http://www.todays-woman.net Ms. Rose DesRochers - webmistress@todays-woman.net webmistress@todays-woman.net Today's Woman Writing Community Inc. en-us http://www.todays-woman.net/article1916.html By Bobbi LinkemerMany publishers will no longer accept a proposal unless it comes from an agent. While agents don t guarantee your book will be published, they can ensure that it gets a reading and advocate for you all along the process. You can find the right agent for you if you know where to look. http://www.todays-woman.net/article1915.html Karen Elizabeth Rigley Writing can be lonely and isolate you, so it’s fun to write with others. Co-writing means someone to brainstorm with you, a partner to share the load, who adds depth and speed; maybe a kindred spirit to inspire (or carry) you when words won t flow. http://www.todays-woman.net/article1914.html By Bobbi LinkemerWhat used to be called Print-on-Demand (POD) publishers are increasingly being referred to as "author services companies." POD is a digital technology that prints anywhere from one to 1,000 books at a time. The rest of the time the book is stored as a digital file on a large server. This eliminates the need for large press runs and storage space. The appeal of POD is that it makes it possible for many would-be authors to see their books in print, which may not be possible through conventional publishing methods. http://www.todays-woman.net/article1912.html By Rose DesRochers The act of writing poetry is something that is very personal to us poets, and sharing it for the first time can be a very frightening experience. The first experience of having your work criticized can boggle your mind and set you back a step in your writing. However, critique is essential in any writer’s career. Accepting criticism is something that we all must face, even if we don t like it. http://www.todays-woman.net/article1911.html by K.E. RigleyOne of the hottest situations a writer encounters is critiquing another writer s work. It s a common way to get burned. How can such an innocent act cause trouble? http://www.todays-woman.net/article1906.html By Bobbi Linkemer You have done all the getting ready anyone could possibly do. Now, it s time to write. This is the one area for which there is no list of instructions. I ve been writing more than half my life, and, as I look back, I don t remember anyone actually telling me what to do or how to do it. http://www.todays-woman.net/article1905.html by Karen Elizabeth Rigley Voices. Do you hear voices when you write? Do you eavesdrop on imaginary conversations or receive orders from a person you thought you created? Do your characters exist on a mystical plane, allowing you glimpses of their world? Do they wait patiently for you to capture their lives on paper or do they clamor for your attention? http://www.todays-woman.net/article1904.html Author:Jan K With the advent of electronic word-processing and spellchecker programs, many people just presume that simply by running spellchecker all of their grammar errors will be caught and corrected. This is simply not so. Spellchecker programs often include some grammar checking, but no man-made program can catch all the innuendoes of the English language. http://www.todays-woman.net/article1903.html By Rose DesRochersDo you want to publish your poetry, but don t know where to start? Getting poetry published is not as hard as you might think. My first suggestion is that you purchase a copy of Poet s Market, which is published annually by Writer s Digest. Poet s Market is full of useful information as well as publishing opportunities for poets who are looking to publish their work in magazines, books, contests, and small press publishing houses. This book is available through Today s Woman Online Book Store. http://www.todays-woman.net/article1902.html By Angela BoothYou re writing a book - should you self-publish? While in the past going the ebook or Print on Demand (POD) route was seen as vanity publishing, that s no longer the case. The big benefit of the DIY approach is that you get to keep all the profits. http://www.todays-woman.net/article1900.html by Karen Elizabeth Rigley Nonwriters often ask, "Where do you get your ideas?" The answer is everywhere. A word or phrase can fire a writer s imagination. Overhearing a conversation in a cafe, or the way a person cocks their head, or watching strangers say goodbye at the airport may spark a story. News items, children s antics, cloud formations, an unusual name or the scent of a nightblooming flower, can be the match to burst a twig-size idea into forest fire. http://www.todays-woman.net/article1899.html By Karen Elizabeth Rigley Storms of life can leave you battered and shipwrecked from your writing. Whatever the crisis, the resulting chaos can dam up your ability to create. It’s difficult, sometimes nearly impossible, to be creative and inspired when you’re in turmoil – emotionally or physically. You feel drained. As if the ability to write’s been sucked out, leaving you empty. Words that once bubbled forth, vanish. http://www.todays-woman.net/article1898.html By Bobbi Linkemer Let’s start with a little scenario. You have what you consider to be a great idea for a nonfiction book. Your head is spinning with ideas, and you can hardly wait to get started. Perhaps you have made a list of the main points you want to cover or even begun to write. http://www.todays-woman.net/article1894.html By Lisa MaligaMy story is that of an author who’d done online writing for such dot coms as Themestream, Written By Me, and The Vines. Someone trying hard to have fiction, poetry and nonfiction in print for real, recommended PublishAmerica. She claimed it was a traditional book publisher. I was struck with their slogan, "We treat writers the old fashioned way – we pay them." Wasn’t that what publishers were supposed to do? http://www.todays-woman.net/article1893.html By Angela BoothLooking for writing jobs? They re everywhere online; writers are in high demand. But do remember that you need to protect yourself - let s look at five easy ways you can avoid disaster. http://www.todays-woman.net/article1889.html By Alyice EdrichBack in 1999, I wrote my very first self-published book. I wrote it in Microsoft Word®, then took it down to Kinko’s to be copied and bound. I sold several of those books without one ounce of feedback—good or bad. http://www.todays-woman.net/article1887.html By Moira Allen You ve written a book. It s a great book. You know it s needed, that people would buy it. But you can t persuade a commercial publisher to agree. So now you re considering investing your own money to have the book published. When you look at advertisements for "publishing," however, matters become confusing. Many "Publish Your Book" ads look alike -- yet some are for subsidy publishers and others are for printing companies that help authors "self-publish" their work. How can you tell them apart? http://www.todays-woman.net/article1885.html By: Alyice EdrichThree years ago I was approached by the director of a new company who needed a few ghostwritten articles and wanted to know my fees. The first part of the letter addressed “Dear writer”, not me personally, which tells me this director was mass submitting this request to several writers he found online. Not that much of a big deal, I thought to myself, I could easily reply with a quote. But here’s where the query for a writer got me clicking the delete button instead… http://www.todays-woman.net/article1884.html By Marige O BrienWriters have long been considered eccentric on one level or another. Even in today s more isolated society, the concept of someone choosing to spend time alone is suspect. But to a writer is to be alone. As for the eccentricities, those are more a matter of the create mind finding creative solutions. Since writing is their biggest challenge, it follows that a writer s solutions may be the most eccentric. Even mad. http://www.todays-woman.net/article1883.html You hold in your mind an entire tale. Millions of facts and details sit there, waiting to be written down. You want to share all this with your readers, who know absolutely nothing about your tale before they begin to read. What do you tell them first? How can you introduce them to all you have to say in a way that will grab their interest?