The Author's Blog

Links to short stories

2007-08-14T10:54:00.000-07:00

In my last Blog, I described my style of writing short stories. I am enclosinig a few links to some of the stories that I have written in this style.

http://www.defrangesco.com/Renewed.htm

http://www.defrangesco.com/Stopsmell.htm

http://www.defrangesco.com/Lifeshort.htm

Enjoy!

My style of writing

2007-08-08T18:16:00.001-07:00

I have a few styles that I write in. Recently, I have been working on a new one. I call it "Laconic". Laconic means writing with few words. In my short stories, I try to convey a story with as few words as possible. It's an interesting paradigm because the challange is to make a story interesting to the reader and keep it under one-thousand words. One way to write in the laconic style is to avoid adjectives, but could you imagine a story with few adjectives? So the writer must strike a balance or the story line will be nothing more than statements.

The second challange is to develop the plot and not the character. The reason is that laconic stories convey a lesson or message. The character is not as important as the plot. So what this really means is that you drop things like the color of the car a person is driving or the material their clothes are made of, unless it is important to the story.

In my next post, I will include one of my stories as an example.

Final Listing of Publishers

2007-08-01T18:33:00.000-07:00

Here is the final listinig of book publishers. I hope that you find them helpful:

Timberwolf Press
202 N. Allen Dr., Suite A
Allen, TX 75013
Needs: Fantasy, military, mystery, science fiction, suspense
Contact by: Query letter, responds in 3 months

Science and Humanities Press
P.O. Box 7151
Chesterfield, MO 63006-7151
E-mail: pub@sciencehumanitiesprerss.com
Needs: Adventure, historical, humor, litery
Contact by: Query letter, responds in 2 months

Salvo Press
61428 Elder Ridge Street
Bend, OR 97702
Needs: Adventure, litery, mystery
Contact by: Query letter, responds in 1 month

More book publishers

2007-07-15T09:58:00.000-07:00

Here is the second part of book publishers:

Wendy Lamb Books
Random House Children's Book Group
1745 Broadway
New York, NY 10019
Needs: Juvenile (ages 2-18)
Contact by: Query letter, responds in 1 month

Lionhearted Publishing Inc
P.O. Box 618
Zepher Cove, NV 89448-0618
E-mail: submissions@LionHearted.com
Needs: Romance, futuristic, historical, romantic comedies
Contact by: submit 3 chapters, publishing history, synopsis, cover letter. Responds in 3 months

Mid-List Press
4324 12th Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55407-3218
E-mail: guide@midlist.org
Needs: General fiction
Contact by: Query letter, responds in 3 weeks

W.W. Norton Co. Inc.
500 Fifth Ave.
New York, NY 10110
E-mail: Manuscripts@wwnorton.com
Needs: Literary, Poetry
Contact by: Query letter, responds in 2 months

Pathwise Press
P.O. Box 2392
Bloomington, IN 47402
E-mail: charter@bluemarble.net
Needs: Experimental, literary, short story collections
Contact by: Submit complete manuscript, responds in 1 month

Book Publishers

2007-07-06T16:07:00.000-07:00

Now that you have a novel, short story, poem or novella completed, you are going to want to have it published. There are many options here including self-publishing, co-operative publishing, and traditional publishing. In this posting, I am going to list a few traditional publishers that I found interesting. Like the literary agents, this will be a multi-part posting:

Anvil Press
Web: www.anvilpress.com
P.O. Box 3008
Main Post Office
Vancouver BC V6B 3x5 Canada
Needs: Experimental, short stories, modern literature
Contact by: Query letter, responds in 1 month

Cartwheel Books
557 Broadway
New York, NY 10012
Web: www.scholastic.com
Needs: Children/jouvenile (fantasy, horror, mystery, humor)
Contact by: Query letter, responds in 1-4 months

John Daniel and Co.
P.O. Box 2790
McKinleyville, CA 95519
Web: www.danielpublishing.com
Needs: Literary, short stories, poetry (fiction/non-fiction)
Contact by: Query letter, responds in 1 month

Final listing of literary agents

2007-07-05T13:43:00.000-07:00

As promised, this is the third and final listing of literary agents. This is no way a complete listing as there are many, many more. If you don't see one that you like here, search online or go to the library. There are a few good books that list them as well as publishers. Speaking of which, my next few postings will list some publishers. Like the literary agents, I will post them over a few days. Here is the final listing of the literary agents:

Ethan Ellenberg
548 Broadway, #5-E
New York, NY 10012
E-mail: agent@ethanellenberg.com
Represents: Nonfiction/fiction books, novels
Contact by: Fiction (send introductory letter + credits, outline, first 3 chapters. For nonfiction query (mail), responds in 2 weeks

Nicholas Ellison
55 Fifth Ave, 15th floor
New York, NY 10003
Represents: Nonfiction books, novels
Contact by: Query (mail), responds in 6 weeks

Elaine P. English
1875 Connection Ave., NW Suite 712
Washington, DC 20009
E-mail: elaineengl@aol.com
Represents: Novels
Contact by: Synopsis (mail), first 3 chapters, responds in 6 months

B.R. Fleury Agency
P.O. Box 14352
Orlando, FL 32814-9352
E-mail: brfleuryagency@juno.com
Represents: Nonfiction books, novels, feature films, TV movie of the week
Contact by: Query (mail), 1 page letter, responds immediately to queries

More literary agents

2007-07-04T13:04:00.000-07:00

In my last update I gave a partial listing of some literary agents. I am adding to that list in this posting:

Appleseed Management
200 E. 30th Street, Suite 302
San Bernardino, CA 92404
Represents: Nonfiction books, novels
Contact by: Query (mail), responds in 2 weeks

Maria Carvainis Agency Inc.
1350 Ave. of the Americas, Suite 2905
New York, NY 10019
E-mail: mariacarvainisagency.com
Represents: Nonfiction books, fiction
Contact by: Query (mail), responds in 1 week

WM Clark Associates
355 W. 22nd St.
New York, NY 10011
E-mail: query@wmclark.com
Represents: Nonfiction books, novels
Contact by: E-mail queries only, responds in 1 month

Frances Collin
P.O. Box 33
Wayne, PA. 19087-0033
Represents: Nonfiction books, novels
Contact by: Query (mail) and brief proposal

Literary Agents

2007-07-03T18:01:00.000-07:00

I recently spoke to a friend about using a literary agent. The first question to come up was, "Do I need one" and then, "What can they do for me"? There is a lot of material written about this so I won't go into a lot of detail. The answer to the first question is no, you do not absolutely need a litery agent. However having one will open doors for you. Plus, this person will be working full time to advance your career. I think I answered the second question as well. I will be listing agents in this and the next two post to give you a good selection to choose from.

The Axelrod Agency
55 Main St., P.O. Box 357
Chatham, NY 12037
E-mail: Steve@axelrodagency.com
Represents: Nonfiction books, novels
Contact by: Query (by mail), responds in 3 weeks

Bleecker Street Associates Inc
532 LaGuardia Place, #617
New York, NY 10012
Represents: Nonfiction books, novels
Contact by: Query (by mail), responds in 2 weeks

Brown & Miller Literary Associates
410 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 460
Chicago, Ill 60605-1465
E-mail: mail@brownandmiller.com
Represents: Nonfiction books, novels
Contact: Query (by mail), responds in 1 month

Away for too long

2007-07-02T17:00:00.000-07:00

I have been away from this Blog for a very long time. I'm trying not to make excuses, but it's been a combination of work, school, family, and I can go on and on. However, I am going to resurect this site and make a pledge to post to it more often.

Formatting your work

2005-03-09T14:45:00.000-08:00

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

2005-03-03T16:39:00.000-08:00

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

Link for poets

2004-12-23T14:43:00.000-08:00

To all writers:

I am enclosing a link to a site that is full of information for poets. There
are many links to sites that will publish your poetry and you can get
feedback from readers. Most of these sites also offer writing tips, poetry
contests and generally try to build a community for poets.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art20983.asp

-Ralph

First entry

2004-11-04T17:40:00.000-08:00

This blog is for writer's looking for resources. I will post links, references and contacts that I have used that will hopefully benefit other writers. I would like to open this blog with the following motivational quotes:

We know nothing about motivation. All we can do is write books about it. --Peter F. Drucker

Nothing is as real as a dream. The world can change around you, but your dream will not. Responsibilities need not erase it. Duties need not obscure it. Because the dream is within you, no one can take it away.
--Unknown

If what you're working for really matters, you'll give it all you've got. --Nido Qubein

You are what you think. You are what you go for. You are what you do! --Bob Richards

-Ralph