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. It’s packed with great information this month. DEADLINE-DATED lists of anthologies, theme issues, and contests are included at no charge!

In This Issue:

* * WRITER'S RELIEF CLIENT BEQUEATHS SCHOLARSHIP FOR DESERVING WRITERS: APPLY APRIL 1-23

* * BIG-TIME NEWS: WE’RE ON THE BARNES & NOBLE BLOG!

* * SHORT PROSE GENRES: DEFINING ESSAY, SHORT STORY, COMMENTARY, MEMOIR, AND MIXED GENRE

* * POETRY TURNOFFS: STYLES AND FORMATTING THAT MAKE EDITORS CRINGE

* * WHAT LITERARY AGENTS DO (AND DON’T DO) FOR WRITERS

* * BASIC VOCABULARY AND TERMS FOR THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY

* * You won’t find a better list anywhere (AND IT’S FREE!) of upcoming ANTHOLOGIES, SPECIAL-THEMED JOURNALS, and CONTESTS. Visit: http://www.writersrelief.com/blog/post/Anthologies-Contests.aspx

↓ Scroll Down to Read These Exciting and Useful Articles!! ↓

Peter K. Hixson was a much-beloved client here at Writer’s Relief, and we were all saddened when he passed away.

But Peter left an inspirational legacy and a generous bequest to Writer’s Relief for the support of promising writers in need of assistance with the submission process.

We encourage you to learn more about Peter’s inspiring story and The First Annual Peter K. Hixson Memorial Scholarship For Creative Writers.

The deadline is April 23, 2010.

Our Writer’s Relief Review Board is honored to assist Peter’s estate in carrying out his wishes to contribute positively to the writing community.

Great news! If you haven't already heard, Writer’s Relief was recently featured on the Barnes & Noble blog Unabashedly Bookish.

Jill Dearman, a blogger for Barnes & Noble and author of the book Bang The Keys (Penguin), recently sat down with Writer’s Relief president Ronnie L. Smith to get the scoop on submission services and contemporary publishing.

Read the interview for tips on how to break into the literary magazine market.

The genres of short prose writing can be very confusing. For example, some writers will call their personal essay a story, and others will call their essay a memoir. To make matters even more complicated, a number of literary magazines are beginning to accept what is commonly called mixed genre writing. It’s important to understand the difference between the types of short prose, whether you’re writing an essay, short story, memoir, commentary, or mixed genre piece.

What is a short story?
A short story is a work of fictional prose. Its characters may be loosely based on real-life people, and its plot may be inspired by a real-life event; but overall more of the story is “made-up” than real. Sometimes, the story can be completely made-up. Short stories may be literary, or they may conform to genre standards (i.e., a romance short story, a science-fiction short story, a horror story, etc.). A short story is a work that the writer holds to be fiction (i.e., historical fiction based on real events, or a story that is entirely fiction).

Short Story Example: A writer is inspired by a car explosion in his town. He writes a story based on the real explosion and set in a similar town, but showing the made-up experiences of his characters (who may be partly based on real-life).

Short Story Example two: A writer writes a story based on a made-up explosion, set in a made-up town, and showing the made-up experiences of his characters.

What is a personal or narrative essay? What is an academic essay? What’s the difference?
Though factual, the personal essay, sometimes called a narrative essay, can feel like a short story, with "characters" and a plot arc. A personal essay is a short work of nonfiction that is not academic (that is, not a dissertation or scholarly exploration of criticism, etc.).

In a personal essay, the writer recounts his or her personal experiences or opinions. In an academic essay, the writer’s personal journey though the subject does not typically play a large part in the narrative (or plot line).  

Sometimes the purpose of a personal essay is simply to entertain. Some personal essays may have a meditative or even dogmatic feel; a personal essay may illustrate a writer’s experiences in order to make an argument for the writer’s opinion. Some personal essays may cite other texts (like books, stories, or poems), but the focus of the citation is not to make an academic point. Rather, emphasis is on the writer’s emotional journey and insight.

Personal Essay Example: A writer pens the story of his experience at the scene of a car explosion in his town. The work is short enough for publication in a literary journal and focuses on the author’s perspective and insight.

What is a commentary?
The personal essay form and commentary may sometimes overlap, but it may be helpful to make some distinctions. A commentary is often very short (a few hundred words) and more journalistic in tone than a personal essay. It fits nicely as a column in a newspaper or on a personal blog. The writing can be more newsy than literary.

Some very short nonfiction pieces may be better suited to newspapers than to literary journals; however, literary magazines have been known to publish commentary-esque pieces that have a literary bent.

Commentary Example: A writer tells the story of a car explosion in his town to illustrate the point that the police are not vigilant enough about people throwing flaming marshmallows out their windows.

What is a memoir?
Memoir generally refers to longer works of nonfiction, written from the perspective of the author. Memoir does not generally refer to short personal essays. If you’re writing a short piece based on your real-life experiences, editors of literary journals will identify this as a personal essay. If you’re writing a book about an experience, it’s a memoir. A collection of interrelated personal essays may constitute a memoir.

Memoir Example: A writer composes a full-length book about his experiences after a car explosion in his town.

Learn more: Creative Nonfiction: How To Stay Out Of Trouble

What is a nonfiction short story?
There’s no such thing as a nonfiction short story. Short stories are inherently fiction (with or without real-life inspiration). Personal essays are not fictional.

Example: None.

So what is mixed genre writing?
Mixed genre writing is creative work that does not sit comfortably in any of the above genres. Mixed genre writing blends some elements of fiction with elements of nonfiction in a very deliberate way. Some examples:

Mixed Genre Example One: A professional accountant named John Jones is writing a story about a man named John Jones, who is John Jones and lives John Jones’ life—except that the fictional John Jones one day decides to leave his real-life accounting job, and live his dream of being a rock star (since the real-life John Jones is thinking of doing the same thing).

Is this a short story? An essay? If ninety percent of the story is true and ten percent is fiction, then what should the writer call this?

Mixed Genre Example Two: A writer decides to compose a family history, using pictures and documents from her family albums. But sometimes her story veers into fiction. She finds herself embellishing elements or omitting characters; and, the result is a story that’s better than the one she might tell if she were to stick to the facts.

Again, is this an essay? A short story? If half of the story is made-up, but half is very obviously true, it might be best called mixed genre.

NOTE: Sometimes the term mixed genre is defined in terms of the novel or book. A mixed genre novel might be a novel that mixes science fiction elements with characteristics of a legal thriller. Or a mixed genre novel might also be a work that plays fast and loose with fact and fiction. If you’re going to refer to your book as mixed genre, be clear about what you mean.

Learn more: Genre Fiction Rules: Find Out If Your Novel Meets Publishers' And Literary Agents' Criteria For Publication

Tips on Writing Mixed Genre
If you’re going to write mixed genre prose, do so with care. Mixed genre writing often has a kind of self-aware, almost tongue-in-cheek, element to it—a wink to the reader who is not fooled by the mixing of fiction and nonfiction, even if the lines are blurry. Mixed genre can be considered experimental, and as such, it’s important that the writing be exceptionally smart in order to live up to the demands of the (mixed) genre.

Why is mixed genre writing so often self-referential? Writing mixed genre and passing it off as an essay or a short story could make editors think that you are trying to dupe them, so it helps to include something in the work that makes reference to itself as being a mixture of fact and fiction. These “meta” elements can help put the reader at ease.

Who is publishing mixed genre short prose?
The primary markets for short prose are literary magazines and journals. Writer’s Relief frequently helps writers target their work to literary journals. For more information on how to find markets for your short prose, please read Researching Literary Markets for Your Work if you plan to research on your own. Or learn about Writer’s Relief submission services if you’d like help targeting your submissions.

At Writer’s Relief we are very tuned in to trends in the publishing industry, and we’ve noticed that some poetry formatting choices act as red flags to editors of literary journals. These red flags tend to make editors view poets as new or amateur. If you’d like to get your poems published in literary magazines, consider these tips before making your submission.

Rhyming Poetry And Contemporary Publishing
As disappointing as the news may be for some poets, very few literary journals are accepting rhyming poems or formal verse poems. From the lack of popular interest in rhyming poetry, it seems that many modern readers have come to regard rhyme as naive, outdated, and contrived. Literary editors of well-known journals are simply not banging down poets’ doors to publish rhyming poetry.

That said, some editors love and publish rhyme. Poets who excel in traditional verse may well find an outlet in literary journals; however, the writing must be exceptional in order to overcome the apparent editorial disinterest in rhyme.

Poetry Format: Double-Spaced Lines
One of the tell tale signs that a writer is new to the craft is unnecessary double-spacing of free verse or rhyming poems. Many double-spaced poems can easily become single-spaced poems without doing significant damage. The new writer may feel uncomfortable changing from double spaces to single spaces, but if you leaf through the pages of a literary magazine, you’ll find that most poems are single-spaced.

That said, some poems simply must be double-spaced. The writer selects double-spacing not just because it “looks nice” but because that format supports the meaning of the poem in some way. You can double-space your poems; just be sure you’re doing it deliberately, with sensitivity and awareness. If you can remove the double spacing without doing damage to the poem, it might be a good idea to do so. The format change will also help you keep the page count down.

Poetry Format: Centering Lines
There is a perception among some newer poets (or at least, there is a perception among literary editors about newer poets) that centering the text of a poem somehow makes it look and feel more poetic. Few editors fall for that ruse, and some have been known to be dismissive of centered poems.

If your poem can be left justified without doing damage to the meaning of the poem, you may want to consider ditching the center justification if it helps your work get published in a well-known literary journal. That said, as with spacing, if there is a reason other than "it looks nice" that your poem must be centered, then by all means, stick to your guns. Hopefully, you’ll be able to connect with an editor who gets your work and will not dismiss your poem simply because of the center justification.

The Best Length For Poems
As the page count of your poems goes up, the chances of your seeing them published go down. One-page poems have the best shot at being placed. And poems that have long lines of text may not be eligible for publication in narrow literary magazines. For more on this issue, read Why Length Matters When Submitting Your Stories And Poems For Publication.

One Final Note About Poetry Format
The above tips are based on the experiences of Writer’s Relief in helping poets publish their poems in literary magazines since 1994. However, we do not advocate writing poetry only for the market. If the muse moves you to write a certain way, you should do what makes you happy, consequences be damned. Writing poetry is a very personal matter, and the decisions you make about your poems should be made with care and authority—regardless of the market.

If you find you are relying too heavily on any of the above, we recommend familiarizing yourself with the kinds of things that editors are publishing in your favorite literary journals. Being familiar with the work of contemporary poets is important to your craft, your muse, and your career. Read more: Seven Techniques You Must Know To Make Editors Notice Your Poetry (in a good way!).

Querying a good literary agent is the first step in getting your novel or book project into the hands of a publisher. What is a literary agent? A literary agent is the middleman between you and potential publishers—they are your best hope for getting your book published. But what does a literary agent actually do for a writer? And what don’t they do?

1. A literary agent’s top job is to find an editor who likes your book enough to buy it. Reputable literary agents have a wide network of contacts and relationships with acquisition editors at publishing houses. They know what the editors are looking for, and they’re experts at sending your submissions to the right people. Because editors know that submissions by literary agents have already made it through a stringent screening process, agented submissions usually go to the top of the pile.

Literary agents will NOT purchase the rights to your book and then turn around and try to sell your book to publishers. Nor can they promise to sell your book.

2. Literary agents pitch your book project to publishers and try to get you the best deal. It is in their best interest to negotiate lucrative contracts with publishers, as literary agents work on commission (usually 15 percent). They also manage your business affairs with the publisher once the deal goes through—contract disputes, royalty statements, collecting money—leaving you on good terms with the editor and freeing up your time to write.

Literary agents are NOT always attorneys, but they do specialize in book contracts and are well-versed in authors’ rights.

3. A good literary agent will often edit or critique a manuscript and offer valuable suggestions to increase its marketability. BUT you should never query an agent unless you have a completed, professionally formatted, and carefully proofread novel or memoir in hand. (Only how-to and self-help books can be pitched without having been finished first.)

Literary agents do NOT offer line-by-line edits or make rewrites. It’s up to the writer to incorporate the agent’s suggested changes. Agents are not interested in helping you master the art of writing. Their focus is on the business of writing, as in “How can this book sell the most copies?” Read more about how to hire the right editor for your writing.

4. Literary agents are authors’ advocates. They don’t make money unless you make money, so their goal is to get you the best deal. Most reputable agents will make a commission of 15 percent for domestic sales. They offer encouragement and support and help keep you on track with deadlines and rewrites. They can also help shape your career by suggesting new ideas, finding wider audiences, and keeping you abreast of changes and trends in the publishing industry.

Literary agents are NOT tax consultants, publicists, personal bankers, or writing coaches. They often offer moral support, but they are not interested in being your therapist. They will not handle your advertising and marketing. And they’re certainly not interested in being your personal answering service.

It’s up to the writer to take advantage of all the services a good literary agent can offer. As an author’s ally, a good literary agent can make a writer’s life more successful and rewarding.

The submission strategists at Writer’s Relief are also in the writer’s corner, and we offer a variety of services, from full submission services to our free newsletter. Feel free to check out other articles you might find useful when looking for a literary agent for your novel or book project: How To Land A Literary Agent, Nine Questions To Ask A Literary Agent, Do You Need An Agent For Your Book Project?

Whether you are hoping to have your book represented by a literary agent, or have an essay, poem, or short story published in a journal, it is imperative that you understand the language of publishing. Being fluent in this terminology will give you greater control over the sale and distribution of your creative writing, and you’ll demonstrate to literary agents and editors that you know everything from the formal vocabulary to the popular lingo.

Here is a list of commonly used (and confused) terms in the publishing business:

What is an SASE? Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope. When submitting your writing to publications, send an SASE for the journal or literary agent’s response. You can also send a larger envelope if you would like them to return your writing if it is rejected. We at Writer’s Relief recommend that you simply send a business-sized (#10) envelope for their written response, not for the return of work. 

What does previously published mean? As online publishing increases, the term previously published gets increasingly murky.

What is media rate at the post office? Media rate can be applied to mailing packages containing books, scripts, sound recordings, video tapes, and computer-readable media (such as CDs, DVDs, and diskettes). Media rate is slower and less expensive than first-class mail. 

What are simultaneous submissions? When you make a simultaneous submission, you send the same submission to more than one editor or agent at the same time.

What are multiple submissions? When you make a multiple submission, you send many submissions in one letter or e-mail to one editor or agent.

What is a literary agent? The best way to have your book published is to send your work out to literary agents first. These are professionals who can target your writing to publishers and make sure you get the best possible book deal.

What is an editor? An editor works at a publishing house or literary journal. An editor reads submissions, acquires the rights to publish them (sometimes paying for that right), and often edits the content. People who acquire short works for inclusion in a collection or anthology are also editors. 

What is a proofreader? Proofreaders edit your work for grammar, punctuation, spelling, and formatting.

What is a copyeditor? A copyeditor edits a manuscript to meet the house style, which includes reading for accuracy and formatting. 

What is a query letter? What is a cover letter? The difference between a query letter and a cover letter is that while a query letter is an introduction to a literary or book agent, a cover letter is used when sending poetry and/or short stories to literary journals. Writer’s Relief can help you write both!

What is an exclusive read from a literary agent? If you grant an exclusive read (or right of first refusal) to a literary agent, you are granting him or her the right to read your book before any other agents see it. For more detailed information, see our article When A Literary Agent Requests An Exclusive: Solutions For Sticky Situations.

What is the difference between a short story and an essay? A short story is a work of fiction; an essay, whether personal, academic, or instructional, is nonfiction. While the lines between a personal or creative essay and a short story are often blurred during the creative formation of a piece, it is important that you decide on the genre of your short prose piece in order to market it to the right editor. Learn more: Short prose genres: Defining Essay, Short Story, Commentary, Memoir, and Mixed Genre.

What are galleys for books or novels? A galley is an unformatted version of a manuscript. Galleys are sent out to reviewers and blurb writers a few weeks before the book is put in stores in its formatted version.

What is the slush pile? A slush pile is a stack of unsolicited submissions to book agents, literary journals, or publishing houses.

What are solicited and unsolicited submissions? A solicited submission is work that an editor or literary agent has asked for. An unsolicited submission is work that an editor or literary agent has not asked for.

What is an advance on a book or novel? An advance is payment a publisher gives a writer for a book or novel before it is written.

What is a writer’s backlist? A writer’s backlist is a list of his or her older publications.

What is the masthead? The masthead refers to the "behind the scenes" information about a publication, such as the editors, publishing information, etc.

Writer’s Relief often helps writers with their submission strategies and the questions that arise during the manuscript submission process. We target submissions to literary agents and editors, write cover and query letters, proofread and format manuscripts, and track submissions. Click for more information about Writer’s Relief.

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.