VOLUME 25, ISSUE 44 | november 7, 2025 |
WRITE THROUGH IT I'm weathering shingles this week. Not fun at all. I'll take the rash all day long, because the nerve pain inside is much worse. So sitting at the computer comes in spells. I still got a few thousand words
written, and FFW continued. But I miss my gym time. Leggings don't work with shingles. But with my life slowing down a little bit, I get to think. I am on chapter 24 for the next book. I have good ideas for the next book. I love knowing there is another book waiting for me when I complete this one. Makes me take less time off between books. Life can throw you for a loop
sometimes, but don't let it shut you down. Write. Or take notes about writing. Or read good books and glean ideas from a successful author. I receive so many inquiries about getting a grant TO WRITE a book with most never having written a book before. Or to pay for indie publishing when they don't have ten chapters under their belt. They can't seem to write without the grant, they say. I am fairly blunt with them, saying if
that's the obstacle, it sounds like they don't really want to write for the joy of it, but instead, just want to put a marketable product out there. Most say they don't have time to write. In that case, they don't have time to be an author. The successful write through obstacles. And those are usually ones who enjoy the process as much or more than the publication. Writers just write. Decide how to publish it later. Use the
grants to aid your process (see the Grants page of FFW), but do not let grants (or illness, or moving, or holiday, or your child's wedding) stop you from being a creator. |
Okay, okay, fine. You're right. These guys all lived before the era of websites, but *you* don't, and one of the best places to reach your readers and stick in their brain is by having a website of your own. I mean, talk about memorable, that guy on the right's actual first name is
"Mayonnaise." Yes, really... well, okay it was "Mayo," but the point still remains. He had a memorable name and you don't remember him. So you need more than a memorable name. You need a place to meet readers, a front door so to speak where you can usher them into your work, you know, a website. And while social media can do some of that front-door work, you need a place you can control. If the Zuckermuskatoks of the world
decide to change the algorithm for their benefit and not yours, you'll be wishing you had something as memorable as a name like "Mayo." Or maybe you could just get a custom designed and built website. I wonder who offers those services? Oh, yeah, I do at AuthorWebSolutions.com WRITE YOUR HEART
“The artist who is after success lets himself be influenced by the public. Generally such an artist contributes nothing new, for the public acclaims only what it already knows, what it recognizes.” — André Gide (1869–1951), “Pretexts: Reflections on Literature and Morality” I had to read that twice, and it got more profound the second time around. When we, as writers, simply chase what the public wants, we aren't as loyal to our art. It's more important to create art, your art, unique art you haven't seen anywhere else, then own it. Literary agents say they want what the market wants while at the same time they want something original. The public may say what it wants more of, but again, like agents, they want something with a different flavor as well. A lot of what this means is that you must find your writing voice and own it within your genre. That takes hundreds of thousands of words. When you take the time, put in the sweat, and amass the
huge number of words, you slowly hone a skill with a specific style. Just writing one book-length product won't cut it. That's because in that continuous effort, as you slowly refine how you want to say what you mean, when you think how you so deeply want to send a message, you almost forget about the formalities of writing, and instead, write the art. Quit following the influencers. Quit trying to be a close number two to someone
else's number one. Don't leave this world without writing what represents you, what deep in your heart and soul you really mean. “Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art.” – Leonardo da Vinci
Sign up for a free consultation call! I listen to your writerly woes (believe me, I get it!), then steer you toward success with strategies tailored to you. You'll leave each
session with a new perspective, a clear action plan — and the confidence to actually follow through. With 15+ years of freelancing for top consumer and trade publications (NYT, WSJ, BBC, WIRED, AFAR, Fast Company) and major brands, I now coach freelance writers who just need a little guidance to land their dream clients. What you'll
get in our 60-min coaching sessions: - Personalized pitch feedback + ideas on who to pitch
- Step-by-step strategies to find and land better clients
- Accountability, motivation, confidence building (to ask for better rates and pitch that top pub!)
- Access to my insider tips and secret resources
Curious? Let's
chat! Learn more and sign up for a FREE 20-min consultation call. Got questions? Write me: workwithme@suchirudra.com And don't forget to follow me on Instagram @nomadicwriterlife for juicy freelancing tips! -Nov 14-19, 2025 - exact date TBD - signing Edisto Bookstore, Edisto, SC -Nov 22, 2025 - Christmas Market - 8AM-2PM - ICRC Rec Ctr, Chapin, SC -Apr 15, 2026 - Book Club, Noon to 2 PM - Elgin, SC (members only)
Email: hope@chopeclark.com to schedule events, online or otherwise. “The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty.” —Winston Churchill
Hope-- I've been a long-time fan of FundsforWriters and have pitched several sources I've discovered in its pages...usually with little to show for the effort. However, that string broke, happily, when I entered a recent AWAI contest to write a sales email--and was one of the winners! I have to admit, when I first saw the email in my box with the word "Congratulations!" in it, I was afraid it was a scam. 😏 But it was legit, and I will soon be $200 richer as a result. Thanks for sending these opportunities our way. You truly never know which ones will pay off! Thanks
again.
Janet W. Butler
www.janetwbutler.com <<If you have a success story you believe was prompted by FundsforWriters, please share with us! Send to hope@chopeclark.com >> Making Money from Writing on Medium, Part 1: The Basics
By Dan Brotzel I make a few hundred dollars a year from writing on Medium, something I’ve been doing for about seven years.
As well as a writing side hustle, I’ve also found Medium useful as a research tool, portfolio, and archive. Over a couple of articles, I’ll look at how to get started, and how to start monetising your words on Medium more effectively.
Medium: What and Why? Medium is a very user-friendly platform for sharing your writing with a large audience. It was launched in 2012 by
Twitter co-founder Evan Williams as a space for thoughtful medium and long-form writing (hence, the name). While some content on Medium is tedious and repetitive – especially those thousands of articles with titles like ‘How I made $XYZ on Medium in two days’ – there are lots of very valuable articles on every possible topic you can imagine. Lots of important articles started
life on Medium, such as ‘I Had a Baby and Cancer When I Worked at amazon. This is My Story’ and a number of COVID-19 whistleblower posts by doctors and scientists early in the pandemic. Many prominent people have used Medium to share their views and messages, from Barack Obama to Jerry Seinfeld to Jeff Bezos. You earn money on Medium by getting engagement from your articles in the form of claps,
highlights, responses and read times. To start making money, you really need to be part of the Medium Partner Program and getting into publications, which can give your content a much bigger platform. More on this in part 2 that will appear in next week’s FundsforWriters. Getting started The first thing to do is set up your account, create a profile and start following some writers. You can opt to receive email alerts from writers when they publish a new article too. All this benefits them but will often lead to reciprocal engagement. People often advise you to find your niche when you get started on
Medium. But the great thing about Medium is that you can have lots of different niches. For example, I publish pieces on digital copywriting and content marketing as well as short stories, humour, the craft of fiction and other articles I just want to write. You can also upload things you’ve published elsewhere (always check if you have those rights), things from defunct titles that you can give a new lease of life, or things you never managed to publish elsewhere. Your pieces all stay up there, where they can be discovered by people searching or browsing. Some will continue to make money for you long after initial publication. First stories The interface for writing or uploading a story into medium is very straightforward. Medium’s own guide is here, so I’ll just highlight a couple of things. Headlines (titles) are all -important, of course, with a catchy subtitle (this will default to a preview snippet, which can be edited). There’s a really handy way to embed link snippets to other articles. As with all web writing,
scannable subheads, bullets and snappy paras go a long way. Every Medium article should have at least one headline image. These can be downloaded free from Unsplash – choose from the rights-free options when you search, and make sure to credit the photographer and avoid the many over-used images. To be more lateral, I often use animal or abstract images. Every article can have up to five tags, which should be a mix of broad (eg ‘creativity’ or ‘AI’) and more niche (eg ‘brainstorming tips’ or ‘fuzzy logic’). There’s good advice on tagging in this piece. In fact, you’ll find there’s huge amounts of advice on every aspect of publishing on Medium – much of it on Medium. So: start writing and publishing pieces. Get familiar with the platform, and learn how to do things like embed links to other articles of yours. Start using the stats dashboard so you can see how your pieces are doing. Here’s a good intro to getting started. Also, start noting the publications of articles you like. Get to 100 followers as quickly as you can, because then you can join the Partner Program and start monetising your content, which I’ll cover in more detail in part 2. BIO - Dan Brotzel’s latest novel is Thank You For The Days (Bloodhound Books). He also writes widely on Medium.
JOHN UPDIKE REVIEW EMERGING WRITERS PRIZE
https://updikereview.com/
NO DEADLINE. NO ENTRY FEE. A $1000 prize plus publication in The John Updike Review, awarded annually to writers 40 years of age or younger. Depending upon the
quality of submissions, one or more winners will be announced annually. The review is looking for an essay by a young writer or critic that deepens our understanding of the work of John Updike. The writing may be scholarly or belletristic in nature. Academics, critics, graduate students, assistant professors, novelists, poets, and short story writers are encouraged to submit 10-30 page essays. There is no deadline; submissions are open and rolling. Send submissions via attachment to: Prof.
James Schiff, Editor, The John Updike Review, james.schiff@uc.edu. UNCHARTER NOVEL EXCERPT PRIZE
https://uncharted.submittable.com/submit/
$20 ENTRY FEE. Deadline December 14, 2025. We're
looking for the best 5,000 words or fewer from your novel in progress! We love to read opening chapters, climaxes, and anything in-between. Uncharted Magazine publishes genre novel excerpts from fiction writers of any background or experience. The three cowinners of this prize will each receive $1,000 and publication. All entries will be considered for publication. Please send novel excerpts (fiction) only—5,000 word count maximum. PEN/ROBERT J DAU SHORT STORY PRIZE FOR EMERGING WRITERS
https://pen.org/literary-awards/pen-dau-short-story-prize/
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline November 25, 2025. The award recognizes 12 emerging writers each year for their debut short story published in a literary magazine, journal, or cultural website, and aims to
support the launch of their careers as fiction writers. The 12 winning stories are selected by a committee of three judges who are well-respected experts in the art of the short story. The winning writers each receive a $2,000 cash prize and will be published by Catapult in their annual anthology, Best Debut Short Stories: The PEN America Dau Prize. Stories may not exceed 12,000 words in length. Stories must be submitted by editors of literary magazines, journals, or cultural websites and
published in the English language. Publications may be based and/or distributed anywhere in the world, so long as the story submitted was originally written in and published in English. Authors may not submit their own work. DARK POETS PRIZE
https://www.darkpoets.club/darkpoetsprize
£6
ENTRY FEE. Deadline November 30, 2025. This global poetry competition invites you to submit your most captivating poems that explore the beauty within darkness. The winner will receive the prestigious title of International Dark Poets Prize IV Winner and a cash prize of £1000. Every entry will also be considered for publication, with the chance of being awarded an honourable mention. Previously published works are welcomed. Maximum of 250 words per poem (not including
title). DO WHA(TS) WRITE PRIZE
https://www.dowhatswrite.com/rules
$5 CAD ENTRY FEE. Deadline December 31, 2025. The goal of Do Wha(TS) Write is to fundraise for Tourette Canada, a national charity that provides support for individuals with TS. Contest entries should be flash
fiction or short stories, with an absolute word limit of 1000 words. There is no required prompt or topic. Poetry is not permitted. This contest is international - you do not have to reside in Canada to participate. The winner will receive a prize of $200 CAD and published.
GRANTS / FELLOWSHIP / CROWDFUNDING SARATOGA ARTS GRANTS
https://www.saratoga-arts.org/grants
Deadline November 21, 2025. For decades, Saratoga Arts has been proud to serve this region as a New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA)
Statewide Community Regrant (SCR) site, formerly "Decentralization". Funding has been distributed to arts projects in Fulton, Montgomery and Saratoga Counties through our program. We accept applications in the fall of each year for projects designed for the following year. Saratoga Arts offers three separate grant categories each year; Community Arts Grants, Arts Education Grants, and Individual Artist Grants. INDEPENDENTLY PUBLISHED
PRE-PUBLICATION GRANTS
https://www.scbwi.org/awards-and-grants/for-independently-published/independently-published-pre-publication-grant
Open in the month of November. You must be a current SCBWI member when your work is submitted and when the award is announced. Money from the
grant must be used to self-publish your book. Provides $2,500 to help off-set costs of self-publishing. A brief cover letter with the name of your proposed book, a 1-2 paragraph synopsis, your publication timeline, a short bio, a 1 page business plan of how the grant money will used, and 2-3 sentences about why you have chosen to self-publish this book. GULLIVER'S TRAVEL GRANT
https://speculativeliterature.org/grants-3/the-gulliver-travel-grant/
Deadline November 30, 2025. Award: $1,000 USD. The Gulliver Travel Grant has been awarded annually to assist writers of speculative literature in their non-academic research. These funds are used to cover airfare, lodging, and other travel expenses. Travel may be domestic or
international. You may apply for travel to take place at any point in the following year. THE ENCOURAGEMENT FUND
https://www.scbwi.org/impact-and-legacy-fund/programs/encouragement-fund
Deadline November 15, 2025. The Encouragement Fund will
provide three grants of $2,000 each to children’s book authors, artists, or translators who have traditionally published at least one book of any genre. Grants have no strings attached and may be used however the recipient sees fit. For the 2025/2026 cycle, we will be focusing on authors and translators who are working on humor books: chapter books, middle grade, and YA. No picture books this time around. You do not have to be a member of SCBWI to submit. However, your previously published book
must be traditionally published. THE HUGO BURGE FOUNDATION
https://www.hugoburgefoundation.org/residencies
The Hugo Burge Foundation offers fully-funded Residencies throughout the year at our dedicated studios in the spectacular Scottish Borders. We support the development of new and
exciting work across all artforms. See each individual residency for deadlines and requirements.
ONE STORY
https://one-story.submittable.com/submit%2F338235%2Fone-story-submission-fall-2025
One Story’s Fall 2025 submission period will open on Nov 3 and close when we reach our submissions cap. Submitters
are only permitted to submit one story per submission period. One Story is seeking literary fiction. Because of our format, we can only accept stories between 3,000 and 8,000 words. One Story pays $500 and 25 contributors copies for First Serial North American rights. GEIST
https://www.geist.com/submission/submit
Deadline November 14, 2025. Geist is a Canadian magazine of ideas and culture with a strong literary focus and a sense of humour. Our priority is to publish work from emerging and established writers and artists who are Canadian or permanent residents of Canada, who live in or outside the country. Geist is always seeking short non-fiction (under 2000 words), typically personal narrative, for the Notes & Dispatches
section. Pay is commensurate with length, usually $300-500. Longform essays (up to 5000 words) are published as Features. We pay up to $1000. We’re interested in comics that are weird, funny, unexpected or experimental. We pay $120 per page. We publish short stories (up to 5000 words) in the Features section. We usually publish one story per issue, so please send only your best work. We pay up to $1000. Send a maximum of 5 poems. We publish between one to three poems per issue, in the Notes
& Dispatches section and occasionally in Features. We pay $100 per page. COMPOSE.LY
https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/4267079683/
Compose.ly is looking for talented freelance writers with a passion for manufacturing content writing to create content for our clients. We’re seeking
writers who can craft engaging, insightful, and well-researched articles about various topics related to law. If you’re experienced in manufacturing content writing and confident in your ability to deliver high-quality SEO content, this opportunity is for you! This is a freelance position, and the pay rate is USD $0.10 per word. FOLDING ROCK
https://foldingrock.com/submit-your-work/
We’re always on the hunt for the best new creative fiction and non-fiction in, from and connected to Wales. We accept previously unpublished work by writers at any stage and age, and we pay for every piece we publish – the same rate for seasoned authors and first-time sharers alike. Our taste is more literary-leaning than genre-based. Themes are on the
website. We pay a universal rate of £360 per piece. CURRENT AFFAIRS
https://www.currentaffairs.org/writers-guide
We have two publication formats: our print edition and our online edition. Main articles for the print edition are usually around 3000-4500 words, while online articles are
usually 1200-2400 words. The print edition also contains lots of boxes, sidebars, etc. with short interstitial pieces, which can run anywhere from 100-500 words. General themes that tend to produce good Current Affairs articles are: Critiques of bad premises and arguments that are infecting current debates; Strategies and suggestions for solving contemporary problems; Discussions of types of human suffering that people ought to care more about that they presently do; Merciless verbal thrashings
of bad writers, thinkers, commentators, and other such entities. Online article - $250. Print article - $350.
BRASH BOOKS
https://www.brash-books.com/about/
We publish the books that we love – the widely-acclaimed, award-winning novels that have inspired, entertained, and wowed countless readers as well as today’s bestselling authors of thrillers and mysteries.
We also publish innovative whodunits, espionage adventures and novels of suspense from well-established authors and exciting, new voices in crime fiction. CLASH BOOKS
https://www.clashbooks.com/submission-guidelines
We love literary transgressive horror, character driven narratives
with strong voices & stories that explore the boundaries of form. We are looking for horror, literary fiction & nonfiction with an exciting cultural hook. We do publish poetry but are extremely selective. COFFEETOWN PRESS
https://coffeetownpress.com/submissions/
We look for fiction
and nonfiction. We prefer word counts between 50,000 and 100,000 words. We are not currently accepting works of horror fiction, sci-fi/fantasy, poetry, or children's titles at any of our imprints. We publish historical and literary fiction, and literary mysteries. DARK INK
https://aminkpublishing.com/about-us
Our horror imprint, Dark Ink, has released everything from celebrity biographies like Kane Hodder and Tom Savini to novels and short story collections. Our elite line of horror themed books has gardened press around the world, turned into movies and sold translations rights. AT BAY PRESS
https://atbaypress.com/submissions
We are only interested in literary fiction and literary non-fiction—including poetry. We do publish literary mysteries, thrillers, and noir and are interested in quality submissions in the science fiction, fantasy and graphic novel genres as well.
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
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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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