| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| M.Chu |
Posted - 03 Oct 2004 : 23:22:06
Dear Friends,
Just thought that some of you may be interested to subscribe to a free online newsletter, Writing World, edited by Moira Allen.
A complete (and allowed) copy is as follows for your perusal:
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W R I T I N G W O R L D
A World of Writing Information - For Writers Around the World
http://www.writing-world.com
Issue 4:20 14,400 subscribers September 30, 2004
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SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE INSTRUCTIONS AT END OF NEWSLETTER
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SPECIAL NOTICE: Please DO NOT REPLY to this e-mail; any messages
sent to the listbox address are deleted. See the bottom of this
newsletter for information on contacting the editors.
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CONTENTS
=================================================================
From the Editor's Desk
News from the World of Writing
FEATURE: The Key to Success: Write More
by Lee Tobin McClain
The Write Sites -- Online Resources for Writers
WRITING DESK: Is a booksigning a "publication credit"?
How many people aspire to write? by Moira Allen
JUST FOR FUN: Characters Will/Will Not, by Suzanne Mead
WHAT'S NEW at Writing World
MARKET ROUNDUP/Writing Contests
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FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK
=================================================================
The Best-Laid Plans
-------------------
I think God has been trying to remind me over the past couple of
weeks that there is a certain foolishness in imagining that life
is going to proceed as planned -- or that one can rely on one's
plans!
First there was Ivan. Happily, I do not live in Florida, so I am
neither without power nor up to my knees in floodwater. In fact,
I was feeling rather smug about our home's ability to withstand
wind and rain. That was until the young man who mows our lawn
stopped by and mentioned, "Oh, you know a tornado hit Cub Run,
don't you?"
Cub Run. That's about five blocks away. It's the street that
leads to the street that leads to OUR street. It runs in a loop
around the subdivision, and at the bottom of the loop is the
community pool, in what used to be a very lovely grove of large,
ancient trees. Now the pool-house stands (and DOES stand,
fortunately) in a very open, empty space; absolutely every tree
around it was knocked down or ripped out. Across the street, the
tornado ripped the roof and part of the upper floor off a house
very much like our own. Fortunately, everyone had gone to the
lower level (we HAD been warned) and no one was harmed.
This is a story I am definitely NOT telling my mother-in-law...
But life returns quickly to normal, or so I thought. I was
looking forward to a week in which I had (for once) absolutely
scheduled errands -- no trips to the vet, the dentist, or
whatever. Wow -- all that "free" time stretching ahead of me...
I could work, uninterrupted...
OK, I'll grant that a cold is a small thing compared to a
tornado. However, since the cold hit ME and the tornado didn't,
it's proving a bit more troublesome. The thought of facing the
computer in my stuffy, muzzy state is too much to bear, beyond
basic e-mail. And that lovely "free" week I saw ahead of me is
turning into one more week when I don't get done all those things
that I PLANNED to do.
Poor me. Pity, pity, pity... It finally dawned on me (with a
major "DUH!") that if I had to have a cold, wasn't it better to
have one on a week when I had nothing important scheduled? No
appointments, no errands, no deadlines? Nothing to cancel, no
one to disappoint -- or worse, no errands that I positively had
to run no matter how sniffly I felt?
Having a cold on the best possible week of the year to have one
is a relatively small blessing. Getting missed by a tornado is a
relatively LARGE blessing. Both have been reminders to me to
COUNT those blessings. There are worse things in life than
having life disrupt one's plans -- and more blessings in life
than we often stop to realize!
-- Moira Allen, Editor
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NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF WRITING
=================================================================
Jeanne's fury did not stop the presses
--------------------------------------
When Hurricane Jeanne blew through Florida last weekend most
papers in her path still managed to publish and deliver papers,
close to schedule, while maintaining very active web sites.
Within the hardest hit area, the Scripps Treasure Coast
Publishing Company printed newspapers both Sunday and Monday, and
kept its web site up to date. Monday's paper was written Sunday
and sent electronically across the state to Naples, where another
Scripps publication is located, for printing. Publisher Tom Weber
said reporters from the company's four papers along Florida's
east coast -- Vero Beach, St. Lucie, Stuart, Ft. Pierce --
combined their efforts to produce one paper, the Treasure Coast
News, which was distributed primarily to people in shelters.
"There was some home delivery, but not all, because some streets
are not passable," Weber said. "We have 560 employees, and I
would say yes, a majority of them stayed." Reporters stayed in
shelters and homes along the coast; some found Internet
connections in homes and worked from there. None of them
sustained injuries from the storm.
Kirkus announces two new programs
---------------------------------
For the first time in 71 years, Kirkus Reviews is offering a new
review service for self-published, e-published, and
print-on-demand authors. Under a new program called Kirkus
Discoveries, authors and publishers are invited to "commission a
review," for $350. Those reviews will be displayed at
KirkusDiscoveries.com. Selected titles will also will be included
in a monthly email newsletter, which will go to subscribers
looking for the rights to books, whether for print or film.
Kirkus is also launching a second pay-for-promo program called
Kirkus Reports. Covering a broad range of lifestyle books,
Reports consist of five monthly email newsletters to key editors,
columnists, and magazine and newspaper journalists who cover
those areas themselves. This service involves a marketing
partnership between Kirkus and publishers, at $95/title. For more
information:
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/kirkusreviews/discoveries/index.jsp
Half.com will remain open
-------------------------
In 2003, eBay announced that it would be closing Half.com, in
an effort to persuade its sellers and buyers to switch to eBay
itself. The closing was originally scheduled for early summer
2004 and was then postponed to October 2004. Last week, eBay
announced that it will not go forward with the plan to close
Half.com after all. In their announcement, Half.com credited
seller input and an outstanding back-to-school season for the
about-face. Many sellers vigorously protested the proposed
closing, particularly used-book dealers, who pointed out that
they would not be able to list their inventories on eBay due to
the listing fees (Half.com requires no up-front listing fees).
For more information, visit http://half.ebay.com
Publishing representatives sue Treasury Dept
--------------------------------------------
On September 27, a lawsuit was filed in US District Court in NY
by the Association of American University Presses, the
Association of American Publishers (AAP), PEN American Center,
and Arcade Publishing, that seeks to prevent the Treasury
Department from enforcing part of the International Emergency
Economic Powers Act, which allows the president to place
sanctions on countries posing a threat to national security. The
Treasury Dept's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has made
a number of rulings that have prohibited publishers from
publishing materials from foreign writers, and the complaint
charges that the uncertainty created by the regulations has made
publishers reluctant to work with authors in embargoed nations.
In September 2003, OFAC issued two rulings that barred two
publishers from publishing materials from Iranian writers. As an
indication of the vagueness of the government's position,
Treasury Dept spokeswoman Molly Millerwise told the New Jersey
Star-ledger that there is "no restriction against" against basic
publication, translation, copy-editing or peer review. But she
indicated that "more extensive editorial collaboration or
co-authorship by Americans could be construed as illegally
'providing a service.'" AAP/PSP Chairman Marc Brodsky said, "In
this country, a publisher doesn't need to go to the government to
get permission to publish a book." He called the regulations
"nonsensical," and said they are "clear violations of the First
Amendment." For more information:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/27/books/27hemi.html?pagewanted=1&hp
Newspapers in schools develop reading habits
--------------------------------------------
Students who use newspapers in school are likely to develop a
life long reading habit, said a report from the Newspapers
Association of America (NAA) Foundation released on September 26.
According to the study, which polled 1,500 adults ages 18 to 34,
64% of those who had a class where newspapers were part of the
curriculum regularly read newspapers today. Thirty-eight percent
of those who didn't have exposure to newspapers in the classroom
say they are regular newspaper readers. "This surprised all of
us," said Jim Abbott, vice president of the NAA Foundation. "We
knew the results would be good but not this good. It's a strong
indication that papers in the school are making a real impact on
future readership." The study breaks down reading habits between
boys and girls. For boys: 43% read the sports section, 26% read
comics, and 22% read front-page news. For girls: 11% read the
sports section, 28% read comics, 24% read front-page news, and
14% read current events.
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THE KEY TO SUCCESS: WRITE MORE
=================================================================
by Lee Tobin McClain (tobin@setonhill.edu)
What's the key to spectacular writing success? Talent?
Intelligence? Creative genius?
None of the above. According to Dr. Dean Keith Simonton, who has
conducted research on creativity for nearly 25 years, creative
success correlates most closely with output: the quantity of work
produced. Artistic and scientific achievers from Picasso to Da
Vinci didn't succeed more, percentage-wise, than other
now-unknown creators of their eras; they simply produced more,
and thus had more successes.
As the director of a graduate program in writing, I can vouch for
the fact that students who complete more writing projects succeed
more frequently than their slower-writing peers, regardless of
talent.
If productivity equals success, how can you increase yours? Here
are eight ways.
Build an Expectant Audience
---------------------------
Many of us are motivated by the expectations of others. We'll do
more to fulfill responsibilities or avoid humiliation than we
will to fulfill our own dream.
If that's your blessing -- or your curse -- use it. Create an
audience for yourself, whether it's a critique group, an editor,
or even online subscribers.
Poet Michael Arnzen developed a system for distributing a poem a
week from his web site (http://www.gorelets.com), which delivered
poetry directly to readers' Palm Pilots or other handheld
computers. He solicited subscribers through e-mail and press
releases and once hundreds of people were expecting their weekly
poems, Arnzen was committed to delivering. "Knowing my
subscribers were always waiting for the next poem in the series
drove me to write daily. It was my most productive year as a
poet, ever, despite my full time job," Arnzen says. "And the
project brought attention to my other writing, too. I sold three
chapbooks this past year, including the poetry series itself."
Critique groups can function the same way. If your group sets up
a schedule for distributing work, you feel obligated to fulfill
your responsibility. The critiques you receive are almost a bonus
compared to the regular production such groups enforce.
For magazine writers -- aspiring or published -- there's nothing
better than landing a few assignments to build an expectant
audience and thus, enhance your productivity. If you're an
established writer, play the query-a-day game (see tip number
three) until you have several assignments and deadlines to push
you into productivity. If you're inexperienced, you may have to
work on spec or for free. But knowing that an editor, even the
editor of the tiny neighborhood newspaper, is expecting your work
will jar you into increased productivity no matter what other
demands are made on your time.
The Gradual Increase
--------------------
Don't try to make a rapid jump in your productivity. Take it
slow. More importantly, take it steady.
Bestselling novelist Peter Straub compares writing to exercise.
"If you spend an hour or two a day writing, fairly soon you will
be able to do it for three or four hours each day; and the more
you write, the more sheer muscle you develop," he says. Romance
and women's fiction writer Susan Mallery suggests that a very
gradual increase in daily pages written can lead to a major boost
in quality and quantity of work sold. Her strategy is simple:
figure out how many pages you write in each writing session now,
and then increase by half a page every few weeks.
Why does it work? "A half page is a manageable goal," says
Mallery. "It's so small an increase, it's hard to get excited
about it. Yet over time, it makes a huge difference. Those half
pages add up without adding stress to the writer."
Mallery ought to know. She is the author of 75 published novels.
The hidden benefit behind Mallery's method is consistency. And
consistent writing actually increases quality as well as
quantity. "When you write a certain number of pages each day, the
story stays 'in-place' in the brain," she explains. "That means
writing time can be spent on deepening the characterization and
enhancing the story rather than trying to remember who these
people are and what's happening with the plot."
A Query a Day: Games with Yourself
----------------------------------
If you're trying to make it in magazine writing, you need
regular, frequent assignments that will keep you writing. But at
the beginning of your career, or during a slump, the assignments
can be thin or nonexistent. That's the dangerous point when it's
easy to clean the garage or see the latest chick flick instead of
writing. Soon, you can feel like someone who used to write, or
used to want to write, instead of feeling like a writer.
At times like this, you need some kind of game to boost your
creativity and your career. My favorite is "A Query A Day." All
you have to do is produce and mail out one query letter each day,
and then you're off the hook and out the door. Conversely, on
busy days when the boss demands the latest report, the spouse
threatens to leave, and the teenager wrecks the car, you still
have to produce that one query.
Benefits are multiple. You get really fast at writing query
letters. You get fast at finding markets at the odd moments of
your day; I've been known to keep a copy of Writer's Market in my
bathroom.
Best of all, you're planting seeds that will bear fruit for
months to come. Inevitably, something hits, and then something
else does, and before long you're so busy writing stories that
you have to quit the game. Months later, assignments from the
game days will still trickle in. And because you produced so many
queries, you probably went off in weird directions; now, you have
an assignment to write something out of your own norm, and
creativity soars.
Variations for other sorts of writers: try "A Short Synopsis Per
Day"; "A Contest Entry Per Day"; "A Poem a Day".
Multiple Projects
-----------------
When you're working on a long book project, reinforcement and
rewards are seriously lacking. If you let discouragement set in,
your productivity may dip or plunge.
That's when you need the perspective and refreshment of multiple
projects. If you're writing a novel, make use of your background
research by submitting short magazine pieces on topics related to
your novel's theme. If your book project is nonfiction, see if
you can work up a short story or poem, either on the same topic
or on something completely different.
And make sure to submit the other writing somewhere -- a contest,
a tiny literary magazine, or a newspaper. The opportunity for
quicker feedback can give you a boost on your main project.
Whether or not you publish any of these side pieces, your big
project will benefit from the renewal of interest brought about
by your moonlighting.
Create a Compelling Future
--------------------------
If you're not producing as much as you want, maybe you're living
too much in the present.
Success guru Tony Robbins asserts that you should have enormous
goals, the type that will make your palms sweat and your heart
race, in order to keep yourself working hard each day. Most
people, he maintains, think too small when they think about their
future.
Indeed, successful writers often admit they've been visualizing
that place on the bestseller list for years. Before my first book
was published, I spent a lot of time looking at the paperback
rack, letting my eyes blur so that I could imagine that the
latest popular romance was my own.
One day, it was.
So go ahead and picture yourself accepting the Bram Stoker award,
or the Edgar, or the Nebula. Imagine what you'll say when
interviewed about your Pulitzer. If your dream is big enough,
you'll be motivated to make big efforts at the keyboard today, to
make tomorrow's vision come true.
Pages, Not Hours
----------------
Should you make yourself sit at the keyboard for two hours each
day, or strive for two pages?
Views differ, but I'm a fan of the page count. It's all too easy
to sit and daydream away a stint of writing time and produce
nothing. But if you know you aren't allowed to leave until you
come up with that query, or those three pages, you'll get it done
faster. Sometimes what you create will seem to be no good, but
you'll find that when you come back later, it's hard to tell the
difference between the pages produced quickly and those crafted
more slowly.
In any case, bad pages can be fixed. A blank page can't.
Book-in-a-Week
--------------
The "Book-in-a-Week" technique is trendy now in the romance
writing community, but dates back to authors like Belgian-born
detective writer Georges Simenon. Simenon wrote most of his
500-plus novels in the space of 8-10 days -- sans outline, sans
pause, and sans computer.
Today's Book-in-a-Week proponents swear by a similar, if
electronically-updated, method: they clear their calendars of as
much non-writing-related activity as possible in order to fully
focus on writing for one week. During that week they write in
every spare moment, whether that means a ten-hour stretch on a
Saturday, or writing during commuting time, coffee breaks, the
lunch hour, a teenager's soccer game, and a toddler's bath time.
Some really do complete the first draft of an entire book. Others
set smaller goals: write an article every day, for example. The
point is to push yourself beyond your normal comfort zone,
knowing you'll only have to stay there for one week.
The Internet serves as a helpful ally to keep writers motivated
for this challenge. "I joined an online book-in-a-week challenge
to help me stay the course," explains one participant. "Everyone
posted their page totals each evening. Knowing my online friends
were doing the same crazy thing, that I'd have to post my totals
each night, and that it was only for one week, kept me writing. I
wrote an average of twenty pages per day. That's more than I'd
ever written before."
This mad rush of writing has several benefits beyond the often
admirable number of pages produced. Focusing on writing as much
as possible helps to turn off the internal critic. For this week
only, you're not judged on quality, only quantity. For
perfectionists, that can be liberating.
April Kihlstrom, who has spoken about Book-in-a-Week challenges
at national conferences, describes quality benefits gleaned from
this quantity-related method. A draft written in a short time,
she explains, is far more likely to be consistent, passionate,
and strong-voiced.
Book-in-a-Week isn't for everyone, and it can't be done often,
but it may provide the jump start you need for increasing your
productivity.
Charts, Calendars, and Goals
----------------------------
If you're already a working writer, you know that you have to
plan out your work; you have deadlines to meet, and editors who
will squawk if you don't do so. But if you're still unpublished,
you may be meandering along without a real plan, without charting
out your goals for yourself.
Get in practice for your future success by setting your own
deadlines. That way, when assignments or contracts come, you'll
know how quickly you can write, and you'll have faith in your own
ability to meet your deadline and follow through on your
promises. Plan to finish the picture book this month, the chapter
book by spring, the young adult novel by the end of the year.
Then figure out how you'll do it with daily page counts marked on
a calendar.
As the platitude says, every journey begins with a step. So
decide now to put these productivity tips to use. Make a plan
about how you'll succeed. As your output increases, watch your
career soar along with it.
The beautiful thing about output is that it's something you can
control -- unlike native intelligence or a good ear for words.
You have no one to blame but yourself if you aren't making it on
a page a week. And when your career takes off due to your
increased output, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that
your own hard work made the difference.
>>-----------------------------------------------------<<
Dr. Lee Tobin McClain directs the Master of Arts in Writing
Popular Fiction at Seton Hill University, a low-residency program
with specialties in children's books, mystery, romance, and
SF/F/H. Her YA novel, "My Alternate Life, was just released under
Dorchester's Smooch imprint.
Copyright (c) 2004 by Lee Tobin McClain
*****************************************************************
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THE WRITE SITES
=================================================================
Manuscript Tracking Software
----------------------------
Links to manuscript tracking programs for PC and Mac.
http://www.sandbaggers.8m.com/samm.htm
Me Write a Synopsis?
--------------------
Tips on handling that dreaded sales tool.
http://www.vivianbeck.com/writing/tips/mewrite.htm
Writing Up a Storm
------------------
"A writing group for everyone. We are mostly kids but anyone is
welcome. We crit poetry, short stories and longer stories."
http://groups.msn.com/WritingUpaStorm/welcome.msnw
History Online
--------------
Browse this extensive collection by type of history, geographical
area, time period or type of resource.
http://www.history.ac.uk/hr/Resources/Historical/index.html
Bissonnette on Costume
----------------------
Subtitled "a visual dictionary of fashion," this site can be
searched by region, time or subject.
http://dept.kent.edu/museum/costume
Fictionette.com
---------------
A UK site offering a range of resources for fiction writers.
http://www.fictionette.com
*****************************************************************
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THE WRITING DESK
=================================================================
by Moira Allen
Response to Last Issue's Column
----------------------------------------
Dear Ms. Allen:
I love your newsletter, and I thank you for producing a
consistently helpful and informative publication.
I felt compelled to write you about your Writing Desk column
about whether the mother should publish her daughter's book. I
hope that you'll print my response in a future issue. I think you
left out a very key question for the mother: Would the daughter
WANT her book published? Did the mother ASK the daughter?
Poetry especially is sometimes extremely personal. I know that I
would be MORTIFIED if someone decided to try to publish some of
my more personal writings without my knowledge. I wasn't even
aware that publication of another's work could be done without
his/her permission, even if the copyright is listed in the
author's name. In any case, I hope the mother will be sure it's
what her daughter wants. What she may intend as an "ego boost"
could potentially turn into a colossal embarassment.
Alaina Smith
Editor's Note: An excellent point. In dealing with this
question, I simply assumed that the mother had obtained the
daughter's permission; publishing the book without that
permission would be both a violation of trust and a violation of
copyright law.
Which Leads to the Next Question...
--------------------------------
Q: I have a quick question for you. My mother died suddenly and I
have found hundreds of poems that she had written and submitted
to contests around the country. I am wanting to put together a
book of her poems, not to sell nationwide, but for family and
friends like she was talking about. Can you give me any ideas on
how to go about this? Your site was listed as one of her
favorites so she visited you often.
A: You have several options for publishing such a book. If you
are willing and able to format the book yourself (which is fairly
simple with even a word-processing program like Word), your
cheapest option would be to use a short-run publisher such as
Morris (http://www.morrispublishing.com).
Another option is to use a print-on-demand printer. These can be
less expensive up front -- but you pay a higher "per book" cost
when you actually have the books printed. However, you can print
as few as you wish -- for example, if you only wanted ten, you'd
only pay for ten, plus whatever the initial up-front fee might
be. A POD publisher gives you a nice professional-looking
paperback. Usually you WILL have to do some of your own layout,
or else pay more to have it done.
A final option is to simply have the job done at your local print
shop. Most print/copy shops, including Kinko's, Staples, Office
Depot, PIP, etc., offer a variety of binding options, so you
actually CAN get a "perfect-bound" book. I don't know how
expensive this is, and in this case, you definitely have to be
able to design it yourself. If you have a very small number of
books to produce, it would probably be your least expensive
option.
Exclusive of the cost of getting the book designed (if you don't
do it yourself), you can probably expect to pay anywhere from $5
to $15 per copy, depending on the number of pages. I'd recommend
checking these various optinos and doing a rate comparison. If
you don't know how many pages your book will be, "guess" -- i.e.,
do a comparison on 100-page books, 200-page books, etc. That
will give you a range of prices.
NOTE: In this case, the rights to the material in question would
pass to the daughter (and any other heirs) as part of the
mother's estate, unless the mother had specified otherwise in her
will.
>>-----------------------------------------------------<<
Moira Allen has been writing and editing professionally for more
than 20 years. A columnist for The Writer, she is also the author
of "Starting Your Career as a Freelance Writer", "The Writer's
Guide to Queries, Pitches and Proposals" (now available as an
e-book) and "Writing.com: Creative Internet Strategies to
Advance Your Writing Career". For more details, visit:
http://www.writing-world.com/moira/moira.shtml
Copyright (c) 2004 by Moira Allen
*****************************************************************
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NEW RESOURCE!
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OCTOBER COLUMNS:
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The Screening Room, by Laura Brennan
Of Agents, E-mails and Stage Directions
http://www.writing-world.com/columns/screen/screen15.shtml
Advice from a Caterpillar, by Peggy Tibbetts
Getting Started as a Children's Writer; Submitting Photo Essays;
Talking Animals
http://www.writing-world.com/caterpillar/cat45.shtml
ARTICLES:
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The Essential Components of the Media Kit, by Ink Tree Ltd
http://www.writing-world.com/promotion/mediakit.shtml
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FIND 1700 MARKETS FOR YOUR WRITING! Writing-World.com's market
guides offer DETAILED listings of over 1700 markets, with contact
information, pay rates, needs and more. Fourteen themed guides
are available for $2.50 apiece or $25 for the set. For details,
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MARKET ROUNDUP
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RAZOR-EDGED ARCANUM
Daniel E Blackston, Senior Editor
Pitch-Black Publications
3232 S 1st St., Springfield IL 62703
EMAIL: knight@famvid.com
URL: http://www.pitchblackbooks.com
This collection of 10-12 short stories will be released spring
2005. We are interested in heroic fantasy stories with an
emphasis on sorcery and magic. We want stories that portray
arcane materials in surprising new ways. Topics we are interested
in include: alchemy, necromancy, diabolism, demonism, white
magic, black magic, witches, warlocks, sorcerers, illusionists,
pacts, rituals, spells, wands, amulets and other magical
apparatus. We are interested in the sinister aspects of arcane
and occult themes, but REA is not a good place to sell stories of
woe and ruin. We want heroic stories with heroic endings, not
stories of negation. We are not interested in stories with
contemporary settings, urban fantasy, slipstream, horror, or
science fiction stories. We are also unlikely to accept stories
that feature werewolves, cannibals, vampires, or Tolkien-esque
portrayals of Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits, or other such fantasy
clichés.
DEADLINE: December 31, 2004
LENGTH: 3,000-8,000 words
PAYMENT: 3-8 cents/word
RIGHTS: First print and electronic worldwide rights
REPRINTS: No
SUBMISSIONS: By mail only
GUIDELINES:
http://www.pitchblackbooks.com/REA_guidelines_detail.htm
>>-----------------------------------------------------<<
CENTURY
Robert KJ Killheffer, Editor/Publisher
PO Box 5006, Woodbury, CT 06798
EMAIL: editor@centurymag.com
URL: http://www.centurymag.com
Century publishes stories in a broad spectrum of styles,
subjects, and lengths. It's impossible for us to describe the
kinds of fiction that appeal to us. For a clear sense of that,
you'll have to read an issue or two. All the stories we print do
share an element of the "speculative" or "fantastic," something
tangible or intangible that separates them from most "mainstream"
fiction (à la The New Yorker). Beyond that, we're looking for
accomplished writing with polished prose, sharp detail and
observation, and some depth beyond the surface level of the text.
We are not publishing poetry at this time.
LENGTH: 1,000-20,000 words
PAYMENT: 4 cents/word
RIGHTS: First World English and non-exclusive reprint rights
REPRINTS: Yes
SUBMISSIONS: By mail only
GUIDELINES: http://www.centurymag.com/guidelines.html
>>-----------------------------------------------------<<
THE FIDDLEHEAD
Ross Leckie, Editor
Campus House, 11 Garland Ct, UNB PO Box 4400, Fredericton, NB
E3B 5A3, Canada
EMAIL: fid@nbnet.nb.ca
URL: http://www.fiddlehead.ca/index.asp
The Fiddlehead is open to good fiction and poetry in English from
all over the world, looking always for freshness and surprise.
Please do not send more than 10 poems per submission (3-5 is
best).
LENGTH: Fiction: 4,000 words or less; Poetry: no word length
requirement
PAYMENT: $20/published page
REPRINTS: No
RIGHTS: First serials rights only; copyright remains with author
SUBMISSIONS: By mail only
GUIDELINES: http://www.fiddlehead.ca/submissions.asp
>>-----------------------------------------------------<<
Please send Market News to: peggyt@siltnet.net
"FNASR": First North American Serial Rights, "SASE":
self-addressed, stamped envelope, "GL": guidelines. If you have
questions about rights, please see "Rights: What They Mean and
Why They're Important"
http://www.writing-world.com/rights/rights.shtml
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WRITING CONTESTS
=================================================================
This section lists contests that charge no entry fees. For more
contests, check our online contests section.
http://www.writing-world.com/contests/index.shtml
>>-----------------------------------------------------<<
Lord Acton Essay Contest
DEADLINE: November 15, 2004
GENRE: Essay
OPEN TO: All seminarians, undergraduate, graduate and
post-graduate students studying religion, theology, philosophy or
related fields are encouraged to enter, regardless of religious
denomination or affiliation.
LENGTH: 1,000-1,500 words
THEME: The phrase, "human dignity" is used by many, often in
pursuit of conflicting objectives. Those who value societies
characterized by authentic liberty need to show why human dignity
is the fundamental foundation for a free society and how our
awareness of human dignity should shape the use and determine the
ends of our free choices in civil society. Though it is clear
that freedom without dignity is a myth, it should also be clear
that the absence of freedom frequently results in gross
violations of human dignity. Previously published work may not be
entered.
PRIZE: First Place: $2,000; Second Place: $1,000; Third Place:
$500
ELECTRONIC ENTRY: No, by mail only including application form on
web site.
EMAIL: awards@acton.org
ADDRESS: Lord Acton Essay Contest, The Acton Institute, 161
Ottawa NW, Suite 301, Grand Rapids, MI 49503
URL: http://www.acton.org/programs/students/essay/
>>-----------------------------------------------------<<
Mary Roberts Rinehart Awards
DEADLINE: November 30, 2004
GENRE: Fiction, Non-fiction, and Poetry
OPEN TO: Unpublished works
LENGTH: Fiction & non-fiction: up to 30 pages; Poetry: 10 pages
of individual or collected poems
THEME: To help aspiring authors, a number of years ago the family
of the late Mary Roberts Rinehart began awarding small grants to
writers whose work showed particular promise. These grants were
given to honor Ms. Rinehart, a writer of fiction and nonfiction
whose work was popular in the earlier decades of the 1900s.
Writers seeking grants must be nominated by someone in the field
-- another writer, an agent, an editor or the like.
PRIZES: $2,000 Award for each category: fiction, non-fiction, and
poetry
ELECTRONIC ENTRY: No
EMAIL: bgompert@gmu.edu
ADDRESS: Mary Roberts Rinehart Awards, English Department,
MSN 3E4, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030-4444
URL: http://www.gmu.edu/departments/writing/rinehart.htm
>>-----------------------------------------------------<<
The Caribbean Writer Literary Prizes
DEADLINE: November 30, 2004
GENRE: Poetry, Short story, Essay, and One-act play
OPEN TO: All
LENGTH: Short story or essay: 15 pages or less
THEME: The Caribbean Writer is an international literary
anthology with a Caribbean focus. The Caribbean should be central
to the work, or the work should reflect a Caribbean heritage,
experience or perspective. Submissions are eligible for these
awards: Daily News prize for best poetry; Canute A. Brodhurst
prize for best short fiction; David Hough Literary prize to an
author residing in the Caribbean; Marguerite Cobb McKay prize to
a Virgin Islands author; Charlotte & Isidor Paiewonsky prize for
first-time publication.
PRIZES: Daily News Prize: $300; Canute A. Brodhurst Prize: $400;
David Hough Literary Prize: $500; Marguerite Cobb McKay Prize:
$200; Charlotte & Isidor Paiewonsky Prize: $200
ELECTRONIC ENTRY: Yes
EMAIL: submit@thecaribbeanwriter.com
ADDRESS: The Caribbean Writer, University of the Virgin Islands,
RR 02, Box 10,000, Kingshill, St. Croix, US Virgin Islands 00850
URL: http://www.thecaribbeanwriter.com/submit.html
>>-----------------------------------------------------<<
2005 HSBC/SA PEN Literary Award
DEADLINE: November 30, 2004
GENRE: Short story
OPEN TO: Any citizen of South Africa or of the SADC countries,
born in 1964 or later
LENGTH: 2,500-4,000 words
THEME: The South African Centre of International PEN (SA PEN), in
partnership with HSBC Bank and New Africa Books, is pleased to
announce a new literary award in Southern Africa that aims to
discover and promote new creative writers in the region. Nobel
Laureate, JM Coetzee, has agreed to be the final judge on an
editorial board which will include other prominent writers and
publishers. The winning contributions will be published by in the
first of an annual series of books of new creative writing, New
Writing from Southern Africa.
PRIZES: 1st Prize: $5,000; 2nd Prize: $3,000; 3rd Prize: $2,000
ELECTRONIC ENTRY: No
EMAIL: liesajossel@mweb.co.za
ADDRESS: New Writing From Southern Africa, New Africa Books, PO
Box 46962, Glosderry 7702, Cape Town, SA
URL: http://www.newafricabooks.co.za/editorial.asp
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New Listings on THE AUTHOR'S BOOKSHELF:
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The Simple Touch of Fate, by Arlene Uslander and Brenda Warneka
Two Journeys, One Path, by Margaret West
We Are More Than Our Wounds, by Stephen Mead
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Conference Information: http://www.naww.org/generic109.html
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Chapter near you. Contact us if you'd like to start one.
Patricia@spawn.org. Subscribe to newsletter http://www.spawn.org
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so come and try it out here: http://www.worldwidefreelance.com
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Copyright 2004 Moira Allen
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