| janfields |
Join us today in the
AUDITORIUM-Scheduled Events Room for Open Forum. Today's topic is
RESEARCH. Come and join in five minutes from now.
|
| janfields |
Today's Open Forum on
the topic of "RESEARCH" will begin shortly. While you wait for chat
to begin, 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 or comments on how to research, where to research,or
research editors want to see, etc. Chat will begin two minutes from
now.
|
| janfields |
Hi, and welcome to Open
Forum. I'm your host/moderator, Jan Fields -- and we're here to chat
about RESEARCH. If you want to ask a question or make a comment and
be sure I see it and that it makes it all the way to
transcript...you'll need to use either the "ask a question" button
on the bar across the middle of your screen. OR type a backslash /
followed immediately by the word ask...then space once and type your
question. That passes the question to me and I can post it. Now,
let's get going.
|
| janfields |
Research can mean
different things...
|
| janfields |
It's research when I
take a walk in the woods...
|
| janfields |
and take notes on my
sensory impressions...
|
| janfields |
to make my scenes more
"real"....
|
| janfields |
And it's also research
when I read books and magazines targetting my reader
agegroup...
|
| janfields |
And it's research when
I study a specific subject with the idea in mind to create
nonfiction on that topic.
|
| janfields |
Some publishers -- like
educational nonfiction publishers...
|
| janfields |
such as
Lucent...
|
| janfields |
require lots of
research...many sources.
|
| janfields |
Some publishers...like
Dutton...don't even ASK you about your sources...
|
| janfields |
for
nonfiction.
|
| janfields |
They count on the
author to CARE about authenticity...
|
| janfields |
and do that amount of
research needed to be accurate.
|
| janfields |
That hasn't always
brought about good results.
|
| janfields |
And the fact that
commerical publishers don't demand enough sources is one reason
children's books have gotten a bad rep
|
| janfields |
in terms of
accuracy...
|
| janfields |
even though children's
education nonfiction tends to be MORE demanding...
|
| janfields |
in terms of research
than adult publishing.
|
| gladys1 |
Jan can you give us the
address for some educational publishers please
|
| janfields |
I can't do it from
memory...sadly enough...
|
| janfields |
But I will look some
up...and add them into this spot in the transcript for this
chat...
|
| janfields |
CAPSTONE PRESS, INC (Request author brochure with SASE, then send query letter, resume, samples of nonfiction writing)
151 Good Counsel Drive, P.O. Box 669, Mankato MN 55438.
|
|
Enslow Publishing has very specific guidelines that you need to send for first --
Box 398, 40 Industrial Road, Berkeley Heights NJ 07922
|
|
Facts on File has guidelines online (which is always nice.)
|
|
Lucent Books accepts queries with resumes.
Attn: Publisher — Lucent,
15822 Bernardo Center Drive,
Ste. C,
San Diego, CA 92127
|
| janfields |
I once tried out for a
LUCENT book, by the way...
|
| janfields |
And was
accepted...
|
| janfields |
but the level of
research required was so HUGE that I just
couldn't...
|
| janfields |
see myself fitting it
into my schedule...
|
| janfields |
And I had trouble with
the money vs. amount of work time.
|
| janfields |
But publishers like
Lucent, Pebble Books, Capstone...are always looking
|
| janfields |
for good
writers...
|
| janfields |
especially writers who
LIKE research...
|
| janfields |
and can write really
short, tight prose.
|
| janfields |
Now...let me take a
teeny break...
|
| janfields |
Cause I forgot to do my
good news stuff
|
| janfields |
And I LOVE my GOOD NEWS
stuff.
|
| janfields |
So...bear with me while
I do my fun part...
|
| janfields |
GOOD NEWS -- Vettemon
is back in the race! After some health issues I have picked myself
up..brushed my butt off..ready to fight again! Thank you for your
good thoughts and prayers! Soon you will all have Vetty to kick
around again. :) And me to you!!
|
| janfields |
I'm so glad Vetty is
back among us...and so sorry she's not been well.
|
| janfields |
So that is good news to
have her back.
|
| janfields |
GOOD NEWS -- CONNIE: My
poem, "Who Won?" has been scheduled to the September 2006 issue of
SPIDER. Also, HOPSCOTCH will publish my poem, "Quick
Little Mouse," in their October 2006 issue |
|
| janfields |
Wow...Spider and
Hopscotch...great.
|
| janfields |
Poetry can be such an
excellent way to build credits...
|
| janfields |
If you're good at light
verse...
|
| janfields |
and Clearly Connie
is...YEAH CONNIE.
|
| janfields |
Okay...back to the
research thing...
|
| janfields |
JR: Should I cite the
research books as well as acknowledge the historians &
archivists whose information assisted in the historical accuracy of
the manuscript?
|
| janfields |
In book length
nonfiction for COMMERICAL publishers....
|
| janfields |
people who gave you
personal help...
|
| janfields |
are usually thanked in
the acknowledgements...
|
| janfields |
which serve as a kind
of source list.
|
| janfields |
Many times, you don't
get a real bibliography or source list in the book.
|
| janfields |
In educational book
publishing, you often don't get acknowledgements
pages...
|
| janfields |
but you do have a
bibliography which lists all sources...
|
| janfields |
In magazines, you list
EVERYONE in the bibliography/source list that you
send.
|
| janfields |
Because editors like to
see your sources.
|
| janfields |
But you'll not get to
actually thank anyone in print unless you're going with a commerical
publisher (most of the time).
|
| janfields |
Now...if you had an
"expert" review your manuscript for authenticity...
|
| janfields |
You will put that in
your cover letter...
|
| janfields |
Whether you're writing
a book or a magazine article.
|
| janfields |
Having your manuscript
reviewed for authenticity by an expert is a huge drawing
point.
|
| janfields |
IF the expert happens
to be kin to you (your sister/husband/mom/etc) -- don't mention the
kinship connection in the cover letter...
|
| janfields |
just the expert's name,
credentials...and the fact that he/she reviewed it.
|
| little
lulu |
Do educational publishers
provide the author with a letter or some proof that they wrote the
book to show other editors?
|
| janfields |
Educational publishers
put your name on the books.
|
| janfields |
You don't get to
acknowledge experts...but you do get a byline.
|
| janfields |
I don't actually know
of any educational publisher that totally doesn't give a
byline.
|
| janfields |
NOW...
|
| janfields |
having said
that...
|
| janfields |
Time for Kids says that
"editors at Time for Kids" are the writers for all the
books
|
| janfields |
So obviously the
individual isn't getting a byline there...
|
| janfields |
but it's possible it
really is a group effort of some sort.
|
| caq |
I would love to get into
NF because I love to research, but my resources are so limited.
Poorly stocked libraries, not any universities, really no place to
get info except the web, which I dodge. Because of this I have only
done one for lesson 9. I email interviewed for a story for lesson 10
for accuracy. I have purchased books for reference possibilities.
What else can you do? ...
|
| caq |
(added to previous
question #15961) spending money on trips is not possible because you
don't get paid enough to make up the cost if you do sell it. How do
you get access to reputable sources in if a black hole for
research?
|
| janfields |
I know some folks who
do nonfiction for educational publishers from
really
|
| janfields |
really
really
|
| janfields |
rural
locations.
|
| janfields |
With really poor
libraries.
|
| janfields |
The web can be a great
jumping off spot for locating the actual names of resources you
need.
|
| janfields |
So you don't want to
avoid it...you just need to think of it as a "jumping off"
point.
|
| janfields |
For example, when I was
doing my article on carnivorous butterflies...
|
| janfields |
I used the web to find
the name of the researchers studying the butterflies RIGHT
NOW.
|
| janfields |
Then I found the
institution backing them.
|
| janfields |
And I contacted
it...
|
| janfields |
Universities and such
have PR departments and you can contact them via
email.
|
| janfields |
Then once you have the
PR department...they can muscle the expert into talking to
you.
|
| janfields |
Also, the web can make
you aware of locations for say...historical events.
|
| janfields |
And then you can use
the web to find the contact information for...
|
| janfields |
this historical
societies near those events.
|
| janfields |
I know MANY writers who
have used historical societies for "long distance'
research.
|
| janfields |
Often the society is
excited to share information and will actually mail you copies of
the primary sources they are holding in their
ocllections
|
| janfields |
And many times there
are statewide loan systems to get books through libraries...as long
as you know the book's title and author.
|
| janfields |
Which you can learn via
the web.
|
| janfields |
So...I start EVERYTHING
with the web...then launch out.
|
| janfields |
Now DREAMER asked if
you need to send sources for heavily researched
fiction...
|
| janfields |
Not
exactly...
|
| janfields |
Most publishers don't
want to see it.
|
| janfields |
However, if you are
writing historical fiction...
|
| janfields |
for
magazines...
|
| janfields |
the editor will want to
see your sources...
|
| janfields |
because magazines can
be much more a stickler for accuracy.
|
| janfields |
For a commerical book
publisher, it is usually enough to say something
like...
|
| janfields |
I have always been
fascinated by the Civil War, and much of this novel is rooted in my
research into that time period...
|
| janfields |
And the editor pretty
much just assumes you're not making that up.
|
| janfields |
Again...that has caused
problems for commerical publishers, but they still haven't changed
their way of doing it.
|
| caq |
I have been told over and
over, that getting info via email doesn't hold up for most
publishers, as well as info from the web, which is why I have pretty
much given up NF. So we can contact people to receive info via email
or snail mail and use the web?
|
| janfields |
Yeah, in a way, the web
is part of your "chain of evidence"
|
| janfields |
You found the person's
name via the web, or the address of the historical society (and even
sometimes a list of their holdings)
|
| janfields |
And then you used that
information to contact them.
|
| janfields |
The fact that you
started with the web probably won't even go into your source
list.
|
| janfields |
After all...your source
is say...Dr. Benjamin Brilliant, historical researcher and author of
blah, blah, blah -- the editor doesn't need to know that you FOUND
him originally because of research on the web.
|
| janfields |
The editor just wants
to know his credentials for being a source.
|
| janfields |
And if he's got good
creds...the editor accepts it.
|
| janfields |
I don't copy from
websites.
|
| janfields |
Pretty
much...ever.
|
| janfields |
But I do use the
"source lists" that I find online to track down
books.
|
| janfields |
I know one author Kelly
Milner Hall who wrote a book on mummified
dinosaurs.
|
| janfields |
She FOUND nearly all
her sources by joining a Palentology list serve
|
| janfields |
But from there...she
collected sources...
|
| janfields |
names of experts in the
fields and what organization backed them
|
| janfields |
Names of books that
experts agreed were top sources.
|
| janfields |
And her end sources
were impecable...but she launched into finding them using the
web.
|
| janfields |
Otherwise she would
have gone broke since these guys were all over the
world.
|
| caq |
In response to Dreamer77
and the fiction with the sources. I did a fictional story and I
interviewed 2 psychologists in NYC via email and a local state
trooper investigator specializing in my topic for accuracy. I only
mentioned it in my cover letter , no bibliography.
|
| janfields |
Right...editors love a
brief mention of stuff like that in a cover...
|
| janfields |
it makes you look more
serious and credible...
|
| janfields |
and makes an editor
take notice.
|
| momx2 |
jan would you give an
example of historical fiction
|
| janfields |
Well, technically Gone
with the Wind is historical fiction.
|
| janfields |
Historical Fiction is
GENERALLY defined
|
| janfields |
As fiction taking place
BEFORE the birth of your reading audience.
|
| janfields |
So even a novel where
the protagonist's father is off fighting in Vietnam would be
historical fiction.
|
| janfields |
And a novel like Bud,
Not Buddy is historical fiction because it's not
today.
|
| janfields |
And it's not within the
life span of your reader.
|
| janfields |
Though it may be within
the lifespan of the writer Buttermilk Hill, for example, takes place
when I was a kid.
|
| janfields |
The 1960s...so it
doesn't exactly feel HISTORICAL to me, but it does to the middle
grade readers for whom the author wrote it.
|
| little
lulu |
What is the estimated
time needed to write an educational book from beginning to end that
needs considerable research?
|
| janfields |
Ah...that's another fun
part of historical fiction for educational
markets...
|
| janfields |
they don't give you
long to write them.
|
| janfields |
Often a matter of
months.
|
| janfields |
Which means you don't
do ANYTHING ELSE while you're writing the book.
|
| janfields |
And it helps if you
write about subjects that you already have a fair bit of
familiarity.
|
| caq |
So if you use the web,
you can contact the source to get info and then use the source in
your bibliography or do you use the source and the web site
address?
|
| janfields |
I try to avoid using
ANY web references in my sources or bibliography...
|
| janfields |
the web points me at
the sources I need...
|
| janfields |
then I get my library
to order them (if books)
|
| janfields |
Or I contact historical
societies and get copies of stuff (which can cost money but usually
not a lot...they mostly just want to be paid back for
expenses)
|
| janfields |
Or I contact the PR
department at museums or universities and get them to have the
source contact me.
|
| janfields |
And then I often work
via phone at least once.
|
| janfields |
Editors like it if you
talked to the person on the phone once.
|
| janfields |
And then I list the
source him/herself and their organization, etc.
|
| janfields |
And I do not list the
websites of the organizations.
|
| caq |
How do you come up with
good questions to ask in an interview, email interview or person to
person? I have a topic, should I research it first and then come up
with questions that I have from that?
|
| janfields |
Yeah, before I contact
human beings, I make sure I know a lot about the
topic.
|
| janfields |
That way the person (1)
won't talk over my head too much...
|
| janfields |
Though I often have to
get scientists to explain things a couple times...
|
| janfields |
Cause they talk over my
head pretty easily.
|
| janfields |
And it also helps me
ask smart questions.
|
| janfields |
Sources can get annoyed
if they feel like you're coming to them too cold.
|
| janfields |
And that's one place
where an initial phone interview can be nice...
|
| janfields |
because you can repeat
back what the source said...kind of paraphrasing in your own
words...
|
| janfields |
and be sure you are
understanding him/her.
|
| janfields |
Then you can often
follow up with more questions via email...I always try to get an
email address.
|
| janfields |
Because phone calls can
get expensive.
|
| janfields |
And because...well....I
hate talking on the phone.
|
| caq |
If you did an
interview(s) and you didn't use info from that (those) interview(s),
do you still list them in your bibliography?
|
| janfields |
No, I usually
don't
|
| janfields |
There are times when an
interview turns out to be sort of a dud.
|
| janfields |
But if the person
pointed you toward more sources...then I might include them in a
source list...it's hard to say.
|
| janfields |
But some folks are just
soooooo jargony, that it's hard to get good stuff out of
them.
|
| janfields |
And some people have an
agenda and it's tough to get past that.
|
| janfields |
So sometimes interviews
do turn out not to be useful.
|
| caq |
If you did an interview
and the person wants to see it before submitting it, and wants
changes that you know are not proper for your article, what do you
do? Also, do you tell the publisher the interviewee has read and
approved your article?
|
| janfields |
If the changes are for
accuracy...I make them.
|
| janfields |
If the changes hurt the
article...I sometimes try to work around them...
|
| janfields |
For example, if a
researcher didn't want something revealled that he had told
me...
|
| janfields |
I usually won't reveal
it.
|
| janfields |
Actually...I have never
revealled it.
|
| janfields |
But sometimes folks
want to "change history" and don't want their
town...
|
| janfields |
or organization painted
in a bad (though accurate) light...
|
| janfields |
in that case, if it's
important to the article to reveal that truth...I would go with
it.
|
| janfields |
And if someone reviews
my manuscript and doesn't make bad changes, yes, I always mention
that in the cover letter.
|
| janfields |
The fact checkers love
it.
|
| gladys1 |
would you do the phone
interview before or after the e-mail interview
|
| janfields |
I kinda go with my
feelings...but overall...if I'm going to do a phone interview, I
make that first contact.
|
| janfields |
Okay...I wanted to give
you guys two great
|
| janfields |
places
to
|
| janfields |
find the right way to
cite sources...
|
| janfields |
Here is a link for
citing sources...especially electronic source --
|
|
|
| janfields |
And here is my very
favorite link on sources, from Purdue's online writing lab --
|
|
|
| janfields |
Citing sources in
publishing is different from doing it in an academic
setting...
|
| janfields |
publishing is much more
relaxed...they don't care so much about exact
format...
|
| janfields |
as long as they get the
information they need.
|
| janfields |
But it's always good to
be consistent with how you reference sources.
|
| caq |
I was told that
interviews don't hold much weight because it won't lead the reader
to a book, etc, for further info. Would it be wise to ask an
interviewee for suggestions for further reading for your readership
age? Or would that be tacky?
|
| janfields |
I've seen great
articles/books that were clearly built totally on
interviews...
|
| janfields |
After all..profiles
pretty much never point anyone toward a book..
|
| janfields |
It's nice to write
something that encourages kids to read.
|
| janfields |
But considering you
can't use children's books as sources...
|
| janfields |
for
nonfiction.
|
| janfields |
And kids aren't
interested in being pointed toward adult
nonfiction.
|
| janfields |
Your source list and a
possible suggested reading list are going to be very different
ANYWAY.
|
| janfields |
So even if you have a
piece built entirely on interviews...if the editor wants a suggested
reading list...
|
| janfields |
that editor is going to
want different material than the stuff you used for sources
anyway.
|
| janfields |
Editors ARE more
comfortable with print sources for a totally different
reason...
|
| janfields |
it's just easier for
the fact checker if all your sources are print and if you send
photocopies of all the source materials.
|
| janfields |
But that's a different
critter.
|
| janfields |
And if your source is
say.....
|
| janfields |
the head historian on
the subject of Ben Franklin...
|
| janfields |
then that person's
greatest gift to you will be to point you at the
|
| janfields |
most credible sources
HE knows about Ben Franklin...since he's going to know where
journals and such are being housed.
|
| caq |
If they want copies of
your source materials, isn't that sort of not the right thing to do?
I mean, people are not supposed to make copies of other peoples
work,
|
| janfields |
A single photo copy for
fact checking is DEFINITELY within the realm of "fair
use"
|
| janfields |
of published
material.
|
| janfields |
They won't be
publishing those copies...just reading them to make sure you got the
facts straight.
|
| janfields |
Then, basically, they
throw them away...totally within the realm of fair
use.
|
| caq |
Makes sense. I would
think the writers would be honored to have their material referenced
in another work. Am I correct?
|
| janfields |
They are more than
honored...it tends to increase sales.
|
| janfields |
And increased the
chance of a book staying in print.
|
| janfields |
Increases the person's
name value.
|
| janfields |
And if the source text
is out-of-print, it increases the chance of it being picked up again
and put in print.
|
| janfields |
So references another
book is very valuable to the author and publisher.
|
| janfields |
Okay...that's puts us
about on the hour...
|
| janfields |
I wanted to remind
everyone that THURSDAY NIGHT...
|
| janfields |
we
|
| janfields |
are going to be
chatting with an intellectual property lawyer.
|
| janfields |
She will be able to
answer basic questions on copyright, tradmark,
rights...
|
| janfields |
libel.
|
| janfields |
She can't give specific
legal advice (so don't some in with contract in hand to ask for a
point by point)
|
| janfields |
but she will answer a
lot of nagging questions you've wondered.
|
| janfields |
And she's really
nice.
|