SPONSOR OF THE WEEK

The Path of Consciousness is a spiritual and writing conference and retreat that will help you transform your writing life with the help of various ancient, sacred and creative teachings, including writing and storytelling. Choose to stay for the one-day conference or the 3-day all-inclusive retreat.

The event is October 5-7, 2018 at the Colombiere Conference & Retreat Center, which is nestled on beautiful 420 rolling acres of mature pines and hardwoods in Clarkston, Michigan.

For more information, and to register, visit www.ThePathofConsciousness.com 

TRYING TO PLEASE THE MASSES

I'm a sucker for a smart, succinct turn-of-phrase, and Seth Godin often catches my eye. His latest resonation with me was this: 

It doesn't do any good at all to know that you can't please everyone but not use that knowledge to be bolder, walk lighter and do better work for those you can please. ~Seth Godin

That was an AMEN moment for me. I've been fully aware that not everyone reads my genre, much less the type of mystery I write. We've all experienced our family not reading our work after asking them to take a look. It hurts. I know. Out of all my family, I have one son, a sister-in-law, and a husband who know my stories. That's fine. It wasn't fine with me years ago, but I've learned that's just the way it is. 

Same goes for trying to market to people who don't read or don't like anything longer than a tweet. And you weather without retort those comments like, "I don't have time to read." It is not up to you to change their lifestyle. It is up to you to gather up and satisfy those who do read what you write. 

But it's more than that. You not only find them, but you cater to them. You write better for them. The ones who do not read your work aren't your concern. The ones who do are.

These are your cheerleaders, your friends. You waste your time trying to convince people, like your family, to endorse you when they don't get what you do. Instead of taking it personal, take it elsewhere.

The goal isn’t to serve everyone. The goal is to serve the right people.







PREVIOUS FAVORITE POSTS:

• Time Saving 101: Topics to Avoid Reading
• Using Contests as Door Openers
• How I Won a Scholarship to a Writer's Retreat
• Buying Yourself Time
• The Biggest Mistake You'll Ever Make as a Children's Author
• Is Nobody Reading Your Work?
• Travel Writing 101
• Are You Creative?
• Starting a Street Team

 


WORDS OF SUCCESS

"No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader."

-Robert Frost
 

SPONSOR EXTRAORDINAIRE

SUccess Story

If FundsforWriters has assisted your writing efforts, please, share with us. Send your success story to [email protected] 

 

Featured article

How to Write (almost) a Million Words A Year
By Sean McLachlan

I just failed at my writing goal for a second year in a row. I wanted to write a million words in a year. In 2017, I wrote 927,000 words, up from 900,750 in 2016.

Some might not see that as a failure. So how do I get to a yearly word count that many writers think impossible?

Put in the Time

Work ethic is more important than talent. Writing is my day job, and I work 50+ hours a week. For those who have other day jobs, slip in time whenever you can. Write before your family gets up in the morning. Write on the bus. Write after everyone goes to sleep. Snatch fifteen minutes here, half an hour there. You’ll be amazed how quickly it adds up.

It’s a Matter of Math

At the start of my career, a prolific writer gave me the best advice I’ve ever heard. She said, “If you write a page a day, by the end of the year you’ll have a book.” My first thought was, “What if I write two pages a day?” To get to a million words a year, you have to write 20,000 words a week for fifty weeks. That gives you two weeks off. Does 20,000 sound like too much? Do a tenth of that and you’ll get 100,000 words. That’s two short novels or a heap of short stories and articles.

Writer’s Block is a Myth

There are two causes of “writer’s block.” The first is laziness. Be strict with yourself. The second is more insidious. It’s your critical mind interfering with your creative mind. You’re not blocked, you’re holding yourself back.

Your critical mind is that practical part of your head that tells you if a certain piece is right for a certain market, or if your dialog rings true. It finds all those awkward phrases and comma splices. It should only come into play after you’ve finished writing. Writing is the creative mind’s job, but all too often your critical mind will second-guess everything and stop you cold. Avoid this by giving yourself the right to write junk. No one will see your first draft. Feel stuck? Write anyway. Once you’re done, go back with your critical mind and improve the piece. Often, you’ll find you’ve written better, and faster than you thought you would.

But you need that work ethic. Isaac Asimov always recalled how his father ran a candy store, opening up at six in the morning whether he wanted to or not. He never suffered from “shopkeeper’s block.”

Stop Before You’re Done

I stole this idea from Hemingway. Stop when you still know what you’re going to write in the next paragraph or two. When you come back to it, you’ll know how to start, and your subconscious will have added more to what you’ve already planned.

Mix it Up

I’m always working on a fiction project, at least one nonfiction project, and a blog post simultaneously. If I need to think about one project for a while, I can switch to another until I’ve figured it out. I try not to write two fiction projects at the same time, however, because that tends to cross my wires.

I hope this helps. Now if I can just follow my own advice better, maybe I’ll get a million words this year!

BIO: Sean McLachlan is a novelist and historian who divides his time between Spain, England, and Egypt. Learn more about him on his Amazon page, Facebook page, and blog.
 

COmpetitions

HAUNTED WATERS PRESS SHORT STORY COMPETITION
https://hauntedwaterspress.submittable.com/submit/100760/short-shorts-a-flash-fiction-competition-2018
$10 ENTRY FEE. Deadline July 31, 2018. Open to all new, emerging, and established writers. Limit 500 words. All entries considered for paid print publication. First prize $250 and publication. Runners up receive $20 and publication. Submit up to three works of flash fiction per entry.



MSLEXIA FLASH FICTION COMPETITION
https://mslexia.co.uk/products/competition_entry_fee/wfa-flash-fiction-comp-2018/
ENTRY FEE £5. Deadline October 1, 2018. First prize £500. Three other finalists will each receive £50. All four winning stories will be published in the March issue of Mslexia. The competition is open to women of any nationality from any country and welcomes flash fiction of up to 300 words in length (not including the title). All genres welcome. 



JUXTAPROSE FICTION AND POETRY PRIZES
https://juxtaprosemagazine.submittable.com/submit
$10-$15 ENTRY FEE. Deadline November 30, 2018. Best short story and best poem receives $1,000 and publication in JuxtaProse Literary Magazine. Up to three additional stories and three additional poems, each by a different author, may be awarded "Honorable Mention" status, for which they will receive $100 and publication. All entries will be considered for publication, regardless of whether they receive honorable mention status. Short story entries should contain a single story that is between 500 and 7,000 words. Poetry entries should contain between one and five poems, and each poem should be no longer than two pages. 



GEMINI FLASH FICTION CONTEST
http://www.gemini-magazine.com/contest.html
$5 ENTRY FEE. Deadline August 31, 2018. First prize $1,000. Second prize $100. Four honorable mentions $25 each. Maximum length 1,000 words. Open to any subject, style, or genre. 



ERNEST HEMINGWAY FLASH FICTION PRIZE
https://fictionsoutheast.com/ernest-hemingway-flash-fiction-award/
$10 ENTRY FEE. Deadline December 31, 2018. Winner receives $200 and publication in Fiction Southeast. Finalists receive publication in Fiction Southeast. Limit 1,500 words. 



PALETTE POETRY PRIZE
https://www.palettepoetry.com/current-contest/
$20 ENTRY FEE. Deadline August 15, 2018. First prize $4,000 and publication. Seeking one excellent poem that speaks to what poetry is and can be for our world today. Palette's editors will choose the 15 finalists, and any honorable mentions they think deserve extra attention. Second and third place will receive $300 and $200, respectively. Open internationally. 



BARBARA MANDIGO KELLY PEACE POETRY AWARDS
http://www.peacecontests.org/#poetry
$15 ENTRY FEE FOR UP TO THREE POEMS. Deadline July 1, 2018. The Poetry Awards include three age categories: Adult, Youth 13-18, and Youth 12 and Under. The annual contest is open to people worldwide. Poems must be original, unpublished, and in English. Adult Winner - $1,000. Youth (13 to 18) Winner - $200. Youth (12 and under) Winner - $200. Submit up to three poems, no more than 30 lines each. 



CHARLOTTE MEW CHAPBOOK CONTEST
https://headmistresspress.submittable.com/submit/111633/2018-charlotte-mew-chapbook-contest
$10-$20 ENTRY FEE . Deadline July 4, 2018. Our first-prize winner will receive a $300 honorarium plus 20 copies of the winning book. Headmistress Press will also announce finalists and may choose to publish other books from among the submitted manuscripts. Submit no more than 35 pages of poetry, excluding front and back matter.
 

GRANTS / FELLOWSHIPS / CROWDFUNDING

MORLAND WRITING SCHOLARSHIPS
https://milesmorlandfoundation.com/morland-writing-scholarships-2018/
Deadline September 30, 2018. The Morland Writing Scholarships for African writers will open for entries on Saturday, June 30. Works related to Africa are highly suggested. Both parents have to have been born in African if you have not. Scholars writing fiction will receive a grant of £18,000, paid monthly over the course of 12 months. At the discretion of the Foundation, Scholars writing nonfiction may receive a grant of up to £27,000, paid over a period of up to 18 months to allow them an additional six months for research.



JAN MICHALSKI FOUNDATION
http://www.fondation-janmichalski.com/en/residence-pour-ecrivains/
Deadline August 31, 2018. The Jan Michalski Foundation is inviting applications for its third annual writers’ residency program. The residencies take place at the foot of Switzerland’s Jura Mountains and the selected writers each live and work in modern treehouses. Writers from around the world are invited to apply, and applications from new or emerging writers are welcome. As well as receiving accommodation in their own treehouse, residents will be paid a monthly allowance of 1,200 Swiss Francs (approximately US $1,200). Travel expenses will also be covered by the foundation and daily breakfasts and lunches are provided.



THE BELLAGIO CENTER ARTS & LITERARY ARTS RESIDENCY PROGRAM
https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/our-work/bellagio-center/residency-program/
The Bellagio Center Arts & Literary Arts Residency is for composers, fiction and nonfiction writers, playwrights, video/filmmakers, dancers, musicians, and visual artists who share in The Rockefeller Foundation's mission of promoting the well-being of humanity around the world and whose work is inspired by or relates to global or social issues. The next open call will begin October 1, 2018 with a deadline of December 1, 2018 for residencies in 2020. The Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center is a 50-acre property located at the heart of Lake Como in Northern Italy. 



MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MARYLAND ARTS INTEGRATION RESIDENCIES IN THE SCHOOLS GRANTS
http://www.creativemoco.com/grants/guidelines
Arts Integration Residencies in the Schools Grants(AIRSG) support individual teaching artists and scholars trained in curriculum-based arts integration techniques who collaborate with a teacher to develop an arts-integrated program for students during the school day. The program must benefit students in public or non-public elementary, middle or high school located in Montgomery County that have been traditionally underserved in the arts during the school year during the school day.



GREATER BALTIMORE CULTURAL ALLIANCE
https://www.baltimoreculture.org/programs/grants-and-awards#.WyrvLqdKgRk
GBCA offers two programs that provide funding for individual artists: The Baker Artist Awards are awards of excellence that offer $90,000 in prize money per year; The Rubys Artist Project Grants gives grants of up to $10,000 to support the development of new creative work. Both programs are open to artists working in all disciplines.

 

FREELANCE MARKETS

THE SUN
https://www.thesunmagazine.org/submit
The Sun is a reader-supported ad-free magazine. We’ve been described in many ways: celebratory, fierce, unflinching, thoughtful, truthful, dark, darkly funny, tender. We publish nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. We tend to favor personal writing, but we’re also looking for provocative pieces on political and cultural issues. Pays $300 to $2,000 for nonfiction or fiction. Pays $100 to $250 for poetry. 



DAILY SCIENCE FICTION
http://dailysciencefiction.com/submit
Daily Science Fiction (DSF) is a market accepting speculative fiction stories from 100 to 1,500 words in length. By this we mean science fiction, fantasy, slipstream, etc. We will consider flash series--three or more flash tales built around a common theme. If you are submitting a flash series, please note that it is a series in your cover letter and at the top of the submitted text in the submission box. Each story does need to stand on its own. We pay eight cents per word for first worldwide rights and for nonexclusive reprint rights. Additionally, we reserve the right to pay you more money for additional reprinting in themed Daily Science Fiction anthologies. 



TURKEY COUNTRY
http://www.nwtf.org/_resources/dyn/files/1467466zd9f0624d/_fn/Contributors-Guidelines-2015.pdf
This is the flagship magazine for National Wild Turkey Federation. Features run 1,000 to 1,200 words and average $450 in payment. Departments run 500 to 1,000 words and average $350 in payment. JAKES Country is a magazine geared toward teens and focuses on hunting, fishing and shooting sports. It mails quarterly to all youth members up to age 17. Features run 1,000 to 1,200 words and average $300 in payment. Departments run
500 to 1,000 words and average $250 in payment. 



HUCK MAGAZINE
http://www.huckmagazine.com/art-and-culture/submissions-guidelines/
We’re constantly on the lookout for inspiring stories from the counterculture frontlines – from grassroots activism to youth subculture scenes. Please refer to the website and recent issues of the magazine before you submit your idea, for examples of the stories we publish and the Huck tone of voice. Huck celebrates and explores independent culture — people and movements that paddle against the flow.



3rd ACT MAGAZINE
http://www.3rdactmagazine.com/write/
Today’s older adults are redefining what it means to be a senior. They are more demanding in where, when and how they spend their retirement years. Yet aging also means they can face health, housing and financial challenges and concerns. 3rd Act Magazine™ is a free, quarterly, magazine that reaches this growing demographic with articles and stories that speak directly to this stage of their lives. If you are a published writer with proven expertise and submit articles that are well researched and require little editing, you will be considered for our paid list of writers at a per word rate of $.25. 



REAL LIFE MAGAZINE
http://reallifemag.com/contributors%20/
Real Life is a magazine about living with technology. The emphasis is more on living. We publish one essay, advice column, reported feature, or uncategorizable piece of writing a day, four or five days a week. Expect around 15 cents/word. 


 

Publishers/agents

ONE TRACK LITERARY AGENCY
https://www.onetrackliterary.com/submissions
One Track Literary is currently seeking completed works with vibrant, fresh voices in these genres: romance, women's fiction, mysteries, and young adult.



LEVINE/GREENBERG/ROSTAN LITERARY AGENCY
http://lgrliterary.com/
A full-service agency founded in 1989, combining extraordinary collaboration with our clients and a constant drive to succeed in all categories - fiction and nonfiction - and all media. In the last two years alone, we have had 29 New York Times bestsellers.



WORKMAN PUBLISHING
https://www.workman.com/work-with-us/author-submissions
The Workman imprint publishes exclusively nonfiction books for children and adults, as well as calendars. We do not publish novels, short stories, or poetry. We also do not accept unsolicited picture book submissions.



STOREY PUBLISHING
https://www.workman.com/work-with-us/author-submissions
The mission of Storey Publishing is to serve our customers by publishing practical information that encourages personal independence in harmony with the environment. The books we select to carry out this mission include nonfiction titles for adults and children on gardening, home reference, crafts, cooking, beer & wine, nature, raising animals, horses, building, farming, homesteading, and mind/body/spirit. We are always pleased to review new proposals on these topics directly from authors and from agents. (Note: no fiction, poetry, or children’s picture books, please.)



THE EXPERIMENT
https://www.workman.com/work-with-us/author-submissions
The Experiment is an independent publisher, launched in 2008 and distributed by Workman since 2011. We publish a wide range of nonfiction—much of it practical—including food (and how to grow, cook, and enjoy it), health and fitness, psychology and personal development, parenting, relationships, sexuality, science, and nature. We’re called The Experiment because every book is a test of new ideas — and because we’re motivated by the same curiosity and wonder that drive every scientific experiment.



DUOPRESS
https://www.workman.com/imprints/duopress
Duopress is an independent publisher, founded in 2007 and distributed by Workman since 2017. We are known for our line of children’s books and our novel approach to regional subjects, biographies, board books, and puzzles. 

 

SPONSORS

Let's write together.
Hey, I'm Alissa Johnson. As a writer and the founder of WritingStrides, I know the pressure that summer can bring. There's so much to do! But writing doesn't have to get lost in the shuffle. In fact, you can make time for it with a FREE, live workshop called the Writers Lab. 

In it, my writing partner and I will walk you through one of our favorite methods for exploring new ideas or bringing new life to an existing project. Register today to join us on Tuesday, June 26th. We can't wait to write with you! 
http://resources.writingstrides.com/writewithus









GET WEBSITES THAT ROCK, BOOK COVERS THAT SIZZLE

Shaila Abdullah has designed websites, book designs, marketing materials, and email campaigns for over 60 authors, writers and speakers. Being an award-winning author herself, she understands the industry, and will provide you with designs that reflect your unique style, genre, and personality. 

MENTION THIS AD AND GET 10% OFF (NEW CLIENTS ONLY)
EXISTING CLIENTS EARN 8% REFERRAL FEE FOR SENDING IN NEW CLIENTS 

E-mail Shaila: [email protected] 
View portfolio: http://myhouseofdesign.com/author-portfolio/
Services for authors: http://myhouseofdesign.com/services-for-authors/

A few testimonials from happy clients:

"Superb work, excellent customer service. Just marvelous overall.” —C. Hope Clark, author, founder of FundsforWriters, http://www.fundsforwriters.com

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"Shaila is a terrific designer, highly professional and extremely creative and delivers amazing results. Her sense of humor and positive spirit has made the whole process of developing and launching my web site a pleasure. –James Hutchison, playwright, http://jameshutchison.ca/

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http://bapsisidhwa.com/
http://wagnerjulia.com/
http://lisakwinkler.com/
http://kbhyde.com/
http://meredithwargo.com/


 

FINE PRINT

Please forward the newsletter in its entirety. To reprint any editorials, contact [email protected] for permission. Please do not assume that acknowledgements listed in your publication is considered a valid right to publish.

C. Hope Clark
E-mail: [email protected]
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Chapin, SC 29036
http://www.fundsforwriters.com

Copyright 2000-2018, C. Hope Clark
ISSN: 1533-1326

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