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 The Writer's E-Zine

 

 Produced and published by the members of Writers' Village University since 1998    ISSN 1521-2639       
20 November 2008
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Craft of Writing

Sonja Herbert

Bare your Soul and Get Published! Writing Inspirational True Stories

You may not realize it, but you, too, have an interesting story to tell. Your personal stories are presently in great demand for book series such as Chicken Soup for the Soul, A Cup of Comfort, Chocolate for a Woman's Soul, and others. Many magazines are also looking for such true life stories. And, every writer has plenty of life experiences to write about.

When you write a personal inspirational story, you'll not only learn how to write creative non-fiction, you will also hone your general writing skills. Writing such personal stories can be the way to break into print and get your name out there. And to top it, depending on the publisher, these stories pay quite well.

If you think that nothing worthwhile ever happened to you, and you couldn't possibly write such a story, you are mistaken. In this article I will show you how to come up with ideas, and how to turn such every-day experiences into the kind of stories these books and magazines pay money for.

Here are eight simple steps to tackle a personal inspirational story:

  1. Research the Market
    Click on chickensoup.com or adamsmedia.com, and search Google for anthologies. Check out their future titles. Look at the subjects they are planning to write about. Many of these subjects might ring a bell with you. You might just be a single parent, or might have a special pet or child.

  2. Decide on the Topic
    The next step is to decide which of the future titles of these planned books make you feel the most comfortable. These would be the subjects that you want to write for. Don't worry if you can't right off think of anything out of the ordinary in your life that would relate to that subject. If you're interested in writing about a specific subject, you probably have a story lurking in the back of your mind.

  3. Study the Writers' Guidelines
    Carefully read the guidelines on the website for the book you have chosen. Also read their general guidelines for submission. Write down the word limit and study the other suggestions the website gives for writing a true story for their books.

    Now that you have done your research, you're armed with the tools that will help you to write the perfect story to submit.

  4. Brainstorm
    The fourth step might be the easiest for some writers, and the hardest for others. I'd recommend brainstorming with a piece of paper and a pencil. Sit somewhere comfortable (turn the TV off) and make a list of all the events that happened to you about that subject. For example, let's take pregnancy. I wrote these subjects on my personal list:
    a. Miscarriage
    b. The first time I heard her heartbeat
    c. Heartburn
    d. False labor
    e. I didn't want to know the sex of the baby
    f. Appetite
    g. Trouble sleeping
    As you write your list, something might already stand out, an event or happening you remember clearly. For example, I remembered how I avoided a miscarriage by drinking a concoction made of hot pepper. I thought, yes, that experience was funny and uplifting, because I had my baby, and I never was sure if it was the hot pepper or not.

  5. Outline
    After you choose the incident you want to write about, you need to write a quick outline of your experience. When your outline is finished, look it over and check to see if these three points are present in your story:
    a. A low point - In my case, I was in danger of miscarrying
    b. A high point - I didn't miscarry, after all
    c. A lesson learned - I learned that if I'd put my faith in God and do what I could, I'd be all right.
  6. Recall
    After you've made sure your three high points are present in the story, go ahead and write it out. You might not remember all the details about your experience, but that's where the 'creative' part of your writing comes in.

    If you don't remember smaller details, don't gloss them over with generalities. Your personal story needs to make the readers feel as if they are right there with you. Make the reader hear, see, smell, feel and even taste the story. The secret is in the details from all five senses.  You might not exactly remember what details were present when the story happened to you, but you can creatively remember them. Close your eyes, lean back in your chair, and visualize the way it probably happened. Sometimes the real details will come back to you, and sometimes you aren't sure. Let you feeling for the truth of your story guide you.

    When you get back to your computer, make sure and add these details to your story.

    In my "Hot Pepper" story, I already had a toddler, so I wrote about what she might have been doing when I discovered I might miscarry. I recreated a conversation with my friend who helped me through the ordeal, and described how I felt in detail.

  7. Revise
    For some, the hardest part is done with the first draft, and for others, it begins with the revision. Whichever way you feel about revising, don't skip that part. The better polished your story is, the more likely it will be accepted.

    Let your finished first draft sit for a few days, then re-read it to make sure it has all three of the major high points, and the details are colorful and help the reader 'see' what happened. Now is the time to add anything that makes the story more interesting and colorful, anything you remember or that came to you.

    After you revise, read your piece to your writer's group or writing buddy, to get feedback from someone who is not familiar with the story. Ask your group specific questions, like, "Where did your attention wander?" "What part was hard for you to visualize?" "What parts were hard for you to understand?"

    Then take their feedback and revise again.

  8. Submit
    Read your story one more time and fix anything you overlooked. Access the website of the anthology you have chosen, and submit your story. It might take more than a year before you hear back. Be patient, and while you wait, keep writing!

About the Author
Sonja Herbert is a lifetime member of WVU. She has written several award-winning stories and essays, a novel about her mother's life during the Holocaust and a memoir about her childhood in a traveling carnival, which is presently looking for representation. Contact her at Germanwriter.com.


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Craft of Writing

Caroline Misner

The Bright Side of Rejection

There is nothing more painful to a writer than rejection. That dejected feeling that overwhelms her the moment she opens the mailbox to find yet another pile of familiar yellow manila envelopes with her address scrawled across them in her own handwriting. Her mind races and rationalizes as she reads the return address in the corner of each envelope. Perhaps it's not a rejection, she reasons as she rips them open. Perhaps the senior editor at The New Yorker adores my work so much he is sending me a contract to be his number one head writer.

Right. We all know that the chances of that happening are pretty close to zero. Her heart sinks to the lowest tier in her gut as she reluctantly extracts that carefully prepared manuscript. Chances are far more likely that the envelopes contain the standard form letters—some not much bigger than book marks—with the impersonal yet polite standard rejection: "Thank you for your interest in our publication. Unfortunately your story/query/poem/essay does not suit our editorial needs at this time. Best of luck to you with your writing."

Writers are a notoriously superstitious lot. I know writers who perform all sorts of sacred rituals when submitting. Afraid of jinxing their chances, they place the stamps upside down on the return envelopes, they use their lucky blue pen, they wear their lucky underwear, and some even take a special route to the mailbox. Anything to improve their chances.

Rejections may be painful, but they needn't be a negative thing. As writers we know that rejection is all part of the process. Any writer who claims to have never received a rejection is either lying or not submitting. We have all heard the same old adages about rejection: it teaches us to learn from past mistakes, it helps us to grow as writers; it thickens our skin and strengthens our resolve. These are all excellent points and they are absolutely true. But there is another aspect of rejection that few writers acknowledge.

Rejection is reaffirming. Every rejection you receive is not a failure. It is an accomplishment, an affirmation that you  are writing, you are submitting, you are out there in the loop, paying your dues and making your rounds and trying to get your work read. I actually look forward to opening my mailbox every day. I know full well that the majority of the queries and manuscripts I send out will be returned with a firm but polite "No Thank You" attached. The majority of those will be photocopied slips of paper clipped to my manuscript. Most won't even have the editor's signature.

The best rejections any writer can receive are those impersonal form letters signed by the editor. By receiving one of those I know the editor (or her assistant) took my work seriously enough to personally respond to it. Letters written in the editor's own hand on the publication's letterhead are even more encouraging. And then there is the holy grail of all rejections: a personal critique followed by a polite rejection and a request to see more of your work because the editor likes your style or ideas. Pure gold.

It is important that we not allow rejections to get the better of us. They may be discouraging, but we mustn't see them as obstacles in reaching our writing goals, whatever they may be. The most important thing is to never give up, never stop writing and never stop submitting what we write. Rejections are not signs of failure. The only failure is in giving up.


About the Author
Caroline Misner was born in a country that at the time was known as Czechoslovakia. She immigrated to Canada in 1969 where she has been reading, writing and following her muse ever since. She is a graduate of Sheridan College of Applied Arts & Technology with a degree in Media Arts Writing. Her work has appeared in numerous consumer and literary journals throughout the USA, Canada and the UK, most notably The Windsor Review, Prairie Journal, Cottage Life, Dreamcatcher and The Litchfield Review. She is currently a member of the Canadian Federation of Poets.


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Birdie's Quill

Birdie

The Creative Habit of Writing Fiction

Common advice woven throughout how-to literature on writing encourages writers to write what they know. When writing fiction, how does this apply? How can writers "know" lands and characters that exist only in the imagination?

Who we are and what we know reflects in what we write. Our background leaves behind a creative fingerprint in style and voice that mirrors fragments of what we know from life's experience. For example, Teel James Glenn, author of Tales of a Warrior Priest (a fantasy novel) and Knight Errant (mystery novel) portrays interesting, unique characters in both genres. A common element in both story lines: well-written fight scenes. His characters, although set in different genres, move with fluidity and clarity making the scenes real and easy to follow.

When asked about how writing what you know applies to writing fiction, Glenn said, "It is the reason I wrote the Knight Errant mystery novel. I know horses, Ren Faires, film-making, performing, fighting in various forms, and so those elements find their way into my work frequently. In fact, most of what I write, I do because the subject is ever-present in my life. I have zero problem imagining a circumstance because in some way I have lived it."

Glenn's experience teaching martial arts, bodyguard technique and stage combat (European and Japanese) for twenty-five years skims the surface of knowledge on this topic. This one area of interest branches out to touch others. He studied with Errol Flynn's last stunt double as well as the head of the Seoul Military Academy among other great gentlemen. He's been a bouncer, bodyguard and stuntman, went to college as a book illustrator and worked as an actor the whole time. He's been in real knife fights, had people attempt to pull guns on him, jousted at a couple of Ren Faires and been set on fire for a number of films. Learning these facts about the author, it's easy to see why well-written fights scenes find their way into his books. He's writing what he knows.

Write – Make it a Habit
What's the difference between people who want to write fiction and those who do? The first step—you guessed it—write! Develop the habit of writing. It's a creative endeavor, and not something one necessarily feels like doing every day. When your day job zaps your energy level and household chores clamor for attention, somewhere in the minutes that remain, writers squeeze creative time into their schedule.

Some days five written pages might only produce one paragraph worth keeping. Other days, all five pages send the muse skyrocketing to writing heaven when they perch upon the creative edge located in the productive zone. Words, images and concepts flood the creative process. If only doors could be locked and time frozen just long enough to write, and write....

Has a great idea for a book rollicked through your mind for months or even years? Don't let it go to waste. Make a plan. Set a realistic goal to write every week. Writing three or four days each week lays a foundation to form the habit. Once this habit is established, it grows to consume more time. Remember to be flexible. If you strictly expect to write a certain amount of words, during the same amount of time each day, discouragement will set in when expectations cannot be met.

Voice and Style
Voice and style come from within. It's part of what you know, experience and enjoy. Don't try to copy favorite authors in style and voice, but learn from them. Ask yourself why you take pleasure in reading their work. If you've fallen in love with their characters, even the villainous character readers love to hate, work to develop interesting characters of your own. The mistake many writers make is to jump on to the proverbial band wagon while a theme or genre is hot and write stories very similar.

Writing a novel takes months or longer. The submission process takes more time. Putting together a book proposal and effective cover or query letter sometimes takes as much work as writing the manuscript. By the time an editor or publisher holds your manuscript in their hands will the market be flooded with similar story lines based on a current hot trend? Will your characters stand out or blend into the sea of other hopefuls with nothing to distinguish them or make a memory? What makes your idea different?

Reading is an important aspect of writing. Reading fiction feeds the imagination. It can work as a springboard to propel new creative ideas into the arena of possibilities. Allow your unique voice and style to penetrate the barrier of what has been to move on to something new.

Where to Start
Write. Get your ideas from your mind to the computer or notebook. Don't worry about fixing things as you write. Head toward the conclusion. Add elements of conflict and tension. Worry about fine tuning later. Changing or defining a character's appearance can be dealt with once the story is to the point that it makes a difference.

Set aside time to write. Develop a habit. Keeping a journal is one way to help establish a pattern of writing. Write what you know and realize the freedom to create in your own voice and style.


About the Author
Author and freelance writer, Donna Sundblad, resides in Georgia with her husband, Rick. Together, they are working on a budgeting book that will be out in electronic format by early 2007. Donna serves as the Fantasy Topic Editor at Inspired Author, and her books, Pumping Your Muse and Windwalker are available in paper or ebook formats at epress-online.com. Check her website for more information at www.theinkslinger.net.


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Fiction Short Story

by Maureen Green

An Egg's an Egg

"The eggs are off!" Aunt Nell wailed. "Now we're stuck for the big bake."

Three women, two of my aunts and my mother, decked out in pinafores and sleeves rolled up to their elbows, grimaced at the greenish yellow slime that was the yolk.

"Rotorua," commented Aunt Betsy as she pinched her nostrils closed.

"Any coupons left?" my mother, Valma, asked. Her expression fell as my aunts shook their heads.

"Gull’s eggs," I said, "there's thousands of black-backed gulls nesting on the rock just off shore. What about their eggs?"

The women's mouths fell open. Aunt Nell's eyes widened then narrowed suspiciously. "Never used them before," she said.

My mum looked thoughtful. "Wild duck eggs make great sponges. We often used them when the boys brought them back from hunting. Gull’s eggs can't be much different. An egg is an egg."

"I suppose we could try them," said Aunt Betsy; the quiet one.

"We kids could gather some at low tide," I continued as I jumped up and down with the thought of the danger of the hunt.

"Do that then," Aunt Betsy said. "We'll give them a go, using just six for a start."

"Going egg hunting!" I shouted as I careered along the passageway and leaped from the top step onto the ground and barreled to the edge of the bank.

"What?" my cousins called.

"We're going egg hunting," I repeated and the cousins climbed from the beach and crowded around me.

"Me come too," lisped three-year old Jacob.

"Sorry, not this time, Jacob, you're too young."

Jacob's face fell. "Me come," he whimpered, beating his fists against my legs. "Me come!"

"No. It’s too dangerous. The gulls' beaks hurt if they hit you when they dive."

"I'm not going," said Naomi as she rolled up her sleeve. "I got attacked last time I went egg hunting. Look! I've still got the scars."

"Just we four older ones should go," Little Jim, the eldest of my cousins announced, "Adelaide, Matthew, Brian and I."

"What about me?" Dave growled.

"You're too short to wade across the channel, Dave, so you can't come."

Seven kids howled and the adults came running.

"What's going on now?" Aunt Nell shrilled as she stood on the back porch, hands on her hips, glowering in my direction. "Can't you kids even play without fighting?"

Cousin Janice, her face twisted into a mask of despair, pointed at me. "Mum," she gulped, tears rising, "She won't let me go egg hunting."

"You can watch from the shore," Little Jim, her older brother, said in placatory tones.

"That seems the best idea," Aunt Betsy said softly but firmly. "We don't want you getting hurt just before the big day."

My other aunts nodded agreement.

"It's not fair," Janice shrieked, "Adelaide always gets to go."

"She's more boy-like than you," Aunt Nell said, "you're  ... more ...  lady-like."

"Tomboy," Janice hissed between sobs as she stormed into the back and slammed the door shut.

As low tide approached, Little Jim, Brian, Matthew and I set off for the island, with the luckless seven in tow. Clad in swimsuits, long sleeved shirts, hats and each of us armed with a stout tea-tree stick, we waited for the right moment to wade across the channel. The gulls circled, ever watchful. They screeched guttural warning cries while the tide ebbed and we waited for the pipi beds to uncover.

"Six is all we want," I called as I started across the gap. As we neared the colony, hundreds of enraged black-backed gulls launched, in a white wave into the air.

"We're for it now! Keep your head down and mind your eyes," I yelled as the birds readied to dive-bomb towards our heads.

Weapons held high above our heads, we inched our way to land. Suddenly Brian yelled as a bird raked its feet through his hair. He crouched, stepped back and disappeared beneath the water. Moments later he surfaced. Spluttering, he flailed at the water as he floundered and tried to gain his footing as the racing current swept him towards the sea.

"Grab him!" Little Jim called. Fear sounded in his voice and his eyes fixed on Brian.

Matthew dived after him, "Watch it," he drawled in his pragmatic way, as he caught Matthew by the collar, righted him and dragged him to shore.

"Matthew, you and Brian beat off the birds while Little Jim and I grab the eggs," I called above the frenetic noise of the gulls.

Little Jim and I slowly inched our way up the rock face, checking nests for eggs. Some nests had fluffy puffed up chicks, their crops so full they toppled forward when they pecked at my hand. Other nests contained a clutch of eggs from which I took one, until I had four eggs carefully secured in a soft bag.

"Got four," I called, then, "Arrgh!" as a gull speared the hat from my head.

"Got three," Little Jim shouted back as I cringed behind a rocky outcrop eying the circling mass. I felt the blood trickle down my scalp, grabbed my hat and rammed it down to my ears.

"Let's get out of here," I called as I assessed my chances of retreating without further damage. The birds swirled above me readying for the next concerted attack. They circled against the sun as a group, then with military precision, peeled off one by one, plummeting towards us.

"Run for it," yelled Little Jim.

The gulls attacked like a rain of bullets from every quarter. Straining my body forward against the rip, heart beating wildly, and arms above my head, I surged across the channel. Matthew and Brian beat the air behind us with their sticks before making the crossing.

"Don't look up," I shouted to the group on the mainland, "keep your arms above your head and wave like mad."

"Me see," lisped Jacob.

"Not now, later," I snapped as I grabbed his hand and ran dragging him along, his feet barely touching the ground.

In a tight knot, protected by the waving sticks, we made our way along the shoreline to the river crossing below the back.

"Want to see," Jacob whimpered and plonked his behind on the ground and refused to move.

"Alright, but don't squeeze it—the egg will break."

I drew an egg from my deep pocket where it had been cushioned with cotton wool.

Jacob extended his podgy fingers. "Make a basket with your hands like this, I said,” demonstrating the action. As Jacob cradled the egg his eyes widened in delight and he stroked the white surface lovingly.

"Mine, mine egg," he blurted and shrank back when I extended my hand to retrieve it.

"We've collected seven," Little Jim said, "let him carry it."

Aunt Betsy was the first to greet us. Her eyebrows arched, as Little Jim and I handed over the eggs.

"Give aunt your egg, Jacob."

"No!—mine, mine, mine," he said, clutching it to his chest.

Aunt Betsy smiled and mouthed, let him be. "No casualties?" she asked as she eyed each of us.

"Touch and go for a while," I answered, "a little scratch, but we made it.”

Later. "Come try the cake," Aunt Nell called and eleven of us kids hurried into the kitchen. A smile of satisfaction spread over Aunt Nell's face as she regarded her handiwork. On the table sat a sponge cake—a whopping cake—thick, light yellow, risen high and fluffy.

"Three eggs and some syrup to deaden any taste of the sea," Aunt Nell stated. "Best looking sponge I've ever made."

"Let's see how it tastes?" suggested Aunt Betsy as she advanced on the cake with knife in hand. Deftly, she cut into the sponge and handed a piece all round.

"Here goes," said Valma, my mum, as she popped her slice into her mouth and then smiled broadly. "An egg's an egg—some better for making sponges—and these are every bit as good as duck eggs."

Aunt Betsy smiled. "Delicious—melts in your mouth."

"How many eggs will we need for the sponges for Great Gran's hundredth birthday celebration?" Aunt Nell inquired of the bakers.

"Let's see, fifty odd people, five sponges. Two dozen should do," replied Betsy.

My aunts all turned to Little Jim and I. "Are you two up to it?" Aunt Nell asked.

Little Jim and I looked at one another and a smile split our faces. "Next low tide, you think, Jimmy?" I asked. He nodded.


About the Author
After retiring, Maureen Green joined a writing group and embarked upon a new adventure—an adventure requiring far more discipline than she ever imagined. She now spends her time writing short stories, children’s works, novella and novels. Her work appears in magazines in the United Kingdom and America—in multimedia form in Australia and on websites in America.

Maureen Green’s time is split between Auckland and Whatuwhiwhi—an insular seaside community in the far north of New Zealand, where she carries out archaeological work for the Auckland Museum. She is a member of the exclusive Moa Hunter group—membership gained by important finds of this extinct, flightless New Zealand bird.


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Poetics Presents

Zinta Aistars

Zinta Aistars is an editor for LuxEsto and publishes a monthly newsletter of marketing tips and inspiration for writers called Zeenythe Communications. She is an editor for the literary e-zine, insolent rudder. She has published three books and her work has appeared in many e-zines.

ILLUMINATION

The time is now:
this moment, this
blink of an eye.
All changes, all breathes,
all life swallows
its own core
and is reformed.
Each cell regenerates,
every heartbeat leads
to another to flush
lifeblood through veins
that snake through a body
each day reborn.

A hatching thought,
epiphany - burst of bright,
inflaming an idea
to burn the torch of mind,
this place where life begins:
not seeded in flesh or womb,
but in grooves and coiled
fist of thoughts.

The creator in all of us,
semblance of divinity,
creator giving creation
a legacy to light
the candle beneath its cover -
lux esto - burn bright,
be light, creator
and creation both -
oyster and its pearl.

Touch the cool waters
and know your powers.
Illumine pathways,
blaze the trails,
mold the clay,
claim the life
steaming inside your soul.

Copyright © 2006 by Zinta Aistars




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Recognitions

Joan McNulty Pulver

Welcome to Recognitions, a column designed to celebrate the writing successes of Writers' Village University members!

My column will be a little different this month. It will still speak to the success achieved by two Writers’ Village University members who could not have made it without the classes, study groups, chats and friendships forged in WVU.

Donna Sundblad and I had no idea who the other was. A member named Birdie had a short story published and I contacted her to get some information for my Recognitions column. I interviewed Donna a few different times but we didn’t become friends for about a year. I volunteered to become the Acquisitions Coordinator for ePress-online and Donna volunteered to be a reader. We both read the first WVU member Fantasy novel submitted (Return to UKOO, by Don Hurst), liked the story and decided to ask permission of the Editor in Chief to edit the book for publication. Margaret Carr agreed. That is how Donna and I became editors and friends.

While working together on this project we realized that our editing styles complimented the other's. Donna sees the big picture including the point of view switches, passive language, places where more description is needed and the type of description, i.e., how does this character feel about what is happening or what does this character look like, etc. On the other hand, I tend to notice smaller things like redundancy of words, overuse of phrases, missing commas, or misuse of the same.

Donna recently pitched a proposal on a budgeting book to Dabbling Mum, Change from the Heart ~ Lifestyle Budgeting. They not only accepted her proposal but also asked if she would be interested in doing a devotional book. The editor at Dabbling Mum felt Donna would be the perfect candidate to do that for them. “Life as a writer takes as many twists and turns as fiction. The myriad of opportunity never ceases to amaze me. Each first is a thrill, but I’ve never lost the sense of delight when my writing is accepted for publication.”

Donna’s non-fiction book, Pumping Your Muse, is available in both e-book and print published by ePress-online. Her first fiction novel, Windwalker, hit cyberspace last month. It is also published by ePress-online.

Over the years, I wrote three writing-related articles which were published in T-Zero: The Writer’s E-Zine. Recently I was asked by the editor of Virtual Tales newsletter, The Serial Scoop, if they could use my already published articles in their newsletter. “This is a big deal to me. To have something published is huge but to have someone ask to reprint it shows just how good it is. I never could have accomplished this without the help of WVU members and Donna encouraging me and telling me that I could do it.”

Together and separately Donna and I achieved goals we feel we would not have achieved alone or without Writers' Village University. Both of us are lifetime members and work in different study groups, are Senior Fantasy Editors at ePress-online and work together on various projects, bouncing ideas off each other and editing each other’s work.

Congratulations Donna and Joan. We wish you continued success in all of your writing endeavors and thank you for sharing your information with us.

We look forward to reading about your writing accomplishments in this column. If you or someone you know received recognition for writing, please send the information to recognitions@wvu.org. Let us know!


About the Author
Joan McNulty Pulver, mother of five and grandmother of five, works as an Administrative Secretary for the State of Florida but considers her writing and editing to be her vocation. She is a columnist for T-Zero: The Writer’s E-Zine, a course developer and facilitator at Writers’ Village University and the Personnel Coordinator/Editor for ePress-online. Joan has had two short stories published and is currently working on a non-fiction book and a fantasy novel.


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Submissions Guidelines (Updated)

Until further notice, only plain text submissions in the body of the email will be considered.
NO ATTACHMENTS.

What We Pay For

Fiction: Stories should be of interest to writers in general, not just a narrow group.

Fiction should be submitted to fiction@thewritersezine.com. Payment starts at $15.00.

If considered for publication, you will be asked to return an email agreement including your name and address.

Craft Features: Queries about Craft features should be sent to nonfiction@thewritersezine.com.

Payment starts at $15.00, and, if considered, you will be sent an email agreement to fill out and return.

Poetry: Due to the large number of recent poetry submissions, a temporary hold on further poetry submissions is in place until early 2008.

Please do not email us to ask what we pay for in other categories. When we can add to our list, we will include it in these guidelines.

What We Publish

Original short fiction, poetry, and non-fiction, particularly non-fiction related to the craft of writing and interviews.

For fiction we prefer something with a plot and resolution. If we like the main character, we are more likely to accept the story. If the main character has a problem to resolve or has to make a choice, that's conflict, and we love conflict! Too many writers confuse conflict with fight scenes. Don't be one of them. Give us a protagonist who acts, makes choices no matter how hard they are to solve his or her dilemma, not a wimp who drifts along and has to be rescued.

Non-fiction should be related to the craft of writing or be good resource material for writers. Accuracy and originality are vital. No reprints. If it has already been published somewhere else, our readers will spot it and let us know.

What We Won't Publish

Anything that inspires "hate," is defamatory or is pornographic.

Simultaneous submissions.

Material that has appeared elsewhere (reprints).

Seasonal material submitted during the same month (i.e., a Christmas story in December). Our lead time is short compared to print publications, but we do need time to edit, html and proof submission. A good guideline is to submit the manuscript by the first of the preceding month (i.e., submit a Christmas story before November 1st).

Length Recommendations

  • For Fiction, under 1500 words is preferred. We will consider excerpts from longer works.

  • Poetry should fit on one printed page if possible. A maximum of five poems may be submitted at one time (when the hold is lifted).

  • Non-fiction or Craft features have the most leeway in word count. In general these manuscripts should be 750 to 2,000 words. We like to take advantage of the hypertext capabilities we have available and link to charts, graphs, lists and so forth. Thumbnail versions may be included in the body of the article.

Rights

All rights other than first electronic, non-exclusive 'anthology' (for collections of T-Zero: The Writer's Ezine works only), and non-exclusive archival rights (we keep back issues online) are and remain the sole and exclusive property of the author.

Formats We Will Accept

Plain text in the body of an email.

T-Zero: The Writer's Ezine is an HTML publication. This gives us access to a variety of options but it is also a limiting factor.

  • Underlining is used exclusively for links in HTML. Please do not underline in your manuscript. It you are including a link to a webpage for reference, please mark the link the following way: (WEB LINK) http://thewritersezine.com (END WEB LINK).
  • The less than (<) and greater than (>) signs are used to enclose HTML encoding. If you need to use brackets, please use the square [ ] ones instead.
  • Paragraph indentation requires time consuming insertion of multiple HTML symbols. Please separate paragraphs by inserting a hard, blank line between them.
  • Fonts need to be simple. No multiple fonts. We prefer standard fonts such as Times New Roman, Courier or Arial set at 12 point. If your subject matter requires something else, ask us first.
  • The curly (smart) quotes, apostrophes, the em dash (two hyphens together) and ellipsis … (three periods) become strange and exotic characters when copied from your word processor into email. Check your preferences or options to see if you can use straight quotes. 
  • Text formatting such as bold, italic, centering, bullet list, etc., should be noted in the text by using all caps in parentheses. For example, if you wanted to italicize the word submission, you would type: (ITALICS) submission (END ITALICS).

Editing

We expect you to run spell-check and to check your grammar and punctuation before submitting. We will not reject a submission for a few typos or errors, but will if there are an excessive number of errors.

Note: Since our reading audience is international, we do not require a specific version of English. Use the spelling appropriate to your region.

We will automatically correct obvious typos such as “ton” for “not” and may correct simple agreement problems. For anything beyond that, time permitting, we will return the submission to you with a request for corrections.

Getting to Know You

Fiction and Craft features published in T-Zero: The Writer's Ezine include brief third person biographical notes on the writers. For all submissions, please compose your own bio and include it to save our editors and yourself time later if/when your piece is accepted for publication. We suggest sharing a little about your background, occupation, geographical location and what inspired your story.

How and Where to Submit

We do not accept submissions via US mail. Email submissions only, to the appropriate department, in the body of the email. No attachments accepted.

Fiction should be sent to fiction@thewritersezine.com.

Craft Non-fiction should be queried first. Send query to nonfiction@thewritersezine.com.

Poetry: Due to the large number of recent poetry submissions, a temporary hold on further poetry submissions is in place until early 2008.

Include the type of submission (fiction, non-fiction) in the subject line.

Be sure to include your name and email address in the body of the email.

If you do not receive an acknowledgement that your submission or query was received within a week, please send a follow-up query with “Did you Receive?” in the subject line. In the body of the email, please include your name and email address, the title of the work submitted, and if different, the email address sent from. Do not resend the submission unless we request it.

Good luck!


T-Zero: The Writer's Ezine
http://TheWritersEzine.com
Copyright 1998 - 2007, Writopia Inc. All Rights Reserved

 

© Copyright 1998 - 2007, Writopia Inc. All rights reserved