Vanity Press

The French do have a sense of humor after all. The newspaper Le Figaro got up a manuscript of the famous 19th century French classic novel Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert and submitted it to five vanity publishers (new name: publish on demand, self publishing). Of course they changed the title and some of the main characters' names, but none of the vanity presses recognized the prank. One even estimated that the "new book" would sell for 21.50 euros. The highest charge offered was 4,800 euros. Another would have charged 4,200 euros to print 200 copies.

Mohammed Aissaoui, of Le Figaro, said: "These committees should have been surprised at the literary quality, at the style of this text and at the absence of faults, which contrast sharply with what they usually receive." (from the Times Online)

07/02/05 UPDATE Yikes! Somehow this paragraph was left out when originally published: At A Stop at Willoughby: Vanity Presses Stung...Again I like the hay Patrick makes of this news, especially, It's when they'll gush while writing you a check that you know you've written something worth printing. [Tectags: vanity press]

Book Stats

A published writer tells all about the stats for a book's sales. Down and dirty! Paperback Writer: HotM could become the talk of the writing world (well, blogs on writing anyway) due to the candor and disclosure. Brava! The author, a "Writing Pro Since 1998", uses four or five pseudonyms (I'm not certain of her identity) and claims to have published "28 Novels in 5 Genres". Let's see, that makes about four books a year. She also links to a readable scanned image of the actual invoice. New terms to add to a bookish vocabulary: reserve against returns, sell-through rate.
[Tectags: books book sales]

Peanuts Pay

In my never ending quest to find the best resources for writers, I lurk in the shadows of job listings, trying out the free services, taking advantage of trial memberships. You see few mentioned, for good reason. Last week I was invited to bid on a job that pays four cents a word, or as the employer liked to phrase it "$1 for 25 words". The writing desired was quite specialized and called for unique skills and equipment. With this particular employment service, being invited meant the potential employer had read my resume and asked specifically if I would work for peanuts. It reminded me of an anonymous posting to the "writing jobs" section of Craig's List:

So many Web sites post here looking for writers and do not offer compensation. They promise a byline, and make a big deal about you getting published. Bullsh*t. A byline on a Web site is worthless on your resume. It will not help you get a print gig or job. Editors make fun of this type of "experience." Do not waste your time by giving content away. You get nothing (seriously). Same with these gigs offering $5 or $10 a story. A legitimate Web site or print gig should pay at least 30-50 cents a word, most print outlets will pay freelancers $1 word (newspapers less).

I don't agree with the part about "most print outlets will pay freelancers $1 a word", but I remember starting out at ten cents a word in the early 1970's. BTW only one of many ads I've answered from Craig's List ever responded. On the other hand, if you're looking to hire someone--place an ad there, you'll be inundated with applicants, and it's free. [Tectags: writers writers' pay]

Sunny Side

Here's a great antidote to the negativity that sometimes gets out of hand in writerly discussions. On the Writer's Digest website, read how Fannie Flagg, the gifted storyteller of the novels Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe and A Redbird Christmas, stays relentlessly optimistic about writing feel-good fiction in Sunny Side Up.

[Tectag: writing moods]

Sign Books

Anyone who's published a book knows about book signings. You schlep all your stuff, often including a pile of books, into a meeting place, bookstore, mall, library and assorted other venues, set it all up, endure inane questions and comments, maybe sell a few books, and sign your name, over and over. It's all part of marketing. Vikk Simmons often blogs about this aspect of the writing life at Down The Writer's Path. I've learned many useful tips from her descriptions. If this is still in your future, or you want group help on how to do it (better), it might be worth joining the Yahoo! Group Booksigners. They say:

BookSigners' mission is to help authors maximize their success with signings and readings. All aspects of signings are discussed, including

* Getting the gig
* Marketing tips to increase sales and success at your signing
* Sharing alternative (as well as standard) signing venues

List members report on their reading/signing experiences and share their tips and tricks, locales and contacts.

[Tectags: writers book signings]

Cliche Finder

Remember back in Letters I said I'd received one from an editor looking for cliches? I questioned why someone would go on such a fool's errand, but next time he does, he can just drop by the Cliche Finder. Proprietor S. Morgan Friedman defines a cliche thusly:

It's something that lots of people say and it conveys some sort of idea or message. A cliche is, in other words, a metaphor characterized by its overuse

The website offers the opportunity to add cliches to his list and generate ten cliches at random. [Tectags: writing cliches]

Haunted Houses

Deep thinking here at the House of Hancock about story as essential to a novel. I've been evaluating my current book effort. Since beginning it, I've seen one theme of it and part of the title appear as TV shows. That strengthens my instinct that I'm on to a good, strong tale. Other stories have occurred to me through the years, sparked by many of my homes. There's a really good storyline--think of Rose Red, Haunting of Hill House, Amityville Horror, and House of Usher.

My personal haunted house in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, featured the ghost of a lecherous old man who patted my fanny as I made the master bed. That house was preceded by a century-old relic in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where a creek ran through the basement, flowing out a hole into the harbor. Rats crept in through the hole and frolicked in the attic. A few weeks before my first baby was due, big black flies appeared in the nursery, bumbling at the locked windows to escape. Eek!

Most of the other houses of horror I've known also involved wildlife, including small rodents, reptiles, and insects. We certainly don't live on this planet alone, and I even doubt the "dominion" part of The Bible. I'm convinced that my currently cursed cottage, was created by Clive Barker and animated by Wes Craven. From the first day I moved in, the house has tried to drive me away with sewage and worms, black widow spiders, "accidents", malfunctioning appliances, cracks, and creepy crawlies. Maybe it's the ghost of the previous owner who lay dead in the living room for several days; or is it me? There's a story here, I just know it. [Tectags: stories horror fiction books]

Dear George

Read real letters posted in a blog at Dear George: Letters to the President. The ongoing entries are part of a larger project described in the Dear George website. Letters collected last summer were incorporated into theater performances delivered in October. The project producers say:

The overwhelming response to our request for letters has made it evident that the project demands a larger audience than our New York City production can accommodate. Because the piece has an immediate relevance, we are inviting theatre companies across the country to join our efforts and help us share this unique collection with a national audience.

Literate letter writing may not be a lost art after all, and it can spawn ancillary works of art meaningful to our lives. [Tectag: writing letters]

Graphic Times

Elizabeth Spiers, editor-in-chief of mediabistro.com, muses about emerging trends in media in What Would Kinsley Do? My response to No. 6: Aaaw, God! News comics?

6. The Graphic Newspaper. If Editor & Publisher has taught us anything it's that the kids aren't reading newspapers these days. They have too many other distractions. (The less optimistic would say they have no attention span.) At the same time, they are reading other things, and graphic novels, for example, have become more mainstream. The prototype: journalism in graphic form. Joe Sacco's Safe Area Gorazde, Art Spiegelman's Maus are two classic examples of graphic journalism done well. Perhaps fixing the youth readership problem is just a matter of packaging.

[Tectags: newspapers trends]

Eat Words

Chronicles of a Female Thinking Out Loud is written in English by an Egyptian student in Kuwait who calls herself *~$&!~* or Symbols. In a paean to words, she writes (in French):

Mots press?, mots sens?,
Mots qui disent la verit?,
Mots maudits, mots mentis,
Mots qui manquent le fruit d'esprit

I envy the multilingual aspect of this writer's abilities and expressions. The post also displays a poignant photograph that might capture any writer's imagination. [Tectags: writers poetry multimedia]

Midlist Books

The Tortoise and the Hare...In Which We Attempt To Rehabilitate the Term "Midlist" starts a series of posts and comments about "midlist", a term missing from this entry and the referred-to blog. About himself, the BOOKANGST 101 blogster says "Mad Max Perkins has worked in the book trade in a variety of capacities for over 20 years and is currently a senior executive for a major New York publisher". I like this quotation, a definition of "midlist books", from one of Max's anonymous commenters:

In publishing as in so many other fields, everyone likes to talk about the stars, not the workhorses that carry the bulk of the load.

The series ends with Advancing the Notion of (...ahem...) Realistic Advances, and on that page are links to the rest of the (previous) posts. I know it's a pain, but Max--could you edit the first page to add links to the subsequent parts of this interesting series? Think of the readers. [Tectags: midlist books publishing writers]

Blog Warning

The PR Web carries this story From Blog to Book in 90 Days or Less. In the website for the project, the marketers say "This is not a teleclass. Our lessons will be delivered via a private blog", but Wakeman says in her own blog "During the Project, participants will have access ... through the weekly TeleSeries ... ." The bait: "You will participate in beta testing new software for online book formatting and publication". The switch: it costs from $299 to $799. Don't fall for it. You can be pretty sure most of the bugs have been worked out of a process when someone turns it into a marketing opportunity. That means you can do it yourself, as I've mentioned here. You can also simply add all your entries to one file, convert it to the .PDF format (for free) and use Cafe Press, Lulu, or any other printing service.

Blogging itself is being perverted by hucksters who directly take advantage of writers eager for bylines or just to see their work in print. Beware of "opportunities" to "participate" in blogs with your "contributions" when the blogs also carry advertising from which you don't benefit. This is the electronic version of a new magazine that pays in copies, or the anthology of "voices" that offers you a "discount" on purchases. [Tectags: books blogs writers warning ]

Reverse Psychology

I'm convinced I have a "reverse marketing" mind. If you write for advertising or marketing, they assign you to come up with witty bon mots about products. I'd fail. Forcing my mind produces a blank. Besides, I oppose attempts to separate people from their cash. I'd make a million, though, if someone could develop irresistible items to match all the names, titles, labels and one-liners overflowing my brain. The most recent was a run of cute blog titles--if only I had time to write entries! Some other ways to make big money writing short sentences include creating: Google ads, jokes, headlines, fillers, and catalog descriptions. Don't snort. It pays the bills and it is writing, producing usable clips for beginners and income while you're sweating out your creative endeavors. [Tectag: writing]

Language Watch

In the June 5, 2005, issue of Parade magazine, Andrew Vachss presented a thought-provoking view of how we use the language to talk about child abuse. In Watch Your Language, Vachss contends we "distort the reality of the crime and create a roadblock to justice." He offers brutal but honest definitions for the obfuscating terms he claims are promulgated by "cultural lobbyists" in a "carefully orchestrated campaign to warp public perception". Read. Think. [Tectags: English words]

Free Books

Dreaming on the theme of giving away books in order to sell them, I drifted into Planet PDF - Free PDF eBooks . I always perk up at the notion of free books. Sure enough, this website offers around 70 apparently full text publications. D. H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers, for example, runs 801 pages. The download is one quick click and the books open beautifully in my browser-integrated version of Adobe Reader (also free). But wait! There's more. Some of the free books are available in an alternative "tagged" version. The website explains:

A PDF file equipped with well-formed tags may be "reflowed" to fit different page or screen widths, and will display well on handheld devices. Tagged PDF files also work better with the screen-reader devices used by many blind and other disabled users. In most cases, tags are necessary in order to make a PDF file comply with Section 508.

Available books are classics, probably all in the public domain, like Aesop's Fables, which I enjoyed revisiting. For readers in isolated areas, downloading these books and perhaps storing them on other media would provide the beginnings of your own library. Who says a library has to be a building or books hard bound? [Tectag: books]

Editor's View

View from Under the Book Pile is a new blog by Juliana Atkinson, who has worked as an acquisitions editor for major publishers. I think she should call her blog "Juliana Explains". Here she describes publishers' Frontlist, Backlist, and Evergreens (not the tree) in a May 28 entry. Earlier, on May 21, in "Author and Author Community" she sagely advised:

Building community with like-minded and writing authors is a good idea. The truth is that they aren't necessarily your competition, but a way to reach new readers. Book readers don't usually buy just one book in a genre or subject area they buy several--at least the ones who are more likely to recommend you to others. Use it is to your advantage.

[Tectags: writers publishing community]

China Censors

It's always sad to read stories like this one: Chinese blogs face restrictions.

The Chinese government has announced plans to police web forums, chat rooms and blogs alongside other websites.

The authorities hope to push the most outspoken online sites to migrate abroad where they will become inaccessible to those inside China because of the Chinese filtering systems
Reporters Without Borders

Thanks to Psybertron for the link. [tectag: censorship]

Grammar Cop

The fun just keeps on coming! In the spirit of Eats, Shoots & Leaves, the grammar cop who lives in The Banterist took a swipe at businesses around Coney Island. The results are hilarious, complete with photos and phony charges against all offenders. Oops! Did I run the spell-check? [Tectag: English punctuation]

Beta Testers

Beta testers are underpaid, overworked insiders who try out digital devices before they are officially released to the public. In this case, I'm asking for you, the public reading this post, to beta test a web page before I release it to "insiders" like editors. Review one of my published travel articles. It's available in three formats: images of the printed pages, a downloadable file, and as scrolling HTML code-produced text. I'd appreciate knowing if any of these literally don't work for you, and if you think it's overkill to offer three versions of the same piece. Please email me if there's a problem. [Tectag: beta tester]

Literary Manhattan

Along the lines of the Book of Fictional Days the New York Times Book Review offers A Literary Map of Manhattan It's an interactive (Flash) graphic which, as the subtitle says, shows: Here's where imaginary New Yorkers lived, worked, played, drank, walked and looked at ducks. By Randy Cohen and Nigel Holmes. The first time I visited no instructions appeared. Slide the brackets up and down on the small island image to the right. Clicking on an entry in the index covers the sites on the large island image with popups of photos and information. Still some bugs to work out to make this feature useful, but it's fun to play with. [Tectag: fiction characters]

Spelling Bee

In an earlier "A.Word.A.Day" entry Anu Garg of the wordsmith.org introduced words used in this year's U.S. spelling bee competition. Garg noted that a

spelling bee is possible only in a language like English, where spelling and pronunciation of words have often diverged. In many languages, such as Hindi or Spanish, words are pronounced just as they are written, so a spelling bee would make no sense.

You can find the entire June 6 narrative within this archive page. The winner, a boy of Indian descent, lives up the road from me. Local media featured sound bites discussing the emphasis Indians put on the English language in general and noted that many winners have Indian backgrounds. [Tectag: spelling English words]

Words Flow

In a 5/27/05 post entitled Commonality vs. Pushing Envelope Michael Wells said "I rather like the idea of growing the language with stretching applications of word usage." This reminds me of e.e. cummings' use of language in poetry. Read more of this contemporary working poet's words at Against the Flow.

Meanwhile over at a currently unpronounceable blog, Ashley Murdah wears her art on her face, stretching a point. See it in the post at what might be named Phoenix Heart. [Tectag: poetry]

Letters

"Letters, we get letters, we get lots and lots of letters." The old refrain bounces up from memory when I find certain emails in the box. The song could have been from the "Tonight" show or Arthur Godfrey, for all I can recall. Do we ever get letters! I thought I'd share some of them, anonymized to protect the guilty:

I like what i read in your pages, and am writing to ask if you will be willing to mention my latest novel, ... ,published by Spuyten Duyvil - a literary press based in Brooklyn, NY. You can get a copy at the library, the novel is available in most public libraries thanks to a good review in Publisher's Weekly. If your local public library doesn't own it, they will order it for you.

The author continues writing herself in third person and lists five websites I should consult, but provides no signature.

I would like to alert you to ... , the unfolding blog-book that is being written by ...

Here the author provided her name, URL for her own website, listed the URL for the blog twice, and even gave me her phone number--everything but a reason why I should mention her or her book.

I am a very lazy sub editor, (I believe they're called copy editors over on your side of the pond), and I came across your blog entry of Wednesday, August 11, 2004 while I was actively seeking a cliche for a headline.

O.K. He had me. I just had to email back and inquire why someone was searching for a cliche to use in writing. A lively exchange of nutty messages ensued, including a discussion of kebabs.

Oh, no, not another blog about a book? Not exactly, it's a "novel-in-blogress" based on a real journal kept in the 70s by a married woman at Yale. A nice mix of sex, intelligent talk, issues and three good characters in a classic three character drama. I'd invite you to link to the site, but want you to come by first and explore it.

Another woman, using her initials, she gave me the blog's name and URL in her signature, but I was too bored by then.

I must credit your ability to cloak your warm 'fuzzies" in particularly cold and sharp 'pricklies." You write with a strikingly sharp stiletto.

We thought you might be interested in the linked ... story. It features the rise of Romentics, romance novels for gay men. Romentics are written by real-life lovers, Scott&Scott, whose own romance could fill the pages of a romance novel. (Just call us "Harle-queens".)

And then there were the college boys who wanted me to buzz their little business taking college students' essays and publishing them without compensation while selling the publications. They were scarcely literate in their website and email copy, especially waxing irate when I pointed out the injustice they were committing in exploiting their classmates. They insisted they were going into debt with their first book, but still soliciting submissions for a second. How dumb do you guys think I am? And if it is true -- how dumb are you?

Journalism Bias

Sacramento journalist Matthew Self expresses my experiences so well in this post from his blog The Gad(d)about:

I have worked in newsrooms big, medium, and small since 1995. I have worked with both print reporters and broadcast editors. I have personally written for print and online mediums, at large metro newspapers to small community newspapers.

I have been inside the machine, but I have never witnessed an intentional slant put on a story nor have I ever been told a stated agenda before a story is written. I am an Evangelical Christian with neolibertarian political leanings. If there were ever a liberal agenda, I would have spotted it and called it out years ago.

-30-

[Tectag: journalism bias]

Political Quiz

The World's Smallest Political Quiz is going round my neighborhood. The image bears a striking similarity to one for a World Series sweepstake, running at the neighborhood supermarket. Here's my result:

I was surprised because many people try to hang the Libertarian label on me, and I thought I was becoming more Conservative with age. If I give any credence to the result, it changes how I feel about myself. That will change how I behave. Words for thought and action. [Tectags: politics labels]

Twentysomething Contest

Sharpen your pencils if you're a legal resident of the United States excluding Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Florida and Puerto Rico and will be between 20 and 29 years of age as of September 1, 2006. For no entry fee, you can enter the Random House Twentysomething Essays by Twentysomething Writers Contest. The grand prize is $20,000 AND getting published with up to 28 other winners. [Tectag: writers contest writing contest]

National Enquirer

The new National Enquirer, redesigned and content expanded to 72 pages, adds a women's section. The editorial offices moved from Boca Raton to New York (One Park Avenue, 3rd floor, New York, NY, 10016, 212-545-4800.) According to Paul Field, editor-in-chief, there's interest in stories about health, diet, consumerism, fashion, beauty, advice, recipes, puzzles, astrology, TV, and film, all with a personality slant. Send queries to Field or his editorial assistant, Heather Dickerson, at extension 6586. This is the only publication I balked at sending material on spec (speculation) because at the time (1970's) it had a reputation for "stealing stories". I had a hot one -- two guys demonstrating burning water. A miracle! [Tectag: spec plagiarism]

Journalism Equity

A few days ago, women journalists urged media leaders across Europe to strengthen gender equality in media as part of a campaign to improve working and living conditions of women in the expanding European Union. The International Federation of Journalists reported on the call. The rather gloomy report ends on a positive chord, however, with this from Annegret Witt-Barthel, European Coordinator of the IFJ Gender Council:

Media globalization is rolling back improvements gained over the past 20 years. Our unions need to give priority to gender equality. They can do that by ensuring proportional representation of women in unions’ decision making bodies.

[Tectag: journalism gender equity]

TOR FAQ

THE TOR BOOKS FAQ is a great source of info about the confusing world of book publishing. Especially useful in this very long page might be the timeline for getting a book out:

From manuscript to hardcover normally takes about nine months. This process can be speeded up under special circumstances, but it's hard on our dilithium crystals. From hardcover to trade paperback takes an unpredictable amount of time if it happens at all. Some hardcovers do become trade paperbacks; others don't. It's complicated. From trade paperback to mass-market paperback, same thing: some do, others don't, it's complicated, and there's no reliable time frame for the process. From hardcover to mass-market paperback kinda sorta usually takes about nine months to two years, but it can vary a lot.

In other words, there are no rules, anything goes, and don't hold your breath, even if your work is accepted. Plunge right into working on something new. [Tectag: books publishing]

Writers' Scents

When search engines run and play about the 'net, they sometimes retrieve items that fill me with wonder, like this "Writer's Edge" results page Aroma WRITER & STUDENT FOCUS Oil BLENDS which offers:

EARTH ANGEL OILS Presents:
STUDENT & WRITER'S EDGE*
Therapeutic Daily Wear Blends for Increased Brain Power, Creativity, Stress Relief & Health
Aromatherapy Pack for Creative Work, Study, Writing & Project Completion for Academic, Business, Legal & Professional Settings
100% Pure Essential Oil Blends that Stimulate Brain Integration to Increase Focus, Fluency, Creativity, & Intuitive Insights.

Reading through the descriptions of various aromatic oil blends made me want to spend a large part of my days sniffing and rubbing or, better yet, getting a massage! Sorry, no time for writing, I must go breathe and oil myself for work. * Sadly, I saw no explanation for the asterisk. I'd hoped I might find a reference to my post on the Scent Story writing scheme which no one seems to have taken seriously, myself included. [Tectag: writers senses]

Quote Week Twenty-three

"Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." Ralph Waldo Emerson

Book Website

Earl Hipp wrote: "My next book is titled, Man-Making: Men Helping Boys On Their Journey To Manhood. It's a book that calls men to get involved in the lives of the boys in their communities. I'm looking for stories about men's experiences on their journey toward manhood. I currently have posted 14 questions on the book's website where men can reply." Nice use of a website both for advance publicity about a book and to promote the work of a cause for which the book is written. One to watch, I think.

Attribute

When you're writing nonfiction, don't forget attribute in the word's verb form which the American Heritage dictionary explains as: Synonyms: attribute, ascribe, impute, credit, assign, refer. These verbs mean to consider as resulting from or belonging to a person or thing. Briefly, it means cite your sources. That's what Detroit Free Press reporter Mitch Albom doesn't always do. He's perhaps best known as the author of Tuesdays With Morrie. The Book Standard tells more in Albom Probe Reveals No Similar Evidence of Misconduct, a misleading title if ever I saw one. Albom and other reporters do not attribute quotes in articles and often "lift" them from other publications. The article is somewhat redeemed, in my eyes, by the last graf:

But Geneva Overholser, a University of Missouri journalism professor, told the paper that columnists shared the duty to attribute: "You have to be truthful; you can't imply that you did work that you didn't do. It's all about accurate impressions."

It is interesting, and closely related, that in the discussion of the noun form of attribute, its aspect of quality is mentioned. In defending his behavior, Albom "said editors approved using quotes without attribution and that other columnists operate in the same fashion around the country," according to The Book Standard. Cite your sources, not only of quotations, but of the information used in your writing, unless you are the expert. [Tectag: nonfiction writing research]

BEA 2005

Ever wonder how one of these monstrous book shows looks? This is the view from the Publishers Marketplace booth at this year's Book Expo America in New York. See more at PM's photoblog. For an insider's tips on survival, see bookmonger Robert Gray's entry. [Tectag: books]

Ta Daa!

Permit me a narcipost (new word noted in April Wired) about this first anniversary blog remod. What? You notice nothing? Good! It's meant to be subtle, except for the shifting ba