 For Authors: December 24, 2014 Issue [#6735] |
  For Authors
This week: Holiday Stories Edited by: Jeff  
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"Some writers enjoy writing, I am told. Not me. I enjoy having written.
-- George R.R. Martin
Trivia of the Week: As he was preparing to publish his classic A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens hoped to keep more of the profits for himself by declining a lump sum payment in favor of a percentage of the profits. Although the book was a success (it sold out seven consecutive editions), its high production cost meant that Dickens received very little money from the book's success. By some estimates, he only made roughly £750 over the course of its first year of publication. He had been hoping for at least £1,000 to help care for his family, including his wife who was pregnant at the time.
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HOLIDAY STORIES
Stories centered around the holidays are extremely popular, especially during their respective times of year. Valentine's Day and/or love stories are popular in February, scary stories are popular around Halloween, and stories of family, love, and the craziness of the holiday season are popular from Thanksgiving to Christmas. In my day job as an entertainment executive, I'll sometimes get asked if it's worth writing a holiday story to take advantage of the booming market at the appropriate time of year... and if I do think it's worth writing a holiday story, when should someone write it, when should they submit it, etc.
My answer is almost always the same; the first and most important thing you have to consider is whether writing a holiday story appeals to you. Don't chase the market and try to make something generic and commercial just because you want to capitalize on a marketing trend; you should only attempt writing a holiday story if you're passionate about and interested in writing that kind of thing.
The second issue, about when to write it and when to submit it, is a little more complicated. There are all kinds of strategies people might adopt, like thinking that sending out a holiday manuscript around the holidays might get people into a better and more receptive frame of mind than, say, sending it out in June. But the honest truth is that whether you're talking about publishing a novel or selling a screenplay, you have no control over the timetable during which your work will get read (or if it's read at all)... so there's really no way to guarantee that you can get it onto the desk of the right person at the right time of year. Additionally, production schedules can vary greatly and even in the most optimistic cases can take months of preparation and hard work. Which means that if a company wants to release a holiday story during the holiday season, they have to start working on it over the previous summer, spring, or maybe even the holiday season from the year before! Without being able to predict when your work will be read, there's really no point in trying to figure out or engineer an "ideal" time to submit your holiday work. The best you can do is send it off and see what happens.
It may seem a little counter-intuitive, but the business of writing is often on a completely different wavelength than the audience for writing. Audiences expect certain things at certain times (action movies in the summer, awards-season fare in the winter, holiday stuff at Christmastime, etc.), but in order to deliver those expectations at those prescribed times of year, the behind-the-scenes workings have to be going all year long. I've had friends rewrite the scripts to holiday movies in the middle of a heat wave in July, and other friends who have been working on really grotesque horror projects for the following Halloween while they're at home with their family singing Christmas carols by a warm fire while it snows outside.
If you're a writer interested in capitalizing on the holiday movie market, first make sure it's the kind of market you enjoy and are passionate about writing for. And then forget everything else about timing, submission strategy, and all the other business considerations. Just send out the best script you can when it's ready. If it's what a publisher or production company is looking for, they'll find a way to make it fit their slate during one holiday season or another.
Happy Holidays everybody! 
Until next time,
-- Jeff
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I encourage you to check out the following Writing.Com items:
Adopting Sandy was the best decision I ever made. When she walked into my life I knew she was the one for me. Oh, I’d been interested in a few others in the past but they didn't work out. They were either lazy, ate too much, didn't respond when I spoke to them, or ever wanted to play.
Another Mid-Atlantic snowstorm. Four inches on the ground already, and with this storm catching the area off-guard, the roads didn't get the pre-treatment they needed. Thankfully, I know how to drive in this kind of weather. Years of Pennsylvania and Ohio Winter driving have fine-tuned me for it. My roommates will be staying at a hotel near where they work tonight. The forecast is calling for nearly twenty inches of heavy snow, and blizzard conditions, so they decided to play it safe. So that leaves me with an empty house, except for the cat, who will be as close to me as possible. I'll heat up some soup, and have that for dinner, with coffee, then head outside to get some early shoveling done. My less winter weather experienced neighbors always give me odd looks when I shovel in the middle of a snowfall, but I have the last laugh when I watch them struggle with their driveways, while drinking a hot chocolate, from inside a warm house.
Amanda woke up to the ring of her biological alarm at 6AM sharp although working on her thesis defense kept her awake for best part of the previous night. She is twenty seven and has been a Harvard research scholar in Psychology for the last three years. Finally, she got her thesis on the modes of perception in autistic kids ready for defense. Today is going to be momentous, she knew. Tying the shoelaces to go for a quick jog , Amanda thought about the day ahead. She felt excitement rising in her as she visualized fellow scholars, professors and students from her own, and other departments listening and looking at her as she performed in the auditorium. No wonder. She aimed high and dreamed to achieve her goals no matter what.It wasn't an easy life for Amanda, living as the daughter of Mexican immigrant parents in Los Angeles, US. They slogged hard to settle down to life in America. Amanda went to the local government school and proceeded to college supporting herself with merit scholarships such as the Summa Cum Laude.
Unbeknownst to the world in a small country town hidden on the coast in Australia there was a boy yet to be a man, who one day would one to stand up and become the savior we know today. He had something no one else had, he had something he didn't know that he had, when he realized...¦ everything changed, everything finally changed. This is the tale that made the man, we now call him Bayman.
We are responsible for them.
We taught them how to till the land
and hunt and make skinned garments.
It is our pledge to protect them." Raphael stated.
"They must learn for their own good.
It is not yet time for the gathering.
The Lord as set the time and place.
We must wait for His command." Gabriel answered.
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Feedback on my last newsletter about crossing the finish line:
monty31802 writes, "I'm still looking for inspiration Jeff. Good N/L"
Thank you!
vada  writes, "Good pointers for writing through the Holidays, Jeff. I plan to manage a few minutes each day for the next couple weeks getting ready for the kids and grands to arrive. Wish me luck Vada"
Good luck with the holiday writing schedule!
BIG BAD WOLF is Howling  writes, "There are plenty of holidays to write about." (Submitted Item: "Family Christmas" )
Yes, there are!
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