VOLUME 24, ISSUE 12 | MARCH 15, 2024 |
WHERE DO YOU GET IDEAS? This is one of the most common questions I'm asked regarding writing my books, and I don't often know the answer other than to say. . . life. A writer develops writer's eye, ears, nose. . . all the senses, actually. Anything can
trigger an idea. My favorite, however, is ears. I don't go anywhere without eavesdropping. The coffee shop, the gym, restaurants, even family events. If I hear a catchy phrase or a sharp retort, I take note. Sass, sadness, laughter and pride. I love taking it all in. A friend of mine on Edisto warns people when I'm in the room. . . "Be careful what you say. She'll use it in her
books." And that I will. That's how you come up with ideas. By understanding that every stimulus in your life is fodder for a story. Any and all of it. After making it a habit, you realize there are more stories out there than you could ever write. |
C. Hope Clark
Editor, FundsforWriters
Email Hope | Visit Website | Sign up for Newsletter
Newsletter: ISSN: 1533-1326
FFW has 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. 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 FIRST PAGES PRIZE SUBMISSIONS ARE NOW OPEN!! Prizes awarded in BOTH Fiction & Creative Nonfiction Winners receive cash awards, developmental mentoring, & an agent consultation Fiction & Creative Nonfiction Judge - EDWIDGE DANTICAT Open to un-agented writers worldwide, the First Pages Prize invites you to enter your first five pages (1250 words) of a longer work of fiction or creative nonfiction For details visit WWW.FIRSTPAGESPRIZE.COM SUBMISSION DEADLINE IS APRIL 10TH (24TH EXTENDED) THE BIGGEST GRANT MYTH A week doesn't go by without someone asking me for money to self-publish their book. Nine times out of ten, they are beginning authors. There are no grants for this. And there are lots of reasons why. I'll try to toss most of them in here, in abbreviated form so this doesn't turn into an epistle. 1) Writing grants are mostly for writing the book, not producing it. Making the book (i.e., self-publishing) isn't writing; it's business.
2) Most writing grants don't go to first time authors because they have not proven their likelihood of success.
3) Writing grants don't always go to those in financial trouble.
4) Writing grants don't often favor the disabled, the elderly, or the retired. They are for writing, first and foremost. Any other measures run second
or third to the importance of quality writing.
5) Unless you've a proven track record in successful self-published books, grants go more to the traditionally published.
6) It's not what you are writing. It's how closely what you are writing matches what they want.
7) Grants are not
for those beginning to write.
8) Grants are not for those who need an editor to learn how to write professionally.
Many think that grants go to need first. While there are such grants, they are not the driving force for a grant. You still must prove yourself a writer. Entry Fees for Poets - https://www.poetrybulletin.com/poetry-fee-support - covers entry fees for poets who write poetry chapbooks or full-length poetry manuscripts. Yes, there is a need. Chances are, they'll submit to the publisher on your behalf (I don't write poetry and haven't requested this grant) by the very fact they ask where you are submitting and how much it cost. So it's about more than need. It's first about the ability to write. The 30-Day Writing Challenge Are you ready to get some writing done? Join the 30-day writing challenge hosted by The Writing Desk! The challenge runs from
April 1-30, 2024. Your task? Write 15,000 words! Throughout the challenge, you'll get: - Daily emails with your word count goal
- Weekly emails with advice on building sustainable writing habits and overcoming roadblocks
- Weekly email
check-ins
- Four live co-writing sessions with your host, Bailey, and fellow challenge participants
You'll also receive a PDF workbook with progress trackers, information about each week's writing habit, and more. The challenge is $15, and you can
learn more and sign up here! Visit www.usethewritingdesk.com and email bailey@usethewritingdesk.com with questions.
About The Writing Desk: The Writing Desk exists to help you tell stories that matter. Bailey Lang is an experienced writer, editor, and
coach who works one-on-one with authors to build sustainable writing habits, make writing fun, and get you from draft to done.
-March 24, 2024 - Writer's Digest Mystery/Thriller Virtual Conference - presenter - Keeping Pace in the Middle of Your Mystery - 1 PM Eastern -May 29, 2024 - A Moveable Feast, presenter C. Hope Clark, Restaurant TBD,
Pawley's Island, SC -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 -May 17, 2025 - Pelion Library Book Club206 Pine St, Pelion, SC, Saturday, 1-2PM
Email: hope@chopeclark.com to schedule events, online or otherwise. "...if we don’t continually outgrow ourselves, if we don’t wince a little at our former ideas, ideals, and beliefs, we ossify and perish." ~Maria
Popova, The Marginalian
Hi Hope, Whenever I have the smallest success in publishing my work, I want to jump to my keyboard and say THANK YOU, THANK YOU for the constant inspiration in your newsletter. I've been following you and receiving your newsletters for years. Alas, whenever I seem to get close to achieving my "dream" of writing fiction, I'm swept up into another nonfiction contract. This is a most satisfying step forward, though not yet in fiction. I have found that writing scenarios for disaster response training is quite like building worlds in fiction. One
thing I still have to ponder is the employment of different levels of editorial assistance. I didn't realize editors specialize. Somehow, while the story was more readable, some of the humor evaporated through several revisions. Marie Shadden, MPA
www.linkedin.com/marieshaddenmpa
www.facebook.com/marieshaddenpub/
www.arizonaauthors.org/members/marie-shadden <<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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What to Expect from a Developmental Editor—and Why Hire One
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By Jayne Benjulian
My first editor worked with me on five revisions of my debut story in a major magazine. Decades later, when I wrote about him, I understood what had inspired his stamina: my trying and failing and trying again to express what I wanted to say. The piece wasn't spectacular, but it launched my career and established my admiration for what editors can do for a writer's development. He
demanded clarity of thought and precision in language; I used them to pitch and write everything that came afterwards.
I've worked with two kinds of editors, copy editors and developmental editors. A copy editor focuses on content and clarity once you have a complete manuscript draft. A developmental editor is a mentor and colleague in the earlier stages of a writing project. Their job is to elevate your work, making it more salable while preserving
your voice and angle of vision.
A developmental editor understands the scope of published writing in your genre and the narrative structures and language choices other authors have made. Whatever their background or expertise, and whether they are a writer or not, it is attention to the possibilities of language that draw people to this line of work.
Up front, expect to share the pages you've written
and a sketch or outline, of how you envision moving forward. The editor must see beyond the writing you've done to the work you haven't yet realized. In both fiction and nonfiction, they offer guidance about whether your language is in the appropriate register for the audience you envision. They comment on the order and flow of your chapters, and within each chapter, the logic or emotional arc of each scene.
Expect your editor to ask about the
audience you aspire to reach. If, for example, you're an expert in physics or psychology, or any kind of academic professional, you will want to decide whether you'd like your book to appeal to academics or a "trade" audience. It helps if you can mention the writers you most admire who have written books your desired audience will have read. In nonfiction, have they read Malcolm Gladwell? Ta-Nehisi Coates? Elizabeth Kolbert? In fiction, have they read Walter Mosely? Tania French? Eleanor
Catton? However, your editor need not be an expert in your subject. If you are writing nonfiction and attempting to reach an audience of non-experts, an effective editor will guide you in explaining your subject to the non-expert in a compelling way. They will insure that the reader can follow your train of thought.
The critical tool for the developmental editor is the question. Your editor's questions should
provoke you to examine how you've expressed your ideas and in what order. In my work as a development editor, my notes to writers are littered with questions. "What are you trying to achieve by including a supernatural scene so early in the story?" "What would happen if we already knew the husband was corrupt?" In the case of a psychologist with whom I'm working, I asked, "What is narcissistic rage? How is that different from anger?" No matter how you respond to their questions, working with an
accomplished editor will help strengthen your appeal to the readers who are your market and heighten the possibilities you see before you.
The most sterling references for editors are other writers. Ask writers you know, including those you may have met at conferences and workshops. Responding to an ad without further information is not the best idea, because it's important to hear about the kind of relationships an editor forms with
writers. Frankly, you want to hear about credentials and character. The Cambridge Academic Editors Network [CAEN], offers information on choosing an editor as well as a list of editors organized by specialty. As the name suggests, CAEN editors have academic backgrounds and
don't all work with writers targeting a more popular audience. I, however, happen to editor both sides. Many editors do. For more information about hiring developmental editors, see:
https://janefriedman.com/before-you-hire-a-developmental-editor-what-you-need-to-know/
https://writingtipsoasis.com/best-developmental-editors/
https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-fiction/why-its-okay-to-hire-a-developmental-editor-and-not-keep-it-a-secret Bio:
Jayne Benjulian is the author of dozens of essays and the poetry collection, Five Sextillion Atoms. "Diamond edged, fiercely honest, Benjulian's work pulses with lyric intensity." -Daniel Tobin. "A highly distinctive and gripping book notable for the ways in which it combines the stories of family history with larger matters of public history.... Benjulian has terrific skills as a portraitist and satirist." -David Wojahn. Benjulian served as
chief speechwriter at Apple; Teaching Fellow at Emory University; Visiting Professor in the Graduate Theater Program at San Francisco State University; and Fulbright Fellow in Lyon, France. Editor Listing
Website
LinkedIn
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WAASNODE FICTION PRIZE
https://www.passagesnorth.com/contests/
$15 ENTRY FEE. Deadline April 15, 2024. Send your best fiction up to 10,000 words. Content and formare open.
The winner receives $1000 and publication in the print issue of Passages North. NEUTRINO SHORT-SHORT PRIZE
https://www.passagesnorth.com/contests/
$15 ENTRY FEE. Deadline April 15, 2024. Send your best
short-shorts (1000 words maximum). Open to any genre: stories, nonfiction, prose poems, hybrids, etc. Submit up to three short-shorts in a single document per entry. The winner receives $1000 and publication in the print issue of Passages North. FORCE MAJEURE FLASH CONTEST
https://stormcellar.org/submit/contest/
$6 ENTRY FEE. Deadline April 30, 2024. First place $300; two runners-up $100 each. Honorable mentions receive a small honorarium. Shorter than 1000 words and no more than five pages. May contain fiction, nonfiction, hybrids, marks, or images, in any combination. PARSEC SHORT
STORY CONTEST
https://parsec-sff.org/short-story-contest
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline March 31, 2024. The 2024 Contest theme is “AI mythology.” Ask that authors try and incorporate both concepts into their speculative work. No minimum, no more than 3500 words. The contest is open to non-professional writers
who have not met the eligibility requirements for SFWA Full Membership. First-place receives $200 and publication in the Confluence program book. Second-place receives $100. Third-place receives $50. F(R)ICTION CONTESTS
https://frictionlit.org/contests/
$10-$15 ENTRY FEE. Deadline April 30, 2024. Short stories: 1,001 – 7,500 words. Flash fiction: up to 1,000 words per piece. Poetry: up the three pages per poem. Creative Nonfiction: up to 6,500 words. Accepts work, written in English, from anywhere in the world. Ages 13 and up. First prizes: Short Story $1,000; Flash Fiction $300; Poetry $300; Creative Nonfiction $500. GRANTS / FELLOWSHIP / CROWDFUNDING NUSBAUM-WWBA SCHOLARSHIP
https://www.waltwhitman.org/nusbaumscholarship
Deadline April 1, 2024. Applications are sought from those poets at the early stages of their
careers, ages 25-35 years. This scholarship, awarded every year, aims to encourage and assist an emerging poet in their creative poetry writing endeavors. A PUBLIC SPACE FELLOWSHIPS
https://apublicspace.org/news/detail/the-2024-a-public-space-writing-fellowships
Deadline March 31, 2024. Writers who have not yet contracted to publish a book are invited to apply. Submissions of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry are welcome. Three fellowships will be awarded. During the four-month fellowship, fellows will receive: editorial support from A Public Space editors to prepare a piece for publication
in the magazine; a $1,000 honorarium; a one-year subscription to A Public Space; a guest pass to attend Master Classes; and the opportunity to participate in a public reading and conversation with A Public Space editors and contributors. Location New York. CREATIVE CAPITAL AWARDS
https://creative-capital.org/about-the-creative-capital-award/
Deadline April 4, 2024. Creative Capital welcomes innovative and original new project proposals in visual arts, performing arts, film/moving image, technology, literature, multidisciplinary, and socially engaged forms. The Creative Capital Award provides unrestricted project
grants which can be drawn down over a multi-year period, bespoke professional development services, and community-building opportunities. SCIENCE WRITER INTERNSHIP
https://careers-rsc.icims.com/jobs/3391/science-writer-internship/job
Deadline April 1, 2024. This opportunity will provide a hands-on introduction to the editorial process, from writing and editing, to page layout and printing and is available on a paid, full-time basis for eight weeks to start no later than 7 October 2024, supported by the Marriott Bequest Trust. With an interest in science communication, you
will demonstrate an enthusiasm for writing and will probably be coming to the end of, or will have recently completed, your chemical science degree or postgraduate course. If this sounds like you, please apply online. Location UK, London.
AMERICA
https://www.americamagazine.org/submissions
America Media is the leading provider of news and analysis for thinking Catholics and those who want to know what Catholics are
thinking. We seek to examine ideas and events at the crossroads, where insight from religious belief casts new light on an issue of the day, or where events in the world make the challenges of the Gospel more evident. FROM DAY ONE
https://www.fromdayone.co/contribute
Seeking story pitches from freelance journalists. Our editorial focus is on innovative ways for companies to forge stronger relationships with their employees, customers, and community. Pays $200 to $300 for a piece of 800 to 1,000 words, but we can negotiate further depending on such factors as the amount of reporting needed. NEW ORLEANS REVIEW
https://www.neworleansreview.org/submit/
We accept submissions in fiction, nonfiction and poetry year round from writers around the world. Fiction limit 5,000 words. Pays $300. Nonfiction limit 5,000 words. Pays $300. Poetry limit five pages. Pays
$100. AMERICAN CRAFT
https://www.craftcouncil.org/magazine/writers-guidelines
Deadline May 13, 2024. American Craft celebrates the diversity and ingenuity of craft in America and its makers.
We feature work—in clay, wood, glass, textiles, metal, and more—that improves our lives and shapes our communities. Seeking work for the Winter 2025 issue, theme INTERIOR. Stories are generally assigned at 400–2,000 words. Pay is $.50–$1.00/word, depending on the assignment. GREEN EUROPEAN JOURNAL
https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/call-for-pitches-adaptation
Deadline March 28, 2024. The next print edition of the Green European Journal will interpret climate adaptation as a process of radical transformation. A process that must contribute to shaping a different relationship with each other and with nature while ensuring social
acceptance for the green transition. We are open to essays, photo essays, interviews, and comics/graphic journalism. Between 1000 and 2500 words. Pays €300.
HAUNTED DOLL HOUSE
https://agape-editions.com/submission-guidelines/
Haunted Doll House is an imprint of Agape Editions that publishes full-length books in print. They want horror
stories, mysteries, dark sf/f, genre-resistant writing about the ecstasies, traumas, and terrors that took you to the very edges of yourself. Seeking fiction and memoir. KUMQUAT BOOKS
https://agape-editions.com/submission-guidelines/
Open to children's books. Send a 250 (or fewer)-word query letter. ARSENAL PULP PRESS https://arsenalpulp.com/About-Arsenal-Pulp-Press/Submission-Guidelines We are considering manuscripts only in the following subject areas: - Books by BIPOC and LGBTQ2S+ authors, including young adult and children's
- Literary fiction and non-fiction (no genre fiction, such as mysteries, thrillers, or romance)
- Political/sociological studies
- Cultural
studies
- Regional non-fiction, especially British Columbia
- Graphic novels and graphic non-fiction
- Youth culture and young adult literature
- Books for children, especially those that emphasize diversity
- Craft books
DIVERSION BOOKS https://diversionbooks.com/publishing-faqs/ Currently publishes books in the following non-fiction categories: Business, Sports, History,
True Crime, Pop Culture, and platform-based general interest titles 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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