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WIWA NEWSLETTER
Vol. 013 February -- March 2003
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Only 14 openings are available for the Whidbey Island Writers Conference.
If you're coming to WIWC 2003, don't forget the Stay a Little Longer sessions Sunday from 1:40 to 2:40.
CONTENTS
Message From the Editor
Letters to the Editor
On the Island
Off the Island
How I Write
-- Dr. Richard Lederer
Song Writing Fireside Chat Added to WIWC 2003
Opportunity for WIWA Members to Sell/Sign Their Books at Conference
Benefits of a Writers Conference
-- by Don McQuinn
We Want to Celebrate Your Writing
How to Make Yourself Irresistible to Any Agent or Publisher, Part 4: Make a Total Commitment to Your Career and Persevere
-- by Michael Larsen, AAR
Ask Mike -- by Michael Larsen, AAR
Pre-Conference Retreats
Youth Scholarship Winners to WIWC 2003
Cheers
The Whidbey Conference: A Search for Significance
-- by Katherine Bynum
Students to Hear Best Selling Authors
Contests and Market Requests
South Whidbey Reads
Remembering Edna
-- by Kathie Sutin
Cyber Surfing
Quotes
Problems Reading the Newsletter?
To Contact Us
To Subscribe or Unsubscribe
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MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR
The Louvre is the book where we learn to read.-- Paul Cezanne
From the time the Louvre first opened its doors to the public in 1793 artists have flocked to the museum to copy the masters. Like Manet, Chagall, and Matisse, 21st-century visitors trek to the museum and set up their easels to learn from their predecessors.
Somehow artists escaped the "genius syndrome" that plagues so many writers who believe they must lock themselves away for years of solitary writing only to emerge a genius or a failure. I'm not sure how the idea that "good writing can't be taught" caught on, but those who propose that real writing is as ingrained as the neonatal sucking reflex would have you believe the aristocratic literati composed their memoirs in the womb while wannabe artists, musicians and athletes had to be content with a tabula rasa and the plebeian ability to learn once they emerged.
The mythical notion that writing can't be taught guarantees failure. Delicate egos don't dare try, and those who believe they are chosen divulge their viscera without regard to form or reason. On rare occasions, a few creative geniuses are born in both the sciences and the arts -- Hypatia, Mozart, Goethe, Einstein, Asimov -- but history tells us even they received training. Learning promotes a higher level of thinking. Writers who learn techniques, skills, and grammar free up energy that can be devoted to creativity.
Writers do not have a Louvre they can go to, but opportunities for learning abound -- reading the masters, practicing their style, joining a writing group, attending classes and workshops, reading books about writing and finding a writing partner. Recently, some of us in WIWA have been talking about lessons we've learned at the Whidbey Island Writers Conference. Now that we're about to celebrate our fifth anniversary, it seems like a good time to share a few of our memorable lessons from past conferences with you.
Toni Grove, who wrote "The Ins and Outs of Critique Groups" for a prior issue of the WIWA Newsletter, agrees with romance writer Jennifer Crusie that you should get rid of people in your life who are negative and toxic "even if you're married to them." Toni's family life is still intact, so we assume most of her pruning has been among writing acquaintances. Friends should share the joys of writing successes and soften the blows of rejections. If members of your writing group can't do that, it may be time to change groups, because negative energy wastes time and smothers creativity.
Pam Houston's class about the use of metaphor as the core of a story rather than plot strikes author/editor/instructor Marian Blue as a significant change in literature that could lead us away from some of the stricter aspects of traditional plot. "I find myself pursuing research about what others think of this," Marian says. She also believes David Lee's reading of "Incident at Thompson Slough" last year was a good reminder that "poetry need not be dignified, stuffy, distant or in any way dull."
For WIWA's Public Relations Coordinator, Nancy Bartlett, accepting Jennifer Crusie's challenge to "dance naked on the page or don't kill the trees" has made a difference in her writing. Ask Nancy's group and they will tell you her writing is edgier and more engaging.
During Bill Johnson's fireside chat, he cited Pat Conroy's opening paragraph from Prince of Tides as an effective example of dramatic truth: "My wound is my geography. It is also my anchorage, my port of call." For Bill, the dramatic truth is the promise that makes a character's details ring true.
Ann Rule is my inspiration. Before becoming America's top true crime writer, Ann supported her four children by writing two articles a week -- 1,400 total -- for detective and confession magazines, stories like "Lust Killer" and "My Unspeakable Operation." Through hard work and perseverance, she gained the skills she needed to write about serial murderer Ted Bundy in her first big success, The Stranger Beside Me. Ann worked with Bundy in a crisis clinic and admits she found him appealing, and never suspected him of any wrongdoing, though her dog would growl when he was in the room. So Ann advises, "If you meet a new man, don't introduce him to your parents or girlfriend; run him by your dog."
Let's make a pact to visit our literary Louvre where we can read great works, practice different styles and study authors in our genre whom we admire. Let's laugh while learning from the friendly English teacher, Attila the Pun, Conan the Grammarian -- Richard Lederer -- who will be at WIWC 2003. Let's hone our skills and take every writing assignment we can get, so we, too, will be ready when our big opportunity arrives.
May goodwill prevail,
Candace D. Allen
To read past issues of the newsletter online, go to: http://www.whidbey.com/writers/newsletter
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Engstrom Fiction Retreat Inspires Writer
I attended the conference last year and participated in the pre-conference fiction retreat led by Elizabeth Engstrom. She was an inspiring instructor, and encouraged not only my fiction writing, but also my writing of essays. This fall I learned that my short story, Voices, was the first place winner in the MOTA 3 Emerging Writers Contest, and my essay, I Always Cry When I Leave, won first place in its category of the Grampians' Writers Group, Inc. competition in Victoria, Australia. So thank you to WIWA and, though I'll be in Australia this February and can't attend, I look forward to my next Whidbey Island conference.
Best wishes. --Kristina Bak
Dairyman's Tips a Hit
I'm not a member of your group, but I've been in contact so that must be how I got on your mailing list. Would love to attend your conference; doubt that I can make it, but it's on my wish list. Want you to know I'm enjoying your newsletter. Even sent the dairyman's notes to a friend just starting to market his self-published novel, for tips he might glean. What an active, forward-looking bunch you are. Bravo, and happy holidays. --Patricia Wellingham-Jones, PWJ Publishing, http://www.snowcrest.net/pamelaj/wellinghamjones/home.htm
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ON THE ISLAND
Winding Up for Success
Publicist and nonfiction author Penny Sansevieri will teach a pre-WIWC workshop Thursday, Feb. 27 from 1 to 5 p.m. "How to Create the Perfect Pitch" will cover preparing for agent/editor consultations and will help you create and practice your own successful conference pitch. Cost $50. Limit 12. email writers@whidbey.com for information or to register.
Choose from Three WIWA-Sponsored Writing Groups
Now you can choose from three WIWA-sponsored writing groups: an evening group, a north-end daytime group, and a south-end daytime group. Sponsored by WIWA, the groups offer an opportunity to share work, gain insight, and discuss the world of writing and publishing. Featuring a friendly forum and useful critiques, these groups welcome writers of every experience level. Drop-ins are welcome.
Evening Writers' Group
The evening WIWA Writers' Group meets the first Wednesday of every month from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Freeland Library, 5495 Harbor Avenue. Toni Grove, treasurer for WIWA, is the facilitator for the group. You can contact her at: toniandgordy@pioneernet.net.
Day-time Writers' Groups
The North Whidbey Writers' Group meets the second and fourth Wednesday of each month, 1 to 4 p.m., at Great Times Espresso in Coupeville (water-side of Front Street, down one flight of stairs).
The South Whidbey Writers' Group meets the first and third Wednesday of each month, 1 to 4 p.m., at Trinity Lutheran Church in Freeland (Hwy 525 and Woodard Rd.) The meeting is in the small building closest to Highway 525.
For more information, contact Dot Read at: thereads@whidbey.com, or call (360) 331-2038. Or just drop in; you will be welcome.
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OFF THE ISLAND
Seattle Arts & Lectures
Poetry Series, 7:30 p.m., Benaroya Hall
Feb. 3, James Tate
Feb. 18, Francine Prose
Feb. 24, C.D. Wright
March 3, Louise Gluch
March 24, Galway Kinnell
http://www.lectures.org/events.html
Richard Hugo House
1634 Eleventh Ave, Seattle
See http://www.hugohouse.org/events/ for the latest schedule of events.
Workshops With Engstrom
Author and teacher Elizabeth Engstrom will present a series of workshops in 2003. Kick Start Your Novel is a four-session hands-on workshop where participants write the four key scenes of their novels in class. Kick Start Your Novel will be presented in Pleasanton, California and Durango, Colorado. Engstrom will also present The Architecture of Fiction, a one-day seminar on the building blocks of both novels and short stories, in Pleasanton and Durango. In Oregon, she'll be holding the renowned Ghost Story Weekend, where each participant will craft a short ghost story in less than twenty-four hours. This class resulted in a book, Dead on Demand-The Best of Ghost Story Weekend, which spent six months on the Library Journal bestseller list. Engstrom hopes for a sequel. For more information, or for a brochure on any of these workshops, please email Liz@ElizabethEngstrom.com.
Sunshine Coast School of Writing Workshops, B.C.
Workshops are held from 9 to 4 at Gibsons Heritage School in Gibsons, B.C. The cost is $75, including lunch and snacks. For detailed information, and assistance with accommodations and travel plans, contact Carol Hodgson at (604) 886-8951, or email c_hodgson@sunshine.net.
Feb. 22, Self Publishing: How to make a Good Living Writing and Selling Your Own Book(s), Paul Blakey,Twin Eagles Publishing. Learn the art of successfully producing your own book, identifying your niche market, designing, printing and promoting your book.
March 15, Writing from Life, Lois Peterson. Explore ways to access your memories, opinion, interests and preoccupations. Develop skills and strategies for shaping at least five germs of ideas into poems, stories, essays, articles or memoirs. Review marketing techniques to help your work find a good home.
April 26, Selling Your Book: Capturing the Publisher's Attention, Betty Keller. In this hands-on workshop learn how to write a query letter and how to groom your book proposal for maximum impact. Participants may submit a synopsis of their project (no more than five pages) in advance of the workshop.
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HOW I WRITE
by Dr. Richard Lederer
Ernest Hemingway's first rule for writers was to apply the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair. But not all authors are able to survive with such a simple approach.
Emil Zola pulled the shades and composed by artificial light. Francis Bacon, we are told, knelt each day before creating his greatest works. Martin Luther could not compose unless his dog was lying at his feet, while Ben Jonson needed to hear his cat purring. Thomas Carlyle and Marcel Proust worked in noise-proof chambers. Alexander Pope and Jean Baptiste Racine could not write without first declaiming at the top of their voices. Johann Schiller started each of his writing sessions by opening the drawer of his desk and breathing in the fumes of the rotten apples he had stashed there.
Some writers have donned gay apparel. For stimulation, Honore de Balzac wrote in a monk's costume and drank at least twenty cups of coffee a day, eventually dying of caffeine poisoning. As his vision failed, James Joyce took to wearing a milkman's uniform when he wrote, believing that its whiteness caught the sunlight and reflected it onto his pages. Victor Hugo went to the opposite lengths to ensure his daily output of verbiage. He gave all his clothes to his servant with orders that they be returned only after he had finished his day's quota.
Compared to such strategies, my daily writing regimen is drearily normal. Perhaps that's because I'm a nonfictionalist -- a hunter-gatherer of language who records the sounds that escape from the holes in people's faces, leak from their pens, and luminesce up on their computer screens. I don't drink coffee. Rotten fruit doesn't inspire (literally "breathe into") me. My lifelong, heels-over-head love affair with language is my natural caffeine and fructose.
To be a writer, one must behave as writers behave. They write. And write. And write. The difference between a writer and a wannabe is that a writer is someone who can't not write, while a wannabe says, "One of these days when . . ., then I'll . . . ." Unable not to write, I write every day that I'm home.
A grocer doesn't wait to be inspired to go to the store or a banker to go to the bank. I can't afford the luxury of waiting to be inspired before I go to work. Writing is my job, and it happens to be a job that almost nobody gives up on purpose. I love my job as a writer, so I write. Every day that I can.
Long ago, I discovered that I would never become the great American novelist. I stink at cobbling characters, dialogue, episode, and setting. You won't find much of that fictional stuff in my books, unless the story serves the ideas I am trying to communicate. A writer has to find out which kind of writer he or she is, and I somehow got born an English teacher with an ability to reveal ideas about language and literature.
Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote only in the early morning, Alain Rene Lesage at midday, and Lord Byron at midnight. Early on, I also discovered that I am more lark than owl -- more a morning person than a night person -- and certainly not a bat, one who writes through the night. I usually hit the ground punning at around 7:30 a.m. and am banging away at the keyboard within an hour.
I write very little on paper, almost everything on my computer. My work possesses an informational density, and the computer allows me to enter all manner of matter onto the hard drive and accumulate that density. Theodore Sturgeon once wrote, "Nine-tenths of everything is crap." The computer allows me to dump crap into the hard drive without the sense of permanence that handwriting or type on paper used to signify to me. I'm visual, and shape my sentences and paragraphs most dexterously on a screen. The computer has not only trebled my output. It has made me a more joyful, liberated, and better writer.
Genetic and environmental roulette have allowed me to be able to work in a silent or a noisy environment. I'm a speaker as well as a writer, so phone calls and faxes and e-messages chirp and hum and buzz in my writing room, and I often have to answer them during those precious morning hours. That's all right with me. Fictionalists shut the world out. Fictionalists live with their imaginary characters, who get skittish and may flee a noisy room. As I cobble my essays, my readers are my companions, and they will usually stay with me in my writing space through outerworldly alarms and excursions.
Besides, the business of the writing business gives me the privilege of being a writer. In fact, I consider the writing only about a half of my job. Writers don't make a living writing books. They make a living selling books. After all, I do have to support my writing habit.
When you are heels over head in love with what you do, you never work a day. That's me butt over teakettle in love with being a writer -- a job that nobody who works it would give up on purpose. Imagine: a job that nobody wants to leave.
Dr. Richard Lederer, speaker and instructor for WIWC 2003, will be present throughout the conference and plans to "hang out with the folks." He is the author of more than 3,000 books and articles about language and humor, including his best-selling Anguished English series. Richard's syndicated column, "Looking at Language," appears in newspapers and magazines throughout the United States. He has been elected International Punster of the Year, named by Toastmasters International as its 2002 Golden Gavel winner and is a board member for Writer's Digest. You can explore Richard's Web site at: www.verbivore.com.
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SONG WRITING FIRESIDE CHAT HOUSE ADDED TO WIWC 2003
A Song Writing Fireside Chat House will be added to WIWC 2003 if five or more registrants enroll. Presenters include the song writing team Janis and Rick Carnes who have written for Reba McIntyre, Alabama, Garth Brooks, Conway Twitty, Lacy J. Dalton, Janie Fricke and many more country stars. Singer/song writer Maggie Savage will also teach at the chat house. She has led song writing workshops at Northwest Folklife Festival for over 10 years and performed regularly at Folklife for about two decades.
If you have already signed up for a fireside chat, but want to change it to Song Writing, notify Micky Coleman at baglady@whidbey.net. If you are registered for WIWC 2003, and have not yet selected your fireside chat, go to http://www.whidbey.com/writers/conference/chatform.htm and complete the form as instructed.
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OPPORTUNITY FOR WIWA MEMBERS TO SELL/SIGN THEIR BOOKS AT CONFERENCE
Limited space is available for WIWA members enrolled in WIWC 2003 to sell/sign their books at the Conference Saturday lunch. A small display area will be provided on a first come, first served basis. Participants may sell their books themselves at this time, or they may contract with our bookseller to sell their books on consignment through the Conference Bookstore. If you are a member of WIWA and the author of a published book that you would like to sell during the conference, contact Nancy Ruff at ruffcarr@whidbey.com for details.
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BENEFITS OF A WRITERS CONFERENCE
by Don McQuinn
Questioning the benefit of a writers conference as a learning environment can lead to an interesting debate, and I've found that if there's not a genuine argument to be had, debate can sometimes plug the gap.
The problem starts with a false assumption; many people believe a writers conference exists to import experts who'll teach attendees how to write. Unfortunately, no one can teach anyone how to write. That said, is there any point in attending a gathering that seemingly purports to do just that? Of course there is, because no one familiar with writers conferences -- or writing -- hopes to teach you to write. The goal is to help you learn to write better. To be a writer, you have to bring something to the table at a conference. It's not enough to show up, bright and alert, and expect someone with a magic wand to wave it, feather-breath light, across your brow and bring forth all the goodies you have stored in there. (Wait until the publishing industry decides you're a professional. You'll find the that magic wand transmuted into a horsewhip, the target area will be far removed from your brow, and I promise you the words will flow as unto a spring freshet. Although no spring freshet ever howled so.) Unless you've already written something, but intend to participate in discussing the art of it anyhow, we're not involved in writing, we're off into public speaking. When you arrive, paper in hand, words on paper, the benefits of the conference are there for you because now you can begin to authoritatively analyze what you've done. The people the conference has brought in to talk about your work can begin to comment on how and where you can more effectively apply the techniques of fiction. Please note that word -- techniques. That's the key. Techniques can be taught. In fact, are taught, and successfully. The better a writer understands them and the more skillfully a writer employs them determines the quality of the writing.
The conference is where we discover the difference between a professional's use of the tools available and an amateur's more uncertain presentation. As an attendee, we all have to understand that the presenters are the same as everyone else. They have trouble remembering if it's i before e, they war with the insidious comma, they have to stop and think if it's "her and me," "her and I," or just "us'ns." But they practice with their tools. They not only learn of their existence, but probe into the reasons for them, their capabilities and weakness, and they work hard.
Writing is work. Successful writing must exhibit craft. If it transcends craft -- and we all wish we could make that happen -- it becomes art. But it remains work, no matter what.
You, a writer, put words on paper. Foremost, then, you need a reason to do that, and the most common is to tell a story. What distinguishes good storytelling from mere recitation is knowing how to tell your tale. The most exciting idea cannot succeed unless the writer presents his or her ideas interestingly. That's the function of technique. Voice won't make a story sing, nor will style. Technique -- and the understanding of technique -- is the only way to create characters, develop a plot, assign point of view, invent lifelike dialogue and so on. Learn the techniques and voice and style will follow; they cannot lead. The presenters at a conference are there to share any skills they've acquired. They're there to help you succeed. The attendees' responsibility is to relate what the presenters say to their own work. More than that, attendees have a responsibility to ask questions. A presenter is, by the nature of the situation, forced to speak in generalities. An attendee must translate that into more personal specifics, i.e:, How can I make this character's nervousness in this particular scene more obvious to the reader without over-emphasizing? A presenter may have a concrete suggestion. More likely, he or she will try to guide you to see that character and that scene a bit more clearly yourself. That done, your words will take you where you want to go. Quite possibly the presenter will illustrate through example how he or she handled the same problem, or describe someone else's particular technique for handling it. The thing is, every writer faces similar situations and has to struggle through them. And is glad to help the next person do the same.
If there's one thing about a writers conference that distinguishes it from any other learning experience, I believe it to be that sharing. I said earlier that the writers who come to a conference as presenters are the same as any attendee. Certainly, they're more successful, but they started at the same zero point as everyone else. Even now, they don't know anything any attendee can't learn. Perhaps they have a greater portion of that magic elixir we call talent, but that's not necessarily a cinch bet, either. Maybe they've worked harder, but that's nothing that can't be duplicated. One trait in common, however, is that they'll tell any attendee everything and anything they know about creating whatever it is they write. They'll ask how an attendee does it, too, and swap experiences and talk about experiments that failed or succeeded because a writer is forever looking for ways to better hone his or her own techniques. A writers conference is where writers of all levels of skill meet on common ground to benefit each other. Show me the university class where that sort of exchange is possible, much less the rule.
To repeat, a writers conference isn't an engine to teach writing. What it actually is is the best learning experience possible for someone to learn technique. It doesn't teach you to think your thoughts or dictate how you present them. Only you can do your thinking, and only your unique perspective and personality can create your expression of those thoughts. All a writers conference can do is show you how to bring that expression to its finest point and instill in you the confidence necessary to share your accomplishment with others.
I'd say that's enough.
Don McQuinn will be teaching at WIWC 2003. He is the author of nine novels. Targets was a Book-Of-The-Month Club selection, the first Vietnam War-centered novel so chosen. Two futuristic speculative novels, Warrior and Witch were best sellers. Awards he has received include the Governors Award and the Pacific Northwest Writers Conference Achievement Award.
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WE WANT TO CELEBRATE YOUR WRITING
If you were published during the past year, we want to celebrate your success. Please email us the name of your piece, where and when it was published, a little bit about it, and how WIWC helped you get published. Also, be sure to tell us if you're coming to WIWC 2003, because we want to introduce you at the conference and have you share a few words about your success story. Please email your success stories to candace@whidbey.com.
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HOW TO MAKE YOURSELF IRRESISTIBLE TO ANY AGENT OR PUBLISHER
Part 4: Make a Total Commitment to Your Career and Persevere
by Michael Larsen, AAR
This is the last in a series of four articles by Michael Larsen, AAR, of the Larsen-Pomada Literary Agency, http://www.larsen-pomada.com. The article is adapted from Michael's book, Literary Agents: What They Do, How They Do It, and How to Find and Work with the Right One for You.
You are the most important factor in your success, so you must be totally committed to your career. Here's how:
-- Know yourself and your goals. To be a successful writer, you must have literary and financial goals that motivate you to write and promote your books. Set goals for what you want to write and for whom, and how much money you want to earn in a year from your writing. Then make sure that your publishing network agrees that your work can achieve your goals.
-- Reinvent yourself as an infopreneur. Start thinking of yourself as an entrepreneur, a self-employed professional running a small business. Practice "nichecraft." Develop a specialty. Once you've had one novel or nonfiction book published, you can present yourself as a professional when you try to sell your next book. If you pick the right subject or the kind of novel that lends itself to a series of books that you will enjoy writing and promoting, you can create your own brand and carve a career out of it.
Also think of yourself as an infopreneur who makes a living by coming up with ideas and selling them in as many media as possible.
-- Be passionate about your ideas and your books. People thrive on passion. If publishers believe in a book passionately, either because they love it, they think it will make money, or it simply must be published, they will publish it.
Only write books that you are passionate about creating and promoting. You will know more and care more about your books than anyone else. You want all of the links in the invisible book chain between you and the readers--your agent, the people at your publishing house, subsidiary-rights buyers, the media, booksellers and book buyers--to share your passion for your books. But it's transmitting your passion and the passion that your books arouse in others that forges the links in the chain.
-- Mobilize your networks. Develop two international professional networks online and off-line: a publishing network of people involved in writing and publishing, and a field network of every key person in the field involved with what you're writing about, whether it's mysteries or health. They will be powerful allies in your quest for success.
-- Do everything you can for your books. Visit your publisher, track your book closely through the publication process, and be of whatever help you can with cover art, catalog copy, and publicity materials. Be a professional but relentless advocate for your book.
-- Promote your books.
Two cannibals are having dinner and one says to the other: "You know, I don't like your publisher."
"OK," the other cannibal says, "then just eat the noodles."
The most common reason authors become disenchanted with their publishers is lack of promotion. Most books have a one-month window of opportunity to sink or swim in the continuing deluge of books. That window opens on pub date when books are in stores and reviews start to appear.
Large houses are looking for writers who are ready to pop, who are ready for the big time. For most nonfiction aimed at a wide national audience, the authors' ability to promote their books will usually be far more important than the content of their books in determining the editor, publisher and deal they receive for them. We can tell from two pieces of information whether we will be able to place such a book with a major house: the title and the promotion plan. For serious nonfiction books, the ability of authors to promote their work is less important. The only time to approach an agent is when two things are in place: Your proposal or manuscript is as strong as it can be, and the promotion plan for your book is as long and as strong as you can make it. The ability to promote books is becoming as vital for novelists as it is for nonfiction writers.
-- Keep growing. Don't let your desire to be a writer turn you into a one-sided personality. Strive to develop all of your potentials as a human being. Your personal growth will enhance your writing and promotion.
-- Don't let anything--especially fear, fame or fortune--stop you. The ultimate secret of becoming a successful author is making a total, lifetime commitment.
Persevere!
Now is the most exciting time ever to be alive, and it's the best time ever to be a writer. Information is doubling every eighteen months, and the age of information is also the age of the writer.
There are more
-- subjects to write about
-- forms, media and countries for your books to be published in
-- agents who need new writers
-- options to get your nonfiction books written
-- options for getting your books published
-- ways to learn about writing and publishing
-- ways to promote your books and profit from them than ever before
Always remember that as a writer, you are the most important person in the publishing process because you make it go.
With the right combination of talent, luck, and perseverance, you will succeed. The only absolute about writing, agenting, and publishing is to trust your instincts and common sense and to do whatever works.
The best piece of advice we have ever heard about becoming a successful writer: "If anything can stop you from becoming a writer, let it. If nothing can stop you, do it and you'll make it."
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ASK MIKE
by Michael Larsen, AAR
If you have a question for Michael Larsen AAR, of the Larsen-Pomada Literary Agency, http://www.larsen-pomada.com, you may email your request to candace@whidbey.com with the subject line,"Question for Mike."
Ellen Antonelli asks:
Q: I recently finished my first novel, which includes about a dozen poems from other authors. When and how should I get my work copyrighted? Is this done before giving it to an agent? Should I copyright it before having acquaintances proof-read it?
A: Attorneys have advised me that work is copyrighted the moment it takes tangible form, that is, the moment you print it out. My experience is that once your work is accepted for publication, your publisher will get a copyright for you in your name. Putting a copyright on work submitted to agents or publishers suggests the writer is an amateur.
Q: How should I deal with the poetry that is not mine? If I try to copyright my novel, will it be turned down because of the inclusion of this other material? Or, do I wait for a publisher to get permission for reprinting the poetry? Does my agent do that? Thanks for any help you can give me.
A: If the copyright on a poem has expired, it is in public domain, and you don't need to get permission to use it. If a poem is not in public domain, your publisher will probably expect you to contact whomever controls the copyright and pay for permission to use the poem in your book. The trade directory Literary Market Place lists the rights-and-permission people at publishing houses to contact.
Before giving you a price, the rights-and-permission person may want to know the name of your publisher, whether your book will be a hardcover or a trade paperback, the size of the first printing, and territory for which you want permission: the United States and its possessions, Canada, and non-exclusive English-language rights elsewhere; World English; and translation rights. You should be able to get a range of low-to-high prices that publishers charge for the rights you want and use the number midway between them as an estimate. Unless your book will have strong potential for foreign rights, it may not be worthwhile to buy the rights to use the poems abroad.
You may find that the cost of permissions may exceed their value to the book. Your publisher may not think the poems are needed or may suggest other poems. So don't pay for permissions until your publisher accepts your manuscript. Your publisher will have a permissions form you can use.
Michael Larsen's answers are his opinions only. For legal advice, he and WIWA advise you to contact an attorney who specializes in intellectual property and copyright law.
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PRE-CONFERENCE RETREATS
Three of the four pre-conference retreats are full, but a few day-only openings are still available in Poetry, which will be held Thursday, February 27. The sessions are full day intensive workshops from 9:00 to 4:30 and are for the serious writer. Each retreat is limited to the first ten people who register. The cost for the day-retreat (no lodging) is $125 and includes lunch on Thursday. For more information, email writers@whidbey.com or call (360) 331-6714.
Marian Dane Bauer will teach the children's retreat, Planning Your Story. FULL
Larry Karp will teach the fiction retreat, You're Not Stuck -- Your Story Is. FULL
Gary Ferguson will teach the nonfiction retreat, From Life to Literature: The Personal Essay. FULL
Sheila Bender, poet, essayist, author of over six books on writing, writing professor and publisher of WritingItReal.com, will teach the poetry retreat Speaking from the Deep Voice By Writing Free Verse Poems. When poems grow organically they become as rites, or in W.H. Auden's words, exhibit "balance, closure, and aptness." Come learn how tracking and fostering the poetic organization of your own free verse can help you in this rite making. Through exercises and workshop responses to poems-in-progress, as well as discussions of mechanics, craft and style, poets will concentrate on shaping new poems through listening to the cadences and soul-organized phrasing of language. Join Sheila for a day of generating material and shaping words into vibrant free-verse poetry. Although participants may also bring work-in-progress to share with the group and develop, this is not required since we will all create new works during the retreat.
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YOUTH SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS TO WIWC 2003
Scholarship Coordinator Nancy Ruff recently announced five youth scholarship winners to WIWC 2003. The high school winners are: Kacea Pollard-Johnson of South Prairie, WA; Jared Sandmann of Lawrence, Ohio; Lucilena Day Williams of Bellingham, WA; and Amy Brown from Whidbey Island. The college winners are Tyler Miller of Cheney, WA and Michael Leese of Freeland, WA.
These and other WIWC scholarships are provided by Eva and Joe Shaw of Writeriffic Publishing Group, Katherine Sands of Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency, Michael Larsen and Elizabeth Pomada Literary Agency, Dan Poynter of Para Publishing, Veronica Randall of Celestial Arts, Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Manus and Associates Agency and the Whidbey Island Writers Association in memory of Edna Hansen.
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CHEERS
Your good news cheers us on! Please share your successes with us. email the editor at: candace@whidbey.com.
See the February issue of Log Home Living for Candace Allen's latest feature, As Luck Would Have It.
WIWC 2002 participant Kristina Bak won first place in the MOTA 3 Emerging Writers Contest for her short story Voices and first place for her essay I Always Cry When I Leave in the Grampians' Writers Group, Inc. competition in Victoria, Australia.
WIWA Public Relations Coordinator Nancy Barlett recently had her essay, Panic, In Any Other Language, accepted for the anthology Sand in My Bra: Funny Women Write from the Road, a publication from Travelers Tales Guides. The anthology is scheduled for release April 2003.
Rae Ellen Lee's book, The Bluebird House, was named a finalist in the Salt Lake County Library's semi-annual Readers Choice Award. The overall winner will be announced in May.
Congratulations go to Kathie Sutin who for the second consecutive year was named Missouri Communicator of the Year by the Missouri Press Women. Kathie received the honor in recognition of her newspaper and magazine writing and photography, for which she has amassed many awards. In addition, the National Federation of Press Women recently awarded Kathie first place for an advertising photo and third place for a press release.
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THE WHIDBEY CONFERENCE: A SEARCH FOR SIGNIFICANCE
by Katherine Bynum
When the lights went out at the airport, I thought I should have stayed home in my nice warm bed. I walked through checkpoints wondering if I was hiding anything, and a small attendant searched the bottom of my feet. Whidbey Island was going to be great, but this Oklahoma girl was hunting for some stiff coffee.
My mind woke up as the plane took off from the runway. Passengers became foreign things as I realized I was actually on my way. A song on the radio spoke of finding a "better part of me." I suppose that’s what led me to this adventure, and ultimately gave me a purpose.
Upon arriving at the Conference, after the ferry ride, bus ride, and short walk pulling a stubborn suitcase up an inclined slope, I realized I had very few social skills. I didn't know how to talk about my dreams. This was soon remedied by meeting people who knew everything about creativity. It was like finally "belonging." The feeling that everyone around you is just as twisted and obsessed.
The most profound thing I learned the first night was to be able to say, "I am a writer." This may seem silly, but confidence is a rare commodity and no one is standing in line to encourage you. I also learned not to apologize for anything. Just hand someone your work and let it stand on its own merit. One lady even told me to stop talking. I froze mid sentence like one of those big mouth bass that people have stored in some forgotten closet. What an amazing thing! I didn't have to be ashamed or explain about the story, or my motivation, or how my character might seem a bit demented.
A fireside chat was held in a beautiful house with beautiful food and furnishings. I forgot that unwritten rule not to sit on a comfy sofa. You sink down so low that you have to peer over the side of a cushion like a six-year-old and they can't see your hand when you have a question. I became invisible for about two hours.
Saturday held a virtual buffet of speakers. I took so many notes that I am still deciphering them a year later. They spoke on letting words dance, talking to characters like they were real people, and getting inspired with no visible inspiration. They also said you should be the type of author that publishing houses love to work with. These things sink into your skin and develop the writer that you'll take back home to your family.
Sunday came quickly. I attended a screenwriting session because my brain was too saturated to take anything seriously. Everyone's eyes were wide as saucers when Burl Barer shared his stories of murder and mayhem. I checked to see where the exits were.
The finale started and I left to spend some time at the Dog House with a plate of fish and chips. This is my first stop for the 2003 conference; however, I'm changing my flight plans this year not to include stops in any state with Olympic activities. It takes too long to search through gifts bought for six children, a guinea pig, and a husband who likes hats.
My first piece sold in April, but won't come out until next year. I sent in a couple of articles to the local parenting publication and became a writer on assignment; doing interviews and cover stories. I pretended to know what I was doing and it worked. That's another thing that Whidbey taught me.
Now I live in Nashville. I put my writer's jacket on every morning and sit at the computer for a few hours doing the thing I love. Researching, listening and downloading my brain onto a crisp white page. Then I turn into mom: make toast, clean floors, cook slightly burnt meals and bandage mangled fingers.
A lot of us wade through so many piles of paperwork and relentless chores, that we hardly take a moment to listen to that voice inside, urging us to find out who we really are. The secret is in beginning. If your dream is to become a writer, go to a conference. Enjoy the time and laugh a little. I suppose that the journey toward being a writer is less about becoming significant and more about finding the significance that is already there.
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STUDENTS TO HEAR BEST SELLING AUTHORS
My Teacher Glows in the Dark. My Teacher Fried My Brains. Aliens Ate My Homework. The Cat Ate My Gym Suit.
Sound like a conversation overheard between two ten-year-old kids? It's really the names of some of the top selling books for children. Ask your kids. They've probably read them and several more you ought to know about, like Can You Sue Your Parents for Malpractice. On February 28, South Whidbey Island Primary and Intermediate School students, along with 80 guest students from Coupeville and Oak Harbor, will have an opportunity to meet the authors Bruce Coville and Paula Danziger. It's all part of the Young Writers Conference that the Whidbey Island Writers Association is co-sponsoring for the third year.
On Feb. 27 author Richard Lederer, who describes himself as a "fly-by-the-roof-of-the-mouth user-friendly English teacher, Wizard of Idiom, Attila the Pun, and Conan the Grammarian" will speak to South Whidbey Middle School students along with Randall Platt, author of seven novels, including three in the Fe-As-Ko series. All the authors, who will be in town to speak at the 5th annual Whidbey Island Writers Conference, have agreed to spend time with Whidbey Island’s students.
The Young Writers Conference wants to talk with published writers who'd like to volunteer to teach at the Young Writers Conference. If you are interested, please contact writers@whidbey.com.
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CONTESTS AND MARKET REQUESTS
Mindprints, a literary journal of short fiction, memoir, art and poetry, is published annually by the Learning Assistance Program at Allan Hancock College. The editors invite writers and artists with disabilities as well as those with an interest in the field to submit their creative work. Preference is given to short stories and memoirs of 250 to 750 words and poems up to 34 lines. Occasionally, longer pieces are considered. The submission deadline is April 1. Payment is one copy. For detailed submission guidelines, see: http://www.hancock.cc.ca.us/studentservices/learning_assistance/mindprints/, or you may email the editor, WIWA member, Paul Fahey, at: pafahey@hancock.cc.ca.us.
Authorlink 2003 Internationl New Author Awards Competition
Submission deadline: March 10. Reading fee. For details, see: http://www.authorlink.com/contest_03_entryphase.html
Books for Life Foundation
Named after the founding benefactor of the foundation, $25,000 John T. Lupton "New Voices In Literature" Awards honor the finest query letters and book proposals for both fiction and non-fiction works not previously published by traditional means.
Entry fee information, submission deadlines and competition rules are available at www.booksforlifefoundation.com.
Glimmer Train Short Story Award for New Writers
Submission dates: Feb. 1 through March 31. Reading fee. For details, see: http://www.glimmertrain.com/shorawfornew2.html.
ByLine Sponsors Contests
Check out ByLine's Web site http://www.bylinemag.com/contests.asp for the many contests it is sponsoring through June 2003.
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SOUTH WHIDBEY READS
In case you haven't heard, South Whidbey Reads, a joint project of the Langley, Freeland and Clinton Libraries, chose Montana 1948 by Larry Watson for its community-wide reading campaign, "What if All South Whidbey Read the Same Book?" Copies of the book are available from the libraries or at local bookstores. The program centers on everyone reading the same book and then getting together for discussion in neighborhoods, book clubs, high school classes and libraries. Hints for leading discussions are available at the local libraries and on the Internet at: http://www.sno-isle.org/readers/discussion/south_whidbey.html.
"We see it as an opportunity to bring the community together around something fun and different," said Marti Anamosa, president of the Friends of the Langley Library.
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REMEMBERING EDNA
by Kathie Sutin
My heart has been heavy since your last newsletter brought word of Edna Hansen's passing. What sad, sad news. Whidbey has lost one of it's most enthusiastic residents, the writers conference has lost one its most creative forces and the world has lost a beautiful soul.
For me, Whidbey will never be the same as Edna was a big part of my link with the island.
I had never heard of your beautiful little island when I found a notice on the Net about your writers conference back in 1998. The conference, coming up in February of 1999, sounded like a great opportunity to expand my writing horizons.
Coming from the middle of the country, I was worried about traveling so far to a place I knew nothing about. I expressed my concerns about where I would stay to Celeste and I remember her telling me that accommodations on Whidbey ranged from hotels to bed & breakfasts. "We even have a place where you can stay for $10 a night," she said. With conference expenses and a hefty bill for airline tickets, the price was appealing. But, it sounded too good to be true. What, I worried, would I be getting myself into?
Celeste explained the accommodations were dorm-style at the geodesic dome home of island resident Edna Hansen and her husband Chris who had built the house himself. Edna turned her huge lower level into a dorm for teachers who attended a workshop she held each summer at her home and she was doing the same for the writers conference, Celeste said. Sounded interesting but I remained skeptical. What, I thought again, would I be getting myself into?
Celeste gave me Edna's number and told me to call her. With fear and trepidation, I did.
What a delightful surprise! Edna answered the phone in her inimitable voice full of playfulness, laughter and enthusiasm. Soon we were chatting as if we had known each other forever. Within minutes, I knew I had found a friend. We talked for over an hour about all kinds of things and when I put down the phone, I knew I made the right decision when I told her I would put a check in the mail to lock in my reservation.
In true Edna style, I soon received a warm letter from her telling me how she looked forward to meeting me. She enclosed a photo of her home. Taken from an airplane, the photo showed her beautiful geodesic dome house under towering cedars. I could hardly wait to see it and those beautiful trees -- and to meet this vivacious woman named Edna.
After the flight to Seattle, I picked up a rental car and, with Edna's excellent directions, I negotiated my way to Mukilteo. From the beginning, the experience was somewhat surreal. How foreign for me, a landlocked Midwesterner, to queue up to a ferry and then drive onto it. Hesitantly, unsure if it was permitted, I stepped out of the car and made my way to the edge of the boat to watch as the island filled the viewfinder on my camera. What a magnificent place! Too soon, the trip was over and I nervously got back into my car to prepare for the exit from the ferry and my first meeting with Edna. Would she really be as warm and friendly as she was on the phone? I needn't have worried.
I made my way down the streets on Edna's map and soon found myself on Windfall Lane. It looked exactly as she had described it, and Edna was exactly as she had been on the phone -- bubbly and enthusiastic and interested in everything, especially, I learned, the brain, which was her area of study. We talked long into the night about everything -- our children (I marveled at how she raised six so well when I found my three a handful) our lives, my freelance writing, her work with impoverished young mothers in Los Angeles before moving to Whidbey, her views on education and her writing aspirations. Edna also told me of the Dibbers and Dabbers in her mind, little creatures that would surely, I thought, make a great book for children of all ages. She told me how enthusiastic the representative of one of the publishing companies at the conference was about her Dibbers and Dabbers. She would work on the book, if only she could find the time. Edna, you see, was a woman of many talents and interests and when she wasn't busy with her family and the preschool she operated, she was giving workshops and talks on the brain, dreaming up creative ways to teach children and adults about the brain, encouraging others, reading, reading, reading -- and writing other things.
In just a few days, I felt I had known Edna all my life. She was thrilled when I gave her copies of some magazines where my work had appeared. I was, she said, the only person she knew (at that point) who was a published writer. I explained that as a journalist, it wasn't as difficult to be published as it is when you write fiction.But she was unfalteringly enthusiastic about my work nonetheless.
When the conference was over, I stayed another couple of days to spend a little more time with my new friend. She showed me the most interesting places in Langley and beaches I would have otherwise missed. And, of course, we talked and talked and talked. You could, I realized, talk to Edna for hours, even days, and still have lots more to talk about. She was just one interested and interesting person. You just couldn't help loving her enthusiasm.
I wasn't able to make it to the conference the next year, but every once in a while I'd call Edna and we'd catch up on news. She was always eager to hear about the topics I was writing about in my freelance work and the awards I had won. I've never had a bigger cheerleader for my endeavors than Edna. And I was always eager to hear about her children, her workshops and her other activities. "What about the Dibbers and Dabbers?" I'd ask. "I just haven't had time," she'd say. "I've got to get to them."
In 2001, I once again attended the conference and spent several lovely days with Edna and Chris. She and I kicked around the idea of collaborating on a book on the state of education in the U.S. today -- Edna had the ideas; I have the journalistic skills.I knew with Edna's insight -- and her great title for this book -- it would be a blockbuster. I also told her how much I wanted to bring my children to the island. I wanted them to meet this woman about whom they had heard so much, this enthusiastic little bundle of energy who could stay up half the night exchanging ideas on just about everything.
Alas, it was not to be. I learned of Edna's illness when I spoke to her last summer not long after her surgery. She was as upbeat as ever, full of laughter, good spirits and hope. She told me she envisioned her body fighting the disease, that her Dibbers and Dabbers were doing battle for her. If attitude could make a difference in the outcome of this very grave illness, Edna would be all right, I thought. Sadly, it didn't make enough of a difference.
She left far too soon. There were so many other things to write about, so many tales of the Dibbers and Dabbers to tell. I am ever so thankful that I took a chance on those $10-a-night accommodations back in 1999. Otherwise, I would have missed knowing this incredibly positive, enthusiastic woman.
So long, dear Edna. You are missed. May the Dibbers and Dabbers watch over you, Friend.
In loving memory, WIWA has created an annual Edna Hansen Scholarship to the Whidbey Island Writers Conference.
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CYBER SURFING
Have you encountered some helpful Internet sites? Send us the address and your brief review.
Nancy Ruff, WIWC scholarship coordinator, first introduced me to Bookcrossing, an interesting way to share your books with the world. See http://www.bookcrossing.com/ for information about how to participate.
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QUOTES
Celeste Mergens submitted one of her favorite quotes:
Everyone who has ever taken a shower has had an idea. It's the person who gets out of the shower, dries off, and does something about it that makes a difference. --Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari
The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense. --Tom Clancy
I didn't have time to right a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead. -- Mark Twain
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PROBLEMS READING THE NEWSLETTER ?
If you have trouble reading the WIWA Newsletter because of gobbledygook, or unwanted characters, please contact the editor at: candace@whidbey.com. She will put you on a list to receive the newsletter in plain, instead of stylized, format, which may alleviate the problem. You may also read prior issues online at: http://www.whidbey.com/writers/newsletter
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TO CONTACT US OR SUBMIT AN ARTICLE
We are interested in hearing from you. Perhaps you've been to a recent book fair, heard a favorite author speak, or learned valuable tips from a writing class. Perhaps you're a professional willing to share your expertise. If you would like to submit an article; tell us about your good news for the Cheers or Recent Releases columns; send us your favorite quotes, markets, contests and cyber sites; or contact us about the newsletter for