The Portable Writer's Conference


	New Updated Version! The Portable Writer’s Conference Your Guide to Getting and Staying Published Edited by Stephen Blake Mettee $19.95 ($29.95 Canada) • 464 pp •Trade Paperback ISBN 1-884956-57-2
About this Book A Writer's Digest Book Club Selection More than 45 chapters—called workshops in the book—provide instruction on the writing craft and the business of getting published. Here’s just a sample: • "Slice Yourself a Piece of Mud Pie!: Writing for the Children’s Market" by children’s literary agent Andrea Brown. • "Surfing the Internet for Facts: Tips for Researching Your Nonfiction Book, Novel or Article Online" by Judith Broadhurst, publisher of Freelance Success and author of The Woman’s Guide to Online Services (Houghton-Mifflin) • "How to Write the Dynamite Love Scene: Sizzle Sells More Than Just Steaks, Learn How to Add Steam to Your Novel or Short Story" by novelist Suzanne Forster, recipient of the "Career Achievement Award in Sensuality" from Romantic Times Magazine. • "So You Want to be a Columnist?: Learn What Periodical Publishers Look for and How to Supply It" by Frances Halpern, LA Times columnist and co-host of National Public Radio’s "Beyond Words" literary talk-show. • "Running a Home-Based Writing Business: Tips, Tools & Techniques" by Terri Lonier, author of Working Solo: The Real Guide to Freedom & Financial Success With Your Own Business (Portico Press) • "Listen!: How to Use Dialogue to Light Up Your Characters Until They Attract Readers Like Moths to a Flame" by award-winning novelist Parke Godwin, author of many novels including Firelord, Beloved Exile, and Camelot. Includes a thorough, annotated resources section listing writers’ associations, magazines and other publications for writers, World Wide Web sites for writers, books on writing and publishing, sample magazine and book publishers’ guidelines, software for writers and other helpful resources.		Save 10% Add both books to your shopping cart by clicking here to save $3.49!
Buy the eBook at http://www.cyclopsmedia.com/v4/book_The_Portable_Writers_Conference.html Table of Contents Preface............................................................xxi Acknowledgements...........................................xvi Introduction......................................................xvii By John F. Baker, Editorial Director Publishers Weekly Workshops The Mother of All Attitudes..................................3 What fiction writers can learn from football players By James N. Frey Telling Tales.....................................................10 A short story workshop By Shelly Lowenkopf How to Write a Dynamite Love Scene.................19 Sizzle sells more than just steaks: Learn how to add steam to your novel or short story By Suzanne Forster Proper Manuscript Format & Astute Copy Editing...........................................................30 How to avoid needlessly antagonizing your editors By Rachel E. Holmen Surfing the Internet for Facts..............................41 Tips for researching your nonfiction book, novel or article online By Judith Broadhurst Keynote Literary Agents.................................................51 Getting and working with the right one By Natasha Kern Writing Every Magazine & Newspaper's Staple....60 How to craft the feature article By Donna Elizabeth Boetig Unforgettable....................................................69 Seven Secrets to creating memorable characters By Sara Ann Freed Humor Impaired?..............................................73 The hows and "wise" of humor for writers By Roger Bates So You Want to Be a Columnist?.......................80 Learn what periodical publishers look for and how to supply it By Frances Halpern Watch Your Language!......................................88 Taking the groan out of grammar and the yuck out of usage By Sierra Adare Meet a Jerk, Get to Work..................................94 Find your fiction characters and settings in everyday life By Jacqueline Girdner Once You've Climbed Over the Transom.............101 A book's progress from proposal to finished book By Georgia Hughes Writing the Compelling Novel.............................111 How to produce a page-turner By Larry Martin Write for the Trades..........................................119 Mine this 6,000-plus magazine market for clips and cash By Mary E. Mauer Keynote Listen!.............................................................119 How to use dialogue to light up your characters until they attract readers like moths to a flame By Mary E. Mauer Romancing an Editor's Eye................................133 How to pen the splendiferous salable romance novel By Patricia McAllister Selling Yourself in a Query Letter.......................141 By Betsy Mitchell Write From Your Roots.....................................145 Creating fiction from genealogy By Marilyn Meredith Write Nonfiction--Using Fiction..........................150 In the tradition of Capote, Mailer and Wolfe, dare to blend fiction with nonfiction and create prose with both substance and verve By William Noble Your Book-Publishing Choices..........................157 Large corporate publisher, small focused independent, vanity press, subsidy press or self-publishing: Which one is for you? By Dan Poynter Keynote Sell Your Book Before You Write It.....................171 How to write an irresistible book proposal By Michael Larsen Bring Her On and Let Her Scream.......................181 Use colorful description to enliven your nonfiction By Thomas Hunter The King Is Dead; Long Live the King...................188 Your therapist and confidant: The cathartic value of the small press By Frederick A. Raborg, Jr. Atmosphere, Imagery & Figures of Speech.............196 Delight your reader with singular images and compelling moods By Ardath Mayhar Can These Bones Live?.........................................202 Writing good period dialogue By Leonard Tourney Keynote Quit Your Day Job?.................................................210 Fifteen secrets to running a successful home-based writing business By Terri Lonier Alternative Presses...................................................218 Or: Why am I lying here with a tulip sticking out of my ass? By Patrick LoBrutto Good Writin + Self-Promotion = Best Seller.................222 Thirteen things you can do to help yourself become a best-selling author By John Kremer Show, Don't Tell..........................................................252 Turn the cold recital of facts into live vivid scenes By Marsh Cassady Electronic Rights.........................................................242 What every author (and publisher) needs to know By Jonathan Kirsch Keys to Crafting Your Nonfiction Book............................251 By far, most books published are nonfiction. Learn how to join the ranks of successful nonfiction book authors from a pro By Joanne Roe Keynote Solving the Protagonist Puzzle.......................................259 Just sit down at your computer, open a vein, and let your character flow out By Lesley Kellas Payne Slice Yourself a Piece of Mud Pie....................................268 Writing for the children's book market By Andrea Brown How to Earn $50,000 from Your First Book.......................276 Niche publishing By Gordon Burgett Entrepreneuring into the 21st Century...............................283 Watching the romance genre bud, flower and reseed from inside By Kathryn Falk Writing Self-Help Books...................................................292 A 12-step plan for the non-Ph.D. By Eric Maisel Make It Sizzle..................................................................301 How to write great queries without resorting to threats, bribery or coercion By Wendy Keller Paradise Beckons.............................................................308 How to overcome cutthroat competition, absurdly low pay, greedy publishers and other impossible obstacles and actually sell your travel writing By Lan Sluder Researching & Writing History............................................319 Or: The money's not important when you're having so much fun! By William Secrest Taking Your Novel to Hollywood?..........................................325 Ten-point checklist for your screenplay By Kathie Fong Yoneda Scoping Out Magazines.......................................................335 Use a magazine's own pages to learn how to hear "Yes!" from its editor By Ania Savage Not Just Q & A....................................................................342 From Playboy to Time to Publisher's Weekly, interview articles are a staple with many magazines. Learn from a pro! By Sybil S. Steinberg The Hidden Hazards of Being an Author..................................352 What they don't tell you in creative writing class By Persia Woolley Giving Up?............................................................................359 When to toss in the towel and when to keep trying By Beverly Engel The Book Doctor Is In..............................................................368 The seven most-common first novel problems and how to avoid them By Sherry Gottlieb Copyright................................................................................374 What every author should know By John D. Zelezny Writers' Resources Questions to Ask Literary Agents.............................................383 Suggested questions to ask agents when offered representation Standard Manuscript Format....................................................385 Proofreader's Marks................................................................386 Royalties and Advances--Some Benchmark Figures..................387 Average Book Print Runs.........................................................390 Sample Magazine Writer's Guidelines.......................................391 Sample Book Publisher's Writer's Guidelines.............................397 Magazines and Newsletters of Interest to Writers.......................399 Selected Books For Writers.....................................................402 Associations for Writers..........................................................405 World Wide Web (WWW) Sites of Interest to Writers................426 Software for Writers................................................................431 At-Home Writing Courses.......................................................433 The Author's Bundle of Rights.................................................436 Glossary...............................................................................438

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