Volume 4, Issue 15 - 5 September 2007

For the online version of this newsletter, click here

Dear [FIRSTNAME],

I am very happy to help promote a book I edited entitled Self Publish Worldwide, by Ruth Barringham. Essentially, it is for those storytellers who would like to know how to publish a book quickly, affordably and make it available worldwide. For those of us who live outside of the US and UK, such information is very useful and if you do invest in this ebook, I hope that you too will find it of benefit to you. Here's the link to the website Ruth has set up for this ebook:

http://www.selfpublishworldwide.com  

Thank you to all of you who have sent in your recommendations for websites which should be listed. Please keep sharing the information with me. I've updated the relevant pages and now, there are now loads of resources for you to refer to.

There are also new pieces for Infosynthesis, Storyteller's Nuts and Bolts, Jack's Fables and much more.

The ebook offered for the current contest is a copy of Graeme Houston's The Shade of The Soul. Click here to enter this contest.

Graeme is one of the people interviewed for Blow Your Own Trumpet! and you can the full text of the interview, together with others, below. 

There are announcements sent in by our subscribers, which I hope you'll take time to look at, under Tell Everyone About. 

I hope you enjoy the information shared.

Are you in what you write? Tough question but there is no easy answer. Let me rephrase the question. Can you see or put yourself in what you read? This one is easier to do.

The Write Sense - Interview with Mayra Calvani

Excerpts ...

Aneeta: What was the first thing you wrote?

Mayra: I was about twelve. Together with my best friend, I wrote a couple of stage plays for my school’s annual show, both comedies. Around this time I also wrote my first novella, a thriller about a serial killer who left roses by the dead victims. The killer was the female protagonist, a reporter. Later in high school I wrote another short novel, this time a romance, which my classmates read in class and passed around behind the teacher’s back. I also wrote short stories, most of them in the dark paranormal genre. I read a lot, and the more I read, the more I felt like writing. Reading has always been an inspiration, though you have to be careful not to overdo it. After all, the time you are reading is the time you’re not writing. Reading can be a terrible addiction sometimes!

Shades of Fire Gazing - Interview with Graeme Houston

Excerpts ...

Graeme: ... I originally thought of going into Artificial Intelligence research. I love technology and I love psychology, but fate intervened, probably for the better. While studying I had a few jobs, I've worked in a paint shop, a supermarket, a bakery, I've even been a builder for a day (that day was spent avoiding death on a construction site, but that's yet another story). After studying I went into freelance web design, which led me from designing, to writing web content and then straight into the magazine industry. Meanwhile, a lovely lassie (as we say in Scotland) whose name means fire, and who I had been friends with for six years, came and visited me. We fell in love, and she brought me to Kuala Lumpur. As much as she loves Scotland it's too cold for her so we decided to settle here. I can't say I blame her. We got married 2 years ago. So I found myself here in this beautiful country, and my wife encouraged me to focus on writing, which is where my passion lies.

Minefield of Storytelling - interview with Brian L. Porter

Excerpts ...

Aneeta: That's some list. Can you tell me, please, are there any lessons you’ve learnt about the publishing industry which we can benefit from?

Brian: Most certainly Aneeta. The first thing I would like to say to your readers is that the publishing industry is like a minefield, and every bit as daunting when beginning one’s passage through it. Most publishers will not touch an author who doesn’t have an agent, and most agents won’t look at an author without a publishing history of some kind. All is not lost however. The writer of today must be patient, accept rejections as a simple fact of life, an occupational hazard to be endured with a shrug of the shoulders and a determination to keep going. ‘A Study in red’ was rejected by every British publisher and agent I submitted it to, and yet it was accepted by the very first American publisher I sent it to, (well done and Thanks to Quill Pen). The lesson there is of course not to be too insular with one’s submissions. With the worldwide access afforded by the internet a writer must be prepared to cast his or her wings over as wide an area as possible. Also, never give up, believe in your work because if you don’t then how can you expect a publisher to do so? Remember that you only need one publisher or agent to like your work and there are literally thousands of them out there. If you have that belief, then stick with it, file away the rejection slips and send out another batch of submissions with both hope and confidence in your heart. If the work is good enough, there will be a publisher out there who will want it. You just have to find him.

Virgo’s Child

Excerpts ...

Virgo children are usually quite easy to raise.  They are neat, organized, and have a gentle sense of humor that you will enjoy.  They are rarely hateful and mean.  They are so well behaved that I think most parents just sort of leave them to themselves since they are like miniature adults.  One of the hardest things about being a really good kid is that you melt into the woodwork and nobody notices you anymore.