Q: I read your review about [insert author's name here] and I really loved her book [insert book title here]. Can you please send me her email address so that I can converse personally with her? She is my favorite author. Or, could you forward my letter to her?

A: Women Writers is a site run by a grad student, who doesn't have any connections whatsoever with publishing companies (except that sometimes we're lucky enough to get a free book to review). And most of the contributors are just average Joe's and Jane's too. MOST (if not pretty close to all) of the time, we do not have any contact whatsoever with the authors we review beyond a publicist or agent.

We cannot forward your letters, or give you the address so you can write to your favorite authors. Even if we had the addresses, it might be unethical of us to send you (who we know nothing about) the address (what if you're a stalker?) This is not meant to imply that we have never personally met or corresponded with one of the authors reviewed on our website. All book reviews are the opinions of the book review writer, and this is not meant to imply that there is no personal influence or what some snide commenters might call "bias" in said book reviews. We strive to be professional and ethical in all of our work.

But luckily for you, we do know how you can contact your favorite authors.... you need to look in the title page of the book you love for the publisher's address. The publishers of the books have up-to-date addresses on all of their authors (they have to, to give them their royalty checks!). Usually, there is a "snail-mail" address for the publishing house, and you can write to your favorite author via the publishers, who will forward your letter. Do it sort of like this:

Favorite Writer
c/o Publishing House A
1234 Main Street
NY, NY 10001

Some publishing houses also have a link on their company website so that you can send e-mail. A very few authors put their email address out there for anyone to find, or have an official author website you can use. Use a good search engine www.mamma.com or www.google.com come to mind, and see what you can find.

Now, I can't promise that your author will write back-- some of them do, but a lot do not. So don't get your hopes too high.

Q: I would like to write for your site, but I have to be paid. How much do you pay?

A: Read the contributor's page carefully, and you'll see that at this time, the site does not pay anything at all for its writers. This is truly a labor of love for all of those who work here, and while we hope that someday someone will find us and give us lots of money, so we can pay our contributors, today is not the day. We basically are a place for you to get some lines on your resume/vitae, or for you to do it just for the sheer joy of seeing yourself online (in print). So if that's not enough for you, sorry, but you'll have to find the paying folk out there somewhere else. And usually, those people contact you-- so your chances are not so hot if you're not already doing it.

Q: Will you review my book?

A: If you are a woman writer, we will try to assign your book to one of the reviewers who regularly works on the site. Since it is strictly voluntary, we can't promise you will be chosen. But you will need to send a copy of your book to our book reviews editor, who will be glad to take care of the details. Send her also a copy of your press release, or a blurb about the book for her to use in generating interest. Not all books sent to our reviewers will be reviewed. Sometimes, the book is just not content-wise what we're looking for.

Q: I've tried to contact "X-reviewer/scholar" who is a writer for your site, using the address that is on the page but they do not respond/ I get a bounce-back. Can you tell me how to contact them?

A: Unfortunately, sometimes the people who write for us don't keep in touch when they change addresses. This doesn't mean we want to remove their work, which is still valid. But it does mean that we probably do not have their address to give to you. Please feel free to tell us if there are any authors we have linked to on the site whose addresses are no longer working and we'll try to fix the problem, but cannot promise anything.

Q: I'm looking for information on [insert author's name here]. Have you ever heard of this author, and do you know where I can find information?

A: Chances are, if we know of a site or information on the author you're searching, it is already on the site. Check the links pages. If there is no link to the author, we don't know about it. Also try searching the site for the author's name. If you come up with zero hits, having spelled it right and everything, we probably can't help you find anything. There are millions of authors out there and we cannot pretend to even scratch the surface. Try a good general search engine like mamma or google. You can also try our listserv-- sign up, ask the question of the group and see if anyone on the list knows something the rest of us don't. But again, we can't promise anything. Then, if all of those things fail, try the library. Some authors who are less well known end up in reference books like the Contemporary Literary Criticism, or Contemporary Authors or the Dictionary of Literary Biography. Ask your reference librarian for help finding these sources.

Q: Will you tell me the theme of [insert book name/author's name here]?

A: I can spot someone trying to get someone else to write a paper for them a mile away, and no, I will not tell you your homework assignment. The point of the homework is for you to learn how to do it yourself, so figure it out. Talk to your teacher if you do not understand the assignment.

Q: I am a teacher and believe that one of my students may have plagiarized an essay on your site. Will you help me find which essay it is?

A: Actually, we will be glad to help you find this info out, but there may be a quicker way than writing to us (which you can try also). Search the site for a specific phrase you believe may be unoriginal work. The search engine is indexed for all the words on the pages, so if it's on our site, it should find it. But if it doesn't, you will need to give us specific info too. Don't just say "a paper on Toni Morrison" because it could be here, or it could be something that we have linked to that doesn't belong to us. Tell us exactly what you suspect, and we'll try to help you track it down.

Q: I'm writing a paper on website resources and would like to know:
Why you chose the clip art on your site? Why the color scheme? What is your purpose? Who are you?

A: The last two questions are answered on the About Us page, so look there for general stuff, and in the individual staff writer biographies for specifics on individuals. But as for the color scheme-- I, the editor/creator, like it. I think that black is a cool neutral background, and it looks great with photographs, which we use on the site a lot. So, white text is the natural choice for the background. There is also this cool bit that a French Feminist critic (Helene Cixous) once said about women's writing (ecriture feminin) being done with white ink (a metaphoric mother's milk replacing black ink). So I like that we, as a feminist project, write in white ink in a new medium.

The links are different colors that I think also look cool with black-- with a sophisticated "grey/blue" thing thrown in there. It may begin to change based on the commercial art which is the "masthead" for each issue. I haven't decided yet.

So, finally, the main answer to this question on color is personal taste. You may not like it. But I don't really want to look like the corporate site, white background, standard default link colors, etc. So I did it my way.... if you don't like it, make your own site but I might make fun of your colors too. Someone once said that "there's no accounting for taste" and that's true... but just because your taste doesn't run with mine doesn't mean you are right and I am wrong. I find the colors readable, and most others do, too. But I understand that some browsers have trouble reading the colors, so if that happens for you, please feel free to write for a copy of the info you can't access, in a different format. Realize that this might take a while, since I have other things to do too, and may not be able to drop them all for your project of the moment. If it's hard to read, try scrolling your mosue along the entire page-- which essentially highlights the page. It may make the text easier to read, it may not.

As for the artwork/clip art, in my basic theme, I try to represent the multiple faces of feminism, the multiple types of women who read and write for the site. I try to have clip art that looks like a lot of different races, ages and types of women. I use the book covers of the books we review cause they are usually attractive. I use photos of the authors, when I can get them, that they provide.

Q: I think you are/ your writer is pretty. Will you exchange email with me?

A: If you saw my, or any other of our staff photos, you should have read also the biography that says whether I/we are married or not. In my case, I am married, happily, and not interested in exchanging info with anyone. I don't know of any of my writers who are interested in this sort of thing either-- that's not what this site's purpose is. Go look for a lonleyhearts page or something like this one. Do not write to ask because you will not be answered, and you'll get put in my junk email file. Why the heck would you write to someone who didn't specifically put themselves out there as interested? And why choose a site like this? Go to a #$%@* chat room.

Q: I want to be a writer/go to college/get a scholarship/ get an agent/ learn to write poems/fiction/etc. Can you help?

A: These questions are answered on my writers' FAQ...

Q: I would like to be published on your website. What do I do?

A: This one is answered on my writers' FAQ too.

Q: I'm an artist/photographer and would like to have my work appear on your site as a graphic or "cover art." How can I do this?

A: There is more info on our artwork here.

Q: Can I use the photo you have on your "insert page here" of a woman reading a book for my website? It's nifty.

A: You can read about how we find and pay for our art here. MOST of our art is NOT available for anyone else to use on another website other than Women Writers. If you use anything that we purchased commercially, you do NOT have our permission and are violating copyright law. We paid for it, you should too.

If your question is REALLY not answered here, see the bottom of the contact page for more info on how to contact us.