Writers can reach
multitudes By James A. Haught
Editor, The Charleston Gazette
In 2002, elderly Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia gave fervent Senate floor
speeches against the looming US invasion of Iraq. But the Washington press
corps ignored him. He drew little coverage nationwide by newspapers,
television news or wire services. Byrd's voice was mostly lost.
Then an amazing thing happened. That global marvel, the internet, took
command. War opponents began emailing Byrd's speeches to friends, who
forwarded them to others. Before long, they had spread to thousands of
Americans, plus more thousands overseas. His words blanketed the planet,
spontaneously, spread by avid readers. They were posted on many websites
for everyone to read. Byrd became an international hero to war-questioners.
His speeches were assembled into a book.
There's a lesson here for every writer (not a politics lesson, but one
regarding how to deliver your words to the world). It's a new ball game.
The internet is the mother of all outlets. Editors (like me) still decide
what is printed on paper and broadcast on airwaves, but we don't control the
wide-open, gigantic, all-reaching, worldwide conduit in Cyber Land.
Traditional channels of information still exist, perhaps still dominate, but
they aren't the only route. A brand-new way for writers to find multitudes
of readers is available at the click of a mouse.
There's no money in it. You must be willing to donate your work, just for
the satisfaction of communicating with many. But that's immensely rewarding.
Let's face it: There's little cash in freelance writing, anyway. In
addition to running West Virginia's largest newspaper, I've written nine
books and seventy magazine essays. The books have modest sales (9,000 max)
and I never got more than $1,500 advance for each. I tell people that my
private author career pays ten cents an hour. Thank heaven for my day job.
However, like most writers, I have a compulsion that never stops. I can't
quit articulating ideas for people to read. And now I'm funnelling part of
my output through the internet. Here's how:
My private writing is mostly in the sceptic-agnostic-freethought-doubter-anticlerical zone. When I hatch a new
essay, I offer it first to specialty magazines in that field: Free Inquiry
(where I'm a senior editor), Freethought Today, Skeptic, The
Humanist,
American Atheist, Secular World, The Freethinker, Secular Humanist
Bulletin,
UU World, International Humanist News, etc. If none accepts it, I turn to a
huge array of websites pushing the same mission. It's almost effortless –
just hit "send," no postage required. I email it to fifty, eighty or more.
(There are so many I can't count them.) Numerous sites post my pieces, then
other sites post "mirror" copies.
My last article, on the rapid rise of Americans who don't attend church,
appeared on nearly a hundred websites, plus a couple of printed magazines.
My latest, on the baffling enigma of zealots who kill themselves to commit
mass murder, has spread to more than thirty sites so far. The essays draw
comments, and readers send them to friends via "social networking".
The Internet contains hundreds of "online communities". In addition to sceptic
sites, there are others for every imaginable interest:
parakeet-lovers, human rights crusaders, backpackers, antique car buffs,
Latvian-Americans, chess fiends, feminists, cigar aficionados, ex-convicts,
Renaissance troubadour experts, spelunkers, the deaf, Pentecostal church
members, gays, muzzle-loader gun shooters, archaeology fans, poetry-lovers,
families of murder victims, skydivers – you name it.
Whatever your focus in writing, a ready-made outlet awaits. If magazine or
book editors don't want your work, just fling it into the brave new digital
realm. Search for sites that address your topic, then click the "contact"
spot, and offer it to the world. In doing so, you escape the insolence of
office, the arrogance of print-on-paper editors who never answer your
inquiries or demand endless rewrites.
I'm chiefly absorbed in the nonfiction marketplace of ideas: the eternal
tussle of beliefs, ideologies, social causes, worldviews. But the Internet
offers just as many opportunities for fiction and feature writers. Hundreds
of short story and poetry sites exist, along with all those topical groups
– each awaiting submissions.
Moliere said: "Writing is like prostitution. First you do it for the love of
it, then you do it for a few friends, and finally you do it for money." If
you limit yourself to stages one and two, forgoing stage three, the internet
will let you reach multitudes.
About the author Haught is editor of The Charleston Gazette in West Virginia, and also is a
senior editor of Free Inquiry magazine. He has won 20 national newswriting
awards and is listed in Who's Who in America and Contemporary
Authors. He
can be reached by email at haught@wvgazette.com, by phone at
+1 (304) 348-5199
and by fax at +1 (304) 348-1233. His website is http://www.wvinter.net/~haught.
New
literary agencies
Samar Hammam,
former director of established London literary agency Toby
Eady Associates Ltd, has launched a new literary
agency called Rocking
Chair Books, handling literary fiction, commercial fiction and general
nonfiction. The agency welcomes unsolicited submissions by
email. For more details, click
here.
The
Michael Greer Literary Agency is a new literary agency
specialising in sports writing, be that covering certain
players, or covering certain games and the philosophy of
sports. Manuscripts in the young adult / teen fiction
category, and in the literary fiction category, are also
accepted; particularly literary fiction with an emphasis
on work set in a city environment. The agency is actively
accepting submissions and accepts both queries and
submissions by email. For more details, click
here.
The Crime Writers'
Association's Debut Dagger Competition for 2012 will run from
October 22, 2011, to January 21, 2012.
This award is open to all writers who have not had a novel published commercially. Entrants are required to submit the first
3,000 words of their crime-themed novel, plus a 500/1,000 word synopsis. The short-listed entries are not only circulated to all the editors and agents who are members of our Association, but also to an increasing number who contact us asking to see the list. Since its inauguration, over two dozen winners and short-listed authors have obtained publishing contracts. It's a great opportunity for would-be crime writers to jump the slush pile and get their work seen by leading editors and agents.
Michael Wolf, GigaOm’s VP research, has launched his
own digital imprint, BSTSLLR. The publisher aims to publish established authors and promising new authors in eBook format across various
platforms. Authors interested in working with the new
publisher should make contact by email in the first
instance. For more information, click
here
Producer shares
Best in Canada short film award distinction between his two films
The Canadian Short Screenplay Competition’s
"Rusted Pyre" written by Daniel Audet and directed by Laurence Cohen and
"Minus Lara" (a short film produced for Bravo!FACT) written by Canadian Film Centre student Surita Parmar and directed by Rob King, were co-awarded one of the 2011 Reel Rave International Film Festival’s top honours and distinctions: “Best in Canada”.
The short films played to enthusiastic crowds during the weekend long film festival, which includes the screening of six feature films in addition to the Short Film Festival. There were three awards handed out for the event and festival Director and Curator Griffith Aaron Baker announced on behalf of the Reel Rave Committee and the Mann Art Gallery that both Canadian Short Screenplay Competition short films tied for the “Best in Canada” award.
"Rusted Pyre" was also recently selected by the Young Cuts Film Festival as one of the top 100 films of 2011. The short films’ Producer, David Cormican offered his thanks upon learning of the co-win honour as part of Reel Rave,
"This is amazing and I give thanks for the success of these two films, which were made by an incredibly talented bunch of professionals whom, without them, these films would not have been possible. These two films in conjunction with this amazing award, is a great indication of the depth of incredible talent in the film industry in Regina, Saskatchewan (where these shorts were both
filmed)".
About The Canadian Short Screenplay Competition (CSSC)
The Canadian Short Screenplay Competition, administered by Year of the Skunk Productions, and established in 2008, is the premiere script contest for short film screenplays. CSSC is the single-most competitive, prestigious, short screenplay festival in Canada, winner of the 2010 Canadian Weblog Award for Literature and Writing, a champion for screenwriters everywhere and a launching pad for writers’ professional careers.
New
speculative fiction magazine
The
Darkleian Times is a new quarterly ezine
publishing tales of speculative fiction, science fiction,
fantasy and horror that blur the boundaries of what is and
what isn’t. Stories should be between 2,000 and 5,000
words, and unpublished. For more information, click
here
Looking to start the New Year the “write” way? Want to spend
one or two weeks in a tropical paradise, lost in words and far away from worries? If so, you may be interested in participating in a writer’s workshop being planned for January 2012 in the small beach town of La
Manzanilla, Jalisco – an artists and writers haven!
This writer’s workshop will be facilitated by author-columnist-poet Dr. Sonna who lived and taught writing in Taos for 11 years, has authored a dozen books, and currently resides in San Miguel de
Allende, Mexico. You’ll be guided on how to free your muse, develop your voice, create compelling characters, build a plot and create dramatic tension and maybe even get the inspiration and tools to complete that manuscript you are working on.
Attend one or two sessions (Session 1: January
9–13, 2012; Session 2: January 16–20, 2012). The workshop will be lead in English, but for those wanting to double up on this adventure and also dive into some Spanish classes while in La
Manzanilla, La Catalina School
(www.lacatalinaschool.com) offers courses for beginners to advanced-level students.
Michael Wolf, GigaOm’s VP research, has launched his
own digital imprint, BSTSLLR. The publisher aims to publish established authors and promising new authors in eBook format across various
platforms. Authors interested in working with the new
publisher should make contact by email in the first
instance. For more information, click
here
To advertise
on this newsletter for as little as $30 / £20 click
here
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Writers can reach
multitudes
