Writer's Digest Questions and Quandaries

What is an M.F.A.?

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:55:25 GMT

Q: What exactly is an M.F.A. and how is it beneficial to writers? –Matthew G.

A: While the initials M.F.A. sound like an outer-space contraption that the government is trying to hide in the desert, it's actually a very valuable credential earned by some writers.

An M.F.A., or Master of Fine Arts, is one of the highest degrees you can earn in creative writing. Think of it as a graduate program for writers that includes workshops with other writers, instruction from dedicated faculty (including famous/successful writers) and vigorous deadlines. Typically you'll need a bachelor's degree to apply and most M.F.A. programs last about 2 years—though there are many options.

"There are large programs, small programs, full-time ones, part-time and low-residencies/long-distance programs," says M.F.A. Confidential blogger, Kate Monahan. "The key things to consider when picking a school are location, size of the program, on-campus vs. long-distance learning, available funding (many programs offer full-tuition), available faculty members, visiting authors, school’s ranking/reputation and potential teaching fellowships."

As for the benefits, the advantages of M.F.A. programs span from refining your writing skill-set to literary magazine assignments. But the most valuable jewel is that it grants you access to resources that are normally off-limits to writers, specifically research assistants, teaching opportunities and writing workshops with published authors (sometimes there are even one-on-one opportunities). These advantages helped Michael Chabon, Alice Sebold and Elizabeth Kostova—all alumni of M.F.A. programs—land book deals.

And if you're looking for a practical reason to enroll, Monahan has it: "The true importance of an M.F.A. program is finally giving yourself permission to take your writing seriously."

Amen to that.

Brian A. Klems is the online community editor of Writer’s Digest magazine.

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Can You Copyright a Title?

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:43:06 GMT

Q: I've been working on a book and the title is very important—I use it as the URL for my blog, for a weekly column I write, etc., and I want people to identify it with me. Can I copyright a title so others can't use it? –Anonymous

A: Copyrights cover works fixed in a tangible format, but because titles are typically short, they don't fall under copyright protection. So no, you can't copyright a title to a book, song or movie. But you can trademark a title, which may give you the protection you seek.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states that a trademark protects words, phrases, symbols or designs identifying the source of the goods or services of one party and distinguishing them from those of others. Brand names like Pepsi, Xerox and Band-Aid are all protected. So is the Nike "swoosh." But more relevant to us, book titles such as The Da Vinci Code and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone are trademarked.

Unlike copyright protection, which is granted the minute your work is written down, trademarks aren't handed out so freely. In fact, if the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office doesn't consider your title (or brand) a distinctive mark that is indisputably distinguishable from others, you will not be granted trademark protection. This is why you see so many books with the same—or very similar—titles. Many of the terms are considered too generic or arbitrary to warrant protection.

Trademarks are not only intended to protect the creator, but also the consumer. Trademarks keep others from confusing a well-known work on the bookstore shelves with others. For example, Harry Potter is such a popular, distinguishable character by J.K. Rowling that you'd expect any title with his name in it to be written by her (or, at least, a book approved by her). It's not only her work, but it's become her brand.

So if you use the title of your book as the title of your blog, column, etc., it could be considered your brand identifier. And if you find success, you could qualify for trademark protection.

Brian A. Klems is the online community editor of Writer’s Digest magazine.

Have a question for me? Feel free to post it in the comments section below or e-mail me at WritersDig@fwmedia.com with “Q&Q” in the subject line.

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Can You Start a Sentence with "Because"?

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:10:19 GMT

Q: My grammar school teachers always told me that it was wrong to start a sentence with the word “because,” but I commonly see it in books today. What’s the rule?—Roger Allen

A: Grammar teachers across the U.S., please don’t hate me, as I’m about to expose the awful truth you’ve been trying to hide for years: It’s not poor grammar to start a sentence with “because.” That’s right, there’s no rule or law in grammar books that denies you the right to start a sentence with this conjunction. A sentence such as, Because I needed money, I sold my body to science, is not only grammatically correct, it’s also more effective than if it were the other way around (I sold my body to science because I needed the money).

So why do teachers parade this nonexistent rule to our youth? They want to prevent the future scholars from writing in fragments, and kids have a tendency to write incomplete sentences like Because I can or Because he’s smelly. Instead of telling kids that they can’t start a sentence with “because,” it’d be more proper to make them complete their sentences. But I know how difficult it is to get kids to complete anything.

Brian A. Klems is the online community editor of Writer’s Digest magazine.

Have a question for me? Feel free to post it in the comments section below or e-mail me at WritersDig@fwmedia.com with “Q&Q” in the subject line.

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Do Agents Steal Your Stamps? (The SASE Conundrum)

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 17:23:52 GMT

Q: Do agents steam off the stamps on self-addressed, stamped envelopes (SASEs) and resell them?! The agents demand pages, SASEs, that sort of‑thing, but—and I know this sounds cynical—many of my queries disappear.
—Don B.

A:Of course agents don’t steam off stamps from SASEs and resell them. They steam them off and use the stamps themselves!

Actually, they don’t steam off anything (as far as I know), and really do try to respond (unless, of course, they state specifically in their writing guidelines that they only accept e-querys and don't respond to snail mail). To gain further insight on the matter, I called Donald Maass, president of Donald Maass Literary Agency. He represents more than 100 fiction writers.

“If you’re certain that you wrote to the agent’s current address and the SASE had sufficient postage, then you can conclude one of three things,” he says. “Either the agent is rude, the agent is busy or the agent just isn’t interested.”

Now, I doubt that agents try to ignore you, as their profession and income are based on finding great writing. With the mounds of submissions they continually receive, they probably don’t have time to respond to everyone (though that would be nice).

Brian A. Klems is the online managing editor of Writer’s Digest magazine.

Have a question for me? Feel free to post it in the comments section below or e-mail me at WritersDig@fwmedia.com with “Q&Q” in the subject line.

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Can I Query Before I Finish My Novel?

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:43:06 GMT

Q: I'm currently writing my first novel and am about halfway finished, but I have completed an outline and synopsis. Can I start querying agents now?

A: Being a first-time novelist, it's important to finish your book before sending out any query letters. Without a track record, you have no proof that you can finish a novel. And the number of folks who finish writing novels is dramatically smaller than the number of folks who start them (I'm certainly guilty of having three unfinished novels taking up valuable space in my underwear drawer.)

Agents are inundated with submissions and they don't want to deal with unfinished work. From their perspective, it makes no sense to waste time getting excited about a story that may never get completed (or may not fulfill the promise made in a query letter).

So spend the next few weeks/months completing your book, including edits, rewrites, more edits and more rewrites. Do the same with your query letter. Make sure everything is in tip-top shape. Once you feel confident in your work—or as close to confident as any writer can be—it's finally time to slap a stamp on the envelope and drop the query in the mail (or send it via e-mail, depending on the agent's guidelines).

Brian A. Klems is the online managing editor of Writer’s Digest magazine.

Have a question for me? Feel free to post it in the comments section below or e-mail me at WritersDig@fwmedia.com with “Q&Q” in the subject line.

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UPDATED: Can You Write the Sequel to Someone Else's Book?

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:01:24 GMT

NOTE TO READERS: AFTER WRITING THIS Q&Q I READ A COPYRIGHT LAW THAT DIDN'T JIVE WITH MY ANSWER, SO I CONTACTED AN ATTORNEY TO SET THINGS STRAIGHT. GLAD I DID, BECAUSE I WAS OFF. AFTER SOME DIGGING WE FOUND THAT THE GREAT GATSBY WILL ENTER THE PUBLIC DOMAIN IN 2020, NOT 2010 AS I ORIGINALLY STATED. I'VE UPDATED THE ANSWER BELOW.

Q: Do I need permission to write a sequel to a famous book (in my case, The Great Gatsby) or can I just write and sell it? —Becky B.

Q: For all books that fall under copyright protection, yes, you need to be granted permission by the copyright holder. The holder is typically the author, the author's family or the publisher of the book. Without attaining the rights, you can't sell/publish a sequel. Period.

(Wow, did I just pull out the single-word sentence for emphasis? I certainly did, so I must be serious!)

That's the bad news. The good news for all who want to write sequels to their favorite books is that thousands of old books have had their copyrights expire. It's why Gregory Maguire had no problem peeling away at The Wizard of Oz (public domain since 1956) to produce Wicked and Son of a Witch. And John Gardner didn't need permission from anyone to write his Beowulf interpretation, Grendel (public domain since, well, before any of us were born).

To know when a copyright expires, you need to understand the rules established by the U.S. Copyright Office (which are very confusing, so I’ll try to sum up). Last I checked, work created before January 1, 1978, has a copyright life of 95 years from publication or 120 years from the work’s creation—whichever comes first. If it were published in 1978 or after, and the author is named and registers with the copyright office (whether it’s his real name or a pseudonym), the copyright term for the work is the author’s life plus 70 years.

Now, onto your real conundrum: Is The Great Gatsby part of the public domain? Gatsby was penned by F. Scott Fitzgerald and published in 1925. Because it was published before that magical year of 1978, the copyright won’t expire until 95 years after it was published. And, if my math is correct (which it usually isn’t, so I double-checked with my friendly solar-powered calculator), The Great Gatsby will become part of the public domain in 2020. So you’ll have to hold off a few more years to sell your sequel.

Brian A. Klems is the online managing editor of Writer’s Digest magazine.

Have a question for me? Feel free to post it in the comments section below or e-mail me at WritersDig@fwmedia.com with “Q&Q” in the subject line.

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What is a Kill Fee?

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:47:10 GMT

Q: I got a contract for a magazine story that I’m writing, and it makes reference to a "kill fee." What is a kill fee and why would a publisher and/or writer use one?—Frank

A: A kill fee what you get if your editor decides not to buy your story after all. For example, say you were contracted to write “Don’t Squash ‘em,” a story about spiders for the National Bug Lovers Magazine. The editor agreed to pay you $1,000 for the piece. You send in the completed work, and the editor reads it over but feels your depiction of the little critters is too far off base for the message of the magazine. He also determines that a revise or edit won’t fix the problems with the piece. You, on the other hand, have done a lot of the work and feel you deserve to get your check. This is where the kill fee comes into play.

Most contracts will state a percentage the editor will pay you if the story doesn’t run (Writer’s Digest pays 25% of the original agreed-upon amount). Once your story is officially killed, all rights to your piece revert back to you and you can try to sell it somewhere else. Maybe Insect Today will love your story.

There are any number of reasons why an article will get killed—it doesn’t fit the editorial focus of the magazine, something changes in the world and it negates the timeliness of the article, etc. Don’t take it personally. But go back and look at the original agreement and any comments the editor has supplied, and see what you can learn from the experience.

Brian A. Klems is the online managing editor of Writer’s Digest magazine.

Have a question for me? Feel free to post it in the comments section below or e-mail me at WritersDig@fwpubs.com with “Q&Q” in the subject line. Come back each Tuesday as I try to give you more insight into the writing life.

Are Men Writing Romance?

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:00:15 GMT

Q: I notice that there are very few male authors or stories written from the male point of view in Romance novels. Could this be because most editors or publishers in this genre are women? The best romance novel ever written, in my opinion, was "LOVE STORY," and a male wrote it from a male point of view. Why aren’t there more?”—Jim

A: There often seems to be a misconception that romance reading (and writing) is reserved for women-only, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Men are not only welcome to enjoy the genre, they are also currently writing some of the most popular romance novels to date—though you may not realize it.

"There are a lot more men writing romance than it would appear because we all have to be published under a feminine, or feminine sounding, pseudonym," says Harold Lowry, multi-published romance author and Past President of RWA. "I say 'we' because I’ve published 46 books under the name Leigh Greenwood. Probably as a result of my longevity and visibility, my publisher puts my picture in the back of my books so that my readers know I’m a man. Because my sales have never suffered, I think it’s safe to say readers are interested in a good book and won’t be scared away by the gender of the writer."

It is true that the majority of folks reading romance novels are women. According to the 2009 Romance Writers of America Reader Survey, women make up 90.5 percent of the romance readership, with men holding down the other 9.5 percent. But even while readership leans heavily toward women and, on the outside, romance writing may look like a women's-only sport, the truth is the genre is very much co-ed. Like any other category of writing, great romance fiction is written (and sold) by both women and men.
One of the most successful writers in the early years of romantic fiction was Tom Huff, who wrote under the pseudonym of Jennifer Wilde. There's also Vince Brach (Fran Vincent), Mike Hinkemeyer (Vanessa Royall) and—well, you get the point.

As for the issue of few romance novels written from the male point of view, Lowry took great issue with that statement.

"Because a romance involves a man and a woman, each character participates in the development of the romance and the resolution of the conflicts. I don’t recall having read a romance – and I’ve read over a thousand – where only the female point of view was used," Lowry says. "The male protagonists often have as many conflicts to resolve as the female protagonists. This requires the writer to use both points of view in order to resolve all the issues in the book. Many times a book may seem to be one protagonist’s story more than the other – this has happened in several of my books – but the book still ends up being divided almost equally between the two points of view."

So there you have it. While the road for men may be a little bumpier in their quest to write and sell fiction than it is for women, the road is there. And like with all genres, great writing will win out—no matter who writes it.

Brian A. Klems is the online community editor of Writer’s Digest magazine.

Have a question for me? Feel free to post it in the comments section below or e-mail me at WritersDig@fwpubs.com with “Q&Q” in the subject line. Come back each Tuesday as I try to give you more insight into the writing life.

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How Do You Regain Copyrights to Pieces You've Sold?

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 13:28:30 GMT

Q: About 20 years ago, I sold a short story to a magazine. One line in my contract stated the payment was for “full rights” and another said, “On acceptance of this payment, the author transfers the copyright interest to … .” Does this mean I can’t sell the story ever again, even as a reprint? What if the magazine is no longer published?—P.A.‑Humphrey

A: Selling full rights to your work is like selling your car—once the contract is signed, you have no rights to the piece and can’t sell it again. Works created 20 years ago are protected for the life of the author plus 70 years, so the new owner has that copyright protection.

According to our legal expert Amy Cook, even if a magazine is defunct, someone, somewhere, still owns the copyright to your piece. If you want to sell that article again, you’ll need to get the rights back.

“Even if the company went out of business, copyrights are assets that can be bought and sold; they don’t just disappear,” Cook says. “However, if you can find out who currently controls the copyright, that person may be perfectly willing to transfer the rights back to you.”

Cook also notes that there’s a little-known loophole in the Copyright Act that says authors may terminate their copyright grants after 35 years (though it doesn’t apply to works-for-hire or copyrights transferred in wills). But this loophole still requires you to contact the existing copyright holder and inform her that you’re exercising the clause. It’s important to put it in writing. And if you’re doing this, I suggest consulting a lawyer first.

Your other option is to change the story to make it a new work. There’s no real formula when it comes to creating a new piece out of old material. It’s important to know that you can use the same idea, but the work can’t be “substantially similar” to the original piece. How similar is “substantially similar”? That’s up to the judge—if it ever comes to that.

Brian A. Klems is the online community editor of Writer’s Digest magazine.

Have a question for me? Feel free to post it in the comments section below or e-mail me at WritersDig@fwpubs.com with “Q&Q” in the subject line. Come back each Tuesday as I try to give you more insight into the writing life.

The Difference Between Authorized and Unauthorized Biographies

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:43:50 GMT

Q: I'm considering writing a biography about someone relatively famous in my hometown. I've noticed that biographies fall into one of two categories: authorized and unauthorized. What's the difference?

A: The difference between an authorized biography and an unauthorized biography is this: An authorized biography is written with the help/cooperation of the person whom the book is about and an unauthorized biography is not.

In an authorized biography, the author typically holds interviews with the subject of the book, the subject's family members and friends, co-workers, etc. The author is privy to information only attainable from the subject of the book. So, let's say you wanted to write Brian A. Klems: Man, Writer, Softball Champion and wanted it to be an authorized biography. You'd contact me and ask for my blessing and cooperation, getting as much information as you can directly from me (and those around me). If I were deceased (yikes!), you'd need the blessing of my estate. Also, depending on level of involvement, sometimes the subject will get a shared byline and possibly a share of the book's revenue. Issues like that can—and should—be addressed before the book is started.

On the flip side, if you call for my help and I tell you to buzz off, you have two options: 1) to actually buzz off or 2) to go ahead and write the biography anyway without my help. Here you'll have to gather info on your own from public records and other resources, but you won't have to make any professional compromises or financial concessions.

Before you write any biography, authorized or not, I recommend reading the article "Publication Of An Unauthorized Biography" by Lloyd L. Rich. He offers up an excellent breakdown of the potential legal ramifications, what they mean and how to avoid them.

Brian A. Klems is the online community editor of Writer’s Digest magazine.

Have a question for me? Feel free to post it in the comments section below or e-mail me at WritersDig@fwpubs.com with “Q&Q” in the subject line. Come back each Tuesday as I try to give you more insight into the writing life.