SPONSOR OF THE WEEK

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• Bargain Booksy: Promote your book here when your book is discounted to $2.99 or below
• Red Feather Romance: Promote your book here if you write steamy contemporary romance

Promos start at $25. Have questions? Simply email us and we can help!

A READER'S RESPONSIBILITY

Y'all ever read Suite T, the blog for Southern Writers Magazine? It's pretty good, and this past week, Terry Whalin posted 4 Ways to Support Writers.

I want to take this a step further and not state HOW a reader can help a writer, but WHY they have a responsibility to do so. 

When a reader picks up a book to read, they expect to invest hours into the entertainment. The author and publisher on the other end are waiting with fingers crossed to hear how the reader liked it. They need feedback to better understand how to proceed with subsequent works.

Any type of industry needs feedback. Are they doing it right? Are they creating the right product? Publishers, agents, and bookstores hang on public feedback to determine whether an author is worth fooling with. Silence is deadly.

So, if a reader likes a story, or an author, they need to speak up. Otherwise they risk losing a good story, or worse, a good author. 

Let's talk about a reader's responsibility when they read a book:

1) Buy the book. An occasional freebie is fine, especially when test-driving an author. However, authors, publishers, agents, cover designers, etc. depend on income to eat and put a roof over their head. Buy a book.

2) Write a review. Do you want more stories like the one you just read? Then post a review. Otherwise, how is anyone supposed to know that this type of writing needs to continue? Call it a thank-you to the people who fought hard to put that book in your hands. They cannot read your mind.

3) Reply to blog posts. Blogs are free, frequently used to sell books or an author's prowess. Don't read a post and silently blow away. At least thank the writer or blog host. Yes, you're busy, but so are they. What if you did a job and nobody told you whether it was good or bad? Again, the silence is a killer.

4) Take responsibility for your social media. Don't just read. Don't just rant about politics or the neighbor's noise next door. Don't just take and not give back. When you see a book promoted, and you like it or the author, then retweet or share. It's a button, people.

5) Use your word-of-mouth. If you do not relay to others about a good book, and everyone else remains just as silent, that good book disappears along with the subsequent books after it from that author. 

Many an author has withered away due to lack of feedback, because feedback equates to sales, which equates to contracts and/or earning a living. I've seen good writers think they were no good...all because readers remained quiet.

Oh, and if you're a writer? Magnify that responsibility by ten.







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TOTAL FundsforWriters - biweekly containing 65+ grants, contests, markets, publishers, agents, and jobs for the serious and the wannabe writer. See a free sample here. $18.75 for 26 biweekly issues - chocked full of opportunity. Read more here and consider the investment in your writing career. 



PREVIOUS FAVORITE POSTS:

• Clients Want Longer Articles - Here's How to Write Them Quickly
• The Ins and Outs of Corporate Ghostwriting
• Grants and Artist-in-Residencies are Awesome Opportunities
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• Publishing and Crowdfunding with Publishizer
• Tracking Your Goals for Success
• How I Funded My Mission, Wrote My Book, and Made Bulk Book Sales with Grants
• How Do I Find Money to Write a Book?

 


WORDS OF SUCCESS

"The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do."

-Thomas Jefferson

SUccess Story

Hi Hope,
 
We have emailed a few times, and I've read your blog forever - and half your books. I wanted to say thank you because so much of your blog and site had been really helpful!
 
My debut literary novel, The Vines We Planted, is being published by Wido Publishing in May.  
 
It is a journey to get any book from pages to published, and mine was no different. But I ate up all the info shared along the way, and I'm reaching out to say thank you to those that encouraged me. Publishing professionals such as yourself really do make a make a difference, especially in sharing the message that we are building a career, not only one book, and perseverance pays off. 
  
Thanks again and keep writing!
 
Best,
Joanell Serra 
http://joanellserraauthor.com/
Twitter @Joanell 
http://joanellwrites.com
 

Featured article

The Boring, Old-Fashioned Way for Online Freelancers to Make More Money

By Behlor Santi

In the 21st century, finding freelance writing markets is more complicated than just opening your Writer's Market book. A plethora of websites and apps exist online for freelancers, connecting writers to clients who want to buy their content. While many writers make a sizable living from working on sites such as Fiverr and Upwork, others complain about the low rates clients pay. In fact, many gigs on Fiverr only pay five US dollars, oftentimes for extensive projects. 

What's a freelancer to do when they're earning low income on freelancing websites, and want to expand their portfolio and earn more money? Return to the boring Writer's Market book. Online media may fetishize blogs and freelance websites as markets for freelance writers, but print magazines and newspapers still sell and still pay. For example, AARP The Magazine, based in Washington, D.C., has about 35 million readers worldwide. It's not a market for most beginners, but it pays competitively, offering $1/word for original, unpublished content. 

Approaching magazine and newspaper editors with your Fiverr and Upwork clips is similar to approaching them with print magazine clips. Write a one-page query that succinctly describes your story idea, describes why the idea would be appropriate for the publication you're pitching, and shows your knowledge of the publication. Describe your previous writing experience and education, if you have any. Submit links to any published articles you may have. If you have no links, promise to submit writing samples in a future email. Get permission from your freelancing clients before you use their content as part of your portfolio.

After you submit your query, wait. Wait between three weeks and two months. Print media still runs on pre-Internet time, and this discourages many writers used to fast emails and tweets. But the waiting is worth it. Even in 2018, being published in the print edition of a magazine like The Atlantic - as opposed to the online edition - will give your writing career added prestige. 

Within that three weeks to two months' period, you should receive a response from the publication's editors. Unfortunately, you'll receive a rejection most of the time. All writers receive rejection and have setbacks, but successful writers bounce back from rejection, write queries more appropriate to the magazine they want to crack, and re-submit. They keep on doing this until the editor breaks down and gives them an assignment, an opportunity to create an amazing article. 

Following are seven great print markets for online freelancers looking to make more money and have better quality gigs. These magazines accept a lot of new writers, and they pay at least 10 cents a word.

1. Wellbeing Magazine (Australia)
http://www.wellbeing.com.au/contribute
Pays up to $700AU for feature articles

2. M: Music and Musicians
http://mmusicmag.com/m/ 
Editor: Rick Taylor
Rick@Mmusicmag.com
Pays up to $450 for feature articles

3. Symphony Magazine
http://www.americanorchestras.org/symphony-magazine/about-symphony/submission-guidelines.html
Pays up to $900 for feature articles

4. Alaska Airlines Magazine
http://www.alaskaairlinesmagazine.com/contributor/guidelines/
Pays up to $700 for feature articles

5. The War Cry
http://www.sanationalpublications.org/submission-guidelines/
Pays $0.35 per word for original content, $0.15 for reprints

6. Virginia Wildlife
http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wp-content/uploads/writers-photographers-guidelines.pdf
Pays up to $500 per feature article

7. The Contemporary Sportsman
http://www.integrateddigitalpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/IDP_Editorial_Photography_Guidelines.pdf
Pays up to $700 for feature articles

Biography: Behlor Santi is a freelance writer based in Tampa, Florida. You can email her at bsanti1980@hotmail.com.

COmpetitions

TWO SYLVIAS PRESS CHAPBOOK PRIZE 
http://twosylviaspress.com/chapbook-prize.html
$15 ENTRY FEE. Deadline May 15, 2018. Winner receives $500, a chapbook published as print book and eBook, 20 author copies, and an amethyst depression glass trophy (circa 1930). Submit 17-24 pages of poetry (not including title page, table of contents, end notes).



UNO PRESS PUBLISHING LAB PRIZE
http://www.unopress.org/lab.aspx
$18 ENTRY FEE. Deadline August 15, 2018. The University of New Orleans Press is looking for full-length fiction manuscripts, either novels or short story collections, for the fourth annual Publishing Lab Prize. The selected author will receive a $1,000 advance on royalties and a contract to publish their winning manuscript with UNO Press. The work does not have to be regionally focused. There is no word limit. There is no limit on subjects covered. They select 15-20 finalists. The finalists are read by students at our publishing institute in the fall of 2018, and one is chosen to become a book. The class will focus on making the book a critical and commercial success upon its release in the fall of 2019.



WOW! WOMEN ON WRITING SPRING 2018 FLASH FICTION CONTEST
http://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/contest.php
$10 ENTRY FEE. Deadline May 31, 2018. WOW! Women On Writing invites entries to its Spring 2018 Flash Fiction Contest. The honorable guest judge this season is Literary Agent Sharon Pelletier with Dystel, Goderich & Bourret Literary Agency (DG&B). Seeking short fiction of any genre between 250 and 750 words. First Place: $400, publication, interview, and $25 Amazon Gift Certificate; second Place: $300, publication, interview, and $25 Amazon Gift Certificate; third Place: $200, publication, interview and $25 Amazon Gift Certificate; seven Runners Up receive $25 Amazon Gift Cards, publication and interview; and 10 Honorable mentions. Top 10 stories are published in the WOW! Women On Writing ezine, and contestants are interviewed on WOW's blog, The Muffin. The mission of this contest is to inspire creativity, communication, and well-rewarded recognition to contestants. Electronic submissions via e-mail only; reprints are okay; multiple submissions are okay as long as they are submitted in their own individual email. Open internationally. Limit: 300 entries. 



LANGE-TAYLOR PRIZE FOR DOCUMENTARIES
https://documentarystudies.duke.edu/awards/lange-taylor/how-to-enter
$70 ENTRY FEE. Deadline May 15, 2018. Submit up to 15-pages of double-spaced writing (edited oral history, descriptive narrative, poetry) from an ongoing project in pdf format. Or submit up to 10 minutes total of time-based media (whether audio, narrated slide show, video) (mp3/mp4/mov) from an ongoing project. Please label uploads with title, year, format. SlideRoom can also accept links to YouTube/Vimeo. The Lange-Taylor Prize is open to documentary artists of any age and nationality who are involved in extended, ongoing fieldwork projects that rely on and exploit, in intriguing and effective ways, the interplay of words and images in the creation and presentation of their work. Single artists as well as collaborative teams are eligible. The winner receives $10,000, features in Center for Documentary Studies’ digital publications, and inclusion in the Archive of Documentary Arts at Rubenstein Library, Duke University.

 

GRANTS

KILLER NASHVILLE CONFERENCE SCHOLARSHIPS
https://killernashville.com/killer-nashville-scholarships/
We still have three full scholarships and one partial scholarship still available for this year's Killer Nashville Mystery/Suspense Conference, August 23-26, 2018.



HATCHFUND
http://www.hatchfund.org/get_involved/artists
Unlike the other crowdfunding sites that take a 7-10 percent fee for using their platform, Hatchfund is free for artists. Once you reach your minimum goal, everything you raise is yours–we won’t take any fees. In order to do this, we do ask that donors make two additional donations–one is a minimum five percent donation to Hatchfund and the other is a five percent donation to help cover credit card processing costs. Both of these donations are also tax-deductible for donors. Our goal is to help artists successfully navigate the challenging world of online fundraising for their projects. Our expert team provides educational services, from fundraising 101 to case studies and best practices to project development and outreach support. A total of 75 percent of all artists who have turned to Hatchfund have succeeded in funding their projects.



SOUTH CAROLINA FAST TRACK LITERARY GRANTS
https://schumanities.org/grants/howtoapply/
Deadlines June 4, 2018 and September 4, 2018. Fast Track Literary Grants are intended to support new or existing public literary programs such as (but not limited to) writers series, festivals, conferences, workshops, or writer’s residencies at schools. Awards are $3,000 or less.



WALLACE STEGNER FELLOWSHIP
http://creativewriting.stanford.edu/stegner-fellowship-faq
The Wallace Stegner Fellowship at Stanford University provides 10 two-year professional fellowships annually: five fellowships in fiction writing and five fellowships in poetry writing. Fellows meet weekly in a three-hour class with teachers, but do not need to meet any curricular demands except for attending workshops. The Fellowship does not offer a degree. Candidates must demonstrate the quality of their creative work, their willingness to develop their skills, and their capacity to expand their expertise. Fellowships receive a stipend of $26,000 annually and Stanford University pays educational costs and medical health insurance.

 

FREELANCE MARKETS

LONGREADS
https://longreads.com/submissions/
Submissions are above, but the following came from one of their editors on Twitter: I'm a @Longreads editor who wants to be pitched by more writers of color. I'm looking for a) long essay-type book reviews b) interviews and c) essays. Word limit 2500 or more. Rate: $500. Send pitches for reviews & interviews and completed essays to dana@longreads.com. (Thanks ErikaDreifus.com)



GRAIN MAGAZINE
http://www.grainmagazine.ca/submissionguidelines/
Deadline May 31, 2018. Published four times per year, Grain Magazine is an internationally acclaimed literary journal that publishes engaging, surprising, eclectic, and challenging writing and art by Canadian and international writers and artists. Poetry: Individual poems, sequences, or suites up to a maximum of six pages. Fiction: To a maximum of 3,500 words. Literary Nonfiction: To a maximum of 3,500 words. All contributors, regardless of genre, are paid $50 per page to a maximum of $250, plus two copies of the issue in which their work appears. 



PRAIRIE FIRE
http://www.prairiefire.ca/submit/submission-guidelines/
Prairie Fire is an award-winning Canadian journal of innovative writing that is published quarterly by Prairie Fire Press, Inc. Each issue is a fresh, vibrant mix of fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction by our most celebrated writers and the hottest new voices of our emerging writers. Send a maximum of six poems OR one story per submission and send only one submission at a time. Maximum length for fiction and creative nonfiction 10,000 words. Ten cents/word up to $250. 



AARP
https://www.aarp.org/about-aarp/info-05-2010/writers-guidelines-aarp-magazine.html
Pays up to $1/word. Features and departments cover the following categories:
Money: investments, savings, retirement, and work issues
Health and Fitness: tips, trends, studies
Food and Nutrition: recipes, emphasis on healthy eating
Travel: tips and trends on how and where to travel
Consumerism: practical information and advice
General interest: new thinking, research, information on timely topics, trends
Relationships: family matters, caregiving, living arrangements, grandparents
Personal Essay: thoughtful, timely, new takes on matters of importance to people over 50

 

JOBS

LAW OFFICE BLOG NEEDS CONTENT WRITERS
http://www.moskoslawfirm.com/blog
Content writers needed for law office blog at www.moskoslawfirm.com/blog. Pays $0.10 per word. Legal experience is helpful but can be substituted with strong research skills. At least 300 words per post required. There is no limit on the number of posts you can write, but only one will be posted/paid per week. This is a remote job, and no contract is required. All content will be edited, and payment will be made via Paypal upon finalization of edits. Please send letter of interest and sample of a previous blog post to rcarrington2004@gmail.com 



BOOKBUB EDITOR - Boston, MA
https://www.mediabistro.com/jobs/description/371261/editor/
BookBub is one of the fastest growing consumer tech startups in Boston. Millions of readers use BookBub every day to find great books, and our service helps thousands of leading publishers and authors drive sales and find new fans. Now we're looking to expand our team to launch new consumer-facing book discovery features, marketing tools for authors and publishers, and other web and mobile products that address the digital transformation of the publishing industry. BookBub seeks a hardworking and entrepreneurial individual to curate, organize, and edit content for our fast-growing community of book lovers, primarily through our Featured Deals product, an email filled with ebook deals that goes out to millions of readers each day. Entry-level position.

Publishers/agents

PENNY CANDY BOOKS
https://www.pennycandybooks.com/our-story/
Penny Candy Books is an independent children’s book publishing company based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Savannah, Georgia. Penny Candy’s mission is to publish children's literature that reflects the diverse realities of the world we live in, both at home and abroad. This means seeking out books by and about people and subjects that speak to and from a broad range of human experience.



IMMEDIUM
http://www.immedium.com/contactus/submissions.html
Immedium publishes innovative, influential, and insightful books and collaborates with creators who have the same goals. We seek writers, illustrators, and artists who have provocative tales to tell and the talent to convey them. A publisher's responsibility is to marry words with pictures to create a unique message. So please do not submit proposals that duplicate our existing books. Also, do not submit children's picture books which you consider to be complete with "finished art", since we want the flexibility to help improve and refine your concept. 



INKLING LITERARY AGENCY
http://inklingsliterary.com/Home_Page.php
Inklings Literary Agency, LLC is a full service, hands-on literary agency seeking submissions from established authors as well as talented new authors. We represent a broad range of commercial and literary fiction as well as memoirs and true crime. We are not seeking other nonfiction, short stories, poetry, screenplays, or children's picture books.



DOMINICK ABEL LITERARY AGENCY
http://dalainc.com/
Founded by Dominick Abel in 1975 and a member of AAR, is an independent agency located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The agency represents authors of fiction (especially mysteries and suspense novels), narrative nonfiction, and business books. It is a full-service agency, with co-agents in all major countries and in Hollywood. 


 

SPONSORS

Crack Open Your Fierce, Original Voice This Summer

To Write Something New, Think Something New

Four spots remain for Elephant Rock's Sixth Annual Summer Solstice Retreat, June 17-22! Held on a beautiful secluded island at historic Stout's Lodge at the height of summer, this unique workshop is led by the award-winning writer Jeannine Ouellette. Inventive approaches and techniques steer you away from repetitive thinking in order to break new ground in your work, or simply find a way to begin. You'll love the island soundtrack of lapping waves and birdsong. But this extraordinary week is about more than just the deep peace or the innovative writing workshops and daily yoga and meditation. It's the journey back to your own fierce, original voice and the ability to break through and create. And laugh, a lot!

As one writer said, "I am still searching for words ... because what happened at Stout's was so huge." 

All levels and genres welcome. Tuition includes 5 nights' lodging and all meals, daily writing, yoga, & meditation, kayaks and outdoor activities, evening readings, craft talks, bonfires, and music, Solstice Eve celebration, and more. Inquire soon. This retreat sells out.

For all retreat details, visit Elephant Rock Retreats at: http://elephantrockretreats.com/upcoming-retreats/
Contact: Jeannine Ouellette – elephantrockretreats@gmail.com or call 612-801-2566

GET WEBSITES THAT ROCK, BOOK COVERS THAT SIZZLE

Shaila Abdullah has designed websites, book designs, marketing materials, and email campaigns for over 60 authors, writers and speakers. Being an award-winning author herself, she understands the industry, and will provide you with designs that reflect your unique style, genre, and personality. 

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Services for authors: http://myhouseofdesign.com/services-for-authors/

A few testimonials from happy clients:

"Superb work, excellent customer service. Just marvelous overall.” —C. Hope Clark, author, founder of FundsforWriters, http://www.fundsforwriters.com

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"Shaila is a terrific designer, highly professional and extremely creative and delivers amazing results. Her sense of humor and positive spirit has made the whole process of developing and launching my web site a pleasure. –James Hutchison, playwright, http://jameshutchison.ca/

"When I first saw Shaila’s work, I was struck by the fact that her designs are not only beautiful but also perfectly reflect the personality of the business it represents. Her suggestions, insight, and artistic talent made the final product much better than what I’d envisioned on my own.” —Jacqueline Adams, writer, http://jacqueline-adams.com/

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http://wagnerjulia.com/
http://lisakwinkler.com/
http://kbhyde.com/
http://meredithwargo.com/



 

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
http://www.fundsforwriters.com

Copyright 2000-2018, C. Hope Clark
ISSN: 1533-1326

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