pennwriters.org
A Novel Idea 102: Writing is an Art; Publishing is a Business by DoN HELIN, AREA 5
For the past two years, the Perry County Council of the Arts has been sponsoring “A Novel Idea,” a once-each-month, year-long series of workshops designed to help writers finish a draft of their novel. In the first session, we had 18 students. In the second, 22. We are very proud of our faculty. Together the faculty has published a total of 45 books and includes three creative writing teachers as well as a playwrite. This program has proved so successful that we are sponsoring a new series of workshops called “A Novel Idea 102.” This program is designed to assist authors in finding a publisher and marketing their novel. The class will meet at the Landis House in Newport on the third Saturday of each month beginning in September, with a weather-skip in February. “A Novel Idea 102” will include the following sessions: Critiquing Your Manuscript: Open your first chapters— what the agents and editors usually ask for first when submitting—to constructive input. You don’t get a second chance to make a good first impression. Query Letters and Pitch Sessions: What to expect when asked, “What is your story about?” Learn how to construct a query letter and how to craft an elevator pitch. Who are the agents and editors you’ll be contacting and what do they want? How do you contact them? Find out whether you might or might not need one. Legal and Business Issues of Writing: What is the secret to balancing the creative part of your writing with the business part? Don’t get caught in a bad contract. Learn how to negotiate with agents and publishers. What materials do you need for taxes or for travel expenses? Writing a Marketing Plan: Once you are published, then what? Do books sell themselves? What about interviews and book reviews? Learn the importance of a nonfiction hook and how to do successful book signings. Business cards, banners, bookmarks, postcards; what else does an author need to promote himself or herself? Traditional vs. Self Publishing: understand the difference between vanity press, traditional, and selfpublishing. This includes the issue of hybrid publishing— how to combine traditional with self-publishing. Can you establish yourself with traditional publishing then go into self-publishing or the other way around? Social Media: Build your writer platform. What is your visibility as an author? How do you get the word out? remember—you are your brand. (What is brand? How do
you go about branding?) When and how do you develop a viable website? How/why/when to do blogs, what is a blog tour, and why/how to participate? Do bloggers find you? Do you go to them? Acting the Book: Present yourself through a full-fledged “acting” class. Authors need to do readings and conduct interviews. This class will give you the opportunity to face your audience (community). The class will also include a short section on meditation/relaxation. Writing Genre Fiction: Mystery, romance, Young Adult, Fantasy, Horror... the list goes on. How to cross genres. If you’re writing children’s books and erotica, you’d need to have a pen name, but are pen names necessary if you are writing Christian fiction and secular romance? Writing Nonfiction: Learn the key elements in writing quality nonfiction. Articles, memoirs and biographies should read like a great story. How do you contact a publisher? How do you make money writing articles while working on the great American novel? Conferences: Get the most bang for your buck at conferences. What is the right conference for you? Learn how to prepare, what to do when you arrive, and how to rub elbows. What about critique groups—are they helpful, and how do you find the right one? So You Want to be a Writer: Finish your story! Overcome writer’s block and discover how to stay focused. Wrap up and Path Forward: This final class will provide an opportunity to meet with the faculty and ask questions on the entire course. Don’t leave with unanswered questions. To attend “A Novel Idea 102,” you need to register by Sept. 1, 2016. The cost for the program is $250. For more information, contact Jasmine Colbert at (717) 567-7023 or check out the Perry County Council of the Arts website: www.perrycountyarts.org. using his experience from the military, including eight years in the Pentagon, Don Helin published his first thriller, THY kInGDOM COMe, in 2009. His second, DevIl'S Den, was selected as a finalist in the Indie Book Awards. His most recent thriller, SeCReT ASSAulT, was selected as the best Suspense/ Thriller at the 2015 Indie Book Awards. A longtime Pennwriter, Don is an active member of International Thriller Writers and Military Writers Society of America, and is a mentor with Mystery Writers of America. He makes his home in central Pennsylvania where he is hard at work on his next Zack kelly thriller, lOnG WAlk HOMe.
THE PENN wRITER • July/August 2016 • www.pennwriters.org
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Friday Evening Keynote
Jonathan Maberry
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Saturday keynote
Kathryn Craft
2016 Pennwriters Conference Retrospective
2016 Pennwriters Conference Retrospective
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Agent/Author Panel
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2016 Pennwriters Conference Retrospective
-Eric Myers, Literary Agent Dystel & Goderich Literary Management
2016 Pennwriters Conference Retrospective
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Thank you for hosting me at the conference! I truly think that it was a top-notch event. -Mark Gottlieb, Literary Agent, Trident Media Group, LLC
Agent Panel
Lori Myers
Connie Scharon
Donna Galanti
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2016 Pennwriters Conference Retrospective
2016 Pennwriters Conference Retrospective
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L-R: Newly elected President Hilary Hauck, Past President Carol Silvis, newly elected VP Bobbi Carducci, and past VP Annette Dashofy.
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2016 Pennwriters Conference Retrospective
2016 Pennwriters Conference Retrospective
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Choosing a Publisher... Or Not by NANCy MARTIN, AREA 3
What is a publisher? In today’s swiftly evolving publishing world, the definition of the word seems to morph faster than most of us can keep up with. What makes the question even more complicated is the fact that many writers don’t want or need the services of a publisher anymore. But if you’re planning to send your manuscript out into the world, I think we can agree on a few key points: • A publisher helps a writer transform a manuscript—by developmental editing, copyediting, and formatting—into a document suitable for distribution to readers. • A publisher provides services, particularly editing, but also the creation of cover art and cover copy (which can sometimes be a team effort), as well as providing an ISBN number and positioning a book for the marketplace. From there, things get murkier. • A publisher should play a role in distributing the finished book or ebook. But how big a role varies greatly. A traditional New York house has a sales team that calls on distributors like Ingram and chain bookstores like Barnes & Noble, as well as genre-appropriate indie stores and library distributors, to hand-sell titles. That sales team builds relationships, takes orders, and sees that books are shipped in a timely fashion. In the growing ebook-only world, the sales staff has presumably established a working relationship with ebook distributors to smooth the way for publication—by paying for co-op placement or by bundling similar titles to optimize sales. The sales services of smaller presses vary depending upon where the press falls on the spectrum of success and reliability. A small press might not have the staff to do more than create a seasonal catalog of current books to send to distributors for consideration, with hopes the catalog alone will do the selling. Very small presses often focus on ebook selling while relying on authors to place books in brick-and-mortar stores. But a less-than-legit “publisher” might do little more than advertise books on a website with no effort to draw distributors and/or booksellers to that site. 20
• In an era when more and more readers don’t want a physical book, traditional publishers and legitimate small presses take care of uploading files to all the viable e-bookselling sites. (Amazon, iTunes, etc.) A publisher that doesn’t do the uploading but asks the writer to take responsibility for that chore, should make us wonder if self-publishing isn’t a better alternative. • Editing is where good publishers rise above the poor ones. A legit publisher should provide both developmental editing (“How about fixing this paragraph to better communicate what you want to say about farm-to-table practices?” Or, “Can you make this character more believable?”) and copyediting. Professional copyeditors have training and a skillset very different from that of a retired English teacher who charges to fix commas, so check how your potential publisher gets its copyediting done. • What about money matters? In the legitimate publishing industry, money has always flowed from the publisher to the writer. When money flows from the writer, the publisher has always been called a vanity press. (There’s nothing wrong with vanity presses. They fill an important niche. Family histories, personal memoirs with narrow audiences, and nonfiction about communities are ideal vanity books. Even fiction that is aimed at a very small readership can be successfully published by a vanity press.) But an entity that asks for money from the writer must be considered something other than a publishing house. A vanity press masquerading as a full-service publisher should be viewed with a cautious eye. More about money? The matter of advances and royalty percentages is complicated now, but common sense says that the more financially stable the publisher is, the more likely it is to pay the author up front or with heightened royalty rates for ebooks. Many small presses are paying more frequently than the traditional everysix-months business model—a plus in their favor. But no advance, low royalty rate, and infrequent payments are red flags.
THE PENN wRITER • July/August 2016 • www.pennwriters.org
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• Marketing? In today’s world, the term “marketing” is often confused with advertising. True marketing encompasses branding, strategizing a foothold in the greater marketplace, targeting an audience, establishing a price the consumer will be willing to pay, as well as coordinating with an author-driven social media plan. A company that does little more than encourage a writer to create a mailing list and to advertise on social media isn’t doing the job of a publisher. • Discoverability is the buzz word that’s wreaking havoc in the publishing biz. used to be, traditional publishers relied on bookstore placement to enable readers to discover books. Consumers roamed stores to find new books among their old favorites. But with the rise of ebook sales has come the waning of foot traffic in bookstore real estate. How do readers find the books they like most? Traditional publishers have perhaps mistakenly relied on authors to find alternative ways of reaching readers, whereas small presses have led the charge in creating better branding, community blogs and interactive websites, and the coordinating of social media campaigns. A “publisher” that does nothing more than cheerlead writers as they post on social media, however, isn’t helping much. A writer might be better off doing the job solo. Looking carefully at these criteria—distribution, services, uploading, editing, money matters, marketing and discoverability—a writer can make an informed decision when choosing a publishing path. After considering the failings of traditional and small press publishers, more and more writers are choosing to take their chances in the rough-and-tumble marketplace of self-publishing. If you don’t need a paper copy of your book and can do all the work listed above, why bother seeking a traditional house? Even the income from self-pubbing is challenging the money traditionallypublished authors have always earned. Writers need to be informed before making the choice that’s right for you. All publishers are not created equal. Consider all the angles before choosing your path. nancy Martin is a founding member of Pennwriters and the author of 48 pop fiction novels in mystery, suspense, historical and romance genres. learn more about nancy at nancyMartinMysteries.com.
The second annual York Book Expo will be held Saturday, Oct. 15 at the York Fairgrounds. This is a free event for all ages and will feature more than 100 local authors (including Pennwriter Maria V. Snyder), along with activities for children and families. For information about how to promote your book at the event or to make a reservation for booths/tables, email Demi Stevens, CEO, Year of the Book Press, at demi@yotbpress.com or call (717) 781-4972.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS May 19-21, 2017
Friday Evening Keynote CHuCK SAMBuCHINo Saturday Luncheon Keynote ANNETTE DASHoFy
THE PENN wRITER • July/August 2016 • www.pennwriters.org
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Pennwriters Online Courses
Area 1 Todd Main • Area 1 Representative 814-459-8752 • Area1Rep@Pennwriters.org Meadville Vicinity Pennwriters (MVP) Meets 1st Saturday, 1-4 p.m. at Tim Horton’s on Conneaut Lake Road. Contact Janet wells at wellswoodjanet@gmail.com. Presque Isle group Meets 2nd Saturday, 1-4 p.m. at Tom Ridge Environmental Center on Presque Isle. Contact Todd Main at todd_main@steris.com. Shenango Valley Pennwriters (SVP) Meets 3rd Saturday, 1-4 p.m. at the Shenango Valley Library in Sharon. Contact Catherine McLean at catherinemclean@windstream.net. librarian nick Beronni accepts three marketing books from Deb Riley-Magnus, the author and guest speaker on March 19 for the SvP group’s mini-workshop on author marketing.
Erie group Meets 4th Saturday, 1-4 p.m. at barnes & Noble near the Millcreek Mall in Erie. Contact Dave Szymanowski at daveszy@adelphia.net. fellowship of the Quill (foTQ) Meets every Thursday, 7-10 p.m. at Tim Horton’s, 2565 west 12th, Erie. Contact Todd Main at todd_main@steris.com. Classic writers group Meets 3rd Tuesdays, 7-10 p.m. at barnes & Noble at 5909 Peach Street, Meadville. Contact Jean Jenkins at jean.jenkins10@gmail.com. (Group geared for more experienced writers.) Corry writers group Meets 1st Mondays, 6:30-9 p.m. at Tim Horton’s, 7 E. Columbus Ave., Corry. Contact kathy otten at jersey.vt.1774@hotmail.com.
Area 2 Mark boerma • Area 2 Representative Area2Rep@Pennwriters.org Danville Group Meets 1st and 3rd wednesdays, 7 p.m. at the Episcopal Church on Market Street. Contact Dave freas at quillracer@pa.metrocast.net.
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Scrivener Class with Instructor Pat Haggerty August 1-26, 2016 Cost: $49 Enroll now at www.pennwriters.org As writers, we’ve all spent time hunched over a keyboard trying to get our thoughts into some word processor. Software such as word and Pages work when it comes to writing fiction, but their focus is much more on processing your words (layout, font, headers, footers, etc.) than on the creative process. Enter Scrivener. Scrivener is the premier software application for the creation of novels, novellas, and like works. It allows you to focus on getting your story written while helping you integrate your research, planning, and writing. This course will teach you, the writer, how to best use Scrivener—from planning your scenes to generating output for your publisher. Lectures will be presented using recorded videos, so you can hear and see as your instructor explains and demonstrates everything you need to become effective with Scrivener. Each lecture will be announced through the email list and will be accompanied by a brief timeline. Students will then be able to use the same list to ask questions, discuss lectures, etc. Lectures will be given on both Mac and windows versions of Scrivener when substantial differences in the interface are present. THE CoURSE wILL INCLUDE THESE ToPICS: I opened Scrivener and it is absolutely nothing like word. • why that’s a good thing • Getting around the interface • Learning enough to get writing now • Starting a new novel • Editing basics I can’t just start writing, I need to plan first. • Capturing your plan and synopsis • Setting up the Corkboard • Using and organizing notecards • outlining I need to get my chapters and scenes organized, my way. • organizing and reorganizing with the binder • Creating parts, chapters and scenes • Sorting things the way you want • Mapping into a template • Editing options and views whew, my book is ready. Now how do I get it out? • Compiling to the final output • Controlling formatting • Compiling to PDf • Compiling for kindle • Revisiting the template and formatting options I’ve lost work before, and now I’m paranoid. How can Scrivener help? • Configuring Scrivener’s automated backup • backing up to the cloud (Dropbox) automatically AboUT THE INSTRUCToR: After a failed attempt at college and four years in the USMC learning to be a better apex predator, Patrick Haggerty attended Georgia State University where he studied to be an Actuary. Not a very romantic or literary major, but a good paying one. He started consulting on software development and design in 1995 and has spent most of the time since developing and delivering technical training courses for Learning Tree International. In 2004, while stuck reading a mediocre book in yet another hotel, Patrick decided to try his hand at writing fiction. He may not be published yet, but these days you are much more likely to find him spending his evenings writing romance than code. Patrick is an active member of Romance writers of America, Romance writers of Australia, Romance writers of New zealand, and is President of his local RwA chapter and Director of Virtual Meetings for outreach International RwA.
THE PENN wRITER • July/August 2016 • www.pennwriters.org
Pennwriters Online Courses
Area 3
50 Shades of Publishing
Sherry Piersol • Area 3 Representative Area3Rep@Pennwriters.org
with Instructor Deanna R. Adams August 1-19, 2016 Cost: $49 Enroll now at www.pennwriters.org This course will include reference handouts for drafting a query for traditional publishers, writing up a blurb describing your book, researching for similar books out there, and exploring how yours will be different. Also, how and when to approach an agent. And finally, marketing your book before and after it’s published. THE CoURSE wILL INCLUDE THE foLLowING: • Decide what publishing option is best for you. • Discover the differences between true self-publishing and indie publishing. • find out about small publishers that might be best for your book. • Discover the keys to drafting a great book summary and how to write it right! • Learn the basics of writing a winning query letter. • find out how to approach a literary agent. • Explore ways to promote your book to keep it alive and selling! AboUT THE INSTRUCToR: Deanna R. Adams is author of fiction and nonfiction books, both traditional and self-published. She is also an award-winning essayist, writing instructor and speaker. Her most recent book is The writer’s GPS: A Guide to writing & Selling your book. Deanna is also director and coordinator of several annual writers’ conferences and writers’ retreats. See her website at www.deannaadams.com.
Pennwriters Online Courses byoC (bring your own Character) Character workshop with Instructor Alex Lidell october 3-24, 2016 Cost: $49 Enroll now at www.pennwriters.org Join Penguin author Alex Lidell in a four-week online character workshop. The workshop will cover both character development (the character’s personality, conflicts, history, etc) and character writing craft (how you, the writer, communicate your character to the reader.) bring your own character so the workshop directly supports your wIP! Please note: This is an interactive workshop, with assignments. you will be expected to comment on and discuss other students’ work and receive feedback on your own writing. Textbook (recommended but not required): CHARACTERS & VIEwPoINT, ELEMENTS of fICTIoN wRITING by orson Scott Card AboUT THE INSTRUCToR: Alex Lidell is a yA fantasy writer and was a popular session leader at the 2013 Pennwriters Conference. Her novel, THE CADET of TILDoR, was published by Penguin in 2013. Alex loves writing and geeking out over writing craft. She leads writing workshops in schools and writing conferences. Alex lives in the washington, DC area. find out more at www.alexlidell.com or by contacting Alex at alex@alexlidell.com.
Second Tuesday of the Month Group The group is still looking for a permanent host. If you would consider hosting or co-hosting, contact interim coordinators Carol Moessinger at pcmoes@verizon.net, Cheryl williams at cherylewilliams205@yahoo.com or Sherry Piersol at Area3Rep@Pennwriters.org. The Mindful writers Group - North our goal is to complete a manuscript in 9 months using writing Meditation Method. Meets every wednesday from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Eat ’n Park at the wexford exit of I-79. To join, contact Madhu wangu at madhu.wangu@me.com. Group is currently at its 20-member limit. The Mindful writers Group - East first meeting was Thursday, March 17, at 10 a.m. at Eat ’n Park at the waterworks Mall. To join, contact Madhu wangu at madhu.wangu@me.com. Pittsburgh East writers Group Small critique group focusing on fiction. All genres welcome. Meets 3rd Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Monroeville Public Library’s upstairs conference room. Contact Chuck Rakiecz at crakiecz@verizon.net. South Hills writers Group Experienced fiction writers meeting weekly for camaraderie in writing, studying of craft, and critiquing. Group is limited to four members. we presently have one opening. Meets every Thursday at 10 a.m. (meetings last about 4 hours w/writing) at Market District Express on washington Road in Peters Township. Contact Stephanie Claypool at stephanieclaypool@outlook.com. Critique Group North Group is full, but interested writers may submit their names for the waiting list. Meets 2nd Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at king’s Restaurant at wexford exit of I-79. Contact MaryAlice at maryalicemeli@yahoo.com. Robinson Evening Critique Group Meets the 4th wednesday of every month at 7 p.m. at the Panera in Settlers Ridge. The group is limited to six members. we currently have four. we welcome anyone, published or not. Anyone who would like to join the group, get additional info, or come to a session and see how we work, contact barb D'Souza at barbrett@verizon.net.
THE PENN wRITER • July/August 2016 • www.pennwriters.org
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Area 4
Perry Co. Council of the Arts: A Novel Idea
Tanya Schleiden • Area 4 Representative Area4Rep@Pennwriters.org
A Novel Idea, a program through the Perry County Council of the Arts, is a 12-month program on How to write a Novel. Visit www.perrycountyarts.org. Area 2 Rep Mark boerma has been attending these workshops. Each newsletter in 2016 will feature Mark’s recaps of those sessions.
The Inkwell (Duncansville, PA) Meets 3rd Thursdays from 6-8:30 p.m. at Marzoni’s at 164 Patchway Road. Contact Hilary at President@Pennwriters.org. The Southern Alleghenies writers Guild (Johnstown, PA) Meets 3rd Saturdays from noon-3 p.m. Contact Jim Lee at 814-442-1241 or jimlee.author@gmail.com. Additional writers groups meeting in Area 4: Nittany Valley writers Network (State College, PA) Meets 2nd Tuesdays from 6-7:30 p.m. at Schlow Library (211 S. Allen St.). Nittany Valley writers Network: The Early Risers Meets 3rd wednesday from 7-8:00 a.m. at The waffle Shop on w. College Avenue. Nittany Valley writers Network: Social Meets 4th Tuesdays from 5:30-7 p.m. at The Autoport (1405 S. Atherton St.).
Area 5 Sandra bush • Area 5 Representative Area5Rep@Pennwriters.org york Area Group Critique structure: bring 6 copies of up to 5 pgs. of manuscript, double-spaced. Meets 2nd Thursdays from 7-9 p.m. at books-a-Million, 3000 whiteford Rd., york, Pa. Harrisburg Area Group Critique structure: bring 10 copies of up to 5 pages, double-spaced. All genres welcome. Meets 4th wednesdays from 6-9 p.m. at the New Cumberland Library’s back annex (1 benjamin Plaza, New Cumberland). Contact Don Helin at dhelin@copper.net. Lancaster Area Group Meets 2nd & 4th Tuesdays from 7-9 p.m. in the Lancaster barnes & Noble cafe. Contact walt Honsinger at walthonsinger@hotmail.com. not a Pennwriters event, but possibly of interest to area Pennwriters: A five-day memoir workshop will be held in September at a working farm in McClure, Pa. Instructor beth kephart is the award-winning author of six memoirs, as well as HANDLING THE TRUTH: oN THE wRITING of MEMoIR, which won the 2013 books for a better Life Award (motivational category). In addition to teaching workshops across the country, she is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania, where she won the 2015 beltran family Award for innovative mentoring and teaching. for more info, visit junctureworkshops.com.
During April’s workshop, Lori Meyers led the session rEALISTIC, SNAPPY DIALOGuE. An exercise had been pre-assigned, which we workshopped, then a handout was distributed. The following information came from the session: •The two main purposes of dialogue are to move the story forward and to reveal something. •When setting, plot, character and conflict—concepts discussed in previous workshops—interface and mix with dialogue, they can provide a decision-making process and a road map for the author’s novel. •For setting, it provides time transition, usually subtle. •In plot, dialogue moves plot. It changes the direction of plot, usually through conflict. •For character, dialogue develops character. It creates voice and tone, for either story or character. Provides understanding/enlightenment for characters. •regarding conflict, dialogue can add drama through conflict and resultant action. These are the basic rules of dialogue. Dialogue is always created for the purpose of story development; therefore, it cannot function as a taped recording of reality. It must be stripped of nuances that may not be true to the story or may confuse the reader. In revision of dialogue, these questions may be useful: Is dialogue logical? Does it fit character desire and motivation? Does it support theme and meaning? Does it move? During the workshop, ideas for improvement were discussed: characters (reality), no authorial thinking, avoid director answers (kills movement), avoid “talking heads” (two characters in ping-pong dialogue), avoid simile and metaphor, what exactly happens? (desire and motivation? movement? exposition? logic? conflict?), and sound. (Are we talking with the Pope or are we in a bar?) Some writers like to start with dialogue. They do as much characterization and story development as they can using only dialogue. Then, what can’t be done most effectively with dialogue, they try to do with narrative. HOW TO QuIT TELLING AND STArT SHOWING was the title of the May session, led by Laurie Edwards. A handout was distributed with helpful references and website links. The following information came from the session: •The main key to showing and not telling is to use more verbs and fewer adjectives and adverbs. •Showing is painting word pictures that come to life on the page. readers do not just read about the event; rather the whole scene comes alive before their eyes. They see the world with fresh eyes. Some important techniques discussed were: active verbs and specific nouns (vague to specific), dialogue, revealing feelings through action (external and visceral), sensory detail, visceral reactions, interiority/internal thoughts, psychic distance, dramatizing scenes. You should eliminate emotion words (sadness, anger, disappointment), filters (saw, heard, felt), and thought words (remembered, realized, thought). Also, don’t show dull parts of the story, transitions, and long passages of time. next page
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Personally, for me, this workshop shed a spotlight on my own writing when it comes to psychic distance. It’s the distance between the author and the reader. A recommended reference, ArT OF FICTION by John Gardner, elaborates more on this. “By psychic distance we mean the distance the reader feels between himself and the events in the story. Careless shifts in psychic distance can also be distracting. When psychic distance is great, we look at the scene as if from far away—our usual position in the traditional tale, remote in time and space, formal in presentation; as distance grows shorter—as the camera dollies in, if you will— we approach the normal ground of the yarn and short story or realistic novel. In good fiction, shifts in psychic distance are carefully controlled.”
2016 Meritorious Service Award Recipent Shares Reflections on Volunteering by CoLETTE GARMER, AREA 3
I’d like to thank all the people who voted for me to be named Pennwriters’ 2016 Meritorious Service Award Winner. I consider it an honor to be a part of such a vibrant and forward-thinking organization. I greatly appreciate the distinction you have given me. Generally, with nonprofit, volunteerrun groups like ours, 20% of the members do 80% of the work. With that in mind, look how wonderful this last conference was. Imagine what would happen if we all shared our talents and expertise. An active membership base is vital to writers’ organizations. Writing is such a solitary activity. Many articles are written about writers and the need to search out other writers for friendship and advice. Can you imagine how out of touch with the publishing world some of us would be if we didn’t have a top-notch organization like Pennwriters as a resource? In order to do this for many years to come, we need more volunteers sharing their insight and experience. There is always someone to advise you on how to take on a volunteer role. I enjoyed reviving the Pennwriters Writing Contest and sharing my knowledge with the individuals who have been my successors in that position. I ask that you consider taking on one of the chair positions when the next conference calls for volunteers. Conference Coordinators Heather Desuta and Carol Silvis will be soliciting chairs and volunteers in the coming months. The more active we all are in Pennwriters, the stronger our organization becomes. As 2016 Conference Keynote Jonathan Maberry would say, it would be a “win-win.”
The poet is the priest of the invisible. - wALLACE STEVENS
Area 6 oPEN There are currently no Pennwriters groups meeting in Area 6, but if you are interested in forming a group or are interested in the Area Rep position, email president@pennwriters.org.
Area 7 Terri friedman • Area 7 Representative 610-331-2558 • Area7Rep@Pennwriters.org blue Ridge Group (Virginia) Meetings include critique on request, sharing resources, writing exercises and discussion. beginning to multi-published writers welcome. Meets 2nd & 4th wednesdays from 7-9 p.m. at the Purcellville Library in Purcellville, Virginia.Contact bobbi Carducci at VicePresident@Pennwriters.org. Northern Delaware Group Meetings will be held monthly. All levels of experience are welcome. for details, email Cindy Callaghan at callaghancindy@gmail.com. Please note: If you have a place to meet and a desire to spend time with fellow writers, it is possible to host a group. for more info, contact Terri.
WriTer’s TooLbox: CoMPETIToRS
The last of the 4 Cs, Competitors are ones who also serve your customers’ needs, particularly those who are better at it then you. I’ve talked a lot about Competitors— authors and their books in the same subgenre who are vying for the same target audience as you. Even though Competitors are usually not threats like they are in the corporate world, it’s very important to understand your competition and keep tabs on them to maximize your success. Find how many sales they make and where, what subjects they cover, and who do they target and why. Subscribe to online and offline writers’ publications. Learn whose marketing serves your audience better—yours or your competition’s. Visit Competitor websites and events and bookstores to see if they’re selling in a way you’re not. They may have learned of a new trend or target market. -from Strategic Marketing Made easy for Writers: Optimize Your Promotions for Bestseller Results by Nate Hardy, Area 6. www.PlusSignProductions.org
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Market News
CoLUMN #114
by JIM LEE, AREA 4, ASSoCIATE EDIToR, MARkET REPoRTS
Today we begin with a roundup of fiction-oriented markets…. It’s reported that one of the foremost markets for short crime/suspense/mystery fiction, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, has gotten very slow at responding to submissions. It’s still a prestigious and very decent-paying outfit (8 cents/wd), just be advised it can take up to a full year to hear back from them. www.themysteryplace.com/ahmm/guidelines/. Another big-time genre digest, Analog, Science fiction & fact, currently has fallen somewhat behind on their usual 3-4-month maximum response time. www.analogsf.com Meanwhile, The Magazine of fantasy & Science fiction recently took action to prevent such a problem from becoming acute. They briefly suspended submissions to get caught up. They reportedly will reopen for submissions on July 4. www.sfsite.com/fsf/. Scott M. Roberts is the new editor at orson Scott Card’s InteGalactic Medicine Show. IGMS (as it’s sometimes referred to) is a pro-level, bimonthly e-zine and print market for Sf/f (including some supernatural horror). They pay 6 cents/word, primarily for new material—but will occasionally consider a reprint, if the previous publication was very obscure. They use stories and novelettes, up to 17,500 wds. for info, visit www.intergalacticmedicineshow.com. Colorado Review is a university-affiliated literary magazine. They use fiction (no genre stuff) and nonfiction essays dealing with contemporary themes (about 15-25 pages in manuscript form), as well as poetry. Pay is $10/page ($30 minimum) for poetry; $200/story or essay. Contributors also get 2 copies of the issue and a 1-year subscription to the magazine. Visit www.coloradoreview.colostate.edu. 87 bedford is a new and much smaller publication with a literary bent, but they will also consider some genre-oriented (if written in a manner they like). They use fiction (from microfictions of under 100 words, to 10,000 words max, but best length for them is around 4,000), poetry and reviews. They may consider even longer pieces for serialization over multiple issues. original pieces of 500 words and up get $10; shorter and all reprint works get $5. Send works via email to submit@87bedford.com. In the subject line, list type of submission (fiction, poetry, etc.), genre (if applicable), title of work, and word-count. www.87bedford.com/Submission/. Arthur A. Levine books is an imprint of Scholastic Press. They publish a wide range of books for children and don’t require you to have an agent to submit. Check out their info at www.arthuralevinebooks.com/submission.asp.
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Soft Skull books wants books that reflect a “kick-ass counterculture” mentality. They use both fiction and nonfiction, but be aware that they (like an increasing number of publishers) will only respond if they’re interested in your query letter. www.softskull.com/submissions/. beneath Ceaseless Skies uses ‘literary adventure fantasy’ and is particularly interested in ‘secondary world’ stories (i.e. they take place on invented worlds, not Earth). They recently increased maximum word count to 11,000 (and even this is not too firm). Editor Scott H. Andrews wants new material (no reprints), attached to email messages and sent to submissions@beneath-ceaseless-skies.com. Pay is 6 cents/wd. www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/submissions/ zumaya Publishing is a small press with many imprints. fiction genres covered include romance, Sf, cozy mysteries, LGbT, yA and paranormal. They also do a bit of nonfiction (mainly ghostrelated). No advances; all pay is by royalties (40% of net for print books, 50% of net for e-books). They publish books of 50,000 wds and up for adult readers; 40,000 and up for the yA market. All submissions and other business is done online: www.zumayapublishing.com/guidelines/Guidelines.pdf. body Parts Magazine uses an odd blend of horror/speculative fiction and erotica in themed issues. Pay (via Paypal) is modest: $10-20/short story (<8,000 wds); $5/flash fiction (<1,000 wds). Upcoming themes—Issue #7: fairy Tales, Myths, Gods & Monsters, deadline 8/1/16; #8: killer Clowns/ freak Shows, deadline 3/1/17. Email bodypartsmagazine@gmail.com with your work in the body of the email (no attachments!). Subject line should include Submission, issue # and title. Edge Science fiction & fantasy Publishing is a british press, looking for ‘mature’ Sf/f novels (meaning no kid-oriented material), 75,000-100,000 wds in length. They do print books exclusively, offering a modest advance against royalties (amounts not specified). Contact person is brian Hades, General Manager. Paper submissions only, so you need to include IRCs as return postage. Their guidelines are online at www.edgewebsite.com/authors.html. And here’s a range of nonfiction-focused opportunities…. Mother Earth News, a bimonthly from ogden Publications, focuses on living an eco-conscious, organic life. Their “Country Lore” department is open to freelancers and pays $25-100 for short how-to pieces of 100-300 words. Longer features are mostly staff-written, but they occasionally use freelancers. Send 1-page query/outline of proposed feature (digital photos a plus) to letters@motherearthnews.com. for more info, visit www.motherearthnews.com/writers-guidelines.
THE PENN wRITER • July/August 2016 • www.pennwriters.org
My task, which i am trying to achieve is, by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel—it is, before all, to make you see. - JoSEPH CoNRAD
Mother Earth Living is the natural health/wellness-focused sister pub to Mother Earth News. Query with article proposal to editor@motherearthliving.com. fees there are negotiable. Visit www.motherearthliving.com. ogden also recently acquired the magazine Heirloom Gardener. It specializes in how to grow heirloom type plants (vegetables and flowers), and they’re presently retooling the publication, including beefing up its online presence. The finished product will feature a new website with blogs by freelancers as well as photo essays and articles (personal experience pieces, maybe interviews with experts, etc.). www.motherearthnews.com Pitchfork describes itself as focusing on “music criticism with a slightly academic voice.” They pay $100/interview; $80/critical review; $100/news story about the music industry. Pitch your story ideas to the editor, Mark Richardson (mark@pitchfork.com) or various other staff listed at www.pitchfork.com/masthead. Today’s Christian woman buys first Print Rights and Exclusive online Rights for articles of interest to their audience. Pay amounts vary and are sent within 45 days after publication. Visit www.todayschristianwoman.com. you can also find a link to their child-rearing magazine, Parent Connect. Anxiety foundation needs articles and related essays on coping with mental health issues. They pay $50 for nonfiction (550-word minimum; no max stated). www.anxietyfoundation.com.
ADDitude is all about attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders. They want submissions from journalists, health professionals, parents and others—blogs, articles (2,000 wds max), sent as email attachments. Pay (which varies, so you might need to negotiate) is on publication. www.additudemag.com. book browse is a website that pays for book reviews (600 wds, $50/review). www.bookbrowse.com. A website connected to Disney Corp., babble features a range of heartwarming and occasionally silly fun stuff (their words) for kids and parents. The editor is Megan Sayers, and she wants a query for pieces running 800-1,000 wds (though you can attach your article to said query, if it’s completed). They use no reprints. Also, be advised: This is another publication that only responds to a query if interested. Pay is $150. www.babble.com/write-for-babble/. Entelligent deals with making investments in the energy trading field. This highly specialized trade market pays $180/article. Pitch idea to them via submissions@entelligent.com. https://entelligent.com/become-a-contributor. The Green Parent is based in the Uk and helps parents and families find ways to lead a ‘green’ lifestyle. They pay 75 English pounds per every 1,000 wds. Consult their incredibly detailed and lengthy guidelines at www.thegreenparent.co.uk.
A publication dealing with the world of theater, Howl Round pays $50/article (1,500-2,000 wds). They use works on theater management, marketing, play production, writing for the stage and the like. They want to see a pitch/proposal before considering your submission. www.howlround.com/participate.
Anybody out there knowledgeable about target shooting ranges? If so, The Range Report needs you! This trade magazine is aimed (okay, yes, pun intended) at shooting range owners, managers and employees. It’s a monthly and pays an impressive $500 for feature articles, but you must query to get an assignment. www.rangereport.org/contributor-guidelines/.
Modern farmer doesn’t seem to have an actual guideline page, but the title alone should tell you what sorts of topics they cover. They pay a reported $150 for articles on people, government farm policy, animals, plants and agricultural technology. Visit www.modernfarmer.com/submissions/.
M: Music & Musicians offers an inside look at the music industry—profiles, interviews, etc. They have no formal guidelines but pay $25/album review and $450/feature article. Consult their website: www.mmusicmag.com and then pitch Editor Rick Taylor: rick@Mmuiscmag.com.
CEo Hangout is aimed at people who head up companies with 50 or more employees. They’ll reportedly pay $50 (seems a very popular figure, doesn’t it?) for nonfiction (750-1200 wds), but pitch the idea then negotiate the fee bEfoRE writing. www.ceohangout.com/write-for-us/.
Particular thanks this time to Area 1 Pennwriter fritze Roberts for providing a lead. Other sources include PublishedtoDeath.com, Ralan.com, freedomwithWriting.com, MakealivingWriting.com, freelanceWriting.com, and my personal inquiries. Send marketrelated tips/leads to me at jimlee.author@gmail.com. They are highly appreciated, and you can either be credited here or remain anonymous. (entirely your choice.)
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e Mission of Pennwriters Inc. is to help writers of all levels, from the novice to the award-winning and multipublished, improve and succeed in their craft. Pennwriters, a not-for-profit organization of more than 390 members from Pennsylvania and beyond, was established in 1988 as a networking organization for published and aspiring writers of all genres. e group offers an annual three-day writers conference and area events and has a strong internet presence, with email groups, online classes and social networks. Authors who meet set criteria are granted Published Author status. For more information about Pennwriters and its members, visit www.pennwriters.org or contact Hilary Hauck at President@pennwriters.org.
NEXT DEADLINE: AUGUST 1 (SEPT/oCT ISSUE) THEME: wRITERS MARkET selling your work, your writing career, making money, etc.
e Penn Writer is published bimonthly. Contact Heather Desuta, newsletter editor, at Newsletter@pennwriters.org. Please share your news, accomplishments, tips, great quotes, book recommendations, etc. Include relevant artwork, photos and book cover images. Word counts—articles: 800 words (1-pg), 1,600 (2-pg). For articles exceeding 1,600 words, contact the editor in advance. Blurb submissions of any length are welcome. Type “PENN WrITEr SuBMISSION” in the subject line of your email message, and please include your Area number. (See the map on page 3.)