November/December 2003, Vol 24, No 6 Table of Contents

	Columns
2	..... Editor's Note
4	..... Marketing Helps, by Janet Elaine Smith
	"Back to the Bible" in the Book Biz
5	..... Massaging the Muse, by Lynne Remick
	............ And a Partridge in a Poet-Tree

6	..... Effective Screenwriting, by Jerry McGuire
	............"Follow That Cab!" Ever hear that line in a movie? How about a dozen or a hundred or a thousand times?
8	..... Photography Techniques, by Ronald D. Kness
	............. Shiver and Shoot Winter photography doesn't have to be as the title suggests. As a matter of fact, winter provides an excellent time to get out of the house and shoot pictures. The first step, of course, is to convince yourself to go outside. The second step is to find your subjects. The third and final step is to keep yourself and your equipment comfortable.
10	..... Computer Business, by Robert Anthony
	Writing for the Web Before you begin writing for the Web (and if you're not already writing for the Web you should be, because there's lots of money in it for good writers), you will want to understand one important concept: good print writing is completely different from good Web writing. There are fundamental differences between text read from a computer screen and text read from paper.
55	..... For Beginners Only, by Stephen Hart
	One Writer's Advice: Aim Low and Persevere Lessons are tricky, at least for me they are. When I'm right in the middle of learning one, I tend to ignore it and defiantly scream, "I already knew that!" even if I didn't already know that. But when I finally burn through a lesson, it's as eye-opening as watching the sun cut through the haze of a morning fog. It's only when you see things clearly that you realize how cloudy your vision was in the first place.
56	..... Words...Tools Of Our Trade, by Betty Garton Ulrich
	Some Advice to Beginning Writers—and Maybe Others If you want to be a writer (a published, selling writer, as opposed to just writing), then proceed as if you were preparing for any other career. But first, be sure that you can't stand NOT to write—that writing is in your genes, in your blood.
58	*..... Writers' Journal* Market Report,** by Laurie Graziano
	You can sit down right now and write your autobiography, complete with vivid scenery and horrid details. But will agents consider it marketable? And will millions of people buy it? Markets: Calliope, Ladies' Home Journal, Eating Well, Circle K Magazine, Provincetown Arts, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, BabyTalk Magazine, Stone Soup Magazine, AGNI, Star Service, Boys' Quest, Junior Baseball, Teachers of Vision, Cicada, Lake Country Journal, Humpty Dumpty's.
	Feature Articles
12	..... Talking the Talk: Listening the Listen, by Jim Couper
	............... Chitchat Is on the Menu for Today Conversation is the fodder of writing, and I've always listened not only to what people say but also to how they say it. I try to make my characters' dialogue sparkle with wit, ingenuity, and imagination.
14	..... Rethinking Rejections, Lisa Lawmaster Hess
	............... How to Turn Disappointment into Dollars This morning I did the unthinkable. I pulled out all my rejection letters and read through them. On purpose.
15	.....Writing Micro-Fiction, by Dennis E. Hensley
	............... Making Each Word Count I have had nearly 100 short stories published in everything from popular slicks to prestigious literary quarterlies. That sounds impressive until you learn that I've been at it for thirty years, averaging only three or four short story sales per year. Meanwhile, I've also written six novels, twenty-three nonfiction books, and more than 3,000 newspaper and magazine articles. Do you see a pattern here?
19	..... Ten Tips for Writing a Letter to the Editor, by Emma J. Wisdom
	................ Voicing Your Opinion My first letter to the editor of The City Paper, one of Nashville's daily newspapers, came about rather serendipitously. As I was reading the paper, I came to an article discussing the defunct magazine Emerge, in which the writer alluded to the fact that its replacement, Savoy, was just as good as Emerge. The latter was a favorite magazine of mine, so I could not let the writer's opinion slip by without a rebuttal to his story. Here is my letter:
21	.....Understanding, Dedication, and Ferrets, by D. M. Rosner
	................ Keys to a Successful Writers' Group Ever hear of a six-foot ferret? Neither had I, until one evening on retreat, when a group writing exercise got a bit out of control. How did we happen to find ourselves in that position, and what have ferrets got to do with anything?
22	..... Getting a Head Start on That Story, by Carole Moore
	Strategy for Finding Your Lead If you want to sell nonfiction—especially essays, creative nonfiction, and feature stories—then you need to get one thing right from the start: your lead.
41	..... What to Do to Write a Personal Essay, by Lois Green Stone
	Can You Expose Your Inner Secrets? Creative Writing. What a ridiculous phrase. Think about it. Isn't writing in itself "creative"?
42	Writers' Notebook
	And Then the Poof—Margo Pierce Writing Tips for the Limited Attention Span—Marge Jesberger Practice—Karl Green
	Fiction
	May 2003 Short Story Contest Winners
27	.....Giving Rides, by Benjamin T. Nickol
	First Prize Winner of May 2003 Short Story Contest
28	..... The Importance of Being Ernest, by Sunny Frazier
	Second Prize Winner of May 2003 Short Story Contest
30	.....As You Like It, by JoeAnn Hart
	Third Prize Winner of May 2003 Short Story Contest

	More Fiction
32	..... Blood Relative, by Shaunna Privratsky
	Honorable Mention Winner of 2002 Horror/Ghost Contest
36	..... Letter from Marianne, by Cathy Hajdu
	Honorable Mention Winner of 2002 Romance Contest

	June 20, 2002 Write-to-Win! Winner
38	..... "When the CD stopped spinning...," by Melanie Spence

	Poetry
43	..... Every Day With Poetry, by Esther Leiper
	................. "In the Network of the Stars" " Green's Law of Science fiction Poetry is that a poem is a sci-fi poem whenever it is purchased by an editor of a sci-fi magazine or anthology."
50	..... Esther Comments On..., by Esther Leiper
	................. The Winners—April 2003 Poetry Contest The winners (which I'll discuss presently), are chosen, and the Honorable Mentions decided. Yet, every contest has unsuccessful poems that nonetheless contain wonderfully quotable lines. I say to their authors: If you can make the rest of your pieces even half so good, you will indeed have winners. Here are a dozen excerpts: