This is an automatically created post. For comments please contact the maintainer or the newsgroup, not the poster. ---------------------------------------------------------------- rec.arts.sf.composition Frequently Asked Questions (http://www.lshelby.com/rasfcFAQ.html ) Content changed since last update will be marked {this way}. Last updated: 11 Jun 2008 1. Introduction This FAQ has been written by Michelle Bottorff based on comments and suggestions from various members of the group, and is maintained and posted by Michelle Bottorff (mbottorff@lshelby.com ) and Zeborah (zeborah@gmail.com ). The general purpose of the FAQ is to inform newcomers and to serve as repository for useful information. The FAQ will be posted bi-weekly to rasfc and maintained online at http://www.lshelby.com/rasfcFAQ.html. If you have any comments, questions or contributions, please post them in the newsgroup or send them to the FAQ maintainer (see above). Table of contents 1. Introduction <#intro> Table of Contents 2. What is on topic in this newsgroup? <#ontopic> * What we are here to talk about <#subject> * {Off-topic and controversial discussions <#offtopic>} * Critiquing policy <#critique> * Announcements, URL sharing, and Advertising policy <#ads> 3. What posting formats are acceptable? <#posting> * Replying from Google Groups <#google> * Quoting <#quoting> * Crossposting <#crossposting> * Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar <#style> * Courteous conduct <#courtesy> 4. How does one start posting to rasfc? <#newbie> * The proper way to not introduce yourself <#introduce> * Red-flag topics that might best be avoided and why <#redflag> 5. What do the group members mean when they say...? <#vocab> * Terminology, acronyms, common abbreviations 6. Where else can I go for help? <#help> * Other newsgroups <#newsgroups> * Critique groups online and in person <#critgroups> * Reference librarians <#librarians> 7. What do I need to watch out for? <#warning> * Regional specific advice <#regional> * Writer scams <#scams> * Copyright issues <#copyright> 8. What do I need to know about the business of writing? <#business> * Manuscript format <#manuscript> * Word count calculation <#wordcount> * Submissions process <#submission> * Advances <#advances> * Agents <#agents> 9. What legal issues should I be aware of? <#legal> * Your copyright <#yourcopyright> * Other authors' copyright <#othercopyright> * Trademarks <#trademarks> * Assignment of rights <#rights> 10. Additional resources (our links section) <#additional> * Writers' resources <#resources> * Netiquette <#netiquette> Appendix A: Newsgroup Charter <#charter> 2. What is on topic in this newsgroup? What we are here to talk about This group is for the discussion of the writing of speculative fiction, (hereafter shortened to "sf"), or in other words fantasy and science-fiction. (It is NOT for discussing music composition in San Francisco!) The writing of any work of another genre that has strong fantasy and/or science fictional aspects will probably also be considered on topic. Appropriate topics of discussion include the process and details of developing settings (world-building), the business of selling the stuff once it's written, the physical environment in which one writes and how it affects one's writing, and, of course, the writing process itself. The posting of actual sf works is NOT on topic. (see Critiquing policy <#critiquebelow.) {Off-topic and controversial discussions} Sometimes topics are introduced that seem insufficiently sfnal in nature or that would be better addressed in another newsgroup, in which case it is commonly requested that the discussion be moved elsewhere (and not everyone who makes the request will do so politely). If you are not familiar with the group, please check section 6 "Where else do I go for help?" before posting, to make certain this is the right place for your query/comment. Also read Section 4. "How does one start posting to rasfc? <#newbie>" {Often a thread will begin on a sfnal topic but veer into non-sfnal territory. When this happens, particularly if it is likely to be a controversial topic, either a participant or bystander may request that the discussion be moved to rec.arts.sf.misc instead. A request by a bystander may consist of a post on rasfc saying words to the effect of, "This discussion would be better suited to rec.arts.sf.misc", with followups set to rasfm. A move by a participant may begin with a short statement in rasfc that "I disagree, but am going to present my arguments in rec.arts.sf.misc". Reasons for the move need not be given in rasfc itself (and probably should not be, as they are likely themselves to be controversial); nor should the arguments themselves. If they are presented there, a responder may ignore the followups and post a short reply to rasfc saying words to the effect that "These arguments should not have been posted to rasfc, and I will be posting a rebuttal in rec.arts.sf.misc", with followups set to rasfm.} Critiquing policy This is a discussion group, not a publication venue or a critiquing group. However, it is difficult to discuss writing in detail without the posting of illustrative examples and it is hard to discuss the cures for a problem unless we understand what the problem is. Short examples (two or three paragraphs) of your own composition may be posted freely as part of a discussion of writing technique. (We frequently see, for example, story beginnings posted with a "does this catch your interest or not?" or an interior paragraph or two with a "does this sound too much like an info-dump, how else could I convey this information?" This sort of posting is quite welcome.) It is also allowable to post not more than 500 words worth of something for general critique if they are posted under a subject header that begins with "CRIT". These works must be "in progress". If you are not intending to change them based on the comments you receive, do not post them here. Even then it is strongly recommend that you find another source of critiques. There are many online and in person critique groups available. This subject is discussed in more depth in Section 6 <#help>. Announcements, URL sharing, and advertising policy Officially all advertisements are off topic. Be warned, "advertisement" also includes postings saying "I just wrote this book, it's available at [url] go check it out." Anything that is posted with the intent to get people to go look at a particular website, or just to spend time on the poster's behalf, without a commensurate offer of recompense is treading on dangerous ground. Only the following specific types of "ads" are ever welcome here: * Requests for manuscripts from venues that pay professional rates. Make sure the actual rates offered are included in the advertisement. * Rare public service announcements posted by people who are very familiar with the group and know that what they are posting will be considered useful and relevant. * Notices of the publication of works that were discussed in the group by their author /as they were being written/. If an ad, announcement or URL posting does not meet one of these three criteria, it will be treated with contempt, and may result in a complaint to the poster's ISP. URL postings should contain a summary of what is there that people might want to look at, providing enough information to determine whether or not one wishes to do so, and whether the site is connected in any way with the poster. 3. What posting formats are acceptable? The posting conventions of this group are as follows: Use only ASCII, no MIME or HTML. Replying from Google Groups: When you're looking at a message, instead of hitting "reply" at the bottom of that message, hit "show options" at the top of it. Then hit "reply" from the list of options that brings up, and it will give you proper quoting and even attributions. {Please also be aware that the "hide/show quoted text" option works /only inside Google Groups/. Make an executive decision whether a given chunk of text needs to be quoted at all -- see below.} Quoting: Quote the /relevant portion/ of the text you are replying to, and place your comments beneath the quoted section. If what you are replying to is long, snip out unnecessary portions of the quoted text, and interleave your own replies between the quoted sections. Try to leave the attribution headers intact, so that people will know who said what in your quote portions. Crossposting: If you wish to discuss something in more than one newsgroup, please post separate messages to each group instead of crossposting by sending the same message to more than one group at a time. When replying to a message that has been posted to more than one group, please remove all groups from the posting header except the one you are in, or the one that your reply would be most relevant to. Style: Try to always use proper spelling, punctuation and grammar. It makes your postings easier to read and sets a good example. Keep in mind that many group members speak English as a second (or third or fifth) language. It also makes a better impression on the professional writers and editors that participate here. Courtesy: Please observe this and other 'netiquette' conventions and be courteous and considerate in your conduct. If you are not familiar with proper net etiquette and conventions, we will be providing a list of netiquette resources in Section 11, "Additional Resources" <#additional>. 4. How does one start posting to rasfc? How not to introduce yourself The accepted custom for joining in the discussion is to simply start contributing to one of the threads already in progress. If you have an experience to share that is relevant to something other people are talking about, share it. If you are having a problem with something you are writing, ask us a question about it. If you have advice to give or information about something under discussion, tell us. Introductory messages telling us your name and background are not required. Red-flag topics that might best be avoided If you share a new "rule" of writing you have just discovered, or suggest that something that works for you will obviously work for someone else, you will have pointed Kipling quotations jabbed in your general direction. "There are nine and sixty ways of constructing tribal lays, And every single one of them is right!" ( see "In The Neolithic Age " at: http://www.kipling.org.uk/poems_neolithic.htm ) It is safer to say something on the order of "this technique may be helpful...", or even "this technique was helpful to me..." If you say that you have just written a great book and it is available to be read at such-and-such a location, you will likely be ignored, and possibly even flamed. (See "Announcements, URL sharing, and Advertising policy" above.) If you use the term sci-fi you will start a long argument over whether or not this term is derogatory and demeaning. The short form 'sf' is much safer, if somewhat ambiguous, and writing "science fiction" out the long way always works. Using someone's name as the subject line of a post is usually only done in the rec.arts.sf.* hierarchy to announce their death or serious illness. Please don't frighten us! If you want to talk to someone, preferably email them; otherwise please include "ping", "paging", "attention", or some similar word in the subject line. Although it is allowable to start out by posting something under a CRIT header, you will usually get more responses to such a posting if you have been around for a while and people recognize your name. Also, please remember, if you ask a question and you are told to go elsewhere for the answer, it isn't because we don't want to be helpful, but because we think there are sometimes better places to find answers than rasfc, even when the question itself is on topic. 5. What do the group members mean when they say...? If you are not familiar with general usenet terminology and common acronyms, please check the links in section 11. This listing only includes terms common here, but relatively uncommon elsewhere. To save space, I have removed all referents to group in-jokes, however I am collecting these and hope to get them up on a web-page (after the FAQ itself is completed). [*] footnote symbol. A request for further explanation on a subject. Originated at Minicon; for full details see David Goldfarb's explanation at message ID ). {AOL 'I agree', 'ditto', 'likewise', 'me, too'. Derives from the practice, supposedly common (or once common) amongst unsophisticated AOL subscribers, of quoting a whole post just to say 'me, too'.} AYKB As you know, Bob. A reference to the technique of passing on background information to the reader by having a character tell another character something he already knows. This is a part of the Turkey City Lexicon <#turkey(see *TCL* below). BIC Butt in chair. Also sometimes lengthened to "Butt in chair, fingers on keyboard." This is a frequently recommended method for getting past a variety of writing problems. Sometimes you just have to roll up your sleeves and get to work. cat-vacuuming An activity that pretends to be useful, but is actually being done so that you can avoid writing. cinquenta A story that is exactly 50 words long. At the time of this writing, cinquentas by rasfc participants are being collected at http://www.nbarnes.easynet.co.uk/50/ If you wish any of your cinquentas to be included in this collection email them to Neil Barnes at nailed_barnacle@hotmail.com dancing rodents (and variants): a synonym for *conga rats*, i.e. "congratulations". EFP Extruded Fantasy Product. This generally refers to highly derivative fantasy epics. Eight Deadly Words "I don't /care/ *what* happens to these people!" (coined by Dorothy Heydt) Eye of Argon A story so badly and yet boldly written that it stands as a classic. Eye of Argon reading sessions are occasionally held at sf conventions, with the rule that you can only read for as long as you can keep from laughing. Available online at: http://ansible.co.uk/misc/ eyeargon.html WIP Work in Progress (WIR: Work in Revision, WIS: Work in Submission), a shorthand way of referring to one's current writing project. world-building This is the process of creating new worlds for your stories to be set in (see links in Section 11 <#additional>). Really elaborate world-building occasionally gets in the way of actually producing the stories themselves (see cat-vacuuming, above). 6. Where else can i go for help? Other newsgroups: * rec.arts.sf.written . 8. What do I need to know about the business end of writing? Manuscript format Most of the publishing world still runs on paper. Do not send electronic submissions to any publication unless their writer's guidelines specifically state that they accept electronic submissions. There is no industry wide standard format for electronic submissions yet, so the same writer's guidelines that say they accept electronic submissions, should also indicate which formats are acceptable. Follow those guidelines precisely. Hardcopy (paper) submissions are standardized, and to use anything other than the standard format will make you look unprofessional. Even though the rules seem arbitrary there are reasons for every one of them. * Use black ink and a non-proportional "typewriter" font. (12pt Courier recommended.) * Use white bond paper. US "letter" size to North American markets, and A4 for most other markets. Most publishers can handle the other standard size of paper, but it is occasionally recommended that if you are sending A4 manuscripts to North America you make a larger margin at the bottom so that your manuscript can be copied onto the smaller US paper size. * Set your margins to 1 inch (2.5 cm) on the top bottom and sides. * The main body of text should be left justified and double spaced. line between paragraphs (other than the one that gets there naturally as a result of double-spacing). * Indicate scene breaks with a blank line, then a centered '*' or '#' and then another blank line. * Any text that you intend to be in italics should be underlined in the manuscript; boldface should have a wavy underline, with "bold" in the margin. * On the first page of the manuscript, your name, address, and optionally a phone number or email address should be in the upper left corner, and the word count in the upper right. The story's title is centered in the middle of the page, with the byline (by Wouldbe Writer) centered on the line below. The main text starts two lines below that. * On every other page of the manuscript your last name, the story title (or an abbreviation of it, if it is long), and the page number should be in the upper right corner. * Do not staple or permanently bind the manuscript pages together in any way. You may include a removable clip, if you desire. * Do not include on the manuscript itself a copyright notice or a statement of the rights being offered when submitting to US sf publishers. * If you do not want the manuscript returned to you, write "DISPOSABLE" on the title page. Word count calculation The publishing industry is mostly interested in the amount of space the story takes up, rather than the actual number of words. If you are going to plug in the word count from your word processor, round it off to the nearest hundred for short stories, and the nearest thousand for novels. If you use standard manuscript format you can often estimate wordage based on your page count. Submissions process 1. Finish the story. Only previously published writers can sell an incomplete story. However, multi-volume stories can often be sold on the strength of the first volume, so you don't have to finish the entire series to sell it. 2. Do market research to determine which houses/imprints publish the same kind of story you have just written. (Even if your writing is off the wall and unique, you still need to discover which houses publish off the wall and unique.) The best way to do this is usually to browse the bookstores. When you find books that are similar to yours make a note of the publisher, and then check the author's acknowledgments page -- sometimes they thank their editors or agents, in which case you should make a note of those names. You can also find out which editors buy which kinds of books from a study of industry magazines such as /Locus/ and /Science Fiction Chronicle/. Make a list for future reference of everyone you identified as a potential market. 3. Obtain the writer's guidelines for the markets you have identified. Often they can be found on the publisher's website, or you can write to the publishing house for them. The editorial addresses of publishing houses can be found in /The Literary Marketplace/ (often found in the reference section of libraries), and in /Writer's Market/. The writer's guidelines will tell you whether your next step is to send a query letter (step 4), a portion and outline (step 5), or the complete manuscript (step 6). If the guidelines say "no unsolicited submissions", you can still send a query letter. If it says "no unagented submissions, make a note, and (assuming you don't have an agent) cross them off your list. (More information on agents can be found below.) 4. Write and send a query letter. A query letter is one page long. Start out, if at all possible, by addressing the letter to a specific editor that you know is interested in the kind of story you have written. Tell the editor the title and wordage of your story, and possibly the genre/subgenre. Then in three paragraphs or less describe the story in such a way that it will sound interesting to the editor without: praising it, sounding like a back-cover blurb, or keeping the surprise ending secret. Next mention any relevant experience you have, writing or otherwise. If you have published professionally, mention either the latest 2-3 sales, or the 2-3 most relevant sales. If you have a degree in a subject, or work professionally in an industry that is directly relevant to the book, mention that. If you are a graduate of Clarion you can mention that, but do not mention any other writing courses or workshops you have taken. Do not list your hobbies, family members or pets. {Sound impossible? My commiserations. Writing queries is hard. For more advice on how to do a good job of it, try: * http://www.agentquery.com/ writer_hq.aspx * http://www.sfwa.org/writing/query. htm * http://www.sfwa.org/writing/op71.htm * http://anotherealm.com/ prededitors/pubquery.htm * http://www.nelsonagency.com/faq. html#6 * http://www.tarakharper.com/ faq_qery.htm * http://misssnark.blogspot.com has vast quantities of readers' queries with Miss Snark's comments * Rachel Vater's "Got Hook?" on livejournal. Overview at http://raleva31.livejournal. com/44304.html * European Union: http://www.eblida.org/ ecup/lex/lex.htm#national * New Zealand: http://www.med.govt.nz/buslt/int_prop/info-sheets/copyright-prot.html * USA: http://www.copyright.gov/circs/ circ1.html 10. Additional resources Writers' resources * http://www.sfwa.org/ writing/worldbuilding1.htm . Lost in Usenet at http://www.faqs.org/usenet/ is a thorough and more traditionally oriented resource. Appendix A: Newsgroup Charter (Note that the following is included primarily for context and historic interest. Where the charter disagrees with sections of the FAQ above, the sections above are more representative of current preference and custom, and should take precedence.) Before discussing the newsgroup, one must define 'sf', for which I refer to the original CFV for the group that created the rec.arts.sf.* hierarchy: "Both science fiction and fantasy, as well as that vast blurred mass of material in between." This charter mirrors the position of the HWA: Horror is an emotion, not a genre. If the Horror takes place in a speculative fiction book, it can be discussed in an sf newsgroup. The rec.arts.sf.composition newsgroup would include, but not be limited to the following types of discussion: * General writing questions, to be answered from the sf perspective. This includes market research, submission format and discussions on the process of writing itself, as it connects with the writing of sf. * Discussion of the process of writing speculative fiction between professionals, aspiring writers or the merely interested. * Discussion of the methods and processes of worldbuilding, the creation of new, alternate or historically-based worlds in which speculative fiction is often set. This newsgroup is not meant to replace or significantly overlap other groups. As such, topics that are on-topic and useful in other groups should be kept to those groups. That would include, but not be limited to the following exclusions: * Discussion connected to writing, but not specifically to sf, nor with an important sf slant should be posted in misc.writing. * Discussion about the science used in speculative fiction should be posted to rec.arts.sf.science. * Discussion of existing written work should be left to rec.arts.sf.written. As well, the charter specifically excludes the posting of work unless that posting is specifically related to a topic that is being discussed, and is used in that context, and quoted briefly. Posting of work to be read and/or critiqued is excluded from the charter of this newsgroup, for a number of reasons. For those who wish to avail themselves of the group's resources, a specially marked header, "CRIT: " will be used to post short requests for critiquing or reading, with all followups directed to email, the poster's web page, rec.arts.prose, or any other valid forum, rather than the newsgroup. As for advertising, overt advertising is excluded from the group, particularly off-topic overt advertising (the kind that doesn't care what this charter says anyway). Tactful, brief, infrequently posted references to information that can be found elsewhere will be tolerated, but advertisers must tread that fine line carefully if they wish to avoid flamage from ad-hating regulars. ----------------------------------------------------------------