[stylist] Catching up

[Kerry Thompson]

Hi friends,

Tami, unfortunately queeries, like submissions, need to be taylored to each market. Some publishers specifically say to include sample chapters, typically the first three chapters of the novel. Sometimes though the publisher wants to see more than this, typically a complete outline and/or table of contents; sometimes the queery and only the queery. More tedium, I'm afraid, but you need to consult an up-to-date edition of _Writer's Market_ or an up-to-date online reference. I  presume such references exist? Perhaps Writers Digest online? Ideally, consult the submission guidelines on the web sites of each individual publisher. Yes, it's a major drag! But, publishers don't like getting queeries or submissions that don't adhere exactly to their own particular guidelines. *shrug* What can you do? They're fusspots. *grin*

I'm glad my explanation of blogs was helpful.

Helene, I cannot urge you strongly enough to avoid tangling with J.K. Rowling! She and her legal team have no compunction about destroying people who infringe her copyright or even look like they might be thinking about infringing her copyright. Make up or reapply your own word for a nonmagical person born to a magical family. 

By the way, Rowling did not invent the word squib. It already existed, meaning a type of firework. She applied it to the particular usage she needed. You might do something similar; that is, find a word that is not much used in ordinary current day speech and apply it to this usage. Alternatively, make up a word and define it clearly.

As to the dogs: you could call them Shepherds or police dogs, or give them another place-derived name from your fictional world. Actually, I thought Brits called German Shepards Alsatians. The more I think of it, the better it seems to me for you to use a name analegous to German Shepherd substituting a nationality from your world for German. That would be the easiest for you and the clearest for the reader I think.

Robert, excellent Provoker!

One fell swoop is from MacBeth.

The Crowd, er, Addy? That piece you posted was nothing more nor less than an infomercial, long on hype, very short indeed on substance. There are reputable print on demand (selfpublishing) companies, and I suppose Outskirts Press may be one. But, others are unscrupulous, nothing more than vanity presses that demand the author pay them some outrageous amount for the privilige of seeing his book in print. I rather suspect Outskirts Press to be one of this latter type. In any case, it behoves a writer to check very carefully into any such company in order to protect his reputation, his selfrespect and, most importantly, his wallet.

Having given that strong caveat, I've heard of Lulu (sp?), a print on demand outfit that produces good quality books. Recently, they have instituted a program whereby, for a fee, they will place your book on amazon.com. Cafepress also allows for selfpublishing. The chief problem I see with selfpublishing is that of marketing. Let's face it. Marketing genre and niche books is hard enough when they have a known house or imprint name on the title page. When you have to be your own marketing department, things must get even hairier. I doubt that in real life very many selfpublished authors make a lot of money. Not so many authors published with established houses make a lot of money. But, that doesn't generally deter writers from writing or would-be authors from seeking to get published. It can be done, and done successfully, with a large, mainstream house, a speciality publisher or a print-on-demand company. Just make absolutely **sure** you know what you're signing up for!

Solidarity and Peace,
Kerry