In today’s article, I’d like to share with you some tips to consider when you’re reviewing your current website or when you’re thinking about creating one. Let’s take a look at these tips for your website’s design and usability.

1. Structure Your Theme Around Your Update Frequency – First and foremost, I believe that you have to make a decision, up front, about how often you plan on updating your website. If you’re not going to blog or update very often, you can simply choose a different website theme that’s a little more static than a blog, but still attractive and professional. If your website isn’t focused around a blog, visitors won’t expect you to update your website as often, but you can still provide good, useful information for anyone who visits. Several themes offer you the ability to have a blog component integrated separately into your website, too.

2. Balance Text with Images – Images can be a great enhancement to your website and they can allow you to easily share content with your readers that they might enjoy seeing. However, your website copy is arguably the most important asset you have for many reasons. Copy allows you to reach your readers and search engines, and it also allows you to attract new visitors through Google and similar places. As an author, your content is exceptionally important because it’s a reflection of you and your work.

3. Consider Saying “No” to Fancy Functionality – I’ve seen quite a few big budget author websites that have no text and lots of bells and whistles. Unfortunately, when you start adding a lot of fancy programming scripts, you can end up making your site inaccessible to the blind because there is nothing for them to read. Accessibility is a huge topic in website design because people with disabilities interact with the web differently than you or I might, and those groups have sued other companies for their oversight. Keep in mind, too, that not every visitor will have the latest software that is often required to interact with that complex functionality either. How many times do you stick around installing new software to interact with a website?

Additionally, depending upon how your website is programmed, search engines can also have a tough time picking up your content, which can hinder your ability to be accessed through search. If your functionality (Flash, JavaScript, QuickTime, etc.) ends up being a roadblock, that can affect how your visitors and search engines interact with your website.

4. Think About Avoiding a Splash Page – Do you have an additional page that your readers have to go through to get to your website? If your answer is “yes,” then you have what is known as a “splash page.” Regardless of how your website is structured, it can be questionable to have a splash page from a usability perspective, because it hampers your readers’ ability to quickly get to the information that they want to see.

5. Design for Readability and Consistency – Even though you might spend hours reviewing color schemes and fonts, your website may not render the way that you want or expect it to. Sometimes, a website design will look totally different in a browser like Chrome than in Firefox, even though the website’s programming is the same. Color can be more difficult to standardize, because two computer monitors may render color very differently. To avoid poor readability and to increase consistency in your design, try to ensure that your theme has a lot of contrast and offers common fonts. If you don’t want to use a font like Arial, etc. for your logo, then I would consider turning text into an image or a logo.

6. Own Your Own Domain – Did you know that if you have your website on a free domain like WordPress, Blogger, Typepad or Blogspot that you may not own your own content? Every free service — including blogging and website platforms — has a Terms of Service (ToS) that spells out what your rights are. I highly recommend reviewing the Terms of Service of the websites you’ve registered for and consider owning your own domain. Also, if you own your own domain it does tend to look more professional than if you use a free service. After all, what is your career worth to you?

7. Provide Easy, Intuitive Navigation – There is nothing ( and I mean nothing) worse than having to hunt and peck on an author’s website to find what I’m looking for. I can’t tell you how many times I have had to dig through pages of cat pictures or other personal information just to find out more about an author’s book or their bibliography. Your website navigation should be easy for people to browse and should be centered around your primary focus. If your website is about you as an author, then cater the navigation to your multiple audiences: readers, reviewers, agents, editors and the press. If your website is about you as a person, then be clear about that on a FAQ page and redirect visitors to your professional presence.

8. Offer the Ability to Search – Remember what I said about being able to find things on your website? A visitor shouldn’t have to click back to a search engine to look for things that are on your website. Some websites offer built-in search functionality; some don’t. Either way, it’s a good idea to double-check your site to ensure that it has that ability.

The good news is that you don’t have to listen to or agree with anything I’ve said in this article, because you can see for yourself how your website’s design and usability is affecting your visitors through your website analytics data.

Google Analytics (GA) doesn’t charge you a dime to use their service. Even though you technically don’t “own” the data (e.g. you can’t maintain it or download all of it), there is a lot of insight you can glean from the reports. There are also quite a few other web analytics services you can explore, and many of them may charge you a fee. Since there isn’t “one” standardized method of garnering the data from your website, different programs may provide you with different insight. Fortunately, GA has some tutorials and the program is pretty intuitive.

The thing to keep in mind when deciding whether or not to add analytics, is that the data that you learn from a tool like Google Analytics can help you improve your website’s design and usability. Simply identify what questions you want to answer and then leverage your data to find the answer.

About the Author

Monica Valentinelli is the content and web analytics manager for the digital sheet music retailer and publisher Musicnotes.com and the project manager for the horror and dark fantasy webzine Flamesrising.com. Monica is an aspiring novelist working on revisions for her first novel which she’s talked about at VioletWar.com; she has several non-fiction, short fiction and game writing credits to her name including her recent digital e-book release entitled THE QUEEN OF CROWS.

To read more about Monica, visit her blog located at www.mlvwrites.com.

Let me talk about conventions and their relationship to my writing life. Everyone will have very different experiences, depending on their personality. Here’s how it works for me.

I primarily go to conventions for three reasons.

1. To see other people in the field whose company I enjoy.
2. Improve craft/business sense.
3. To be “visible.”

1) To see other people in the field whose company I enjoy.
I relish the social aspect of SF. There are people that I just plain like and a convention is like old home week. It’s fun! I like you guys.

2) Improve craft/business sense.
A convention with a really good list of panels is going to appeal to me more than one in which I only hang out at the bar (though I love that, too). I want to know what’s happening in the field and to think about things that aren’t just products of my own brain banging against the inside of my skull. Even if I only learn one new thing, that’s a thing I didn’t know before.

3) To be “visible”
I’m a new writer, so I’m building my “brand.” I’m not going to get that many new readers at a convention, but the people at cons are the ones who vote on things and frankly, nominations can be leveraged ((Nominations and awards do not automatically mean a reader increase. You have to know how to work them, but the power of narrative on career is a different topic.)) into getting more readers which means…that cons are filled with a good target audience. Cons also tend to have editors at them and those are good people to know.

Now, I’ll be frank about how this works, because a lot of people don’t understand how to do effective schmoozing. Yes, yes, I’m aware that admitting this happens is distasteful. But, I’m going to talk about how to schmooze, anyway.

Schmoozing 101

These are all ideas to employ but none of them are hard and fast rules. Schmoozing is all about being charming and that will vary somewhat depending on the situation. So, here are the basic ideas behind successful schmoozing.

First idea: The other person is more interesting than you are.

Clearly, there are going to be cases where this isn’t true BUT act like it is. Why? Because the more time someone spends talking about himself and the more he feels intelligent and the more interesting he will think the conversation is. Hence, the more interesting he will think you are. So practice being a good listener.

Now, the way I do this is that as I’m talking with the person, I listen for the things that we have common interests in. They like cars? Great, I can reference the MG-TD that I covet. That gives me something to add to the conversation so that they don’t feel like they are being interrogated.

What if you can’t find any common ground?

Second idea: Have an exit strategy.
Let’s say you are a writer talking to an editor. It’s a good conversation, but you don’t know them all that well. The conversation pauses. Rather than looking for a way to prolong it, excuse yourself. To borrow from theater, “Always leave them wanting more.”

Exit strategies are also useful when you are trapped in a conversation. It’s okay to break the flow and say, “I’m so sorry, it’s been good talking to you, but I need to [x].” Yes, I’m suggesting that you lie. They trapped you. You are escaping. It’s fair.

But if the conversation is going well?

Third idea: Don’t be the first to bring up business.
Why? Because everyone at the con is talking about writing and business and you, you will be a welcome respite in the midst of a sea of people who have all been talking about the same things. You stand out this way. Now, if someone else brings it up, you are more than welcome to indulge, but don’t go there first. Later, make sure you follow up, but when you are in a non-business setting, leave the business alone.

Fourth idea: When the conversation turns to business, be prepared.
It is a con, so the conversation is very likely to swing round to writing. If you have something to pitch, practice your pitch at home. If you have a question, practice it at home. If you’ve gone to panels, think about what your opinion is before someone asks you.

Right now, I’m sucking at answering the question, “So what do you write?”

I rattle off a couple of magazines — which is what they want to hear — and I fail to say, “I have a novel coming out from Tor in 2010.” I think I told two people that at the last con. This is foolish. Someone gave me an opening to pimp myself and I didn’t oblige them.

Fifth idea: Be physically pleasant.

Is this shallow? Yes, yes it is. But we’ve all read the studies that repeatedly show that people who are attractive are treated better, so for heaven’s sake, take advantage of that. You look good in green? Wear green. Nicely turned calves? Show them off. And for heaven’s sake, bathe. Trust me, in a con, just a little bit of effort will make you stand out.

Want to know a secret? In real life, I almost never wear makeup, but I wear it at conventions. Too many people take photos and I look dead in photos without it. Especially on very little sleep, which is a natural state at cons.

Sixth idea: Follow up.

You meet someone who is either fascinating or who might be a good connection later. Drop them a line afterwards. It can be as simple as swinging by their website and saying “Hey, good to meet you!” Don’t stalk them, but that tiny bit of post con contact will help them remember who you are. Heck, it’ll help you remember who they are too.

By the way, this is why it’s good to hand out cards at conventions. I’ve been bad about this lately and keep forgetting to print enough to take with me.

So let’s review.
1. The other person is always more interesting than you are.
2. Have an exit strategy.
3. Don’t be the first to bring up business.
4. If business comes up, be prepared.
5. Be physically pleasant, ie, bathe.
6. Follow up.

There are other things too, but these are the basics.

—

Conventions and Writing, or Schmoozing 101 is reprinted with permission of the author.

Mary Robinette Kowal was the 2008 recipient of the Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Her short fiction has appeared in Strange Horizons, Cosmos and Asimov’s. Mary, a professional puppeteer and voice actor, lives in Portland, OR with her husband Rob and nine manual typewriters. Tor is publishing her debut novel, Shades of Milk and Honey, in the Spring of 2010.

We’re also doing something new this year and asking members to RSVP before the meeting. This enables us to do two things. 1) We know how much food to order for breakfast. 2) We can send you an email update when we know what room the meeting will be held in.

And just a gentle reminder, we need 31 active members to achieve quorum. Hope to see you there.

• 8:00-8:30am Light continental breakfast
• 8:30-9:30am Business meeting
  (Note: The business meeting  was scheduled so as not to conflict with regular WFC programming.)

Register for the business meeting.

The SFWA business meeting will be held the morning of Oct. 31 at the Fairmont Hotel, 170 South Market Street in San Jose. A light continental breakfast will be served to SFWA members beginning at 8:00am, with the meeting commencing at 8:30am and running to 9:30am.  The business meeting was scheduled so as not to conflict with regular WFC programming.

“We are very grateful to World Fantasy for reaching out with this offer of aid,” said SFWA Secretary Mary Robinette Kowal. “As one of the most important annual conventions, a large number of our members already planned to attend. This partnership is a win-win for everyone, and allows us to honor the ‘Fantasy’ element of our mission.”

SFWA will not hold a business meeting during the upcoming 67^th World Science Fiction Convention in Montréal, Québec. Massachusetts law—under which SFWA is incorporated—precludes meetings outside of the United States. Normally, the business meeting would be during a North American Science Fiction Convention, but NASFiCs are only scheduled when Worldcon occur outside North America.

About World Fantasy Convention

The World Fantasy Convention is an annual gathering of professionals, collectors and others interested in the field of light and dark fantasy art and literature. The number of attending memberships are limited, and usually sell out in advance of the start of the convention. The World Fantasy Awards are presented during a Sunday afternoon banquet.

Celebrating Edgar Allan Poe’s 200^th birthday, the 2009 World Fantasy Convention will be held Oct. 29-Nov. 1 in San Jose, Calif. For additional information, visit ://www.worldfantasy2009.org/

About SFWA

Founded in 1965 by the late Damon Knight, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America brings together the most successful and daring writers of speculative fiction throughout the world.

Since its inception, SFWA® has grown in numbers and influence until it is now widely recognized as one of the most effective non-profit writers’ organizations in existence, boasting a membership of approximately 1,500 science fiction and fantasy writers as well as artists, editors and allied professionals.  Each year the organization presents the prestigious Nebula Awards® for the year’s best literary and dramatic works of speculative fiction.

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The words “online marketing” are fairly generic, since there are quite a few components involved with this business practice. Marketers (like myself) often utilize web analytics, social media, blogging, natural and paid search, online advertising, etc. For authors, online marketing may be a little more targeted to our writing and publishing efforts via social media and blogging platforms.

Since online marketing is part and parcel to my career, I don’t think twice about leveraging my knowledge for my fiction efforts. Not every author has my experiences, though, which is why I turned to a few authors to find out what they thought. Alex Bledsoe, author of Blood Groove and The Sword-Edged Blonde, had this to say on the subject:

“It used to be that a writer could simply write, and the publisher had a whole marketing structure there to take care of him or her.  Back then it was feasible to be a recluse and still be a best-seller.  It’s the romantic ideal of being a “writer.”  Now, though, those structures are long gone, and the writer has to work in partnership with the publisher, or in some cases entirely on his or her own, to publicize books.  The money simply isn’t there unless you’re on the level of a cottage-industry author.  That said, there’s also unprecedented ways for authors to find readers and vice-versa.”

Just like an online merchant targets their efforts to their customers, any author can focus their actions to attract, retain and reach their readers. Some authors, like Pat Rothfuss, author of The Name of the Wind, chose a more blended approach to attracting readers:

“I maintain a blog, but I also really enjoy getting out and meeting people face-to-face at signings and conventions. It’s a real trade-off. The blog is more work, but it’s available to everyone with a computer. I make jokes, keep people informed about signings, and occasionally answer questions or give advice. Talking at a convention or a library is easier in many ways. You get to talk to people face-to-face and make a real connection. The audience is smaller, but connection is more personal, dynamic, and real.”

Pat’s approach works for him because, as he outlined in his quote, he feels comfortable making those face-to-face connections. Unfortunately, not every author may not have as much time to blog or go to conventions as Pat does, which means that their marketing efforts have to be structured differently. Does that mean that there’s “one way” to structure an online marketing plan? No, absolutely not. Often, the best online marketing plans are the most customized ones. For your work, that might mean you need to incorporate feedback from your agent or your publisher; another author might set up a content management plan (e.g. blogging schedule) to help them save time.

Unfortunately, time is a factor for online marketing because creating content can be time-consuming. Is it worth it? Lilith Saintcrow, author of the new release Redemption Alley, had this to offer:

“Fans want a personal relationship–that’s why they’re fans. A professional interactive presence online helps fans feel recognized and provides an emotional value to them, over and above the cost of a book. Fans are the people providing my paycheck; my professional online presence is a way for me to find out how well I’m earning that paycheck. It’s value added for the fans, and the best parts of a performance review for me, all rolled into one.

Developing a personal relationship with your readers does provide intrinsic value to them, because fans do enjoy connecting with the authors they admire. In online marketing, we cultivate that personal attachment through something called “personalization.” From creating personalized newsletters to writing about your editing process, personalization is about touching a reader in a place where they identify with you and subsequently, your work. By using personalization techniques, you’re fostering another form of advertising called “word-of-mouth.” 

The easiest way to personalize your readers experience with your writing is to simply be online to engage your readers. The key to personalization is not “selling a book to an individual,” it means that you might field questions about your writing or talk about your hobbies or charities you support. It means, simply, that you’re both a professional author and someone interesting to talk to. How will you know when your efforts are successful? While there are multiple ways to track your actions, often the strangest things will start to occur. You’ll find yourself networking not only with readers, but with other authors and professionals, too. 

Another good example of how an author effectively uses personalization is Yasmine Galenorn author of the New York Times bestselling Otherworld series. Yasmine is very active on social media, but she also blogs and offers a newsletter for her fans, too.

“I find that it’s important to establish a certain presence with readers, especially in today’s cyber-focused world.  Because of the internet, authors have the ability to reach out to readers in ways like never before. However, there is a balance that must be reached.  It can be dangerous to become over friendly with strangers who think they know you because of your books, and social networking can be time-consuming and tiring.  But when kept in perspective, the net can also be a wonderful way to connect with readers and other writers.  We can give our audience a glimpse behind the mask.  While we ideally want our books to be the central focus—for writers of series, this can be an invaluable tool.  Readers become heavily invested in our worlds. They want to know a little more about the person behind the cover, the creator of their favorite characters whom become beloved friends to them. And online networking can give them a hint of who we are.”

Yasmine is not alone in her experiences with her readers, for there is a challenge with becoming too accessible. Since the internet provides instant gratification with long-lasting effects, you’ll need to set up clear guidelines for yourself to manage your time and your communication. Regardless, if you do decide to engage your readers keep in mind that you’ll need to monitor the conversation. Unlike writing for a print medium, if you have a set-and-forget mentality for the internet, you may find yourself either completely removed from the conversation, or the subject of a delicate one.

Because the bulk of my published work has either been short fiction or game design, I’ve been able to experiment with the concept of personalization. One example of how I’m experimenting with different tools is my website for an urban fantasy novel called “Argentum.” Offering a portion of the first draft for a limited time, I’ve been able to connect with fans interested in watching the novel’s journey. Even though I’ve made mistakes, I’ve been honest and upfront about everything I’m doing, which has offered my readers an intimate look at the process of writing (and marketing) a novel online.

Just like my experiences with personalization might be a little different from the authors I listed above, yours will no doubt be different, too. Don’t be afraid to customize your marketing plan to your personality, because in the end “getting personal” means your readers will get to know “you.” What you want them to see is entirely up to you.

About the Author

Monica Valentinelli is the content and web analytics manager for the digital sheet music retailer http://www.musicnotes.com and the project manager for the horror and dark fantasy webzine www.flamesrising.com. In her spare time, Monica enjoys writing fiction, and has over a dozen game and fiction credits to her name including: “Pie,“ a short story found in the “Buried Tales of Pinebox, Texas,” her recent novella “Twin Designs” which was part of the collection Tales of the Seven Dogs Society, her flash fiction piece “Prey” on Pseudopod.org with more works on the way.

To read more about Monica, visit her urban fantasy novel located at www.violetwar.com or her blog located at www.mlvwrites.com.

This .pdf document is an annotation of the Amazon Kindle contract as it was posted on Amazon’s Web site (downloaded in February, 2008). Members of the SFWA Contract Committee compiled these annotations solely as an educational service to SFWA members. It is not legal advice and may not be relied on as such.

Our annotations consist of yellow-highlighting particular passages, then describing issues raised by the passage (using blue indented text). In a few cases we present new language (in blue highlight) that is relevant to an issue we raise.

We welcome comments or suggestions, particularly if Amazon amends the Kindle contract.

Revision 2.1

20 August 1996
As author-agent contracts don’t seem to be a one-size-fits-all item, a few alternative contract clauses are included in this draft, accompanied by italicized comments. — John E. Stith

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. This agreement (the “Agreement”) dated [date of signing], sets forth the relationship between [author's name here] (the “Author”), also published under the name(s) [pen names here] and [name of literary agency Here] (the “Literary Agent”).
1. LITERARY AGENT REPRESENTS AUTHOR. For the term of this agreement, the Author hereby retains the Literary Agent:

(a) To represent the Author for the sale of the following works (“Represented Works”), written or to be written by the Author and not covered by a prior unagented sale or prior agency agreement: (1) all full-length fiction, and (2) any other writings that Author and Literary Agent may agree upon.

(b) Subject to the Author’s approval, to negotiate sales (“Represented Sales”) of (1) Represented Works in the U.S., its territories, and Canada (“Domestic Sales”), (2) Represented Works in non-domestic markets (“Foreign Sales”), and (3) derivative or secondary rights in the Represented Works (such as film, TV, recording, or other dramatic media) anywhere in the world (“Subsidiary Sales”).

(c) To receive payments and royalties from all Represented Sales as long as the contracts for such sales remain in force.

Author attests that, during the term of this Contract, the Author will employ no other Literary Agent to represent the Author for the Author’s Represented Works. It is acknowledged that some of the Author’s backlog may be excluded from this contract because it is covered by a prior agreement with another agency. {Some authors prefer to have separate film agents. Whichever way you go, the decision should be clear to both author and agent.}

2. CONTRACTS. Literary Agent shall use best efforts to promote the Author’s Represented Works. No proposed Represented Sale shall be binding unless approved by the Author in a signed contract (a “Represented Contract”). Author may, in writing, authorize Literary Agent to sign contracts on his behalf. {Authors might want to provide a limited authorization that lets the agent sign only foreign contracts or sign only contracts the author has verbally approved.}

3. AGENT’S COMMISSION. The Literary Agent shall be entitled to a commission (“Agent’s Commission”) equal to X percent of all Domestic Sales, Y percent of all Subsidiary Sales, and Z percent of all Foreign Sales. {While authors would like these commission rates as low as possible, we recognize that agents would prefer them as high as possible. A number of agents charge 10 percent for domestic sales, 15 percent for subsidiary and 20 percent for foreign, and obviously these rates play a part in the determination of whether a particular agent is the one to sign with.}

4. SUBSIDIARY RIGHTS. Subject to Author’s reasonable consent, the Literary Agent shall engage all subsidiary or co- agents which the Literary Agent believes best represent the Author in Foreign Sales.

5. EXPENSES BORNE BY LITERARY AGENT. From the Literary Agent’s Commission, the Literary Agent shall pay (a) all subsidiary or split commissions required by foreign or subsidiary agents, and (b) such other costs, listed in the attached Rider, as Literary Agent may incur in promoting or selling the Author’s Represented Works. The Literary Agent shall not be reimbursed for such expenses and need not account for them to the Author, except that the Author shall reimburse the Literary Agent for unusual expenses, incurred by the Literary Agent with the Author’s prior consent, for the Represented Works. {This phrase is the best case for the author, but it’s just another component of the give and take between author and agent, and should be factored into the projected agent commission when comparing two otherwise equal agents. Often, the agents charging higher commission rates are willing to include some expenses in their commission. Just be clear on what you’ll be expected to pay for, and if you can, limit additional expenses to those applicable to works actually sold.}

6. DISBURSEMENTS. On behalf of the Author, the Literary Agent shall collect all payments due the Author under any Represented Contract (“Author’s Payments”) and shall, within ten days of the funds clearing, disburse the amount of such Author’s Payments to the Author, less any Literary Agent’s Commission and less any mutually approved expense charges.

7. STATEMENTS. In January of each year, the Literary Agent shall provide the Author with an annual statement showing all Author’s Payments, Agent’s Commissions, and other itemized deductions for the previous calendar year. {Not all agencies do this, but it’s desirable for the author. The minimum notice consists of an IRS Form 1099 that identifies the total payments and total commissions.}

8. NOTICES. The Literary Agent and Author shall promptly send each other copies of (a) any legal notice under any Represented Contract, (b) any important communication from any publisher under any Represented Contract, and any material correspondence.

9. TERM. This contract may be terminated voluntarily for any reason by either party upon thirty days’ prior written notice to the other, detailing causes for termination, sent via certified mail, return receipt requested, to the addresses below:

If to Literary Agent, at [Literary Agent's address]

If to Author, at [Author's address]

or such other address as either party may designate in writing to the other.

After termination, the Literary Agent shall continue to administer Represented Contracts which the Literary Agent negotiated while this Contract was in force, and retain Agent’s Commission on those Represented Contracts. The Literary Agent may make no further sales of the Represented Works.

10. CONTACTS. Mail sent to the Author in care of the Literary Agent may be opened by the Literary Agent and dealt with, unless it is apparently of a personal nature, in which case the Literary Agent shall forward it to the Author promptly. When the Author is approached directly by any party interested in the Author’s Represented Works, the Author shall inform the Literary Agent immediately and refer the party to the Literary Agent.

11. AMENDMENT. This Agreement contains the entire agreement between the parties hereto. It supersedes any prior agreement, and may be amended in writing by mutual consent.

Many authors already have an existing written or handshake agreement with an agent and may not wish to impose most of this sample contract. Since many standard contracts and handshake agreements don’t define how termination is handled, authors might consider using section 9 (TERM) as a rider to an existing contract or as a separate agreement. Many agencies use their own contract, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. We recommend, though, that you use this model as a guide to remind you to make sure terms you feel are important are addressed satisfactorily in whatever contract you do sign.
The above items represent the consensus of the then-current SFWA Contracts Committee: Michael A. Armstrong, Damon Knight (who has since left the panel), David Alexander Smith, and John E. Stith. In addition, Michael A. Armstrong and Damon Knight recommend authors include the following in the TERM clause:

– JES, 8/20/96

Is writing science fiction or fantasy for younger markets really different?

Well …

Yes and No.

It’s true that children’s lit, especially for early readers, can follow a simpler format than mainstream fiction.

But …

Everything you know about writing, all the rules, guidelines and advice you’ve been given before still applies. You have to establish a convincing background, filled with characters the reader cares about, facing difficult challenges, and rising to the occasion to resolve the plot.

And you have to do it all in less than two thousand words!

That’s seven or eight pages, if you’re dealing with middle grade or YA magazines. Write for a market younger than this and expect word-counts lower than 1000 words. Some even demand the story be complete in 300 words.

On the plus side of the equation, once you have the story firmly in your mind, you can easily turn out a finished story in one or two writing sessions. And the kids’ magazines pay very well, generally more per word than comparable adult markets. Selling to a major children’s magazine can bring the author between $150 to $300, and some pay far in excess of that. So, if you think you have what it takes to write for kids, here are a few pointers.

• You may be writing for kids, but you’re selling to adults.
  Kids’ editors are every bit as savvy and professional as the editors of any other major publication. They suffer the same strains and time constraints as anyone else who has ever donned an editor’s hat.
• Write older.
  What does this mean? For one thing, if you are targeting ten year old boys, your protagonist better be at least twelve. Kids won’t read about somebody younger than themselves. It also means that you should never talk down to your audience. Don’t intentionally simplify your style. Younger readers need to be challenged just as much as older ones. More than once I’ve written stories with teenagers in mind, only to have them printed in magazines for middle graders. The point is, kids are a lot smarter than we sometimes realize.
• Know your market
  There are hundreds of children’s magazines out there, but only a few that will be interested in any particular story. Know the niche you are writing for. Read the guidelines. Better yet, read the magazines. Go to the Children’s Library. (Or next time you’re in a doctor’s office, go through the stacks of kids mags scattered about.) Ignore the strange glances. You’re a writer. People already suspect you’re insane.
• Write what you know.
  All right, we’ve all heard this one before. But with children’s lit it takes on a new perspective. Reach back into your childhood. Try to remember how it felt to be a kid at five years old, at eleven, and again as a teenager. Pick out specific times and instances that stand the most clear in your memory, and try to put those same emotions into your characters.
• Kids have to solve their own problems.
  Just as an adult protagonist has to overcome, or be defeated by, their own actions, so does the hero of your middle-grade adventure story. You can still have adult characters in the piece, but your protagonist needs to win or lose on her own merit. Period.
• Don’t preach.
  If there is a moral to the story, hide it! Kids don’t like being hit over the head with the point of your story. Neither do editors. If you do have a point to make, be certain it fits the story, helps resolve the crises, and is woven into the character’s words and deeds. If ever there is a place for “Show, don’t tell,” it’s in kid’s lit.
• Write tight.
  If you have only fifteen hundred words to play with, every word has to pull its own weight. Cut wasted dialog and unneeded descriptions. Use strong action verbs in short, punchy sentences. (Think Hemingway, not Dick and Jane.) Another hint: Don’t waste a lot of time describing your viewpoint character. The reader should place himself squarely in the POV’s shoes if you’ve done your job properly. Keep physical descriptions of them to a minimum.
• If you are writing science fiction, check your science.
  You are writing for an impressionable audience, one that trusts what they see in print. Be careful not to misinform. Besides, editors do check the numbers.
• Can kids enjoy hard SF?
  Of course they can, as long as you can hold their interest. If the science in our fiction loses our crowd, it’s our fault as writers, not theirs as readers. Same holds true for fantasy: they can enjoy it if it holds their interest, and it’s the writer’s job to make sure the work holds the reader’s interest.
• Things to avoid:
  • Dead grandmother stories.
  • Talking animals.
  • Scary witches who turn out to be kindly old ladies.

  Editors have seen them all. Try to be original.

• Above all else, remember who you are writing for.
  Think back to the stories and books, even the movies, that shaped your life. Now think about the lives you may be shaping. Give kids your very best. They deserve it.

Some Helpful Writer’s Sites

Children’s Writing Resources
Critters Workshop
The Children’s Literature Web Guide

]]> http://www.sfwa.org/2009/06/writing-sf-for-kids/feed/ 0 http://www.sfwa.org/2009/06/7-reasons-fiction-writers-should-sell-nonfiction/ http://www.sfwa.org/2009/06/7-reasons-fiction-writers-should-sell-nonfiction/#comments Sun, 28 Jun 2009 18:54:20 +0000 ChristieYant http://www.sfwasite.org/?p=1121 by Carol Ottolenghi

This article first appeared in Speculations. Copyright © 1997 by Carol Ottolenghi. All rights reserved.

Most of us, unless we’re independently wealthy, wring our writing time from those moments between job, family, and basic living obligations. So, if it’s fiction you yearn to produce, why waste any of that precious time writing nonfiction?

Because writing nonfiction–whether it’s straight news, opinion pieces, business reporting, feature stories or service articles–can boost your fiction-writing career.

I’m not suggesting that establishing a name in nonfiction ensures that your fiction will wing from your word processor to the printed page with editors genuflecting as it passes. It won’t. But writing and selling nonfiction CAN increase your fiction sales for reasons ranging from the psychological to the professional.

1. Selling nonfiction beats back the “Who am I kidding?” monster.

   Even with multiple sales, most writers descend into what Frederik Pohl described as “periods of wondering what the hell ever made me think I had a chance of making it as a writer.” Without sales, it takes a staggering blend of self-confidence, need and bull-headedness to keep plugging away, struggling to convince spouses, roommates, parents, and ourselves that we are writers. Nonfiction sales help quiet those nagging doubts.

   Because significantly more nonfiction is published than fiction, nonfiction is easier to sell. Often the quickest route into print is your local weekly paper. Many small papers are desperate for writers who can string words together without violating major tenets of grammar or sense. Whether you write feature articles or report on City Council, those stories will bag you clips, comments from your neighbors and, best of all, checks.

   Those checks are tangible evidence that you can produce writing that someone will pay for. That discovery is very freeing. Rejection slips stop being personal judgments on your worth as a writer and become business decisions on the suitability of one particular story for one particular market. By reducing rejection’s trauma-factor, nonfiction sales encourage us to continue–or begin–submitting our fiction.

2. Selling nonfiction reinforces regular writing habits.

   Writing professionally is a business, as well as a craft. Stories are our products. And this is where some writers stall out: They don’t finish making the product.

   Meeting nonfiction deadlines means that you write whether your muse is crooning in your ear or has departed for exotic ports and left no forwarding address. After you’ve sold to an editor a few times, it’s assumed that you’ll follow through on an assignment. Never mind that your daughter forgot her piano book, the dog threw up on the carpet and a really crabby customer decided to unload on you right before you got off work. There’s a blank page waiting for your article. Get it written, or you may never write for that editor again.

   Because deadlines underline the necessity of writing whether it’s convenient or not, you can use them to establish a writing routine. Then, once you complete your initial assignment, set personal deadlines and continue writing–fiction or nonfiction–at the established time.

3. Writing nonfiction stretches your mastery of the craft.

   It’s a truism, but writing is like anything else: The more you do it, the better you get.

   Nonfiction has many of the same requirements as fiction: Opening hooks baited to entice readers; personalities and settings developed appropriately; background material presented without dumping; consistent internal logic. In fact, nonfiction’s familiar traits–who, what, where, when, why and how–translate easily into character, problem, setting, setting, motivation and problem-solving action. Presuming that you don’t blow an assignment off as “just a piece for the local throwaway,” writing nonfiction gives you both practice in meeting these requirements and regular feedback on how you’re doing at it. There’s nothing like a rough edit–an edit you usually won’t get to see until it hits print–to tighten your writing on the next assignment.

   Sometimes an editor will suggest a subject so boring it’s painful. Accept these challenges occasionally. Then seize your reader’s attention through grace of style, humor and quirky facts. If you can make “Grandma Mae’s Ceramic Chicken Collection” fascinating, think what you can do with that truly inspiring fiction idea clamoring for your attention.

4. Writing nonfiction forces interaction with a multitude of people, ideas, information and opinions.

   Rudyard Kipling wrote “the motto of all the mongoose family is, ‘run and find out’.” It’s a pretty good motto for writers, too. The more we discover outside of ourselves, the deeper and more varied our stories.

   Writing fiction is a solitary pursuit. If we don’t periodically venture into the outside world to replenish our store of ideas, our work can become self-referential and shallow.

   Gathering material for nonfiction articles forces us to venture outside to meet people and places we might never have encountered otherwise. You may meet some unsavory opinions along the way, but they may be just what’s needed to jump-start a piece of passionately-felt fiction.

5. Writing nonfiction clears the mind.

   Sometimes running and finding out results in a surfeit of good stuff. You know there’s something for your fiction in the mountain of information you’ve discovered, but which nugget is gold?

   Organizing information into nonfiction articles helps you mine an abundance of material. It defines the slag, eliminates the clutter.

   It also provides a home for information that doesn’t belong in your fiction, but is “too good to not share.” I’ve used Ohio’s canal era as the setting for a series of original tall tales, a piece of historical adventure, and an adult mystery novel currently under development. The short stories are written and sold now (the tall tales to Cricket and the historical adventure to Spider), but they wouldn’t gel for a long time. The action plodded, dragged down by my zealous inclusion of all the cool facts.

   I couldn’t trim my canal-based fiction until I’d completed a nonfiction series on the canals (sold to Ohio Magazine and West Central Business Magazine). Then, having shared the information, I didn’t strain to include anything in the stories that wasn’t pivotal to their plots.

   Yes, it’s mind game. But it works.

6. Writing nonfiction sharpens research skills.

   During a panel discussion at an American Library Association conference, T.A. Barron said, “You have to know your subject cold to win your reader’s belief.”

   That seems obvious–every one of us has been yanked forcibly from a story by phony physics or shoddy history–but many writers are shocked to discover that research is a vital part of writing fiction.

   On the other hand, research and fact-checking are accepted elements of writing nonfiction. Burrowing after material for articles provides experience in defining the type of information needed, how much, where to find it, and how to find it fast. Fact-checking also cultivates the routine of automatically selecting a few, very focused details that lend verisimilitude to the whole piece. These habits can be applied to writing fiction as well as nonfiction.

   So can copious note-taking. A slim “Reporter’s Notebook” fits into most purses or pockets, and is handy for jotting down bits of overheard conversation, descriptions, personality sketches–whatever snippets of life might add flavor to your stories.

7. Selling nonfiction pays better.

   The large number of nonfiction markets–local weeklies, trade journals, literary slicks, and everything in between–plus frequent publication plus high word/article rates equals significant dollars.

   Frequent reprint sales add to the available pot. Since many nonfiction markets are regional, you can sell second serial rights to the same article many times. I self-syndicate service articles to more than 50 parenting papers and a similar number of dailies across the U.S. The papers only pay between $15 and $300 per article, depending on the publication’s size, but each article sells at least 10 times.

   The better pay allows you to write and still put groceries on the table. But there’s a catch. It’s too easy to park a piece of fiction you’re doing on speculation while you finish nonfiction assignments that you know are sold. Just for a month, you promise yourself. Maybe two. Three at most …

If you enjoy writing nonfiction, as I do, there are times when it’s right to concentrate on it. There are also times to run away. It’s a matter of balance, of recognizing whether writing nonfiction is stretching or hindering your growth as a writer.

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