May/June 2003, Vol. 24, No. 3 Table of Contents

	Columns
2	..... Editor's Note
4	..... Marketing Helps, by Janet Elaine Smith
	Reviews—What Are They Worth?
5	..... Massaging the Muse, by Lynne Remick
	............ It's All in the Details
6	..... Readers' Point Of View
8	..... Effective Screenwriting, by Jerry McGuire
	............. Writing "Business" Shows Please stop scoffing or giggling wildly at the thought of writing scripts for business films or videos. There isn't anything goofy about them. Sometimes known as "Nuts and Blots" programs, tons are in production every day around the world. It is an exciting industry with great challenges, and there are opportunities for us as writers.
10	..... Photography Techniques, by Ronald D. Kness
	............. Festival Photography Spring signals the arrival of festivals, parades, and other community events. It doesn't matter if you are four or eighty-four; these events are fun for everyone. Below are some basic photography tips and techniques to maximize your photography at medieval festivals, civil war reenactments, and Native American powwows.
12	..... Computer Business, by Robert Anthony
	................. Internet Identity Theft Identity theft is a growing problem over the Internet and should be a healthy concern when posting writing work and/or your personal information online. Using the Internet is an easy way to obtain data and intimate facts about people, including yourself. Your social security number, professional work history, personal address, and telephone numbers are most likely available and accessible online in seconds whether you know it or not.
56	..... For Beginners Only, by Margo Pierce
	..... Leaving the Safety of Your Home: Going Beyond Your Writing Comfort Zone Wandering through a bookstore with a friend, I saw a copy of Prodigal Summer: I turned to her and said, "If I could write like anyone, it'd be her."
57	..... Words...Tools Of Our Trade, by Betty Garton Ulrich
	.............. Which Is Which—Or Is It That? Do you know the proper use of the word "which"? And how about the word "that"? In helping proofread articles and stories for Writers' Journal, I find an amazing number of writers misusing these two little words.
58	*..... Writers'* Journal Market Report,** by Laurie Graziano
	Organization is an essential part of a successful writing career. Life has too many interruptions not to consider plan B, C, and D. Even without numerous mishaps, submitting work to various markets can be a little like spinning plates.
	Feature Articles
14	..... Beyond the Web, Part III, by Julie Duffy
	............... Newsgroups Newsgroups were the forerunners of online forums and operate in an e-mail-like interface. Unlike the postal system of e-mail, however, newsgroups are like a bulletin board, and you cannot delete messages from your local view.
15	..... Biting the Blank Page, by Pete Murphy
	............... Taking the Edge off Writer's Block Hemingway nailed it when he said, "Start with one true sentence." that's the best piece of advice I ever read.
16	.....When Great Authors Become Great Teachers, by Dennis E. Hensley
	............... Lessons from Great Writers Having spent my professional life as a working writer and a college literature professor, I have noticed that sometimes authors cannot help themselves—they just have to step up on a soapbox and start to lecture. Often, their subject is writing. And when that happens, I pay attention.
20	..... How to Break into Book Reviewing, by Susan Mauddi Darraj
	................ Getting Published for Your Opinion About three years ago, I got home after a long day of pushing paperwork around at the office and saw the latest issue of my favorite literary journal sitting in my mailbox. I immediately made a small pot of coffee, kicked off my pinching leather pumps, and began to indulge in short stories, personal essays, and poetry. Three coffee cups later, I turned to the last section—the book reviews—which I had never bothered reading before.
23	..... The Mission Statement, by Julie A. Maddock
	................ Your Goal in Print I watched Jerry Maguire like everyone else in America because Tom Cruise was in it. However, there was something more than just Tommy that caught my attention—it was the "mission statement." The ramifications of what he wrote caused a major upheaval in his professional and personal life, changing the way he lived and loved, and well, you know the rest of the story.
41	..... Self-Publishing—Is It Worth the Risk?, by Venessa Ann Schwarz
	................ One Author's Personal Journey Time and again during the course of a book signing, many would-be authors approach me with this question, "How did you publish your book?" My indirect response includes an explanation of how my mom and I had an idea to write and illustrate a children's book together, inspired by a combination of her thirty-year-old sketches and my fairytale-like poetry. The story, A Princess Smiled, is a lesson about the power of smiling and the book is hardcover, album-style with large color illustrations. I finally explain that a local publishing company helped us publish our book.
44	..... Apostrophe Nightmares, by Sara Francis Fujimura
	................ Conquer Your Fear over Simple Punctuation! Quick, get out pen and paper and take this short quiz. Which of the following sentences are correct:
46	.....Reflections of an Unapologetic Short-Former, by Dominic Martia
	................ On Writing the Brief Item When an aspiring young writer contemplates the future, what looms most grandly is the "great book"—the blockbuster novel, the ground-breaking study, the definitive history or biography. Like most young writers, I envisioned such a future. My imagination luxuriated in dreams of fame and fortune that I was destined to enjoy, thanks to the eventual publication of "the great book." But, as happens to many writers, life and my own limitations—I prefer to call them propensities—intervened.
	November 2002 Travel Writing Contest Winners
25	.....Cuzco & Machu Picchu, by Karen Roedenbeck
	First Prize Winner of 2002 Travel Writing Contest
28	..... The Soul of Seoul, by Dawn Brezina
	Second Prize Winner of 2002 Travel Writing Contest
30	.....Bermuda Is Another World, by Melanie J. Anders
	Third Prize Winner of 2002Travel Writing Contest
	Fiction
32	..... Every Beat of His Heart, by Jim Doherty
	Honorable Mention Winner of 2002 Horror/Ghost Contest
36	..... Mailed with Love, by Katherine Rideout
	Honorable Mention Winner of 2002 Fiction Contest
38	..... Molly's Christmas Eve, by Sue Schafer
	Honorable Mention Winner of 2002 Short Story Contest

	December 20, 2002 Write-to-Win Prize Winner
34	..... "The cold but weak lemonade was...," by Bernie Brown

	Poetry
47	..... Every Day With Poetry, by Esther Leiper-Jefferson
	................. Slam Dunk?—Or Blue Funk Geoff Hewitt of Vermont, national performer and lively workshop leader, claims that competitive poetry slamming "is a cross between mud wrestling and a literary tea." Furthermore, he advises, "The less poetic...the better... though a tender poem may work if other participants present 'wise guy' poems."
52	..... Esther Comments On..., by Esther Leiper-Jefferson
	................. "Babi Yar" and "bone" Caballero presents a nine-line prose poem in which eight lines hang together and the ninth—for emphasis—is set apart from the others. Readers may not know—I did not—that Babi Yar is a Holocaust site where Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, and other "undesirables" were slaughtered by the Nazis in September of 1941. They were dumped into ravines, day and night; stacked like cordwood—a horrible, unforgivable harvest.