FundsforWriters - November 29, 2013

Published: Fri, 11/29/13

Volume 13, Issue 48 | November 29, 2013

Message from the Editor

A picture from my side of the Thanksgiving table, which my family had this afternoon, thus the reason the newsletter came out so late today. I did the cooking, and it turned out great, if I do say so myself. That handsome guy with the pony tail beside me is my oldest son, Matthew. Hope your family had a great time as well. Tomorrow (Saturday) . . . Football!

Editor, FundsforWriters
Email Hope | Visit Website
Newsletter: ISSN: 1533-1326
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SPONSOR OF THE WEEK

NOVEMBER ONLY ! ! !

TIDEWATER MURDER $1.99 on KINDLE

Bell Bridge Books and I are thrilled that Tidewater Murder was selected for one of their November Monthly Deals. Take advantage of this great offer for gifts and yourself while you have the chance.

What a fantastic way to introduce yourself to Carolina Slade and her crazy, quirky, strong-headed yet loving and loyal efforts in rural crime-solving.

Huge international blog Daily KOS selected Tidewater Murder for their book review post just his week. An immense honor!

In this, the second of the series, Clark has comfortably, confidently settled into her storytelling mode and weaves a compelling mystery. There is something very cool about a federal employee as a superhero, even if imperfect. South Carolina shines brightly in every scene. You can feel the density of the summer humidity and hear the cicadas in the evening. I do love armchair travel that allows me to visit such a beautiful part of the country without the hassle of a 50 pound baggage weight limit. I look forward to my next visit, just as soon as C. Hope Clark writes another story.

Editor’s THOUGHTS

EVER THOUGHT ABOUT PITCHING TO HOTELS?

Hotels, a Place to Lay Your Head, or Bury It in a Book

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/17/travel/hotels-a-place-to-lay-your-head-or-bury-it-in-a-book.html

At first glance, I almost passed this article by, until residency caught my eye. Then I became entranced by the opportunity this piece presented for writers, a chance that could be staring some of us in the eye.

My favorite hotel writing option comes in the form of residencies at the Betsy-South Beach hotel in Miami, FL. It offers free rooms to selected writers, from newcomers to a poet laureate, for stays of up to seven days, to include meals. In exchange, the writer maintains a literary salon, open to the public, with readings and lectures. A sister hotel, Carlton South Beach Hotel, features house writers from foreign countries, particularly those exiled for their writing.

In New York, several hotels feature works of particular small presses. I love that idea. I can imagine my publisher, headquartered in Memphis, TN, posting its books in a notable hotel in its city. Many cities are home to publishing arms. Gosh, why not celebrate it?

From another angle, and this is my own idea, if you tend to write about an area in your works, consider setting up a small library in the hotel of geographical works, to include yours.

From yet another angle, find out what conferences are being held in hotels, and if you can make your book somehow parallel what they represent, then offer a discount for the purchase of a large quantity of the book for each attendee. The book would epitomize the location, the business world, or could just be a wonderfully light book of poetry or a children's book (think educators).

Offer to do a reading, without the residency. Offer to do it one night a week. What may start out as an event with two or three people might turn into a more major event as the local area learns about it. Partner with a couple other sponsors, to include coffee or pastries or unusual holiday gifts, and you might become the catalyst for a regular apperance...and sales.

Credibility is the hardest part of these partnerships. That's why it's wonderful to have a publisher behind you for such arrangements. But if you don't, then be willing to offer your book for free, and your services for free, for as long as it takes, to make the idea work. And don't forget a partner or two. The more the merrier.

~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

THANKS FROM HOPE - in case you missed her message and tokens of appreciation this week: http://chopeclark.com/thanks-from-hope/

WORDS OF SUCCESS

Publishing a volume of verse is like dropping a rose petal down the Grand Canyon and waiting for the echo.

~Don Marquis

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

If you've had a success story thanks to a posting in FundsforWriters, let us hear it! Contact Hope@FundsforWriters.com

featured article

TRANSITIONING FROM NONFICTION TO FICTION WRITING

By Donna R. Dolan

First of all, it is possible. Ernest Hemingway and William Kennedy moved from journalism; Sue Monk Kidd from memoir; and C. S. Lewis from essays and treatises. Sue Monk Kidd states that the most frequently-asked question on her book tours is, “How did you go from nonfiction to fiction?” Here are some tips and support to help you make the transition:

You need to transition your reading, as well. Read your most-admired authors and new fiction authors also. Remember, C.S. Lewis says good readers read a piece more than once.

Have a plan. Stagger your writing. Perhaps write fiction and nonfiction on alternate days. Or, write your fiction first, then go back to the nonfiction you’re more comfortable with once you've met your word count in the other.

Writing fiction is a discipline for which you have been well-trained through your nonfiction deadlines. Produce five to ten pages a day faithfully!

Try flash fiction first. Because it is short, it is easier to start with and there are numerous contests listed in FundsforWriters newsletter.

Your nonfiction themes can find a home in your fiction. For instance, C. S. Lewis’ themes concerned Christianity which he incorporated into his fiction (Chronicles of Narnia) without being didactic or preachy.

The skill sets you have developed while writing nonfiction will serve you well in fiction also. These include:

1) Attention to detail. Your descriptions of the who, what, where, why and how will help you in plotting fiction and in description.

2) Interviewing. Interview your characters on what they think about — religion, politics or an event — just as you would a source.

3) Sense of place. Your knowledge of a place garnered from nonfiction can serve you well in fiction. William Kennedy reported on Albany, NY first for the Albany Times Union and then set his cycle of Albany novels there. Readers always want to see a place with which they are familiar portrayed accurately, and your nonfiction experience of place sets you apart.

4) Journal Writing. Your journal or dream journal writing can help with both plot and productivity. This angle also falls in the category of "write what you know."

5) Research. Nonfiction research is helpful to fiction. You’ll get that time or place right, but William Kennedy talks about the danger of research:

“And so I got hooked on research, couldn’t get out from under the library’s microfilm machine until I finally realized I was doing myself a great disservice; because your imagination can’t absorb all that new material and synthesize it easily.“

Finally, William Kennedy describes the difference between nonfiction and fiction: “But the journalist must report on life objectively, and the novelist must reinvent life utterly, and the work has to come up from below instead of down from the top as a journalist receives it. But experience alone will produce only commonplace novels. The real work is a blend of imagination and language.”

Source for quotes: Allen, Douglas and Mona Simpson, “William Kennedy: The Art of Fiction 111,” Paris Review, Winter, 1989.

BIO: Donna R. Dolan is a librarian and aspiring fiction writer who lives in Albany, NY. She often writes about research and online information.

competitions

DAVID BURLAND POETRY PRIZE http://www.davidburlandpoetryprize.com/compeitionrules.html --- ENTRY FEE £8, £4 – each additional poem. Entries accepted from writers of any nationality writing in either French or English. Winning Entries in both French and English will receive £500, and a copy of the recording. Deadline May 31, 2014.

LADIES HOME JOURNAL ESSAY CONTEST http://www.lhj.com/community/your-stories/2012-personal-essay-contest/ --- NO ENTRY FEE. A prize of $3,000 and possible publication in Ladies’ Home Journal will be given annually for a personal essay on a theme. This year’s theme is “the Best Decision I Ever Made.” The editors will judge. Submit an essay of up to 2,000 words by December 6, 2013.

2014 BETHLEHEM WRITERS ROUNDTABLE SHORT STORY AWARD http://bwgwritersroundtable.com/ --- $10 ENTRY FEE. Submit 2,000 words or fewer on the theme of "Food Stories" for the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable Short Story Award. In addition to a $200 prize, the first place winner's story will be considered for print publication in the Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC's next anthology or as a featured story in Bethlehem Writers Roundtable. Our current anthology, Once Around the Sun: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Tales for All Seasons is out now, and our first publication, A Christmas Sampler: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Holiday Tales (2009), won two Next Generation Indie Book Awards for Best Anthology and Best Short Fiction. Second place will receive $100 + publication in the BWG Writers Roundtable online literary magazine. Third place will receive $50 + publication in the BWG Writers Roundtable online literary magazine. Honorable Mentions may also be published in the BWG Writers Roundtable online literary magazine in a month selected by the editors. Deadline January 15, 2014.

CWA DEBUT DAGGER AWARD http://www.thecwa.co.uk/daggers/debut/index.html --- £25 ENTRY FEE. For 15 years the CWA has been encouraging new writing with its Debut Dagger competition for unpublished writers. The submissions are judged by a panel of top crime editors and agents, and the short listed entries are sent to publishers and agents. Deadline January 31, 2014. The shortlist will be announced at Crimefest in May and the overall winner will be announced at the CWA Dagger Awards Dinner shortly after. The Debut Dagger is open to anyone who has not yet had a novel published commercially. The first prize is £700. Requires the first 3,000 words of your novel.

GUERNSEY POETRY PRIZE http://www.guernseyliteraryfestival.com/~annibiss/litfest/images/poems-on-the-move.pdf --- ENTRY FEE £4 per poem, £10 for 3. (YOUTH AGES 12-17 ENTER FREE). Six finalists will be chosen from each of the three categories: Open Poetry, Channel Island's Poetry and Young People's Poetry as well as 15 other outstanding poems to be used as part of the 'poems on the move' campaign and displayed on buses, in museums, libraries, at street festivals, at the airport and even on the beach, but always on the move, in impromptu exhibitions all over Guernsey. The winner of the Open Poetry category will also receive a £300 prize. Limit 2 lines. English only. Deadline December 1, 2013. Youth category for ages 12 to 17.

GRANTS

GRUB STREET WORKSHOP SCHOLARSHIPS http://www.grubstreet.org/index.php?id=573 --- Grub Street is pleased to offer $200 scholarships to forty selected writers each year. Recipients may use their scholarship at any time in the year and toward any class they desire, though not for Muse and the Marketplace tuition or manuscript consulting. There are 4 application deadlines throughout the year - one in each term. We’ll give out 10 scholarships after each deadline. To apply for a Winter 2014 term scholarship, please email the following to alison@grubstreet.org by Thursday, December 5, 2013 at 12:00pm with a 5-10 page sample of your work and a one-page letter detailing your financial need and desire to take a Grub Street class. In addition to our usual Winter Term scholarships, we are pleased to be able to offer a special scholarship, the Shannon Smith Memorial Scholarship, for female students wishing to take our Master Fiction course.

ILLINOIS INDIVIDUAL GRANTS http://www.arts.illinois.gov/Individual%20Artist%20Support --- The Individual Artist Support program assists Illinois artists to realize a career goal, take advantage of a professional opportunity, or to produce and present an artistic project. The IAS program represents the Agency's continuing commitment to support the work of individual artists. Deadline June 1, 2014 for activities occurring through December 31, 2014. Applications must be received by the IACA no less than 10 weeks prior to the project starting date.

THE WRITER'S ROOM AT THE BETSY-SOUTH BEACH http://www.betsywritersroom.com/ --- Residencies at The Betsy are typically Sunday through Wednesday. In some circumstances, residencies can be a full week or more. There is no charge to stay in The Writer’s Room. In exchange for the opportunity, visiting writers are asked to write a creative summary of their experience for our blog, hold a Salon to introduce and discuss their work, and donate a recent publication (signed) to The Writer’s Room. Artists evidencing need may apply for a per diem of up to $50. Travel to/from The Writer’s Room at The Betsy is not covered. Writers may bring their dogs if they weigh less than 25 pounds. To apply for a residency in The Writer’s Room write

jean@TheBetsyHotel.com. Location South Beach, FL.

RESIDENCY PROGRAM AT CARLTON SOUTH BEACH HOTEL http://www.carltonsouthbeach.com/ --- When management of Betsy-South Beach (see above) bought the neighboring Carlton South Beach Hotel in October, it expanded the program to house writers exiled from their home countries for extended stays, the first being Chenjerai Hove, originally from Zimbabwe, a critic of the Mugabe government. The philanthropic program helps cast the hotel as the thinking traveler’s choice, while underscoring the natural association between books and travel — when guests actually have the time to read. No specific contact was given for this residency, so suggest you contact the above person at jean@TheBetsyHotel.com

HAMBIDGE FELLOWSHIPS http://www.hambidge.org/support-distinguished-fellowships --- Distinguished Fellowships ($3,500). Artist receives two-week residency with no residency fees, $700 stipend, the honor of a Distinguished Fellowship. Location Rabun Gap, GA.

FREELANCE MARKETS

AMERICAN INDIAN ART MAGAZINE http://www.aiamagazine.com/authors_guidelines --- American Indian Art Magazine is a quarterly art journal that presents art by all North American Indians through articles and illustrations designed to be of interest to both casual readers and professionals. All articles, whether solicited or volunteered, are subject to review by members of the Magazine’s Editorial Advisory Board and/or other authorities in the field. Articles reflecting original research are preferred over summaries and reviews of previously discussed material. The Magazine pays an author’s fee of $400, upon publication, for research articles, $200 for museum collection articles and $400 for exhibition features.

THE ARTIST'S MAGAZINE http://www.artistsnetwork.com/about_us --- The Artist’s Magazine celebrates the creative life and the creative act, the artist as well as the art, by showcasing the best work — in all media and in all styles — of the best artists working today. With beautiful color reproductions, engaging interviews, lively discussions of timely issues, practical lessons in craft, and news of exhibitions and events, The Artist’s Magazine inspires, informs, encourages and instructs so that an artist’s creative life will be filled with success as well as pleasure. Pitch the editor-in-chief. Purchase articles of 500 to 1,200 words and pays $300 to $500.

AMERICAN EDUCATOR http://www.aft.org/newspubs/periodicals/ae/article_submission.cfm --- American Educator is the quarterly professional magazine of the American Federation of Teachers. We are interested in articles on a wide range of topics, including new trends in education, politics, well-researched news features on current problems in education, education law, professional ethics, and thoughtful or thought- provoking essays that explore current social issues relevant to American society. We also welcome articles on international affairs and labor issues of interest to teachers as AFT members. Articles may vary in length from 1,000 to 5,000 words, depending on the topic. Payment varies according to length and topic. The minimum payment for an article is $300.

HUMANITIES http://www.neh.gov/humanities/staff --- This magazine covers news in the humanities, usually focused on projects that have received financial grants from the agency. Sample copy readable online. Pays $300 to $600 for nonfiction articles of 400 to 2,500 words. Has several smaller columns of 750 words that pay in the range of $300.

JOBS

COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST
https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/355810100
---
Deadline December 4, 2013. Location Washington DC. Develops
comprehensive, high level strategic communications plans that
involve multiple projects, require coordination and collaboration
across several GSA organizations, and employ innovative
communications approaches.

PUBLISHERS

FILBERT PUBLISHING http://filbertpublishing.com/submissions/ --- We really like to publish books that creative people can use to help them make a living following their dream. This includes books on marketing, books that encourage living a full life, freelancing, we’ll consider a fairly wide range of subjects under this umbrella. We will also give consideration to books on healthy living and plant-based cooking. Make sure your cookbook has a strong hook. We’ve got a few awesome books in this category on the horizon and are anxious to extend that line. Manuscripts should run from 25,000 to 85,000 words. Minimum word count for cookbooks is 5,000 words.

RIO NUEVO PUBLISHERS http://www.rionuevo.com --- At Rio Nuevo Publishers we present the best of the West in words and pictures. Our award-winning books focus on arts and crafts, children’s literature, cooking, history, gardening, memoirs, Native America, nature, spirituality, and travel.

ALPINE PUBLICATIONS http://www.alpinepub.com/ --- Publishes a full line of non-fiction books on dogs and horses, including training, care, behavior, breeds and breeding, puppies, performance events, hunting, herding and more. For over 37 years, Alpine Publications’ books have been helping people succeed with their canine and equine activities.

ABRAMS COMICARTS http://www.abramsbooks.com/author_submissions.html --- Abrams ComicArts publishes high quality, contemporary, groundbreaking illustrated books about the legends and history of comics art, animation, and cartoon-based material, as well as new graphic novels. Currently accepting submissions.

ANNICK PRESS http://www.annickpress.com/submission-guides --- Not open to picture books at this time. Prefers Canadian authors. Seeks manuscripts for teen fiction and nonfiction, as well as middle reader fiction and nonfiction. Also seeking illustrators.