VOLUME 26, ISSUE 12 | MARCH 20, 2026 |
EDISTO LETHAL Book 14 of The Edisto Island Mysteries is available for ebook pre-order. The release date is April 1, 2026. (Saying that never gets old!!!) For those interested, I have several appearances where I will be signing the book (and any of the others), and I'd love to meet the
people reading my stories. See further down for more details. Here is the teaser, and I hope it appeals to you. The Poe family (yes, that Poe) celebrates the matron’s eightieth birthday at Edisto Beach. But in a macabre sense of legacy, the members assume a vengeful script of poisonous tricks as they vie for a place in grandmother’s Will. When the
grandson is poisoned, Edisto Beach Police Chief Callie Morgan arrives to nail the culprit, only for the family to call the act a prank. All possess the culinary skills endowed upon them by the Grand Dame Doris Woolf Poe, author of a renowned cookbook, and the culprit could be any one of them. Callie finds herself in the middle of a passive-aggressive family feud of the highest order while at the same time juggling her own
family feud as her mother tries to suck Callie’s son into a political role he has no desire to pursue. Then when Callie learns her son knows the Poes, her professional and personal lives cross into territory that leads her into very uncomfortable territory. |
MSLEXIA
Mslexia is a not-for-profit organisation supported by Arts Council England. Its mission is to help women express themselves and get their writing noticed: in print, online
and in performance. They buy writing and they list writing opportunities. They have contests that pay quite well. I love how solid they are. Right now they are asking for submissions in terms of 200-word pitches. If they like the premise for the story, they'll reach out and hire you.
https://mslexia.co.uk/submit-your-work/nonfiction/ See the topics below. They are quite universal. Enjoy and good luck. Let us know if you find success! Substacking
What do you write about and why? Please send a 200-word description of your personal Substack and a 200-word excerpt from a recent instalment – plus a link, of course. My Writing Time
Most
writers’ lives are a mosaic of paid and unpaid work, including day jobs, caring duties, teaching, performance and journalism, as well as creative writing. How does writing fit into your life in a typical day? Pitch us by listing your main creative genres plus at least two other aspects of your paid or unpaid working life (e.g. dental nurse, MA student, caring for mother with dementia, project managing my loft extension, member of theatre collective). We'll get in touch if we want to commission
you. #amwriting
We want to hear from writers who manage to continue with their creative work despite a particular challenge, e.g. new baby, long-term illness, English as a second language, depression, no Wi-Fi connection, family ridicule... Pitch us by stating your main creative genre, plus a key ongoing challenge you grapple with in order to continue writing – no more than 200 words in all. We will get in touch if we want to
commission a full article.
Six authors. Six journeys. One powerful circle. Please join us as we welcome these incredible voices to the room:  Pat McNeely Bonnie Stanard Every genre carries
wisdom, and every voice adds something distinct to the space. From fiction to memoir, these women are stepping forward to share their books and the lived experiences behind the pages. There is a particular energy that fills a room when a woman reads her own words. We invite you to be part of that connection. Reserve your seat today and join us for a journey of conversation, courage, and collective storytelling. -March 21, 2026 - Writer's Digest Mystery/Thriller Writing Virtual Conference - time TBD -April 1, 2026 - Her Story, Her Voice, open to public ($18 each and catered), Something Small Catering, 2510 Main Street, Suite A, Columbia, SC - 5:30-8PM - 6 invited authors to read -April 6, 2026 - Night Harbor Book Club, Chapin, SC (Hope is moderator, book
Before the Coffee Gets Cold) -Apr 15, 2026 - Book Club, Noon to 2 PM - Elgin, SC (members only) -April 16, 2026 - Brookhaven Book Club, 3001 Stanbury Dr, Matthews, NC -7-9PM -April 18, 2026 - The Coffee Shelf, 130 Amicks Ferry Rd, Chapin, SC 29036 -8AM-noon -April 30, 2026 - Edisto Bookstore, 547 SC-174, Edisto Island, SC - 3-5PM -June 4, 2026 - Chapin Library, Chapin, SC - 1-2 PM -June 13-20, 2026 - Gutsy
Great Novel Retreat, Bar Harbor, Maine - Hope as author-in-residence -July 25, 2026 - Smoking Guns Sisters in Crime Zoom meeting - Noon - Zoom -October 27-28, 2026 - SC Library Conference, Columbia Convention Ctr - lunch speaker -November 15-21, 2026 - Edisto Beach, signings TBD
Email: hope@chopeclark.com to schedule events, online or otherwise. “Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.” – Langston Hughes
<<If you have a success story you believe was prompted by FundsforWriters, please share with us! Send to hope@chopeclark.com >> Unsexy but Lucrative: Making Money from Thought Leadership Content
By Dan Brotzel
It sounds like a terrible bit of business jargon, but ‘thought leadership’ is basically just expert-based content that educates or informs
potential clients, rather than selling at them. Where a company has a complicated or very technical service to offer and/or the purchasing process involves lots of decision-makers, this kind of content helps audiences to clarify their thinking and understand the issues. For example:
- A packaging management software writes articles about new legislation that consumer goods business needs to know about
(which the software can help with)
- A law firm writes blog posts explaining issues around intellectual property aimed at creative businesses worried about idea theft but without much legal knowledge
- A digital marketing agency writes an ebook about trends in AI-led SEO
- A bank writes a guide for landlords looking to buy a first commercial property Thought leadership content gives marketers authority, visibility and lead generation. It’s good for SEO and social profile and can generate enquiries from interested consumers. Bigger pieces are sometimes gated, meaning that prospects have to supply some basic info such as an email address to access the full content. What does the work look like? Businesses have employees with know-how, but it’s often locked up in the heads of their internal experts (the thought leaders) whose time is much too valuable to spend writing marketing content. (Often they know far too much about a topic, too, and they struggle to condense or simplify the information for non-experts.) Companies use writers, often freelance, to unlock that knowledge and package it into user-friendly formats. So
the work is scribing and ghosting, quite journalistic in flavour. Often it involves interviewing experts and/or reworking large technical docs into smaller more manageable ones. For example, I’m often given a full webinar talk and asked to turn it into a series of blog posts or an ebook. Along with ebooks, white papers, and articles (all quite vague labels), you may be asked to produce LinkedIn posts, social messages and newsletter
snippets. You may write the same story several different ways, say as a playbook for CEOs and then as an opinion piece for an industry magazine. More on formats here. What skills do you need? The topics can sound daunting – in my time I’ve written on everything from international tax to HR software to robotics – but your job isn’t to be an expert. People with
experience in marketing agencies or trade journalism – where you learn to write about anything – are very well suited. You need to listen hard, edit and clarify, hit deadlines and be flexible with amends and changing interview times. (Many experts are hard to get hold of and often postpone at the last minute, sometimes including different time zones.) Even if AI is used as a tool, the final product needs to sound human and match the
company’s brand voice, and that’s where you come in. If a business likes what you do, they will often come back for more, as thought leadership content is an ongoing need for most b2b businesses. And experts may ask for you specifically if you may them look good. They typically get the byline so it helps them boost their own profile. Breaking in The usual tactics can help you break into this area. Make use of any relevant background experience. Put together a portfolio (you may not be able to post this publicly because content authorship can be commercially sensitive, but you can often point people to things in a phone chat or email). LinkedIn is a very valuable source of connections; here’s their guide. My main client currently came from a LinkedIn chat with an old contact from my agency days. Tap up connections and approach agencies as well as individual companies. Look out for companies that post a lot of expert-attributed content. Thought leadership
writing is one of the less sexy corners of the freelance world, but for steady, well-paid work that rewards curiosity and editorial skill, it’s well worth looking at. BIO - Dan Brotzel’s latest novels are Thank You For The Days and The Wolf in the Woods. He also writes widely on Medium
CLAIRE HARRIS POETRY PRIZE
https://gooselane.com/pages/claire-harris-poetry-prize-submissions
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline March 31, 2026. Eligible writers include Canadian citizens or permanent residents of
Canada who are writers from Black, Indigenous, or other racialized communities and who have not previously published a book-length collection of poetry. (Poets who have published a chapbook, but not yet a book-length collection, are eligible to apply). Manuscripts should be book-length works of poetry, i.e., approximately 48-100 pages. The prize includes a cash award of $1,000, a contract for the publication of the collection under the icehouse poetry imprint in the following year (2027), and
public readings in at least three Canadian cities. FOLEY POETRY CONTEST
https://americamedia.submittable.com/submit
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline March 31, 2026. Each entrant is asked to submit one poem of 45 lines or fewer. Poems should not be under consideration elsewhere.
Poems may address any topic. The winning poem will be announced in early June and published in the print edition of America. The cash prize is $1,000. Three runners-up will also be published in subsequent issues. PARSEC SHORT STORY CONTEST
https://parsec-sff.org/short-story-contest/
NO
ENTRY FEE. Deadline March 31, 2026. The 2026 Contest theme is "Metamorphosis." No minimum, no more than 3500 words. Stories will be judged on writing quality and effective use of the contest theme. The contest is open to non-professional writers who have not met the eligibility requirements for SFWA Full Membership. Writers meeting the SFWA Associate level of membership are eligible to submit to the contest. Submitting to the contest implies consent for printing in the
Confluence program book and publication in a short story contest ebook that will be distributed to Parsec members. First-place receives $200 and publication in the Confluence program book and 2026 short story contest ebook. Second-place receives $100 and publication in 2026 short story contest ebook. Third-place receives $50 and publication in 2026 short story contest ebook. Youth Story Prize receives $50 and publication in 2026 short story contest ebook. THE ILSE SCHWEPCKE PRIZE FOR WOMEN'S TRAVEL WRITING
https://societyofauthors.org/prizes/other-prizes/ilse-schwepcke-prize/
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline March 31, 2026. This prize is for non-fiction, prose works of travel writing and not open to fiction or poetry. The winning author will
receive £5,000. Entries must be written in English and not translated works. Submissions must be made by an established commercial publisher. EYE CONTACT AWARD IN FLASH FICTION
https://sites.google.com/setonhill.edu/eyecontact/guidelines/genre-flash-fiction-prize
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline March 31, 2026. Eye Contact is a college literary magazine. Theme: Symphony. Genre: Fantasy. Submit the best genre story that lands 1000 words or less. All stories meeting the criteria for the award will be considered for publication and may receive special mention as runners-up. First prize $250. ANN PETRY AWARD
https://redhen.org/ann-petry-award/
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline March 31, 2026. The Ann Petry Award is for a work of previously unpublished prose, either a novel or a collection of short stories or novellas, with a minimum of 150 pages, by a Black writer. Grand prize $3000, publication by Red Hen
Press.
GRANTS / FELLOWSHIP / CROWDFUNDING NORTH CAROLINA ARTIST SUPPORT GRANTS
https://www.ncarts.org/grants-resources/grants/grants-artists/artist-support-grants
Artist Support Grants is a program funded by the N.C. Arts Council to provide the
opportunity for regional consortia of local arts councils to award project grants to artists in their regions in North Carolina. These grants support professional artists in any discipline and at any stage in their careers to pursue projects that further their artistic and professional development. Contact the granting local arts council (see website) for details. HANSE-WISSENSCHAFTSKOLLEG (HWK) FELLOWSHIPS
https://www.fictionmeetsscience.org/ccm/content/projects/invention/writers-in-residence;jsessionid=8059B6C807E09207124B0C6461B2FB5C
Deadline: May 15, 2026. For those writing a work of fiction or creative non-fiction in which science and its practitioners play a
major role entails a considerable amount of background research. In this project, we award selected authors fellowships to work on science novels. Residency duration is three to ten months. Pay is a monthly stipend (up to €2,500/month) and travel expenses, plus free accommodation. INDIANA LEGAL HELP
http://IndianaLegalHelp.org
Pro Bono Indiana's 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. COKIE ROBERTS FELLOWSHIP
FOR WOMEN'S HISTORY
https://archivesfoundation.org/cokie-roberts-fellowship/
Deadline April 15, 2026. The Cokie Roberts Research Fund for Women’s History will support one to three annual fellowships for emerging and established historians, journalists, authors, or graduate students who perform and publish new research
to elevate women’s history using the records held by the National Archives. This fellowship is intended to support the cost of travel and time to conduct research and publish works related to original research conducted at the National Archives. Up to $12,500.
REVENUE RULEBREAKER
https://www.revenuerulebreaker.com/contributor-guide/
Deadline March 31, 2026. Seeking pitches related to parenthood + entrepreneurship. Focused on solopreneurs and microentrepreneurs, businesses led
by one or two people. Most of our audience is "creative entrepreneurs," meaning designers, writers, marketers, strategists, coaches, developers, and journalists. Pays $200 per story for 600 words and up. GOOD GRIT MAGAZINE
https://goodgritmag.com/contributor-guidelines/
We serve a
community of adventure-driven millennials who crave meaningful travel experiences. We’re here to inspire discovery, from hiking trails in small towns to culinary hotspots across the South. Four seasonal issues a year, each filled with travel inspiration tailored to the time of year. Assignments are 700-800 words, sometimes 1000-1200 words. Pays $0.25 to $0.30 per word. ESCAPE POD
https://escapepod.org/guidelines/short-fiction/
Escape Pod is a science fiction market. We want stories that center science, technology, future projections, and/or alternate history, and how any or all of these things impact individuals and society. Short stories – original fiction: 1,500-6,000 words (sweet spot: 2000-4000). Short stories – reprints ONLY: 1,500-7,500 words (sweet spot:
any). Novelettes – reprints ONLY: 7,500-18,000. Payment: USD $0.08 per word for original fiction. USD $100 per story for reprint fiction. LIVE SCIENCE
https://www.livescience.com/how-to-pitch-live-science
Live Science regularly publishes freelance news, features and
explainer pieces. We cover everything from fascinating archaeological discoveries from ancient Egypt, to bizarre ancient sea monsters, to wild theories about the birth and death of the universe. For news stories, rates range from $250 to $400. SICK TIMES
https://thesicktimes.org/write-for-us-part-time-opportunities
The Sick Times is accepting pitches for reported news features and essays/commentary pieces. We take pitches only; do not send full drafts on spec. We prioritize pitches from people with Long COVID and related diseases. We will not review pitches drafted with AI. We pay $1300 for news features of 1500-1700 words and publish 2-3 of these stories per month. Will consider pitches for longer features on a
case-by-case basis.
HATHERLEIGH
https://hatherleighcommunity.com/submissions/
First, make sure your project fits with the kinds of books they publish: Heath and wellness, Fitness and exercise, Living with chronic diseases and medical, Self-help and inspirational,
Sustainability and green living. NOTE: We do not publish Fiction. They give detailed information about the book proposal they require. TUTTLE PUBLISHING
https://www.tuttlepublishing.com/become-an-author
Tuttle has been a leader in publishing books on all aspects of Asia for over 70
years. We ask that you confine your submission to Asia-related topics (Asian languages, cuisines, martial arts, arts and crafts, Eastern philosophes, and so on). NEW VILLAGE PRESS
https://www.newvillagepress.org/about-us/submissions/
Our books serve the fields of social
justice, community development, ecology, and community-based arts and culture. The Press crosses boundaries between professional, academic, and informal education with books that engage practitioners and community activists working together to heal social wounds and vitalize neighborhoods. (NOTE: Excellent guide to writing a proposal.) MONKFISH
https://www.monkfishpublishing.com/submissions/
Monkfish publishes fiction and nonfiction books related to the subjects of spirituality and religion. APOLLO PUBLISHERS
https://apollopublishers.com/index.php/submit/
Exclusively publishing timely and topical nonfiction for adult trade audiences. Topics cover a broad spectrum as long as relevant today and in the years to come. We publish narrative non-fiction and highly-designed. We do not publish fiction or poetry.
FUNDSFORWRITERS FINE PRINT 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
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 **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
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