Amazon Publishing and Flash Quarterly

Quote for the week: The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.  ~  Mark Twain

I’ve lost count of how many people have predicted the death of print books following the success of e-books. Not everyone shares that view.

One big name that disagrees is Amazon. Why else would that famous dot-com giant start a Montlake Romance imprint, mystery thriller imprint Thomas & Mercer, plus fantasy/sci fi/horror imprint 47North?

Books published under these imprints are available in Kindle, print and audio formats at www.amazon.com, as well as at national and independent booksellers. The Amazon Publishing family also includes AmazonEncore, AmazonCrossing and Powered by Amazon.

10FLASH QUARTERLY

http://10flash.wordpress.com

http://10flash.wordpress.com/guidelines/ 

Each quarterly issue includes ten stories, all written around a common prompt that authors are encouraged to freely interpret.

• April 2012 — The falls are beautiful this time of year. First Date Accepted: January 1, 2012.
• July 2012 – So this [fill in the blank] walks into a bar … First Date Accepted: April 1, 2012.
• October 2012 – A Bridge Too Far. First Date Accepted: July 1, 2012.

Submissions will be accepted for each issue after the First Date Accepted until they have purchased ten stories. When that happens, they post a notice online.
10Flash publishes speculative flash fiction stories — fantasy, horror, science fiction, suspense or slipstream — between 800 and 1,000 words.  “We may fudge on the bottom number, from time to time, but the top limit is firm.” Pays $20.

History vs Historical Fiction/Poetry Book Award

Writer’s Thought for the Week: The sole substitute for an experience which we have not ourselves lived through is art and literature. Alexander Solzhenitsyn

HISTORY VS HISTORICAL FICTION

Those of us who write historical fiction sometimes get so involved in researching the time period that we put off the actual writing. Once we start writing, another trap exists: telling the reader too much of what we learned. We must stay focused on the story as the essence, not the history.

When fiction becomes a vehicle for facts, the magic fades and readers withdraw from the author’s imagined world. When facts are used to enliven the lives of characters, the imagined world expands and envelopes the reader.

EMILY DICKINSON FIRST BOOK AWARD
 

Deadline: February 17, 2012 (postmarked)

"The Poetry Foundation seeks one book-length poetry manuscript to be published by Graywolf Press as the winner of the Emily Dickinson First Book Award. The competition is open to any American citizen forty years of age or over who has not previously published a book-length volume of poetry. In addition to publication and promotion of the manuscript, the winner will receive a prize of $10,000." No entry fee.

Nature Poetry Contest and a Poetry/Short Prose Contest

Writer’s Thought for the Week: Books are the compasses, telescopes, sextants, and charts which other men have prepared to help us navigate the dangerous seas of human life. ~ Jesse Lee Bennett

Friends of AcadiaNature Poetry Prize

Deadline: January 30, 2012

"Established in 1998, the Friends of Acadia Poetry Prize is awarded biannually to promote and recognize distinctive nature poetry. Three winning poems will be published in the Friends of Acadia Journal (print and online), and awarded prizes by category: 1st place–$350/2nd place–$250/3rd place–$150." You may submit up to three nature-based poems. No entry fee.

The Binnacle Annual Ultra-Short Competition

Deadline: February 15, 2012

The Binnacle's Ninth International Ultra-Short Competition is looking for prose works of 150 words or fewer and poetry of sixteen lines or fewer and fewer than 150 words. All works should have a narrative element to them.

"A minimum of $300 in cash prizes will be awarded, with a minimum prize of $50. At least one of the prizes will go to a University of Maine at Machias student."

You may submit up to two works, total, prose and/or poetry. No entry fee.

Amazon No Fee Novel Awards/The First Line

Thought for the New Year: The road to success is not a path you find but a trail you blaze. ~ Robert Brault

THE FIRST LINE
 
Spring deadline: February 1, 2012
Spring Prompt: "There are a few things you need to know before we start."

All stories must start with the appropriate first line, and you cannot change it in any way unless otherwise indicated. Stories chosen are paid $30 and published online and in a chapbook by TheFirst Line. The story should be between 300 and 3,000 words. “We are open to all genres. We try to make TFL as eclectic as possible.” Also pays $20 for 500 to 800 word critical essays about your favorite first line from a literary work.

Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award

No Fee to enter. Jan. 23 – Feb 5, 2012 submission period.

This award brings together talented writers, reviewers, and publishing experts to find and develop new voices in fiction. The 2012 international contest will award two grand prizes: one for General Fiction and one for Young Adult Fiction. Each winner will receive a publishing contract with Penguin, which includes a $15,000 advance. Manuscripts submitted as entries to the Contest cannot be actively shopped by agents during the contest period, which runs from January 23, 2012 to June 16, 2012.

Funds for Writers/Hockey Anthology Submission Call

Happy New Year! Writer’s Thought for 2012: Four steps to achievement: Plan purposefully. Prepare prayerfully. Proceed positively. Pursue persistently.  ~ William Arthur Ward

Funds for Writers creator, Hope Clark, is offering her paid subscription newsletter, Total Funds forWriters (TFFW), for only $9 until January 5. I’ve been a subscriber for years and have given a subscription as a gift. It is the only “for pay” newsletter I get.

TFFW arrives bi-weekly by e-mail and has succinct info on contests, grants, markets, and publishers. It also includes an editorial from Hope that may be about what’s new in publishing, marketing your work and /or yourself, staying motivated, or whatever topic grabbed her attention that week.

Are you a hockey mom or dad? A hockey fan? Chicken Soup for the Soul is looking for true stories, 1200 words or less, for their planned anthology, Hooked on Hockey. They pay $200 plus ten copies of the book for each story accepted. You retain the copyright to your work. Submission deadline is January 30, 2012.