Formatting your work

If Andy Rooney were writing this blog entry, he would start by say, "Did you ever wonder how to poperly format a novel, essay or TV script"? I found a great reference book titled, Formatting and submitting your manuscript, by Jack and Glenda Neff, Don Prues - ISBN 0-89879-921-X.

Not only does this book show you by example how to format; Novels, Essays, Proposals, Screen plays, TV scripts, Poetry, Childrens books and greeting cards, but it shows you how to create a query letter to send out to publishers.

Chapter one opens with great advice, "before you write an article, you should sell it". Why spend the time, sometimes days, writing an article just to have an editor tell you it's not even close to what they wanted. Most editors want to provide input before the article is written. Sell the idea and listen to what feedback you get.

I hope you find this book as useful as I did.

-Ralph

Another link for poets

To all poets:

Are you a poet that finds it embarrasing to get feedback from other people? LitDotOrg is a place for artists to join in a community forum to read and write poetry, stories and essays. After joining the community, you can put your work on the site and readers will respond with their comments. The only drawback is you don't know the credentials of the people reviewing your work. However, you do get people who are willing to let you know what they think.

http://www.lit.org/

-Ralph