by Sylvia Ney
Our new pages are now up and will be updated as possible. Check out the new tabs at the top of the page, including the Books by BWG Members. Please don't hesitate to email me with any questions or suggestions for this blog. This is for all BWG members. Happy Writing!
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Monday, May 28, 2012
Author Interview: Si Tucker
Si Tucker is a graduate of Northwestern State University with a degree in journalism. Along with writing, he is also interested in economics, art and history. He lives in Lake Charles. You can contact him at si.a.tucker@gmail.com
1. How did you develop an interest in writing? The answer to that is a combination of 1) reading so much and enjoying most of it, 2) a premature obsession with art, film and literature that has, somewhat to my chagrin, continued into my twenties, and 3) a fascination with characters, themes and stories. Plus I was terrible at sports.
3. What music, places, people inspire you? I think everything is a safe answer. Late nights in strange towns, late nights in familiar towns, and walking around anywhere. Tall buildings, city lights from across water, cabins and mountains. Aside from authors I’m inspired by a few filmmakers; a good part of me wants to be one. Controversial people, events that draw large crowds. One particular experience: I pulled something close to an all-nighter writing a lab report. I think it was about enzymes or something. The window in front of my laptop was open, it had just rained and you could hear cars making that shushing sound they make when they drive over wet roads, and I had some Tom Waits playing. And I thought: this is the best writing experience I’ve ever had, it’s all I’ve thought and wanted the writing experience to be. It just so happened the report I was writing was completely uninteresting.
4. When working on your current MS did you complete an outline first or did you just start writing? I wrote two paragraphs, just some thoughts. Since it wasn’t related to anything else—any other project I was working on at the time—I put it on the backburner and just about forgot about it. Then I got some direction someplace and wrote an outline. So far those first two paragraphs haven’t made it word for word into the manuscript but part of what this particular project is about was touched on in those two paragraphs and the general feeling I want to have for the book is there.
5. What are you reading now? A biography of Vincent van Gogh called Van Gogh: The Life by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith. It’s really good.
6. Classic you’ve been meaning to read? There are so many. I haven’t read much “classic” German literature and always wondered why it’s so rarely brought up in school. So, out of the many old bricks I’ve wanted to tackle, The Magic Mountain and Doctor Faustus by Thomas Mann are two.
7. Book you borrowed and never returned? A collection of just about all of Raymond Carver’s stuff. I mean, would you have returned it?
8. Favorite book from childhood? William Joyce’s A Day with Wilbur Robinson, plus basically everything by Shel Silverstein and Chris van Allsburg (especially The Giving Tree and Just a Dream, respectively).
9. Strangest dream involving a book, writer, or literary character? I had a dream that I was laughing at something with Charles Bukowski. I don’t remember what we were laughing at. All I remember from the dream is that one of us had just said something very funny (probably Bukowski), or we were laughing at something happening off-screen. I think Bukowski commented on it, still laughing, sort of rubbing the joke in, and we were both very happy that each of us had gotten the joke and no one else seemed to get it (although no one else seemed to be around). It’s one of my favorite dreams. I don’t think there is a lot of footage of Charles Bukowski in a happy mood, let alone laughing, but I have that image. I’ve seen Charles Bukowski laughing.
10. Most anticipated upcoming release? An essay collection by David Foster Wallace called Both Flesh and Not. There’s also a biography of him coming out in a few months that I’d like to read.
1. How did you develop an interest in writing? The answer to that is a combination of 1) reading so much and enjoying most of it, 2) a premature obsession with art, film and literature that has, somewhat to my chagrin, continued into my twenties, and 3) a fascination with characters, themes and stories. Plus I was terrible at sports.
2. What authors do you admire? My favorite writers are Don DeLillo, Richard Ford and David Foster Wallace. I probably would never have wanted to be a writer without reading their work, along with some of F. Scott Fitzgerald, most of Hemingway, Joyce, Dostoevsky, Bukowski and pretty much all of the Nabokov I can get my hands on. I don’t think I could do without Salinger or Raymond Carver either. That said, I think I’m in some way influenced by every writer or book that I read, including the ones I don’t particularly enjoy.
3. What music, places, people inspire you? I think everything is a safe answer. Late nights in strange towns, late nights in familiar towns, and walking around anywhere. Tall buildings, city lights from across water, cabins and mountains. Aside from authors I’m inspired by a few filmmakers; a good part of me wants to be one. Controversial people, events that draw large crowds. One particular experience: I pulled something close to an all-nighter writing a lab report. I think it was about enzymes or something. The window in front of my laptop was open, it had just rained and you could hear cars making that shushing sound they make when they drive over wet roads, and I had some Tom Waits playing. And I thought: this is the best writing experience I’ve ever had, it’s all I’ve thought and wanted the writing experience to be. It just so happened the report I was writing was completely uninteresting.
4. When working on your current MS did you complete an outline first or did you just start writing? I wrote two paragraphs, just some thoughts. Since it wasn’t related to anything else—any other project I was working on at the time—I put it on the backburner and just about forgot about it. Then I got some direction someplace and wrote an outline. So far those first two paragraphs haven’t made it word for word into the manuscript but part of what this particular project is about was touched on in those two paragraphs and the general feeling I want to have for the book is there.
5. What are you reading now? A biography of Vincent van Gogh called Van Gogh: The Life by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith. It’s really good.
6. Classic you’ve been meaning to read? There are so many. I haven’t read much “classic” German literature and always wondered why it’s so rarely brought up in school. So, out of the many old bricks I’ve wanted to tackle, The Magic Mountain and Doctor Faustus by Thomas Mann are two.
7. Book you borrowed and never returned? A collection of just about all of Raymond Carver’s stuff. I mean, would you have returned it?
8. Favorite book from childhood? William Joyce’s A Day with Wilbur Robinson, plus basically everything by Shel Silverstein and Chris van Allsburg (especially The Giving Tree and Just a Dream, respectively).
9. Strangest dream involving a book, writer, or literary character? I had a dream that I was laughing at something with Charles Bukowski. I don’t remember what we were laughing at. All I remember from the dream is that one of us had just said something very funny (probably Bukowski), or we were laughing at something happening off-screen. I think Bukowski commented on it, still laughing, sort of rubbing the joke in, and we were both very happy that each of us had gotten the joke and no one else seemed to get it (although no one else seemed to be around). It’s one of my favorite dreams. I don’t think there is a lot of footage of Charles Bukowski in a happy mood, let alone laughing, but I have that image. I’ve seen Charles Bukowski laughing.
10. Most anticipated upcoming release? An essay collection by David Foster Wallace called Both Flesh and Not. There’s also a biography of him coming out in a few months that I’d like to read.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Word Count Woes
by Sylvia Ney
I’ve pitched some ideas to several agents and editors in the last six months and learned some industry requirements on word length by genre and sub genre. As you read through this, keep in mind three important things: 1.) these are suggested word counts; rules get broken all the time; 2.) these suggested word counts will most often apply to debut writers; successfully published authors are the ones who end up breaking the rules, and 3.) if you are planning to e-publish only, and your book will never be printed out on actual paper, these guidelines aren't nearly as important.
Picture Books - The standard is text for 32 pages. That might mean one line per page, or more. 500 words is a good number to aim for. When it gets closer to 1,000, editors and agents may shy away.
Middle Grade Fiction - Anywhere from 20,000 to 45,000. Obviously if your projects is aimed at ages 8-10, you would be closer to the 20,000 count while work aimed to a 12 year old might be closer to the 40,000 mark.
Young Adult – 50,000 to 80,000. The second or third in a particularly bestselling series can go even higher. But it shouldn’t be word count for the sake of word count.
Novelette – 7,000 to 20,000 words. This is something agents and editors NEVER want to see unless they have commissioned a short story collection.
Novella – 20,000 to 50,000 words. Again, this is something agents and editors NEVER want to see unless they have posted a call specifically asking for this length.
Western – 50,000 to 100,000. (Keep in mind that almost no editors are buying Westerns these days, unless it is in the romance genre.)
Memoir and Nonfiction – 75,000 to 90,000 words.
Mysteries, Thrillers, Crime Fiction, Mainstream/Commercial Fiction, Horror, Chick Lit and Romance – Whether it’s paranormal, historical or contemporary they seem to be in the 80,000 to 100,000 word range.
Science Fiction & Fantasy – Editors of this genre seem to seek works of longer length; 100,000 to 120,000 words.
I recommend not worrying about length when writing. It can become another way to hamper your creativity. However, you MUST be aware of guidelines before you submit your work. Many editors will discard anything outside of their required word counts without ever actually reading a word.
Picture Books - The standard is text for 32 pages. That might mean one line per page, or more. 500 words is a good number to aim for. When it gets closer to 1,000, editors and agents may shy away.
Middle Grade Fiction - Anywhere from 20,000 to 45,000. Obviously if your projects is aimed at ages 8-10, you would be closer to the 20,000 count while work aimed to a 12 year old might be closer to the 40,000 mark.
Young Adult – 50,000 to 80,000. The second or third in a particularly bestselling series can go even higher. But it shouldn’t be word count for the sake of word count.
Novelette – 7,000 to 20,000 words. This is something agents and editors NEVER want to see unless they have commissioned a short story collection.
Novella – 20,000 to 50,000 words. Again, this is something agents and editors NEVER want to see unless they have posted a call specifically asking for this length.
Western – 50,000 to 100,000. (Keep in mind that almost no editors are buying Westerns these days, unless it is in the romance genre.)
Memoir and Nonfiction – 75,000 to 90,000 words.
Mysteries, Thrillers, Crime Fiction, Mainstream/Commercial Fiction, Horror, Chick Lit and Romance – Whether it’s paranormal, historical or contemporary they seem to be in the 80,000 to 100,000 word range.
Science Fiction & Fantasy – Editors of this genre seem to seek works of longer length; 100,000 to 120,000 words.
I recommend not worrying about length when writing. It can become another way to hamper your creativity. However, you MUST be aware of guidelines before you submit your work. Many editors will discard anything outside of their required word counts without ever actually reading a word.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Author Interview: Stan Weeber
Stan C. Weeber is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana. His interests in sociology include political sociology, sociology of education, and social movements. The author or editor of 20 books, his work has appeared in The American Sociologist, The Sociological Quarterly, the Journal of Public Management and Social Policy, the International Review of Modern Sociology, and several other journals. Dr. Weeber serves on the editorial boards of six international sociology journals. You can find him on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/stan.weeber , twitter: http://www.twitter.com/StanWeeber , LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/Stanweeber and his blog: http://www.sweeber.blogspot.com/ .
1. How did you develop an interest in writing? I read a lot as a child. I was enrolled in a lab school associated with the University of Iowa, and we were encouraged to do a lot of reading. I was not really sure I could write a book length manuscript until graduate school, when I had to write a Master’s Thesis. The thesis was 86 pages long, and after that, I knew I could write longer manuscripts.
2. I see you are writing a MS. Please tell me a little about it. I am currently writing a book called Sadie American, Pioneer of Visual Sociology. It is a biography of Sadie American, who pioneered the field of visual sociology and is also credited with founding “vacation schools” for young people, now known as summer school. I got the idea for this book back in 1995 when I was in graduate school, working on my doctorate. As you can see, it takes me a while to finish off some of my projects.
3. What do you do when you have writer’s block? I take a long vacation from writing. The worst case I had was in 1977, right after I finished my Master’s Thesis. I was a visiting grad student at the University of Alabama, there for the summer term only. My home was in Mississippi. There must have been something about the new environment that was not writer friendly. I took the summer off from writing (and from school) and used the time in Tuscaloosa to start running and working out. I was in great shape physically, but could not write a word. Once back in Mississippi, I started to write again.
4. What is your writing process like? I have a routine that is built around my job as a college professor. I work on the preparations for teaching first. When that is all taken care of, I go into writing mode. I have to admit this is the best part of my day. I do better when I can transition into writing mode before 12 noon as I seem sharpest in the morning. I write from about 11 (or sometimes earlier) to 6, with classes breaking up this long period for writing. I go home to have dinner with my family, and I do not go back in to the office to write unless I’m facing a stiff deadline and I’m unprepared to meet it. Writing goes smoother on weekends as there are no classes to interrupt the writing process. The time for writing is about the same, 11-6, and more hours if I can manage it.
5. What are you reading now? I’m reading new and old books: Oversharing by Ben Agger (2012) and Frederich Engels’ Socialism, Utopian and Scientific (1892).
Check out his book: In Search of Derrick Todd Lee: The Internet Social Movement that Made a Difference. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2007.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Opportunities for Writers
Once on the web site click on GET PUBLISHED in Box 1. Then click on Submit your stories for Not Your Mother’s Books. Be sure to read and follow the submission guidelines as well as the do's and don’ts, hyperlinked in the guidelines. All entries must be submitted through their site electronically. Also on the guidelines page, please note the book cover Not Your Mother’s Books: Military Life in the right hand column. In the left column is a listing of other book titles asking for submissions. If they don’t have a military story, perhaps one of the other titles is more to their liking.
2) The Calcasieu Parish Public Library system is looking for speakers for their summer program. The theme for our Adult Reading Program is "Between the Covers". They will be offering this program in June or July (they are considering June 21st), preferably a Thursday evening. It would be a one-time program (like a writer's workshop) with the possibility of becoming a recurring program and the length is negotiable--it could be an hour, hour and a half, whatever works for the presenter. The audience for this program is adults. They're open to any ideas you would like to present. If you are interested, please contact Jayme Champagne at the library.
3) www.agreatplace.ca is collecting inspirational stories from everyday people. If your submission is chosen as a feature, you can reference your blog or web page and include an author's photo. Please know they make no money from this site. You can submit a story about any moment, small or large, that you feel inspired you or perhaps couldn't forget...something that made you thankful or changed your perspective.
Submit something that comes from your heart.
Monday, April 30, 2012
BWG May 5 Meeting
Jerry Craven will be speaking with us. He is the Press Director for Lamar University Press, the Press Director for Ink Brush Press, has served as Editor-in-Chief of Amarillo Bay, is a member of the writing faculty at Lamar University in Beaumont, is an active member of The Texas Institute of Letters and has written more than 20 books. To learn more about him, please visit: http://www.jerrycraven.com/
He will also be bringing his wife Sherry who is a published poet. You can find more about her here: http://vacpoetry.org/standing-at-the-window/
Monday, April 23, 2012
Creating an Author Website
by Jan Rider Newman
Do you need a website? If you have a print or e-book to tell the world about, yes, you do. Even if you're not yet in print but have a book you're trying to publish, a website is a good idea. It's a place to refer agents, editors, and other authors. Though a website may not get the book published, it will show an agent or editor that you're a professional who's aware of the need to draw online attention in this world of iPads, iPods, iPhones, iBooks, Kindles, Nooks, etc.
How does one even go about getting a website? You need two basic things: a domain name and a host. There are a variety of ways to get these, but I'll tell you the way I've done it. The domain is the address of your website, the URL. "Amazon.com" is a domain name. So is "bayouwritersgroup.com." What you see at the top of the page in any online address bar after the "http://www." is the domain name. It has to be unique. No one else can set herself up as "janridernewman.com" now that I've bought that name.
Yes, the domain name must be bought, for as little as one month or as many as thirty-six. The first step is to search for the availability of your chosen domain name (let's call it "whateveryoucallit.com" for now) at a site such as http://www.godaddy.com. On that website you can do a search for the name you want to use and make sure no one else has bought it. If it's available, you can purchase the name there using a credit or debit card or PayPal. Note: other places sell domain names, such as Domain.com. Do a web search for something like "places to buy domain names." Just make sure the seller is accredited by ICANN. For more information on this see this: http://www.mkatoh.net/where-to-buy-domain-names.
In addition to your domain name, you'll need a hosting plan. The host is the engine that builds and runs your domain, including storing and presenting all the files (information) and photographs you upload to the website. Many people choose WordPress. There are many others, like Joomla A simple Internet search, such as "web hosting" will pull up any number of companies whose websites will explain what they offer in the way of hosting. Check the hosting programs listed on the site where you buy your domain name.
After these necessary preliminary steps comes the meat of your website, actually setting it up. You've got your domain and your web host. There now exists a site you can go to called "http://www.whateveryoucalledit.com." Up to now everything's been pretty straightforward and objective. You've had to do some research and make some decisions about naming, pricing, etc. Once that part's settled, you run up against subtler, more complicated issues.
What do you want your website to look like? Remember—your website reflects you. Your website tells the world what you like, what you believe in or not, how professional you are—or are not. It may, if you choose, tell the world where you are and what you look like . . . Are you biting your lip yet? Yes, deciding what to put on your website and what to leave off is hard. It requires thought and discernment and wisdom. The first thing I'd recommend you do is relax. Take time to think about what you want and realize you're not saving or destroying the universe. You can fix mistakes even on your world wide web page.
Look at other writers' websites. See what you like and dislike about them. When you type in a website address, you're taken to a home page, which is the first thing you see, your first impression of the website as a whole. What impression do you get when you go to http://www.jamespatterson.com/ or http://bayouwritersgroup.com, or http://janridernewman.com?
Think about that, and we'll pick up this conversation down the road. For now, happy writing.
How does one even go about getting a website? You need two basic things: a domain name and a host. There are a variety of ways to get these, but I'll tell you the way I've done it. The domain is the address of your website, the URL. "Amazon.com" is a domain name. So is "bayouwritersgroup.com." What you see at the top of the page in any online address bar after the "http://www." is the domain name. It has to be unique. No one else can set herself up as "janridernewman.com" now that I've bought that name.
Yes, the domain name must be bought, for as little as one month or as many as thirty-six. The first step is to search for the availability of your chosen domain name (let's call it "whateveryoucallit.com" for now) at a site such as http://www.godaddy.com. On that website you can do a search for the name you want to use and make sure no one else has bought it. If it's available, you can purchase the name there using a credit or debit card or PayPal. Note: other places sell domain names, such as Domain.com. Do a web search for something like "places to buy domain names." Just make sure the seller is accredited by ICANN. For more information on this see this: http://www.mkatoh.net/where-to-buy-domain-names.
In addition to your domain name, you'll need a hosting plan. The host is the engine that builds and runs your domain, including storing and presenting all the files (information) and photographs you upload to the website. Many people choose WordPress. There are many others, like Joomla A simple Internet search, such as "web hosting" will pull up any number of companies whose websites will explain what they offer in the way of hosting. Check the hosting programs listed on the site where you buy your domain name.
After these necessary preliminary steps comes the meat of your website, actually setting it up. You've got your domain and your web host. There now exists a site you can go to called "http://www.whateveryoucalledit.com." Up to now everything's been pretty straightforward and objective. You've had to do some research and make some decisions about naming, pricing, etc. Once that part's settled, you run up against subtler, more complicated issues.
What do you want your website to look like? Remember—your website reflects you. Your website tells the world what you like, what you believe in or not, how professional you are—or are not. It may, if you choose, tell the world where you are and what you look like . . . Are you biting your lip yet? Yes, deciding what to put on your website and what to leave off is hard. It requires thought and discernment and wisdom. The first thing I'd recommend you do is relax. Take time to think about what you want and realize you're not saving or destroying the universe. You can fix mistakes even on your world wide web page.
Look at other writers' websites. See what you like and dislike about them. When you type in a website address, you're taken to a home page, which is the first thing you see, your first impression of the website as a whole. What impression do you get when you go to http://www.jamespatterson.com/ or http://bayouwritersgroup.com, or http://janridernewman.com?
Think about that, and we'll pick up this conversation down the road. For now, happy writing.
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