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Burning the Midnight Oil Book Zine - a FR*E*E monthly ezine for writing parents. ************************************************************** You are receiving this e-zine because you subscribed through e-mail. Unsubscribe information is below. ************************************************************** TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. WELCOME NOTES 2. QUOTES FOR THE MONTH 3. EDITOR'S ARTICLE: INTERVIEW WITH TIMOTHY H. WARNEKA By DAWN COLCLASURE 4. CONTEST CORNER 5. ADVERTISEMENTS 6. GUEST ARTICLE: POD: Dream or Disappointment? By PETER BOWERMAN 7. BOOK EXCERPT: Leading People the Black-Belt Way: Conquering the Five Core Problems Facing Leaders Today by Timothy H. Warneka 8. BOOK GIVEAWAY 9. WHAT??™S UP WITH THE BOOK??™S WRITERS 10. BOOK NEWS 11. SITES SITED 12. FREEBIE CORNER 13. WRITING PARENT TIPS FOR FEBRUARY 14. SUBMISSION GUIDELINES 15. UNSUBSCRIBE INSTRUCTIONS ************************************************************** WELCOME NOTES Hello, Everyone! Welcome to another issue of the Burning the Midnight Oil Book Zine! As always, feel free to E-mail me anytime at BurningMidnightOil@mail2world.com with comments, suggestions or just to plain chat. Readers, forgive me. I tried. I REALLY tried to make this a short issue. But I found that shortening it meant taking out some great news and material I just HAD to pass on! If the length is still a problem, however, then PLEASE feel free to send a complaint to BurningMidnightOil@mail2world.com to let me know! Otherwise, I??™ll drop this whole length issue. You??™ll get to read my interview with debut author Tim Warneka in Volume 2 of BURNING THE MIDNIGHT OIL: How We Survive as Writing Parents. But guess what? I jumped at the chance to interview Tim again, this time focusing more on his book and his approach to martial arts. Think martial arts doesn??™t have ANYTHING in common with being a writer? Check out the interview below for a second opinion. You??™ll also get to read an article by award-winning author Peter Bowerman, who turned the tables of the self-publishing industry when his book, THE WELL-FED WRITER, skyrocketed to success. This time Peter takes on POD publishing, showing the realities of POD publishing and how it compares to traditional self-publishing. If you??™ve ever considered using POD publishing for your book, be sure to check out Peter??™s article before signing on the dotted line. Enjoy this issue! Hugs, Dawn Colclasure Editor and Publisher http://dmcwriter.tripod.com/ ************************************************************** QUOTES FOR THE MONTH ???The secret of a leader lies in the tests he has faced over the whole course of his life and the habit of action he develops in meeting those tests.?????”Gail Sheehy ???The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves.?????”Ray Kroc ???A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go, but ought to be.?????”Rosalynn Carter ???Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions.?????”Harold S. Geneen ???The great leaders are like the best conductors - they reach beyond the notes to reach the magic in the players.?????”Blaine Lee ???One of the tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency.?????”Arnold Glasgow ???A real leader faces the music, even when he doesn't like the tune.?????”Unknown ???A leader, once convinced that a particular course of action is the right one, must be undaunted when the going gets tough.?????”Ronald Reagan ???Leadership is action, not position.?????”Donald H. McGannon ???A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way.?????”John C. Maxwell ???You don't lead by pointing and telling people some place to go. You lead by going to that place and making a case.?????”Ken Kesey ???Leadership is the challenge to be something more than average.?????”Jim Rohn QUOTES FROM: http://tinyurl.com/dqzxe ************************************************************** EDITOR??™S ARTICLE Interview with Timothy H. Warneka By: Dawn Colclasure About Tim: The author of LEADING PEOPLE THE BLACK BELT WAY: CONQUERING THE FIVE CORE PROBLEMS FACING LEADERS TODAY, Tim Warneka lives in Northeast Ohio with his wife and two children. A trained mental health professional, Tim is the president of THE BLACK BELT CONSULTING GROUP, a organization that applies the principles in his book to create success with individuals, teams and organizations. Regarded as an expert in human performance, Tim holds a black belt in Aikido, a master's degree in counseling, certification as a massage professional, postgraduate training from the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland, and is an adjunct instructor at Bryant & Stratton College and Lakeland Community College. 1. What kind of experience have you had as a writer? Oddly enough, I was dragged into writing by terrorism. When 9/11 occurred, I was working as a child and adolescent mental health professional in a local community mental health center. Many parents asked me how they could best talk to their kids about this tragedy. I responded by writing "Ten Tips for Talking to Kids About Terrorism", and send it out via email. "Ten Tips" took on a life of it's own, and seemed to rocket around the internet....and around the world. I was receiving emails every day from people around the globe telling me how helpful my "Ten Tips" had been. One of the people who contacted me was an editor, and the rest is, as they say, history.... 2. Have you found it a challenge to balance your writing and parenting roles? Please share some tips on how you do this. Absolutely. Overall, I find writing and parenting to be a very challenging mix. My first and foremost tip is understanding that "balance" is over-rated. Nothing significant has ever been created by staying in balance. I can't find the balance in parenting and writing, so I've given up trying. I stay up late and write when my kids are asleep. I take time away from writing and play with my kids. I take time away from playing with my kids and write. I have conversations with my kids about what it is that I am doing, and in general, they seem happy to support me. 3. What can you tell me about your book, LEADING PEOPLE THE BLACK BELT WAY: Conquering the Five Core Problems Facing Leaders Today? LEADING PEOPLE THE BLACK BELT WAY is a new approach to leadership that I've developed that combines the strength of Emotional Intelligence with the power of the revolutionary non-violent martial art of Aikido, which I have been practicing for over 15 years. LEADING PEOPLE gives anyone in a position of leadership -- and I believe we ALL are leaders in life -- simple and effective methods for becoming a better leader. 4. What gave you the idea to write this book? Which I think is a fabulous concept, by the way. Thanks! The reviews that are coming in are quite positive! I've been working as an executive coach and business consultant for several years teaching these principles and my clients kept insisting that I write down what I was teaching them. My clients have found these principles to be successful and now, so are many readers. 5. How has your experience in martial arts influenced your career as a writer? What were some lessons you learned from one that helped the other? Many people misunderstand the purpose of martial arts. These arts are not just meant for people to jump around a room, punching and yelling - they're much more than that. Traditional martial arts are meant as a path -- a path of personal and spiritual growth. Aikido, which translates as "the art of peace" or "the way of the spirit of harmony" is a non-violent martial art that advocates the power of non-resistance as well as an embodied ethical stance that insists on the protection -- rather then the destruction -- of the attacker. Aikido is -- for me -- such a power system that it influences everything that I do, including writing. One of the most important lessons that helped me get through my book is understanding that writing, like Aikido, is a process. My first Aikido instructor, a famous 8th degree black belt named Akira Tohei sensei, told me that practicing Aikido is like stacking paper one sheet at a time. When you stack paper one sheet at a time, in the short run, you don't see much progress. But in the long run, you can have quite a large pile of paper! In my experience, writing is just like that -- word by word, line by line, page by page, the book gets done. No magic. Just writing. 6. What made you decide to self-publish your book? Do you feel this is the right choice? I was initially picked up by a publishing house on the West coast, but they went bankrupt. I was too far along in the process to begin the search over again, so I decide to set up my own publishing house. Since I am the first book published by Asogomi Publishing, I suppose I can be considered self-published. My future plans are to expand to other writers, as well as my own books, in order to give voice to cutting-edge mind/body writers out there. 7. Any advice for writing parents struggling to find time to write? I'd offer three pieces of advice to parent writers: (1) Write when you can. There's never a wrong time to write. (2) Be gentle with yourself when life becomes too busy. Try not to beat yourself up when you can't write. (3) Keep your kids your priority...they grow up SO fast! *** Dawn Colclasure edits and publishes the Burning the Midnight Oil Book Zine, which is a product of her book: BURNING THE MIDNIGHT OIL: How We Survive as Writing Parents (Booklocker). She also writes for the newspaper SIGNews and the Web site, The Shadowlands. She??™s been published both on and off the Web, in magazines such as Mothering, American Fitness, Home Education Magazine and HOMEspirations, and Web sites such as Absolute Write, Writing Etc. and Writing World. Visit her on the Web at http://dmcwriter.tripod.com/. ************************************************************** CONTEST CORNER Tom Howard/John H. Reid Short Story Contest http://www.winningwriters.com/contests/tomstory/ts_submail.php Welcome to the 14th annual Tom Howard/John H. Reid Short Story Contest sponsored by Tom Howard Books. Any type of original short story, essay or other work of prose is eligible. Prizes totaling $3,000 will be awarded. The top entry will be published. Other entries may also be published. Click here to read about past winners. Submission Period Entries accepted August 15-March 31 What to Submit Short stories, essays or other works of prose, up to 5,000 words each. There are no restrictions on style or theme. Each entry should be your own original work. You may submit the same work simultaneously to this contest and to others, and you may submit works that have been published or won prizes elsewhere, as long as you own the anthology and online publication rights. Prizes and Publication First prize: $1,000. Second prize: $600. Third prize: $400. There will also be four High Distinction Awards of $250 each. All seven winning entries will be published on Mr. Reid's website and announced in Tom Howard Contest News and the Winning Writers Newsletter, a combined audience of nearly 20,000 readers. The top entry will also be published in a triennial anthology. Other entries may also be published in the anthology. Entry Fee The reading fee is $12 per entry. This covers your submission of one short story or prose work of up to 5,000 words. Contestants may submit as many entries as they like. Deadline March 31, 2006. Your entry must be postmarked or submitted online by this date. How To Submit Click here to submit online (credit card) Click here to submit by mail (check or money order) Announcement of Winners The winners will be announced on WinningWriters.com on May 15, 2006. Entrants with valid email addresses will receive an email notification. English Language Writers of all nations may enter. However, the works you submit should be in English. If you have written a work in another language, you may translate it into English and submit the translation. Privacy Your privacy is assured. Neither Winning Writers nor Tom Howard Books will rent your information to third parties. Winning Writers processes entries and fees for this contest as a service to Tom Howard Books. Winning Writers is not a sponsor and does not judge the entries. Copyright If you win the top prize, you agree to give John H. Reid the nonexclusive right to publish your work wherever he may choose for four years. If you win a prize other than the top prize, you agree to give John H. Reid the nonexclusive right to publish your work wherever he may choose for two years, with an option to extend this right for two more years in return for a $200 payment to you. If your entry wins any cash prize, you agree to give John H. Reid and Winning Writers the nonexclusive right to publish your work online in perpetuity. You retain all other rights. Judges A former journalist and magazine editor, John H. Reid has judged literary contests for over 15 years. He has published several novels, a collection of poetry, a guide to winning literary contests and fifteen books of film criticism and movie history. See his work at Lulu . Mr. Reid is assisted by Dee C. Konrad. A leading educator and published author, Ms. Konrad was Associate Professor in the English faculty of Barat College of DePaul University, and served as Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences for the year 2000-2001. Questions about this contest? Please click here to send a note to the contest administrator. ********************************************* Whim's Place Flash Fiction Contest http://www.whimsplace.com/Contest/Contest.asp First Place $150 Second Place $100 Third Place $50 8 Honorable Mentions $25 each. Quarter Start End *Winners Announced First Quarter, 2006 January 1 March 30 May 1 Second Quarter, 2006 April 1 June 30 August 1 Third Quarter, 2006 July 1 September 30 November 1 Fourth Quarter, 2006 October 1 December 30 February 1 *Winners will be published on Whim's Place on the announcement date; however, individual winners may be contacted before that date. Payouts will be made two to four weeks after publication via PayPal only. If you request payment by money order, the purchase price will be deducted from your prize. To be notified when the winners are announced, sign up for the Whim's Place Newsletter. Guest Judge As a child, Pamela K. Kinney loved making up stories, whether in lieu of an assignment for class or for play time on the playground. She loved to scare the others kids into believing that the shed next door to the school playground actually had a ghost haunting it and convincing her nephews that a dragon really lived in her closet. She never felt alone growing up because her imagination kept her entertained. Stories published include: "They Really Exist", a sci-fi flash fiction, "The Curse", an erotic fantasy, a science fiction story, "Sins of the Father" "Death of the Apostrophe" in print in Thirteen Magazine and electronic form with Descending Darkness, "The House on Green Street" in Cyber Pulp's Halloween Anthology 3.0 and Game of Hell in Speculative Fiction Centre. Upcoming are "Plagued" in Travel Guide Through the Haunted Mid-Atlantic Region, "Donating" in Inhuman Magazine, "Werewolf for Hire" , a flash fiction with ScienceFictionFantasyHorror.com, two dark fantasy romances with Beyond the Blackened Mirror: Tales of Dark Romance, "Azathoth Is Here" in Cthulhu Express Anthology, a erotic fantasy romance, "Wedded Magic" in The Legendary Wizard and a chapbook of four ghostly tales of hers, Beyond the Four Walls sometime in Spring 2006 by Naked Snake Press. To keep up what has been accepted and what is out, you can find out more at her website: http://FantasticDreams.50megs.com . Submission Guidelines Stories must be 500 words or less. Any story exceeding the 500-word limit will automatically be disqualified. We now accept submission payments via regular mail or online. If you are paying by mail, click here. Each entry fee is $5 USD, and you may enter as many stories as you like. The entry fee is payable through PayPal. If you do not have a PayPal account, there is a link at the bottom of the page that will take you to PayPal??™s enrollment page. And, you may now mail in a check or money order. See directions at the bottom of the page. The work must be your own. If your submission is a reprint, the original publisher must be given credit for discovering your greatness. That information will be collected at the end of the contest, along with your biography. Entries will be judged based on style, originality, technical skills, and content. Proofread your work, if you want to win. Write about any topic, any genre! As long as you follow the preceding guidelines, your story is what we want to read. Judging will be done by the Whim's Place editors and one special judge. International entries are welcome, provided PayPal accepts your currency for conversion. Contest Notes: Entry deadline is based on 11:59 p.m. CST, on the contest ending date. Send questions to contest@whimsplace.com. Editorial feedback will be provided upon request. Please hold your request until the end of the contest. Winning entries may be published at Whim's Place. Paying by Mail Submissions paid by check or money order. This will be a two-part process. First, you will mail your entry and contact information (see the online form for the information required) along with a check or money order in the amount of $5.00 to: Betsy Gallup P.O. Box 14931 Lenexa, KS 66285-4931 Your entry must be postmarked no later than the final day of the contest. Any entries posted after that date will be included in the following contest. Second, when your payment is received, I will email you for an electronic copy of the entry. It must agree to the version you mailed in. Any changes and you will be disqualified. Contest Results 2nd Qtr, 2003 3rd Qtr, 2003 4th Qtr, 2003 1st Qtr, 2004 2nd Qtr, 2004 4th Qtr, 2004 1st Qtr, 2005 All questions, complaints, compliments can be directed to whim@whimsplace.com. ********************************************* 2006 Wabash Prize for Fiction http://www.cla.purdue.edu/sycamore/sr/contest.htm Final Judge: Janet Burroway First Prize: $1000 and winning entry published in Summer/Fall 2006 issue Entries of honorable mention also published in Summer/Fall 2006 issue Complete Guidelines for Submission Deadline: Entries must be received by March 15, 2006. This is NOT a postmark deadline. Entries received after March 15, 2006 will be returned unread. Entries may be sent starting December 1, 2005. 1. Submit one story or collection of related short shorts per standard entry. Please do not send excerpts or chapters of novels. Entries may be no more than 10,000 words. 2. A $10 reading fee payable to Sycamore Review must accompany each entry. Do not send cash. When sending more than one entry, additional reading fees must also be included. 3. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable only if Sycamore Review is notified immediately upon acceptance elsewhere. 4 All entries must be typed and must include a cover letter with author's name and contact information (address, telephone, and email address) as well as the titles and word counts of all entries submitted. The author??™s name may not be on the manuscript itself. 5. Manuscript pages should be numbered and should include the title of the piece. Work should be double spaced. 6. Please include a self-addressed, stamped postcard if you wish to be notified upon receipt of your manuscript. 7. Manuscripts will not be returned. Winners will be announced by May 1, 2006. For information on winners and runners-up, please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope with entry. 8. All contest submissions will be considered for regular inclusion in the Sycamore Review. 9. Questions may be directed to Rebekah Silverman, Editor-in-Chief, at sycamore@purdue.edu. Send 2006 Wabash Prize for Fiction submissions and reading fee to: 2006 Wabash Prize for Fiction Sycamore Review Department of English 500 Oval Drive Purdue University West Lafayette , IN 47907 ********************************************* 2006 CNW/FFWA 23rd Annual Florida State Writing Competition http://tinyurl.com/365l Guidelines & Rules Click here to download a two-page pdf file for easier printing. Who Can Enter The contest is open to all writers. You do not have to be a member of Florida Freelance Writers Association (FFWA) or a resident of Florida. However, members of CNW/FFWA save up to 50% on entry fees. (Membership information) Deadline Entries must be postmarked no later than March 15, 2006. Divisions & Categories Nonfiction Division: (A) Previously Published Article/Essay/Column/Nonfiction Book Chapter ??” (B) Unpublished or self-published Article/Essay/Column/Nonfiction Book Chapter Fiction Division: (C) Unpublished or self-published Short Story ??” (D) Unpublished or self-published Novel Chapter Children's Literature Division: (E) Unpublished or self-published Short Story/Nonfiction Article/Book Chapter/Poem (judged together as one category) Poetry Division: (F) Unpublished or self-published Free Verse/Traditional (judged together as one category) Awards & Prizes First Place in each Category - $100 plus certificate Second Place in each Category - $75 plus certificate Third Place in each Category - $50 plus certificate Honorable Mention certificates will be awarded in each category as warranted Winner Notification Winners' certificates/awards will be mailed no later than May 31, 2006. Winners List will be posted here on writers-editors.com ??” around May 31, 2006. (See Winners for 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 2004.) Entry Fees Entry fee of $5 (active or new CNW/FFWA members) or $10 (non-members) must accompany each fiction/nonfiction entry under 3,000 words Entry fee of $10 (members) or $20 (non-members) must accompany each entry of 3,000 words to 5,000 words. Entry fee of $3 (members) or $5 (non-members) must accompany each poem entered. General Guidelines Entries must be unpublished (except for Nonfiction/Previously Published Article/Essay/Book Chapter category), with the exception of self-published material, which may be entered in all unpublished categories. Previously Published Article/Column/Nonfiction Book Chapter category entries may be submitted in double-spaced manuscript format or copies of published material ??“ if writer's name is unrecognizable. Only one book chapter per entry and do NOT submit the complete book. Length: Maximum length 5,000 words; plus, children's literature entries must adhere to typical type, age, and length guidelines in order to be judged favorably. Enter as many manuscripts in as many categories as you wish. Entry fee and a separate Official Entry Form must accompany each entry (and each poem); photocopies of the entry form are acceptable. Entries not conforming to contest rules will be disqualified; entry fees will not be returned. Entries beyond the 5,000-word limit will be judged only on the first 5,000 words submitted. Use paper clips only. Do not staple manuscript pages, entry forms or checks. Author's name must NOT appear on any entry. Indicate Division and Category of each entry on upper right corner of first page of manuscript. Submit text only in a readable font, such as Times Roman or Arial. Other Information Acknowledgment of receipt of manuscripts will be made only if you enclose a self-addressed postcard (with adequate postage). Manuscripts CANNOT be returned; therefore, legible photocopies or computer printouts are suggested for submission. For list of winners, send self-addressed, stamped #10 (business size 4"x9??") envelope marked "winners" on the outside. Winners list will be mailed by May 31, plus will be posted on http://www.writers-editors.com. (One envelope only; not one per category.) Neither entries nor winners will be published in an anthology or other publication; authors retain all rights to their works. Specific Division/Category Guidelines Nonfiction Division Previously Published must show name of magazine, newspaper or website in which it was published. Essay/Column can be opinion, personal experience, nostalgia, think-piece, or humor. Fiction Division For Short Story, indicate whether Literary, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Western on first page. Indicate book title on Fiction/Novel Chapter entry; chapter title or # if entering more than one chapter of same book (multiple chapter entries require separate entry form and separate entry fee for each chapter). Children's Literature Division Indicate the age group of your readers and the word count on first page of entry. Also on the first page, specify the category of children's literature: Poem, Short Story, Novel Chapter, Article, Nonfiction Book Chapter. Do not include art, illustrations, or bound copies of a book. Entries cannot be returned. Poetry Division Include the poem's line count and whether Free Verse or Traditional on the manuscript page. For traditional metered and syllabic poems, specify the form, such as Sonnet, Villanelle, Sestina, or Renga. Each entry must be a single poem, not a book of verse. Judging Criteria Presentation (format, follows rules, neatness, spelling, punctuation, grammar, print quality). Suitability (correct category, correct age group and appropriate length if children's division). Tightness, clarity, structure, strength of lead/beginning, transitions, impact, satisfactory close. Nonfiction: Logic; use of quotes, statistics and anecdotes; order; provocative idea; lead and close. Fiction: Characterization, conflict, dialogue, plotting, beginning, ending, figures of speech. Poetry: Fresh concept, cadence or rhythmic beat, sound echoes, any other device (such as figurative language) that appeals to the imagination or engages the reader's senses; and for traditional verse, adherence to form. ------------------------------------------------------------ OFFICIAL ENTRY FORM - Year 2006 CNW/FFWA Florida State Writing Competition - postmark deadline 3/15/2006 A separate form must accompany each entry (and each poem); click here for a separate, printer-friendly Entry Form (or you can use this one). 1. Author's name ________________________________________________ Note how you want your name on Winners List/Certificate if different from above: _____________________________________________________________ 2. Author's mailing address ________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ 3. Author's phone number (______) ________________ 4. Author's E-mail: _______________________________________ 5. TITLE of entry _________________________________________________ 6. FIRST LINE of entry ____________________________________________ 7. Circle Division/Category of this entry: A-Nonfiction/Previously Published B-Nonfiction/Unpublished or Self-published C-Fiction/Short Story D-Fiction/Novel Chapter E-Children's/ Short Story / Nonfiction Article / Book Chapter / Poem (circle one of these four) F-Poetry/ Free Verse / Traditional (circle one of these two) 8. ENTRY FEE (check one and enclose): / / $3, I am a current CNW/FFWA member or am joining at this time (dues also enclosed), and entry is one poem / / $5, I am not a member and am not joining at this time, and entry is one poem / / $5, I am a current CNW/FFWA member or am joining at this time (dues also enclosed), and entry is under 3,000 words / / $10, I am not a member and am not joining at this time and entry is under 3,000 words / / $10, I am a current CNW/FFWA member (or membership dues enclosed) and entry is between 3,000 words and 5,000 words / / $20, I am not a member and am not joining at this time and entry is between 3,000 and 5,000 words / / I have enclosed membership dues of $ ______ (see Membership page for choices here). Make entry fee check or money order payable to: CNW/FFWA. One check may be written to cover multiple entries if all are mailed in same package (but enclose separate entry forms for each entry). (US $ only) If entry fees/dues total $25 or more, you may charge to: VISA, MasterCard, Amex (but only if all in same package). Charge will appear on your credit card statement as "Cassell Commun/CNW Publish." Send SASE if you want a credit card receipt mailed to you. Card # ___________________________________________ exp. ___________ Total amount charged: _______________ credit card signature ________________________________ 9. SEND entry form(s), with fee(s) attached, to: CNW/FFWA, PO Box A, North Stratford NH 03590. Postmark deadline for 2006 competition is March 15, 2006. ********************************************* NATIONAL POETRY SERIES 2006 OPEN COMPETITION http://www.nationalpoetryseries.org/ The National Poetry Series seeks book-length manuscripts of poetry written by American citizens. All manuscripts must be previously unpublished, although some or all of the individual poems may have appeared in periodicals. Translations, chapbooks, small groups of poems, and books previously self-published are not eligible. Manuscript length is not limited. However, a length of 48-64 pages is suggested. Manuscripts, accompanied by an entrance fee of $30.00 (per manuscript) made payable to The National Poetry Series, will be accepted at The National Poetry Series, 57 Mountain Avenue, Princeton, NJ, 08540, with a postmark January 1 through (and including) February 15, 2006. Manuscripts must include 2 cover pages: * Title of manuscript, author's name, address, and telephone number. This should be the only page with author's identification. * Title of manuscript only Manuscripts must be: * Typed on standard white paper, on one side of the page only. * Paginated (include a table of contents). * Bound only by a clip as more permanent bindings are very difficult to handle! DO NOT INCLUDE: Acknowledgments, explanatory statements, resumes, autobiographical statements, photographs, illustrations, or artwork. These will not be considered. We regret that manuscripts cannot be returned. No additions, deletions, or substitutions once a manuscript has been submitted. Finalists will be requested to submit five (5) additional copies of their original submission. Winning authors will be given the opportunity to make final changes prior to publication. Please include a Self-Addressed Stamped Postcard if you would like confirmation that your manuscript has been received. Include a SASE if you would like notification of the NPS winners (announced in August). If you require any additional information, write to the Coordinator, NPS, 57 Mountain Avenue, Princeton, NJ, 08540. ************************************************************** ADVERTISEMENTS New Message Board for Writers, Writing Parents and Booklovers!!! The Write Stuff is a new message board created by Dawn Colclasure, a disabled writing parent who loves books! The board offers anyone of similar situations a chance to discuss being a disabled writer, a writing parent or a booklover! The write Stuff offers registered members a chance to swap books, talk shop or discuss Dawn??™s books, as well! All writers and booklovers of any age or stage are welcome to participate! Check the new board out here: http://p105.ezboard.com/bthewritestuff66370 *** Leukemia's NO JOKE Comedy Night Benefit for Cameron DiMarco What started as a seemingly harmless skin rash quickly became a parent's worse nightmare. Donald and Tracy DiMarco stood together in a Boston hospital to hear that their son, Cameron (2 years, 3 months old), was "diagnosed with Leukemia." The brutal journey of chemo-therapy and all its ill-effects had suddenly begun. With nothing to do but sit back and helplessly watch, as a little boy began fighting the toughest battle of any person's life, Friends of Cameron decided to host a comedy night fundraiser to help the DiMarco's with any financial obstacles they may be forced to hurdle. On Thursday, March 30, 2006 at the St. John's Club in Fall River, Massachusetts, five hilarious stand-up comics will take the stage to make the audience laugh themselves all the way to their wallets and purses. The doors will open at 7:00 pm, the show starts at 8:00 pm and for a minimum donation of $25.00, Friends of Cameron promise a night to remember. Emceed by Fall River's own funny man, as well as ???one of the hottest, up-and-coming comics in the industry,??? Smokin??™ Joe Holden will kick off the event with his own unique brand of comedy. The ???Italian Don Rickles,??? John Perrotta, owner and operator of the Comedy Factory in R.I., is sure to thrill the audience with his rapid-fire wit, while Ed Galvin, who recently appeared at the MGM in Las Vegas, as well as voted the funniest man in R.I., will keep the thunder of applause rolling along. Boston??™s Stephanie Peters has also volunteered her time to help the DiMarco family. Voted the funniest female comic in Boston, Stephanie has opened for such names as Colin Quinn, Larry Clark and George Carlin. The show??™s headliner, Dave Andrews, will cap off the magical night with a set that he??™s perfected on stages from coast-to-coast, as well as late-night television. It??™s a night of comedy you don??™t want to miss! Door prizes, a silent auction and several raffles promise sports, NASCAR and Hollywood memorabilia, while autographed books and other surprises will also be there for the taking. The entire night is being captured (documentary style) by R.I. filmmaker Victor Franko and every penny earned will go to help Cameron DiMarco to take a few kinder steps on the hard road ahead. For Tickets or information, please contact Steve Manchester (617)-593-0007, or Rob Letendre (617)-593-1115 *** WRITERS ON THE NET at writers.com ON-LINE WRITING CLASSES starting in February & March. New classes: reading as writers; flash fiction; the literary short story; writing for stage or screen. For more details on a class, write to us. Questions? Let us know. Ready to enroll? Do so safely here: https://secure.webcom.com/writers/regform.htm ******************************************************** FEBRUARY Creative Non-fiction and the Personal Essay (2/6) Continuing with the Personal Essay (2/6) Keep a Writer's Journal like the Pros (2/6) Keep a Writer's Journal like the ProsTWO (2/6) Discover Your Writing Niche (2/6) Reading as Writers (2/7) NEW Continuing Daydreams: An Intensive Poetry Workshop (2/13) NEW Getting Your Book Published (2/13) Screenwriting 101: Introduction to Screenplay Writing (2/13) Screenwriting 102: Introduction to Screenplay Writing (2/13) Nature Writing (2/13) Flash Fiction: Make It New (2/13) NEW Fantastic Fiction: Writing SF/Fantasy/Horror (2/14) Advanced SF/F/H Workshop (2/14) Writing and Publishing Magazine Articles (2/20) 8wks A Plotting Workshop (2/20) Literary Short Story Workshop (2/27) NEW ******************************************************** FEBRUARY CLASSES ******************************************************** CREATIVE NON-FICTION AND THE PERSONAL ESSAY (2/6/06) *Instructor: LAURIE WAGNER, writer and documentary filmmaker whose essays have appeared in Salon, Glamour, and elsewhere Powerhouses of story-telling, creative nonfiction and personal essays are the volcanic marriage of real life and fiction, a chance to deliver our stories with sass, color and voice. If you have a story to tell and believe that truth is stranger than fiction, then this class is for you. Laurie's CONTINUING WITH THE PERSONAL ESSAY, also starts 2/6/06, for those who have taken the first class and want to continue toward publication. (10 weeks) ******************************************************** KEEP A WRITER'S JOURNAL LIKE THE PROS (2/6/06) *Instructor: SHEILA BENDER was a columnist and feature writer for Writers' Digest and has published several books on writing essays, poetry and journals. Learn to emulate the strategies famous writers demonstrate in their journals as well as strategies from literature to keep a journal that is wittier and smarter than you ever thought you could be! Find your own smartest, funniest, most sincere, most outrageous, and most I- never-thought-I-could-write-like-that writing. (10 weeks) KEEP A WRITER'S JOURNAL LIKE THE PROS - TWO (2/6/06) A class for those who have previously taken Keep a Writer's Journal like the Pros. (10 weeks) ******************************************************** DISCOVER YOUR WRITING NICHE (2/6/06) *Instructor: GLORIA KEMPTON authored seven self-help books, two young adult novels, short stories, essays, how-tos and feature articles for a number of national magazines, including Writers Digest. You want to write, but you don't know where to start. Fiction or nonfiction? Article, short story, or how-to book? Who do you want to write for -- children, teens, adults? There is a type of writing that is best suited for you, and the discovery process can be a rewarding adventure. (8 weeks) ******************************************************** READING AS WRITERS (2/7/06) NEW *Instructor: SANDY NOVACK-GOTTSHALL, an award-winning fictionist, has taught at Duke, North Carolina State University, and the University of Cincinnati. For intermediate to advanced writers, OR if a beginning writer, permission of the instructor Reading as Writers offers a space where we read to better understand narrative possibilities. We will read short stories, discuss them, and write analyses. By bettering our critical eye, we better our own stories. Plain and simple. In that regard, while the topic of this course is reading, the real subject of this course is the craft of writing (10 weeks) ******************************************************** CONTINUING DAYDREAMS: AN INTENSIVE POETRY WORKSHOP (2/13/06) NEW *Instructor: BOB HAYNES, a published poet with a fondness for words as well as physics and the unknown. Designed for anyone who has taken Bob's previous class, the format will be a straight-forward and ongoing advanced poetry workshop. (10 weeks) ******************************************************** GETTING YOUR BOOK PUBLISHED (2/13/06) *Instructor: SHELLEY SINGER, former editor and author of 12 published novels. What you need to know: making your manuscript look professional, finding the right agent or editor, getting through the submission process, writing proposals and queries, working with an agent, working with an editor, advances, royalties and contracts, online publishing, and publicizing yourself and your work. (10 weeks) ******************************************************** SCREENWRITING 101: INTRODUCTION TO SCREENPLAY WRITING (2/13/06) *Instructor: MARK TROY has projects in development at several major studios. He has worked with Rob Reiner, Tom Hanks, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Robin Williams. Mark does script doctoring for TV shows such as "Third Watch," "Ed," and "Four Your Love" among others. He wrote the cult classic "Zipperface," and is presently working on a sequel to "Men in Black." 40 of his plays have been produced around the world. This is an introductory class in structuring and writing a screenplay, whether meant for Hollywood or independent production. Students will develop their story ideas into industry accepted pitches, write loglines, step outlines and agency queries while writing the first draft of their original screenplay. A second class will be offered in rewriting and polishing a final draft. (10 weeks) SCREENWRITING 102: CONTINUING IN SCREENWRITING (2/13/06) Taught by Mark Troy (see above). A ten week class for those who have taken Screenwriting 101 and want to continue with Mark. Others, who have taken introductory screenwriting elsewhere online or in the three-D world may take this class with the instructor's permission. (10 weeks) ******************************************************** NATURE WRITING (2/13/06) *Instructor: KEN WRIGHT's work has appeared in numerous national magazines and his essays have been compiled in two collections. He has a masters degree in Journalism and has taught writing at Fort Lewis College, in Colorado, since 1991. Whether you want to write about nature for celebration or activism, exploration or reflection, you'll find unique challenges, pitfalls, strategies and rewards in Nature writing. In this class we will develop a writer's toolbox, from note-taking in the wild, to sculpting those notes into finished essays, to marketing, never losing touch with the inspiration and beauty of the natural world. (10 weeks) ******************************************************** FLASH FICTION: MAKE IT NEW (2/13) NEW *Instructor: Barbara Henning is the author of two novels and six books of poetry. Her poems have been published in Poetry International, the Paris Review, The World, Talisman, Lingo, Shiny and others. She holds an MA in Creative Writing and a Ph.D. in English. In this new form of micro-fiction, short-stories one to three pages long, we will work with classical elements of fiction as well as experimental methods and techniques and approaches taken from poetry. We will read work by masters of the form while we focus on brevity, surprise and the elegance of unfolding consciousness in a concise form. (10 weeks) ******************************************************** FANTASTIC FICTION: WRITING SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY & HORROR (2/14/06) *Instructor: PAULA GURAN, genre editor, recipient of two Bram Stoker Awards for Nonfiction, nominated for a World Fantasy Award and an International Horror Guild Award. Science fiction, speculative fiction, fantasy, dark fantasy, horror, and all the cross- genre mutations offer the writer vast opportunities for originality and great freedom to stretch boundaries. Hone your skills. (10 weeks) ADVANCED SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY/HORROR WORKSHOP (2/14/06) Advanced writers workshop is designed for those who have taken Fantastic Fiction: Writing SF/F/H, (see above), the equivalent, or have the instructor's permission. The workshop is not organized around weekly lectures or assignments but concentrates entirely on work- in-progress. (10 weeks) ******************************************************** WRITING AND PUBLISHING MAGAZINE ARTICLES (2/20/06) *Instructor: PETER OCCHIOGROSSO has published articles, reviews, and columns in "down beat," the "New York Times," "Village Voice," "Different Drummer," "Playboy," "New Times," "Melody Maker" (London), and many more. A professional approach to the specialized field of magazine writing the class is run like a publication with the instructor (a Manhattan editor from 1976 to 1982) as editor- in-chief and the students making up the Editorial Board (as well as being writers). You'll learn more than just writing -- you'll be learning *the process* from a pro. (8 weeks) ******************************************************** A PLOTTING WORKSHOP (2/20/06) *Instructor: DENNIS FOLEY, MFA, is a novelist, screenwriter and experienced teacher (UCLA Writers Program and others) Without a good plot a novel loses steam and comes to a halt after the first hundred pages. This workshop is focused on helping the aspiring novelist prepare a workable plot that produces a compelling story. (8 weeks) ******************************************************** LITERARY SHORT STORY WORKSHOP (2/27/06) NEW *Instructor: SANDY NOVACK-GOTTSHALL, an award-winning fictionist, has taught at Duke, North Carolina State University, and the University of Cincinnati. Designed for those with an understanding of fiction fundamentals, this is a workshop for beginning to intermediate writers who have a draft ready to go. This is an actual workshop, meaning there are no formal lectures unless they are necessary to supplement discussion and/or questions that arise during our time together. Rather, you will learn through comments specifically geared toward your work- in-progress, as well as others??™ works. My feedback will build upon the basic principles of fiction and/or introduce new techniques to you. (10 weeks) ******************************************************** MARCH CLASSES ******************************************************** THE ART OF STORYTELLING WORKSHOP (3/6/06) Instructor: GLORIA KEMPTON authored seven self-help books, two young adult novels, short stories, essays, how-tos and feature articles for a number of national magazines, including Writers Digest. Whether writing fiction, non-fiction, or memoir, join this class to explore the magic of storytelling. Learn the skills and techniques great writers use to weave tales of romance, adventure, comedy and/or horror. (10 weeks) ******************************************************** WOMEN'S SPIRITUAL WRITING THROUGH THE AGES (3/6/06) *Instructor: MARLEE LEDAI is the author of 25 books and over 150 articles Learn to express your depth of spirit by studying how women have always articulated their needs, hope and personal truth. Trace spiritual writing from a feminine perspective within a variety of world traditions. Write your way into epiphanies from the wisdom already within you. (10 weeks) ******************************************************** GENRE FLIPPING: BECOMING AMBIDEXTROUS WITH POETRY & PROSE (3/6/06) Instructor: SHEILA BENDER was a columnist and feature writer for Writers' Digest and has published several books on writing essays, poetry and journals. Look at what you have written and decide if there is a poem in the prose or if a story or essay might come from the poem you created. Put more feeling and emotion into your prose, turn journal entries into finished, moving work. (10 weeks) ******************************************************** WRITING FOR ACTORS FOR STAGE OR SCREEN (3/6/06) NEW *Instructor: JEFF SWEET has written numerous plays, television scripts, musicals, authored two books, taught in MFA programs and universities, and is on the Council of Dramatists Guild. This is a workshop of nuts-and-bolts technique which may be applied to scripts for both stage and screen. This is hard-headed useful stuff to solve the problems and help you write even when you aren't in the mood - that is to say, to write like a pro. ******************************************************** CONSTRUCTING THE NOVEL (3/13/06) Instructor: PHYLLIS TAYLOR PIANKA has published twenty novels and many short stories and articles. For those with a novel in progress that may have lost its way or been rejected for publication: a class to move you forward to the next step. (10 weeks) ******************************************************** MAKE MONEY WRITING THE HOW-TO ARTICLE (3/13/06) Instructor: GLORIA KEMPTON authored seven self-help books, two young adult novels, short stories, essays, how-tos and feature articles for a number of national magazines, including Writers Digest. Learn how to discover and develop ideas for how-to articles, ranging from how to sell your stuff on Ebay to how to facilitate a successful book club to how to communicate with your teenager. The class also covers the query letter and the market. (6 weeks) ******************************************************** HOW TO COMMIT MURDER IN 80,000 WORDS: WRITING MYSTERY, THRILLER & SUSPENCE (3/13/06) *Instructor: SHELLEY SINGER, creator of two mystery series and a Shamus award nominee Concentrate on the art and techniques of mystery-thriller-suspense writing while learning about the publishing business, agents, editors, networking, research, and the process of becoming a working novelist. (10 weeks) ******************************************************** WRITING TEXT FOR CHILDREN'S PICTURE BOOKS (3/20/06) Instructor: UMA KRISHNASWAMI, author of books for children and stories in children's magazines, reviewer of books for "Children's Literature." Examine the variety of ways in which text interacts with image in a picture book, and craft your own fiction or nonfiction text for this unique story container. (10 weeks) ******************************************************** WRITING THE FIRST NOVEL (3/27/06) *Instructor: DENNIS FOLEY, MFA, novelist, screenwriter and experienced teacher (UCLA Writers Program and others) Novel writing preparatory course for the first-time novelist -- NOT a critiquing course or workshop. Instructor-provided lecture material and student in-class exercises designed to help the new novelist complete a first draft. (10 weeks) ******************************************************** WRITING KEROUAC/SITTING BUDDHA: Spontaneous Poetics & Big Mind (3/27/06) *Instructor: MARC OLMSTED is the author of three collections of poetry. Allan Ginsberg wrote of him "??¦one of the few practitioners post- Kerouac that had picked up on the loose and lucid form that Kerouac had developed.??? An investigation into the spontaneous and mindful poetics exemplified by Jack Kerouac and the Beats. KEROUAC/BUDDHA uses meditation and writing exercises to explore awareness itself, putting our meditation practice onto the page. Meditation instruction included. (10 weeks) ******************************************************** Eight-week classes usually cost $220US, ten-week classes $270US. We have occasional classes of longer or shorter duration and different prices. Many of the instructors as well as other writers affiliated with us are available for one- to- one tutoring and mentoring. ----------- WRITERS ON THE NET --------------- Online classes, tutors and groups for writers. http://www.writers.com ************************************************************** GUEST ARTICLE POD: Dream or Disappointment? By: Peter Bowerman Last year, Xlibris, one of the big names in POD (Print-on-Demand), celebrated paying out their one-millionth dollar in royalties. The prior year, they helped authors publish more than 7,000 titles and sell over 300,000 books. Impressive, huh? Well, let??™s do the math. $1 million for 7000 titles comes out to an average royalty of $149 each. Not exactly worth bragging about??¦ How POD Works In the past few years, POD has generated a huge buzz in the industry, promising to ???provide the keys to the serious publishing kingdom for all those authors heretofore locked out of the game??? and other lofty claims. But, does the reality live up to the hype? Let??™s take a look. With POD, you submit your book to a POD publisher (iUniverse, Trafford, Xlibris and PublishAmerica are big players) in an electronic format, pay a fee (typically $400-1000 depending on the company and the marketing options selected; see below), they??™ll ???produce??? your book and load it onto their system. No physical books are printed until someone orders one (i.e., through a bookstore). POD ??“ THE UPSIDES POD makes sense for three particular scenarios: 1) Authors whose goals are to get in print, say ???I??™m an author??? and have the book available for friends and family, but without the funds to finance an offset print run. 2) Authors taking the long view. Meaning, they indeed want to be a successful writer, know full well the limitations of the POD model, but know how hard it is to attract a publisher, and want to start building a platform for themselves. In those cases, they use POD to create the best (aesthetically speaking) possible book they can, knowing that it might take 2, 3 or 4 books to finally build up a name (and perhaps attract a publisher). And POD can help them cut to the chase. 3) Larger publishers with out-of-print titles which now, thanks to POD, can be reactivated and start earning new income streams. POD ??“ THE DOWNSIDES The POD Business Model By definition, conventional publishers have to be selective about the books they take on because their payoff doesn??™t come until they sell a bunch. By contrast, because POD publishers make the lion??™s share of their income on upfront fees ??“ and because web space isn??™t exactly in short supply ??“ they have every incentive to sign up as many authors as possible, regardless of manuscript quality, and once signed up, virtually no incentive to promote them. Heck, they??™ve made their money! They know most of the books won??™t be successful, so why expend much more effort when the returns will likely be minimal? The Marketing Hype POD publishers will undoubtedly pitch you on their aggressive plan to market your title ??“ at an extra cost, of course. Don??™t get your hopes up. It??™ll be an impressive sounding menu of window-dressing. They??™ll promise to send a press release to thousands of potentially interested parties ??“ a standard cookie-cutter piece, mass-mailed to people who get far too many anyway. Even if they do read it, once they figure out it??™s a POD book, unfortunately, that??™ll work against you. And here??™s why??¦ No Respect Why are most POD books not taken seriously by bookstores, media and reviewers? For starters, with typically higher printing costs, lower print quality and usually a ???no-return??? policy, (i.e., less profits and more hassles), the big bookstore chains aren??™t exactly falling all over themselves to carry POD books. More importantly, POD is viewed as relatively ???barrier-free??? publishing. Let??™s examine the hierarchy. At the top is a conventionally published book. A book with a reputable publishing house??™s imprimatur has jumped through many hoops before finally making the grade. The ???book-sales-before-profits??? equation ensures only the best survive. One step down is a book like mine ??“ ???conventionally??? self-published (i.e., I??™ve paid for design, typesetting, offset printing, etc.) Yes, as the author, there??™s no screening process other than my decision to publish, but, on the plus side is this: a self-publishing author has to totally finance the venture ??“ typically, $10-20K to bring a 2500-5000-unit printing to market. Presumably, that implies an at least marginal grip on reality. Few people will drop that kind of dough on a lark unless they know they??™ve got a good product. Then, there??™s POD publishing: a publishing decision left completely to the author and a minimal financial investment. So, quite legitimately, the key reviewers and bookstore chains ask, ???What??™s stopping any Tom, Dick or Harriet from getting published???? Not much anymore. Hence, low barrier = low respect. Self-published books ??“ even done the high-end way ??“ already fight an uphill battle for respect and credibility. Why? Because, in truth, most are inferior in content and production quality. With POD, it??™s a double-whammy. Royalties, Not Profits In self-publishing as I do it, after expenses, all profits are mine. By contrast, most POD publishers will have you sign a contract that pays you royalties and in many cases, has you turn over the rights to your creation ??“ at least for a certain period of time. And those royalties are often based on net proceeds (after discounts to wholesalers, etc.), not retail price, reducing them even further. You NEED Cheap Books Commercial success with your book demands a LOT of book marketing and promotion and that means sending out LOTS of review copies. With POD, buying your own copies of, say, a $20 retail book, will cost you roughly $8-10 each (similar, incidentally, to conventional publishing, where authors typically buy their own books for 50% off retail). Add about $3 more for press kit, mailer and postage and you could go broke in a hurry. My books? About $1.50 each, making a full review package less than $5 each. Not to mention you??™ll miss out on all those juicy personal book sales at events, seminars and out of the trunk of your car. With book costs around $2 each, you can afford to discount books 25-50% and still make a nice profit. With POD, no can do. Depending on your goals, POD might be just the ticket or it could be a dead-end. Do your homework. Understand its limitations and be realistic about its potential. Read contracts carefully and ask questions about royalties, rights, minimum book purchases and artistic control. You could save yourself a truckload of disappointment. *** Peter Bowerman is the self-publishing author of the award-winning how-to guide to starting a lucrative commercial writing business, The Well-Fed Writer (Fanove, 2000) and its companion volume, The Well-Fed Writer: Back For Seconds (Fanove, September 2004). Look for The Well-Fed Self-Publisher: How to Turn One Book Into a Full-Time Living, coming in 2006. http://www.wellfedwriter.com . ************************************************************** BOOK EXCERPT LEADING PEOPLE THE BLACK BELT WAY: CONQUERING THE FIVE CORE PROBLEMS FACING LEADERS TODAY By: Timothy H. Warneka Publisher: Asogomi Publishing International Hard cover: ISBN: 0976862700 Soft cover: ISBN: 0976862719 Chapter 1 Walking through the Door: What Leaders Are Missing ???Export anything American to a friendly country, except American management.??? -W. Edwards Deming As a leader, do you ever wish you could read other people??™s minds? Let??™s grant your wish??”just for a minute. Join me as we drop in on a management meeting already in progress. Since your wish came true, you can hear what people in the meeting are thinking. You see a group of welldressed professionals seated around a beautiful mahogany conference table strewn with loose papers and cups of coffee. Through the high windows that surround the conference room, the skyline of a modern city spreads off into the distance. Rick, the CEO of this multinational manufacturing company, is listening to one of his lieutenants present a strategic plan for the up-coming fiscal year. Bored by the lukewarm presentation, Donna, the director of Accounting, stifles a yawn and thinks about the date she went on last night. The lieutenant, Ricardo, is sweating, unable to guess what Rick might be thinking about the strategy being articulated. Dave, the director of Marketing, scarcely dares to breathe, wondering when Rick is going to explode into one of his trademark tirades. Dale from Legal shifts in his chair, worried about his young daughter who went to daycare sick this morning. Rick is frustrated, wondering why nobody in the room seems excited about what they??™re hearing. Temper rising, he slams his fist down on the table and shouts, ???I??™ve had enough!??? The tirade begins. There are a myriad of things wrong with this picture, but topping the list is Rick??™s heated invective. This sort of outburst goes well beyond a managerial faux pas, and today??™s organizations can no longer afford such egregious mistakes. In the past several decades, organizations have downsized, reengineered, and streamlined. Organizations have gone through the lengthy and sometimes painful process of inserting technology into their very heart and soul. We have new software systems that track, support, and inform our business processes from accounting to manufacturing. Due to the technological advances of the past 50 years, the pace in our organizations has picked up exponentially. And yet, something is still missing. Our organizations are neither as profitable nor as productive as they could be. The solution to organizational success resides within the people populating your organization. This book will show the mission-critical importance of leaders learning approaches that respect, honor and acknowledge those people??”in mind, body and spirit. This method of leading people is one I??™ve dubbed Black Belt Leadership, a set of techniques that is not only humane and courteous, but also embodies smart business. Leaders who want to be successful must learn effective ways of dealing with emotions (both their own and those of whom they lead) because of the negative impact that emotionally unskilled leadership has on the bottom line. Are people in organizations struggling? Yes they are. Consider these facts: In one survey, nearly 40% of workers described their office environment as "most like a real-life survivor program."12 In a recent Gallup Poll, 80% of workers feel stress on the job; nearly half say they need help in learning how to manage stress; and 42% say their coworkers need such help.13 Between 70% and 80% of people within organizations are not working anywhere near their peak capacity because they are not emotionally committed to their work.14 In another recent survey, one-fourth of employees view their jobs as the number one stressor in their lives.15 Should leaders care? Absolutely. Consider these facts: Employee stress costs businesses $300 billion per year in absenteeism, health costs, and programs to reduce stress.16 Much of the workers??™ stress and lack of emotional commitment emanates from the very leaders who are supposed to be managing them.17 Increasing your employees??™ emotional connection to their jobs can save your organization over $3,000 for every $10,000 spent on salary.18 Employee feelings toward a company account for 20% to 30% of business performance.19 Providing appropriately emotionally skilled leadership could impact the U.S. economy to the tune of an additional $254 to $363 billion in profits annually.20 Creating emotionally satisfying working environments is critical to retaining qualified people in your organization. Experts are predicting a labor shortage within a few short years, so retaining skilled workers is critical for success.21 In their best-selling book Follow this Path, authors Coffman & Gonzalez-Molina identified three levels of employee engagement: 1) engaged, 2) not-engaged, and 3) disengaged. Noting that ?????¦disengaged employees cost companies hundreds of million of dollars annually,??? they discovered that as many as 75% of people in organizations are not emotionally engaged in their tasks. 22 As you can see from the data, there is a serious problem with leadership in our organizations. In the past, when things were less complicated and profit margins were greater, organizations could tolerate the temper tantrums and ignorance of behavioral science that passed as leadership. Today??™s global economy and tighter profit margins means that your organization can no longer afford these ???luxuries.??? Are you willing to accept the fact that three fourths of the people in your organization are emotionally disconnected from their tasks? If not, there is a way to rectify the situation, as you will see. Compounding the problem set forth thus far is the litany of leadership approaches bombarding all levels of management today. While many of these approaches are helpful to some small degree, most of them consistently make one giant mistake: They completely overlook people??™s bodies, seeming to believe that people are nothing more than heads floating in space. This, then, is the core principle of Black Belt Leadership: Great leadership begins with the body. As a leader in your organization, fully understanding these words will enable you to increase the level of human productivity in your workforce without the added expense of hiring a single additional employee. If you could learn how to increase your employees??™ commitment and passion toward your organization, while at the same time reducing their job-related stress, would you be interested? This book will show you how to do just that??”but not by teaching you another leadership system. Instead, these pages will teach you about The Black Belt Way, an exciting approach that allows you to harness the emotional power of people in your organization in a manner that creates even greater success. You will also learn the critical importance of recognizing that there are multiple ways to lead effectively, not just one, and the impact of emotions and relationships on the success of your organization. In short, you will develop simple and effective practices for leading that incorporate the wisdom of your body, tools which I call embodied leadership skills. Harmonious Emotional Engagement Harmonious Emotional Engagement is the tool that allows leaders to take full advantage of these three simple but profound principles: People respond emotionally to every situation that occurs in an organization. People??™s negative emotions reduce their performance in an organization. People??™s positive emotions enhance their performance in an organization. This is so simple. Yet today??™s leaders rarely take these seemingly straightforward principles into account, even though putting these principles to work could have a tremendous impact on their success. We hope to change that. So what does Harmonious Emotional Engagement mean? Let??™s take a closer look at each of the three parts of this phrase??”???harmony,??? ???emotional,??? and ???engagement,??? beginning with harmony. ???Common wisdom, of course, holds that employees who feel upbeat will likely go the extra mile to please customers and therefore improve the bottom line. But there??™s actually a logarithm that predicts the relationship: For every 1 percent improvement in the service climate, there??™s a 2 percent increase in revenue.??? Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKee Harmony??”Mastering the Power When learning how to lead people successfully, an understanding of harmony is vital because only harmony addresses the quality of the fit between the leader (and their leadership style) and the environment in which the leader works (which includes the other people with whom the leader works). There is no one-size-fits-all approach to leadership. For our purposes here, harmony is defined as the process of being integrally in tune with those around us. By integrally, I mean in ways that are all encompassing and holistic??”ways that incorporate mind, body, and spirit. The more integrally we lead, the better leaders we become, because we constantly enrich and enliven our leadership abilities with other life experiences. An example is relevant here. In the book Being Human at Work, consultant Peter Luzmore describes working with a senior vice president named Pete. Luzmore describes Pete as impatient, overly demanding and given to bouts of shouting that left his staff demoralized. After Luzmore used an integral approach in his coaching of Pete, Luzmore gathered feedback from Pete??™s executive team. The team reported that Pete had changed tremendously, that he was now patient, better focused and more effective as a leader.23 Harmony??™s importance becomes clear when the concepts of relationship and context are recognized. Let??™s learn about relationship and context by considering musical notes. A musical note cannot be said to be harmonious in isolation. A note is only harmonious in relationship to??”or in context with??”the other notes in the musical score. A note that is perfectly harmonious in a given section of Somewhere over the Rainbow sounds jarring to the ears when heard in a section of Jailhouse Rock. The concept of relationship recognizes that Somewhere over the Rainbow and Jailhouse Rock cannot be accurately qualified as ???right??? or ???wrong??? just because a particular note cannot be played in both songs. In fact, even talking about whether a song is ???right??? or ???wrong??? doesn??™t make any sense. This is an important point to which we will return later. Leadership styles fail to be harmonious (and successful) when they fail to take into account these concepts of relationship and context. These concepts assume even greater importance when one realizes that the most productive styles of leadership are typically those that are flexible, present-centered and aware of changing circumstances. Leaders who spend time talking about ???right??? or ???wrong??? styles of leadership, without addressing the relationships and contexts within their leadership environments, are simply wasting their energy. In order to be a successful leader, you need to do the difficult work of developing a leadership style that fits the needs of the people in your organization. Remember that when I speak about harmony, I am not speaking of the false harmony that exists wherever people are afraid, intimidated, or bullied by leaders. People are very skilled at being externally compliant. But external compliance is not harmony. Nor does harmony exist in situations where team members avoid conflict by refusing to name obvious but unspoken truths that are apparent to everyone but may cause strife if mentioned. Rather than being harmonious, these are forms of dissonance (the opposite of harmony), which are disguised in silence and masquerade grotesquely as harmony. While you will learn more in the pages that follow about the central role that harmony plays in leadership, I want to take a moment and answer a question that I often hear in my coaching practice, which is: ???How do I know when harmony is present???? The answer is fairly simple and straightforward. A leader experiences harmony as a sense of balance that pervades the organization??”an easy sense of flow between the mind, body and emotions. This brings us to the important topic of emotions in leadership. ???In recent years, both neuroscience and cognitive neuroscience have finally endorsed emotion??¦ Moreover, the presumed opposition between emotion and reason is no longer accepted without question.??? Antonio Damasio, M.D. Emotions??”Mastering the Balance Do emotions affect people??™s performance in an organization? Unquestionably. Recent research provides clear support for the pivotal role that emotions play in organizations. There should be no question in a leader??™s mind that emotions play a key role in the success or failure of an organization. Understanding the profound impact that emotions have on the workplace is to recognize the wisdom of the adage (also supported by current research): ???People don??™t leave jobs, they leave people.??? A basic requirement for leading people is having a fundamental understanding of emotional intelligence??”which is a leader??™s ability to manage his or her emotions in relationships with others. Increasing your emotional intelligence means expanding your capacity to understand and leverage the emotional component of leadership. Just as a five-pound sack is inadequate for fifty pounds of sugar, a limited capacity to tolerate and contain emotional experiences restricts your growth and development as a leader??”as well as that of the people within your organization. Expanding your emotional capacity entails every dimension of your human experience??”mind, body, and spirit. Readers can download LEADING PEOPLE THE BLACK BELT WAY's First Chapter and Table of Contents for f.r.ee at Tim??™s website at: http://www.blackbeltconsultants.com LEADING PEOPLE THE BLACK BELT WAY can be purchased through Tim??™s website, Amazon.com, Borders.com and also can be ordered through a local bookstore. EXCERPT COPYRIGHT 2006 BY TIMOTHY H. WARNEKA REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION NO PART MAY BE USED, EXPRESSED OR REPRINTED WITHOUT THE AUTHOR??™S PERMISSION. ************************************************************** BOOK GIVEAWAY Wanna score a FREE BOOK?? How about an E-book? Get a free electronic copy of LEADING PEOPLE THE BLACK BELT WAY: CONQUERING THE FIVE CORE PROBLEMS FACING LEADERSHIP TODAY by Timothy H. Warneka. See excerpt and buying info above. How to win? Simple! The first reader to E-mail me with any quote from this E-zine will win! It??™s THAT simple! E-mail me at: BurningMidnightOil@mail2world.com Good luck! ************************************************************** WHAT'S UP WITH THE BOOK'S WRITERS? The following is news of writers you can read interviews with in Volume One of the MIDNIGHT OIL book. No news this month. ************************************************************** BOOK NEWS What's the latest with the first volume of BURNING THE MIDNIGHT OIL: How We Survive as Writing Parents? No book news this month. ************************************************************** FREEBIE CORNER Download free E-books here: http://tinyurl.com/arl3a Check out About.com??™s free font library: http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/fonts/p/free_fonts.htm ************************************************************** SITES SITED The following are interesting, helpful sites that I??™d like to pass on. Go Publish Yourself: http://www.go-publish-yourself.com/ Dan Poynter's Para Publishing Site: http://www.parapublishing.com/ eBookstand: http://www.ebookstand.com/ Self Publishing Resources: http://www.selfpublishingresources.com/ The Self Publishing Network: http://www.self-publishing.co.uk/ Publisher's Marketing Association: http://www.pma-online.org/ ************************************************************** WRITING PARENT TIPS FOR FEBRUARY: No tips this month. ************************************************************** WANNA SUBMIT TO THIS E-ZINE?? I am always open to submissions for the E-zine!! Feel free to submit any of the following: 1. An article. Any style and length. Articles must relate to writing, being a writing parent or successful business/marketing ideas. If the article is a reprint, you must own the reprint rights. 2. Tips for writing parents. 3. Advertising info, a freebie link, fan mail or, if you are included in the book, news and updates on what??™s going on in your writing life! PLEASE NOTE: Payment for submissions has been restored to $5 per article, payable on publication. ************************************************************** You are subscribed to this E-zine because you requested a subscription or signed yourself up on your own. To unsubscribe, send a blank e-mail to: 59308-unsubscribe@zinester.com |
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