Volume 13, Issue 35
August 30, 2013

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FUNDS FOR WRITERS

Chosen for Writer's Digest's 101 Best Websites for Writers
2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006,
2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013

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Working while on tour in Iowa, overlooking the Mississippi River.

Editor: C. Hope Clark
Website: http://www.fundsforwriters.com
Email: Hope@fundsforwriters.com
Newsletter: 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.

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

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WHEN YOU LOSE THE WHOLE DARN THING YOU WERE WRITING

Here I am writing newsletter editorials, trying to buy myself time to write a new chapter today, when my fingers jump too fast across the keys and delete an hour's worth of work.

Yes, I curse. Loudly. Hubby hollers down the hall, "What's wrong?"

"I just lost a whole newsletter!"

He goes quiet, because he knows he can't say anything I care to hear, or haven't already thought. Thoughts such as:

1) Why didn't I save that more often so I'd at least have part of it?

2) Why did I delete without REALLY looking at what I was doing?

3) Why do I continue to write in Notepad for my newsletters when there is NO way for my computer to automatically save versions as I go (like MS Word does)?

There's nothing I hate more than to revisit ground I've already covered (to quote General George S. Patton, and right now I feel like a general eager to tackle the enemy). Trying to retap those great ideas is like heating up leftovers for dinner. It might be close to good, but it's never as palatable as when it first came off the stove.

So I move on to something else, with a mission to come back when my brain is more conducive to starting over. I do, however, count my blessings that I have backup in other areas.

1) All newsletters and novels are kept on a Master flash drive. Then there's a backup to that Master that I use monthly. Then there's another backup flash drive just for the novels.

2) Pictures, newsletters, spreadsheets and novels are also maintained on Dropbox, a tool available in the Cloud. At the end of the day, when my eyes are bloodshot and my mind is fried, I only have to drag and drop my day's files into Dropbox. It's a marvelous tool, and if you are interested, you can sign up (for free) at http://db.tt/Fn86dOeV (my affiliate link).

I'm on the brink of buying an account at Carbonite, where my entire computer will be backed up on a timed schedule. Their smallest account is $59.99/year, or $5/month. A very small price to pay for your peace of mind. They even have a 15-day free trial.

Thanks for letting me vent. Next time life throws you a curve or even a moment of ecstasy or fulfillment, take the time to write about it. You might wind up with a great article through which you channeled all that emotion. Worked for me!

I feel better already.

Hope

The Carolina Slade Mystery Series - www.chopeclark.com

On Tidewater Murder: Terrific. Smart, knowing, clever…and completely original. A taut, high-tension page-turned—in a unique and fascinating setting. An absolute winner! ~Hank Phillippi Ryan, Agatha, Anthony and Macavity winning author

On Lowcountry Bribe: With a story that moves so fast you are sure to get a case of literary whiplash, LOWCOUNTRY BRIBE is almost impossible to put down. Written with grace and ferocity, I for one can hardly wait for a second helping of this unpredictably un-pretentious and hard-scrabble down-home gal. ~Rachel Gladstone, Dish Magazine

THE BLOG - http://www.hopeclark.blogspot.com
TWITTER - http://twitter.com/hopeclark
FACEBOOK - http://www.facebook.com/chopeclark
ABOUT.ME - http://about.me/hopeclark
GOODREADS - http://www.goodreads.com/hopeclark
PINTEREST - http://www.pinterest.com/chopeclark
AUTHOR SITE - http://www.chopeclark.com

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Purchase any of Hope's books and receive a one-year subscription to TOTAL FFW free. Send receipt to hope@fundsforwriters.com

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WORDS OF SUCCESS

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.

~Anne Bradstreet

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SUCCESS STORY
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Dear Hope,

How fun it is to glean through your newsletters to find the marvelous listings that are my niche: short stories, flash fiction pieces and essay markets and contests! Thanks to you, I've had numerous stories and essays published since subscribing to your newsletters. I'd like to share my latest writing news: Farm & Ranch Living magazine published my story, "My dad, the muleskinner" in their June/July 2013 issue. I ended July on a high note with two story acceptances. Received the official word: my story, "The Special Snowman" will appear in the December 2013 issue of Good Old Days magazine and my story, "Sister Friends" will appear in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Just us Girls. (Release date: November 5, 2013.)

Thanks for your inspiration, assistance and support.

Sincerely, Georgia Hubley
Email: geohub@aol.com

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ARTICLE
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RETIRE WITH PAY

By Barbara Weddle

Fill your retirement years with golden opportunities. Freelance writing opportunities, that is. Apply what you learned from your past career field (or fields) - advertising, graphic design, technology, education, health, etc.- to your advantage. As a retiree you are in a great position to not only write on the technical aspects of your previous job, but on your workplace experiences - those insights you gained into personalities and office politics, for instance, as well as those skills or capabilities you picked up, multitasking, leadership, organization, photography, social-networking savvy, etc.

If you had your own business, share your secrets for success. How did you get started? Was the business a family affair? What marketing strategies did you use?

If you were in a specialized trade, carpentry, electrician, master plumber, etc., write about some of the tools of the trade.

Did you have any special licenses or certifications? Were you a licensed, certified animal control worker, for example? If you were, you most likely have enough on-the-job training to write about animal behavior and training.

Take advantage of fellow retirees’ former careers. If you have a solid relationship with the former chief executive officer of an environmental waste company, ask him how his company went about obtaining government contracts or restoring contaminated sites.

One way to uncover good workplace technical, experience, and skill, topics is to ask yourself what it is that you would like to have known when you started your career or what you would have done better had you been in a position of authority.

Writing about your past career is not the only way to cash in, however. Consider copywriting/editing for said former workplace; who better than a former employee already familiar with the business, to edit those company newsletters, annual reports, marketing brochures and other company publications? Call your former boss and ask if he needs someone to pick up some of those jobs. I have a friend who, after retiring from his job as Site Safety Officer for an environmental company, continued to write manuals for them for on-site safety procedures. Likewise, if you were in business for yourself you can offer your services as a copywriter for other small business owners. Small businesses typically don’t have time to write a daily or weekly blog, and if a small business has a newsletter, it may also need someone knowledgeable to put together a professional piece.

A word of caution: If you are writing about the technical aspects of a previous career, you must be careful to stay within ethical boundaries of what is or isn’t permissible for you to write about. Also, if you’ve been away from your former career for a while, you may need to sharpen up your technical knowledge. It is doubtful that you would want to write an article on Five Easy Steps to Mastering Shorthand. Okay, that’s an exaggeration. But you get the point.

The same basic rules apply to writing about your past career as with any other kind of freelance writing. Mainly, you must be able to provide short feature articles covering specialized topics in your area or areas of expertise and be able to communicate that expertise to a specific audience. You also need to possess adequate marketing skills to discern a particular magazine’s exact needs.

You don’t have to have a degree for the field you were in. Your on-the-job experiences are what are important.

The market for your articles in this category are wide open. You can submit to any number of consumer magazines (business, finance, health and fitness, inflight, retirement, etc.) and trade magazines (marketing and PR, electronics, energy, government, etc.)

So sharpen up that pencil and get busy. Your retirement years can be your best years ever.

Entrepreneur Magazine http://www.entrepreneur.com Pays $1 a word

Horizon Edition Magazine http://www.alaskaairlinesmagazine.com/horizonedition/guidelines/contributor Pay starts at $450 for features; $100 for short pieces.

E The Environmental Magazine http://www.emagazine.com/writers-guidelines Pays 30 cents a word.

BIO:
Barbara Weddle has been published in more than 300 publications: Writing-World.com, Freelance Writer’s Report, FundsforWriters, Writers Weekly, Travel Smart and The Writer to name a few. Contact Barbara at jweddle@new.rr.com

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COMPETITIONS
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GEMINI MAGAZINE FLASH FICTION CONTEST http://www.gemini-magazine.com/contest.html --- $4 ENTRY FEE Deadline: August 31, 2013. Grand Prize: $1,000. Second Place: $100. Four Honorable Mentions: $25 each plus publication in magazine (October issue). Maximum length: 1,000 words (any subject, any style or genre).

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THE OSU PRESS/THE JOURNAL WHEELER PRIZE FOR POETRY http://thejournalmag.org/submit --- $28 ENTRY FEE $2,500 prize and a standard book contract. Submit at least 48 pages of original poetry. Deadline September 1, 2013. Entry fee includes subscription.

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THE CHARITON REVIEW SHORT FICTION PRIZE http://tsup.truman.edu/chariton/guidelines.asp --- $20 ENTRY FEE Manuscripts accepted on any theme up to 5,000 words. Deadline September 30, 2013. The author will receive $1,000, and the winning story will be published in The Chariton Review. Three finalists will also be published in the Spring issue. All U.S. entrants will receive a complimentary copy of the Spring prize issue.

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PHILIP BOOTH POETRY PRIZE https://salthill.submittable.com/submit --- $15 ENTRY FEE Deadline September 1, 2013. First place $150 and publication. Second place $150 and publication. Enter up to three poems, any length, any style, each starting on a new page.

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GRANTS
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JM KAPLAN FUND GRANTS TO NONPROFIT PUBLISHERS http://www.furthermore.org/ --- The J.M. Kaplan Fund's Furthermore program supports nonfiction book publishing about the urban experience; natural and historic resources; art, architecture, and design; cultural history; and civil liberties and other public issues. Deadline September 15, 2013.

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AMY LOWELL TRAVELING POETRY SCHOLARSHIP http://www.amylowell.org/faq.htm --- Any poet of American birth who is able to spend one year outside the continent of North America is eligible to apply. There is no age requirement, and there is no requirement that applicants be enrolled in a university or other education program. While many recent winners have been published poets, there is no requirement that applicants have previously published their work. The 2014-2015 Scholarship award will be approximately $54,000, adjusted for inflation. The sample must not exceed either 40 typed pages or one printed volume plus no more than 20 typed pages of your most recent work. Deadline (received) October 15, 2013.

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GIFT OF FREEDOM GRANT http://www.aroomofherown.org/home.php --- The purpose of the grant is to assist the recipient in achieving a specific, qualifiable literary or artistic objective: the production of a creative project as defined by the grantee. The individual must be a citizen or legal resident of the United States who will be residing in the U.S. during the entire two year grant period. $50,000 Gift of Freedom Award and three $5,000 Genre Finalists. Deadline usually in November.

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SOUTH CAROLINA ARTIST FELLOWSHIPS http://www.southcarolinaarts.com --- Dealdine November 1, 2013. $5,000 awards presented to four SC resident artists in recognition of artistic merit. Current categories of prose, poetry, acting and playwriting.

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MILLAY COLONY http://www.millaycolony.org/apply --- Deadline September 15, 2011. Each year Millay Colony invites 52 visual artists, writers and composers for a colony residency. Residents are chosen anonymously by a panel of jurors in each discipline. The application process is competitive and based solely on the merit of the artist statement and work sample. The Millay Colony is in Austerlitz, New York — approximately 2 1/2 hours north of New York City and 2 1/2 hours west of Boston, Massachusetts.

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FREELANCE MARKETS
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DOWN EAST MAGAZINE http://www.downeast.com/contributor/magazine/guidelines --- All editorial and photographic submissions must be directly related to Maine. Most of our articles are written on assignment by regular contributors. The exception is our very popular "My Maine" column. These articles are short narratives about a personal experience or a unique aspect of life here in Maine. Evocative of a specific time and place, they are often humorous or poignant. Maximum length: 750 words.

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RURALITE http://www.ruralite.org/learn-more/writers-guidelines/ --- Ruralite magazine is a monthly family-oriented, general- interest publication used by 47 rural electric cooperatives and PUDs in seven Western states to communicate with their members. Payment ranges from $50 for a short, 100- to 200- word feature to $500 for a major, well-illustrated article. Stories and artwork are purchased as a package.

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TRIATHLETE http://triathlon.competitor.com/contact --- For amateur and professional triathlon competitors. Covers profiles, training, nutrition and gear. Pays 20 cents/word for 1,000 to 1,500 word features and 250 to 1,000-word departments. $100 kill fee. Publishes 100 freelance submissions annually.

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VIM & VIGOR http://www.comhs.org/vim_vigor/ --- Vim & Vigor is Community Healthcare System's family health magazine containing helpful information on your health. This quarterly publication also features articles on services of Community Healthcare System, highlighting patients' experiences with various new treatment approaches. At the Community Healthcare System, we believe education is an essential component to help prevent disease and illness and improve the quality of health in our community. This magazine was written to further these goals. Pays 25 to 75 cents/word.

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LIVING THE COUNTRY LIFE http://www.livingthecountrylife.com --- Living the Country Life® inspires affluent rural homeowners to maximize their enjoyment of their place in the country. Focuses on rural homeowners on large properties. Covers gardening, livestock, equipment and property enhancements. Ten percent freelance written and pays $1/word. Submit queries to betsy.freese@meredith.com.

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PUBLISHERS / AGENTS
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SOHO CRIME PRESS http://www.sohocrime.com/submissions.php --- Soho Press primarily publishes fiction, with the occasional autobiography or cultural historical account. Completed manuscripts should be 60,000 words or more. While many of our published works arrive here through agents, we place a high priority on publishing quality unsolicited materials from new writers. Though eager to accept a wide range of literary fiction, we do not consider formula fiction, young adult dramas, stock romances, juvenile literature, short story collections, cookbooks, how-to books, self-help, fantasy, and anything that might recommend itself as a "quick read." Further, we do not consider electronic submissions.

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COFFEE HOUSE PRESS http://www.coffeehousepress.org/submission-guidelines/ --- Coffee House Press will only accept submissions during two annual reading periods: March 1 – April 30 and September 1 – October 31. Coffee House Press publishes literary novels, full-length short story collections, poetry, and a small number of essay collections and memoirs. CHP does not accept submissions for anthologies. CHP also does not publish genre fiction such as mysteries, Gothic romances, Westerns, science fiction, or books for children. Please note: Coffee House Press is not currently accepting unsolicited poetry submissions.

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ALGONQUIN BOOKS http:///www.algonquin.com --- Algonquin Books publishes literary fiction and nonfiction. We don’t publish poetry, genre fiction (romance, science fiction, etc.), or children’s books.

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PERFECT EDGE FICTION http://www.johnhuntpublishing.com/our-imprints.html --- Perfect Edge seeks books that take on the crippling fear of other people, the question of what's correct and normal, of how life works, of what art is. Our authors disagree with each other; their styles vary as widely as their concerns. What matters is the will to create books that won't be easy to assimilate. We take risks, not for the sake of risk-taking, but for the things that might come out of it.

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SPONSORS
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Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest

11th year. $5,500 in prizes will be awarded, including $2,000 for a poem in any style and $2,000 for a poem that rhymes or has a traditional style. Both published and unpublished work accepted. All entries that win cash prizes will be published on WinningWriters.com (over one million page views per year) and announced in the Winning Writers Newsletter, with over 40,000 subscribers. Entry fee is $8 for every 25 lines. Enter online or by mail. Postmark deadline: September 30. Judges: John H. Reid, Dee C. Konrad. Winning Writers is one of the "101 Best Writing Websites" (Writer's Digest, 2005-2012).

See guidelines, past winners, and enter at www.winningwriters.com/tompoetry

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BUSINESS STUFF
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Please forward the newsletter in its entirety. To reprint any editorials, contact hope@fundsforwriters.com for permission. Please do not assume that acknowledgements listed in your publication is considered a valid right to publish.

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

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

http://www.fundsforwriters.com

Copyright 2000-2013, C. Hope Clark ISSN: 1533-1326

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**Note that FundsforWriters.com places paid advertising in this newsletter, ALL ads being 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. But the mailing list is not sold to third parties. 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 with 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 receive. The website is not advertised using unsolicited messages by Aweber, affiliates or other third parties. Direct any complaints, suggestions, and accolades to Hope Clark at hope@fundsforwriters.com. We are an anti-spam site.