No matter what type of writing you do, you can find a writer’s conference that will help you learn more about your craft. While the price tag on some of the conferences may seem daunting, keep in mind that the impact of a writer’s conference can continue far beyond the few days the conference lasts…
I live in India and, while we have many biographers for famous people and achievers, we do not have legacy writers, at least that I know of. I have figured out the process, identified printers, etc., but I am stuck at how to charge my customers. I want to start soon and this is the one aspect that I am unable to figure out…
by Tara Johnson
Writers love words and stories, and working alone to do our typing, research, and editing. We can even enjoy interviewing subjects, because we’re talking about them. But, sometimes, we have to talk about ourselves, which for many means going outside their comfort zones. It may not be easy, but often, it’s necessary – to get published, to get an agent, to interact with our readers, and to get jobs…
Most of you remember Matt, who worked for us for years. He graduated from Columbia, and is now an actuary. He still does ebook conversions on a contract basis on the side. Well, Matt’s getting married!
Today, I’m going to share another installment of our popular column, World’s Worst Book Proposals and Query Letters. Yes, we can learn from others’ mistakes! Featured below are real quotes from book proposals and query letters submitted to us over the past few months.
Hi Angela,
I’m still disgusted by the apparent lack of concern expressed by the public over the plagiarizing of someone else’s creative efforts. Perhaps the scariest part of the whole scandal is the quote I read today that was attributed to Ubuweb founder Kenneth Goldsmith:
“It’s not plagiarism in the digital age – it’s [re-purposing]… Our notion of genius – a romantic – isolated figure – is (bleeping) outdated. An updated notion of genius would have to center around one’s mastery of information.” He added: “Should God sue me if I paint a river?”
If Goldsmith really said this, I would avoid using the Goldsmith website. He is an alleged poet, which is why I find it hard to fathom that he could make a comment like the one above. I have to wonder how he would feed if I “re-purpose” some of his work to wipe my behind.
Being a writer is hard enough without some famous actor stealing another’s work, but when you have the founder of a website alleged to be dedicated to education appearing to say that it’s open season on the creative works of artists of every ilk for re-purposing, someone has to draw a line.
JW
Editor’s Note: Profanity in the quote above was bleeped out by WritersWeekly.
Possibly the most exciting thing to have happened to me in my long life is knowing that my historical novel, The Pomegranate Pendant, was to be made into a movie. Despite having written 13 books, I never expected one of them to be shown on the silver screen…
In my job search, I’ve sometimes been asked to write free samples for people before being hired and I’m wondering what I should do in that situation. I’ve been in the industry for 18 years now and I feel like my body of work should speak for me.
Sometimes we do well without knowing what we’re doing. This is commonly referred to as “dumb luck” and that’s a good description of how I got a book contract and a nice advance from Wiley and Sons Publishing. Of course, luck doesn’t preclude cause and effect and there are certain types of actions that lead to opportunities. So, even if we do not see the path beforehand, we can always look back to see how we got to where we are.
