SPONSOR OF THE WEEK

THE GOOD WRITING DAYS

Tomorrow may be hell, but today was a good writing day, and on the good writing days nothing else matters.  ~ Neil Gaiman

Amen, Neil! After a good writing day, I feel as if I've won a race. Tired, spent, but thoroughly satisfied. Gracious, if I had that feeling bottled, I'd stay high drinking it. But alas, every day isn't a good writing day and shouldn't be. It's at the point when you struggle, when you realize the day isn't going to be a free-flowing one when it comes to your words, that you grow. 

The ones who write anyway,through everything thrown at them, are the ones who will do better. They will write better, and they will sell better, because they don't wait for the fun days to write. They realize that reporting to work, doubling down when it's not as much fun, beefs up those muscles. Building strength, stamina, and abilities for the next difficult day. That day will be hard, but you might find a few words go down on paper easier because you mastered other hard days that came before. 

Writers write regardless. Waiting until you feel like it, or until you have a long stretch of time, is copping out. Serious writers write. Through noise, crowds, frustration, sluggish plot, self-loathing, you name it. 

You set priorities. One of the smartest writers on the web is Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Dang, she's got a good head on her shoulders, and she's made her writing work for her. So has her husband. Like the last two years as I dealt with ailing parents, Kris dealt with a move, her husband's health, and her own health problems. The realizations she came to are wise and worth the read. https://kriswrites.com/2019/02/27/business-musings-priorities/

I particularly love this quote from her. 

Email isn’t writing. Research isn’t writing. Rewriting isn’t writing. Only new words is writing. Remembering that has made me prolific, even with all the health problems. ~Kristine Kathryn Rusch

The good writing days are manna from heaven. But you cannot appreciate the good days without weathering the bad. If you stop when you sense a bad writing day, and wait for a good one, think about all the time you're throwing away. Think about the growing you're not doing. But most of all, you won't recognize a good day unless you've had enough of the bad for comparison. 

This is absolutely one of my mantras . . . write daily. 






AND A NOTE: I hope to see you in St. Louis!


 

SUPER SPONSOR WORTH NOTING

WOMEN READING ALOUD hosts writing workshops and retreats for an international writing community. WRA dedicates itself to the support of women writers. Looking for a retreat to find a perfect balance of solitude and community?

We'd love to welcome you. Join our mailing list for updates. 

Email founder/director Julie Maloney: julie@womenreadingaloud.org
Visit our website: www.womenreadingaloud.org 


 

HOPE'S APPEARANCES

 

SUCCESS QUOTE

SUccess Story

Hi Hope-

I tell any writer I meet about the great resources your newsletter provides. Lots of excellent advice and leads for authors of every stripe--it's also nice to have watched your career progress since I first started following you. ANYWAY, I thought you might like to know that I just today signed a contract with Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group for a book I've been working on for the past seven years (who knew? I thought maybe two...), working title The Art of Looking at Art. Hopefully out by late spring next year. Thanks for everything you do for us writers!

Best,
Gene Wisniewski
NY, NY
 

Featured article

Research: Quality, Depth, and Credit

By Sheri McGuinn

Quality

The Newbery-winning Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison by Lois Lenski captured my imagination when we read it in school. Lenski meticulously researched the life of a real girl who was captured in 1758 and raised by the Senecas, an Iroquois tribe from the area in which I lived. The concept of a war captive being raised as family was intriguing. I decided I wanted to write a similar book.

The librarians at Patterson Library in Westfield, New York, took my ten-year-old quest seriously and gave me access to the closed-off balcony with its stacks of dusty archived books. I spent weeks filling hundreds of three by five cards with notes from accounts written by people who had been captured or by someone to whom they had told their story. These were even more entrancing than Lenski’s book, illuminating a variety of experiences. But by summer’s end I realized anything I wrote would be distanced and inferior.

While I dropped the project, I had unconsciously absorbed the difference in primary, secondary, and tertiary sources. Those accounts written by people who were captured were primary sources, the ones written by someone to whom they told the story were secondary, and mine would have been tertiary. When you are using information from people as a source, the closer you can get to primary, the more life it will have. 

When using a written source, the primary is the original document. If you find something quoted in a resource, that resource should be saying where it came from – follow that back to the original document. If there’s no attribution, I’ve found the quickest way to find an original source is to search the person or quote + searchable manuscripts. There are usually multiple hits. Look for websites from governments, libraries, universities, or other solid sources.

Some examples:
•    Gutenberg Project over 58,000 free eBooks, including Victor Hugo’s memoirs.
•    The Library of Congress Manuscript Reading Room – digital images or searchable text.
•    The British Library’s digitized collections.
•    Cambridge Digital Library
•    This page at Harvard Library also tells you how to do more detailed research with them.

Depth

At Amazon’s “Look Inside” for Lenski’s book, you can read the foreword, in which she describes how she researched the story and adapted it for fiction. She researched Jemison’s entire life and the Iroquois (of whom the Seneca are a part) in depth. She talks about the fact it was a transitional time for the Iroquois and how she tried to address that. Her illustrations are modeled after traditional Seneca artwork. It is clear she knew as much as possible about Mary Jemison and the world in which she lived.

However, while Lenski’s writing was undoubtedly informed by that broad base of acquired knowledge, she did not dump it all into the story. If she had, the book would have bored children and gone unnoticed. Instead, she kept her audience in mind while writing. In the foreword, she tells the reader “Certain liberties have, of necessity, been taken with Mary’s own story, to adapt it to fictional use for modern young people, but the essential facts remain true to Mary’s actual experiences.”

Credit

Lenski mentions various specific resources throughout the foreword and ends with two paragraphs of thanks. As you do your research, keep track of key source information you’ll need for citations and bibliographies. The online writing lab at Purdue can help you give credit professionally if you’re writing nonfiction. If you’re writing fiction, share your sources with the reader and say thank you. 

BIO: Sheri McGuinn is an award-winning writer and self-publisher. With Master’s degrees in both education and professional writing, she also does writing and editing for hire, coaches other authors through self-publication, and conducts self-publishing workshops.

Sheri McGuinn at IMDb
www.amazon.com/author/sherimcguinn
http://www.sherimcguinn.wordpress.com 

COmpetitions

SANTA FE WRITERS PROJECT LITERARY AWARDS
https://sfwp.com/the-contest/
$30 ENTRY FEE. Deadline July 15, 2019. Seeking fiction and creative nonfiction in any genre. Grand prize: $1,500 and no-obligation book contract. Second and third place: $500 and no-obligation book contract. You do not need to be from or associated with New Mexico or Santa Fe. We publish a wide range of books from authors who live all around the world. 



AUTUMN HOUSE PRESS FULL-LENGTH CONTEST 
https://www.autumnhouse.org/submissions/
$30 ENTRY FEE. Deadline June 30, 2019. The annual Autumn House Press Contests award publication of full-length manuscripts in Poetry, Fiction, and Nonfiction. Each winner also receives $2,500 ($1,000 advance against royalties and a $1,500 travel/publicity grant to promote the book). 



JANET MCCABE POETRY PRIZE
https://www.ruminatemagazine.com/pages/poetry-prize
$20 ENTRY FEE. Deadline May 15, 2019. Entry includes a digital copy of Ruminate. Submit two poems per entry of 40 lines or less. There is no theme or topic for the poetry prize of $1,500 plus publication. Second-place winner receives $200 and publication.



BOMB'S BIENNIAL FICTION CONTEST
https://bombmagazine.org/articles/fiction-contest-2019
$20 ENTRY FEE. Deadline May 5, 2019. This year’s winner will receive a $1,000 prize and publication in BOMB’s literary supplement, First Proof. Manuscripts must be fewer than 5,000 words and consist of a single story.



PARSEC SHORT STORY CONTEST - NOIR
https://parsecink.submittable.com/submit/129359/2019-parsec-short-story-contest-noir
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline April 15, 2019. The theme for the 2018 contest is NOIR. This can be conveyed in the setting, plot, characters, dialogue…the only limit is your imagination. Limit 3,500 words. The contest is open to non-professional writers (those who have not met eligibility requirements for SFWA or equivalent: sale of a novel or sale of three stories to a large-circulation publication. The winning story will be the one that most effectively uses the contest theme as a key element. First-place receives $200 and publication in the 2019 Confluence program book. Second-place receives $100, and third-place receives $50.



HEKTOEN INTERNATIONAL ESSAY COMPETITION
https://hekint.org/2017/09/05/grand-prix-submission-guidelines/
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline April 15, 2019. Submission of an article implies consent to publish in Hektoen International. Entries must follow our article guidelines, including a cover page and proper formatting of both text and illustrations. Two prizes will be awarded: $3,000 for the winner and $800 for the runner up. Topics might include art, history, literature, education, etc. as they relate to medicine. Essays should be under 1,600 words.



IRENE ADLER PRIZE
http://www.lucasaykroyd.com/scholarships
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline April 30, 2019. Pays $1,000 to a woman pursuing a degree in journalism, creative writing, or literature at a recognized post-secondary institution in the U.S. or Canada, based on an essay competition. Submit a 500-word essay in English on one of the following three topics:

“Why are you studying journalism, creative writing, or literature?”
“Which woman inspires you to write despite not being principally known as a writer herself?”
“If you could live anywhere outside North America, where would you go and what would you do there?”



FRIENDS OF FALUN GONG POETRY COMPETITION
http://fofg.org/competitions/2019-poetry-competition/
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline April 30, 2019. All winners will be published on FoFG’s website. First Place winners (adult, college, and youth) will appear in print in the Society of Classical Poets Journal. Adult: $500, $250, $100. College (Undergraduate Students): $250, $100. Youth (High School Students): $100, $50. Submit one or two poems of no more than 50 lines each. Poems must encompass at least one of the following themes:
Advocate for Falun Gong practitioner’s fundamental human rights.
Expose the crimes against Falun Gong perpetrated by the Chinese Communist Party.
Express why citizens of the free world should support Falun Gong’s rights
Traditional poetry with rhyme and meter is recommended, but all styles and forms are welcomed. 



AWST PRESS PRIZE
https://awstpress.submittable.com/submit
$30 ENTRY FEE. Deadline April 15, 2019. Awst’s mission is to encourage diversity in perspective and form. After many years of acquiring manuscripts by solicitation only, we are opening submissions to find something new — the book we didn’t know we needed. We are looking for high-quality literary fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and unforeseen combinations thereof. The first-place winner will receive $1,000 and publication with Awst Press. The second-place winner will receive $500 and publication. We are accepting manuscripts for full-length books (roughly 120-300 pages), as well as manuscripts for our pocketbook series (60-120 pages). 



COSMONAUT AVENUE PRIZE
https://cosmonautsavenue.com/prizes/
$12 ENTRY FEE. Deadline April 15, 2019. Maximum 20 double-spaced pages. One nonfiction piece maximum per entry. The winner will receive $500 and publication. 

 

GRANTS / FELLOWSHIPS / CROWDFUNDING

VERMONT GRANTS
https://www.vermontcf.org/NewsEvents/ViewArticle/tabid/96/ArticleId/258/Funding-Available-for-Vermont-Artists-and-Arts-Organizations.aspx
Deadline April 12, 2019. Funding is now available for Vermont artists and arts organizations through the Vermont Arts Endowment Fund at the Vermont Community Foundation. The Vermont Arts Endowment Fund awards grants up to $5,000 to support the creation and presentation of new work by Vermont artists and arts organizations. Grants are typically made in the fields of dance; theater; music composition and performance; creative writing, including poetry, short stories, novels, and plays; sculpture; painting; photography; and film, although work in other media may also be eligible. Individual artists are eligible to apply.



A STUDIO IN THE WOOD RESIDENCIES
http://www.astudiointhewoods.org/apply-for-adaptations-living-with-change/
Deadline April 22, 2019. A Studio in the Woods will be offering six-week residencies which include a stipend and supply budget between September 2019 - May 2020.  Adaptations Residencies invite artists to examine how climate- driven adaptations - large and small, historic and contemporary, cultural and scientific - shape our future. The call is open to artists of all disciplines who have demonstrated an established dialogue with environmental and culturally related issues and a commitment to seeking and plumbing new depths. Location New Orleans, LA.



SISTERS IN CRIME - ELEANOR TAYLOR BLAND CRIME FICTION WRITERS OF COLOR
https://chicagocrusader.com/sisters-in-crime-opens-submissions-for-2019-award/
Deadline June 9, 2019. Sisters in Crime is accepting applications for its sixth annual Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award, a $2,000 grant awarded to an emerging female or male writer of color. The award honors the late, pioneering African-American crime fiction author Eleanor Taylor Bland. 



RUTH LILLY AND DOROTHY SARGENT ROSENBERG POETRY FELLOWSHIPS
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/foundation/prizes-fellowship
Deadline April 30, 2019. Five Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships in the amount of $25,800 each will be awarded to young poets in the U.S. through a national competition sponsored by the Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine. Applicants must reside in the U.S. or be U.S. citizens. Applicants must be at least 21 years of age and no older than 31 years of age as of April 30, 2019.



WRITER BY WRITERS FELLOWSHIPS TO WRITER'S CAMP
https://www.writingxwriters.org/esalen-writer-s-camp-fellowship
Writing by Writers is pleased to offer fellowships to Esalen Writer's Camp for emerging writers of color and members of the LGBTQIA+ community to amplify all voices that need to be heard. Fellowships cover the full cost of tuition, a shared room, and all meals, but do not cover transportation. The deadline to apply for a fellowship is April 15th and winners will be notified by May 1st. Selection will be based on a writing sample and short statement about why you are interested in attending Esalen Writer's Camp. Location Los Altos, CA.



THE FROST PLACE LATINX SCHOLARSHIP
https://thefrostplace.submittable.com/submit
Deadline April 15, 2019. This scholarship is designed to encourage the LatinX voice in poetry and the literary arts, both at The Frost Place and in the broader literary community. The winner will receive a full fellowship to attend the Conference on Poetry at The Frost Place, July 6 - 12, 2019, including tuition, room, board, and travel.



THE FROST GREGORY PARDLO SCHOLARSHIP
https://thefrostplace.submittable.com/submit
Deadline April 15, 2019. The Frost Place, a nonprofit center for poetry and the arts at Robert Frost’s old homestead in Franconia, NH, invites submissions to the first annual Gregory Pardlo Scholarship for Emerging African American Poets. This scholarship, which is funded by an anonymous donor, was named to honor Gregory Pardlo, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and faculty at The Frost Place 2015 Poetry Seminar. The winner will receive a full scholarship to attend the Poetry Seminar (August 4- 10 2019)  at The Frost Place, including room and board (valued at approximately $1,550), and will give a featured reading at the Seminar. 
 

FREELANCE MARKETS

ELECTRIC LIT GENERAL FICTION
https://electricliterature.submittable.com/submit
Recommended Reading publishes fiction between 1,500 and 10,000 words. Upon acceptance, we can offer authors $300 for publishing rights. Writers may submit one piece per general opening period. (This does not apply to year-round submitting members.)



RATTLE
http://www.rattle.com/submissions/guidelines/
Submissions are open year-round, always welcomed, and always free. Contributors in print receive $100/poem and a complimentary one-year subscription to the magazine. Online contributors receive $50/poem. All free submissions are automatically considered for the annual Neil Postman Award for Metaphor, a $1,000 prize judged by the editors. We’re currently seeking submissions from African Poets for our Fall 2019 issue. Please explain what being an African poet means to you in your contributor note. The deadline for this issue is April 15, 2019.



ALASKA BUSINESS MAGAZINE
https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=8567a404a9d0d065
We are a business-oriented publication looking for reliable freelance writers who are familiar with Alaska's primary industries and economic trends. Writers must possess the ability to meet deadlines, stay on assigned topic, and research and interview industry sources. Please respond only if you are self-sufficient, serious about writing professionally, detail-oriented, and possess business writing experience. To be considered submit at least three published clips with your byline (no personal blogs), resume showing writing experience, and two professional references.



TRADE PUBLISHING, LTD - HONOLULU, HI
https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=4da361270e9832fc
Trade Publishing has an immediate opening for an experienced full-time writer to join its in-house editorial team in producing magazines that focus on the Islands’ construction, building management and hospitality industries. Duties include, but are not limited to, writing news and features stories and copy editing. The right candidate must have excellent writing and grammar skills, possess strong editorial judgment, well-versed in AP style, works well with others, can meet multiple deadlines each month and enjoys attending industry-related events. Photography skills are a plus. You must be familiar with writing in Word; design skills are not required.



THE YBF.COM
https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=aa3091c3c9804de3
The Young Black and Fabulous platform (TheYBF) is the longest running, most respected, digital-focused entertainment news platform focusing on black Hollywood and pop culture. The website, now expanded into multiple social media platforms, podcast and television features, began as THE way to put 'Black Hollywood' on a pedestal while mainstream often ignores or skims the surface. We also don’t hold our tongues about foolishness, and we give shade with a conscious. Serving informative and entertaining Black excellence is our goal. We're currently looking for a few writers to join our team! This is a REMOTE position...so you can live outside of NYC.
 

Publishers/agents

 
ALTERNATIVE BOOK PRESS
https://alternativebookpress.com/
Alternative Book Press publishes quality fiction and nonfiction that strives to expand the mind and speak to the diverse spectrum of human experience. An alternative to traditional publishing in both process and content, the press’s main goal is to champion new writers, different cultures and backgrounds, and work of intellectual and literary merit.



ANAPHORA LITERARY
https://anaphoraliterary.com/
Actively seeking single and multiple-author books in fiction (poetry, novels, and short story collections) and nonfiction (academic, legal, business, journals, edited and un-edited dissertations, biographies, and memoirs). Email full MS (books must be completed prior to submission), bio, summary and marketing plan in a single Word document. Profits are split 50/50 with writers. 



AUXMEDIA CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
https://aquariuspress.submittable.com/submit
$25 READING FEE. We are currently accepting manuscripts for the AUXmedia roster that can be adapted for film and/or TV. Literary Fiction, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Memoir, Romance (Must have well-rounded characters and a solid plot. No erotica, please.). Please allow four to six weeks for a response. 



BLACK SPOT BOOKS
https://www.blackspotbooks.com/about.html
Black Spot Books is an independent, author-centric small press publishing house with full editing, design, promotions, sales, and distributions teams that help perfect and promote our authors and their books. Our titles are actively promoted to reach thousands of accounts, including chain and independent bookstores, online retailers, national wholesalers, library and specialty wholesalers, gift and specialty retail, museums, and more, across the US and Canada, and abroad. We publish titles in speculative fiction, including genres of fantasy, dark humor, thrillers, and paranormal. We are particularly interested in full-length (65,000 words plus). Currently, we are only representing US-based authors. 



DIVERTIR PUBLISHING
http://www.divertirpublishing.com/forauthors.html
What we are interested in: Fiction: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Historical, Historical Romance, Alternate History, Mystery and Suspense, Paranormal, Romance, Short Stories, and Young Adult. Nonfiction: Political/Social Commentary, Current Events, Humor, and Satire. Divertir Publishing also feels the most effective way to introduce up and coming authors to our readership is through the use of short stories. To this end, our strategy is to publish one or more short story collections each year, in addition to an online magazine that will be started at the end of 2019. Each collection will have a common theme, while the magazine will feature an assortment of stories.



OWL HOUSE BOOKS
https://owlhousebooks.com/
As a highly selective press, we publish only two to four full-length works a year. Owl House Books specializes in genre fiction. We seek works of science fiction, fantasy, mystery, and thriller.

 

SPONSORS

Writing Retreat in Greece
August 29^{th –} September 3^rd 2019

A six-day inspiring writing retreat in Greece’s hidden gem, Pelion. Psychologist and author Dimitra Didangelou will help you to expand your creative self in breathtaking natural landscapes.
Activities you can expect from your retreat:

• Daily workshops on expressive writing & one-on-one sessions with Dimitra

• Meaningful conversations on subjects inspired from ancient Greek philosophy 

• Excursions to the astonishing beaches, yoga, acupuncture, massages, horse riding, swimming, hiking available onsite

• Dinners with delicious local dishes and wine

Secure your place early and catch the early bird price!
For questions and bookings contact Dimitra at dimitra@expressingmyself.org or check our website: https://expressingmyself.org/writing-retreat-in-greece-summer-2019/

 

 

 

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C. Hope Clark
E-mail: hope@fundsforwriters.com
140-A Amicks Ferry Road #4
Chapin, SC 29036
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ISSN: 1533-1326

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