
Editorial - Portrait Of The Humorist As A Middle-Aged Novice
by Dave Bealer

A great deal has been said and written about the value of electronic
publication credits to the career of a budding writer.  Many print
magazine editors discount e-mag credits, it is true.  It's also true
that most magazine editors won't even recognize that a given magazine
is electronic, rather than hardcopy, at least half the time.  The
moral of the story here is don't tell 'em it's an electronic magazine
...just tell 'em you were published.

The good news is that at least a few farsighted editors are scouting
for new talent on the Internet and in electronic magazines.  Back in
August I received e-mail from Kristin King, then the humor editor for
_Network News_, the official magazine of the Network Professional
Association (NPA), an organization populated mainly by Certified
Novell Engineers.  She had seen my work in RAH, and wanted to buy
reprint rights to one of my articles.

A couple of weeks later I signed my first publication contract, for
reprint rights to "Take Us To The Promised LAN" (RAH - 01/93).  I
Express Mailed my photo to the publisher's office in Utah to meet the
deadline.  Mundane stuff for professional writers, I'm sure, but
exciting stuff for someone still getting started.

In late October I received my contributor copy of the September issue
of _Network News_.  My article (with photo) appeared as the "Last
Look" commentary piece for that issue.  Beginning on the 54th (and
final) page, it continued to completion on page 53.  Also included in
the package was a check covering payment for the article (at twenty
cents a word) and reimbursement for the Express Mail charges.  An
invitation, signed by Oie Lian Yeh (the new humor editor for _Network
News_), to submit additional material for consideration was the final
item in the package.

Although I, of all people, recognize that electronic publication is
real publication, there is still something special about seeing your
own words on the printed page.  One of my fondest lifelong dreams is
to one day be able to enter any mall bookstore in the country and see
copies of a book I wrote on the shelves, if not on cardboard display
racks just inside the door.  _Network News_ is a professional trade
journal (a highly respected one), so it's not available in any
bookstore or newsstand.  Still, I do have a check to cash.

Note that I had never even heard of _Network News_ before Kristin
contacted me.  In any event, I wanted to tell unpublished writers
that there *are* possibilities for getting your foot in the door by
"giving your work away" through electronic publication.  The editors
of _Network News_ obviously thought there was little enough overlap
between RAH, one of the most widely distributed e-mags in the world,
and their print publication to warrant paying their standard reprint
rates for my article.  The only remaining mystery is why, although my
article was edited for reprint, they decided to leave in a reference
to Vaporware Corporation.
                             - - - -
CD of the Month: _A Quiet Normal Life: The Best of Warren Zevon_.
Warren Zevon was writing humorous (and very strange) songs long
before Weird Al Yankovic ever made the recording scene.  The disc
features such classics as "Werewolves of London" and "Lawyers, Guns,
and Money."  The RAH issue you are now reading is an example of what
can happen if someone leaves this disc on continuous play for an
entire month.                                                   {RAH}

