| |
Volume 15, Issue 30, JUly 24, 2015 |
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
Message from the Editor
Doesn't Roo look all regal? We're on the pontoon boat, which she adores. She's ready to head out on the water. Winnie not so much. She's back on the land, waiting, watching for Roo to get off that dumb floating contraption. It might be hot as Hades this summer, but it's always cooler on the water, regardless where you are.
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. |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
_______________________________________________________________________
SPONSOR OF THE WEEK
_______________________________________________________________________
If you haven't tried this retreat, here's your chance. Two upcoming dates:
* July 26 (three spots left)
* September 6
"Retreat for the Writer's Soul" is a 21-day online retreat you can access from anywhere.
It guides and inspires through daily discussions, meditations, and exercises to help you
heal and let go of what doesn't nurture you, embrace your writer-self, find your voice, and
be the writer you were meant to be. Scholarships are available. Don't miss it!
Learn more and sign up:
July 26 start >>
September 6 start >>
_______________________________________________________________________
EDITOR'S THOUGHTS
_______________________________________________________________________
MASTERING BEING YOU
Scratched my head for several days trying to pen this missive. This week was particularly difficult. Then I read this post.
Stop Worrying About How Much You Matter - by Peter Bregman, syndicated from peterbregman.com,
http://www.dailygood.org/story/1100/stop-worrying-about-how-much-you-matter-peter-bregman/
Basically, it's about not letting what others think of you determine your relevance in this life. I'm a pretty good master of that . . . for the most part. To sum it up in one quote from the piece: "When you stop worrying about the impact of what you do, you can be a fuller version of who you are."
I just lost a dear friend from my circle this week, and there's a little hole in my heart. It'll heal, but you know me, I have to try to turn everything into a lesson to give my experience some sort of purpose in my world. Makes me put things to right, I guess. Someone once told me I could turn nose picking into a lesson for writers.
My friend didn't die. He manages a writers' group I attended for a decade; a group that saw me grow from unpublished to five books published. Eventually, however, I outgrew it. And so did two others. All our critique sessions had turned into mainly us. We understood each others writing goals, and most importantly, each others voice. After six soul-searching months of agony as to whether we'd be traitorous leaving the group, we gave our notices.
My old friend was not happy. He ousted us with fanfare, which we somewhat expected since he tends to be flamboyant both in life and in his fun thriller writing, but as time went on, I missed him. His action scenes were epic. So I dropped him a note asking how he was. His response was filled with anger and belligerence, and I closed the email with genuine tears on my face at the sudden realization at the complete loss.
When I spilled my broken heart out to my writing trio, one had this to say in a long eloquent reply: "As the clichéd phrase goes, people come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. Perhaps he was just a season, and now it's time to turn the page and let him go . . . You should acknowledge what you had with a smile and then push forward."
Then I stumbled across the post on DailyGood and read it. Then read it again, slowly. With my new writing friend's words still swirling in my head. I'd found my editorial for the week.
I cannot fix the world, not fix everything in mine, for that matter, but I can do my best trying to be a fuller version of me, and that needs to be the source of my happiness. Same goes for us and our writing. If our stories leap off shelves, fine. If they make a splash, fine. But the happiness ought to be in the writing, not how it affects others. Same goes for most anything in life. If we're not happy at who we are, we can't be our best for others.
As Malcolm S. Forbes says below in today's quote: "Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are."
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
 |
Upcoming Book Signings and Classes!
July 31-Aug 1 - Mississippi Writers Conference, Oxford, MS
August 26 - SC Library Association, keynote, Irmo Branch Library, 3:30PM
Oct 7 - Bouchercon, Raleigh, NC, James Scott Bell class (as attendee), 1-5 PM
Oct 9 - Lexington, SC Book Club - ON EDISTO BEACH!
Oct 10 - Release of Edisto Jinx, Edisto Beach, SC, Edisto Bookstore, 4-6 PM
Oct 17 - Greenwood, SC - Fiction Class AM / Book Club PM (details TBA)
Oct 29-Nov 1 - Killer Nashville Con, Nashville, TN
|
WORDS OF SUCCESS
Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.
-Malcolm S. Forbes
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
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 |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
__________________________________________________________________
SUCCESS STORY
__________________________________________________________________
Hope,
You were kind enough to include me in your blog tour for Murder on Edisto ( http://kendley.com/c-hope-clark), and now that my debut novel The Drowning God is coming from Harper Collins this month, I have a success story for you.
You probably don’t remember this, but the one time we met face to face, you encouraged me to escape the gulag archipelago of for-the-love online lit mags.
"Why would you work for free, unless it's a really great clip?" you said.
I didn't have an answer. I concentrated on my own work, and this month sees the release of my novel The Drowning God, one of 30 projects selected from more than 4,500 submissions for Harper Voyager's digital-first initiative, with the paperback from HarperCollins Publishers coming in December.
Your advice counted, and I've passed it on when I had the chance.
Thanks,
James Kendley
http://kendley.com/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8470838.James_Kendley
__________________________________________________________________
FEATURED ARTICLE
__________________________________________________________________
On the Value of Free Advice
By Randall Silvis
As a writer I get a steady stream of free advice from individuals who apparently understand my life far better than I. These individuals are mostly strangers, people who contact me by email or post their comments publicly, often under an alias. Even my plumber has an opinion about my writing, though he admits to never reading fiction except when he comes across a book in someone else’s home.
Sometimes I get advice by way of readers' comments on Amazon or Goodreads. These readers suggest, quite vehemently at times, that I stop writing in one genre go back to a previous genre because I was a better writer then. They might give me a 5 star review for the earlier novel and a 1 star review for the abhorrent later one so as to encourage me to heed their advice.
And do I heed their advice?
Not yet.
Probably never.
For a writer to heed every little bit of advice she receives, whether from strangers, friends, or even family, is deadly. Writers must learn to eventually heed no advice but that of their own instincts. The marketplace will be the final barometer of how sound those instincts are. And that is the only barometer a writer needs.
Martin Seligman, director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Positive Psychology Center, and developer of such concepts as learned helplessness, learned optimism, and authentic happiness, cautions that the only people worth taking advice from are those who have already achieved success in the area in which you aspire to be successful, and who are recognized as experts in their field. To give credence to all the non-experts would be like hiring a carpenter who has never pounded a nail, but has read a few books about how to pound a nail properly, to build your dream house. Or to have your appendix removed by a surgeon who has watched the procedure done several times, but has never successfully wielded a scalpel.
As a writer, editor, and writing mentor for the past thirty years, I encourage all my students and clients to adopt this same practice of ignoring the opinions of those who have not demonstrated that they know more about what constitutes good writing than they do. Such proof is not in any way related to the number of advanced degrees the individual holds, but to the success of one’s publications in the marketplace.
Back when I was still an aspiring writer, a man I looked up to suggested that my goal of being a writer was unrealistic for someone from the coal fields of rural Pennsylvania.
When I wrote my third book, my first literary mystery, I was advised by my then-agent that the novel was “too literary to be published as a mystery, and too strongly plotted to be marketed as a literary novel.” And therefore, in his words, unpublishable. Two weeks later, through my own efforts, I had an enthusiastic publisher for the book. This led to a paperback deal, a film sale, and a screenwriting contract. Since then there have been eleven more critically acclaimed books, twelve prize-winning plays, and another half-dozen script sales and options.
As an aspiring writer, there will always be naysayers eager to deter you. Sometimes they mean well and sometimes they don’t. Does that make a difference in how you should respond?
When it comes to free advice, I prefer to remember the words of my very practical father: You get what you pay for.
***
 Randall Silvis's many literary awards include the Drue Heinz Literature Prize, two fellowships from the NEA, a Fulbright Senior Scholar Research Award, and a Doctor of Letters degree bestowed for "distinguished literary achievement." His 15th book, the novel Blood & Ink, was recently declared a Kindle Scout winner and is available through Amazon. In addition to his novels, screenplays, and essays, he co-hosts a popular weekly podcast at TheWritersHangout.com, and teaches in the Seton Hill University MFA Program. His website can be found at randallsilvis.com. To sign up for Randall’s free monthly newsletter, which includes info about his work and news of interest to writers, send an email to silvisrandall@gmail.com with SUBSCRIBE in the subject box.
______________________________________________________________________
COMPETITIONS
______________________________________________________________________
DOGWOOD LITERARY CONTEST
https://dogwood.submittable.com/submit
$10 ENTRY FEE.
Dogwood welcomes entries in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction for its annual contest with a $1,000 grand prize for one winning entry. The grand prize winner will be chosen from winners in nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. Winners in the other two genres will receive prizes of $250. Submit fiction or nonfiction up to 22 pages. Submit one, two, or three poems (max ten pages). Deadline September 4, 2015.
SPLIT THIS ROCK POETRY CONTEST
https://splitthisrock.submittable.com/submit/44324
$20 ENTRY FEE.
Deadline November 1, 2015. First place $500; 2nd and 3rd place, $250 each. Winning poems will be published on www.SplitThisRock.org and within The Quarry: A Social Justice Poetry Database. All prize winners will receive free festival registration, and the 1st place recipient will be invited to read the winning poem at Split This Rock Poetry Festival 2016. Submissions should be in the spirit of Split This Rock: socially engaged poems, poems that reach beyond the self to connect with the larger community or world; poems of provocation and witness. Submit up to three unpublished poems, no more than six pages total, no more than one poem per page, in any style, in the spirit of Split This Rock.
THE TIMES CHILDREN'S FICTION COMPETITION
http://doublecluck.com/submissions/
ENTRY FEE £15.
Deadline December 18, 2015. The winning writer will receive a worldwide publishing contract with Chicken House with a royalty advance of £10,000 (US$15,6000), plus representation from a top children’s literary agent. To enter this competition you must have written a completed full-length novel suitable for children aged somewhere between 7 and 18 years. By full-length the organisers suggest a minimum of 30,000 words and ask that manuscripts do not exceed 80,000 words in length. The competition is open to writers around the world, regardless of nationality or residency status.
ELBOW ROOM COMPETITION
http://www.elbow-room.org/competition
ENTRY FEE £10 FOR UP TO THREE POEMS.
Deadline August 16, 2015. First prize in each category: £200. Second and third prizes in each category: £50 each. All winners will be published in a special competition anthology edition of Elbow Room. All winners will be featured in a London based exhibition and live event. Poems must all be written in English, be no longer than 40 lines, with up to three poems per entry fee. Prose must be written in English, be no more than 3,000 words per story (there is no minimum word limit), with up to three prose pieces per entry.
_______________________________________________________________________
GRANTS
_______________________________________________________________________
BERTON HOUSE RETREAT
http://bertonhouse.ca/retreat.html
The Berton House Writers' Retreat is located in Dawson City, Yukon Territory. Professional Canadian writers who have one published book and are established in any creative literary discipline(s) - fiction, non-fiction, poetry, playwriting, journalism - are all encouraged to apply. The writer will be housed in the Berton House at no cost in rent or utilities. A monthly honorarium is provided to help cover food and other living expenses.
COLLEGE STUDENTS - APPLY TO BE A USA TODAY COLLEGIATE CORRESPONDENT
http://college.usatoday.com/correspondent/
Deadline July 20, 2015. Collegiate correspondents will research, pitch, report and produce one multimedia story per week for USA TODAY College. The program is approximately 17 weeks long with participating students reporting remotely from their respective campuses. Their work will appear on USA TODAY and across Gannett’s nationwide network of 93+ media organizations.
ARIZONA ARTIST DEVELOPMENT AND RESEARCH GRANTS
http://azarts.gov/grant/artist-research-and-development/
Artist Research and Development Grants support individual artists from all disciplines. The purpose of this grant is to aid in the development of artistic work, support the advancement of artistic research and recognize the contributions individual artists make to Arizona's communities. Artist Research and Development Grants are made to practicing artists who demonstrate strong, original work that impacts both their own artistic practice and the broader community. Deadline September 17, 2015.
__________________________________________________________________
FREELANCE MARKETS
__________________________________________________________________
BELLA
http://bellanyc.com/write-for-bella/
We strive to inspire our readership to discover the beauty all around them by showcasing professionals who share a passion for helping others identify and embody their epitome of beauty. The tone of most articles in BELLA is light-hearted and informative. We pride ourselves on providing the inside scoop about beauty, wellness, and life in the New York area and beyond. Feature articles are between 500-1,000 words.
NEW MEXICO MAGAZINE
http://www.nmmagazine.com/guidelines
The magazine is an enterprise of the New Mexico Tourism Department, who strives to make potential visitors aware of our state's multicultural heritage, climate, environment and uniqueness. We're looking for story ideas about New Mexico experiences, with opinionated storytelling and a first-person point of view when appropriate. Pay is roughly 35-40 cents per word.
COLORADO LIFE
http://www.coloradolifemagazine.com/Contribute/
We are Colorado’s only statewide general-interest magazine. We are not a travel magazine, a history magazine, a nature magazine or a food magazine, but we do all of that and more – sometimes within the same story. Story topics run the gamut: colorful characters, communities, history, food, travel, nature, wildlife, photography, adventure, poetry, art literature and photo essays. Our stories are timeless, beautiful and entertaining. We do not publish stories on breaking news events, political opinions/issues, trends or investigative reporting. Our text length ranges are: departments, 100-400 words; features, 400-3,000 words. Our poetry submission guidelines are very open, though we look for poems that reveal the many facets of life in Colorado. Pays around 30 cents/word.
ALASKA MAGAZINE
http://www.alaskamagazine.com/writer-guidelines
A story must have two attributes before it will be considered for publication. First, its focus must be on Alaska. Equally important, the story must be an example of superlative writing, preferably with a well-developed narrative at its core. Our main feature stories range between 700-2,000 words long. Other departments range from 800 to 1,200 words. Our pay rate is between $200 and $700, based on the word count of the published version, with additional pay for use of any photos by the author. A total maximum payment of up to $1,500 goes to writers/photographers who submit both for publication and are accepted.
____________________________________________________________________
JOBS
____________________________________________________________________
THE LOFT
https://www.loft.org/about/opportunities/teaching_at_the_loft/
We are seeking freelance teachers for our 2016 classes, both in person and online. Thousands of students, age six and up, enroll in Loft classes every year. Our teaching artists play a key role in fulfilling our mission to advance the artistic development of writers, foster a thriving literary community, and inspire a passion for literature. Deadline August 7, 2015. (Thanks www.ErikaDreifus.com)
__________________________________________________________________
AGENTS / PUBLISHERS
__________________________________________________________________
SEVEN STORIES PRESS
http://www.sevenstories.com/contact/
Seven Stories Press publishes works of the imagination and political titles by voices of conscience. While most widely known for its books on politics, human rights, and social and economic justice, Seven Stories continues to champion literature, with a list encompassing both innovative debut novels and National Book Award–winning poetry collections, as well as prose and poetry translations from the French, Spanish, German, Swedish, Italian, Greek, Polish, Korean, Vietnamese, Russian, and Arabic. Triangle Square Books is their children's line.
AMPHORAE PUBLISHING
http://www.amphoraepublishing.com/
Located in St Louis, MO, Amphorae consists of three imprints. Blank Slate Press publishes Historical Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Crime Fiction, Mystery/Thriller Fiction, and Literary Fiction. Walrus Press publishes Science Fiction/Fantasy, Romance, Regional, and Humor. Treehouse Publishing publishes Science Fiction/Fantasy, Romance, Regional, and Humor.
BARKING RAIN PRESS
http://www.barkingrainpress.org
You can read the first four chapters of any Barking Rain Press book for free if you want to see what they publish. They publish three imprints, which are: Barking Rain Press — Novel and novella-length trade paperbacks, ebooks and hardcover editions of contemporary literature and fiction in a wide variety of genres; Nitis Books — Non-fiction books and eBooks (coming soon); Virtual Tales — Short fiction and collections of short fiction, sold only in e-formats (coming soon).
EDGE SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY
http://www.edgewebsite.com/
If you are looking for a publisher whose specialty is great book-length science fiction and fantasy literature, produced by people who care about books, readers, booksellers and authors, then you have come to the right place! EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing encourages, produces and promotes thought-provoking and well written science fiction and fantasy literature.
________________________________________________________________
SPONSORS
________________________________________________________________
Mediabistro is a bastion of creative professional development for people at any level of learning. We offer classes across all disciplines, from Novel Writing to Marketing, to Public Relations and Social Media.
For a limited time, we are offering new students 10% off any course! Visit our online course catalog to find the course that is right for you and register today.
 
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
Click here to visit Book Design Templates.- Instead of trying to decide what your books should look like, we've made all the decisions for you. Just follow our friendly instructional guide, pour in your text and your book will be ready to go. All your styles and formatting needs are coded into our templates for easy use. Enthusiastically endorsed by Hope!
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.
MENTION THIS AD AND GET 10% OFF (NEW CLIENTS ONLY)
EXISTING CLIENTS EARN 8% REFERRAL FEE FOR SENDING IN NEW CLIENTS
“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
____________________________________________________________________
Fine print
____________________________________________________________________
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.
|
le |
|
|
