From the editors desk

by Clem Daems

 

A must read for any author or aspiring author whether its a short story, novella or novel. Them's Fightin' Words by Teel James Glenn, provides a comprehensive way to look at action. And although the book's emphasis is on fighting scenes, the insights are equally applicable to any kind of action--rescuing a drowning man, a fireman searching a burning building, a person confronting a vicious dog, etc.

Glenn takes the reader through an insightful look at what can only be described as the craft of writing a fighting sequence. Through excerpts of past masters, he looks at how to plan the scene, consider its purpose in the context of the overall story, and how the emotions of the characters provide an insight into their motives and personalities.

He also considers issues easily overlooked, such as the level of the technology, cultural restrictions, political and religious structures, clothes (yes clothes), and the physical skills and personal prejudices of the characters. Together they integrate the action with the character and the environment into an inseparable gestalt.

And if that weren't enough, the book is complete with exercises, and suggested books to read, movies to see, and websites to visit.

After reading Them's Fightin' Words, you will never look at an action scene the same again.

Clem Daems
Sifu, Praying Mantis Kung Fu
Author of the soon to be released Talons of the Raptor Clan

During my years at ePress-online, Inc., I have seen quite a bit of bad writing (with typos, poor grammar, etc.) passing for finished manuscripts. These get rejected. Some people ignore, just gloss over or don’t understand the guidelines. Once I explain it to them and they resubmit in the correct format, they have viable novels, which I can then ask the readers to look at. Most publishers don’t give directions. They just toss the manuscript or delete the file from their email without a backwards glance.

One gentleman sent his submission in .doc format and said he didn’t have access to .rtf. That is one stipulation that our editor is adamant about. It has to be in .rtf format because of the different word processing programs editors’ use.

He kept insisting his word processor program didn’t have Rich Text Format. I explained that most word processors did except Microsoft Works. Instead of telling me he didn’t know what Rich Text Format was, he just insisted that his didn’t have it and that he had Microsoft Word.

The real problem wasn’t that his word processor didn’t accommodate .rtf but that he had no idea what I was talking about and was either too proud or too embarrassed to ask. Of course, when I realized this, I gently explained to him how to save it in the correct format, and we received the manuscript within two days.

If there is something an author doesn’t understand it is much better to ask. The only way we can help is if we know exactly what the problem is. If you don’t know or don’t understand directions, say so! The only silly question is the one that isn’t asked. It would have saved a lot of time and effort on his behalf and mine if he had just said, “What is Rich Text Format and how do I use it?”

I can’t stress enough the importance of reading, understanding and following each publisher’s guidelines. They do differ from one to another. Some want it in the body of an email, others as an attachment and still others want a hard copy. Some want you to query first and others don’t. Most do want .rtf format for sending through e-mail but not all of them do. When not sending it in an email, the publishers may require certain fonts, margins, etc. Some want the manuscript formatted in a certain way while others would rather format it themselves.

I enjoy my job and want to succeed at it both as an Acquisitions Coordinator and an Editor. Please make my job and the jobs of others trying to make it in this industry easier by following the guidelines. If you don’t, they may ask you something unthinkable—like “Please follow our submission guidelines before resubmitting or worse yet, they may just delete the email and never even acknowledge that they received it or throw your paper manuscript in the trash without ever looking at it.

If you want to be published, be sure to read all of the guidelines. Print them out and make a checklist to ensure that you are following everything exactly the way that particular publisher, magazine or e-zine wants you to.

Good luck in your endeavor to get published. The next time you glance at a publisher's guidelines, whether a struggling start-up small press or a big publisher of mass market books, remember this column and think about how you are presenting your work. Is it the best it can be and is it within the guidelines of that particular publisher? In order to be considered a professional writer whose work is worth looking at, make sure that it is.

Imagine getting your first job in the publishing industry. You have some experience as a columnist and short story writer and you apply for the entry-level position of Acquisitions Coordinator. You receive an email from the Editor in Chief offering you the position and describing your duties.

“WOW!” you think. “This is truly my dream job. As first reader, I get to look at all these great manuscripts before anyone else even knows they exist. Then I send a response to the writers telling them that their manuscript is being sent to the readers for consideration. How great is that?”

My job consisted of reading all the mail that came into the office for queries and submissions. I checked these daily. I used a list of our submission guidelines, looking for compliancy and handled the different problems that may arise.

The guidelines for ePress-online, as with most publishers, are fundamental and straightforward. They are clearly readable and understandable on our website.

Please make sure your manuscript is free of typos and misspellings and is as grammatically correct as possible. Be sure have a cover sheet with your name, the title of the book, your email address, an alternate email address, your postal mailing address and an estimated word count.

We accept manuscripts for novels of 50,000 – 120,000 words.  Submit electronically - make sure your file is saved in .rtf and send it as an attachment to Submissions@ePress-online.com.  Please direct all comments and questions to Info@epress-online.com. (These email addresses have changed since then.)

My first day on the job I opened the Info (information and questions only) email address.

I had 2 emails. One was a submission in .doc format. The other was an advertisement. I deleted the ad as spam, and I e-mailed the author of the submission asking him to please read our complete guidelines, save his manuscript in .rtf format and resubmit to the correct address.

Then I opened the Submissions email box. I found a submission that was written by a person whose native language wasn’t English but who professed to have a good grasp of the English language. I opened the manuscript and was amazed at what I found. I wrote the author a rejection letter stating that there were too many spelling and grammatical errors to even consider.

So, what happened to all the great manuscripts I would get to read? We eventually started receiving promising manuscripts.  The first one accepted after I started was Return to UKOO by Don Hurst.  It is a humorous young adult fantasy. Donna Sundblad, who came on board the same time I did, asked if I would be willing to help her edit it.  That was when I was promoted to Assistant Editor. Unfortunately, we did not have anyone to fill my other position so I took on both roles.

It's important to note that my boss is sympathetic to all would-be published authors. Some publishers just discard manuscripts that do not follow the guidelines. Not mine, though, which is good. She believes in responding to each author who submits, even if only to ask that the author to please check the submission guidelines and resubmit thecorrect format.  For this reason, please endeavor to follow the guidelines of each publisher. They can differ greatly, but one thing is certain for all publishers, whether print or electronic: their guidelines are there for a reason, and they expect them to be followed.