Zena Shapter's Blog, page 7

Publication Day at SFS Stories!

Yay! My story ‘The Police Watchman’ has just been published in Issue 4 of ‘SFS Stories’.

SFS Stories is a throwback to the golden age of fantasy and science fiction. This issue, edited by the fabulous Rob Castor and J.A. Taylor, contains five fascinating science fiction stories sharing one common theme: deception. Are lies unique to humankind or could this form of malevolence be common throughout the universe? This issue leaves no stone unturned by including medieval warriors with futuristic tech, robots, thieves, cute-n-cuddly creatures, and newlyweds. Look at this shiny cover with my name on it…!

My story is a dark science fiction vision of where nano technology might take us in the future. When metalmongers attack Nari’s crumbling castle they get more resistance than expected…

The opening lines are below:

Nari gripped the crumbling parapet of his stone turret. Strangers approached. A military line of two dozen ragged men and women riding horses between the western fields. His castle’s ancient stone fortifications had been rebuilt, but it wouldn’t be enough to withstand the weaponry these plundering nomads carried with them – not without help. Plate armour covered their lean bodies. Lasers hung from glinting metal belts. At the back, Shire horses hauled a time-ravaged armoured vehicle, complete with machine gun. Though battered and rusted, it could still work.

You can read the rest – as well as the other cool stories – for just $3 over on amazon.com and amazon.com.au. Watch out too, as there are lots of free offers floating around at the moment!

Thank you for reading, and for your ever-glorious support!

Creative Community Lockdown Collaboration!

Books are here! Over the past few months, I’ve been busy doing everything I can to keep both my creativity and the creativity of others inspired. It’s been a tough time for a lot of authors – author appearances cancelled, author appearances not even organised, community creativity projects ditched due to withdrawn government funding, publishers and agents closing, going on hiatus or cutting back, and all the while battling lockdown fatigue. There have been such drastically reduced opportunities for authors, it’s been easy to loose heart… and thus creativity.

So what better time to invent a creative project to keep us all going: an anthology of stories and song by my writers’ group… all inspired by lyrics!

I gave my writers’ group just one instruction: use any well-known lyric, rhyme or chant for inspiration. Famous lyrics endure because they resonate with meaning. By connecting with those lyrics, writers can reinvent and extend that meaning to others.

It worked! Writers chose sources as diverse as U2, Shakespeare, Dire Straits, Les Misérables, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Florence and the Machine, The Hollies, Moby, The Eagles, and Muse. Not only did the words of these great artists uplift us all as creators, but we produced a captivating and delightfully eclectic range of work to uplift readers too – from the humorous to life story, historical fiction, fantasy, sci fi, crime and mystery. There’s something for everyone – even a musical script! Here’s the blurb:

Lyrics are magical – they can instantly impact our emotions, entice our bodies to move, and… inspire other artists! Feel your way through this highly imaginative anthology of stories and songs, all inspired by lyrics, rhymes and chants. Creative minds connecting to invent and conjure, cast and delight!

The writers contributing to this anthology are: Phil Burgin, Millicent Davis, Peter Fagan, Guy Hallowes, Rodney Jensen, Azmeena Kelly, Mijmark, Kate Mitchell, Tara Ray, Howard Reid, Elise Robertson, Rose Saltman, Zena Shapter, Susan Steggall, and Sonia Zadro.

These brave creators, and myself as editor, now hope to entertain you with the anthology available in both print and ebook, from as little as $4.99. More details, along with links to order via online bookstores such as Amazon, Booktopia and Barnes & Noble, are over here.

In what ways has your own creativity been challenged by the Covid-19 pandemic and/or lockdowns, and what has been your primary motivation to keep your creativity fresh and strong?

Welkin: A Magazine of the Fantastic

Publication day! My story ‘The Kind of Man’ has been published in Volume I Issue 3 of ‘Welkin’, a magazine of fantastic literature, meticulously edited by J. McKenzie Nalley and beautifully illustrated by Zuzanna Kwiecien. This issue is a special issue of horror and dark fantasy, and I’m thrilled to be included in it! Just look at this amazing cover!

My story is a dark fable of the dangers of… kindness. At the end of a very long day, Theo wants nothing more than a warm fire and a good rest. But when magical Etta sees how kind a man he is, she proposes an alternate more magical plan…

The opening lines are below, and you can read the rest – as well as a bunch of other cool stories – and support the growth of a new and fantastical magazine – for just $3 over here.

Here’s that link again, this time as a web address for ease of sharing around: https://welkinmag.com/product/fall-2021/

Thank you for reading, and for your ever-glorious support!

2021 @MosmanLibrary Literary Awards Judge’s Report

Today I was supposed to be heading to Mosman’s Barry O’Keefe Library for a ceremony celebrating the 2021 Mosman Youth Awards in Literature, for which I judged the short story entries, selected the winners for the Senior Prose section, and wrote a detailed judge’s report. Since Sydney is in complete lockdown right now, the ceremony will be via a live Instagram feed instead, but given the writing tips in my report can be so useful for other writers I’ve posted them below. Past reports can also be found here, here and here!

Despite the restrictions of Covid-19, the 2021 competition saw an impressive increase in entries and quality, reflecting a clear rise in interest in creative writing, backed up by experimental forms and insightful stories. Yay! There were entries that made me well up with tears, that gave me a chuckle, that had me appreciating both familiar and unfamiliar perspectives, and I enjoyed them all!

The stories covered a vast array of themes, the most popular being relationships, poverty and murder. Settings ranged from the domestic to the corporate, from Australian towns and cities to the Yemen, Somalia, Vietnam, India and London. I read about soldiers, poets, science experiments, golf, whipcracking, high school, alcoholism, depression, anxiety, alienation, loss, conformity, freedom, industrialisation, environmentalism, a haunted house, vampires, werewolves, devils, and even a picnic in the sky!

The most successful entries were those that focused on narrative voice, reader engagement and character storytelling, with clear well-told plots and satisfying endings. These writers simply thought of a story to tell, imagined themselves as the main character of that story, and expressed that experience breath by breath.

Judging entries on the bus, because I couldn’t stop reading them!

The least successful entries were those clearly written for high school assignments, overwritten at the expense of narrative voice and reader engagement. Many of these stories involved reimagined poets, ole London town, corporate conformity, and appreciation for the natural environment.

To help writers improve, I took note of the most common writing flaws and include my top ten below (in order of frequency), as well as tips on how to improve for next time – hopefully it assists other writers too:

Flaw #1: Story

No real story (nothing actually happens), the story is too abstract or rambling – to fix this, writers should study common story structure and how to create stories with meaning (see the short courses on structure over here).

Flaw #2: Engagement

A lack of reader engagement – to fix this, writers should invest in simply imagining themselves as the story’s main character, with that character’s specific wants and hurts, then speaking from that perspective from the very first sentence. Also, see my post on getting started over here.

Flaw #3: Ending

A pointless or unclear ending – to fix this, writers should work out a clear resolution for their story and foreshadow it from the beginning (again the short courses on structure over here will help).

Flaw #4: Overwriting

Overwritten – to fix this, writers should focus less on using language to impress readers and more on using language to express and communicate. Also, see my post on overwriting over here.

Flaw #5: Grammar

Inconsistent use of tense and/or incorrect grammar – to fix this, writers need to edit their work (best done after a period of time away from the story).

Flaw #6: Tone

An overly didactic tone – to fix this, writers should imagine they’re speaking to a reader who already agrees with their viewpoint, then write the story.

Flaw #7: Transitions

Poor transitions between scenes and/or confusing sequence of events – to fix this, writers should ask a friend who doesn’t know the story to read it and check they can understand what’s happening when and where.

Flaw #8: Perspective

Point of view issues – to fix this, see my post on perspective over here.

Flaw #9: Emotion

A lack of emotion – to fix this, writers should pick a theme or topic they feel passionately about, because if they don’t care about what they’re writing, readers won’t either.

Flaw #10: Coincidence

Events too coincidental – to fix this, writers should check their character’s behaviour actually fits their personality and use foreshadowing, so that when surprising events happen those events are still surprising yet completely expected.

With all that said, the entries were amazingly creative and I applaud every single writer for their imagination and creative spirit. My sincere congratulations go to absolutely everyone who entered, because it was a joy to read your stories – flaws and all!

Special congratulations go to the winners, whose stories made me smile at their end, knowing I wouldn’t change a single word. Well done, everyone!

Thank you to the Mosman Library Service, especially Linda Horswell, and everyone who makes these awards possible! You rock!

Talking Writing With @PanacheCat

Today I’m over on the Panache Cat blog talking to Jacqui Brown, editor of Women’s Ink and Varuna House alumni, about… writing! Here’s Jacqui’s intro to the interview:

A run-in with a street thief seems like an unlikely moment to know you’re truly a writer, but that’s the way it was for author, teacher and mentor Zena Shapter! I’m delighted to talk with Zena about her writing, publishing and the value of creativity in the community. Hi Zena, when did you decide you were truly a writer?

Find out the answer, and the rest of the interview over here, which explores:

What was the process for writing and publishing your first book?What other work do you like to do?How do you fit in time for your own writing? What do you suggest for people who live busy lives but want to write?Many writers say writing is a compulsion, would you agree?What role do you think creativity plays, not only in people’s lives but in communities?

Thank you for having me on your blog, Jacqui! I loved answering these amazing questions!

The full interview is here.

People Perceiving People

The other day on Facebook, an old schoolmate gave me a really nice compliment. I haven’t seen or spoken to her since school, so the compliment was based on her memories and online perceptions of me. Still, her genuinely lovely comment threw me because I had no idea she or anyone from school saw me that way – my memories and perceptions are very different!

A few years ago at a writing industry picnic, I thought I had a wonderful time talking about music with a freelance editor. I told her how much I adored the DJ David Guetta.

“Is he the one,” she asked me, “who says his name in every song?”

“I don’t think so,” I replied. “He’s a DJ, other artists do the singing.”

“No,” she replied. “He’s the one. I can’t believe you like him!”

She moved seats and, the next day, disconnected from me on social media. I had clearly offended her with my music taste.

Then again, perhaps not.

When people make judgments about others, whether valid or invalid, those judgments can often say more about the person making the judgment, rather than the person being judged. Our recollections of events can help us consider what we might have said or done to influence that person’s perception, we might also consider what may have been happening in that person’s life to colour the way they perceive the world and those in it. But without more information, it can also remain a mystery.

It’s the same when writing characters in fiction. A few weeks ago I taught my writing workshop ‘Stories are About Change’ and I was talking about character arcs, how a character might change between the beginning of a story and its end. One thing I advised my students was that, while a main character might have their own perception of events, the characters around them will experience the same story events differently, given their individual perspectives – and therefore every character arcs will all evolve differently. The disparity can cause conflict and tension – great for stories!

Not necessarily great in real life, of course, when the different ways people perceive the same event can cause rifts and remoteness. To make matters more complicated, different perceptions of the same event can all still be valid. Thus I might be both as lovely as my old schoolmate thinks and not so lovely, I might be both offensive to editors at picnics and inoffensive – human beings are complex and can be many things at the same time.

This is why a person’s perception can tell us more about them, than the person they perceive. Thus my old schoolmate becomes someone who sees the best in people; whereas the editor at the picnic tends to see something bad.

It’s a fascinating topic, and understanding it can help writers portray life with both accuracy and sensitivity.

“But when creating character arcs,” a student asked me at my workshop, “how many perspectives do we need to consider in telling a story? How many characters?”

“Whoever has a direct effect on your main character’s immediate and current bubble,” I told them. “Because they will matter most to them. Others not so much. Isn’t it the same in real life?”

Indeed, does it really matter how others perceive you, as long as those in your own bubble see you the right way – as a complex human being who can be both lovely and not so lovely, both offensive and inoffensive, yet still appreciated for who they are? I expect not.

Protect Yourself! Pitfalls, dealbreakers, clauses, rights and more with @AlexAdsett

It can be tricky to protect yourself as a creator. The act of creation has enormous worth, as does sharing that creation. Fortunately, here in Australia, writers and other creators are granted automatic copyright and moral rights to protect their creative works, which is great! There’s a blog post over here to brief you on the basics if you don’t know them: ‘Five Copyright Essentials Every Writer Should Know’.

However, knowing the basics and having automatic rights isn’t enough to adequately protect yourself as a creator. Only the other day, a NSW Government department (not any of the wonderful councils I work with!) asked me to grant them irrevocable publication rights for images that I owned of me and creative works in perpetuity for general use, with the right to alter those images as they saw fit. ‘Perpetuity’ means forever. ‘Alter’ could mean changing anything. ‘General use’ means the image might not even involve promoting the creative industry. Luckily I knew the legal implications of such keywords well enough to say ‘no’. But other creators might blindly trust a request made by a government department, especially one dedicated to championing creators.

The same could be said of authors asked by publishers for the right to publish their creative works. Excited by the prospect of publication, an author might leap at the chance, irrespective of the conditions attached.

But I’m here to say ‘don’t rush in’ and ‘think it through’.

So is the astute and knowledgeable Alex Adsett, a publishing contract expert of twenty-five years. Alex has successfully finalised thousands of author contracts, film agreements, translation and overseas deals, and all manner of licences, and I was lucky enough to interview her via Zoom about how authors can better protect themselves.

Hi Alex, thank you for joining me!

What would you say are the common pitfalls writers might face when negotiating publication rights for their creative works?

Hi Zena! Well, the keyword there is ‘negotiate’. Authors often assume they have no right to negotiate when offered a publishing contract. They’re so nervous and excited by the fact that they’ve been offered publication that they’ll sign anything, not even thinking they can ask questions. Often when I receive a contract for review, there’s a note from the author saying ‘it’s probably okay, because the contract is standard’. How does the author know that? How many contracts have they seen before? Do they think it’s standard just because the publisher said it is? What if it’s standard for that publisher, but not across the industry? Every publisher has their own ‘standard contract’, which they use with all their authors, but that doesn’t make it ‘industry standard’.

So authors shouldn’t be swayed into saying ‘yes please’ just because it’s a publisher?

That’s right. Don’t be persuaded by the brand name. There are industry standards for a lot of things, but some publishers think what they have is standard because it’s their standard, whereas there are many differences and inconsistencies across the industry. For example, a Harper Collins contract is very different from a Penguin Random House contract, and so on.

Are there any general dealbreakers writers should be aware of, which you see all too regularly as a contract negotiator?

Every situation might have their own dealbreakers, and at the end of the day it is the author’s decision what to accept; but, once we agree the key things like advance, base royalty and territories, etc, I have two dealbreakers: high discount clauses and reversion clauses.

What’s a high discount clause?

A high discount clause affects the royalties an author will receive on sales of their work sold at a particularly high discount to bookstores. Most publishers offer a base rate of 10% of the RRP (the ‘recommended retail price’). An author might see that in their contract and think ‘good, that’s standard’ and assume that’s all there is to it. But there can be finer print, eg clauses that try to lower rates for New Zealand sales, subsequent editions, exports, or when the work is sold to bookshops at high discounts. Normal discounts to bookstores are 35%-55%, and it is pretty common for publishers to pay lower royalties if they discount above 55%; but some publishers try to sneak in paying lower royalties on everyday discounts of just 50%, which means authors will get a lower royalty on all their sales through some of the bigger stores like Big W. 

What’s a reversion clause?

This touches on what you were saying about perpetuity. A reversion clause covers how long a publisher can use the rights granted to them. Mostly an author grants their rights to a publisher for the duration of the respective copyright, which can last up to 70 years from the author’s death. However, if the publisher isn’t doing their job properly, ie. if they’re not selling enough of the creative work in question, it would be reasonable for publication rights to ‘revert’ to the author. For example, if a publisher doesn’t sell 100 copies of a creative work in 12 months, an author should ensure they can retrieve their rights and make use of them elsewhere.

Yes, 70 years is a long time without any ability to pull the plug.

That’s why it’s a dealbreaker for me. Authors need to make sure there’s an exit, end date or some trigger to wind it all up if the publisher is no longer using the rights granted. The only exception would be if the publisher has commissioned the creative work. If they have paid for the work to be created and it’s a project tied closely to the publisher rather than the author, then a request for irrevocable rights would be reasonable. For example, I’ve worked with publishers who wanted to create a book on tea cosies, so they actively went out and found someone to write the book for them, then paid for an assignment of that writer’s rights. Similarly, another publisher was creating a physics text book and needed to commission chapters by various different scientists. That book is now in, something like, its tenth edition, updated regularly by the publisher, because they bought an assignment of irrevocable rights from the various scientist authors.

Could you tell us more about that word ‘assign’?

Yes, there’s a big difference between a licence and an assignment. Authors should understand what rights they’re granting, especially since publishers themselves might not even really know what they’re asking for, they just pick whatever words sounds good. If an assignment is requested out of ignorance with no proper payment to the author, for example, it’s highly problematic.

I often compare a licence to owning a house, then renting it out. You may have bought and renovated the house itself, but the renter lives in it and has certain rights for the term of the lease – you can’t go into the kitchen and make yourself a cup of tea! When the renter moves out, those rights return to you – that’s what should happen when granting a publisher the licence to publish your book.

Assigning, however, is like selling your house. Once the house is sold, your rights to it are gone, forever. Rights that fall into this category might include film rights, writing academic chapters in text books, anything where the genesis of the work lies with the publisher.

What about subsidiary rights, such as those granted for audio books?

Subsidiary rights are the rights a publisher gets a licence for, but is not able to do anything with themselves. They on-sells these rights, eg. French translation, audio rights, rights to a stage play, rights to do fluffy toys, etc, onto someone else. It’s fine to license subsidiary rights to a publisher, but authors need to make sure the publisher is able to do something with them, and, if they do, the author gets a fair share of the royalty (the author should always get a minimum of 50%, and often 75%). Most publishers now won’t accept a book deal unless they get at least print, ebook and audio rights, so I advise authors grant such rights for two or three years, but if the publisher hasn’t done anything with those rights within that time, the author should have the option to ask for those rights back.

There’s so much to know! I note that on your website you offer consultations to writers who just want to ask a quick question, as well as your full contract assessment and negotiation service of course. Can anyone book those?

Yes! I’ve started offering 15 and 60 minute consultancy sessions for authors. It’s not legal advice and it’s definitely not editorial advice, but it’s a chance for authors to seek strategic publishing advice based on my twenty-five years of experience in the business, and I welcome even the small questions. It doesn’t matter what it is! I appreciate that sometimes authors just want to ask a silly question and get the answer they need, rather than wading through all the general information on the internet. If that sounds like you, please don’t hesitate to get in touch! At the same time, if you have received a publishing offer or contract, my usual commercial contract review services apply.

Thank you, Alex, it’s been an absolute pleasure chatting with you!

To access any of Alex’s consultancy services, please click here or email her on alexadsett[at]alexadsett[dot]com[dot]au. She can help you understand the publishing industry, the business of publishing or a publishing contract. She can negotiate directly with your publisher for you, close a subsidiary rights deal, or review existing contracts. She’s also warm, friendly, and comes recommended by everyone who’s ever worked with her – including me!

The Ampersand: ‘You pick (b)’ #ShortStory #Published

Hurray! My short story ‘You pick (b)’ has just been published in the first edition of the new free-to-read magazine The Ampersand. The magazine publishes short, sharp & sweet stories, so they won’t take long to delight you!

In this first edition, there are writers from all over Australia, of all different ages, writing in all kinds of genre – it’s a huge honour for me to be included.

Thank you djprojects for creating such a fantastic magazine!

If you’d like to read my story, please click to access the magazine here, then navigate to the last story – I don’t write humorous stories very often, but sometimes you’ve got to end with a chuckle!

Remembering When With @MosmanCouncil

Yay! Earlier this week the ‘Remembering When’ anthology I edited was finally launched after months of planning, editing, text and book cover layout, and printing. Woot, woot!

Remembering When in the garden!

The idea for the book came from a conversation with Fiona Russell who, while working at Mosman Seniors Centre, was inspired to help older adults feel more valued – why not through the celebration of their stories in a book?!

With support from Mosman Council, Mosman Community Care, and the Mosman Rotary Club, the theme was to be the local council area of Mosman. Fantastic! Seniors were contacted far and wide through our various networks, calling for stories, poems and artworks about Mosman. Some were interviewed and their entries transcribed; others wrote and submitted their own. It was my privilege to edit and prepare their words for print.

From domestic details such as grocers writing down household orders at the kitchen table, to memories of transport with trams and ferries, to military endeavours during wartime, the anthology paints such a colourful and meaningful picture of the past, it is one to truly treasure.

My personal experience of the value of generational stories comes from the fact that my dad was fifty when I was born, so in his seventies when I graduated from university. He was so proud of me. My honours degree in English Literature was the highest form of education anyone in our family had achieved. Born in the 30s Depression, his had been a different life. He left school at fourteen to work in a fish ‘n’ chip shop, served in the navy during World War II, worked his way up to become a hotelier then lost everything in the 80s recession, so had to work well into his eighties. He knew tough times. He knew all kinds of times. And I listened to his stories.

The stories of our past can be gone in an instant, yet hold so much wisdom. Technology changes, systems change, leaders change – but in our stories there are glints and hints about who we are as human beings, and who we want to be. For this I’m truly glad I listened to my dad when I had the chance; and I’m exceedingly grateful for every precious word in this anthology, not just because they chronicle events or places, but because in them I can see us, I can see myself, I can see us all.

Thank you Fiona for your passionate support of creative work. Thank you to Mosman Rotary for their generous funding, to the entire Mosman Community Care team and Mosman Council for their professional support. It has been an honour to collaborate with you all!

Congratulations to each of the contributors for their astounding achievement!

Working at the Top! #Maslow #BetterTogether

Last month I was invited to participate in a brainstorming ‘co-design’ day with my local council to develop a social sustainability strategy – how to be ‘Better Together’ by 2041. It was really fun and thought-provoking, covering topics like feeling safe, included and connected. I was able to share real life experiences such as being a victim of crime (‘theft from my person’ multiple times); the isolation, lack of belonging and prejudice experienced as a migrant (see my blog ‘The Importance of Place‘); and how I have been working to establish inclusive creative networks in my local community (for example here and here).

I was also able to listen to the stories of others, how they too have worked towards social cohesion and experienced a lack of it. Together we were able to brainstorm ways to fix problems with practical solutions. High on the list was breaking down bureaucratic barriers for those seeking to extend networks (represented by me here in plasticine and craft sticks!).

Better communication was also high on the list because of course words are a priority – words are everything!

They’re also not. The first exercise of the day was to select an image from a pile that best represented why we were there. I selected an image of two people decorated for a carnival, because for me it represented creativity.

However, I also acknowledged that my speaking from a creative perspective might not seem as important as other perspectives at my table; for example, there were representatives from Meals on Wheels and departments dealing with homelessness and disability issues. These, I told everyone, of course form the base of the pyramid in Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of Needs’, whereas I am at the top.

There were some nods around the table but also many blank expressions, so I explained. Abraham Maslow first conceived the ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ in his paper “A theory of Human Motivation” (Psychological Review, 1943). Now a very popular sociological framework, it is constantly revised to represent our priorities in life.

The ‘base’ of the pyramid is ‘food, water, warmth and rest’, because if any of these are lacking we generally need to fix them quickly. Next up it’s ‘safety’, because we all need to be safe! Following that is a sense of ‘belonging’, and then our self-esteem. At the top of the pyramid is ‘self-actualisation’ – that’s where I work! The pursuit of creative activities such as writing, book creation and storytelling enables us to achieve our full potential.

Since creative activities are at the top of the pyramid, it can sometimes feel as if they’re not as important as other activities. However, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t pursue them unless and until our ‘basic’ or ‘psychological’ needs are met. We can pursue all our needs simultaneously, with varying degrees of time and effort as appropriate.

For me personally, if a few weeks go by without my writing a creative word of my own, because I’m working too many hours on my Creative Support services, I start to feel uptight and miserable. I need to write! I have to make the effort to carve time out for myself to write every week. It is as important to my health as exercise and keeping fit. I need to find time for both, as does my community in order to be ‘better together’.

What about you? Do you need to prioritise some regular creative time for yourself? Reflecting on Maslow’s pyramid, how do you see your own and others’ creative activities?