FundsforWriters - December 15, 2017 - Losing Online Friends

Published: Fri, 12/15/17

Volume 17, Issue 50 | DECEMBER 15, 2017

Message from the Editor

Three announcements this week:

First, Mark Dawson's Self-Publishing Formula podcast featured me this week, so I welcome all you newcomers as well as prod you long-time FFW fans to check out the site and podcast.

Second, book 4 in the Carolina Slade Mysteries, is at the publisher for an April release. Ya-hoo! Those of you who've kept up with my hell of a year, understand how noteworthy that accomplishment is.

Third, Echoes of Edisto, book 3 in the Edisto Island Mysteries, is on sale on ALL platforms from Dec 16 to Dec 31. That's starting TOMORROW, so make a note! Just a strong note on this one....it contains a major twist that makes all the bigger sensation in the reading if you've read the first two books.

Now, go back to your reading, writing, and holiday prepping. . . once you've finished the newsletter.

C. Hope Clark
Editor, FundsforWriters
Email Hope | Visit Website | Sign up for Newsletter
Newsletter: ISSN: 1533-1326
FFW has proudly been on the Writer's Digest's 101 Best Websites for Writers list every year since 2000

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.

TWITTER - http://twitter.com/hopeclark
AUTHOR SITE - http://www.chopeclark.com
FACEBOOK - http://www.facebook.com/chopeclark
GOODREADS - http://www.goodreads.com/hopeclark
BOOKBUB - https://www.bookbub.com/authors/c-hope-clark

"As usual, Ms. Clark delivers a riveting ride, with her irrepressible characters set squarely in the driver’s seat. If it wasn’t so much fun to be re-united with Callie Jean Morgan and the rest of the Edisto gang I might have to scold Clark for keeping me up way past my bedtime. But lucky for her, this read is worth every lost wink."

- Rachel Gladstone, Dish Magazine

Those who haven't read any of C. Hope Clark's books are short-changing themselves. You can't begin a C. Hope Clark book and then put it down."

- Clay Stafford, author / filmmaker, founder of Killer Nashville and publisher of Killer Nashville Magazine.

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EDitor’s THOUGHTS

LOSING ONLINE FRIENDS

Over the years, I've learned that losing a long-time internet friend hurts just as much as if they'd lived next door . . . sometimes more. I'm not sure why that is unless we've bared our soul to someone we've shared correspondence with, which in many ways is intimate in nature. Maybe it's akin to years past when pen pals were so meaningful, when love letters ran deep, when friendships could be more clearly expressed with the perfect stationary and the perfect pen.

I just learned I lost a dear one. Glenn Walker - Writer, blogger, editor, podcaster, and foodie who wrote about pop culture, movies, television, comics, music, games, French fries and more. @monsura on Twitter and http://www.glennewalker.com online.

For over a decade, Glenn Walker served as the moderator at www.writerschatroom.com when I appeared each quarter as a guest. With attendees numbering as few as six or as many as 70, we dissected the writing world, spoke of my books, analyzed publishing changes, pondered where we come up with ideas. He made me feel cool, wise, nice, and praised my work as if I'd sold a million books. He was good with people. He called me a mentor, yet I felt he equally gave back. Such a gentleman. Twelve years is a long time to know a person, even though we never met.

I've lost several dear online people over the years whom I'm never held an eye-to-eye tete-a-tete. . . whom I wish I'd taken the effort to travel and meet.

A critique group member who used to chat with me at 2AM on our rough draft chapters - who died unexpectedly from anesthesia in a routine gall bladder surgery. His family thought of the critique group a week after the funeral in Chicago where I seriously would've flown to attend.

A journalist who talked dachshunds and writing markets with me for a decade, in addition to analyzing nature and agriculture. Who died in her rocker on her front porch, watching a Colorado sunset, her dachshund at her feet. I missed her funeral, too.

Another journalist years past who coaxed me into doing FundsforWriters while I versed her on finding markets and grants . . . whom I only learned died when my thank-you card was returned from the hospital unopened. I could never find anyone to tell me when they celebrated her life.

Glenn was one of these online friends who stuck with me.

Please let your families know that when you pass, or if you are seriously ill, that you have strong, deep friendships online. Leave a means for those friends to be notified. You don't have to have met these people for them to be dear. Often they know more about your deepest thoughts than the sister around the block or the partner at work. Often they are safer than physical, local friends. Regardless, they are dear. These friends may want to send flowers. They may want to attend the funeral. They need to be notified when something serious happens. They need to mourn as well.

You'd tell me how smart I was thinking of this, Glenn. You'd tell me how I think of my readers first. But actually, I'm just thinking of you right now. You had a following, and that following thought the world of you. I just wanted my following to know of you as well, and explain to them how online people who've never met can mean more to each other than we realize.

NOTE: For those of you on Facebook, please note that you can list a person to post on your behalf - your Legacy Contact. Settings/General/Manage Account/Your Legacy Contact (https://www.facebook.com/help/1568013990080948)

PREVIOUS FAVORITE POSTS:

On sale $1.99 on all platforms effective December 16.

WORDS OF SUCCESS

“So it is not happiness that makes us grateful. It's gratefulness that makes us happy."
~Brother David Steindl-Rast, in his famous TED Talk

SUccess Story

Dear Hope,

A month or so back you were down and I was trying to cheer you up, we exchanged emails. I told you I was having, for me, success in selling my paperbacks at large crafts festivals.

Then it just jumped off the page in one of your emails. You said something to the effect that our job as writers is "TO SHARE A TALE." The all-caps are mine. . .thought it was the best phrase to sum up what we do. Had always tried to define myself as a storyteller, no more or no less, but you said it better, and I was moved.

So awkward Appalachian craftsman that I am, I found a walnut board and stained it dark for better contrast. Did the crude lettering myself and had my good wife, artist in her own right, fill in the letters with bright yellow. Hung it above her curtains in our den so I see it every day.

Thanks for your gift in pointing us in the right direction with such a well-turned four words. Photo attached.

WALLY AVETT
Murphy NC
Murder in Caney Fork, Bell Bridge Books
Last Bigfoot in Dixie, Bell Bridge Books

eatured article

Dare to Be Bold

by Pascale Duguay

For the last couple of months, I've been very bold. I finally managed to shut down the part of my brain that says, "Who do you think you are?" and allowed myself to ask for the work I wanted and the money I deserved.

Here's what I did:

First, I changed the way I communicate with magazine and book editors. Up to now, I had dealt with silence from my pitches by assuming I'd been rejected and moved on. I squashed my fear of appearing bothersome and sent not one but two follow-ups. These are super short messages, simply asking the editor if they've had a chance to read my pitch yet. One editor told me that my first two emails to her had gone unnoticed. She actually thanked me for following-up and ended up buying my short story!

I also sent out 20 letters of introductions to various toy companies in the US and Canada to offer them content writing and translating. I underlined my expertise and strengths then tweaked my letter to match each company's style. After receiving several enthusiastic we'll-keep-your-name-on-file, I finally found a taker. The one major difference between the taker and the maybes? I pinpointed exactly how I could help them. Looking over their website, I noticed flaws in the content and brought it to their attention. Voilà—instant interest!

When asked for my rates, all of my self-doubts resurfaced, cautioning me to ask for less. I knew from past experience that if I asked for my regular rate, I risked being turned down. Then again, did I really want to cheapen myself and my work? I finally chose to keep my regular rate and replied with "For this type of work, I'm usually paid $X." which I felt opened the door for negotiation. It worked so well that they accepted my price.

While I was busy churning out LOIs and sending out pitches and follow-ups, I unexpectedly received an offer through a former colleague to do content revision and translation for a children's book publisher in France. This time I was offered a flat fee. Although I was extremely flattered and the project really appealed to me, the fee was quite low. After mulling it over, I took my courage in both hands and sent back a message saying that I'd love to work on the project but the fee seemed a bit on the low side. Would they consider raising it? And they did!

All of this might not have been possible had I not believed deep down that I possessed the qualifications and ability to do the work. In her book, Making a Living Without a Job: Winning Ways for Creating Work That You Love, Barbara J. Winter stresses the importance of working on raising our self-esteem. As she says, "The link between self-esteem and successful self-bossing is so strong that it deserves to be a top priority for anyone who aspires to be joyfully jobless."

Low self-esteem can affect anyone, but perhaps part-time writers even more so, especially if you introduce what you do by saying, "Oh, I just write part-time." The thing we need to remember is that we have more to offer, because we have more experiences to share. Many of us have qualifications in several professional fields: we are parents, we are volunteers, we have interesting hobbies, and on top of all that, we write. What's not to love?

So be bold. Go after the writing you want, keep yourself at the forefront of editors' minds, ask for fair compensation, and see what happens!

Bio: Pascale Duguay is a freelance writer, translator (French/English), high school librarian, and founder of ThePartTimeWriter.com. She lives in the lively bilingual community of the Quebec Eastern Townships.

COmpetitions

RIVER STYX MICROFICTION CONTEST
http://www.riverstyx.org/submit/microfiction-contest/
$10 or $20 ENTRY FEE. Deadline December 31, 2017. Submit up to 500 words per story, up to three stories per entry. First, second, and third place winners will be published in Issue 100. First prize is $1,500.

ERMA BOMBECK WRITING COMPETITION
https://www.wclibrary.info/erma/index.asp
$15 ENTRY FEE. Deadline January 3, 2018. Capture the essence of Erma's writings and you could win $500 and a free registration to the Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop to be held April 5-7, 2018, in Dayton, Ohio! Entries are accepted from anywhere in the world. Personal essay must be 450 words or less (entries of more than 450 words will be disqualified).

NEKOM INSTITUTE LITERARY ARTS AWARDS FOR SPECULATIVE FICTION
https://santafe.edu/news-center/news/sfi-external-prof-award-5000-best-near-future-speculative-fiction
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline December 31, 2017. Three awards will be granted, each carrying a $5,000 honorarium. The categories are “Speculative Literary Fiction,” “Debut Speculative Literary Fiction” (for a first book), and “Playwriting.” The winners will be recognized during a ceremony at Dartmouth college, which will include a panel discussion of their work and a performance of the winning play.

BBC INTERNATIONAL RADIO PLAYWRITING COMPETITION
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2pWGP4hqkXmkH6n28gCPdQw/international-radio-playwriting-competition-2018
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline January 31, 2018. Two first prizes of £2,200 for the best radio plays by writers with either English as their first language or English as their second language. Both winners’ plays will be broadcast on BBC World Service. In addition, there’s the Georgi Markov prize - for the most promising script, this prize gives the winner a chance to come to London for two weeks and work alongside BBC Radio Drama and with BBC World Service journalists. Open to anyone aged 18 or over and living outside the UK – whether you’re an established writer, completely new or anywhere in between. Submit a script for a 53-minute radio play with up to six central characters.

GRANTS

TURKEY LAND COVE FOUNDATION
https://www.turkeylandcovefoundation.org/
Turkey Land Cove Foundation offers a working residency for motivated woman to pursue their professional, educational and/or artistic goals away from the distractions of daily life. Turkey Land Cove (TLC) provides a quiet home on Martha's Vineyard to achieve progress towards a defined goal, complete a project, and/or develop tools to propel women's lives in a new direction. We offer three sessions a year, two for new applicants and one session for returning alumni.

ARTERRA RESIDENCE
http://arterra.weebly.com/resident-guidelines.html
ARTErra is a private structure of incentive for artistic creation which aims to facilitate encounters between different artists and aesthetic disciplines. ARTERRA is strongly committed to offering the residents a cheerful and productive stay. Because of that, partnerships have been established with several partners such as the Municipality of Tondela and Lobão da Beira and many others crafters, schools and artists.

NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS CREATIVE WRITING FELLOWSHIPS
https://www.arts.gov/grants/apply-grant/grants-individuals
Deadline March 7, 2018. Fellowships in fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction enable recipients to set aside time for writing, research, travel, and general career advancement. Non-matching grants are for $25,000.

NPR KROC FELLOWSHIP
https://www.npr.org/about-npr/183691179/kroc-fellowship-details-and-application
Deadline December 31, 2017. The NPR Kroc Fellowship is a yearlong program designed to identify and develop the next generation of extraordinary public media journalists. Three fellows are selected each year and receive hands-on training in audio and digital journalism, including writing, reporting, producing and editing. Applicants must be recent graduates, but previous journalism experience is not required. The fellowship begins each year in late August/early September and lasts 12 months. Fellows receive a stipend of more than $45,000 and benefits, including paid vacation.

FREELANCE MARKETS

ALTERNATIVES JOURNAL
http://www.alternativesjournal.ca/contributor-guidelines-article
A\J is dedicated to in-depth analysis of environmental issues, including their ecological, social and economic dimensions. It combines the learned rigour of an academic journal with the accessible style and format of a general-interest magazine. Feature Articles (ranging from 1,000 to 4,000 words, including endnotes) cover a vital topic in depth. Reports (500 to 1200 words) are less analytical than features and are usually written to convey a story or inform the reader of new initiatives or recent developments in policy, thought, technology or action. We have a limited budget of about 10 cents per word.

CENTRAL COAST FARM & RANCH
http://www.farmbureauvc.com/new/assets/pdf-forms/CCF&R-contributor-guide.pdf
Central Coast Farm & Ranch is a quarterly magazine circulated in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. It is distributed as a benefit of membership in the Santa Barbara and Ventura County Farm Bureaus, and its primary audience is members of the Central Coast agricultural community. But it also contains stories and photographs that appeal to supporters of local food, fans of local restaurants that feature local food, and members of the general public interested in learning about the past, present and future of the region’s signature industry. Each issue includes several features on topics specific to Central Coast agriculture, as well as departments devoted to local history, edible gardening, agri-tourism destinations, and industry news briefs. Length varies: 1,000-1,500 words for a cover story or feature, 500-700 words for departments, and 300 or fewer words for news briefs. Pay ranges from 50 cents to $1 a word for features, depending on placement and other factors, and is a flat $350 for departments. Pay rate for feature photographs is $75-$150 per assignment, with a bonus of $300 for
cover art.

OUTDOOR CANADA
http://www.outdoorcanada.ca/contributor-guidelines
Outdoor Canada readers are active and passionate about this country's natural heritage. They want to know how to get the most out of their outdoor experiences, and keep abreast of what's happening in the Canadian outdoors from coast to coast to coast. That's why each issue of Outdoor Canada contains a solid mix of how-to articles, entertaining features and in-depth reporting. As Canada's authoritative outdoor magazine, we expect our outdoor writers to be experts in their fields. All features must provide the latest, most reliable information; they must also be well-researched and original. Most articles run from 1,500 to 2,500 words, while shorter pieces can run from 100 to 700 words. Writing fees depend on the complexity and length of the article, with fees generally ranging from $100 for short articles to $400 and up for features.

THE CONTEMPORARY SPORTSMAN
http://www.integrateddigitalpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/IDP_Editorial_Photography_Guidelines.pdf
The Contemporary Sportsman is a quarterly online magazine devoted to people who share a serious passion for f!y fishing and wing shooting. An average Feature Article contains 2,500 to 3,000 words. We pay from $450 to $700 for Feature Articles, based on quality not length.

JOBS

YOU EXEC
https://www.bloggingpro.com/job/business-article-writer-300-per-article/
You Exec is an exclusive membership-based business organization. All our members are business managers, directors, VPs, among others — who work in a corporate environment. We are seeking a writer, familiar with business terminologies, who can write 1,500- to 2,000-word original articles. For each article we expect three to four hours' worth of research. We pay $300 per article. Each article is 1,500 to 2,000 words – that is around $0.20 per word.

FREELANCE EDITORS
https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Cactus-Communications/jobs/Freelance-Editor-Material-Sci-5b69b0aae6961399
Cactus Communications is a pioneer in language services, serving more than 60,000 clients across 116 countries. We engage a global team of highly skilled editors who are experts in various academic fields. We’re currently looking for specialist freelance copy editors and substantive editors in the fields of Materials Science, Physics and Optics, Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Computer Science and Mathematics, Engineering and Technology, Chemistry, Medicine, Dentistry, and the Pharmaceutical Sciences. Salary $3,000 per month.

EDITOR, CHARLESTON CHRISTIAN VOICE
https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=8cda042581ed6779
Our mission is to share the love and message of Jesus Christ through local stories and event promotion. The Editor for this position would be responsible for connecting with the Christian community in Charleston, SC. They would either write or recruit writers to cover events, activities and stories about the people of Charleston. The candidate must have proficient use of the English language. Wordpress experience is helpful. World news, national news and lifestyle articles are fed into the news site and to social media. Editor is only responsible for local content and keeps 75 percent of ad money.

DIGITAL CONTENT WRITER
Location University of Chicago, Chicago, IL.
https://jobopportunities.uchicago.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/position/JobDetails_css.jsp?postingId=685517
The Digital Content Writer assists the marketing department in achieving Booth's marketing goals by developing strategic content across all of Booth marketing channels, with a particular focus on digital content for websites, social media accounts, and email marketing. This position offers a fair degree of autonomy in writing and editing to suit the opportunities and best practices of diverse media platforms, informed by Booth's brand strategy, brand voice, and point-of-view.

Publishers/agents

CLEAN READS
http://cleanreads.com/about/clean-reads
Clean Reads (formerly Astraea Press) is proud to offer wholesome reading without compromise. We don’t believe a story has to have profanity, sex, or graphic violence to catch a reader’s attention. Our stories – rich and vibrant with life – leap from the page, welcoming readers to a world they’ll remember long after the last words are read.

SOULMATE PUBLISHING
http://www.soulmatepublishing.com/pages/Submission-Guidelines.html
We are actively seeking authors who can tell an exciting story and aren’t afraid to venture into new territory. We encourage novels that are original and blur the genre lines. Soul Mate Publishing is a royalty-paying publisher currently accepting submissions for the following Romance Genres: Action/Adventure, Chick Lit, Contemporary, Erotica, Fantasy, Historical, Inspirational, New Adult, Novellas, Paranormal, Sci-Fi/Futuristic, Suspense/Thriller, Time Travel, Urban Fantasy, Women’s Fiction, Young Adult.

FOREVER YOURS
http://labs.hbgusa.com/web/forever-romance/submission-guidelines.html
Forever Yours accepts both agented and unagented submissions. Seeks fantastic writers who tell a story we can’t put down, characters that captivate us, and if you can make us blush, laugh out loud, or shed a tear—even better. We’re interested in all styles of romance, particularly contemporary, diverse reads, romantic suspense, cowboys, historical, and paranormal. We’re not looking for any YA, fantasy, mystery, general fiction, or nonfiction. Word count: Novels should be between 50,000-100,000 words. Novellas should be 25,000-50,000 words.

BOROUGHS PUBLISHING
http://boroughspublishinggroup.com/submit
Seeking the following in romance and women's fiction: Contemporary, Dystopian, Erotica, Fantasy, Historical, LGBTQ+, Multi-cultural, New Adult, Paranormal, Suspense/Thrillers, Urban Fantasy, Young Adult. Accepts agented and unagented submissions.