TOP SPONSOR 

Fix, Grist’s solutions lab, opens submissions for Imagine 2200 climate fiction contest

$8,700 IN PRIZES AND PUBLICATION by Fix, Grist's solutions lab

Deadline: May 5, 2022 / No entry fee

Submissions are now being accepted for Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors, the annual climate fiction contest from Fix, Grist's solutions lab. There is no fee to enter. Submit your short story by May 5, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. PST. 

Imagine 2200 seeks unpublished short stories of 3,000 to 5,000 words that envision the next 180 years of clean, green, and just futures. Judges include Hugo Award-winning writer Arkady Martine, esteemed editor and author Sheree Renee Thomas, and professor Grace L. Dillon, who coined the term "Indigenous futurism."  Imagine 2200 draws inspiration from Afrofuturism, as well as Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, disabled, feminist, and queer futures, and the genres of hopepunk and solarpunk. 

While we're looking for hopeful stories, we also don't expect you to be overly optimistic or naïve. One hundred and eighty years of equitable climate progress will require hard work, struggle, and adaptation, and we invite you to show those as well. 

In addition, we're especially interested in cultural authenticity (a deep sense of place, customs, cuisine, and more), rich characters with intersecting identifies, and stories that challenge the status quo in which wealthy and power are built on extraction, oppression, and violence. 

The top three winners will be awarded $3,000, $2,000, and $1,000, respectively, and nine finalists will receive a $300 honorarium. Those 12 authors will be published in an immersive digital collection this fall. Conjure your wildest dreams for society - all the justice, resilience, and abundance you can imagine - and put those dreams on paper.

There's no fee to enter, so if you're ready to get writing, you can find our submissions portal here. If you'd like to get in touch, you can reach us at imaginefiction@grist.org . 


About Grist

Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Our goal is to use the power of storytelling to illuminate the way toward a better world, inspire millions of people to walk that path with us, and show that the time for action is now. 


Fix, Grist's solutions lab, amplifies bold, equitable ideas for our climate future, and the people working towards them, in an effort to shift the climate narrative toward possibility. Through creative storytelling, network-building, and events, Fix explores the paths to a clean, green, just future, and brings together a growing community of climate visionaries - we call them Fixers - who are leading the way to a planet that works for everyone. 


 

EDITOR'S THOUGHTS

FINISH, FOR GOD'S SAKE

Steven Pressfield (the author of The War of Art) speaks about the difficulty of pushing through and reaching THE END of whatever you are writing. It could be a poetry chapbook. It could be a memoir. It could be fiction of any genre or any word count. It could be a how-to on cabinetmaking or a children's picture book. A lot of writers struggle with perfecting an effort and reaching THE END. 

Why? Because that is the point where you let others read it . . . and get feedback. That is when you submit for publication . . . and get feedback. The feedback is the thrill and the agony of writing, and sometimes we feel safer just saying we're still writing it, because that is the world in which we feel safest. 

What are we afraid of?

-Being told it's just okay. Or worse, that it's bad, but frankly, once we hear it's okay the meaning is the same.

-Prematurely releasing your darling in the world. But who's to say when it's premature?

-Learning after all that time invested that we really do not know what we are doing. It's called being a phony.

Look across social media. When an author talks about typing THE END, or submitting to the publisher, or having a release date, a lot of the public admire first and foremost the fact that the author got to that point. You think it. I think it. Everyone thinks it. 

There's a reason that authors continually get asked the questions: "What is your work regimen?" and "Where do you get your ideas?" Successful freelancers get asked similar questions. The basic underlying question is "How do you make it all the way through . . . then do it again?"

It's magic. It's a genetic gift. It's a unique upbringing. 

No, it's deciding to follow-through. And nothing on this earth gets in your way in doing this but you.

222416129 © National Library New Zealand | Dreamstime.com
 

SUPER SPONSOR 

• How to Write an Opening That Pulls the Reader In by Wanda M. Morris
  In this session, we will delve into the elements that make a great opening to your story or novel.
• How to Keep Readers Engaged by Chris Mooney
  If you want to get an agent interested in your book, you've got to keep them interested, which is why the first few pages of your novel are critical.
• The Challenges and Advantages of Amateur Sleuths by Mia P. Manansala
  This session will answer these questions and more as we dissect amateur sleuths in popular fiction and learn how to make the most out of this common character trope through discussion and exercises.
• I Got This Idea...: How to Turn Ideas Into Stories by Rachel Howzell Hall
  In this session, you will learn ways to move your good idea from your head onto the page as a full-realized story.
• Creating Engaging Character Arcs in the Novel and Novel Series by C. Hope Clark
  In this session, award-winning author C. Hope Clark will share effective strategies for creating compelling character arcs in the novel as well as in a series of novels.
• Point of View: Special Issues for the Mystery and Thriller Writer by Hallie Ephron
  In this session we'll discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different viewpoints

HOPE'S APPEARANCES

 
SUCCESS QUOTE

SUccess Story

Hey Hope,

FundsforWriters has inspired me on more than one occasion. This past year, I experienced a couple of breakthroughs in getting my work noticed, especially locally. I figured if more people knew about me and my work, it just might translate into more book sales.  

With this goal in mind, I approached two magazines and offered to write for them. One is Fairhope Living (my hometown in Alabama) and the other is Relocating Baldwin County, a magazine for people who have just moved into this county. They both enthusiastically accepted me--the former, as a features writer, the latter, as contributor and editor. For the Relocating magazine, I offered my editorial services in exchange for 1/4 page ad in the magazine. For this ad, I had an artist make a collage of my books that had a local appeal. 

Just last week, the Relocating publisher contacted me. "You've done such a great job of editing," she said, "I want to give you 1/2 page ad in the magazine." Of course, I was thrilled! 

The local bookstore says they can't keep enough of my books on the shelves and are nearly constantly having to re-order. Thanks to FundsforWriters, I found a creative way to advertise my work.

T. (Theresa) Jensen Lacey

Author, Amazing Alabama: The Bicentennial Edition, Henry the Pelican (a bilingual picture book about a local "celebrity" pelican), and A Coastal Alabama Christmas Carol: A Southern Spin on the Charles Dickens Classic, and 17 other titles.  www.TJensenLacey.com


- - - 

If you have a success story you believe was prompted by FundsforWriters, please share with us! Send to hope@chopeclark.com 

 

Featured article

The Blessings of a Writing Residency

By Leslie Carlin

How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.  ~Annie Dillard
 
This quote, from the FundsforWriters newsletter on November 26, 2021, reached me toward the end of a one-month writing residency. Dillard's words helped me understand why I had found my weeks at the residency so worthwhile: because this brief period of time proved to be the exception to her otherwise true insight.

Many of us, including myself, work hard to fit writing around the daily grind. My grind includes a day job, a family, pets, household maintenance, garden maintenance,  friendship maintenance, and self-maintenance. I am not complaining. I love my grind. As a deadline-driven woman, I often find it helpful. If I have a meeting at nine o'clock, for instance, I will get my word count in before that Zoom alert blooms on my screen. Meeting postponed for an hour? Reaching my word count will stretch out until ten a.m. 

But doing some types of writing requires in-depth, sustained attention rather than the rapid-fire rhythm of deadlines. I have been working on such a project, which I call Asking After Alice. It is the story of someone in my family who spent her whole life institutionalized because she had Down Syndrome. No one other than her parents even knew of Alice's existence for almost half a century. 

I have been trying to piece together her story. I have amassed piles of notes, lists of resources to consult, and pages of interview transcripts. Making order and sense out of the material and considering how to construct a compelling narrative required more concentrated time than I ever had available. I continued to write other things, but not the story of Alice.  

I had read notices about writing residencies or retreats in FundsforWriters and wondered whether investing the effort (and sometimes money) to apply for one would be a smart move or a form of procrastination. Even in the event I succeeded, how could I schedule time off work and negotiate the logistics around leaving home? So many barriers.

But with the encouragement of a supportive partner and an understanding work supervisor, I took the plunge. I am so glad I did. I got accepted for a three-and-a-half week stint as a resident at the Wassaic Project  (https://www.wassaicproject.org), located in an idyllic rural hamlet in upstate New York. Wassaic mainly caters to visual artists, but includes a smattering of writers. 

There I spent my days writing and thinking about writing, and reading and reading about writing. And more writing. The Wassaic Project provided studio (desk) space and a private room in a large house shared with two other women. Each of us prepared our own meals, bar occasional gatherings. My session included seven residents—a smaller number than normal, due to the covid pandemic. The project's director arranged occasional talks by visiting artists—and, for me, one writer-- followed by optional 'studio visits' involving one-on-one consultation and critique. My time with author Ashley Mayne proved one of the highlights of the month.  

But most of the time, I sat at my desk, index cards splayed around me and my laptop computer front and center. I wrestled with the parts of my project that had for so long needed full, deep attention. While I did not finish my entire book in those few weeks, I accomplished what I wanted. When I packed up to leave Wassaic, I included in my virtual luggage a book-shaped thing, still ragged and gap-ridden, but book-shaped nonetheless. I felt like a proud mama.  

Now I am home in Toronto, again spending my days as I spend my life. I am back to the grind. But now part of my grind is completing a book. For me, investing the time and effort to temporarily leave my life behind brought exactly the payoff I needed. 

BIO - Leslie Carlin is a writer of fiction and creative non-fiction. Her work has been published in newspapers and literary journals including the Baltimore Review, Reed Magazine, the Ocotillo Review, and the Toronto Star. Leslie maintains a blog called Travails of a Transatlantic Transplant in which she writes about being an American from California who moved to Canada from England. Learn more about Leslie at www.LeslieCarlin.com.



 

COmpetitions

STEEL TOE BOOKS OPEN CHAPBOOK 
https://steeltoebooks.submittable.com/submit
$15 ENTRY FEE. Deadline July 1, 2022. Steel Toe Books will publish one to three chapbooks of poetry, short stories or other types of literary or hybrid work. Acceptable submission lengths are between 20-50 pages. Authors of selected submissions will receive 10 copies of the book, a $50 honorarium, and a $300 value promotional campaign. 



STEEL TOE BOOKS PRIZE IN POETRY
https://steeltoebooks.submittable.com/submit
$25 ENTRY FEE. Deadline July 31, 2022. Gives a $500 award and publication for a full-length poetry collection. No maximum page count. All manuscripts are considered for standard publication. Longlist, award, and shortlist are announced in October 2022. The selection will also receive a $1,000 promotional campaign across social media and other ad networks.



STEEL TOE BOOKS PRIZE IN PROSE
https://steeltoebooks.submittable.com/submit
$25 ENTRY FEE. Deadline July 31, 2022. Gives a $500 award and publication for a full length collection of prose in the form of Novel, Short Story, Essay, Creative Nonfiction, Memoir and hybrid forms. No maximum page count. All manuscripts are considered for standard publication. Longlist, award, and shortlist are announced in October 2022. The selection will also receive a $1,000 promotional campaign across social media and other ad networks.



MONTREAL INTERNATIONAL POETRY PRIZE
https://www.montrealpoetryprize.com/
$20 ENTRY FEE. Deadline May 1, 2022 (early bird). The Montreal Prize awards one prize of $20,000 CAD to a poet for a single poem of 40 or fewer lines. A jury of internationally reputed poets and critics selects a shortlist of approximately 60 poems, from which a judge chooses one winner. The shortlist is published in The Montreal Poetry Prize Anthology. Entries may be submitted from anywhere in the world. 



WRITERSWEEKLY.COM SHORT STORY CONTEST
https://24hourshortstorycontest.com/
$5 ENTRY FEE. Deadline April 9-10, 2022. The start time is April 9 at noon (CT). Limited to 500 entrants. Twenty-four hours given to write a short story based on a topic and a word count given last minute. First prize $300, book publishing package, publication on the website, free ebook, and a year's subscription to the Write Markets Report. Second prze is $250, publication on the website, subscription to Write Markets Report, free ebook. Third place $200 and same as second prize. Many smaller prizes. 


 

GRANTS / FELLOWSHIPS / CROWDFUNDING

 

DEGROOT FOUNDATION WRITING GRANTS
https://degrootfoundation.org/courage-to-write-guidelines/
Deadline May 31, 2022. We welcome applications from adult writers actively engaged in a writing project and for whom a monetary boost could help further or complete the project. Applicants may be writing in any genre. In 2022, The de Groot Foundation will award seven unrestricted grants of $7,000 each. The one time application fee of $22.00 and will be paid through the Submittable platform at the time that you submit.

MISSISSIPPI MINI-GRANTS
https://arts.ms.gov/grants/grants-for-individuals/minigrants-for-individuals/
Opens May 1, 2022. Deadline June 1, 2022. The Individual Artist Mini-grant is a reimbursement grant that supports established and emerging professional artists based in Mississippi by providing funds to assist then with professional development such as attending a training, conference or workshop. Individual Mini-Grants can also be used for promotional efforts and marketing materials such as business cards or website design or can be used to purchase expendable art supplies. Applicants may apply for up to $500.  Individual Artist Mini-grants are reimbursement based, which means that each grantee must spend the funds first (after notification of grant award) and will be reimbursed upon receipt of their Final Report and all corresponding documentation. 



WASSAIC PROJECT
https://www.wassaicproject.org/artists/applications
Deadline March 22, 2022. Location Wassaic, NY. This call is for individual artists, collaborative teams, and groups of two or more individual artists, and artists applying through our Family Residency program. The actual cost of each residency is $5,000 per month, which includes a semi-private studio, private bedroom, full use of our facilities, studio visits, insurance, and staff support. In an effort to serve and support emerging artists, we attempt to subsidize residencies for all individual artists who do not have other forms of support. Thanks to the generous support of donors and grants, the artist’s contribution for the winter residency program is $600 per four-week period. We also offer need-based financial assistance to artists-in-residence for whom it would be impossible to attend without financial support. 

The Work and Family Fellowship offers no-fee residencies and $500 honorariums to several artists-in-residence per year participating in the Family Residency program.

The Sustainable Arts Fellowship offers several no-fee residencies and $500 honorariums per year to family residents who identify as Black, Indigenous or a person of color.

The Mary Ann Unger Fellowship offers one no-fee residency per year to a female-identifying artist who primarily works in sculpture and who identifies as Black, Indigenous or a person of color.

The ArtForArtists Fellowship for Social Justice-Based Practice offers one no-fee residency and $500 honorarium per year to an artist who identifies as Black, Indigenous or a Person of Color.


  

FREELANCE MARKETS / JOBS

SHONDALAND
https://www.shondaland.com/
Britni Danielle, Editor at Shondaland, is looking for interviews of women killing it in their careers for Shondaland's new ongoing Head Turners series. Rate starts at $550. Pitches must be evergreen. Pitch britni@shondaland.com



PDX.VOTE
https://pdx.vote/contact/
PDX.Vote is covering elections in 2022 that impact Portland-area residents (including state-level elections and elections happening in other parts of Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas Counties). The site leans left, though individual contributors don’t necessarily have any particular political affiliations. Writers should send pitches — not finished pieces. I’m publishing a max of four longer articles (750 to 3,000 words) per month, so I don’t want anyone to write anything I can’t promise to publish. Rates start at $250 and go up for articles requiring substantial research. I’m also open to videos, comics, and other media, but will require a written script. In the pitch, writers should highlight any personal experiences or expertise that connects to the article they’re pitching. 



HAKAI MAGAZINE
https://www.hakaimagazine.com
Pitch Colin Schultz, News Editor at colin.schultz@hakaimagazine.com. Seeks news features — 1,500- to 2,000-word features with a newsy hook, or, put another way, news stories with more space and breadth for color and insight, history and nuance. The rate for these stories will be CAN $1.30 per word. The stories will go through multiple rounds of editing, and will require annotation for fact checking.



BECOME A QUIRK WRITER
https://www.quirkbooks.com/page/submissions#
Quirk publishing has a creative tradition of coming up with offbeat, high-concept ideas and finding the right authors to execute them, which has led to some of the most successful books in our company's history and long-term partnerships with our authors. If you're interested in becoming the author of a Quirk-generated idea, you can send samples following the guidelines below. If an editor likes your sample, they'll reach out to you with details on how to audition for their specific book idea. 



FIXTURE MEDIA
https://fixture.media/team/
The Fixture Media team focuses on helping consumer brands reach their target audiences through content marketing, alongside building our own publishing and eCommerce brands. Pays $350 per article, representing a $0.15-0.25 average per word rate. Open to writers with higher rate requirements if welding experience is a great match. We’re hiring for the following freelance writing roles:
Freelance Writer (Healthcare)
Freelance Writer (Welding)
Freelance Writer (Cooking / Grilling)
Freelance Writer (Video / Photography)
Freelance Writer (General Long-Form Articles)



READERS DIGEST
https://www.rd.com/submit-joke/
Everybody's got a funny story. What's yours? We'll pay you $25 for any joke, gag, or funny quote and $100 for any true funny story published in a print edition of Reader's Digest unless we specify otherwise in writing. Limit 200 words.



PASTE MAGAZINE
https://www.pastemagazine.com/
Paste prides itself on great writing about Music, Movies, TV, Comedy, Games, Books, Politics, Drinks, Tech and Travel. Samantha Maxwell, Assistant Food and Drink Editor, is seeking food writing. Pitch her at samantha@pastemagazine.com. Pays is $100 for 800 to 1,000 words.



NIEMAN REPORTS
https://niemanreports.org/about-nieman-reports/how-to-pitch-nieman-reports/
Nieman Reports is a website and quarterly print publication covering thought leadership in journalism. We welcome pitches for deeply reported feature stories that offer insight and analysis on the challenges and opportunities facing journalism today. Features typically run between 1,200 and 3,000 words, sometimes longer if the material warrants it. We also publish opinion columns, which run anywhere between 800 and 1,200 words. Rates are $250 for opinion columns and $1/word for features.



MEN'S HEALTH (ONLINE)
https://www.menshealth.com/
Seeks culture/entertainment pitches for the online edition. Pitch Evan Romano, Culture Editor, at evan.romano@hearst.com. Pays $150-350. 



VICTORIA WRITERS - AUSTRALIA
https://writersvictoria.org.au/resources/the-victorian-writer/pitch
Writers Victoria’s in-house print magazine, The Victorian Writer, welcomes submissions from writers in all genres. Please submit a 100-word pitch with your article idea or poem, a short author bio (and an example of your work if you haven’t been published with us before) to Submittable online by the issue’s deadline date. Each issue has a theme. We strongly advise you to read the most recent issues of ‘The Victorian Writer’ to acquaint yourself with the kinds of articles we publish. We publish poems ($70 AUD), and articles of 600 words ($100 AUD) and 1,200 words ($200 (AUD) in the print edition with particular interest in the craft of writing and the writing life. We particularly encourage member contributions, and member pitches will be considered for both print and online publication. Extracts from member publications including fiction and memoir can also be submitted.

 

Publishers/agents

THE RIGHTS FACTORY
https://www.therightsfactory.com/about-us
Every agent at TRF is looking for work they can get excited about, in every genre and category. You just have to look at each agent and deem which is suitable for you and your work, then pitch. 



DEBORAH HARRIS AGENCY
https://www.thedeborahharrisagency.com/
The agency represents worldwide publishing and dramatic rights of Israeli, Palestinian and international authors, writers of fiction and nonfiction, including high-profile personalities in the fields of science, business, politics and history. In addition, the agency acts as sub-agents for numerous publishers and agencies overseas for representation to Israeli publishing houses.



FLETCHER AND COMPANY
https://www.fletcherandco.com/team/
Fletcher & Company is a full-service literary management company that works with writers and creators across a variety of non-fiction, commercial and literary fiction.



MUSHENS ENTERTAINMENT
https://www.mushens-entertainment.com/meet-the-team
We are a leading London literary agency with a boutique feel. We represent a diverse range of Sunday Times and New York Times bestsellers, authors, actors, brands, and more. We make your needs our priority. If you want a global reach with a personal touch, come to ME.



LITTLE CREEK PRESS
http://littlecreekpress.com/
Little Creek Press oa a hybrid publishing model that doesn't fit the others. They become part of your publishing team, whether it be as your designer, or handling all publishing coordination under the LCP imprint. You retain the rights. They take no royalties. They are selective.



QUIRK PRESS
https://www.quirkbooks.com/page/submissions
Quirk Books publishes a highly curated list of entertaining, enlightening, and strikingly unconventional books for adults and children in a number of genres and categories. Quirk publishes books that are meant to be shared and discussed—books that are objects of desire—and that have the potential to reach the widest possible readership because of their positioning and packaging. Note the different desires of the different editors on the site.

 

SPONSORS

FINE PRINT

Please forward the newsletter in its entirety. To reprint any editorials, contact hope@fundsforwriters.com for permission. Please do not assume that acknowledgements listed in your publication is considered a valid right to publish.

C. Hope Clark
E-mail: hope@fundsforwriters.com
140-A Amicks Ferry Road #4
Chapin, SC 29036
http://www.fundsforwriters.com

Copyright 2000-2022, C. Hope Clark
ISSN: 1533-1326

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