I have somehow managed to get completely snowed under with work this week so my post today will be extremely short.
First, Max and I got a call last weekend to be extras in the movie we auditioned for. Filming will be on Sunday and it looks like we get to be in the candy store scene! Yea! Max (almost 9) is SO excited!
Second, I wanted to show you how much “Monster” (our pumpkin) has grown in the past 7 days.
I have some unrelated odds and ends to share with you this week:
Hi Angela,
Tove Warmerdam (the previous publisher of Seattle Dog Magazine / Queen Dog) has pleaded guilty. They also uncovered a previous felony under one of her previous last names. Her sentencing will be September 8.
G.
READERS, IF YOU LIVE NEAR SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, PLEASE PLAN TO ATTEND THIS SENTENCING to show your support for Tove Warmerdam’s victims, and to send a message to the judge – that these types of criminals deserve jail time. Tove Warmerdam should not be allowed to walk free after what she did! Read more HERE.
Tove Warmerdam’s sentencing will be on:
WEDNESDAY – SEPT. 8, 2010
8:30 a.m.
King County Courthouse
516 Third Ave.
Seattle, WA 98104
Courtroom of Judge Julie Spector – Room W842
Why is it so much easier for freelance writers to secure contracts with start-ups than with established blockbuster magazines such as Vanity Fair, U.S. News and World Report or MAD?
The main reason, I reveal with disgust, is that whereas the blockbusters will definitely wind up paying you, the start-ups very well may not.
Does using a writer’s work in a work-for-hire project mean the person or company who hires the writer can claim it as “original”? What rights can writers/researchers of articles claim? What can the buyer of those articles rightfully claim about the writer’s work? Are the pitfalls the same for a ghostwriter who writes a celebrity book?
Katy Terrega’s book, It’s A Dirty Job…Writing Porn For Fun And Profit! Includes Paying Markets!, reminded me of my own secret experiences as a writer of confession stories — stories for which I got paid. Did I sell my very first confession story? No. In fact, the first couple stories were flatly rejected without a word. Then, for some unknown reason, I thought, maybe it’s because I’m using my actual name: “Russ Heitz.” Maybe they don’t accept confession stories that are written by men. After all, ninety-nine percent of all confession stories have a first person female narrator. And how could a man possibly know how a woman feels about anything?
When I started using the genderless “R. L. Heitz” on the first page of every manuscript, the Macfadden checks started rolling in.
When we first moved to Maine, I read A Year in the Maine Woods by Bernd Heinrich…twice. That book helped me learn about the intricacies of nature’s seasonal dances in Maine, which are far different from those in Texas. One of my favorite passages from Henrich’s book is from August 14th: “The fields are daily coming more alive with crickets and grasshoppers, a sure sign that fall is near.”
Max cocked his head suddenly and whispered, “Sssshhhh.” Following his lead, I did the same and we both smiled at each other and said, “CRICKETS!” at the same time. It wasn’t just one cricket. A cacophony was emerging…
The publishing world was awash in seeming hysteria last week when Amazon issued yet another press release designed to promote the Kindle. The release stated: “Amazon.com customers now purchase more Kindle books than hardcover books…”
Of course, those in the industry recognize that “hardcover” means just that – a hardcover / hardback book; not a paperback. When you look at the “news” in those terms, the impact is far less dramatic. In fact, it’s pretty ho-hum…
In response to Amazon’s latest press release, people not in the industry (and even some that are), may have automatically assumed, and some even announced, that Amazon’s Kindle ebook sales had surpassed ALL PRINT BOOK SALES (ahem)…
Angela,
Thank you for your support of writers over the years, especially your most recent case of reading the riot act to the organization who didn’t want to pay writers for their work, thinking that publishing it was good enough.
Megaen
Hong Kong
When a short story writer thinks of sending out her stories, she usually thinks of sending them to literary magazines such as The Missouri Review, Zoetrope or The North American Review. And, if she has her sights set very high, she might try submitting to The New Yorker. But how often does she think of sending fiction to places like Hemispheres or Country Woman? I wager not very often.
My question is “why not?” There are great publishing opportunities and a lot of money to be made “off-the-beaten-path.”
Below are 14 paying, out-of-the-way fiction markets…
