Writer's Support Room - Open Forum Transcripts

Event start time: Tue Jan 10 14:04:15 2006
Event end time: Tue Jan 10 15:19:13 2006


Legend:
Questions from the Audience are presented in red.
Answers by the Speaker are in black.
The Moderator's comments are in blue.

janfields Thanks, Mel, it'll be fun to do tag-team chatting
mel boring The Tuesday afternoon "Open Forum" will begin promptly at 4 Atlantic/CANADA, 3 p.m. Eastern, 2 p.m. Central, 1 p.m. Mountain, and noon Pacific. While you wait for the "Open Forum" to start, feel free to use your ASK A QUESTION button RIGHT BETWEEN THE YELLOW "MAP" AND THE RED QUESTION MARK IN ICHAT to post some questions for the discussion group-two minutes from now.
mel boring Good afternoon! Welcome to this Tuesday afternoon's "Open Forum" session. I'm your moderator, Mel Boring, and the Web Editor for this site. We're back for an informal time of answering any questions you might like to ask, on any subject. So feel free to ask what's on your mind--and I'll tell you what's on mine! First, please read these announcements, then we'll get started….
mel boring FIRST OFF, I want to WELCOME JAN FIELDS to our Open Forum!...
mel boring She will be "fielding" (no pun intended (-:}) questions today as well!...
janfields Thank you...sure, sure..no pun intended
mel boring THANK YOU for being here, Jan, and CONGRATULATIONS on being the new ICL WEB EDITOR!
mel boring My puns are usually Boring, anyway!
janfields I'm very excited about it
mel boring IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS: Send questions you'd like answered or discussed by using your "Ask a Question" icon/button. (It looks like a thought bubble icon, RIGHT NEXT TO THE RED QUESTION MARK.) The moderator (me, Mel Boring) will post the questions one at a time in the chat room and do my best to answer them. Also note: If you want to make it possible to ask the longest question you can, first type "/ask" (without the quotation marks), then leave one space after the end of "ask", then type as many characters of your question as you can. If your question is not complete, send the second part next, then if necessary the third, etc…
mel boring WARNING: If you don't post anything at all, SOME of you will be bounced off the system in 15 minutes. TO PREVENT THIS, type something (either a question to the moderator or even a private message) every 15 minutes to stay active and remain online....
mel boring How about I give you ONE more Tasty Word of the Forum? It is "skedaddle"--do you know it?
mel boring Today, you may direct your questions to either Jan or Mel or both...
mel boring and we'll be "tag-teaming" on some of them, others will belong exclusively to Jan, and so on....
mel boring First, here is a NICE RAFT of GOOD NEWS from YOUS!...
mel boring tkat_2 told us her GOOD NEWS LAST WEEK but we didn’t get it posted: I have good news. I am a Freelance Music Reviewer for Grassroots Music Magazine. I got my second assignments today in the mail. YAY!!!
mel boring HIGH CONGRATULATIONS, tkat_2!!!...
janfields That's fantastic
mel boring The new REVIEWER for GRASSROOTS MUSIC MAGAZINE!!!
mel boring Kathy Scraper sent us this GOOD NEWS: I just got hired by Benchmark Education Company in New York as a full-time writer/ editor—working from my home in Kansas on all sorts of fun kids' fiction and nonfiction readers and teacher resource books. Lucky me!!! Kathy was an ICL student of mine very early in my time of instructing, and is now an ICL instructor.
mel boring WAY TO WRITE RIGHT, Kathy!...
mel boring It's been PLEASURE for me to see Kathy go from student to instructor, now to REVIEWER---YEA!!!
mel boring Jan has some GOOD NEWS to tell from Sheri Bell-Rehwoldt!
mel boring Sheri Bell-Rehwoldt sent us her GOOD NEWS: My Children’s Activity Book is Rolling Off the Press! It’s titled: GREAT WORLD WAR II PROJECTS YOU CAN BUILD YOURSELF.
janfields HA...the posting thought I was Mel...must be my punny face :-)
mel boring That book sounds VERY EXCITING to me, Sheri! And we are ALL very PLEASED!...
mel boring Your face is prettier than mine, Jan!
janfields I'm delighted to head about the project -- sounds fascinating
mel boring GOOD NEWS from Joan Kyar Freyholtz: I'm happy to say that I had a poem published in the Dec./Jan. issue of BIRDS AND BLOOMS. This is the first time I have been paid for my work.
mel boring PAYING CONGRATS to YOU, Joan!!!...
mel boring It's always a VERY exciting step to be paid for our writing!
janfields I hope it's the beginning of tons of sales
mel boring ME 2!
mel boring Here's some GOOD NEWS from JH, AND a question:...
mel boring JH asks: I have recently sold my first item to a children's religious magazine, "Kid's Ministry Ideas.” I would like to know the etiquette involved in accepting payment for the item.
mel boring CONGRATULATIONS, JH!
janfields congratulations
mel boring If I understand your etiquette question right, JH,...
mel boring You are maybe wondering should you write and THANK them for payment....
mel boring I might suggest thanking them that your piece was published,...
mel boring but my own feeling is that the payment was DUE you for your writing, and no thanks are necessary for the actual check, friend.
mel boring Jan?
janfields And editors love hearing if you liked working with them them.
janfields But getting paid is more of a business thing, you don't have to thank
janfields Now if they seem to be kind of...slow in paying
janfields And you want to know what Miss Manners says about asking for money
janfields A lot of magazine pay slow...the smaller the magazine, the slower
mel boring AMEN and AWOMEN--thank you, Jan!
janfields So you might hold off, give them what feels like fair time -- money don't pay until the magazine is distributed
janfields Then, a polite thanks for how great it was to work with you, and just a heads up to know payment seems to have been lost in the mail will sometimes get things loose
janfields sorry about the typo -- "many don't pay"...not money
janfields Money on the brain, I guess.
mel boring Here is a FUN item sent to us by Pegi Deitz Shea, who has been a Chat Guest here on our ICL Web Site:...
mel boring Pegi Deitz Shea sent us this fun tidbit she’d like you to share, and we are: Terry Deitz, 46-year-old brother of Institute instructor and author Pegi Deitz Shea, is on the new Survivor series beginning in Feb. on CBS, on Thursdays. He's a sweetheart and a hunk (plus a great brother, Pegi testifies under oath, crossing her fingers of course). Please pray/root/hoot for Terry! Thanks & welcome Jan--how are you? Love, Pegi
janfields Hey, great Pegi -- I'm doing terrific, and you're bothr just might lure me to watch *eek* reality tv
janfields your brother
janfields I have to go cut off my fingers now
mel boring Watch the Survivor series this coming February, and pick out the handsome hunk who is Pegi's brother!
mel boring Jan, these "roses" are for YOU:...
charweb Warm welcome, Jane!
writersblock Welcome Jan!
paige Welcome, Jan!. You won't be Boring, but we look forward to you "Fielding" our questions and sharing your wealth of knowledge and expertise with us.
mel boring I didn't teach paige that pun either, Jan!
janfields You rubbed off on them!
janfields Thanks for the kind welcomes.
mel boring Here is a question from MD for Jan that she will present and answer:
mel boring MD e-mailed to ask us: I sold all my rights for two stories to be included in a text book for Christian students age 5-8. But the original stories were written for a older age group. I had to use only words on the 5-8 word list. The plots are similar. Can I sell the older version of the stories if the character names are not the same? Since they are based on the Bible it is hard to change settings and such or the history. I just don't want to lose out on being able to use the original stories. How would I get around selling all rights for the younger story, please? They are also different word counts: the smaller one is 250-300 words while the older one is 400-600 words.
janfields If the shorter stories for the younger age group were sold "all rights" -- then you have a bit of a problem. Technically, the older stories would need to be SUBSTANTIALLY different to avoid being a copyright infringement. Just changing the character names and having slightly longer stories would not be enough. If a reader of both the younger and older stories can clearly tell they are the "same" story, then you need to make them more clearly different. One option would be to ask permission from the textbook publisher to sell the long versions. Most of the time, they would accept it as long as the long version went to a serial (magazine) and as long as you included a notice that the stories are 'adapted from...' stories found in the textbook.
gladys1 Hi Mel sorry to see you go but we will give Jan all our support and appreciation
mel boring THANK YOU, gladys1! Jan is VERY WORTHY of your support!
janfields And Mel is certainly not gone yet...I have a lot to learn!
mel boring Here is that silly word "skedaddle" again!...
kswcolorado skedaddle = git a move-on
stephenie Skedaddle is what I have to do - I have to leave soon!
delima-e skeddale means to flee
casey skedaddle - that's a word I grew up with (shows my age) - hurry up
gladys1 skedaddle get, go, leave me, but not you Mel please come back
georgy skedaddle - get along? hey! where are you going, Mel?
caq Skedaddle. Mel, you have taught us that word in spades today. I wish you well in your sedaddling!!!! You will be missed.
delima-e your good new has reached our ears mel,does that mean that
delima-e your are going to skeddale and leave us
mel boring Yes, you are ALL right! I'm going to skedaddle now, and let Jan answer this next question!
mel boring JF wonders: I want to send a poem to Highlights magazine. They purchase all rights. I emailed them and asked if they would return the rights if I wanted to use the poem again. They replied they rarely do that, which bummed me out. Later I remembered that I had read in your Answered Questions that if an author changes some words and the title, the author can use the revised poem. Is this correct? Or is it wishful thinking on my part?
janfields HIGHLIGHTS is actually fairly open if you want to use the poem in an anthology of your poetry at some point in your career -- but as to selling that particular poem to another serial (magazine), you would have to make solid changes. Since HIGHLIGHTS owns all rights now, that includes the write to create a derivative work -- so if it would be clear, when viewing the poems side by side, that one was derived from the other, then you can't sell the "altered" poem. It really needs to be altered beyond recognition.
mel boring THANKS, Jan, GOOD guidance!
charweb What's the submission procedure for the writers who...
charweb live in other countries and how the payment are made to them
mel boring The same as in the U.S., generally, charweb,...
mel boring but the payment process may take a little longer....
mel boring ALSO, there may be an exchange of currency needed....
mel boring My experience with this is that I was once paid from ISRAEL for a reprint they used in a children's magazine there....
mel boring and the check they sent, in THEIR currency, was exchanged by my bank at the CURRENT-at-the-tiime exchange rate.
mel boring For U.S. Dollars. Anything to add, Jan?
janfields No, though many magazines are more open to email submissions...and some small publishers too.
janfields Which certainly helps for out of country submissions and postage
janfields .
mel boring For SURE!
mel boring When I mention the Israeli payment, I'm talking 15 years ago.
charweb Can we use the pictures from Yahoo-Images without...
charweb permission?
mel boring Nein!, charweb. (-:}...
mel boring I mean no, of course....
mel boring The images in Yahoo are there for convenience, to show you what might be available....
mel boring What you MUST do if you plan to use one is to find out WHO owns the copyright,...
mel boring and contact them and ASK if you MAY use the image....
mel boring The copyright notice is on the image MOST of the time....
mel boring But even if it's not, you'd better track it down and get permission, or not use it.
mel boring Here is an experience that is at least PARALLEL to your question, charweb....
mel boring I needed an image of a famous PAINTING of the first anesthesia admiinstration for the book, GUINEA PIG SCIENTISTS...
mel boring I FOUND a GREAT one on Yahoo, and I contacted the museum in Boston to whom...
mel boring the ARTIST had sold his copyright long ago, as a gesture of support for the university where the museum is....
mel boring The museum replied that yes, I could use the image, but it would cost three hundred dollars....
mel boring We DID pay that much for a couple of the photos/images in that book,...
mel boring but the editor decided three hundred dollars was too high a fee for what would be the lighter emphasis on that photo in the book, so though I had PAID for it out of my own wallet...
mel boring the person in charge refunded my money when he heard....
mel boring BUt wouldn't have DARED use that image without permission/payment, or I might be in jail now! (-:}
mel boring Jan, here are more ROSES for you, friend!:...
dell And a big, hearty welcome to Jan for taking over the Web Editor position!!
chippy Welcome Jan, all the best
george kulz I wanted to officially welcome Jan, which I've already informally done, and to officially congratulate Mel, which I haven't done at all yet.
janfields Awww...thanks.
mel boring THANK YOU, george! I will always be grateful for the memory that you made your first sale to SPIDER Magazine--a REAL FEAT!
writersblock and now, to pluck a bloom from that field of knowledge: If you submit to one magazine in a "group" (such as the Cricket group) and recieve a rejection, how likely are you to get an acceptance from one of the other magazines in that group?
janfields With the Cricket group -- all of the "bug" magazines "share"
janfields But although the Cobblestone mags are owned by Cricket
janfields They are a separate entity
janfields SO, well, being rejected by Cricket means don't send to Spider or Cicada.
mel boring But you MIGHT submit it to one of the COBBLESTONE mags, think so, Jan?
janfields But if it suits a theme, yes, totally...no overlap of editorial staff there
janfields And right now, I wouldn't send anything to one of the Cricket mags
janfields Until they get their new editors sorted out
janfields The move gutted their staff.
mel boring Here are some MORE sensible questions about images/photos in publishing:...
charweb Is there any website where I can download the pictures......
charweb with/without permission free of cost?
mel boring Many "institutional" Web sites may let you use their images, charweb,...
mel boring for instance a college or university that wants the publicity alone....
mel boring but oftentimes I've found that Web sites where images might be free for use....
mel boring either are not GOOD images, OR are not particularly relevant to the subject I'm writing about.. Jan?
janfields I know of some nf writers who have gotten amateur photographers from websites
janfields to give permission free...for the thrill of being really published
janfields But you always have to get the permission
janfields And publishers are going to want to see it in writing.
mel boring Yes, for sure, publishers will INSIST on the permission forms filled out and dated and signed!
writersblock Someone I interviewed for an article said she might be able to provide photos for the article. Do I include her contact information with my article so the magazine can contact her if they want the pictures? or do I just mention to them that she might be able to provide photos?
janfields I would always send contact information.
janfields But, many magazines would really like to see samples
janfields So they know it's worth contacting her.
mel boring Yes, for certain, I would too, writersblock, send contact info to magazines....
mel boring because MAGAZINES often get the photos themSELVES, paying for them and arranging for them to be sent. BOOKS are a different situation, and this next question is about that:...
rosez Mel, your photo story brings up a question. Do authors always supply photos (or photo sources) for their non-fiction books?
mel boring MOST book publishers contract with authors to provide the photos or images themSELVES, the author's responsibility....
mel boring EXCEPT for work-for-hire books, and maybe a FEW exceptions among traditional publishers of books....
mel boring In your book contract, you will agree to procure and provide photos that are useable....
mel boring NOW, however, LATELY, book publishers, who want to make sure they get GOOD and useable images...
mel boring will ALSO provide a small sum for getting photos, APART from their payment of your advance, and later paying royalties....
mel boring For instance, Leslie Dendy and I were given a thousand dollars...\
mel boring to get photos/images for GUINEA PIG SCIENTISTS...
mel boring and that was the FIRST time I've ever received a "picture allowance."...
mel boring A thousand dollars doesn't go far, though...
mel boring so you TRY to get as many images as you can with only a CREDIT given....
mel boring and SOMEtimes people or organizations will settle for a credit.
mel boring Here's a question I wanted to share with you ALL, for ALL your input:...
mel boring JT asked: I am a new student at ICL and just completed Assignment #8. As suggested I sent off a story to a magazine that focused on nature. I chose CHILDREN’S MAGIC WINDOW. Believe it or not it came back to me with the note Not Deliverable as Addressed. I took the address from the 2005 Magazine Market book that I got with the course. What happened to CHILDREN’S MAGIC WINDOW? They still have a web page. I checked.
mel boring Jan, what's the latest you know about CHILDREN'S MAGIC WINDOW?
janfields Actually, someone FINALLY got them to respond and they areally are
janfields they really are kaput. Closed down.
janfields I know they still have a website
janfields but the magazine is not buying, nor responding, nor even accepting subscriptions.
mel boring That is what we've learned from you people here before, that CMW is out of business, and I'm sorry, JT. I hope you can sell your story elsewhere, friend!
mel boring I'm re-running EB's previous question again, because I think we may have more answers for EB: I want to write a children's book (either for ages 6-9 or 8-12) with an adult as the main character. I've read picture books with the main character being an adult, but is this typically done, and do editors go for it? I have several good ideas that I want to experiment with, particularly humorous ones.
mel boring One reason I wanted to run EB's question again is that...
mel boring I have just read the book recommended last Thursday by our Chat Guest, Judy Bradbury, AXLE ANNIE,...
mel boring by Robin Pulver and illustrated by Tedd Arnold....
mel boring It is a VERY successful picture book in my opinion, EB,...
mel boring but it is as Jan said earlier: The main adult character, Axle Annie, has very child-like characteristics. I enJOYed the book. Anyone know any OTHER books with adult main characters? Let us know here.
janfields I've seen some smaller publishers doing books with adult main characters...
janfields And Robin Pulver is very successful with it in several books...
janfields Though they have always been very child-like, in terms of either full of wonder
janfields Or kind of silly.
mel boring Hee is some more GOOD feedback for us, Jan:...
cjlm Tell Pegi Hi from me and I may watch reality tv myself!
mel boring I will, cjlm!...
bassoonhny Hi Mel, skedaddle means"to get a move on." My mom used it
bassoonhny all the time!
mel boring Mine too, bassoonhny! By the way, I want to introduce you to Jan,...
mel boring because I know you are a BASSOON player in New York! Jan, meet bassoonhny!
janfields Very cool, I love the bassoon.
janfields I even like the word bassoon.
mel boring I remember hearing the bassoon just yesterday in "Peter and the Wolf"!...
delima-e congrats mel on your book
mel boring THANKS, delima-e!...
mel boring If I haven't said much about the book, it's because...
mel boring I'm always sensitive to NOT seeming to do ANYthing like boasting...
mel boring The book is by BOTH Leslie Dendy and me,...
mel boring and it's called, full-title: GUINEA PIG SCIENTISTS: BOLD SELF-EXPERIMENTERS IN SCIENCE AND MEDICINE, published by Henry Holt Books for Young Readers....
mel boring It has really had a life of its own, getting TWO starred reviews....
mel boring when NONE of my previous books have even hardly gotten reviews at all....
mel boring It is also presently on the ALA's Best Books for Young Adults NOMINATIONS list for 2006, along with 213 OTHERS!....
mel boring By February or March, they will narrow that list down to the final TEN,...
mel boring and I am both proud and SURPRISED!
mel boring crouse7 asked us last week on Open Forum, a question I didn’t know the answer to: I am looking at the book FEAR OF WRITING: FOR WRITERS & CLOSET WRITERS by Milli Thorton on E-bay. I am wondering do you know anything about this book? Would it be a good purchase?
mel boring I have not actually READ FEAR OF WRITING, crouse7, but I have read views and reviews of it on the Internet....
mel boring What I've read HIGHLY RECOMMENDS the book, and especially the EXERCISES it has in it to get you writing! I think Jan knows the book, too.
janfields Only in a second-hand sort of way, it sounds like it's primarily for the writer who wrestles with writer's block
janfields But it does sound like a great tool for those frequently stalled by a missing muse
janfields .
mel boring GoneWest asks Jan: I do have a question for your chat with Jan Fields....(She just happens to be my instructor too). You can both answer my questions or just one....what ever you feel like. When you send out a manuscript do you think it is better to send it to one magazine at a time or send it to maybe 4 or 5 magazines? Also, if you get a positive response from more than one magazine what do you do then? I have read where some writer's send out 6 at a time. It is really nice to see that you will be doing the Forums Jan...Best Wishes to You!!
mel boring Jan, first?
janfields I have always sent to only one magazine at a time
janfields Though you CAN sometimes sim sub and some magazines don't mind
janfields But many of the smaller mags don't work with contracts
janfields So they may consider a submission to be a done deal
janfields And the first you may hear from them is when you get a check and the publication date
janfields That's embarrassing if you really wanted to sell to a better magazine
janfields or bigger anyway...and have to tell an editor NO...looks bad.
mel boring The key, I agree, is to find out if the mags you're submitting to OBJECT to simsubs. If they do, don't submit to them....
mel boring The ONE exception I've seen is....
mel boring if an article has a "time factor," is for the anniversary of something that will soon arrive...
mel boring I simsubbed an article about the Statue of Liberty once about a year before her 100th Anniversay, to six magazines...
mel boring I EXPLAINED, in case they didn't realize it, that it had a "time factor," and of the SIX magazines, only ONE responded, and bought the article--MAYBE just lucky me! (-:}
mel boring We are a bit overtime, but maybe the boss wouldn't mind that today, think so, Jan?
janfields Probably he would be flexible...he loves us.
mel boring Just a couple more questions...
mel boring cjlm needs to find out from Jan or Mel: I check time periods listed in the Writer's Markets. My confusion is over whether a writer should wait longer than the time listed (i.e. Dutton says response time is 2 to 3 months). That 2 to 3 month period has come and gone. However, I've had one particular manuscript held longer than that with two publishers (a year with one) who said they liked and thought about my proposal for a long time (they didn't publish). Should I send the manuscript to other publishers after the time period has lapsed? And, if I haven't heard about one manuscript in that amount of time--and queried the same publisher about another--can I approach other publishers about both projects even though the time has not lapsed on the query? I'm assuming that this publisher may be one that does not respond unless they are interested in my work. Yet, I've had favorable response from them in the past about another project (several years ago.)
mel boring My own rather bumbling practice is that...
mel boring I often really forget a manuscript is out, and leave it out just out of bumbliness, cjlm....
mel boring But if you feel you WANT to, you can always JUST CHECK with a publisher, say, one month past the time period they state, not ask for it back, but ask ABOUT it....
mel boring Then they can respond--or they might NOT....
mel boring Generally, I have found that NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS in MOST cases, though NOT ALL....
mel boring So my tendency is to not even inquire....
mel boring But if you JUST HAVE NOT HEARD ANYTHING, and it's way past, write them to say you're submitting it elsewhere, then do it!....
mel boring By the way, for pubs you KNOW are later than their self-imposed deadlines, I would let them keep it, cjlm.
mel boring Here's a related question, how about you on this one, Jan?...
mel boring KR must find out: I have an article about the American Revolution under consideration by GP4K. The 2-3 month response time has not yet passed. Learning Through History has an upcoming theme on the American Revolution, deadline January 30. My question is this: I am reworking the article to fit LTH's length and style. It will contain most of the same information as the version sent to GP4K as well as new information. Is it OK to send to LTH? What if both magazines want the article?
janfields You don't have much market overlap between GP4K and LTH...
janfields So, it's not likely that either editor would be bothered since the pieces are specifically tailoe
janfields tailored to the magazine's needs
janfields But you would need to let the editor know, because it would be her call.
mel boring I agree, KR!...One more question...
mel boring caq asks for a repeat of a previous question: Are recipes copyrighted? How do you use them in an article or story.
janfields Recipes are copyrighted.
janfields But the copyright is on the presentation of information, mostly.
janfields ...
mel boring We must stop now, ALWAYS a heartache for me...
janfields You need to change the recipe to use it, but pretty much most recipes play off of someone else's food invention.
mel boring but ESPECIALLY today, for me!...
mel boring I have received ALL your WARM messages, though I haven't posted them...
mel boring THANK YOU, for them, friends! We will BOTH be back next Tuesday for the Open Forum....
mel boring and we hope YOU will be back, too. THANKS to YOU, too, Jan!
janfields Thank you...thank you all
mel boring No Guest Chat this Thursday, but we'll see you here next Thursday!
mel boring THANK YOU for coming!

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