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Volume 15, Issue 28, JUly 10, 2015 |
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Message from the Editor
I hope this picture shows up well. That's me at the bottom, holding my precious grandson watching his first fireworks. That's hubby pointing, like the tyke needed guidance where to look - LOL. We live on a lake in central SC, a state where fireworks are legal, and each year we fire an assortment of rockets. It's become tradition. Isn't it amazing when a tradition is fresh for new eyes? Makes you excited about that tradition all over again. Of course, throw in hot dogs and watermelon, checkers and swimming, and the Fourth was perfect. Hope yours was as well.
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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SPONSOR OF THE WEEK
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EDITOR'S THOUGHTS
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NO COMPLAINTS
"I Went 21 Days Without Complaining and It Changed My Life" by Tim Ferriss
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tim-ferriss/no-complaint-experiment_b_5610433.html
I'm not sure I could do this. I want to, but without even trying I know it will be hard. And I wish more people would want to do this as well, so I could be around people trying hard like me to be positive. I'm so tired of negativity.
Complaining is trending these days. Complaining about others is even trendier. Look anywhere, go anywhere, Google anywhere, and take note. It literally makes my heart hurt. Some evenings it weighs me down. Ha, see there? I'm complaining. If I were wearing the bracelet in the article, I'd have to take it off one wrist and switch it to the other. That's the mission. . . to wear the bracelet for 21 days without complaining, and when you fail, you start over.
I want to be around people who don't complain.
I want to be one of those people.
It's not about clamming up and plastering on a Stepford Wife smile. It's about taking a negative moment, and reflexively thinking of a solution. It's about finding an answer instead of wallowing in pity, anger, or crap. Before long you aren't thinking negatively, but instead automatically shifting into the mode of seeking a light. Ferriss came around with a simple statement that is so true:
"People want to be around action-oriented problem solvers."
What he doesn't say, because if he did he'd have to switch his bracelet again, is that people do not like to be around naysayers, grumps, or people who spend too much energy dissecting all that is wrong instead of hunting, defining, and creating something right.
Author and editor Linda Yezak wrote a blog post recently entitled "Tough Love for Writers," in which she cited one of my posts that told writers to hush and write, or get out of the way of those who do. It IS tough love to want to shake people into their right minds. To want to help them move forward toward success rather than sit and cry.
After all, we're writers. In fiction, we learn that every protagonist fights what appears to be the unsurmountable wall. She fails over and over, but like the authors we are, we keep making that protagonist fight the good fight, digging deep, falling, getting back up and becoming the hero.
How loud do I have to shout DUH?
NOTE: Did you miss the Bookarma podcast this week where I was a guest? Here it is in case you did: https://youtu.be/vCHNnj3lc-Q
P.S. TOTAL FundsforWriters is the extended version of this newsletter, with 70 markets, contests, grants, etc. and still at the ten-year-old cost of $15 for 26 issues. A great way to find opportunities to make money, without the hours of searching. Some subscribers have been around since TOTAL's origin a decade ago...they swear by it that much.
-Hope Clark
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Upcoming Book Signings and Classes!
July 16, 2015 - Signing at Edisto Bookstore, Edisto Island, SC
July 31-Aug 1 - Mississippi Writers Conference, Oxford, MS
August 26 - SC Library Association, keynote, Irmo Branch Library, 3:30PM
Sept 16 - Louisville Writers Group, Louisville, KY (GO TIGERS!)
Oct 29-Nov 1 - Killer Nashville Con, Nashville, TN
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WORDS OF SUCCESS
“Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it’s the only way you can do anything really good."
– William Faulkner
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MURDER ON EDISTO
A big city detective
A Lowcountry crime
When her husband is murdered by the Russian mob, Boston detective Callie Jean Morgan suffers a mental break and relinquishes her badge to return home to South Carolina. She has no idea how to proceed with her life, but her son deserves to move on with his, so she relocates them to the family vacation home.
But the day they arrive on Edisto Beach, Callie finds her childhood mentor and elderly neighbor murdered. Her fragile sanity is threatened when the murderer taunts her, and the home that was to be her sanctuary is repeatedly violated. Callie loses her fight to walk away from law enforcement as she becomes the only person able to pursue the culprit who's turned the coastal paradise into a paranoid patch of sand where nobody's safe. But what will it cost her?
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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SUCCESS STORY
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Dear Hope,
I have subscribed to your newsletter for about two years now. I want to credit you for directing me to take a leap of faith in an attempt to launch a website and blog. Your recommendation of your website designer, Shaila Abdullah, was just what I needed! I decided to hire her and Shaila couldn't have made it any easier. She was patient in answering all my questions and concerns. Her design has the sensitivity and compassionate look that I was hoping to achieve. This website is dedicated to family caregivers of loved ones diagnosed with Alzheimer's and dementia. My memoir about family caregiving will be published in a few months, and Shaila will continue mentoring me in the process of launching this book through the website: http://CaregiverFamilies.com.
Many thanks, Hope!
Vicki Kaufmann
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FEATURED ARTICLE
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How and Why to Keep a Writing Journal
By Noelle Sterne
A journal is a time-honored writer’s tool to record ideas, develop them, work out plots, and save meaningful aphorisms and perfect overheard phrases. We can use a journal for these and other issues and in fact any aspect of our writing. Whether you’ve kept a journal for decades, or have never started one, consider these twelve tips not only to help you write more but also to make your writing more effective.
But first, a word on handwriting: For your journal, I urge you to write by hand. Writers have recognized the prime importance of handwriting. Natalie Goldberg in her classic Writing Down the Bones observes: “Handwriting is more connected to the movement of the heart [than typing]. . . . You are physically engaged with the pen, and your hand, connected to your arm, is pouring out the record of your senses. (pp. 6, 7, 50)
Prolific mystery writer Phyllis Whitney agrees: “I believe there’s a connection between the brain and the fingers, and there should be as little interference between the two as possible” (“Tools of the Writer’s Trade,” The Writer, August 1992, p. 29).
In her block-breaking prescription of the “morning pages,” Julia Cameron in The Artist’s Way specifies they must be “three pages of longhand writing” (p. 10).
So . . .
1. Choose a physical instrument for your journal that pleases you most—a crisp, yellow, lined pad, loose sheets of bright-white paper, or an old-fashioned school notebook. Or treat yourself to a beautifully covered book with blank pages.
2. Write in pen. You'll take yourself more seriously.
3. Be consistent in format. Decide where to put the date and time—upper right, upper left, in the middle. And number the pages, consecutively throughout the month or by individual entry. Such details may seem annoyingly mundane, but when you establish consistency you gain a sense of order and self-respect.
4. Decide on a minimum number of entries a week. Schedule them and keep your promise to yourself. Shut the door, hide the junk magazines, turn away from the Internet gossip, ignore the phone.
5. Choose a place to write that you love, where you feel nurtured and safe. Later, you’ll be able to "carry" this space with you anywhere.
6. Before you start, close your eyes for a few minutes and take some deep breaths. Tell yourself, "I trust my perfect flow of words and ideas."
7. Remind yourself that your journal is for recording anything. You can always cross out your words or tear up the page. No one else ever has to see your entries.
8. Feeling stuck with a writing project? Ask questions in your journal about the present work. Or scribble down how you're feeling right now.
9. If a personal problem or situation is revolving endlessly in your head, spill it all out in your journal. Insights may bubble up, and even resolutions.
10. If you're sure you have nothing to say, just wait. I often repeat the sage words of the American poet Richard Wilbur: "Step off assuredly into the blank of your mind. Something will come to you."
11. If you need a boost to begin today's entry, read the previous one and comment on it.
12. Trust your mind and what it wants to write. Listen and obey.
Finally, enjoy your journal. It’s a wonderful tool to help you understand yourself, get through stuck times, develop your writing works, and grow intellectually, professionally, emotionally, and spiritually. And more — it’s an almost effortless record of your progress and commitment to yourself.
BIO:
Noelle Sterne - www.trustyourlifenow.com
Author, Trust Your Life: Forgive Yourself and Go AfterYour Dreams. Unity Books, 2011.
RESOURCES:
Do You Deserve Your Dreams? Words. Transformation Magazine, March 2015.
http://www.transformationmag.com/online/2015/03/do-you-deserve-your-dreams/
How to Shut Up Your Inner Editor. Writer’s Digest Online, February 10, 2015.
http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/how-to-shut-up-your-inner-editor
Challenges in Writing Your Dissertation: Coping With the Emotional, Interpersonal, and
Spiritual Struggles. Forthcoming 2015, Rowman & Littlefield Education.
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COMPETITIONS
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GRAYSON BOOKS POETRY PRIZE
https://graysonbooks.submittable.com/submit
$25 ENTRY FEE.
Open to all poets writing in English. Submit your 50-80 page manuscript electronically. Deadline August 15, 2015. $1,000, publication, and 10 copies. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable if we are notified immediately about an acceptance elsewhere.
NATIONAL POETRY REVIEW BOOK PRIZE
http://home.comcast.net/~sagecj/tnprbookprize.html
$27 ENTRY FEE.
The winner will receive $1,000 plus publication and 15 copies of the book. All entrants will be considered for publication. Submit 45-80 pages of poetry. Postmark deadline August 31, 2015.
CONSTANCE ROOKE CREATIVE NONFICTION LITERARY CONTEST
http://www.malahatreview.ca/contests/creative_non-fiction_prize/info.html
ENTRY FEE $35 in Canada, $40 in U.S., $45 international.
Deadline August 1, 2015. The award grants $1,000 to the best memoir, personal essay, travel writing or other style of nonfiction. All entrants receive a complimentary one-year subscription to The Malahat Review in exchange for entry fee.
THE WRITING MAPS Writing Contest #18
https://writingmaps.submittable.com/submit/40770
$5 ENTRY FEE.
Deadline August 22, 2015. Theme: Hands. Write about hands as a poem or as a short story, a graphic story, or a snippet of memoir. It can be fiction or autobiography. Or SF or mis mem, erotic or academic. Maximum 150 words. Two winning entries will be published in Issue #3 of The A3 Review, the Writing Maps Journal. Winners will also receive Writing Maps and other goodies. First prize £150; second prize £75; third prize £50.
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GRANTS
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NEW JERSEY STATE COUNCIL ON THE ARTS INDIVIDUAL ARTIST FELLOWSHIPS
http://www.midatlanticarts.org/funding/artists_programs/fellowships/nj.html
Deadline: July 15, 2015, 5:00 PM. Artists may use fellowship awards to pursue work in their artistic discipline, including purchasing supplies, studying in a workshop situation, renting studio space or otherwise freeing their time. Fellowship funds may not be used for travel out of the country, study as a matriculated student in either a graduate or undergraduate program, or to purchase permanent equipment. Fellowship awards have ranged in the past from $7,000 - $12,000. Requires residency.
MARYLAND STATE ARTS COUNCIL INDIVIDUAL ARTIST AWARDS
http://www.midatlanticarts.org/funding/artists_programs/fellowships/md.html
Deadline: July 23, 2015, 4:30 PM. A limited number of awards of $1,000, $3,000, and $6,000 will be offered. Submit up to 20 pages. Requires residency.
DELAWARE DIVISION OF THE ARTS INDIVIDUAL ARTIST FELLOWSHIPS
http://www.midatlanticarts.org/funding/artists_programs/fellowships/de.html
Deadline: August 3, 2015, 4:30 PM. The Fellowship program provides competitive grants in three categories with monetary awards of $3,000, $6,000, and $10,000 to Delaware artists. Fellowships are awarded for demonstrated creativity and skill in an art form with artistic quality as the primary determinant.
ARTSMITH CULTURE AND TRAVEL WRITER RESIDENCY
http://orcasartsmith.org/residency.html
Viva Laredo! December 3-6, 2015. Spend three glorious days soaking in the rich, Spanish colonial history and culture of Laredo, Texas. The residency, designed for culture and travel writers, will be an intense, three-day cultural immersion for up to five selected fellows to join travel writer Tiffany Owens, photographer Bob Johnson, and Artsmith director and writer Jill McCabe Johnson as they explore the city and its environs. The selected fellows will receive three nights' lodging at the landmark La Posada Hotel, full breakfast each morning, plus most other meals, and van transportation to planned activities. Fellows are responsible for their own transportation, tips, alcohol, and all other incidentals. The hotel shuttle is available for Laredo Airport transfers and for fellows to explore other sites during free time. Deadline July 31, 2015.
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FREELANCE MARKETS
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DIABOLICAL PLOTS
http://www.diabolicalplots.com/guidelines/
In 2015, Diabolical Plots began publishing original fiction, one story per month. In the last submission window, we bought a year’s worth, enough to last through February 2016. This time we intend fill in stories for at least the six months after that. Genres: science fiction, fantasy, horror (everything must have speculative element, even horror). Two thousand words or less. Pays six cents/word. Deadline July 31, 2015.
PSEUDOPOD
http://pseudopod.org/guidelines/
Pseudopod is a genre magazine in audio form. We’re looking for horror: dark, weird fiction. We run the spectrum from grim realism to crime drama, to magic-realism, to blatantly supernatural dark fantasy. We publish highly literary stories reminiscent of Poe or Lovecraft as well as vulgar shock-value pulp fiction. We don’t split hairs about genre definitions, and we do not observe any taboos about what kind of content can appear in our stories. We pay the pro rate of $.06/word for original fiction up to a cap of 6,000 words, $100 flat rate for reprints, and $20 flat rate for flash fiction (stories below 1,500 words).
HONOLULU MAGAZINE
http://www.honolulumagazine.com/Honolulu-Magazine/Contact-Us/Guidelines-for-Freelance-Writers/
We provide a smart, sophisticated owner’s manual to the city, aimed at educated, affluent residents. We are not a travel magazine about Hawaii. Our goals are to motivate our readers to make the most of everything the city offers, and inspire them to make their own lives and their city better. Feature stories: Starting around $600, up to about $1,800. Columns, departments and short features: $100 to around $600. HONOLULU Magazine pays 30 days after the publication of the piece.
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JOBS
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TAYLOR MEDIA IS HIRING - LOCATION ST. PETERSBURG, FL
INTERN: WEB AND WRITING (FULL TIME)
https://taylormedia.bamboohr.com/jobs/view.php?id=9
Taylor Media is looking for a full-time intern for The Penny Hoarder, a popular blog about weird ways to make money, as well as other soon-to-launch web properties. The ideal candidate is a new or recent college graduate who’s eager to get his/her hands dirty with a variety of tasks, from web production to research to writing blog posts. We’re a startup, so everyone pitches in wherever’s needed! You’ll learn about SEO and best practices for monetizing a website, and have the opportunity to develop a portfolio of blog posts.
INTERN: WEB AND WRITING (PART TIME)
https://taylormedia.bamboohr.com/jobs/view.php?id=10
Taylor Media is looking for a part-time intern for The Penny Hoarder, a popular blog about weird ways to make money, as well as other soon-to-launch web properties. We'd like a commitment of 8-10 hours each week, and we can work around your school schedule. The ideal candidate is a university student or recent college graduate who’s eager to get his/her hands dirty with a variety of tasks, from web production to research to writing blog posts.
JUNIOR WRITER/BLOGGER
https://taylormedia.bamboohr.com/jobs/view.php?id=8
Taylor Media is looking for a full-time, early-career blogger to write for The Penny Hoarder, a popular blog about weird ways to make money, as well as other soon-to-launch web properties. The ideal candidate is a new or recent college graduate who has experience writing journalistic stories or blog posts, either in a full-time or journalistic capacity, or even for your own blog. While we’ll expect you to brainstorm lots of ideas for posts, you should also be comfortable executing assignments on topics we choose, including aggregating deals from coupon sites. Pays $35-42K, depending on experience.
MID-CAREER EDITOR
https://taylormedia.bamboohr.com/jobs/view.php?id=1
Taylor Media is looking for a full-time, experienced editor to manage editorial strategy and edit blog posts for The Penny Hoarder, a popular blog about interesting ways to make and save money, as well as other soon-to-launch web properties. The ideal candidate has experience both with copyediting and developmental editing, so s/he can work with writers to identify the best angle for the story and copyedit posts once they’re filed. We operate much like a traditional newsroom, with a focus on high-quality content, but we also integrate sponsored posts to share relevant brand messages with our readers.
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AGENTS / PUBLISHERS
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CHRONICLE BOOKS - CHILDREN
http://www.chroniclebooks.com/our-company/submissions/childrens
Chronicle Books publishes an eclectic mixture of traditional and innovative children's books. We are looking for projects that have a unique bent—be it in subject matter, writing style, or illustrative technique—and that will lend our list a distinctive flair. We are interested in fiction and nonfiction books for children of all ages as well as board books, decks, activity kits, and other unusual or "novelty" formats.
CHRONICLE BOOKS - ADULTS
http://www.chroniclebooks.com/our-company/submissions/adult-trade
We publish an exciting range of books, stationery, kits, calendars, and novelty formats. Our list includes children's books and interactive formats; young adult books; cookbooks; fine art, design, and photography; pop culture; craft, fashion, beauty, and home décor; relationships, mind-body-spirit; innovative formats such as interactive journals, kits, decks, and stationery; and much, much more. No longer acquiring adult fiction.
ICE CUBE PRESS
http://www.icecubepress.com/about-us/submissions
Our primary interest is learning how to better understand the Midwest through the literary arts. Your query letter should include a brief synopsis of your work, an explanation of why we are the “right” publisher and why you are the right author. A great pick-up line might be, “after purchasing and reading several of your books...” Some additional thoughts: How can you get a book accepted by the Ice Cube Press? We are picky about with books we choose. We can’t afford to pick one that won’t make money. If you want to submit an idea ask yourself how it relates to what we have already published. Does it capture the experience of living in the Midwest? Have you spotted a hole we’ve not thought of? Do you know who will buy the book in particular? Why are you the one to tell your story?
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SPONSORS
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NOTE: 30 percent off for FundsforWriters readers for a short time. Click here.
Grammarly sucked me in and owned me after only ten minutes of using it on my latest manuscript, Edisto Jinx. Though my grammar skills are solid, Grammarly pointed me toward flow issues, awkward wording, repeated wording, and yes, the occasional grammar oversight. I caught myself changing sentences and enjoying the second set of eyes. Grammarly is truly one of the simplest and most useful editing tools I've ever experienced. ~C. Hope Clark, award-winning mystery author, www.chopeclark.com, and editor of FundsforWriters.com
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Joel has created coupon code FFW35 for FFW readers. When you use FFW35 at BookDesignTemplates.com shopping cart, it will give you a 35% discount on anything on the site.
NOTE: This is my web designer, and I recommend Shaila highly. ~Hope
Winner of several AEP and Marcom design awards, Shaila Abdullah has over 20 years of experience as a graphic and web designer. She has assisted over 50 authors and writers with their design needs ranging from websites, books, marketing materials, social media banners, ads, to email campaigns (newsletters and announcements). Being an award-winning author herself, Shaila understands the industry, and will provide you with designs that reflects your unique style, genre, and personality.
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“After months of collaborating on my vision of a website as a place to showcase my published essays and offer writing and editing services, Shaila Abdullah turned out a site design that is my dream come true. —Kate Meadows, writer and author
"Superb work, excellent customer service. Just marvelous overall.” —C. Hope Clark, FundsforWriters
“Nothing stands in Shaila’s way. From my design requests to technological needs–Shaila had a creative solution to offer at every turn. I value her design services as a trusted part of my business plan.” —Yvonne Pesquera, writer
"Shaila helped us redesign the website for our writers' conference. She went above and beyond, looking through thousands of our pictures to choose the best, and often wrote chunks of content for us to fill in gaps. Shaila was wonderful to work with and it was worth every penny." —Amanda Murphy, Managing Director of the Winter Poetry & Prose Getaway
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Fine print
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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
Copyright 2000-2015, C. Hope Clark
ISSN: 1533-1326
**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 wish 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.
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