HOT OFF THE PRESS! We love to share our information with writers, and we’re happy to pass some of our INSIDER’S SECRETS along to you. Feel free to print these posts to use as a reference. Pass the links along to your writer friends. Our Newsflash For Writers is packed with great information this month. DEADLINE-DATED lists of anthologies, theme issues, and contests are included at no charge!

In This Issue:

** QUERY LETTERS: WHEN (NOT) TO TALK ABOUT MULTIPLE BOOKS

** 5 STRATEGIES TO MAKE YOUR SHORT STORY STAND OUT IN A CROWD

** HOW TO SUBMIT POETRY TO LITERARY JOURNALS AND MAGAZINES

** FEMALE TROUBLE: “FEMALE” VS. “WOMAN”

** HOW AND WHEN TO START A SENTENCE WITH A CONJUNCTION

** You won’t find a better list anywhere (AND IT’S FREE!) of upcoming ANTHOLOGIES, SPECIAL-THEMED JOURNALS, and CONTESTS.

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Often, we at Writer's Relief read query letters from writers who will mention more than one book. They mention prequels and sequels, previously published books, unpublished books, self-published books, and more. But is it a good idea to mention other book projects in your query letter? 

Though every writer’s situation is unique, here are some things you’ll want to take into account before you mention other projects when you are pitching via query letter.

Books designed to be part of a series. Certain books are by their very nature meant to be part of a series—such as some fantasy and mystery novels. But always keep in mind that before your agent can sell a second or third book, she or he has to sell a first book. So focus on book one, and then casually mention that the book could be developed into a series (saying “could be” makes it clear that you’re not going to put the cart before the horse by writing the series before the first one has proven that it is viable). 

Manuscripts you wrote a long time ago. Many new writers who do not have writing credits tend to include phrases in their bios such as “I have written five books.” This leads the agent to wonder: five published books (if so, why didn’t the writer mention the publisher?), five self-published books (if so, what is the writer trying to hide?), or five books that are sitting under a bed somewhere (if so, will the writer try to pawn off those stale old manuscripts on the agent who takes that writer on?). If the writer is deliberately vague about the “five books,” the agent will generally assume the writer is an amateur. Rather than mention that you’ve written five books that you were not able to publish traditionally, it may be better not to mention them at all. Focus on building up your bio with publication credits in the literary magazine market or by demonstrating a commitment to the craft. 

Self-published books. Unless a self-published book does well, agents will generally regard self-published books the same way they will regard books that have not been professionally bound and printed. For more on the question of whether or not to mention a self-published book, read this. 

Spin-offs. Some writers will indicate that they are already in the process of spinning their single title book into an alternate venture—perhaps developing the story of the secondary characters, or perhaps taking the story to the next level with a prequel. Again, be sure you’re only pitching one book at a time. If you’ve already completed your spin-off projects, it may be better to hold off on mentioning that those projects are already complete until you and the agent are in serious talks. 

Other unrelated books or genres. If you’re writing a romance novel and you want an agent to work with you on another project (a thriller), it's best to focus on one project at a time. The query letter is not necessarily the place to mention multiple projects. If an agent shows interest in one of your projects and you feel you can develop a rapport, then that’s the time to mention your other ventures. But until that point, try not to overwhelm him or her. 

The moral of the story: an agent can only represent one of your books at a time. Generally, if you are entering a new relationship with an agent, you don’t want to overwhelm him or her by suggesting he or she represent previous projects, future projects, or side projects. A good query letter pitches one book only—and perhaps in certain circumstances, it may casually allude to other projects (if the writer is careful in his or her allusions). Play it safe by focusing on one book and one book only. 

At Writer’s Relief we work with our clients to write strong query letters, and we advise them on strategies and tactics regarding the submission process. For more information, visit www.WritersRelief.com. 

Imagine for a moment that you’re the editor of a well-known literary journal. Every day, hundreds of short stories cross your desk in a relentless stream, blurring together, melting into one huge pile of “no.” 

And then—BAM! A story out of left field strikes a chord deep within you. Now that’s something you might want to publish. It goes in the other pile, the much smaller and elusive batch of wonderful “yes.”

That’s a scene any writer would love to see play out starring their own short stories, but floating to the top of that river of submissions takes effort, persistence, and a couple of tricks up the sleeve. Here are a few ways to make your story stand out: 

1. Open with a bang. Unless he’s turned into a giant cockroach, starting your story with your main character waking up is as average as it gets. You have a small space in which to tell your story, so get straight to the point—try dropping the audience in medias res (right into the heart of the action), and get them excited for the ride.

2. Keep it short. Pack a punch in very few words. Throw away unnecessary frills. For more on this issue, read: Why Length Matters. 

3. Create larger-than-life characters. Dull characters make for dull short stories. While you want your characters to be relatable, you don’t want them to be ordinary. If they are dynamic, have their own unique voices, and approach their world in their own distinctive ways, there’s a good chance they’ll stick in a reader’s mind and so will your story.

4. Paint your world vividly. Whether it’s a bustling metropolis or the middle of the unforgiving Sahara, the setting in which your story takes place influences everything that happens within it. Don’t just plop your characters into a generic town—create your own world and reveal to the audience the intricacies therein.

5. Keep the stakes high. There’s a certain aspect of human nature that likes to experience intense situations vicariously. Never let the lifeline of your story run flat. Every decision your characters make should propel the story forward, keeping the plot taut and engaging. The higher the stakes, the bigger the catharsis your readers will experience when the conflict is resolved. 

As always, Writer’s Relief helps writers target their stories to the literary journal editors who are most likely to enjoy them. For more information about this process, please visit an overview of our services.

Writer’s Relief has helped hundreds of writers submit their poetry to literary journals and magazines, and as those of you who regularly read our Newsflash for Writers know, we’re pleased to share our techniques with you. If you’ve been hoping to publish your poems by submitting poetry to literary magazines, here’s a step-by-step guide to help you get your poems to editors to increase your chances of getting an acceptance letter. 

Write awesome poems. One would think this goes without saying. However, if you’re not reading the poetry that is being published in literary journals and magazines, then you won’t know how your poetry stacks up. Read to improve your technique, to support the underfunded literary journals that publish poetry like yours, and to engage with modern aesthetics. In other words, don’t just think your poems are awesome: know that they’re awesome. Then you'll be ready to successfully submit. 

Research markets. We’ve written quite a bit on our blog about how to find the best markets for your poetry. You can research journals online, or you can buy a market guide. Be prepared for researching to take a lot of time (generally, Writer’s Relief has found that you’ll need to send any given poem to 100 markets before you throw in the towel). You’ll have to reevaluate:

Reading dates

Calls for submission (theme, topics, etc.)

Editorial preferences

If you’re not up to the task of doing the research, you can use our A La Carte Service (we will target 25+ markets that will be a nice fit for your particular type of poetry). Or you can read more about how to research markets on your own.

Choose 3 to 5 of your best poems for submission. Most literary magazines will not read more than five poems per submission. The poems may or may not be thematically related. Here is an article about why length matters for poetry, and how to write poems of the best length.

Format and proofread your poems. Skip the big, unique fonts—stick with something simple and traditional. Put your name and contact info on every poem. Also, note page numbers on poems that are longer than one page. 

Write your cover letter. Keep it simple. Include the titles of your poems, a brief professional bio, and a courteous closure. If you want to be clever, do so at your own risk. Click for an article with more information on how to write a cover letter.

Put your submission together. Paper clip or staple? SASE or e-mail address? Here’s an article with information on how to physically mail your work.

Keep track of where you send your poems. Be prepared to send out many, many submissions and receive many, many rejections. Embrace the large numbers of submissions and the equally large numbers of rejections as part of the process. You’ll need to find a way to keep track of who is reading what, who has rejected what, and who made a nice comment and/or asked to see more work from you in the future so that you can send work to them again. 

Get ready to do it all again. Making submissions habitually and regularly is what gets acceptances. So suck it up and get those poems out there, soldier!

At Writer’s Relief we manage all of the above processes for our clients (with the exception of writing your awesome poems!) For an overview of our services, visit www.WritersRelief.com.

Female. It’s a word that can be both a noun and an adjective. But unless you’re referring to farm animals or giving a lecture on the diversity of nature, someone is sure to be offended if you refer to a woman as a female—as in Carole is a female who knows what she wants. While it’s true that, historically, many renowned authors have used female as a noun, it’s also true that the practice is less accepted in modern usage. 

George and Scott met some good-looking females at the nightclub on Saturday.

In this context, female smacks of depersonalization and disrespect. Most women will agree that being referred to as a female is somehow offensive, even if they’re not exactly sure why. More and more we find that female and male are used to imply inferiority, whether in noun or adjective form, as in That’s just the female side talking, or Typical of a female. Or If it weren’t for the male mentality, we wouldn’t have any wars.

Note that the same objections can be raised when referring to men:

I am determined to get to know that male.

When used in this context, male seems more mammal than human, and the man in question has been effectively depersonalized. But as an adjective, male is appropriate: 

The choir is composed of young male voices. 

In the following sentence, female and male are acceptable as nouns: 

The females lay their eggs in spring, while the males provide constant watch over the nest.

As adjectives, male and female are also perfectly acceptable: 

The newcomers were divided into two groups, female recruits to the left, male recruits to the right.

And while we’re on the subject of sensitivity, perhaps a word about girls. 

There are four girls and three men working at the office.

The (hopefully) unintentional result of this sentence is the trivialization of the contributions of the girls in the office, some of whom have probably not been called a girl for years. The sentence would be less insulting to women—or at least equally insulting to both sexes—if it read There are four girls and three boys working at the office, but this conjures up an image of seven kids running around the office—safer to change girls to women. 

Technically, this whole female vs woman issue is up for discussion. Dictionary definitions of female and male categorize the words as both noun and adjective, with female (n) = woman or girl and male (n) = man or boy. It’s more an issue of context and the importance of word choice when making an impression on the reader, whether intentional or not. If you want to avoid alienating your readers, opt for writing with sensitivity and avoid using biased language. What may be mere words to one reader may be construed as patronizing or insensitive to another, which may leave him or her less receptive to the content of your writing overall. And doesn’t that defeat the whole point of writing?

For more on gender and prose, read Using Sensitive Language.

Question: In fiction, is it okay to begin a sentence with a coordinating conjunction (and, but, yet)?

Answer: Not according to many high school English teachers and not according to Strunk and White (The Elements of Style). The long-enduring rule has been that using a coordinating conjunction to begin a sentence implies a preceding clause to which the sentence should be connected, leaving an incomplete sentence or fragment. However, the majority of modern fiction writers agree that using a conjunction to begin a sentence is an acceptable practice. In fact, creative writers have been doing it for centuries, happily ignoring this “rule” as well as other restrictions, like Thou Shalt Never Use Sentence Fragments or A Comma Must Separate Two Conjoined Sentences. In fiction, the lines between convention and creativity can be blurry. 

Coordinating conjunctions include the words: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so. Beginning a sentence with one of these conjunctions can lend impact or emphasis to the sentence:

I’d really like to go to college. But who’s going to pay for it?

It was a frigid night, with the wind whipping off the lake. Yet she stripped down and dove in anyway.

It is unnecessary to use a comma after a coordinating conjunction. One exception is “so,” which is often used at the beginning of a sentence as a kind of summing-up device, and in this context, it is usually set off with a comma:

So, needless to say, we ended up moving across the country.

As a creative writer, if you begin a sentence with a coordinating conjunction, fear not—no grammatical rules have been broken, although it’s best to use this technique sparingly for maximum effect. However, keep in mind that in formal communication, business correspondence, and academic writing, you’d be wise to follow the advice of Strunk and White and avoid starting sentences with conjunctions. And not use sentence fragments. (Kidding!)

REMEMBER TO CHECK OUT OUR LIST OF WRITING CONTESTS and ANTHOLOGIES! You won’t find a better list anywhere (AND IT’S FREE!) of upcoming anthologies, special-themed journals, and contests.