By Patricia C. Wrede
I. The World

1.
Basics
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Are the laws of nature and physics actually different in this world, or are they the same as in real life? How does magic fit in? How do magical beasts fit in?

General

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In which geographical areas will the story take place? How much ground will the story cover? What are the most striking features of landscape, climate, animals, etc. in thisarea? How will these features affect travel time, communication, etc.?

First off, definition: an exclusive means just what it sounds like. You are giving an agent the opportunity to consider your work exclusively and you are agreeing that you will not submit to another agent until you’ve heard “yea” or “nay” from that agent. Sometimes exclusives are open-ended, sometimes there’s a time period attached.

This week I’ve gotten several questions aWriter Bewarebout something called the Emerging Writer Awards. Writers of poetry, short stories, and unpublished book length fiction may enter to compete for two grand prizes: $2,000 and a possible publishing contract from Triom Publishing for book manuscripts, $1,000 for short subjects. Both prizes include “national promotion through Emerging Writer Magazine.” The deadline for entries is August 31, 2009.

Has your writing career stalled (or died) in mid-stream? John Betancourt offers some timely advice on how to jump back into the publishing boat.

Having trouble “confessing” your problems? Michael Bracken, author of several confessional stories, offers a few tidbits of advice.

This contract was written under the direction of the SFWA® Contracts Committee. The model or sample contracts have been written as a guide to writers in understanding common publishing contracts and to help them negotiate better contracts. They are not intended to be used as boilerplate contracts by publishers, writers, or agents, nor should such […]

This contract was written under the direction of the SFWA® Contracts Committee. The model or sample contracts have been written as a guide to writers in understanding common publishing contracts and to help them negotiate better contracts. They are not intended to be used as boilerplate contracts by publishers, writers, or agents, nor should such […]

This contract was written under the direction of the SFWA® Contracts Committee. The model or sample contracts have been written as a guide to writers in understanding common publishing contracts and to help them negotiate better contracts. They are not intended to be used as boilerplate contracts by publishers, writers, or agents, nor should such […]

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 […]