Volume 12, Issue 45
November 9, 2012

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FUNDS FOR WRITERS

Chosen for Writer's Digest's
101 Best Websites for Writers
2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006,
2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012

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Wore my "I VOTED" sticker all day long. Rather anticlimactic
when the US Presidential Election was done and over with, and
the next day felt like the day after Christmas or New Year's
Eve. Regardless of how you hoped it would turn out, though, I
welcome you to take a look at my blog post about coping with
events not being what you wanted, whether in a presidential
election or the publishing industry.

http://hopeclark.blogspot.com/2012/11/leading-by-example.html

Editor: C. Hope Clark
Website: http://www.fundsforwriters.com
Email: [email protected]
Newsletter: ISSN: 1533-1326

Our subscriber list is NOT made available to others. Use
information listed at your own risk. FundsforWriters gives
no warranty to completeness, accuracy, or fitness of the
markets, contests and grants although research is done to
the best of our ability.

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EDITOR'S THOUGHTS
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COMMENTS THAT MAKE ME WANT TO TRAVEL AND TEACH HARDER

I speak to a lot of writers in a lot of environments. From
conferences to libraries, from private residences to community
centers, I converse with writers struggling to make heads or tails
out of this business.

I'm glad I'm not starting out, but then again, sometimes I wish
I was. It's like seeing a teenager dipping his toe into the world:
you wish you were in his shoes, but then again, you're glad you're
not.

So I try to educate the best I can, using what I know, about
writing, about trying to get off the ground and find places to
publish and earn a few dollars to make it worth the time. But
invariably I hear a comment from someone in the room, whether
before the group or behind the scenes to me privately, that makes
me realize someone isn't quite "getting it" yet. And it makes me
wish I could touch more people, teach harder.

Comments I hear:

1) I'm almost done writing my book. How do I publish by Christmas?

I want to sit down and have coffee with this person, take his hand,
and tell him to quit thinking about publishing. When I tell people
to focus more on writing, some get disgruntled with me. "Easy for
you to say, you're published." I get impatient, too, but try to
get rid of the anxiousness to publish. It hurts your work. Edit
and edit and edit to the point of fanatical. No, you cannot
over edit. Not in this day and age. Not when 99.9 percent of the
writers do not edit enough.

2) Why don't agents and publishers like regular mail anymore?

That's like asking why don't we churn our own butter. We can,
but why do so when there's a cleaner, faster, easier way? Email's
more efficient. Short and simple.

3) I can't afford to buy nice business cards/buy my own books/
buy a good cover for my book/design a polished website.

That's like saying you bake great cakes but can't afford to place
an ad in the paper that you are open for weddings and birthdays.
If you intend to publish, you have to afford the promotion. That's
how people find you . . . and form their first impression of you
. . . and determine if you are worthy of their investment.

You find a way. Ferret the best possible FREE business cards online
that appear professional. Barter content writing for web services.
Make a goal to do magazine/content writing enough save to pay a
graphic designer to make a book cover. Search out investors relating
to your book content to cover the cost of your first run of books
until you can afford to pay them back.

4) How do I promote ebooks in person?

You don't. Ebook readers find their books online. It just makes
sense to promote there as well.

If you do not understand how the business works, stop and learn.
If you proceed without being knowledgeable, you could fool yourself
into thinking you'll navigate the journey without incident.

Some argue that entering the business in a naive manner is a way
to step out and dare. Not knowing the pitfalls means you have
nothing to fear, they say. It also means that you're willing to
learn via the path called "trial by fire." In other words, planned
to get burned.

Don't understand? Ask questions. Listen. Absorb. Don't judge.
Be open-minded. And stay positive. It's supposed to be hard.

Hope

THE BLOG - http://www.chopeclark.com/blog
TWITTER - http://twitter.com/hopeclark
FACEBOOK - http://www.facebook.com/chopeclark
ABOUT.ME - http://about.me/hopeclark
GOODREADS - http://www.goodreads.com/hopeclark
PINTEREST - http://pinterest.com/chopeclark/

=====

A BRIDGE TO PUBLICATION

Come to Lake Charles, Louisiana on November 10, 2012 for
the annual, one-day conference by The Bayou Writers Group.

http://bayouwritersgroup.com/?p=315

Deborah LeBlanc - fiction
Linda Yezak - Editor for Port Yonder Press
Dr. Stella Nesanovich - poetry
Dr. Mona Lisa Saloy - folktelling and poetry
Brooks Sherman - literary agent with FinePoint Lit Mngmt
-and- C. Hope Clark - making a living as a writer

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LOWCOUNTRY BRIBE....

Lowcountry Bribe is a fast-paced, roller coaster ride of a
mystery, full of intriguing characters and a heroine as feisty
as she is vulnerable. A sparkling debut from an author who
obviously knows her stuff.

~Kathryn R. Wall, Author
JERICHO CAY, the 11th Bay Tanner mystery
www.kathrynwall.com

http://www.amazon.com/Lowcountry-Bribe-C-Hope-Clark/dp/1611940907

~~~~~~****~~~~~~

WORDS OF SUCCESS

"A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents,
works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses
these skills to accomplish his goals."

~ Larry Bird ~

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SUCCESS OF THE WEEK
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Hardly a month goes by that I don't find a potential market or
contest in your blog and newsletters. And your encouragement and
optimism, not to mention your bona fide success and that of others
who've followed your lead, are invaluable. Thank you.

I have a suggestion that you might pass on to your readers. I've
asked my adult children for a special Christmas present this year:
a paid subscription to FFW.

Thanks again for your help and good cheer.

Thom Schwarz RN

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ARTICLE
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140 Characters: Twitter Fiction and the Art of Concise Writing

By Tucker Cummings

Plenty of people want to become writers, but feel that they simply
don’t have the time to commit to writing even a short story. With
all the interruptions of the digital age (to say nothing of family
and work obligations), finding time to write really can be a
challenge. It’s so easy to get frustrated with your writing when
you’re just starting out; so hard to not be discouraged by an
inability to finish what you start.

These days, there are plenty of ways an aspiring writer can hone
their craft and add publication credits to their resume at the same
time. And one of the very best ways is to write Twitter-sized tales.
These short stories are 140 characters or less (including spaces),
and pack a surprising emotional punch.

Despite the limitations of the form, skilled Twitter fiction writers
are able to make readers laugh, cry, or shiver as they build worlds
and introduce characters. Twitter is home to several communities of
avid writers and readers, and they are passionate about promoting
great 140-character stories.

There’s no hard and fast rule about what makes a great Twitter tale.
Some stories focus on just a moment’s worth of action, while others
span thousands of years in just two sentences. Many are humorous, but
plenty more are heart-breaking. The form forces you to choose words
precisely, and to cut out any extraneous information. More often than
not, the title of the work gives the reader enough framing to
understand the events in your story.

So, what do you do after you’ve completed your little tale? The most
obvious thing to do is post it on your own Twitter account, to share
with your own followers. If you can spare the space, adding hashtags
to your story will enable other Twitter fiction fans to find it more
easily. Hashtags to consider include #vss (which stands for “very
short story”), #nanofiction, or #fiction.

Another hashtag is #lqw, which designates that the story contains the
word of the day as designated by @Loqwacious. If your tastes run towards
non-fiction, rather than fictional tales, consider adding #cnftweet.
Each day, @CreativeNonfiction selects one tweet with this hashtag to
retweet, and these tweets are then eligible to be included in upcoming
issues of the magazine, or in their newsletter.

There are also dozens of Twitter accounts for websites that publish
only 140-character stories. Some of the most notable are @OneFortyFiction,
@seedpodpub, @sixwordstories, @twitterfiction, @7×20, and @trapezemag,
all of which are unpaid markets.

@Nanoism is a paying Twitter fiction market, which publishes three
times a week and pays between $1.50 and $1 for stories: not bad,
given the brevity of the form. Serialized Twitter fiction is paid
out at a higher rate.

@thaumatrope and @tweetthemeat also pay to publish other people’s
Twitter stories, though both markets are currently on hiatus.

In short: keep on writing, and keep your eyes peeled for opportunities
to grow your fan base. Depending on where you choose to publish your
stories, your work may be exposed to thousands of people. In
addition, there are often contests being held on Twitter by various
publishers where you can win cash and prizes with your well-written,
140-character stories.

But beyond the accolades and the prizes, the best thing about
writing Twitter fiction is how it can improve your writing. With
practice, this shortest of short story forms can help even the most
verbose of writers to develop a clear, clean, and concise style.
And that’s a skill that will benefit any writer as they begin work
on longer projects.

BIO
Tucker Cummings is the author of “The Strange Adventures of Margery
Jones,” a microfiction serial about parallel universes. Her work has
been featured online at HiLoBrow.com (where she won their Spooky-
Kooky fiction competition) and at OneFortyFiction. She also won
MassTwitFic’s #vss Twitter Story Contest. Visit her online at
tuckercummings.com, or say hi to @tuckercummings on Twitter.

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COMPETITIONS
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COSTS OF CARE HEALTHCARE ESSAY CONTEST
http://www.costsofcare.org/advocacy/essay/
---
NO ENTRY FEE
$4000 in prizes for the best stories from patients, doctors, and
nurses illustrating the importance of cost-awareness in healthcare.
Deadline November 15, 2012. Entries must be no longer than 750 words.
Students are strongly encouraged to submit an anecdote. Entries will
be judged based on the quality of the writing and the relevance of
the anecdote to the topic of cost-awareness in medicine. We are
primarily seeking anecdotes. The focus if the contest is not to
suggest policy solutions. Four care provider finalists and four
patient finalists will be chosen. Care providers include doctors,
dentists, nurses, pharmacists, clinical assistants, health
administrators and students of these professions. Patients include
patients as well as their friends or family members, and students
of non-clinical professions including college students. All finalist
entries will be read and rank-ordered according to the above criteria
by our high-profile judges. Four $1,000 prizewinners will be named —
two care providers and two patients.

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MASON'S ROAD CONTEST
http://www.masonsroad.com/about-2/submission-guidelines/
---
$10 ENTRY FEE
As a literary journal with an educational twist, Mason’s Road aims
to focus each issue on a particular element of the writing craft.
For Issue No. 6, our theme is Time.

There are two ways to submit to Mason’s Road. You can submit for
free any time during our submissions period and your work will be
given thorough consideration for publication. Or, once you submit,
you can then pay a $10 fee for your work to also be considered for
our Mason’s Road Winter Literary Award, which includes publication
and a $500 prize to the best entry we receive. Deadline November 1,
2012. Limit 5,000 words.

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GRAYBEAL-GOWEN PRIZE FOR VIRGINIA POETS
http://shenandoahliterary.org/graybeal-gowen/
---
NO ENTRY FEE
This annual prize of $500 is awarded by Shenandoah and the Virginia
Poetry Center for a single poem by a writer born in or with current
established residence in Virginia. The winning poem will be
published in SHENANDOAH in September 2013. Entrants are invited to
submit up to three previously unpublished poems. Deadline November
15, 2012.

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LANGUM PRIZE IN AMERICAN HISTORICAL FICTION
http://www.langumtrust.org/histlit.html
---
NO ENTRY FEE
A prize to encourage and reward excellent American historical
fiction is a natural element in our effort to make the rich
history of America accessible to the educated general reader.
A prize and $1,000 honorarium is awarded every year for the
best book in American Historical Fiction published in the preceding
year. Deadline December 1, 2012.

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WOMR 92.1 FM OUTERMOST COMMUNITY RADIO POETRY PRIZE
http://www.womr.org/
http://chadparenteaupoetforhire.blogspot.com/2012/08/cape-cods-outermost-community-radio.html
---
$15 ENTRY FEE
Deadline December 1, 2012. $1,000 to the National Prize winner and
$200 to our Regional Prize winner. Winners announced in March, 2013.
Send five pages of your best poetry, any style, any length, any subject
matter. Mail all entries to: WOMR 92.1 FM Outermost Community Radio,
attention: Joe Gouveia, PO Box 975, 494 Commercial Street, Provincetown,
MA 02657. Email [email protected] or call WOMR-FM 508.487.2619.

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GRANTS
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MAUREEN EGEN WRITERS EXCHANGE AWARD
http://www.pw.org/about-us/maureen_egen_writers_exchange_award
---
Two prizes of $500 each are awarded annually to a poet and a fiction
writer from a select state. Each winner also receives an all-expenses-
paid trip to New York City to give a reading and meet with writers,
editors, publishers, and agents, as well as a one-month residency
at the Jentel Artist Residency Program in Wyoming. The 2012 contest
is open to residents of Alaska. Poets and fiction writers who have
published no more than one full-length book in the genre in which
they are applying are eligible. Submit five copies of up to 10 pages
of poetry or 25 pages of fiction by December 1.

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MINNESOTA GRANTS
http://www.aracouncil.org/
---
ARAC awards grants to individual artists and nonprofit arts
organizations in the Arrowhead region of Minnesota. Deadline
November 16, 2012. Up to $2,500 can be requested by individual
artists for specific opportunities that would advance the artistic
aspect of their Career intentions.

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VARUNA FELLOWSHIPS
http://varuna.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=238%3Avarunas-publisher-fellowship-program-2013&catid=48%3Awhat-we-offer-writers&Itemid=30
---
Deadline November 30, 2012.
Varuna’s unique Publisher Fellowship Program is Australia’s most
dynamic literary partnership, opening important doors for writers
in a creative, collaborative process that delivers finely honed
manuscripts to leading publishers. Each year, the program gives
15 selected writers of novels, short stories, poetry and non-fiction
the chance to nurture their manuscripts to publication stage with:

1. Private writing time
2. A literary mentor
3. A date with a publisher
4. Be part of a writing community

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TEXAS TOURING ROSTER
http://www.arts.texas.gov/artroster/roster/
---
The Texas Touring Arts Program is designed to ensure that all Texans
have the ability to enjoy performances by outstanding Texas-based
companies and artists in their own communities. The Texas Commission
on the Arts (TCA) provides grants to help with the costs of bringing
in companies and artists from this roster for performances.

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NORTH CAROLINA REGIONAL GRANTS
http://www.ncarts.org/grants_category.cfm?ID=41
---
This program, funded by the N. C. Arts Council, provides the
opportunity for regional consortia of local arts councils to
award project grants to artists in their regions. These grants
support professional artists in any discipline and at any stage
in their careers to pursue projects that further their professional
development. Grant amounts vary from region to region. Statewide,
they range from $300 to $5,000, though most grants are between $500
and $2,000. A list of participating counties, deadlines for each
region, and a primary contact for each consortium appears on this
web page. Regions are listed from west to east.

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FREELANCE MARKETS
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PENN LINES
http://reaenergy.coopwebbuilder.com/content/penn-lines
---
Penn Lines magazine features articles on cooperative members,
energy-saving tips, recipes, etc. Magazine is available for
reading online. Must have a rural focus. General interest,
profiles, historical, how-to, travel as well. Query or
pitch on spec. Pays up to $650 for up to 2,000 words.

=====

SCOUTING
http://scoutingmagazine.org/contact/
---
Covers Boy Scouting activities and activities for youth leaders.
Queries only. Nonfiction only. Pays up to $800 for main features
and up to $500 for shorter pieces. Columns of up to 750 words
pay up to $500. Fillers of 50-150 words pay $25.

=====

WHOLELIFE
http://www.wholelifemagazine.com/writers.php
---
We are open to stories on natural health, alternative healing,
green living, sustainable and local food, social responsibility,
conscious business, the environment, spirituality and personal
growth; in short, anything that deals with a progressive, healthy
lifestyle. If you have not written for us before, please be sure
to include your bio and up to three published clips or links.
Alternatively, you may submit a completed manuscript. WLT accepts
up to three longer stories (800-1,100 words) per issue, and pay
ranges from $150-200 depending on topic, research required and
writer experience. In addition, we have a number of regular
departments that pay $75-150 depending on topic, research
required and writer experience.

=====

AUTO QUARTERLY
http://www.autoquarterly.com/v2/magazine
---
Covers automotive history with excellent photography. Pays 35
cents/word for features up to 5,000 words. Features must include
photography, history, biography and technical information.

=====

CANADIAN BIKER
http://www.canadianbiker.com/contact-us
---
Needs general interest, historical, how-to, profiles and
preferably, Canadian personalities involved in Canadian
motorcycling. Pays up to $200 for assigned pieces and up
to $150 for unsolicited articles.

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PUBLISHERS/AGENTS
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BLUE MOUNTAIN PRESS
http://www.sps.com/home.html
---
Blue Mountain Press, the book division of Blue Mountain Arts, is
accepting manuscripts in the following categories: gift books,
personal growth, teens/tweens, family, relationships, motivational,
and inspirational. E-mail queries to [email protected].

=====

ANNICK PRESS
http://www.annickpress.com/guidelines.html
---
Annick publishes books for children ages six months to twelve
years and for young adults. Annick Press is committed to
publishing CANADIAN authors. We are NOT ACCEPTING picture book
manuscripts at the present time.

=====

ANVIL PRESS
http://www.anvilpress.com/Submit/
---
Anvil Press is a literary publisher interested in contemporary,
progressive literature in all genres. We must stress that we
are a small publisher, publishing 8 to 10 titles per year. In
general, we are planning at least 12 months in advance and, at
present, are only considering work by Canadian authors. We are
not interested in seeing formulaic genre novels: Sci-Fi, Horror,
Romance etc.

=====

APPALACHIAN MOUNTAIN CLUB BOOKS
http://www.outdoors.org/publications/books/about-amc-books.cfm
---
AMC Books are written and published by experts in the Northeast
outdoors. Our mission is to publish authoritative, accurate, and
easy-to-use books and maps based on the Appalachian Mountain Club's
expertise in outdoor recreation, education, and conservation. By
advancing the interest of the public in outdoor recreation and
helping our readers to access backcountry trails and waterways,
and by using our books to educate the public about safety,
conservation, and stewardship, we support AMC's mission of
promoting the protection, enjoyment, and understanding of the
mountains, forests, waters, and trails of the Appalachian region.

=====

ARCADIA PUBLISHING
http://www.arcadiapublishing.com/authors/
---
Due to the great demand for titles on local and regional history,
we are currently searching for authors to work with us on new
photographic history projects. Arcadia works with many first-time
authors, as well as seasoned writers. Our editors are seeking
proposals on local history topics and can provide potential authors
with detailed information about our publishing program as well as
book proposal submission guidelines.

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SPONSORS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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=====

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=====

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=====

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=====

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BUSINESS STUFF
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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]

140-A Amicks Ferry Road #4
Chapin, SC 29036

http://www.fundsforwriters.com

Copyright 2000-2012, C. Hope Clark
ISSN: 1533-1326

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