SPONSOR OF THE WEEK

THE 13th ANNUAL MISSOURI REVIEW MILLER AUDIO PRIZE

$1,000 prize, website publication and social media promotion for winners in poetry, prose, humor, and audio documentary. Open for submissions now. Deadline: March 15. More details here: https://www.missourireview.com/contests/audio-contest/


 

RIDING THE CHAOS

Well, these last few weeks have been crazy, haven't they? I've been fussed at twice for not being more upset about it all. However, I'm not one to get upset easily, plus, in my opinion, buying into stress and all the racket about what might happen just feeds the chaos. 

Instead, I concentrate on the positive I can do. Hopefully, the more calm I exude will infuse calm in others. 

I tune out the noise. I don't partake in conversations about the maybes, could-bes, and what-ifs. I delete the emails that even hint about the virus, especially those telling me as a writer how to cope. They don't know me anyway. 

We can feed the frenzy, or we can focus on being proactive in our endeavors. 

A clear head accomplishes more, whether in the midst of a disaster or in normal times. Panic never works. Sure, nobody likes to feel caught in an uncontrollable situation, but instead of freaking out, stop and acknowledge your concern, rein it in, and attempt to make good decisions that aid your existence. 

Let writing do this for you:

1) slow you down
2) calm you down
3) sink you deeper into your neglected inner self
4) open you to think of ideas you never had time for before
5) give you hope

Some have told me I don't understand how critical things are because I'm not upset, but I do understand. It's just that I choose to hold steady, still attempt to write, and don't let fretting people throw me off my game. I don't want to feed other people's anxiety, and I don't want them to rob me of my calm. 

If this means you wish to unsubscribe, so be it. I'm sorry to lose you. My wish is for us all to be steady, whether sick or well so that we can make the best decisions for ourselves, those we love, and the world we live in.

Hang tight. Try to stay safe. And lose yourself in your writing for a while. I cannot emphasize that hard enough, my friends.

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Enjoy these useful free resources.



 

HOPE'S APPEARANCES

 
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SUccess Story

Send us your success story, telling us how FundsforWriters made a difference, opened a door, helped you get someplace you wanted to be. 

Email [email protected] 

 

Featured article

How to Mine a Dozen Articles from a Single Topic 

By Dan Brotzel

As a content writer or freelance journalist, a little learning can go a very long way. In the course of your career, you may become quite expert in a particular topic(s), perhaps because of a job you once had, or because you once had to do a lot of research or interviews in that area, or just through first-hand experience. 

To get more bang for your freelancing buck, you want to spin that knowledge and experience out into as many commissions as possible, so helping you save time and maximise your income. Here are a few examples of how you might do this, illustrated by reference to two very different topics: crowdfunding a novel and stress. 

Write a Case Study

Tell a story from my own or a contact’s experience, e.g., "How I’m Crowdfunding My Novel" or "How I Went from Burnout and 18-hour Days to a Decent Work-Life Balance."

Top Tips 

Offer some practical pointers on a topic. Think "Top Tips for Crowdfunding a Novel" or "Managing Stress: Dos and Don’ts."

Jump on a Topical Hook 

If your topic is in the headlines, now’s the time for a spot of newsjacking. For example, this article detailing research that suggests Omega-3s may have little effect on mental health could be the pretext for you to pitch a piece on "Five Ways to Eat to Beat Stress" or "The Science Behind Stress."  

Go Seasonal 

How about a "Christmas Seasonal Survival Guide" or "Top Tips for Dealing with Exam Stress." Or with our other topic, for late autumn, how about a trends piece: "Five Publishing Trends to Look Out for – and What They Mean for Authors." One of the trends is, of course, crowdfunding. 

Be Contrary 

Everyone says stress is bad for you, don’t they? Well, how about a piece like this one, looking at "When Stress is Good for You?" Or how about "Five New Approaches That are Killing the Traditional Publishing Model" (one of which, guess what, is crowdfunding). 

Go Large 

Sometimes you can drop everything you know in a big piece – maybe turn it into an ebook or a really in-depth feature. Maybe "The Ultimate Guide to Crowdfunding Your Book" or "101 Stress Management Tips." 

Focus on a Very Specific Audience

For managers, "How to Spot the Telltale Signs of Burnout in Your Staff." For the education sector, "Ten Stress Management Strategies for Teachers." For parents, "Five Ways to Help Your Children Handle Stress." And so on.  

Add Some Humour 

Mix it up to comic effect with some anti-advice. "Ten Ways NOT to Crowdfund Your Novel" might be fun. A while back, humourists took books like The Little Book of Calm and wrote parodies such as The Little Book of Stress.
 
Go Macro

Take a step back and look at your topic from the widest possible perspective. Think "How Much Does Stress Cost the USA Every Year?" or "Is Your Organization Under Stress?" Also, "What’s Behind the Rise of Alternative Funding Models?"

Think Alternative 

How about "Ten Natural Remedies for Stress" or "Five Complementary Therapies That Make You Feel Less Frazzled," or, combined with a case study, "How Yoga and Shiatsu Saved Me from Burnout?"  

Write a Quiz

Obvious ideas here might be: "How stressed are you?" or "How Stressed is Your Team?" or "How Resilient Are You?" The quiz doesn’t have to be complex – it could just be scored according to how people answered, e.g., mostly As, mostly Bs, etc. Or you could do a multi-choice general knowledge quiz: "How Much Do You Know About Stress?" With our other topic, how about "Have You Got What It Takes to Crowdfund a Book?" 

Bust Some Myths

Offer a piece where you take a series of commonly held beliefs about your topic, at least some of which you reveal to be false. Listicles like ‘10 Things You Never Knew About Stress/Crowdfunding’ take a similar approach.  

BIO - Dan Brotzel (@brotzel_fiction) is author of a collection of short stories, Hotel du Jack, and co-author of a new comic novel, Kitten on a Fatberg (Unbound). To order Kitten on a Fatberg for a ten percent discount, quote KITTEN10  

 

COmpetitions

EMERALD THEATRE COMPANY: 5th ANNUAL 10-MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL

This years theme: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words. Interpretation of theme is at the playwrights discretion.

The requirements: 10 pages maximum, 10 minutes to perform, no more than 3 characters, simple, black box production with minimal set pieces. An empty photo or picture frame of any size must be incorporated into the script. Must be original and never before produced submissions.

Send 2 printed  copies of script along with a separate title page with the following information:
Playwrights name, title, current email address and telephone number and $10.00 entry fee (checks made payable to Emerald Theater Company) to: Hal Harmon - Co-Artistic Director, Emerald Theatre Company, 1402 Linden Ave, Memphis, TN 38104

Contest deadline: May 30, 2020
Production dates: in September 2020

8-10 scripts will be produced. Cash prizes and medals for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners.

It is suggested to visit our website to view our mission statement and see information from past years winners.




SPIRIT FIRST POETRY CONTEST
https://www.spiritfirst.org/poetry_contest2020Entry.html
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline March 31, 2020. First prize $200. Second prize $150. Third prize $100. Poetry submissions may be of any length and any style but must have a theme of Meditation or Mindfulness. Poems may reflect any discipline, any faith, or none. Poems must be previously unpublished. Winning poems will be published on the Spirit First website at www.spiritfirst.org, the Spirit First Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/thespiritfirstgroup, the Spirit First blog at http://spiritfirst.blogspot.com/ and in a Spirit First newsletter.



LINDISFARNE PRIZE
https://www.ljrossauthor.com/lindisfarne-prize/
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline March 31, 2020. The literary prize recognises outstanding writing in the genre of crime or thriller fiction, sponsored by the author L J Ross and in association with the Newcastle Noir Crime Writing Festival. It is open to all new writers who are from or whose work celebrates, the north of England, and who have not previously had a crime or thriller story published in any form. Entrants must submit a short story of no more than 10,000 words or the first two chapters and a synopsis of their work in progress to be considered. The winning entry will be awarded a prize of £2,500 to support the completion of their work, as well as free editorial and mentoring services from a local independent publisher and funding towards a year’s membership of industry associations. 



A SINGLE WORD CONTEST
https://sunspotlit.com/contests
$10 ENTRY FEE. Deadline March 31, 2020. Submit the single word you feel is the most important in today’s world. You’ll have 1,000 words to describe why using any form of fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. If you feel the word speaks for itself, your description can simply state that fact. Winner receives $500. 



ANTHOLOGY COMPETITION - OUTRIDER PRESS
https://www.outriderpress.net/anthology-guidelines.html
$19 ENTRY FEE. Deadline April 20, 2020. Working Title: PLAY! Planned publication date October 2020. $500 first prizes each for poetry and prose. Also, second and third places. All winners will have Featured Reader status at PLAY's free Kickoff Reading (depending on Printers Row Lit Fest scheduling) at Chicago's Printers Row Lit Fest, the nation's third largest book fair of its kind, seeing 100,000+ attendance in 2019. We nominate for a variety of literary prizes including the Pushcart Prize. Poetry: 32-line (including spaces) limit per poem; no long lines, please. Prose: 2,500-word limit per entry; no long titles exceeding 3 3/4".



CONGER BEASLEY AWARD FOR NONFICTION
https://www.pw.org/writing_contests/conger_beasley_jr_award_for_nonfiction
$24 ENTRY FEE. Deadline May 18, 2020. Awards $2,500 and publication. Limit 8,000 words. One cover sheet stating the genre and title of the essay must accompany the submission.



GHOST STORY SUPERNATURAL FICTION AWARD
http://www.theghoststory.com/tgs-fiction-award
$20 ENTRY FEE. Deadline April 30, 2020. Twice each year TGS will award $1,000 and publication to the winner of our short story competition. Two other writers will receive Honorable Mentions that include publication and a $250 cash award. Winning stories and Honorable Mentions will be published on The Ghost Story website on Midsummer’s Eve and October 31. In addition, winning and Honorable Mention stories will be included in the paperbound anthology, 21st Century Ghost Stories—Volume II. Story length should run between 1,500 and 10,000 words. 



NEW OHIO REVIEW FICTION CONTEST
https://newohioreview.submittable.com/submit/157882/2020-fiction-contest-lauren-groff-judge-1-500-prize
$22 ENTRY FEE. Deadline April 15, 2020. Limit 20 pages. $1,500 Prize and publication in New Ohio Review 28. Entry fee comes with one-year subscription. 



GULF COAST PRIZE IN FICTION
https://gulfcoastajournalofliteratureandfinearts.submittable.com/submit/159709/2020-gulf-coast-prize-in-fiction
$23 ENTRY FEE. Deadline April 16, 2020. The contest awards $1,500 and publication in Gulf Coast to the winner. Two honorable mentions will be awarded $250. All entries will be considered for publication, and the entry fee includes a one-year subscription to Gulf Coast. Limit 25 pages. 



CRAFT SHORT FICTION PRIZE
https://www.craftliterary.com/short-fiction-prize/
$20 ENTRY FEE. Deadline April 30, 2020. International submissions are allowed. Limit 5,000 words. We review literary fiction but are open to a variety of genres and styles—our only requirement is that you show excellence in your craft. Winner: $2,000 award and a subscription to Journal of the Month. Runners-up: $500 and $300 award respectively for the second and third-place finalists.  



ERNEST HEMINGWAY FLASH FICTION PRIZE
https://fictionsoutheast.com/ernest-hemingway-flash-fiction-award/
$10 ENTRY FEE. Deadline March 31, 2020. Entries for the Ernest Hemingway Flash Fiction Prize should be approximately 1,500 words or less. Winner – $200 and publication in Fiction Southeast. Finalists – publication in Fiction Southeast.

 

GRANTS / FELLOWSHIPS / CROWDFUNDING

CLAYTON MEMORIAL FUND
https://osfci.org/clayton/
The fund helps professional science fiction, fantasy, horror, and mystery writers living in the Pacific Northwest states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska deal with the financial burden of medical expenses. We generally follow the standards of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for Active or Associate membership in determining professional status.



SOCIETY OF CHILDREN'S BOOK WRITERS AND ILLUSTRATORS
https://www.scbwi.org/scbwi-emergency-fund/
The SCBWI Emergency Fund has been established to provide assistance to SCBWI members in times of emergency or hardship. The emergency or hardship could involve, for example, matters of health, family issues, or natural disasters that are in any way restricting or preventing an SCBWI member’s ability to work as an author or illustrator. There is a $1,500 cap on any given grant, and no member may receive the grant more than twice. 



PEN AMERICA WRITERS' EMERGENCY FUND
https://pen.org/writers-emergency-fund/
The PEN America Writers’ Emergency Fund is a small grants program for professional—published or produced—writers in acute or unexpected financial crisis. Depending on the situation and level of need, grants are in the range of $2,000. Apart from exceptional circumstances, the Fund does not give repeat grants within a three-year period. 



SOCIETY OF AUTHORS WORK-IN-PROGRESS GRANTS - UK
https://www.societyofauthors.org/Grants/Grants-for-works-in-progress
Deadline April 1, 2020. These grants assist writers with research costs or by buying them time to write, helping them to bring exciting new work into the world. We support writers from a range of genres and styles and at all stages of their literary careers. In December 2019 we awarded over £185,000 to 72 authors, helping them with travel costs and easing financial pressures. 



CARNEGIE FUND FOR AUTHORS
https://www.carnegiefundforauthors.org/
The mission of Carnegie Fund for Authors is to award grants to published authors who are in need of emergency financial assistance as a result of illness or injury to self, spouse, or dependent child, or who has had some other misfortune that has placed the applicant in pressing and substantial pecuniary need. We accept applications from any American author who has written at least one book of reasonable length that has been published commercially and received reader acceptance.



THE SOCIETY OF AUTHORS CONTINGENCY FUNDS - UK
https://www.societyofauthors.org/Grants/contingency-funds
The SoA gives grants for contingencies which can help professional writers who need a boost. The grants are managed in confidence and were endowed by other writers who know that a writer’s life has its ups and downs. Specific grants are available for poets and women journalists. Please note that we are unable to offer grants for publication costs/those who are in difficulty because they have contributed towards publication costs, student tuition fees, and any specific writing project.



GREATER PITTSBURGH ARTS COUNCIL EMERGENCY FUNDS
https://www.pittsburghartscouncil.org/programs/artist-services/emergency-fund
The Emergency Fund for Artists will now provide up to $500 in assistance to artists experiencing loss of income due to the coronavirus outbreak. Artists living in Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Washington, Lawrence, Indiana, Greene, Fayette, Washington, and Westmoreland counties are eligible. The fund will be open, but not limited to, the following uses: financial losses due to cancelled events, including performances in all performing arts, disciplines, readings, and speaking opportunities; and offsetting loss of income for teaching artists who could not teach during this time because of cancelled classes and school closures. 



SAFETY NET FUND
https://medium.com/@safetynet/the-safety-net-fund-20040273d291
The Safety Net Fund is a non-profit designed to help support artists in the Bay Area during the COVID-19 crisis. We prioritize artists that typically make their living offline at events & retail establishments that have been cancelled or closed due to coronavirus. This includes performing artists, musicians, visual artists, event producers, and other types of creators. This fund will offer grants to artists, with no expectation of repayment, to help provide direct monetary support through this crisis. This money is offered with the intent of helping artists survive and continue to create despite the maelstrom. The maximum grant is $500 per person per month, and the number of grants per month is dependent upon the funds raised.



THE CREATOR FUND
https://creatorfund.ck.page/
ConvertKit has established a $50,000 fund to help creators in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have also received over 6,000 applications and counting. Our current fund will be exhausted well before we can get to everyone. We would still love to hear from you, but we want to be transparent about our ability to help at this time. Offers financial assistance up to $500. If you have medical, childcare, housing, or grocery needs, please apply for assistance. We'll ask for a receipt or invoice before sending the funds via Paypal.



 

FREELANCE MARKETS

SHENANDOAH - POETRY
https://shenandoahliterary.org/submissions/
Our Spring 2020 reading period for POETRY will be from March 15 to March 31, 2020. Please send us prayers, spells, charms, curses, blessings, invocations—poems that try to make change happen. All forms, styles, and procedures are welcome. A selection will appear in a special Shenandoah portfolio in the Spring 2021 issue. We pay our contributors at the rate of $100 per poem. 



DAILY SCIENCE FICTION
https://dailysciencefiction.com/submit/story/guidelines
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. We pay eight cents per word for first worldwide rights and nonexclusive reprint rights. 



HAKAI MAGAZINE
https://www.hakaimagazine.com/submission-guidelines/
We invite you to submit brief query letters detailing potential stories that focus on coastal ecosystems, cultures, and communities around the world. Indicate the story’s angle, some of its important elements, and your credentials, and include three links to your published work. Fees vary depending on the length and complexity of a story and the experience of the storyteller. Payment in Canadian dollars is made upon acceptance of the final draft. Feature articles range from about 1,000 to 5,000 words. News & Views is the place for 300- to 800-word stories and commentary. Pays $300 and up.



ALASKA BEYOND
https://www.alaskaairlinesmagazine.com/contributor/guidelines/
Alaska Beyond Magazine is the monthly in-flight magazine for Alaska Airlines, reaching more than 3.8 million travelers each month in nearly 115 destinations, including Alaska, California, Washington, Oregon, Hawai‘i, Arizona, Nevada, Western Canada, and Mexico. Additional cities added in recent years include Chicago, Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, St. Louis, and San Antonio. Rates begin at $150 to $250 for short articles in the Journal section (200 to 600 words); $150 for business shorts (500 words); $500 for columns (1,600 words); and $700 for features (2,000 to 2,500 words). 



THE NATIONAL
http://www.amtrakthenational.com/about-us
The National is the onboard American culture magazine for Amtrak. In our pages you’ll find in-depth reporting and beautiful photography from across the country, as well as fiction, poetry, and essays from some of America’s most acclaimed voices. Pays $1/word.



SOUTHWEST
https://www.southwestmag.com/writers-guidelines/
Southwest: The Magazine, published by Pace Communications for Southwest Airlines. We typically publish two works of narrative nonfiction each issue, somewhere around 3,000 to 3,500 words (though we’ve gone shorter and longer). We’re looking for a compelling tale with memorable characters, none of whom have to be famous. Separate from our feature well, we also assign special advertising sections. Our front-of-book pages and the celebrity One Question page are written in-house (we do, however, welcome PR pitches for both the Play and Work sections). Remember to keep your pitches focused on Southwest Airlines destinations or cities that are within a short driving distance (under three hours) of one of these destinations. 

 

Publishers/agents

ANANSI
https://houseofanansi.com/pages/anansi-submissions
Anansi publishes literary fiction, poetry, nonfiction, graphic novels, and crime fiction from Canada and around the world. We publish approximately fifty new books a year, four of which are poetry. Anansi publishes literary fiction that has a unique flair, memorable characters, and a strong narrative voice. Anansi publishes compelling narrative nonfiction and strong, meticulously researched thesis-driven works. Anansi publishes poets who have already established a strong reputation.



IG PUBLISHING
https://www.igpub.com/about-ig/
Ig Publishing is a New York-based award-winning independent press dedicated to publishing original literary fiction and progressive political nonfiction. 



UNNAMED PRESS
https://www.unnamedpress.com/about
The Unnamed Press is a leading independent publisher of fiction and nonfiction, based in Los Angeles and founded in 2014. Our books represent a diverse list of voices—ones that challenge conventional perspectives while appealing to a broad general audience: exciting, radical, urgent. We nurture emerging talent and partner with more established authors to help their platform grow.


 

SPONSORS

www.fundsforwriters.com/advertising 

FINE PRINT

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C. Hope Clark
E-mail: [email protected]
140-A Amicks Ferry Road #4
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ISSN: 1533-1326

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