Great Storytelling Network Newsletter – 17 August 2016

I am sorry I couldn’t publish the last edition of this newsletter. I was ill and needed to take some rest. All fine now. In this edition, I share an article about 15 habits that writers should cultivate. This is based on an article about the habits of mentally tough people.

Rohi shares the all-important features you should look our for in a publishing contract.

And Eric’s story is all about ‘Running for your life’.

If you’ve not yet entered the competition that Rohi is promoting, please do so now before the closing date at the end of the month.

Happy storytelling.
Aneeta Sundararaj

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Earlier this year, I read an article by Travis Bradberry (https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/248234) where he sets out 15 habits that mentally tough people should have. I analysed the same 15 habits, but applied them to the writing/publishing industry. Here’s what I came up with:

1. They’re emotionally intelligent

From what I understand, EQ is a person’s ability to accurately identify his emotions. This includes being aware of, controlling and expressing those emotions. In ‘Why the best writers have the most Emotional Intelligence’ (http://www.publicationcoach.com/emotional-intelligence/) the two points that jumped out at me were these:

Successful writers are not cocky. Instead, they have a realistic understanding of their own self-worth. Their ability to put themselves in the shoes of others makes them exquisitely sensitive to the needs of their readers.

2. They’re confident

I’ve observed that confident writers have the following in common:

• They don’t try to succeed. They just succeed.
• They don’t waste time.
• They are able to separate actual criticism from the person making the criticism. The classic example for this is when you receive an editor’s response to your work. When you can remember that it’s the work they’re criticising, and not you, you will be able to work out the problems (if any) in your work and gain a lot of confidence….

To read more, please click here.

Sometime in February, I read that Britain’s The Independent newspaper will disappear from news-stands from the end of March 2016. The 29-year-old title will only publish online. The article said that the paper, which was launched by a group of journalists in 1986, became Britain’s highest-profile casualty of our changed reading habits. Apparently, more and more people are reading the news online rather than an actual paper and, ‘from a peak of 400,000 copies a day, circulation has fallen to just over 40,000.’

The owner of the newspaper said that the move to make it solely online would allow the company to invest in high-quality editorial content. It also suggested that the change is being driven by readers and that future is digital.

Then, a month ago, closer to home, on 15 March 2016, the news portal, The Malaysian Insider went offline. Of the many reasons given, one of the most interesting comments was that there were financial losses amounting to RM10 million and that there were no advertisers. One writer suggested that without this platform, we would go back to reading actual newspapers and this would bring with a whole new set of problems.

That very day, I happened to read an article by Moira Allen about books, eBooks and the ‘future of publishing.’ She wrote, ‘… e-books have become a huge part of the “future of publishing” — without, oddly enough, having driven print books into extinction.  I’m not the least bit worried about the “death” of print publishing.’

All this got me thinking about my reading habits, both online and offline, and the newspaper….

To read more, please click here.

Contracts are legally binding documents that ensure you give the clients what they deserve and your clients give you what you deserve. A contract is also proof that your clients have agreed to your terms. You set the terms and they agree, though all the terms are negotiable.

However, though it’s important, most freelance writers have probably never sent a contract to their clients. They might feel intimidated by the very idea of drafting and sending a contract. Or they might feel that drafting a contract requires legal knowledge.

Fortunately, creating contracts is easier than you think. Here’s all the information and tools you need to draft your first contract:

What makes a contract valid?

Every contract has two basic elements:

1. All parties are in agreement (an offer has been made by one party and accepted by the other).
2. Something of value has been exchanged, such as cash, services or goods (or a promise to exchange such an item) for something else of value…..

To read more, please click here.

How do you fight for your life when abducted by a killer squad who grab you to kill you for blood money? In Nigeria, they are known as ‘ritual killers.’ They prowl the highways of cities and settlements of rural communities, in search of victims to kidnap and take to their dens to slaughter and use their blood to make rituals for big money and power.

They are agents of men and women of power and influence, gangsters, drug pushers, politicians, dubious businessmen, and those who want to ‘get rich quick’ They work for the ‘high and mighty’ in the society who use the blood of citizens and supernatural means to power their business and quest for positions in high places. Such victims are declared missing and are never seen again by their relatives and loved ones….

To read more please click here.

Do check out this link to YouTube – Where the Durian Tree Grows by Leela Chakrabarty about my new book, ‘Where the Durian Tree Grows’.

Thank you and regards- really do appreciate this!
Leela

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Prize: £50 to the winning entry, via PayPal & publication in the Verbolatry newsletter
Eligibility: Anyone over the age of 18, except contest judges and family
Topic: Writing/publishing
Genres: Humorous fiction, humorous nonfiction
Language: English
Types: Cartoon, Essay
Specifications:
Essay – 100 words min., 500 words max., in message body
Cartoon – JPG, PNG or GIF file, resolution 75dpi min., dimensions 900x1400px max., as attachment
Original, previously unpublished work only
One entry per author, regardless of type
Mention the category and title of your entry in the subject line
Include an accurate word count
Tell us where you heard about this contest (You heard it from Rohi Shetty, a columnist at ‘How to Tell a Great Story)
Send entry to: v3rbolatry(at)gmail(dot)com
“Early Bird” submission period*: 1 April 2016 to 31 July 2016 Last date: 31 August 2016
Results announced: October 2016 newsletters

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