BOOK-REVIEWS
MAKE A REAL LIVING AS A FREELANCE
WRITER,
How to Win Top Writing Assignments by Jenna Glatzer,
Nomad Press, Independent Publishers Group,
814 N. Franklin St., Chicago, IL. 60610
Book Review by Maryanne Raphael, Writers World
MAKE A REAL LIVING AS A FREELANCE WRITER explains how to be successful “in
today’s publishing climate where the Internet rules and stamps are nearly
obsolete and the articles that earned front-page headlines last decade wouldn’t
even get short blurbs today.” The book shows how to earn top dollars writing for
magazines, how to write a marketable story, how to know what sections of a
magazine welcome freelancers, how to market reprints, and how to become an
expert in your chosen field.
Author Jenna Glatzer is the editor-in-chief of Absolute Write and author of
Outwitting Writer’s Block. She is a full time writer from NYC who has published
9 books and hundreds of articles. Her style makes reading fun with her quick
wit, vast experience, knowledge of her subject and her use of meaningful quotes,
relevant anecdotes and helpful resources.
She says,”You’ll have to learn where to find writing markets and how to study
them, write irresistible query letters, make editors fall in love with you, get
regular assignments, negotiate, make deadbeats pay up and more.” She helps
discover your strengths and how to use them.,, shows you how to set goals, see
writing as a business and get started.
“You must find something worth telling to a mass audience,” she says, “and
convince the ‘powers that be’ that you’re the right person to tell it.”
She even tells how to make the most of rejection slips, how to network, write a
column, interview, write for the Internet, have a Web Site, and make your
article timely. She shows how to become your editor’s favorite by being
“reliable, accurate, nice, respectful of the editor’s time and by proposing
plenty of new ideas with regularity.”
Author Glatzer helps readers learn from her mistakes as well as her
achievements. After stating that big magazines do not want stories that have
appeared elsewhere, she tells how she goofed once . “You shouldn’t be a dummy
like me and actually emphasize this as a selling point in your query.”
The book tells everything you need to know about taxes once you start earning
money from your writing. By the time you finish this book, according to the
author, “You’ll have the insider knowledge you need to figure out what sells to
whom and how to build up and sustain a lucrative career while wearing pajamas.”.
I’d recommend the book to anyone who wants to try freelance writing.
Self-Promotion for the Creative Person
Get the Word Out About Who You Are and What You Do by Lee Silber,
Three Rivers Press, New York
Book Review by Maryanne Raphael, Writers World
Self-Promotion for the Creative Person teaches creative
self-employed people how to promote their talents and services quickly and
effectively. It shows artistic people how to tell the world about the benefits
from their talents and services without wasting their time or money. It includes
innovative ideas, cost-effective methods, and a wide variety of marketing
approaches to build a business or develop a successful career in the arts.
As the author of a series of book for Creative People, the founder or five
businesses and a well-known teacher, speaker and radio talk host, Lee Silber
knows what he is talking about and knows how to get the information across to
his readers. Using his own experiences, Lee explains how to use word of mouth,
the Internet and various methods of networking.
The Author begins by helping readers clarify for themselves exactly what they do
and shows them how to articulate it to others easily and quickly. He shows how
to stand out from a crowd, to start a “buzz” about your work and to create
marketing materials and methods that work. He suggests readers choose a few
things to do right away so they can see the immediate results. I would advise
any self-employed and/or creative artists to read this book, try the many
exciting ideas and put it where you can find it because you’ll want to refer to
it frequently.
Lee, would you prefer that I put this on Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble.com? Will
let you know where it is published.
ALONG CAME A SPIDER,
A PERSONAL LOOK AT MADNESS
By Maryanne Raphael
Reviewed by Thelma Hayes
Another beautiful mind gives us a rare opportunity to experience
the torments of hallucinations, delusions and anxieties a biochemical brain
disorder can bring.
In her most recent book, ALONG CAME A SPIDER; A PERSONAL LOOK AT MADNESS, author
Maryanne Raphael shares with us her intimate feelings, deepest pain and eventual
recovery. Her words are not the usual definitions and descriptions found in
mental health literature but those of a lifelong journal keeper as she endures
hospitalizations and the periods in between. She shows the universality of
mental illnesses as she keeps writing through her crises in Brazil, Morocco, New
York, California and Hawaii.
And finally she gives us hope that those suffering from a mental illness can
live a stable and productive life. From her home base in Carlsbad, CA Maryanne
now travels the globe, continues her writing career and is an inspiration to
all.
We Are the Romani People
by Ian Hancock
University of Hertfordshire Press, £9.99
Reviewed by Louise Doughty
On the day that Jeffrey Archer was sentenced, the BBC Ten
O’Clock News reported with some glee that he had been driven off to prison in a
van containing “a Gypsy accused of murder”. Consider the furore had the
newscaster said “a Jew accused of murder” or “a black”. The scriptwriter would
have been sacked.
The level of awareness of Romani issues in this country is 30 years behind that
affecting other races. Many still fail to understand that “Gypsies”, or more
accurately Roma or Romanies, are a race at all. New-age travellers have confused
the issue, leading some to think that being a Gypsy is a matter of lifestyle.
The recent immigration of refugees from central and eastern Europe and their
demonisation by the tabloid press has only exacerbated the misunderstanding.
Ian Hancock’s book could not be more timely. Hancock is a British Rom who is now
professor of Romani studies at the University of Texas. His book begins with a
historical account of the origins of the Romanies, their flight from India
around a thousand years ago, and gradual migration westward into Europe. It
includes chapters on the significant historical moments in Romani history,
including the mass killings of Romanies by the Nazis who, ironically, had no
problem identifiying Romani people by race, and murdering them for it.
The Romani holocaust, or porajmos, is becoming better known, but few Europeans
are aware that for five and a half centuries Romanies in eastern Europe were
slaves. “In the 16th century, a Romani child could be purchased for 32p. By the
19th century, slaves were sold by weight, at the rate of one gold piece per
pound.”
In the later chapters, Hancock includes a rough guide to present-day Romani
life, language, cookery and customs. There is a fascinating list of notables of
Romani descent (Yul Brynner, Rita Hayworth and Charlie Chaplin I knew about, but
Bill Clinton was a new one on me).
More could have been said about the desperate economic circumstances of many
Romanies in central and eastern Europe, where some are living under conditions
comparable to apartheid-era South Africa. (Meanwhile, our Home Office pays for
British immigration officers to stand at Prague airport stopping people from
boarding aircraft if they look a bit “Gypsy”.) In a section on Romani
organisations, Hancock touches briefly on the particular problems of Romani
representation to non-Romanies, or gadje. Some Romani academics and politicians
now talk of creating a “non-territorial nation” and have petitioned the United
Nations asking that Romanies be given a seat and voting rights in the UN general
asssembly. The problem is how such representatives could be elected among the
huge and often competing diversity of Romani groups.
Some traditional Romanies, for instance, consider any contact with the gadje for
purposes other than subsistence as polluting. Any Romanies who cooperate with
gadje political structures automatically disbar themselves from representing
Romani people. But without such representation, the ignorance of the gadje will
persist. This seemingly insoluble conundrum is worthy of a book on its own.
The University of Hertfordshire Press also produces other books on different
aspects of Romani life and culture, including two autobiographies by Romani
women. Ultimately, it is through such personal testimony that gadje will come to
a long-overdue understanding of the realities of Romani life. We can only hope
it will not take another millennium for that understanding to come about.
SUMMER STORIES Tales From the Tropics
Publishing Co., 11224 Camel Creek Road, San Diego, CA. 82130, USA
Good Reading for All Seasons by Lee Silber,
Reviewed by Maryanne Raphael
SUMMER STORIES is an exciting collection of short stories by award-winning
author Lee Silber. Every story has interesting, three dimensional characters,
beautiful believable settings, fascinating plots, scenes with just enough
description to pull the readers into the action while forcing them to use their
own imaginations. And every one of them would make a thrilling movie. There are
romantic love stories, engrossing adventures with raptists, peeping toms,
stalkers, murderers, drug traffickers and beachcombers.
Author Lee SIlber, who has already proven himself a master of nonfiction, now
adds fiction to his achievements. SUMMER STORIES make excellent reading for lazy
summer vacation days, but these stories will also make delightful reading for a
cold winter night. In fact it is a book for all seasons and for men and women of
all ages.
Its wide appeal makes it an excellent choice for a gift for many occasions.