Poetry Primer/Micro Fiction Award

Guide to Verse Forms

Aimed mainly at the would-be poet, this site contains advice on all types of verse forms from abhanga to zejel.

The 5th Annual Micro Award
Deadline: December 31, 2011

The Micro Award is presented annually for a work of prose fiction written in English, of any genre, not above 1000 words in length. Stories must have been published originally in 2011. Qualifying venues are any form of print or electronic publication designed for public display. Self-published stories are eligible. The author of the winning story shall receive $500 US.

Thought for the Week: Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

E-book Signing and an Anthology

Signing E-books: One of the complaints about e-books is that authors can’t sign them. Thanks to Autography.com, authors can now not only sign e-books, they can create autograph pages and include digital pictures or stock photos. The pages can then be e-mailed and downloaded into e-books on readers’ devices.

E-book signings can take place any time, anywhere, and the author and reader don’t have to be in the same place at the same time. Autography supports epub and mobi formats, allowing customers to enjoy their personalized e-books on every major e-book e-Reader platform including the Amazon Kindle™, Barnes and Noble Nook™, Apple iPad™/iPhone™, and the latest Android tablets and smartphones.

Anthology: Trust & Treachery: Tales of Power, Intrigue, and Violence anthology seeks mystery, fantasy, sci fi, and horror stories that are 1000-5000 words in length.  Deadline Dec. 15, 2011. No romance, young adult, or erotica.

Pays $20 per story on January 1, 2012 or on acceptance, whichever comes later. Although the emphasis is on short stories, they will also accept select poems with payment at $5 per poem.

Thought for the Week: The greatest secret of success in life is for a person to be ready when their opportunity comes. ~ Benjamin Disraeli

What's on your first two pages?

Writer's Thought for the Week:  Write about the truest thing you know. ~ Ernest Hemingway

First pages checklist

Award-winning author and sought-after workshop presenter Linda Rohrbough presented a special version of her Writer’s Toolbox workshop sponsored by Carteret Writers in Morehead City, NC yesterday. She wowed the audience at the first workshop of hers I attended in 2009, and she wowed this group as well.

She has free articles available on her website and on the Pikes Peak Writers Blog. The Pikes Peak link takes you to an article with a checklist of the common nineteen things found in the pages of best-selling novels found in bookstores during a certain period of time. It’s an interesting list and some of the entries surprised me. Food, for instance. Food is a common thread in Southern literature and something we all relate to, but would you expect to find in the first two pages of a book? Just for fun, check out the list and see how many you have.

  

MUSEIT UP PUBLISHING
 

This relatively new publisher (March 2010) is open to short stories, novellas, and novels until Dec.1, 2011. They will again be open to submissions on Feb. 1, 2012. They consider romance, paranormal, fantasy, mystery, suspense, thriller, YA, MuseItYoung for 10 to 14 year olds, horror and dark fiction, science fiction. The Muse It Up Publishing Blog gives you specifics on what individual editors seek. If  you have what they’re looking for, send it in before Dec. 1.

Their MuseIt HOT imprint takes erotica and is currently open to submissions with no deadline specified..

Ghost Stories/Creative Nonfiction

Thought for the week: People can lose their lives in libraries. They ought to be warned. ~ Saul Bellow

Glass Woman Prize Call for Ghost Stories
Deadline: November 18, 2011

This no entry fee competition offers a $100 prize for a ghost story written in English by a woman. The definition of "ghost story" is up to the author and the sponsor looks forward to the many embodiments and disembodiments of this theme. The preferred length 1000 to 3000 words, but stories of any length may be submitted. One submission per author. The winning story will be offered non-obligatory publication on the Glass Woman Prize page.

CREATIVE NONFICTION anthology

Deadline: November 30, 2011

Creative Nonfiction seeks submissions by and about nurses for their Becoming a Nurse anthology. What motivates nurses to enter, and to stay in, this demanding profession, and how are their daily lives affected by ongoing changes in the healthcare system? Becoming a Nurse will present readers with the world of medicine from the perspective of nurses in hospitals, in-home care programs, long-term care facilities, hospices, and the armed forces as they tell stories that recall and recreate the most salient moments of their careers. Submissions should be 2,500-5,000 words.

Note: This publisher accepts queries year-round for sections of their magazine as well as general un-themed submissions up to 5,000 words.