Volume 11, Issue 26
July 1, 2011


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FUNDS FOR WRITERS

Chosen for Writer's Digest Magazine
101 Best Websites for Writers
2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005,
2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011

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Postmark deadline: July 31, 2011

Visit http://www.dreamquestone.com  for details and to enter!

                  
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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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THE LONG HAIR

My 28-year-old son has gorgeous, thick, long dark hair with
the prettiest waves you ever saw. He'll be the best man at
my younger son's wedding in October. The bride and future
mother-in-law are worried he won't cut it. To top it off,
the youngest just left Coast Guard bootcamp in May, so he's
a stark contrast to his best man.

He has several options:

1. Cut the hair short to please the two ladies.
2. Keep the long hair because he wants to make a statement.
3. Canvas friends and family and listen to the majority.
4. Trim it as a compromise to please the most people while
   preserving his preference.

It's like handing your manuscript to an editor or publisher.
Soon you receive feedback, some of which you absolutely do
not like. Here's the rub. Where does your creativity stop
and their suggestions begin?

Last weekend I spoke at Writer's Chatroom, an online guest
forum for authors ( www.writerschatroom.com ). Some of these
folks have "chatted" with me for years. I speak with them
quarterly, and we have a grand time. In updating them about
my novel's process through a traditional publishing house,
discussion arose about the items the editor wanted to change,
most importantly, the title.

In the opening chapter, a farmer brings dead hogs to the
protagonist's office doorstep. The working title was Hog-Tied.
People who've read the manuscript, love the title. The
publisher, however, thinks it's too rustic, rough and might
chase away urbanites. The new title isn't final yet, but
Hog-Tied isn't on the list for consideration.

A gentleman in the chat asked me if I felt my creativity
was stifled by such decisions. Let's consider the title my
long hair.

1. I could just let them dictate the title since I'm a
first-time published novelist.

2. I could raise hell and demand to keep the title.

3. I could ask everybody I know what they think, then decide.

4. I could negotiate with the publisher and take an active
   hand in modeling the title, finding a middle ground that
   pleases all of us.

In this life, you carefully pick your fights and select
your enemies. The publisher has created some dandy titles
for other books. The publisher is investing its money into
my story, a fact I'm still amazed at and honored about.

No, I'm not stifled. I'm happy that people love my book
enough to contract it. And I have a feeling that the long
hair will find a happy medium somewhere in between,
because he's happy to be in the position of best man.


                    Hope


THE BLOG - http://www.hopeclark.blogspot.com
TWITTER - http://twitter.com/hopeclark
FACEBOOK - http://www.facebook.com/chopeclark
ABOUT.ME - http://about.me/hopeclark

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HOW TO FIND GRANTS AND FINANCIAL RESOURCES TO FUND YOUR WRITING

Last month many of you were unable to attend my Writer's
Digest Webinar entitled "How to Find Grants and Financial
Resources to Fund Your Writing." It's available ON DEMAND
now at the Writer's Digest site.

Anyone who purchases the presentation also receives a
free annual subscription to TOTAL FundsforWriters - $15
value. Good for renewals or new subscriptions.

http://www.writersdigestshop.com/product/how-to-find-grants-and-financial-resources-to-fund-your-writing/

        ~~~~~~****~~~~~~

WORDS OF SUCCESS

"If you know what you are going to write when you're
writing a poem, it's going to be average."

~Derek Walcott
 

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WARNING OF THE WEEK
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Saturday Evening Post no longer accepts fiction, but they
still accept nonfiction. They are writing fiction in house.
They don't post their submission email online, so here it is:
The submission email is letters@SaturdayEveningPost.com .
 
 
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SUCCESS OF THE WEEK
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Hello Hope,

I have subscribed to your newsletter for a few months and
the last newsletter containing health magazines was a huge
breakthrough for me from an unpaid writer to a paid writer!!
I queried You & Me health magazine and just sold my first
article for a very good price. The article is about my
experience as a chronically sick nurse, although the majority
of my writing is about issues facing aging adults, since I
am a National Expert in Eldercare.

I started writing because I wanted to continue to help
seniors and their families after chronic illness changed
my life and limited my ability to work. My intent was never
to be a writer. I just focused on what I could do within my
physical limits and thought I could possibly help people
from my laptop in bed.

Not only did I receive word yesterday that the magazine
purchased my article, but I was offered a freelance job
writing CEU courses for nurses! Yesterday was a terrific day!

I just wanted to let you know that your newsletter made a
big difference for me! Thank you and God Bless your work!

Sincerely,
Angil Tarach-Ritchey RN, GCM
National Expert in Eldercare

www.behindtheoldface.com
www.angiltarachrn.blogspot.com


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ARTICLE
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Sometimes Directors are the Best Agents

By Jeffrey Sweet

"How do I get an agent?"  This is one of the most frequent
business questions I get when I run a seminar. It is based
on an assumption I think bears challenging: the idea that
a playwright needs an agent to get produced. I've been
getting plays mounted professionally since I was 19, more
than 40 years ago, and I can count on the fingers of ...
well, one finger, actually ... how many times one of my
plays has been produced because of an agent. I know that
there are some playwrights whose agents have played more
active parts in generating productions, but somehow I've
managed to put up a couple dozen premieres and had hundreds
of productions without agents being much of a part of the
marketing.

Yes, it's good to have an agent.  It represents to some
that you've reached a certain level of acceptance in the
profession.  But it is not - let me emphasize this - not
the be-all and end-all of making it as a playwright.

In my experience, making alliances with rising directors is
more likely to pay off.

It is better to have the advocacy of a director with energy
than just about anybody else.  Including a theatre's literary
manager.

A literary manager can only say two things: "No" and "Maybe."  
"Maybe" is better than "No," but it's not "Yes."  And it's
the rare "Maybe" that makes it to "Yes."  Very few new
scripts endorsed by a literary manager actually make it all
the way to full production.

Who can say "Yes"? The artistic director. That's who you
want to reach.

Time after time, my stuff has been produced because an
enthusiastic director by-passed the literary manager and
advocated it directly to a fellow director who runs a theatre.

When I was just getting started, I went to a meeting
sponsored by the Dramatists Guild at which a group of young
directors introduced themselves to a room full of playwrights
and described what kind of work they were looking for. I took
a particular interest in a woman named Sandie Hastie. She had
the good taste to like a script I gave her, and she took it
to a friend of hers who was artistic director of an off-off-
Broadway troupe. It was produced on a budget so tiny it probably
didn't break three figures, but luck was with me and the lead
critic of the New York Times covered it and said nice things.
That led to the play being produced around the country and
opening doors that had previously refused to budge. And that
more than anything started my career.

More recently, a director named James Glossman contacted me
because he happened to read one of my scripts. He pounded
on the doors of all of his acquaintances who ran theatres.  
He was strident on my behalf in a way that would not have
been appropriate for me to be. He ended up directing a
production that played six theatres, as well as directing
three productions of another play and two productions of
another. He has more chutzpah than I have and was able to
get Jack Klugman, John Astin, and Dan Lauria to star in some
of these, people I would have been unlikely to reach on my own.  
(Actors tend to answer phone calls from directors more often
than from writers.)

How to find such friendly and enterprising directors? Check
out which companies are putting up low-budget productions
and readings in your neighborhood.  See a lot of these
offerings. Make notes on which seem to be well-cast and well-
paced; these are usually signs that the director is up to the
mark.  Unless already prominent, directors tend to be
reachable through Facebook and the phone directory.  Invite
your candidate out for a beverage (he or she will be deeply
impressed by your nose for talent and usually say yes) and
bring along a script.

Here's the tricky part: the script has to be 1) a match for
the director's talent and interests and 2) producible and good.

You're not likely to strike gold the first time, but if you
keep at it and your work has merit, odds are you'll prevail.  
I can't think of a single talented playwright with whom I've
worked who didn't eventually get produced in a professional
context.  And no, not all of them by any means had agents
when they got those first productions.

BIO:
Jeffrey Sweet is the author of two books on playwriting,
THE DRAMATIST'S TOOLKIT and SOLVING YOUR SCRIPT.  A resident
writer of Chicago's Tony Award-winning Victory Gardens Theatre,
he has had more than a dozen plays produced there (including
THE VALUE OF NAMES, BLUFF and FLYOVERS), winning playwriting
prizes from the American Theatre Critics Association, the
Kennedy Center and the Outer Critics Circle.  He serves on
the Council of the Dramatists Guild and is a past member of
the nominating committee for the Tony Awards. He runs an
annual August playwriting retreat for Artistic New Directions

( http://artisticnewdirections.org/retreats.html ).


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COMPETITIONS
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CLIVE CUSSLER SOCIETY ADVENTURE WRITERS COMPETITION
http://cusslersociety.com/writers_competition.html
---
NO ENTRY FEE
Full-length submittals must be original and cannot include
characters from another authors' work - i.e. fan-fiction is
not allowed. The length of the manuscript shall not exceed
130K words or less than 50K words. Contest limited to 25
entries. Submissions accepted beginning October 1, 2011.
Deadline January 1, 2012. $1,000 grand prize.

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PHILIP LEVINE POETRY PRIZE
http://www.csufresno.edu/english/mfa/levine/index.shtml
---
$25 ENTRY FEE
Deadline: September 30, 2011. In addition to book publication
by Anhinga Press, the winner will receive a $2,000 honorarium.
Manuscript should be original poetry, not previously published
in book form, and should be 48-80 pages.

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MSLEXIA WOMEN'S NOVEL COMPETITION
http://www.mslexia.co.uk/novelcompetition
---
ENTRY FEE £25.
The competition is open to unpublished women novelists
writing in any genre for adults, including literary fiction,
women's fiction, young adult fiction, science-fiction,
fantasy, chick-lit, crime fiction, thriller, and historical
fiction... but not non-fiction or fiction for under-13s. To
constitute a novel, your book must total at least 50,000
words. First Prize: £5,000. The judging panel are literary
agent Clare Alexander, broadcaster Jenni Murray and novelist
Sarah Waters. Send up to 5,000 words - which must be the
first 5,000 words of the novel - to novel@mslexia.co.uk .
Deadline for submissions: September 30, 2011.  


 
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GRANTS
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THE AWESOME FOUNDATION
http://awesomefoundation.org/blog/about/
---
The Awesome Foundation for the Arts and Sciences is an
ever-growing, worldwide network of people devoted to
forwarding the interest of awesomeness in the universe.
Created in the long hot summer days of 2009 in Boston, the
Foundation distributes a series of monthly $1,000 grants to
projects and their creators. The money is given upfront in
cash, check, or gold doubloons by groups of ten or so self-
organizing "micro-trustees," who form autonomous chapters
around geographic areas or topics of interest. The Foundation
provides these grants with no strings attached and claims no
ownership over the projects it supports. It is, in the words
of one of our trustees, a micro-genius grant for flashes of
micro-brilliance.

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ARTSPIRE - FISCAL SPONSORSHIP
http://www.artspire.org/artists.aspx
---
Want to spend more time creating and less time dealing with
fund raising? Apply now for Artspire's Fiscal Sponsorship
program. Gain access to funding opportunities from foundations
or corporate funders that are usually restricted to 501(c)(3)
tax-exempt organizations. You will gain the ability to offer
individual donors the tax-deductibility incentives of making
a charitable donation. Receive access to NYFA's wide range of
services and resources, such as our educational workshops that
are only offered to fiscally sponsored projects and organizations.
Unlimited phone calls, emails, and review of grant proposals.
Gain profile on Artspire.org and visual connection with Artspire
and NYFA. Gain the ability to collect online donations.
Application is free. Artspire fiscal sponsorship is open to
artists with a US social security number - no matter where
they live. Artists can also live in the US but work overseas.
Deadlines to apply: June 30, September 30, December 31, and
March 31, 2011. Application includes: Project description,
budget, resume and work samples (if applicable).

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NORTH DAKOTA ARTIST IN RESIDENCE
http://www.nd.gov/arts/grants/grant.html
---
Artist in Residence. The Artist in Residence program provides
matching funds for schools and other non-profit organizations
to bring artists into North Dakota schools and communities to
conduct residencies of three days or longer. This program is
designed to provide students, teachers, and community members
with hands-on experiences and personal interactions with
working artists. Deadline November 1, 2011.

NOTE: Several other grant opportunities at this web page.
Excellent opportunities - better than most states. Must be
a ND resident.
 

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FREELANCE MARKETS
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SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/contact-us/article-submit/
---
Smithsonian magazine accepts unsolicited proposals from
established freelance writers for features and some
departments. Please use the Web submission form to submit
a written proposal of 250 to 300 words as a preliminary query.
Smithsonian Magazine is buying first North American serial
rights only. Our article length ranges from a 700-word humor
column to a 4,000-word full-length feature. We consider
focused subjects that fall within the general range of
Smithsonian Institution interests, such as: cultural history,
physical science, art and natural history. We are always
looking for offbeat subjects and profiles. We do not consider
fiction, poetry, political and news events, or previously
published articles.

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SPIRIT MAGAZINE
http://www.spiritmag.com/contact_spirit/
---
Magazine of Southwest Airlines. Appeals to the upscale
customer. Covers a wide list of topics to include pop
culture, business, technology, sports, health, and food.
Pays $1/word. Query first except for Short Fiction where
you must pitch the completed manuscript of 1,500 words
or less. Features are up to 5,000 and heavily reported.

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SPORTS SPECTRUM
http://www.sportsspectrum.com/about/writers-guide.php
---
Sports Spectrum magazine seeks to highlight Christian
athletes of all sports and levels to help motivate,
encourage and inspire people in their faith through the
exciting and challenging world of sports. Articles
generally run from 1,500 to 2,000 words plus one or two
sidebars, which run generally 150 words. Pays up to
21 cents/word and pays a 50% kill fee.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JOBS
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WRITER-EDITOR
Location Seattle, WA
http://jobview.usajobs.gov/getjob.aspx?JobID=100361048
---
Deadline July 13, 2011. Agency: Army Corps of Engineers.
You will serve as a writer and editor (government level)
in support of Engineering Division and Planning, Programs,
and Project Management Division's preparation of various
engineering, planning and environmental documents including
but not restricted to: reconnaissance reports, feasibility
reports, integrated feasibility/EIS (Environmental Impact
Statement) reports, detailed project reports, site investigation,
remedial investigation/feasibility study reports, remedial
design reports, and other reports and letters as requested.

=====

WRITER-EDITOR
Locations Las Cruces, NM, Lakewood, CO, Fort Collins, CO,
Bozeman, MT
http://jobview.usajobs.gov/getjob.aspx?JobID=100450942
---
Deadline July 7, 2011. The primary purpose of this position
is to edit and make available a variety of professional,
technical and popular reports and publications related to
natural and cultural resources inventory, monitoring,
research and management.  The position provides these
services primarily for I&M networks in the Intermountain
Region. Employer National Park Service.

=====

WRITER-EDITOR
Location Washington DC
http://jobview.usajobs.gov/getjob.aspx?JobID=100446067
---
Deadline July 8, 2011. Employer Library of Congress.
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is seeking a
writer-editor to work in its Communications Office. The
incumbent plans, researches, writes and edits a variety
of materials for print and electronic media. This includes
materials for the U.S. Congress, CRS employees and the media.


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PUBLISHERS/AGENTS
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WHISKEY CREEK PRESS
http://whiskeycreekpress.com/submissions.shtml
---
Whiskey Creek Press is a royalty-paying traditional publisher
of fiction and non-fiction, and we publish in ebook and trade
paperback formats. Prefers word count in the 60,000-80,000 range.
Especially interested in romance, sci-fi and fantasy.

Note: They require authors to have websites and self-promote.
Good for them.

====

WEED LITERARY
http://weedliterary.com/
---
The agency is always on the lookout for both commercial and
literary fiction with a focus on up-market women's fiction
as well as an eclectic mix of non-fiction, with an emphasis
on narrative, memoir, investigative and women's issues from
the humor driven to the thought provoking.

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MARSAL LYON LITERARY AGENCY
http://www.marsallyonliteraryagency.com/
---
Genres and categories this agency represents:

Fiction: Commercial, Mainstream, Multicultural, Mystery,
Suspense, Thriller, Women's Fiction & Chick Lit, Romance
(all genres), Paranormal, Young Adult.

Non-Fiction: Biography, Business/Economics/Investing/Finance,
Diet, Fitness & Health, History/Politics/Current Events,
Investigative Journalism, Lifestyle, Memoirs, Narrative
Non-fiction, Parenting, Pets/Animals, Pop Culture & Music,
Psychology, Relationships/Advice, Science & Nature, Self-Help,
Sports, Women's Issues


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SPONSORS
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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 2000-2011, C. Hope Clark
ISSN: 1533-1326


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