[Arizona-students] Fw: Tips on publishing your Kernal story

[Arielle Silverman]

At this year's state convention, there will be a drawing for a cash prize 
for all attendees who have written a Kernel story. So if you would like to 
write a Kernel story, please read on!

Arielle
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "AB7HW Dick Lee Chrisman" <ab7hw at cox.net>
To: <dickc at nfbarizona.com>
Sent: Monday, July 25, 2005 1:29 PM
Subject: Tips on publishing your Kernal story


> Submitted by Debi Black
> Hi, Jenny and others with stories to share,
> You asked for tips for writing your stories for the Kernel Book series or 
> the "Braille Monitor."  Here are my suggestions:
> * Write what you know personally.
> * Write an opening sentence that makes the reader want to go on reading 
> because of the subject or that sets the scene with a quote, a statement of 
> fact,
> or a question to the reader, such as:
> 1. "Catchy titles and clever phrases are the stuff of big business." 
> Kenneth Jernigan begins "The Barrier of the Visible Difference."
> 2. "Christmas was for me the most wonderful holiday of the year when I was 
> a boy." --Marc Maurer begins "Bringing Home the Christmas Tree."
> 3. "I was fifteen years old when I fell in love for the first time." 
> Michael Baillif begins "A Roof With a View."
> 4. "It was a hot, sunny day. I stood on the logs that had been wedged into 
> a tower in a summer-dry bend of a river by the spring flooding, now long 
> past."
> Doug Elliott begins "To Take the Plunge."
> 5. "When is it appropriate for a blind person to accept help from a 
> sighted person, and when is it not?" Kenneth Jernigan begins "Don't Throw 
> the Nickel."
> * In a very short story, such as we publish in the Kernel Books, keep to 
> the point you are trying to make by writing about one incident or one kind 
> of incident.
> Don't try to cover everything you know about blindness unless you are 
> writing a book.
> * When you finish telling us about your incident or your thoughts on some 
> aspect of your normal life as a normal American who is blind, do not be 
> too obvious
> at drawing a moral for the readers to think.  Instead, tell us what you 
> yourself think about the incident or your bottom line final thought about 
> this
> aspect of your life.
> 1. "This is the education that I hope I can pass on to my children--along 
> with a tight roof and no leaks." From, "The Leaky Roof, the Children, and 
> the
> Future" by Marc Maurer in "Beginnings and Blueprints."
> 2. "Today I travel confidently, thanks to the National Federation of the 
> Blind. I know where I'm going, and I'm glad I'm on the right track." From 
> "Looking
> Back at Trains and Tracks by Maureen Pranghofer in "Toothpaste and 
> Railroad Tracks."
> * Write your story, even if you think you can't spell, and even if you 
> don't think anyone would be interested in what you have to say. Give it to 
> a friend
> in the Federation to critique and find a good speller to proofread it. 
> Rewrite it if the criticism they give you seems correct to you, then give 
> it back
> to the good friend and the proofreader for a second look. Type your final 
> version and send it in.  As they say in the Lottery commercials, "You 
> can't win
> if you don't play."
> Mail your best effort to: Mrs. Barbara Pierce, National Federation of the 
> Blind, 1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230; or email to:
> bpierce at nfb.org,
>
> and be sure to include in the mail or the email the contact information 
> for yourself so she can contact you.  Please put in the Subject line of 
> the email:
> "An article for Mrs. Pierce" and in the body tell her if you are entering 
> it in the Kernel Book contest.
> Here is one more tip--avoid anxious author syndrone.  That means, do not 
> call or email to ask whether she got your story or likes your story. Mrs. 
> Pierce
> edits the Braille Monitor two months ahead of when you receive an issue, 
> and the Kernel Books are worked on much ahead of when they come out too. 
> Therefore,
> if your story gets chosen for publication because it fits the theme of an 
> upcoming Kernel Book or the needs of an issue of our magazine, it will be 
> months
> and months before Mrs. Pierce even knows that she wants your story.  If 
> she does, she will contact you.  As you can guess, she needs to have a 
> storage
> bin of stories waiting their turn at "stardom" and why not get your story 
> in that fine collection?
> Lorraine Rovig
> NFB proofreader
> -----Original Message-----
> From:
> nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org
> [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org]On Behalf Of Jenny and Guide Dog 
> Fleming
> Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2005 2:56 PM
> To:
> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [nfb-talk] Tips on getting published?
> Hi guys,
> I hope I don't come across sounding too full of myself but I'd like to
> share some of my storis about my time at the CCB and after in such
> places as the Braille Monitor and the Kernel Books.  I know I have a
> horrid problem with spelling, LOL, but I would like to know for anyone
> who has had their stories published in either both on one or the other
> of these publications some tips for making my blatherings interesting.
> I hope what I have to share will help other people who were like me and
> thought a better life was not possible.  Also through my stories I'd
> like to show that despite the conflict and confusion regarding NFB
> centers and dog guides, that at the CCB how it worked out with me and
> Fleming...  So any ideas would be most welcome.  Thanks!
> Jenny and Fleming the Flemboyant Golden Retriever!
> Olathe, Kansas USA
> E-mail:
> jenthebenfoldsfan at gmail.com
> Web Site:
> http://benfoldsfan.simplenet.com
>
>
>