This month’s issue features:
Behind the Scenes: Cambria Hebert
The perks of Self-Publishing
Book Reviews
Poetry Palooza
Story Time
Wacky Writers
New Features:
Six Sentence Madness
Flash Fiction
Literary Lunes Magazine copyright © 2011 Literary Lunes Press. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form without written permission except for the use of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
For information about reprinting, distributing, or otherwise sharing the contents of this book, please contact Beth Ann Masarik at
[email protected] First edition, November 2011
Originally published in paperback and e-book by Literary Lunes Press
Interior edited by Beth Ann Masarik
Cover design by Beth Ann Masarik
ISBN: 978-1-105-29931-5
Printed in the United States of America
Literary Lunes Magazine, a subsidiary of Literary Lunes Press
www.literarylunes.com
Literary Lunes Press
www.literarylunespress.webs.com
Table of Contents
Letter from the Editor……………………………………………………………………………Pg. 1
It’s National Writing Month…………………………………………………………………...Pg. 2
The Features and Benefits of Self Publishing……………………………………………Pg. 3
Behind The Scenes…………………………………………………………………………………Pg. 6
Poetry Palooza……………………………………………………………………………………….Pg.8
Zeigarnik Effect……………………………………………………………………………………..Pg.10
Sharbenau the Squirrel…………………………………………………………………………………………………Pg.18
Silvershort…………………………………………………………………………………………….Pg.21
Wacky Writers……………………………………………………………………………………….Pg.28
Six Sentence Madness…………………………………………………………………………….Pg.29
Flash Fiction…………………………………………………………………………………………Pg.30
There You Have It: My Opinion………………………………………………………………Pg.31
Mind Fog Reviews………………………………………………………………………………….Pg.39
Our Partners…………………………………………………………………………………………Pg.40
The Staff……………………………………………………………………………………………….Pg.41
Letter from the editor
Dear Readers,
Welcome to the November issue of Literary Lunes Magazine. It’s hard to believe that it’s November already, and that we’ve been in business since January! Eleven whole months have gone by, and I am very grateful and thankful to all of you wonderful people! Without your support, this magazine wouldn’t be doing as well as it is.
With that said, I have some very exciting announcements with important and great upgrades that are coming.
First, you can now purchase the Literary Lunes Magazine collector’s edition book through Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I checked their websites a few days ago. Presently, you can only purchase it as a paperback book, though I am working on formatting it for e-readers.
Next, going forward, you will be able to purchase paperback copies of the magazine also through Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Yes, there will be a fee, but don’t worry…ALL ELECTRONIC COPIES WILL REMAIN FREE! Call me old fashioned, but I’m the type of person who loves to hold their own work their hands. Once we build up enough profits, I will donate 70% of proceeds to the North Shore/Long Island Jewish health system at the end of each year. The remaining profits will go toward maintaining the Literary Lunes website.
And finally, I am adding some new sections to the magazine. I will continue with the Wacky Writer’s section, and will be introducing the following sections: Six Sentence Madness, and Flash Fiction Fun. I will explain what each of these new sections are further on in the magazine.
Once again, I thank you all for your support of Literary Lunes Magazine.
Sincerely,
Beth Ann Masarik
It’s National Writing Month! Let’s Celebrate!
By Beth Ann Masarik
For those of you unaware, November is called National Writing Month, and there is a website called NanoWrimo, in which the challenge is to write 50,000 words in a month. In other words, a full-length novel. I have been a participant in this challenge since 2008, and find it to be very enriching, but difficult to say the very least.
But, I’m a published author, how can writing 50,000 words in a month be difficult? The answers will vary from person to person, but my answer is simple: lack of time management. However, what I love about NanoWrimo, is that it is an excuse for me to get a jump-start on a new project idea that I might not have been able to start right away otherwise.
If you are one of the brave writers out there who want to win that challenge, the prize is a published book! How wonderful is that? And the NanoWrimo website (www.nanowrimo.org), has sponsors that are willing to help you get to your goal by offering you the best writing software there is.
Now that you’ve decided to go for the Nano challenge, let’s review what we’ve learned since February, shall we?
Materials You’ll Need: pens, notebooks, index cards, and of course you’re computer to write your novel.
Outlining and preparation: While there are some people who prefer not to outline, I recommend that if this is your first novel, to set some general plot guidelines for yourself. Why outline a novel? As discussed in previous issues of Literary Lunes, outlining will help keep you on track with your novel.
Research: If you are writing a historical, fantasy or even sci-fi novel, you may need to do some research for your novel. That’s okay! It’s better to know what it is you are writing, than to not! Google is a wonderful tool to use when writing.
And there you have it folks! Some basic and easy steps to begin your first novel. I know it can be intimidating, but if you feel strongly enough about your project, the words will just flow right out of you! Remember…starting a novel is the first step to becoming an author, and that Rome wasn’t built in a day. If you don’t finish the 50,000 words by the end of the month, that’s okay too! It took me two years to finish my first novel, and look how far The World Among Us: Prince of Darkness has come! (It started out as a NanoWrimo novel by the way!)
On your mark…get set…WRITE!
The Features and Benefits of Self Publishing
By Erin Danzer
Congratulations! You’ve written a novel! Not only have you written it, you’ve revised and polished it to within an inch of your life. Your baby is ready for publication.
You have two routes to go now. You can either query agents and publishers, attempting to go the traditionally published route. Or you can self publish, where you do all the work yourself but reap more of the rewards. Why would you want to self publish? The three main reasons for going this
route are:
1. You’ve received too many rejections from publishers/agents and feel you still have a good story to share.
2. You’re a go-getter and like the idea of being your own boss.
3. You wrote a book without a widely perceived audience. Not everyone will be interested in whales of the Pacific or want a copy of your memoir.
Now that you’ve made this the decision to self publish, let’s talk features and benefits.
The Benefits
You will receive a larger royalty. Without having an agent or publisher you have to pay, all royalties go to you (with a smaller portion going towards the services you use to publish, of course). Royalties range from 35% to 80% of the profit, depending on where you go and the price you set. Amazon Kindle Direct publishing has royalties set for 35% or 70%, determined by whether your selling price is more or less than $2.99. Lulu.com offers 80% royalties and offers a wide range of paperback and hard cover options to print in.
There is a faster turnaround time with self publishing. While it takes 10-12 months (sometimes longer) to publish a book traditionally, you can upload your novel and have it in people’s hands within a few days. Keep in mind that print-on-demand formats do take a bit longer (upwards of a week or two) because you have to order, receive and approve the proof copy of your book before it is available.
There is no middle man. Like I said, all of the profits go to you. You are your own boss and have no one else to pay for publishing your novel.
The Features
Yes, you are your own boss. You decide when you will write, how you will write and when you will get it done. There are no deadlines except the ones you set for yourself. There’s also a lot of work that goes into getting your novel out into the world. As a self published author, you are responsible for editing, formatting and marketing your book as well as writing the cover copy, the blurb and getting a cover together. Let’s talk about a few options you have for each portion of the publishing process.
Editing. As a self publishing author, you want your book to be as polished as it possibly can get. That means you need a great editor. A couple options here are Crystal Clear Proofreading and Ashley’s Freelance Editing. Both can be found on Facebook and are reputable sources. Createspace also offers a premium editing service for an additional charge.
Cover Art. Everyone wants their covers to look as professional as possible, whether you are doing them yourself or having someone do it for you. I’ve found Dreamstime.com and stockvault.com to be great places to find photos to use for cheap or even free. Public Domain pictures are another option. A search for “free stock photo” brings up hundreds of options. Also, the free online picture editor, Picnik.com, allows you to modify the picture and with the small fee upgrade, you can even change eye color and add highlights to hair. I also use Gimp 2, free software similar to Photoshop. And of course, if none of these appeal to you or you feel you have no artistic talent, a search or even reaching out in social media can turn up some excellent options (usually with a fee). One word of caution: when creating a cover or book trailer, make sure you don’t use copyrighted material, or buy the rights if it is the only thing that will work for you. Using copyrighted material is illegal and could get your book pulled and possibly get you fined
Marketing. Word of mouth is essential for any author, whether they are traditionally published or self published. As a self published author, you have to put more work and time into figuring out how to get your book into the hands of readers. Some ways for you to do this include setting up a blog tour, becoming a Goodreads Author, contacting book bloggers and asking for reviews. Making a book trailer, using Windows Media Player or some such software and images like what you used for the cover – or having someone produce the trailer for you. Tweet about your book. Write on your Facebook wall about its upcoming release. Offer snippets and teasers, even a free scene or chapter for readers to peruse and decide if you are the author for them. To help promote, I was directed to Bookish Snob Promotions. They offer a one day release blitz as well as setting up a one- or two-week blog tour for your book. They do charge for their services, but I feel this is very well worth it. You can also go to cafepress.com and create swag for your book, promotional items to hand out and give away in addition to copies of the book. Marketing will take up the most time, but it will be the most rewarding.
As you can see, self publishing is a lot of work, but for more and more people, it is paying off. Amanda Hocking, J.A. Konrath and John Locke, the first self published author to hit a million sales on Amazon, are just a few of the big names. Self publishing is growing fast and with the right amount of work and patience you, too, can become the next million-book seller.