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Finding
the Bacon A friend of mine has pointed out my apparent favoritism in
highlighting writing venues located in the Pacific Northwest or the Midwest,
specifically, Wisconsin. Who, me? Show favoritism to my home state and now my home
region? G'wan! However, she may be right. Consider me chastised. This issue of
Finding the Bacon is a bit of a mixed bag. No, no, it's not the bottom of the
bag waiting to be cleaned out before year's end, it's just a humble-jumble of a
variety of places looking for good writers and good writing. And, I assure you,
not one of the venues is located in the PNW or Wisconsin. I LOVE CATS E-Queries: Yes. Also via snailmail. Send #10 SASE for guidelines, check website, or email for them. Contact: Lisa Allmendinger, editor Email: yankee@izzy.net Writer's guidelines online: For I Love Cats Magazine: http://www.iluvcats.com/writguid.html For I Love Cats E-Newsletter: http://www.iluvcats.com/writguidfori1.html Please note, however, there is no pay for the e-newsletter at this time. Pays: Pays on publication. $50-$150 for 500 to 1,000 word nonfiction articles. $40-$150 for fiction from 500-1,000 words and $25 for fillers. The Kicker: I Love Cats publishes, on average, a year after acceptance. Photos:
Send with articles. Buys all rights. Rights: Buys all rights, you must sign a copyright consent form. Byline Given. No Reprints. Description: Published bimonthly. This is a general interest cat magazine. Circulation: 100,000 Readers: Cat lovers. Needs: No poetry please. Essays,
how-to, profiles, new products, personal experiences. Fiction can be
mystery, fantasy, historical, humorous, suspense. Please note this is a family
magazine. No violence, pornography, etc. COMMON GROUND Common Ground Publishing http://www.commongroundmagazine.com E-Queries: Yes. Send email for writer's guidelines. Contact: Robert Scheer, assistant editor Email: editor@commongroundmagazine.com Writer's guidelines online: No. Pays: Pays on publication. Publication is usually one month after acceptance. $.10/word Canadian. Non-fiction articles should run from 600 to 2,500 words. Photos:
Buys one-time rights. Rights: One-time and second serial (reprint) rights. Byline given. Seasonal material should be submitted three months in advance. Accepts simultaneous submissions and reprints. Description: Monthly tabloid on health, wellness, creativity, the environment and the spirit. Circulation: 70,000 Readers: Cultural, creative people. Needs: Inspirational, how-to, opinions, profiles and interviews, all articles should have a Mind/Body/Spirit slant. OLD FARMER'S ALMANAC Yankee Publishing Inc. E-Queries: No. Write for guidelines and queries. Query with published clips. Contact: Janice Stillman, editor. Writer's guidelines online: No. Pays: Pays on acceptance. $.65/word for
non-fiction articles of 800-2,500 words. Pays $.50/word for 100-200 word
fillers. Rights: FNASR electronic, all rights. Byline given. 33% kill fee. Seasonal material should be submitted one year in advance. Description: Published once a year. America's oldest publication (established 1792) provides useful information for all readers. Covers weather, gardening, oddities. Circulation: 3,000,000 Readers: All walks of life. Needs: Historical/nostalgic articles, how-to for
gardeners, cooks, humor, saving money tips, weather, obscure facts and popular
culture. INTERNATIONAL WRISTWATCH MAGAZINE International Wristwatch Magazine, Inc. E-Queries: Yes. Also snailmail, fax and phone. Contact: Gary Girdvainis, editor-in-chief Email: wristwatch@snet.net Writer's guidelines online: No. Pays: Pays on publication, $.10-$1.00/word for articles of 500-3,000 words. Columns and department sections run from 50 words to 1,000 and pays $.10-$.50/word. Photos:
Buys one-time rights. Negotiates individual payment. Rights: First Rights. Byline given. 50% kill fee. Simultaneous submissions and reprints are accepted. Description: Published 12 times a year. Circulation: 30,000 Readers: Wristwatch collectors and enthusiasts. Needs: Editors are interested in information about wristwatches, from historical to modern, collecting, profiles.
http://www.washingtontonian.com E-Queries: No. Snailmail and fax only. Send #10 SASE for writer's guidelines or see guidelines online. Contact: Cindy Rich, assistant editor Writer's guidelines online: Yes: http://www.washingtonian.com/about/guidelines.html Pays: Pays on publication. Publication is roughly three months after acceptance. Rights: FNASR and limited, non-exclusive electronic rights. Byline given. % kill fee. Description: Published 12 times a year. This is a general interest magazine covering the city and region of Washington DC. Circulation: 160,000 Readers: From the website: "Mean household income of subscribers is $120,200 a year; eight out of ten have finished college, and almost half have graduate degrees. Just over half our readers are women, and most of them work. Seventy percent of our readers own their own home. On the average, our readers have lived in the Washington area for almost ten years. They make up an active, educated, affluent audience—our readers travel, dine out, go to plays, entertain, read, and spend more than the average Washingtonian." Needs: Do not send political satire. History/nostalgia, general interest, personal experience, interviews and profiles. Everything from dining out to the local government. Note: Do check out the online guidelines; they're very,
very precise. Because I've always thought that leaving an old year behind
and blazing forth into a new one, like Captain Kirk going where no man has gone
before, I want to end the year with a little bit of speculation. ON SPEC Box 4727 E-Queries: Yes. Contact: The Editors CONTACT INFORMATION: Send your complete manuscript with a cover letter. No submissions via email. Send an SASE for a response or return of the manuscript. Include postage or IRC. Email: onspec@earthling.net (note: yes, that is "earthling.net" if you try earthlink.net you'll get a polite, but firm, message from someone telling you you've got the wrong guy.) Writer's guidelines online: Yes, at: http://www.icomm.ca/onspec/Writers.htm Please note that their guidelines also offer questions and answers. Pays: Pays on acceptance. $40-180 for 1,000-6,000 words (average is around 4,000) Simultaneous submissions are accepted. Rights: FNASR. Description: Published quarterly. Circulation: 2,000 Readers: Lovers of Science Fiction and speculative fiction. Needs: Fantasy, science-fiction and horror. Particularly interested is good dialogue, unique ideas and strong characters. *** And now, as one of the most incredible years I've ever
experienced slips quickly into that good goodnight, I leave you with my
following thoughts for the new year: Be kind, be loyal, be helpful and generous
in ways that fit you best. Lend a steady hand to those who falter and a strong
pull-up to those who need to be lifted. But most of all, love yourself enough
that you can love those around you. May you find health, happiness and peace –
both of mind and heart – through the coming year. Sable Jak is a freelance writer with a special love for radio drama and screenwriting. She writes for Absolute Write www.absolutewrite.com and Script Magazine's ezine www.scriptmag.com, is a charter member of The Screenplayers www.screenplayers.net/screenplayersnet.html and has a mystery radio series, "A Phil Byrnes Mystery," on www.virtuallyamerican.com. She's also an avid crafter. Sable lives in Seattle with her actor-husband and their kitties. In the language of her ancestors her name "Sable" means "sword." She feels it's an appropriate name for a writer and her mighty pen. Writer's Legal
Corner Understanding Copyright Copyright. The word stirs up almost as much angst as an IRS audit. Ask most writers to explain the difference between "common law" and "statutory" copyright and you’ll get a blank look; throw in e-publication rights and watch their eyes spin. It doesn’t have to be this way. Copyright is not rocket science, and you should understand that it is your stock-in-trade, the core of your livelihood. Copyright prevents others from copying or publishing all, or a substantial part, of any your original work¾ poetry, books, stories, movies, songs, paintings, web sites, computer software, photographs and images. In this column, we’ll review frequently asked questions about copyright law. In future columns, we’ll discuss work-for-hire, fair use, and electronic rights. What is "Statutory" Copyright? Statutory copyright protection is provided by Title 17, U.S. Code, and is available both to published and unpublished works. Section 106 of the 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following:
What is "Common Law" Copyright? Before the effective date of the 1976 Copyright Act, state and federal common law (judicial decisions) protected all works until publication, which was the event triggering protection under the pre-1976 federal Copyright Act. The 1976 Act eliminated federal common law copyright as of January 1, 1978. All works created after that date are protected from the moment of creation (see below), rather than from the date of publication. "Unfixed" works (e.g., unrecorded lectures) remain one of the few remaining categories of works that, in some circumstances, are protected by state common law How Do I Claim Copyright Protection? This is probably the most frequently misunderstood element of copyright law. Many writers still believe that a formal copyright registration is required, and/or that a work must first be published to qualify for copyright protection. Not so! Under the 1976 Act, copyright is automatic when the work is created, and a work is "created" when it is fixed in a copy or recorded for the first time (e.g., the instant you lift pen from paper or your word processing software saves to disk). Publication is no longer the key to obtaining federal copyright. (Before 1978, federal copyright was generally secured by the act of publication with notice of copyright.) When a work is prepared over a period of time, the part of the work that is fixed on a particular date constitutes the created work as of that date. What Can NOT Be Copyrighted? You can’t copyright ideas, titles, names, short phrases, and slogans, no matter how original or unique (some of these can be trademarked, but that’s another story). Also procedures, designs, concepts, charts and tables of common authorship, etc. Do I Need A Notice of Copyright? Nope, the use of a copyright notice is no longer required under U. S. law. Nevertheless, you should use it. A copyright notice informs the public that your work is protected by copyright, identifies you, and shows the year of first publication. In the event your work is infringed and it has a copyright notice, the infringing party may not claim "innocent infringement" and avoid paying damages. The use of the copyright does not require advance permission from, or registration with, the Copyright Office. What Should My Notice Contain? The copyright notice on "visually perceptible copies" (i.e., print, web pages, computer text files) should contain all the following three elements: The symbol © (the letter C in a circle), or the word "Copyright," or the abbreviation "Copr."; and The year of first publication of the work; and Your name, or an abbreviation by which your name can be recognized, or a generally known alternative designation of the owner. Example: © 2001 John Doe How Long Does My Copyright Last? For works originally created on or after January 1, 1978, the work is automatically protected from the moment of its creation for the author's life plus an additional 70 years after the author's death. Can I Transfer My Copyright? Yes. A copyright is personal property and may be transferred by gift or for a fee, and may be bequeathed by will or pass as personal property under applicable state laws regarding persons dying without a will. Should I Register My Copyright? It depends. As noted above, registration isn’t necessary to obtain copyright protection, although registration is a prerequisite to filing a copyright infringement suit. In addition, the law confers certain benefits to copyright owners who formally register, specifically additional money damages and attorney's fees will be available to the copyright owner in court actions. Book-length works are generally registered at publication; shorter works are seldom registered unless there is an infringement. When Can I Register? Registration may be made at any time within the life of the copyright. Unlike the law before 1978, once a work has been registered in unpublished form, it is not necessary to make another registration when the work becomes published. Usually this is done only if the work is substantially altered in its published form. Is My Copyright Protected in Other Countries? In most cases, yes. Although there is no such thing as an "international copyright," most countries do offer protection to foreign works under certain conditions, and these conditions have been greatly simplified by international copyright treaties and conventions. Ó Daniel Steven 2001 Daniel Steven is a lawyer practicing publishing, media and information
technology law in Rockville, MD (www.publishlawyer.com).
He is the author of two novels published by HarperCollins, a non-fiction book,
and a television sitcom pilot. He has worked as an editor, counsel, and
executive at a major publishing house. He can be reached at dsteven@publishlawyer.com.
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