http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/ Scroll to Robin Williams picture – there’s an article I wrote.

Albert Difilippantonio

II hope everyone’s been busy over the summer. The first step in self-publishing is to write and finish something. GLVWG members have hosted a couple of writing get-togethers, with another one coming up this week, in hopes of getting participants to do just that.

During the September meeting, we’ll be discussing the next stage in the process: critiquing.  Who to get it from (and who to avoid), what advice to take (and what to ignore).  Feedback is a crucial step if you want to connect with the reader.  There are plenty of well-written books that no one buys. There are just as many badly written books that people fawn over. It isn’t all comma placement and pronoun confusion. Your writing has to engage the reader in a way that makes them want to keep turning the pages. Are your characters flat or exciting?  Is your historical research accurate or did you get something critically wrong? Is your middle sagging like my Uncle Henry’s beer gut? Critique partners can help spot the flaws before you submit your work to an agent.

Hope to see you at September meeting. 

GLVWG’s self-publishing project is open to any member in good standing. Entries are due on October 25^th.  We’re publishing two anthologies: a collection of short stories and a group of essays entitled, “Why We Write”.

 

Author Guidelines

The Why We Write book is nonfiction. Members submit one or two sentences on why they write and craft a short (400-500 words) essay on why they write what they write. (Sci Fi, Poetry, Journalism, Personal Essay, and so on) You can also pick a quote from a writer and craft an essay around it.

The fiction category is open to anything but, since this is a group project, no extreme violence, explicit sex, or overuse of profanity, please.  Try to keep your stories under 2,500 words.

 

 

 

 

 

If you could wire your brain to a centralized network system, would you?  

http://dtkrippene.com/2014/07/28/your-brains-pnp-driver-has-been-hacked/

 

 

 

 

 

Are you a blogger and love to read? Consider blogging for books and review new titles.  

http://www.aerogrammestudio.com/2014/07/23/blogging-for-books/

 

 

                                          FAQs for GLVWG’s Self-Publishing Project

What are we publishing?

GLVWG has agreed to assume all costs associated with self-publishing two anthologies: a traditional collection of short stories and a non-fiction collection of essays entitled, Why We Write.  GLVWG members are responsible for providing all the content.

This not merely a vanity project. GLVWG plans to walk participants through the process of self-publishing so they can see what’s involved and required at every stage. Our goal is to educate our members on what it takes to get their own work into print.

Who’s eligible to participate?

Any GLVWG member in good standing. Your application must have been processed before October 20, 2014.

What are the author guidelines?

The Why We Write book is nonfiction. Members submit one or two sentences on why they write and craft a short (400-500 words) essay on why they write what they write. (Sci Fi, Poetry, Journalism, Personal Essay, and so on) You can also pick a quote from a writer and craft an essay around it.

The fiction category is open to anything but, since this is a group project, no extreme violence, explicit sex, or overuse of profanity, please.  Try to keep your stories under 2,500 words.

To be included in the anthologies, you will have to sign a contract guaranteeing that what you’re submitting is your own work and is free of plagiarism.  We’d also like to get some feedback from you about the experience with self-publishing once the project is over.

Can I submit to both projects?

Go for it, but only one submission per category, please.

Where and when do I submit?

Submissions are due by midnight on October 25 2014. All submissions must be sent to glvwgspproject@gmail.com as a doc or docx file  or pasted into the body of the email. 

What happens after I submit?

Members of the Self-publishing committee will look over your entry to make sure it meets guidelines and is acceptable. We may send you some suggestions in the acceptance email. After that, it will be your responsibility to send your piece to one of our approved copy editors. You will be expected to communicate with the assigned copy editor and make the suggested corrections.  Then you’ll have to resubmit in the approve format by the final due date (to be announced later).

We’d also appreciate all participants helping with the marketing of this book. We’ll be taking ideas for promotion as we get closer to the publication date.

When are we publishing?

We hope to have both anthologies available for sale during the 2015 Write Stuff Conference

I’m not really into the short story/essay thing. Are there any other writing opportunities for this?

You bet. We’d love to get this project written up for local newspapers or even national magazines.  If you’re looking for a story to cover, here’s an opportunity to play reporter.

And what comes after that?

If we’re successful, we may publish another book about our adventures in self-publishing.  Participants will be encouraged to weigh in with feedback, both good and bad. We’re especially interested if this project helps our members get over their qualms about self-publishing and helps them put out their own books.

 

Talking about my favorite sci-fi author.

 

http://dtkrippene.com/2014/07/09/robert-a-heinlein-ya-science-fiction-pioneer/ 

             Ideas to get your pencils moving

One of the anthologies GLVWG members can submit to is a collection of essays entitled “Why We Write”.  Why do you write?  You must have a reason. This isn’t a hobby you get rich on (typically).

Here are some quotes from writers about what writing means to them.  See if one of them kick starts an idea you can use for an essay.

Note to members: While you are encouraged to work on things over the summer, we won’t be accepting submissions until fall.  Stay tuned for dates.

“The first job of the citizen is to keep your mouth open.”  Gunter Grass

“We have it in our power to begin the world again.” Thomas Paine

“The secret of having good ideas is to have a lot of ideas, then throw away the bad ones.” Linus Pauling

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” Agatha Christie

“The mind, once expanded to the dimensions of bigger ideas, never returns to its original size.” Oliver Wendell Holmes

Lois Spengler will be reading her story The Fort on Fourth St. at the Palmer Library on July 9th at 11:00am.

GLVWG member, Steve Sora, has graciously provided some prompts, to help people get started on their stories/essays for our self-publishing project.

Here are some accurate, but not widely known, historical facts.

1) Blue eyes were unknown until 10,000 years ago. A single mutation then occurred in the Baltic sea area. Today 500 million people have them.

 2) The Etruscans started the custom of breaking the chicken's wishbone.

3) The painter Vermeer went from healthy to dead in two days. At age 43 he died broke having gone three years without a sale. His wife sold "Lady Writing a letter with her maid" and "The Guitar Player" to pay a 600 florin baker's bill ($80)

4) A dead man’s hand is 2 aces, 2 eights and the queen of hearts. James Butler aka "Wild Bill" Hitchcock held these cards when he was gunned down in Deadwood SD.

5) Aldous Huxley (Brave New World) and CS Lewis (Narnia) died the same day JFK was killed.

The first step in self-publishing your book is to write and finish something.

Sounds easy, doesn’t it?  Well, a lot of people stall right here.  Fortunately members have GLVWG to lean on. We’ll be posting prompts – short ideas/sentences to help you get your pencil moving. If you’re struggling, check in and see if one of these prompts sparks an idea. 

Still can’t get the words flowing?  GLVWG members will be hosting writing get-togethers this summer. Come and find support among your fellow writers.  We hope to see everyone at the September meeting with a work in process.  There we’ll be discussing the second step in the self-publishing process: getting feedback.