Windshift for Writers:

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November -Weather. We talk to strangers about it. We have opinions about it. If we care about little else, we care about what the weather will be like tomorrow. We have expectations. Here on Canada's west coast we have been having rain and windstorms and now frost and sunshine. In other parts of the country, freezing temperatures and snow have arrived. Perhaps I will take some advice from Chinese writer Chiang Yee, "To walk slowly over the snow looking for poetic inspiration." Tomorrow I will put my face into the wind or the rain or the frost searching them for a new poem. Wish me luck ….

Writing Tip: - Has your novel been rejected a few times and you are still not sure why? Think about some of the following: 1] Does it include too much background?; 2] Do you have too many minor characters?; 3] Do you show enough emotion/passion in your characterization?; 4] Is your dialogue realistic? Take another look at your novel with these pointers in mind. Your aim is to draw your reader through your story from the first line to the last page.

Markets

Daw Books is currently accepting submissions of science fiction/fantasy novels [80,000 words plus]. Response time is around three months. Guidelines: http://www.penguinputnam.com

Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine is looking for stories up to 25,000 words. Payment is from five to eight cents [US] a word. Submissions: Gordon Van Gelder, Fantasy & Science Fiction, P O Box 3447, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA; http://www.sfsite.com

Challenging Destiny is a Canadian quarterly science fiction and fantasy short story magazine. Stories should be between 2,000 and 10,000 words. Payment is one cent [Cdn] per word. Submissions: David M. Switzer, Challenging Destiny, 47 Bridgeport Rd., East Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2J 2J4; E-mail: csp@golden.net; Website: http://home.golden.net/~csp/cd/index.htm

Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, are seeking historical novels with Regency and Scottish settings and Native American or cowboy heroes in Western romances of between 90,000 and 100,000 words. Editor Lauren McKenna is also seeking contemporary and historical romances along with women's fiction for Downtown Press, Pocket Books' trade paperback programme. To submit your work, send a query letter, the first three chapters, and a s.a.e. and an IRC [International Reply Coupon available at your post office]. Submissions not following this procedure may not receive consideration.

The MonkeyHawk Playwrights' Competition is now accepting submissions for 10-minute, One Act and Full Length scripts. The top entry wins offer $1,000.00 in cash and prizes plus professional production during the Spring 2004 MonkeyHawk Playwrights' Festival in Hollywood. Details: http://www.monkeyhawk.com

North American Review seeks poetry and short fiction submissions. Pays $1.00 US a line [$20.00 minimum]. Guidelines: http://webdelsol.com/NorthAmReview/NAR

Pedestal Magazine seeks poems of any length and theme. Pays $50.00 [US] per poem. Guidelines: http://pedestalmagazine.com

Bitter Oleander Press has been publishing writers and poets since 1974. Contact: Editor, The Bitter Oleander Press, 4983 Tall Oaks Drive, Fayetteville, New York 13066 - 9776; Submission guidelines: http://www.bitteroleander.com

Nimrod an international journal of poetry and prose seeks submissions. Guidelines: http://www.utulsa.edu/nimrod/

Cue Time - Every month we include a couple of writing ideas to help you kick start your writing sessions.

1. Personify an object in your kitchen. Start a story or poem that that starts when you walk into the kitchen one morning and are confronted with a talking…

2. Window dressers may be hard to find these days but they leave us a rich tapestry of imaginings about the recent past. Imagine the window dresser's life with their dummies or what the window dresser observes of the passing parade of life as they dress a window. I'm sure your imagination will take you even further.

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Industry News:

SHARP [The Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing] with approximately 1,000 members in over 20 countries has planned their annual conferences well ahead so you can plan to attend. The 2004 conference is in Lyons, France, the 2005 in Halifax, Canada and the 2006 in The Hague, Holland.

Publishers and booksellers reports from North America and the UK note trends in the increased sales of literary fiction and crime novels.
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The answers offered in this column are the personal opinions of the staff at Windshift for Writers. They are in no way meant to take the place of the professional advice you may need to seek for your specific query.

Questions and Answers

Q. I've had my manuscript returned by publishers fifteen times now. I feel like giving up. At what point do I admit that I don't have enough talent to become a writer? - Stephanie G. -
A. Congratulations on having written a book. While talent is necessary to become a writer, it is also very important to have a determination to succeed. If you are prepared to persevere and to learn your craft, you will be successful. A publisher's decision is arrived at through a number of considerations. Keep sending your work to publisher's who publish books like yours.

Q. Do publishers read every manuscript they receive? - Greg S. -

A. What a great question. Yes, but often not all of it because it will be evident in the first few pages whether the manuscript is worthy of further consideration.

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Win a FREE place at one of our Workshops - Writers who wish to host a workshop can do so by inviting interested friends and acquaintances to a venue (It could be your dining-room table.) and providing the coffee. If you host a workshop, your participation is free. Check the Workshops page for further details.

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Home News:
November and December are filled with book launches and book events.
Windshift Press authors Laura Waldie and Mino Pavlic have books coming out in November. Laura's Requiem for the Shadow Keepers is a fictional account of her Grandfather's adventures in WWII. Mino's autobiography No Obstacle Too Great charts the challenges and successes of his life. Further details of these and other books published by Windshift Press can be found in our Autumn 2003 catalogue [www.windshift.bc.ca/press.htm]. Book launch details will appear in the Newsletter as they are arranged.
Laura Waldie is being interviewed on CHLY's Rotary on Air on December 3rd and Mino Pavlic will be interviewed on January 14th [CHLY 101.7 FM].

Windshift Press author Brenda Woolner [Uncoupling: Lessons on the Reconfiguration of An Intimate Relationship] is having her book reviewed on Oregon Public Radio on November 17th. Other books reviewed on the same programme include Arthur Miller: His Life and His Work.

Newsletter subscriber Shelley Williams will be launching her book Style File Know How - "all the tools to create your fabulous style"at the Bay Centre, Victoria, BC from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $10.00 but this includes wine, appetizers and a holiday fashion show. If you can't make the party at the Bay, check out your local bay store later this month for copies. Congratulations! ~

Congratulations to Newsletter subscriber David Fraser. Not only does David produce a wonderful newsletter for writers Ascent at www.bcsupernet.com/users/ascent but he's also had his own work accepted by a number of publications. Check him out at http://www.locustmagazine.com or http://www.lunaticchameleon.com/page3.html

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Windshift for Writers
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