Remember:
If you move or change your e-mail address, please notify the Museletter editor. Bulk mail is not forwarded, so you will not receive your Museletters. E-mail is the only way members are notified of Museletter deadlines.

Welcome
to the following new members who have joined since the last Museletter issue.

New member inquiries should be directed to Peter Piaskoski,the credentials chair. Join us!

Conference Info & Rotation Schedule

Carol Pemrich Hauser, Central-Fox Valley Regional Co-VP
800 Green Valley Avenue
Green Bay, WI 54301
iwritepoetry03@hotmail.com

Carol Pemrich Hauser, NE Regional Co-VP
800 Green Valley Avenue
Green Bay, WI 54301
iwritepoetry03@hotmail.com

Keep Your Dues Current
      Please remember that membership dues are payable January first of every year. We no longer offer a "grace period" after nonpayment of dues. Members must be current with their dues to enjoy membership benefits such as:

• the opportunity to be published in the Museletter's "Poetry Page"
• listing of recent publications in the Museletter
• free "chapbook" ad, and reduced advertising rates for other ads in the Museletter
• eligibility to enter the "Triad" poetry contest
• reduced entry fee for the "Muse" contest
• free "member" web page on the Fellowship's web site
• and, of course, the Museletter itself.

Don't Forget the New Dues Option
As of 1/1/2006, members may pay $100 for a five-year membership. That's five years worth of membership for four years' dues. Please take advantage of this savings. The Fellowship also saves money by reduced mailing cost for all those payment reminders and lapsed memberships.

“Light Project” Unites Poetry, Music and More
     The Green Bay Symphony invites all Fellowship members (and the rest of Wisconsin, for that matter) to enter its 2006-2007 poetry contest. This contest is part of a larger, multi-year undertaking named “The Light Project,” which will unite visual art, music and the printed word in a number of innovative venues. The winner of the poetry contest will have his/her poem set to a choral/orchestral score by the renowned composer Daniel Kellogg. The winning poet will also read the poem at the premiere of the music in April of 2008. Information about the Green Bay Symphony can be found at www.greenbaysymphony.org. Please see the contest announcement elsewhere in this Museletter.

Poets Raise Money & More at Wasteland Poets’ Food for the Heart & Hungry Reading
     On Saturday, October 14th, the annual Food for the Heart and Hungry Poetry Reading took place at Martha Merrell’s Books and Café in downtown Waukesha. This event was in its third year, being coordinated by area Wasteland Poets Liz Hammond and Anjie Greene-Martin. “It was our biggest event yet,” said Liz Hammond of Pewaukee. “Every year we attract more people and raise more money. This year we raised over $400 and filled two barrels of food for the pantry.”
     The event attracted 70 audience members including 26 writers who read throughout the evening. Complimentary refreshments were served and door prizes were donated by supporting poets. The evening featured live music by Neal Letteney. “Of course, we couldn’t have done this without the supporting poets, even some from as far as Milwaukee and Watertown participated. Area groups such as the Poetry People and the All Writers’ Workshop and Workplace Poets came to support the cause. And we certainly couldn’t have done it without our sponsors,” said Anjie Greene-Martin. The Wasteland Poets would like to extend a special thank you to sponsors Frank and Jo Balistreri, Jim and Katy Phillips, Martha Merrell’s Books and Café and All Writers’ Workplace and Workshop for their continued financial support of this important event.

How to Send BCC E-mails
by Cary Fellman cary@wi.rr.com

     Like me, occasionally you receive a Cc: (carbon copy) e-mail with a whole bunch of e-mail addresses in the To: box. This means your e-mail address is included within the group and has been made accessible to everyone on the list.
      This is both bad and good for me. Why bad? My e-mail address is available to all those people without my permission. Why good? I now have the e-mail address of everyone else on the list. That could be useful to me when my books are published and I’m doing an e-mail advertisement. Would it be ethical for me to use that information? I’m not sure!
     When I send the same e-mail to a bunch of people, I send blind carbon copies, thereby protecting other’s e-mail addresses. I’ve listed the step-by-step process I use so, when appropriate, you can send Bcc: emails. I use Outlook Express provided by Compaq. Your system may be different but will be similar.

• It takes some time so, if you have limited internet minutes, you can do this work off-line.
• Get to your ‘read mail’, then click on ‘create mail’.
• When ‘create mail’ box pops up, click on Cc: (carbon copy).
• You will then see Bcc: (blind carbon copy). Click on the Bcc:.
• Your e-mail address list of names will pop up.
• Highlight a name and click on Bcc: and that name will appear in the Bcc: box.
• Keep doing that until all names you want to include are entered.
• Click OK and the names will appear in the Bcc: line of your email so you can check to see if you’ve included everyone that you want to send the message to. But only the specific receiver’s name will appear on each individual e-mail sent.

If you regularly send e-mails to a certain group of names, another way to do the above is to create a group list. Here’s how:

• Click on Addresses.
• When window pops up, click on ‘new’.
• Chose ‘new group’ and type ‘group name’ in the offered box, then click on ‘select members’.
• ‘Members’ list pops up. Highlight a name you want on the group list and click ‘select ’. Do this, one at a time, for each name to be included.
• When the list is complete, click O.K. The group list will pop up. If complete, click O.K.
• The group name, in bold, will be on your e-mail address list.
• When you want to send a Bcc:, click Cc: on the e-mail you are writing.
• A ‘select recipients’ box will pop up. Type in the group name or scroll down to the group name, highlight it and click Bcc: and then O.K.
• This brings you back to the ‘create’ email box, where the name will appear in the Bcc: line.

This many seem complicated, but give it a try. And, if you don’t know who I am, and your spam blocker doesn’t trash me, and my e-mail tells you about my new book, please send money with your order.

NB: Remember that at least one e-mail address must always appear in the To: text box. It is customary to put one's own address there when sending BCC.      —FJB

SOAR Scholarship Awarded
     Through the generosity of regional vice-president Frank Konieska, the Fellowship has awarded its first annual scholarship to the School of the Arts at Rhinelander (SOAR). This year’s winner of the $250 scholarship was Brenda Hansen, of Burlington. She was selected at the fall Board meeting. It is anticipated that she will attend classes at the summer 2007 SOAR. Watch future issues of the Museletter, and the Fellowship website, for the announcement of next year’s contest.

New Officers Elected
     The Fellowship chose new officers at the Fall Conference. The slate of nominees, as presented by the Board, was elected unanimously. These officers will take their offices at the Spring Conference in Appleton on Saturday, April 28th at the General Business Meeting. The new officers will be:

• president—Lester Smith
• vice president—Michael Belongie
• secretary—Bruce Dethlefsen (returning)
• treasurer—Nancy Rafal (returning)

Many thanks to these folks for volunteering their time and enthusiasm to the Fellowship.

Fellowship Adds Conference Coordinator
     Michael Kriesel of Aniwa has accepted the position of the Fellowship’s Conference Coordinator. This position was recently created by the Board to provide continuity in conference planning and organization as the Fellowship begins restructuring its conference format. He will serve as our primary resource person for the planning and organization of conferences. Our thanks to Michael for taking on this responsibility.

Workshops & Contests

The Light Project: Poetry Contest Guidelines
     First Prize World-renowned composer Daniel Kellogg will set First Place Poem to music via an orchestral score with choir, performed by the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra in April of the 2007-2008 season! $100 cash prize Poetry Prize Pack Final

     Judges:
Ellen Kort, Wisconsin Poet Laureate 2000-2004, and Daniel Kellogg, Composer

     Eligibility:

1. Contestants must be residents of Wisconsin.
2. Entries must be received by January 31, 2007.
3. No previously published works, works accepted for publication, or under consideration elsewhere.
4. Poems must have a theme based on “light.”
5. GBSO and The Light Project will retain the rights to the winning poem. The poem may not be published by the author until after the World Premiere Concert in April of 2008.

     Submission Guidelines:

1. Entry Fees: $15 entry fee per poem Students 18 and under are granted one free entry Make checks or money orders payable to Green Bay Symphony Orchestra
2. Poem must be no longer than 24 lines. Works not meeting these guidelines will be disqualified without refund.
3. For each entry, submit the following: Author’s name must not appear anywhere on the manuscript 3 x 5 index card with the title of work, author’s name, email address, mailing address, phone number Winner will be notified on March 19 and announce ment will be made public on April 28, 2007 at the GBSO Classics 4 concert, 7:30 p.m., Weidner Center for the Performing Arts, Green Bay.
4. Send entries to:

   Attn: Poetry Submission
   Green Bay Symphony Orchestra
   P.O. Box 222
   Green Bay, WI 54305
   

Council for Wisconsin Writers Contest Opens
     Entries for the Council for Wisconsin Writer’s awards for writing published in 2006 are now being accepted.
      For the first time, Wisconsin writers who win the CWW awards will not only receive a price of $500 each, but, in a collaboration between the Council and Edenfred, will also receive weeklong residencies at Edenfred, the Madison mansion and creative arts retreat founded by the Terry Family Foundation in 2004.
     The Council invites entries published in 2006 by Wisconsin residents in eight categories this year: including the Posner Poetry Award for a poetry book and the Lorine Niedecker Award for a set of five poems (including 2 published in 2006). The submission period opened November 1st and the deadline for entries is January 31, 2007 (postmark). Out-of-state judges make the choices of winners. Entry fee is $10.
     Nominations will also be accepted for the Council for Wisconsin Writers’ Major Achievement Award of $1,000 that recognizes work of outstanding merit by a Wisconsin writer in any genre.
     Entry blanks and rules may be found on the CWW webpage, www.wisconsinwriters.org. The CWW is a not-forprofit organization dedicated to promoting awareness of Wisconsin’s literary heritage and to encouraging excellence among today’s Wisconsin writers.

Redbird Studio Offers Programs for Writers
SHUT UP AND WRITE!
Redbird’s premier seminar, with Judy Bridges
Eight Mondays 6:30-8:30pm $345 ($100 deposit)
Jan/Feb Session Jan 8, 15, 22, 29, Feb 5, 12, 19, 26
Mar/Apr Session Mar 12, 19, 26, Apr 2, 9, 16, 23, 30

THE GROUND FLOOR WRITERS’ ROUNDTABLE
A workshop/roundtable group, with Jo McReynolds-Blochowiak. Meets on the ground floor of Redbird Studio. W/C access. All levels welcome. No pre-requisite.
Jan-Feb: dates tba

POETRY ROUNDTABLE
A “home port” for poets, with John Lehman.
First Thursdays 6:30-8:30pm $85
Jan-Apr Session: Jan 4, Feb 1, Mar 1, Apr 5

WRITING FICTION FOR TEENS AND YOUNG READERS: The Secrets of Getting Published with Debbie Lynn Jacobs. A workshop for adults writing for teens and younger readers
Saturday, Feb 17, 9:30am-3pm $85.

ROUNDTABLE CRITIQUE GROUPS with Judy
Bridges and Robert Vaughan. Dedicated writers receive supportive feedback and build a network of writing friends. Pre-requisite: Shut Up & Write! or equivalent. Returnees get first dibs in wait listed classes, then “Shut Up” grads, then new friends.
Tuesday Afternoons with Judy Bridges 12-2:30 $85
(waiting list)
Jan-Feb: Jan 16, 30, Feb 13, 27
Wednesday Evenings (The Inkslingers) with Judy
Bridges 6:30-9 $85 (waiting list)
Jan-Feb: Jan 10, 24, Feb 7, 21
Thursday Evenings with Robert Vaughan 6:30-9 $85 (4 mtgs. One per month)
Jan-Apr: Jan 18, Feb 15, Mar 22, Apr 19
Friday Mornings with Robert Vaughan 9:30-12 $85
(waiting list)
Jan-Feb: Jan 5, 19, Feb 9, 23

Redbird
A Writer’s Place
3195 S. Superior St. #429
Milwaukee, WI 53207
www.redbirdstudio.com

Wisconsin People & Ideas Statewide Poetry Contest
     Deadline is December 4th. Lead judge is WFOP member, Bruce Taylor. The Wisconsin Academy offers cash prizes, publication in Wisconsin People & Ideas, a reading in April in Madison and a reading at the Wisconsin Book Festival in October. More information is posted at www.wisconsinacademy.org.

Dominance & Submissions
by F.J. Bergmann

    Distressing tales of poor judgment, simple ignorance, bad manners, and other contributing factors to editors’ horror stories continually surface. There are protocols for submitting poems anywhere, from WFOP publications to national literary journals. Etiquette standards apply to handling rejections (or, for that matter, acceptances) graciously. Part of the problem comes from variable procedures across the editorial spectrum; much of it comes from unreasonable expectations on the part of uninformed poets.

General No-nos
      Stuff which will cause your poems to be looked askance at from the get-go:

1. Ignoring the stated guidelines, no matter how idiosyncratic (supersedes items 2–6).
2. Anything but plain white paper (also omit clip-art , fancy letterheads, and colored ink). While ornamenting the surroundings may not change the quality of the poem itself, it will affect the editor’s perception of the author’s judgment and experience.
3. Weird fonts. Pedestrian serif 12-point fonts such as Garamond, Palatino, or Times New Roman are recommended for readability. Never put your entire poem in italics or bold type. Don’t even dream of submitting anything handwritten, other than your signature on the cover letter!
4. Misspelt words. Run the damn spell-checker (which is no substitute for owning and using a dictionary). What message does an editor get from seeing that you can’t be bothered to proofread your work?
5. Bad grammar. Have someone else, preferably with a better education than yours, go over your poem. Note that this does not necessarily apply to a poem where diction is used to create the voice of a specific persona; but be consistent.
6. Centering the poem for no good reason, lower-case I, unnecessary ellipses, and archaic diction tend to annoy some editors. Be warned.

E-submissions
     Single-space only; no giant font sizes (it can easily be enlarged if necessary). Disable ornamental signatures, quotes, backgrounds, etc. Do not copy-and-paste from a document with page breaks or indents. If indents or large white spaces are necessary to your poem, use the space bar, not the tab key. If you are worried about losing formatting, indicate italics with an underline _ on each side of the word or phrase_.  Symbols like smart quotes, em-dashes, and ellipses frequently mutate; substitute plain quotes, double hyphens, and 3 periods instead. If necessary, line breaks can be indicated by /, stanza breaks by //, and the end of the poem by *  *  *. Unusual formatting aspects can and should be indicated by the submitter, e.g. "My poem should be typeset in the shape of a fanged bat."

The Poof is in the Pudding
     Sadly, about 80% of the 2006 Poets' Calendar submissions (I did the typing and layout for that year’s editors) had grammatical, punctuation, or spelling errors. Presumably this is typical of the quality of submitter proofreading capabilities. It is a dictum that once you have looked at your poem more than once or twice, you will no longer be able to spot any typos that remain. Get someone else (if possible, several someones) to proofread your submission before sending it. Don't depend on editors to spot something you will regret when it appears in print.

We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Directions
     If the guidelines say “three poems” don’t send five. Or, heaven forbid, a dozen. If they say “no attachments” don’t send any. If they say “MS Word .docs only” don’t attach WordPerfect or Quark files. Not including a SASE when directed to do so (many editors prefer to respond via e-mail) will ensure that your submission goes straight into the trash, unread, at some publications.

All About You
     Send the length of bio requested. Or shorter—no one will reproach you for taking up less space than anyone else. A word of warning: many Calendar bios achieved a clone-like similarity. No accusations of plagiarism are being made, but individuality would be best achieved by omitting any mention of:

a) one’s love of nature, enjoyment of gardening, or inspiration by Wisconsin’s beautiful outdoors.
b) children or grandchildren (although details of the activities used to produce them will definitely capture an editor’s interest). 

     The portion of the lay public still unenraptured with rap expects the average poet to be a sweet old lady who gardens and writes poems about nature. Shatter the stereotype by mentioning something completely unexpected or intriguing about yourself!

Becoming a Hissing and a Byword
     While most poets do not need to be told this, there have been a few episodes of bad behavior that desperately need to be suppressed. Be aware that editors, in general, are unlikely to comment on your work and have absolutely no obligation to do so. Since the Poets’ Calendar editors change every year, their opinions are not useful with respect to future submissions, in any case. It is the height of arrogance and immaturity to demand explanations following a rejection. This is an excellent way to blacklist yourself with editors that do not change every year—and even when they do, the word gets out.

     Many editors and writers are more than willing to critique for money (e-mail me to discuss my oh-so-reasonable rates), but unless you have paid or otherwise arranged for the service in advance, no editor owes you a rationale or explanation of any sort. The Calendar receives close to 10 times more poems than are published; some journals get hundreds, or thousands, of poems for each one they accept, and  could not reply individually even if they wanted to. For an extended discussion of rejection protocol, see nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004641.html.

     Strangely, many aspiring contributors who claim to want feedback on their poems, or rationale for a rejection, are just as displeased when they get it ....

Inquire Within
     Reputable publications indicate what their response time is. It is perfectly appropriate to send a polite letter (again enclosing a SASE) or e-mail of inquiry, once that time has elapsed. If no response to your inquiry is received within two weeks (assuming that it is not the off-season for an academic press), you have several options, all correct: you can send off yet another inquiry, with another SASE., mentioning that the first inquiry received no reply (ideally, this would be sent to the general editor, naming the original editor to whom you submitted); try e-mailing instead, if the original submission was by snail-mail (or vice versa); telephone, if the number is available (and for academic journals, their institution’s English Department always seems to have this information); or continue to wait patiently (the record in response time, for those who are interested, is 17 [yes, that’s a two-digit number] years).

     If you receive no reply to an inquiry or inquiries, it is also appropriate to send one last letter or e-mail, summarizing your correspondence and informing them that you are withdrawing the submission unless you hear from them in two weeks. And then you’re free to send it elsewhere. Editors don’t owe you an explanation of why they rejected you; they DO owe you, always, a response to your submission, provided you have complied with their guidelines. Always double-check these at the journal website if possible; the Poet’s Market is, of necessity, at least a year out of date, and other references may also no longer be current.

How to Be Good
     Useful feedback on your poems is best obtained by asking other poets to read them or listen to them. Go to open mikes; join critique groups; attend workshops; read other poets’ work in journals and books. Read contemporary poetry, i.e. poetry that is being published now. Familiarity with poetry from other eras is both valuable and instructive, but a stylistically accurate imitation of, say, Lord Byron or James Whitcomb Riley is unlikely to be publishable anywhere. A staggering amount of poetry and writing information is available on the internet, as well as many communities of writers, in a full spectrum of skill levels. Try to get help from someone who is being published and/or whose work you admire.

Submission to the 2008 Wisconsin Poets’
Calendar
      Poems will be considered beginning December 1, 2006. Postmark deadline is February 1, 2007. Poets must live in Wisconsin or have a strong connection with Wisconsin.
We’d like to see an extremely broad range of work. Go on; surprise us! (We like surprising bios, too.)
Send no more than three (3) poems. The body of the poem may not exceed 36 lines, including stanza breaks in the line count.
      Include the titles of the poems, your complete name, address, phone number, and e-mail address at the beginning of the e-mail, or in your cover sheet if snail-mailing
      Bios must be 3 lines or less, and must include the town where you live.

E-mailers: Paste your single-spaced poems and bio into the body of the e-mail if possible. Indicate any unusual formatting constraints. If certain lines require differential indentation or large spaces within the line, use the space bar, NOT the tab key. DO NOT paste in anything that includes indents, or page or section breaks. You may also attach MSWord, AppleWorks, WordPerfect, or RTF files.

Snail-mailers: Use a 12-point serifed font, like Times New Roman or Georgia. NO handwritten submissions.

Everybody: NO illustrations or clip art. Don’t send ANYTHING as all caps, in bold type, or in italics. Pell-check ans poofread.

      YOUR COMPLETE MAILING ADDRESS, TELEPHONE NUMBER, AND A VALID, CURRENT E-MAIL ADDRESS MUST BE INCLUDED FOR YOUR SUBMISSION TO BE CONSIDERED (if you have no e-mail, include a note to that effect). Make sure all this info is current!

E-mail submissions (or any questions not addressed in the guidelines) to demiurge@fibitz.com.

Snail-mail (if you must) submissions to:

Richard Roe
1703 N. High Point Rd.
Middleton, WI 53562

      E-mailed submissions will be acknowledged within 2 days (except during the first week of January, when Jeannie will be in Mexico). To receive acknowledgment of a snail-mailed submission, you must include your e-mail address or a stamped, self addressed postcard.
      We expect to notify all submitters of acceptance or rejection before April 1. Include an SASE for notification only if you have no e-mail. Please inquire after April 1 only if you have not heard from us.

Sincerely,
The Editors,
Jeannie Bergmann & Richard Roe.

Long version of 2008 Submission Guidelines