DENTON WRITERS LEAGUE
FIRST EDITION
JUNE 2004 VOL. 15 NUMBER 6

DWL Home Page: http://byjoni.com/dwl

If you would like a copy of the newsletter e-mailed to you instead of through the US post, please contact George Avera or Joni Latham.

WHERE WE MEET AND WHEN

The second Saturday of every month, at the

Denton Library-North Branch - click here for map 
3020 N. Locust St (corner of Windsor St & N. Locust St)
 Denton, TX

General Meeting 10:30 a.m.

Lunch at Noon at the
 Evergreen Super Buffet - click here for map 
1006 W. University Dr
Denton, TX 76201

NEXT MEETING - JUNE 12, 2004

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL TIME!

It's time to renew your memberships for the 2004-2005 year.  The dues are $15 for the year.  Those of you who joined after January 2004 will have your dues carried forward into the new membership period.

Guest Speakers

June - Lillian Stewart Carl
July - Hart Parris - RonJon Publishing
August - Karen DeVinney, Managing Editor-University of North Texas Press
September - Annual Workshop
October - Pamela Stone
November - Gloria Oliver
December - General Meeting    

GUEST SPEAKER

Blood, roses, and things that go bump in the night -- everything that makes reading worthwhile.  Lillian Stewart Carl writes mystery, suspense, romance, fantasy, science fiction -- all the good stuff, in other words, heavily seasoned with history and myth, music and magic.  She's published ten novels and numerous short stories, all of which are available.  And a new novel has just been released, Lucifer's Crown.

Taken from Lillian's website http://www.lillianstewartcarl.com/

MAY MEETING RECAP

Roxanne Conrad was the guest speak for May.  P. N. (Pat) Elrod attended as a special guest.

Roxanne has four books out with more on the way.

Exile, Texas by Roxanne Longstreet Conrad (Five Star Press, hardcover - November 2003)
A serial killer murder mystery set in Exile, Texas, a mythical town in a mythical county in west Texas.

Ill Wind (Weather Warden, Book 1) by Rachel Caine (ROC Press, paperback - December 2003)

Heat Stroke (Weather Warden, Book 2) by Rachel Caine (due out in August 2004)

Roxanne said that the next three books in the Weather Warden series are in the publisher's hands to be edited.  The series has been getting excellent reader response as a "can't put it down" page turner.  The publisher called a couple of days after the meeting and made a deal for three more books.  They are really, really excited.

Together, Roxanne and Pat edited an anthology, Stepping Through the Stargate: Science, Archaeology and the Military in Stargate SG1 by P. N. Elrod (Editor), Roxanne Conrad (Editor)(paperback - October 2004) for Benbella Books (http://www.benbellabooks.com/), a Dallas house, which specializes in repprinting previously published books and publishing new books by established authors.  Benbella is reprinting Pat's vampire series (for a lower cost than many of the editions on e-bay.)

Roxanne, along with Pat and Roxanne's husband, Cat, formed an impromptu panel to discuss the mechanics of putting together the Stargate anthology.  The main hurdle was finding contributors and persuading them to stay with the editorial guidelines.  This was a point emphasized for all authors: stay within the guidelines or lose the sale.

(As reported by George Avera since I had to miss the meeting)

Never Release Your Rights To Anyone

Author:  Bob McElwain
Date:  07-19-02

One of the grandest scams on the Web, which goes largely unnoticed, is for a web-based bookseller or publisher to require some rights to your work in exchange for the service to be provided. Many demand the electronic rights, for example.

Don't do it! Never, ever release any of your rights. Here's why.

The Writer's Goal

Winning the writing game means becoming an established author, one who sells a new book every year or two. One who earns enough to live comfortably from his or her writing alone.

The first step toward achieving this goal is to be published by a major house in the real world. That is, offline. Most will not even consider your book if you've muddied the water by releasing or selling any rights to it.

Sure, there are exceptions. Some have self-published, then later made a deal with a major house. And the stories make grand reading. But there are not a lot of them.

The Better Plan

If you are serious about writing, grab a copy of "Writer's Market," then read and follow the rules. While many publishers buy an occasional manuscript directly from an author, your best bet is to find an agent and leave the manner of presentation to publishers in capable hands. An agent is worth his or her weight in gold in helping you decipher a contract!

It will probably take some time to find an agent. Begin another tale while doing so. Once you find one, while waiting further and hoping for great news, continue writing. If the agent you found can't make it happen, look for another. But keep writing.

Again, there are success stories of those who bypassed agents and went directly to a publisher. But unless you're one heck of a salesperson and really in tune with what each publisher is looking for, leave it all to an agent, and do what you do best. Namely, write.

How Rights Released Can Bite

Bingo. You've made a sale. A good house, too. You and your agent are jumping with joy. Hey, you're on your way!

But wait one moment. A few years back, electronic rights were negotiable, and often retained by the author. So you released these rights, or part of them, to gain some exposure on the Web. But now your publisher-to-be wants them. What for?

Books by major authors are selling in electronic formats. The entire publishing industry is closely tuned in to this rapidly changing part of the book arena.

Okay, back to the what your publisher-to-be wants. Will they go through the legal hassles and pay the costs to recover those rights you handed out? Or will they just grab another title from the in-box? If you were in their position, what would you do?

The bottom line? You have just lost a shot at the big time. You get to start over with a new book. And you'll probably have to hunt up another agent as well.

Why Risk It?

Don't sell or release any of your rights to any of your work until absolutely convinced it is not salable to a major print publisher. Then, and only then, should you consider taking it to the Web and seeing what you can make happen.

A Case In Point

I finished "They Who Betray" (available on this site) in late 1991. I gave up trying to sell it in 1994. Even earlier, it was obvious major houses were no longer interested in this kind of tale. The manuscript has been dozing on various computer disks ever since.

While I'd love to have sold it to Pocket Book, I wasn't able to. So off to the Web I have gone. I'm excited about the possibilities. While fame and glory is unlikely to be obtained, lots of people will find they like the tale. And that will be a win for me, any way you look at it.

But I would never have made this move had I believed there was even a chance of selling it to a major house. If you're serious about your writing career, you'll follow the same path. Head for the Web as the last resort, never as the starting point.

One Exception

All who climb a mountain do not hunger to become a noted mountaineer. And all who write a book, do not yearn to be an established author. So if you wrote a book for the fun of it, and now want to share it with family and friends, jump right into the Web bit.

Check out services available or self-publish on your own. Either way, go for it.

Play By The Rules

But if you're serious about writing and dream of becoming an established author, take the conservative, conventional route. This gives you the greatest opportunity for success.

Yes, I know. The competition is fierce. But there's a bit of this on the Web as well. The last numbers I saw suggest there are over 100,000 titles available on the Internet.

To sell effectively through any website, you'll need a heck of a book. Then you'll have to somehow find your way beyond all those "Buy-Me!" pleas associated with each and every one of those 100,000+ titles.

Can it be done? Sure. But it's not easy. Certainly it's not easier than gaining the confidence of an agent who can sell your work to a major publishing house.

Copyright 2002 Bob McElwain. All rights reserved.

From the Texas Author’s Coalition, Inc website. URL in listing below.

On-Line Writers resources

Author's Network-for writers about writing based in Europe, but interesting- http://www.author-network.com/
Copyright Forms- http://www.loc.gov/copyright/forms/
Dallas Sceen Writers- http://www.dallasscreenwriters.com/
Denton Public Library - http://www.cityofdenton.com/pages/library.cfm
National Association of Women Writers - http://www.naww.org
New Writer's Market http://hge.members.atlantic.net/
Para Publishing Website - a good writing, publishing, and promotion source - http://parapub.com/getpage.cfm?file=/homepage.html&user=#user
Preditors and Editors-a resources to check out agents and publishers http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/
Ralan's Webstravaganza-speculative fiction resource http://ralan.com/
Society of Children's Writers and Illustrators http://www.scbwi.org/
Texas Coalition of Authors, Inc. http://www.texasauthors.org/
The Market List-the online resource for genre fiction writers http://www.marketlist.com/
The Novelist's Workshop-essays and advice on how to publish your book- http://www.monash.com/writers.html
Writer's Exchange http://www.writers-exchange.com/epublishing/
Writer's Market http://www.writersmarket.com/index_ns.asp
Writers Net-source for information for writers, editors, agents, and publishers- http://www.writers.net
Writing-World.Com - http://www.writing-world.com 
The Zuzu's Petals Literary Resource Homepage-for both writers and poets- http://www.zuzu.com/

There are multitudes of writing resources available on the Internet. Go to any search engine and ask for writer's resources, writer's markets, writer's contests, writer's conferences, etc