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Page 30 Writing Poetry Successfully: 99 Propositions - Tom Montag by Joan T. Zeier Tom Montag advised us to pick and choose from his 99 propositions, and use those which work for us. I managed to scribble down about 96 keepers. Contemplative, witty, hard-edged, or metaphoric, they all rang true—even the ones that contradicted each other as truths sometimes do. Still, his opening proposition, repeated at least four times, is surely his central theme: Listen to the poem. What is it trying to say Let it follow its own form. It is a chrysalis—a midwife—a radio. (It’s not too hard to figure out those metaphors.). It is all about the poem, not about you. The poem knows. Listen to it, not to those around you who have their own agendas. Tom’s presentation offered several pithy quotes. •“Use a word just for its sound (as important as meaning); If sound is not as important to you as meaning, you may not be a poet.” •“Poetry is not self-expression, not therapy. Put your feelings in your diary.” •“Trim the first lines. Be ruthless. Poetry is subtraction, not addition.” •“Three essentials are measure, sound, and image.” Literary Agent, Jack Byrne by Deb Baker Milwaukee literary agent, Jack Byrne, presented a comprehensive analysis of an agent’s role in the publishing process, beginning with guidelines to selecting an agent. He cautioned against unscrupulous agents who charge reading fees or suggest payments to book doctors. A reputable literary agency does not expect any monetary output until the manuscript is •“If it ain’t broke, break it (use surprise and change).” Using the examples of Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, and Lorine Niedecker, Montag tells all writers, “Believe in yourself when no one else does. And always, listen to the poem.” [Editor’s Note: All 99 of Tom’s most excellent Propositions can be found at http://middlewesterner.typepad.com/ middlewesterner/2006/09/writing_poetry_.html.] # sold. A literary agent’s help isn’t necessary for short fiction, technical writing, or poetry, but a writer should have representation for full-length fiction and non-fiction proposals. The principal reason is to protect the writer’s rights, negotiate advances and payout schedules, and to act as a buffer between the writer and editor. To stand out and improve your chances of finding an agent, write a great cover letter and submit only your best work. # Chris Roerden—Voice: Sounds from the Submission Pile by David Rank There's a reason 99 percent of manuscripts never get past the first read at a publisher or literary agency, Chris Roerden said in her Saturday afternoon presentation, "Voice—Sounds from the Submission Pile," at the WRWA Fall Conference: Most writers fail to polish their work from "average" or "amateur" writing to an "above average," professional level. Roerden, who has a 40-plus year background in writing, publishing, teaching, and editing, said slush pile screeners, the first readers of unsolicited manuscripts, have a job to do, and that "is to lower the piles as quickly as possible. They dismiss (manuscripts) very quickly. They have to, that's their job." Screeners do that by looking first for sloppy appearance— manuscripts not formatted as the publisher or agent requested, or the genre of the work is not clearly and precisely defined. Pass those initial tests, and the screeners will actually start reading your work, Roerden said, looking for signs of weak writing that will get the work rejected. Some signs of amateur writing include a description or back story “dump” and extraneous information told too early. "Not in the first chapter," Reorden said. She told us to avoid chit-chat, unfocused dialog; eliminate past perfect tense; dull writing; unnecessary transition scenes. These are other "clues," that a manuscript is not professional enough to publish. Roerden's latest advice book for writers is Don't Murder Your Mystery: 24 Fiction-Writing Techniques to Save Your Manuscript from Turning Up DOA, in which she lists the simple mistakes that can get your work rejected. # Remember to enter the Lindemann and Nelson Contests Al P. Nelson Feature Article Contest opens January 1, closes March 15 Florence Lindemann Contest opens January 15, closes March 15
Page 31 Patricia Fry—The Right Way by Dorothy Lund Patricia Fry has contributed articles to two hundred magazines and written twenty-five books. She is an editor, ghost writer, promoter, and self-publisher. The president of Small Publishers Artists and Writers' Network (SPAWN), she is the author of The Right Way to Write Publish and Sell Your Book. Patricia began her presentation by informing us that if we wanted to write a book, we should look upon the actual writing as our last step. She eased our puzzled minds by outlining the steps that should come first. •Study the publishing industry; know which publishers deal with the type of book you plan to write and how friendly they are to your subject. Know your options. •Write a book proposal, keeping in mind why you want to write this book and what needs it might satisfy for readers. Focus your work on today's market and reader's demand. Identify your target audience. •Ask yourself, “What is your platform or ways of reaching your audience” Possibilities could be joining or creating organizations dealing with your subject or doing writeups for newsletters, magazines and the Internet. Always look for promotional opportunities you can build into your book. For instance, a character in your novel may have a secondary dimension involving an infirmity, such as diabetes, or a special interest, such as horse training, bird watching, or collecting antique cars. These are mar- kets to pursue. •Start talking about your book; set up speaking gigs, workshops, mailing lists, and a Web site. Become a storyteller. Get yourself out there. Patricia concluded that if writers are going to successfully write, publish, and sell their books, they must shift from the creative right-brain process to the rational left brain. This can save time in the long run, and, by focusing your writing in the proper direction, you may very well facilitate the creative process and make things easier and more gratifying when you switch back to the right side of your brain and write your book. # Get Published in 2007 Order Patricia Fry’s Book: The Right Way to Write, Publish, and Sell Your Book (as discussed at WRWA Fall Conference) $19.95, 328 pages, Matilija Press, 2006 www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html Jack Magestro: Changing the Paradigm of Publishing by Claudia Anderson A feisty and articulate speaker, Jack Magestro tackled the topic of publishing. He explained that there are two ends to publishing: self-publishing—or vanity publishing—on one end, and traditional publishing in the other. Vanity publishing (Print on Demand and other forms of self-publishing) entails the most risk for the author, as the editing, design, distribution, and publicity fall largely in the author’s lap. The rewards for selfpublishing are lower publishing costs, higher percentage of sales returned to the author, and the ability to promote yourself the way you want. On the other end of the scale, traditional publishers take all the risk—finding editors, typesetters, graphic designers, and others who do the legwork to promote your book. Their amount of involvement is the reason why it is hard to get a publisher to take a risk on a new author. To make publishing our writing easier, Jack suggested we find a way to manage the risk, finding a middle ground between doing everything ourselves and waiting for someone else to do all the footwork for us. That means doing some of the work ourselves. Suggestions included finding someone to edit your writing objectively, designing your own work through programs such as InDesign or Microsoft Word, submitting your work to objective readers and working their comments into your manuscript, and even producing a full mockup of your book, similar to a galley proof. Jack suggested there are several programs on the Internet that can help you create a professional-looking document. Www.lulu.com has a free utility that helps distill (translate) Microsoft Word documents into PDF files. Once you convert your document, he recommended having the PDF file mailed to you so that you can see how it looks. Then you can have your manuscript printed and bound with a soft cover in up to five copies for a very low cost just to demonstrate the final product. According to Jack, the closer you are to producing a manuscript in its final form, the more likely you are to get it read by an agent or publisher, and the less risk there will be, both for you and the publisher. Final submissions and production depends on how much we are willing to risk; how much we are willing to put out to succeed. Self publishing can be a bonus to getting picked by a larger publisher if you have a selling record. But preparing a professional looking document will take you one step closer to being considered by a larger publisher. #
Page 1 and 2: Wisconsin Regional Writers' Associa
Page 3 and 4: Contents Articles Tax Tips for Writ
Page 5 and 6: Page 5 WRWA Online Discussion Forum
Page 7 and 8: Page 7 Hayward Northworders: Doroth
Page 9 and 10: Shawano Area Writers (SAW): John J.
Page 11 and 12: Northern Lakes Writers’ Guild: La
Page 13 and 14: Page 13 Welcome 23 New Members Mich
Page 15 and 16: Page 15 (Redbird Studios continued)
Page 17 and 18: Page 17 Midnight Musings by Bill Ne
Page 19 and 20: Board Decisions and Actions by Boyd
Page 21 and 22: Her owl-like eyes pierced the darkn
Page 23 and 24: Page 23 From Time to Time—Members
Page 25 and 26: How To Send Blind Copy E-mail Messa
Page 27 and 28: Preferred Spelling of Internet and
Page 29: WRWA Fall Conference in Janesville
Page 33 and 34: Some Reflections on the WRWA Jade R
Page 35 and 36: More Pictures from the WRWA Fall Co

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