Top 10 Publishers To Be Ware Of

First time writers and writers looking for Publishers.
Please review and read the information. Be familiar with contracts, laws, clauses and lingo
in publisher contracts. The power of knowledge is in your favor when getting a book publisher.

Learn about a publisher contract first and study who are good publishers and who are not.
Please learn about:
Interminable Agency Clauses in which the publisher sneaks this line into a contract should definitely should raise a red flag to the author.
More here: http://www.sfwa.org/other-resources/for-authors/writer-beware/alerts/

Fee charging: have it in your contract what is considered acceptable and what is not acceptable. Perhaps all approvals of charges must be sent to you before they are allowed to be done.
Are they in the business of milking the author or in the business of publishing books to find true readers?
See more at: http://www.sfwa.org/other-resources/for-authors/writer-beware/alerts/
See top 10 Publishers for authors to  beware of:
http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2007/02/happy-valentines-day-from-writer-beware.html
Info is from the blog and author beware. Get more info here: beware@sfwa.org
Writer alerts see more at: http://www.sfwa.org/other-resources/for-authors/writer-beware/alerts/

More good stuff to learn, know and review for yourself before signing your first contract.

Make sure their is a time limit for you to have the option to refuse the option of renewal. If they were good to you and gave you a great deal great. But if they didn't give you a good deal you need to have a option to re-negotiate or get a new publisher.

OPTION CLAUSES BE WARE

IF THERE IS NO OPTION CLAUSE THAT IS NOT A GOOD THING FOR THE WRITER!

Make sure you have a OPTION clause that allows the writer to:  refuse the publisher's offer.

Make sure you have a clause that: gives the publisher a "set time frame in which you can look over the contract and decide."

This means you can submit your book manuscript hoping for a great new renewal of contract and terms. Once you look over the option to renew clause and don't like it you then can refuse the publishers offer if you don't like it.

IDEAL: HAVE A OPTION TIME FOR THE PUBLISHER to review your manuscript work and give you a renewal option. KEY IS A TIME- 1-2 MONTHS MAXIMUM OTHERWISE THEY WILL LINGER ON FOR MANY MONTHS KEEPING YOU IN LIMBO AND POSSIBLE MISSED OPPORTUNITIES ELSEWHERE.

Key: there must be a time limit for the publisher's decision which gives them an obligation to respond quickly to you.

Key: you must have a clause that gives you a option to refuse the publisher's offer or renegotiate the offer.

.

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http://www.sfwa.org/beware/overview.html

http://www.sfwa.org/other-resources/for-authors/writer-beware/

Also good to learn:

Top Literary Agents You Might Want to Reconsider

http://www.sfwa.org/other-resources/for-authors/writer-beware/thumbs-down-agency/

Top 50 Fantasy Films Of All Time

Top 50 Fantasy Films Of All Time

Coraline 2009
Candy-cane  frightmare about a little girl where you step through a door into a backward alternate reality. Skin crawling creepy and sinister good fun by Tim Burton.
Legend 1985

Tom Cruise is a boy solider who has to fight to Lord of Darkness played by Tim Curry. Directed by Ridley Scott 

The Last Unicorn

Japanese animation with waves turning into the shapes of the winged horses, the unicorn.
Adaption of Peter S. Beagle's Novel with Mia Farrow, Alan Arkin, Angela Lansbury, Jeff Bridges & Christopher Lee to high light a few of the quirky and feisty cast of characters.

The City Of Lost Children 1995
French hallucinatory fantasy film by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Daniel Emilfork is a man who can not dream so he steals dreams from children.

Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban (2004)
Potter and co get a good scrubbing courtesy of director Alfonso Cuaron

Jumanji 1985
When sister, Kristen Dunst and  brother Bradley Piece start playing a game of Jumanji they unleash a man named Alan Parrish played by Robin Williams. Parrish has been trapped in the magical board game for 26 years. Along with Parrish, a treasure of scaly, fanged creatures who are hungry and ready for dinner by serving up a meal of kids.


Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders 1971

Jaromil Jires surrel adaptation of Vitezslav Nezval novel from Czechoslovakia. Jaroslava Schallerova plays a 13 year old dabbling in unsettlingly risque adventures. Controversial with sexuality, monsters and ghosts of the past.

Rona The Robbers Daughter 1984

Swedish film adaption of AStrid Lindgren's novel. Bandits hole up in a deserted castle during winter as danger looms with a wealth of trolls, gnomes and harpies.

Dragonslayer 1981
Underdog hero Galen Bradwarden played by Peter MacNicol has a sword and comes to save a damsel in distressed. And he has to slay dragons with great special effects.

Brave 2012
A fiery red tousle-haired heroine. She is self assured to handle a dangerous adventure of rescue without a the dashing prince charming. Oddball mix of traditional fairytaling and post modern coming of age.

Willow 1998

George Lucas restlessly lovable rambunctious fantasy. Val Kilmer plays the anti hero, grotty-toothed Mad Martign. The terrifying Queen is played by Jean Marsh.

LadyHawke 1985

Interesting Fantasy Films  Honorable Mentions
MirrorMask 2005 Jim Henson Productions  A girl sick of her family enters the fantasy realm.

The Flight Of Dragons 1982
James Earl Jones/John Ritter a modern man is whisked back in time to save a dying realm.

The Last Witch Hunter
Vin Diesel is an immortal who flits between New York and a dream world to bring down the Witch Queen who wants to brew up a plague to wipe out humanity. A very Dungeon and Dragon style of film.

Stardust 2007

Splash 1984
Ron Howard's romantic fantasy about a mermaid played by Daryl Hannah who Tom Hank's falls in love with.


Pleasantville 1998
Reese WItherspoon and Tobey Maguire are young teens who get sucked int a 1950's black and white sitcom. Their presence blushes and brings the world into the modern Techincolor era in the way Spielberg does it best.

The Fall 2006

A interesting and sparse film you might want to check out by director Tarsem Singh.    It stars Lee Pace and Catinca Untaru.  
Troll Hunter

The Scandinavian myth where winsomely cranky troll hunter Hans goes after the titualar monsters. Otto Jespersen stars in this mock documentary in this tongue-in-check thrilling film.

Conan The Barbarian (1982)

The Top 20 Film Festivals To Enter

The Top 20 Film festivals to enter & good stuff for Women directors.

http://www.nywift.org/article.aspx?ID=5443
Big Vision Empty Wallet is accepting submissions for theirFall 2015 Writers Lab. Two selected writers will receive a retreat in Costa Rica Dec. 1-5 with full travel & accommodations as well as badass mentorship from industry experts. All top 10 semi-finalists will receive business strategy consultations to help their careers this year and beyond! They will accept feature length screenplays and pilot scripts. Last-minute deadline Oct. 23.

The Arts Center of the Capital Region in Troy, NY, is seeking plays by women over 50 forthe ell. the ell will be the first artistic organization completely devoted to recognizing new artists who developed their artistic voices after 50. the ell will be both national and local. Each year the ell will sponsor a national playwriting contest, the purpose of which is to recognize unproduced plays written by women, 50 and over. The playwright chosen will receive a $500 in royalties and a full production of their chosen play. The chosen play will be performed in a state-of-the-art 99 seat theater in Troy with a local cast and crew. Apply online by Nov. 21. Email theell50plus@gmail.com with questions.

The David Lynch MA in Film program at Maharishi University of Management is offering two scholarships this year, available thanks to generous support from donors. Film Competition Award: Full-tuition (3-semester) scholarship. Winner to be chosen by David Lynch! Writing Competition Award: $10,000 scholarship applied to the cost of tuition. Reg. deadline Nov. 1; late deadline Nov. 15

The MUFF (Monthly Underground Female Film) Society is seeking short film submissions on a rolling basis. The MUFF Society recognizes that part of celebrating women in film is supporting the local film community. There are so many talented local women filmmakers and they want to give them a voice—and a screen. They intend to showcase at least one short film with each of their future monthly screenings and feature them on their website. Each city will be curating short films that reflect their own diverse community. NYWIFT members Lindsay Blair Goeldner and Raquel Salazar founded the NYC chapter. If you have a short film that you think celebrates women in film, they want to see it! Submit online.



The BlueCat Screenplay Competition is accepting submissions for 2016! Based in Hollywood, California, BlueCat has been discovering and developing talented writers since 1998. Their winners and finalists have been signed by major talent agencies, sold their work to studios like Warner Brothers, Paramount and Universal, and won major awards at the Sundance, Berlin and Tribeca Film Festivals. Late deadline Nov. 15.

Winter Film Awards announces a call for entries for the 2016 Indie Film Festival to be held Feb. 24-27 in NYC. They seek diverse, fresh voices and creative indie films from emerging filmmakers in all genres – feature length and shorts, narrative fiction, documentary, animation, horror, web series and music videos. Submissions deadlines: Regular: Nov 1, Late: Dec 1. Visit www.WinterFilmAwards.com for more information.
Tribeca Film Institute
Pulse Films
Meryl Streep Funds Lab for Women Screenwriters Over 40


Kansas City Women in Film & Television’s (KCWIFT) 5th annual Short Screenplay Contest is underway, and all members of a Women in Film chapter (including NYWIFT) get a discount on their entry fee. The contest has 2 goals: (1) Encourage more women to write screenplays. (2) Encourage all writers to develop female protagonists. There are two priczes: $1,000 for Best Screenplay by a Female Writer and $500 for Best Female Protagonist (open to both men and women who can also vie for the top prize).Submit online. Late deadline Nov. 18; extended deadline Dec. 18.

Through Her Lens program  I never heard about this and it would have been nice to have submitted.
So now I am sharing information that I just found out. We all deserve a shot at working on our talent with a strong hand to give tools like equipment and funds so a better product can be obtained. These scholarships also allow filmmakers to find top talented individuals to come aboard the project as well.

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/tribeca-through-her-lens-women-filmmakers-program-1201624080/
International Horror and Science Fiction Festival
7000 E Mayo Blvd Suite 1059
Phoenix AZ 85054
USA
Phone: 602-955-6444
office@phxfilm.com
http://www.horrorscifi.com
http://www.horrorscifi.com/submissions/

https://crashthesuperbowl.doritos.com/
Lexus Short Films.
http://www.lexus-int.com/lexusshortfilms/

http://www.aspenfilm.org/index.php/events/aspen-shortsfest
ABOUT ASPEN SHORTSFEST 

Aspen Shortsfest is one of the world's premier international showcases for the trend-setting art form: the short. This Oscar®-qualifying international competition offers a lively, thought-provoking, and humorous selection of drama, comedy, animation and documentary - all at 40 minutes or less. 
__________________________ 

ASPEN SHORTSFEST 2016 

Festival dates: April 5 - 10, 2016
Program announced: Early March, 2016 

Short Filmmakers:

Shortsfest 2016 Entries accepted beginning: August 17, 2015
Earlybird (Discounted Fee) Entry Deadline: October 2, 2015
Regular Entry Deadline: November 30, 2015

Late Entry Deadline: December 15, 2015
Extended Entry Deadline: December 31, 2015 

The Panic Alien story board

The Panic    storyboard start   shot list  scenes      M.A.H.
Music Jaws  theme  Master shot






https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcFZSu9E6XQ
Pan HOLLYWOOD SIGN then to
 reservoir the red dirt trail
Hollywood lake



Hiker runs along the trail



A Hiker runs up the trail happy, calm, quiet Normal day


Dolly shot of the HAPPY town Flower shop, Restaurant, Antique store, mail box, Grocery store.
The Hiker see's something flying over the Hollywood sign
Flash of Lights and NOISE   Dark clouds something is happening




Hiker is scared, Drops water bottle and runs back to the Town Square


Hiker runs back to town

Towns People Master, wide shot, medium and close ups or them screaming and running
Town Square
Hiker runs into town

Grocery store clerk looking up  pan on expression
Restaurant patrons






Towns People  Hippie Norman picks up a stick

Grocery store clerk drops his grocery box he has in his hands.
Close up on Towns Peoples eyes/faces

A lady sitting on bench drops her cigerette she is smoking
Some Towns People like the ship





ALIEN SITE HIKER TRAIL YELLOW GATE SCENE



Sheriff Bill is hunting for clues on his own

Chief Of Police catches Bill snooping without jurisdiction around Alien site
YELLOW GATE RESCRITED
Lab Workers/Chief of Police/Bill








Bill snoops around unnoticed by the Chief Of Police at Alien site
Bill looks around at different angles




Chief talks to Lab Worker Veronica








JAY'S HOUSE MORNING

Jay is making toast & jelly and gets ready for his walk
He scratches a SLASH on CHALK BOARD



Jay can't find a station without Fear News about alien
He goes on a walk to Towns Square

JAY GOES BACK HOME
JAY'S HOUSE
RADIO V.O.





Alien uses Chalk board to communicate with Jay   picture of space ship appears

Alien is appearing to JAY He doesn't want to believe it or see it.

Push up dolly straight to Jays face when the Alien is visible to him.
Jay reads a book which starts to catch on fire


Alien is all around him 6 Aliens

The Alien is innocent and seems to have feelings
Old moldy fruit TURN GREEN
FRUIT


Montage Jay sick in Bathroom
The Alien gets inside Jay's Head



Jay throwing up in toilet
Voice over inserts during montage scenes


Jay is getting BETTER



Scenes of Bill Hunting down the tracks of the Alien up Hollywood Trail






Hollywood SIGN behind Bill head as he looks for alien



Sheiff Bill driving around the streets looking for the Alien
Sheriff finds some Blood or clue


Bill surveying the area from above ledge





Sheriff Bill outside his car

Sheriff Bill gets in his car

Sheriff Bill finds an abandoned car

Towns Square is quiet

Night time in the city



Sheriff Bill needs to get the alien so he is promoted and gets his job and the money

Close up of him driving the car

Scene Jay/Bill/Mike/Alien Poker Night
Shot of the Night sky
Streets
Quite Town    Closed signs on Grocery store    Empty streets
Neighbors closing curtains staying behind their homes



Voice over Radio alerts guys alien is very near on their stree



Mike has a good hand of poker, Jay is worried the Alien is near and in danger
The hand goes from crap to great  Somthing E.T. is going on

Bill gets suspicious and starts to look around

Bill Wants the Alien

Sheiriff Bill thinks his friend is an Alien lover and can't believe he had the alien the whole time

Jay is protecting the Aline

Mike is FREAKED out he is near the Alien and might catch a disease

What??? Alien in front of me and Bill has a gun  Mike



Tension builds
A wrestle with Phone batteries dead.




The PHONE goes off JAY'S CHAIR FALLS OVER
Jay is presumed shot

Everyone looks at the ALIEN HEALING THE DOG


Final Voice Over Broadcast the Alien ship is Gone!





High frequency noise 11:05
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUFv4rbBkhg