Writer to Writer May 2008

Writer to Writer - May 2008 - Issue Two

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EDITORIAL:

I've got the flu.

Yep, you heard right - flu. Hate it, it makes me heady, woozy, and tired. I've done virtually nothing in the way of work, despite being in the middle of edits for my publisher. I've had to put everything on hold until I'm well enough to tackle them again.

Luckily I've been able to keep my distance from the (grand) children, as much as I can anyway, and so far they're not affected - much. A sneeze here, a cough there. Hopefully it won't amount to much.

It's nearly winter here in Australia, and cold weather has set in, but we're having the most changeable weather I can remember for a very long time. I'm sure that's contributed to my illness.

Now you know why this issue is overdue.

I'm working in short bursts at the moment, so let’s move onto this issue.

For this issue, Judy Bagshaw has partnered with Skyla Dawn Cameron to give you the inside goss on creating book trailers. These have become all the rage, and if you've ever thought about making a trailer for your book, you need to read this article.

Beth Morrow has been providing us with great tips on ways to earn with freelance writing. This month's article is no different. 4 Ways to Get Freelance Writing Jobs is aimed at online writing jobs, and is part one in the series. Be sure to check it out!

Okay, that's it from me - time to sit back and enjoy this issue.

Til next time…

Cheryl

p.s. You'll find two of Jimmy Brown's terrific reports for your immediate, and F-R-E-E, download further down in this ezine!

You can also read this issue online here:

http://www.writer1writer.com/Newsletter_2_May_2008.htm

If you missed the last issue, you'll find it here:

http://www.writer2writer.com/Newsletter_May_2008.htm

To avoid non-delivery of your newsletter, please whitelist write_cheryl@optusnet.com.au - otherwise your spa^m filters may reject any correspondence sent.

Quote of the Month:

We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.

Martin Luther King Jr

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Please support Writer2Writer.com and the Writer to Writer newsletter by purchasing through the affiliate and advertising links in this newsletter. This keeps the newsletter and other information (such as fr*ee courses) at no charge to subscribers. Some similar publications are now charging a yearly fee - I'm constantly fighting against that trend.

Making an Effective Book Trailer

With the popularity of sites like YouTube, and with easy to use software now available to everyone, making a book trailer has become one of the newest ways to promote books.

Essentially, you can equate a book trailer with the movie trailers we get bombarded with prior to the feature presentation at the theatre or on a DVD. Short, catchy teasers to get us to go to that next film, or in the case of book trailers, to buy that book!

Nearly all computers come with "Windows Movie Maker" (go ahead and have a look in your start menu). The benefit of this program is that it’s very user friendly. Load your clips and music, cut and paste them together, and then spice it up with some one-click transition effects. Voila: video.

The downside is that it is very limiting and users often outgrow it. For example, you can only have one layer of music, one layer of images, and one layer of titles, and all of the effects and transitions are preset so you have very little control over customization.

If you have the extra money to spend and are prepared for a steep learning curve, Adobe Premiere offers many more options. Layer image upon image, add layers of sound effects over your music, and control every aspect of your video production. Coupled with Adobe After Effects, Adobe Premiere has endless potential.

Some other options to consider are the video software that comes with most handheld camcorders, or programs like Nero that offer the option to create video CDs.

Besides your book cover art, your trailer or promo video needs images. You can take photographs yourself, or find royalty free images via a source like the Stock.XCHNG (www.sxc.hu). Always be sure to check the terms of usage, however; some photographers have restrictions on their pieces. If you’re artistic and you want to go the extra distance to have custom images, programs such as e-Frontier’s Poser are popular for creating digital art, and a lot can be created in Adobe Photoshop

Read the entire article here

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You don't need to fill out any forms, or leave any details. Just click the links and they're yours.

On the left you'll find two ebooks that will help with your writing career. They are zero dollars, so you've nothing to lose.

I've been a fan of Jimmy's for many years, and have a library full of his informative books.

4 Ways to Get Freelance Writing Jobs
Part 1: Online Jobs

Few things are more exciting to the freelance writer than ideas. Once your mind is mentally conditioned to see the writing possibilities in your daily activities, turning off the ‘who, what and which publication can I pitch this to?’ voice is nearly impossible.

Lucky for you, the numbers of markets for your ideas grow almost daily. When I ventured into freelancing, I made the (correctible) error thinking only in terms of which newsstand glossy was best for my idea. Years of learning my craft, however, has shown me the limitation of my initial belief and given me the uncanny skill of finding at least one market for my ideas. (Yes, even the crazy ones.)

Given the connective power of the Internet, literally thousands of freelance markets exist at your fingertips. Before you dive in, one bit of advice: the best results I’ve gotten from online querying are often from editors and publishers requesting a resume and/or samples (clips) with the query. If you’re like me, for as much as I love writing, I hate resume writing. Do yourself a favor and put together a standard writer’s resume to include (when requested) when you find that perfect writing gig.

1. Freelance Ezines & Market Newsletters

Chances are you already subscribe to at least one or two of these daily, weekly, or bi-weekly publications. Visit a writing-related website, enter your email address, and receive free market listings delivered to your inbox on a daily or weekly basis. What could be easier?

One caveat with these listings: examine carefully to make sure you’re not receiving regurgitated listings. Some lists are compiled from outdated sources (even a Craigslist.com freelance job is an old posting after a week or two), so keep an eye out to see when the job was originally posted. Your freelance time is money—don’t waste it emailing editors for outdated jobs.

Read the entire article here

Subscriber News:

No news this week.

**If you have any news, please send it along.

Click here to email Cheryl

Contests:

The Dream Quest One Poetry & Writing Contest is open to everyone! This competition welcomes anyone who loves to arrange words into beautiful art or to write a short story that is worth telling. And to all who have the ability to dream. Write a poem or short story for a chance to win cash prizes. All works must be original. http://www.dreamquestone.com

Deadline: July 31, 2008

Visit http://www.dreamquestone.com for further details or to enter

Word Power III gives you over 200 pages of solid Advertising Techniques, Advertising Tips and Copywriting Solutions.

The book provides everything you need to create good advertising.

This is an amazing Advertising Techniques Resource Book. You just lift the phrase or concept straight off the page and adopt or adapt to suit your advertising project.

*Note from Cheryl: this book is in my personal library, and I highly recommend it.

Anthology Calls for Submissions:

This is a paying market:

The bestselling A Cup of Comfort book series is now seeking submissions for new anthologies. Stories must be true, original, positive, narrative essays (creative nonfiction), and 1,000-2,000 words. Entrants pay no fees. Writers' guidelines: http://www.cupofcomfort.com/share.htm

SHARE SOME COMFORT

A CUP OF COMFORT FOR ADOPTIVE FAMILIES

The primary purpose of this book is to celebrate adoptive families and to recognize the extraordinary and challenging experiences unique to “chosen children” and their adoptive families. We are most interested in stories written by adult adopted children and their adoptive parents and siblings, but the book will likely include some stories written by members of the extended adoptive family (i.e. grandparent) and birth family members. Virtually any topic relevant to adopted children and their adoptive parents is acceptable—as long as it is authentic, positive, insightful, and uplifting or inspiring. We do not want heartbreaking stories about adoptive or birth families that regret the adoption. All of the stories in this collection must reveal a positive aspect of adoption and must bring comfort, joy, or inspiration to those who have been adopted and/or to the families who adopted them—no matter how difficult the experience and emotions portrayed in the story might be.

Submission deadline: June 15, 2008

A CUP OF COMFORT FOR FATHERS

The connection between father and child can be as deep as the ocean, as strong as a mountain, and as uplifting as fresh air. For all its rewards, though, fatherhood is not without its challenges. And for all the gifts dads bring to their kids' lives, dads sometimes falter and fumble. Yet, the father-child bond forms, holds, and grows. A Cup of Comfort for Fathers will feature inspiring and insight true stories about the life-defining and life-enriching relationships and experiences shared by fathers and their children. These personal essays will be of varying topics and tones (heartwarming, humorous, poignant, provocative, etc.); about fathers and children of all ages and varying circumstances; and written by fathers, daughters, and sons.

Submission deadline: August 1, 2008

A CUP OF COMFORT FOR PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

For this very special collection, we seek uplifting true stories about the ins and outs, ups and downs, blessing and challenges of parenting children with special needs. The stories will cover children of all ages (birth to adult) and a wide range of developmental, physical, and mental delays/disabilities. No matter how difficult the experiences/emotions conveyed in a story might be (we want them to be authentic, after all), the story must reveal a positive aspect, resolution, or outcome and must be of comfort to parents of children with special needs. Stories may be serious, humorous, insightful, heartwarming, or inspiring. The majority of the stories will be written by parents of children with special needs; we will also consider stories written by adult children with special needs. (No articles or commentaries by clinicians, please.)

Submission deadline: September 15, 2008

A SECOND CUP OF COMFORT FOR DOG LOVERS

Oh, how we humans love our canine companions -- for so many reasons and in so many ways that one Cup of Comfort collection of uplifting dog stories just wasn’t enough. So we’re giving all you dog-loving writers another opportunity to share your personal stories of canine comfort with a growing legion of dog-loving readers. This volume will feature both serious and humorous anecdotal stories covering a wide range of topics and perspectives and varying breeds of dogs. We do NOT want sad stories about a dog’s illness, injury, or death, though we will consider stories that weave a beloved pet’s illness or death into an otherwise positive story. The story should focus on the dog’s remarkable attributes and/or actions as well as on the special relationship between the dog and his/her human(s).

Submission deadline: December 15, 2008

A CUP OF COMFORT FOR THE GRIEVING HEART

When a loved one passes away, comfort is often fleeting and hard to come by. Yet, even a small comfort, like a personal story of how someone has faced a similar loss, does help to ease the sorrow. This volume will feature uplifting personal stories that reveal the special relationships and extraordinary experiences shared by the deceased and his/her loved one(s) immediately before, during, and after the loved one’s passing; it will also includes stories about the internal and external processes by which one deals with and heals from the loss of a loved one. The stories will vary with regard to subject matter, circumstances of death, and the relationship of the author to the individual who has passed away. The book will not include eulogies, profiles/memoirs of people who have passed away, or clinical depictions of death and dying.

Submission deadline: February 1, 2009

Please note that deadlines are sometimes extended by one to four weeks.

BASIC GUIDELINES

All Cup of Comfort stories must be original; true; appropriate for mainstream Americans (adult, primarily women); inspiring, comforting, and/or uplifting; and 1,000 to 2,000 words.

Creative nonfiction and narrative essays preferred (that is, incorporating such fictive elements as scene, dialogue, character/plot development, imagery, and literary word usage). Whether serious or humorous, the story should be authentic and engaging.

Electronic submissions preferred. One submission per email. Copy and paste (or type) into body of email. No formatting (no indents, centering, doublespace, bold, underline, etc.). To: wordsinger@aol.com.

Mailed submissions are acceptable. Standard typed manuscript (double-spaced, indents). Send as many submissions per envelope as you’d like, but include one SASE per submission. To: Colleen Sell, 71563 London Rd., Cottage Grove, Oregon, 97424, USA.

Each submission must include: author’s full name, mailing address, email address, phone number, story title, story wordcount, and theme of volume for which it is being submitted (i.e., Grieving Hearts).

For more detailed writers guidelines: http://www.cupofcomfort.com/share.htm

How Do I?

No questions this month.

If you have a writing-related question, send it here.

FEEDBACK:

If you have any feedback about this newsletter; comments, criticisms, (praise!) sections you'd like to see added, tell me

Submissions:

We are a paying market. Full guidelines are available here, along with current needs. *Note: We are again open for submissions, but waaaay behind in responding.

Disclaimer:

Inclusion of a market, contest, anthology or similar is not necessarily an endorsement. It is strongly suggested that you do your own legwork in checking out any markets etc you decide to approach. If you feel wary or uncomfortable, there's probably a reason!

Advertising:

Guidelines for advertising, and ad rates can be found here

Legal stuff:

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