Monday, December 8, 2008

Holiday gift under $10? Think Gonzo!

A subscription to Gonzo Parenting zine is the perfect gift for your favorite mama or papa!

Four times a year, Gonzo Parenting prints true stories from real moms and dads, reporting from the trenches of parenthood. Each 32-page issue is filled with humor, insight, and a candid look at raising kids in the real world. Our readers and contributors know how true our motto is: Sometimes, parenthood is all about surviving it.


Ordering Gonzo is simple, painless, and easy on the bank account. Your recipient will get a full year of Gonzo, and think about you each time his or her new issue arrives!


To order by PayPal:


Send payment of $9.75 by clicking the button below.








This discounted price includes postage! Include your name, and I’ll print a sticker to slap on each issue that reads, “Compliments of (your name),” so your recipient will know you’re thinking of her/him all year long. The current issue will be sent out promptly, and over the year, your mama/daddy will receive three more fun issues.


To order by mail:


Send a check or money order for $9.75, payable to Wright Consulting, to P.O. Box 214, Chelan, WA 98816, ATTN: Gonzo Parenting. Include a note with the recipient’s name and address, and I’ll mail out the current issue promptly with your special gift sticker affixed to it.



Happy Holidays from Gonzo Parenting!

Christina-Marie Wright

Publisher/Editor, Gonzo Parenting zine

Monday, November 24, 2008

Gonzo Parenting updates

Happy Fall, Gonzo Friends!

I wanted to take a moment to update everyone on what Gonzo Parenting is up to, where it's been, and where it's going. First of all, the Fall 2008 issue is out, and full of great gonzo tales such as A Piercing Tale in the Yucatan by Anne Kundtz, Life is Dangerous by Jim Strickland, Baby Fight Club by Charles Van Zee, Notes from a Moderately Disastrous Camping Trip by Len Kannapell, Do as I Did Not by Doug Sandvick, Frederick's of Halloween by Greg Wright and, of course, my column, Because I Said So!

The Fall issue is now available, and if you don't have your copy yet, you can get it by sending a check or money order for $3.00 (payable to Wright Consulting) to P.O. Box 214, Chelan, WA 98816 or... save a stamp and send your payment by PayPal.









New Reader Alert

Thank you to our new reader, Melanie in Superior , Wisconsin , for her order! Your zines are in the mail, and should reach you this week. Also, welcome to Steve in Chicago, and about thirty REALTORS® who picked up copies at recent state and national events!

Bookstore Update

Gonzo has found a new home with Urban Think! Bookstore in Orlando , Florida (perhaps the only surviving independent bookstore in Orlando , amid all of the commercial Disney fluff), and it should be on their shelves sometime this week. Send manager Jim an email at jim AT urbanthinkorlando.com to let him know you appreciate his support of independent publications!

The new issue of Gonzo is on its way to two Chicago bookstores: Women & Children First, and Quimby's. Send an email to Women & Children First at wcfbooks AT aol.com to thank them for carrying Gonzo, and check out their website at www.womenandchildrenfirst.com. You can show your support and gratitude to Quimby's by dashing off an email to info AT quimbys.com and visit their site at www.quimbys.com.

Gonzo Parenting is still available at Riverwalk Books in Chelan, Washington (www.riverwalkbooks.com) and at Orondo Cider Works in Orondo , Washington (www.orondociderworks.com). Drop them a line to let them know you support their decision to carry independent zines!

Distro News

Gonzo Parenting has been picked up by a new distribution company called Sweet Candy. Sweet Candy's owner, Sage, is proud of her wide selection of zines and really puts her heart into gaining exposure for each publication. Drop her a line at sweetcandydistro AT gmail.com to ask about specials. You can view her entire catalog online at www.myspace.com/sweetcandymailorder. I promise you'll find something fun to read!

IndieBound.org

IndieBound.org is THE place to find independent businesses and bookstores near you, and to meet others who support indie enterprises and share your interests.

It's free and easy to join. Just set up your account, and then add your favorite independent businesses. Search for businesses you've visited and become a fan, or write a review of your experience.

Find me on IndieBound at www.indiebound.org/users/jarethamarie and add me as a friend! Don't forget to become a fan of Gonzo Parenting at www.indiebound.org/stores/gonzo-parenting.

Possible New Projects

I've been pretty busy entertaining ideas for new projects and appearances, and will send updates as things progress.

Possible projects include a new regular column that would be an extension of my Because I Said So! column, and an appearance on a radio program. I've also become involved in a compilation project with some of the best mama zinesters in the country. I'll definitely be sending more info on that as it progresses.

Riverwalk Books in Chelan, Washington is interested in having a reading of Gonzo Parenting contributors, and we are looking at March or April for that event. More info to come. In the meantime, get your stories to me, and let me know if you'd be willing to read your work in beautiful Lake Chelan!

I'm also working on getting set up to sell Gonzo t-shirts. It would help to have some idea on the level of interest on that, so let me know if you think you might like one, and depending on the response, I'll pursue that. Or not.

Let me hear from you!

I love to hear from readers on what they like about the zine, and how they think it can be improved. Even more than that, I love to receive submissions from parents who have a story to tell. Read the submission guidelines on our blog at www.myspace.com/GonzoParenting, then send your story to me at gonzoparentingzine AT yahoo.com.

Thanks for supporting indie zines, and Gonzo Parenting. It's you, the readers, who make it all worth it.

Stay Gonzo,

Christina-Marie Wright

Publisher/Editor, Gonzo Parenting zine

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Gonzo’s fall issue now available!

The new fall issue of Gonzo Parenting is out, and it ROCKS. It's the TEXT-OSTERONE issue, and is full of stories, mostly by dads this time, about parenting "in the trenches!"

You can get your copy by sending a check or money order for $3.00 (includes postage), payable to Wright Consulting, to P.O. Box 214, Chelan, WA 98816.

We also accept Paypal!








Cheers!
Christina-Marie

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Update on fall issue, thanks, and kudos!

The fall issue of Gonzo Parenting is under construction and should be out sometime in October. Order your copy now! Send a check or money order for $3.00 (includes postage) payable to Wright Consulting (the company that publishes the zine) to: P.O. Box 214, Chelan, WA 98816. Or, pay by PayPal...








Thank you to Lacey of Staten Island, NY for ordering a copy of the summer issue.

Susan of Des Moines, WA ordered a copy of the summer issue. Thank you!

Thanks also to Dina of Chelan, WA for ordering two subscriptions, and to Laura of Chelan for her new subscription, as well as Shawna of Marysville, WA.

Congrats to Doug and Mary S. of Chelan, who won a subscription at one of our events!

The Chelan Public Library is now carrying Gonzo Parenting. Yeeee-haw!

Gloria of Chelan received a subscription as a baby shower gift... Welcome, Baby W!

Kudos and thanks to dad Denis Sheehan, who sent me a copy of his zine, Askew Reviews, with a bonus copy of his book, A Nobody's Nothings.

Monday, July 14, 2008

A peek at some articles appearing in Gonzo Parenting's summer 2008 issue

Celebrating the "Man" in "Woman"



Step-Wives: The Good, the Bad and the Butt-Ugly



Don't miss out on the rest! We are publishing stories by some amazing parents in this issue... Order your copy today!

Send a check or money order for $3.00, payable to Wright Consulting(price includes postage), to P.O. Box 214, Chelan, WA 98816. Write "Summer issue" in the memo area, or include a note.

Or, you can pay by PayPal!





Friday, July 11, 2008

Submission Guidelines for Gonzo Parenting

General Requirements:

* Submissions should be 300-1200 words. Longer works will be considered, if exceptional, but are not preferred.

* A cover letter is required. Please include a short biography, including how many children you have, your interests and at least one fascinating fact about yourself. Publication credits are not required, but if you've had something published that you are particularly proud of, feel free to share it! Please note, however, that we do not use previous publication as an assessment of the writer's ability. Unpublished writers do some of the best writing out there. Submitted manuscripts must stand on their own literary feet.

* We are willing to consider previously published work. We, ourselves, are writers, and believe that writers should get as much mileage out of their written efforts as possible. However, please note when and where your piece was previously published in your cover letter, and assure us that you retain the rights to the work.

* We will accept simultaneous submissions, if noted in the cover letter. Please indicate where the piece has also been submitted and a confirmation that you will inform us immediately and withdraw your submission if it is accepted elsewhere in the event that the other publication obtains conflicting rights to the piece.

* Our preference is for electronic submissions, pasted into the body of an email to gonzoparentingzine (at) yahoo (dot) com. Writer's name, address, telephone number and email address must appear in the email, and a brief cover letter should precede the submission. Send postal submissions to: Gonzo Parenting, P.O. Box 214, Chelan, WA 98816 ATTN: Christina-Marie Wright, Editor

* If we are considering your piece, we may ask for it as a Word (or .txt) document by email. If the submitter does not have access to email, we ask that this information be imparted in the cover letter. In these cases, we are happy to type submissions up and send the writer a proof of the manuscript by snail mail before publication.

* In this age of computer viruses, we cannot accept email attachments, unless we ask you for them. Unsolicited attachments will be deleted with haste and without remorse.

* Again, when submitting by email, open your message with your cover letter and paste the manuscript into the body of the email message. We're sorry to repeat ourselves, but this is important.

What we are looking for:

* We seek first-person experiential writing and essays on all aspects of parenting, but prefer pieces that have an edge or a humorous tone.

* We like our pieces to be raw and stripped naked, but value good writing above all else. Please send your best work. Conventions count - a firm grasp of grammar, punctuation and spelling is required. We don't like to have to reject manuscripts that have good content but poor composition. That being said, if we find a piece that we like but feel needs work, we will happily make editorial suggestions and return the manuscript with encouragement to resubmit.

* All submissions should be subjective and convey an emotional connection to the subject matter. We need to be able to connect with the writing on both an intellectual and emotional level in order for it to grab us.

* In regard to contributors, we really enjoy reading work by writers who are parenting "in the trenches." We'd like to hear the viewpoints of single parents, parents in prison, same-sex parents, parents raising children with special needs, non-custodial parents, adoptive parents, foster parents, otherwise "traditional" parents that are dealing with a unique issue… in general, parents who have a story to tell that won't bore the pants off of us.

* As to subject matter, we don't have any clear-cut requirements for content. We like to receive political pieces, provided that they are non-partisan and focus on how a particular issue affects families. We enjoy a good rant, provided that it does not defame or attack a particular group of people (we're looking for personal rants, not global ones). We like to hear how parents have solved a difficult problem. We enjoy commiserating with parents who feel they come up short in some imagined measure of parental perfection.

* When in doubt, err on the side of submission. Better to try us out than to keep your genius a secret! We welcome queries from those who seriously believe it is better to ask for permission, rather than grace.

What we are NOT looking for:

* Bashing. Interpret this as broadly as you like. We do not seek anti-religious, anti-gay, anti-Republican/Democrat/Libertarian/Socialist/whatever, anti-men/women, anti-abortion, anti-pro-life… We're just not that angry.

* Your political platform. If proposed legislation in your state seeks to impose additional licensing fees for your large people-moving vehicle, we're interested in hearing how it will affect your family. However, we are not interested in hearing about your position on lethal injection unless it relates to your family.

* Articles better suited for a glossy parenting magazine. Please do not send us your piece on how to choose a pediatrician unless you infuse it with your personal experience or quirky humor. Don't send us overly-researched technical pieces - our focus is on real life, real experiences, and real parents.

Rights we acquire and payment:

We acquire one-time North American rights. We also request a future option for anthology rights and electronic rights, in the event that compilation or online projects come to fruition.

Payment for publication is two contributor's copies.

Response time:


We try to respond to submissions in one to six weeks. Since the publishers are real parents living in the real world, sometimes it may be longer, but we sincerely try. If you don't receive a response in six weeks, shoot us an email or postal inquiry as to the status of your submission. We won't take it personally.

Friday, May 16, 2008

A Mother’s Story About Adopting a Child with Special Needs: I Choose HER

For years, every time I saw a news feature on parents who had fostered or adopted a special needs child, I felt shallow. I felt like a failure as a human being that I couldn't be one of "those kind of parents." Don't get me wrong - I wanted to, truly I did. Somehow, though, I couldn't bring myself to imagine choosing to adopt a child who faced medical, physical or developmental challenges. "It would be too heartbreaking," I thought.

Adoption, for me, had always been a goal. From the time I was old enough to imagine my future wedding, I always told my friends, "I'm going to have two babies and adopt one, because so many children need good homes." In my youthful enthusiasm, I imagined picking a child up (like a homeless puppy), taking the tiny bundle home, feeding it and bathing it in all its wee baby perfection. Of course, in my childhood heart of hearts, babies never cried if they were loved enough and never got sick if they were fed the most nutritious foods - I simply had no frame of reference. I imagined my three easygoing, content, perfect children growing up effortlessly, becoming well-adjusted adults and world leaders. That fantasy lasted until the precise moment I gave birth...

Read the rest here.