FundsforWriters - October 18, 2013

Published: Fri, 10/18/13

Volume 13, Issue 42 | OCTOBER 18, 2013

Message from the Editor

Roo and I are playing here, but we had a little scare this week with a small snake bit her on the foot. All is well, and this is a rare shot of us playing when she isn't a blur. It's amazing how life can change in a second, so enjoy every moment you have!

Editor, FundsforWriters
Email Hope | Visit Website
Newsletter: ISSN: 1533-1326
FFW has proudly been on the Writer's Digest's 101 Best Websites for Writers list every year since 2001

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

DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOU WRITE

I began my writing journey by writing a mystery. Then I couldn't sell it. Frankly, I'm happy there was no such thing as self-publishing back then, because I would have mistakenly published it then, when it was a far cry from being ready. Instead, I put it on a shelf, in a box, and let it collect dust.

In the meantime, I freelanced, writing for magazines and penning essays for FundsforWriters. Week after week, I wrote at least two essays per week, and queried several magazines. I pounded the keyboard, cranking out piece after piece, none of it fiction.

Then another author prompted me to pull out that old manuscript. Oh my goodness, the thing was horrid! Even though I'd worked on that story for two years, it wasn't long enough. But in the four years afterward, when I wrote all that nonfiction work as I took off in another direction, my writing still grew.

I recognized bad writing, and even better, I could now better dissect it and make it good. Instead, I tossed it and started over from an outline of the old story so I wouldn't feel tempted to cut and paste scenes and paragraphs from the work to keep from writing them from scratch.

The point is, all of that effort of writing more, writing tighter, writing for editors, and writing for income taught me to write with improved quality. I learned, after being complimented by a poetry review editor after a reading I gave at a conference, that it doesn't matter what you write if you are striving to write better.

One word in front of the other, fighting hard to make it sing prettier, will improve your wordsmithing no matter what you are writing.

You never waste writing, whether you publish it or not. Each word takes you closer to quality, assuming you want to improve with each of those words.

So, the next time you think you're wasting your time, stop irritating yourself. Instead, consider the practice like walking. Each step brings you closer to a destination.

~HOPE

WEBSITE - http://www.chopeclark.com
BLOG - http://www.chopeclark.com/blog
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

WORDS OF SUCCESS

If a man empties his purse into his head no one can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.

~Benjamin Franklin

THE SHY WRITER

Introversion may seem like a major obstacle to building a successful writing career, but this wonderful “covers-all-the-bases” book handily debunks the notion. ~Peter Bowerman, Author “The Well-Fed Writer” series

Hope has solutions in The Shy Writer Reborn that let you make the most of who you are instead of asking you to change your personality. ~Linda Formichelli, The Renegade Writer

The Carolina Slade Mystery Series
http://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

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

Success Story

Hello Ms. Clark,

I love the new look for the Funds For Writers and Total Funds For Writers enewsletters. They are attractive, easy to read, and twice as enjoyable as the previous format. Thank you not only for all the detailed information you provide each week within your newsletters, but also for your willingness to put in the amount of labor it must require to remain current with the market.

I've followed your links to several contests lately. The most recent was the Words With Jam First Page competition, in which my first page was short-listed.

Thank you for encouraging your fellow writers.

Suzanne Gochenouer www.transformationaleditor.com

featured article

SET IT AND FORGET IT: Three Small Tweaks That Can Make a Big Difference in Your Bottom Line

By Mridu Khullar Relph

In business, people outsource. In business, people use technology to solve their problems and make their lives easier. Writers? Not so much. We like to find that hardest, longest, most frustrating way of doing things and hold onto it as if our very existence depends on it. Right?

Or perhaps you’re a writer who feels there’s nothing in your business that could even be automated, certainly not the process of finding clients or generating assignments. And that’s where I come in. Because I’m a big believer in making life easy when it can be made easy. I don’t skimp on research, I certainly don’t skimp on the time I spend perfecting my writing and my work, but if there’s a way in which I could automate the business end of my work, I’m all for it.

Here then are three things I do routinely in the "set it and forget it" category that could help free up some time and generate a bit more income for you.

Your Website

I like to think of assignments that come to me through my website as “found money.” It’s not work I go looking for and it usually pays pretty well, because clients who’re searching on Google for freelancers in India just haven’t found the right ones yet and are willing to pay good rates for someone they think might make their life easy. I built my website once, and, while I update it frequently, it doesn’t actually require work or effort on my part to find these clients. A presence on Google is enough. My website works for me because of location, but you may have another specific skill set. You may, for instance, be a writer who does a lot of copywriting work for waste management companies. You want to make sure that when someone searches for that niche, your name pops up. That’s going to bring you business constantly and if you’re not popping up on some niche on some Google search, you’re losing money.

Your Reprints

I don’t believe there’s a lot of found money in reprints anymore but if you automate the process and make it simple, a few resulting sales may be worth the time investment you make in setting up the system. My trick is simple: When you get a contract for your piece, make a note of how soon after the piece is published you’re allowed to have it reprinted and set that date on your calendar. On that date, spend an hour or two looking for markets for that reprint (you can usually find about 20-30 markets) and do an e-mail blast. If the market is good, the timing is perfect, and you’re lucky, you’ll make a sale — or three — and if not, you haven’t spent hours wasting your time on trying to market a reprint that’s not going anywhere. If it sells, great. If not, move on. The next time you have something published, do this again.

Your Letter of Introduction

I’ve just rewritten my Letter of Introduction because I wanted it to have an even greater impact, but my last LOI brought in tens of thousands of dollars worth of revenue for me. I did a blast every couple of months when I felt that work was drying up. Without fail, it managed to either drum up some business or help me connect with a new editor or client. A good Letter of Introduction takes work, though, so don’t expect to just bang one out in ten minutes and expect to see the money rolling in. I try to personalize my LOIs each time I send them out, even though the basic format remains the same. And I also take great care to write it well the first time so that it’s a template I can build off. Spend a few hours perfecting your LOI like you would a brochure or any other marketing material. But once you’ve done it, it’s an easy income generator that can bring in clients quickly without much more than an email blast every few months.

When you set it and forget it, you create time for yourself to do the things that are important to you, like writing. What part of your freelancing business will you automate today?

BIO: Mridu Khullar Relph is an award-winning journalist. Get her free e-book “21 Query Letters That Sold” with queries that landed her in The New York Times, Time, Ms., Writer’s Digest, The Writer, and many more publications, at http://www.mridukhullar.com/ebook-queries/

competitions

THE LASCAUX PRIZE IN SHORT FICTION http://lascauxreview.com/contests/ --- $5 ENTRY FEE. Stories may be previously published or unpublished. Length should not exceed 10,000 words. The editors will select a winner and nineteen additional finalists. The winner will receive $500 and publication in The Lascaux Review. Both winner and finalists will earn the privilege of displaying a virtual medallion on blogs and websites. Deadline December 31, 2013.

THE FICTION DESK FLASH FICTION COMPETITION http://www.thefictiondesk.com/submissions/flash-fiction-competition.php --- £3 ENTRY FEE. Deadline January 31, 2014. The first prize is £200, and there are four finalist prizes of £25, with the winner and finalists published in an upcoming Fiction Desk anthology. Stories should be between 250 and 1,000 words in length.

ESOTERIC SHORT STORY CONTEST http://carvezine.com/esoteric-contest/ --- $23 ENTRY FEE. Deadline November 30, 2013. Limit 8,000 words. Up to three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in the Spring 2014 issue in mid-March. Open to U.S. and international, but stories must be in English. No genre fiction; literary fiction only. Examples of genre fiction include but not limited to: romance, sci-fi, horror, thriller, noir.

REMIXING THE WORLD'S PROBLEMS http://robertleebrewer.blogspot.com/2013/09/remixing-worlds-problems-challenge-for.html --- NO ENTRY FEE. I want poets (and non-poets) to try their hands at remixing the poems in my Solving the World's Problems collection. The inspiration comes from pop and dance music, which routinely offers remixed versions of the original songs. Some sound similar to the original; others are grand departures. For me, this challenge is a great opportunity to collaborate. I hope that's an intrinsic benefit for you as well, but one lucky person will receive the extrinsic benefit of $500. Deadline May 15, 2014. Enter as often as you wish.

COAL HILL CHAPBOOK POETRY COMPETITION http://www.coalhillreview.com/?page_id=20973 --- $20 ENTRY FEE. Deadline November 1, 2013. The winning chapbook will be published in an edition of 200 paper copies available through Autumn House Press, and selections from the winning manuscript, as well as from the finalist manuscripts, will be published online in our Spring edition. Also, the author of the winning chapbook will receive $1,000. Submission should consist of 10-15 pages, either a long poem or a group of poems.

GRANTS

PARIS REVIEW WRITER-IN-RESIDENCE PROGRAM http://www.theparisreview.org/standardculture --- For the first three weeks in January 2014, the Standard, East Village will provide a room free of charge to a writer who has a book under contract and needs three weeks of solitude in downtown New York City. Applications will be judged by the editors of The Paris Review and Standard Culture. The deadline for the application is November 1, 2013. The residency is open to writers of prose or poetry, fiction or nonfiction. All submissions must be in English or include an English translation.

JOURNALISM GRANTS http://journalismgrants.org/ --- Seeing that we are looking to support projects of great impact and high visibility, applicants must apply for a minimum grant of €8,000. For your reference, we expect the average grant given to be about €20,000. A maximum of 25 to 30 grants will be made available in 2013. Applicants may apply for full or partial story funding. Full grants may cover direct expenses for journalistic research and study trips, including travel and accommodation, possible technical costs for equipment or crew, information procurement costs (such as access to professional databases or original data gathering efforts), graphics design and visualisation, adaptation of software, and other justified costs incurred directly for the implementation of the project. Alternatively, partial grants can be made available to top up existing reporting budgets. The deadlines for 2013 have passed. Everyone who missed our deadlines: stay tuned, as we are preparing two new rounds of applications in 2014.

SCRIPPS HOWARD FOUNDATION http://www.scripps.com/foundation/programs/jgrants/jgrants.html --- The Foundation's work in journalism and communications extends to general grantmaking aiming for excellence through education, mid-career development, First Amendment causes, diversity, content improvement, public forums, legal issues, international press development, conferences, workshops, and more. For information about journalism grants, contact Mike Philipps, president and CEO, Scripps Howard Foundation at 1-800-888-3000 ext. 3036 or mike.philipps@scripps.com.

WINTER POETRY AND PROSE GETAWAY SCHOLARSHIPS http://www.wintergetaway.com/index.html --- Several scholarships are being offered for first-time participants of the 21st Annual Winter Poetry & Prose Getaway, January 17-20, 2014. Location Stockton Seaview Hotel in Atlantic City. Two different scholarships available: 1) The Toni Brown Memorial Scholarship offers a place to two poets or writers age 31 and over. Deadline: Nov. 15, 2013; 2) The Jan-ai Scholarship will fund two poets or writers between the ages of 18 and 30. Deadline: Nov. 30, 2013.

TURKEY LAND COVE FOUNDATION www.turkeylandcovefoundation.org --- Turkey Land Cove (TLC) Foundation offers personal, individual, working retreats for motivated women from New England and New York to pursue their professional, educational, and artistic goals away from the distractions of daily life. TLC provides a quiet space for women to progress toward a defined goal, complete a project, and develop tools to propel their lives in a new direction. The successful candidate will have a clearly defined goal and a plan to reach that goal. We are looking for women with strong leadership qualities and who are ambitious, motivated and determined. Our grants provide room and board and cover reasonable transportation expenses. Deadline November 1, 2013.

FREELANCE MARKETS

CLARKESWORLD MAGAZINE http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/submissions/ --- Fiction limit: 1,000-8,000 words. Pays ten cents/word for the first 4,000 words, five cents/word for each word over 4,000. Science fiction and fantasy only.

SUBTROPICS http://www.english.ufl.edu/subtropics/submit.html --- Subtropics pays $1,000 ($500 for a short short) for North American first serial rights. Poets paid $100 per poem. Subtropics pays upon acceptance for prose; for poetry, they pay after the publication of the issue preceding the one in which the author's work will appear. Submissions are accepted until April 15.

CREATING KEEPSAKES http://www.creatingkeepsakesblog.com/submit-your-work/ --- We’re always looking for fresh, never-before-published scrapbook pages and tips. Priority will be given to 2-page, multi-photo layouts. Query. Articles are 700 to 1,200 words. Pays $350 to $600. Pays 50 percent kill fee.

DOLL READER http://www.dollreader.com/ --- Doll Reader provides beginning to advanced collectors with information on antique, vintage, modern, and contemporary dolls. Each issue features artist profiles, new research on antique and vintage dolls, the latest collecting trends and exclusives, as well as the newest releases from manufacturers and artists. Approximately 1,000 to 2,000 words for features and 400 to 700 words for shorts. Pays 20 to 30 cents/word.

DRAFT MAGAZINE http://draftmag.com/new/submissions/ --- DRAFT can only assign and publish the most tightly focused, error-free queries that meet our needs and guidelines. Pitches need not be beer-centric, but those that are should focus on beer/brewery news, trends and ideas, rather than the technical aspects of brewing and/or profiles. Aside from beer, we happily accept pitches on topics ranging from food, sports (both professional and leisure), travel, and many other topics. No beer reviews. Pays up to 90 cents/word. Articles 250 to 2,500 words. Departments 350 to 950 words.

JOBS

TECHNICAL WRITER
Location Quantico, VA
https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/353265900
---
Deadline October 25, 2013. Pays $60,000 to $75,000/year.
Serves as a Policy and Technical Writer within the Program Development
Section, Behavioral Health Branch, Marine and Family Programs Division,
Headquarters Marine Corps (HQMC). Performs a variety of editing and
writing assignments to include drafting responses to urgent taskers
and compiling data for technical reports, information papers, technical
guides, and fact sheets.

PUBLISHERS

SALVO PRESS http://www.salvopress.com/Submissions.html --- We only publish original works. If your book has been published in any format, including ebook or any other method, then we will not publish your book. This includes any self publication, even if the publication was for your own promotional use or to hand out to friends and relatives. We only publish first editions. Current Needs: Mysteries, Thrillers, and Science Fiction.

SEVERN HOUSE http://www.severnhouse.com/ --- Publishes a wide range of quality fiction, ranging from crime and mystery to romance, historical and thriller.

WORD FORGE BOOKS http://wordforgebooks.com/ --- An independent publisher of quality titles on the following subjects: American national and regional history, Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic region, Weather and the environment, Nature, animals and habitat, Mystery, romance and the supernatural, Inspiration and spirituality, Creativity and personal empowerment, Writers and the writing craft, Business and marketing.

COFFEE HOUSE PRESS http://coffeehousepress.org/submission-guidelines/ --- Coffee House Press publishes emerging and midcareer authors. Nearly all CHP authors have had works published in literary magazines or other publications (a resume including a list of prior publications can strengthen your submission). Although prior publications are important, they are not a requirement; part of our mission is to present promising debut authors alongside previously published writers.

BLACK BALLOON BOOKS http://blackballoonpublishing.com/whatwepublish.html --- Black Balloon books are risky but not gimmicky, whimsical but never light, intelligent but not precious. We cater to writers who kick conventions curbside, who provoke without sentiment, who make the despicable somehow appealing. We’re a small house with a Big House reach. We take on only what we love, and it’s a deep-seated, hippocampal love — each title receives a personal publicist, targeted marketing plan, promotional trailers and videos, interactive ebooks, collage-like apps, and shockingly dedicated editors. Your questions will be answered, your concerns, addressed. Your book will not be dropped, remaindered, or ignored. It will be revered.