Black Box 4/BlackBox.cdr/textinfo/writing.arj/WRITING.FAQ

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·  Newsgroup: news.answers
· Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
·    Subject: FICTION: Misc.writing Frequently Asked Questions

Archive-name: writing/faq
Last-modified: 04/27/92
Frequency: bimonthly

Misc.writing Frequently Asked Questions List


Send corrections and additions to
   Betsy Hanes Perry ([e-mail])

Questions addressed:

   What format should I use for a manuscript?

   How do I find a market for my manuscript?

   How do I submit a manuscript?

   Can I sell a manuscript I've posted to USENET/FIDO/GEnie/etc?

   Do I need an agent?

   How do I get an agent?

   What do agents charge?

   What professional groups are useful for writers?

______
MANUSCRIPT FORMAT

Preface:
  All of the following rules can be broken.  However, any time you
  break one of them, you run the risk of irritating an editor.  To
  quote Strunk and White:

    "It is an old observation that the best writers sometimes
     disregard the rules of rhetoric.  When they do so, however, the
     reader will usually find in the sentence some compensating merit,
     attained at the cost of the violation.  Unless he is certain of doing
     as well, he will probably do best to follow the rules."

General:

  Manuscripts should be typed, in black ink, double-spaced, with 1"
  margins on all sides, on one side of good white medium-weight paper.
  Onionskins and Corrasable Bond are Right Out.  Do not staple, bind,
  or otherwise attach the pages to one another.  (A rubber band around
  the stack is okay, if you include a sheet of cardboard to keep the
  stack from buckling.)

  Even if you own an elaborate desktop publishing system, don't show it
  off in a manuscript; your aim should be to produce output that looks
  as close as siliconly possible to typewritten (no smaller than
  10-point type, please!).  Editors are used to typewritten input --
  they have years of expertise reading, casting up, and marking
  monospace manuscripts for typesetting.

  If you submit a photocopy, make sure it's clean and clear; it also
  doesn't hurt to explicitly mark it "Not a Simultaneous Submission" (if
  this is the truth), as some editors assume photocopies are
  simultaneous.  NEVER submit your only copy of a manuscript; tragedies
  do happen.  Photocopy the manuscript, back up the disk.  Not vice versa.

First page header:

I. Wanna Write                                     Approx. 2000 words
1000 Maple Street
Anytown, USA 00000
[phone]

                   (about 1/3 of the way down the page)
                    Title of Story
                         by
                    Ima Pseudonym

  (Note that you do not give your pseudonym, if you use one, as the
  return address; the publisher wants to know who will be endorsing the
  check.)

Notes about word count:

  Word counts are approximate, not actual.  To get yours, count the
  number of words on three "typical" lines, divide the total by three,
  multiply by the number of lines per page and the number of pages,
  and round to the nearest 50.  You will be paid by the publisher's
  word-count, not yours; the publisher's algorithm may differ.  (And
  padding word-count is like double-parking in front of Police
  Headquarters; you *will* get caught.)

Other additions to the header about which there is some debate:

  Your Social Security number (Pro: Aids publishers in recordkeeping
    when they cut you a check.  Con:  If they need it, they'll ask
        for it.)

  A copyright notice (Pro: May be useful in establishing legal claims
        to ownership of your work, should problems arise.  Con: "This is a
        mark of the amateur; editors have better things to do than
        steal story ideas.")

  Membership in writers' professional organizations  -- SFFWA, SCBW,
        et al.  (Pro: Gets editors' attention in the slushpile.  Con:
        Doesn't help, doesn't hurt.)

Second-through-final page headers:

Writer's name/Title of Story                           Page X

  This shouldn't take up more than one line; shorten the title to fit.
  Manuscripts *do* get dropped; if you identify every page, you reduce the
  odds of your story's being re-collated with the last third of
  "Marshmallow Mud Maidens from Madagascar".  (Richard Curtis, the
  renowned agent, feels it's a mistake to include the story title in
  the page header, since this requires you to retype the entire
  manuscript if you change the title.)

  It may also be a good idea to put an "end of story" marker on the last
  page.  Use "# # END # #", "--FIN--", or anything else you're confident
  the editor won't mistake for part of the story.  (Some people think
  that this marker is amateurish.)

How much of the manuscript to include:

  Research the rules of the market you're submitting to.  For short
  fiction (less than 20,000 words), you normally submit the
  entire manuscript.  For novel-length fiction, many publishers prefer
  to receive a couple of sample chapters and an outline; if the
  publisher likes your sample, he/she will request the remainder of the book.

  Publishers won't normally commit to buying a manuscript from an unknown
  writer until they've seen the whole thing. DON'T submit a portion
  of an unfinished book, unless you are certain that you can finish
  the book *very* quickly (within a month) if the publisher expresses
  interest.

______
ELECTRONIC PUBLICATION VS. PAPER PUBLICATION

  If you post a piece of writing to an electronic bulletin-board
  (USENET, GEnie, FIDOnet, et al.), or mail it to a generally-
  accessible mailing list (sf-lovers), you have published it. This means
  that you cannot sell "first rights" to that manuscript to a
  magazine, anthology, et cetera.  Furthermore, most publishers won't
  buy secondary rights to a piece that has been published on an
  electronic network.  (Sending E-mail copies of a manuscript out to
  a few friends and reviewers probably doesn't constitute "publication", but
  posting definitely does.)

______
HOW TO FIND A MARKET FOR YOUR MANUSCRIPT

o Go to the library and read *Writer's Marketplace* (see the FAQ booklist
  for full information.)  It will tell you which magazines and books
  are reading unsolicited submissions, and what types of manuscript
  each market is particularly eager for.

o When you investigate a possible market, don't just read *about* it.  Read
  other books printed by the same publisher; read previous issues of
  the magazine.  What the editor honestly believes is "groundbreaking,
  no taboos" may be closer to "50's pulp fiction with swear words."

o Be precise in copying the editor's name, title, and
  address.  Check them against the latest information you have
  available -- editors change publishing houses and magazines
  frequently, and are not terribly amused by receiving submissions
  addressed to their predecessors.
______
HOW TO SUBMIT A MANUSCRIPT
o To cover letter, or not to cover letter?

  Do write a cover letter if
  o  you have previous publications
  o  you have some unusual expertise in the subject matter
  o  the editor has encouraged or requested this submission, or has
     commented favorably on your previous submissions
  o  you are an unusually charming letter-writer
  o  the editor's market report requests one
  o  the submission is part of a larger work (e.g. sample chapters and outline)

  For short fiction from an unknown writer, consider omitting the
  cover letter.  If you do include a cover letter, don't:
  o  retell the plot
  o  talk about how wonderful the story is (show, don't tell!!)
  o  talk about how wonderful the writer is
  o  try to be cute
  o  use more than one page

o Simultaneous submissions.  Don't.  If you *must*, be honest about
  it, and mark the submission as simultaneous; at most houses, this will

  reduce the submission's chances of being read.  If you get caught
  lying, your name will be mud (and remembered, and passed on to other
  editors.)  Yes, editors keep stories for far too long, and yes, it
  isn't fair that they can waste months of your time without leaving you
  anything to show for it.  One possible workaround: Submit works with a
  time limit; say in the cover letter that if you have not received a
  response by three months after the date of submission, you will
  withdraw the work from consideration and will resubmit the work elsewhere.

o Insert the package into an envelope that is big enough to hold the
  manuscript unfolded.  (That is, 9x11 is fine; standard business-sized
  4 x 9 1/2 is not, except for VERY short fiction and poetry.)  With
  your manuscript, include either a self-addressed stamped envelope
  (SASE) big enough to hold the return manuscript, or a smaller SASE
  for the publisher's reply, with a note that the manuscript need not
  be returned.  Attach adequate postage to both envelopes.

  Exception to the SASE rule: if you're submitting a work to a
  publisher in another country, consider sending a disposable
  manuscript, an addressed reply envelope for the publisher's
  response, and two International Reply Coupons, available at the local
  Post Office.

o Wait.  Start writing something else.  Requery (BY MAIL) after twice
  the named latency period.  If the publisher doesn't reply after what
  you consider a reasonable time, write a polite letter withdrawing
  the manuscript from consideration and resubmit it elsewhere.

______
DO I NEED AN AGENT?

Markets which only accept submissions through agents:
  Mainstream fiction (not SF, romance, or mystery)
  Screenplays and teleplays (studios won't read unsolicited
           submissions for fear of copyright lawsuits.)

  Most other markets still read their own slushpiles, so you can cut out
  the middleman by submitting your fiction directly.  If you're
  concerned about your ability to negotiate, you can always get an agent
  after you've made the sale through the slushpile.

Markets agents aren't normally interested in:
  Short fiction (not enough money in it)
  Children's fiction (ditto)

Things agents generally won't do:
  Rewrite/edit your work (they don't have time)
  Handle several genres (e.g. romances and screenplays and cookbooks)
  Serve as a crying towel
______
HOW TO GET AN AGENT

o The easiest method:
  Sell your book to a publisher.  Then write letters to agents, asking
  them if they'd like to earn their 15%.

o Somewhat harder:
  Send the book over-the-transom to agents who are looking for new
  clients.

o A colossal waste of money:
  Pay somebody an up-front reading fee.  There have been a very few
  exceptions, but 99.9 per cent of all decent agents don't charge
  up-front reading fees; they make their money by *selling* your book,
  not by reading it.

______
HOW MUCH DO AGENTS COST?

  Agents should not charge authors up-front fees for copying, telephone
  calls, et cetera; this money should come out of the agent's percentage
  of the gross.  The standard agent's fee for fiction seems to have
  risen to 15 per cent.  Agents' fees for screenplays are reported to
  have remained at 10 per cent.

______
PROFESSIONAL GROUPS FOR WRITERS

GENERAL:

National Writer's Union
13 Astor Place
New York, NY 10003
[phone]

  This group provides "contract consultation services, health care
  plans, and grievance resolution services among others.  They are
  affiliated with the UAW and appear to be a cross between a real labor
  union and a writer's advocacy group."

MYSTERIES:

Mystery Writers of America
236 W. 27th St.
New York, NY 10001
[phone]

ROMANCE:

Romance Writers of America
13700 Veterans Memorial Drive
Suite 315
Houston, TX 77014

  General Membership open to "established romance authors and writers
  interested in pursuing a career in romance writing."  Associate
  Membership open to "booksellers, editors, agents, and other industry
  professionals."

SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY/HORROR:

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
Peter Dennis Pautz
Executive Secretary
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc.
5 Winding Brook Dr. #1B
Guilderland, NY 12084
$60.00 annual membership fee

  Membership open to *published writers only*: you must show evidence of
  having sold at least three SF short-stories or one novel to
  "professional" markets.  Associate membership is open to people with
  fewer publications; write SFFWA for the qualifications, as they are
  expected to change during 1992.

  You can subscribe to the SFFWA newsletter, *Bulletin*, without being
  a member, through Pulphouse Press; see the FAQ booklist for
  Pulphouse's address.

CHILDREN'S BOOKS:

Society of Children's Book Writers (SCBW)
P.O. Box 296, Mar Vista Station
Los Angeles, CA 90066
$40.00 per year annual membership fee

  Publishes 6 newsletters a year, containing market reports, gossip, and "How I
  Sold My Masterpiece" articles.  Yearly market summary, descriptions of
  manuscript format, etc. available to members for cost of postage.
  Membership open to all; unpublished writers and illustrators are
  "Associate Members".  Sponsors annual conferences at both the
  national and local levels.


RADIOPLAYS, SCREENPLAYS, AND TELEPLAYS:

Writers' Guild of America
8955 Beverly Boulevard
West Hollywood, CA 90048

  This is a professional writer's union.  Membership in the Writers' Guild
  of America is limited to individuals who have made sales
  totalling 12 points on their arcane scale (story or screenplay for a
  feature are 12 each, story or script for a sitcom is 6, etc. ad nauseam).

  The sales must have gone to WGA-signatory production entities; the
  writer cannot have been involved in the company in a hiring
  capacity.  (This is to prevent writers' joining the guild through
  paying for vanity productions.)

  There is a "signatory" status for agencies representing writers for
  the WGA. Any guild-signatory agency is prohibited, among other
  things, from charging a reading fee.

[[[ I need information on the following:
    Horror Writers of America
    Writers, Inc.
]]]

ELECTRONIC:

  There is a USENET fiction writer's mailing list, Fiction-Writers, run
  by Doug Roberts.  Members of the list are expected regularly to contribute
  fiction for review and to review others' works.  For information, send
  mail to [e-mail]

  COMPUSERV and GEnie also have writers' groups.
[[[ Can members of these give me more information? ]]]
--

·  Newsgroup: news.answers
· Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
·    Subject: Misc.writing Recommended Booklist

Archive-name: writing/bibliography
Last-modified: 04/27/92
Frequency: bimonthly

Misc.writing Recommended Books List

Send corrections and additions to Betsy Perry ([e-mail])

Questions included:

   What books are useful to writers?

   What magazines are useful to writers?

If you're going to write, you have to read; it's that simple.  You
ought to be reading widely *outside your field* -- reading only the
genre you intend to write is a sure way to recycle cliches endlessly.

This booklist is confined to books about writing.  All of the
following books and magazines have been recommended by at least
one misc.writing contributor.  None of them is universally adored.
Unquoted reviews are by the compiler; all others come from other
misc.writing contributors.

__________
BOOKS: COPYRIGHT
Stephen Fishman, *The Copyright Handbook:  How to Protect and Use
                  Written Works*
Berkeley, CA: Nolo Press, 1st national edition, 1991
$24.95 US.  USBN 0-87337-130-5.

  "Nolo's order number is [phone]; [phone] for info.
  They're a well-respected if somewhat irreverent publisher of
  legal self-help materials, including some volumes that might be
  relevant to the business side of freelancing and contracting.
  The book claims to discuss international copyright law.  The further
  you get from the borders of the US, the bigger the grain of salt you
  should take everything with, of course."

___________
BOOKS: HOW TO BE A WRITER

Rita Mae Brown, *Starting from Scratch: A Different Kind of Writer's Manual*
Bantam Books, ISBN 0-553-05246-2

  Care and feeding of yourself as a writer.  Brown, a working writer,
  has useful information on what standard of living to expect
  (near-poverty), how to make ends meet, and what to do with screenplays
  (take the money and run.  What appears on the screen will probably
  bear almost no resemblance to your work; that's why you write novels.)
  Also contains some interesting philosophy.
  DISSENTING REVIEW:  One misc.writing contributor finds the chapter
  on substance abuse essential, the rest forgettable.
___________
BOOKS: HOW TO WRITE

Lawrence Block, *Writing the Novel, From Plot to Print*
Writer's Digest Books, 1979

  The person who recommended this also recommended Block's *Spider, Spin
  Me a Web* and *Telling Lies for Fun and Profit*, which overlaps
  material in *Writing the Novel*.

Hallie & Whit Burnett, *Fiction Writer's Handbook*
Barnes & Noble Books, 1975  ISBN 0-06-463492-0

Hallie Burnett, *On Writing the Short Story*
Barnes & Noble Books, 1983  ISBN 0-06-463520-1

  "Hallie and Whit Burnett, as founding editors of STORY magazine (which has
  recently gone back into print as a quarterly), published the first works
  of writers such as Norman Mailer (who graces the first volume with a
  Preface), J.D. Salinger, Joseph Heller, Truman Capote, and Tennessee
  Williams.  In these books, they bring their enormous experience to
  bear in chapters that deal with both the creative process and the
  craft of fiction."

Lajos Egri, *The Art of Creative Writing*
Citadel Press, 1965

  "Although Egri's books are written with a slightly dated style, they
  go straight to the heart (in my opinion) of what makes dramatic fiction
  truthful and exciting.  These are not books with formulas or tips about
  writing, but rather, they analyze what it is that makes a reader care about
  characters, what makes them realistic, and how a compelling plot grows
  realistically from them."

John Gardner, *The Art of Fiction*
Vintage Books, 1985  ISBN 0-39472544-1

  "This book is a classic, and is a must buy for anyone seriously attempting
  to write fiction.  However, you will not find any formulas, point systems,
  or graphs that show you how to construct a story (well, maybe a graph or
  two).  What you will find is meaty chapters on aesthetics, artistic mystery,
  fiction as dream, genre, interest, and metafiction.  You will also find at
  the back a set of extremely useful exercises. All material is gleaned from
  Gardner's years of teaching graduate-level creative writing."

Rust Hills, *Writing in General, and the Short Story in Particular*
Houghton Mifflin, 1987  ISBN 0-395-44268-0

  "L. Rust Hills was fiction editor of Esquire Magazine for some 20 years,
  and his book is jam-packed with rapid-fire commentary on just about every
  technical aspect of crafting a short story.  It is by far the most
  intelligent and complete such book I have come across, and makes a
  fine companion to Gardner's *Art of Fiction* mentioned above."

Kit Reed, *Revision*
Writer's Digest Books, 1989  ISBN0-89879-350-5

  "A decent book on revising and rewriting, though I personally
  found most of it pretty self-evident."

Norman Spinrad, *Staying Alive: a Writer's Guide*
Donning, 1983

  "Spinrad's Writer's Survival Guide, is, as I recall, quite out of date, but
  a good read.  Spinrad is always idiosyncratic (when he's deeply sincere, he
  appears to lapse _out_ of profanity!), and a lot of the book was columns
  he'd written about the then-state of the sf market."

________
BOOKS -- HOW TO WRITE ROMANCE NOVELS
Kathleen Falk, *How to Write a Romance and Get it Published*
New American Library, 1990 (revised edition), ISBN 0-451-16531-4

  "Several writers in my workshop like it; others hate it. My assessment
  is that it contains some useful information, some marginal
  generalizations, and some downright stupid adivce. (My favourite: 'You
  cannot be a successful romance novelist unless you wear silky
  underwear.')  On the whole, this is a worthwhile book to have/read if
  you're interested in selling a romance novel, if only because of the
  extensive descriptions of the various formulae in romance writing."

_________
BOOKS -- HOW TO WRITE SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY/HORROR

Barry Longyear, *Science Fiction Writer's Workshop-I*
Owlswick Press, Box 8243, Philadelphia, PA, 19101, about $10

  "Longyear not only sits you down and lectures you on how to write SF that
  works, he shows you various examples -- from his own writing -- of what
  works and what doesn't by showing the first draft of various things and
  then covering the processes that took it to the final, improved version.
  There is no, and never will be a, SFWW-II."

*Science Fiction Writers of America Handbook*
Pulphouse Publishing/Writer's Notebook Press, ISBN 1-56146-406-6, $10.00
Pulphouse Publishing, Box 1227, Eugene, OR 97440

  A collection of essays by SF writers on various aspects of the trade.
  A mixed bag, but the good stuff is very good.  Mostly nuts-and-bolts,
  but some "how I write my masterpieces" essays.

Orson Scott Card, *How To Write Science Fiction and Fantasy*
Writer's Digest Press  [[[ anybody got bibliographic data? ]]]

  "The nuts and bolts part of the book are well handled, with solid
  examples (from other writers' works) of handling exposition,
  world-building and the like.  What makes the book worth the price of
  admission to writers who don't workshop, or don't live in an area with
  other writers in easy reach, is the section on creating the "wise
  reader".  In it, Card explains how his wife, Kristine, became a vital
  part of his writing process, even though initially she knew nothing
  whatsoever about what 'worked' in a novel."

___________
BOOKS: HOW TO WRITE PLAYS
Lajos Egri, *The Art of Dramatic Writing*,
Simon and Schuster, 1946, 1960

  "Although it is oriented towards playwriting, most of the advice
  applies to any dramatic fiction writing."

___________
BOOKS: INSPIRATION

Dorothea Brande, *Becoming a Writer*
T.P Archer, Inc., 1981  ISBN 0-874-77164-1

  "This book was originally published in 1934, and is as fresh as ever
  today.  An excellent and complete book, dealing with almost every
  aspect of the art of writing, with many wonderful suggestions on
  how to overcome blocks, view ones own work critically, etc.  The
  current printing has a foreward by John Gardner, himself an author
  of many books dealing with the art and craft of fiction."

Annie Dillard, *The Writing Life*
Harper & Row, 1989  ISBN 0-06-091988-4


  "Taken from essays that first appeared in Esquire, the TriQuarterly,
  and several other maagazines, in this book Annie Dillard describes
  her own personal experience as a writer.  The book is not a how-to
  volume in any sense; the crisp prose provides a direct glimpse into
  a writer's fertile mind."

John Gardner, *On Becoming a Novelist*
Harper & Row, 1983  ISBN 0-06-091126-3

  "The Foreword by Raymond Carver alone makes this book worthwhile. Although
  you could call the book 'inspirational' in nature because it deals with
  the art rather than the craft of writing (and although it says 'Novelist'
  in the title, the book is also valuable to short story writers), it is not
  an exercise in cheerleading, but rather a serious discussion of the nature
  and training of a fiction writer (there is also a chapter titled 'Publication
  and Survival').  A wonderful book for the serious artist."

Natalie Goldberg, *Writing Down the Bones*
Shambhala Publications, 1986  ISBN 0-87773-375-9

  "The book consists of about 60 two- or three-page chapters, each of
  which presents a brief technique or suggestion by which to improve
  one's writing and creative process, with emphasis on the latter.  Many
  times, the advice is presented via anecdotes.  A very 'zen' approach
  to creative writing, as one might guess from the publisher."

Brenda Ueland, *If You Want to Write*
Greywolf Press, 1987, P.O. Box 75006, St. Paul, Minnesota, 55175
ISBN 0-915308-94-0, $8.95

  "This fine little book was originally published at about the same time as
  Dorothea Brande's book and must be the *most* inspirational writing book
  ever to fall into my possession.  Carl Sandberg called this book 'The best
  book ever written about how to write.'  This is not a "nuts-n-bolts" book;
  it's one that raises you up, brushes you off, and sends you along
  the path to new heights of creativity."

________
BOOKS: LITERARY CRITICISM (SF)

Stanislaw Lem, *MICROWORLDS*
Harcourt, Brace, & Jovanovich, 1984  ISBN 0-15-659443-9

  "Lem is probably one of the world's greatest living writers, and one
  of the few SF writers to publish a volume which analyzes the field
  critically.  Lem makes many excellent points about the state of SF
  as he saw it when he was writing.  His views did not endear him to
  the US SF community, who revoked his honorary menbership in SFWA
  (it may since have been restored). Read this book; it will give
  you food for thought."

Larry McCaffery, *Across the Wounded Galaxies*
Univ. of Illinois Press, 1990  ISBN 0-252-06140-3

  "Larry McCaffery is best known for his criticism of Donald Barthelme and
  other authors of 'metafiction', but he has, in this book, compiled a
  stunning collection of interviews with some of America's greatest
  contemporary SF authors, including William S. Burroughs, William
  Gibson, Samuel Delany, Octavia Butler, Gene Wolfe, Ursula Le Guin,
  Bruce Sterling, and Greg Benford. These are not fan-oriented
  interviews, either, but involved questions that probe each author's
  views about his or her craft and the state of the art in
  general.  A fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable read."
________
BOOKS: MARKET RESEARCH

  The Bible of market research is

*Writer's Market*, Writer's Digest Books,
1507 Dana Avenue,
Cincinnati, OH 45207.  Updated annually.

  There are innumerable variations (*Poet's Market*, *Novel and Short
  Story Writer's Market*, etc.)  Any public library should have these
  books. You can buy a copy more cheaply by joining the Writer's
  Digest Book Club;  see *Writer's Digest* magazine for a blow-in
  card.

  BE SURE TO USE THE LATEST AVAILABLE EDITION!  The publishing
  industry is a giant amoeba; not only do publishers' needs change,
  but editors change employment as frequently as Warren Beatty ...
  well, you get the idea.  If you can, check the listed editor's name
  against another source (a friend at the publishing house, the masthead
  of the magazine) before submitting.

*The International Directory of Little Magazine and Small Presses*
Dustbooks, P.O. Box 100, Paradise, CA 95967  ISBN 0-916685-17-9
Published annually.

  "Called the 'bible of the business' [[[ yeah, we have many
  holy books -- Ed.]]] by the Wall Street Journal, this thing is
  *huge*, and full of small and literary markets that you won't
  find in any of the Writer's Digest books above."

__________
BOOKS: RHETORIC

Barzun, Jaques.  *Simple and Direct, A Modern Rhetoric for Writers*
Harper-Collins ISBN 0-06-091122-0

  "Does not describe rhetoric in the classical sense, but he does give some
  excellent suggestions for becoming aware of and tightening up one's writing.
  Eye opening and well worth the reading.  Although it covers mainly Rhetoric,
  this book really applies to any kind of technical or expository
  writing, and to some extent narrative fiction.  I'd classify it as a
  General Purpose writing improvement book.  Hardback edition out of print."

Corbett, Edward P.J.  *Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student*, 3rd ed
Oxford University Press, New York.  1990.  ISBN 0-19-506293-0  $38.00(?)

  "Highly Recommended text for learning the ins and outs of expository writing.
  Includes technical topics such as discovering (inventing) material,
  organizing material, stylistic tricks and stunts, exercises, modes
  of reasoning and other methods of persuasion, and examples/analysis
  of these techniques in actual everyday (and formal) use in prose of
  various people ranging from Homer to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
  The principles described herein apply to any kind of prose used to
  persuade and inform an audience.  Concentration here is mainly on
  the written word rather than the spoken word (the more commonly
  associated domain of Rhetoric)."

___________
BOOKS: STYLE GUIDES AND ENGLISH GRAMMARS

Strunk and White, *The Elements of Style*
Macmillan, ISBN 0-02-418200-1, $3.50

  The classic.  92 pages that can change your life.  *Not* a general
  reference manual.

William Zinsser, *On Writing Well*
Harper and Row, 1988, ISBM 0-06-091479-3

  "The book is subtitled 'An Informal Guide to Writing
  Nonfiction' and contains lots of good, basic advice on writing.
  This book is an interesting read as well as being useful."

For exhaustive reference:

*The Chicago Manual of Style*, 13th edition
University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-10390-0

  The OED of style guides.  Not sure what how to make "appearance" a
  possessive?  See p. 160.  (appearance', as it happens.)

*Words into Type*
Prentice-Hall, ISBN 0-13-964262-5

Amusing, quirky, and often irritating:

Fowler, *Modern English Usage*
Oxford University Press

  You either love this one or you hate it.  A period piece, written by
  an Englishman immediately after the Great War.

[[[ I have no information other than the title on the following:
Thomas S. Kane, *The New Oxford Guide to Writing*
Oxford University Press, 1988 $22.95  ]]]

If you are concerned about biased language:

Rosalie Maggio, *The Dictionary of Bias-Free Usage,
                 a Guide to Nondiscriminatory Language*
Oryx Press, 1991.  ISBN 0-89774-653-8

  "Instamatic review: Looks like a good starting place for decisions
  about some issues in language."

_________
MAGAZINES: HOW TO BE A WRITER

Pulphouse Publishing, *The Report*
Pulphouse Publishing, Box 1227, Eugene, OR 97440
$2.95/copy, $10.00/four issues

  Pulphouse's blurb says, "a writer's magazine, filled with writers
  talking about all aspects of writing".   Primarily for people
  interested in speculative fiction (SF, fantasy, horror).  Comes out
  more-or-less quarterly.

*Poets & Writers Magazine*
$3.50/copy. $20/six issues (I think).

  "This magazine is great.  It's full of interviews of authors like Amy Tan
  and John Irving, and includes many articles about creative writing and
  even *teaching* creative writing.  This magazine is aimed at serious
  authors, not the "gee, I wanna write" audience that Writer's Digest
  seems geared towards.  There are also copious listings of contests, grants,
  and workshops in the back half of each issue.  *And* there's even a helpline

  for subscribers.  Yep, call up and get advice on writing/publishing direct
  from the staff!"

_________
MAGAZINES: MARKET REPORTS -- GENERAL

*Publishers Weekly*
P.O. Box 1979
Marion, OH 43306-2079  $97.00/year
Subscription inquiries: [phone]

  Expensive; contains useful industry gossip, hot off the
  presses.  (I learned about the various suits against Donning Press
  from *PW*; *Locus* and *SF Chronicle* didn't get the story until a
  month later.)  Skim it in your library -- the book reviews can help
  you get a handle on what your competition is up to.

_________
MAGAZINES: MARKET REPORTS -- CHILDREN'S BOOKS

Society for Children's Book Writers' Newsletter
(included in $40/year membership fee)
Society of Children's Book Writers
P.O. Box 296, Mar Vista Station
Los Angeles, CA 90066

_________
MAGAZINES: MARKET REPORTS -- SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY/HORROR

*Bulletin* [[[of the Science Fiction Writers of America]]]
  To subscribe without joining SFFWA, contact
  Pulphouse Publishing, Box 1227, Eugene, OR 97440

*Gila Queen's Guide to Markets*
Kathy Ptacek, editor, 28 Linwood Ave.,
Newton NJ 07860, $20.00/12 issues
(review quoted from SFFWA Newsletter)
  "...this guide to markets comes recommended as a good investment.
  Write for a sample copy (price unknown to me) if you're interested."

*Locus*
Locus Publications, P.O. Box 13305, Oakland, CA 94661, $35.00/year

  A better source of industry gossip than *SF Chronicle*;  I suspect a
  working SF writer could live without it, though.  Does have a dynamite
  column by Richard Curtis, a professional agent, on the vagaries of
  publishing.

*Scavenger's Newsletter*
Janet Fox, ed., 519 Ellinwood, Osage City KS 66523-1329, phone [phone]
  (quoting from SFFWA Newsletter)
  "This little zine focuses on market information, covering, in the
  current issue, 91 magazines and fanzines."

*Science Fiction Chronicle*
P.O. Box 2730, Brooklyn, NY 11202-0056, $30/year

  Has semi-yearly Market Report sections. Useful source
  of information on new theme anthologies, semi-pro magazines,
  and other non-obvious markets.

________
MAGAZINES: NOT RECOMMENDED
*The Writer*
*Writer's Digest*

  Most misc.writing contributors find these magazines are aimed at
  people who want to be writers rather than people who write.
  If you judge a magazine's intended audience by its advertisers,
  you'll notice that most ads in *Writer's Digest* promise to
  edit/read/ghost-write/publish your masterpiece for pay; very few
  tell you how to invest your enormous royalty income.

  Some of the columns in *Writer's Digest* are quite good;
  read these in the library.
--

Betsy Hanes Perry   (note P in userid)     [e-mail]
Cooperative Object Computing Division,     Hewlett-Packard, Inc.
We're readers, readers, readers of the Open Range...
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