Meeting on March 1st

This week's topic is 'There's a lion at the door'

Some sunday humor

used with permission from inkygirl - thank you

Directory of ePublishers

Originally, I had planned to give a complete list of ebook publishers. A W&A yearbook style collection, in truth this webpage has done an incredible job. Thus, I will give a link and bow to their incredible efforts.

http://www.ebookcrossroads.com/epublishers.html

Your ebook, Your way

1. Self-Publish Your Ebook

You can self-publish your eBook. By simply compiling the written pages into an eBook (software can be obtained free http://www.ebookcompiler.com/, http://www.exebook.com/,http://download.cnet.com/windows/e-book-software/)

Then simply register to obtain an ISBN number, and sell your ebook through your own web site.

2. Ebook Publishers that will hand hold

There are eBook publishers who will meet you half way.

An example publisher is BookLocker. You to deliver the eBook in your best finished and edited form, and they sell it in their store, and provide payment processing etc.

The author maintains control over the eBook's price, and the rights to sell it elsewhere. Royalties are good at up to 70%.

3. A Traditional Publisher

There are numerous print publishers who are vastly expanding their ebook catalogues. Print publishers will require relinquishing control as they set price, and will hopefully be playing an active role in marketing. It’s also important to be aware of just which, often all, of your books rights you are selling.

4. How do you decide?

So, where will see you make the most, and will set your ebook become a household name? That is going to depend on how much time and motivation you have. If you are currently working two full time jobs just to fund your writing habit, well maybe a traditional publisher might suit your time constraints best. If you are newly retired and have spent the last 30 years in marketing, well why hand over half your profits, right?

Not convinced ebooks are worth it?

According to http://www.publishyourownebooks.com/’s news section:

• Random House UK Ebook Sales up 800% (Dec 2010)

• iBooks more popular than Facebook and Twitter (Sep 2010)

• Amazon's CEO Bezos Predicts Ebooks Will Overtake Paperbacks Within 12 Months (Jul 2010)

• Sony Predicts Ebooks Will Overtake Print Within 5 Years (Jun 2010)

• US Publishers Experiencing Strong Sales on the iPad (May 2010)

• Ebook Marketing Exploding (March 2010)

Science fiction

TWB Press is currently accepting short story submissions in science fiction, supernatural, horror, and thriller genres. They are looking for submissions of 4000 to 7000 words and are keen to receive series submissions. They pay a generous 60% royalties on their e - books and will provide some promotional work. For more details see their webpage at www.twbpress.com/.

E-books opportunities seem to be around every corner.

It seems sensible then to make hay while the sun shines. For the next five days this blog will be focusing on e-books and e-book publishing.

Today consider Romance. It is February after all, and last night was Wednesday night, so you should be in just the right mood.

Salt, an independent publisher is looking to publish 30 to 40 new e-book titles this year. They have launched four new e-book imprints, and are seeking stories from romance and erotica writers. Their Red Velvet imprint is seeking ‘sexy, sophisticated romance’, while their After Dark is for stories of a ‘page-scorching’ nature. If you write period romance then Embrace Regency is the place to submit them, and for women’s fiction, not centred on romance, then submit to Embrace Historicals.

Just in case you are not already in the right frame of mind I shall leave you with Flight of the Conchords 'It's business time'.

February 23rd

February 23rd is the 54th day in the Gregorian calender. There are now only 311 days left for 2011, and only 303 shopping days until Christmas.

Here’s a few writing prompts from this days history.

The prophet Muhammad gave his last sermon in 632.

The Cato Street Conspiracy, a plot to murder all the British cabinet ministers,

in 1820, was exposed.

The first day of the battle of Alamo in Texas, in 1836.

In 1898, Emile Zola is imprisoned in response to her letter of accusation against the French government. She accused the French government of anti-Semitism and of wrongfully imprisoning Captain Alfred Dreyfus.

The uncertainty principle was described by Werner Heisenburg in a letter to WolfgangPauli for the first time.

So I have been thinking a lot about blogging, writing, and reading. A lot. As in I probably shouldn't drive as I am too distracted. So here's my thoughts. This blogging thing needs to adapt, and flow, I have too much flow and unequal ebbing. It needs to have a linear progression, and to exhibit things in bite size pieces. I have been reading a lot about what makes and breaks a blog.

This is what I have gathered.

Good blogs

- not too much slang

- don’t be too personal

- not offensive

- drive you to want to start your own blog

- break the rules

- think before you write

- have a voice

- reflect focused obsessions

- product of attention multiplied by interest

- share thoughts

- spell check

- short sentences

- don’t repeat yourself

- posts are made of paragraphs

- style and curation

- are weird

- use only correct facts

- be consistent

- no plagiarism

- quote properly

- be readable

- leave unfamiliar words alone

This post goes against everything a good blog post should have. However, it is useful. Hopefully the mark at the bottom of a steep learning curve.

Who is your favorite poet?

The texture of the voices, styles, and approaches to the poetic form never ceases to astonish.

Freestyling, ranting, longing, comical, sometimes self depreciating, and urging voices.

These voices that reach out and strum your emotions to play harmony in their symphony.

Poetry - the aesthetic and evocative use of language to create art.

It is those who bravely march into the criticism field, despite the frost and the fog. Who wager their lives to submit their heart’s song. To tell us their tales, and share a piece of their soul. Immortal literary knights.

Poetry Online

Three very different styles of poetry. It certainly gives pause for thought.

Friday Funnies

Thank you!Used with permission from Debbie Ridpath Ohi at Inkygirl.com.

International Opportunities worth your time

Glimmer Train Press, an independent quarterly literary journal started in 1990 by two sisters in Portland, Oregon who personally read all submissions. At www.glimmertrain.com is an online journal filled to bursting with information, and writing guides. Submissions must be original, unpublished short fiction. They do not publish novels, poems, or stories for children.

You can select either standard or competition submission. There are no reading fees for standard submission and you receive $700 if your story is accepted for publication. There is a $15-20 reading fee for competition submissions, but the payout is higher.

Chicken Soup for the Soul Anthologies are seeking submissions for upcoming anthologies.

Devotional Stories for troubled time (28th of February)

Brides and Weddings (30th of April)

Marriage and Married Life (30th of May)

Typical pay is $100.00 for first writes, more information can be found at www.chickensoup.com

Not so international...

Forty Fourth Publishing is looking for 100 freelance writers for the launch of their new national arts and entertainment review website in 2011. They are seeking writers of various styles, voices and ages capable of delivering articulate, medium brow reviews, so specialist subject knowledge and expertise won’t be necessary for many reviews, according to the promoter. Writers will regularly have the opportunity to switch subject matter and review a wide range of film, TV, theatre, documentaries and drama. Rates of pay are: £200 for 800-word reviews and £100 for 500 word reviews. All work can be done online. Send at least one review or professional standard article you have written, minimum 500 words in length.

http://www.makingit.eu.com/latest/166/wanted-freelance-review-writers-forty-fourth-publishing

Worcestershire Literary festival

Just a reminder to all who would like to volunteer for the fast approaching Literary festival. The Volunteer Recruitment Evening is tonight, 7pm, upstairs at Little Venice on St.Nicholas street.

diamond in the rough

Foot in mouth syndrome

If there is one thing which motivates, it must be indignation.

What it makes us see is that there are things which must be done easily. Easily or not at all - that is the truth about art.

Saul Bellow-

(I am betting Saul had a very lonely valentines.)

Competitions closing soon

Closing the 25th of February

Brit Writers' Awards

Short stories, novels, non-fiction, children's stories, song, stage and screen plays Fee: £10.95, for which you may enter up to three pieces. Prizes: £10,000 prize fund (not specified how or if it's shared). Rules: comp open to unpublished or self-published writers. Brit Writers Ltd of 63-65 Rea Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B5 6BB United Kingdom

Cats Protection Writing Comp 2011

Stories: 1000 wds (can be true or fictional). Poems: 500 wds max. Theme: Cats Fee: free. Prizes: Laptop and dictionary/dictionaries for runners up. http://www.cats.org.uk/writing-competition-2011

Diverse Stories Childrens' Book Awards

Novel: 15,-35,000 words. Theme: aimed at children aged 8-12. Fee: free. Prizes: £1500 plus option to publish. Rules: Only one entry per person and must be a full novel, not collection of stories. http://www.sevenstories.org.uk/ email entries to diversevoices@sevenstories.org.uk or helena@sevenstories.org.uk

Bryan MacMahon Short Story award

Open theme, 3000 words.

Fee 10 euros, Prize 2000 euros

www.writersweek.ie

Closing 28 of February

Grace Dieu Writers Circle

Short Story and Poetry comps

Story 2000 words, Poems 40 lines

Prize £400, entry £5

www.gracedieuwriterscircle.co.uk

Kelpies Prize

Novel 40-70,000 words, aimed at ages 8-12

Set in Scotland

Prize £2000, fee free

www.florisbooks.co.uk

Templar Poetry Prize

Poetry collections 40-70pgs

Prize full publication, fee £25

www.templarpoetry.co.uk

Write Place Short Story Comp

Theme: Winter, 1500 words

Prize:£100, fee £4.50

www.writeplace.org.uk

The Write Space ‘Della Galton’ Short Story Comp

Theme: Moving On, 1500 words

Prize £150, Fee £5

www.writespace.co.uk/html/competition.html

Theatre Royal Onward Competition for Short Stories and Poetry

Prizes: 1st £50, Further prizes may be awarded at the discretion of the judge, plus winners will be published in an anthology, a copy of which they will receive, together with an in-depth critique of their work, Stories 1,200 words and 40 lines for poems.
Entry fees: £3 for one entry, £5 for two.
www. onwardwriting.co.uk/

Poetry to form or not to form

“The Conqueror Worm,” a wordle poem by Edgar Allen Poe

When comparing the way a mother cradles her baby in arms, to a stranger trying to sooth that same baby; it is not difficult to foresee the different texture to their comfort. The mother's gesture has been carved from past experience, built up and tutored. The stranger's hold is far more spontaneous, while they exercise the same careful position, they are less tailored, and should the child be dropped there is certainly less emotional investment in it if it should come to pass. Then consider a fisherman holding his fish: his relationship to the fish is far from uncaring, but this care comes out of the necessity generate by how hard the fish is to hold. His grip is cold, cruel even, and full of pride.

Any of these could be describing a poet's temperament towards each line in their verse - the confident, lovingcrafter; the excited but unsure novice; the cold, measured technician.

What kind of poet are you?

Might be of interest

Bestselling author, Sebastian Faulks is on BBC2, Saturday at 9pm (or watch on iplayer). In this 4 part series he is exploring character creation.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00ykvw4/Faulks_on_Fiction_The_Hero/

Links you might find useful

This will be added to over time. This does not include website such as writelink or twitter which have great potential, but could individually use their own posts.

Official bodies:

http://www.alcs.co.uk/- The Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society

http://www.plr.uk.com/ - Public Lending Right – re books borrowed from UK libraries. Don’t forget to register your book!

Markets and opportunities

http://pred-ed.com/- Preditors and Editors, so you can check out that literary agency or publisher to make sure they're not rip off merchants.

http://www.womagwriter.blogspot.com/- Very useful for guidelines and submission details for fiction in women's magazines.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/ - BBC Writers Room

http://www.angiebenedetti.com/blog/category/anthology-market-listings/ - Constantly updated list of anthologies and submission requirements/payments details.

http://www.duotrope.com - The Duotrope Digest is a searchable writers' resource of over 3200 pro- to non-paying publications which accept submissions. It is updated almost daily and you can subscribe to feeds.

http://www.magazinesabout.co.uk - Magazine and periodicals directory (UK)

Competitions

http://www.writingcalendar.com/index.htm - Sally Quilford's calendar of forthcoming writing competitions.

http://prizemagic.co.uk/ - lists and lists of competitions to enter

http://www.writersreign.co.uk/Writing-Competitions.html

Software for writers:

http://www.openoffice.org/ - Open Office word processing

http://celtx.com/ - scriptwriting

http://www.spacejock.com/yWriter5.html - novel writing

Selling books

http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/ - To check if Waterstone’s stock copies of your book(s).

http://localbookshops.tbpcontrol.co.uk/tbp.web/customeraccesscontrol/home.aspx?

d=localbookshops&s=C&r=10000020&ui=0&bc=0 - To search for books and local bookshops and order from them.

http://www.openingthebook.com/library-resources/networks/

Etymology

http://www.phrases.org.uk/ - for useful phrases and proverbs, including the Bible, Shakespeare; and American, French and Latin.

Next meeting - Tuesday February 22nd

With next week’s meeting fast approaching perhaps it’s overdue to consider the theme. ‘Send someone round with a knife’

Should you be stuck for a new character perhaps you might find someone suitable in these humorous personal ads.

--------

Govan man, 27, medium build, brown hair, blue eyes, seeks alibi for the night of February 27 between 8pm and 11:30pm.

.......

Busty, gusty, 40 year old, blonde male, with chronic flatulence seeks female for rip-roaring times and understanding. Must appreciate good tunes and be able to improvise.

.......

SWM,50ish,intellectual snob of the highest order, multilingual, seeks SWF with a taste for the finer things in life..

......

Nemesis Wanted: I’m SBF, 5’10, into kayaking, books and conversation (by day), justice, honor and vengeance ( by night). Seeking arch - enemy, possibly crimelord or megalomaniac.