Conde Nast magazines like Wired, The New Yorker and Vanity Fair have a new contract that changes the film option agreement (think about films based on articles like Argo, Brokeback Mountain, and Eat Pray Love This article warn writers about some of the pitfalls.
Drunk Monkeys is an eclectic web zine that provides a home for emerging writers and poets, offers in-depth discussion of cultural issues, and features critiques of film and television that rely on analysis rather than snark.
Very good overview article on thinking about your writing career. When the time is right, my clients and I discuss the business aspects of writing. This ranges from our first contact when they’re wondering whether their work is marketable to considering their audience’s needs during editing or rewriting. When the final product is done, we then discuss market trends that will impact their choice of agents and publishers.
Publishing is a business and, as the author, you must consider yourself the CEO of your book. From start to finish—the germ of a book idea to publication (and beyond)—you must take charge. If you make good business decisions, you will surely experience greater success. If not, then, you could be one of the nearly 78 percent of authors who fail.
Writing the Perfect Query Letter with Laine Cunningham, presented by Alice Osborn
Location: Center for Excellence, 3803-B Computer Dr. Suite 106, Raleigh, NC 27609
Saturday, March 9 Time: 1:30-4:30pm
Fee: $55 (Early Bird till March 1st)/$75 after
Registration: Click here
Your query letter is every bit as important as the opening pages of your novel. It’s your first opportunity to show your writing skills to a prospective agent or editor. Make it count! Make it shine! A good query letter should make that editor and agent want to read your material…and it should grab their hearts in the thirty seconds or so they give each query in their pile. In this class, publishing consultant and owner of the Writer’s Resource Laine Cunningham will discuss the three important elements to inject into your query so you can get published. Fiction and nonfiction authors writing books, stories or articles will benefit from this class.
Laine Cunningham’s clients consistently garner attention from the nation’s top publishers and agents. Several of her clients’ books have been shopped around Hollywood and have received film options. She has been quoted on CNN Money, Media Bistro, and The Writer Magazine for her opinion on the end of the Harry Potter series, the “Oprah Effect,” and Sarah Palin’s ghostwriter. She has presented workshops and lectures for The Loft, the nation’s largest independent literary organization; the National Writer’s Union; The Writer’s Workshop in Asheville and writing conferences across the country.
Article about the author of books that were made into films starring Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. Some critics said the fact that he wrote in many categories meant he never honed his skills in any one genre. Agree or disagree?
http://nyti.ms/VWvkey
Great look at two brothers, the sons of Frank Rich and Gail Winston, and their own paths as writers.
When my first novel, Message Stick, was selected for the James Jones Fellowship, I met his daughter. She was kind enough to take me along to view some of her father’s archives, a moment that was reflective and moving. She has written about this same journey at different times of her life. Look up her essays and memoirs for more.
This article from Review Review is probably familiar to those of you who write short stories. Too often authors hear from agents and publishers that their collection is fantastic in so many ways…but they aren’t interested unless the author also has a novel.
I’ve sponsored a writing contest for the last four years. When I first approached the literary magazine that administers the contest, the publisher and senior editor both agreed that short story collections, linked or not, would be accepted and encouraged as submissions.
Last year a collection won first place, and in previous years, collections have placed second, third, or as honorable mention. The Blotter and I are very clear in our support of short stories as viable, living art.
Short story and nonfiction contest.
The First Place winner will receive a $200 cash award and consideration for publication in the Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC’s upcoming anthology, entitled, Once Around the Sun: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Tales for All Seasons.* Our previous anthology, A Christmas Sampler: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Holiday Tales (2009), won two Next Generation Indie Book Awards: Best Anthology and Best Short Fiction.
BUILDING AN AUTHOR PLATFORM
When: Saturday, January 19, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Where: Downtown Thai Restaurant, 202 W. Fourth St.
Register: http://www.wswriters.org/creative-seminar
Cost: $30 (members) / $40 (non-members) (lunch included)
Dena Harris and Chris Laney will help you build your author brand in a seminar that could be critical to your writing career. Sponsored by the Winston-Salem Writers.
Writing workshop and retreat.
WOMEN, WRITING, AND SOUL-MAKING: A TWO-DAY FEARLESS WRITING RETREAT
This two-day, non-residential writing retreat for women in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Asheville, North Carolina, inspires women writers to explore creativity and give voice to their truth in a safe circle.
Writing workshop from Alice Osborn
Immerse yourself in a weekend of writing without interruption in the mountains of Western Carolina. This is your answer to, “I’ll write when I can find the time!” Empowered women are powerful writers—grab your power so you can dream and accomplish your dreams of writing your story! Together over the course of this weekend, we’ll delve into our stories of defining moments, healing and self discovery.
Great blog entry from Camille Dungy on one very important aspect of writing.
Another contest that offers prizes in several formats: short story, essay, poetry, and interview.
Check out these 10 writing tips that are useful no matter what you’re writing. From author Janet Fitch.
For book authors, here are 20 low-cost ways to market your books.
Writer's Resource/Sunspot Lit 