VOLUME 25, ISSUE 30 | july 25, 2025 |
WORKED ON A BOOK LATELY? I came in today from talking to our dock guy, we call him. The man who helps us maintain our small dock, and who is building us a small pier to fish off off. He asked me a question that most people do, to include people who know me well. "Have you worked on a book lately?" Even after 22 novels, people seem to think my work is a part-time hobby deal. If they don't see me at a signing, or if they see me out in public, they wonder if I have thought about doing another book, when in fact, I'm never NOT writing or editing or publishing a book. It's sort of my job. The average person, however, doesn't see that as a
fulltime job. How can it be? How hard can it be to write a story and put it up on Amazon? But that's okay. Want to know why that's okay? Because they think it's cool that I write books. If they think I write good stories easily, so be it. If they think I write them in a month, so be it. They are reading them. I quit trying to explain much about the process, because eyes glaze
over and readers really don't care. It's not worth explaining. Instead, I tell people, "I'm always writing on a book." "You don't run out of ideas?" they ask. "Nope," I reply. They are impressed, and I've not had to get into any sort of discussion of how books are birthed. They don't really want to know.
Come to think about it, they just want to know that I'm still cranking them out, and that's okay with me. |
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Authory to impress potential clients and employers. WHEN FAMILY DOES NOT READ YOUR WRITING
In a recent editorial I lightly mentioned that a lot of my family do not read my books, and another writer replied to that. She wondered if it was upsetting to me. My honest answer? I try not to
dwell on it. If I did, I would get my feelings hurt. But a writer has to accept reality. 1. Not everyone reads your kind of writing. One of my sons promises every now and then he'll read the books. I don't hold my breath because he prefers reading nonfiction, specifically how-to and historical. My work can't be further away from those genres. 2. Not everyone reads. . .
period. It's sad, but a lot of people don't believe reading to be important. They stay busy and wouldn't take the time to read anything, whether it's your book or not. Reading reminds them of the forced reading from school. 3. Readers read more than your work. They have their favorites, and you may not be one of them. Another son loves several other authors, and while he reads my work, he is several books behind, because other books
caught his attention. 4. Phones have stolen reading time. I was told by another writer that, "to read a writer’s work, is to accept them, to know them, the best way to support them, as people." That sounds lovely. I would like to agree. But to agree with that is to also believe that not reading my work means someone
disrespects me. Readers read books for the story, not for the author. That might not be an easy reality to swallow, but it is what it is. If someone in my family wrote something, I would read it, regardless the genre. However, words are my thing. I appreciate the meaning of having written something after hours, days, and months of work. One family member even asked me how many hours a day does it take to write a book, like it's the
hours per day that give it value. Another was blown away when he heard how much I made per book sale, like how dumb was it to invest one's self into that when the return sucks? Then there are those who don't see writing as work. They cannot fathom the effort that goes into proper and enjoyable word creation. (Some even think AI can do it just as well.) Most nonwriters are ignorant about writing. And if those people happen to be family,
well, they just don't get it. I don't fully understand all that they do for a living either. It's a sad subject if you allow yourself to dwell on it too long. Some days it hurts me, too. At least buy a book, even if you don't read it. . . you know, as support. But people have different priorities and most have limited income. They probably do not see that writing pours life into you. Their attentions, beliefs, and joys lie elsewhere,
rooted in places and things that you and I may not appreciate. My best advice is to respect what they do, in hope they'll respect you in return. But don't get mired up in who reads you. You enjoy writing, and that's what matters first.
Jazz up your brainstorming with Brainstorming Bingo! It's a free, hour-long workshop that will take you from a blank page to flowing ideas. You'll get a bingo card filled with prompts, plus a list of ways to jumpstart your
creativity. You'll leave this workshop excited to turn your new ideas into finished stories. -Sept 9, 2025 - Chapin Library, Chapin, SC - 1PM
Email: hope@chopeclark.com to schedule events, online or otherwise. “A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say.” – Italo Calvino
<<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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Honing Your Instincts of Keeping Your Ears Open
By Orrin Konheim As a journalist, the most common question I receive is about the source of my story ideas. Sometimes, newspapers assign me work which saves me the brainpower of having to come up with ideas. In the unfortunate case that I must come up with my own stories (most of the time), there's a few tricks like crowdsourcing in various corners of the internet, getting
yourself on media lists, and going back to previous sources. However, the best advice I can offer, cliched as it is, is to keep your ears open. We take for granted that interesting things happen in our vicinity throughout our daily lives. In my case, a light bulb goes on in my head at those moments. It's an instinct I've honed over time. Call it a spidey sense of sorts. Four Tips on Honing This Skill: Notice the
interesting things going on around you. I was driving down a highway and noticed a motel totally out of character with its neighboring properties on Arlington's hotel row. Several months later I thought about that hotel when I needed a local article. In another example, I visited a synagogue in Richmond and saw pictures of two congregants in Boy Scout uniforms. I inquired further and found out that there was a troop within the Richmond Orthodox
Jewish community that catered specifically to the customs and dietary habits of observant Jews (resulting article). Approach people that have interesting wardrobes or live in interesting-looking houses. I once did an Uber share with a young lady wearing a sash, and she mentioned she was returning from an event in her role as Miss Arlington (resulting article). Another story involved a man I saw on the Washington D.C. metro
on a weeknight. I asked him why he wore a tuxedo. "Well, have I got a story for you," he said, and things went from there. Similarly, I've had story ideas from houses with interesting decorations (particularly around Halloween time). There's one pair of good Samaritans well-known in South Arlington for having a private food bank and do various social experiments form their front door. I once inquired further and found that the resident self-identifies as a kindness
activist. Be more inquisitive than the average person. If I find myself in a conversation and I hear something interesting, I dig deeper. Again, this is a natural tendency I’ve heightened. Sometimes, this has happened via carpooling. One man gave me a ride home who was also picking up an adopted refugee. This was at the height of the exodus of interpreters from Afghanistan. I instantly thought "wow, I gotta hear more!",
and it became one of my biggest successes.
Another woman I carpooled with was a guidance counselor for aspiring professional artists and athletes. I knew that her story was ideal for a couple markets: Family magazines and Jewish community magazines. The resulting article got me entry to both markets. Pay attention to where someone lives when absorbing entertainment news. I have lived in Central and Northern Virginia as well as Savannah,
Georgia, so I track those media markets. Game and reality TV show participants usually have their hometown publicized on the screen. This resulted in my connecting to a storyteller from True Story with Ed and Randall. Through him and many others (like TV show creator Greg Garcia or YouTube star Elaine Carroll, I highlighted our common geography in my contact with their management to land interviews. Conclusion I'm not
suggesting that newsworthy ideas automatically happen. That's why it's best to have ideas banked up. It's not like better instincts will lead to a meteorite landing in front of your doorstep tomorrow morning. However, IF a meteorite lands in front of my doorstep, the first thought that would go through my head would be "How do I publish this?" BIO - Orrin Konheim is a freelance researcher and journalist of 15 years with professional bylines in over 40 publications. He can be
found at http://www.patreon.com/okjournalist and his professional samples can be found at http://www.muckrack.com/orrin-konheim. He also teaches an online seminar on how to get published.
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KINDLE STORYTELLER AWARD
https://www.amazon.co.uk/b/ref=s9_acss_bw_cg_ConUK_4c1_w?node=77998573031&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-1&pf_rd_r=P3C3G27AE89T43A6BSMN&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=3db39743-4143-410b-a414-dc401262df5e&pf_rd_i=12061299031
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline August 31, 2025. A literary prize for authors who publish in any genre in English on Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Amazon's self-publishing service
between 1st May 2025 and 31st August 2025. Each Finalist will receive a Kindle Oasis E-reader. The winning author will receive a cash prize of £20,000 and a merchandise package to support the book on Amazon.co.uk. STORIES OUT OF SCHOOL FLASH FICTION CONTEST
https://www.academyforteachers.org/program/stories-out-of-school-flash-fiction-contest-2026
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline September 7, 2025. This annual contest was created to inspire great stories about teachers and the rich and crazy world of schools. The winning story will be published in A Public Space's print edition and the author will receive $1,000. Any adult of 18 years or older is eligible to submit, whether a teacher or not. Story must be a work of
fiction between 6 and 499 words. LOS ANGELES REVIEW LITERARY AWARDS
https://losangelesreview.submittable.com/submit
$20 ENTRY FEE. Deadline July 31, 2025. Categories poetry, short fiction, flash fiction, creative nonfiction. Winner of each category receives $1000 and
publication. Poetry limited to 50 lines. Short fiction and creative nonfiction limited to 2,500 words. Flash fiction limited to 1000 words. THE NEXT BIG STORY
https://www.thenovelry.com/prize
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline July 31, 2025. Eight shortlisted entries, chosen by our judges,
will win The Finished Novel Course from The Novelry, the world’s top-rated fiction writing school. Together, we’ll help you turn your winning idea into a publishing-ready book. One winner will take home $100,000. All you need to do, in three pages or less, is make us care about what happens next. The Prize is open to residents of the U.S.A, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. THE 704 PRIZE
https://westtradereview.submittable.com/submit/295213/the-704-prize-for-flash-fiction-7-04-entry-fee-704-prize
$7.04 ENTRY FEE. Deadline August 1, 2025. Area code 704 is our home for West Trade Review (the Charlotte Metro area), but our contest is open to anyone. Send us a flash piece of up to 704
words that engages the reader intellectually but also packs an emotional punch and conveys a deep human truth. This contest is open to emerging writers only who have not yet published a book with a print run over 1,500. $704 and publication in West Trade Review will be awarded to the winning story.
GRANTS / FELLOWSHIP / CROWDFUNDING SPECULATIVE LITERATURE DIVERSE WRITERS GRANTS
https://speculativeliterature.org/grants-3/slf-diverse-writers-and-diverse-worlds-grants/
Deadline July 31,
2025. The Diverse Writers grant is intended to support speculative fiction writers from underrepresented and underprivileged groups — such as writers of color, women, queer writers, disabled writers, etc. — whose marginalized identities may present additional obstacles in the writing and publishing process. These grants are designed to foster new, in-progress work, not to recognize already published work. This grant is open to all levels of publishing experience, worldwide. Award
$500. SPECULATIVE LITERATURE DIVERSE WORLDS GRANTS
https://speculativeliterature.org/grants-3/slf-diverse-writers-and-diverse-worlds-grants/
Deadline July 31, 2025. The $500 Diverse Worlds grant is intended for work that best
presents a diverse world, regardless of the writer’s background. A written description of the project should not exceed 500 words. Sample should not exceed 5,000 words. JAMES CASTLE HOUSE RESIDENCIES
https://www.jamescastlehouse.org/residencies/apply/
Deadline August 9,
2025. The two-month residency terms are designed to provide an immersive focus on a project or body of work that responds to the history and legacy of James Castle or the site. Taking inspiration from Castle’s curious and observant nature and his daily creative practice, this residency is open to artists, scholars, creators, and professionals working in any field. Residents are provided a $4,000 stipend to support to assist with living expenses and supplies necessary to create work. The
two-week residency terms are designed to provide time and space to focus on a single project that responds to the site. Residents will share their creative practice and process with the community through one public event during their stay. Residents are provided a $1,000 stipend to support to assist with living expenses and supplies necessary to create work. Open to applicants legally able to work in the United States. Applicants must be able to pass a thorough background check. Location Boise,
Idaho. BANFF DEEP WINTER RESIDENCIES
https://www.banffcentre.ca/programs/literary-arts/deep-winter-writers-2026
Deadline August 20, 2025. This 19-day self-directed residency offers the opportunity to work away from the constraints of
everyday life, delve deep into a creative project and take advantage of a community of artistic peers. Deep Winter Writers provides opportunities for consultations with exceptional mentors and optional group sessions that allow writers to explore useful literary tools, aspects, and devices. Faculty are on-campus for the first two weeks of the residency. The third week allows residents to dive deeper into their writing and apply the learning from the first two weeks. Scholarships available. WILLAPA BAY ARTIST IN RESIDENCE
https://willapabayair.org/residency
Deadline August 31, 2025. Willapa Bay AiR is situated on 20 acres in coastal southwest Washington state. We offer month-long, self-directed residencies to emerging and established artists, filmmakers, writers,
playwrights, scholars, singer/songwriters, and musical composers. The Residency provides lodging, meals, and work space, at no cost, to six residents each month from April 1 through October 28 of the year.
THE WALRUS
https://thewalrus.ca/about/submissions/
The Walrus magazine publishes original reporting, essays, fiction, poetry, and visual essays in the fields of politics, the arts, science and the environment, health, business, sports, technology,
and international affairs. We publish articles of varying length, depth of reporting, and writing style and compensate writers accordingly. For example, short essays of around 1,000 words start at $500; long-form reported features pay up to $1/word. DWELL
https://www.dwell.com/article/how-to-submit-to-dwell-397833aa
Dwell promotes good design for everyone. We publish home tours, reported pieces, interviews, and essays, all focused on the power of smart design and new ideas about where and how we live. Watch for themes. For written pieces, our rates start at 50 cents per assigned word for web, and $1 for print, and increase with the complexity of the story and amount of reporting required. PUNCH
https://punchdrink.com/contact/
We’re interested in exploring drinking culture from all angles, including its connection to place, people and design. We have a great fondness for unusual characters, fringe movements, unsung traditions and overlooked haunts reported from the farthest flung corners of the world.
Stories should be narrative-driven and thoroughly reported. Pays 50 cents/word. GOING
https://www.going.com/write-for-us
Each newsletter covers a single experience that’s a one-of-a-kind or once-in-a-lifetime type of travel experience. Length: 500-600 words, plus a short section on logistics.
Rate $250+. Another newsletter titled Places go deep into a single destination—a city, region, island, state, and sometimes a whole country—to talk about what makes it like nowhere else on Earth. We cover a bit of history, culture, food, language, music, art, design. Around 1400 words plus some “Good to Know” logistical info. Rate $300+. In the Know newsletters offer readers tips and advice, often with a timely or news-related peg like an upcoming holiday or event or a recent trend in travel or
airfare. Length: Varies but generally 600-800 words. Rate: Varies but starting at $250. The Going with Points weekly newsletter explores how to use travel credit cards. Themes of topics include different types of credit cards, how to earn and redeem points, and transferring to airline membership programs. Length: 1,200-1,500 words. Rate: Varies but starting at $400. Credit card reviews and roundups newsletter guides include in-depth reviews of a single travel credit card as well as “best of”
roundups on a specific topic. Length: Varies by topic. Card reviews start around 800 words and could go up depending on complexity and sections. Roundups start around 1,200 words but may be higher. Depends on the amount of cards featured, and other topics. Reviews: Starting at $400. Roundups: Starting at $600. BIG THINK
https://bigthink.com/
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSceFJtrw0ZjBc-kQjE5_g-wIWN2wwdduFh7kTM4hZwG6pn2MQ/viewform
We’re always looking for original feature pitches about transformative trends, scientific breakthroughs, and emerging ideas that challenge conventional
wisdom, including interviews with high-profile scientists, entrepreneurs, authors, and thinkers. You can use this form to submit pitches or reach out to us with questions at pitches@bigthink.com.
PEASANTRY PRESS
https://peasantrypress.com/submissions.html#/
Our open submission period runs from July 1st - August 1st each year. We are looking for highly polished, unpublished novellas and novels in a number of genres,
including (but not limited to) adventure, drama, historical fiction, inspirational/Christian fiction, mystery, sweet romance, science fiction of all types, urban fantasy, fairytale, young adult, completed (illustrated) graphic novels. Manuscripts must be 40,000 – 120,000 words. We will also consider picture books that are illustrated by the author. WATERTOWER HILL PUBLISHING
https://www.watertowerhill.com/submissions
Deadline August 31, 2025. We are currently seeking manuscripts for the 2027 Publishing Calendar! We publish in the following genres: Adult Fiction, Adult Memoir, Adult Non-Fiction (including True Crime), Horror, Christian Fiction/Non-Fiction, Adult Fantasy & Sci-Fi, New Adult Fiction, New Adult Fantasy & Sci-Fi, Romance
(non-erotica), Poetry, YA Fantasy and Sci-Fi, Middle Grade Children's, Novella Collections, Short Story and Anthological Collections (Must adhere to editing requirements). Manuscripts for adult-audience books must be a minimum of 60,000 words for consideration. Middle grade manuscripts must be at least 20,000 words. Novella Collections and Anthologies must stay within industry standard boundaries. BELLA BOOKS
https://www.bellabooks.com/submission-guidelines/
At Bella Books, we believe stories about women-loving-women are essential to our lives—and so do our readers. We are interested in acquiring manuscripts that tell captivating and unique stories across all genres—including romance, mystery, thriller, paranormal, etc. GRAND CANYON PRESS
https://grandcanyonpress.com/submissions/
Grand Canyon Press invites submissions from July 1-July 30. We publish six to twelve titles a year and are highly selective. We’re open to novellas, novels, short story collections, essay collections, creative nonfiction, and memoirs. HASHTAG PRESS
https://www.hashtagpress.co.uk/submission-guidelines
We are open to debut authors especially those from an underrepresented background. We publish commercial fiction books for young people that are plot driven with relatable, inspiring characters and great friendships. We have a small
backlist of inspiring non-fiction that we would like to grow. We are a tiny publishing house so we are incredibly selective. Right now open 1st -31st July 2025 for Children's, YA and Non-Fiction.
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 2000-2025, C. Hope Clark
ISSN: 1533-1326 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
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