| janfields |
Welcome to Afternoon
Open Forum at the Institute of Children's Literature, I'm your
moderator and resident pontificator, Jan Fields. We open topic, so
feel free to send up any questions you may have
today...
|
| janfields |
If you want to ask a
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|
| janfields |
I'm going to start by
answering some questions from Jessica in the audience since it's
relevent to a lot of folks...
|
| janfields |
Jessica has a story
coming out in a Chicken Soup book (yay Jessica) and is looking for
book signing venues
|
| janfields |
And how to handle the
book sales.
|
| janfields |
So, if you're signing
somewhere other than a book store
|
| janfields |
you will need to bring
your own stock
|
| janfields |
That means you need to
bring someone to handle the stock -- the author MUST NEVER be the
seller
|
| janfields |
It doesn't look
good
|
| janfields |
it makes you look rinky
dink...so bring someone to do that part
|
| janfields |
And you just be there
to sign.
|
| janfields |
And it's just better to
work in teams anyway...book signings are far less stressful if
you're not alone.
|
| janfields |
You'll need a tax
number if you're acting as your own book seller.
|
| janfields |
And you'll need to
collect the appropriate sales tax
|
| janfields |
You can take cash or
checks...you won't get a lot of bad checks.
|
| janfields |
But you won't be able
to take credit cards, and that makes a lot of shoppers pass you
up.
|
| janfields |
That's one reason why a
lot of people avoid bookselling.
|
| janfields |
If you can work with a
retail place (like a beauty parlor for example, if the book would
relate somehow) -- some of the Chicken Soup books are pretty
specialized.
|
| janfields |
Then you can sometimes
get them to handle sales under their own sales tax and credit card
abilities.
|
| janfields |
If I were choosing
venues, I would think of the audiences most interested in the book,
and where they go...
|
| janfields |
libraries
certainly.
|
| janfields |
But, again, with a
Chicken Soup book, sometimes the focus of the book will help you
choose.
|
| george
kulz |
Can it be just anyone to
bring the stock? Like, for instance, if I unlisted some unlucky
friend or relative to be my representative? :-)
|
| janfields |
Right, it doesn't
matter who handles the sales, just don't let it be you
personally.
|
| janfields |
The extra person will
put that padding between you and the buyer
|
| janfields |
that will make it clear
that you are the WRITER
|
| janfields |
Otherwise, people
figure you self-published and that can carry a stigma with the
buyer.
|
| janfields |
If you're selling from
your stock, from the books the publisher gave you
--
|
| janfields |
be sure to check your
contract to be certain you're allowed to sell those
copies.
|
| janfields |
Sometimes you're
not.
|
| janfields |
If you actually buying
books to sell -- again, be sure that's allowed in
contract
|
| janfields |
Some publishers
actually disallow authors doing that because they don't want authors
competing with book stores.
|
| janfields |
But if it's allowed,
you should be able to buy books from the publisher at discounted
prices.
|
| chippy |
Are you not allowed to
take credit card payments, or can you use the portable credit card
machine
|
| janfields |
If you're already set
up to take credit cards because of some other business you
have...you can certainly do so.
|
| janfields |
But a lot of authors
don't want to deal with credit cards
|
| janfields |
because of the low
volume of sales and the huge bite the company takes out of each
sale.
|
| janfields |
You can find youself
making nothing at all on credit card sales
|
| janfields |
I hope that helped
muddy the waters :-)
|
| ccollier |
I sold signed copies of
my books at my cousin's gardening
|
| ccollier |
center but she got
30Y
|
| ccollier |
that's 30
percent
|
| janfields |
That works great if you
can sell at some place that is already set up to deal retail
sales
|
| janfields |
Even if they don't
normally sell books
|
| janfields |
It takes a lot of
pressure off you for the mechanics of the sale
|
| janfields |
But you can also easily
end up with a whole lot of no profit.
|
| janfields |
So you have to be doing
it for the promotion -- word of mouth about you as an
author.
|
| janfields |
Okay...Onward.
|
| gonewest |
When doing something for
Fun for Kidz Mag it is more showing
|
| gonewest |
than telling - are alot
of pictures appropriate?
|
| gonewest |
Do you know if they have
to be digital pictures?
|
| janfields |
You can use digital or
regular film...if digital, it needs to be high
quality.
|
| janfields |
The key with photos for
the Bluffton group is -- will they look good in black and
white?
|
| janfields |
Color covers a
multitude of sins in a photo and a nice color photo can become
confusing in black and white.
|
| janfields |
So they have to still
look good in black and white.
|
| janfields |
They do like photos --
very much.
|
| janfields |
They don't actually
demand "showing over telling" in nonfiction nearly to the degree
that Highlights does.
|
| janfields |
Highlights is probably
the most "show don't tell" in nonfiction.
|
| janfields |
Then the Cricket
group.
|
| janfields |
The Bluffton group is
really flexible ...they need such short nonfiction that they know
it's hard to show.
|
| janfields |
They also don't expect
a lot of direct quotes like Highlights does.
|
| janfields |
They have several
nonfiction pieces on the site, so it's good to read them and see
what they run.
|
| gonewest |
Can I just send in my
pictures from my 35 mm?
|
| janfields |
Sure, if they are good
clear photos.
|
| janfields |
I know they've run 35
mm photos...be sure the prints are protected during the
mailing.
|
| janfields |
Use a photo mailer or
some kind of sandwich of stiff cardboard around
them.
|
| mk1 |
Would it be appropriate
to send photos with a fiction story
|
| janfields |
If you have a
photo/photos that you think illustrate it really well, maybe better
than art -- then I would go for it.
|
| janfields |
Keep in mind they will
really have to be a good match for the magazine to use
them.
|
| janfields |
But they might also be
used for illustration reference.
|
| janfields |
It won't ever hurt a
submission.
|
| janfields |
Unless the photos are
really poor...then it might.
|
| chippy |
When you gt rights on a
story here, can you publish it in another country as
well?
|
| janfields |
It depends upon what
rights you sold...for example, if you sell "First North American
Rights" -- you can resell to other countries (except
Canada)
|
| janfields |
But if you just sell
"First Rights" you can't sell until the first publisher runs
it.
|
| janfields |
And if you sell All
Rights, then you can't sell it to any other publisher anywhere in
the world.
|
| janfields |
So, it
depends.
|
| chippy |
Q id 18788 I should have
said when the publisher gets the rights
|
| janfields |
Right...so it depends
on what rights the publisher got from you in the contract
exchange.
|
| janfields |
If there was no
contract, then the rights automatically default to "one time use"
and you can sell it anywhere you like.
|
| janfields |
Though if you sell to a
competing market, you'll really tick off the first
one.
|
| gonewest |
When you sell something
with "all rights" can you revise and
|
| gonewest |
sell it to another
magazine?
|
| janfields |
"All Rights" includes
the right to sell a derrivative work
|
| janfields |
Therefore to sell the
piece, it would have to not be clearly derrived from the first
one
|
| janfields |
So you could do another
article on that topic...but you would need a totally new
focus
|
| janfields |
Some different
sources
|
| janfields |
A different tone and
approach.
|
| janfields |
You may use the same
fact in both...because a straight fact is actually not
copyrightable
|
| janfields |
But if you're using all
the same facts and just rewording, that would not be enough of a
difference to avoid the derrivative works issue.
|
| janfields |
You would really need a
new approach.
|
| janfields |
For example, say I did
a story on Robert Peary's trip to the North Pole and sold it for All
Rights (which I'm about to)
|
| janfields |
I could do a story on
Arctic Expedition (in general) and mention some facts from the Peary
expedition
|
| janfields |
But I would really be
doing a different article with a different focus.
|
| gonewest |
Is that the same if
you're doing a craft toy?
|
| janfields |
If you've designed a
craft and sold it all rights -- then the thing really doesn't belong
to you anymore.
|
| janfields |
I did that once with a
teddy bear I had designed
|
| janfields |
It was quite a unique
construction...and after I sold it to Teddy Bear and Friends for all
rights (and lots of money) it wasn't mine anymore
|
| janfields |
They could sell the
design to a company and manufacture the thing and not pay me a
dime.
|
| janfields |
But...I could still
design other teddy bears -- they didn't buy my ability to make
bears.
|
| janfields |
On a smaller
scale...say you sold a craft to Highlights for a space shuttle that
raced up a string.
|
| janfields |
You could sell someone
else a similar mechanism, but with a different design...like a
monkey that raced up a string.
|
| janfields |
And as long as the
directions sounded well different
|
| janfields |
and the visual was
clearly different
|
| janfields |
you would be
fine.
|
| janfields |
Because methods in
crafts really aren't copyrighted...they are too
fundamental.
|
| janfields |
WeeWillieWinkie: With
each publishing house having its own ideas about what is acceptible
in YA stories, is there a current list about what is taboo subjects
or no-nos when writing for YAs?
|
|
|
| janfields |
The YA taboos have
really stretched a lot in the last years.
|
| janfields |
You can find a house
that will buy just about any "taboo subject"
|
| janfields |
But, in general, it is
hard to sell...
|
| janfields |
oral sex in a YA book
(though a whole book was published based on the urban legend of
rainbow parties)
|
| janfields |
college kids in a YA
book (though Nancy Werlin's Killer's Cousin had a college student
for the main character)
|
| janfields |
married main characters
in YA (though if the book is set in a different culture, it's
easier)
|
| janfields |
And any time you make
an "edgy" choice that is going to get librarians a lot of
flack...
|
| janfields |
you're cutting into the
sales base...
|
| janfields |
and publishers know
that so they're going to look very closely to
see...
|
| janfields |
if they believe the
book is good enough to sell or to win awards...even with the
problems it creates in the marketplace.
|
| mk1 |
Does the mc in a story
always have to have the" last word"
|
| janfields |
I'm not sure I
understand the question...but I think the answer would be
no.
|
| janfields |
The main character does
need to be the one who drives the action.
|
| janfields |
We need the sense that
without the main character and his choices and actions, the story
could never have happened.
|
| janfields |
But you can have
something result in the another character needing to "pick up" the
story a bit near the end.
|
| janfields |
And you can certainly
close with dialogue that isn't the main chracter's
|
| janfields |
The key is to have the
overall story clearly be vital to the MC and driven by
him/her.
|
| janfields |
WeeWillieWinkie: Is it
my imagination or are publishing houses that allowed unsolicated
manuscripts in the past starting to get away from that?
|
|
|
|
|
| janfields |
No, alas, not your
imagination.
|
| janfields |
Publishers are drowning
in slush...so they are trying different things to combat
that.
|
| janfields |
Most publishers don't
really want to have no submissions -- no submissions mean no
books.
|
| janfields |
And they don't want
only subs from past authors, because that means no shot at brilliant
new authors.
|
| janfields |
What they want is to
stop reading slush.
|
| janfields |
So some close except
for certain points in the year, like Carol Rhoda.
|
| janfields |
Some close to
manuscripts but allow queries.
|
| janfields |
Some close to anyone
who doesn't have an agent -- but the problem with that is that, deep
down, publishers hate agents.
|
| janfields |
Agents make publisher's
pay more
|
| janfields |
Agents make publisher's
change contract terms.
|
| janfields |
Agents slow down the
process.
|
| janfields |
So, publishers would
love to see manuscripts without agents as long as they only saw good
manuscripts.
|
| janfields |
Some are using contests
to accept unagented manuscripts.
|
| janfields |
Most publishers send
editors to conferences with the direction that they will recieve
unagents manuscripts from conference attendees for a
time.
|
| janfields |
And one Christian
publisher...hmmm Thomas Nelson, I think...actually uses one of those
"showcase services" to screen submissions.
|
| janfields |
All of this is because
the manuscripts come in floods...thousands of them.
|
| janfields |
More than they can
read.
|
| janfields |
More than they can
process.
|
| janfields |
And many of these are
by people who either (1) have no idea about
publishing,
|
| janfields |
(2) no idea of what
that publisher publishers
|
| janfields |
(3) and limited
ability.
|
| janfields |
So, publishers have to
wade through thousands of inappropriate subs, hoping to find a good
one.
|
| janfields |
And that...my friends,
leads to grumpy editors.
|
| janfields |
I don't think we'll
ever see a day when publishers don't accept submissions
somehow
|
| janfields |
but I do believe things
are going to continue to change as publishers look for ways to deal
with the money draining slush realities.
|
| mk1 |
What are showcase
services?
|
| janfields |
Those are companies
that offer to put your manuscript up on a website
|
| janfields |
password
protected
|
| janfields |
and then "member agents
and publishers"
|
| janfields |
are allowed to read the
manuscripts to see if they want to make an offer on
them.
|
| janfields |
They are not used by
most publishers
|
| janfields |
But I do know Thomas
Nelson uses one...you can find the name of the one they use in their
manuscript guidelines.
|
| janfields |
Most of the time, those
services just take your money and get you a lot of spam from vanity
presses and scam agents.
|
| ccollier |
I got the ICL magazine
market guide yesterday
|
| janfields |
Yay, I know you're been
waiting for it.
|
| janfields |
I just got mine too --
so for those who are ordering them
|
| janfields |
clearly they are going
out now.
|
| janfields |
Jo: If you have a
character who is silently arguing with himself, how would you quote
it in in the story? I thought that it wouldn't need quotes, but I
was told that it would need them. For example, "Wait!" a voice
inside her said. "Do you really want to do that?" "No, I don't," Jo
silently argued. "But what else can I do?
|
|
|
| janfields |
Chicago Manual of Style
...which is THE guide for most of that stuff
|
| janfields |
says you can put quotes
on thoughts if you want.
|
| janfields |
I know some publishers
are fine with that and some are not.
|
| janfields |
So I generally rephrase
to avoid it -- but it's not going to make an editor hate
you.
|
| janfields |
If it feels like the
right way to go...go for it. Just make sure it doesn't become too
attention getting.
|
| janfields |
And be aware that it is
VERY VERY confusing if you do it in a scene where these is also
spoken dialogue.
|
| janfields |
In a situation where
you have spoken dialogue and thoughts, I would not put thoughts in
quotes.
|
| janfields |
I would use italics or
rephrase to avoid the problem.
|
| janfields |
Boomer: Is a magazine
doesn't take manuscripts or queries, only resumes -- does that mean
they won't be interested in a writer who doesn't have a lot of
publication credits?
|
| janfields |
Pretty much,
yeah.
|
| janfields |
If they are asking for
a resume, they want to see if you
|
| janfields |
(1) have written for a
magazine/book publisher at a comparable level to
them.
|
| janfields |
or
|
| janfields |
(2) if you are an
expect in the field about which you are writing.
|
| janfields |
Otherwise, you can tend
to pass on places that JUST let you send a resume.
|
| janfields |
If they'll take a
sample ALSO...you have a shot at winning them over with your
sample.
|
| janfields |
But if all they want is
a resume...leave that one until you have some high quality
sales.
|
| janfields |
Boomer: Could you
explain the difference between primary and secondary sources -- are
interviews the only kind of primary source?
|
| janfields |
A primary source is an
interview from someone intimately involved in the subject -- a
researcher, a historian, someone at the subject
event...
|
| janfields |
But it can also be a
document directly involved in the event...
|
| janfields |
court case
documents
|
| janfields |
journals and letters of
people involved.
|
| janfields |
It's primary if you've
got something directly touching the subject ...it's secondary when
you've got something created by someone who collected sources to
write about the subject.
|
| gonewest |
If they ask for a resume
and your's is short can you sneek
|
| gonewest |
in a piece of your
work?
|
| janfields |
I'm a firm believer in
"try anything" but do it knowing you're facing a pretty stiff chance
of rejection.
|
| janfields |
Ultimately, the whole
resume thing is to get the writers who can handle the
job.
|
| janfields |
So if you feel they
would be swayed by your actual work...heck, sneak it
in.
|
| janfields |
The worst that happens
is that they say no.
|
| janfields |
We're supposed to be
used to being told no.
|
| janfields |
Though...well...it
always hurts some.
|
| mk1 |
By "work", do you mean a
whole story - or chapter ?
|
| janfields |
Hmmm...I probably
mean...3 pages or less. If you sent more than 3 pages.. without
being asked, they aren't going to even glance at them 'cause you'll
just make them mad.
|
| janfields |
But if you know you
could totally wow them in one or two pages, I don't know know of an
editor who wouldn't glance at that.
|
| janfields |
So, that's not likely
to be a chapter...I might be a story or article, depending...but
mostly you're going to be sending more of a
fragment.
|
| janfields |
When I've sent stuff to
publishers asking for resumes and samples...
|
| janfields |
I will send something I
already have if it's a perfect match...
|
| janfields |
and I'll write
something if I don't have a good match on hand.
|
| janfields |
That slows up the
package, of course, because a rough draft won't impress anyone
(least ways my rough drafts won't)
|
| janfields |
So you need to do
something really polished and strong.
|
| chippy |
So you want to send them
a taste not a main course
|
| janfields |
Right. Though if I'm
sending a sample to a publisher who accepts samples, I'll send
something at the length they ask for.
|
| janfields |
Sometimes if a
publisher asks for samples, they want a feeling of
completeness
|
| janfields |
so I would send a full
article, a full story, or a full chapter.
|
| janfields |
Unless there are page
limits to prevent that.
|
| janfields |
I've been known to cut
something I have on hand to make it fit the page limit of the sample
and still give a sense of "finished piece"
|
| janfields |
Okay, that's all the
questions I have -- I want to let folks know...
|
| janfields |
the eNews will be going
out on Thursday this week...
|
| janfields |
I'm trying a new
schedule to see if it works better at getting into your email
boxes...
|
| janfields |
And our next Open Forum
is on October 26 -- it's a night forum.
|
| janfields |
I'll be here to hang
out next Tuesday, of course.
|
| janfields |
Thanks
y'all
|