Writer’s Thought for the Week: Part of the
key to success is in getting past the fear and submitting- and to continue
going back to that fire, even when you get burned. ~ Robin Devereaux-Nelson
THINGS TO CLUCK OR CROW ABOUT
A friend of mine raises
chickens in her backyard. Occasionally she gives me some surplus eggs. In the
last half-dozen, each egg was a different pastel color - the prettiest natural
eggs I’ve ever seen. When I soft-boiled some, I noticed the yolks were larger
than those in store-bought eggs.
Last Saturday, I bought brown
eggs from a local farm’s booth at my town’s new farmer’s market. They cost
noticeably more than those at the supermarket. For a comparison test, I
hard-boiled one farm egg along with a store-bought one. The farm egg had a
larger, better-textured yolk and a fresher flavor.
Some people debate whether eggs
from small farm and yard-raised chickens are really healthier, but I can see
and taste a difference. Add the fact that I’m supporting a local business, and
I have multiple reasons to buy those eggs over the supermarket ones.
The eggs reminded me that
when pitching to an editor, it’s important to say why you’re the one to write
the piece. What experience do you have to write that article? If you don’t have
personal experience, have you lined up some experts to interview on the topic?
If you’re pitching humor, fiction or nonfiction, does your personality come
through in your query? Has your fiction been published before or do people
follow your blog or Twitter posts?
Hens usually announce when
they lay an egg. I'm told roosters crow whenever they feel like it. Pitching is not the time to be shy about what you have to
offer. Check out samples from Writers Conference. Scroll the article to see the samples.
No entry fee – one entry
per author
Award value £15,000; five runners-up
will each receive £1000.
Looking for the best essay in the English language, between 2,000 and 8,000
words, published or unpublished, on any subject. If already published, the
essay must have appeared for the first time in periodical (print or online) but
not book form, between 1 January 2012 and 31 July 2013. Copyright remains with
the authors but Notting Hill Editions reserves the right to publish or reprint
the winning entries in a dedicated collection. Authors of any nationality are eligible.
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