California Writers Club

NOVEMber 2008
Newsletter of the
Berkeley Branch,
Write Angles

Jack London's Cabin, Jack London Square, Oakland, California

In 1968 Russ Kingman, an area businessman with a passion for Jack London, headed an
expedition to the Alaskan wilderness to authenticate a tiny cabin discovered in the woods on the
north fork of Henderson Creek. The cabin was said to be the location where Jack London
wintered in 1897-98 when he was prospecting during the Yukon gold rush. Kingman brought
Sgt. Ralph Godfrey, a handwriting expert from the Oakland Police Department's forgery detail,
along to verify London's signature which was scratched out on the ceiling. Once the cabin was
determined to be legitimate it was disassembled, packed out of the wilderness and the logs
divided into two piles. Half went to Dawson City, Canada and half was purchased by the Port
and came to Oakland. Two cabins were replicated from the original materials and now both
cities have duplicate tributes to Jack London, world renowned author and adventurer.
The cabin was dedicated on July 1, 1970.
Donated by The Port of Oakland.
 GUIDED BY AN INNER LIGHT

Table of Contents D. Patrick Miller, our featured speaker for the November 15
meeting, can guide us on a journey of self-discovery and, at the same time,
Guided by an Inner Light help us get published. His books include Love After Life, My Journey
S p e c i a l S u p p l e m e n ta ry E d i - September 2008
t i o n David Baker 1 Through the Plant World: a Novel of Sexual Initiation,Understanding A
Course in Miracles, Instructions of the Spirit, The
The View From the Helm Book of Practical Faith, and A Little Book of
AL Levenson 2 Forgiveness. In 1997, after selling three of his
projects to major publishers, Miller founded Fearless
Member News
Books to continue publication of his writing. More
Anne Fox 3
than 75 of his articles have appeared in a wide
variety of magazines, including Yoga Journal, Self, Natural Health,
E-zines That Pay and Other
Healthy Living, and Readers Digest. His poetry has been published in a
Market Resources
number of magazines and several anthologies.
Lucille Bellucci 4
As a collaborator, ghost writer, or principal editor, Miller has
Duotrope, Online Market helped other authors prepare manuscripts for Viking, Doubleday, Warner,
Database and Submission Tracker Simon & Schuster, Jeremy P. Tarcher, and John Wiley & Sons. A
AL Levenson 5 top-ranked volunteer expert on publishing at AllExperts.com, he provides
professional consultations to literary agents and publishers as well as to
Looking for a Book Friend/Critic? authors writing fiction and nonfiction. Miller has worked for many years
Barbara Ruffner 5 with the Linda Chester Literary Agency of New York, which
recommends his critique services. He is a member of the Authors Guild
Your Contract With Your Critque and serves as president of the Northern California chapter of the
Group American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA).
AL Levenson 6 Millers webpage at www.fearlessbooks.com is interesting to visit.
He not only encourages us to release guilt, gain trust, practice
Co-Publishing
patience, and learn transcendence but also offers advice on agency
AL Levenson 6
representation, working with the independent press, co-op or
Tidbits 7 print-on-demand publication, electronic publishing, and self-publishing.
Whether you seek a path to enlightenment or the road to publication, bring
On the Horizon your questions to the November meeting.
AL Levenson 8 - David Baker

November Meeting:
Saturday, November 15, 2008, from 10 a.m. until noon.
Jack London Square, Oakland.
Inside Barnes & Noble Book Store at the Event Loft.

November 2008 Write Angles 1

The View From The Helm
A month ago I was having coffee with Lucille Bellucci, one of the
Berkeley Branchs most productive members. The subject of e-zines came up,
and she said this had been an exciting new piece of her writing life. She began
to look into e-zines almost three years ago. She reports regular sales and says
she really made no changes to accommodate to the new market and likes the
savings in postage, paper, etc.
Lucilles article about e-zines, her newest, best friends, appears in this
issue. Also see reference to her in Member News.

* * * * * * *

On October 19, along with fourteen delegates from other branches, I attended the quarterly meeting of
the Central board of the California Writers Club.
Attendance is an opportunity for me to learn what goes on at the state level, to learn how other branches
operate, and to come to know the best and brightest club members across the state: successful professionals and
serious hobbyists, generous every one.
This meeting dealt with a number of subjects, including projects related to the Centennial, guidelines for
the formation of a new Branch, implementation of an online forum for the Central Board (possibly reducing the
number of physical meetings).
Co-publishing emerged as the most exciting topic. The Sonoma Branch has been co-publishing with
Unlimited Publishing for three years. They have produced an annual anthology as well as three books by
member authors. Although there was discussion of the CWC entering into a multibook deal with a publisher, a
straw vote of the Central Board heavily favored leaving control at the branch level.
And a final word. Statewide, the CWC has sustained a significant attrition in its membership, down to
slightly under 1000 from the 1200 at the end of last year. I dont know if this is a typical annual fluctuation from
all memberships expiring in June though new members are added all year long, or if this is still one more
casualty of our several national uncertainties. Only two branches showed a small increaseSouth Bay, the
largest branch, is up to 191 members from last years 186; and Berkeley, up to 67 from the 65 we closed last year
with. I can only think there is a special dynamism at work in the Berkeley Branch helping us to buck the
statewide trend, the dynamism we need to continue to nourish. Membership numbers are simply a way of
keeping score.

* * * * * * *

Although I have not specifically mentioned it before, I am always open to membership feedback
suggestions for what youd like to see, especially from people who are willing to help implement innovative
ideas.
The View from the Helm is all clear ahead, visibility unlimited, and were calling for more steam from
the engine room.

- AL Levenson, President

November 2008 Write Angles 2

 Member News

Caroline Ahlswede and her niece, Cynthia Haney, were awarded Honorable Mention for their
September 2008
submission to the Feature Article category of the 77th Annual Writers Digest Writing Competition. The article,
Classroom Demons? Maybe Not, was one of over 17,000 submissions to the 10 contest categories. Maria
Schneider, editor of Writers Digest, wrote in a letter to Caroline, Your success in the face of such formidable
competition speaks highly of your writing talent and should be a source of great pride as you continue in your
writing career. Caroline appreciates the support of Lucille Bellucci, copyeditor Anne Fox, and the late Ione
Kramer, for helping to bring about the success for her and her niece of this first-time contest entry.

An e-mail message Lucille Bellucci recently received said, Good news! Were publishing your piece
in our Winter 2008 issuealthough I dont know the exact date of publication. The I is Jane Lancellotti,
Readers Narratives Editor of Narrative magazine, (narrativemagazine.com). This exciting online magazine
will feature Lucilles picture as well as her story, Shanghai, February 1952. Be on the lookout. And check out
the Web site yourself to see its possibilities for you.

Berkeley Branch Publicity Chair Linda Brown is now reporting on the activities of the Oakland
Metropolitan Chamber of Commerces Economic Development Committee. Two articles she wrote appeared
in the Oakland Business Review, which reaches 15,000 elected officials, business leaders, and other VIPs in the
East Bay and beyond each month.

IN MEMORIAM: In May of this year we suffered the loss of Ione Dorothy Kramer, a longtime
contributing member of the CWC Berkeley Branch. After her marriage, she and her husband, Gentom Wang
moved to China, where for some 30 years Ione worked for China Reconstructs, an English language
magazine, while her husband taught electronics in Tsinghua University. Once back in the United States, Ione
and colleague Kit Chow wrote All the Tea in China, which is still in print. Ione was not able to fulfill her desire
to write stories based on events and letters she had written during the turbulent years in China.

Attention, Members: Remember, your successes inspire your fellow members. Let us know what
youve done, what you are doing, what you plan to do. Has your article or short story been published? Has an
agent signed you on? Has a publisher accepted your book? Are you scheduled as a speaker, being interviewed,
presenting at a writers conference? Teaching a writing course? Send the good news to Anne Fox,
writefox@aol.com.

November 2008 Write Angles 3

 E-ZINES THAT PAY AND OTHER MARKET RESOURCES
Three years ago (a century in Internet time) you could get published without too much pain if you accepted
online exposure with no pay. Now the medium has become competitive. Think of thatno postage, follow-ups
responded to by e-mail, and maybe even a check afterward. I am not discussing markets like The New Yorker, The
Atlantic, or Harpers, though The New Yorker now accepts online submissions. I am betting the other two will
eventually join the 21st century.
A seemingly wealthy e-zine is www.narrativemagazine.com, whose editor, Tom Jenks, used to work at Esquire
magazine. The zine mounts an annual conference at Ft. Mason in San Francisco attended by the likes of Amy Tan
and Tobias Wolff. The editors are as tough as those on any paper periodical, but you get feedback. The zine features a
$150 Story-of-the-Week winner. (See Member News.)
A print journal, www.newmilleniumwriting.com also accepts online submissions. They run contests
throughout the year. The serious zine, www.danaliterary.com, wants your earnest, well-defined thoughts on any
subject. The Web site www.goodgoshlmighty.com bills itself as a forum for determined individualists. They pay, but
will keep your story or article fresh in their archives if you forego pay. Another resource, www.conversely.com, runs
contests and is fun to read by itself. The handsome literary zine, www.Pedestalmagazine.com, also runs contests.
Then there is www.literarycottage.com, somewhat new on the scene. Once you join, www.fanstory.com promises a
ream of markets.
The word funky fits www.anotherealm.com, which runs contests for short speculative fiction of the
millennium, whatever that means. For clues, read the stories that have made it onto the site. The zine features
discussion boards where contributors and readers can fight out their differences. Its extended cousin,
www.anotherealm.com/prededitors, offers helpful resources on anything connected to our trade. A zine of stature
that pays little, www.theroseandthornzine.com, has been alive for years.
Traditional literary journals have come online. One of the most attractive is www.crazyhorse.cofc.edu, a
long-standing review of College of Charleston, S.C., offering generous prizes for fiction and poetry. Accepting both
USPS and online submissions is www.newletters.com. These two have broken away from the old-fashioned dreary
round of postal-mail submissions to the traditional markets. Remember, you can always nudge this kind of periodical
by e-mail and get a reply in timely fashion. A site I havent fully explored yet is www.fundsforwriters.com, but it is
surely intriguing and has been listed in Write Angles by copyeditor Anne Fox. They offer a free newsletter and a
$12/year newsletter.
Once having accessed a market-resource newsletter, you may find your mailbox deluged by such newsletters.
I have been receiving the free www.writing-world.com for at least 18 months, and find at least one market I can use
every other newsletter. Other market newsletters, all worthwhile, are: www.worldwidefreelance.com,
www.writingitreal.com, and www.winningwriters.com.
Finally, a useful site, www.sfwa.org/BEWARE/agents.html, helps guide you through the minefield of
acquiring agents.
You writers, go forth and celebrate the resources of the Internet!
- Lucille Bellucci

November 2008 Write Angles 4
 Duotrope, Online Market Database and Submission Tracker

In the course of a month, my job as Berkeley Branch Prez, Interim Membership Guy,
and enthusiastic participant in both Berkeley Branch support/critique writers groups, I
must get to talk to as many members as anyone. I know that at least a half-dozen of us are
writing short pieces, stories and articles. Dozens of our members have book-length projects
underway. Many of them sometimes take a breather to dash off something short.

So, I wonder why Duotrope (www.duotrope.com) isnt mentionedSeptember
more often2008
within
the Berkeley Branch.
For those of us writing shorter than book-length pieces, Duotrope is one of our best
friends. Duotrope is a free (donation-supported), easy-to-use Web site that has two
valuable features: a searchable database of 2,300 publications and a submission tracker.
Feature number one, the database, includes both print and electronic publications. wYou get to fill out a
multifield search form. Enter genre (choose from 15), length (choose from four), and pay scale (choose from four).
You can also specify print or electronic media and print or electronic submission.
Ask for a mainstream publication, print or electronic, that pays top-end (a nickel a word or more) and allows
electronic submissions, excluding markets that are temporarily closed, and 24 hits come up plus two that list their
genre as other. Click on any single result, and you find yourself at a page of response statistics for that publication
maintained by the readers of Duotrope. And, of course, a link to that publications Web site, submission guidelines, a
copy of the current number, subscription information, and the tooting of their entire horn section.
Try experimental, flash fiction, electronic, token payment and up, and you get 15 direct hits and 27 more
secondary matches. It would take at least an hour in a print publication to do that research.
Feature number two, the submission tracker, is awesome in its own right. Click on the tracker, and you get to
look at the status of everything youve ever submitted, filtered and sorted according to eight categories you specify.
Or click the add submission button and enter the data for the manuscript you are sending today. Enter the
publication and the date sent. If/when you receive an acknowledgment, acceptance, rejection, request for rewrite,
enter these as a report. Your personal file is updated, response times are added to the statistics database, and the
diligence of every publication is posted for all.
Is that computers and the Internet at their best, or what?
- AL Levenson

Looking for a Book Friend/Critic?

The discussion of critique groups in last months Write Angles prompted some further thoughts. Do you
have a finished book, novel, memoir or other nonfiction you want to improve before sending it out (for the first
time or yet again?) to agents? Maybe you need a Book Friend. Someone who will read your book in its entirety in
return for your reading his or her book. Someone who hasnt been in any of your critique or support groups and
hasnt seen this particular work of yours before. Someone who will be brutally frank, objective, friendly, agree to
a time frame for returning your book (and getting hers back)? Im willing to play matchmaker. Drop me a note at
bdonruff@lmi.net. Ill try to match you up with a book friend you can trust.
- Barbara Ruffner

November 2008 Write Angles 5

 Your Contract With Your Critique Group

Are you are a member of a private, closed support/critique group? Or do you drop in
on a group that is open to the public like the ones sponsored by the Berkeley Branch? What is
your contract with the group?
Some writers attend regularly, leaving their own work at home, bringing only their best
editorial eyeglasses. They offer quality opinions in exchange for some credit to be redeemed
in the future. They give a lot, and it comes back to thank them.
Others submit the best they have, the polished version several drafts beyond the first.
They offer it with prideand trepidationexpecting the flaws hiding in their pages to be
flushed out like a politicians peccadillos. These writers, too, give their best and come away
with the best.
The person who gets the least is the person who has dashed off a first draft and, with the minimum scrutiny,
brings the piece in the hope that their raw talent will be a ticket to the circus. They tell themselves they dont know
if their work is any good, but they bring it in the belief that their group will prescribe the surgery necessary to fix it.
Fugedaboudit. Doesnt happen.
Bring a first draft, and the best editors at the table will spend most of their allotted time correcting
punctuation. The second-best editors, lesser grammarians like myself, ignore the commas and the spelling errors
with the sure knowledge the typos and squiggles will not pass the fine sieve of the best and the brightest. We
second-stringers read for substance and content and get bogged down in incomplete scene setting, incomplete
context, shifts in point of view, unclear antecedents, and lots more. Too much to write up on your manuscript.
The most useful critiques I ever received came when I brought my best to the party. When your peer editors
are not distracted by first-draft mistakes, you get the suggestions about structure, dialogue flow, credibility of
character, symbolism, pace, etc. That is what I come for.
A good group will deliver more than their share of the contract if you live up to your half.

- AL Levenson

CO-publishing

The discussion of co-publishing at the Central Board meeting stimulated further thinking.
In this period of flux and flex in publishing formats, we see that individuals can become publishers.
From there it is a small step to imagine the Berkeley Branch with its own imprint.
In our branch at least two books have been self-published within the last year. I know of at least five books
shopping for an agent. As frustrations mount, I imagine many writers will begin to consider a
self-publishing route. It seems to me these folks ought to get together to pool their knowledge and
examine their collective options.
How many individuals within the branch would like to gather with others and consolidate their ideas
and experience, consider options, and explore possibilities? Would anyone care to host a discussion? Drop me a
note at Calwritersclub@GMail.com with your thoughts.
- AL Levenson

November 2008 Write Angles 6


Publicity Plans for CWC Berkeley Branch
The 2009 Publicity Planning Calendar is nearly
complete, with plans for media and community outreach.
Initial plans include monthly flyers promoting the
Berkeley Branch--CWC meetings and support/critique
writers group workshops for distribution to local
bookstores, literary coffee houses, libraries, and more.
Barnes & Noble is restoring signage.
For the long-range, our branch is coordinating
Centennial Plans--the 100 years of the CWC--with the
state CWC. For this effort, we are considering a
speakers bureau (10 to 15-minute briefings) and at least
bimonthly media releases with stories about CWC and,
when possible, its published authors.
I hope that you will send me stories that tie in
with a significant event such as a holiday or a state or
nationally recognized event. For example, February is
Black History Month and October is Family History
Month.
If you have ideas or comments on our branchs
publicity plan, a story, or an idea about how to help
spread the word about CWC, please contact Linda
Brown at BrownCalifornia@aol.com.
- Linda Brown
WEB SITES FOR WRITERS
zinebook.com
cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com
agentquery.com
querytracker.net
November 2008
Tidbits
Anthology Deadline Extended
to November 16
The last issue of Write Angles put out the call to
members for submissions to the California Writers Club
state anthology. This will be the fifth edition of the
anthology in the hundred-year history of the club. The
last edition, published over twenty years ago, included
three pieces by Berkeley Branch members.
The anthology seeks fiction, literary nonfiction,
and poetry. No more than 2,000 words for prose,
750-word limit for poetry. Any topic. No more than two
previously unpublished submissions per category per
author.
Electronic submission only to:
cwc_anthology@yahoo.com.
Professional manuscript format. 10-12pt serif
type, start title page half-way down first page, include
authors name, address, phone, and CWC branch at top
right of first page. Include authors name, title, and page
number in a header on each page except the title page.
Give them your best by November 16.
- AL Levenson
Meeting Time Change
The 3rd Saturday support/critique
writers group will meet on the 4th
Saturday, November 22, from 1 to
5 p.m., Rockridge Library.
Critique Groups:
berkeleywritersclub.org/events.htm
Write Angles 7
 On the Horizon

Something new and different. This

Berkeley Branch Officers year our winter meeting will be a
Sunday brunch at 10:30 a.m. on
President: AL Levenson December 7, 2008 (note meeting date
change).* You can invite family and
Vice President: Dave Sawle friends to this light-hearted holiday party to socialize, learn about
the club, and meet the people you hang out with every month.
Secretary: Evelyn Washington
And this is a great opportunity to introduce the club to your writer
friends.
Treasurer: Ken Frazer
For the program, we will have the pleasure of hearing
Program: AL Levenson David Jenkins, who works with dreams and has a Ph.D. in that
subject. He believes dreams can help solve everyday
Membership: OPEN predicaments. How about dreaming your way through writers
block? Jenkins believes your dream life ought to be fun and will
Hospitality: OPEN offer several group interactive exercises. Bring a dream for
Jenkins to dance us through. You can find out more at his Web
Childrens Contest: Lucille Bellucci
site: www.DreamReplay.com.
Brunch will be in Alameda at Pasta Pelican, 2455 Marina
Newsletter Editor: OPEN
Square Drive (510-864-7427). The charge for CWC members and
Copyeditor: Anne Fox guests is $17 each, checks to be received by December 3.
Otherwise, charge at the door is $20 per person. Please mail your
Publicity: Linda Brown check to Berkeley Branch, P.O. Box 15014, Oakland CA 94614.
Come for fun and food. Looking forward to seeing you.
Webmaster: Stan Sciortino - AL Levenson

*Remember, no club meeting on December 20. However,

support/critique groups will meet as usual on December 13 and

20, respectively.

The CALIFORNIA WRITERS CLUB is dedicated to educating members and the public-at-large in the craft of writing and in the marketing of their
work. For more information, visit our Web site at www.berkeleywritersclub.org.

Copyright 2008 by the California Writers Club, Berkeley Branch. All rights reserved. Write Angles is published 10 times a year (September -
June) by the California Writers Club, Berkeley Branch on behalf of its members. CWC assumes no legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy,
completeness, or usefulness of any information, process, product, method or policy described in this newsletter.

November 2008 Write Angles 8

P.O. Box 15014
Oakland, CA 94614