Writers and Editors

Updated 5-16-23.  Let me know if any wonderful publications and other resources are left out of this informally assembled list. Scroll down for links to forums.

• Aeon ("a sanctuary online for serious thinking")
• Ars Technica
• Cosmos (the science of everything)
• Ag Insider (Food and Environment Reporting Network)
• Cosmos
• Council for the Advancement of Science (CASW) See Resources and Stories.
• Discover
• Environmental Health News (EHN, publisher of several newsletters: (Above the Fold, The Daily Climate, Good News, Plastic Pollution, Children’s Health, Energy & Health, Science Saturday, The Weekend Reader, Population Weekly, Pittsburgh Weekly)
• Food and Environment Reporting Network (FERN, publishes Ag Insider)
• Food Dive (See also BioPharma Dive, Construction Dive, Education Dive, Healthcare Dive, MedTech Dive, Restaurant Dive, Smart Cities Dive, Social Media Today, Utility Dive, Waste Dive)
• GreenBiz Featured columns. See also webcasts and Video
• JSTOR
• Massive Science (New science stories every week, written by scientists themselves)
• Mosaic Longform stories about science and health. (Closed 12-10-19). No longer publishing but archive still available under Creative Commons license.
• National Geographic Magazine
• Nature (an esteemed and heavily cited science journal)
• Nautilus (each issue on a special topic, backed by Howard Hughes Medical Institute)
• New Scientist (realistic news reporting, from UK)
• Newswise
• The Open Notebook provides tools and resources to help science, environmental, and health journalists at all experience levels sharpen their skills. For example, Kathryn Schulz Paints a Chilling Picture of “The Really Big One” and Science Journalism Master Classes
• Politico
• Pro Publica (Journalism in the Public Interest) Read More 

by Melinda Clayton

If you want to use both KDP Print and IngramSpark for paperbacks, explained novelist Melinda Clayton recently on the Authors Guild forum, you must be careful to "un-check" Expanded Distribution through KDP Print. These are the steps you need to take:

1. Own your own ISBN (purchase at Bowker if you're in the U.S.)
2. Un-check Expanded Distribution on KDP Print, but don't un-publish your book. You want to leave it on KDP Print for distribution through Amazon; you just have to remove it from Expanded Distribution. This is because Expanded Distribution makes your book available in the Ingram catalog, and Ingram won't list the exact same book twice.
3. Send KDP Print an email asking them to remove your paperback from Expanded Distribution while leaving it with KDP for distribution on Amazon. Although you've unchecked it, emailing KDP Print speeds the process along.
4. Set up your account on IngramSpark .
5. Email IngramSpark a Title Transfer Addendum request. The link will take you to a page on Ingram that explains the process, and at the very bottom of that page is a link to click that will allow you to download and print the Title Transfer Addendum.
6. Once KDP Print and Ingram have transferred your titles from the KDP Print Ingram account to your own, you'll get an email from IngramSpark letting you know the transfer has taken place and asking you to approve your proofs. If you approve, you're all set. Your books will still be available through KDP Print for distribution to Amazon, and they'll also be available through Ingram for other stores and libraries.

 

Here are links to Melinda's novels and if you are thinking about self-publishing, check out her explanations on Indies Unlimited, See, for example, Do I Need Different ISBNs for CreateSpace and Ingram? (read the whole thing).

"Thirty-five countries—including the United Kingdom, every country in Europe, Canada, Israel, and Australia—support their authors with cash payments from the national government in compensation for the free library lending of their books. Over the past half-century, all these nations have established systems of Public Lending Right....PLR recognizes two fundamental principles: the need for society to provide free access to books, and the right of authors to be remunerated for their work. These principles should not be in conflict. The Authors Guild believes in both. We plan to work with the nation’s libraries to create a system that will benefit authors and libraries alike." -- James Gleick, Support of a Public Lending Right in the United States (PLR) (Authors Guild Bulletin, Winter 2018/Spring 2019)

 

"Paying authors for library loans is not a charity,” he said, “it’s a right: a payment for the service of borrowing an author’s work.” Robert Caro, Barbara Tuchman, and Anne Edwards were among the well-known authors who championed the cause. Preliminary bills were introduced in both houses of Congress. Eventually, in the Reagan era, the effort died.

 

"But overseas the evident justice and utility of PLR systems has persuaded country after country. Last year our counterparts in the U.K., the Society of Authors, led a successful effort to extend their program to include e-lending. Beginning July 1, authors became eligible for payments for library lending of their ebooks and audiobooks....

"The maximum payment to any one author would be capped: the idea is not to reward J. K. Rowling (no offense, Joanne) but to provide some much-needed help for midlist authors....

 

We never want to tell a library not to lend our books—love of libraries is at the core of who we are. At the same time, librarians themselves are recognizing that they need the professional author to survive... author income that once came from the use of books in classrooms has been evaporating. Expensive high-speed scanners are now standard equipment in university department offices, and university libraries increasingly believe it is their right to distribute digital copies of chapters and whole books throughout their communities. This turns authors into forced unpaid donors. A robust PLR system would restore some fairness."

• The Authors Guild Calls for a “Public Lending Right” (Nate Hoffelder, The Digital Reader, 1-16-19) "The Authors Guild was somewhat correct when they said 22,000 authors in the UK were paid up to 6,600 pounds, but what they forgot to tell you was that almost as many authors were paid zilch.

"According to UK data from 2017 (the most recent I can find), a total of 41,750 authors were listed in the PLR system when the payments went out in February. Of that number, 19,548 received nothing at all because their share was less than one pound. Another 16.654 received under 100 pounds, while 3,232 received under 500 pounds (PDF).

"The numbers are almost as bad in Canada, where 59% of all registered authors were paid less than $253.80 CAD in June 2018 (this includes the authors who were paid nothing)."

 

COMMENTS?

THE LEGAL SIDE OF PUBLISHING AN ANTHOLOGY:
• Understanding Copyrights for Anthologies (Susan Spann, Writers in the Storm, 11-13-15) Anthology contracts should contain at least two clear statements of copyright:
A declaration that copyright in the author's work remains the sole property of the contributing author; and
A declaration that the copyright in the anthology "as a collective work" belongs to the anthology publisher.
• NEVER grant or transfer your copyright in your work to an anthology publisher. Authors of individual works should always retain copyright on their own original Read More 

compiled by Joan Detz and Pat McNees
(originally posted by Washington Speechwriters Roundtable)

Let us know of resources you found helpful that aren't listed here.

• General anthologies of quotations

• Guides to pronunciation

• Special-occasion resources 

• Business and corporate life

• Politics and government
• Religious and inspirational quotations

• Humor and irreverence

• Proverbs, aphorisms, and regional quotation

• Great speeches collections

• How to give a speech

GENERAL COLLECTIONS OF QUOTATIONS

• The New Beacon Book of Quotations by Women, ed. Rosalie Maggio.
• The Speaker’s Sourcebook: Quotes, Stories, and Anecdotes for Every Occasion, ed. Glenn Van Ekeren
• Bartlett's Familiar Quotations : A Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Proverbs Traced to Their Sources in Ancient and Modern Literature, ed. by John Bartlett
• The Little, Brown Book of Anecdotes
• Simpson's Contemporary Quotations: Most Notable Quotes From 1950 to the Present (ed. by James S. Simpson) boo
• Webster’s New World Dictionary of Quotable Definitions, ed. Eugene E. Brussell.
• New Dictionary of Quotations on Historical Principles from Ancient and Modern Sources, ed. H.L. Mencken.
• Random House Webster’s Quotationary, ed. Leonard Roy Frank.
• The International Thesaurus of Quotations, ed. Rhoda Thomas
• Statistically Speaking, ed. C.C. Gaither and A.E. Cavozov-Gaither.
• Speaker’s Treasury of Sports Anecdotes, Stories, and Humor, ed. Gerald Tomlinson.
• The Military Quotation Book, ed. James Charlton (no index).

GUIDES TO PRONUNCIATION

• NBC Handbook of Pronunciation by Eugene Ehrlich and Raymond Hand, Jr.
• Is There a Cow in Moscow? by Charles Harrington Elster
• There is no zoo in zoology: And other beastly mispronounciations : an opinionated guide for the well-spoken by Charles H. Elster <!--more-->
• The Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations by Charles H. Elster

SPECIAL-OCCASION RESOURCES

• Farewell, Godspeed: The Greatest Eulogies of Our Time, ed. Cyrus M. Copeland
• Toasts: Over 1,500 of the Best Toasts, Sentiments, Blessings, and Graces by Paul Dickson
• Irish Blessings, Toasts & Curses, ed. Padraic O’Farrell
• The Book of Ages ed. Desmond Morris
• The Oxford Book of Ages chosen by Allan and Sally Sampson (clever quotes for special birthdays.
• The Wisdom of Christmas, ed. Criswell Freeman (quotations and verses)
• Witty Words: A Hilarious Collection of Outrageous Quotations for Every Day of the Year, ed. Eileen Mason
• Timelines of Everything (Smithsonian) An illustrated history of the world through timelines for kids
• Dying: A Book of Comfort, ed. Pat McNees (or buy the book directly from Pat and get an autographed version)
• Can You Say a Few Words? by Joan Detz (How to Prepare and Deliver a Speech for Any Special Occasion--that is, how to make award presentations, dedications, eulogies, etc.)

BUSINESS AND CORPORATE LIFE

• Quotable Business: Over 2,800 Funny, Irreverent, and Insightful Quotations About Corporate Life, ed. Louis E. Boone.
• The Manager’s Book of Quotations, ed. Lewis Eigen and Jonathan Siegel.
• Gene Perret's Funny Business: Speaker's Treasury of Business Humor for All Occasions

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

• The Bully Pulpit: Quotations from America's Presidents ed. Elizabeth Frost
• Congressional Anecdotes by Paul Boller, Jr. (Oxford)
• Speaker’s Treasury of Political Stories, Anecdotes, & Humor , ed. Gerald Tomlinson.
• Power Quotes, ed. Daniel B. Baker.
• The Wit & Wisdom of Politics, ed. Charles Henning.
• Presidential Wit and Wisdom ed. by Charlotte Lee Gross

RELIGIOUS AND INSPIRATIONAL QUOTATIONS

• Treasury of Religious Quotations, ed. Gerald Tomlinson
Speakers Sourcebook ed. Eleanor Doan.
• Pocket Positive--Faith & Belief, ed. John Cook.
• C. S. Lewis' Little Book of Wisdom: Meditations on Faith, Life, Love, and Literature, ed. by Andrea Kirk Assaf and Kelly Anne Leahy
• 12,000 Inspirational Quotations, ed. Frank S. Mead.
• The Routledge Dictionary of Religious and Spiritual Quotations, ed. Geoffrey Parringer
• Book of Positive Quotations, ed. John Cook

HUMOR AND IRREVERENCE

• The Penguin Dictionary of Modern Humorous Quotations ed. Fred Metcalf
• The Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations, ed Ned Sherrin.
• Cassell's Humorous Quotations, ed. Nigel Rees.
• The Complete Book of Zingers, ed. Croft M. Pentz
• Dictionary of Outrageous Quotations, ed. C.R.S. Marsden.

PROVERBS, APHORISMS, AND REGIONAL QUOTATIONS

• The Viking Book of Aphorisms, ed. W.H. Auden and Louis Kronenberger.
• The Oxford Book of Aphorisms, ed. John Gross
• The Penguin Dictionary of Proverbs, ed. Rosalind Fergusson

GREAT SPEECHES COLLECTIONS

• Great Speeches of the Twentieth Century, collected by George Skene (four audio CDs or audiocassettes)
• Lend Me Your Ears: Great Speeches in History, ed. by William Safire
• The World's Great Speeches, ed. Lewis Copeland, Lawrence Lamm, and Stephen McKenna
• Farewell, Godspeed: The Greatest Eulogies of Our Time, ed. Cyrus M. Copeland

HOW TO GIVE A SPEECH

• How to Write and Give a Speech: A Practical Guide for Anyone Who Has to Make Every Word Count. by Joan Detz. A how-to classic.
• I Can See You Naked: A Fearless Guide to Making Great Presentations by Ron Hoff (Andrews & McMeel)
• Is There a Speech Inside You? by Don Aslett. Practical tips, lighthearted style.
• The Power of Eloquence by Thomas Montalbo (Prentice-Hall). What makes a speech like “I Have a Dream” eloquent.
• The Smile Connection: How to Use Humor in Dealing with People, by Esther Blumenfeld and Lynne Alpern.

[Back to Top]

bull

That your feet grow longer because the fat on the soles disappears.
That your body grows shorter, as the bones in your spine get thinner.
That older people call other people "darling" because they can't remember their names.
That remembering may be harder, but in many ways you're a lot smarter.
That your ears keep growing. ("My mom in her old age complained she looked like Lyndon Johnson.")
That you need more  Read More 

The Association of Personal Historians declared bankruptcy in 2017, but its code of ethics is still useful. Personal historians still need to uphold professional standards that protect the integrity of the profession and safeguard the interests of individual clients and narrators. The Code of Ethics states the core values of those of us helping others tell their personal stories (whether as memoirs, autobiographies, family histories, video tributes, and so on). Those values are to
• Conduct business according to impeccable standards of fairness and integrity.
• Represent honestly their qualifications, background,  Read More 

by Pat McNees
Ken Ackerman (www.KennethAckerman.com) led a discussion of the Washington Biography Group (4-30-12) that was interesting enough for me to resurrect, update, and rearrange items in my original e-letter. Ken began by identifying several elements of risk in writing biographies:
• The risk of lawsuits, especially if what you write is not true

 Read More 

$9 Million Is Paid to Freelance Writers in 17-Year-Old Copyright Suit (Authors Guild, 4-30-18) The class-action suit grew out of an earlier action brought by Jonathan Tasini and several other writers, which led to the Supreme Court ruling in the freelancers’ favor.
• If you have moved since filing your claim, there is a link to provide the administrator with your current address, but you will need your claim number:
https://cert.gardencitygroup.com/ed2/fs/home

• It Took 17 Years: Freelancers Receive $9 Million in Copyright Suit (Jacklyn Peiser, NY Times, 4-30-18) "Seventeen years after nearly 3,000 freelance journalists filed a class-action lawsuit claiming copyright infringement by some of the country’s biggest publishers, the checks are finally in the mail....The Authors Guild filed the suit — along with the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the National Writers Union and 21 freelance writers named as class representatives — in 2001 after publishers licensed articles by freelancers to the electronic database Lexis/Nexis and other digital indexers without getting the writers’ approval. The publishers include  Read More 

• The Silencing of Daphne (Stephen Grey, Reuters Investigates, 4-17-18. Valletta, Malta) Last October, Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated by a car bomb. This is the inside story of a murder that tarnishes Europe. That bombing last October did more than kill Daphne, as she was universally known on the island. It ripped open the dark side of Malta. The brazen assassination and the lawlessness it implies appalled not only Daphne’s friends and family, but also political leaders across Western Europe.
• The Daphne Project: 'Her voice will not be silenced' (Will Fitzgibbon, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, 4-17-18) A team of 45 journalists from 15 countries will continue the work of Malta reporter Daphne Caruana Galizia. Forbidden Stories plans  Read More