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 You can do IT is a regular feature
of laterlife.com aimed at trying to help
laterlife visitors make the most of Information
Technology on or off the web.
Jackie Sherman who runs the
You can do IT Question & Answer
section is an IT trainer and author. Jackie has spent
her career in education and specialises in teaching
IT to adults. Her courses for adults include such
topics as MS Office, the Internet, e-mail and basic
web page authoring.
  Jackie
has also written the four books shown
here - you can find more details about these by
clicking on the cover images above. Jackie has
also been running a course specifically for over
50s.
 Via laterlife.com Jackie aims to
particularly help those new to IT and the web to build
up knowledge and confidence, so no question is too
basic. At the same time she will cover Q&As for the
more experienced user.
So if you would like to ask a question
of Jackie, why not email her jackie@laterlife.com
or if you have discovered something
which may be of interest to others in making the most
of the web, then she would love to hear about that too
jackie@laterlife.com
JULY 2007
ADVICE FOR WRITERS
As you can see from my column, I earn my living by writing, and
I know that many of you write in your spare time. If you are
hoping to see your work in print one day, here are a few tips on
using your computer to help get your work published. (The
advice, as usual, is based on the most common Windows PCs and
software programs such as Word.)
1. Take great photos.
Most magazine editors really need good pictures to accompany any
non-fiction article or story. To be clear when printed, as
compared to being viewed online, digital photos must be at a
resolution of no less than 3 megapixels. Nowadays, even the
cheapest cameras can take 3 – 5 megapixel pictures, so just make
sure you don't set the resolution lower than that for your
magazine shots. When sending the images to the editor as email
attachments or saved onto a CD-R, keep them as jpegs and DON'T
let the computer compress them: you will lose vital detail.
2. Sort out your layout. Most editors like to receive
documents in double spacing, with clear margins round the edges.
Even if you send them your copy by email, they are likely to
print them out for colleagues to read and discuss, and people
may want to scribble comments on them.
a. To double space: select all the text, hold down Ctrl
and press the number 2. (To return to single line spacing, use
Ctrl plus 1).
b. To change margins: open the File menu, select Page
Setup and click the Margins tab. Use the up arrows to change
measurements, or click in the boxes and type in your own. The
normal measure is 3.17cm left and right, so setting these at 4
cm should be fine.
3. Use headers and footers: Add numbers to every page, as
well as your name and/or the article name, in the top or bottom
margins. Editors do not like stapled pages, and it is very easy
to drop pages or get them out of order if you send them
something long.
Open the View menu, select Headers and Footers and
type entries into the header box that will appear on the page.
Click the button on the toolbar showing # to add page numbers,
or the calendar to add the date. If you click the Insert
AutoText button, you can add extra details such as the author's
name or document filename.
Scroll down the page, or click the Switch Between box to move to
the footer to add further entries here.
Leave the header/footer boxes by double clicking the grey
document text that will be visible on the page, and return there
if you have made any errors by double clicking the (now) grey
text in the header or footer box
4. Count your words: Most magazines will want an article
or story of a fairly exact length, e.g. 2000 words. Keep an eye
on yours by opening the Tools menu now and again and clicking
Word Count.
5. Read the submission advice to authors: Some publishers
produce helpful guidelines on what they are, or are not looking
for, and it is very important to read this rather than waste
your time sending in unwanted material. Visit their websites and
look for links such as "advice to authors" or "publish with us,"
or use the word "submissions" and name of the publisher or
magazine in a search engine keyword box.
A very helpful website also worth visiting is Jacqui Bennett
Writers Bureau at www.jbwb.co.uk
which lists various markets (although do check that they are
up-to-date) including details of editors, phone numbers and
email or postal addresses.
6. Produce good query letters. Apart from short stories
or poems that are hard to describe, it is a good idea to make
contact and whet the appetite of the editor before sending in a
finished article, and certainly before you send a non-fiction
book, in case it is not along the right lines. What they will
hope to hear is: why you think the article/book is worth
writing; what is special about it; what the competition is
likely to be; the approximate length of any proposed book; your
expertise in the subject; and the market you are aiming at. For
books, you should also send a synopsis in the form of brief
chapter outlines, and mention any special features you are
thinking of including such as exercises, illustrations, pop-up
cardboard cut-outs, examination tie-ins, accompanying CD-ROMs
etc. You might also like to write a short CV mentioning any
publications or showing evidence of your suitability to write on
this topic.
7. Send your work direct: It is always best to send
submissions direct to the appropriate editor, rather than to a
central information point where it could easily get lost or
forgotten. Trying to find this out can be hard, (and almost
impossible for fiction where publishers tend to work only
through agents and won't give out names.) For non-fiction, many
companies have good contact pages showing the names and email
addresses of specialist editors, so do your homework before
sending them the query letter.
If you have any queries on computers and/or writing, do get in
touch at
enquiries@laterlife.com and I will be happy to answer
them.
View previous editions of
YoucandoIT
for more useful Questions and Answers
For a wealth of books on the web and IT generally,
visit Amazon
and under the books section select Computers and
Internet.
Don't forget to visit the general
laterlife features section called laterlife
interest
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