Mortaine’s Blog

More on stamps:

When I send in a submission by snail-mail, I try to use commemorative stamps that will catch the eye of the editor and make them think I have a sense of humor and would be good to work with/publish. My most recent round of submissions went out with Disney stamps, because that was all I could find, having misplaced the DC Comic Book Heroes stamps I bought 2 weeks ago. In the past, I’ve used the science fiction stamps, space exploration stamps, even clouds.

The US Post Office currently has available some children’s book animal stamps, commemorating animals found in children’s books.

There are also Katherine Anne Porter stamps available.

In any case, it seems to me that, if a stamp is going to make a difference, any stamp that honors children’s books or literary figures would be a good choice.

Also, note:

1 ounce of a large flat envelope is $.52 to mail to a publisher, but there are no $.13 stamps anymore. Suggestion: For fewer than 6 pages, fold it into a #10 envelope.
2 ounces of a large flat or a #10 envelope (approx. 6 pages) is $.63 to mail to a publisher, so you will need a regular 39-cent first class stamp and a 24-cent postcard stamp (of which, the post office currently only carries one design).

Book-length manuscripts may be send media rate.

Remember that your return SASE must have the same amount of postage as your outgoing (to include the rejection letter, and that the SASE cannot be made with stamps.com or similar online postage, nor by metered mail– those are date marked and will not be accepted by the post office for more than a couple days past their dates.

I realize that you all probably know all of this, but it’s helpful sometimes to review, especially as things change so often in the US Postal Service.

My yellow “Cheese Omelette” yarn took second in its class at the county fair. My white “Lamb Chop” yarn placed fourth. I got some good feedback from the judge, and am determined that next year I will do as well, if not better (better would be: more than 2+4, like 2+2 or 1st in any category).

I spent Sunday afternoon at the fair, spinning some more aqua yarn, similar to what I submitted to the competition.

Also, a couple of weeks ago I filmed myself winding a center-pull ball of yarn on a nostepinnde, which is basically a fancy stick that you can use to make a center-pull ball without needing a $50 fancy gadget. But then I found this video, which put mine to shame. As a result, I will just post the link to ICanSpin.com’s video and let you all enjoy it.
Below the “more” tag are photos of some yarn I spun from fiber I got at the Michigan Fiber Festival– it’s called “Hodgepodge” and was basically fiber that was hanging around in her wool room, blended together.

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