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The J. Anthony Lukas Prizes Honor the Best in Nonfiction Book Writing. 

EDITOR'S THOUGHTS

WHY DON'T YOU LIST MORE MARKETS FOR POETRY?


Every once in a while I receive emails requesting more information about earning a living writing poetry. Recently someone chastised me for not being more fair in offering those opportunities. The truth is, those opportunities are not as common as they are for nonfiction and fiction. 

First of all, go to the library or bookstore and look at the number of poetry books published as compared to other genres. That gives you an idea of the odds.

Secondly, I ask poets how many poetry books they purchase each month, even each year. As a minimum, poets should support poets. How many successful, contemporary poets can they name? Which poets do they respect? Which publishers publish the poetry books they read?

Thirdly, most poetry opportunities occur in the form of contests in literary journals. And the markets that accept poetry are usually markets that pay little if any. 

FundsforWriters seeks high and low for poetry markets, because we understand there are serious poets out there. The poetry market is selective. It's also highly competitive. And it leans academic and literary versus commercial. That final point is the primary reason there's little money to be earned in writing poetry. 

There are seasons for poetry contests, and during those times FundsforWriters is filled with them. Contests offer publication and name recognition. While some writers fear contests, poets are ruining their chances for publishing and income earning opportunity by ignoring them. 

FundsforWriters highly endorses competitions and award contests . . . and especially for poets. Just understand that poetry is often seasonal, and outside of competitions, pays little. There is no writing done for love more than poetry, and please be assured we'll post all the opportunities we can find in support of keeping the genre alive and well. 

SUPER SPONSOR 

As you know, I am/we are passionate about supporting writers as they complete their books and launch them into the world. That's why I'm excited to be one of the interviewees for an upcoming FREE virtual conference designed to inspire writers to make 2023 the year they GET THEIR BOOKS DONE.

My friends and colleagues, Cami Ostman of The Narrative Project and Lisa Dailey of Sidekick Press, are offering a week of interviews with industry experts covering topics designed to light a fire under you to "Write That Book Already" in the new year.

Save the dates and register to be inspired. January 2 through 6. You don't want to miss the interviews or the free gifts! 

Sign-up here:https://writethatbookalready.thenarrativeproject.net

HOPE'S APPEARANCES

 
SUCCESS QUOTE

SUccess Story

Hello, Hope,

I just wanted to share with you I list FundsforWriters as a resource in my book, Becoming an Academic Writer, ever since its first edition. Thank you for your work and for allowing me to share a resource with my graduate students that is enjoyable and fun to read. So, thank you for keeping this up for so many wonderful years!

Sincerely,

Patricia Goodson, Ph.D.|Presidential Professor for Teaching Excellence
Founding Director - POWER Services
Texas A&M University
School of Public Health
Department of Health Behavior

- - - 

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


 

Featured article

Editorial Review Writing

By Kathy L. Brown

A key piece in the book promotion puzzle for authors/publishers is obtaining editorial reviews from an authoritative source such as a newspaper, magazine, or website. Freelancers often write these editorial reviews, oftentimes as a labor of love (i.e., a volunteer gig). However, if the review site charges authors/publishers for reviews, it most likely pays freelance writers to write them.

Different from reader reviews, which focus on the individual's experience with the story, editorial reviews lend the credibility of an expert opinion and are a valuable promotional tool. Many respected entities review authors’ books for a fee, others provide free reviews, and some have both options. Book promoters reprint these reviews, and they can be the source of pull quotes on a book's back cover or Amazon product page.

Big publications such as Kirkus charge authors significant reading fees ($450 or more), while smaller websites like Reader's Favorite, Literary Titan, and Independent Book Review are lower in cost (less than $100) or even have free options. I write editorial book reviews for Independent Book Review (IBR). I started as a volunteer and then moved into a paid freelance position. Now they serve as a steady source of income as well as interesting reading material. And I learn as a novelist!

I applied to write volunteer reviews for IBR's free review program, providing a sample review from my own blog, and was accepted. IBR supplied a rubric, sample reviews, and feedback on my early efforts. Thus, when a paid freelance position became available, I was already familiar with the process. IBR emails the book as a PDF, which loads to my Kindle where I can highlight and make notes. I also write physical notes, sometimes easier for me to navigate. I generally get four weeks to read a book and write a 400-to-750-word review. 

According to IBR's editor-in-chief, Joe Walters, "A good editorial book review isn't the time to display your high-quality critiquing skills...[you] are not talking to the author about what they should do, but rather presenting the review as if it was speaking to a potential reader about a finished product."

Reviewers can specify what sorts of books they want to read, and some websites only review certain genres. By accepting a wide range of books, including nonfiction, I always have at least one book to review on hand. It's important to read a bit as soon as possible. If a reviewer is unable to say anything positive about a book, the website editor needs to know right away to make alternative arrangements for the review. 

However, while few books are perfect, few have no redeeming qualities. The review just needs to be fair to the author/publisher and honest with the book's intended audience. This does require some imagination—I'm often not the intended audience, but my job is to bring my experience and knowledge of storytelling to evaluate the book on their behalf.

I make $40 to $50 per review, paid promptly via PayPal. Of equal importance, each review, which is published not only on the IBR website but also widely distributed on social media, carries my byline and a link to my website. Thus, it becomes a way to promote my books and my name as an author. I retain copyright to the reviews and am free to use them after their first run, and I often use these reviews as blog posts, a win-win for me and the reviewed-books' authors.

According to Walters, a successful book reviewer is punctual, communicative, kind, and considerate. And loves books!  

Bio - Speculative Fiction with a Historical Twist! Kathy L. Brown lives and writes in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Her hometown and its history inspire much of her fiction. When she's not thinking about how haunted everything is, she enjoys hiking, crafts, and cooking for her family. Montag Press published her award-winning first novel, The Big Cinch. She has three novellas available: Wolfhearted, The Resurrectionist, and Water of Life. Her blog and other musings live at kathylbrown.com, and she lurks on the usual social media platforms like Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads.. 


 

COmpetitions

MEMOIR: FIRST CHAPTERS COMPETITION
https://theplazaprizes.com/competition/memoir-masterpiece/
£20 ENTRY FEE. Deadline January 31, 2023. First Prize: £1500. The winning Memoir will be published on The Plaza Prizes website. The winner will receive a one-to-one tutorial and detailed feedback from the judge, Toby Litt. Second Prize: £300. Third Place: £100. Memoirs can be in any style or form, but must be in English, and written for adults. Submit a 300-word One-Pager (summary of your Memoir), and the opening chapters of your Memoir (5,000 words maximum). In 2022-2023, we are offering 50 FREE ENTRY BURSARIES across all our competitions to writers on low incomes, and from underrepresented groups. You can apply for a bursary if low income, class, race, age, gender, sexuality, caring responsibilities, location, disability, or mental and physical health affects your writing.

CRIME: FIRST CHAPTERS COMPETITION
https://theplazaprizes.com/competition/crime-masterpiece/
£20 ENTRY FEE. Deadline December 31, 2022. First Prize: £1500. The winning Crime: First Chapters entry will be published on The Plaza Prizes website. The winner will also receive a one-to-one tutorial and detailed feedback from the judge, Sam Blake. Second Prize: £300. Third Place: £100. Submit a 300-word One-Pager (plot synopsis) and the opening chapters of your Crime Thriller (5,000 words maximum). In 2022-2023, we are offering 50 FREE ENTRY BURSARIES across all our competitions to writers on low incomes, and from underrepresented groups. You can apply for a bursary if low income, class, race, age, gender, sexuality, caring responsibilities, location, disability, or mental and physical health affects your writing.

CLASH OF THE QUERY LETTERS 
https://darlingaxe.com/pages/query-letter-clash
$5 CAD ENTRY FEE. Deadline January 31, 2023. In the fiction world, a query letter alone is not enough to land representation. The manuscript's first sentence, first paragraph, and first page are the crucial test. However, a query letter acts as a writer's resume or c/v. It sets the tone, lays out the book's market potential, and introduces the human behind the words and ideas. And of course, it also pitches the story itself. While an ideal query letter may not seal the deal, it will fill literary agents with eager excitement—a most helpful frame of mind for them to be in as they turn to your sample pages. Our judge, Michelle Barker, will be asking herself one question: does this query letter convince me that I'm in the hands of an adept novelist with a unique and engaging story to tell? First place: $700 CAD. Second place: $200 CAD. Third place: $100 CAD. Submit one double-spaced page. Original, unpublished, unrepresented work only. 

WISHING JEWEL PRIZE
https://www.greenlindenpress.com/submit
$3 ENTRY FEE. Deadline November 30, 2022. Submissions are open for the annual Wishing Jewel Prize, which awards $1,000 and publication for an innovative, book-length manuscript that challenges expectations of what a book of poems can be. All finalists considered for publication. Send an unpublished manuscript (48 pages minimum). All finalists considered for publication. 

GEIST ERASURE POETRY CONTEST
https://www.geist.com/contests/erasure/2022-erasure-contest/
$20 ENTRY FEE. Deadline December 5, 2022. First Prize: $500. Second Prize: $300. Third Prize: $200. Erasure poetry begins with an existing piece of text. Letters, words and punctuation are removed—or erased. What is left behind is a new stand-alone poem, one that both complements and gives new meaning to the Erasure Text. The Erasure Text for the 2022 Geist Erasure Poetry Contest is an excerpt from Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery, published by L.C. Page & Co. in 1908.

 

GRANTS / FELLOWSHIPS / CROWDFUNDING

 

CALIFORNIA INVIDUAL ARTIST FELLOWSHIPS
https://arts.ca.gov/grant_program/individual-artists-fellowship/
Applications for the Individual Artist Fellowship program will open for applications from California-based artists in early 2023. Through a network of regionally-based Administering Organizations (AOs), the Individual Artists Fellowship (IAF) program will continue to recognize, uplift, and celebrate the excellence of California artists practicing any art form. 

UNDOCUPOETS FELLOWSHIPS
https://www.undocupoets.org/fellowship
Deadline December 31, 2022. The Undocupoets Fellowship annually grants $500 fellowships, with no strings attached, to poets who are currently or who were formerly undocumented in the United States to help defray the cost of poetry-related submission fees. For the 2022 cycle, three $500 Undocupoets Fellowships will be awarded. Through our continued partnership with Catapult, each Fellow will also receive a scholarship for a six-week workshop (or its equivalent value toward other Catapult classes) of their choosing.

​KENTUCKY ARTIST RELIEF AND DISASTER RECOVERY
http://artscouncil.ky.gov/KAC/Entrepreneurs/guidelines-artist-relief-disaster-recovery-grant.htm
Deadline December 8, 2022. With awards of up to $5,000, KAC-ARDR supports individual Kentucky artists affected by the western Kentucky tornadoes in December 2021 or the eastern Kentucky floods in July 2022. Matching funds are not required. Professional individual artists residing in the following federally designated FEMA Individual Assistance counties:

Western Kentucky Counties (Disaster 4630): Barren, Caldwell, Christian, Fulton, Graves, Hart, Hickman, Hopkins, Logan, Lyon, Marion, Marshall, Muhlenberg, Ohio, Taylor, Todd and Warren

Eastern Kentucky Counties (Disaster 4663): Breathitt, Clay, Floyd, Knott, Lee, Leslie, Letcher, Magoffin, Martin, Owsley, Perry, Pike and Whitley

MISS SARAH FELLOWSHIP
https://www.trilliumartsnc.org/writing-fellowships-guidelines
Deadline January 6, 2023. The "Miss Sarah" Fellowship for Black Women Writers aims to provide Black women writers a restful environment conducive to reflection and writing. It also offers uninterrupted time to plant the seed of an idea for a new writing project or to develop or complete a project underway. For 2023 the Fellowship will focus on the genres of non-fiction, biographies and memoirs. The selected writer will receive a ten-day residency in July 2023 and can choose whether to stay at Trillium Arts' rural "Firefly Creek" apartment in Mars Hills, NC or at E. Patrick Johnson and Stephen Lewis' "Montford Manor" residence near downtown Asheville, NC. Participants will receive a $1,000 stipend and transportation to and from Asheville, NC. Additional benefits will be custom tailored to the needs of the awardee. Black women writers at any stage of their careers are invited to apply. 


  

FREELANCE MARKETS / JOBS

CHICKEN SOUP POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING
http://www.chickensoup.com
Deadline December 15, 2022. We are looking for true stories and poems written in the first person about how deciding to use positive thinking changed your life. What was the situation that inspired you to think positive? What changes did you make in your attitude — from negative to positive — that turned your life around? How did you train yourself to be a positive thinker? Limit 1,200 words. Pays $200 and ten copies. 

KNEE DEEP TIMES
https://www.kneedeeptimes.org/work-with-us/
KneeDeep Times editors welcome story, film, photo and art submissions on a wide variety of climate resilience topics. Editors are actively working to expand the magazine’s freelance and editorial pool to better reflect California’s diversity. We sometimes seek time-sensitive pitches on specific topics. Please go to website to view active pitch requests. KneeDeep pays up to $1/word for most stories. Preferred lengths are 500 or 1,000 words. We prefer solution-driven stories about the greater San Francisco Bay Area. 

BOOKPAGE
https://www.bookpage.com/
Google doc application
If you are interested in becoming a BookPage reviewer, please fill out the form. To write for BookPage, you must be over the age of 18, be located in the US, be able to accept payment via PayPal, and be able to review from digital galleys. Payment is $50 per 300-word review. To have your book considered for coverage in BookPage, send an email pitch and a digital review copy no later than four months prior to the title’s publication date. This gives us adequate time to assess the quality of a book and assign it to an appropriate reviewer. We will not consider books that are already published or books that are received later than four months pre-pub.

LONG NOW
https://longnow.org/ideas/pitch-guide/
Long Now is accepting pitches of essays, reported features, interviews, book reviews, shorter articles, fiction and poetry for Ideas, our living archive of long-term thinking. Payment starts at $600 for features and ranges between $300 - $600 for essays, interviews, book reviews, science journalism, and news articles. We pay $100 for science fiction stories and $25 per poem (with a maximum of four poems per submission). Long Now stories take the long view to expand our collective sense of the present moment. Some stories investigate change over deep time, contextualizing a given subject within its past and speculating on possible futures. Others profile the people, projects, and ideas that embrace long-term thinking to address humanity's most significant challenges. Still others offer prescriptive approaches for how to make long-term thinking automatic and common, instead of difficult and rare.

DAILY REMEDY
https://www.daily-remedy.com/write-for-us/
All articles should be directed to the Editorial Features Editor at info@daily-remedy.com. We prefer articles that editorialize on popular health topics using novel, nontraditional methods of analysis. Pitches should be brief, with a single paragraph explaining the story idea. We prefer articles that editorialize on popular health topics using novel, nontraditional methods of analysis. Pitches should be brief, with a single paragraph explaining the story idea. Features run between 2,000 and 2,500 words. News articles run between 400 and 1,000 words. Pays is $1/word. 

AIR QUALITY NEWS
https://airqualitynews.com/aqn-magazine/
Our editorial team investigates the problems associated with air pollution and reports on possible solutions, and we partner with the best solution providers to showcase the latest technologies & services to help tackle air quality. We're looking for environment-focused stories which could touch on cost of living, transport, health, local gov. Send me your ideas: newstart@spacehouse.co.uk. For rates, we’re looking at around £200, but depends on word count.

THE FOOD SECTION
https://thefoodsection.substack.com/p/how-to-write-for-the-food-section
At The Food Section, we serve eaters across the American South by providing them with the information and analysis they need to better understand and appreciate their food-and-drink experiences in our region. The Food Section is actively seeking freelance contributors to add their voices to the newsletter’s mix, with a particular emphasis on reported stories that reflect the diversity of the South. We pay $1,000 for a feature story, which runs about 1,200 words. While we typically don’t cover expenses, if you need 50 bucks in gas money to cover something thoughtfully and thoroughly, we’re open to those conversations. Just about every story has a food angle, but for The Food Section’s purposes, that story must unfold in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, or West Virginia (or the northernmost reaches of Florida. 

LINKEDIN/THE CONTENT STUDIO
https://www.thecontentstudio.com/
The Content Studio is looking for a few freelance writers to work on a client project. The client is LinkedIn, and the project is a glossary of top-of-funnel, search-optimized articles focused on phrases like "cross-selling" and "lead generation." Articles will be ~2,000 words. Writers will be part of a team, not just a one-off transaction. There is an opportunity for a long-term contract. The Content Studio is paying $1,000 per piece, and writers will have detailed outlines to work from. Writers will also be able to put the LinkedIn logo in their portfolios. To apply, send your three best writing same to tommy@thecontentstudio.com. Due to logistical reasons, this opportunity is only available to U.S citizens.

BOBVILA.COM
https://www.bobvila.com/contacts
Deadline December 15, 2022. Seeking US-based freelance writers who have experience working with product reviews to test snow removal products (including snow blowers, roof rakes, etc.). Pays $500-$900 per piece. Email your resume, portfolio, or published content to stephanie.cronk@recurrent.io
 

Publishers/agents

JUST US BOOKS
https://justusbooks.com/pages/resource-center/submission-guidelines.html
Just Us Books is the nation's leading independent publisher of children's books that celebrate the diversity of Black culture, history and experiences. Our titles include board books, picture books, chapter books, middle reader titles, poetry, biographies and young adult fiction. Our imprint, Marimba Books, focuses on multicultural children's books. 

KIDS CAN PRESS
https://www.kidscanpress.com/writers/
As a proudly Canadian publisher, we’re particularly keen to showcase homegrown talent, but we also welcome submissions from authors, illustrators and agents around the world. Kids Can Press is currently accepting the following:

Non-rhyming picture books for ages 3–5 / 3–7 / 4–8
Nonfiction for ages 5–8 / 7–10 / 8–12 / 10–14
Fiction for ages 6–9 / 7–10 / 8–12 /10–14
Graphic novels (fiction and nonfiction) for all age categories

PHAIDON
https://www.phaidon.com/about-phaidon/submitting-a-book-proposal/
We publish in the following areas: art, architecture, design, photography, film, fashion, contemporary culture, decorative arts, interior design, music, performing arts, cultural history, food, and cookery, and travel. We do NOT publish works of fiction or poetry. If you are interested in submitting a children's book proposal to us, please bear in mind that we currently only publish for children ages 0-14. 

RED DEER PRESS
https://www.reddeerpress.com/red-deer-press-childrens-books
Red Deer Press is looking for quality writing for children across the ages, from picture books to young adult fiction and non-fiction. They encourage Canadian talent from across Canada, writers and artists.

WALTER FOSTER, JR. BOOKS
https://www.quarto.com/staticpages/getintouch/submissionguidelines.aspx
Walter Foster Jr. publishes fun and imaginative books and kits for children, covering a wide range of subjects, including art, transportation, history, craft, gardening, and more. If you have a book idea in one of our focus areas that you’d like to share with us, we’d love to hear it.

WELBECK PUBLISHING
https://www.welbeckpublishing.com/submissions
From building our boutique fiction and narrative non-fiction lists to shaping our world-renowned illustrated reference, gift and children’s titles, our aim is to be a market-leader in every category in which we publish.  Our books and products come to life for adults, children, and families in 30 languages in more than 60 countries around the world, selling through a variety of traditional and non-traditional channels. We are constantly looking for new ways to deliver our exceptional content and new ideas to inspire readers and listeners everywhere.
 

FUNDSFORWRITERS CONTACT INFO

FINE PRINT

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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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