One way to get straight back into your writing is to begin a course.  There is a wonderful selection of workshops available in New Zealand. 

If you want to get your teeth into a course and enjoy meeting people, a weekend workshop will most likely suit you. After the weekend you feel like your head is going to explode with overloaded information but it is amazing how much you retain. As well as that, you go away with the glow of having made new friends, affirmation that you’re doing something you love and immediate feedback on your work.

See Jill Marshall’s weekend workshop coming up in March (on our website and in the newsletter). Quite a few of our members have done Jill’s workshop and have given very favourable feedback. We will advertise other author’s weekend workshops in the newsletter as we find out about them.

Another alternative is to go to evening or day courses. You can fit it around work and if you’ve got kids, you’ve got time to feed and bath them before you rush out the door. Parking is usually a lot easier in the evenings. With evening and day courses, you are still getting people contact and you can work on exercises or your book while the course is running.  You are getting bite-size information in manageable proportions. 

Places to look for evening and day writing courses are Polytechnic institutions and local schools’ evening classes. If you want to try an illustration course, see Vivienne Lingard’s daytime 8-week course on our website. Jill also has an evening course – see her website for details.

Computer Tips from Kees Beentjees

Wordup!

Defaulting picture control.

I find most of my pictures I want to behave as a separate paragraph would. So I default my picture layout control to “In line with text”. (see last months newsletter for option description.)

To do this:

<Tools>, <Options>, “Edit” tab

The option “Insert/paste pictures as:” allows you to default the picture control to whatever you desire

Publisher’s Profile – Raupo Publishing

Raupo Publishing, 39 Rawene Road, Birkenhead, North Shore. Mail box: Private bag 34901, Birkenhead, North Shore 0746, Auckland. Phone: 09 441 2960 Commissioning Editor: Vicki Marsdon, email: vicki.marsdon@nz.penguingroup.com

Hot off the phone from talking to Vicki Marsdon, Raupo (Reed) Publishing’s new commissioning editor I found out what you need to know when sending in manuscripts. 

If you have had a verbal agreement or any correspondence (including agreements) saying they (Raupo/Reed/Carolyn) were going to publish your manuscript Vicki wants to hear from you. She apologises if she hasn’t been in contact with you yet, as she has been working through the paper work and boxes.  Vicki asked that you email or phone her and she will let you know where they are up to with your book.

I asked Vicki, what if someone had sent Carolyn (or another editor at Reed) a manuscript before and they viewed it favourably but they decided not to publish it (for whatever reasons).  Vicki said send her an email about the manuscript including a synopsis – she is willing to review it.

Vicki is interested in picture books, however, 2008 schedule is full and 2009 is filling up.  Email her with your ideas.  The same goes with non fiction writers.  She is interested in non fiction with an environmental theme, about kids doing things. See Rachel Goddard’s ‘Rubbish’ book.

Raupo wish to publish more teen fiction!  Vicki wants another Anthony Horowitz or Kathy Cassidy type writer.  Wants to find good authors who can write for boys and girls.  Also send your junior fiction. If it doesn’t suit them, it could be considered by Penguin’s ‘Kiwi Bite’ series.

Raupo will acknowledge receipt of your manuscript pretty smartly and you should hear back (reject/accept) within 4-6 weeks. Vicki said she doesn’t mind if you send her an email asking her about your manuscript (after that time period). 

The editorial team meets every week to discuss ideas.  Their formal meeting (where they present figures etc.) meets fortnightly. She said they make decisions pretty quickly.

Lastly, Vicki said she is keen to develop new writing talent. They are committed to see the best of their writers over a series of projects.

Like most publishers send in your work on one side of the paper, with wide margins and double line spacing. Send a SAEnvelope if you want your manuscript sent back to you.

Aunty M answers burning questions

Burning questions. We all have them. We all want answers (and possibly medication). I will do my best to answer ANY writing related question you might come up with.  Send me an e-mail at jnorman@xtra.co.nz with ‘a question for Aunty M’ in the subject line.  If I don’t know the answer personally I will leave no stone I know unturned in search of the answer. And then I will tell you…. However I am not an agent, a publisher, an editor or an academic, just another writer who has been hanging around for a few years eavesdropping or participating in a lot of gossip about the writing world and picking up some information along the way. So if your question is beyond me I will at least try and point you in the right direction for advice.

NB.  Any questions you ask may feature in future columns

Dear Aunty M, writes N. Sparks, do I need an agent?

The answer to this question depends on a lot of variables. There is no one right answer for everyone. Here is some information that may help you make the decision about whether having an agent is right for you.

1) If an agent agrees to represent you, you pay them a percentage of any work they handle, for them to do the selling. They build relationships with publishers, other agents and other useful people in order to find the best publisher for your work and then do the work required to sell your material. They only earn something if your work is sold. You should not be paying an agent to read, edit or otherwise advise on your manuscript. If an agent asks for money to read your work, try someone else. Having an agent is NOT a guarantee your work will be published. 

2) We don’t have many agents in NZ. You do not have to have an agent in NZ to get published here. Most publishers in NZ accept unsolicited, un-agented submissions and are used to dealing directly with authors.

3) When you sign up with an agent it tends to be for all your future work unless

a) you mutually cancel your arrangement with them,

b) it is in a genre they don’t represent, or

c) it is the twiddly piddly little stuff they are happy to have you sell on your own.

The Blog Log by Melinda Szymanik

Whilst surfing the net the other day I came across a blogging author who said she spent at least around an hour a day on the internet catching up with other bloggers.  She said that even though she sat at her computer working away all by herself (as many writers do) her time on the internet gave her that sense of community and like minded company that many writers feel the absence of.  It’s the equivalent of having a coffee with your workmates for morning tea to catch up with what’s happening around the workplace.  It’s the only thing I miss about working from home and it’s nice to think I don’t have to go without it.  

The isolating nature of writing and the potency of our desire for publication can make us extremely vulnerable to predators willing to use our greatest desires to rip us off.  With agents not necessary to getting published in New Zealand being scammed here is less likely.  However in countries like the US and UK where agents are frequently part of the process, scammers have flourished like weeds.  There are several websites dedicated to the outing of unscrupulous operators masquerading as legitimate agents and publishers. 

Here are some links that list the wrongdoers, outline what to look out for when searching for an agent or publisher and provide a forum for writers to submit bouquets for the good and brickbats for the bad.  Writer Beware has been set up by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America at www.sfwa.org/beware/ .  These folk also have the Twenty Worst Agents listed at www.sfwa.org/beware/twentyworst.html .  This ‘twenty worst’ list is accompanied by information on what constitutes inappropriate behaviour for an agent – very handy stuff.  Preditors and Editors can be found at http://anotherealm.com/prededitors.  These sites are updated regularly. 

Victoria Strauss and ACCrispin, from Writer Beware, also blog at www.accrispin.blogspot.com/ with regular advice, insights and information on avoiding the dangers that lurk when trying to get published in America.  A recent posting examined the pros and cons of searching for an agent on the internet.  And remember, if you come across something or someone shifty, it’s good to share the information.

From Maria Gill,
Kiwi Write4Kidz Co-ordinator.