A Wedding!
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!
More World’s Worst Book Proposals and Query Letters
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.
Disgusted By Lack Of Concern Over Plagiarism
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in the digital age – it’s [re-purposing]… Our notion of genius – a romantic – isolated figure – is (bleeping) outdated.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.
How My Novel Became A Movie! By Dvora Waysman
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…
Should I Write Free, Unique Samples On Request When Applying For Writing Jobs? NO!
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.
How I Landed A Book Contract At Wiley! – Steve Gillman
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.
My Banana Trees + Freezing Temperatures? Oh No!!
Like most of the country, we got that blast of cold air this week. I was very nervous about our banana trees. They are HUGE – far too large to cover with blankets. They were only about three feet tall when we bought them last spring. I still can’t believe how fast they grow! They are now several feet wide and probably around 12 feet tall. They seem to have sprouted babies, too. Thankfully, we only got a slight freeze and the trees survived just fine…
Links to Past 24-Hour Short Story Contest Winners!
This week, I’m sharing links to winning stories from the last 3 years of WritersWeekly Quarterly 24-Hour Short Story Contest, along with each topic…
Letters To The Editor For January 8th
Letters will return next week.
Can You Recommend A Legal Resource For Authors?
Know that I will be filing for some copyrights, etc, but I’m chiefly concerned with what assurances, permissions or protections I have from naming other people and citing their work or quotes in my book. It’s a positive, nonfiction piece and I cite my sources, but I’m not sure what’s considered fair use or in bounds. Would like a legal expert to review and advise…