Rejection/Calls for Submission

Writer’s Thought for the Week: Nobody succeeds beyond his or her wildest expectations unless he or she begins with some wild expectations.  ~ Ralph Charell 

REJECTION

The next time you’re having trouble dealing with rejection, read about the story accepted by New Yorker and subsequently rejected by a long list of literary journals and finally by the New Yorker.

A-MINOR PRESS is open for submissions until April 30, 2013.

Seeks 15,000 to 40,000 word novella, flash or short fiction collections and 60 to 120 page mixed-genre or poetry collections. For fiction, they prefer surrealist dreamscapes. Realist fiction is welcome if it's dark and quirky. Their poetry leans toward the “lyrical, eccentric, ambivalent and wildly imaginative.” Pays "industry standard royalties and author's copies."

HENRY HAZLITT CONTEST FOR BUSINESS FICTION
Deadline: April 30, 2013
Prize: $500 and an offer of a publishing contract with a $2,000 advance

No entry fee
You must be an unpublished author and your novel must have a pro-business theme related to business, finance, entrepreneurship or economics.  The novel’s target audience can be any age from middle-grade to adult. The contest is sponsored by Fiscal Press, “an independent publisher of unique and entertaining books related to business, economics, entrepreneurship and finance (BEEF).”

E-Book Publisher/Erotic Romance Anthologies

Writer’s Thought for the Week: Chance is always powerful. Let your hook be always cast. In the pool where you least expect it, will be a fish.  ~ Ovid   

Looking for an e-book publisher? One place to look is the web site of The Electronic Publishing Industry Coalition (EPIC). The coalition’s publisher page lists 13 member companies, the genres they publish, their web site address, and if they currently accept submissions.

JUPITER GARDENS PRESS ANTHOLOGIES
Jupiter Gardens Ignite has several erotic romance anthologies scheduled for release in both print and e-book formats in 2013. They are looking for 7,000 to 15,000 word stories. Royalties will be divided equally between the authors in each book.

    Hot Rods, Hot Bods  - motorsports, deadline April 15, 2013
    Wild Shifters - wild shape shifters, deadline July 15, 2013
    Buckle Down - cowboys, deadline September 15, 2013

Set the Scene/Multi-genre Market

Writer’s Thought for the Week: Try not to be precious about the act of writing. Get something down and then you can make something of it. ~  Hallie Ephron  

Beginnings

The draft of my historical novel begins with dialogue, a testy exchange between mother and daughter. Although the first page establishes time and place, some of my test readers insisted that I needed to set the scene. I like jumping right into the middle of things and find descriptive narrative a slow start, but I don’t want to be vague or confusing. Can I write a beginning that satisfies both kinds of readers?

Yes, by writing narrative in a way that reveals character. Author and editor C.S. Lakin explains how and gives an example paragraph by John Le Carré here.

WEST BRANCH considers poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and translation.

The current reading period closes April 15, 2013.

Purchases First North American serial rights for $40 for poetry, $10/page of prose with a maximum payment of $100, and $.05/word of  online prose with a maximum of $100. Each contributor also receives two copies of the issue in which his/her work appears and a one-year subscription to West Branch.

Da Vinci Code free

Now through March 24 you can download a free Da Vinci Code eBook  from any eBook retailer. The special edition is in honor of the book's 10th anniversary and includes the prologue and first chapter of Dan Brown's Inferno, which will be published on May 14.

Beware the Contract/Creative Nonfiction

Writer's Thought for the Week: I take a simple view of life: keep your eyes open and get on with it. ~ Sir Laurence Olivier

BEWARE THE CONTRACT and a New Imprint

 

Last December when I blogged about Random House’s new digital imprints, no one had seen their contracts. As contracts appeared, Writer Beware, Science Fiction Writers of America, Horror Writers of America, and other author group representatives soon criticized the onerous clauses. Last Tuesday morning, Random House announced changes to their contracts for Hydra, Alibi, Flirt, and Loveswept. They will now follow a more traditional contract model as one of two options. You can read the details here.

The situation reminds us that publishing is a business. Writers need to either become familiar with contract jargon and what it means or find an agent or attorney who is. We've all heard about scam publishers and agents preying on writers, but when even Random House is called to task, whom can you trust?

Also this week, Amazon launched imprint called Little A, aimed at novels, memoir, and story collections. Within Little A is a digital-only series called Day One which targets short stories from writers who have not published books yet. I have not heard any bad news about these.

DIANA WOODS MEMORIAL AWARD IN CREATIVE NONFICTION

Deadline: March 31, 2013 for the June issue.

No entry fee

Submit an essay of up to 5,000 words on the subject of your choice to this semi-annual competition. Winners will receive $250 and their work will be featured in the next issue of Lunch Ticket. All submissions for the award will be considered for publication. The reading period for the award is February and March for the issue that publishes in June, and August and September for the issue that publishes in December.

Editing Poetry/Poetry Contest

Writer’s Thought for the Week: My working habits are simple: long periods of thinking, short periods of writing. ~ Ernest Hemingway

Poetry pointers: Look here for five free tips on revising poetry.

12th Annual WergleFlomp Humor Poetry Contest

Deadline: April 1, 2013

No fee. One poem per author.

1st prize: $1,000; $100 each to 10 honorable mentions

No length limit and both published and unpublished poems are welcome. All entries that win cash prizes will be published on WinningWriters.com (over one million page views per year) and announced in the Winning Writers Newsletter, with over 40,000 subscribers. 2012 winning entries and judges' comments are on the web site.

Writing Tips/Agents/Fabulist Literature

Writer’s Thought for the Week: Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions. ~ Albert Einstein  

Web Find: Freelance writer and Senior Publicist with Entangled Publishing Stacey O’Neale’s website has writing tips as well as interviews with literary agents.

PHANTOM DRIFT literary journal focuses on fabulist literature - the literature of fabulism, the fantastic and the surreal in fiction, non-fiction,  and poetry. Submission deadline for the next issue is March 31, 2013. Phantom Drift publishes flash fiction, short stories, poetry, essays, interviews, artist features and reviews.