| janfields |
AFTERNOON OPEN FORUM
begins in five minutes -- it's open topic so all writing questions
are valid. What would you like to know? Join us in the Auditorium in
five minutes.
|
| janfields |
AFTERNOON OPEN FORUM
with webeditor Jan Fields begins in two minutes. I'm looking forward
to chatting with you -- in two minutes.
|
| janfields |
WELCOME to AFTERNOON
OPEN FORUM. All writing questions are allowed so put your typing
fingers on and let me know what you want to know...first though, let
me post a little help with how to ask questions...
|
| 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 your
screen, I may not see it.
|
| janfields |
Not that I need to tell
y'all how to post questions
|
| janfields |
But I need to get in
the habit of posting that.
|
| janfields |
Thanks for showing up
in a holiday week.
|
| janfields |
I have no idea why I
scheduled chat for today...I am a bit dim
sometimes.
|
| janfields |
Oh...stephenie has good
news to share.
|
| janfields |
What? What?
What?
|
| janfields |
Ahhh...the article that
Stephenie wrote for Lesson 4 at ICL has been accepted by Stories for
Children -- congratz Stephenie!!
|
| janfields |
I'm always glad when
folks score with assignment pieces.
|
| janfields |
Okay, I have a
preloaded question so let me nab that first...
|
| janfields |
it came via
email...
|
| janfields |
Chris: I am working on
an article about a 15-year-old, since she is a minor, I am wondering
how to refer to her in the article. Is it legal, and safe, to use
her first and last name? Plus, may I mention that she lives in the
Upper Peninsula of Michigan?
|
| janfields |
If you do a profile of
a minor AND the minor is identifiable...
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| janfields |
so that means if you
intend to use photos
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| janfields |
Or talk about something
that makes the child identifiable in her community.
|
| janfields |
Then you MUST get
permission from the child's parent or guardian.
|
| janfields |
You'll need a "release"
which basically says it is okay to include the child in an article
for publication.
|
| janfields |
You don't have to be
fancy with it or get it drawn up by a lawyer...just write up a
simple release and get the parent to sign and date
it.
|
| janfields |
After you have the
release, then you just follow whatever the magazine's style
is
|
| janfields |
Some will give
children's full names, a lot will just give first
names.
|
| janfields |
And as to location,
generally magazines stay a bit vague
|
| janfields |
So Michigan or Northern
Michigan is fine
|
| janfields |
You don't want to be
too detailed.
|
| janfields |
Parents can be a little
twitchy about having their child be too "findable"
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| janfields |
If you aren't sure
whether the magazine uses full names or first names
|
| janfields |
You can go ahead and do
a full name on first reference in the article.
|
| janfields |
That's not too big of
an issue for an editor to fix if their style is
different.
|
| janfields |
So...that's my one and
only preset question.
|
| janfields |
Anyone wanna know
anything?
|
| soradina |
When did you graduate
from Chapel Hill?
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| janfields |
1984...I think that's
right
|
| janfields |
I don't have my diploma
in this office...hmmmm...graduated high school in 79 so
college...oh...1983
|
| soradina |
Your younger than me Jan.
I graduated high school in 1973.
|
| janfields |
Ahhh...I'm so sorry,
you must be very old then :-)
|
| soradina |
That's an excellent
school. Congratulations.
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| janfields |
I really liked it. I
attended that one because at the time, they had just about the only
full degree journalism department on the east
coast.
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| janfields |
And I thought I wanted
to work in newspapers.
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| janfields |
silly silly
jan
|
| stephenie |
Can you discuss reselling
articles? Like how much you need
|
| stephenie |
to rewrite for a new
sale. Or, reprints.
|
| janfields |
If you are going to a
totally new sale, you must make substantive
changes.
|
| janfields |
For example, let's
imagine I want to sell something related to all the research I did
on the Harvester butterfly
|
| janfields |
Now, I already did an
article for Cricket
|
| janfields |
And they buy all
rights
|
| janfields |
So I clearly have to
rewrite if I want to do an article
|
| janfields |
So I would be best off
to reslant...I might, for example, do an article strictly on
carnivorous caterpillars around the world
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| janfields |
The Harvester is the
only one in North America but there are others
elsewhere
|
| janfields |
I could include the
things I learned about caterpillars that subsist on insects instead
of plants
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| janfields |
But I would really be
expanded and refocusing both
|
| janfields |
Now looking just on the
one aspect of caterpillar life -- being a pedator
|
| janfields |
I could use information
from the first article since facts are without
copyright
|
| janfields |
I could say: Scientists
believe that predator caterpillars grow faster than plant eating
caterpillars.
|
| janfields |
I said that in the
Harvester piece
|
| janfields |
But the fact would also
fit the new piece.
|
| janfields |
But I wouldn't want to
lift paragraphs from the first one
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| janfields |
Or any kind of
"creative" wording...such as my drawing parallels to the
caterpillars being tiny vampires.
|
| janfields |
Now, if I hadn't sold
all rights...but just wanted to sell a one-time rights article to a
semi-competing market...
|
| janfields |
say I wanted to sell an
article I had done for Boy's Life to someone else...um...Scholastic
Choices.
|
| janfields |
Boy's Life just buys
one-time use plus electronic reprint
|
| janfields |
So I would have all my
rights back
|
| janfields |
But Scholastic wouldn't
really want to run an article that had run in Boy's Life...too much
overlap
|
| janfields |
So I would have to
change focus...but I could keep fun stuff like a humorous
comparison
|
| janfields |
Because I wouldn't be
bound to the need not to copy creative approach
|
| janfields |
Just by the magazine's
preference to have different content than that found in a
competitor.
|
| janfields |
Generally, unless
you're selling reprints to totally non-competing magazines, you're
going to have to do some kind of tweaking
|
| janfields |
before you try to find
a new market for an old work.
|
| janfields |
The one time you
generally don't have to tweak
|
| janfields |
Is if you sell fiction
that you sold to a magazine (but retain the rights
for)
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| janfields |
to a book
anthology
|
| janfields |
Book short fiction
anthologies often run stories word-for-word from the
original.
|
| janfields |
Also, sometimes you can
sell a story that runs in a magazine
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| janfields |
to a number of "testing
markets"
|
| janfields |
Though that kind of
sale generally happens because test companies approach the
magazine
|
| janfields |
And the magazine makes
the deal for you
|
| janfields |
And you just get a
check.
|
| janfields |
Highlights does that,
and I know Wee Ones does
|
| janfields |
Those are the only
markets I know for sure who do it.
|
| janfields |
If you only sold
one-time rights or first rights, the magazine would have to contact
you FIRST before working the sale.
|
| soradina |
and I graduated from
American University in 1977.
|
| soradina |
American University has
an excellent school of Communication
|
| janfields |
Cool...just wanted to
slip that in...very cool.
|
| ccollier |
WeeOnes has sold almost
all my articles to SIRS again
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| janfields |
Yes, Wee Ones makes a
lot of sales that way...which is a nice little
surprise.
|
| ccollier |
yes the same pay you got
the first time
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| janfields |
The one thing about
having a magazine do the resale
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| janfields |
like Wee Ones or
Highlights
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| janfields |
is that you're actually
getting only a little of the money that the testing company is
paying.
|
| janfields |
I believe Highlights
gives you half.
|
| janfields |
Wee Ones, as CC says,
just pays you the same rate again.
|
| janfields |
But, they're also doing
all the work in the sale...you just get a nice surprise
check.
|
| ccollier |
right I think wee ones
get much more
|
| janfields |
Yeah, and they sorta
need the money to run the magazine.
|
| janfields |
Highlights has the
foundation behind them
|
| janfields |
So it's easier to be
generous.
|
| jitterbug |
Do you do better as a
freelance writer if you have a degree?
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| janfields |
I never TELL anyone
that I have a degree
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| janfields |
unless I'm looking for
assignment work with a publisher who asks for a
resume
|
| janfields |
Honestly, I have found
the world at large underwhelmed by my degree.
|
| janfields |
I wish someone had told
me in college that no one ever again for life was going to care
about my being on dean's list or
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| janfields |
graduating with
honors.
|
| janfields |
Basically, I could have
had more fun.
|
| janfields |
But ... I do think that
a journalism degree does certain things for you.
|
| janfields |
You get used to people
saying really mean things about your writing.
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| janfields |
Which can be
valuable...not that it makes you all that thick skinned but you
learn not to argue.
|
| janfields |
You learn to meet
deadlines and write very very very very tight.
|
| janfields |
You learn about
research and fact checking and good sources
|
| janfields |
And those things can
help you.
|
| janfields |
But you can also "pick
'em up on the streets" so to speak.
|
| soradina |
Is that why Wee Ones is
selling items for their writers to
|
| soradina |
buy. Because they need
the money?
|
| janfields |
Well, any time a
magazine is being run out of someone's pocket
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| janfields |
They need
money
|
| janfields |
Even if it's an
ezine.
|
| janfields |
And Wee Ones pays...so
that money comes out of the publisher's pocket.
|
| janfields |
Because they aren't
exactly drowning in sponsors.
|
| janfields |
I appreciate Jennifer's
commitment to paying writers
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| janfields |
and I know that has
required some creativity when it comes to revenue
|
| jitterbug |
When you do a resume then
you could put the Institute. Right
|
| janfields |
Yeah, it would be fine
to put that on a resume, as well as any conferences you've
attended...
|
| janfields |
if your resume is for
writing.
|
| janfields |
Again, most publishers
don't care about that kind of thing.
|
| janfields |
But the ones that do
most of their business with writers working on
assignment
|
| janfields |
they will ask for
resumes...and they will be interested in courses
taken.
|
| janfields |
But unless they ask for
a resume...you don't put it in cover letters and
such.
|
| janfields |
I never put my J-school
degree in a cover letter...maybe I would if I were writing about the
college I attended but otherwise, editor just don't
care.
|
| soradina |
I think it helps for some
professions Jan with the honors.
|
| soradina |
If you had applied to law
school that would have helped you.
|
| janfields |
Oh yeah, if I were
applying for an editorial position, for example...
|
| janfields |
they would want to know
about my college and might be marginally thrilled by my
honors...
|
| janfields |
If I were applying to
teach in a University...they would have to know
|
| janfields |
And they would put my
"honors" in ther blurb about my classes.
|
| janfields |
But for editors...it's
kinda "un" -- and when I was working newspapers
|
| janfields |
They...um...sorta made
fun of me for it...not the J-school degree but the
"honors"
|
| janfields |
Newspaper guys in the
early 80s were onery.
|
| janfields |
Of course, they tended
to tease me in generally...I think it's because I was
short
|
| janfields |
round
faced
|
| janfields |
and looked a little bit
twelve years old-ish.
|
| janfields |
You put someone like
that in front of old newspaper guys and they tend to pat you on the
head a lot.
|
| jitterbug |
What didn't you like
about writing for newspapers?
|
| janfields |
I got a check
regularly.
|
| janfields |
Ummmmmmmmmmmmm
|
| janfields |
Oh, my mom felt like it
was real job.
|
| janfields |
She never felt
freelancing was a real job.
|
| janfields |
Ummmmmmmmmmm
|
| janfields |
That's about
it.
|
| janfields |
Really, I didn't care
for newspaper work...though I know folks who like it a
lot.
|
| jitterbug |
What didn't you like
about writing for newspapers?
|
| janfields |
I didn't like being
patronized...and it happened a lot.
|
| janfields |
I did court reporting,
which I liked, but
|
| janfields |
people get mad at
newspaper reporters
|
| janfields |
a lot more than they do
at children's writers
|
| janfields |
And sometimes I was
asked to harass people that I felt the "public" didn't really need
to harass.
|
| janfields |
Newspaper reporters
"represent" you and me
|
| janfields |
So they're supposed to
ask the questions we would if we could
|
| janfields |
But sometimes that
requires you ask things folks just have no reason to
know.
|
| janfields |
And you can feel a
little...ish
|
| janfields |
But, as I said...I've
had friends who really liked the work.
|
| stephenie |
Are there some writing
blogs you like to visit?
|
| janfields |
Yes, though I'm going
to have to go back and fill in the URLs in the
transcript
|
| janfields |
But I love the
Brotherhood 2.0 project...very fun.
|
| janfields |
http://www.brotherhood2.com/
|
| janfields |
And I like Jane Yolen's
blog.
|
| janfields |
http://www.janeyolen.com/journal.html.
|
| janfields |
I read two different
editor blogs
|
| janfields |
http://kidlitjunkie.blogspot.com/
|
| janfields |
|
| janfields |
I read blogs belonging
to friends.
|
| janfields |
I probably have 30
blogs on my favorite list
|
| janfields |
But I don't visit them
every day.
|
| janfields |
You can get a
surprising amount of comfort from learning everyone is
struggline
|
| janfields |
stuggling
|
| janfields |
in some spot or
other.
|
| janfields |
Hmmm...I cannot seem to
spell struggling.
|
| janfields |
tsk
tsk
|
| soradina |
Why didn't you chose
broadcast journalism instead?
|
| janfields |
I don't have the looks
for it.
|
| janfields |
Honestly, women in
broadcast journalism...especially when I was starting out...all
looked a certain way.
|
| janfields |
And it wasn't short,
round and twelve.
|
| janfields |
I had an RTVMP (radio
television and motion picture) instuctor say I would do great in the
business because I think well on my feet
|
| janfields |
and never suffer from
stage fright
|
| janfields |
and have a great
voice
|
| janfields |
but I just don't have
the looks.
|
| janfields |
And he was
right.
|
| janfields |
Actually I did consider
radio
|
| janfields |
But honestly, I like to
write
|
| janfields |
and I am not a good
person to leave alone with complex equipment
|
| janfields |
with lots of levers and
switches.
|
| janfields |
Ah...you laugh...but
let me tell you something
|
| janfields |
it's a
secret
|
| janfields |
My high school shop
teacher wouldn't let me touch any of the power
tools
|
| janfields |
None
|
| janfields |
I broke something on
the first day
|
| janfields |
Something big and it
made a kind of spectacular breakage
|
| janfields |
Involving spinning
blades and fire.
|
| janfields |
So my shop teacher MADE
ALL MY PROJECTS for me
|
| janfields |
And gave me a nice
B
|
| ccollier |
A smart person realizes
their weaknesses
|
| janfields |
Right
|
| janfields |
Plus, people sue you
these days
|
| janfields |
Especially when you
destroy complex equipment.
|
| janfields |
I held the high school
record for breaking stuff...
|
| janfields |
I broke a sewing
machine
|
| janfields |
And three...three room
fans.
|
| janfields |
I tripped over the
cords on the fans.
|
| janfields |
Anyone else, the fan
would have just fallen over.
|
| janfields |
Noooooo
|
| janfields |
with me, the cords
jerked out of the wall plug
|
| janfields |
shooting
sparks
|
| soradina |
Good think you didn't get
into the computer field then.
|
| soradina |
Don't get an A
certification to fix computers. lol
|
| janfields |
Right...my husband
handles that stuff.
|
| janfields |
He has never started a
fire with an electrical device.
|
| janfields |
Isn't the
weird?
|
| janfields |
I once started a fire
in a bakery with a glazer.
|
| janfields |
A
glazer
|
| janfields |
for
doughnuts.
|
| janfields |
What would possibly
sound safer.
|
| omalizzie |
Why keep it secret
jan..sounds like story material to me!
|
| janfields |
I would write a story
about it...but it would be one of those "unbelieveable" fiction
pieces.
|
| janfields |
Now you guys know why I
don't drive.
|
| janfields |
I shudder to
think.
|
| soradina |
Here's the title. Jan the
Kluz
|
| janfields |
Oh...an autobiography
:-)
|
| janfields |
Anyway...babble
babble...y'all are so patient with by drivel.
|
| janfields |
I do so appreciate
that.
|
| omalizzie |
There you go jan...good
autobiographical material....
|
| janfields |
My family would be so
embarrassed.
|
| omalizzie |
kids should love it. And
likely appreciate your candor
|
| janfields |
The klutzy ones
anyway...we klutzs love kindred spirits.
|
| stephenie |
I was accepted into the
book course, but it doesn't work out
|
| stephenie |
for me right now. Will
they cancel my acceptance if I put
|
| stephenie |
it off too
long?
|
| janfields |
Nope...I'm pretty sure
they won't.
|
| janfields |
Too long being
relative, of course.
|
| janfields |
If you pop back in 90
years...we may all have been global warmed into a
melt
|
| janfields |
But they will always
remember you.
|
| janfields |
And you'll always be
welcome...ahhh...I see Jeanne
|
| janfields |
answered your
question.
|
| janfields |
She's a real actual
student services
angel.
|