Monday, June 15, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
GOOGLE SETTLEMENT INFO
Dear Sisters in Crime:
*As you may know, in 2004 Google undertook the task of scanning (digitizing) the contents of several cooperating libraries and, in some cases, displaying snippets of the books, including books still in print or protected by copyright law, on the Google website. Google did not ask permission from rightsholders to do this. In response, several authors and publishers sued Google, claiming copyright infringement. After several years of negotiations, the parties agreed to settle the lawsuit out of court. As part of the settlement, Google agreed to pay a minimum of $45 million to compensate rightsholders whose works were scanned without their permission as of May 5, 2009. The settlement created a new non-profit organization called the Book Rights Registry, which will maintain a database of rightsholders and collect and distribute Google revenue to the appropriate rightsholders.
What does this mean for you? If you own a copyright interest in a book or short story or illustration published on or before January 5, 2009 that was reproduced or displayed by Google, then you are entitled to a claim under the settlement, and you can do any or all of the following: You may claim (that is, identify yourself as the rightsholder to) your materials. You may claim a payment for any materials that Google digitized on or before May 5th, 2009. This payment is estimated to be in the range of $60 per book. You may request that your materials be removed from the Google database or that your materials not be scanned/digitized. You may include or exclude your materials from various display uses as defined by the settlement. By claiming your materials and participating in the settlement, you are making yourself eligible to receive benefits from the settlement. However, you relinquish your right to sue Google or any participating library for digitizing and displaying your materials without your permission. Please note that if you do nothing, you will be bound by the terms of the settlement.
I don’t want to be part of the settlement. What do I do? If you opt out of the settlement, you will not receive any of the settlement’s benefits, but you retain the right to pursue action yourself against Google if you choose. To do so, visit http://www.googlebooksettlement.com, and follow the instructions to opt out. The deadline to opt out of the settlement is May 5, 2009.
What are the benefits of the settlement? If you remain in the settlement, you may be entitled to additional revenues from Google’s use of your material. You can determine how and to what extent Google can store/reproduce your work. And, you may be due a cash payment (the aforementioned $60) for the use of your work without your permission.
Is there any easy way to tell if I’m due a cash payment? Yes. See What do I do next? below. When you claim your materials, the settlement website will tell you whether or not a book has been scanned or is scheduled to be scanned.
Additional revenues! Tell me more. When you become part of the settlement, you are authorizing Google to continue to digitize or scan material, sell subscriptions to their electronic books database to institutions (libraries), sell online access to individual books, sell ad space on web pages featuring books, and display parts of a book (up to 20%) in a preview format (similar to Amazons search-inside-the-Book feature). Google will pay 63% of the money generated by these uses to the Book Rights Registry, who, after retaining an administrative fee (thought to be between 10-20%), will disburse the money to the appropriate rightsholders.
How much money are we looking at here? Small sums will be accrued from printing fees and from advertisements. Full online access to a book will generate between $1.99 and $20.99 (median $5.99), a price that the author/publisher can change later. Institutional licensing has the most significant economic potential. Google plans to provide unlimited access to their database to colleges and universities for a flat fee based on the number of students and faculty. This flat fee will be distributed to rightsholders in two ways: first, a straight $200 inclusion fee for any book included in the database, and potentially an additional prorated fee depending on how much the material is accessed as a whole of the entire database. This money will be further broken down as follows depending on whether or not the book is in print:
If the book is out of print and the rights have reverted to the author, the author receives 100% of the income, minus the Registry’s fee.
If the book is out of print but the rights have NOT reverted to the author, the income is split 50-50 between the author and the publisher.
If the book is out of print but is an older title (published before 1987), the income is split 65-35 between the author and publisher (author’s favor).
If the book is in print, the split depends on the terms for electronic and display rights in the contract between author and publisher.
What do I do next? Visit http://www.googlebooksettlement.com to begin the process of claiming your materials or to opt out of the settlement. You will create an account by registering a username and password. After that, the claim procedure is straightforward and generally only requires that you provide a title and author for the work in question. Once you have created an account, you will use it to manage the ways Google can use your materials.
What if I can’t go online? You may opt out of the settlement by sending written notice by First-Class Mail, postage prepaid, postmarked on or before May 5, 2009 to the Settlement Administrator, at: Google Book Search Settlement Administrator c/o Rust Consulting PO Box 9364 Minneapolis, MN 55440-9364
Alternatively, you may request that a paper claim form be sent to you by calling 1.888.356.0248.
Are there any deadlines I should know about?
The deadline to opt out of the settlement is May 5, 2009. The deadline to claim a cash payment for the digitization of your material is January 5, 2010. The deadline to have your material removed from the Google database is April 5, 2011.
How can I learn more? Visit any of the following resources for more information, or if your question isn’t covered here.
Google Books Settlement FAQ
Author’s Guild Vs. Google Settlement Resources Page
Google,AAP, Authors Guild: Joint Public FAQ
Marcia Talley
Vice president, Sisters in Crime
*This information comes from the Association of Artists' Representatives.
*As you may know, in 2004 Google undertook the task of scanning (digitizing) the contents of several cooperating libraries and, in some cases, displaying snippets of the books, including books still in print or protected by copyright law, on the Google website. Google did not ask permission from rightsholders to do this. In response, several authors and publishers sued Google, claiming copyright infringement. After several years of negotiations, the parties agreed to settle the lawsuit out of court. As part of the settlement, Google agreed to pay a minimum of $45 million to compensate rightsholders whose works were scanned without their permission as of May 5, 2009. The settlement created a new non-profit organization called the Book Rights Registry, which will maintain a database of rightsholders and collect and distribute Google revenue to the appropriate rightsholders.
What does this mean for you? If you own a copyright interest in a book or short story or illustration published on or before January 5, 2009 that was reproduced or displayed by Google, then you are entitled to a claim under the settlement, and you can do any or all of the following: You may claim (that is, identify yourself as the rightsholder to) your materials. You may claim a payment for any materials that Google digitized on or before May 5th, 2009. This payment is estimated to be in the range of $60 per book. You may request that your materials be removed from the Google database or that your materials not be scanned/digitized. You may include or exclude your materials from various display uses as defined by the settlement. By claiming your materials and participating in the settlement, you are making yourself eligible to receive benefits from the settlement. However, you relinquish your right to sue Google or any participating library for digitizing and displaying your materials without your permission. Please note that if you do nothing, you will be bound by the terms of the settlement.
I don’t want to be part of the settlement. What do I do? If you opt out of the settlement, you will not receive any of the settlement’s benefits, but you retain the right to pursue action yourself against Google if you choose. To do so, visit http://www.googlebooksettlement.com, and follow the instructions to opt out. The deadline to opt out of the settlement is May 5, 2009.
What are the benefits of the settlement? If you remain in the settlement, you may be entitled to additional revenues from Google’s use of your material. You can determine how and to what extent Google can store/reproduce your work. And, you may be due a cash payment (the aforementioned $60) for the use of your work without your permission.
Is there any easy way to tell if I’m due a cash payment? Yes. See What do I do next? below. When you claim your materials, the settlement website will tell you whether or not a book has been scanned or is scheduled to be scanned.
Additional revenues! Tell me more. When you become part of the settlement, you are authorizing Google to continue to digitize or scan material, sell subscriptions to their electronic books database to institutions (libraries), sell online access to individual books, sell ad space on web pages featuring books, and display parts of a book (up to 20%) in a preview format (similar to Amazons search-inside-the-Book feature). Google will pay 63% of the money generated by these uses to the Book Rights Registry, who, after retaining an administrative fee (thought to be between 10-20%), will disburse the money to the appropriate rightsholders.
How much money are we looking at here? Small sums will be accrued from printing fees and from advertisements. Full online access to a book will generate between $1.99 and $20.99 (median $5.99), a price that the author/publisher can change later. Institutional licensing has the most significant economic potential. Google plans to provide unlimited access to their database to colleges and universities for a flat fee based on the number of students and faculty. This flat fee will be distributed to rightsholders in two ways: first, a straight $200 inclusion fee for any book included in the database, and potentially an additional prorated fee depending on how much the material is accessed as a whole of the entire database. This money will be further broken down as follows depending on whether or not the book is in print:
If the book is out of print and the rights have reverted to the author, the author receives 100% of the income, minus the Registry’s fee.
If the book is out of print but the rights have NOT reverted to the author, the income is split 50-50 between the author and the publisher.
If the book is out of print but is an older title (published before 1987), the income is split 65-35 between the author and publisher (author’s favor).
If the book is in print, the split depends on the terms for electronic and display rights in the contract between author and publisher.
What do I do next? Visit http://www.googlebooksettlement.com to begin the process of claiming your materials or to opt out of the settlement. You will create an account by registering a username and password. After that, the claim procedure is straightforward and generally only requires that you provide a title and author for the work in question. Once you have created an account, you will use it to manage the ways Google can use your materials.
What if I can’t go online? You may opt out of the settlement by sending written notice by First-Class Mail, postage prepaid, postmarked on or before May 5, 2009 to the Settlement Administrator, at: Google Book Search Settlement Administrator c/o Rust Consulting PO Box 9364 Minneapolis, MN 55440-9364
Alternatively, you may request that a paper claim form be sent to you by calling 1.888.356.0248.
Are there any deadlines I should know about?
The deadline to opt out of the settlement is May 5, 2009. The deadline to claim a cash payment for the digitization of your material is January 5, 2010. The deadline to have your material removed from the Google database is April 5, 2011.
How can I learn more? Visit any of the following resources for more information, or if your question isn’t covered here.
Google Books Settlement FAQ
Author’s Guild Vs. Google Settlement Resources Page
Google,AAP, Authors Guild: Joint Public FAQ
Marcia Talley
Vice president, Sisters in Crime
*This information comes from the Association of Artists' Representatives.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
SINC INTO GREAT WRITING
Sisters in Crime will be sponsoring a writing workshop on October 14, 2009 at the Hyatt Regency in Indianapolis, IN, the day before the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention begins. The SinC into Great Writing program features seminars by Donald Maass, Hallie Ephron, and Chris Roerden, and dinner with keynote speaker Nancy Pickard. The program will run from 1:30 to 9 pm.
Cost is $50 for SinC members, $150 for nonmembers.
SinC into Great Writing!: The Program
1:30 to 5:30 pm: Writing the Breakout Novel with Donald Maass
This intensive, hands-on writing workshop introduces powerful techniques for taking your fiction to the next level. (For advanced fiction writers.) Participants must bring the manuscript of a completed novel, or novel-in-progress. Based on the book "Writing the Breakout Novel" by New York literary agent Donald Maass.
5:45 to 7:00 pm: Dinner with Nancy Pickard
Dinner with featured keynote speaker Nancy Pickard: "My First Editor Got Fired and Other Tales of Survival in the Mystery Business"
7:15 to 9:00 pm (choose one workshop)
Twisting a Mystery Plot: The Secret's in the Secrets with Hallie Ephron
Plot is probably *the* critical element in a mystery novel. It has to be surprising, believable, and compelling. In this workshop we will talk about how to shape your novel so it delivers--grabbing the reader at the start and ending with satisfying wallop as puzzle pieces fall into place, revealing secrets along the way to keep the reader turning those pages.
Don't Sabotage Your Submission with Chris Roerden
Find out how manuscripts are really evaluated, why 95% are rejected almost immediately, and ways you can beat the odds and make it through the approval process toward becoming published.
Presenter bios:
New York literary agent Donald Maass is the author of "Writing the Breakout Novel," "Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook," and "The Fire in Fiction: Passion, Purpose and Techniques to Make Your Novel Great."
www.maassagency.com
Nancy Pickard, 4-time Edgar Nominee and winner of Agatha, Anthony, Shamus, and Macavity awards, is the author of 17 novels and dozens of short stories. She is a founding member and former national president of Sisters In Crime.
www.NancyPickardmysteries.com
Hallie Ephron is an author, writing teacher, and award-winning "Boston Globe" book reviewer. Her latest psychological suspense novel, "Never Tell a Lie," received a starred review in PW and was an Indie NEXT pick for 1/09. She is also the author of Edgar-nominated "Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel: How to Knock 'Em Dead with Style."
www.HallieEphron.com
Chris Roerden is the Agatha-winning, Macavity- and Anthony-nominated author of "Don't Murder Your Mystery" and its all-genre version, "Don't Sabotage Your Submission." She edits authors published by St. Martin's, Berkley Prime Crime, Midnight Ink, and more. www.marketsavvybookediting.com
Register: www.sistersincrime.org/conference.
For questions: contact Beth Wasson. sistersincrime@juno.com.
Deadline: September 22, 2009. NO REFUNDS. Registration will be capped at 200.
Cost: $50 for SinC members, $150 for nonmembers. Dinner and coffee break included. Discounted conference hotel rates are offered through the Bouchercon website. http://www.bouchercon2009.com/
Cost is $50 for SinC members, $150 for nonmembers.
SinC into Great Writing!: The Program
1:30 to 5:30 pm: Writing the Breakout Novel with Donald Maass
This intensive, hands-on writing workshop introduces powerful techniques for taking your fiction to the next level. (For advanced fiction writers.) Participants must bring the manuscript of a completed novel, or novel-in-progress. Based on the book "Writing the Breakout Novel" by New York literary agent Donald Maass.
5:45 to 7:00 pm: Dinner with Nancy Pickard
Dinner with featured keynote speaker Nancy Pickard: "My First Editor Got Fired and Other Tales of Survival in the Mystery Business"
7:15 to 9:00 pm (choose one workshop)
Twisting a Mystery Plot: The Secret's in the Secrets with Hallie Ephron
Plot is probably *the* critical element in a mystery novel. It has to be surprising, believable, and compelling. In this workshop we will talk about how to shape your novel so it delivers--grabbing the reader at the start and ending with satisfying wallop as puzzle pieces fall into place, revealing secrets along the way to keep the reader turning those pages.
Don't Sabotage Your Submission with Chris Roerden
Find out how manuscripts are really evaluated, why 95% are rejected almost immediately, and ways you can beat the odds and make it through the approval process toward becoming published.
Presenter bios:
New York literary agent Donald Maass is the author of "Writing the Breakout Novel," "Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook," and "The Fire in Fiction: Passion, Purpose and Techniques to Make Your Novel Great."
www.maassagency.com
Nancy Pickard, 4-time Edgar Nominee and winner of Agatha, Anthony, Shamus, and Macavity awards, is the author of 17 novels and dozens of short stories. She is a founding member and former national president of Sisters In Crime.
www.NancyPickardmysteries.com
Hallie Ephron is an author, writing teacher, and award-winning "Boston Globe" book reviewer. Her latest psychological suspense novel, "Never Tell a Lie," received a starred review in PW and was an Indie NEXT pick for 1/09. She is also the author of Edgar-nominated "Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel: How to Knock 'Em Dead with Style."
www.HallieEphron.com
Chris Roerden is the Agatha-winning, Macavity- and Anthony-nominated author of "Don't Murder Your Mystery" and its all-genre version, "Don't Sabotage Your Submission." She edits authors published by St. Martin's, Berkley Prime Crime, Midnight Ink, and more. www.marketsavvybookediting.com
Register: www.sistersincrime.org/conference.
For questions: contact Beth Wasson. sistersincrime@juno.com.
Deadline: September 22, 2009. NO REFUNDS. Registration will be capped at 200.
Cost: $50 for SinC members, $150 for nonmembers. Dinner and coffee break included. Discounted conference hotel rates are offered through the Bouchercon website. http://www.bouchercon2009.com/
Sunday, January 4, 2009
ADVANCING OUR MISSION
By SinC President Judy Clemens
"The mission of Sisters in Crime is to promote the professional development and advancement of women crime writers to achieve equality in the industry."
What an important mission we have. We join together as sisters and brothers in crime to advance this mission and see our beloved mystery genre blossom. We’re all here because we love reading mysteries, we love to celebrate them, and we want to do our part to make sure the crime writing community continues to grow and welcome women authors as equal partners in the field.
We are fortunate to have a dedicated and passionate board of directors, a fantastic executive secretary, enthusiastic members, and active and hard-working chapters all across the country. Our base is strong and continues to get stronger.
My first official act as president of SinC was to thank Roberta Isleib for her leadership during the past year. I meant every word wholeheartedly – Roberta was a source of strength and vision, and led the organization well during a year of many decisions and activities. We also said a warm good-bye and thank you to Donna Andrews, who served on the board for five years as chapter liaison, and to Margaret Coel, who served as a member-at-large during the past year.
We welcome new board members Julianne Balmain (aka Nadia Gordon) as our Monitoring Project Coordinator, Cathy Pickens as the head of public relations, Robin Burcell as the chapter liaison, and Charlaine Harris as a member-at-large. All four dove right into our meetings this fall with enthusiasm and a willingness to go above and beyond their roles.
I go into this year as president with much energy and excitement. As you read in our cover article, the board had a successful strategic planning session to guide us through the next three years. As we looked at our organization, we were able to refocus our energies and look ahead to many interesting projects – some a continuation and restructuring of projects we’ve been doing for years, and some brand new. We have much to work on, much to continue, and much to look forward to!
During the next year we have many exciting things in store – a revamping of our web site, a day of workshops before the Indianapolis Bouchercon, a revitalized newsletter, an enlarged mission for our Monitoring Project, and many other things that will become clear as the year goes on.
If you would like to become more involved with SinC’s mission, we welcome volunteers in so many areas of our organization! If you have a passion for something, please let us know. We’d love to have any time you could offer to help us further this business we love.
So let’s do what our tagline suggests – SinC into a good mystery! And while we’re at it, let’s go ahead and SinC into a fantastic mystery organization, as well!
"The mission of Sisters in Crime is to promote the professional development and advancement of women crime writers to achieve equality in the industry."
What an important mission we have. We join together as sisters and brothers in crime to advance this mission and see our beloved mystery genre blossom. We’re all here because we love reading mysteries, we love to celebrate them, and we want to do our part to make sure the crime writing community continues to grow and welcome women authors as equal partners in the field.
We are fortunate to have a dedicated and passionate board of directors, a fantastic executive secretary, enthusiastic members, and active and hard-working chapters all across the country. Our base is strong and continues to get stronger.
My first official act as president of SinC was to thank Roberta Isleib for her leadership during the past year. I meant every word wholeheartedly – Roberta was a source of strength and vision, and led the organization well during a year of many decisions and activities. We also said a warm good-bye and thank you to Donna Andrews, who served on the board for five years as chapter liaison, and to Margaret Coel, who served as a member-at-large during the past year.
We welcome new board members Julianne Balmain (aka Nadia Gordon) as our Monitoring Project Coordinator, Cathy Pickens as the head of public relations, Robin Burcell as the chapter liaison, and Charlaine Harris as a member-at-large. All four dove right into our meetings this fall with enthusiasm and a willingness to go above and beyond their roles.
I go into this year as president with much energy and excitement. As you read in our cover article, the board had a successful strategic planning session to guide us through the next three years. As we looked at our organization, we were able to refocus our energies and look ahead to many interesting projects – some a continuation and restructuring of projects we’ve been doing for years, and some brand new. We have much to work on, much to continue, and much to look forward to!
During the next year we have many exciting things in store – a revamping of our web site, a day of workshops before the Indianapolis Bouchercon, a revitalized newsletter, an enlarged mission for our Monitoring Project, and many other things that will become clear as the year goes on.
If you would like to become more involved with SinC’s mission, we welcome volunteers in so many areas of our organization! If you have a passion for something, please let us know. We’d love to have any time you could offer to help us further this business we love.
So let’s do what our tagline suggests – SinC into a good mystery! And while we’re at it, let’s go ahead and SinC into a fantastic mystery organization, as well!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
A Holiday Wish....
I miss Phyllis Whitney. I know many of you do too. After all, her books were the first grown up suspense books most of us read and we continued to read them for many years. In fact, many generations have enjoyed reading her wonderful books.
I must admit that all of us at Mystery Lovers Bookshop miss her for another reason. She was a good friend and great customer for many of her 104 years. We loved when her beautiful script appeared on a thick, fine envelope in the day's mail containing a new order for a box of books. This woman was a world traveler, prodigious writer and a fabulous reader of all kinds of books...cozy and harder boiled mysteries, romantic suspense, celebrity biography, espionage, travel and writing books. All the while she was reading widely, she worked on writing her biography which we all are anxious to read.
Bon Voyage, dear Phyllis.
Now, with my bookseller hat on, I have to say I miss her practical, financial support greatly. An author who buys 200 books from an independent bookseller is all too rare these days. I know it is easy to order online when you work at your computer or walk into a big B in the neighborhood. Maybe your publicist thinks the Amazon link is the only way to go. Think about it, every stroke and step is at the expense of the independent bookseller.
Last year when a big California indy was closing, I read a news story with mournful words from neighboring authors who were so sad. When I looked up their websites, only 2 had a link to the struggling indy now forced to close.
Mystery Lovers Bookshop is so thankful for the dozen or more writers who buy books here, who link to our website to channel sales, who arrange virtual signings and just shop for Holiday and Birthday gifts, personal stock of their titles, writing books, travel books and research titles for the book underway. Bless you as you all are a reason we are here after 18 years.
What about you? If writers would buy all the books they need in the next three months from an indy, it could make all the difference. Why not become the resident author of the mystery book store near you? Order your books for your stock there and invite them to sell at your local events. They will certainly keep large stock of all you books signed for anyone who requests one from you. If they are nearby, you can inscribe any book too. Mention this special service on your website, link to the mystery bookstores and above all else, do all your shopping there. Remember, special orders don't upset us.
Happy Holidays and thank you to all.
Richard Goldman & Mary Alice Gorman
Mystery Lovers Bookshop
514 Allegheny River Boulevard
Oakmont, PA 15139
412/828-4877
I miss Phyllis Whitney. I know many of you do too. After all, her books were the first grown up suspense books most of us read and we continued to read them for many years. In fact, many generations have enjoyed reading her wonderful books.
I must admit that all of us at Mystery Lovers Bookshop miss her for another reason. She was a good friend and great customer for many of her 104 years. We loved when her beautiful script appeared on a thick, fine envelope in the day's mail containing a new order for a box of books. This woman was a world traveler, prodigious writer and a fabulous reader of all kinds of books...cozy and harder boiled mysteries, romantic suspense, celebrity biography, espionage, travel and writing books. All the while she was reading widely, she worked on writing her biography which we all are anxious to read.
Bon Voyage, dear Phyllis.
Now, with my bookseller hat on, I have to say I miss her practical, financial support greatly. An author who buys 200 books from an independent bookseller is all too rare these days. I know it is easy to order online when you work at your computer or walk into a big B in the neighborhood. Maybe your publicist thinks the Amazon link is the only way to go. Think about it, every stroke and step is at the expense of the independent bookseller.
Last year when a big California indy was closing, I read a news story with mournful words from neighboring authors who were so sad. When I looked up their websites, only 2 had a link to the struggling indy now forced to close.
Mystery Lovers Bookshop is so thankful for the dozen or more writers who buy books here, who link to our website to channel sales, who arrange virtual signings and just shop for Holiday and Birthday gifts, personal stock of their titles, writing books, travel books and research titles for the book underway. Bless you as you all are a reason we are here after 18 years.
What about you? If writers would buy all the books they need in the next three months from an indy, it could make all the difference. Why not become the resident author of the mystery book store near you? Order your books for your stock there and invite them to sell at your local events. They will certainly keep large stock of all you books signed for anyone who requests one from you. If they are nearby, you can inscribe any book too. Mention this special service on your website, link to the mystery bookstores and above all else, do all your shopping there. Remember, special orders don't upset us.
Happy Holidays and thank you to all.
Richard Goldman & Mary Alice Gorman
Mystery Lovers Bookshop
514 Allegheny River Boulevard
Oakmont, PA 15139
412/828-4877
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Turning Over The Great Seal
Just about a year ago, far, far away in Anchorage, Alaska (and well before anyone had heard much about Sarah Palin), I accepted the great seal of office and stepped into the role of president of Sisters in Crime. The story goes that there was a real seal which got lost in transit between one outgoing and one incoming president some years ago. And so the seal was replaced with a stuffed animal who now makes the rounds. Each outgoing president adds a keychain to the seal’s collar to represent her state. I packed the seal early so I wouldn’t forget to take her. This picture captures all the bittersweetness of the moment! Doesn’t she look a little sad? I’m a little sad too, but also excited to get back to writing hard. And pleased to be turning the reins over to Judy Clemens and a wonderful board of directors.
The publishing world is in a grand state of flux because of the economy, advances in technology, and the sheer numbers of books being written and marketed. It’s good to have knowledgeable friends on this journey and Sisters in Crime has definitely served that purpose for me. We’ll see you in Baltimore or online!
Roberta Isleib
President
Sisters In Crime
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Where'd we go?
Nowhere … yet, but SinC is on the move.
We’re about to retool the blog site to make it bigger, better, and more informative.
Check back in October.
We’re about to retool the blog site to make it bigger, better, and more informative.
Check back in October.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
The benefits of the SinC list
by Donna Andrews
I love it when something works exactly the way it’s supposed to work. One of the main reasons Sisters in Crime established our national listserv was to let our members network and exchange useful information—information that can help us in our reading, our writing, our careers, and our lives. And that was working beautifully this past week.
For me, it all started when I got an email—I’ll quote it here:
Hello,
My sister is one of your biggest fans and she has terminal breast cancer and her birthday is coming up and I was wondering if I could get her an autographed copies of one of your books. She would enjoy it so much.Thank you so much.
I’m leaving out the name of the sender and the name and address of the sister, although both were included. After all, if there really is a sister with terminal breast cancer, I don’t want to embarrass her here. But my first instinct was that this might not be legit. The fact that she didn’t start out with either "Hi, Donna!" or "Dear Ms. Andrews:" wasn’t all that suspicious—some readers who write me just dive right into the message. But that unanchored "Hello" seemed a little odd. And maybe she knows her sister is a fan but does not, herself, know the names of any of my books—though if I were asking for a freebie for a family member, I think I’d make a little effort to find out which books she already had and name one of them in my message. I mean, you’re asking for a freebie—make a little effort to butter me up, will you?
In short, it just felt a little off. So I kept the email in my in-basket to think about before responding, and sure enough, before too long, I learned on one of my social lists that at least two other writers, Taffy Cannon and Jan Burke, had received the same email.
Dang. Do they think none of us ever talk to each other?
Okay, there’s still the possibility that it’s not a scam . . . maybe the breast cancer patient is a big mystery fan and the sister, who isn’t, is writing everyone whose books she sees on the patient’s shelve. But in that case, she could be honest, and admit that she’s writing ALL the patient’s favorite authors.
A day or two after Jan and Taffy confirmed that I was not the patient’s only favorite writer, I checked the Sisters in Crime list and found that April Henry had received the same letter--apparently had the same gut feeling that something was not right--and was savvy enough to post to the Sisters in Crime list asking if anyone else had received it.
And wow--what a lot of us had received it! I thought the ensuing discussion was a very useful one. Several people pointed out the things that had made them suspect it might be a scam. A couple of folks confessed that they had fallen for the email and sent books. The funniest post was from Krista Davis, who was a little skeptical about how she could possibly be anyone’s favorite writer when her first book, The Diva Runs Out of Thyme, will not be out from Berkley until October 7, 2008. Definitely something fishy there.
What gladdens my heart is that we had writers who prefer not to donate a book if they think there’s a chance the request is a scam, and others prefer to send a book if there’s even the slightest chance the request is real. And yet we all exchanged views civilly, and I suspect most of us went away more knowledgeable than before.
Yay, us!
And incidentally, kudos to Krista for accomplishing so gracefully the best kind of BSP in the world—contributing useful information conveyed in an entertaining matter about a topic that was actually under discussion!
Donna Andrews is the Sisters In Crime Chapter Liaison
I love it when something works exactly the way it’s supposed to work. One of the main reasons Sisters in Crime established our national listserv was to let our members network and exchange useful information—information that can help us in our reading, our writing, our careers, and our lives. And that was working beautifully this past week.
For me, it all started when I got an email—I’ll quote it here:
Hello,
My sister is one of your biggest fans and she has terminal breast cancer and her birthday is coming up and I was wondering if I could get her an autographed copies of one of your books. She would enjoy it so much.Thank you so much.
I’m leaving out the name of the sender and the name and address of the sister, although both were included. After all, if there really is a sister with terminal breast cancer, I don’t want to embarrass her here. But my first instinct was that this might not be legit. The fact that she didn’t start out with either "Hi, Donna!" or "Dear Ms. Andrews:" wasn’t all that suspicious—some readers who write me just dive right into the message. But that unanchored "Hello" seemed a little odd. And maybe she knows her sister is a fan but does not, herself, know the names of any of my books—though if I were asking for a freebie for a family member, I think I’d make a little effort to find out which books she already had and name one of them in my message. I mean, you’re asking for a freebie—make a little effort to butter me up, will you?
In short, it just felt a little off. So I kept the email in my in-basket to think about before responding, and sure enough, before too long, I learned on one of my social lists that at least two other writers, Taffy Cannon and Jan Burke, had received the same email.
Dang. Do they think none of us ever talk to each other?
Okay, there’s still the possibility that it’s not a scam . . . maybe the breast cancer patient is a big mystery fan and the sister, who isn’t, is writing everyone whose books she sees on the patient’s shelve. But in that case, she could be honest, and admit that she’s writing ALL the patient’s favorite authors.
A day or two after Jan and Taffy confirmed that I was not the patient’s only favorite writer, I checked the Sisters in Crime list and found that April Henry had received the same letter--apparently had the same gut feeling that something was not right--and was savvy enough to post to the Sisters in Crime list asking if anyone else had received it.
And wow--what a lot of us had received it! I thought the ensuing discussion was a very useful one. Several people pointed out the things that had made them suspect it might be a scam. A couple of folks confessed that they had fallen for the email and sent books. The funniest post was from Krista Davis, who was a little skeptical about how she could possibly be anyone’s favorite writer when her first book, The Diva Runs Out of Thyme, will not be out from Berkley until October 7, 2008. Definitely something fishy there.
What gladdens my heart is that we had writers who prefer not to donate a book if they think there’s a chance the request is a scam, and others prefer to send a book if there’s even the slightest chance the request is real. And yet we all exchanged views civilly, and I suspect most of us went away more knowledgeable than before.
Yay, us!
And incidentally, kudos to Krista for accomplishing so gracefully the best kind of BSP in the world—contributing useful information conveyed in an entertaining matter about a topic that was actually under discussion!
Donna Andrews is the Sisters In Crime Chapter Liaison
Monday, August 25, 2008
A Hand To Hold Onto
by Judy Clemens
“Shakespeare’s plays are bad enough,” Tolstoy told Chekhov, “but yours are even worse.”
A voice of constructive criticism from one writer to another? Probably not. Perhaps there really was a rivalry there, and Tolstoy was letting off some steam. But what if… What if Tolstoy really was trying to help? He certainly does seem to be going about it in the wrong way.
As a writer, I have many people approach me, wanting help for the book they’re writing. Sometimes they’re just starting, and want to know how you actually do it. Some are in the middle and need encouragement to get to the end. Some have actually finished a book and want information about the next step. The most frustrating of these folks, of course, are those who say they have this fantastic idea, they’ve been working on it for twenty years, their friends love what they’ve done, and they know it’s going to be the Next Great Thing. What I want to tell them is that if they want it to have any chance of that, they really need to get their butt in a chair and get it done. But of course I don’t. I give them the more PC, and more helpful, speech about how perseverance is what gets the job accomplished.
But what about those people who really are trying, and really want to get better? They deserve the help and encouragement I received when I was in their shoes. After all, a key way to learn is to ask questions of those who know the answers -- or at least can say where to go to find someone else who knows!
I can’t, like any author, read every manuscript of every person who asks me. It would be nice if I could, but then I’d never get my own writing done, and I can’t say my publisher would be very happy about that. (Neither would I!) But every once in a while I have a friend or student who needs another eye, and I’m happy to do the honors, because it really is an honor to have someone entrust their “baby” to you!
So how does one go about critiquing a manuscript in a way that’s helpful? Here are a few suggestions drawn from my experience as a critic and as one being critiqued:
Remember that this manuscript is of huge importance to the writer. She loves it and has invested a lot of time in it. That in itself is a gigantic accomplishment and one to be praised.
Try to find positive things to say about the manuscript as you go along. Continued criticism without a few pats on the back can get depressing, or even maddening.
BUT…don’t be just a cheerleader. It will not help the writer if all you do is say their work is great. They need you to tell them when things don’t work, and are counting on you to do so.
Yes, typos are important. Nobody wants those, and it can kill a manuscript submission. But even more important are issues of character, plot, and theme. Are the characters real and consistent? Does the plot conclude in a satisfactory manner, without loose ends? Is the theme worked through the entire book?
When you’re done critiquing the manuscript, ask the author what she has questions about. Perhaps she’s worried that a certain aspect of the storyline doesn’t make sense, or that one of the characters is too wimpy, ugly, or strong? Make sure you give the author the opportunity to find out the answers to her burning questions.
Try to be timely. You have made the commitment to help the author. Sure, you have your own work, but it’s only respectful to give the author something within a reasonable time frame. After all, we each have our own experience of waiting by the mailbox for months!
Finally, remember that critiquing someone’s manuscript is a privilege, as well as an investment in the industry. Choose your commitments wisely, and honor them. It is through these kinds of interactions that we can all make our business better. And give us all more books to enjoy.
Do you have a critiquing tip to share? Please leave your ideas in the Comments section. The more aspects we think about, the better critics we can all become.
Judy Clemens
SinC Vice President
Author of the Stella Crown mystery series
“Shakespeare’s plays are bad enough,” Tolstoy told Chekhov, “but yours are even worse.”
A voice of constructive criticism from one writer to another? Probably not. Perhaps there really was a rivalry there, and Tolstoy was letting off some steam. But what if… What if Tolstoy really was trying to help? He certainly does seem to be going about it in the wrong way.
As a writer, I have many people approach me, wanting help for the book they’re writing. Sometimes they’re just starting, and want to know how you actually do it. Some are in the middle and need encouragement to get to the end. Some have actually finished a book and want information about the next step. The most frustrating of these folks, of course, are those who say they have this fantastic idea, they’ve been working on it for twenty years, their friends love what they’ve done, and they know it’s going to be the Next Great Thing. What I want to tell them is that if they want it to have any chance of that, they really need to get their butt in a chair and get it done. But of course I don’t. I give them the more PC, and more helpful, speech about how perseverance is what gets the job accomplished.
But what about those people who really are trying, and really want to get better? They deserve the help and encouragement I received when I was in their shoes. After all, a key way to learn is to ask questions of those who know the answers -- or at least can say where to go to find someone else who knows!
I can’t, like any author, read every manuscript of every person who asks me. It would be nice if I could, but then I’d never get my own writing done, and I can’t say my publisher would be very happy about that. (Neither would I!) But every once in a while I have a friend or student who needs another eye, and I’m happy to do the honors, because it really is an honor to have someone entrust their “baby” to you!
So how does one go about critiquing a manuscript in a way that’s helpful? Here are a few suggestions drawn from my experience as a critic and as one being critiqued:
Remember that this manuscript is of huge importance to the writer. She loves it and has invested a lot of time in it. That in itself is a gigantic accomplishment and one to be praised.
Try to find positive things to say about the manuscript as you go along. Continued criticism without a few pats on the back can get depressing, or even maddening.
BUT…don’t be just a cheerleader. It will not help the writer if all you do is say their work is great. They need you to tell them when things don’t work, and are counting on you to do so.
Yes, typos are important. Nobody wants those, and it can kill a manuscript submission. But even more important are issues of character, plot, and theme. Are the characters real and consistent? Does the plot conclude in a satisfactory manner, without loose ends? Is the theme worked through the entire book?
When you’re done critiquing the manuscript, ask the author what she has questions about. Perhaps she’s worried that a certain aspect of the storyline doesn’t make sense, or that one of the characters is too wimpy, ugly, or strong? Make sure you give the author the opportunity to find out the answers to her burning questions.
Try to be timely. You have made the commitment to help the author. Sure, you have your own work, but it’s only respectful to give the author something within a reasonable time frame. After all, we each have our own experience of waiting by the mailbox for months!
Finally, remember that critiquing someone’s manuscript is a privilege, as well as an investment in the industry. Choose your commitments wisely, and honor them. It is through these kinds of interactions that we can all make our business better. And give us all more books to enjoy.
Do you have a critiquing tip to share? Please leave your ideas in the Comments section. The more aspects we think about, the better critics we can all become.
Judy Clemens
SinC Vice President
Author of the Stella Crown mystery series
Monday, August 18, 2008
We Are Family…
Last week, I attended my niece’s wedding in Homer, Alaska—a very long way to travel, but a beautiful event. After the ceremony, I reminisced with one of my sisters-in-law about my wedding in 1992, waxing nostalgic about cooking the food for the reception, leaving the church in a grubby minivan with my new blended family, and the storm that came up and flattened the tent in the back yard after the party. Her strongest memory was the bride (me) dancing with my family at the reception. We’d hired a renegade DJ who wasn’t much interested in sticking with our play list. After a series of dreadful musical selections, he did manage to squeeze in my brother’s request from Sly and the Family Stone: “We are family, I have all my sisters with me!” Then my new husband literally pulled the plug to the DJ’s amplifier.That’s how I feel as my year serving as president of Sisters in Crime winds down—the family part, not pulling the plug. It’s been a lot of work, but a wonderful party. We have an amazing organization, founded over twenty years ago by a small group of brave women who weren’t satisfied with the status quo. I’ve seen that same spunky spirit wherever I’ve gone this year, from Anchorage to Denver to Washington to Boston to online. Sisters are everywhere, answering questions, volunteering for projects, pitching new ideas, mentoring the newcomers. I couldn’t be prouder of the work done by the board of directors and many other volunteers.
Back in 2001, before my first book was published, I’d never heard of Sisters in Crime. I contacted Hallie Ephron about doing some events together, as we both featured psychologists in our series. “You have to join Sisters in Crime!” she told me firmly. I’m so grateful that she insisted, because now you’re all family—and I mean that in only the nicest way!
If you’re coming to Bouchercon in Baltimore, don’t forget to sign up for the Sinc lunch on Thursday. Come celebrate as Judy Clemens is installed as our next president and fills us in on our exciting plans for the year.
Roberta Isleib
SinC President
http://www.robertaisleib.com
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