TUTORIAL IT

All Signs Point Toward Needing to Read the Signs

How should the text of signs be formatted in a fiction manuscript? Ive seen it in all caps but I am not sure if this is correct. For example -They drove past the rickety WELCOME TO TULSA sign.

You are over-thinking this. If you desperately want to be correct, you could look it up in the Chicago Manual of Style, which is what most people use. But most editors will look benignly on however you format such a thing-- as long as its clear whats the text of the sign and what isnt, its fine. The copyeditor will adjust it to the house style later in the process.

In the days of yore, when email was exciting, there were some whod always advise us to send partials with SASEs. Part of the thinking behind this was to control who got to see your MS. Has that culture of mailing queries and partials completely gone away now?

Of course, I realize that - in theory - once the MS is out of your door, it can always be copied and leak out (say, if youre Dan Brown or J. K. Rowling). But how does the author know her MS was read and rejected? That it didnt drown under the giant swells of other partials?

It seems like you have more than one question.

If one of your questions is "How do I know my manuscript wont be copied or stolen or something?", please refer to the pythons.

If one of your questions is, "Do people still want a partial MS and an SASE?", please refer to individual publishers submission guidelines.

But to "But how does the author know her MS was read and rejected? That it didnt drown under the giant swells of other partials?", the answer is a question: Did you submit your manuscript to a publishing house that accepts slush? If yes, then assume it was read and rejected. If no, then assume it drowned.

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Another Fun Skype and TACKK Discussion for the Global Read Aloud

Tomorrow we will finish up our read aloud titled The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.  I think all of us, including myself, are sad to see this wonderful story come to an end.  There is magic in enjoying books through read-alouds, and this is one story we all have loved!  What makes it even better is that we have discussed and shared our thoughts with other schools around the US as well who are reading the same book.

Here are some pictures from our Skype last week with Mrs. Abbotts class.  We have Skyped with them before, and I feel like we are one happy family!  It was great to see their faces again and share our thoughts about what we are reading.   They shared ideas that we had not thought about and vice versa.

Even though we are near the end of the Global Read Aloud story,  I know we will continue to connect and share thoughts about our learning with others throughout the year.





We have been having great virtual discussions with a class from Wisconsin as well!  The students chat and share thoughts with each other using the online program of TACKK.  Their faces light up when someone replies to what they have posted or has a conversation with them without even being in the classroom.  We are global learners in 3B!

Available link for download