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Go. Jesse Dayton is worth the twenty bucks alone, but with the proceeds going to a good cause yo have no excuse. Unless you are like me and live some eleven or twelve hundred miles from NYC.

I'm impressed that it's being operated so that 100% of the proceeds goes to the cause.

Too often there are disclaimers that only 100-x% of the proceeds are going to the cause. When that happens, I can't help but wonder just how much profit is being made on someone's hardship.

Like I said, I'm impressed that it isn't the case here, that people are willing to donate their time and resources freely to generate money for the cause. So, to echo the sentiments, please go and attend if you're in the area. Celebrate the good we learned about too late.

Oh wow. God bless him, his family and loved ones.

What a terrible thing. All too often, we take our law officers for granted....

Oh, what an awful thing for those two officers and their families and friends. Such a horrible tragedy. :( The one positive I can see in the situation is that they kept the gunman occupied long enough that he couldn't take any other civilians' lives before other officers made it to the scene. I hope they raise a lot of money at this tribute!

This was a great article -thanks Miss Snark!
I found out very quickly that I needed a CPA after my book sold but it is frustrating to hear lots of misinformation out there -- the most common is the "hobby rule" that people say doesn't apply to writers and artists. My CPA agrees that the hobby rule DOES apply and those who are deducting need to be showing a profit at some point.
It is shocking how much of that advance goes to taxes -- especially if you live in a State that has income tax and business taxes like Hawaii.

Oh thank you thank you thank you.

(Boy, do I have a way with words?)

I've been asking every writer I know about this topic, and getting conficting advice. This link was perfect.

Is "Molly" an adverb? Maybe version 2.0 will look it up and find out ;)

Or you could just practice writing well.

This is the at-a-glance signal on the first page of a ms when you know you won't continue.

Clearly, not all adverbs are the enemy.

Question: What in our universe isn't getting done, while people are investing their time and ingenuity on things like this?

Really, Molly. Truly. Madly. Deeply.


Question: Given MS's proclivity toward all things Clooney, does that make the rest of us CLOO-LESS?

Oooh, how cool. Thanks for the tip, Miss Snark! I use the Find function in Word for "ly," but I've dreamed of making it a real program, that only finds adverbs. I've been able to cut close to 2% of the wordcount on a first draft by eliminating the "lys."

Another string that ruins good prose: "ing." As in "He was running" instead of "He ran." Boom, 30% word cut.

Also would like to incorporate a search for phrases like "She realized that" (my worst tic), and "proceeded to," and "now." It's shocking how much I use "now" in the "now" of the story. A little redundant, now, isn't it?

Happily, lys occur sparingly, skillfully and fruitfully, never relentlessly, abundantly nor needlessly negatively, in my lyfe. Er, life.

Anon is right; learn to write well or you may find yourself becoming robotic, too dependant on a program.

Gimmicks like this get my goat.

It's not overuse of adverbs that makes bad writing -- it's overuse or misuse of *anything* that makes bad writing.

It's a tempting thought, but no, simply eliminating adverbs will not make a mediocre work into a masterpiece. Try some vitamin B.

Wait! Anonymous, "well" is an adverb! Be careful! Adverbs have been declared evil!
(The above warning was brought to you without adverbs, but this sentence contains two adverb phrases. Are those evil?)

Isn't "careful" an adverb modifying the verb "be?" Sounds like one.

Certainly our picking out adverbs like chimps on lice won't transform mediocre prose.

Not is an adverb. Try eliminating that and see how far you get.

"He was running" and "he ran" are not 100% interchangeable. For example:

"He was running across the road when he saw the truck."

"He ran across the road when he saw the truck."

Writing good prose involves being aware of shades of meaning.

I like adverbs. Rules suck. Punk rock rules.

NO RULES.

Someone tell the Lolly's!!!

"Isn't "careful" an adverb modifying the verb "be?" Sounds like one."

No, "careful" is an adjective modifying the subject.

-JT

Why would anyone use this? The focus should be on paying attention when you're writing the damn piece, not allowing the computer to just 'fix shit.'

If we don't learn to appraise our own work, we're beyond hopeless.

This is a crutch.

Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed. A yellow dressinggown, ungirdled, was sustained gently behind him by the mild morning air..." (and did you spot the passive voice?)

Too bad this software wasn't around when Joyce was alive and writing ULYSSES.

"Foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."

"Too bad this software wasn't around when Joyce was alive and writing ULYSSES."

Too bad hard drive crashes weren't either.

LOL Simon. Me n' Ulysses never got along.

I don't see anything wrong with this program. It's a tool, not a weapon. Use it as you wish. Most writers have little 'tics' to be aware of. That doesn't make them bad writers, just writers with bad habits. Are any of us so perfect?

I hate the overuse of adverbs and always do a search when I'm finished a draft to see if any unnecessary ones have crept in.

Yay yay yay. Let's all be little writer-bots and churn out identikit indistinguishable prose.

Remember kids: you're in writing to follow the rules. Don't get any ideas about expressing yourself. Or about having ideas, for that matter. Or loving language.

I take it Shakespeare eschewed adverbs too? You kids are eddicated, someone can tell me I'm sure. And if not, into the trashcan he goes!

Just make sure you're following the RIGHT rules: this year's, not last year's. This book's, not that book's.

It's arbitrary, it's dumb, it's cliques/individuals setting themselves up as final authorities, jailers of the language.

It's also science envy, something the humanities tend to suffer from: the desire for absolutes, tests, proofs, formulae. White coats and big glasses. Sociologists formulate 'rules' and 'iron laws' (for real!), then look the other way when real life data fails, embarrassingly, to fit. Writing isn't a science. It won't fit. It cannot be contained.

There are reasonable rules of grammar, but even those can be broken by the right writer, someone feeling it in her gut. This isn't even one of them.

It's subjective, people.

Hello, people, can you say "for entertainment purposes"? What a bunch of sourpusses. And so much judgment of others' writing habits. I suppose real artists never use Strunk & White or--heaven forbid--CTRL-F. Perish the thought.

I know a writer who could use this, though. I won't say who, but her initials are JKR. And the R stands for Rowling.

It seems to me that Shakespeare used adverbs quite sparingly. For example, in the "To be or not to be" speech, there is one adverb.

I can say "for entertainment purposes", but it makes the other people in the room look at me oddly.

Elmore Leonard never uses adverbs.
And over the years, I rarely use them.

Okay, so now that you've all shot down Elmore Leonard as NOT Shakespeare, let me just say that not all adverbs are bad.

However, often they're used as a shortcut to a very good descriptive sentence, and most times adverbs are paired with words we expect, or reinforce the action already happening in the scene.

"She drifted aimlessly through life."
(And sometimes, they're cliches).

The place where adverbs work best is when they're paired with an unexpected word.

"Linda snored wantonly through the teacher's conference."

In my story I have a Molly! And of course there's family too. I use "only" only a million times. ctrl + F (ly) is my tool for the adverb blues. Sly, I know.

I've spent 20+ years writing and editing professionally, and I can tell you nobody but nobody is too good to slip into bad habits, regardless of style. A tool like this serves an entirely useful purpose if it encourages you to make sure each and every word you write belongs where it is.

The point is not to make everybody write the same way, but to make each writer better. (Sort of the whole point of Miss Snark's valiant efforts, eh what?)

Pax vobiscum

Elmore Leonard never uses adverbs.

I suspect this can only be true if you ignore any adverbs that don't end "ly". Otherwise, I find it hard to believe that anyone can eschew all adverbs (including "not") in their writing, and still make sense. Not that I'm claiming Elmore Leonard does make sense.

We can criticise Rowling's use of adverbs all we like, but her millions of sales, fans and quids suggest we're the nitwits, not her.

I don't think Miss Joanne is a nitwit, but that's not because she makes a lot of money, sells a lot of books or has a lot of fans. To point out examples of rich, successful, popular nitwits would be pointing out the obvious to an extent even further than pointing out that Rowling is laughing (unblushingly) all the way to the bank.

You can write a great story with abysmal sentences. And no one else does it to greater success than she.

For anyone who cares...

If you want to do something like this for your own writing without having to somehow post your manuscript to the web, you can use the Find and Replace function in MS Word to find all your "ly" adverbs (and, caution, all your "only"s and "really"s as well). Make sure your highlight color is set to some visible bright color, then do a find and replace, replacing "ly " (the space after the "y" is critical) with "ly " and "Highlight" selected in the format drop-down menu (under more options or the "expand this menu" arrow).

Just a little tip. But as I said, be careful, this will get any word that ends in "ly," so "really" and "only," for example (still adverbs, but less offensive) will be marked, so don't go deleting highlighted words all willy-nilly.

Exactly. We can obsess about adverbs all we like, but Rowling has proved--I would have thought, conclusively--that writers are far more hung up about such trivia than are readers. A gripping story badly told will knock out a dull story well told any day.

Of course Rowling’s books sell well, but that doesn’t mean they’re perfect, or above criticism. Of course they could be even better if she wasn’t only a plot mastermind with one of the best book ideas ever but also a good technical writer.

But what if ... perhaps her style is scientifically tailorded for kids, part of her success recipe rather than a defect? Do children find it easier to follow if, when Harry has to move from point A to point B, every stairway, hallway and door opening along the route is there on the page, nothing left out? Do all the adverbs on "said" make things more vivid for young readers?

I wonder if there's research on this. It wouldn't surprise me -- after all, she's from the country that brought us the bizarre but brilliant Teletubbies through research on baby psychology.

I don't bother with contests as a rule, but the web site IS "spiffy" and the titles look interesting. I don't see how it can hurt to enter. I don't know if this will help you or not, but I actually entered the gather.com thing with a new novel that's highly commercial just to get some feedback (expecting brutal, vicious comments) and I was very surprised at what I learned. It was very "objective" feedback, instead of the "subjective" garbage writers are used to getting. I liked reading "I'd buy this" rather than "not right for me" for change.

i'm glad to see this contest looks kosher. it would be quite disturbing to find that milk and meat were being mixed.

yes, the problem isn't that the use POD instead of offset. The problem, on which i'm quite shocked miss snark didn't pick up, is that this so-called publishing company will publish anybody's work for a fee, i.e., a vanity press. whenever i get queries that reference any vanity press or publishamerica (which, despite what snarkites will want to argue, is vanity in any professional's eyes), i promptly delete them. winning this quote-unquote contest would be more accurately described as losing. losing credibility.

Interesting.

From their FAQ:

"You will receive access to the widest book distribution network in the world. Your book, upon completion, will be available by order through most traditional "brick and mortar" bookstores through the Ingram distribution network and is listed with online booksellers such as amazon.com, booksamillion.com and barnesandnoble.com, as well as being put in our own e-commerce catalog. It will also be listed with Books In Print."

So basically they don't have distribution (except through Ingram) for their vanity/POD projects. On the other hand, it looks like they're trying to break into the traditional (non-vanity) publishing market with this contest, as I surmise from the prize description -- "Prize: $8,000 and Publication under a standard traditional book contract".

Unfortunately (for them) they haven't made the distinction very clearly, and it still smells like vanity publishing. It is entirely possible (probable) that the winner of the contest will still have to do all the heavy lifting (including getting his/her books into bookstores). Still, $8K is more than 99.9% of authors will get for their first book in total, so it's kind of a no-lose situation, innit?

Contests can lead to publication. The rule of thumb is: keep your eye on the prize. It's not about the money, it's about who the final judges are. What you aim for is to become a finalist that will land you on the desk of a major NY publishing house. Don't confuse this with: if you win, we'll submit it to a major NY house. You're looking for: The finalists will be judged by top NY editors from houses X,Y and Z.

I know several authors who got their start this way. I got my start this way, and I'm on my sixth book with HarperCollins. They bought the first based on that contest--and I didn't even win! All that mattered was that it showed up on their desk, they read it, decided it would fit in their line, and called me. I don't even write in that same genre anymore, but they are still my publisher. The point is that it opened the doors for me, cut through the agent and slushpile lines and landed me on the desks of five top editors, one of which called me to see the book.

So, enter contests at your own risks, but pay attention to the prize. Make sure the source of the contest is legit (usually one held in concert with a major writer's organization, or a major publisher. Contests via agents/agencies are rare, and Miss Snark would no doubt be able to advise on any being legit--if they exist.) Make sure that the entry fees aren't exorbitant. 25-50 bucks isn't unreasonable, as long as the contest is legit.

Just don't become a contest junkie. Too many writers fall into the trap of entering, shelling out money, honing the first three chapters and synopsis to the detriment of the remainder of the book or their careers. They never get beyond that.

I'm so glad these questions are showing up and that I have the opportunity to clarify. I am the director of The Parthenon Prize for Fiction and have been in on most of the planning from the very start. I am a writer, a published and award-winning poet, and am very invested in coordinating a reputable and longstanding competition that will be a jewel for the Nashville community and a respected contest to writers across the US and beyond. As this is our first year, we are certainly learning along the way. I have gotten wonderful consultation and guidance from a number of contest directors, but have been most tutored by the adminitrators of the Peter Taylor Prize for the Novel, another Tennessee book prize with a respected history.

As a writer I am very concerned about protecting authors' rights and reputations, including my own and that of our judge, Tony Earley. At the recent AWP conference in Atlanta I attended workshops on both ethics and literary contract negotiations in order to adress these very issues and assure that The Parthenon Prize establishes itself as a valid and esteemed contest.

Cold Tree Press has been operating as a P.O.D. publisher for over five years. When first in business, president Peter Honsberger may have published most manuscripts he recieved; now, however, he has grown the business and become more and more discerning in his projects. Cold Tree is not a vanity press; it does not publish everything submitted, and their reputaion has grown in our community as a fair and responsible business, producing lovely books.

This contest opens a new door for Cold Tree. The winning manuscript will be published as Cold Tree launches its new arm of Traditional Publishing. The operating funds and prize money for The Parthenon Prize for Fiction are donated by an individual philanthropist in Nashville who is not in business with Cold Tree, but who believes in their mission, sees it as a reputable growing company, and wants to see this small Nashville company succeed.

Mr. Honsberger of Cold Tree has assured us that the contract offered the winning author of The Parthenon Prize will include a promotions package as well as distribution through Ingram. All unknown writers should expect to have to do a great deal of readings, self promotion, and "hoofing it" to get their book noticed. Cold Tree has committed, however, to working diligently with the writer to give the book the best reception possible.

I hope this may alleviate some of the concerns of your commentors. There are a few days left to submit to the competition; postmark deadline is April 30. Contest guidelines can be found at www.parthenonprize.org. I have a feeling we're goinig to make one talented writer very happy come Fall 2007 when we announce the winner. Best wishes.

Kelly Falzone, contest director
The Parthenon Prize for Fiction 2007
[email protected]