COVER BLURBS?

Why do we write them? To help our friends: you scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours?

No, not quite, though certainly many authors have written quotes for their friends' books. (And, okay--I suppose there are occasions when an author grits his/her teeth and writes a quote with more generosity than truth.)

Here's why I do it, and why I think most authors do it: to help out a deserving book. In most cases, the book's author has asked me to take a look at it before publication, but sometimes I've asked to see it myself. Once or twice, I've volunteered a quote because I simply loved a book and wanted to do what I could to help.

Do I ever decline to review or blurb a book? Yep. I say no if a book doesn't appeal to me, or if I think it would be misleading to have my name attached to it.

The tricky part is when I like a book but don't love it--but do want to help out, especially if it's by a newer author. In these cases, I tend to give a thumbs-up if I like the spirit of the book, even if I don't find it wholly successful in execution. I won't say, "Best thing I've read in years!" but I might say, "Told with passion by an author to watch for."

I try to be true to what I think a book is really about- - placing myself in the author's shoes and to understand the message embedded within the pages. I do it out of respect for the writer, his/her creativity, and hard work.

The most critical advice is to make sure that all of the authors involved have the same expectations for who will do what, and when it will be done.

Another thing you can do is to make sure you start on a short project instead of a long one. It's a lot easier to decide whether you want to keep working with a particular person when you're jointly developing a five-page article then when you're trying to write a 500-page book. It's also much easier to write something with one co-author than with two, three, or more.

The first model, called: loose collaboration. In this model, each author is responsible for their own part of the book, and takes that part from start to finish: outlining, writing, author review, and galleys. With this model, each author can focus on a particular part of the topic, and learn it in more depth. You can also finish the book much more quickly, since two sets of chapters are being written in parallel. The disadvantage to this model, though, is that coordination becomes a problem. If you refer to something that will be discussed in chapter 17, and you're not writing chapter 17, you'd better make darned sure that your co-author knows to cover it there. It can also be a problem to get a consistent authorial voice with this model; there may be jarring changes between the two sets of chapters.

The second model, called: tight collaboration. In this model, each author works on the entire book. Normally this model identifies the lead author for each chapter. That author writes the first draft and then passes it to the other author to finish. The second author polishes the chapter, fills in any missing material, and submits it to the publisher. I find that it works well in most cases to alternate lead authors, so that both authors do the hard work of first drafting about half the chapters. They can also switch at the galley proof stage, so both authors are reading each other's galleys; this seems to catch stubborn errors. Tight collaboration tends to lead to cohesive and well-done books. But it's more work than loose collaboration and doesn't speed up the book-writing process any, which may make it economically marginal.

Finally, there's the specialist model. This happens when the two authors choose one another or are placed together for having distinctly different strengths. Taking a pile of chapters in various states of completion, finishing them up, and getting the whole ready for publication. This model works well when both authors agree about the division of labor and their respective strengths.

When you're contracting for a jointly authored book, there are three things to make sure you see in the contract:

· Book credits (whose name goes first on the cover, and whether it's "Joe and Mary" or "Mary, with Joe", or what)
· Split of advance checks
· Split of royalties

The splits need not be 50-50, and they need not be the same (for example, one author might get 30% of the advance but 50% of the royalties), but everyone concerned had better agree on them up front!

I am looking for two different types of scripts

The first one I am looking for is a character driven (strong protagonist) mild black/dark comedy script more in the vein of 'Get Shorty' rather than 'Reservoir Dogs'.

The second type of script I am looking for is a cultural comedy along the lines of 'Monsoon Wedding' and 'Bend It like Beckham'.

Budget range will not exceed 2 mil. WG and Non-WG both welcome to submit

I am a director and my credits include 'Flavors' and 'Shaadi.com'.

Please email a logline followed by a synopsis (no email attachments will be read) to: Raj Nidimoru --- project5@d2rfilms.com

Joseph Foti, ESQ.'s The Carrot and the Mule, has received international praise in the form of reviews, newspaper and magazine articles. His short story "Kings & Queens," a poignant and vivid modern immigration tale about the dangers of unrealistic expectations, the lure of bigotry and the destruction that it causes; has been included in Katha Kshetre Literary Journal (Vol.5 No.02 Apr-May-June 2004.) Katha Kshetre is an international literary journal of fiction, news, views and commentary, based in Bangalore, India. It has been called "...a brilliant light illuminating world literature...," Dr. Kazuyosi Ikeda, Japan. Also Fusing Horizons Magazine, a literary magazine based in England with a circulation that includes the US and UK will be featuring the author's dark satire "The Sweater". A journey into the mind of a manic depressive and social commentary on the dangers of anti-psychotic medication. "The Sweater," will be included in Issue No. 4, due out August 2004. Finally Samsara Magazine, has published Foti's short story "Vegetable Lasagna," a surreal tale of corruption in the meat industry which features an ethereal court unlike any other. www.hometown.aol.com/jfotibooks

Sunshine by Sharon J. Long due for release Dec. 2003- Jama Greene lived her whole life devoted to her mental abusive husband. A possive person and even jealous of her apartment management job. Jama accidentially falls in love with a contractor and he is everything she had dreamed of. Now comfortable in her own skin, he worships the air she breathes. Jama eventually leaves her husband with the courage from her lover and finds he is also now leaving her due to death. But one thing is for certain, her husband's Sunshine is now gone!

This is the most moving, inspirational tale of faith I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Not only does it inspire those struggling with life's woes, but it also teaches how to maintain a closer walk with Christ through faith and love.