Money The Write Way a free eMagazine for writers of integrity *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ July 2, 2003 Volume 1 Number 13 *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ To join our more than 4000 subscribers, and receive the FREE eBook, "So You Want to be a Travel Writer," click on: http://www.moneythewriteway.com It's FREE! *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ In this issue: 1.) Letter From The Publisher---On The Home Front 2.) Ask an Expert/Questions and Answers 3.)COMP-ortunity of the month 4.) The Business of Writing by Duane Newcomb 5.) Editor's Pick/Reviews by Victoria Beninga 6.) Special Guest Article: Why Register Your Work With The U.S. Copyright Office? by Gregory Ryhal 7.) The Boast Post---Bragging Board of Writers Triumphs and Victories *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Money The Write Way eMagazine ISSN pending. Copyright 2003 Write Spirit Publishing. All rights reserved. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Start Comping today by purchasing our best selling eBook: "BEEN THERE---COMPED THAT!" Free Travel, Dining, and Entertainment, All for the Cost of Some Ink Available at: http://www.moneythewriteway.com *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ~*~ On The Home Front Carmel L. Mooney I have a question about your writing. Are all your eggs in one basket? What I mean is that even financial experts recommend diversifying and I believe the same holds true for writers. Let me explain. When I first began making money as a writer, I focused on newspaper and magazine writing. Then I found my niche and explored writing travel articles and eventually writing travel and parenting columns. I went on to publish two books on travel writing. Then several years ago I wrote and published my first eBooks and went on to teach seminars on ePublishing and writing for the Internet. Three years ago I began exploring and dabbling in Commercial and Technical Copywriting and I went on to teach seminars on that as well. A few years ago I began doing restaurant reviews and recently I've been asked to start writing an arts column although my only real experience with art was in college art appreciation courses. I've tried magazines, newspapers, eBooks, eMagazines, Online magazines, columns, feature stories, Copywriting, teaching, coaching, consulting, radio, ad writing, reviews, fiction, non-fiction, erotica, ghost-writing, and even more. I've enjoyed most of, loved a lot of it, and learned so much along the way. Not to mention the opportunities and doors that have opened from one thing opening a door for another. My point is simple. Much like financial investments, writers need to diversify. We ought to try different things and explore new avenues for both enjoyment and income. Variety can be the spice of life and it certainly applies to writing as a business and for nurturing the writer's soul. Writing is an investment. It is an investment of our time, energy, ideas, and sometimes even our heart and soul. Be wise with your writing investments. Try or learn something new every now and then and don't put all your eggs in one basket! May your ink flow freely this summer and always, Carmel *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ~*~ This week's newest COMP-ortunity Bonfante Gardens Family Theme Park Website:http://www.bonfantegardens.com Address:3050 Hecker Pass Hwy, Gilroy, CA 95020 Phone: 408-988-1776 Contact: PR Team 408-840-7100 Description: Bonfante Gardens Family Theme Park, features 19 family rides and 21 attractions, stunning gardens, and the intriguing Circus Trees. The park is open April 18 - October 31. Coverage desired: FAMILY-FRIENDLY ATTRACTIONS, FAMILY VALUE, EDUCATIONAL EXCURSIONS, STORY SHOULD RUN IN A PUBLICATION THAT REACHES AN AUDIENCE THAT LIVES WITHIN 200 MILES OF BONFANTE GARDENS Prefers writers with any of the following: letter of assignment, press credentials, book in progress, writing samples/clips for review Possible comp: park admission/SEE MEDIA COMP POLICY AT http://www.pgathrills.com/corpinfo_press_media.jsp *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ~*~ "Ask a Pro" Publishing/Comping/Writing Q&A "Your Questions---You Always Wanted To Ask," answered by professional writing consultant/coach/author/instructor, Carmel L. Mooney To ask Carmel a writing, publishing, or comping question, email her at: Carmel@moneythewriteway.com. Questions may be edited for length or content if necessary. Question: I just received an e-mail from a small publication that wants to publish my article, asking for written permission to reproduce it in their e-zine, and post it to their web site. Since this is my first published article, and the publication doesn't have the budget to pay me, I'm just happy to get clips. I put "First North American Rights" on the top of the article, but I'm not sure how this applies to the Internet. Can I ever sell reprints of an article if I give the publisher permission to use it in their e-zine/web site? Can I legally post the same article on my web site? Any advice? -Jane R. California Answer: The Internet does make rights a tricky subject these days. I would suggest that you make it clear verbally or in writing to the publisher that you are offering only "one time rights." Since you would be retaining the rights, you should have the right to post it on your website so long as you make sure it has come out in print first in their publication. First N. American Rights that you indicated to them, means that you are allowing them the first printing of the article, one time. You should try to negotiate a price for non-exclusive online rights separately if you can. Question: I have found a FAM tour that I am interested in attending. Are families ever included? Or should I even ask? - K. Villa, Midland, TX Answer: All FAM tours vary. The best thing to do is ask. I once was invited to a FAM tour and I asked if I could bring my husband and kids along. They agreed with the exception of a few activities that my family was not included in. I know a writer who is leaving for Hawaii on a FAM tour next week and most of her family's expenses are covered as well. My book, Been There---Comped That!, available at http://www.moneythewriteway.com explains FAM tours in much more detail. Question: Do I have to be a horse expert, e.g trainer or wrangler, to pitch a story idea to a horse magazine? A horse lover in Elko, NV Answer: Most writers are generalists rather than specialists, meaning that they know a little about a lot of different things. And what they don't know, they research. While you absolutely don't have to be a professional horse expert to write an article for a horse magazine, you should research the subject matter thoroughly so your query is convincing and impressive. Remember when querying, if you lack published credits, play up your expertise, knowledge, and experience in the subject. If you know your stuff, dazzle them with your knowledge. A good article grabs the reader's attention, generates interest or desire and "spurs" the reader to action....no pun intended! To ask Carmel a writing, publishing, or comping question, email her at: Carmel@moneythewriteway.com. Carmel Mooney is also available by phone and/or email for private consultation, editing, and coaching. Carmel has helped hundreds of writers achieve writing and publishing success. Email her at: Carmel@moneythewriteway.com or call her at: 916-205-4763 *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ~*~ The Business Side of Writing Duane Newcomb Selling the Same Article Many Times Can you actually sell the same article over and over? Of course you can. It's like everything else in the writing business; however, you can do it only under certain conditions and in certain specialized markets. You cannot sell the same piece to ten or fifteen different women's magazines, to all of the big three outdoor magazines, nor to other magazines that compete with each other for readers. The one thing an editor hates most is to pick up a copy of a competing magazine and find an article there that he just ran. When this happens, you can be sure the writer of the article will never sell to either of those magazines again. There are some publications, however, that don't mind buying articles that have appeared elsewhere. The reason is that these magazines serve specific groups of readers. They have no objection if you sell the same article to a publication that their readers will never see. These are called "non-competing" publications because they don't compete with each other for readers. What you are reselling here is the exact same article. This is quite different from reslanting the material for different markets. In most cases it is possible to photocopy these articles and simply send them out. In this day of e-mail some editors prefer to get their articles over the internet. You can often sell the same article a number of times within five groups of publications. They include newspapers, regional magazines, juvenile religious magazines, regional parenting magazine and trade journals. Let's take a closer look at each category. Newspapers: Newspapers buy literally thousands of features every year on wide variety of subjects from British gardens to whale watching. If you intend to specialize in selling newspaper features you should clip articles from several newspapers each week just to keep track of what's being purchased. Believe me, the variety of subjects is mind-boggling. Juvenile Religious Magazines: This group represents a market for articles on subjects like hobbies, handicraft, nature, outdoor activities, science, sports, bike riding, pets, and personal experiences. They are willing to buy second (reprint) rights because Presbyterian magazine readers don't read Methodist magazines and so forth. Thumb through the listings in Writer's Market and observe that many magazines say they take simultaneous submissions. City and Regional Magazines: Today there are approximately 300 regional magazines spread across the United States. Titles include Texas Monthly, San Diego, Utah Holiday and more. These primarily are magazines for newcomers. As a result they offer an editorial mix of restaurant reviews, guides to local night life, regional attractions, lifestyle and service features: articles on gardening, food, taxes, organizing your closet, marriage, managing your time and more. You will find a complete list of these magazines in the Standard Rate and Data, Consumer Edition, available in most libraries. Begin by sending for as many copies of these as possible. Make a list of the general articles you find. This will give you a good idea of what you can do. Once you have written an article for one of these magazines, make copies and send it to every possible market. Parenting: These magazines never stop, Adoptive Families, Baseball Parent, Healthy Kids, Jewish Family and Life, Parenting New Mexico, Columbus Parent, Northwest Parent, Nashville Parent and on and on. These magazines take all aspects of raising children. You will find a list at http://newsdirectory.tucows.com/news/magazine/home/parents/ Trade Journals: Trade journals are magazines published for readers in a wide variety of industries: manufacturers, wholesales and retailers. There are approximately 4,500 trade journals listed in the Standard Rate and Data business edition, available in many libraries. Retail trade journals with names like Yarn Market News, National Jeweler and Fishing Tackle Trade News will take all sorts of merchandising, advertising and marketing articles. I used the sell the same article a number of times because the readers of jewelry magazines don't read toy magazines and so forth. I then created an inventory list of well researched merchandising, advertising and demographic articles. These I sent to every magazine on the list. The result was 54 sales to a wide variety of magazines for one article. They are written and merchandised like the articles for all other magazines articles. To get started begin reading these magazines in the various categories. When you have an article you feel might sell to one, send it out to every magazine in that category. In the left hand corner of the manuscript be sure and type One Time Rights Only. This will indicated to the editor that you will be submitting to other magazines. Duane Newcomb is a literary consultant with 36 non-fiction books to his credit, over 5000 articles and more than 150 client books in print. He has taught article and non-fiction book courses at numerous colleges, universities and writer's conferences across the United States. Visit Duane Newcomb's website: The Booksite at www.bookforce.bizland.com http://www.bookforce.bizland.com offers a cornucopia of information on writing, publishing and promoting your nonfiction book. Need Your Own Website that you can build yourself? I can help. Visit our build-a -Website Page at: www.bookforce.bizland.com/id41.html http://www.bookforce.bizland.com/id41.html Subscribe to his free, monthly professional author newsletter at: dnew@thegrid.net *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ~*~ Editor's Pick Book, Magazine, Website, and e-Book Review Victoria Beninga, Editor This Month's Review: Dictionary.com This is not your grandmother’s dictionary. Yes, this web site does provide definitions of words; however, there is much more. How about improving your vocabulary every day through your e-mail? If you subscribe to Dictionary.com’s “Word of the Day e-mail,” you’ll receive a message each day with a new word, its definition, and an example of that word being used in a sentence. Dictionary.com also offers fun word puzzles every day such as crosswords, word searches, and cryptograms. You’ll also find a bookstore, other dictionaries such as foreign language and medical dictionaries, free helpful software that you can download, a link to Thesaurus.com, and information on grammar and usage. The newest feature of this website is a very cool translator page. You can type in English words or sentences and have them translated into other languages. You can also type in words or sentences in other languages and have them translated into English. Now you can communicate with those relatives in other countries without translating incorrectly and saying something such as “I hope your fish’s lava runs under the green stapler.” Try the translator. I just e-mailed a love note to my husband in German. I enjoyed exploring this website and have added it to my favorites. I think you’ll find it helpful and that you’ll enjoy it too. You can get to Dictionary.com by going to http://dictionary.reference.com/ Victoria Beninga Travel Columnist/Editor/Publisher, GOLD COUNTRY FAMILIES, a FREE eMagazine and FREE e-mail newsletter of child-friendly local activities and getaways for families living in the Sierra Nevada Gold Country, http://www.goldcountryfamilies.com Columnist/Associate Editor, MONEY THE WRITE WAY, http://www.moneythewriteway.com RV eBooks available at http://www.ebookstand.com *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Special Guest Article: Why Register Your Work With The U.S. Copyright Office? Gregory Ryhal Registering your work with the U.S. Copyright Office can be a confusing and tedious experience; yet protecting your creative property is a must in today’s world where plagiarism seemingly runs rampant. Prior to the anthrax mail scare of 2001 and 2002, submitting your work for copyright protection through the U.S. Copyright Office generally took between 60 and 90 days for your work to be listed and catalogued appropriately. Since then, however, the security restrictions put on mail sent to government agencies have increased this timeframe to up to six months before you receive your certificate of copyright. If you fail to meet any requirement, they will likely return your materials to you for resubmission and you will have to wait another six months for your certificate to arrive. By now, you may be asking yourself, “Is it worth it?” In a word: Yes. Theoretically, by publishing your work, you have copyrighted it. However, without registering your work, your chance of legal recourse should someone plagiarize or reproduce your work without your permission is virtually none. Conversely, by registering your work in the appropriate timeframe, not only can you make a legal claim to your work but in some cases may be able to recover attorney’s fees should you have to seek help from the judicial system. Registering your work, be it published or unpublished, provides you-and no one else, unless you give explicit written consent-sole rights to reproduce, distribute, and display your work in any media you see fit. Furthermore, if you register your work prior to publication, there is no need to apply for a new copyright once you publish your work. The registration number provided to you is transferable as long as there are no substantial changes to the work. And despite the less than timely turnaround provided by the U.S. Copyright Office, all you need to submit for copyright protection are the appropriate forms, a one-time, non-refundable $30 filing fee, and three non-returnable copies of your manuscript or published work. Please note that the U.S. Copyright Office only accepts hard copies of the work and will return your materials if you attempt to submit your work on an a floppy disk or CD-ROM. Isn’t protecting your creative endeavor worth it? Further information regarding this subject, including downloadable forms, and an FAQ can be found at http://www.loc.gov/copyright/ http://www.loc.gov. Bookman Marketing can submit your work to the U.S. Copyright Office for copyright protection regardless of whether you publish with us. To inquire about this service or our other unique marketing services, contact us via email at information@bookmanmarketing.com mailto:information@bookmanmarketing.com or by telephone at 1-800-342-6068. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ~*~ The Boast Post Don't be modest-we applaud you! Whether it's an assignment victory, a publishing accomplishment, comp, or a writing goal achieved, we'd love to hear it. Please include your full name or initials, and your city and state. Send your boast in 75 words or less to: Carmel@moneythewriteway.com (may be edited for length or content) Boast: Just published by Jim McMorris of California: "So I Have Cancer", is a book about the trails and frustrations of a cancer patient. It describes the experiences of one cancer patient during the detection, treatment and finally the cure of the cancer. There are many tips, hints, etc; including supplements that the patient found helpful during the treatment and recovery process. It is a must read for anyone facing the cancer scare. Available at: http://www.ebookstand.com/m/jamesgmcmorris *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Coming Soon/Around the Corner: Great writing courses by nationally acclaimed writing instructors! Take them from the privacy of your home and have email access to your questions from the instructor. COMING SOON! Email for more information; there's no obligation. Carmel@moneythewriteway.com *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Websites for Writers! ---Hazel Nieves, expert on Internet Marketing and Online business success is owner of Web Development Company, Sierra Technology Solutions, Inc. She has 20 years experience in sales, marketing, and technology and is a committed crusader in helping take the confusion out of taking your business online. You can contact Hazel at 530-367-2915 or Customerservice@sierratechnologysolutions.com Special Offer! Writers Special E-biz Website Package Turn-key Package Includes: *5 Custom Pages *Shopping Cart (up to 10 products) *Secure Server *One year hosting service *Uses your own domain *Up to 15 Email accounts *Attractive Professional designs to choose from *Copyright Statement page Special Price: $ 600.00 complete Get started today with your Affordable Professional E-business website here: http://www.sierratechnologysolutions.com /writers/writers_special.htm Learn more from Hazel at: http://www.sierratechnologysolutions.com *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ It's FREE---List your inn, resort, restaurant, entertainment venue, business, or destination seeking written coverage---contact the publisher: Carmel@moneythewriteway.com *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Money The Write Way eMagazine TO SUBSCRIBE: Send an e-mail with "subscribe" as the subject to: subscribe@moneythewriteway.com TO UNSUBSCRIBE: Send an e-mail with "unsubscribe" as the subject to: unsubscribe@moneythewriteway.com *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Have something you'd like to offer more than 4000 writers and authors? Place and ad in Money the Write Way today! It's affordable and effective. Email for rates and details: Carmel@moneythewriteway.com *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Write Spirit Publishing P.O. Box 3405 Auburn, CA 95604 Contact us at: Carmel@moneythewriteway.com We welcome your comments/suggestions/requests/contributions Carmel L. Mooney, Publisher Victoria Beninga, Associate Editor http://www.moneythewriteway.com Should the links we provide not work, this may mean your E-mail program doesn't like our code. If this occurs, please go directly to our current online archived issue at: http://www.moneythewriteway.com You may freely distribute this eMag to friends, discussion lists, and writing groups as long as the issue is included in its entirety. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~