| janfields |
It's a beautiful day to
chat.
|
| janfields |
August 8, OPEN FORUM
will begin in 5 minutes. Today we're talking about WRITING ABOUT
ANIMALS. Come join us in five minutes.
|
| janfields |
AUGUST 8 OPEN FORUM
begins in 2 minutes. Bring your questions about WRITING ABOUT
ANIMALS...in two minutes.
|
| janfields |
Welcome to OPEN FORUM:
WRITING ABOUT ANIMALS! What do you need to know about animal fiction
and nonfiction today?
|
| janfields |
If you want to ask a
question and be sure it has a chance to be posted, you'll need to
use either the "ask a question" button on the bar across the middle
of your screen. OR type /ask...then space once and type your
question. That passes the question to me and I can post it for
answer. If you type the question in the bar at the bottom of you
screen, I may not see it.
|
| janfields |
Hi writerfolks...I
wanted to chat today about animal writing...
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| janfields |
because I see so much
of it....
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| janfields |
editors like
it....
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| janfields |
but sometimes it seems
folks cannot make those connections between writing and
selling.
|
| janfields |
Like all ICL
instructors, I bully my students to try some
nonfiction.
|
| janfields |
And about 98% who give
in to that bullying, write an animal article.
|
| janfields |
But certain...regular
issues...pop up with those so I want to go over
them.
|
| janfields |
Just to make us alert
to them.
|
| janfields |
And I also want to talk
about fiction.
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| janfields |
BUT
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| janfields |
BUT
|
| janfields |
BUT
|
| janfields |
First we have to do
GOOD NEWS!!!
|
| janfields |
YAY!
|
| janfields |
GOOD NEWS! High Hopes:
Just wanted to share my good news using talking animals. My story
"Song of Peace" has been accepted by
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| issue. I knew
talking animals was a hard sell but I really liked my story and was
hoping someone else would too! After SEVERAL revisions and heeding
advice from my critique group-IT |
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|
|
| janfields |
Now this is an
extremely WOW piece of good news.
|
| janfields |
Because I happen to
know that Jennifer Reed of Wee Ones buys ALMOST NO talking animal
fiction
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| janfields |
So she LOVED this piece
in order to buy it.
|
| janfields |
So...wow...and
yay!
|
| janfields |
Ahhh...I'm already
getting questions, goodie goodie...but a little more good news
first.
|
| janfields |
GOOD NEWS!
ColoradoKate: I sent a couple of entries to the Highlights fiction
contest this year. The bad news is, I didn't win... the good news
is, they purchased one of the stories I sent in! The cherry on top
is that it's my first acceptance, ever. I keep looking at my copy of
the contract to make sure it's real. So do enter those contests!
(The deadline for the Pockets contest is 8/15, and you can bet I'm
sending them something.)
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|
| janfields |
YAY!
ColoradoKate...it's big stuff to have Highlights buy stories from
contest entries.
|
| janfields |
ColoradoKate...did you
get the guidelines for the next contest along with your contest
response -- can you tell us what the theme is?
|
| janfields |
Oh...goodie..next
year's HIGHLIGHTS CONTEST THEME is MYSTERIES!
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| janfields |
That should be
fun.
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| janfields |
Yes, well...it's time I
let you know...I know everything.
|
| janfields |
So you should always
listen to me...
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| janfields |
listen to the
Jan...obey the Jan...
|
| janfields |
Now, another bit of
good news...
|
| janfields |
GOOD NEWS! NIKI:
Jennifer Reed from Wee Ones has just bought one of my short stories
to be published in Sept/Oct 2007. This will be my second piece
published by Wee Ones and my third published piece.
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|
|
| janfields |
Wow, y'all are really
scoring at WEE ONES lately.
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| janfields |
Way
super!
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| janfields |
Okay, I'm going to hit
some questions now...but I will NOT forget to list the common animal
article boo-boos
|
| chippy |
Is nonfiction animal
writing more popular than fiction
|
| janfields |
Yes and
no.
|
| janfields |
Kids LOVE animal
fiction.
|
| janfields |
Editors often ask for
more realistic animal fiction.
|
| janfields |
So, animal fiction is
really popular still, but there are simply more magazines filling
more spots with nonfiction than fiction.
|
| janfields |
So although animal
fiction is still very popular, there are just more places to sell
animal nonfiction to.
|
| janfields |
But that shouldn't keep
you from writing animal fiction -- just be certain you're getting a
sense of story into your nonfiction.
|
| janfields |
I've sold "teaching"
animal fiction to Ladybug and I just saw a story of the same sort in
a recent issue.
|
| janfields |
Where the "purpose" of
the story was to teach a child about natural history
--
|
| janfields |
but you still want some
kind of "story" framework so it doesn't feel like you're just
channelling facts
|
| janfields |
Because that becomes
awkward very quickly.
|
| acceber |
how do you define "more
realistic"?
|
| janfields |
A realistic animal
story has an animal acting like an animal.
|
| janfields |
Usually, you won't have
the animal think in "sentences" like a human.
|
| janfields |
Even if the animal is
the viewpoint character.
|
| janfields |
For example, I sold a
realistic animal story to Ladybug where the main character was a
possum.
|
| janfields |
I used lines like,
"Night eyes knew the fat cat wouldn't attack."
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| janfields |
I didn't say things
like: "You're just an old windbag," Night Eyes
thought.
|
| janfields |
The first is about as
far as you can go in a "realistic" animal story.
|
| janfields |
In
magazines.
|
| janfields |
I've seen "realistic"
animal stories in books, where the animals clearly behaved like
animals, but throught like people.
|
| janfields |
Some even had regional
"accents" in their thoughts.
|
| janfields |
Santa Paws would be an
example, and the Bunnicula books to a slightly more fantastic
extent.
|
| janfields |
Chippy: So in fiction,
animals talking to animals is okay?
|
| janfields |
Yes...depending.
|
| janfields |
I recently had a young
reader story accepted by Ladybug where the animals very much chat
with one another.
|
| janfields |
Even though they are
more "animal like" -- living in trees, spinning webs, and
such.
|
| janfields |
But do understand, as
soon as the animals begin talking, you'll automatically eliminate
some markets.
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| janfields |
Even if the animals are
talking to one another.
|
| gladys1 |
if the animals "horses"
talk to eachother in whinnies could you use sentences in that
way?
|
| janfields |
You could say something
like
|
| janfields |
"Hey, good lookin'"
Star whinned, pawing the ground.
|
| janfields |
But you wouldn't say,
"Hey *whinnie* I like your mane!"
|
| janfields |
Because that implies
the "whinnie" is separate from the communication.
|
| gladys1 |
Jan could you tell us
which publications accept anthropomorphization
manuscripts
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| janfields |
Among magazines, the
ones I know are...
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| janfields |
Turtle and Humpty
Dumpty (though they really aren't buying right now)
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| janfields |
Ladybug, Spider, and
SOMETIMES Cricket
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| janfields |
Highlights
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| janfields |
Dragonfly
Spirit
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| janfields |
InspirationStation
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| janfields |
In fact,
InspirationStation is one of the only religious markets still buying
anthropomorphized animals.
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| janfields |
Clubhouse Jr. did for
many years, but they seem to have stopped...though you can find
examples of such stories online on their site.
|
| janfields |
But no one who has read
the magazine in the last couple years reports any kind of anthro
animals.
|
| coloradokate |
I want to write several
articles from one "chunk" of research, for different markets--any
tricks to that? I'm sure they shouldn't be too similar, but I'm not
sure how different they need to be.
|
| janfields |
First -- it helps if
you're thinking not just about selling but about
publication.
|
| janfields |
For example, selling to
a magazine with a close-in theme is going to get in print years and
years before selling to Cricket.
|
| janfields |
So, you're not going to
have as much overlap.
|
| janfields |
Generally though, the
key is focus.
|
| janfields |
For example, suppose I
wanted to research feral camels in Australia.
|
| janfields |
I might do one article
on how camels got to Australia.
|
| janfields |
I might do one focused
ENTIRELY on what "introduced" animals have doe to
Australia.
|
| janfields |
I might do one on the
kinds of feral animal populations in the world.
|
| janfields |
Those could all grow
out of the same body of research but they are fairly different in
slant.
|
| janfields |
And will all have only
limited overlap of information.
|
| janfields |
The less your
information overlaps, the better editors will like
it.
|
| acceber |
what is a close-in
theme?
|
| janfields |
By that, I meant a
theme that will go to press fairly soon...for
example,
|
| janfields |
Kid Zone publishes
fairly soon after accepting a piece.
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| janfields |
So does Moo Cow Fan
Club.
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| janfields |
The Cobblestone group
doesn't buy THAT far ahead.
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| janfields |
But Hopscotch, Boy's
Quest, and Fun for Kids buy way way way ahead.
|
| janfields |
Pockets doesn't buy
that far ahead if you're matching an online theme
well.
|
| janfields |
So I could sell a
fictional piece on a boy who learns something when he befriends a
feral camel in Australia...
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| janfields |
to
Pockets
|
| janfields |
And sell an article on
how animals become feral to Cricket
|
| janfields |
And sell an article on
one researcher's study of why Australian camels are so much
healthier than the ones found in the middle east to
Highlights
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| janfields |
The Highlights and
Cricket articles would be coming out years from now, so I would have
to be certain not to have too much overlap of facts...or the editor
wouldn't like it.
|
| bassoonhny |
What's the best way to
approach an expert who lives far away
|
| janfields |
I use
email.
|
| janfields |
I almost always make
first connections via email.
|
| janfields |
If the person doesn't
have email (but you have a mailing address)...you can try that but
you're chances of getting response are way down unless the person
NEEDS publicity.
|
| janfields |
And you can try calling
-- again, it helps if the person NEEDS publicity.
|
| janfields |
But I find email far
less intrusive...folks can answer when they get around to
it.
|
| janfields |
And no one has ever
seemed overly put upon.
|
| gonewest |
Do you think it is better
to send out to paying magazines
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| gonewest |
instead of online
mags....for your resumes?
|
| janfields |
Again, I hate to say
"it depends" but it does.
|
| janfields |
If you are writing
fiction, you'll actually get slightly better clip from Wee Ones than
from a Sunday School magazine.
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| janfields |
Especially if your
ultimate goal is secular writing.
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| janfields |
Even though the Sunday
School magazine is in print.
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| janfields |
But in MOST cases, a
print magazine trumps online in terms of prestige
|
| janfields |
And not all print
magazines are created equal.
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| janfields |
I usually try the more
prestiges markets first.
|
| janfields |
That's one reason why I
don't simultaneously submit, by the way...
|
| janfields |
Because the magazines
that pay less or have fewer subs or are starting
up...
|
| janfields |
will always respond
quicker than say...Cricket which takes forever.
|
| janfields |
But I would rather have
the Cricket clip.
|
| janfields |
But if the low pay
answers first, I really OUGHT to let them have it.
|
| janfields |
You shouldn't submit to
someone you wouldn't sell to.
|
| janfields |
By the by, there are
print magazines that don't pay.
|
| janfields |
And, of course, some
onlines do pay.
|
| acceber |
how do you introduce
yourself when emailing an expert who doesn't know
you?
|
| janfields |
I usually start off
with something like...
|
| janfields |
I was fascinated by the
article I read on the genetic research you're
doing.
|
| janfields |
I think children would
be fascinated by the mouse that glows under black
light.
|
| janfields |
Would you consider
answering a few questions about your work to be used in a nonfiction
article for children?
|
| janfields |
That shows (1) I took
the time to know something about the expert
|
| janfields |
(2) I am focused on
something specific about him...suggesting he isn't going to have to
give me weeks of interview time
|
| janfields |
and (3) I always throw
in the kid card -- people hate to refuse to help teach
children.
|
| janfields |
I don't give my
credits...I could, but the expert doesn't really
care.
|
| janfields |
I don't tell them where
the article will be published...cause I don't know.
|
| janfields |
And I've seldom had
trouble getting experts to respond.
|
| janfields |
There really is a
little glowing mouse by the way.
|
| janfields |
Genetic research is
weird.
|
| acceber |
do you let them read it
before submitting the article?
|
| janfields |
I do if I'm dipping
into science (or another field about which I am NO
expert).
|
| janfields |
But when I ask them to
read it, I say: "Could you please read this for scientific
accuracy."
|
| janfields |
Because I don't let the
"expert" micro-manage my writing.
|
| janfields |
If he thinks the
article should focus on the nature of recombinant DNA and I just
want to talk about glowing mice...it stays my call.
|
| coloradokate |
Should you ask experts
specifically for permission to quote them?
|
| janfields |
When I contact experts,
I specifically say that it's for an article...
|
| janfields |
By definition, I'm
wanting to quote them.
|
| janfields |
So, I don't have to
specifically say, "Wow, that's great -- can I quote you on
that."
|
| janfields |
If I call them or meet
them in person, same thing, they know from the get-go that I'm doing
an article.
|
| janfields |
Now SOMETIMES (because
I just have such a sweet face) I've had interview subjects start
telling me personal stuff.
|
| janfields |
Or ranting about
co-workers.
|
| janfields |
Or grumbling about
off-topic issues...then say...Oh, don't quote me on
that.
|
| janfields |
If they ask, I don't
quote -- besides, no one cares about their co-worker issues or
grumpy things their spouse said that day.
|
| janfields |
Unless I 100% don't
doubt for one second that I totally and completely understand the
material and have gotten back up from other
research...
|
| janfields |
pant
pant
|
| janfields |
I virtually always ask
if the expert will fact check.
|
| janfields |
Because I want to make
sure my analogies work.
|
| janfields |
I want to make sure I
understood industry jargon...you wanna hear jargon...oh my ...just
chat with biologists.
|
| janfields |
Or computer
techies.
|
| janfields |
Really, if I'm going to
use a clip for a credit, I need to make 100% sure it's accurate,
EVEN IF I know the magazine just isn't that picky.
|
| janfields |
Some magazines are VERY
PICKY.
|
| janfields |
Okay...we've gotten
wonderfully adrift...but let me give quick list of common FIRST
ANIMAL ARTICLE issues.
|
| janfields |
(1) Insufficient
research.
|
| janfields |
The magazines that pay
well want 3 sources to back up each "fact."
|
| janfields |
and you're going to
need sources even for things you know...really
know.
|
| janfields |
Like how butterflies
get out of chrisillisesessess...I can't spell that
word.
|
| janfields |
(2) No focus -- editors
rarely buy "everything I can cram in about the alligator"
articles.
|
| janfields |
(3) Poor fiction
presentations of nonfiction -- like 2 people spouting facts to one
another
|
| janfields |
Or the ever famous --
Hi, I'm a roach. You've probably seen me scurry under the
sink.
|
| janfields |
Editors don't like
those.
|
| janfields |
(4) No organization --
just loosely strung together facts
|
| janfields |
Ahh...interviewing a
roach would be fun...actually...now that I think of
it...ewwww
|
| gladys1 |
Jan if your nonfiction
article is true but you can not prove it by anyone but yourself how
do you get experts to confirm each fact
|
| janfields |
You can present
STRICTLY personal experience pieces as being from your
experience.
|
| janfields |
Actually Highlights
loves those kinds of animal stories...
|
| janfields |
especially when the
animals act weird.
|
| janfields |
Though it helps if you
can get an expert or some other source to help you understand why
the animal might have been weird.
|
| janfields |
Ahhh...Eggamy, Pockets
themes are online.
|
| janfields |
Though there is always
a lag between when you run out of themes for the
year
|
| janfields |
and they post the next
one.
|
| janfields |
But you can find it on
their website.
|
| janfields |
I don't know the url
off the top of my head but you can google Pockets
magazine
|
| janfields |
Or just get the url
from http://www.kidmagwriters.com in the market guide at the top of
the page.
|
| janfields |
Oh...gladys, I see
Highlights is holding your cat story...wow, COOL!
|
| janfields |
I hope they buy
it.
|
| janfields |
They went through a
kind of "anti-cat" period, so they must be coming out of
it.
|
| janfields |
It's funny how animal
stories go in waves.
|
| janfields |
There was a HUGE cat
wave and all the magazines had tons of cat stories a few years
back.
|
| janfields |
Then it was
insects.
|
| janfields |
Right now, it's
birds.
|
| janfields |
So...right now -- not a
good time for birds.
|
| janfields |
I don't think anyone is
having a glowing mice wave though.
|
| janfields |
I want to thank
everyone for coming today...especially since CAQ shared with me that
I TOTALLY messed up telling folks about chat today.
|
| janfields |
So, verra verra
sorry...honestly, I'm such a nincompoop sometimes.
|
| janfields |
But THIS FRIDAY is an
open forum.
|
| janfields |
With an open
topic.
|
| janfields |
So if you were hoping
for an open topic today...I am so sorry.
|
| janfields |
Lizziegirl, I'll try to
work up a list to answer your question...I don't know off the top of
my head.
|
| janfields |
And scardeycat...I'll
make a list for yours
too.
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