Volume 10, Issue 1
January 3, 2010

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FUNDS FOR WRITERS

Writer's Digest's 101 Best Websites for Writers
2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009

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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.

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PAID SPONSOR OF THE WEEK
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THE WELL-FED WRITER

In less than four months, Peter Bowerman built a lucrative
"paying-all-the-bills" commercial writing practice:
writing for businesses, large and small and for hourly
rates of $50-$125+ (and did so with NO industry contacts,
previous paid writing experience or writing training.

No, this isn't a huge course on how to get rich writing.
It's a reality story, condensed in a book that teaches
you how to do the same. For less than $20, grab the
know-how that many pay hundreds of dollars to learn.

THE WELL FED WRITER

                 
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EDITOR'S THOUGHTS
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Read newsletter online at: http://www.fundsforwriters.com/FFW.htm
Read past issues at: http://www.aweber.com/z/article/?fundsforwriters

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JUMPING (OR CRAWLING) BACK INTO THE FRAY

The holidays are over. We've gained five pounds, and since
most of us work at home, we wear elastic pants to avoid
feeling the extra inch. Even though we work for ourselves,
most of us also took the liberty of placing our writing on
the back burner. We became accustomed to working less to make
time for family, friends and celebration.

The routine we worked so hard to hone is history. Now it's
time to crawl back into the fray of freelance writing.

1. Do it today. Don't stall. You know what your routine was.
   Go immediately back to it. But let's say you didn't have
   a set routine, or you had one without much of a shape or
   consistency. Thought about creating a better one for 2010?
   If you have any inclination of improving your production
   output in the new year, establishing a routine is the first
   place to start.

2. Change is good, but don't create a New Year's Resolution
   so far out of reality that you plan for failure. Sure you
   want changes and new goals for your 2010 career, but don't
   add best-selling author on your list when you're just
   writing chapter two. You need steps to get from Point A
   to Point Z. They are called benchmarks, and put measures
   on them. Know what you're supposed to produce in 30 days,
   a quarter year, half a year. Visit these goals monthly.

3. Put a picture on the refrigerator. Diet gurus often tell
   clients to post a picture on the refrigerator of how you'll
   look if you don't grab the sour cream dip. Post "Publish in
   Writer's Digest Magazine" or "Write Chapters 1-10 by March 1."
   Make your goals visual.

4. Grab a new calendar. Nothing speaks new year like a pretty
   or practical calendar. I put a new one on the refrigerator,
   a dachshund calendar on my study wall, and a Bylines Daily
   Calendar on my desk. Grabbing a favorite pen, I jot deadlines,
   goals, and follow-up benchmarks.

5. Finally, analyze your 2009 production. What did you do last
   year? Tally your successes, your failures, your income and
   your expenditures. Any budget consists of projections and
   actuals. A good budget has monthly projections and actuals,
   which makes the end-of-the-year actuals easier to tabulate.
   You have to know where you've been to dictate where you
   intend to go next.

Feel that adrenaline? Goal-setting ought to motivate you -
kick your work-ethic into overdrive. You're going to do it
differently this year. You're going to complete projects and
achieve accomplishments. There's something about writing a
contract with yourself that gives plans more substance.

Turn that calendar to January 1. Let's go.

Happy New Year!

     Hope

ANNOUNCEMENT - COME VISIT WITH HOPE IN NORTH CAROLINA

The Weathers Creek Writers' Series will continue in 2010
with workshops on songwriting, fiction and making money
with your writing. The sessions offer a one-day getaway
to a lovely farm located between Cleveland, NC and
Mooresville, NC. The Farm at Weathers Creek is a peaceful
spot with scenic views from almost every window of the log
home on the property.

The 2010 workshops will begin on January 9 with C. Hope Clark,
founder and editor of www.fundsforwriters.com, a well-known
writer's reference that reaches over 28,000 readers weekly
with motivational editorials and lists of grants and markets.
Her workshop, "Funding Streams: How Serious Writers Plunge
In," will help you determine where and how to take your
writing to the editors and websites that pay and that help
you reach your target audiences.

Sessions are $75 each. All sessions include a homemade lunch.
Deadline for registration for the January session is January
4, 2010. Registration for January, February and April is
limited to 12 people. Gift certificates - perfect for all
the writers on your Christmas list -- are available. All
sessions will start promptly at 10 a.m. and end at 3 p.m.
For a registration form, directions and other information,
go to our website, www.weatherscreek.net/.

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FIRST SPECIAL FOR 2010 !!!

Order TOTAL FundsforWriters, our paid subscription
newsletter containing 75 markets/grants/contests,
for only $9 through January 31, 2010.

We've featured TOTAL for six years at the rate of $12.
We are raising the regular rate beginning in February,
but to give you one last chance, we're offering this
low rate of $9 for the first month of the new year.

Now's the time to start that New Year's resolution
with a subscription to TOTAL.

www.fundsforwriters.com/total.htm

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THE BLOG, THE BLOG!
http://www.hopeclark.blogspot.com

TWITTER ME
http://twitter.com/hopeclark

CONSULT WITH HOPE
http://www.fundsforwriters.com/ConsultHope.htm

I JOINED FACEBOOK
http://www.facebook.com/chopeclark
 

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WORDS OF SUCCESS

I think we can't go 'round measuring our goodness
by what we don't do, what we deny ourselves,
what we resist, and who we exclude.
I think we've got to measure goodness
by what we embrace, what we create, and who we include.

~ Hugh O'Conor (Chocolat)

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SUCCESS OF THE WEEK
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Hope-

Thank you for being the catalyst (goad?) to get me to enter
writing contests. I have sent in 7 entries in the past two
months.  For one contest, a 5-in-1 (a contest sponsored by
my local writing guild), I won first place in two of the five
categories.  The funny thing is, one of my winning stories
wasn't even my favorite and was dashed off to get it in by
the deadline (for the romance category- I just don't do romance
stories). Here's what happened- each category needed a minimum
of three entries to keep the genre going.  We were low, so I
made a challenge bet with another writer- I would write one
story for each category if she would. The bet was on.  We
exchanged stories and critiqued each others' work- we had
three weeks to complete four more stories. It didn't matter
that we were ultimately competing against each other- we
were supporting our guild's need to have minimum entries.
Two interesting things happened: I was challenged to write
in genres/categories that I would never have attempted previously.
I stretched my brain and writing skills- and my family's patience.
The second thing was she also won two categories!!  It goes to
show that just because we enter contests doesn't mean it has to
be a fierce competition.  My friend gets partial credit for her
input in my stories- and I'm sure she feels the same toward me. 
We took four out of five categories!  Not bad for novices.

Yours til the ink runs dry...

Rebecca Harkins

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ARTICLE
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Getting Accepted Is Not Enough

By Aline Lechaye

My first year as a writer, I achieved an acceptance rate of
ninety-five percent. Why? I found one great non-paying magazine
that accepted everything I wrote, a wonderful feeling after a
string of rejections. How could I ignore the glamour of being
published in every issue? They even referred to me as a "frequent
contributor" in the bio. What writer wouldn't drool at a
submission tracker that read: "Story One: Accepted. Story Two:
Accepted. Story Three: Accepted. Story Four:..."
 
Routine acceptance was great, but my bills still accumulated.
I told myself writing was a hobby, and I had a real job. I didn't
need to get rich from my writing. Besides, rejection was demeaning.
 
In my second writing year, I took a chance and sent a story to
a small but paying magazine. They sent back a polite letter
saying that they liked the general feeling of the story, but a
few bits needed revision. Would I send them the story again once
revised?
 
I looked over the suggestions, liked them, and made the changes.
Result: first paid publication. The story also felt more "put-
together" than the stuff I'd written in my first year. Part of
that improvement was due to personal growth, but the rest of it
was because I wrote for a paying magazine that took me to task to
make the piece sing.
 
Constant acceptance--whether the magazine pays or not-- doesn't
help writing grow. How hard would you work to change your plot-
less tale and soul-less characters if you knew that you had a
guaranteed nod? Why bother rewriting if the editor welcomes the
piece without challenge?
 
The basic truth is that easy acceptances make you lazy. They make
you careless about quality. On some level, they make you think your
writing is so good that it doesn't need to improve, a serious
mindset for a serious freelancer.
 
Why are higher paying markets willing to pay more? Because they
care deeply about quality. Because they seek higher caliber
writers. Because they want their readers to enjoy excellent
stories and tell more readers about the magazine.
 
Steady acceptance often means it's time to move on. Dust off your
Writer's Market. Check out the $$$ publications. If your odds of
publication are high with small markets, tackle the medium range.
If you're stuck in the medium markets, send a few queries to the
top shelf ones.
 
When you start out as a freelancer, you'll rack up plenty of
"sorry, this doesn't work for our magazine right now" and "this
piece is good, but..." notices, but keep at it. One day you'll
receive "we would be happy to publish this piece in our June
issue" or "this piece is just what we're looking for." You'll
look back on your writing and see how much it's evolved while
you climbed the rungs of your ladder.

BIO
Aline Lechaye is a translator, writing tutor and writer who
resides in Asia. She can be reached at alinelechaye@gmail.com.

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COMPETITIONS
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HOW JOURNAL SHORT STORY CONTEST
http://www.howjournal.com/submit-contests.html
---
$20 ENTRY FEE
The contest is open to all writers and all themes. The word
limit is 12,000. Considers unpublished novel excerpts if
they feel like complete stories. It's fine to submit more
than one story. Deadline May 15, 2010.

1st Place - $1,000 and publication in H.O.W. Journal
2nd Place - $300 and publication in H.O.W. Journal
3rd Place - $100 and publication in H.O.W. Journal

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TORRIANO POETRY COMPETITION
http://www.hearingeye.org/
---
ENTRY FEE £3 one poem.
Deadline January 31, 2010. Poems should be written in English
up to a maximum of 40 lines. First Prize £250. Second Prize
£150. Third Prize £75. Winning poets - first, second and third
- will be offered feature readings at the adjudication
celebrations on Sunday 14th March, 2010 at Torriano Meeting
House, 99 Torriano Avenue, Kentish Town, London NW5 2RX.
The winning poems will also be featured in Brittle Star magazine.

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STAFFORD POETRY COMPETITION
http://www.imaginingstaffordshire.org.uk/poetrycomp2010.htm
---
ENTRY FEE £4
Open to anyone, of any age, from anywhere, potential entrants
now have until February 28, 2010 to submit a poem of no more
than 40 lines for consideration. The winning poet will receive
a prize of £1000 and five runners up will receive a prize of
£50 each. There is also an extra prize of £250 for the best
poem with a local Staffordshire connection. This is an
additional prize and may (or may not) be awarded to the first
prize winner or a runner up.

 
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GRANTS
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RHODE ISLAND PROFESSIONAL ARTS DEVELOPMENT GRANT - RESIDENTS
http://www.arts.ri.gov/grants/guidelines/pad.php
---
The deadline for the Professional Arts Development (PAD) Grant
is Monday, February 1, 2010. PAD grants provide funds to
entrepreneurial artists to help address their business and
professional development needs. The goal of these grants is
to enable artists to engage in specific professional and
business development activities that will build their
capacity and strengthen their ability to meet the goals of
their arts business. Grant requests may range from $250 -
$750 and must be matched dollar for dollar (i.e. if your
professional development activity will cost $1000, you can
apply for a PAD grant of up to $500). 

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COLORADO ART RANCH - ANYONE
http://coloradoartranch.org/residences.htm
---
Colorado Art Ranch provides one-month residencies to writers
and visual artists from around the world. We encourage emerging
artists, as well as established artists, to apply. Each
residency has a mix of artists and writers. Residents receive
free admission to the Artposium and living and studio space
for one month. Residents are responsible for travel, food,
and an application fee of $30, shipping or removing their
work at the end of the residency. Each resident gets his own
room, but may share a bath and cooking facilities. The rooms
are private, but this is a group living situation.

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TENNESSEE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT GRANTS
http://www.arts.state.tn.us/guidelines/fy10/guidelines_pds_fy10.pdf
---
The Professional Development Support (PDS) category is designed
to assist individual Tennessee professional arts administrators
and artists of all disciplines take advantage of a unique
opportunity that will significantly benefit their work or career
development. Professional arts administrators and artists may
request support ranging from $500 to $1,000 for a specific,
documented opportunity that will occur in Fiscal Year 2010
(July 1, 2009 - June 30, 2010). The PDS eGrant application must
be submitted electronically at least thirty (30) days prior to
the beginning of the proposed activity.
 

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FREELANCE MARKETS
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RIDE TEXAS MAGAZINE
http://ridetexas.com/html/SubmissionGuidelines.html
---
Broadly speaking, articles should cover the background of
the area and insights into the people and places encountered.
But your article proposal should provide specifics about your
idea. Part of the travel article submission package is the
TRIP PLANNER information, which includes an area overview,
and a route, as well as reference information. ROADTRIP
articles may cover Texas and the surrounding states. But
step one is to submit your proposal, and if we're interested
we'll start an editorial dialogue with you. Be prepared to
provide strong photos with project.

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VOYAGER
http://www.bmivoyager.com/writers_guidelines/
---
Each issue of Voyager contains 8-10 main features. These must
be based in or around bmi's direct destinations (see website)
and appeal to the wide range of Voyager readers. Voyager is
a stylish and sophisticated lifestyle magazine. Stories are
a mixture of interviews, features and general lifestyle.
This publication is an in-flight magazine for BMI airlines.
Most Voyager features range from 1,000 to 1,400 words.

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FAMILYFUN
http://familyfun.go.com/assets/cms/pdf/magazine/writer-guidelines.pdf
---
Founded in 1991, FamilyFun is the country's number one
magazine for families with children ages 3 to 12. FamilyFun
gives parents the information and inspiration they need to
create unforgettable family moments. We are the trusted
experts on family cooking, vacations, parties, holidays,
crafts, and learning -- all the essentials that enrich the
precious time families share. Compensation: $1.25 per word
upon acceptance; $100-$200 for the idea if they opt to use
a staff writer.

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JOBS
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TECHNICAL WRITER
Location Washington DC
http://jobview.usajobs.gov/getjob.aspx?JobID=85299606&aid=27015391-25129&WT.mc_n=125&rc=2&TabNum=2
---
The incumbent directs operations that involve the collection and
evaluation of information from all components of NIC and non-NIC
sources, in order to fulfill the duties and responsibilities
associated with the writing, editing, production, and/or review of a
variety of publications, reports, and other print based media
(whether disseminated in hard copy or on the web) regarding,
involving, and affecting NIC, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP)
and the corrections field.

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PRODUCT DESCRIPTION FREELANCE WRITER
Location Virtual
http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/wri/1521163792.html
---
Bibi & Mimi, manufacturer of baby products, is looking for writer/
editors to help with company's 150 products. At least 3 sentences
each, color definitions, design details etc. This is a project
based job. Visit website at www.bibiandmimi.com and send sample
descriptions to be considered for the project. You will be
compensated with a flat fee for the whole project. Send resume,
writing samples, project fee requirement and a photograph to
bibiandmiminy@yahoo.com

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NOTE: SHORT DEADLINE

WRITER-EDITOR
Location ELY, MN
http://tinyurl.com/yz942x8
---
Deadline January 4, 2010. Agency: Forest Service. Prepares
Environmental Assessments, Environmental Impact Statements,
Notices of Intent, Records of Decision, and other National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) related documents. Organizes
data for use in documents and for reference in project record.
Gathers and verifies facts, writes and/or edits portions of
reports, news, pamphlets, and assists in the development and
presentation of the information.

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PUBLISHERS/AGENTS
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DIVERSION PRESS
http://diversionpress.com/what_we_publish
---
Publishes academic, novels, YA and children's books plus
several annual anthologies. Accepts suggestions for
proposed anthologies.

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SMALL DOGMA PUBLISHING
http://www.smalldogma.com/?page_id=137
---
Small Dogma Publishing is always on the look-out for new
manuscripts that entertain, teach, challenge, inform or
inspire. If you feel you would be a powerful addition to
the Small Dogma Publishing family feel free to submit a
query letter to submissions@smalldogma.com . We are always
looking for authors who are excited about promoting their
book, especially when they come with a vision of success.

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SAVANT BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS LLC
http://www.savantbooksandpublications.com/
---
Savant welcomes manuscripts of 47,000 or more words (books)
submitted by first time as well as established authors. 
Savant will accept shorter manuscripts for children's books
as well as poems and short stories during an open call for
works in an anthology. Requires a particular format of
submission - see website. Location Hawaii. Publishes all
forms of literature, educational material, health care
material, environmental/earth/space sciences, military
works, academic theses and dissertations.

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SPONSORS
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Visit Harriet's Voice: Home Base for Writing Mothers!

This community for creative moms provides encouragement
and support via an interactive blog, quotations, links,
a survey, and events.
 
Contests are planned for the New Year.
 
Start the New Year on a positive note--
sign up for our January 10 Hour of Solidarity!

Write2Ignite! Conference for Christian Writers of
Children's Literature

Feb. 26 & 27, 2010 at North Greenville University,
Tigerville, S.C. $90 adults, $45 students.
Featuring a special Teen Track for young authors.
Scholarships available. For more information or to
register, visit www.write2ignite.wordpress.com
Or e-mail write2ignite@jeanmatthewhall.com

Winner of the 2009 Excellence in Teaching Award from
UNC Chapel Hill, Richard Krawiec has published novels,
story collections, plays, memoirs, poetry, feature articles,
and Young Adult biographies.  He's won NEA and NC Arts Council
grants, been nominated for the National Book Award and
Pushcart Prize. He was a Finalist for the 2009 Indie Book
Awards for Poetry.
 
It's hard to publish these days. 
Let someone who knows what they're doing help
you prepare your work for publication.

http://home.mindspring.com/~rkwriter/

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18th year. Ten cash prizes totaling $5,550. Top prize $3,000.
Seeks short stories, essays and other works of prose, up to
5,000 words. Winning entries published online. Both published
and unpublished work accepted. Fee per entry is $15, payable
to Winning Writers, Attn: Tom Howard Short Story Contest,
351 Pleasant Street, PMB 222, Northampton, MA 01060. Winning
Writers is proud to be one of the "101 Best Websites for Writers"
(Writer's Digest, 2005-2009). More information:

www.winningwriters.com/tomstory

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WORLDWIDE FREELANCE MARKETS - Serving the freelance writing
community for 10 years. Come and try our searchable database of
writing markets from North America, Europe and around the world. 

http://www.worldwidefreelance.com

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http://www.fundsforwriters.com/adrates.htm 

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BUSINESS STUFF
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C. Hope Clark
E-mail: hope@fundsforwriters.com

140-A Amicks Ferry Road #4
Chapin, SC 29036

http://www.fundsforwriters.com

Copyright 2000-2010, C. Hope Clark
ISSN: 1533-1326

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