Meeting Tognight

NJCWG Meeting - Tonight
Monday, Septembre 25, 2006
6:15-7:00 - Chat Time
7:00-8:00 - Lesson
8:00-9:00 - Critiques

We were going to have a local journalist speak tonight but I haven't been able to confirm the date with her. If she is unable to make it, I will teach a lesson on Devotional Writing.

Louise Bergmann Dumont
Facilitator, NJCWG

Wedding Invitation

AN INVITATION FOR ALL

NORTH JERSEY CHRISTIAN WRITERS GROUP MEMBERS

The honour of your presence

is requested

at the celebration of our marriage

Maude Carolan

to

Robert F. Pych

Saturday, the Twenty-First of October

Two Thousand and Six

Ten O'Clock in the Morning

Beth Israel Messianic Center

2 Lincoln Place

Garfield, New Jersey

Light Refreshments Will Follow

The blessing of your presence is the present we desire

Writing Op - Mature Living

MATURE LIVING
Excellent Break-In Market
New market -- Pays 0-9¢/word or $0-150/article

A Magazine for Christian Senior Adults
Lifeway Christian Resources
1 Lifeway Plaza
Nashville TN 37234

E-Mail: matureliving@lifeway.com
Website: www.lifeway.com
Mature Living Link: Mature Living

Contact:
David Seay, editor-in-chief

About MATURE LIVING: Monthly leisure reading magazine for senior adults 55 and older. "Mature Living is Christian in content and the material required is what would appeal to 55 and over age group: inspirational, informational, nostalgic, humorous. Our magazine is distributed mainly through churches (especially Southern Baptist churches) that buy the magazine in bulk and distribute it to members in this age group."

Freelance Facts:
90% freelance written
Established: 1977
Circulation: 320,000

Pays on acceptance
Publishes manuscript 7-8 weeks after acceptance.
Byline given.

Rights purchased: Purchases all rights if writer agrees.

Submit seasonal material 1 year in advance.
Responds in 3 months to manuscripts.
Sample copy for 9x12 SAE with 4 first-class stamps.
Writer's guidelines for #10 SASE.

Nonfiction Needs:
General Interest
Historical
How-To
Humor
Inspirational
Interview/Profile
Personal Experience
Travel
crafts

Does Not Want: No pornography, profanity, occult, liquor, dancing, drugs, gambling.

Buys 100 manuscripts/year.
Length: 600–1,200 words.
Pays $75-105.
Does not pay the expenses of writers on assignment.

Photos:
State availability of photos with submission.
Offers $10-25/photo. Pays on publication.

Columns & Departments:
Columns open to freelancers: Cracker Barrel (brief, humorous, original quips and verses), pays $15; Grandparents' Brag Board (something humorous or insightful said or done by your grandchild or great-grandchild), pays $15; Inspirational (devotional items), pays $25; Food (introduction and 4-6 recipes), pays $50; Over the Garden Fence (vegetable or flower gardening), pays $40; Crafts (step-by-step procedures), pays $40; Game Page (crossword or word-search puzzles and quizzes), pays $40.

Fiction Needs: Humorous, Religious, senior citizen/retirement
Contact -- David Seay, editor-in-chief

Does Not Want: No reference to liquor, dancing, drugs, gambling; no pornography, profanity or occult.

Buys 12 manuscripts/year.
Submission method: Send complete manuscript
Length: 900-1,200 words preferred

Pays $75-105; 3 contributor's copies.

Poetry: Buys 24 poems/year.
Submit maximum 5 poems.
Length: 12–16 lines.

Writing Op - Mature Living

MATURE LIVING
Excellent Break-In Market
New market -- Pays 0-9¢/word or $0-150/article

A Magazine for Christian Senior Adults
Lifeway Christian Resources
1 Lifeway Plaza
Nashville TN 37234

E-Mail: matureliving@lifeway.com
Website: www.lifeway.com
Mature Living Link: Mature Living

Contact:
David Seay, editor-in-chief

About MATURE LIVING: Monthly leisure reading magazine for senior adults 55 and older. "Mature Living is Christian in content and the material required is what would appeal to 55 and over age group: inspirational, informational, nostalgic, humorous. Our magazine is distributed mainly through churches (especially Southern Baptist churches) that buy the magazine in bulk and distribute it to members in this age group."

Freelance Facts:
90% freelance written
Established: 1977
Circulation: 320,000

Pays on acceptance
Publishes manuscript 7-8 weeks after acceptance.
Byline given.

Rights purchased: Purchases all rights if writer agrees.

Submit seasonal material 1 year in advance.
Responds in 3 months to manuscripts.
Sample copy for 9x12 SAE with 4 first-class stamps.
Writer's guidelines for #10 SASE.

Nonfiction Needs:
General Interest
Historical
How-To
Humor
Inspirational
Interview/Profile
Personal Experience
Travel
crafts

Does Not Want: No pornography, profanity, occult, liquor, dancing, drugs, gambling.

Buys 100 manuscripts/year.
Length: 600–1,200 words.
Pays $75-105.
Does not pay the expenses of writers on assignment.

Photos:
State availability of photos with submission.
Offers $10-25/photo. Pays on publication.

Columns & Departments:
Columns open to freelancers: Cracker Barrel (brief, humorous, original quips and verses), pays $15; Grandparents' Brag Board (something humorous or insightful said or done by your grandchild or great-grandchild), pays $15; Inspirational (devotional items), pays $25; Food (introduction and 4-6 recipes), pays $50; Over the Garden Fence (vegetable or flower gardening), pays $40; Crafts (step-by-step procedures), pays $40; Game Page (crossword or word-search puzzles and quizzes), pays $40.

Fiction Needs: Humorous, Religious, senior citizen/retirement
Contact -- David Seay, editor-in-chief

Does Not Want: No reference to liquor, dancing, drugs, gambling; no pornography, profanity or occult.

Buys 12 manuscripts/year.
Submission method: Send complete manuscript
Length: 900-1,200 words preferred

Pays $75-105; 3 contributor's copies.

Poetry: Buys 24 poems/year.
Submit maximum 5 poems.
Length: 12–16 lines.

Writing Op - Victory News

VICTORY NEWS
New market -- Non-Paying market

Franklin Publishing Company
2723 Steamboat Circle
Arlington TX 76006

Phone: (817)548-1124
E-Mail: luotto@comcaste.net
Website: www.franklinpublishing.net

Managing Editor: Maxine Knight

NOTE FROM NJCWG FACILIATOR - I received this information but I don't personnally know anything about this publication. If anyone in the NJCWWG has a chance to check this out, let me know what you discover.

Contact: Dr. Ludwig Otto, editor

Freelance Facts: 59% freelance written
Established: 1983
Circulation: 1,000

Does not pay, but offers 15% discount on issues purchased.
Publishes manuscript 1 month after acceptance.
Byline given.

Rights purchased: # One-time rights

Editorial lead time 1 month.
Submit seasonal material 3 months in advance.

Accepts queries by:
# Mail
# E-mail

Accepts simultaneous submissions
Accepts previously published submissions
Responds in 1 week to queries.
Responds in 1 month to manuscripts.

Writer's guidelines available at website.

Nonfiction Needs:
Book excerpts
Essays
General Interest
Historical
How-To
Humor
Inspirational
Interview/Profile
New Product
Opinion
Personal Experience
Religious
Technical
Travel

Submission method: Send complete manuscript
Length: 750–6,000 words.

Fiction Needs:
Adventure
Condensed Novels
Ethnic
Horror
Humorous
Mainstream
Mystery
Novel Excerpts
Religious
Science Fiction
Slice-of-life Vignettes
Suspense
Western

Submission method: Send complete manuscript

Poetry Needs:
Avant-garde
Free Verse
Haiku
Light Verse
Traditional

Fillers Needs:
Anecdotes
Facts
Gags to be illustrated by cartoonist

Writing Op - St. Anthony Messenger

ST. ANTHONY MESSENGER
Pays 10-49¢/word or $151-750/article
28 W. Liberty St.
Cincinnati OH 45202-6498

Phone: (513)241-5615
Fax: (513)241-0399
E-Mail: stanthony@americancatholic.org
Website: www.americancatholic.org

Contact: Father Pat McCloskey, O.F.M., editor

About ST. ANTHONY MESSENGER: "St. Anthony Messenger is a Catholic family magazine which aims to help its readers lead more fully human and Christian lives. We publish articles which report on a changing church and world, opinion pieces written from the perspective of Christian faith and values, personality profiles, and fiction which entertains and informs."

Freelance Facts: 55% freelance written
Established: 1893
Circulation: 324,000

Pays on acceptance
Publishes manuscript 1 year after acceptance.
Byline given.

Rights purchased:
# First North American serial rights
# Electronic rights
# first worldwide serial rights.

Submit seasonal material 6 months in advance.

Accepts queries by:
# Mail
# E-mail
# Fax

Does not accept simultaneous submissions
Responds in 3 weeks to queries.
Responds in 2 months to manuscripts.

Sample copy for 9x12 SAE with 4 first-class stamps.
Click here for manuscript guidelines

Nonfiction Needs:
How-To (on psychological and spiritual growth, problems of parenting/better parenting, marriage problems/marriage enrichment)
Humor
Inspirational
Interview/Profile
Opinion (limited use; writer must have special qualifications for topic)
Personal Experience (if pertinent to our purpose)
Photo Feature
informational, social issues

Buys 35-50 manuscripts/year.
Submission method: Query with published clips
Length: 1,500–2,500 words.

Pays 16¢/word.

Sometimes pays the expenses of writers on assignment.
Fiction:

Contact: Father Pat McCloskey, O.F.M., editor

Needs:
Mainstream
Religious
senior citizen/retirement

Does Not Want: "We do not want mawkishly sentimental or preachy fiction. Stories are most often rejected for poor plotting and characterization; bad dialogue--listen to how people talk; inadequate motivation. Many stories say nothing, are 'happenings' rather than stories." No fetal journals, no rewritten Bible stories.

Buys 12 manuscripts/year.
Submission method: Send complete manuscript
Length: 2,000–3,000 words.

Pays 16¢/word maximum and 2 contributor's copies; $1 charge for extras.

Poetry: "Our poetry needs are very limited."

Submit maximum 4-5 poems.
Length: Up to 20-25 lines; the shorter, the better.
Pays $2/line; $20 minimum.

Tips: "The freelancer should consider why his or her proposed article would be appropriate for us, rather than for Redbook or Saturday Review. We treat human problems of all kinds, but from a religious perspective. Articles should reflect Catholic theology, spirituality, and employ a Catholic terminology and vocabulary. We need more articles on prayer, scripture, Catholic worship. Get authoritative information (not merely library research); we want interviews with experts. Write in popular style; use lots of examples, stories, and personal quotes. Word length is an important consideration."

Writing Op - Silent Voices

NOTE from NJCWG Facilitator: This is a secular magazine that publishes some items that "may" be considered offensive to some Chrisitans

SILENT VOICES
New market Non-Paying market

A Creative Mosaic of Fiction
Ex Machina Press, LLC
P.O. Box 11180
Glendale CA 91226

Phone: (818)244-7209
E-Mail: exmachinapab@aol.com
Website: www.exmachinapress.com

Contact:
Peter A. Balaskas, editor

About SILENT VOICES: Magazine covering short fiction.

Frequency: Annual

"Silent Voices is an annual literary journal whose purpose is to publish fiction of a variety of styles and genres. By taking stories of a diverse nature and placing them in a specific order, we produce a creative mosaic that tells a larger story."

Freelance Facts: 100% freelance written, Established: 2004, Circulation: 1,000

Pays on publication
Publishes manuscript 4-5 months after acceptance.
Byline sometimes given.

Rights purchased: First North American serial rights

Accepts queries by: Mail & E-mail

Accepts simultaneous submissions

Sample copy for $11.99.
Writer's guidelines available at website.

Fiction Needs:
Adventure
Condensed Novels
Confession
Ethnic
Experimental
Fantasy
Historical
Horror
Humorous
Mainstream
Mystery
Novel Excerpts
Religious
Romance
Science Fiction
Slice-of-life Vignettes
Suspense
Western

Buys 11-14 manuscripts/year.
Submission method: Query with or without published clips or send complete manuscript
Length: 15,000 words.

Industry News

HarperCollins and Avon launch inspirational fiction line

HarperCollins and Avon are collaborating on a new inspirational women's trade paper fiction line called Avon Inspire. Avon Inspire's goal: "to publish 'engaging stories that Christian readers can trust and love.'" Acquisition editor: Cynthia DiTiberio. Source: Publisher's Weekly

Industry News

Thomas Nelson to acquire Integrity Publishers

Thomas Nelson has signed an agreement to acquire Christian publishing house Integrity Publishers. The deal is expected to close Sept. 28th. Source: Publisher's Weekly

Industry Information

Life magazine losing $35M a year
With the two-year anniversary of Life as a newspaper insert approaching, NYpost.com speculates about how much life is left in Life. The magazine is believed to be losing at least $35 million a year. Time Inc. had initially promised the big newspaper chains that the insert magazine would be published for at least two years.

Next Meeting

Next Meeting
Monday, 9/25/06

We may be having a guest speaker for Monday. I still have to confirm her ability to teach but it looks like Chris Sagona may be able to talk to us about getting started as a Journalist in the newspaper business. Please lift a prayer that she'll be able to make this meeting.

New Mag - Digital Living

Digital Living: electronics title launches
Emap will be launching a new quarterly magazine called Digital Living, aimed at "30 plus men who buy consumer electronics." From Rob Croxall, General Manager: "We want to produce a magazine that will demystify the digital world and give it's readers reassurance and confidence. Although the men's market as a whole is having a tough time, specialist titles like our own Digital Photo go from strength to strength, and that gives us a great deal of confidence in the concept of Digital Living." Editor: Bruce Black. Source: Press Gazette

Attitude is Everything

Your attitude toward others is 99% of the game in the writing world. If you are an author who thinks that they already know what I'm about to say, please bear with me and read this message anyway.

I recently received a request from a webmaster. They wanted me to write free copy for their writers website. This website eventually will offer new writers the opportunity to 'pay' for a spot on their website in the hopes that publishers and editors will read the work and then ask the author to write for them. (sigh) Now I know that this has been tried numerous times before and it just doesn't work. Editors have no problem getting quality writing and authors should never pay to have their work put on a website. I politely sent an email to the webmaster that requested him to take my name off his email list. In return, I got a really rude and sarcastic email telling me that if I wasn't interesting in participating in their project I shouldn't put my name and contact information on my own website. Interesting. I wrote a polite reply back but the whole thing left a really bad taste in my mouth. I will never write for this site and I certainly will warn others against it if someone asks me specifically about them by name. (No, I won't use the name of the group here - sufficient it say that an author should NOT ever pay someone in the hope of being published. That is one of the oldest scams in the book.)

Just remember this -- how you approach an other author, publisher or editor will flavor that person's reaction to your words for a long time to come. As Christians we should take the high road and attempt to be kind to those who might not know better. In any case, a kind word goes a long way to build a bridge -- and you just might need that bridge later in your career.

I'm Back!

Hello to the NJCWG and my other writing friends

When I returned from a wonderful vacation (visiting my son and a number of great historic sites in Virginia) I found a wealth of writing related events and opportunities in my email inbox. I'll share some of them with you over the next few days.

Hope you've all had a great summer and I pray that as the crip fall weather decends on us, you will be invigorated and inspired your writing.

Louise Bergmann DuMont
Facilitator of the North Jersey Christian Writers Group (NJCWG)

The Comfort Cafe just posted my most recent column. You can access it through the attached link (http://comfortcafe.net/?p=359) OR by reading the Cafe Moch Light blog (http://cafemochalight.blogspot.com/).

Louise Bergmann DuMont
Author & Speaker

Getting Ideas

From Terri Main, Speach Communication Instructor, Reedley Colleg,e Reedley, CA

Here is a URL for a lesson I have about getting ideas.
http://www.thewritingschool.net/getting_ideas.htm It includes general tips on getting article ideas along with 9 specific idea generators complete with forms to use.

Contest - Short Story

April Boyer

If you wish to enter the contest on my website, at the Kitchen page - please send your short, short story involving a recipe. Did your attempt at a new recipe have an unexpected humorous end? Was there a humorous mishap? Was their a heart warming visit, or conversation with a loved one or child? Did a child add his own funny wit?

Your winning entry will be posted after Sept. 27, and your choice of a devotional book awarded.

http://aprilboyer.com

Write Now! Conference (PA) - 10-28-06

Write Now!
One-Day Conference
Ten Workshops for Experienced & Beginning Writers
Keynote Address by Marsha Hubler,
$50 Adult $30 Student
9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Faith United Methodist Church
700 Fairview Drive
Montoursville, Pennsylvania
Sponsored by
West Branch Christian Writers

For more information please contact: Roberta Brosius (570) 713-1756 brosius@ptd.net or Barbara Sutryn (570) 322-1984 bars@uplink.net

Workshops & Faculty

* Write for Children with Marsha Hubler, educator and author of Zondervan’s Keystone Stables Series.

* Write for Young Adults with Marsha Hubler.

*Take the Mystery out of Mystery Writing with Evelyn Minshull, educator, poet, and author of 26 books, including Guideposts’ Church Choir Mysteries

*Interview Like a Pro with Kathy Scott, journalist with over 600 articles in over 65 publications

*Render Unto Caesar with Judy Flook, who will help you understand tax issues for writers

*Poetry with Shirley Stevens, Teacher-in-residence and mentor at The Writing Academy in Minnesota, and award-winning poet

*Writing With Your Funny Bone with Jerry Westbrook, humor columnist for the Sunbury Daily Item

*Hands-on Devotional Writing with Roberta Brosius, Bible teacher and contributor to The Secret Place

*Just for Beginners with Eileen Berger, author of 15 novels and hundreds of short stories and articles

*Personal Experience Writing for Beginners with Bobbi Updegraff, author of 6 novels and dozens of articles, writer for Presbyterian
Disaster Assistance

*And that’s not all…

Editors—Matt Holliday, Pennsylvania Magazine
Bookstore—Buy books to boost your writing, and books by our faculty and West Branch authors.
Freebie Table—Pick up free sample copies of publications and writers’ guidelines.

ICRS News

Here is some news about editors/publishers in the Christian markeplace.

Chip MacGregor has left Faith Words (Warner Faith).
Terry Behimer, Nicci Hubert and Jeff Gerke have left NavPress.

Book Expo

Strang Communications is hold a Book Expo next month in Atlanta. The trade show will be open to the public. www.charismabookexpo.com has more info.