Inside this packed issue of E-zee Writer you will find advice on which rights to sell, 10 top tips on writing erotica and ideas for future articles. |
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Issue 96 October 2008 |
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Hello all and welcome to a great October issue. |
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THE WRITERS BUREAU
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‘I’d always fancied the idea of being a “writer”, and had a notion of sitting with an ink pen and notebook, probably in a beautiful garden. I would ideally write best-selling novels, but also articles for magazines and newspapers. However, I am a person who needs to feel prepared before they jump into something and wasn’t confident enough to just start. Therefore I enrolled on the Writers Bureau Course and devoured all the course materials that were relevant to what I wanted to do. |
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‘When I enrolled with the Writers Bureau for their creative writing correspondence course I did so for three basic reasons. The first and the most important reason was to earn a living by doing what I love the most, writing. Although I had seen my name in print even before taking this course, I knew that this was only a small piece of my potential. So my second reason was to write for a more varied genre. And lastly, I wanted to access foreign markets and be able to tap the huge market resource of the internet. |
If you would like a prospectus for the courses studied by Lorraine or Lesley email us here with your full name and postal address.
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· You own the copyright in your work and can assign rights to various publications. · First Serial Rights are given to the publication which brings out your piece for the first time. · Each country can be offered First Serial Rights in the same work. · Reprint Rights can be sold as many times as you are able to find markets, but the publication must be made aware that you are only offering Reprint (Second) Rights. · All Rights should only be sold if the fee covers the loss of income you will suffer from giving up Second Rights in the first country of sale, First Rights in other countries, and all Electronic Rights. · Subsidiary Rights often appear in book contracts and advice should be sought before signing away these rights. · Electronic Rights come in various forms and you need to understand which rights you are selling. · Dramatic, Television and Motion Picture Rights entail selling an option to purchase, which doesn't necessarily mean the work will be ultimately bought or produced. 10 Top Tips on…Writing Erotica Writing erotica is big business and can prove to be a lucrative outlet for your work. But if you’re a shrinking violet, blush at the mere thought of writing about sexual encounters, or worry about what your mother might think if she read your work – then this isn’t the genre for you! www.allexperts.com Inspiration Could you write an article about ...
2nd March 1807 The United States Congress decides to abolish the slave trade, effective January 1st 1808. 3rd March 1931 The Star Spangled Banner, written by Francis Scott and set to the music of a popular English drinking song written by John Stafford Smith, becomes the national anthem of America. 6th March 1980 The Academe Francaise accepts it’s first female novelist, Marguerite Yourcenar, most famous for Mémoires d'Hadrien. 7th March 1876 Alexander Graham Bell’s invention – the telephone – receives its patent. 9th March 1959 The first Barbie doll debuts in shops in the USA. 11th March 1952 Author of the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams, is born on this day. 13th March 1781 The planet Uranus is discovered by German-born British astronomer William Herschel. 15th March 44BC The assassination of Julius Cesar takes place on the Ides of March. 16th March 1968 The massacre of My Lai – a village in southern Vietnam – takes place at the hands of American soldiers. 18th March 1858 The first diesel engine is invented by, yes – you’ve guessed it – Mr Diesel. Rudolph Diesel to be precise! 20th March 1828 Dramatist Henrik Ibsen – best known for A Doll's House (1879), Ghosts (1881), and Hedda Gabler (1890) – is born. 26th March 1971 Bangaldesh is formed after East Pakistan declares independence. 28th March 1941 Virginia Woolf, the British novelist and critic, commits suicide. 30th March 1853 Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh – famous for The Potato Eaters, Starry Night and Irises, amongst numerous others – is born in Zundert, Netherlands. 31st March 1959 The14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, moves to India following an unsuccessful attempt at rebellion by the Tibetan people against Chinese occupation.
EXPERT ADVICE
Getting it Right
By
Lorraine Mace
For many writers, and not just newcomers to the world of freelancing, it is hard to understand exactly what we are signing away when we accept a contract. Can we sell the same piece of work again? If yes, where and how often can it be sold? If no, why not, and have we been paid fairly for losing out on all the other rights we could have offered elsewhere? The following sections should help clarify exactly what is meant by each Right offered, because, as writers, we need to make sure we are Getting it Right.
What are Serial Rights?
All writers own the full copyright to their work until those rights have been assigned to a third party. The moment a piece of work is written we automatically own a package of rights which can be broken down into various components. Each part can be sold, or assigned, separately, or you can sell the entire package in one transaction, although this isn't advisable unless the fee is too good to pass up. Selling All Rights is dealt with in more detail later in the article.
First Serial Rights:
When you sell a publication the right to publish your story, article or poem for the first time, you are assigning to that publication First Serial Rights for the country in which the item will appear. All other rights remain with you. So, if you sell an item with First British Serial Rights and then sell the same piece to an overseas publication, you would subsequently be assigning First North American Serial Rights, First Australian Serial Rights, or First Rights for whichever country you have sold into.
Second Serial (Reprint) Rights:
Selling Second Serial Rights means giving a publication the right to publish your work after the piece has already been published elsewhere. You must always state when you are offering reprint rights, as the magazine may believe they are buying First Rights unless you do so.
If you are able to locate several markets for Reprint Rights, you are free to sell your work as often as you wish, as Reprint Rights are non-exclusive. So, let's say a piece you've sold in Britain is subsequently sold to another British magazine, you would offer the new magazine Second Serial Rights. If you then sold the same piece to another country, you could still offer First Serial Rights, but only for the new country.
All Rights:
Selling All Rights means exactly what it says and should only be done when justified by the fee received. You will be allowing the publisher to use your work in any format they choose, without any additional payment, whether the use is print or electronic. You would normally keep the right to say you are the author, but would lose all the other rights. This means you cannot publish, market, or perform the piece anywhere in the world - ever.
Subsidiary Rights:
A book publishing contract might contain a clause covering Subsidiary Rights. Subsidiary Rights cover a variety of rights such as (amongst others) anthology and quotation, Braille, computer game, film, video, audiotape, educational, translation, book club and foreign rights. It is advisable to obtain legal assistance with book contracts. If you do not have an agent it is worth contacting The Society of Authors. The society offers its members a contract vetting service. www.societyofauthors.org
Electronic Rights:
These rights work in a similar way to print rights in that you have First Electronic Rights, which means selling the work for the first time in electronic format. The difference is that Electronic Rights are not limited to country. If the piece has appeared on a website anywhere in the world, you have used your First Electronic Rights. However, even if your work has previously appeared in print form you can still offer First Electronic Rights. In practice, though, some editors will only offer to purchase Reprint Rights if the work has appeared in print.
Exclusive Electronic Rights:
This means selling all electronic (but not print) rights for a specific period of time. At the end of the time period, which will vary from one website to another, the rights revert to you.
Non-Exclusive Electronic Rights:
The editor is purchasing the right to keep your work on their website for a specified period of time, but you are free to sell the work to other websites at the same time.
All Electronic Rights:
You are selling all rights in electronic format worldwide, which means you cannot even use the work on your own personal website, but you still retain print rights.
All Rights:
As has already been stated under the print rights section, All Rights means exactly what it says, so it is worth repeating here. If a website asks for All Rights (not All Electronic Rights) you would be giving up all your rights, print and electronic, and the fee should reflect this. You will not be able to sell the item to anyone else, anywhere in the world. The only way to reuse your work would be to rewrite it in a completely different form, even if the facts remained the same.
Archival Rights:
As with Exclusive and Non-Exclusive Rights, Archival Rights usually have a time period specified. These rights are normally non-exclusive, so you can have the same article archived on several websites and still sell Non-Exclusive Rights elsewhere. However, some websites ask the author not to do this, so do check the contract to make sure you haven't given Exclusive Archival Rights.
Print Publications and their attitude to Electronic Rights:
Many publishers will not accept First Serial Rights if your work has appeared online, even if only on your own personal website. For this reason, it is advisable only to put work on your site that has already been published in print format.
The other side of this equation is that some print publications are now asking for Electronic Rights, as well as First Serial Rights, without offering an additional payment. It is up to you to decide whether the prestige of the publication, and the payment offered, is sufficient to give up these rights without an increased fee.
Dramatic, Television and Motion Picture Rights:
If you are selling work for use in a play, television or film, these are the rights you will be selling. Normally, a work will be optioned. This means that the author is paid a percentage (usually10%) of the agreed upon purchase price of the work, in exchange for the exclusive right to market and produce the work. There is normally a time limit before the option expires. If the option is not exercised by the company, the author retains the money and is then free to offer the work to someone else.
To summarise:
Lorraine Mace, a columnist with Writing Magazine (UK) and Queensland Writing (Australia) is the co-author, with Maureen Vincent-Northam, of The ABC Checklist for New Writers. Her work has been published in five countries. Winner of the Petra Kenney International Poetry Award (comic verse category), she writes fiction for the women's magazine market and is a writing competition judge. www.lorrainemace.com TOP TIPS...
1. Don’t confuse erotica with pornography. The latter usually provides graphic descriptions of the nuts and bolts of sex. Erotica, on the other hand, is much more cerebral, dealing with the magic of sexual passion.
2. You can’t get by with just a series of sexual encounters. You need to come up with a proper, gripping plot. It’s just as important as in any other genre if you are to keep your reader hooked.
3. You need a proper balance between fantasy and credibility. Are a couple – however infatuated – going to rip off their clothes in the fruit and veg section of the supermarket in the middle of the afternoon? Is a middle-aged, over-weight, balding librarian really going to be a babe-magnet, fighting women off at every turn?
4. You need the right setting – a sexually charged location. It has to be exotic, intriguing or glamorous – penthouse apartments, a millionaire’s yacht or a Victorian boudoir. Avoid squalor – the majority of readers are not turned on by public toilets.
5. Power is an aphrodisiac. Can there by any other reason why so many women seem to be attracted to ugly politicians and statesmen? Alternatively, think about the dynamic where one character has absolute power over another – the willing sex slave.
6. This is one genre where historical settings are still in demand. Consider the license that masqued balls, country house parties and the Victorian master-servant relationships provide. Think of the clothing your characters might wear (or enjoy taking off) – basques, corsetes, riding breeches!
7. Get the mood right and take especial care with the language you use when describing behaviour and body parts. If you are too polite the story will sound twee; if you are too graphic it will be seedy. Try to strike a balance. And remember, a good erotic tale doesn’t need swearing and sexual insults.
8. Writing erotica isn’t an easy option. In fact, it’s one of the most demanding genres. You need to be able to create atmosphere, tension and sexual frisson to make it work.
9. This is one of the few areas where using a pen-name is acceptable. Many well-known authors write erotica under a pseudonym.
10. And finally… know the taboos. Most outlets for erotica are fairly liberal but you must do your market research as thoroughly as you would for any other genre. Most magazines/ezines will have guidelines and many will not countenance incest, under-age sex, bestiality, necrophilia or extreme violence. Although, gay or lesbian sex and mild bondage/SM are usually acceptable. USEFUL SITES FOR WRITERS
This is a great site if you need an expert opinion on something. Say, for instance, you are writing an article about dogs and you need to know what the best way to train your dog is. Click the menus, choose your expert, e-mail the question and - ta da - in three days you should have the answer! If you might want to quote the expert in your articles it would be best to mention it in the question. Do bear in mind that this is an American site but it will still be useful for free advice from those in the know. I used the site and received feedback within the hour – how good is that!
www.scriptshark.com
We get lots of queries regarding scriptwriting so I thought you might be interested in this site dedicated wholly to the art or writing for the entertainment industry. It provides, ‘the same professional feedback a screenplay would garner in the marketplace without the risk of negative consequence, as well as guiding its customers through the demands and expectations of the industry’. It is your connection to agents, producers, managers and studio and development executives who are always on the look out for new talent – so go on, this could be your lucky day!
www.dvshop.ca/dvcafe/writing/crime
I love this website! It contains everything you need to know about writing crime, including a ‘Reference and Research’ section covering such topics as how a routine autopsy is carried out, prison slang and forensic entomology (!), a ‘Mystery Writing’ section which includes links to websites such as Red Inkworks and Mystery Net (both offer resources for the budding crime writer) and a ‘Groups and Associations’ section which has links to all kinds of crime writers’ associations.
Crime writing is big news and potentially very lucrative. According to Crimetime, a free, downloadable online magazine available through the above website, ‘Almost one in every five books sold is a crime novel’. So, put your best detective hat on and get plotting!
If you fancy trying your hand at writing crime for competitions see the October issue of Freelance Market News. Page 14 details a fantastic competition run by Criminal Tendencies for writers previously unpublished in this genre – you could see your work alongside Val McDermid, Peter James plus other big names from the crime writing world. To subscribe to FMN please click here.
Remember, if you run a website that you think may be of use to our readers, let us know. If we like it, we’ll publish a link to it giving you a free plug. What could be better then that?END NOTE and a little inspiration
Well folks, another issue comes to an end. I hope you enjoyed it! To finish with I have included Akizina’s favourite poem and her explanation as to why she likes it so much. I hope it makes you smile and, perhaps, think a little too!
They Ran Out of Mud (by Myriam K. Were)
There is a little hut
Built across from here;
They’ve mudded two walls
And the rest stands unmade…
For they ran out of mud.
There is a deep gully
Running along the road;
They have lifted it halfway
And the rest is still gaping…
For they ran out of mud.
There is a pot by the altar
That they began to mould;
They finished the base
But the neck remains undone…
For they ran out of mud.
Mud! Mud!
Who can find mud?
May be if it were gold
Someone would.
Akizina say’s:
‘This poem is my favourite. I love to read and reread this poem. Think of empty promises from politicians! The poem reveals to me what many of us do. We start something but we are unable to finish it. The reason for not carrying on? We lack the very item that is common place, in this poem ‘mud’. Instead we are after big achievements which require us to look for resources that are not readily available like ‘gold’.
‘When I read this poem, I no longer ask what I lack that hinders me with my work. On the contrary, I ask myself what I possess that will help me with my work. When sometimes I get impatient with myself over my achievements in writing, I read this poem to remind myself that maybe I have been looking for gold while I ought to start with the mud around me. In every undertaking, it is not only important to see far but also understand that you arrive there by taking one step at a time.
‘Do you have unfinished projects? Perhaps it is time you looked around you to find the readily available resources that can assist you to get your projects done.’
Akizina Esso Lomie, Kenya
Next month we have an article by Simon Whaley called Recycle, Recycle, Recycle – I think you can perhaps guess what that might be about, and it’s nothing to do with big green bins or bags for life!
We will also be bringing you more success stories and useful websites to digest.
If you found something of use to you in this issue please pass the word on to all your writer friends – and even those who don’t! You never know, you might inspire them to take it up. They can sign up here www.writersbureau.com/resources/ezewriter.htm
Shelley x
As usual, if you've any suggestions or would like to comment on content then please contact me at: ezeewriter@writersbureau.com
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MANCHESTER, M1 1JB, ENGLAND.
"I have seen my writing journey as an adventure: What can I write? What am I best at? What new aspects of writing can I discover and contribute towards? I have welcomed the wide range of modules covering different types of writing, challenging me to try new aspects in style and content, pushing me gently outside my comfort zone with encouragement. "I signed up for the course in December 2020 as a Christmas present to myself and I started the first module in January 2021. I have had eight pieces published: three paid earning £1080 and a star letter where I won a £250 hotel voucher." Annemarie Munro - Writers Bureau Student of the Year 2022 |