Next Noble Pen Meeting

Apr 5th, 2012 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

The Hunger Games movie opened with $19.7 million in ticket sales its first night.  Other sources indicate a great many fans have read it on their Kindle.  Electronic books are attracting readers that don’t make a habit of reading paper books.

Not everyone is happy with “fast-food” popular fiction.  This article calls The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, and Twilight “too much of the same thing” and wants people to think more about the “beauty of language” and deeper ideas.

Publishers are continuing to go through their catalogs converting older works to ebooks.  For instance, Random House is putting out 13 of the Judy Blume books.

Victories

Dylan got a rejection from a publisher for a romance story he submitted.  He has received draft cover art (pretty cool) for one of his stories that he will publish as an ebook.

Shannon now has in print two of his works, Minions of Evil and the ParAbnormal article.  He is busy setting up web pages to promote his work.

Aimee wrote 17,000 words in one weekend.  It is for a different story that she had to get down so she could get back to the one we are reviewing.

Tyree attended a convention in Memphis and Sam’s Dot books sold very well.

Education

What motivates your characters?  There can be a wide variety of motivations.   Put another way, What’s at Stake?  Fiction and even memoirs need to address this question.

Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it. ~Dwight D. Eisenhower

We would frequently be ashamed of our good deeds if people saw all of the motives that produced them.  ~La Rochefoucauld

Upcoming Schedule

April 5th

Nick
Tyree
Shannon

April 12th

Shannon
Ciuin ?
Nick

April 19th

Nick
Lynda ?
Open slot

April 26th

Open slots

Keep Writing,

Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

Mar 29th, 2012 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Your editor has been busier than his usual lazy ways, so must apologize for the lateness of this newsletter.

Victories

Dylan finished his 15,000 word commission at 42,000 words.  So much for planning.  He is also becoming an expert on formatting books for electronic readers, as he works with Sam’s Dot Publishing on their offerings.

Ciuin started a new piece based on her excellent adventures in New Orleans (it’s not Iowa!), featuring a mysterious brooch she saw in a shop and some of the restaurants she enjoyed.  Will it give away the secret gumbo recipe?

Shannon redesigned his web page to promote his forthcoming book.

Education

Google Ngram viewer offers an interesting way to look at word and phrase usage. Find out how common a term is.  See when a word was most used in or faded from American English, British English, fiction, nonfiction, or some other languages, etc.  See when a term replaced a similar one in usage.   (Thanks, Shannon)

Upcoming Schedule

March 29th

Nick
Tyree
Ciuin

April 5th (just before Easter)

Nick
Tyree?
Shannon

April 12th

Shannon (end of FA)
Ciuin ?
Open slot.

April 17th
Open slots

Keep Writing,

Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

Mar 22nd, 2012 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Will authors be able to make money from ebooks?  UK author Lloyd Shepherd wrote an interesting blog on piracy of intellectual property.  David Carnoy has a similar article.  Some sites have been shut down.

Victories

Shannon finished the draft of Fangs Again.

Dylan has written 35,000 words of his 15,000 word commission.   He found he needed the extra words to tell the story, but doesn’t get paid for them.

Education

There are many reasons a manuscript may be rejected, including many that do not reflect badly on the writing.  That article discusses reasons.  It and this one list some famous authors who were rejected dozens of times.

A rejection is nothing more than a necessary step in the pursuit of success. -Bo Bennett

Rejection can be hard to take, but be thankful if this quote isn’t used:  “It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”  – Shakespeare

Upcoming Schedule

March 22nd

Shannon
Aimee
Lynda

March 29th

Nick
Tyree
Ciuin

April 5th (just before Easter)

Nick
Tyree?
Shannon

April 12th

Open slots

Keep Writing,

Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

Mar 15th, 2012 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Apple and five publishing houses are under investigation by the Dept of Justice over Apple’s plan to set ebook prices.  Wall Street Journal article here.

PayPal issued a statement on their policy of not allowing certain kinds of transactions.

Victories

Tyree’s Nyx 3, The Protectors is out.  It is for sale on Smashwords and in paperback from him or Sams Dot.  The Noble Pen is mentioned for helping him refine the story.

Shannon has a second book accepted for publication.  Fangs for Nothing will be published by Sams Dot.  Ciuin has already found a couple people eager to buy it after hearing a sample.  Shannon is negotiating for panels and readings at DemiCon and CONvergence.

Kris (we miss you!) may have another cover art commission.

Education

J. Shea posted an interesting essay on believability and author biases (intentional and unintentional).  Sometimes the author doesn’t convince the reader that things could be the way his story depicts them, even in a different universe.

Every novelist must begin by creating for himself a world, great or little, in which he can honestly believe. ~Joseph Conrad

I never cease being dumbfounded by the unbelievable things people believe. ~Leo Rosten

I like to use ‘I Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter’ on my toast in the morning …  How was breakfast? Unbelievable. ~Demetri Martin

Ironically, in today’s marketplace successful nonfiction has to be unbelievable, while successful fiction must be believable.  ~Jerry B. Jenkins

Upcoming Schedule

March 15th

Shannon
Lynda
Tyree

March 22nd

Shannon
Aimee
Lynda?

March 29th

Nick
Tyree
Ciuin

April 5th (just before Easter)

Nick
Tyree?
Shannon

Keep Writing,

Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

Mar 8th, 2012 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

If you have few or no fiction publication credits, you are eligible for the ongoing Writers of the Future contest for SF/Fantasy/Dark Fantasy writing .   There is no-entry-fee, and it has significant prizes.  Their rules prohibit using anyone else’s poetry, lyrics, characters, or universe in your story.  I’m not sure if you can use the universe you live in, since it has already been used by others ;-).  The contest is sponsored by L. Ron Hubbard‘s organization.  You might get on a mailing list, but nothing in the rules requires Auditing.

Victories

Tyree is glad that Dylan set up an on-line bookstore for Sams Dot.  It works – they made a sale.

Ciuin finished her play.

Education

A mish-mash of topics this week:

Tyree says he can see that workshopping your writing or using a critique group is a good idea.  He has benefited and can see the improvement in others.

Shannon recommends a book by Paul Murray, called Skippy Dies, for anyone who wants to see good use of experimentation with writing techniques, including second person and stream of consciousness, and a variety of tone from dismal to silly.  It’s long, but critically acclaimed.

You may want to check out Preditors and Editors, a web site that reports attempts to rip off writers and reviews legitimate avenues.

Upcoming Schedule

March 8th

Shannon
Aimee
Dylan

March 15th

Shannon
Lynda
Tyree

March 22nd

Shannon
Aimee
Open slot

March 29th

Nick
Tyree
Ciuin

Keep Writing,
Bill