How To Write Magical Words: A Writer's Companion

by Unknown

  Getting the networking here off to a good start wasn’t hard to do. Misty and I knew one another already. I met David at a con and we clicked, and I liked both of their writing. We three wanted to do something online, but had no clear idea what—though the nebulous idea of appealing to writers and readers of fantasy (as well as other genres) was there at the start.

  Terms and Definitions Every Writer Should Know

  Edmund R. Schubert

  While I was at NASFIC 2010 in Raleigh, N.C., I attended a panel where an established writer started talking about cover letters. However, it quickly became clear from context that this writer was actually referring to query letters, not cover letters. The distinction between the two is not insignificant. So I thought I would take this opportunity to share a list that I frequently hand out at workshops: it contains a variety of terms and definitions that every writer should know, and know properly. It covers basic terms, terms specific to non-fiction, and terms likely to come up regarding contracts.

  GENERAL

  BYLINE Indicates who the author is. May sometimes include promotional material on the author. Example: Edmund R. Schubert is a freelance writer and editor. Information about his novel, Dreaming Creek, can be found at his website: www.edmundrschubert.com.

  COOL DOWN Setting aside your writing for anywhere from a few hours to a few months (for book projects) to allow you to return to it with a fresh eye for polishing and revision.

  COVER LETTER A cover letter is a brief letter of introduction that accompanies any submitted work. In many cases these are optional; in all cases they should be brief.

  CRITIQUE GROUP A group to read, edit, and offer advice and evaluation of your work. VERY IMPORTANT for writers to have people they can trust to offer honest feedback on their work. Can be an organized group that meets at a regular time, or a loose group of friends who read each others’ works as needed.

  ESSAY An essay represents the personal view/opinion of the writer.

  FREELANCE WRITER / EDITOR A freelancer works on various projects by contract, and is not the employee of any single magazine or publisher. However, freelancers often do maintain long-term relationships with editors and/or publishers.

  IDEA FILE A folder where you collect articles, columns, essays, phrases, words, reports, or anything else that catches your eye. When you’re searching for ideas on what to write about, go to your Idea Folder for inspiration. A must have for writers.

  GENRE The category a story, article, or script falls into. Examples: thriller, horror, science-fiction, romance. Non-fiction genres for magazine articles include self-help, how-to, opinion pieces, essays, inspirational, question and answer, interview, fillers, etc.

  HOOK The opening of your article or story is usually referred to as your hook; it is how you grab a reader’s attention. In a short story it is usually your first paragraph or two; in a magazine article it can be as little as your first sentence or even your title. In a novel it can be as much as your entire first chapter.

  MARKET GUIDE Includes submittal information on how to query magazines, editors, and publishers. Writer’s Market by Writer’s Digest books is probably the best known market guide.

  MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS Sending more than one piece of work at a time, i.e., mailing an editor three different query ideas all at once. USUALLY NOT A GOOD IDEA.

  NICHE Defining a specialty area to write for. For example, parenting, cooking, technology, etc.

  OUTLINE / SYNOPSIS A detailed description of a book (fiction or non-fiction) that you have written/are proposing to write. These can vary in length from one page to fifty pages, depending on the requirements of the publisher.

  PIECE Casual/industry term used almost interchangeably with "story" or "article." Refers to a "piece" of work you’re submitting. (See "Work" under CONTRACTS.)

  QUERY / QUERY LETTER In fiction, a query letter can either be a letter checking on the status of a previously submitted piece, or an inquiry as to a publisher’s interest in seeing a particular piece. In the case of the latter (gauging interest), this is done almost exclusively with novels, not with short fiction.

  RESPONSE TIME Term usually found in writer’s guideline indicating how long an author should expect to wait before hearing a response from the editor/publisher who is assessing their work. Do not query the editor/publisher until after this time has elapsed.

  SASE Self Addressed Stamped Envelope (needs to accompany all snail-mail submissions).

  SELF-PUBLISHED This means exactly what it sounds like: you published it yourself. On the one hand, it means that you incurred all the costs and risks associated with publishing a work (usually a book). On the other hand it also means that you did all the work and are entitled to 100% of the profits. Opinions vary on the pros and cons of self-publishing.

  SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSION Piece (query letter, article, short story, or novel) sent to more than one market at a time. VERY GOOD IDEA to simultaneously submit if allowed; VERY BAD IDEA if not. Check writer’s guidelines (usually posted on the publisher’s website) to see if allowed.

  SMALL-PRESS PUBLISHER This term generally applies to any of the smaller publishers working outside of New York City. They can vary considerably in their size and their ability to distribute/promote your work.

  SUBMISSIONS GUIDELINES A set of guidelines or rules the publisher wants all writers to follow concerning when, where, and how to submit work for publication. It covers everything from subject matter to font size and margins. Guidelines are readily available on the publisher’s website and should be strictly adhered to.

  WRITER’S BLOCK Times when you feel uninspired or unable to write. Some writers believe writer’s block to be a real obstacle while others consider it little more than an excuse to be lazy.

  VANITY PRESS Term used to describe any of the companies that you can pay to publish your book. Similar to self-publishing, but usually of a lower quality. This is generally considered to be the bottom-rung of the publishing food chain.

  VOICE The distinctive manner in which you choose and arrange words, phrases, ideas, and sentences on the page. Your writer’s "voice" reflects your personal take on a subject. Well-developed writer’s voices are often immediately recognizable on the page.

  WRITER’S GUIDELINES Specific details set out by a magazine on what type articles they’re seeking, length of articles, how to submit, who to contact, etc.

  CONTRACT TERMS

  ADVANCE / ADVANCE AGAINST ROYALTIES This is money paid to you by the publisher for a book (fiction or non-fiction) before the book is published. You will not be paid any more money until the book sells enough copies to earn this amount back for the publisher. Some publishers (usually smaller ones) do not pay an advance; they simply start paying royalties right away.

  AGENT / LITERARY AGENT This is essentially a professional negotiator who will represent your book when it is time to get/sign a contract. A good agent will protect the interests of you, their client, and only get paid when you get a contract from a publisher. If anyone claiming to be a literary agent offers you representation but asks you for money up front (anything from a signing fee to administrative fees), they are probably a scam artist.

  ALL RIGHTS Avoid this clause. This means you are selling every right you have to your work and so, in effect, it is no longer yours. You forfeit the right to ever use the work again and you are not entitled to additional payment if the magazine goes on to use your article again in any way.

  ELECTRONIC RIGHTS Becoming more common. Some print magazines will offer an extra fee to publish your work on their website (as they should!), though most will state in their contract that they’re buying unlimited electronic rights. You usually have to fight on this one if you don’t want to give it away.

  FIRST RIGHTS These are the rights that the writer offers a magazine/web site to publish an article for the FIRST time, i.e., the work cannot have appeared anywhere else (including blogs) before appearing in the magazine you’ve offered first rights to.

  FIRST NORT
H AMERICAN SERIAL RIGHTS (FNASR) (occasionally FNSR) The magazine/publisher has the right to be the first one in North America to publish the piece. FNASR and All Rights are the two most-commonly found rights asked for in contracts.

  KILL FEE Usually 20-30% of the agreed upon fee, this is the amount you’ll be paid if the magazine accepts your piece but then decides not to use it.

  NON-EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS You retain the right to resell the piece.

  ONE-TIME RIGHTS Gives the magazine the right to publish the piece once, but not necessarily first.

  PAYS ON ACCEPTANCE / PAYS ON PUBLICATION This clause of a contract determines when the writer will be paid for their work, and is primarily used for short stories and magazine articles, not for books. Payment on Acceptance means the writer will be paid when the magazine accepts the story for publication. Payment on Publication means the writer will be paid when the story is published (ranging anywhere from six weeks to nine month or more after acceptance). It should come as no surprise that Payment on Publication is the much more commonly used clause.

  REPRINT RIGHTS / NON-EXCLUSIVE REPRINT RIGHTS Reprint rights tell the publication the piece has been published prior. Usually reprint rights are approximately 35% of the agreed upon fee for First Rights. Non-exclusive reprint rights mean you retain the right to re-sell the work yet again, maybe even simultaneously.

  RIGHTS Publishers are contracting for the right to use/publish your work and they should pay you to do so. (Some smaller magazines only have the resources to pay you in copies of the magazine in which your work appears, but hey, you’ve got to start somewhere) There are a lot of different kinds of rights; the more the publisher asks for, the more they ought to pay you. In the absence of a formal contract, it’s usually assumed that the magazine gets FNASR.

  ROYALTIES This is the percentage of the profits that will be paid to you for sales of your book. If you’ve received an advance, you do not receive any royalties until the book earns out its advance. Royalties are commonly between 10% and 15% of the book’s profits (though some publishers pay a percentage of the books net profits, and some pay a percentage of the gross profits). This only applies to books; magazines do not pay royalties.

  ROYALTY PERIOD This is how often your publisher will pay you royalties. It is usually twice per year, but some contracts call for either annual or quarterly royalty periods.

  WORK Formal industry term used in contracts, interchangeable with "piece" or "article." Refers to the "piece" of "work" you are signing the contract for.

  WORK FOR HIRE Pretty much the same as giving away all rights for a set fee. All work you do becomes the property of the employer to use as they like.

  The Gregorovich-Feister Idea Farm and Fresh Market

  Misty Massey

  "Where DO you wacky writers get those crazy ideas?"

  I don’t know if fantasy writers get this question more often than mystery or romance authors, but we get it quite a bit. And I have decided, in the interest of fair play and brotherhood, to share the Secret. Yes, you guessed it—there IS a place we all go to get these nutty ideas: the Gregorovich-Feister Idea Farm and Fresh Market. It’s a coop tucked into the high grass along Interstate 26 between Columbia and Charleston. Take exit 132.5 (it’s a dirt road, so be sure and slow down on the curve, else you’re liable to go flying!) and drive at exactly forty-two miles per hour for exactly seventeen minutes. Stop at the seventeen minute mark, close your eyes, and whisper, "I just can’t think of what to write," and the gate will appear on the left. Drive in quick, since it only stays open about thirty seconds.

  Once you’re inside, you can pick up a bushel basket and hit the fields yourself. The urban fantasy trees are over on the west side of the farm, under those dark clouds. Keep one eye open for the random questing parties in the epic fantasy orchard, and whatever you do, don’t pluck the golden rutabagas in the mythic fields—the demi-gods are terribly sensitive about that.

  If you don’t feel like doing your own work, you can go straight to the fresh market and buy the ideas Viktor Gregorovich picked first thing that morning. Viktor’s a darling, and if you can’t find what you want, he’ll waddle out to the fields to find it for you. (Don’t ask him where Feister is, though—it’s still a sore subject, ever since Hurricane Hugo came through.) They only take golden dollars and dull pennies in payment, so stock up before you get there.

  Okay, you’re not buying the story. The truth is that when I answer that question honestly, people never seem quite satisfied with the truth. The wacky ideas are all in my head, just as they are in yours. My first novel was born on a trip to the Olympic Rain Forest in Washington State, when my husband started telling me about a news story he’d read about lost trees at the bottom of Lake Superior. The second novel I began came from my love of Renaissance faires, and the third, Mad Kestrel . . . well, heck, I was missing the beach and the ocean, and pirates could take me there fastest. I get ideas from flipping through the latest issues of Newsweek, Scientific American and Skeptic. I half-listen to news stories on the radio, and let my mind run wildly with the portion I did catch. I hear songs that send my mind fluttering in another direction than the poor songwriter meant for me. I read histories and wonder what secret ambitions drove this general or that dictator to do the things he did. The trick is to think "What if?" instead of assuming what you heard or read is all there is to the story.

  §§§

  Faith Hunter

  Misty, I loved this! But I do have one comment—I don’t think all people have zany ideas. I don’t think all minds are created to be creative in storytelling. I used to think they were, but now . . . not so much. I now think some people have brains wired to think in numbers and quotas and linear concepts. Others to think in color or musical notes. Others for other ways of cognition. Not writing or storytelling. In fact, they think we are totally nuts.

  David B. Coe

  A story from when I was first working out the plotting and world-building for my very first book: I had just finished my Ph.D, and was actually out in California to hand in and defend my doctoral dissertation. While I was there, I stayed with my closest friend from my history program and told him about my book idea and how I was considering giving up on academia to pursue a career as a fantasy author. I was still struggling with the decision in a big way. So he and I went for a long walk through the campus of our grad school and I told him all about the world I was creating and the magic system, which was rooted in a psychic bond mages form with birds of prey. And just as I was telling him about this, I looked up into the tree we were walking past. And there were three baby Great-horned Owls looking down on us. A Sign? A gift from the writing gods? Call it what you will. But I’ll never forget it.

  Christina Stiles

  David, I’d like to hear more about your decision to turn away from academia. I take it you didn’t already have something published at that point? I’m always fascinated by how writers got the point they’re at now.

  And those of you who are working full-time, workaday jobs, how do you balance the two? For instance, do you just do the job to get by, or do you find yourself trying to achieve promotions and such at work? Or, is all your extra energy expended on making sure you excel at the writing?

  David B. Coe

  I’d had doubts about academia for some time, Christina. A few years. But I’d started the graduate program in history and invested much time and energy into getting my degree, so I saw it through to the end and finished my dissertation.

  I’d wanted to be a writer for years, since high school, and had only gotten away from it because it didn’t seem to be a practical career path. (Had that right!) Anyway, I finished my dissertation in May 1993, and really couldn’t start to apply for academic jobs until September or October. So my wife said, basically, "Since the day I met you you’ve been talking about writing a book. You have a few months now. Why don’t you try writing and see if you like it?"

  So I began work on what would become my first book (my first published piece of
fiction of any length), Children of Amarid. And that fall I applied for several academic positions. Long story short: I was offered a job teaching U.S. Environmental History at Colorado State on a Thursday in mid-March. The next day I got a call from an editor at Tor Books telling me that he was interested in buying my book. So I took the weekend to decide. Actually it was no decision at all. The Colorado job was my history dream job if ever there was one. And the thought of taking it made me sick to my stomach. Writing had been my dream for years and finally I had the opportunity to do it professionally. I turned down the job offer, signed a contract with Tor a couple of months later, and never looked back.