WPN Market Update – April, 2008

By Patricia L. Fry

 
Going, Going, Gone – 6 magazines, a writers’ site and a publisher have quit.
Here’s What’s New – 12 new mags, publishers, literacy programs and a plea for help from our friend, Preditors and Editors.
Opportunities for Freelance Writers – Over 2,000 of them!!
Opportunities for Authors – 38 potential publishers for your works.
Book Promotion Opportunities – 6 opportunities.
Opportunities for Screenwriters – Several potential opportunities.
Resources for Authors and Writers – 3 great resources.
Industry News – New leader for PMA.
Bonus Items – 16 Message Boards and 6 Blog sites for Authors, Writers, Screenwriters, Artists, Photographers, Children’s Writers, etc.
 
Going, Going, Gone
CCM, a Christian music magazine will be online only.
First and New Woman Magazines have been shut down.
New publisher, J. Burrage Publications has ceased publishing for now. They will accept manuscripts for editing and typesetting only. http://www.jburragebooks.com.
Writer.com seems to have disappeared from the face of the Internet.
The Astrological Magazine closed in December 2007.
The music magazine, No Depression, has closed.
Trace has closed, as well.
 
Here’s What’s New is being sued and they need our assistance. Here is their plea for help: “Unfortunately, there are those who do not like P&E (Preditors and Editors) or its editor because we give out information that they would prefer remain hidden from writers. Usually, they slink away, but not this time. P&E is being sued and we are asking for donations to mount a legal defense in court. Please click on the link below and give if you can to help protect P&E so it can continue to defend writers as it has for the past eleven years.” You’ll find the link at http://anotherealm.com/prededitors/penulist.htm. Scroll down half page or so.
Preditors and Editors
 
Have you discovered The Literacy Site? Are you interested in supporting literacy? If you’re an author with one or more books, you really should care about literacy. I heard recently that 30 million adults in America do not know how to read. And many others just don’t want to read—they aren’t interested. According to a recent Jenkins Group survey, 58% of high school graduates and 42% of college graduates claim they never read another book after graduating. Well here’s your chance to help provide books for children and support literacy in America. Click on this site daily and the sponsors listed there will pay for books for kids. If you shop in their online store, you’ll generate more books for children. Go to: http://www.theliteracysite.com.
 
Writer’s Break Monthly is back. This is a free e-newsletter for writers of all levels and experience. Each month they feature author interviews, tips of the trade, helpful links and a host of articles on the craft and business of writing. From novel writing and screenwriting to creative nonfiction and freelancing, they cover it all. To subscribe, send an email to subscribe@writersbreak.com. Check out their latest issue at: http://www.writersbreak.com/Monthly/index_021208.htm. Jennifer Minar is the editor.
 
Borders Books is teaming with Lulu to provide a new service called “Borders Personal Publishing” (BPP). According to the press release we received here at WPN, Borders will provide editorial support, book design, printing, e-commerce and other features bundled or a la carte, for a fee. According to this announcement, the important difference is that qualified BPP Books can also become eligible to be carried by Borders… both online and in its hundreds of stores. Folks, notice the terminology—which I lifted from their press release—“qualified BPP Books” (not all books they produce, just those that they deem qualified) and “eligible.” (What criteria will they adopt to determine eligibility?)
 
With Dan Poynter and Danny O. Snow involved, not to mention Borders, there’s no doubt that it’s a legit operation, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be aware of the meaning behind any legalese or terminology presented. For details visit http://publish.bordersstores.com?u-pub
 
Redstone Media Group, publisher of Animal Wellness and Equine Wellness, has expanded to include Feline Wellness MagazineThey want articles of from 500 to 1,500 words and they are a paying market. I don’t know how much they pay, however. It seems that more and more magazines are keeping that important bit of information secret, these days. Submission Guidelines for the Animal Wellness magazines are at http://www.animalwellnessmagazine.com/p/awsubmit.htm. .
 
There’s a new health magazine coming out next month. It’s called Great Health. To get a jump on the other freelance health writers, contact editor, Beth Salmon at bsalmon@greathealth.com. Ask about their pay scale and suggest an appropriate article.
 
Health for Women Magazine will launch soon, as well. Again, there is little information for potential contributors. But there is an editor on board. Contact Carolyn Davis Cockey at ccockey@awhonn.org.
 
Clover Park Press used to publish memoirs, but no longer. Their Submission Guidelines state that they want California history, travel, culture and art books related to nature and the environment, intercultural experiences and scientific/medical discoveries. Do not send them a query for fiction, poetry, children/s photography, true crime, new age, abuse or memoirs. If you want to contact the editorial staff, do so by email with “WS-Query” in the Subject Line. info@cloverparkpress.com.
 
Leapfrog Press, publisher of quality poetry, fiction and nonfiction, has been sold. Visit http://www.leapfrogpress.com in the near future to study the new submission guidelines.
 
Wordcraft of Oregon is not taking submissions until summer of 2008. If you have something that you feel would be of interest to them—that would be a broad range of literature—mark your calendar and check back with them sometime after June, 2008: http://www.wordcraftoforegon.com.
 
Wave Poetry does not want to receive submissions until summer 2008. At that time, check out their submission guidelines at: http://www.wavepoetry.com.
 
Winterhouse Editions is the new name for William Drenttel Editions. http://www.winterhouse.com/editions.
 
Opportunities for Freelance Writers
Did you know that Byline Magazine publishes fiction of up to 3,000 words and even poetry? They will accept general, mainstream literary works or genre fiction. And they pay, but, they won’t reveal how much until they see what you have. http://www.bylinemag.com
 
Wow-Women on Writing dedicated their February newsletter to romance writers. They list 10 markets for romance stories. http://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/18-editorsdesk.html
 
The editors at Wow-Women on Writing features nearly 30 publishers of romance in their February newsletter. You’ll find it at http://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/18-editorsdesk.html.
 
Duotrope Digest boasts a database of more than 2125 current markets for short fiction, poetry and story collections. Once at the site, you’ll be given a form to fill out with the information you want to search—genre, story length, pay scale, etc. This site contains a treasure trove of information and resources for the freelance fiction writer/poet. http://www.duotrope.com/index.aspx
 
Opportunities for Authors
National Association of Women Writers (NAWW) has a publishing division. Did you know that? They are publishing books through Butterfly Women Press. Their goal is to publish at least one book per year and they want to produce books that they feel will transform the world. If you’re a woman with a powerful book manuscript almost ready to go, consider submitting it to NAWW before their October 31, 2008 deadline. The deadline for the 2008 book is March 31, 2008. Study Author’s Guidelines for Butterfly Women Press at http://www.naww.org/blog/butterfly-women-press.
 
Wings Press has an interesting submission form for authors. They welcome your submissions and ask that you fill out their online submission form by responding to some prompts. Here’s the link: http://www.wingspress.com/submission.cfm. And here are some of the prompts: They want a description of the proposed work, a 20 page sample, short biography, list of prior book publications and a list of last three magazine article/story publications. If you are submitting poetry, they want to know how many readings you’ve given in the past year and where and a list of prizes you’ve won. And you don’t think you need a book proposal for fiction or poetry? Folks, this publisher is asking for the sort of information that would be in your book proposal.
 
Raven Tree Press at http://www.delta-systems.com publishes bilingual (English/Spanish) children’s picture books with family oriented storylines of appeal for elementary aged children. Send your manuscript to them in English. If they are interested, they will do the translation to Spanish. Do not send rhyming pieces, alphabet books or anything with a word count of over 750 words. See additional submission guidelines at http://www.delta-systems.com/submit_guide.cfm.
 
Noemi Press uses poetry and fiction. While they do not accept poetry submissions until November, they are considering full-length books of fiction, collections and novellas all year round. They want to see a query letter and 30 or so sample pages—all in the body of an email. Send to fiction@noemipress.com Or contact fictioneditor@gmail.com. Learn more about this press at http://www.noemipress.org.
 
Livingston Press opens their company up to submissions in June of every year. They want only fiction—offbeat literature as opposed to mainstream. Send your submission through the mail with an SASE. http://www.livingstonpress.uwa.edu
 
Holy Cow Press considers manuscripts of poetry, short fiction, young adult and children’s books. They suggest that you review their published works to decide whether your book is appropriate. http://www.holycowpress.org
 
Hourglass Books at http://www.hourglassbooks.org publishes anthologies of short stories around a common theme. Literary fiction only—no genre works. They’re also accepting stories for an anthology called “Occupational Hazards: Stories From the World of Work.” They prefer your submission included in the body of the email. Send to editor@hourglassbooks.org.
 
DZANC Books is a new publisher created to advance great writing. Submit the first one or two chapters of your novel. If it’s a story collection, send the first 2 stories to Submit@dzancbooks.org. Go to http://www.dzancbooks.org for more info.
 
Book Promotion Opportunities
WPN is offering a major book promotion opportunity this month. The huge Los Angeles Times Book Festival is April 26 and 27 this year at UCLA. WPN has two booths reserved and we’re inviting members to join us in the booths with their books where they can greet visitors and sell books. Our fees for space in the WPN booths are greatly reduced when compared to purchasing an entire booth on your own. And these fees are available only to WPN members. Those who can’t be there in person, can send one copy each of their books for display in the WPN booths. The fee to display a book is $40 per title. We also recommend that you include your book in the WPN Catalog of Member Books and Services as this is the means by which we will promote your book. Every booth visitor who expresses an interest in WPN or in any of the WPN member books, will walk away with a print edition of the WPN Catalog of Member Books and Services, hopefully, with your books listed and pictured inside. The fee for space in the catalog is $35. If you want to be included in the catalog AND have your book displayed in the WPN booths at the Los Angeles Times Book Festival, the fee is $60. http://www.spawn.org/catalog.htm
 
Aliza Sherman is looking for speakers, consultants and authors to speak in Second Life. You’ll be participating in one-hour online text chat sessions for an audience related to your topic. Sherman requests that you contact her at pitch@mediaegg.com with a list of key topics you could address. Also, please describe the most appropriate audience for your particular presentation.
 
The Maryland Library Association is presenting their annual exhibit of books and they invite you to exhibit your book for FREE. I wrote to the director, Marjorie Gallahan to ask if this was posted in error and she said that it’s true—they will, indeed, exhibit your book for free during their 2008 Library Association Book Exhibit. It looks to me, however, that there is a fee to be included in the catalog. So check it out. The Listing Deadline is May 2 and the Books must arrive by May 9, 2008. For additional information, email Marjory at info@bookexhibit.com.
 
Do you have a writing-related ebook? Angela Hoy will post it at her site: http://www.writersweekly.com Contact Angela for more information at angela@writersweekly.com.
 
Opportunities for Screenplay Writers
The latest edition of InkTip Newsletter announces a need for the following scripts—a family Christmas story with a strong romance aspect and completed teleplays about women with weight issues. There’s also a need for feature-length live-action family-friendly scripts. Some producers are seeking suspense scripts with strong female leads. Do you have an African-American gospel script? There might be a market for it. Learn more about these and other opportunities at http://www.inktip.com.
 
Resources for Authors and Freelance Writers
At Mag Portal, you can search for online articles on a variety of topics. Use this site when you want to locate an expert to quote in an article or nonfiction book manuscript. Get additional information for your book research projects. It’s not the most prolific site I’ve seen, but it might just have what you need. http://www.magportal.com
 
AnyWho.com is AT&T’s online people search site. They claim to have listings for over 90 million people and businesses. Check it out at http://www.anywho.com. Yup, they have me listed. How about you and the person you need to contact for an interview?
 
New Pages has an amazing number of resources for the author and writer. They list hundreds of independent bookstores throughout the U.S., literary magazines and book publishers, contests and submissions for young authors and more. Check it out at http://www.newpages.com. And plan to spend some time there researching potential publishers for your latest collection of poetry, book manuscript or article/story. If you have a book to sell, use this database to locate booksellers in your region.
 
Industry News
Terry Nathan has been formally named Executive Director of PMA, the Independent Book Publishers Association. For those of you who didn’t see the press release, let me recap: Terry was the original Executive Director, Jan Nathan’s son. He worked with her for more than 15 years. When she died, in June of 2007, he became the acting Executive Director. And, the Board voted him in officially in February of 2008. The 25-year-old organization boasts 4200 members.
 
Bonus Items
Forums for Authors and Writers
Do you visit forums or message boards in your area of interest? Of course WPN has a forum for members as well as an online discussion group. To access the forum, go to the member area of the WPN website and click on “Forum.” The forum has been rather quiet, lately, but we have had some active times during which we’ve discussed some fascinating topics. Visit the forum and read the posts. Add your two cents. Let’s get a lively discussion going.
 
Here are additional forums related to writing and publishing which you can visit for FREE:
 
Writers Weekly’s forum is fairly new. Hop on over to Angela Hoy’s site and see what they’re talking about at Writers Weekly. http://www.writersweekly.com. Click on “forum.” As with most forum sites, you’ll have to register. But, as with most of them, it is FREE. Here are a few of the topics they’re discussing over there: “Who should edit your piece? The writer or the magazine editor?” “Whispers and Warnings,” “Freelance jobs and paying markets.”
 
WritingForums.com is an active forum. They include posting sections labeled; reading, writing, creativity, contests and events. Go to http://www.writingforums.com. Click on “Discussion Forums.” They boast 278 users and they discuss subjects related to fiction, nonfiction, scripts, writing 101, resources and writing-related activities and events.
 
Absolute Write has a forum famously called “the Water Cooler.” At http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums you’ll find hundreds of posts logged. This is a very active site with posts for the poet, novelist as well as writers of nonfiction, short fiction and comic books. They have a beware category, one for writers wanted, book club and specific genres. Topics include, “Selling fiction reprints,” “when to query,” “show versus tell,” “writers needing help with their stories” and so forth.
 
Authorme.com at http://www.authorme.com offers an Authorboard where you can communicate with other authors. This board is not very active. Some of the current posts focus on finding a critique partner and a call for entries.
 
Poets and Writers Forum can be found at: http://www.pw.org/speakeasy/gforum.cgi. They discuss writing, publishing, book marketing, writers’ conferences, grammar and much more.
 
Verla Kay’s site provides a chat board for children’s writers and illustrators. http://www.verlakay.com/boards/index.php
 
Forums for Artists
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/
http://www.artistsnetwork.com/community/
http://www.larrysart.com/forum/index.php
http://www.zerooneart.proboards19.com/
 
Forums for Photographers
http://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/board/46
 
Forums for Screenwriters
http://www.filmmakermagazine.com/mboard/viewforum.php?f=4
http://www.scriptologist.com/phpBB2/index.php
http://www.screenandtvwriter.com/phpBB/index.php
 
General Boards with listings for photographers, comics, artists and others:
http://www.big-boards.com/kw/art/.
 
If you are an author with a book to promote, you may want to find communities such as these related to your genre or topic. Use your favorite search engine and type in keywords, “thriller” + “message board,” or “fantasy” + “forum,” for example. Whether your topic is gardens, death and dying, drug addiction, public speaking, travel, pugs, weight loss, how to play poker or parenting, you should be able to locate related forums and message boards.
 
Use them to meet potential customers/readers; keep in mind, however, that some forum site coordinators do not allow blatant promotion. Visit appropriate sites to see what people are talking about. This is a good way to come up with article ideas designed to promote your book. You might learn about new magazines, newsletters and sites you can approach. You might meet people seeking the information you have on your topic. Likewise, you might meet some who has material you can use in upcoming presentations. Someone at the forum might have a connection to a good outlet for your books or a conference where you could participate. The possibilities, when you start networking, are amazingly vast. But you must participate and you must keep a wide open and curious mind.
 
Regional Writers’ Groups
Are you interested in finding a writers’ club where you can attend critique groups? Locate them in the same way you have located specialized forums. Type in “Tennessee Writers Group” as your keywords at the Google prompt, for example, and you’ll discover Tennessee Writers Alliance, Knoxville Writers’ Guild and Middle Tennessee Christian Writers.
 
Other methods of locating writers’ groups in your area include checking with your local librarian and arts council. Look at the bulletin board at the library. Ask at local bookstores. Find someone with a published book in the region and contact him or her.
 
Blog Sites For Writers and Authors
Blogs come in many forms and have varied purposes. I frequent those that relate to writing/authorship/publishing. And you should, too. There’s the potential to keep your finger on the pulse of the industry—to learn, discover new resources and to pick up a variety of information and perspectives that could possibly assist you in the writing, publishing and promotion of your projects. Here are my favorite blog sites:
http://www.matilijapress.com/publishingblog If this one sounds familiar, it’s because it is. In case you didn’t know, I’m Patricia Fry and this is my blog. I add to it daily and I try to provide information, resources and guidance for authors and freelance writers. Subjects range from exploring your motivation to write, to specific book promotion activities, to benefits of studying the publishing industry, niche writing, a study of publishers’ submission guidelines, process of preparing a speech, coming up with article ideas and so much more. This blog site now has a total of about 175 posts.
Dan’s blog site, “Is This Thing On? A Blog and Podcast of Dan Shaurette,” includes a variety of topics, and many of them related to writing. He gets quirky, occasionally, but tries to also be informative and offer substance.
http://danshaurette.com
http://www.copywriter.typepad.com Angela Booth’s blog provides tips and hints and techniques for writers. Some of her recent entries include: “The Three Dumbest Mistakes to Avoid in Freelance Writing,” “Writing Fees: Beware of Charging too Little,” “Going from Writer to Blogger: How to make it Work.”
http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog is Randy Ingermanson’s blog and I find it interesting and probably useful for the writer of fiction.
http://www.chipmacgregor.com offers a blog with “Publishing tips, insights and wisdom from a seasoned pro in the book business.” This is Chip MacGregor’s blog.
http://www.jakonrath.blogspot.com is called “A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing.” Here, you’ll learn how to write a good story, the best promotional bang for your buck, write for the intended audience and much more.
 
Locate additional blogs using your favorite search engine. This is also a good way to find blogs related to your genre or topic. Are there blogs related to your topic? Let’s take the subject of parenting, for example. I located blogs on parenting as well as the working parent, the at-home parent, the at-home dad and home-schooling. I looked up Fitness and found blogs focusing on fitness and also, family fitness, brain fitness, health and fitness, weight loss, fitness for women, fitness for men and fitness for children. When I went in search of a blog on pets, I found plenty, plus blog sites featuring various types of pets, breeds, adopt-a-pet, pet sounds, pet gardens, natural pet care and more.
 
It’s all there. If you aren’t accustomed to doing your own research—seeking out the information you want, you’re missing a great deal. You may be cheating yourself out of a greater writing/publishing/marketing potential. I’d love to hear from some of you who are getting involved in internet research on behalf of your writing interests or book promotion. And I’d like to hear from those with recommendations for blog sites for authors, writers, artists, screenwriters, etc. Send us information about sites that have been profitable for you—through which you have sold numbers of books. Contact me at Patricia@spawn.org.