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Byte Out of Crime Newsletter is maintained for a small (255) but
growing community of writers who seek to empower themselves with
knowledge. This knowledge will encourage Web sites to respect and
honor the needs of writers; most important of which, is timely and
guaranteed payment of submitted works.

December 14, 2000 VOL.1, BYTE 12

JOYCE JACE, EDITOR, jmjace@...
For Overworked Parents and Underpaid Writers
http://www.jmjace.com
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By subscription only. Welcome to the latest Byte of this newsletter.
If you haven't a clue why you're receiving this ezine...please scroll
to the bottom for unsubscription information.

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IN THIS ISSUE
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=> Sponsorship Notice-Harriet Beecher Stowe (revisited)
=> Musings from the Editor- Tight Place?
=> Classified Ads- Ernest Hemingway
=> Valiant Resources-Lots
=> Warnings and Bewares-Just a few-let's kick it up one level
=> Plugs,Plugs,Plugs- Booklocker.com
=> Subscribe/Unsubscribe Information
=> Disclaimers

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SPONSORSHIP NOTICE
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This ezine is being sponsored by the following insightful, words of
wisdom:

"When you get in a tight place and everything goes against you, till
it seems as though you could not hold a minute longer, never give up
then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn."
- Harriet Beecher Stowe

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As the sole owner of this ezine, I will never accept payment for
sponsorship. Then I would have to answer to someone else...and I'm
really not up to that. In fact, I will never receive monetary
compensation for this newsletter at all. I am a writer...not a
business type person. I trust that I will make an income from my
writings and not from this newsletter.

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MUSINGS FROM THE EDITOR
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Yes, I know I know. We visited the quotation by Harriet Beecher Stowe
in a previous issue, but I really, really need you guys to know what
she is trying to tell us. The operative words here, from her quote,
are "tight" and "place".

I remember first reading her quote and wondering what her definition
of "tight place" was and more importantly, how long must we
endure that "tightness"? The following is the continuing saga
of a hapless writer trying to do the impossible, in the shortest
amount of time.

Please scroll down if you're tired of my whining.

Okay…tight place. Remember when I announced that I was invited to
do a workshop at the Mystic-Ink Writers on the Wave eConference? I was
so excited for this opportunity. The cold facts are that I gambled
two of my house payments to make that trip. The plane fair cost me
$333.00, round trip to California from New Mexico. The rental car
from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara cost me $100.00. The room I rented
for four days cost me $480.00. The one martini I ordered in the bar
was $6.00. Six dollars! Tells you how long it's been since I had
a drink in a bar. When did the price go up so much?

All told, about $1,000.00 that I did not have really. Debt, debt,
debt. Going out on the proverbial limb, I did.

In addition, I had this burning desire to write my ebook and possibly
sell some copies at the conference…to help with that horrendous
debtI had accumulated. One week before the conference I sat and wrote
a 62 page ebook in three days. I poured my heart and soul into that
little book.

I made copies of the ebook on a diskette and put them into tacky blue
jewel cases. On the cases I put cheap white labels with the
information about my book. I brought eight of those cases to the
conference. Four I donated to Sunny Ross as prizes for the attendees.
The other four I had hoped to sell.

I had 7 participants sign-up for my workshop. I had put time and
effort into a handout for participants and when it was over I was
proud of my presentation.

Never did sell any copies of my ebook.

There was also a publisher there. Someone handed her a completed
manuscript typed and placed in a very nice box. I would have printed
out my little ebook to take with me but I couldn't afford a new
ink cartridge for my printer.

All I had was my ebook in that tacky blue jewel case.

On a whim, I handed it to her. Thankfully I'm too old to worry
about embarrassment anymore.

I remained for two more days and felt so lucky to be among such
accomplished writers and authors who gave exceptional workshops.

I flew home on Friday. I'm not sure what I had hoped would happen
at that conference, but now the actual dollar amount of that trip
started sinking in. And with that came the hopelessness.

On Saturday I wrapped up each of my dreams in tissue paper and placed
them gently in a box. The most important one? Remember when we talked
about queries similar to groveling? I hate writing queries and I
stopped doing it about three months ago.

There's got to be a way to make money other than having to beg
editors to take my articles.

I decided that I was going to make money writing and selling ebooks
from my Web site. Then, I could have the freedom to do what I
love…helping others achieve their dreams and writing what I want,
without worrying about deadlines.

No more queries, no more worrying whether Web sites will pay me or
not, and no more worrying about dotcoms that don't.

I very, very carefully wrapped that dream last. I just didn't
want to let it go. I placed the box, full of my dreams, on a shelf. I
didn't have the heart to throw them in the garbage. This was just
a minor set back. That's all. I refused to give up completely.

On Sunday I began checking the want ads in the newspaper. I also
refused to go back to work full-time. That's a step backwards and
I wasn't willing to let go of my dream completely. Part-time was
all I was willing to do.

You know? Those courtesy clerks at the local supermarket get a lot of
exercise pushing 40 carts back into the store and I could certainly
use some exercise.

On Monday I walked back and forth in front of my little house. Hands
behind my back, head shaking from side-to-side mumbling,
"You're just a silly old fool. You're nothing but a
silly, silly old fool".

"You really believed that you could write an ebook that nobody
had even read and that you could make money from it…just like
that? You've taken leave of your senses girlfriend!"

On Tuesday I checked my Web site and email and grieved the loss of my
dream. I patted myself on the back and told myself, "It's
okay. You tried and no one can fault you for that".

I opened up the following email and it read,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi Joyce,

Bet you firgured it would take a life time for me to write to you.
Well I have read your WONDERFUL 62 page + or - story and I love it.
How about a 200 page book? I've got thousands, yes thousands of
ideas. I wanted to call you but no telephone number. Of course that
will only slow me down as I will continue to research until I locate
the proper phone number. We have friends in the same places.

If you get this email before I call, please call me at my home phone
(private) number (xxx) xxx-xxxx. If I do not answer, please leave a
message and I will get right back to you.

It was a pleasure to meet you. Delighted you joined us at the e-
writers conference.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Remember…I'm still grieving the loss of my dream. My first
thought was, "I've got to watch my money very closely now.
Would it be cheaper to call her on my cell phone or the regular
telephone?"

I phoned her on my cell phone. I decided that was cheaper.

"I loved your ebook Joyce. Will you write another one about
something completely different? It will be a hardcover book. I pay my
authors $1,000.00 up front and 20% royalties."

Still grieving I say, "Oh…I'm so glad you liked my book.
And sure,I'll write a different book. Good bye."

I hung up the phone and it took three hours for it to finally sink
in. I had written a little ebook that no one had even read and the
first person to read it offers me a publishing contract?

QUICK! Where'd I put that damn box? I've got to find that box
and unwrap those dreams! I'm back in business. Yahoo! I'm not
a silly old fool after all. I'm a dreamer who never gave up on
her
dreams!

And that, guys, is what Ms. Stowe meant as a "tight place"
and yes, she was exactly right. The "tide did turn".

More on this saga next time and please, please never give up on your
dreams. Pack them away, maybe, but never toss that box into the
garbage.

And my thanks to subscribers who have cheered me on. And especially
to Mary Emma Allen. Mary Emma relayed a wonderful story of a friend
of hers who took all her writings and manuscripts and placed them in
a box. She gave the box to a friend and told her to throw them into
the garbage. The friend safely tucked them away for safe keeping. The
original owner of the manuscripts ran back to the friend several
months later, relieved that her friend still had them and had not
thrown them away.

What a great story Mary Emma and a reminder to all of us…set it
aside, but never, ever toss it out completely.

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CLASSIFIED ADS
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"All good books are alike in that they are truer than
if they really happened and after you are finished
reading one you will feel that it all happened to you.
Afterwards it all belongs to you -- the good and the bad,
the ecstasy, the remorse and sorrow, the people and the
places and how the weather was. If you can get so you
can give that to people, then you are a writer."
--Ernest Hemingway

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VALIANT RESOURCES
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I mentioned Judy last time when she had a hard-drive crash and she
was hoping to reconnect with lost subscribers. I finally took the
time and visited her Web site. Sheesh…what a great site! Bookmark
her site and sign-up for her ezine please.

Judy Justices'RestStop Writers' Newsletter and Web Site
http://www.creativepurrsuits.com/reststopnews/index.html

emilyv.com-Writing for the Web-Publish,Promote,Sell Web site and ezine
http://www.emilyv.com/

Content Counts Web Site for Freelancers
http://www.contentcounts.net/

This active group for writers gets sidetracked sometimes, but
I've been a sub for a year now and never fail to get one or two
very valuable resources from it. Sign up for digest…it's very
busy.
WorkForWriters-Very Active Mailing List from F. Moderno
http://www.WorkForWriters@onelist.com

Useful Publications and Web Sites for Writers Web Site
http://www.crosswinds.net/~lyrictas/writing/wr1b.htm

And in a continuing effort to always improve our writing so we never,
ever come to accept "I ain't got none" as
proper,conversational
English.
Common Errors in English by Paul Brians-Professor of English
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/index.html

The resources that I provide in Byte Out of Crime are listings of my
collection of Web sites and newsletters that have improved my own
writings. As a Web writer plan on subscribing to a bazillion free
newsletters and ezines. Also plan on spending half your life just
reading them. It is time well spent and requires a lot of patience.
This is research and is a requirement to being successful. It might
feel like you're wasting time, but you're not. Slow down,
listen and read, read, and read some more.

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WARNINGS AND BEWARES
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A follow-up to last time and the information about Ycraze.com.

Karon did email me with clarification about these guys. She indicated
that they had paid her and the check did clear. She also noted that
they promised her (and all their writers) a gift for the
inconvenience. She's waiting for a box full of cosmetics as a
"so sorry" gesture. I personally think that's admirable
of them to go to those efforts to mend a wrong. She'll let me
know if
they follow through. I wonder what they're giving their male
writers?

And to continue with warnings and bewares. You know what guys. From
all my groups, writers are starting to panic. Web sites are dropping
like flies. I've read so many stories about writers who have
literally lost most of their well-paying jobs due to layoffs and
companies that are just folding up.

While this seems like a sound of doom and gloom, I can't help but
interpret this differently. We talked earlier about groveling and
queries and dotcoms that don't and I'm convinced that we have
to do things differently.

Let's kick our writing up a notch. That's where I'm
headed by writing and selling ebooks. I can't continue to place
my future in the hands of Web sites that may or may not make it.
It's just too risky, so let's look else where for writing
success.

I'm trying it now…with my ebooks. Can I make a living from
just selling ebooks through my Web site? Well…you know you'll
be the first to know.

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PLUGS, PLUGS, PLUGS
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And where's a better place to possibly make money and start
selling our ebooks? Possibly booklocker.com? I submitted my ebook to
Angela Adair-Hoy because I can't afford to take plastic money yet
on my Web site and she can. My ebook debuts, hopefully, this week at
her site.

Let's see if one can make a living from doing this and writing
articles, of course. But when the Web sites go under, there is some
measure of safety in knowing that you've written something once
and you might, just might be able to make a decent monthly income
from it.

Next time I'll talk for sure about "publishing suicide".
Web sites or ezines that don't have some type of paid advertisers
are said to be committing "publishing suicide". Welp,
that's
me. I'm going to do this without paid advertising of any kind on
my
Web site.

Advertising moneys aren't as effective as everyone once thought
anyway, so let's look for alternatives.

Also more on my new book contract, even though my publisher only
publishes about 5 books per year, and I only get $1,000.00 and only
20% royalties and why I trust that all of this is such a "good
thing".
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If transmitting all or part of this ezine, please use good judgement.

Thank you for being a subscriber.

Take care of yourselves, Happy Holidays to all, and remember to panic
and take risks,

Joyce Jace owner/editor

For Overworked Parents and Underpaid Writers
http://www.jmjace.com

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DISCLAIMERS FOR WHATEVER THEY'RE WORTH
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I am not stating that the listed web sites or owners should be
avoided by writers, at all costs. What I am declaring is that
complaints and cautions have been circulated about these web sites.
Therefore, please use caution if dealing with any of those mentioned
and take any information provided by me, with a grain of salt. Follow
your own intuition and seek additional information to supplement that
which you have received here.

And, I'm not sure that this feeble attempt is enough to keep my
keester out of a legal battle, but it's the best I can do right now.
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Copyright 1999-2000 Joyce Jace
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