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Mary Rosenblum
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Hello all.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Welcome to our Tuesday
Lunchbox Forum.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I hope you're all staying
warm. I think it's cold all over the entire country!
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Mary Rosenblum
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I wanted to talk a bit about
what happens after you get a 'yes' from an editor. That might be a yes to a
query letter or a submitted story or a novel manuscript.
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Mary Rosenblum
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A lot of things happen and if
you're not sure what the process is, you can find it difficult to make good
decisions. There aren't any clear 'manuals for a writer' that I know of,
off hand.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I found a question from
Writeaway up here already when I logged in. Let me start with this first.
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writeaway
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Mary, I have a title for a ms,
but as it turns out there is a song of the same tiltle. Can i still use the
title? And since the song is about the same subject as my ms can I mention
the song and singer/songwiter?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Your title is fine, and you
man mention the singer/songwriter by name.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You DO have to get permission
to use the song lyrics themselves unless they're in the public domaine (and
I bet they're not).
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Mary Rosenblum
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The copyright for songs and
lyrics is very rigid and the record companies are rabid protectors of their
copyright, especially today.
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writeaway
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The lyrics are printed online.
Does that count?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Not necessarily. If they are
in the public domaine yes, you can use them. But copying anything from the
internet and using it is just as much plaigarism as copying from a book and
using it.
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cherokeeoutlaw72
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Can book titles be copyrighted
or just the material contained within the book?
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Mary Rosenblum
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No, titles can't be
copyrighted, generally. There may be some specific exceptions, but I'm not
a publishing lawyer. :-) In general, they cannot be copyrighted.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You can call your book To Kill
a Mockingbird if you want, but your publisher probably won't let you do it.
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Mary Rosenblum
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And...apropos of our
topic...title is something that can end up changed after you sell the
piece.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Many things are neogtiated in
the editing process, title being one of them.
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Mary Rosenblum
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What a 'yes' does is to move
you from 'submitting' to 'sold'.
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Mary Rosenblum
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This means that in NF, the
editor has told you that he/she wants the piece you queried about. Now in
that acceptance, the editor may well have altered the word limit and asked
for a different slant.
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Mary Rosenblum
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So be prepared, NF writers! You
really do not want to write back and say 'gee, no thinks, I don't really
want to write that'.
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info
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I have a wondering thought
regarding book titles based on movie titles. I noticed with movie titles,
especially with remakes, there are more than one movie with the same title.
I am under the impression that if some writes a book with one title, it is
taken and therefore, no one else can use it. Is that true?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Not at all, info. I have a
book called Chimera. I think I found at least three other books with that
title.
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Mary Rosenblum
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None of them were SF published
recently enough that readers would confuse the books.
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Mary Rosenblum
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So it was no big deal.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Now for a VERY familiar title
like Gone With The Wind or To Kill a Mockingbird, readers WOULD be confused
and a publisher won't let you
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Mary Rosenblum
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use the title for that reason.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I often recommend a very
powerful coming of age book to young readers: Red Sky at Morning.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I have to be sure to include
the author's name because a book about military events has the same title!
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rae
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Do you have final say on what
happens to your manuscript? After they accept it, that is.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Well, how much say depends on
your contract, rae, so read it!
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Mary Rosenblum
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If the contract says that once
you sell the manuscript, you don't get any more input on what they publish,
then you have no say over it.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Angels on Earth, a very high
paying magaizne that buys personal narratives about encounters with angels,
has that sort of contract.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I hear that they often edit
submitted pieces radically. Some of the people who sell there don't mind
it, others are upset by the changes.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Usually, you and your editor
can discuss any requests for changes (usually YOU make them, not the
editor) and you can often compromise. But you can't simply say 'don't touch
my words'. That's the editor's JOB. To make your work stronger.
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writeaway
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when a mag buys all rights, can
you use the material - say in your genalogy book- as long as you mention
where it was published?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Nope, write, no more than you
can copy a book by another author an include that in your geneology book.
That' s plagarism.
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Mary Rosenblum
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When you sell all rights, it's
the same as if that buyer wrote the material. It belongs to that party, not
to you.
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Mary Rosenblum
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This is why I keep saying 'all
rights' is usually not a good thing to sell.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Now you can write to the
publisher and ask to use that material and the publisher may well grant you
the right to use it in your geneology. Or maybe not.
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rae
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Is it better to have an attorney
go over the contract? And if so, is there such a thing as a writers
attorney?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Depends on the contract, rae.
If you are ABSOLUTELY sure that you understand everything, and it's a
simple contract, you don't need an attorney.
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Mary Rosenblum
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But if you're not 100% sure of
what that contract means or what it means to you, then yes, by all means,
pay an attorney to look at it.
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Mary Rosenblum
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In my interview transcripts,
you'll find an interview with Daniel Stevens. He's a publishing attorney
and he writes a column for the Mystery Writers of America newsletter.
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Mary Rosenblum
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He'll do contracts for, I
believe, a flat fee.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I have looked at contracts for
a number of LR regulars and students. And in a few cases, sigh, I sure wish
they had showed me the contract before they signed it.
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info
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with that type of contract, can
you change the wording so you can have more say before signing?
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Mary Rosenblum
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You can ALWAYS change the
wording of the contract. Now some things the publisher will not be willing
to change. And sometimes, you simply get told that it you won't take their
contract, they won't publish you.
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Mary Rosenblum
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So you decide where you draw
your 'won't cross this' line.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I draw it at all rights in
fiction.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I am willing to do work for
hire and sell all rights for some NF projects.
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gail
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Most writers' guilds or
organizations offer information on contracts, and attorneys who work with
writers.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Yes, and a good place to start
is the SFWA (Science Fiction Writers of America) website.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Contracts Watch, is a
publication of the ASJA: http://www.asja.org/cw/cw.php
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Mary Rosenblum
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They offer a newsletter
mentioning bad contracts being offered by publishers.
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ginas
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Mary, when editing for NF do
they often change the whole slant of your article?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Generally not, Ginas. Usually
nonfiction editors pay YOU to do the work. If they want a different slant,
they'll tell you when they accept the query letter.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Occasionally, as in the Angels
on Earth magazine I mentioned, they do make major changes that alter the
content of the piece.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If that happens and you're not
happy, don't offer them anything else.
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Mary Rosenblum
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There was one fiction
publisher when I was starting out who made editorial changes and didn't let
the authors see the changes before she published the work.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I didn't like what she changed
in one of my stories, so I just never sent her anything else.
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Mary Rosenblum
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In nonfiction you will
generally get a due date when you get your acceptance.
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Mary Rosenblum
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DO NOT miss that due date.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Overnight that piece if you
have to. Better to spend those extra dollars than make the editor miss a
production deadline. YOu won't sell him any more pieces any time soon!
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k c morlock
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if an editor accepts your query
and says go ahead this is not a guarentee of publication, can you ask for a
kill fee on an article after or should you ask right after acceptance?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Usually, a kill fee is part of
a contract. And usually a NF publisher has a kill fee policy and it's
stated in the submission guidelines.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Small, marginal publishers who
are relying on novice writers rather than pros rarely offer kill fees.
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Mary Rosenblum
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They're not offering a high
rate of pay, they have lots of new writers sending them queries.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The large circulation
magazines pay professional rates...over a buck a word...and generally they
do offer kill fees.
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Mary Rosenblum
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They rely on their regular
contributors and they don't want you to stop working for 'em.
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info
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Even if life gets in the way?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Life is no excuse, info.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Not to an editor.
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lesleyc
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What about writing competitions,
do you lose your rights?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Not unless they either acquire
your rights or publish the winners in some form.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If the winners are published,
then you have used your first rights. You can't offer it as 'unpublished'
to another publisher.
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andi
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Mary I forgot -- what is a kill
fee?
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Mary Rosenblum
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A kill fee is money paid to
you if your purchased article or story is not published after all. Usually
it's about half the initial price offered.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If an editor says 'yes, I'll
publish your story' and then has to shorten the anthology, say, by 100
pages and chooses to leave out your story, you may get half of that
purchase price for the work.
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writeaway
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You have told us you have sold
several stories, slanted differently, many times. What kind of rights
allows you to do this?
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Mary Rosenblum
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I was talking about
nonfiction, writeaway, although I have sold many of my fiction stories many
times, they are not changed in any way.
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Mary Rosenblum
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In NONFICTION you can use the
same topic: say, growing lilacs -- and slant it to suit various magazines.
They articles are not the same and they do not conflict
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Mary Rosenblum
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as long as they appeal to
different audiences (that's what 'slant' means).
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Mary Rosenblum
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In fiction, I sell my first
rights to the publisher of choice and then other publishers usually ask to
reprint those stories in their magazines or anthologies.
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andi
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What happens if you are paid on
accetance then realize they can't use you work.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Unless otherwise stated, they
have purchased the right to publish that work in a specific way and paid
for it. If they don't choose to exercise that right, you don't have to give
the money back. Why do you think most publishers pay on publication? :-)
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writeaway
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am I correct in believing that
doesn't count if you've sold all rights to that NF piece?
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Mary Rosenblum
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It still applies, Write. It
means you cannot resell THIS PIECE, a copy of the piece that you sold to
this magazine; Say it's "How to Prune Lilacs'. But you CAN sell
multiple
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Mary Rosenblum
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other articles on lilacs:
Choosing The RIght Lilac For You. Fertilizing Lilacs Growing Lilacs in
Antarctica.
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lesleyc
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How much negotiating power does
a new writer really have with editors?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Depends on how much the
publisher wants THIS story, lesleyc. You have a lot less power than I do,
that's for sure.
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Mary Rosenblum
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But if your request is
reasonable and the editor thinks you are going to grow as a writer and your
name will start selling the publication
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Mary Rosenblum
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they'll probably grant your
request. If it is NOT reasonable, forget it. New writers are hardly an
endangered species!
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adularia.moon
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in andi's question how does that
work if they bought first rights, paid you, but didn't choose to publish?
Does that mean you can't sell it elsewhere until they do publish it?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Very good question, adularia!
You are thinking this morning. :-)
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Mary Rosenblum
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There's the contract thing
again. Does the contract have a 'publish by' clause in it? That means the
contract states...
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Mary Rosenblum
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the publisher will publish the
work within two years or something like that.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If there is no mention made of
a publish by date, then you're up the creek. You can write to the publisher
and ask for the rights back, but guess what that publisher will probably
want?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Some of the money he paid you.
Probably not all, but at least some.
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Mary Rosenblum
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That's something to add to the
contract, by the way, but you MUST be reasonable.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Editors are usually laying out
the issue about six months from now. So they are buying for an inventory
that will cover one to one and a half years from this date.
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Mary Rosenblum
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It is not going to work well
if you demand that they publish your work within six months, say. Issues
are assembled with a particular theme in mind. They're not just thrown
together.
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Mary Rosenblum
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A two year publish by date is
probably the minimum you can ask for. That's reasonable for both you and
the editor.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You may have to go longer for
a fiction novel. Production takes about a year, so that's cutting it close
for the publisher. They may not go for it.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I just sold a story to
Asimov's for example. I didn't ask Sheila when she'll use it. She probably
hasn't decided yet. But it will probably show up next fall or winter.
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Mary Rosenblum
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That's pretty fast, actually,
but my name does sell the magazine, so she puts my stories in as quickly as
she can.
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k c morlock
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what if you publish the same
story or article at two places, ignoring all the rules, do editor cops come
out and take your keyboard away? Is there some punishment?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Sure they're punishment, kc,
if you get caught. And in this day of google you can easily get caught.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You get a letter from a lawyer
for contract violation.
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Mary Rosenblum
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It can cost you money. If the
publisher is in the mood to make an example out of someone, it can cost you
a lot of money. Your keyboard you can keep.
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Mary Rosenblum
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OH yeah, and don't plan on
selling to either of those publishers again, and maybe others who hear
about it.
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lesleyc
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If you are trying to publish a
novel is it better to use an agent who knows all about this contract stuff,
and if so how difficult is it to find an agent?
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Mary Rosenblum
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If your agent doesn't know
about the contracts WHY are you paying this person 15% of your income??????
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Mary Rosenblum
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That is your agent's main job.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The other half of your agent's
main job is keeping in personal contact with the editors in the NY publishing
industry so that she/he knows who wants what right now.
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k c morlock
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I'm not doing it, I was just
curious about what would happen.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I didn't think you were doing
it. :-) As your instructor, I'd slap your wrist for that. :-) But it does
have consequences. The publishing universe is a very small pond and gossip
gets around fast.
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writeaway
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In NF article, if contract sets
specific date for publication,then if not printed must you ask for the
story back or can you submit it elsewhere just by nitifying them of your
intentions?
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Mary Rosenblum
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I'd deal with that situation
case by case write. What are the reasons for nonpublication? Will it be
published later? Is it worth it to you to lose that market forever in order
to send that piece out where it may not be accepted.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Now realize, we have a huge
volume of no-pay publishers out there. When no money rides on anything,
people get very sloppy.
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Mary Rosenblum
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When you're talking several
hundred or several thousand dollars for a piece, the issue gets more
serious.
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barbiq
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So it is really important to
keep track of what you have and where it's at and what the status is on
every piece you have out htere.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Yep. It's a business, barbiq.
Your creatie muse may do the work, but you need that accountant-brain to
keep track of it.
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info
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Just out of curiosity, if you
write, say a book of shorts and a mag editor wants to reprint one of the
shorts in their mag, is there anything against doing this?
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Mary Rosenblum
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This is going to sound
redundant..... It depends on the contract, info. :-) (All in unison now!)
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Mary Rosenblum
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Usually, your collection, if
it is a single author collection, will have a book contract. Your contract
should specifically allow you to republish stories from the collection
after publication of the book.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Make sure!
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Mary Rosenblum
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Anthology contracts (several
authors in one book) are like magazines...they generally buy first rights
or reprint rights and after the book is published you can republish where
you want...OR...
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Mary Rosenblum
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if they're buying reprint
rights, they're usually nonexclusive. I had the same story in two Best of
the Year anthologies a year ago, published within days of each other.
Nonexclusive reprint rights.
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gail
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On publishing later...I recently
had a short story I'd submitted back in Feb 2005 accepted for publication
in an anthology. I'd given up on that piece, but hadn't yet gotten around
to reclaiming it...thank goodness. :)
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Mary Rosenblum
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And that is an EXCELLENT
reason not to get grabby about reclaiming rights. Me, I work on new stuff
and kind of keep tabs on what's out there.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If, as a new writer, a new
market opened up and I thought a particular story was perfect for it and
someone was sitting on it, I'd withdraw that piece and submit to the new
market.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I did that once or twice. I
wouldn't do it with a really BIG publisher where a sale would really add to
my reputation.
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Mary Rosenblum
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But if a story was stalled
with a small press publisher who was taking forever to get around to it and
I found a better market, then I'd pull it and send it to the new market.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Fright, you want to send me
the rest of your question? We're almost out of time here.
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Mary Rosenblum
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And again, when it's a no pay
'zine, people are often not real motivated to do things professionally.
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gail
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Thanks Mary. It was your advice
that kept me from withdrawing the piece. :)
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Mary Rosenblum
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Oh, glad you took it and it
worked, Gail! :-)
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Mary Rosenblum
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Congrats, by the way.
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frightwrite07
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There are so many anthology
contests out there. They publish
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frightwrite07
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the winner and want everyone
else to pay
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frightwrite07
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is this EVER a good idea
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you mean that the other
people in the anthology have to pay to publish in it, then this is just a
scam. It's a vanity press using a contest to get people to pay to publish
in their anthology.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If it's a matter that the
other authors included in the anthology simply have to buy their own
copies, well, it's a borderline scam. Usually, along with your check, you
get one copy of the anthology you're included in.
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Mary Rosenblum
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They want their contributors
to buy copies of the book.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Maybe those are the only sales
they'll make, who knows?
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k c morlock
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I fell out of the habit of
opening returned stories. I didn't get accidentally published, but later
was made to realize how important it is not to see every returned SASE as a
rejection. I am keeping better track of submissions. Is it safe to assume
that my dusty stories from 98 are okay to resubmit? I have so lost track of
where they went. I know by the filed SASEs at least who rejected them.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You're probably safe, KC.
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Mary Rosenblum
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But...ahem...you ARE keeping
records now, eh?
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Mary Rosenblum
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AND opening returned mss?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Realize that I occasionally
get the mss back with a note from the editor asking me to make a change in
the story and resubmit.
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Mary Rosenblum
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In this day of email, it's
usually an email and not the actual pages, but that can happen.
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k c morlock
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YES she looks embarassed.
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Mary Rosenblum
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-)
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coffeeman
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you mentioned non-paying
publishers. Is there any benefit to submitting to them as a new writer,
just getting started?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Sure, coffee. If you have not
sold the story to a paying publisher and have run out of paying options,
try it with the no-pay markets.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You'll build name recognition
and that will help you in the long run.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Well, you all have asked some
good questions. :-0
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Mary Rosenblum
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I'll post the transcripts in
the usual place: Writing Craft -- Forum Transcripts
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Mary Rosenblum
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Have a good week and stay
warm. And remember...READ that contract. And do keep track of where you
send work. (Then you can compete for my most prolific writer award).
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Mary Rosenblum
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Have a good week!
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k c morlock
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I am using a separate email
account to keep an electronic trail of submitted things and email replies,
this is only for writing, no personal notes, I also email stories and hope
to avoid retyping them everytime I change computers. Are there any other
hinds for traking online things?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Quick last note, KC...convert
those emails to documents your processor can open. They are MUCH easier to
back up and recover.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Bye!
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