What's A Bio?

As executive editor of Starsongs magazine, one of my responsibilities is to obtain a bio from Starsongs contributors. After I sent out the request for bios, I realized that some young writers, being published for the first time, might not know what a bio is.

Readers are fascinated to know about the person who wrote the stories, poetry, articles, etc that they read. That is the purpose of a bio. It tells your readers about you, the writer. As you write your bio, consider the things you believe your readers would like to know about you.

A bio is usually limited to a certain number of words, so include the facts that are most important and that relate to your work. Let's create a sample bio:

Jane Doe is a high school student at Anywhere High School in Somewhere, New State. She lives on a ranch with her mom and dad and four brothers and two sisters. Jane likes to ride horses and take care of them. She also helps her mom and dad by feeding the chickens and gathering the eggs every day. She has been on her school basketball team for three years. Last year, her team went to state. Jane wants to go to college and be a veterinarian after she graduates. She likes to write short stories and won a county short story contest in fifth grade. She visits her aunt and uncle in New York City every summer.

Okay, all of the things that Jane has written are important to her and her life. However, this bio is 117 words and the editor has asked for no more than 50 words. Uh-oh! That means 67 words need to be cut out of this paragraph!

Let's take a look at the things that are most important to the reader. Where you live and your approximate age, as well as your writing history are usually of interest. However, the fact that Jane won a short story contest and has submitted a short story to the magazine tells the reader she likes to write short stories, so "she likes to write short stories" can be eliminated. Five words gone, 67 more to go!

The other facts mentioned in this bio can be kept or eliminated depending on the type of story Jane wrote. If her story is about horses, then the information that she lives on a ranch and works with horses would be relevant. The fact that she plays basketball would not, nor that she visits her aunt and uncle in New York City every summer.

Suppose Jane has written an essay about basketball, Now her participation on her school basketball team and in state competition would take precedence over the fact that she lives on a ranch. The sentences about fishing and gathering eggs from the chickens are not necessary at all unless Jane's story is about her battle with an attack hen! Neither is the fact that she visits family in New York City every summer, unless she wrote a story about the difference between country and city life, for example.

When limited to a word count, consider the aspects of your life that relate to the subject of the work you have written. Speak to the here and now instead of the future. Therefore, "Jane wants to go to college and be a veterinarian after she graduates" is not important at this point in time.

Always write you bio in third person. In other words, write "Jane Doe is...." instead of "My name is Jane Doe and I...". It may seem strange to write about yourself in third person, but this makes your bio sound more believable. No one likes to hear someone brag on themselves, but if someone else is bragging about you, then it's more easily accepted!

As always, be careful what you reveal about yourself. When you present your information in a bio, hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people may read it. Don't ever give out anything personal, such as your street address or telephone number. It is best to make general statements, such as the city and state where you live, or if in a small town, the name of your state only. Don't mention the specific school that you attend. Your grade or level of school is plenty.

A bio is a great way to tell your readers a lot about yourself in just a few words. It is also an opportunity to let people know your accomplishments and the things that make you special.

Happy writing!

Where Did They Get That Idea?

Ever read a really good story, then wonder where the idea for it came from?

Where do authors get those ideas?

Ideas are all around us.

Take a look at your friends and imagine how they would handle different situations.

Listen to a conversation held in a public place, like the grocery or convenience store. Even though you may catch just a snippet, you can build a situation where that conversation would fit and write your story from there.

Think of a conflict or problem you have encountered in your life and how you solved it, then make up a story about it.

Write about a place that you know about, such as your home town or somewhere you have visited on vacation.

Create a fantasy world of your own!

Take incidents that have happened to you and add a few fictitious characters.

There are always interesting stories that can lead to great ideas on the news and in the newspaper.

Talk to a person who has a unique interest or hobby.

Build a story around a special event in your town or tradition in your family.

Just remember that fiction is not true, so don't use real people in your stories without their permission!

We'll talk about developing characters for your fiction stories next time.

Happy writing!

Two, Too, and To

The three words two, too, and to stump even experienced writers. Here are a few little tips that may help clarify the meanings and usages of these three homonyms.

Two is always a number, so not often confused with the remaining two words, too and to.

Too is an adverb that can be exchanged for words such as “also”. It implies something extra or more than.

EX: Johnny will help us, too (also).

It is too cold for swimming. (colder temperature than normal for swimming).

It is too icy for the buses today. (Icier than acceptable for safety).

The word to has many meanings.

1) It addresses moving toward something or relating to a position.

EX: I am going to the mountains. (toward a destination).

It is five to seven. (The time is moving toward five o’clock).

Get to the point. (Reach the final destination of the discussion).

2) Demonstrates an intention or a purpose.

EX: I attend school to learn.

We are going to watch our sister at the ballgame.

3) Defines a position.

EX: The store is next to the house. (tells where the store is located in relation to the house).

4) Used prior to a verb to indicate the infinitive.

EX: I would like to clarify the meaning of these words.

Look up the word to in a dictionary, and you will find several definitions. The above are simply a few of them.

Most of the time, if two, representing a number is not the appropriate word, and too, meaning also or extra, does not apply, to is the word you need for grammatical correctness.

Happy writing!

They Accepted My Work!

Part II - Responsibilities & Renumeration

Once an editor expresses interest in your work, you may be asked to make corrections or changes. It is important to follow up with the revisions on a timely basis. Even though some grammatical or spelling errors may be corrected for you, be sure to check the entire piece for needed corrections.

It is usually after the work is revised and acceptable for publication that a contract is sent. Be sure to read the contract, sign it, and return it to the address indicated.

Payment may be made at the time of sale, but is also sometimes made when the work is published. Just because an article is purchased in May, for example, does not mean it will necessarily appear in the next edition of the magazine. It may be four to six months before your work appears in print.

Not all markets are paying markets. Some smaller publications pay in contribution copies. However, this can be an asset to your writing career because it builds writing credits. This means that the next time you submit something to a magazine, you can tell that editor you were previously published in a former publication. Be sure to give the name of the publication and the edition in which your work appeared.

Once your work appears in print, tell everyone! Post it on your My space page, tell your friends, blog about it. Get your name out there. Again, remember to keep negative comments to yourself, but put the emphasis on the positive. The more you promote yourself and your work, the more skill and confidence you will build as a writer.

Happy writing!

They Accepted My Work!

Part I - Rights

After waiting and waiting, and maybe receiving a few rejection notices, the day finally arrives when someone accepts your work. Wow! This is exciting! So, what's next?

There are responsibilities that you and the editor both need to meet. The use of your work is finalized with a contract. When you receive a contract, it will appear to have a lot of big legal words and may be confusing. The main thing you need to know is what the magazine will use your work for and how long you are "selling" it to them.

There are several different kinds of rights. Here are some of the most common ones:

First rights or First North American Serial Rights. This gives the magazine the right to publish your work for the first time. In other words, when you sell these rights, you are telling the publication that your work has not appeared in print anywhere else. Let the editor know when you submit your work if it has appeared in print anywhere else, including on a blog or as a school assignment. It is always best to be honest if your work has appeared anywhere else in any form. A contract will usually tell you how long a period of time the magazine "owns" your work. After that period of time expires, you are free to sell your work elsewhere.

Second Rights or Reprint Rights. Once your work has appeared in print, it can never be sold as "first rights" again. . However, several publications accept reprinted work. You must tell the editor that only second or reprints rights are available and include what magazine, newspaper, or other publication the work appeared in. It's like putting on a new pair of shoes for the first time. Once you've worn them once, you can wear them again and again, but never again for the "first time"

Exclusive reprint rights.This may sound the same as the paragraph above except for that word "exclusive". This means the magazine wishes to buy and reprint your work, but you have sold that right to that magazine only. You can never sell that particular poem, story, article, artwork, etc. to another publication.

All rights. Just like it sounds, all rights means that you no longer have a right to do anything with this particular work ever again. It totally belongs to the publication you have sold it to.What was once yours now belongs to them and you can never use it anywhere again. This usually applies to larger publications that is read by a lot of people, called circulation.

Let's look at why this makes sense. If you sell a poem to two magazines in two different areas of the country that only two thousand people read, what are the chances that the same person would read both magazines? Not very good. However, if you could sell your poem to two magazines that are available all across the country and fifty million people read each of them, the chances are higher that many of the same people read both magazines. Each magazine wants to give their readers "new" material their readers have not seen before.

For further information about rights, go to this web site from where this information was taken.

Happy writing!