Digital Imprints/Short Story Contest

Writer's Thought for the Week: Do give books - religious or otherwise - for Christmas. They're never fattening, seldom sinful, and permanently personal. ~ Lenore Hershey

RANDOM HOUSE has three new digital imprints in addition to Loveswept:

        Loveswept  romance and women’s fiction

Alibi     mystery and suspense

Hydra   sci-fi, fantasy and horror 

Flirt     new adult

Although there is no official word count limit, the editors are interested in short submissions (15,000 to 30,000 words) and full-length works (40,000 to 60,000 words.)

ANDERBO SHORT STORY CONTEST

Deadline: December 31, 2012

Award:    $500, trophy, and publication on Anderbo.com

For an unpublished short story 3,500 to 5,000 words

No fee; limit of one submission per author.

Help for Writers/Harper Collins Wants New Writers

Writer’s Thought for the Week: …the story doesn't  happen on the page.  It happens in the reader's imagination. ~ Philip Gerard    

WRITER’S KNOWLEDGE BASE

Writer’s Knowledge Base is a free searchable collection of articles relevant to writers. Search on whatever you need help with and the site bring up a list of titles and links to articles.

If writing realistic dialogue is a challenge for you, search on “realistic dialogue” for a list of articles on the subject. You’ll find articles with such titles as “The Rhythm of Dialogue, “ “6 Fillers to Avoid in Dialogue,” and “Balancing Dialogue and Narrative,” among others.

If your plot seems dull and you need to increase tension, a search on “increasing dramatic tension” brings you “The Four Types of Dramatic Tension.” 

 

Need a quick explanation of ballistics for the mystery novel you’re writing? It’s in here.

HARPER VOYAGER

HarperCollins’ science fiction and fantasy imprint is accepting complete and unagented manuscripts now until October 14.

Voyager seeks an array of adult and young adult speculative fiction for digital publication, but particularly novels written in the epic fantasy, science fiction, urban fantasy, horror, dystopia and supernatural genres. After reading the guidelines, authors from around the world can submit their English manuscripts here.

Organization/Fantasy and Sci-Fi Contest

Writer’s Thought for the Week: Being a writer is like having homework every night for the rest of your life.  ~ Lawrence Kasdan

TWO WAYS TO ORGANIZE

Whether I’m researching for my nonfiction work or sorting out details for my “someday novel”, organizing and reorganizing notes and information can be tedious. I’ve yet to find the perfect answer, but here are two options I’m exploring. Both have versions for Windows and Mac.

Evernote is free software that lets you save notes, audio, images, and web clippings. It automatically synchronizes between your computers, iPad, phone, and the Web. You can even access your notes from your mobile phone as well as e-mail a note to a special address that you can retrieve on your computer. You can set up separate notebooks for different types of notes as well as assign multiple tags to individual notes.

Scrivener is a combination word processor and project management tool. You can outline, use virtual 3-by-5 cards, structure and restructure your work using the virtual “corkboard” feature, and more. It even has some scriptwriting features. Try it using the free download. If you like it, the Windows version is $40 and the Mac is $45.

How about you? Any tips on organization you’d like to share?

STONETHREAD FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION CONTEST
 

Deadline July 31, 2012
No entry fee.

Seeking fantasy and sociological science fiction short stories (1,500 to 15,000 words) to create an anthology in Ray Bradbury's honor. Previously unpublished fantasy or sociological SF only. You may enter as often as you wish, but each entry must be in a separate e-mail. All winning entries will be included in the StoneThread anthology.

Winners will receive a free copy of the anthology, plus 1st Place: $50; 2nd through 6th: $20; Honorable Mentions: $10.

Free Writing Analyzer/Fantasy Story Competition

Writer's Thought for the Week: God only exhibits his thunder and lightning at intervals, and so they always command attention. These are God's adjectives. You thunder and lightning too much, the reader ceases to get under the bed. ~ Mark Twain

Free Manuscript Analyzer from Christopher Park

In my critique group, we often comment that a manuscript repeats a certain word or words. A free program that you can run online or download to run under Windows analyzes your writing and list all words and their corresponding count. It also flags “FOs” or “frequent offenders”: words like “just” and “that” and phrases such as “old as the hills.” You can customize the list of words and phrases that the program flags so it captures your own personal nemeses - or Twain’s thunder and lightning.

ANNUAL SCIENCE FICTION-FANTASY-HORROR WRITER'S COMPETITION

5,000 to 20,000 words

This free competition runs until May 5, 2012 but they accept submissions year-round. Entries received after May 5 will be considered for the upcoming year's competition.   

The Zharmae Publishing Press (TZPP) holds the competition as one way of recruiting qualified authors to work with for full-length books. Many of the winning writers, especially those in the Top 5, get offers to work with TZPP on future works. In addition to cash prizes, all winners receive publication in their annual anthology plus three free copies of that anthology.

Cash prizes: 1st Place $400, 2nd Place $350, 3rd Place $300, 4th Place $250, 5th Place $200

Free Writer Info/Holiday Flash Fiction call

Writer’s Thought for the Week: Santa’s helpers are subordinate clauses. 

Is your writing is on hold because you’re too busy having a Merry Christmas, celebrating another holiday, or just plain enjoying some great seasonal food? They sound like good excuses to me.

If you’ve overindulged and need a break, take a rest at the Gotham Writers' Workshop web site. You will find many articles on various aspects of writing, plus information on their online and NYC classes.

If the holidays inspire you to write something short and quick, Earthbound Fiction wants Fantasy, Sci-Fi, or Mystery flash (500 words or less) with a holiday theme. Payment is via PayPal only. The deadline for holiday themed stories is December 31, 2011.

Submission Call: Alternate History Anthology

Thought for the Week: Success is being praised by others...Always aim for achievement and forget about success. ~ Helen Hayes

Alternate History Anthology

Deadline: January 15, 2012

Candlemark and Gleam seeks submissions for an alternate history anthology, Substitution Cipher, a collection of tales of deceit, betrayal, and espionage, in worlds that could have been our own.

Submit stories between 6,000 and 20,000 words, in any genre appropriate to espionage: psychological or action thrillers, war stories, dystopias, and picaresques are equally valid submissions. All stories must take place on an alternate Earth, and the changed timeline must have some bearing on the plot of the story. Any historical time period and geographical area is acceptable, from the invention of war up to the present day.

Pays $75 and two contributor copies of the print book (the anthology will be published in both print and digital form).