Tuesdays with Story

Writer’s Mail
Tuesdays with Story
November 10, 2017

Tuesday evening at ye olde bookstore   

Thirteen writers gathered around one very small table at Barnes & Noble Westside to look at short stories, chapters, a synopsis, and a picture book. Here’s who was up and summaries of the comments they received: 

Millie Mader (short story rewrite, “Stone Cold Stripper”) . . .  I was quite severally critiqued, and will try hard to rewrite a lot of my short story. It’s loosely based on fact, but hard to get all the facts together in order. Will keep on trying—and thanks all.

Tracey Gemmell (synopsis, More or Less Annie) . . .  Two truths revealed last night: writing a synopsis is hard, and Tracey’s efforts so far are not cutting it. All present agreed the synopsis ‘sells’ the book so must include more color with a better representation of writing style and humor. Tracey’s current version tries to include too much plot while stripping the real interest. Larry produced a more intriguing version, but length is still an issue if it’s to be a one-pager. All suggestions much appreciated.

Katy Sullivan (picture book, Snowalicious) . . .  I shared a children’s book. Majority seemed to think I had a two books. We discussed the tensing, word choice and illustrations. Thanks for the feedback. 

Kashmira Sheth and Amit Trivedi (chapters 7-9, untitled novel) . . . Amit asked regarding having a new voice (Besides Uma and Kedar) in a couple of chapters and the general agreement was to avoid it if possible. Pat suggested to add details regarding the social upheaval of partition as readers may not be familiar with them.
 

Writing contest to be a part of our next Fifth Tuesday

It’s your opportunity to win a critique of the first 50 pages of your novel, nonfiction book, or poetry chapbook, the critique to be provided by Kelly Harms, a published writer who will be our contest judge.

First, of course, you have to write a story, an animal story. The point of view is yours to select. For example, your story could be a dog story told by a dog. Or it could be told by you, a cat, or a fictional character. 500 words max.

There is a fee to enter the contest . . . $10. The winner gets the pot of money and must spend it – all of it – taking the judge out to dinner. It’s over that dinner at which Kelly will discuss her critique.

Kelly is the author of The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane published by Thomas Dunne/St. Martin’s Press. The publisher will bring out her second novel, The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay, next year, on August 9.

Kelly was an editor for HarperCollins and a literary agent at the Jane Rotrosen Agency before moving to Madison where she now lives and writes.

She will announce the winner at our January 30th Fifth Tuesday.

 
Who’s up next

November 21
Larry Sommers (chapter 2, untitled novel)
Paul Wagner (chapter 2, Rise of the Serpent)
Mike Austin (chapter, Riding with the Reed Gang)
Bob Kralapp (short story, part 3, “Faith”)
Jack Freiburger (short story, part 6.1 and 6.2,”Jesus Walked into the IHOP”)
John Schneller (chapter, Final Stronghold)

 
December 5
Millie Mader (???)
Amber Boudreau (???)
Tracey Gemmell (synopsis rewrite, More or Less Annie) . . .  
Katy Sullivan (part 5, “The Night We Met”)
Kashmira Sheth and Amit Trivedi (chapters)
Jerry Peterson (short stories, “Talking to the Wall” and “Pumpkin Wars”)

Hail the editor

Larry Sommers is our e-newsletter editor for this month. Send him everything you’d like to share with the group.
 

Book World closing

Appleton-based Book World will close all of its 45 stores in seven states, including 20 stores in Wisconsin. Its customers have gone to online shopping, particularly Amazon.

Liquidation sales started last week, and all stores are to close by January 15. 

Book World opened its first in 1976, in Rhinelander.

To the big chain Barnes & Noble, it’s hurting. It closed 20 stores in each year, 2013 through 2015. Last year, it closed only 8. On the good news side, it opened 38 in something of a turn-around.

Same store sales, however, dropped 3 percent for fiscal year 2017 compared to fiscal year 2016.

And the company forecasts its same store sales will continue to drop in the range of 3 to 5 percent for the next fiscal year, these numbers reported by Business Wire.

Last year, B&N opened one of four new-concept stores, each with a full-service restaurant and bar aimed at getting book shoppers to stay longer and spend more money in the stores.

From Pat Edwards—

Submit Your Book

Submit your new, never-before-published, English-language book of 50,000 words or more to Kindle Scout and be considered for a publishing contract with Kindle Press in 45 days or less. We welcome submissions for English-language books in the following categories: Romance, Mystery & Thriller, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Teen & Young Adult, and general Literature & Fiction. Adults (ages 18+) with a valid Amazon account that reside in a Kindle Scout–eligible country can submit.

Check out the Kindle Scout Eligibility & Content Guidelines for detailed requirements.

https://kindlescout.amazon.com/submit?ref_=pe_390220_259565310

Thanks, Pat!

Need a brushup on punctuation?

Gail Radley offers a handy, concise, and generally reliable guide, titled “Punctuation Boot Camp,” in the December 2017 issue of The Writer, pp. 32-35.