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WRITERS' Journal

Table of Contents
September/October 2010
Volume 31, Number 5

      .....Editor's Note

     I’d like to make a few comments about two of the books listed on page one.

     First, The Yahoo! Style Guide. Basically a style guide is used to help a publisher create works that are consistent in grammar, punctuation, and format. Because Web pages are different from book, magazine, or newspaper pages it is fitting that Web pages employ a different style guide.

     One noticeable difference is how a Web page is read. Internet users are an impatient lot; clicking from one page to another as fast as their computer will allow. They read most of a page to determine whether they are at the right place on the Internet, and, if they are, they quickly search for the particular information that brought them online in the first place.

     Enticing that reader to stay on a site is no easy task. It doesn’t take much of a distraction to lure Web surfers to another page or another site. Yahoo! hopes this style guide will aid Web developers in creating uniform pages that will give surfers what surfers want. In everything from leading them to a page through a search-engine listing to enticing them to buy products and information, the developer must know how to word a short message. This is a book on succinct writing and more. It explains how to word short messages making it easier for the reader to get the gist of what is being said. Because Yahoo! knows how a search engine works, the book is also geared to show the developer how to use particular words in that short message to obtain a high search-engine listing of a Web site.

     In addition, the book offers grammar, punctuation, and proofreading help. It also suggests how to write text for e-mails, newsletters, and mobile devices. All in all, I believe every person who builds Web pages and communicates through them will want to have this book nearby.

     Another good read is The Yes Factor.  Reading this book, I learned a lot about how I am portraying myself to others, and what I can do to improve my image. Better yet, I learned how I can apply some of this information to my fictional characters. It is important that we show our readers exactly who our characters are—what they look like, how they behave, how others perceive them. The more believable our characters are, the easier it is for the reader to relate to them and believe the author—to say yes to the author.

Leon Ogroske, editor

Columns

5       .....Massaging the Muse, Lynne Pisano
         SWAPs

6       .....Marketing Helps, Janet Elaine Smith
         Playing Role Reversal

7       .....Effective Screenwriting, by Christina Hamlett
         What Aspiring Screenwriters Can Learn from Orson Welles and David Worth
          Whether your passion is writing movies or just watching them, there's no question that much can be learned from studying Hollywood's early visionaries who saw not only the medium's capacity to emulate reality but also its potential to refashion it. It's because of their tireless dedication to the craft that many of the storytelling and cinematography techniques behind their signature films continue to endure and inspire....

11      .....Computer Business, by Angela Render
         Faux Pas at the Social Networking Party
         Social networking. Agents and editors say you have to do it. I've given you how-to tips. You may have even tried it. Here are some common faux pas people make on social media. Could this be you?...

12       .....Photography Techniques, by Ronald D. Kness
          Too Good to Eat
          A good food photograph allows you to taste the food with your eyes. When writing about food, it is important to supplement the text with photos so visually appealing that they make your mouth water....

59       .....For Beginners Only, by Diane Stark
          Breaking into the Religious Market
          "Somebody has to write the content for these things," I told my husband, showing him the little pamphlets our church hands out after Sunday school each week. "And why shouldn't that somebody be me?"...

60       .....Words...Tools of Our Trade, by Betty Garton Ulrich
           A Matter of Emotion
           Tom was a mad as a hatter. Mary was as happy as a lark. Jed's bark was worse than his bite....

61       .....WRITERS' Journal Market Report, by Laurie Graziano
           September/October 2010 Market Report
           

                   Markets: Simple & Delicious, Entertainment Magazine, Better Homes and Gardens, Popular Science Magazine, Horse Illustrated, All You, House Beautiful, Air & Space, Waterski.

Feature Articles

14       .....Fame Doesn't Cost, It Pays, by Dennis E. Hensley
           Author Branding
           In August, 2007, billionaire novelist J. K. Rowling sued a British newspaper for running a photo of her young son. She called it an invasion of privacy. She lost the case. The judge said that since Ms. Rowling was pushing her child in a stroller on a public sidewalk, there was no invasion of privacy. And, as far as people wanting to take a photo of the creator of Harry Potter  and her offspring, the judge said, "It's the price of fame."...

16       .....Building a Brilliant Book Proposal, by Shaunna Privratsky
           Lose the Fear of Book Proposals
           Writers who have written thousands of words tend to quiver when book proposals are mentioned. The very thought makes potentially published authors turn into professional procrastinators. Why does the subject strike such disquiet?...

20       .....Writing a Biography, by Bryan Johnston
           From Soup to Nuts
           Shawn Levy knew he could write. He's been the editor of a magazine for years; the written word was his gift. But writing a book? That's for authors! The mere concept was as daunting as confounding. Where to start?...

24       .....Freelance Writers Need What?, by M. R. Anglin
           Do Freelance Writers Need Business Licenses?
           Starting a career in freelance writing is easy. You just sit down at a computer or pick up a pen and start writing. A variety of subjects exists for a writer to write about, from art to business. But before selling that first piece, it would be wise for beginning writers to make sure they have all they need....

41       .....Copyediting Demystified, by Susanna J. Sturgis
           Help Your Copyeditor Make You Look Good
           When published writers hang out talking, sooner or later one will complain about the botched copyediting of the last book. What follows can look like a feeding frenzy. Not long ago an aggrieved novelist posted a tirade to his blog; it was addressed to the copyeditor of his most recent book, and it ended with "Die, Stupid Copy Editor, Die." He reconsidered a day or so later and took it down, but if you search on "stupid copy editor," you can still find it on the Web....

43       .....Writers' Notebook
           You Can Sell Foreign Rights to Your Book, by Elliot Katz
           Celebrate National Punctuation Day on September 24

45       .....An Interview with Brandon Sanderson, by Daniel Delgado
           On Creativity, the Internet, and Collaborating with a Dead Master
           Known for his strong stories, inversion of genre tropes, and proactive use of the Internet, fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson is the author of the New York Times best-selling Mistborn trilogy and the young adult Alcatraz Smedry books. In June 2009, Sanderson's newly released novel, Warbreaker, hit number twenty-four on the New York Times best-seller list. Sanderson had engaged in a bold experiment with Warbreaker, releasing each successive draft of the novel—including the final version—for free on his Web site....

48      .....Living (and Writing) Large, by Carl Hose
          The Inspiration of Don Pendleton
           Long before the phrase "go big or go home" was commonly heard the world over, Don Pendleton went big. Although he didn't know it at the time, he was about to go bigger than he imagined....

50      .....How to Write Book Reviews, by Patricia L. Fry
          And Make Some Money Doing It
          All authors want to have their books reviewed. It's a good way to get exposure for their books, and exposure computes into sales. With the rise in the number of new authors each year, there's a greater need for book reviewers....

Poetry

52       .....Every Day With Poetry, by Esther M. Leiper-Estabrooks
           Word Usage: Rigging the Cordage
           Words have infinite possibilities beyond their accepted meanings, so mine them like jewels. Indeed, they seem to play games with themselves, thus providing opportunities you can use....

56       .....Esther Comments On..., by Esther M. Leiper-Estabrooks
          "Signs of Their Time" and "*"
          While "Signs of Their Time" by Tony Hudson and "*" by Simon Perchik are both set in stanzas, the first with rhyming quatrains being twenty lines, and the second in unrhymed tercets complete at eighteen lines. Hudson's piece is reasonably straightforward, whereas Perchik's appears to be a mystery cloaked in an enigma.