Thursday, December 30, 2010

Kindle lending is now live

Have you heard the news? As Amazon said they would, they now have e-book lending enabled for Kindle. I haven't tried it yet, but here's the link with how-to information:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_200549320_receive?nodeId=200549320

There are some publisher restrictions on which books are eligible for lending.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Year End Sale at Wooden Horse

WOODEN HORSE PUBLISHING

http://www.woodenhorsepub.com/about.html

If you write for magazines, check out “the Horse.” Meg Weaver’s free weekly e-mail has highlights on what’s happening in the industry, including which editors have moved where and details on selected magazines. The Horse has a searchable database of over 2,000 magazines with contact information, guidelines, reader demographics, and, if available, editorial calendars so you can submit when and where you have the best chance for acceptance. The free newsletter updates you when magazines submit new editorial calendars. You can sample what the database offers for just $1.99 for 24 hours. If a manuscript has been rejected and you don’t know where else to submit, the database is a great resource. Yes, you might find this information online by checking web sites and writing for editorial calendars, but the database is a big timesaver.

They have a winter sale going on at least through the end of 2010. Here are the coupon codes for the database discount: 1 year: Regularly $149; use coupon C1B354EM1Y and pay only $119; 6 months: Regularly $89; use coupon C1B354EM6M and pay only $79.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

King On Writing

Courtesy of the library, I read Stephen King's On Writing about five years ago and thought it contained good advice. I asked Santa for a copy of the new 2010 edition and I was not disappointed.

I took some time this afternoon to relax and read a portion and found a quote on page 57 from his first editor that is worth sharing: "When you write a story, you're telling yourself the story. When you rewrite, your main job is taking out all the things that are not the story."

Sunday, December 19, 2010

What do you read on your e-reader?

Because I've been very good this year, Santa agreed to bring my gift early: the $189 Kindle "latest generation" in white. I chose white instead of graphite because many people reported the printing on the keys wearing off on the graphite version. So far, I've read only fiction on it, and I think that will be my pattern.

I don't often reread a novel, so buying one at a reduced price or downloading one for free makes sense. But as a writer of nonfiction, I sometimes purchase books for research purposes. I want to be able to easily flip back and forth between sections or have multiple sources open at one time for comparison. Even using the Kindle notation feature, it isn't so easy to jump around inside a book to the chapter you want. It's a lot easier to leave a sticky note on a key section or sections. Later I can just pick up the book and instantly go to the marked page. On the Kindle, I have to turn it on, find the book in my list, and hope I remember what kind of notation I made on the section so I can find it easily.

I do love reading fiction on my Kindle. I don't miss the "book experience" as I thought I might. The Kindle is easier to hold than a book, and there are no bookmarks to fall out. I read faster, probably because the line length is shorter so there is less eye movement. (At least that jives with the Evelyn Wood speed reading theory.) Because they were free, I've read books I never would have read otherwise. When I did not like the free books and quit reading part way through, at least I had not wasted nay money. Being able to download classics for free saves me trips to the library. In its neoprene sleeve, my Kindle is easy to safely tuck in my purse so I have something enjoyable to read while waiting at the doctor's office.

Do you have an e-reader? What do you read on it? Are you happy with it?

Friday, December 10, 2010

Outshine Twitterzine

OUTSHINE
www.shineanthology.wordpress.com/outshine-submission-guidelines/

OUTSHINE is a Twitterzine looking for prose poems of optimistic, near future (2010 – 2060) Sci-Fi that fit within the 'tweet' limits, i.e. maximum 140 characters long. Haiku is fine, too. They publish (Tweet) one poem a week with a short author bio, and you are free to submit one per week.

Pays $5 for each accepted poem through PayPal. That pay sounds low until you calculate the amount per word.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Writer Humor

In case you feel any holiday stress during December, here's a video to give you smiles. So you want to be a writer.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Buy a Book, Save a Bookstore

This idea and great cause is courtesy of Tin House. Buy a book at an independent bookstore and save your receipt.

Tin House Books will take unsolicited manuscripts through November 30, 2010, provided they are accompanied by a receipt from a bookstore.

Tin House magazine will take unsolicited submissions through December 30, 2010, provided you include a receipt or a scan of a receipt from a bookstore.

If you cannot afford to buy a book or cannot get to an actual bookstore, you may explain why in haiku or one sentence (100 words or fewer). They will consider the purchase of e-books as a substitute only if you explain why you cannot get to your neighborhood bookstore, why you prefer digital reads, what device, and why.

Happy Halloween! Make your local goblins happy.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Holiday Story Contest

Do you have far to go for the holidays? You could win round trip holiday travel expenses plus $1,000 in spending money.

Folgers is sponsoring a holiday story contest and there is no fee to enter. In 200 words or fewer, answer the question, "What is the best part of wakin' up at home for the holidays with Folgers® Coffee?"

Folgers will award five contest winners, plus up to three family members or friends, travel to and from their holiday destination. Entries will be evaluated based on relevance to the theme of the contest, creativity, and clarity of expression.

Submit using their online form that has an automatic word counter. The deadline is November 30, 2010 at noon.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

In the Soup!

My "Dog Day Surprise" true story of what happens when two dogs visit Santa is in Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Gift of Christmas. This is my first time "in the Soup." I received my copies from Simon & Schuster last week. They have a cheery old-time Christmasy cover and a ribbon bookmark. The book should be available soon exclusively through Wal-Mart.

If you're not a Wal-Mart fan, wait a little longer and look for Chicken Soup for the Soul: Tales of Christmas which will be sold exclusively through Barnes & Noble. My story is in there, too. The two books have many stories in common.

According to the publisher, all stories are "Santa friendly."

Saturday, October 9, 2010

CRAB ORCHARD REVIEW

Call for Submissions: http://craborchardreview.siuc.edu/special.html
Guidelines: http://craborchardreview.siuc.edu/guid2.html

Deadline: November 1, 2010 (postmark; does not accept e-mail submissions)

Currently seeking work for their Summer/Fall 2011 issue focusing on writing exploring the people, places, history, and new directions that have shaped and are reshaping the American South. All submissions should be original, unpublished poetry, fiction, or literary nonfiction. Novel excerpts are acceptable, as long as they stand on their own as fiction. Pays $25 per page ($50 minimum for poetry; $100 minimum for prose). Submit only one piece during each submission period.
Crab Orchard Review is published twice per year, under the auspices of the Department of English at Southern Illinois University Carbondale and with partial funding from the Illinois Arts Council, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

The Craigslist Chronicles

A Word With You Press launched a new contest: Write a fact or fiction short story, 600 words max, featuring Craigslist in some way. You may use real ads or make up your own.

The winner receives $100 cash and possible inclusion in an anthology.
Deadline: October 15, 2010.

For more info, go here.

Friday, September 24, 2010

On the Premises Contest #12

Current contest
About their contests

No entry fee. One submission per author.
1st prize: $180; 2nd prize: $140; 3rd prize: $100; honorable mention: $40
Between zero and three stories will be chosen as honorable mentions.
Deadline: September 30, 2010
Word limit: 1,000 to 5,000 words

The premise is STRENGTH. One or more characters must either exemplify strength themselves, or encounter someone, something, or some place that exemplifies strength. The strength can relate to any attribute that could reasonably be described as “strong”—it can be physical, emotional, olfactory, etc. Questions? Contact them at Questions@OnThePremises.com. Send submissions to Entries@OnThePremises.com or use their template .

Sunday, September 12, 2010

GROANOLOGY 2: MONSTERS, MADNESS, AND MAYHEM

http://libraryofthelivingdead.lefora.com/2010/07/01/groanology-2-a-horror-comedy-submissions-now-open/

Deadline: September 30, 2010
Word count: 1,200 to 3,200
Payment is one cent per word and one contributor copy.
No reprints.

The editors of this horror/comedy anthology say, "Send us your neurotic nightmares, your Freudian fiends, your tortured soulless souls. We want to read about the heartache, the headache, and most of all that pain in your funny bone that occur when monsters are plagued with psychiatric illnesses …Don't feel limited to depression and anxiety…We'd like to see some submissions that really go whole-hog (like you’d expect from a zombie pig with delusions of grandeur…you know, just for example)." Submit via e-mail. Here's a list of psychiatric disorders to get you started: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mental_disorders_as_defined_by_the_DSM_and_ICD

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Iowa Short Fiction Contest

http://www.uiowapress.org/authors/iowa-short-fiction.htm

No entry fee
Deadline: September 30, 2010 (postmark). No e-mail submissions.

Do you have a bunch of short stories you want to publish? This contest is for you. Any writer, worldwide, who has not previously published a volume of prose fiction is eligible to enter. A small print run of self-published work is not considered publication. Your manuscript must be a collection of short stories in English of at least 150 word-processed, double-spaced pages. The University of Iowa Press will publish the award-winning manuscripts under the Press's standard contract.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

CREATIVE WRITERS CIRCLE SHORT STORY CONTEST

Something different: a contest that rewards winners with cash and cookies.

http://creativewriterscircle.com/index.php?p=1_3_Contests


Deadline: August 31, 2010
No entry fee; one entry per person
1st place: $50; 2nd place: $25

This contest has the longest prompt I have ever seen – a 232-word paragraph - that must be the first paragraph in your story of 3,500 words or less. Winning stories will be featured on the web site. Each winner will also receive one dozen gourmet cookies. A minimum of 50 people must enter or the contest will be canceled.

Monday, August 9, 2010

Write On Con - Free Online Kidlit Conference

http://writeoncon.com/

August 10 – 12, 2010
This online conference is free. The curriculum focuses on picture book, middle grade, and young adult writers. However, they say much of the information provided will apply to all writers, and since the conference is free, any interested writer is encouraged to attend. To accommodate day jobs, the schedule will feature more static elements during working hours, and all live events have been saved for the evenings. Transcripts for most sessions will also be available for download. Lots of agents and published authors are participating.

Friday, July 30, 2010

Past Loves Day Contest

http://www.ourpastloves.com/contest

No entry fee.
Deadline: August 17, 2010
Prizes: 1st place, $100; 2nd, $75; 3rd, $50

Write your true story about a former sweetheart in 700 words or less. How did that person's presence in your life change you? Your story may be heartwarming or humorous. Winning stories will be published on the web site, anonymously if you wish. You can read the previous winners on the web site. Honorable mentions are also posted, but you can request that your story not be posted unless you place in the top three.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Writers of the Future

L. RON HUBBARD'S WRITERS OF THE FUTURE CONTEST
http://www.writersofthefuture.com/index2.htm

No fee. One submission per entrant per quarter. (Contest repeats quarterly.)
Deadlines: postmarked by June 30, 2010 or September 30, 2010
Quarterly prizes: 1st: $1,000; 2nd: $750; 3rd: $500. Quarterly first prize winners automatically compete for an annual prize of $5,000. The current year ends September 30.

All types of science fiction, fantasy, and dark fantasy are eligible, up to 17,000 words, but no excessive violence or sex. Entrants may not have professionally published a novel or short novel, or more than one novelette, or more than three short stories, in any medium. This contest defines professional publication as payment and at least 5,000 copies, or 5,000 hits.

Short stories from the yearly winners are published in the annual Writers of the Future anthology.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Necromancers Short Story Contest

RISE OF THE NECROMANCERS SHORT STORY CONTEST
http://www.pillhillpress.com/flesh--bone-rise-of-the-necromancers.html

Deadline: July 31, 2010
No entry fee. One story per person.
1st place: $125, 2nd: $50, 3rd: $25. Winners and runners up receive a copy of the anthology.

Send your fiercest, most magical dark fantasy story about necromancers and the undead rising. Stories may take place any time (past, present, future, alternate) at any place (Earth, imaginary places, Grandma's kitchen sink, etc.). Stories may be told from the perspective of good or evil or anywhere in between. They prefer stories in the 3,000-6,000 word range, but will accept 2,000-10,000 word stories.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Free Download from Donald Maass

Although written in 1996, the information in The Career Novelist: A Literary Agent Offers Strategies for Success is still valid. The book covers a wide range of topics such as pitching errors, choosing an agent, the marketing game, collaborations, and electronic rights. You can download a free copy by going to: www.maassagency.com/books.html

Sunday, May 30, 2010

FREE PODCASTS ON WRITING CRAFT - FICTION AND POETRY

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/podcasts/media/more/writingchallenges

This web site from the UK Warwick Writing Programme has free podcasts on various aspects of writing fiction. The site also includes a link to a poetry podcast series: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/podcasts/media/more/slowpoetry/

Saturday, May 22, 2010

THE BORDIGHERA POETRY PRIZE
http://www.gioseffi.com/Prize.html

No fee.
Deadline: postmarked by May 31, 2010
Prize: $1,000 plus publication in a bilingual edition by Bordighera.
Winners will be announced by October 30.

This competition seeks the best manuscripts of poetry in English by an American poet of Italian descent, to be translated upon selection by the judges into modern Italian, for the benefit of American poets of Italian ancestry and the preservation of the Italian language. The poet must be a U.S. citizen of Italian descent and surname or maiden surname.

To enter, submit ten sample pages of poetry in English. The final booklength manuscript should not exceed 48 pages to allow for up to 48 additional pages of Italian translation. Your poems may have appeared in magazines, anthologies or chapbooks. The publisher will commission a translator unless the author is qualified to do the translation.

Both the author and translator will share in the royalties per Bordighera's standard contract.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Hillerman Mystery Competition

2010 HILLERMAN MYSTERY COMPETITION
http://www.wordharvest.com/novel_contest.php

Deadline: June 1, 2010. No e-mail submissions
No entry fee. Limit of one entry per writer.
Prize: publication with St. Martin's press and a $10,000 advance.

The competition is open to any professional or non-professional writer who has never published a mystery novel and who is not under contract with a publisher for publication of a mystery. All submissions must be original, unpublished book-length works (no less than 220 typewritten pages or approximately 60,000 words).

Monday, April 26, 2010

Novella Contest

FAILBETTER NOVELLA CONTEST
http://www.failbetter.com/Novella.php

Your novella must be 8,000 words or more and suitable for serial publication. For the contest, send only the first 5,000 words. You must submit via e-mail, either pasted in the body of your e-mail or as an RTF or TXT attachment. Limit of one entry per person.

Note: All entries are considered for publication, but they do not pay for regular submissions. If you only submit to paying markets, don't let the no pay possibility stop you here. They would need to contact you for the full manuscript if they wanted to publish your novella, so you could withhold it.

The prize is $500. There is no entry fee and the deadline is May 15, 2000.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Paul Goodman Essay Contest

PAUL GOODMAN ESSAY CONTEST
http://dissentmagazine.org/essaycontest/

Original 1000 to 3000 word essays in the spirit of Goodman’s "utopian essays and practical proposals." What is one of the pressing social and political issues of our time, and how would you address it?

Deadline: May 1, 2010. No entry fee.

The winning author will receive a $1,000 cash prize and his/her will be published in Dissent. Two runner-up essays will be published on the Dissent web site and receive $250 and a signed DVD copy of the film.

Essays should be sent in PDF or DOC format to essaycontest@paulgoodmanfilm.com.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Essay picked for anthology

My memoir essay, "School Days," will appear in the From the Porch Swing anthology to be released by Silver Boomer Books later in 2010. It recalls how I played "school" as a child with my 74-year-old grandfather and what I learned from him.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Haiku Poetry Contest

HAIKI NOW! CONTEST 2010
http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/contest/haiku-now-contest-2010/#submit

Deadline: March 31, 2010. No fee.
You may enter up to one unpublished poem in each category: traditional, contemporary, innovative.

First-prize winners in each category receive $100. Honorable mentions receive $25. All winning poems will be featured on The Haiku Foundation web site and permanently archived.

The web site has sample poems for the three categories. Submit via online submission only using the links embedded in the How to Submit section of the guidelines.

Monday, March 15, 2010

RAY BRADBURY CREATIVE WRITING CONTEST
http://www.waukeganpl.org/programs/bradcontest.html
http://www.waukeganpl.org/programs/2010rbflyer.pdf

Deadline: postmarked by March 19, 2010. (No e-mail submissions.)
No fee, but a limit of one entry per individual
Categories: Creative writing (poems, essays, short stories), visual arts, multimedia

The three categories are divided into separate ones for high school students and adults, and Illinois residents and non-residents for a total of twelve categories. Creative writing entries may be no longer than two pages.

The theme for this year's contest is the relationship between life and death. The non-Illinois resident winner in each of the twelve categories receives $100. The Illinois resident winners receive $200.

The winning entries will be announced April 14.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Carteret Writers Contest Closes March 9, 2010

Hope you sent your submissions in. Cash prizes for fiction, nonfiction, poetry, flash, and children's. http://www.carteretwriters.org

Monday, March 1, 2010

F.I.S.H.

Yesterday I attended the final performance in the world premier run of F.I.S.H. in New Bern. Leslie Tall Manning, a former member of Carteret Writers, wrote the story line to link the songs written by Andrea and Phil Owens.

It was very well done, combining humor and philosophy. "We fish are upheld and supported on all sides. We lean confidently and harmoniously upon our element. We move in all dimensions, and whatever course we take, the mighty waters out of reverence for our virtue change shape accordingly." Isak Dinesan, "The Diver"

Friday, February 19, 2010

Don't give up

Jack Canfield, who co-wrote "Chicken Soup for the Soul" with Mark Victor Hansen, said their manuscript was rejected by about 140 publishers, whose criticism included the assertion that "It's a stupid title."

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

When I started writing a weekly column for Long Ridge, I wondered if it would take away from my writing time. Instead, writing up market opportunities for other writers has increased my output. When I take a second look at them, I'm discovering that markets I thought were not a fit for me actually peak my interest to try something new.

I guess it's that old adage - what you give comes back to you.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

More time for writing

I got a robotic vacuum, a Roomba, for Christmas. It vacuums another room while I'm on the computer. I love it, and the dog doesn't seem to mind. After it bumped into her a few times, she learned that SHE has to get out of ITS way because it will not change course.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Great workshop and site for writers

At the NC Writers Conference last November, I attended Linda Rohrbough's workshop called Learn How to Talk to an Editor or Agent About Your Book. It was fabulous. If you are a writer and have the chance to attend one of her workshops, do it.

In the meantime, take advantage of the free articles on her web site, www.lindarohrbough.com

Saturday, January 2, 2010

I'm a columnist!

For the new year, I'm starting a blog and a new writing venture. Beginning January 2010, I'll be writing a weekly column for the Long Ridge Writers Group newsletter. The newsletter is distributed by e-mail and included on their web site, www.longridgewritersgroup.com.