Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Irene Who?/Emotional Titles and Inkwell Submissions



Sorry I’m so late with this week’s post. Hurricane Irene got in the way, or should I say I was in HER way? The eye of the storm passed over Beaufort, NC last Saturday bringing sustained winds of 85 mph with higher gusts. I was without power or cable for two and a half days and am just now getting back to normal. Thankfully, neither home nor family suffered any damage. We were very lucky to have a strong category 1 storm instead of a category 3. Irene was a messy guest, though, and the cleanup after her visit continues.

If you were in Irene’s path, I hope she left you unscathed.

Thought for the week: We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don't like? ~ Jean Cocteau

Advanced Marketing Institute has a free Emotional Marketing Value Headline Analyzer for analyzing the emotional marketing value of a headline or title. You just type in your headline, select the type of business or industry you are targeting, and it gives you an "emotional rating" for the title based on your word choice.

The rating includes an explanation of which emotion your headline most impacts: intellectual, empathetic, or spiritual. It takes only seconds and is helpful in creating a good title or headline. You can try it here: http://www.aminstute.com/headline.

Inkwell is open for unsolicited poetry, prose and artwork submissions until November 15. Submit previously unpublished work only. Submissions for the spring 2012 issue may be on any subject. The fall 2012 issue will focus on the theme “Living On the Edge.” Pays $10 per printed page plus two copies. http://www.inkwelljournal.org/submit.html

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Homophones and Consequence Poetry

Writer’s thought for the week: “Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice.”  ~ Cyril Connolly

Homophones are words that sound identical but are spelled differently.  Think bored and board or foul and fowl.  If we choose the wrong one, a spell-checker is no help.

Working with a critique group, I’ve noticed that some writers, myself included, tend to make the same mistakes with these words.  To and too are common mistakes, as are for and fore. To weed out embarrassing mistakes before hitting “send”, we need to be aware of this pitfall. 

A good tactic is creating a list of words you frequently misspell to develop your own private checklist.  You can start by reviewing a list of the 100 most common homophones.

Consequence Prize in Poetry
http://www.consequencemagazine.org/poetrycontest.html

Deadline: October 1, 2011 (received)

This prize recognizes exceptional work addressing the consequences of armed conflict or social injustice. The award for best poem includes a cash prize of $200. The winning poet and three finalists will have their work published in the Spring 2012 issue of CONSEQUENCE Magazine.

There is no entry fee and you may submit up to three poems of any length.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

No Excuses/Mainly Murder Press

Thought for the week: “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” ~ Albert Einstein

NO EXCUSES

Let’s face it, we all make excuses at times for why we cannot write.

A writing group in Kabul, Afghanistan  has over 1,000 members and published 50 books in various languages in spite of the war. They are unable to sell most of their books – freedom of expression is not widespread and threats to writers are constant.

I don’t know about you, but my excuses pale in comparison. Was the expression “If they can do it, I can do it” ever more appropriate?

MAINLY MURDER PRESS
http://mainlymurderpress.com/store/submissions.php

Opens for submissions in October 2011. This publisher is a traditional publisher and does not publish e-books. I like the fact that authors retain e-rights - the ability to sell e-rights later could prove very valuable. Their niche has been mystery novels with an emphasis on New England-based stories by New England authors, but as of January 2011 they began considering stories written by others and set outside the region.

They consider cozies, quirky character studies, hard-boiled detectives, or lively amateur sleuths. Mainly Murder Press charges no fees of any kind to authors for publishing services.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

The Writer free info and Iowa Short Fiction Award


Writer's thought for the week: "Write a novel if you must, but think of money as an unlikely accident." ~ Pearl S. Buck

The Writer magazine web site restricts some of its content to magazine subscribers. If you don't subscribe, you can still access a number of articles here: http://www.writermag.com/Articles.aspx?categoryId=FFA92DA8-8F8A-4EE1-A270-0412DAE83EB2     Articles with a "W" in a gold square next to the title are restricted; all others are public access.


IOWA SHORT FICTION AWARD

Any writer who has not previously published a volume of prose fiction is eligible to enter. Writers are still eligible if they have published a work in a small print run. The manuscript must be a collection of short stories in English of at least 150 word-processed, double-spaced pages. Stories previously published in periodicals are eligible for inclusion. Award-winning manuscripts will be published by the University of Iowa Press under the Press's standard contract.

Links to stories from previous winners are on the web site.