VOLUME 24, ISSUE 1 | january 5, 2024 |
RESOLVE People talk about hating resolutions yet they are jumping all over the question, "What word describes 2024 for you?" It's the same thing. And what have you accomplished in dropping one word? And look at the energy you wasted pondering which word to
choose. Are you doing to wake up every morning, remember your word, and go like gangbusters putting that word into practice? The best summation of how to venture into 2024 was in an essay that was part of an advertisement, entitled RESOLUTIONS ARE BULLS#*T. "What really counts is waking up every day and treating it like it’s day 1, resolving not to give in." In other words, it's developing a lifestyle, regardless the year, the month, or the day. It's waking to be diligent in making the most of the day. Whether you are quitting smoking, running miles, or writing, you get up and do it. You don't go to bed until it's done. Soon it's a habit, and you become eager to do it and reluctant to put your head on a pillow without it being done. Forget that it's 2024. Just decide to be resolved. |
C. Hope Clark
Editor, FundsforWriters
Email Hope | Visit Website | Sign up for Newsletter
Newsletter: ISSN: 1533-1326
FFW
has proudly been on the Writer's Digest's 101 Best Websites for Writers list every year since 2000
Our subscriber list is NOT made available to others. Use information listed at your own risk. FundsforWriters gives no warranty to completeness, accuracy, or fitness of the markets, contests, and grants although research is done to the best of our ability. FundsforWriters finds open submission calls, contests, and markets from a wide variety of sources, including Erika Dreifus' Practicing Writer newsletter, Erica Verrillo's blog, Authors Publish, Poets & Writers, Duotrope, Winning Writers, Write Jobs Plus, LinkedIn Jobs, Emily Stoddard, and other newsletters and
online sites. Many announcements are submitted directly to FundsforWriters from active contests, journals, magazines, publishers, residencies, and grant providers. All must be paying opportunities. Contests must pay a minimum of $200 first place. Submit potential listings to hope@chopeclark.com
TWITTER
- http://twitter.com/hopeclark
AUTHOR SITE - http://www.chopeclark.com
FACEBOOK
- http://www.facebook.com/chopeclark
GOODREADS - http://www.goodreads.com/hopeclark
BOOKBUB - https://www.bookbub.com/authors/c-hope-clark Read the FFW Archive Ready to set your 2024 writing goals? Join me, Kate Meadows, for a FREE workshop in January to hammer out your writing goals for the new year and walk away with a personalized 2024 writing road map! In this workshop, you will: - Name 2 or 3 writing goals you want to accomplish in
2024
- Identify potential hurdles that stand between you and those goals
- Brainstorm ways to overcome those hurdles
- Walk away with a step-by-step plan for how to accomplish your writing goals for 2024
3 LIVE workshop times to choose from: Saturday, 1/13/24 @ 10:00 AM MT Sunday, 1/14/24 @ 3:00 PM MT Monday, 1/22/24 @ 12:00 PM MT Register at
https://event.webinarjam.com/register/28/2nn65im2 Questions? Email kate@katemeadows.com. WRITING ABOUT OURSELVES When someone new thinks about becoming a freelance writer, they often start with writing about themselves. However, nothing paints a novice more than writing about themselves. Unless....they specialize in a niche area and can be considered an expert. When someone new wants to write a book-length project, they often start with a memoir. The problem is the stories aren't often mind-blowing nor are they written in a well-exercised and accomplished voice making them beautiful to read. Write what you know is preached, discounted, and analyzed ad
nauseum to the point the advice can't be trusted. But if you are intent on writing what you know, you must: 1) Be an expert in a subject.
2) Have experienced a highly unusual event or some level of success.
3) Find a market like Chicken Soup.
3) Write only for family and self. And even when you write about yourself, to make it interesting, you must: 1) Show vulnerability.
2) Know your audience.
3) Write about a highly unique topic.
4) Have a remarkable writing voice.
5) Show you clearly lived through it.
6) Write about something that has a broad interest to readers. Frankly, once you test drive a few essays or stories about yourself, you might find yourself growing tired of doing so. Part of the
enjoyment of writing is the discovery nature of it. Whether you are discovering emotion, vignettes of characters, plot, or writing style, there's a wonderment to writing something new that you have to research and ponder and bring together. It's about walking ground that you haven't walked before. Maybe it isn't about writing what you know. Maybe it's about writing what you feel. Anita & Claire from Ignite Your Write wish you a Happy New Year! Ignite Your Write can help you meet your writing goals this year with our signature,
6-week, online workshops, which will help you: -get started on a draft (Illuminate Your Story), -maintain momentum on a larger project (Fire Works), -or deepen your creativity (Tending the Fire). Join our community of writers for peer support, accountability, and celebrations! -January 13, 2024 - BFF of the Midlands Book Club, Steve's Classic Burgers, Irmo, SC - 10:30 AM-12:30 PM -February 12, 2024 - International Women's
Writers Guild, Zoom, The Facts, Fiction, and Hope of Grants for Writers, 4 PM Eastern. -March 8, 2024 - Colleton County Library, 600 Hampton St, Walterboro, SC - 1-2PM -June 1-8, 2024 - The Gutsy Great Novelist Retreat, Bar Harbor, Maine - writer-in-residence
-June 22, 2024 - Richland County Library, Ballentine, 1200 Dutch Fork Rd, Irmo, SC - time TBD - July 9, 2024 - South Congaree-Pine Ridge Branch Library, 200 Sunset Dr,
West Columbia, SC 29172 - 5:30-7:00 PM
Email: hope@chopeclark.com to schedule events, online or otherwise.
There's starting to be life out there! No author dislikes to be edited
as much as he dislikes not to be published.
~Russell Lynes
Hi Hope; A humor essay I wrote will be published because of FundsforWriters. I purchased a year subscription to Sub Hub via a mention in FundsforWriters. Because of your spectacular publication, my humor essay, "How To Hug A Teenager," will be published in Defenestration Magazine. Thank you! Best,
Carissa (CK) Steefel
author, screenwriter, humorist
csteefel.substack.com
<<If you have a success story you believe was prompted by FundsforWriters, please share with us! Send to hope@chopeclark.com >>
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Why I Sometimes Write for Free
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By Dan Brotzel ‘Never write anything for free’ is an important mantra, and one I know Hope believes in very strongly. But in my experience there are times when writing for free can be worth it – so long as you are clear about your end goal. Take the world of short stories, creative nonfiction, and essays. There are a great many litmags – many of them quite prestigious – that cannot afford to pay contributors in these areas. But getting
published by one of them is a real feather in your cap that can lead to other opportunities of monetary value. For example, my first collection of short stories, Hotel du Jack (Sandstone Press) was a much easier sell, as my publisher later told me, for the fact that many of the stories had appeared in litmags already, almost always for free. Some of them had done well in competitions, for some of which I even had to pay an entry fee.
After the collection
appeared, I got asked to write articles and give talks about the art of short story writing. I was interviewed for websites and podcasts, and asked to judge a fiction competition. I was asked to write blurbs for other people’s books, and to give my permission for stories of mine to feature in creative writing courses (something I’m very proud of). Some of these activities were paying, but even when not they all offered me further opportunities to promote the book and my
work. Nowadays, when I write a story, I’m always hoping eventually to publish it in paid book form. But I’m happy to publish initially free for the right venue. That early publication gives you validation and you learn a lot too: if you have trouble placing a story, chances are it needs more work. Another area where writing for free may help is in PR and promotion to a relevant audience. If you are writing a book about Pearl Harbor, for example, getting
articles about it in relevant American history magazines or blogs is a great way to plug the book. Even if you don’t get a paid commission, you are getting something else of value – access to a target audience that has a high chance of being interested in the book you’re plugging. My first novel, Work in Progress, was a comic tale about an eccentric writers’ group that I wrote and crowdfunded with a couple of pals. Off the back of it, I wrote several pieces about how to run
writers’ groups, how to give feedback, the art of successful collaboration and the mechanics of crowdfunding (including here). Again, not all these gigs were paying, but I still accepted commissions for publications whose audience was well targeted for me to promote my work too. Don’t get me wrong. If there is money to be had, I want it! Once I was offered a choice between $15 or three free issues of a litmag that was publishing a story of mine. The editor seemed a
little put out when I chose the cash, but for me it was symbolically important to receive money for my words. Likewise, with magazine commissions, you should always ask if there is a fee, as some titles may withhold mention of money if they think you’ll be satisfied just to be published. This happened to me with another magazine that thought I should be grateful just to get my book mentioned. But it paid all its other contributors and, as I successfully argued, they should pay
me too! The local author angle is another freebie area to consider. For example, I write occasional articles for a free local magazine run by a realtor. They have no budget to pay contributors, but I get to plug my new book every few weeks in a title that goes through the door of several thousand neighbours, something that would be otherwise very expensive to do. People often like to support local authors, but they can’t if they don’t know about them. Here again, I’m being
paid not in cash but in reach and access to a valuable captive audience. In the end, I think Hope and I are not so far apart. I may not be directly paid for everything I write up front, but there’s always an end goal to earn my just reward. Read more of Dan’s articles on writing fiction and content at https://danielbrotzel.medium.com/
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WRITERS' AND ARTISTS' SHORT STORY COMPETITION
https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/competitions/writers-artists-short-story-competition-2024
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline February 12, 2024. Enter our free annual short story
competition and be in with a chance of winning a place on an Arvon Residential Writing Week (worth £850) as well as seeing your story published on our site. To enter, all you have to do is submit a short story (for adults) of no more than 2,000 words on the theme of risk via our online competition form. Arvon hosts residential creative writing courses in three rural writing houses in the UK. The competition is open to all ages, professions and nationalities, and you don’t have to reside in the
UK to enter. INDIANA AUTHOR AWARDS
https://www.indianaauthorsawards.org/the-awards/
Deadline January 12, 2024. The Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Awards honor the best books written by Hoosier authors. Winners of the Indiana Authors Awards receive $5,000 and are invited to participate in a statewide
speakers program. Additionally, winning authors have the opportunity to designate a $500 award to an Indiana library of their choice. Books published between Jan. 1, 2022 and Dec. 31, 2023 are eligible. ETHOS LITERACY CONTEST
https://www.ethosliteracy.org/about-1
$15 ENTRY FEE. Deadline February 1, 2024. Limit 100 words.
Write on one of these topics: bicycle(s), eclipse, fire, suitcase(s). Best of Contest: $300. Best of Topic: $100 (4 awarded). Best Youth Story: $100 (for writers 14 years and younger). CAI EMMONS FICTION AWARD
https://redhen.org/awards/cai-emmons-fiction-award/
$25 ENTRY FEE. Deadline January 15, 2024.
Seeking a fresh and original story of fiction with a minimum of 150 pages. First prize $5000 and book publication by Red Hen Press. DISCOVERY POETRY CONTEST
https://www.92ny.org/poetry/discovery-contest/guidelines
$15 ENTRY FEE. Deadline January 12, 2024. The contest is open to poets who have not
published a full-length poetry collection. Submissions must be no longer than ten pages, typed. Poets who have published chapbooks of less than 42 pages and in prints of less than 500 are eligible. Poets who have self-published are not eligible. Winner receives $1,000 and publication. COLORADO PRIZE FOR POETRY
https://coloradoreview.colostate.edu/colorado-prize-for-poetry/
$28 ENTRY FEE. Deadline January 14, 2024. Each year’s prizewinner receives a $2,500 honorarium and publication of his or her book by the Center for Literary Publishing. Manuscripts must be at least 48 pages and no more than 100 pages. They may be composed of any number of poems. Do not have to be a resident of Colorado. SUNSPOT'S GEMINGA CONTEST
https://sunspotlit.com/contests
$12.50 ENTRY FEE. Deadline January 31, 2024. Sunspot's Geminga contest offers $500 for Tiny Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, or Art. No restrictions on theme or category. Submissions may be excerpts from longer works. Enter through Submittable or Duotrope. WEDNESDAY CLUB ORIGINAL POETRY CONTEST 2024 - ST LOUIS. MO
https://wednesdayclubstlouis.org/poetry-contest/
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline February 1, 2024. Open to St. Louis Metro Area poets. Submit two original poems. Prizes $500, $300 and $150. This year's judge is George Bilgere. No more than one poem to a page. GRANTS / FELLOWSHIP / CROWDFUNDING TENNESSEE INDIVIDUAL ARTIST FELLOWSHIPS
https://tnartscommission.org/grants/individual/
Deadline January 22, 2024. The Commission anticipates that each fellowship recipient will be awarded $5,000. In a year, the Tennessee Arts Commission may award approximately 1-2
fellowships each in Craft, Media, Visual Art, Dance, Music, Theatre, and Interdisciplinary Performing Arts as well as three in the Literary Arts. DE GROOT FOUNDATION COURAGE to WRITE GRANTS for WRITERS
https://degrootfoundation.org/courage-to-write-grants/
Deadline February 5, 2024. We welcome
applications from adult writers actively engaged in a writing project and for whom a monetary boost could help further or complete a project. Applicants may be writing in any genre. In 2024, The de Groot Foundation will award ten COURAGE to WRITE grants of $7000 each and twenty Writer of Note grants of $1500 each. LANDO GRANTS for WRITERS
https://degrootfoundation.org/lando-grants/
Deadline February 5, 2024. Sponsored in collaboration with The de Groot Foundation, the LANDO GRANTS are specifically for writers exploring the issues and challenges of immigration, migration, or the refugee experience. Applicants may be writing in any genre. In 2024, we'll award three $7000 grants and three Writer of Note grants. For information, guidelines and to apply:
www.degrootfoundation.org. INDIANA FREE LEGAL ASSISTANCE FOR ARTISTS
https://indianalegalhelp.org/
Pro Bono Indiana's (IndianaLegalHelp.org) Lawyers for the Arts project provides legal assistance at no cost to artists and small arts organizations. To obtain help, please call 812.402.6303. Calls from artists and small arts organizations are taken
on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. (Central Time). Support for this service is provided by the Indiana Bar Foundation. REST OF WORLD FELLOWSHIPS
https://restofworld.org/about/hiring/tech-x-religion-feature-reporting-fellowship/
Deadline January 31, 2024.
Rest of World is excited to announce a new opportunity for reporters who want to explore the intersection of technology and religion through immersive, long-form reporting. We are looking for three reporting fellows to work on ambitious feature stories about how technology is transforming religious practices in Latin America, Africa, Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. The fellowships are supported through a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation. Applicants should pitch an idea
for a story that falls under one of the following themes: How technology is being adapted for spiritual and religious practices; How social media is fueling the rise of religious influencers;
How technology is being used to surveil and target ethnic and religious minorities.
AMERICAN CRAFT
https://www.craftcouncil.org/magazine/submission-guidelines
The magazine is for people who value the handcrafted over the manufactured, artists, collectors, and independent thinkers with a keen interest in the creative process—including materials, techniques,
and processes. Stories are generally assigned at 400–2,000 words. Our pay is $.50–$1.00/word, depending on the assignment. ORI MAGAZINE
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0758/8803/4073/files/Ori_Contributor_Guidelines_2024.pdf
We are partnering with established storytellers from the
regions we want to visit and reconstructing our world map from the inside out. Think more cultural exchange and less cultural extraction. Features and departments available. Pays up to $1/word for features and up to $200 for departments. PHILADELPHIA MAG
https://www.phillymag.com/about-philadelphia-magazine/
Philadelphia
magazine is edited for the area’s community leaders and their families. It provides topical, in-depth reports on crucial and controversial issues confronting the region-business trends, political analysis, metropolitan planning, sociological trends, plus critical reviews of the cultural, sports and entertainment scene. Articles range from law enforcement to fashion, voting trends to travel, transportation to theatre, also includes background studies of the area’s newsmakers. Pays up to
$1/word. MUSE MAGAZINE https://cricketmedia.com/submission-guidelines/
Deadline January 15, 2024. MUSE® is a discovery magazine for children and teens. Theme: Perfection. The long-term benefits of failure; failure as an element of the scientific process and discovery; different outcomes
from scientific studies and the importance of scientific research; open science; happy accidents; fun activity relating to mistakes; the pursuit of excellence vs. perfection in the arts; profile of an imperfect but significant scientist, engineer, or tech leader; interview/profile with a scientist who has embraced failure; one or some of science’s biggest mistakes. Pays 25 cents/word. PELLICLE
https://www.pelliclemag.com/pitching
At Pellicle our primary objective is to produce joyful, uplifting stories that celebrate the drinks, food and places we love. We are primarily (but not exclusively) a UK-based consumer drinks publication, with our main focus on beer, wine and cider. Features: £0.23p per word, rounded to the nearest 100 words. The rate will be agreed on submission of a brief following acceptance of your pitch. For
example, a 1500 word feature pays £345, etc. Q&A’s: £300 per feature. CONTAINER
https://containermagazine.co.uk/contribute/
Container is an online magazine about creative technology. It explores why and how people use technology in creative ways for social and cultural purposes. We pay £320 per 1,000 words for written articles,
and
£260 day rate for other freelance contributions (illustrations, event fees etc).
ASSEMBLY PRESS
https://assemblypress.ca/
Assembly Press will publish a balanced mix of voice-driven and concept-driven fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. We want our books to be notable for engaging with contemporary issues with thoughtfulness, incisiveness, and passion in equal measure. We welcome submissions
by all writers regardless of publication history or writing experience, and especially by equity-seeking writers marginalized. Opening for submissions in 2024. WAYWORD BOOKS
https://www.waywordbooks.com/writers
We have an open submissions policy. We accept unagented submissions—in fact we prefer them. Currently, we are looking for
projects in the following categories: Literary Fiction, Upmarket Fiction, Mystery/Action, Creative Nonfiction, Nonfiction, and Memoir. At this time we are not accepting genre fiction (romance, fantasy, science fiction), self-help, textbooks, or children's books. Also, no previously published projects will be considered. GREEN CITY BOOKS
https://greencitybooks.com/
Green City BOOKS is an independent publisher based in Bend, Oregon. We publish original voices that bring new perspectives on culture and art. We publish fiction and nonfiction and create a platform for artistic vision and excellence in the craft of writing. We are readers first, and seek to publish works that inspire us and deserve a broader platform. We are genre agnostic, and listen for the music of language in the books we
curate and bring to the public. THIRD STATE BOOKS
https://www.thirdstatebooks.com/contact
Third State Books is the first general interest publishing house focused solely on bringing Asian American voices, stories, and issues to audiences who cherish them. SIBYLLINE
PRESS
https://sibyllinepress.com/submissions/
Submissions are currently open for our Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 list. If you are a woman 50 or older and your book is both ready and excellent, we want to see it. They respond within three months. Categories appear to be fiction, memoir, romance, and business. Please forward the newsletter in its entirety. To reprint any editorials, contact hope@fundsforwriters.com for permission. Do not assume that acknowledgements listed in your publication is considered a valid right to publish out of ours.
C. Hope Clark
E-mail: hope@fundsforwriters.com
140-A Amicks Ferry Road #4
Chapin, SC 29036
http://www.fundsforwriters.com Copyright 2000-2023, C. Hope Clark
ISSN: 1533-1326 **Note that FundsforWriters.com places paid advertising in this newsletter. ALL ads are related to writers and the
business of writing, screened by FundsforWriters to make sure the information is suitable for writers and their endeavors to improve their careers. While the mailing list is not sold to third parties, other parties do advertise in the newsletter, to include the occasional solo ad. You will not receive this newsletter without your permission. It's physically impossible since recipients must opt-in, giving us permission to send the newsletter. If at any time you no longer wish to receive the
newsletter, click the UNSUBSCRIBE link at the bottom of each newsletter. We want you to enjoy this newsletter at your pleasure, not be forced to read anything you do not wish to receive. Direct any complaints, suggestions, and accolades to Hope Clark at hope@fundsforwriters.com. We are an anti-spam site. | |
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