Copyright © 2002 Richard Seltzer All rights reserved. To
correspond with the author, send email to seltzer@samizdat.com
Comments
welcome.
Everything
But the Internet gathers the complete non-Internet works
of Richard Seltzer on CD, in plain text, with software that lets you listen
as well as read. It includes: The Name of Hero, Ethiopia Through Russian
Eyes, The Lizard of Oz, Without a Myth, Spit and Polish, Mercy, Rights
Crossing, short stories, articles, book reviews, and poems.
Question -
I am writing a mystery novel, but I would like to incorporate the real
town name in my story, and some real history on the area, along with my
fictional murder mystery. Is this o.k.? Will the city have a problem
with me doing this? Do I need permission? Thanks for any help
you can give me.
Answer -
The question is whether what you say in your book could in any way
be construed as libelous -- to an individual, or a corporation (including
a town). If so, you'd be much better off using the old "the names have
been changed to protect the innocent" and making it fiction rather than
history.
Subject: Historical 1918 Akron Ohio Newspapers now defunct
Monday, May 20, 2002
Question -
Trying to produce a historical history of the 37th Division,147th Infantry,Co.B,
which was Akrons own.Have been using old
letters, photos, poetry, and scrapbook from mothers trunk.Several of
the 1918 war articles were from newspapers now gone(Akron Times Press),
which at the time were Akrons biggest and best.My question is ..would copyright
laws exist.
Answer -
Anything published in the US prior to 1922 would be in the public domain.
For other suggestions (not fast and potentially useful) check my article
at http://www.samizdat.com/search.html#fly
My article at http://www.samizdat.com/solovieff.html is an interesting example of results gleans by such means.
Subject: manuscript
Tuesday, May 07, 2002
Question -
please could you advise when book is writen, how can I create a manuscript?
Answer -
Normally, today, when you write a book, you do so using a word processing
program, such as Word. Then you submit the manuscript either by email (as
a Word file) or printed out. Normally, the editor or agent to whom you
intend to submit the manuscript will give you the specs -- the font and
type size and margins -- that they prefer.
Subject: I have a good question for you
Thursday, February 28, 2002
Question -
Hello my name is Kainen and I am a student at Courtenay Middle School.
I am in info tech 7 and my class is doing a web page, I made up a topic
on my web and it is "What makes a good writer". I would like to ask
you about writing, one of my main questions are "What experiences do you
need?" and "What do you have to do to be a really good writer?" is
another question and just one more question "What do you find makes a story
good?".
Answer -
To be a good writer you need
1) to have something you really want to say and
2) someone you really want to say it to.
If your need/desire is strong enough, sooner or later you'll develop
the skill to do it well.
A good story is one that you want to hear/feel/experience; it is so compelling that you'll make the time to read it regardless of what else may be going on in your life. You feel that the author is speaking to you and saying something very important in a compelling way.
A great story is one that you need to experience repeatedly, one that reveals something more about the author, about you yourself, or about what it means to be human each time you reread it.
Subject: Historical Fiction
Tuesday, October 29, 2002
Question -
I am attempting to write a novel that takes place in the 1870s in New
York. Can you please give me some research strategies? I don't know how
to accurately describe a place I can never visit in person. Any suggestions
about where to start would be greatly appreciated.
Answer -
First, why New York in 1870? Second, read Time and Again by Jack Finney
(which is set at that time); also the sequel From Time to Time. Third,
seek books of photographs taken in New York around that time. Fourth, read
contemporary authors who lived in and wrote about New York at that time.
Fifth, read The James by RWB Lewis and Edith Wharton by RWB Lewis.
Sixth, seek diaries by New Yorkers who lived around that time.
Seventh, read extensively in the New York Times and any other newspaper
that you can find from that year either online or on microfilm at a library.
Don't just read the articles. Pay special attention to the ads, including
personal ads and classifieds.
The most difficult challenge will be try try to feel what it was like to be alive then with no knowledge of what came next, no knowledge of the future -- to see events as unique moments, with the potential to lead to many possibilities. Contemporary newspapers and diaries are best for that. Memoirs looking back on that time are worst.
Do you live in or near a town or city that has a section with buildings that would have been standing in the 1870s? If so go there, often. If possible, rent a room there for a brief time, darken the windows; try to reshape the space to before electric lights, etc.
Also, keep notebook in which to record when various inventions became commonplace (like the electric light bulb, the telephone), to continually remind yourself what was and what was not available and when, and what alternatives people used.
Try to imagine the consequences of the pre-modern alternatives in all their sensory glory -- horse-drawn vehicles instead of cars, and all the stuff that horses leave behind, and all the supplies that horses need to keep going. And how people disposed of trash and garbage. And the state of plumbing. And heating and cooking with wood or coal and all the consequent smoke. It was probably worse in London in Dickens' day, but New York in the 1870 would have been a sooty, smelly mess, at least in the well-populated areas.
Try to get hold of a book of historical maps of the New York area that
would give you a sense of how the metropolis grew. Some areas that are
asphalt and cement now would have been meadows and woods then. Also
take note of the political game -- at the end of the nineteenth century,
New York swallowed the cities that surrounded it. (See The Bureaucratic
State
by Shapiro.) In 1870, Brooklyn would have been a separate city -- one
of the largest cities in the world.
Subject: Cook Book
Thursday, September 12, 2002
Question -
I am very much intersted to write a cooking book but I dont know where
to begin, please help.
Answer -
Consider writing a cooking book that doesn't depend on the reader understanding
cooking terminology.
I can go to AltaVista Advanced Search, enter "recipe" as the query term, and enter a list of everything that is in my refrigerator as the "sort by" words; and I'll get a list of Web pages on which those appear, many of which will in fact be recipes using those ingredients. I often use that as an example of how to get the most out of search engines -- searching without categories, when you don't know categories.
I'm sure that there are many people like me who don't have a clue what a souffle is or even a casserole -- the cooking illiterate.
Arrange and index your books so people can find what they want by ingredients.
Many cookbooks are written for people who are cooking pros, who decide what they want to cook and then buy the ingredients needed.
Make yours a book for people who are amateurs, and who would just as soon stay amateurs -- for people who want to put together tasty (or at least palatable meals) using the ingredients that happen to be on hand.
Keep it simple, make it practical. e.g., you have some left over chicken? then if you also have X, you can do Y, or if you have Z, you can do A, etc. Starting with a major ingredient and then offering a series of branching alternatives, depending on what you happen to have.
At any rate, that's the kind of cook book I'd like.
As for the writing of such a book, follow the same approach. Start with what's in your refrigerator now.
Subject: my family's story of russia new amer name
Tuesday, September 10, 2002
Question -
I have a very good book to write about my fathers family during an
attempt to flee russia in 1951. my father told me some of it then i studied
the rest from letters and information. this is going to be my best book
ever. a real movie type of book to. well my question is this for the 1st
time i will use the computer what program do i use excel, word perf, mirco
office what? do you know? and who do i get to read it and publish it for
free? thank you from connie miller
Answer -
If you are writing a book, Microsoft Word is probably most commonly
used.
If a screen play, Final Draft.
To talk to other people who have written books and have self-published
them, or published them with print-on-demand publishing companies,
join
the email discussion group
Print-On-Demand@yahoogroups.com
To talk to people involved in publishing books in electronic form, join
the email discussion group
ebook-community@yahoogroups.com
Subject: how to pick out a storyline or angle
Monday, September 09, 2002
Question -
Hi Richard,
I am in the process of writing a book proposal, but I am hitting a few problems. I hope you will be able to help, it is very difficult finding expert advice as a first time writer.
The book is based on my experiences as a gun-runner in the fight against apartheid in South Africa. I am British, but at age 18, in the mis '80s I was recruited to the ANC. They were setting up a safari company, as a front for a weapons smuggling operation.
The safari truck had secret compartments built in, which could hold about a tonne of weapons.
I was one of the first drivers, and worked on and off for five years until negotiations began, Mandela was released and everything worked out happily. In total we moved 40 tonnes, we were the most successful and were never caught.
If we had been caught, we would have faced torture and assuming we survived that, the death penalty.
There has already been a documentary made about this, and I have sold a film option too.
The problem I am having is fundamental, one of approach. Everything we did was 'undercover', whilst it was tense and serious, it wasn't actually much more exciting than the average 'overland safari', which would make it like a holiday story, with a delivery at the end. This is interesting, but at the end of the day it is not that extraordinary, or is it?
I think there is more too it than that. I want to explore the ideas behind it, about racism and nationalism, about how people seperate the world into 'us and them', myself included. I was in regular and close contact with my 'enemy' though, so I got to know them fairly well, I even liked them. White South Africans have a lot in common with people here in England.
Further, I want to argue that if we look at the world as a whole today, globalised, we see similar divisions of power and wealth, a macrocosm of Apartheid. I want to argue that many of our attitiudes to the third world are similarly distorted, and to expose how and why.
I find it hypocritical that people are so easy to condemn events in history out of hand, dismissing people and events as evil, when there are lessons and parallels there for ourselves and the world today, if we look.
So, I have a message I want to weave in. I believe the essence of the story lies behind the action, rather than in it.
However, as you are probably thinking, this is all a bit complicated. The problem I am having is in deciding WHAT the book is about! The story in one sentence, an angle that sums all that up.
Having seen the first draft of my proposal, which was admittedly a bit confused, my agent seems to have dumped me. I am not even sure any more if I want to keep pouring time and energy into something when all I seem to get is knockbacks! I am sure also, that all writers feel like that sometimes, that coping with that IS what makes the difference.
Any advice you could give would be most helpful. When you approach a historical story you must face similar problems.
I have never used this site before, I think it is an excellent idea though, and I thank you in advance for your time.
Answer -
Have you seen the movie Sliding Doors? (1998, Gynneth Paltrow). I'd
use a similar approach -- tell two stories in parallel:
the one is every day, normal, just a safari truck doing a milk run.
The other is an alternative reality version, where something goes wrong
and hell breaks loose. Do it in such a way that the evident nervousness,
anxiety, tension of the safari driver in the normal version is due to the
whole range of very real possibilities shown in the hell version.
Subject: Agent submission
Tuesday, November 20, 2001
Question -
I have an idea for a series of fictional books dealing with the Revolutionary
War era, but am unsure as to how to go about getting an agent interested.
What is the usual practice? I have not been published before, but cannot
forget this idea.
Answer -
If you have not been published before and do not have a completed manuscript,
it is virtually impossible to get an agent -- at least a reputable one.
You'll end up prey to the unscrupulous ones who charge to read and comment
on manuscripts.
I'd recommend that you first write the first book of the series.
Are these children's books? Are they heavy on the history or heavy on the fiction? Do you know of other series that feel similar to you (in terms of audience)?
If you can identify a likely publisher, or better still a likely editor, you might be better off going directly to that publisher/editor with your series proposal, once you have a completed book to show. An agent is more likely to be helpful after you have made the first sale yourself.
Subject: Writing environment
Question -
I have a passion for military history and it's leaders. I'm in law
enforcement and feel that there is clear and distinct connection between
military leadership and leadership in law enforcement. My question
is chosing a suitable writing environment, where? when? and how long and
often...
Answer -
That depends entirely on your personality. In my own case, in the early
stages, I try to impose some kind of discipline of a certain number of
hours a day or a week in research and making notes and outlining. (That's
like New Year's resolutions -- it
never works, but you've got to try...)
Then if the story I'm trying to write has the makings of a book -- if
the characters start to come alive in mind, and if I really care about
what happens -- at some point the story starts to write itself. Then it
doesn't matter where you are are or what you are doing, the ideas come,
you just need to find some way to jot them dowm clearly enough (on napkins
or whatever) so when you get a chance to actually "write" you are reminded
of what you need to say. The real writing takes place in your head, not
on
the paper.
Subject: writing a book
Question -
I am interested in writing my first book. I need your expert advise
on writing a book and how to first start and finish a book.
Answer -
The main elements necessary in building a novel:
1) the mythic/historic context
2) the characters, who interact and are motivated within that context
3) the plot, which is based on conflict among the characters, arising
from
their nature, rather than from artificial circumstances.
Once you have established the complete story, you then decide
4) the perspective/point of view
5) the starting point
6) what gets shown, what gets told, what gets hinted at, and what is
left unshown/untold
To get a clearer sense of what I mean, check my review of The Iliad at http://www.samizdat.com/isyn/iliad.html
For inspiration, check my other book reviews http://www.samizdat.com/isyn/reviews.html
Subject: Medieval Ethiopian history
Tuesday, July 03, 2001
Question -
Since you have some knowledge about the history of Ethiopia, maybe
you can answer some of my questions?
It would beyond the scope of this e-mail to describe why I need all this information. However, my plan is to study the last half of 13th century Ethiopian history (1250-1290). Ethiopia was then a Christian enclave surrounded by Islam. I know that both Arabs and Ethiopians (Coptic Church) were not feuding the way European Crusaders were miles up north in the Holy Land. There was a sort of "peaceful" co-existence.
I wish to know if some scholars have studied this period of history. Which books, or articles can you advise me to read about this topic? I am looking for the Ethiopian culture of the time (government, economy, politics) and its relations with the Islamic world. Another very important question, I know that various European countries were aware of the existence of a Christian Kingdom in Ethiopia, were there attempts to seek an alliance with the Ethiopian kingdom during the Crusades?
Likewise, I am studying the perception of Black people in the 13th century, not in Southern Europe where their existence was well known, but in Northern Europe, especially in Germany, Poland, Prussia, the Baltic countries and Russia (Kiev, Novgorod).
This was a time prior to European colonial expansion. The perception
of dark-skinned people who had not embraced Islam (not the Moors or Black
Muslims) may not have been bad. Germany is known to have produced lots
artistic depictions of Blacks, servants or even mercenaries brought back
from the Crusades by the Teutonic Knights, or merchants. Has this
relationship between Black residents and Northern Europeans been studied
by scholars you are aware of?
I hope that you can give some ideas as to where to seek these answers.
Answer -
I am not an expert on that period of Ethiopian history. But I do believe
that very very little is known. Yes, the provocative questions you raise
seem natural and well worthy of study. But you may have very little or
no source material to work with.
I suggest that you pose your question to the email discussion group
H-AFRICA@H-NET.MSU.EDU which includes hundreds of professors who specialize
in African history. You also might want to get in touch with Professor
Richard Pankhurst, POB
1896, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, pankhurst@telecom.net.et (that final "et"
in the address is not a typo; it is the country code for
Ethiopia) and Professor Harold Marcus at Michigan State University,
and Jonathan Edwards at Princeton University, jedwards@Princeton.EDU
followup comment:
I copied the address "H-AFRICA@H-NET.MSU.EDU" which led me to http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/. To tell you the truth even after 7 years on the Internet, I have never participated in an e-mail discussion group. Well, it might be a good idea for me to start sometime, however, looking at some of the topics discussed, I have noticed that some answers were based more on opinion rather than knowledge. I will also investigate your Ethiopian professor, Dr. Pankhurst.
Subject: average writer
Monday, May 07, 2001
Question -
How much does an average writer earns for each copy sold of his books?
Answer -
1) The average writer never gets published.
2) The top 1% who do get published get paid a royalty which is negotiated
as part of the contract. Said royalty might be as low as 5% of net (not
the price on the cover, but what remains after discounts etc.) on mass
market paperbacks, to as high as 15% of gross (the cover price) on hard
covers. The percent depends on how much market clout the particular author
has.
Typically, the author receives an advance (pre-payment of royalties) based on the publisher's conservative estimates of how many copies will sell. Then if and when the sales exceed expectations, the author receives additional royalty payments -- maybe once a quarter or twice a year -- with the publisher holding some money in reserve to cover anticipated book store returns. (Book stores can usually return books to the publisher for a full refund.)
Rough estimate -- if a hard cover sells for $20, the author is probably getting $2 for it. If a mass market paperback sells for $10, the author is probably getting 50 cents for it.
Followup question:
Question -
Is "1)" really true?
Answer -
Yes, many many more books are written than are ever published. It's
worse for fiction than for non-fiction. But that's because anyone who knows
what he's doing only writes a non-fiction book after he has a contract.
(With non-fiction, you submit an outline, a proposal, and a sample chapter.
With fiction, unless you are one of the top writers in the world,
you have to 0write the entire book (on spec) to get a contract. It's a
crazy market. If you'd like to check out some of my stuff, go to
http://www.samizdat.com/readers.html
Subject: WRITING
Thursday, March 28, 2002
Question -
MY QUESTION IS I AM VERY UNORGANIZED PERSON WHEN IT COMES TO WRITING
EVERN
THOUGH I LOVE TO WRITE WHAT IS YOUR SUGGESTION TO ME
Answer -
What are you trying to write? Practice first with email messages, Web
postings, and traditional letters. Then practice keeping a diary/journal.
And read at least a hundred books a year. Don't waste your time trying
to write a book until you develop the
organization skills to write much smaller messages.
Subject -- Children's books
Thursday, March 15, 2001
Question -
What is a good theme to base a childrens book on?
Answer -
If you don't have kids of your own, find relatives and children of
friends and spend lots of time with them; get a sense for what catches
their imaginations (what TV and videogames they are into; what celebrities
they fantasize about; what they hope and dream; what makes them fearful
and insecure). From the clues you see and hear, spin stories for them --
telling them, not writing them. Elaborate and continue the ones that catch
their interest. Those are the ones you should write.
Also, keep in mind that a "book", as opposed to a short story, should have its ups and downs -- the moments of fear and uncertainty, the moments of struggle, and the moments of triumph.
Check the audio-book version of my Lizard of Oz (for free) at http://www.samizdat.com/liz
Also read Guide to Writing for Childen by Jane Yolen (you can get it at Amazon).
Subject: appropriate story theme
Wednesday, January 31, 2001
Question -
Um, hello, uh I'm not sure if this subject matter would be up your
alley but I just want an honest opinion. Okay, I'm writing this story that
takes place in Ancient Egypt and Ethiopia ( I saw your little qoute about
your preferences and I thought you may be the one to ask). It's a story
about an eithteen year old Egyptian prince and his life. His country and
ethiopia are having a war that has been lasting for many many years and
it basically tells how he deals with the war, the various troubles he faces,
and finding his true self, so to speak. Okay, I'm probably boring you to
death right now, but I guess is should go a little bit more into the story.
Here is a VERY short summary of what happens in the book so far:
1. Story starts out in the middle of a small war in the desert.
2. The Egyptian prince (his name is Siris)comes back to Egypt and explains
how his family works and what s going on at the time.
3. meets up with his girlfriend (he does not have the slightest attraction
to this girl because she is his sister, but as you probably know, the custom
in ancient Egypt was to marry your siblings).
4. Has a chariot race with his friend (they are not supposed to be
having this race in the first place so they get in trouble)
5. His friend knocks over a stove and the bazaars (or marketplace)
they are riding in catches on fire.
6. He goes out with his girlfriend alone at night in a boat on the
nile river and she is killed.
7. He comes back to the palace and tells his father what happened and
his father thinks that he murdered his sister.
I know, I know, sounds very choppy but once you read the actual story it comes together very nicely, if you want some more info I would be happy to give it to you. I need all the feedback I can get.
Answer -
Suggestion -- don't make it Ethiopia. Make it a small kingdom to the
south of Egypt in what is now the Sudan. There was probably little or no
contact between Ethiopia and Egypt in ancient times. The Greeks used the
term Ethiopia in a very general sense, meaning basically what's south of
Egypt, not what we today call Ethiopia. (e.g., in the tale about Memnon)
followup question --
Question -
You know, I was going to do Nubia (ancient sudan) but i kind of wanted
the effect of a totally different place than Egypt. Nubia and Egypt are
both deserts, and are practically the same. I chose ethiopia because the
culture is different and the surrounding area is different, you know, I
want to make the story more, how should I say thing? varied. Basically,
I wanted the prince (or maybe i should refer to his name, Siris) to go
to a place that he has never seen before, Do you know of any other ploaces
in Africa that are closer to Egypt and have a terrain like a jungle?
Answer -
1) The oldest (Semitic) (Aksum capital) civilization in Ethiopia dates
from about 200-300 BC (at the earliest) -- a very different timeframe from
ancient Egypt.
2) High mountains, and very difficult terrain separate Ethiopia from
today's Sudan. The Upper Nile region to the Egyptians would have extended
not as far as Ethiopia.
3) Much of Ethiopia is moutains and plateaus, some desert, and in the
lowest valleys dense jungle-like vegetation (but, at least until modern
times, no one could live there because of disease.) The typical setting
is the "amba" (as in Johnson's Rasselas), which is a small fertile plateau
surrounded by steep cliffs.
4) No country with a jungle terrain would ever have been at war with
ancient Egypt.
It sounds like the only use of Ethiopia in your plot was as an antagonist -- a country for Egypt to be at war with. You haven't described any scenes that need to take place there, or anything that needs to happen in a jungle. So pick a country -- any country -- more likely in Asia than Africa -- Babylonia, Assyria, etc. that Egypt often went to war with...
This site is published by B&R Samizdat Express, 33 Gould St., West Roxbury, MA 02132. 617-469-2269 seltzer@samizdat.com
Everything
But the Internet gathers the complete non-Internet works
of Richard Seltzer on CD, in plain text, with software that lets you listen
as well as read. It includes: The Name of Hero, Ethiopia Through Russian
Eyes, The Lizard of Oz, Without a Myth, Spit and Polish, Mercy, Rights
Crossing, short stories, articles, book reviews, and poems.
What do Mark Twain, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Jack London, Edith Wharton, Walt
Whitman, and Zane have in common? Their works are all on the same American
Literature CD, with over 400 books, in plain text, and with
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What do Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, John Milton, William Shakespeare,
Daniel Defoe, Geoffrey Chaucer, and Joseph Conrad have in common? Their
works are all on the same British
Literature CD, with nearly 1000 books, in plain text and with
software that lets you listen as well as read.
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