Techniques for Paraphrasing

Xlibris knows that paraphrasing means putting content, whether written or spoken, into other words. In writing, using direct quotations can be very easy. Sometimes, using quotes in your writing is important, but overusing them is the sign of a bad writer or implies you are just unfamiliar with the material you are writing about.

Paraphrasing allows you to reorganize many different sources in order to clarify meanings and to create a better understanding of the topic. However, you want to make sure you are using new words without retaining the original structure. Whatever you do, you do not want to plagiarize. That would be immoral, unethical and illegal.

When writing on a particular subject, Xlibris suggests using three or four different sources and writing a summary of all of them using your own words. You want to try to write a number of ideas in a simpler and more direct way.

There are many ways to rewrite and clarify ideas without using the same words and structure. You can use synonyms and change the parts of speech of some words, which mean changing adverbs to adjectives or verbs to nouns and vice versa for example. Try to use short words and short sentences when possible.

It’s also a good idea to change passive voice to active voice whenever you can. You can transform active voice to passive voice sometimes, but remember that most intelligent writing uses active voice, except in technical writing.

You can alter sentence structures and word orders as well as changing the types of sentences used in the originals. In other words, modify questions into statements and turn simple sentences into compound or complex sentences, etc. Try varying your conjunctions by using synonyms too.

Not only do you want to change sentence structures, but also try to vary the order of the ideas. It’s usually possible to put them in a more logical order or simply make your writing flow a bit smoother by doing this.

Anyway, practice makes perfect, so Xlibris self-publishing recommends choosing a topic, finding several sources of material about it and practicing writing your own summary, paraphrasing the original ideas. Do this, and you will find that you have quickly mastered the art of paraphrasing.

Original post here: http://www.xlibrisselfpublishing.com/writing-tips/techniques-for-paraphrasing/

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Author Interview: Gloria Naylor

Four Questions for Gloria Naylor

1. Recent publishing industry news points out that despite a stronger presence of African-American literature, the range of interests, voices, and concerns of African-American readers are not adequately represented in books produced by the traditional publishing houses. Do you think smaller presses and self-publishing will help change this?

I believe they already have. Small presses and university presses have traditionally been a home for a wide array of views and concerns for African-Americans. And that's the way it should be. I don't feel that commercial publishing houses can — or should — attempt to cover all the special interests that prevail. Many are not equipped with the editors or marketing techniques to target the best audience for certain books. While a smaller house may not reach as wide an audience for a certain book, they will certainly target and reach an interested audience. And writers should not just want to be published — they should want to be read.

2. Have you ever considered self-publishing?

I've personally been fortunate enough to find an interested publisher for most of the work I've produced. And I've felt that the time and business acumen needed for self-publishing were beyond my abilities. But it's not something I would rule out for a person who's interested in investing all the time and effort needed.

3. There's also some debate about African-American literature being lumped together in bookstores, removing it once again from the general category of "literature" or general fiction, and therefore separating it from the literary "canon," whatever that is. What's your take on this?

I'm of two minds about this issue. There is really no one lump category called "American literature." The literature, like the country, is a polygot of different cultures and regions. Each has produced a distinct school of writing speaking to that particular uniqueness. But the politics of literature has traditionally relegated heterosexual white male literature from the northeast as American literature and everything else — regional, cultural, or female — as "special" literature. While I do take exception to this, I feel that African-American literature does have a core following of readers and scholars who cannot always depend upon the mainstream reviewers to alert them of new books in print. In this case, a separate section helps to serve the need of those readers to keep up with what's on the shelves. And if that is the motive of the booksellers, then I don't see a problem. But if the shelf placement is to meant to segregate the books, then I think a re-evaluation of the mindset of the bookseller is in order.

4. A recent Washington Post article discussed the issue of "writing what you know" vs. "writing what you want to know about." Can a white writer adequately write about black history, or Native American history, for that matter? Do you subscribe to the old "write what you know" cliche, or are research, passion, and interest sufficient requisites for writing?

I believe that the world is open game for any writer. If a subject is approached with care and compassion, then writers can cross cultural divides and do a creditable job. However, what cannot be researched or empathised is the personal resonance of a particular cultural experience — you have to be there to know there — which does not say that a black writer with inadequate skills can convey aspects of black life better than a white writer with greater skills. But nothing surpasses having a writer with the requisite skills catch the tones and textures and nuances of their own specific culture — they can make you feel what they feel, see what they see, hear what they hear. And it's from that formula that all the truly great books have come. But a merely good book isn't a bad thing either.

Gloria Naylor is a writer for theatre, film and television and the author of novels which include The Women of Brewster Place (1983 National Book Award Winner), Mama Day and Bailey's Cafe. She also edited the anthology, Children of the Night: The Best Short Stories by Black Writers 1967 to the Present. Her novels now mark their twelfth language translation.

Ms. Naylor graduated with highest honors from Brooklyn College and received a masters degree from Yale University. She has been distinguished with numerous honors including Senior Fellow, The Society for the Humanities, Cornell University; the President's Medal, Brooklyn College; and Visiting Professor, University of Kent, Canterbury, England. Ms. Naylor has won Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships for her novels; for her screenwriting, she has been awarded the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship. In April of 1994, Bailey's Cafe enjoyed a successful run during its world premier at the Hartford Stage Company.

Original post, visit the Xlibris.

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Author Interview: M.J. Rose

Originally posted on Xlibris Author's Lounge

Six Questions for M.J. Rose

1. Your first novel, Lip Service, was an online publishing success. What was your experience with potential publishers of the novel prior to that, and what prompted you to take matters into your own hands?

When my agent tried to sell Lip Service in 1996, we got two offers on it from the New York publishing community but ultimately the marketing departments of those two companies nixed the deals because the novel didn’t fit into a genre or niche. My agent suggested I write a new novel since editors liked my work so much, so I started to do some research which led me to the Internet.

Months online passed and I started to realize that the Net would be a great place to sell original fiction via electronic downloads. (This was in 1997 and no one had heard of ebooks yet.)

It took me till the late summer of 1998, but I worked out all the kinks and came up with a marketing plan and started selling Lip Service from my own website. Only a few months later, the book was discovered by Erika Tsang, an editor from the Doubleday Book Club and The Literary Guild. It was the first time they had discovered a book online or bought a self-published novel. A few weeks after that, Pocket Books bought the print rights. Lip Service is now available or will be soon in England, Australia, The Netherlands, Germany, and France. Pocket Books releasing Lip Service as an ebook is really bringing it full circle.

2. Why did you choose to use the M. J. Rose pseudonym rather than your own name? 

I knew I was putting a very racy prologue up on my website and wanted to avoid getting any strange phone calls at 2am, so a pseudonym was in order. My mom — who had been my main source of encoragement all my life and always knew I'd one day be published — had just died. It was in honor of her that I took her name and added my own first initial: M. I wanted the original J. Rose to be part of my book in a meaningful way.

3. How did you get over the self-publishing stigma that so many would-be self-publishers seem to suffer? 

I didn't. I suffered it every day for eight months. Got laughed at and ignored by many. It bothered me but only to a point because I started getting such incredible reviews from readers and so much fan mail. Within a few months the derision began to matter less and less.

4. Lip Service was picked up by Pocket Books, a traditional publisher, and I understand you're working on another book that will be published with them. Do you feel more secure now that your work has been recognized by a larger publishing house? What if Pocket had never come along but your work was still selling just fine? I have to admit that I do feel more secure as an author now. Even more so because Pocket bought the second novel and then the first. I also feel validated because Lip Service is starting to get some attention for its literary merits. It was recently chosen to be part of Esquire's summer reading list. And Susie Bright recently chose Lip Service for her anthology, Best American Erotica 2001 — that was enourmous validation.

I don't have any idea how I'd feel if a print publisher hadn't picked up my novel — and its been too wonderful a ride for the last eighteen months to even think about it.

5. What are the some of the best techniques you've utilized to self-market your work? 

Generating word of mouth amoung readers. Each book is unique and the way to generate that buzz is unique for each title — but people telling other people is the only way to market fiction.

6. Do you have any predictions for the future of self-publishing in terms of industry attitudes changing? 

Industry attitudes already have changed. Time Warner's new publishing arm, iPublish.com, which opens up submission to unagented authors is proof of that. I recently interviewed the editor of iPublish for an article I recently wrote for Wired News. Her name is Claire Zion and she told me that she believes 20% of the books that are not published probably have potential but marketing demands that if a book can't sell over 25,000 copies, editors and agents have to pass on it. Now with ebooks, those books that have smaller audiences can be epublished because printing costs are eliminated and so are the issues of returns and warehousing.

M. J. Rose has been called the poster girl of e-publishing by Time and has been profiled in Forbes, Business 2.0, Working Woman Magazine, Newsweek and New York Magazine.

In March 1999, her novel Lip Service was the first e-book discovered online, published by Pocket Books in August, 1999. It was available as an ebook on May 16 and will be published by Pocket this July as a trade paperback. Her new novella, Private Places, available in five installments, is up now at Mightywords.com.

Her next novel, In Fidelity, will be published by Pocket Books in March 2001. Her non-fiction book, How to Publish and Promote Online, written with Angela Adair-Hoy, will be published by St. Martin's Press in January 2001.

Rose also covers the ebook industry for Wired News. She is currently working on her third full-length novel and is on the advisory board of Writer's Digest.

This article posted at http://www.xlibris.com.au/authors-lounge-q-and-a-rose.aspx

Writing A Book?           Call 1-888-795-4274 or email publishtoday@xlibris.com for your free consultation. Get Started today by requesting your Free Editing Guide.

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