Writers Digest - The Writer′s Essential Desk Reference.doc

the writers essential desk reference.bywriters digest editorcopyright 1991 by writers digest books.printed and bound in the united states of america. all rightsreserved. no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or byelectronic or mechanical means including information storage andretrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher,except in a review. published by writers digest books, an imprint off&w publications, inc. , 1507 dana ave. , cincinnati, ohio 45207.first edition.library of congress cataloging-in-publication datathe writers essential desk reference is edited by glenda tennant neff.- 1st editionincludes bibliographical references and index.lsbn 0-89879-477-31. llvlngawrlter. 3finances for writers. 3health insurance. 5other insurance needs. 7planning income. 8records and accounts. 9tracking income. 11going with the (cash) flow. 12estimated taxes. 12leveling out cash flow. 13credit-checking tips. 15saving for the future. 16should 1 incorporate?. 17for further information. 18taxing matters for freelancers. 20deducting expenses. 20home-office expenses. 22computers . 24office equipment. 24depreciation and section 179. 25conversion from personal to business use. 25other expenses. 26selfemployment . 26contractor or employee?. 27hobbyist or businessperson?. 28some schedule c pointers. 28professional help. 29the dreaded audit. 30year-end tax. strategies. 31irs publications of special interest to writers. 31law and the writer. 32contracts: the best and worst of protection. 32bookcontracts. 33dealing with agents. 35magazine contracts. 35protecting your rights. 36copyright. 38gettingpaid. 38small claims court. 40dealing with bankruptcy. 41liabel issues for freelancers. 41resources. 42employment agencies, job banks and contacts 43writing-related agencies. 44standard employment agencies. 45other fast roads to work. 45newspaper stringing. 46writing a column. 47freelance editing and proofreading. 48employment and other agencies that use writers. 48grants, fellowships, awards and contests. 50writers publications. 55periodicals. 55directories. 572. a community of writers. 59professional associations and organizations. 59writers groups. 61evaluating a group. 62forming a writers group. 63sources for writers organizations. 65association and organization listings. 65union. 73writers groups. 73other. 78colonies, residencies and retreats. 79resources. 81listings. 81conferences and workshops. 87starting a conference. 89sources. 90listings. 91writing instruction. 105university programs. 105listings. 107correspondence schools. 111teaching in correspondence schools. 113listings. 113continuing education programs. 114teaching in continuing education programs. 1153. researching. 117libraries. 118phone and fax. 120library co-ops. 120special libraries. 121newspaper libraries. 121library of congress. 122national archives. 123other national libraries. 123finding special collections. 124using the technology. 124additional resources. 125databases. 126commercial vendors. 127paying for a search. 129free information on-line. 130reporting in the electronic age. 132additional resources. 132government documents. 132titles for sale. 133titles as reference. 136scientific documents. 139the numbers game. 140going to the source. 140additionalresources. 141bibliographers. 141commercial bibliographies. 142listings. 143permissions. 144using others material. 146permissions services. 149listings. 149trademarks. 150researching fiction. 151firsthand experience. 154expert advice. 154networking. 155fiction research resources. 155additional resources. 155sample fiction search. 156information access. 156digging out facts without . 159resources. 161additional directories. 163clearinghouses/nonprofit institutions. 164experts on-line. 164out-of-print/rare books. 165otherwriters. 1654. producing and polishing it. 169helpinghands. 169finding a freelance partner. 170contacts across the country. 172what to expect from editors and clients. 174how to contact a freelance partner. 174proofreaders. 176translators. 177indexing. 179collaboration. 180finding a collaborator. 182contracts and income. 184grammar services. 186hotline listings. 187working with artists, designers and illustrators. 188listings. 194working with photographers and stock photo agencies. 194listings. 198the business of publishing. 198desktop publishing. 199proficiency. 200professionalism. 201the products. 202prices. 204associations. 205self-publishing. 205the decision to self-publish. 206your book proposal and marketing plan. 207editing your book. 208page and cover design. 208manufacturing and printing. 209pampering your book. 210distribution. 212writing and acquiring other books. 214printers and typesetters. 214listings. 2195. selling it. 221newspapers. 221the dailies. 221daily newspaper listings. 226weekly magazine sections. 229alternative weeklies. 233neighborhood weeklies. 234weekly newspaper and magazine listings. 235syndication. 237syndicate listings. 240radio and television. 241radio drama and comedy. 241tlfnetworks. 243independent and public television stations. 249cable television. 250public access. 251radio and television listings. 252wordmarkets. 254corporate writing. 255advertising and public relations. 257technical writing. 261setting fees. 263findingwork. 263word market listings. 264promoting yourself. 266book reviews and editorial copy. 269trade publications. 269magazine and newspaper reviews. 270features. 272television and radio. 273bookstores and distribution. 276publicists. 280public speaking. 281promotion listings. 2836. writing and selling in canada. 289living as a writer. 291income sources. 291setting up shop. 291records and accounts. 291avoiding problems. 292law and the writer. 293book contracts. 293magazine contracts. 294resources. 294grants. 295listings. 296public lending right. 298the reprography collective. 300a community of writers. 300author associations. 300colonies, residencies and retreats. 303conferences and workshops. 304researching it. 307libraries. 307special libraries. 307the national library of canada. 308archives. 309databases. 310government publications. 310permissions and copyright. 312trademarks. 314information access. 314resources. 316out-of-print/rare books. 316producing and polishing it. 316translators. 317indexing. 317collaboration. 317grammarservices. 317canadian grammar hotlines. 318artists and photographers. 318self-publishing. 320additional resources. 321selling it. 323newspapers. 323newspaper listings. 324syndicates. 328canadian syndicates. 328television. 329listings. 329filmmaking. 330regional centers. 331offices abroad. 331radio. 331wordmarkets. 332book reviews and editorial copy. 333trade publications. 333magazine and newspaper book reviews. 333television and radio. 334bookstores and distribution. 334publishers associations. 336trade publications. 337indexes. 339subject. 339associations and organizations. 346business-related resources. 348books, periodicals and directories. 349databases, bulletin boards and vendors. 353matthew jackson, author of living as a writer, is a freelance writerbased in cincinnati who writes regularly on marketing, legal andfinancial issues for national business and trade publications. hes aformer newspaper editor and a trained tax preparer who handles his ownbookkeeping and tax returns. he started freelancing first as anewspaper stringer at age 16.glenda tennant neff, author of a community of writers, began hercareer as a newspaper reporter and editor at the clermont sun inbatavia, ohio. she served as assistant editor for the 1987 editions ofwriters market and fiction writers market and was editor of the1988-1991 editions of writers market. she currently is assistantmanaging editor of the market books department at f&w publications.paula delmling, author of producing and polishing it, edited the 1985and 1986 editions of writers market and wrote the markets column forwriters digest magazine. she continues to study publishing trends andto teach writing and editing in addition to writing a novel. anadjunct assistant professor at the university of cincinnati, she holdsa masters degree in journalism from the e. w. scripps school ofjournalism.chris dodd, author of researching it, is a former editor of themarkets column for writers digest magazine and has written freelancearticles for magazines and newspapers for more than 20 years. her workhas appeared in health, victoria, boys life, st. anthony messenger,and many other publications. she currently is a freelance writer andcopyeditor in the washington, d. c., area.bonnie gordon, author of selling it, is a writer and editor withbases in cincinnati and philadelphia and has written for book, magazineand newspaper publication. as a freelancer, she has taken onassignments ranging from women s magazine quizzes to technical copy fortrade journals. she is on equally familiar ground preparing collateralmaterials for corporate communications as with publishing her ownfiction and producing literary magazines. she currently is writing forvisual media as well and is at work on an independent video documentary.fred kerner, author of writing and selling in canada, is an author,journalist, editor and publisher who has worked in canada, the u. s.and britain. much of his spare time is spent helping writers andpublishers, both as a volunteer and through his consulting firm,publishing projects inc. in toronto. he has been a news executivewith the associated press and the canadian press, and a publishingexecutive with prentice-hall, fawcett, hawthorn books, readers digestand harlequin enterprises.the idea was simple enough: we wanted to pull together, in a singlevolume, the information and resources writers needed most.then we began the work, and we found out only the idea was simple.from talking to a variety of writers we discovered they use - or need -a vast amount of information, ranging from advice on contracts to tipson finding out-of-print books. writers sometimes find the sources theyneed, sometimes learn about them from other writers, and other timesthey simply do as well as they can without any help. they agreed,however, that putting background information and a list of thesesources in one place would save them time and make their writing livesmore efficient.we organized this most desired information into five sections: livingas a writer, a community of writers, researching it, producing andpolishing it, and selling it. we designed the format with both textand listings to offer information and to guide writers to other books,directories, people and groups that could provide them with morespecific information. for canadian authors, whose needs are oftenoverlooked in u. s. published books, and those u. s. writers who wantto know more about the specialties of the canadian market, we includeda chapter on writing and selling in canada.although this is a reference book, we didnt want it to have a dry toneor textbook feel, so we asked six authors to gather and presentinformation as though they were sharing tips from their experience withanother writer. in distilling the information, we wanted to keep thewriters viewpoint in mind - and also the viewpoints of writers atdifferent stages of their careers. tax information is abundantlyavailable, but if you want to know what is most likely to apply to youas a writer, this is the place to look first. it can save you hourspaging through tax volumes of general information-whether you aremaking a little extra as a freelancer, planning to make it full-time orhave been working that way for several years.and, depending on where you are in your career, you may want to takeadvantage of either the section on choosing a continuing educationclass or the section on teaching a continuing education class. wetried to look at each chapter this way to give you the information youneed throughout your career.youll find, of course, that some information overlaps. many resourcescan be used for both research and sales, for instance, and many groupsoffer services in more than one area covered in the book. for thatreason, youll want to make use of the extensive index and thereferences to other sections within the chapters.the writers essential desk reference isnt a substitute for your ownresearch, bookkeeping or promotion efforts. but we hope it will be thefirst source you consult on writing-related matters, one that leads toother sources, provides you with tips you hadnt considered, andgenerally makes your searches less time-consuming. when valuablebooks, directories and other information sources are available, weveincluded the names of these sources. when a comprehensive directory isnot available, weve included listings for those people who respondedto our request for information. in most sections we also have asampling of those sources for which we thought writers would be mostlikely to want information.both national and local resources are listed in the book, but youllundoubtedly find many more on the local level. be sure you explorethese options; they often can provide you with the best value for yourmoney, especially if most of your writing is on the local level.as you use this book, and other reference books or directories, make ita habit to check information before acting on it. weve tried toinclude only those directories that are current, but all books withthis type of information are subject to the constant changes of thepublishing world.book prices - as well as postage - increase, computer bulletin boardsmay no longer be available, computer software may be updated andcontact people may change from the time we gathered this informationuntil you use it.although weve tried to include as much information as possible, wedalso welcome your input about other sources youve found helpful inyour writing life. let us know about books, groups, directories andequipment youve found make your work more efficient and would makethis book more useful to other writers. no reference book could becompiled without the assistance of a number of people, and the writersessential desk reference is no exception. the authors for each of thechapters brought abundant enthusiasm, expertise and a willingness toask questions. countless writers, librarians, lawyers, computerexperts and other professionals were open to the questions and offereddetailed answers, specifically designed for writers. in house, thisbook also owes its existence to connie achabals advice, maryjunewicks production guidance, sharon lees wide-ranging expertise andcatherine brohaughs attention to detail.together we hope weve provided you with a book that gives you theeveryday information you need, so you can get on with your writing.page 3living as a writeras you turn toward the path of freelance writing, youll find the waystrewn with the horror stones of those who gave up on it. theyvescurried back to unpleasant jobs, begged for a place beneath the ironheels of the most imperious bosses. anything but the poverty andinsecurity of freelancing.they probably didnt fail because they couldnt write well enough.they probably failed because they never grasped that writing is abusiness, too. the business side of freelancing may be as important tosuccess as the creative side. but its a lot less appealing. tendingto business seems greedy and pedestrian. its certainly not what youbecame a writer for. so its easy to shove business matters into thebottom drawer. there, they fester until one day they burst into yourconsciousness in a blaze of uncollected bills and overdue taxes.neglecting business can ruin even the most talented writer. but thechorus of moans from freelancers whove failed can drown out the factthat many freelancers make a decent living. nothing youve done toperfect your craft will prepare you to live as a freelance writer. thebusiness side of writing is confusing. it takes time, hard work andtalent. you dont have to consume yourself with business matters tokeep them from eating away your livelihood. but you do need to adopt abusinesslike approach and commit yourself to taking the time to handlethe business chores.finances for writersas you launch a freelance business, setting up a simple budget willmake your life easier. like any budget, its only a representation ofwhats going to happen, not the real thing. but its important to havesome idea of what youre going to spend and earn in the coming year andmonths.once youve been freelancing awhile, budgeting gets easier. you havelast years expenses as a basis for this years planning. you also havepage 4some established markets and clients to make your income a little morepredictable. but as a beginner, youll have to try some educatedguesswork.start by estimating your costs, because youll need to plan your incomeba