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August 2002 - Issue 40
Cookbooks, Recipe Fiction Nothing says cooking like a good recipe ALSO... Visit EmporiumGazette.com We have our guidelines available for your convenience and have posted our planned monthly themes so you can submit your writing to us. Even our back issues are available. Sign up to receive the Emporium Gazette monthly.
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LIVE YOUR STORY CREATED FOR YOU USING FOOD TO SELL YOUR COOKBOOK WRITING FOR REGIONAL LIFESTYLE MAGAZINES
IS EASY - YOU ALREADY KNOW THE TERRITORY ANOTHER ANGLE USING THE WRITER'S CONFERENCE AS A MARKETING
TOOL FOOD THOUGHTS
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This is the writing challenge for the month of August. If you decide to accept, only you will be the final judge. Working with this month's theme -- open any cabinet or drawer in the kitchen and remove just one item. Now, open another drawer or cabinet and remove another item. Give it some thought, then write at least one paragraph using these two items in an unusual manner. That's right! Crank up the imagination! An example: can of mixed vegetables, ice cream scoop. I stared at the corpse trying to comprehend the murder. It had to be murder only because the victim's hands were tied behind the chair; his feet tied to the legs of the chair. An opened can of mixed vegetables had fallen to his left side. There was no visible means of eating, yet the man obviously had choked to death. An innocent looking ice cream scoop lay on the table. Had the victim's mouth been forced open to eat those vegetables from an ice cream scoop? * * * * * If you have a quick or interesting way to break that writer's block and get your creative juices flowing, email us with it and we'll share it with others as a challenge.
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Live Your
Story Created For You Have you ever wanted to step into a story? And be part of it? Those incredible opportunities can happen more often that you think - you're just not looking in the proper direction. A friend of mine, Bill, is entrenched in the Civil War Re-Enactment and wears a costume that boasts authenticity down to the seams. I was an Assistant Scoutmaster with the Boys Scouts at the time and Bill's son was in our troop. We scheduled a camping trip to coincide with one of Bill's re-enactments. The boys weren't too thrilled at first, but when the muskets starting shooting, the male chromosome kicked in and they really enjoyed and got involvled. Going into the camp that they'd set up for visitors to view was exciting. We even got to taste some of the food that was being prepared. It seems that Bill's regiment are sticklers for realism. Some of the food was less than desirable. Going to the re-enactment family village was better, as was the food. That particular camping escapade was the talk of the meetings for the next few weeks and a couple of the boys starting studying the Civil War more thoroughly. I enjoyed the show and took a few mental notes not realizing the full picture yet to unfold for me. I used that re-enactment as the visual basis for a short story I entered into a writing contest. With just a minor amount of research to validate some authenticity to my story, I wrote a fantasy based on those facts. I'm currently doing more research for another project that will be non-fiction. Still, in my mind, I can see Bill charging into battle and can taste the hardtack. Of course, having lived a few scant miles from Antietam with Gettysburg just up the road, I have a multitude of visuals about the area for the backdrop. Last weekend I enjoyed a day in a wooded park in western Michigan under the enchantment of The Renaissance. A member of my Northwest Ohio Writer's Forum group, Dave, is involved with The Rogue Blades which performs a humorous real sword battling routine at Renaissance faires. As my family wandered in this created fantasy it dawned on me that the past had once again come alive for me and an opportunity was at hand. During the jousting tournament I studied the movements of the combatants and their steeds. I also filmed it for reference. In fact, I filmed much of the action and people attending with their period costumes. Just like Bill, some go to the extreme making sure that the costume is as true as possible, while others tend to be a bit more imaginative. Since I tend to write more fantasy, I especially enjoyed the fairy ring and watching a group of young girls perform, moving from mushroom to mushroom. Suddenly fantasy was reality. What is unique to this situation is that approximately 4 months ago I sketched out a draft for a story that takes place during the Renaissance. At the time I had only been introduced to Dave and didn't know of his background or that a few months later I'd be attending a faire. Still, eating Rat-On-A-Stick while sucking down an Elvyn Myst and listening to a gentleman hawk tasty Dragon Legs does tend to make one's mind come alive with story possibilities. Think about how to use this information: interview a participant for the newspaper, write a review of the event for a regional magazine or learn an aspect of the event for a "how-to" article. The writing opportunities are there and can be fun - not to mention the food tasting. * * * * * R. S. Nailor is the author of "Three Steps to Reality" which is a Celtic fantasy. He is also the Poetry World editor and Production Manager for The Emporium Gazette.
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Ten (10) completely original pieces that span and combine the genres of music with interesting twists: Ireland Down Under: Ireland with a
touch of Australia All are available to preview
in either Real Player or Windows Media Player format. It's a free listen
or you may purchase your copy of the audio cd format online!
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Using Food
To Sell Your Cookbook! If you're out promoting your book with signings at the mega-chain bookstores around the country, chances are that at least a few of the events found you slinking away with results that proved less than stellar. Many of us have been there - sitting lonely at the table, peering over stacks of untouched books as the masses strolled by and adverted their eyes. It doesn't have to be like that, however, and in most cases the secret to a triumphant signing is simply attracting people to your table. How might an author accomplish that feat? Simple. Offer one of the primal driving forces to human beings: FOOD! The concept is certainly one that has been tried and proven. After all, there are many Saturday mornings where I eat breakfast at the local grocery store - nothing that I purchase, mind you, but samples that the various food companies give away. As I'm doing the weekly grocery shopping, I'll pause briefly for a bite-sized cube of pizza. Two aisles over a small cup of chips and a new picante sauce are thrust in my hands. The buffet continues: a shot of orange juice here, a dab of chocolate pudding there, a cookie or two along the way. If the major corporations feel strongly enough to use such a marketing concept, why shouldn't we as writers do the same? I employed just such an idea when promoting my last book, Uncle Bubba's Chicken Wing Fling. Now, it is as much fiction as food, but since there were 50 chicken wing recipes included in the text, I decided to make that my bait. Before each book signing, I prepared 20 bourbon wings, 20 lemon wings, and 20 cola wings, then laid them out on the signing table in front of my book stacks. As each person walked by, they would catch a whiff of the heavenly delectables (if I do say so myself), and stop to investigate. I'd offer them a wing, and then begin my sales pitch. "If you like these, you'll find the recipe for them and forty-nine others in my book! Not only does it have everything for the chicken wing connoisseur, but it also contains a rousingly entertaining tale about Uncle Bubba and his quest to open a chicken wing restaurant in the tiny town of Cut Plug, Texas…" Well, you get the idea. More often than not, they'd leave the table with one hand wiping wing sauce off their mouth, and the other holding a signed copy of Uncle Bubba. I noticed that I wasn't alone in this phenomenon. A friend of mine named Dorothy McConachie wrote a wonderful book titled, Our Texas Heritage: Traditions and Recipes. Not only is Dorothy a gifted chef and writer, but she is a stellar marketing talent. I watched one of her book signings where she offered passers-by a bite of brownie, and then challenged them to guess the "mystery ingredient." It was sauerkraut, from an old German recipe, something that not a single person identified. The pastries were incredibly delicious, which of course led most people to purchase the book. I certainly did. It sits on my shelf today, and I often pull recipes from it. So what is the logic and psychology behind this tactic? I believe
that it is very simple. You show the buyer that with the help of your
book, they can dazzle their friends with an amazing recipe, just like
you're doing to the patrons in the bookstore. With the dish comes a
tale as a bonus. In Dorothy's case it was the ethnic heritage behind
each dish. With mine, it was the stories of Uncle Bubba around every
flavor of chicken wing. My next book is a non-fiction foray into the world of the supernatural: Ghosts of North Texas. There are no recipes involved at all, so as I started mapping out my promotional strategy I found myself at a loss for something to attract bookstore patrons to my table. After a little consideration, though, the solution finally hit me - many of the haunted places are Bed and Breakfasts, so I'll be hitting a few of them up for pastry recipes so that I can have a tray of goodies on the table. Along with that, I'll have a printed copy of the recipe for everyone who buys the book. As people step up, I'll say, "These delights are from a particularly haunted inn located in North Texas, but to read about the history and mystery of the ghosts there, you'll want to look at this book…" One note before I close, though. Many of the mega-chains are now
enforcing strict policies about prepared food, and authors who provide
such must produce certification that it was made in a commercial kitchen.
What does that mean? Well, I had one bookstore representative wink at
me and say, "Just tell me that it was, and that's that." Most
won't be that flexible, though, and unless you plan on having your own
home certified by the health department, it's much easier to buy prepared
food. Find something as close as possible to one of your recipes if
need be, and when you're handing it out, never directly say that it
is from your book. Use phrases like, "Tastes good, doesn't it?
With the recipes in this book, you'll be producing goodies just as delicious!"
You're not being fraudulent, you're simply walking the fine line between
the bookstore and the health department. When I promote the ghost book,
I plan on saying something to the effect of, "Of course, I couldn't
get the food directly from the B&B to the bookstore and have it
be fresh, so I'm using a similar item from a nearby bakery." At
that point, I'll look them in the eye and say, "Of course, with
the recipe that I'm giving you today, yours will taste much better than
this! Now to whom shall I sign the book?" * * * * * Mitchel Whitington is the author of the upcoming book "Ghosts of North Texas" to be released in Fall 2002. Find out more at www.whitington.com/write.
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Writing for
Regional Lifestyle Magazines is Easy - Writing for regional lifestyle magazines is fun and easy. After all, you don't have to spend a lot of time researching the market or the audience. The market and the audience are your friends, neighbors, and business contacts. If you know what they like to read, you'll know what to pitch to the area lifestyle publication. For those of you who aren't sure whether you have a lifestyle magazine for your area, let's look at the possibilities. Regional magazines can cover a city, a state, a region of the state (i.e. the Hill Country of Texas, the Ozarks in Missouri, etc.), a region of the United States (i.e. the South, Northeast, New England Coast, etc.) or a geographic location covering several states (i.e., the Applachian Mountain region). If you are thinking of writing for a regional lifestyle magazine, here are a few tips to get you going. Get Acquainted Advertisers - Every magazine has a certain advertiser mix. Children's magazines will, of course, have a heavy mix of food, children's products, baby products, and products and services for mothers. A lifestyle magazine might have a heavy advertiser base of home builders, decorators, and caterers. If so, a feature article on two neighbors who just opened a haute cuisine catering company would be a good bet. Editorial style - Most magazines adopt a stylebook to follow which dictates all matters of language mechanics (i.e. spelling, punctuation, capitalization, paragraphing, forms of address, etc.) Be sure to find out which stylebook (i.e., Chicago, AP, New York Times) the magazine is using. Voice - And whether you or the magazine editor is aware of it, there is usually a distinctive "voice" to be found in reading the articles. Voice refers to the way pieces are written. Are the pieces written in the "young, edgy" style of television commercials? Or, can you hear a hint of The New Yorker in the feature articles? Read the magazine. Be a Friend Be Flexible Finding Fascinating Features Ask for the Work and Be Thankful * * * * * Lucile Davis is a freelance writer and author of 18 children's non-fiction books. She does freelance work for newspapers, magazines, businesses, and organizations. She is also an instructor for The Institute of Children's Literature, an accredited correspondence school advertised through Writer's Digest and other sources.
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TAX - FINANCIAL WOES? Have your income taxes given your checkbook the financial equivalent of writer's block? e-mail your tax questions to James G. Rogers, C.P.A., a 26-year veteran of the tax code and an author himself. Mr. Rogers knows the problems authors and others face dealing with this annual chore. For a $5.00 fee, all of which goes to support the Gazette, you can have your answers e-mailed back to you promptly so you can get back to writing. You can even pay by credit card at our secure server. Go to: http://www.23house.com to leave your question.
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NEED A WRITING CONTEST
JUDGE? Sue Long Turner is an award-winning author who has been writing professionally for more than forty years. "I kept three children and a goldfish fed writing for a variety of publications in addition to working full time for television and ad agencies. Now that I'm retired, I enjoy helping others do what I still love to do." Ms. Turner provides brief but thorough critiques for a reasonable fee or honorarium. Her comments are objective, encouraging to the experienced writer, and compassionate to the beginner. All categories, including poetry. Contact: sueturner@texasinternet.com
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From Another
Angle LIFE AND LIFESTYLE MAGAZINES Isn't that what Lifestyle Magazines are all about--making sense of life? Whether we are writing for the "Yoga Journal," "Popular Mechanics," or "Parents," we're talking about learning experiences from our life and the lives of friends and experts. In essence, all the articles are "How To's." The reader is learning how to exercise for healthy living, how to repair a carburetor, or how to raise children. If we look back over our entire life, we'll find enough material to "how to" a million words or so for Lifestyle Magazines. Aren't you glad you're a writer? The older we get, the more we have to write about. My doctor is retiring, not because he particularly wants to, but because his knee replacement is giving a problem. Here's part of the note I wrote him: "Glad for you! Sorry for me! Get a computer. Write a book. Guaranteed to bring you a Happy Retirement. Join a writer's organization and if they ask medical questions, tell 'em to read your book. In doctoring alone, you've had so much experience with each patient that you'd never run out of material." Whatever our profession, those words apply to us. Not only our work, but even such mundane things as our physical appearance can impart wisdom. Sometimes through humor. Nancy Davidoff Kelton in "Writing from Personal Experience" quotes from Gary Trudeau's essay "My Inner Shrimp." She notes that the opening sentence is arresting, "For the rest of my days, I shall be a recovering short person." One of us might try "Growing White-Haired and Happy" aimed toward "Get Up & Go, a new quarterly magazine aimed at active grandparents," set to publish its second issue in October. The magazine is targeted to the 78 million baby boomers who are now becoming grandparents. The average age of a grandparent today is a young 47. The magazine will cover family relations, adult children, elderly parents, financial planning, recreation, travel and other topics. Bill Linday is editor-in-chief. (I picked up this bit of marketing news from Meg Weaver's "Wooden Horse.") Keep in mind that at the root of all is "come alive writing." William Wordsworth said, "Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart." Now's the moment to put the breathings of your heart on paper to make sense of your life. Aim some of your copy toward Lifestyle Magazines. * * * * * Susan Long Turner is co-author with Russ Turner of "Wings Born Out of Dust" which is available now from 23 House Publishing and is also available in trade paperbacks and hardback at other major online bookstores. Visit her Website
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Using The
Writer's Conference As you advance through your traditional marketing paces, you have a certain amount of control regarding some marketing aspects, along with minimal control over others. One of the marketing techniques that you have complete manageability over is the writer's conference. When writer's conferences first began eons ago, their original intent was education. The writer or the writer-to-be would attend workshops with hopes of learning about the publishing world from other authors, agents, editors and publishers. This still holds true, but today there is so much more available to the attendee. Taking part in a conference is your shot at marketing
exactly how you want to be represented. What do I mean? You have the
opportunity to market: Let's begin by discussing how to market yourself. When an agent or publisher makes the ever-important decision to represent your work, they're making this decision based on more than just words on paper. They're representing a human being. If you're someone who they feel will be difficult to work with, or who doesn't want to jump into the back-end of their writing project, you'll probably go nowhere. With this in mind, there are three main rules you should adhere to when attending a conference - 1) be yourself, 2) be yourself, and 3) be yourself! You MUST realize that your attitude, personality and opinions are your sales tools. To draw a crude comparison, when we find ourselves in the process of purchasing a new vehicle (not unlike getting a root canal), we're not only looking for a particular make and model (the product), but we're also looking for someone (the human aspect) who will make the whole experience a little easier to deal with. The same holds true in the publishing world. When attending a writer's conference, you must mingle, meet people, and make friends and acquaintances. The publishing world, just like other "communities" such as dog training, or the disabled community, is fairly small. In one way or another, everybody knows everybody else. People carry a reputation with them. Create a bad reputation for yourself, and eventually everyone will know. Once this happens, it's almost impossible to change it. You need to relay the fact that as a writer, you're looking for a long-term relationship, not just a one-time business deal. If you are looking for the latter, maybe writing isn't right for you. Let's now discuss the balance of what you need to market: 1) your book, 2) a concept, and 3) an idea. If you think about it, all three of these items can be considered as one. If you're working on your initial proposal, or if you have two paragraphs left to complete your manuscript, you are NOT selling the artwork on the front or back cover, fancy graphs, or illustrations. You ARE selling a concept, solution or entertainment. As a conference attendee, we will meander through multiple workshops, critique sessions, dinners, etc. The one main question that always surfaces as people get to know one another is, "What's you genre," or "What type of project are you working on?" Realize immediately that if you don't know the person your talking with, you don't know if that individual is another writer, an agent or an editor. Don't bore them with, "Well, in chapter one . . ., and in chapter two, . . ." Your goal is to be able to describe your entire project in no more than two sentences. This is by far the most difficult task we as writers have to perform. How can we put years of work and research into two sentences? If you want to correctly represent your work, you'd better start learning now how to do this. While at conferences, I don't know how many times halfway through the event an editor would find me and say, "I heard from someone that you're working on 'abc' project." Remember-we are representing a package. That package is our final deliverable product, and ourselves. One will not sell without the other. Before attending your next conference, I recommend you sit down and make a list. This list should represent what you have to offer to the world. This should include items that list the positives, entertainment, self-help, etc. that your book offers-and you. Then, start editing. Delete adjectives, be-verb, adverbs, etc. Whittle your description down to the two sentences I described earlier. Just as the first paragraph of a book or article should be written and used as your "hook," so too must this short description. Once you complete your first draft, have it critiqued by your friends, and relatives. Get their honest opinion, and their first response. Use this data to go back to your drawing board (or computer) to polish what you've worked so hard to develop. Finally, memorize your description word-for-word. Best of luck, and enjoy the conference! * * * * * Mark Vass is the author of "The I’m Going in the Hospital Handbook," which is published in e-book format by 23 House Publishing (www.23house.com), and in paperback by 1st Books Library (www.1stbooks.com). Until last year, he worked in marketing in the computer field for over twenty years. Although he began his part-time writing career fifteen years ago, he now writes nonfiction full time.
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Food Thoughts I've always had a healthy appetite for food. You can thank, or blame, my parents for that. They introduced my sister's and me to a myriad of food options ever since we were little. There's a story that my Dad likes to tell that occurred about the time I was seven. One of my sisters was five, the other was three. My parents had taken us to a seafood restaurant in Connecticut and my father ordered each of us a pound lobster and six clams on the halfshell. Well, you would not believe the looks of disdain from all the customers who would walk by our table. "What a waste of good food," was the remark most of them gave. My dad would just smile and say, "You come back in one hour and you tell me if you think anything here was a waste." Sure enough, they'd come back and our plates would be absolutely barren - the corn cobs were sucked completely dry, the soup bowls had been licked to a shine, the clams sparkled, and the empty lobster shells had been picked at and gnawed at until not one stitch or morsel of food was left in those babies! A lack of appetite was not a problem for any of us kids. Having conquered seafood at such a young age, I graduated to Japanese food for the first time when I was nine. It was a wonderful experience being in a Tatami room with my entire family, aunts and uncles included. Some people eat to live, but in my family, we all live to eat. It's a very different take on life. Well, on this splendid occasion I had the novelty of sitting on the floor to dine, which in itself was a big treat. The waitress brought in these small bowls filled with an aromatic liquid and placed it in front of us. I had remembered how clean the Japanese were and had read about how they dipped their hands into water to cleanse them before they ate. So, I immediately started washing my hands, expecting everyone to do the same. My mom was the first to speak up. "Honey, what are you doing?" I glanced at her, feeling very adult. "I'm washing my hands." There was a long pause and as I stared about the room, I could see the corners of people's mouths twitching. Finally my mom replied, "In your tea?" Needless to say, the rest of the family was absolutely hysterical and I got my first lesson in Green Tea. When I first met my husband, I expected this big, brawny guy to have an appetite to rival mine. Was I wrong! On our first date, he actually doggy bagged half his sandwich because he couldn't finish it! I can't really blame him. He does not come from a family of eaters. There's a joke his mom once told my mother. She said, "I tried cooking once and I just didn't like it, so I just never did it again!" Not much of a joke if you ask me! Needless to say, food was never a priority in his household. In fact, when my husband comes to my parents house for dinner, once he's done, (which is usually in five minutes) he picks up his plate, cleans it off in the garbage, and pops it right into the dishwasher. My family, on the other hand, will stay at their seats for the next hour, slowing sifting through the leftovers until there's not one stitch of beef, one slurp of sauce that hasn't been scooped up with some bread, or one granule of rice left on any plate. Of course, that's why Steve looks like he does, which is nice and lean, while my family has a tendency to be on the portly side. It's not just eating out that I enjoy. I also adore cooking and I have this pipe-dream that if I ever win Lotto and don't need to work, I'm going to attend cooking school. This would be strictly for pleasure, not to change my career since I'm not too keen on the hours a chef has to put in. Not even counting the fact that they have to be on their feet all day and night, too! I browse through cookbooks like Bon Appetit, and pick out recipes that sound exotic and exciting. Thankfully, Steve is one of those guys who will try everything that I put in front of him. He believes if I take the time to cook it, he should at least try it. He's had everything from Lobster Potato Salad with a Saffron glaze to Looed Beef, Carrot Ginger and Thyme Soup, even goulashes and stews. Over the years we've put together a bunch of our favorites that are must-haves every few weeks such as Salmon with a fennel, tarragon and butter glaze that I serve over pasta, skirt steaks that have been marinated in a teriyaki glaze that we place on soft Kaiser rolls along with fresh corn on the cob, and my tried and true homemade chicken soup that makes its appearance as soon as the weather dips below fifty degrees. Load that up with either pasta or matzo balls and it becomes a very hearty meal. No time to make an extravagant dish? Want something that's fast, delicious, and filling? Heat up some olive oil, throw in a tablespoon or two of chopped garlic, let that heat up for one minute, then put in a can of diced tomatoes and some strips of fresh basil. Throw that over some angel hair pasta, add a little salt and pepper, and you have yourself a very quick, healthy meal that's light on the stomach, titillating enough for your senses, and looks pretty enough to serve guests. Or, you can always do what I did one Thanksgiving when I was in charge of dessert. I'm not proud of this, but I didn't have time to bake so I grabbed two frozen Sara Lee pies, one apple and one pumpkin, heated them up, pierced them a few times with a fork and packed them in foil so it looked like I made them myself. Oh, the looks that my husband gave me when everyone raved about my cooking! Well, I DID turn the oven on, so technically I cooked those pies!
Hey, the important thing is that people liked them, and in my opinion,
enjoying your meal is what really counts. And if you have to fudge a
little, then fudge, because with a meal, it's the journey that really
matters, and that's a full stomach and satisfied smiles on the faces
of everyone around you. * * * * * Elyse Salpeter has written three novels in the action adventure/thriller genre and a host of short stories. Her short story, THE LITTLE ONES, appeared the Spring, 2001 edition of The Vampire’s Crypt. In addition, her short stories have also appeared in a host of anthologies, such as CARVED IN STONE, which appeared in the anthology, Spirits of Blue and Gray: Ghosts of the Civil War, A WORLD OF OUR OWN, which appeared in the anthology, The Archives of Arrissia, and Two More Months, which appeared in the anthology, Thirteen Nights of Blood: Legends of the Vampire.
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IS YOUR WRITING ILL? Would you like a second opinion about POV, dialogue, selling non-fiction, or submitting multiple submissions? For a mere $5 diagnosis fee... You can even pay by credit card at our secure server. Go to: http://www.23house.com to leave your questions. No ache or pain is too big or too small for this veteran freelance editor and author of numerous books and magazine articles. If you have more than one question, please check out her site: http://www.coolwell.org/robyn/index.html
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Ron Jones-- Managing Editor Robert Nailor--Poetry Editor and Production Manager Elyse Salpeter--Fiction Editor Mitchel Whitington--Non-Fiction Editor James Rogers--Business Editor Terrie Murray--Travel Editor & Editorial Assistant Sue Long Turner--The Writing Answer Lady Mark Vass - Marketing Editor & Denise Vitola--Editor-in-Chief
© Copyright 2002 by the Emporium Gazette No portion of any article or other writing in this electronic publication may be copied, used or otherwise taken by any person or organization for any purpose or reason whatsoever without the express written permission of the Emporium Gazette.
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