FundsforWriters - December 30, 2016 - Your First Step to Overnight Success

Published: Fri, 12/30/16

Volume 16, Issue 53 | DECEMBER 30, 2016

Message from the Editor

This is today at my house. This has been the last two weeks at my house (except Christmas Eve) and will be the next week at my house. Deadline. Rewrites. Thinking a chapter is done then realizing it sucks. Ordinarily this is the part of the book I love, and I definitely love it more than first drafts, but this time . . . well, those who read Echoes of Edisto might realize it more than others . . . that the book after is a darn hard one to write. But this is writing. It is not all fun, and some days you cry (yes, I have). But it's the best job I can imagine.

Come see me at the Edisto Bookstore, tomorrow, Sat, Dec 31, 3-5 PM. AND . . . if you have not experienced the Edisto Island Mystery Series, the ebook version is 99 cents through the 31st. A great time to start reading the series, giving you plenty of time to read the first three before the fourth comes out in May/June.

C. Hope Clark
Editor, FundsforWriters
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Editor’s THOUGHTS

YOUR FIRST STEP TO OVERNIGHT SUCCESS

“One press account said I was an overnight success.
I thought that was the longest night I've ever spent.”

– Sandra Cisneros
Lannan Literary Award for Fiction
MacArthur Fellowship
American Book Awards
Anisfield-Wolf Book Award

I'm not what's considered a huge, box-office or New York Times Bestseller success, but I do fairly well for myself as a writer and novelist. I've found a comfort zone in balancing my craft, business, and family. Every so often, someone who's just discovered me asks how I became successful.

I can give them the twenty-year version with all its twists, turns, sidesteps and walls, or the blurb about being diligent and ever trying to improve. Someone invariably says I was lucky. Someone will tell me FundsforWriters opened doors for my books, which the average person doesn't have. Some wonder who I knew who gave me a leg up. Some say I must be healthy, not have family problems, or not have to really "work" outside writing to pay the bills. So many think what I have cannot be achieved by the average person.

And I completely disagree.

When writers begin writing, they are accountable to no one but themselves, writing in secret. When they begin publishing, they earn some small degree of spotlight but it will at some time feel it's not worth the effort. When they publish regularly, readers suddenly learn their name. Those writers are new blips on readers' radar, and by default, weren't worth knowing before. Therefore, they are overnight successes.

No writer is an overnight success. Discovery helps to a certain degree: discovery by readers, publishers, editors, or reviewers, but nobody becomes discovered without tremendous effort, work, and consistent diligence. Luck only lasts but so long . . . only works in so many places. Success takes maintenance and growth and continued aspiration to be better.

So when you are tempted to say someone was an overnight success, check yourself. It's almost disrespectful. Writers, as well as entrepreneurs, actors, athletes, and academics, travel a long road to reach success. And you are not excluded from that potential for yourself.

Take count of your efforts in 2016, then project how to improve them in 2017. Sometimes that's all it takes . . . the acceptance that every foot in front of the other needs to be uphill, with each year a stronger, more focused journey than the one before.

The beginning of overnight success.

Happy New Year!

WE HAVE 2 NEWSLETTERS - THE FREEBIE and THE PAID SUBSCRIPTION . . .

Remember that FundsforWriters, this newsletter, is free. Send it to whomever you like and share it liberally. But if you are serious about writing income resources, and your time is limited, consider subscribing to TOTAL FundsforWriters. It comes out biweekly, with 70 contests, markets, grants, retreats, publishers, freelance gigs, magazines and more, It's huge, but it saves you a lot of time searching. It's $18.75 for a year, or 26 issues. To subscribe, simply go to www.paypal.me/chopeclark/18.75 . It will be sent to the email you used unless you specify otherwise.

NOTE TO THE WISE: Send a receipt for one of Hope's books and receive TOTAL for free.
(**and feel free to steal this graphic for your own site!)

Upcoming Appearances and Classes! (All times in Eastern.)

Dec 31 - Edisto Bookstore, Edisto Island, SC - 3-5 PM
Jan 2 - Night Harbor Book Club, Chapin, SC - 7 PM - Echoes of Edisto
Feb 24-26 - Deckle Edge Festival, Columbia, SC
Mar 12 - Kapok, FL Writers Conference - all day

WORDS OF SUCCESS

He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.

- Albert Einstein -

MURDER ON EDISTO
# 1 in THE EDISTO ISLAND MYSTERY SERIES

http://www.chopeclark.com/

Where it all began!

Her husband murdered by the Russian mob, Boston detective Callie Jean Morgan relinquishes her badge to return to the family vacation home in South Carolina. But the day they arrive on Edisto Beach, Callie finds her childhood mentor murdered. Her fragile sanity is threatened when the murderer taunts her and repeatedly violates what was to be her sanctuary home. 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?

"Undeniably addictive, this is a book you won’t want to put down. Replete with well-drawn characters, this is a read that won’t disappoint as Clark’s penchant for rapid-fire prose grabs you by the scruff of the neck and refuses to let go."
–Rachel, Gladstone, Dish Magazine

Order an autographed edition: Paypal | Square

OR....WAIT UNTIL DEC 26-31 AND BUY THE EBOOK VERSION AT ANY SALES VENUE FOR $0.99



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

Success Story

Please let us know of your own success. How has FundsforWriters aided your journey?
Email hope@chopeclark.com

When Having an Agent Is Not a Good Thing

By Shaila Abdullah

In 2007, I was a new author basking in the glow of the success of my first self-published book – a collection of short stories, that had won several awards and some serious press. My head was full of ideas for my next book.

After completing the manuscript of my literary novel, I started shopping it around. Imagine my delight when several agents showed interest in it. I soon landed an agent at a very reputable New York agency with a proven track record. The young agent I signed up with was enthusiastic at the prospect of selling both my collection and the new novel I was working on. His head was full of ideas, but then came a series of “but firsts.”

The first few rounds of editing were easy until a bombshell dropped. A senior agent at the agency quit and the bulk of that agent’s high profile clients came to the junior agent who suddenly lost all interest in me. He was no longer as responsive as he used to be, and it would take him days to respond to simple requests. After a few months of dodging my requests to seek updates, he hired an intern to work with me on doing the rest of the revisions. In a few days, I received a marked up copy from the intern that involved cutting 30 percent of my manuscript – to the point that pivotal moments in the story no longer made any sense.

I put my foot down and refused to do those edits. The intern quickly backed off and the junior agent took charge again. After a few rounds of reasonable revision requests, I was promised that my book would be shopped around, except it never was. I was told it would be presented at book shows and that too never happened. After 18 months of waiting for my agent to fulfill his side of the obligations, I decided it was time to leave. I thanked him graciously and bowed out of the relationship.

Two months after that, I sold my novel to a reputable small traditional publisher by the name of Loving Healing Press. This publisher works one-on-one with me, treats me with respect, values my opinion, believes in my marketing strategies, and puts money behind my efforts. It all paid off. Saffron Dreams which was published in 2009, garnered some serious reviews and received several national and international awards. It was cited as one of “50 Greatest Works of Immigration Literature” by Open Education Database. More than eighteen universities in the United States are presently teaching the book and an abridged version of the book is slated to come out next year.

In 2014, researchers from Washington and Lee University used an excerpt of Saffron Dreams to show that reading literary fiction like my novel can actually make someone less racist. The study was published in Basic and Applied Social Psychology. Interestingly enough, the passage that was selected for the study was one that my agent’s intern had marked for deletion.

I leave the moral of the story to your imagination.

BIO:
Noted as “Word Artist” by critics, Shaila Abdullah is an award-winning author and designer based in Austin, Texas. She is the author of five books and has designed websites, book covers, book layouts, and marketing collaterals for over 60 authors, writers, poets, and speakers. You can learn more about her work at myhouseofdesign.com and shailaabdullah.com.

COmpetitions

C.G. JUNG SOCIETY OF ST. LOUIS WRITING CONTEST
http://cgjungstl.org/contest/
$10 ENTRY FEE.
The theme of our contest and our 2017 conference is Memories, Dreams, and Sensualities. Both contest and conference offer an opportunity to join in community through the sharing of how Jungian ideas unfold in our lived experience. We are looking for personal essays that add something unique to the conversation. Winners will have the opportunity to read their essays at our conference, Jung in the Heartland: Memories, Dreams Sensualities, October 2017. Winning essays will be published on our website. 1st Prize: $1,000. 2nd Prize: $500. 3rd Prize: $250. Deadline: May 1, 2017. Maximum length is 3,500 words.

THE INTERPRETER'S HOUSE POETRY COMPETITION
http://www.theinterpretershouse.com/competition
£4 ENTRY FEE.
Deadline January 31, 2017. First Prize £500. Second Prize £150. Third Prize £100. Poems must be submitted in English and should be a maximum of 50 lines.

WOMEN'S NATIONAL BOOK ASSOCIATION
https://wnba.submittable.com/submit
$15 - $20 ENTRY FEE.
First place winners receive $250. There will be four awards in each category: 1, 2, 3, and Honorable Mention. All four winners will be published in a special Contest Edition of the WNBA’s National Newsletter, The Bookwoman. Fiction: 3,000 word maximum length, no theme required. Creative Nonfiction/ Memoir: 2,500 word maximum. Poetry: three to five pages of poetry (double-spaced). Deadline January 15, 2017.

WRITERS@WORK COMPETITION
http://www.writersatwork.org/wp/?page_id=6
$20 ENTRY FEE.
Submissions are accepted in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. First prize is awarded in each category:
$1,000 OR full scholarship to the Writers@Work Generative Conference (June 7-11, 2017 at Alta Lodge, Alta, UT), and publication in Quarterly West. Open to any writer who has not yet published a book-length volume of original work in the genre in which they submit a manuscript. Deadline January 31, 2017.

GRANTS

HELENE WURLITZER FOUNDATION
http://www.wurlitzerfoundation.org/
The Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico, established in 1954, is one of the oldest artist residence programs in the country. The Foundation’s mission is to “Support the artist and the creative process” and serves as a haven for visual artists, literary artists and music composers. We are located on fifteen acres in the heart of Taos, New Mexico, a four-hundred-year-old multicultural community renowned for its popularity with artists. The Foundation offers three months of rent-free and utility-paid housing to grantees. Our eleven guest houses, or casitas, are fully furnished and provide residents with a peaceful setting in which to pursue their creative endeavors. Deadline January 18, 2017.

GEORGIA ARTS EDUCATION PROGRAM GRANTS
http://gaarts.org/grant-funding/apply-for-a-grant/available-funding
In an effort to put greater emphasis on arts education in Georgia and to align GCA’s arts education funding with the Governor's Arts Learning Task Force Recommendations, in FY17 GCA launched the Arts Education Program Grant. Grants are for $1,500-$5,000 and require a one-to-one cash match. The deadline for FY18 Arts Education Program Grant applications is March 15, 2017.

SWEDEN RESIDENCIES
https://balticwritingresidency.submittable.com/submit
The deadline for the Sweden residency has been extended to January 15, 2017. The writer chosen for the Baltic Writing Residency in Sweden receives $1,000, and a free stay in a furnished cottage, based on a completed application. One residency is in poetry, and the other in fiction/creative nonfiction/playwriting. They are more than open to genre writing (YA, sci-fi, romance, thriller, crime).

FREELANCE MARKETS

MT BAKER EXPERIENCE
http://www.mountbakerexperience.com/contributor-guidelines/
MBE is a quarterly magazine that covers the people, sports and activities, and the gear of outdoor recreation in the Pacific Northwest. Our motto is, “If you can see Mt. Baker, you are part of the experience.” We cover skiing (both downhill and Nordic) and snowboarding, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, hiking, kayaking, biking (both road and mountain biking), and scuba diving – any sport or activity that takes place outdoors. While our primary focus is local, we occasionally run out-of-area stories. Pays ten to fifteen cents per word.

EXPLORE
http://www.explore-mag.com/contributor-guidelines
explore is a magazine for active outdoor enthusiasts. We cover a wide range of topics-hiking, mountain biking, climbing, canoeing, kayaking, winter sports and more. And as our tagline suggests, our content is largely Canadian.

PROVIDENCE
https://providencemag.com/guidelines/
Providence publishes widely on matters intersecting Christian faith and theology with national security and foreign policy, international relations, political theory, defense, war, terrorism, global economy, energy, etc. Website: We prefer to publish 500-1,000 words but are willing to publish longer pieces so long as they are highly readable. Print journal: Book Reviews: 800-1,200; Essays: 1,500-3,000; Lead features: 3,250-4,000. Website pays $100 per post. For print journal we pay $250 for book reviews and $500-$1,000 for essays and features.

SKIRT!
http://www.skirt.com/contribute
skirt! publishes two personal essays every month on topics relating to women and women’s interests. All essays for consideration should be submitted in their entirety and be between 800 and 1,100 words. Essays must fit one of our monthly themes. Payment for essays is $200. We reserve the right to edit articles for length and content.

JOBS

WRITER-EDITOR
Location Herndon, VA
https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/460857600/
Deadline January 9, 2017. Serve as the subject matter expert and consultant, as a member of inter-agency teams or standing committees addressing how to best write and edit a wide range of highly complex law enforcement related material and mission critical subject matter of a sensitive nature. Perform research to develop authoritative information to reflect in materials and projects covering topics pertaining to the TSA mission, functions, goals, programs, priorities, activities, accomplishments, interaction with other TSA and DHS components, and other federal agencies requiring a response. Prepare and/or review speeches for senior leadership. Planning and managing the content of periodicals, websites and other formats from initial concept to final production, selecting content themes and writing original materials for publications. Preparing oral briefings and written statuses for senior leadership. Employer TSA.

TECHNICAL WRITER
Location Atlanta, GA
https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/460069200/
Deadline January 3, 2017. Employer Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Writes and/or edits scientific documents and other general or technical materials. Analyzes subject matter and audience in order to plan clear and accurate presentation of materials. Writes factually accurate materials and/or edits for factual content. These materials include scientific reports, regulations, newsletters, journal articles, press releases, training materials, brochures, interpretive handbooks, pamphlets, Web-based documents guidebooks, scholarly works, reference works, speeches, or scripts. Assists in the production of scientific materials on specific topics.

Publishers/agents

DONADIO AND OLSON, INC. AGENCY
http://donadio.com/agents/
Neil Olson has been with the agency since 1987. He represents mainstream literary and commercial fiction, and nonfiction in the areas of history, biography and science/nature. Edward Hibbert represents literary and commercial fiction and non-fiction such as biography and the performing arts.

ANDY ROSS LITERARY AGENCY
http://www.andyrossagency.com/submissions.html
Encourages queries for the following categories: narrative nonfiction, current events and history, journalism, science, literary and commercial fiction, and young adult fiction. Works in other genres as well. Please do not submit: poetry, short stories, adult romance, science fiction and fantasy, adult and teen paranormal, film scripts.

MCCORMICK LITERARY
http://mccormicklit.com/staff/
Accepts nonfiction and fiction queries to include YA.

DANIAL BIAL AGENCY
http://danielbialagency.com/submitting.html
Specializes in a wide range of nonfiction subjects, including: biography, business, cooking, health, history, how-to, humor, Judaica, memoir, narrative nonfiction, new age, performing arts, psychology, reference, science, self-help, sports, travel.