How to Get Published

By Al Kalar

Writers write

Copyrights aren’t just one thing; they’re a bundle of rights. Examples:

• First North American rights
• First World rights
• First hard cover rights
• Electronic rights
• Movie rights
• Television rights
• Exclusive rights for a period of time
• Non-competition rights (no sales to another magazine for instance)
• and so on.

You’ve found a publisher. Now, which rights do you sell to them? (more…)

By Al Kalar

If you wouldn’t write it and sign it, don’t say it.

Your book is cleaned up. You’ve created a masterpiece that will appeal to a targeted segment of readers (or who knows, a blockbuster best seller?). The first paragraph of your book “sings” and will hook the reader into a ride that won’t let him/her go until the last sentence.

So, how do you go about finding a publisher? (more…)

By Al Kalar

Three hints for making a speech:
Be sincere.
Be brief.
Be seated.

The battle is over and the dust is settling. The girl says, “yes”. The bad guy is busted by the cops. The rescuers break through to the survivors. The scam succeeds. So, now what happens?

If it happened to me, I’d be talking about it to anyone who’d listen for the next couple of years. I’d bore them to death.

Don’t. (more…)

By Al Kalar

Make your characters grow

The arc, or climax, in a story is the place where most of your accumulated problems come together. It’s the rescue, the big battle, the proposal where the girl says “yes”, landing the big job, getting away with the heist or getting caught. It’s usually the most dramatic scene (with the possible exception of the start) in the book.

For a non-fiction work, it may be where you tie all your lines of logic together, the proposal, or exposition of the consequences of what happened before in a history work. It’s the point towards which you were going with the front portion of your book. (more…)

By Al Kalar

Plot development originally takes place when you outline your book. Sometimes the characters take over and alter your plans, but don’t let that stop you from at least trying to control the situation.

So, work within your plot plan when you can.

Develop the situation

The main reason for the middle of your yarn is to develop the situation(s) being faced by your main character(s). Everything here eventually leads to the climax (arc) of the story. (more…)