LUCKY YOU!
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Because you joined SCBWI Caribbean South's blog/ googlegroup you get to fill in the blanks!
Here are the further details from our
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1. CALL FOR ENTRIES - THREE US $1,000 PRIZES for your children's sci-fistories 800 words..... Why play lotto when you can fulfill your creative dreams? Could be your turn to win!!
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CONTACT: Senior Editor Marileta Robinson
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Three $1,000 Prizes to Be Awarded in Fiction Contest
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Highlights for Children will accept submissions to the publication's 29th annual fiction contest during the month of January 2008. Thecontest is open to anyone interested in writing for children and three winners will receive $1,000 each.
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For this year's contest, Highlights seeks stories set in the future.
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Under contest rules, any unpublished story is eligible, whether submitted by a professional or a new author. Previous winners have included both published and first-time authors.
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"Kids deserve the best, and we've long been committed to doing all we can to help raise the quality of writing for children," said editor inchief Christine French Clark. "Encouraging children's writers is what we do every day, but this annual contest allows us to recognize them in a special way. It's especially gratifying when we discover new talent.
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"Contest guidelines state that all entries must be postmarked between January 1 and January 31, 2008. The stories should not exceed 800 words, and they may be considerably shorter for younger children. Stories glorifying war or crime or containing violence or derogatory humor are not acceptable.
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Manuscripts or envelopes should be clearly marked "Fiction Contest. "Those not marked in this manner will be considered as regular submissions to the publication. There is no entry form or fee. Authors who wish their work to be returned should enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope with each submission.
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The three contest winners will be announced on Highlights.com in June2008. Winning manuscripts become the property of Highlights and will appear in the periodical at a later date. All other contest submissions will be considered for purchase at regular rates and terms. A list of winners will be sent by mail if a self-addressed stamped envelope is included with submissions.
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Highlights also accepts the submission of articles, stories, and fillers throughout the year.
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For guidelines or additional information, write to Fiction Contest, HIGHLIGHTS FOR CHILDREN, 803 Church Street, Honesdale, PA 18431.
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This promotional message was sent to Joanne Gail Johnson sarena@tstt.net.tt by Highlights for Children, 1800 Watermark Drive, Columbus, OH 43215.
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2. NEED HELP TO FILL IN THE BLANKS? - Get Published info you need to know!
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Here are some sobering statistics from Nielsen Bookscan, a company that in 2004 tracked the sales of 1.2 million books in the United States:
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Of those 1.2 million books, 950,000 sold fewer than 99 copies. Another 200,000 sold fewer than 1,000 copies. Only 25,000 books sold more than 5,000 copies. Fewer than 500 sold more than 100,000 copies. Only 10 books sold more than a million copies each. The average book in the United States sells about 500 copies.
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1) Agents and editors know these statistics. Because of that, you look like an amateur if you say your book will be a bestseller in your query letter or when you meet with them. They will then look for reasons to turn you down when they read your manuscript or proposal, rather than keeping an open mind.
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2) Writing a book just to make money doesn't usually work, unless you're already famous. If you're writing non-fiction, particularly as a way to promote your business, a book needs to be part of an overall strategy that includes publicity, developing a mailing list, and creating other products (paid newsletters, teleseminars, CDs, DVDs, boot camps, coaching and training programs, etc.) for which you can charge higher prices. According to a national survey, 81% of your friends and colleagues believe they have a book to write.
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NOVEL NOTES: THE FIRST FIVE PAGES
Here's the truth about how it works when you submit your novel or a book proposal to an agent/ editor: Typically, yours may be one of about two hundred submissions received gets in a week. With that kind of volume, the agent or his assistant is not reading carefully. Though they have a goal of finding new properties to sell, at this stage of the process agents have a different mission: rule out as many manuscripts as possible so they can spend more time reading the best stuff. In real terms, unless your manuscript is one of the top few in a given week, you'll get a polite rejection letter.
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Most agents will take five pages along with a query letter. And one of my agent friends says she skips the query altogether until she reads the sample five pages. But--and this is really important--since an agent is looking to rule out manuscripts that aren't ready, if your first page(and sometimes even your first paragraph) isn't strong enough, you will land in the reject pile.
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Literally every unpublished manuscript I have seen in the last few years has suffered from this problem. Even the best, which recently landed an agent, needed a complete re-do of the first two pages.
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Maybe it's because most people start their novels at the beginning, and they don't know their story or characters well enough until later in the book. Maybe new writers write better as they get further into the story.
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Whatever the case, you can't afford to wait until page three (or seven or fifty) for your best writing. It has to start with page one, sentence one, and continue with sentence two, sentence three, etc. Otherwise your manuscript is bound for the reject pile.
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What's the biggest reason agents get turned off by awriter's first page? Instead of starting where the real story begins, with the juicy stuff, writers fill their first pages with either dull, unnecessary scenes or background information that can be skipped. I've seen manuscripts that begin with the equivalent to the words that appear on the screen before a movie begins--the stuff that's too boring to waste money filming. Obviously, this is not the kind of writing that will make a great first impression on an agent.
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One of my favourite examples of a great beginning is from Jennifer Weiner's novel, 'Good In Bed'. It starts with a big event that propels the story. The first four words of this novel push you right into the story--the main character's best friend simply asks, 'Have you seen it?
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'The 'it' in question is an article by the protagonist's somewhat ex-boyfriend (they're taking a break), in anational magazine, titled 'Loving a Larger Woman. 'Her reaction to this article is entertaining and keeps you reading for a long time to come. Eventually Weiner fills you in on the story between the ex and the main character on a need to know basis, but she doesn't let it get in the way of the important material that's happening right now. This novel starts with the event that changes the main character's life--which is where most stories should begin. (There are other ways to start a novel, but this is a very good one.) Where does your novel start? And what can you cut from your beginning without hurting your story?
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My advice? Be ruthless. Here's to your bestseller!
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President
The Authors Team
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You may post or send these articles to anyone you want as long as you credit Mahesh Grossman as the author AND it includes the following information at the end of the article:
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Mahesh Grossman is the author of Write a Book Without Lifting a Finger(www.writeabooktoday.com) and President of The Authors Team (www.AuthorsTeam.com), a company that helps credible experts become Incredible Authors, through ghostwriting, editing, coaching, and publishing. He can be reached via e-mail at:
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For a free list of more than 400 agents as well as a newsletter with tips on how to find an agent, get published, publish your own book and get publicity for it, go to www.findagreatliteraryagent.com or www.AuthorsTeam.com.
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posted by SCBWI Caribbean South @ 5:53 PM
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