My newsletter distributor went out of business without notifying its clients. It absconded with my subscriber list. I’ve decided to take its action as a sign that after 32 years of sending out a free monthly newsletter to writers, it’s time to wave the white flag. Here’s the February issue that I was about to send when I discovered that EZezine, my distributor, had disappeared without a word.
The Writers Network News: February 2025
In This Issue
One: From the Editor’s Desk: Rejection
Two: Ask the Book Doctor—Why Did You Change My Writing?
Three: Subjects of Interest to Writers
Four: Contests, Agents, and Markets
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The Writers Network News
Editor: Bobbie Christmas
Sponsor: Zebra Communications
Contents copyright 2025, Bobbie Christmas
No portion of this newsletter can be used without permission; however, you may forward the newsletter in its entirety to fellow writers.
Zebra Communications
Excellent editing for maximum marketability
Founded in 1992
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Notes
Some links in this newsletter are created through TinyUrl.com, which converts long links into shorter ones.
Our format doesn’t support italics, so italics are indicated with underlines _before_ and _after_ words.
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Writer’s Quote of the Month
“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.”
–Thomas Jefferson
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Plan to Change Your Email Address?
You must resubscribe with your new address before your old address expires. Our double-opt-in, no-spam policy does not allow me to change your address. If our email to you bounces, our system automatically unsubscribes you. To ensure you never miss an issue of The Writers Network News, you must resubscribe with your new address. Go to https://www.zebraeditor.com/ and sign up with your new address, and do it before you stop using your old address.
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One: From the Editor’s Desk: Rejection
Dear Fellow Writers:
Phooey. I just received a second rejection for my memoir. On the bright side I actually received notes, albeit boilerplates, whereas nowadays most agents’ websites say things like, “If we are interested in reading more, we will respond within two months.”
I tell my clients to think of rejection as merely the indication that they are on the right track—submitting their manuscripts to agents or publishers. I say that a rejection means that the manuscript hasn’t yet reached the right person, and to keep trying. I remind them that the rejection of a manuscript is not to be taken personally; it’s a rejection of the manuscript, not a rejection of the author. Now I have to remind myself of these things.
Years ago when agents and publishers actually responded to submissions, I used to paste my rejection slips on the wall of my office, thinking it was a way of showing me I was on the right path. A friend who saw my rejection-filled wall said to me, “Is rejection what you really want to look at every day?” He was right. I took down all my rejection letters and in almost no time, I received an acceptance letter and an offer for my book Write In Style.
I won’t print out and keep the first rejection letter I received for my memoir. I’ll take it as a step in the right direction and move on. After all, it’s not a rejection of me; it’s simply an indication that I haven’t yet reached the right agent or publisher.
Yours in writing,
Bobbie Christmas [email protected] or [email protected]
Book doctor, author of award-winning _Write In Style_, owner of Zebra Communications, editor of “The Writers Network News,” and senior editor of _Enjoy Cherokee Magazine_
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Two: Ask the Book Doctor: Why Did You Change My Writing?
By Bobbie Christmas
Q: Your track changes on my manuscript show that you want me to delete a lot of words from my manuscript. Why did you make that recommendation?
A: Please be assured I didn’t randomly select words to delete, and as you can see, many of the words are the same, meaning they were overused. I also rarely removed entire sentences. First let me address a few of the specific words I’d like to see deleted because they are repetitive, superfluous, and/or redundant. I’ll give examples.
Original: He had objected to her demands when she made them, but she had insisted, and he had relented.
Preferred: He had objected to her demands when she made them, but she insisted, and he relented.
I recommended deleting the second and third use of “had” in the same paragraph (and in this case the same sentence) because one use of “had” sets the scene in past perfect tense. Repeating the word leads to loose writing, and creative writers should write tight.
Original: She stood up, walked over to the closet, and then grabbed a scarf.
Preferred: She stood, walked to the closet, and grabbed a scarf.
I recommended deleting “up,” “over,” and “then” because all are unnecessary. Note how no meaning is lost yet the sentence is tighter.
The following is an example of a sentence I deleted.
Original: He thought she didn’t understand. He turned to her and said, “I don’t think you understand.”
Preferred: He turned to her and said, “I don’t think you understand.”
I recommended deleting the first sentence because it tells, rather than shows, and the second sentence, the dialogue, shows and repeats what the first sentence told. It’s always best to show, rather than tell and never wise to show and tell duplicate information.
Q: I see that in my manuscript you changed the order of pronouns and names in some places. Please explain why.
A: In polite language, especially in the narrative, we put our own pronoun last. For example, instead of this: “I and John went to the store,” the correct order is this: “John and I went to the store.” Completely incorrect (although I see it and hear it often) is this: “Me and John went to the store.” We wouldn’t say “Me went to the store,” so you can see why it’s incorrect to say, “Me and John went to the store.”
In other places in the manuscript I saw “me” used correctly, but in the wrong order. For example, this: “He gave orders to me and John.” In this case it should be this: “He gave orders to John and me.”
A writer may, however, intentionally use incorrect grammar in a specific character’s dialogue to indicate the character isn’t well educated or refined. I’d be careful not to have many of the characters speak that way, though, or readers may think it’s the writer who isn’t well educated.
Q: Why did you change some of the pronouns in my manuscript?
A: I substituted names or identifies in place of pronouns for clarity, especially when more than one character of the same sex appears in the same paragraph. Each pronoun should clearly refer to the last stated noun. Especially when starting a new scene or chapter, names or identifications should precede the use of pronouns. I’ll create a paragraph to show how confusing pronouns can be. Let’s assume the paragraph is the start of a new scene. Here goes:
She combed her blond hair before she applied blush to her cheeks. Janice looked in the mirror to examine her makeup and saw her aide standing behind her. She held a leather portfolio brimming with papers. She turned around before she handed her the papers. She studied the papers before she said, “I’ll take care of this.”
With all those uses of “she,” how can the reader tell who did what? As an editor I would revise the paragraph this way:
Janice combed her blond hair before she applied blush to her cheeks. She looked in the mirror to examine her makeup and saw her aide standing behind her. The aide held a leather portfolio brimming with papers. Janice turned around before her aide handed her the papers. Janice studied the papers before she said, “I’ll take care of this.”
Send your questions to Bobbie Christmas, book editor, author of Write In Style: Use Your Computer to Improve Your Writing, and owner of Zebra Communications. [email protected] or [email protected]. Read Bobbie’s Zebra Communications blog at https://www.zebraeditor.com/blog/.
For much more information on hundreds of subjects of vital importance to writers, order _Purge Your Prose of Problems, a Book Doctor’s Desk Reference Book_ at http://tinyurl.com/4ptjnr. It’s an excellent reference book to help writing groups resolve any disagreements.
Bobbie Christmas’s five-time award-winning _Write In Style: How to Use Your Computer to Improve Your Writing_ is available from Amazon at https://tinyurl.com/y7ppcdkd or buy it directly at https://tinyurl.com/y7p9xkbb.
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Three: Subjects of interest to writers
Subscribers Write
In last month’s issue I asked subscribers to tell me what they thought of the following, which I found in a manuscript I edited: “You could hear their eyeballs turn.”
Marline Clark’s take was this: “I think it’s a riff on the cliche, ‘You could hear the wheels turning,’ referring to someone thinking, but that metaphor is more successful because wheels can make noise. I think the writer was trying to be clever. Not knowing the context, I pictured balls rolling on a pool table, clacking.
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I asked subscribers to tell me about their intentions for 2025. Vicki Flier Hudson wrote, “One of my intentions is that I intend to finish both my autobiography and my fantasy novel in 2025. I want to also have you edit my fantasy novel and start shopping it around by the end of the year.”
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Fellow editor Sandy Murphy was privy to this month’s “Ask the Book Doctor” column early, and she wrote, “Good article! I’ve done editing where repetitive words become obvious after a few pages. I read one mystery, very cozy, and the main character had a phrase she used instead of cursing. It got to be so glaring—in every book in the series—that I tracked it. Every twenty pages or so, there it was again.”
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MANUSLIP
USAGE:
The following manuslip made me a little nauseated:
The man dropped his eyes to his feet.
In my book titled _Write In Style_ tell writers to keep their characters’ eyes in their heads. In the above case the sentence can be interpreted to mean that the character’s eyes fell out of his head and dropped onto his feet. A better way to say the same thing would be this: The man dropped his gaze to his feet.
MANUSLIP MEANING:
A slip in grammar, punctuation, or other error in a manuscript that often results in humor; a manuscript blooper
ETYMOLOGY:
Coined by Bobbie Christmas (1944 – ) first usage in _Write In Style: How to Use Your Computer to Improve Your Writing_ (2004, 2015).
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awhile/a while, Coke/coke, counsel/council/consul, canceled/cancelled
Which word is correct in the way it is used? A professional editor knows, but do you?
Bobbie Christmas, owner of Zebra Communications, offers three levels of editing service. See our services, pricing, reviews, and more at https://www.zebraeditor.com/
Zebra Communications: Excellent Editing for Maximum Marketability
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How to Write ASL
In the interest of inclusivity, adding a deaf character in a novel can be both a good thing and a challenge. American Sign Language is a visual language with its own grammar rules. How do you write a language that is visual? The following article from Disability in KidLit gives some strong suggestions. https://tinyurl.com/yvcnssew
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Marketing Your Book
People sometimes ask me about marketing their book, but I’m an editor, not a marketer. Written Word Media offers dozens of marketing ideas. Choose the ones that speak to you. https://www.writtenwordmedia.com/100-book-marketing-ideas-for-authors/
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Writing Prompt?
I don’t usually give writing prompts but I recently saw one that intrigued me, so I’m passing it on. Here it goes: “Your story’s first sentence must contain only four words.”
Such a prompt makes a writer concentrate on making that first sentence as powerful as possible.
If you were to use this prompt, what would your first sentence be? Share it with our readers by sending it to me. I’ll bet my readers can come up with some doozies.
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Be My Friend on Facebook
Follow my adventures, opinions, and observations: http://www.facebook.com/bobbie.christmas
Follow Zebra Communications on Facebook for news for writers, writing-related cartoons, immediate updates, and other good stuff. https://tinyurl.com/ydyn3pcu.
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CMOS Online Q&A
The Chicago Manual of Style Online answered the following question as well as others:
Q. Dear Manuscript Editing Department, I am proofreading a bibliography using CMOS and wanted to ask where the period should go relative to the following title of a journal article: “In/Visibility and the (Post-Soviet) ‘Queer Closet.’ ” That placement seems to be the generally accepted solution in American English. I wonder, however, if, for the computational age, the following solution were not more appropriate: “In/Visibility and the (Post-Soviet) ‘Queer Closet’.” I find that it makes the string that one copies in order to search for it online correspond to what is in databases and on journal sites.
To get the answer to this question and many more based on Chicago style, go to http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/latest.html
_The Chicago Manual of Style_ sets the standard in book publishing for issues such as punctuation, capitalization, and much more. If you write fiction or nonfiction books, you will want to know about Chicago style or be sure to use a professional book editor intimately familiar with Chicago style.
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Changes in the 18th Edition of _The Chicago Manual of Style_
The latest edition of _The Chicago Manual of Style_ is here! Each month I’ve revealed a change I’ve seen.
Here are the last of the vital changes I’ve noticed: The book expanded its guidance on inclusive language and minimizing bias, with new sections on ableism, person-first versus identity-first language, and evolving conscious language standards. The use of singular “they” is now fully allowable in formal writing.
Essential to American book editors, the latest edition of _The Chicago Manual of Style_ costs about $75. Authors won’t have to buy a copy if they use an editor who keeps up to date with the latest changes in Chicago style.
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Write Tight: Learn What To Look For, How to Look for It, and What to Delete
In five-time award-winning _Write In Style_ you’ll learn how to find and delete or rewrite words, sentences, and phrases that weaken your writing.
_Write In Style_ uses humor and expertise to show writers how to tighten and strengthen their writing and create a fresh voice.
To order: https://tinyurl.com/y8fp5nym
Want to buy the book in Kobo through Rakuten? Easy. Go to https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/write-in-style-3
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Editing Tip
That, This, to Refer to a Concept
“That” and “this,” when used as a pronoun, should refer to a specific, stated noun that follows. Avoid using “that” or “this” to refer to a concept. Rewrite the sentence(s) to make the meaning clear. Incorrect: “I never liked cut flowers. That was why I threw out the roses.” Correct: “Because I never liked cut flowers, I threw out the roses.” Incorrect: “She thought she had killed the pedestrian. This was why she scanned the newspaper for any information.” Correct recast for clarity: “She thought she had killed the pedestrian, so she scanned the newspaper for any information.”
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Self-Publishing Conference
Register for the March 22, 2025 Atlanta Self-Publishing Conference, which offers lots of free opportunities for registrants before next spring, including monthly webinars, a sample edit from a freelance editor, and virtual meetings with industry professionals, including audiobook producers, cover designers, website creators/revisers, self-publishing services, and more.
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Four: Contests, Agents, and Markets
Split Lip Magazine
Read our issues to see if we’re a good home for your work. Get the full scoop before you submit! Then hit up our Submittable. All submissions are currently being considered for our monthly online issues. In an effort to promote Black voices, Split Lip Magazine is opening free submissions for Black writers in all genres.
We pay (via PayPal) $75 per author for poems, memoirs, flash, fiction, and art, $50 for interviews/reviews, and $25 for mini-reviewsfor our web issues.
As long as we’ve got money, we’re committed to paying people for their work.
Free submissions in March, May, August, September, and November
We recommend submitting early in free subs months! Sometimes we have to shut free subs early due to a rad but also overwhelming response.
Details here: https://splitlipthemag.com/submit
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The Xylom
The Xylom is currently offering every storyteller 200 USD per language published. You may pitch your own topic or respond to our regular open calls. We publish the following on our site:
- 1200-1500-word personal essays that are at least tangentially related to science (check out these tips from our friends at The Story Collider!)
- 1200-1500-word science analysis and opinion pieces
- Narrative-driven science feature stories
We welcome early-career science professionals with limited prior writing and storytelling experience, those based outside of the United States, and non-native English users. In particular, we are happy to publish your work in multiple languages, along with your own photos, illustrations, and data visualizations.
Full submission guidelines here: https://www.thexylom.com/submissions
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Fourth Wave, For Women
4W is a place for brave women who won’t be silent. 4W is a feminist platform where only women may publish articles. All content should be, at least tangentially, related to the topics of women, feminism, and gender. We partner with some of our top writers to offer commission for their best stories. Articles that go through our commission program must be approved prior to publishing, and authors are expected to work with our editors as needed. Commission rates are negotiable depending on the content and audience the author brings to the platform. Our base rate is $60 USD.
To pitch an article for our commission program, please email [email protected].
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The Writers Network News: a newsletter for writers everywhere. No Rules; Just Write!
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