What NOT to say to an editor at a writer's conference:
What Not to Say to an Editor…
By Jevon Bolden
1. This is my first draft. I just wanted to see what you thought.
This could be your one shot. Consider asking about the industry, maybe share your idea, but please do not ask me to read a first draft. I am not attending the conference to conceptualize or develop. I’m looking for ideas to publish.
2. Before I tell you about my manuscript, I just want you to read the first few pages. No, no, just read.
Yes, this has happened. A writer practically put an index finger to my lips as I began to talk and said, “Shhh… Just read this. I know it’s going to blow you away.” Do I need to say what’s wrong with that?
3. I know this isn’t the kind of book you are looking for, but I wanted to talk to you anyway.
I need to use my time away from the office maximizing some kind of return on investment (ROI) for me and the company. Avoid scheduling meetings that have no chance of being win-win.
4. I have never heard of a book like mine.
This seems like a good thing, but it’s not. If there are no other books in the market like yours, there may be reasons for that. Instead, show how your book is similar to others, and then show how it’s different. Saying you know of no other book like yours says you don’t read much, you don’t understand the market, you don’t know what editors have to do to sell books, or you did not do your research.
5. I don’t have a written proposal. I just want to see what you think about my idea.
Great, but let’s do this at a meal. During one-on-ones I expect to meet with authors who are ready to be published.
6. You guys publish the weird stuff, right?
Try not to say anything that could be taken negatively. We publish verifiable genres, so it is off-putting to hear you think our stuff is weird. Instead, show me you understand what we publish and how that sets us apart from other publishers in our market. That would be nicer.
You demonstrate thoughtfulness and seriousness when you use these one-on-one meetings for what they are intended—to get a publishing deal. And if I do request your manuscript, please, please send it to me. You’d be surprised how many don’t.
Jevon Bolden has been in book publishing for eight years and has a bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in sociology from the University of Alabama. She is a developmental book editor for Charisma House and will take appointments at the Guild’s Writing for the Soul conference, February 16-19.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Magazine Sales Down in 2011
From Publishing Executive:
Newsstand sales show a sharp decline in 2011 compared to the year before, according to preliminary data released Friday by magazine retail sales information provider MagNet.
Numbers derived from MagNet's retailer point-of-sale (POS) analysis show fourth quarter 2011 U.S. sales of non-weekly product at $517.8 million, down 9.2 percent from the same period in 2010. Sales for weekly product were down 11.9 percent, to $226.5 million. Overall sales declined 10.1 percent, to $744.3 million.
Looking at 2011 vs. 2010 as a whole, non-weekly product in the U.S. saw an 8.7 percent decline, to $2.19 billion. Weekly product declined 11.9 percent, to $987 million, while overall sales declined 9.7 percent, to $3.179 billion from $3.52 billion the year before.
In a statement released with the numbers, MagNet reports evidence of non-weekly sales leveling off in the late fourth quarter of 2011 and first few weeks of 2012, compared to the same period a year earlier.
MagNet also said print media performed well last year in the wake of significant events such as the royal wedding and death of Osama Bin Laden. "Producing quality product, wholesalers and distributors ensured that copies were distributed to the retail locations in a timely manner, and sales responded," the statement read.
Final 2011 numbers will be released later this month.
Newsstand sales show a sharp decline in 2011 compared to the year before, according to preliminary data released Friday by magazine retail sales information provider MagNet.
Numbers derived from MagNet's retailer point-of-sale (POS) analysis show fourth quarter 2011 U.S. sales of non-weekly product at $517.8 million, down 9.2 percent from the same period in 2010. Sales for weekly product were down 11.9 percent, to $226.5 million. Overall sales declined 10.1 percent, to $744.3 million.
Looking at 2011 vs. 2010 as a whole, non-weekly product in the U.S. saw an 8.7 percent decline, to $2.19 billion. Weekly product declined 11.9 percent, to $987 million, while overall sales declined 9.7 percent, to $3.179 billion from $3.52 billion the year before.
In a statement released with the numbers, MagNet reports evidence of non-weekly sales leveling off in the late fourth quarter of 2011 and first few weeks of 2012, compared to the same period a year earlier.
MagNet also said print media performed well last year in the wake of significant events such as the royal wedding and death of Osama Bin Laden. "Producing quality product, wholesalers and distributors ensured that copies were distributed to the retail locations in a timely manner, and sales responded," the statement read.
Final 2011 numbers will be released later this month.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Magazine Readership Growing
Some stimulating thoughts on magazines from Magazine Mavin Sharon Mumper of MTI:
Are print magazines lumbering dinosaurs about to be overwhelmed by the Internet tsunami before they can reach the safety of the ark? Not according to leaders of some of the largest magazine groups in America, who joined forces to organize an advertising campaign titled “Magazines: the Power of Print.”
Here are a few of the facts they presented:
* Magazine readership has grown over the last five years, with paid subscriptions reaching nearly 300 million in 2009.
* Four out of five adults read magazines and the average reader spends 43 minutes reading each issue.
* Since Facebook was founded, magazines gained more than one million young adult readers and magazine readership in the 18-34 year group is growing.
It appears that print magazines are not only not on the endangered species list, but are actually flourishing. Will the Internet eventually kill magazines? Probably not. Magazine experts point out that people find room in their lives for new experiences alongside the ones they already love.
But in order to continue to thrive magazines must provide value to the subscriber. It’s no longer possible to take the subscriber for granted. And, many magazine publishers have found they can harness the opportunities offered by the Internet to add value to the print publication.
In fact, some large publishers are now putting people with primarily digital experience in key positions in the company.
Those of us who have been involved in the print medium for many years may be tempted to see the Internet as competition, while those who grew up with the Internet may be tempted to see print as a dying medium. Yet, magazines that harness the best opportunities offered by both will enjoy more success and be able to offer more value to their constituency.
For a very interesting short video about the “Magazines: The Power of Print” campaign, check this link: http://powerofmagazines.com/
Are print magazines lumbering dinosaurs about to be overwhelmed by the Internet tsunami before they can reach the safety of the ark? Not according to leaders of some of the largest magazine groups in America, who joined forces to organize an advertising campaign titled “Magazines: the Power of Print.”
Here are a few of the facts they presented:
* Magazine readership has grown over the last five years, with paid subscriptions reaching nearly 300 million in 2009.
* Four out of five adults read magazines and the average reader spends 43 minutes reading each issue.
* Since Facebook was founded, magazines gained more than one million young adult readers and magazine readership in the 18-34 year group is growing.
It appears that print magazines are not only not on the endangered species list, but are actually flourishing. Will the Internet eventually kill magazines? Probably not. Magazine experts point out that people find room in their lives for new experiences alongside the ones they already love.
But in order to continue to thrive magazines must provide value to the subscriber. It’s no longer possible to take the subscriber for granted. And, many magazine publishers have found they can harness the opportunities offered by the Internet to add value to the print publication.
In fact, some large publishers are now putting people with primarily digital experience in key positions in the company.
Those of us who have been involved in the print medium for many years may be tempted to see the Internet as competition, while those who grew up with the Internet may be tempted to see print as a dying medium. Yet, magazines that harness the best opportunities offered by both will enjoy more success and be able to offer more value to their constituency.
For a very interesting short video about the “Magazines: The Power of Print” campaign, check this link: http://powerofmagazines.com/
Read Up on Scott Noble, Next Week's Guest
Next week our class guest editor (by Skype) will be Scott Noble, freelance writer, editor, and editor of the Minnesota Christian Examiner newspaper. Here is a recent blogpost from Scott, to give you a flavor of his writing. You can read more of his blog at http://beyondtheborderland.blogspot.com/. In the February 6 class period I will give you a copy of Scott's periodical so you can be prepared for his presentation and Q&A session on February 15.
Writing and emotional upheaval
I had one of those days recently. A day when hope was quickly snuffed out by disappointment. A really neat book project got the green light but soon after I received word that an article I wrote--something I had invested a lot of emotional energy in--was rejected by a magazine.
After doing this thing called writing for so many years, you would think I would be used to these days. And to some extent I am. Writers trudge to their writing desks or laptops each day, hoping maybe this is the day (or week or month) when the news will only be good, when the acceptances will far outweigh the rejections.
That's never the case, however. And maybe it shouldn't be.
At times it seems as if our highs can only rightly be defined by--or informed by--the lows that we have experienced. If we only experienced one or the other, they both would eventually become meaningless. That certainly doesn't make it easier when rejections--be they articles, books or relationships--far outweigh the opposite. Yet how many of us can point to times in our lives when the "lows" played a huge role in who we are today?
That's what I've been wrestling with these last few weeks--how pain, disappointment and loss inform and shape us. I'm still working through this but am realizing the powerful impact they have on our lives.
Writing and emotional upheaval
I had one of those days recently. A day when hope was quickly snuffed out by disappointment. A really neat book project got the green light but soon after I received word that an article I wrote--something I had invested a lot of emotional energy in--was rejected by a magazine.
After doing this thing called writing for so many years, you would think I would be used to these days. And to some extent I am. Writers trudge to their writing desks or laptops each day, hoping maybe this is the day (or week or month) when the news will only be good, when the acceptances will far outweigh the rejections.
That's never the case, however. And maybe it shouldn't be.
At times it seems as if our highs can only rightly be defined by--or informed by--the lows that we have experienced. If we only experienced one or the other, they both would eventually become meaningless. That certainly doesn't make it easier when rejections--be they articles, books or relationships--far outweigh the opposite. Yet how many of us can point to times in our lives when the "lows" played a huge role in who we are today?
That's what I've been wrestling with these last few weeks--how pain, disappointment and loss inform and shape us. I'm still working through this but am realizing the powerful impact they have on our lives.
The Best Super Bowl Analysis Piece
If you're interested in high-quality writing in a SuperBowl game analysis, you'll probably not do better than this piece for Sports Illustrated by Joe Posnanski. This is truly artful writing--perceptively and cleverly written.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/joe_posnanski/02/06/super.bowl.xlvi/index.html?xid=cnnbin
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/joe_posnanski/02/06/super.bowl.xlvi/index.html?xid=cnnbin
Typos the Spell-Check Won't Catch
From Washington Post columnist John Kelly:
Sometimes spell check just doesn’t cut it
By John Kelly, Published: February 5
It’s amazing the difference a single letter can make. For example, years ago, Bethesda’s Ellen Smith and her husband subscribed to the weekly newspaper from Pilot Rock, Ore., her husband’s home town. In a story about a local wedding reception, the following was printed: “The bridal couple ate graduates of Pilot Rock High School.”
Wrote Ellen: “I can think of nothing to add to that, but I’m sure you can.”
Hmm, I wonder what goes well with Pilot Rock graduates. Potatoes au gratin?
It’s time for more typos, misspellings and poor word choices. Alexandria’s Frances Killpatrick said she’s collected a lifetime’s worth of mistakes. One of her favorites was in a help-wanted ad. A restaurant was looking for a “Sioux Chef.”
Ken Chaletzky started his career as a typesetter in the late 1960s when he worked on the GW Hatchet. One of his favorite mistakes was from a restaurant in rural Pennsylvania. According to the menu, one of the dessert specialties was “Baked Alaskan.”
“Yummy!” wrote Ken. “Too bad Sarah Palin didn’t visit their town.”
Dan Michels of Silver Spring said that when the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare became the Department of Health and Human Services, his office received a large roll of franked mailing labels with the organization’s new name. The print was small, but a sharp-eyed co-worker noticed that the name on the labels was “Defartment of Health and Human Services.”
Wrote Dan: “The labels were used for purposes other than mailing.”
When David Kleeman was visiting the District from Chicago last fall during the repair work on the Washington Monument, he noticed that MSNBC’s on-screen headline read “Repelling From Top.”
Wondered David: “An attack on American workers or on the design of the monument?”
Washington’s Mary McCue says, “It’s not just us modern folks who commit typos. The Wicked Bible, published in 1631 by royal printer Robert Barker, left out ‘not’ in the Seventh Commandment — a distinctly un-Biblical message.”
In case you can’t keep your commandments straight, that’s the one about adultery.
When Nick Johnson first got a Maryland driver’s license in 1955, one of the state’s brochures warned against “wreckless drivers.” Wrote Nick: “The same thing happened when I moved back to Maryland from Virginia around 1990. I should have saved both and maybe MVA would have ‘wreckonized’ their error.”
Rockville’s Joyce Lipman used to teach workshops on written communication skills. “To keep our proofreading course lively, we amassed a blooper file,” she wrote. “My favorite will always be from the restaurant that sold ‘food and mixed drunks.’ ”
Mark Smith went to work on Capitol Hill in 1989, where he served as health policy adviser to Sen. Connie Mack (R-Fla). Spell check must have been in its infancy then, Mark wrote. “I used the word ‘Medicare’ frequently in memoranda, correspondence, talking points, legislative text, etc.,” he wrote. “I had to re-check the word every time because the spell-check would want to change the word ‘Medicare’ to ‘Mediocre.’ Somewhat prophetic, wouldn’t you say?”
Church newsletters are especially fertile ground for typos. Michael R. Heintz of Alexandria was a professional church musician for 50 years and has come across some doozies, such as Handel’s hymn “Surely He Has Borne Our Griefs” turned into “Surely He Has Borne Our Briefs” and “He Is Born, the Divine Christ Child” into “He Is Born, the Diving Christ Child.”
Cannonball!
Back in the 1950s, Roger Hartman’s father was the choir director of his hometown Methodist church. Each week, he would phone in to the church secretary the name of the choir’s anthem for the following Sunday. One week, he phoned in “There Is a Balm in Gilead.”
Wrote Roger: “In that Sunday’s bulletin, there appeared — just as the secretary heard it over the phone — the choir’s anthem: ‘There Is a Bomb in Gilead.’ ”
Frederick’s W.H. Luzier said his favorite typo appeared many years ago in the society section of the Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. A headline read: “Miss Jones to Give Organ Rectal.”
“To my knowledge neither a correction nor an apology ensued,” he wrote. “Apparently neither side wanted to revisit that disaster.”
Yes, best not to touch that.
Sometimes spell check just doesn’t cut it
By John Kelly, Published: February 5
It’s amazing the difference a single letter can make. For example, years ago, Bethesda’s Ellen Smith and her husband subscribed to the weekly newspaper from Pilot Rock, Ore., her husband’s home town. In a story about a local wedding reception, the following was printed: “The bridal couple ate graduates of Pilot Rock High School.”
Wrote Ellen: “I can think of nothing to add to that, but I’m sure you can.”
Hmm, I wonder what goes well with Pilot Rock graduates. Potatoes au gratin?
It’s time for more typos, misspellings and poor word choices. Alexandria’s Frances Killpatrick said she’s collected a lifetime’s worth of mistakes. One of her favorites was in a help-wanted ad. A restaurant was looking for a “Sioux Chef.”
Ken Chaletzky started his career as a typesetter in the late 1960s when he worked on the GW Hatchet. One of his favorite mistakes was from a restaurant in rural Pennsylvania. According to the menu, one of the dessert specialties was “Baked Alaskan.”
“Yummy!” wrote Ken. “Too bad Sarah Palin didn’t visit their town.”
Dan Michels of Silver Spring said that when the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare became the Department of Health and Human Services, his office received a large roll of franked mailing labels with the organization’s new name. The print was small, but a sharp-eyed co-worker noticed that the name on the labels was “Defartment of Health and Human Services.”
Wrote Dan: “The labels were used for purposes other than mailing.”
When David Kleeman was visiting the District from Chicago last fall during the repair work on the Washington Monument, he noticed that MSNBC’s on-screen headline read “Repelling From Top.”
Wondered David: “An attack on American workers or on the design of the monument?”
Washington’s Mary McCue says, “It’s not just us modern folks who commit typos. The Wicked Bible, published in 1631 by royal printer Robert Barker, left out ‘not’ in the Seventh Commandment — a distinctly un-Biblical message.”
In case you can’t keep your commandments straight, that’s the one about adultery.
When Nick Johnson first got a Maryland driver’s license in 1955, one of the state’s brochures warned against “wreckless drivers.” Wrote Nick: “The same thing happened when I moved back to Maryland from Virginia around 1990. I should have saved both and maybe MVA would have ‘wreckonized’ their error.”
Rockville’s Joyce Lipman used to teach workshops on written communication skills. “To keep our proofreading course lively, we amassed a blooper file,” she wrote. “My favorite will always be from the restaurant that sold ‘food and mixed drunks.’ ”
Mark Smith went to work on Capitol Hill in 1989, where he served as health policy adviser to Sen. Connie Mack (R-Fla). Spell check must have been in its infancy then, Mark wrote. “I used the word ‘Medicare’ frequently in memoranda, correspondence, talking points, legislative text, etc.,” he wrote. “I had to re-check the word every time because the spell-check would want to change the word ‘Medicare’ to ‘Mediocre.’ Somewhat prophetic, wouldn’t you say?”
Church newsletters are especially fertile ground for typos. Michael R. Heintz of Alexandria was a professional church musician for 50 years and has come across some doozies, such as Handel’s hymn “Surely He Has Borne Our Griefs” turned into “Surely He Has Borne Our Briefs” and “He Is Born, the Divine Christ Child” into “He Is Born, the Diving Christ Child.”
Cannonball!
Back in the 1950s, Roger Hartman’s father was the choir director of his hometown Methodist church. Each week, he would phone in to the church secretary the name of the choir’s anthem for the following Sunday. One week, he phoned in “There Is a Balm in Gilead.”
Wrote Roger: “In that Sunday’s bulletin, there appeared — just as the secretary heard it over the phone — the choir’s anthem: ‘There Is a Bomb in Gilead.’ ”
Frederick’s W.H. Luzier said his favorite typo appeared many years ago in the society section of the Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. A headline read: “Miss Jones to Give Organ Rectal.”
“To my knowledge neither a correction nor an apology ensued,” he wrote. “Apparently neither side wanted to revisit that disaster.”
Yes, best not to touch that.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Eric Metaxes, the National Prayer Breakfast
Eric Metaxas, a brilliant young writer who worked for me briefly when I was in Washington, D.C., was the keynote speaker for the National Prayer Breakfast this past week.
In his talk, he describes his life as a writer, including how he came to be the premier biographer of both William Wilberforce and of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I strongly urge you to take the time to listen to his remarks and to understand his world view as he explained it before President Obama and the 4,000 assembled guests for the prayer breakfast.
You can see his address on Denny Burk's blog -- it is cued up to start where Eric is introduced.
http://www.dennyburk.com/eric-metaxas-in-rare-form-at-national-prayer-breakfast-2/
In his talk, he describes his life as a writer, including how he came to be the premier biographer of both William Wilberforce and of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I strongly urge you to take the time to listen to his remarks and to understand his world view as he explained it before President Obama and the 4,000 assembled guests for the prayer breakfast.
You can see his address on Denny Burk's blog -- it is cued up to start where Eric is introduced.
http://www.dennyburk.com/eric-metaxas-in-rare-form-at-national-prayer-breakfast-2/
Friday, February 3, 2012
Get Started by Writing Devotionals
Writing devotionals is an excellent way to get started in being published. Often only about 250 words, they follow a formula and there are many places looking for good devotionals.
A ten-part blog series on writing devotionals has just concluded on Susan Titus Osborn's blog. Check the series out at http://www.christiancommunicator.com/blog
A ten-part blog series on writing devotionals has just concluded on Susan Titus Osborn's blog. Check the series out at http://www.christiancommunicator.com/blog
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