TOP SPONSOR 

BUT DO THEY WANT YOU?

An unexpected after-effect of COVID-19 has been the shift of some of our population. After the virus spiraled into something we never expected and days turned into weeks then months, some misplaced folks made their temporary homes permanent. 

Personally, I have seen more New Jersey and New York plates in South Carolina nursing home parking lots. Here in the South, real estate sales are hopping from those escaping other states. We're about to put a freeze on public school enrollment in my area due to overcrowding. One of my personal interests is the local school district. 

In the political activity surrounding that district, I volunteered to hand out postcards (on porches and distanced, of course). One lovely lady asked that I bring her a stack to hand out to her neighbors. When I arrived, we went to her dock overlooking the lake just for the privilege of chatting. 

She was born and bred New Jersey. Me . . . pure South Carolina. The conversation quickly morphed into the cultural differences, and sadly, she wasn't happy. She'd never studied the South and its politics, food, religion, and so on, and moved to the state not realizing there'd be much of a difference. Both of us lonely from quarantine, we talked for three hours. 

She was saddened nobody took her advice to change to her side of so many issues. I was saddened by her frustration of thinking she had to. On my way home, I relished having a new friend but disliked her plight. She was strong in her beliefs, not overly keen on the fact that her neighbors were just as strong in theirs. 

When you write, and I mean anything, you have to think market. Nobody markets to everyone and everywhere. While you'd love to sell what you write to everybody, your work isn't suitable for everybody's taste. Do your homework. Not every bookstore wants your writing. Not every magazine is designed for your voice. Not every blog matches your style. Not every reader cares what you think.

My new friend can compromise, or move to where people are more like her, or settle on making no friends. As a writer, you can change your writing to a market, find a market that fits you, or not sell a thing. 

SUPER SPONSOR 

HOPE'S APPEARANCES

 
SUCCESS QUOTE

SUccess Story

Hello Hope!

It was through one of your listings that I applied for the Jeff Arch Fellowship for the 2020 Cape Cod Story Summit. I won! I submitted 1,500 from a screenplay as well as a one-page "about me" story and couldn't believe it when I got the call that I had been chosen as one of the 10 fellows! I will be attending the summit in late September and working with some of my heroes from the entertainment industry. Thank you so much for continuing to support us writers and listing opportunities. You rock! 

Best regards,
Stacey Powells
Mammoth Lakes, CA

- - - 




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

Use LinkedIn to Find Your Next Writing or Editing Job

By Dorit Sasson
 
Undoubtedly, LinkedIn is the work world’s primary search engine and yet most job seekers do not maximize it. Instead, they copy and paste their resume thinking someone might reach out to them. As a former introvert, I needed to manipulate LinkedIn if I wanted to prove my marketability. 
 
I have gotten assignments, requests for interviews and networking meetings, invitations to do presentations, calls for pitches, paid tests all through LinkedIn. It’s a gem of a free resource, but only if you know how to use it. 
 
Typical writing and editing jobs (remote, contracted, freelance) include:
•  white paper writer
•  freelance (digital/content) writer/editor
•  brand writer/editor
•  junior/senior copywriter/editor
•  SEO (content) writer
•  web writer
•  copywriter
•  blogger
•  communication specialist
•  creative writer
•  technical writer 

Use these insider tips to leverage your job search using one of the work world’s most undervalued search engines.
 
1. First, continually expand your professional network. The more contacts, the higher your visibility and credibility. Using the “people filter” add people to your network by niche, location company, 1st, and 2nd tiered connections. After a while LinkedIn will begin to make suggestions based on your searching history. 
 
2. Search jobs by position, location, company. Many companies outsource remote work to freelancers. Just do your due diligence and research that company. For example, in the search area of the upper left side enter the term [remote] [freelance] [copywriter] [New York City] alternative with any of the job titles above. You can then “save” or apply for the job in which case LinkedIn will pull in your profile information. Turning on search alerts will give you notifications to those jobs! The “All filters” options will provide additional ways to narrow down the search. 
 
3. Ask mutual connections who can make introductions on your behalf. This is what often gets me noticed!  
 
•  Apply for the job
•  Reach out to the hiring manager, director, recruiter, talent acquisition specialist and alert them to the fact you submitted an application
•  See if that same person has mutual contacts you can approach
•  Reach out to that contact and ask if they wouldn’t mind introducing you
•  Offer to send over a one-liner. Extract some of the details from your LinkedIn profile
 
4. Set up 1:1 coffee networking meeting either with or without the help of mutual contact. Insider conversations are gold and meeting professionals in real-life cuts the chase. Offer to meet these people either in their office or offer to buy them a cup of coffee. Typical insiders include CEOs, digital marketing officers or managers, marketing VPs, talent acquisitions or recruiters – basically, anyone who hires freelancers. 
 
Even if that company or organization isn’t hiring currently, I still pursue a meeting. Why? To show my marketability. You just never know when these places might be hiring in the future. 
 
Things I ask:
 
•  Do you know of any open writing/editing positions in my field of expertise? Any companies I might add? 
•  I’m not so well-connected in xxx industry or xx niche. With whom should I connect?
•  Are there particular areas within the agency or company that may be a good fit or perhaps openings for me to look out for the future?
•  Would you be able to look at my marketing plan and perhaps make an introduction to other employers that might be a good fit?
 
My marketing plan typically includes contact information, a professional objective, job titles I’m actively seeking, and names of dream companies and organizations which I’m constantly adding. Most recently, an insider I had met reached out to me with a lead. These meetings work! 
 
Yes, it can take a bit of practice to feel comfortable using the “LinkedIn ropes.” But when used intentionally and strategically, LinkedIn can be one of the most productive and profitable ways to find a freelance writing or editing job.

Bio - Dorit Sasson, award-winning author of Accidental Soldier and writer coach also supports authors and writers with her knowledge of keyword research and search engine optimization (SEO) so they can reach the right audiences. 






 

COmpetitions

PAGE ONE PRIZE
https://gutsygreatnovelist.com/page-one-prize/
$10 ENTRY FEE. Deadline June 23, 2020. Submit the first page of your novel-in-progress. First prize wins $200, a full year of Master Class, and free tuition for Writing Great Dialogue, an online masterclass. Second prize wins $75 and free tuition for Writing Great Dialogue. Submission are open internationally to any writer writing in English.



NORTH STREET BOOK PRIZE
https://winningwriters.submittable.com/submit/58270/north-street-book-prize-for-self-published-books
$65 ENTRY FEE. Deadline June 30, 2020. Winning Writers will award a grand prize of $5,000 in the Sixth A nnual North Street competition for self-published books. Choose from six categories: Mainstream/Literary Fiction, Genre Fiction, Creative Nonfiction & Memoir, Poetry, Children’s Picture Book, Graphic Novel & Memoir. A total of $12,500 will be awarded, and the top seven winners will receive additional benefits to help market their books. Any year of publication is eligible. 



CRISIS COVERAGE AWARDS
http://asja.org/crisis-coverage-awards-covid-19
$15-25 ENTRY FEE. Deadline July 3, 2020. Introducing the first-of-its-kind COVID-19 Writing Awards. Submission fees will be divided between CASH PRIZES, the Writers Emergency Assistance Fund (WEAF), and ASJA operations. There are several categories. All articles considered for an award must have been published in English between Jan. 1, 2020, and June 30, 2020. There is no limit on the number of articles that may be nominated, but each item may be nominated in only one category.



NEW MEASURE POETRY PRIZE
https://parlorpress.com/pages/new-measure-poetry-prize
$28 ENTRY FEE. Deadline June 1, 2020. A cash award of $1,000 and publication of an original, unpublished manuscript of poems. Up to four other manuscripts may be accepted for publication by Free Verse Editions editors. Submit a manuscript of at least 54 pages.



DARLING AXE FIRST PAGE CHALLENGE
https://darlingaxe.com/pages/first-page-challenge
$4.50 ENTRY FEE. Deadline September 30, 2020. The First Page Challenge is a writing contest for novelists. Hook us in a single double-spaced page for a chance to win a growing prize pool, plus publication on the Chopping Blog. Our judge, Michelle Barker, will be asking herself one question: how likely am I to turn this page and keep reading? Each entry contributes to the prize, so once we hit 40 entries, the prize pool grows. Up to 40 entries: $200 for first prize. At 60 entries: $200 for first prize, $100 for second prize. At 70 entries: $200 for first, $100 for second, $50 for third. Above 70: first place continues to increase – no limit!



HUXLEY CONTEST
https://literarytaxidermy.com/contest2020.html
$10 ENTRY FEE. Deadline June 4, 2020. The contest takes its opening and closing lines from Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. To participate, you must write a short story that starts and ends with the same opening and closing lines as Huxley's classic work. Limit 2,500 words. The author of the winning story in each contest will receive a $500 cash prize and a complimentary copy of the forthcoming 2020 Literary Taxidermy Anthology; runners-up will receive a $50 cash prize; and both the winner and runners-up will be published in the forthcoming 2020 Literary Taxidermy Anthology.



NEW AMERICAN FICTION PRIZE
http://newamericanpress.com/contests/fiction2020.php
$25 ENTRY FEE. Deadline June 15, 2020. Winner receives a publication contract, including a $1,500 advance, 25 author's copies, and promotional support. All full-length fiction manuscripts are welcome, including novels, novellas, collections of stories and/or novellas, novels in verse, linked collections, as well as full-length collections of flash fiction and short shorts. Full-length fiction manuscripts tend to be at least 100 pages. There is no maximum length.



OMNIDAWN POETRY CONTEST
http://omnidawn.com/contest/poetry-contests.htm
$18 ENTRY FEE. Deadline extended to June 30, 2020. This contest is open to all writers worldwide. We recommend submissions should be 20–40 pages of poetry, not including front and back matter. Open to all writers: no expectations or limits regarding the amount of poetry a writer has published. Winner receives $1,000, publication, and 100 copies.



FRACTURED LIT FLASH FICTION PRIZE
https://fracturedlit.com/current-prize/
$20 ENTRY FEE. Deadline June 28, 2020. We're excited to offer the winner of this prize $3,000 and publication, while the second and third place winners will receive publication and $300 and $200, respectively. Your reading fee allows up to two stories of 1,000 words or fewer each per entry. Flash Fiction only. 1,000 word count is maximum.

 

GRANTS / FELLOWSHIPS / CROWDFUNDING

THE CREATOR MARKET
https://creatorfund.ck.page/
ConvertKit has established a $50,000 fund to help creators in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. Please read details below and then submit your information if you are in need. We are providing financial assistance to active creators who are experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19. 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.



PHOENIX ARTS RELIEF FUNDS
https://www.phoenix.gov/arts/grants-program
Opens June 1, 2020. Visit the website on Monday, June 1, 2020, for more information or contact Sarah Leon Moreno, community investments and engagement director at [email protected]. The Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture will open an emergency relief grant for individual artists. This support would be for working artists, teaching artists, and artist-based contract workers who have experienced canceled events and residencies or terminated contracts as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Grants would be up to $1,500 and events, residencies, or contracts for which an individual is claiming lost income must have been scheduled to take place March 1, 2020, or later. 



VERMONT STUDIO CENTER FELLOWSHIPS
https://vermontstudiocenter.org/residencies
Deadline June 15, 2020. Each year, VSC offers 250 fellowships to artists and writers to attend a month-long residency. Residencies include a private room in modest, shared housing; 24-hour access to a private studio space in one of six medium-specific studio buildings; and three communal meals per day (plus fresh fruit, coffee/tea/cold beverages, and cereal available around the clock). Most residencies last a month, so sessions adhere to a four-week calendar; however, residencies may be scheduled in two-week increments ranging from two to twelve weeks if a shorter or longer stay better suits an applicant’s needs.



HEADLANDS CENTER FOR THE ARTS
http://www.headlands.org/program/air/
Deadline June 26, 2020. The Headlands Center for the Arts campus comprises a cluster of artist-rehabilitated military buildings just north of the Golden Gate Bridge at historic Fort Barry in the Marin Headlands, a part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The center’s programs support artists in all disciplines — from visual artists to performers, musicians, writers, and videographers — and provide opportunities for independent and collaborative creative work. Through the program, fully sponsored residencies that include a monthly stipend of $500 will be awarded to approximately 50 local, national, and international artists at the cutting edge of their fields whose work has the potential to impact the cultural landscape at large. Residencies run from four to ten weeks and include round-trip airfare, up to 2,000-square-foot studios, five chef-prepared meals per week, access to vehicles as well as basic woodshop; audio/video equipment; an artists’ library with computer, scanner, and printer; and field trips to Bay Area museums, galleries, and cultural venues. (Some possibility of holding 2020/21 applications for 2022 consideration depending on COVID.)



THE STUDIOS OF KEY WEST
https://tskw.org/residency-about/
Deadline June 8, 2020. We have extended our residency deadline to June 8 to give artists a little more time to complete their applications for residencies falling between October 2020 and August 2021. While we will be postponing some of this year’s residencies until next season, we will also be selecting and placing new artists from our batch of current applications. Because we expect a drop in applications this year, we anticipate that the process will be no more competitive than in prior years (and perhaps even less competitive) regarding the ratio of spots available vs. overall applicants. If, for some reason, an artist is awarded a residency this year but conditions prohibit them from joining us next season, their residency will rollover and will be rescheduled at a time when travel/residencies are possible. The Studios offers a residency program for emerging and established artists and writers designed to encourage creative, intellectual and personal growth. The program grants nearly 35 artists each year the time and space to imagine new artistic work, engage in valuable dialogue and explore island connections.

 

FREELANCE MARKETS / JOBS

CHICKEN SOUP SEVERAL TITLES
https://www.chickensoup.com/story-submissions/possible-book-topics
Cats - Deadline November 30, 2020.
Making Me Time - Deadline September 30, 2020.
Miracles and Divine Intervention - August 31, 2020.
Accepted stories must be first-person nonfiction with 1,200 words or less. Payment is $200 and ten copies of the book.



LONGREADS
https://longreads.com/2020/05/18/essay-pitching-guidelines/
Recently we’ve undergone some budget cuts due to the Coronavirus pandemic and some other changes. As a result, we’re publishing fewer pieces than we used to and selecting most of those based on whether they fit within a few specific series we’ve developed. The pieces should be roughly 2,500 to 5,000 words. We pay $500 per piece. Topics are Life in the Time of COVID, What I Did for Love, Down to Earth, and Fine Lines: Writing About Age.



FRACTURED LIT FLASH AND MICRO
https://fracturedlit.com/submit/
Fractured Lit publishes Micro and Flash Fiction from writers of any background or experience. Both Micro and Flash categories are open year-round and we do not charge any submission fees. We pay our authors $50 for original Micro Fiction and $75 for original Flash Fiction. Micro Fiction for Fractured Lit is 400 words or less. Flash Fiction is 401-1,000 words.



CITYLAB
https://www.citylab.com/pitch-guidelines/
We’re interested in the challenges and complexities of city life in the 21st century, in communities both big and small. We want stories from where you are that are interesting, relevant, and meaningful to people everywhere. We invite you to share your expertise and to help fill our blind spots. CityLab stories span a number of topics, from transit to climate change. Check out our different channels: Design, Transportation, Equity, Environment, and Life. Per WhoPaysWriters.com, average pay is 29 cents/word.



BEE CULTURE
https://www.beeculture.com/write-us/
Bee Culture has a constant demand for articles on bees and beekeeping, pollination and honey plants, garden and forest management for bees, and a wide variety of related topics. With over 100 pages for most issues, we generally run 15–16 articles, all averaging 1,000-2,000 words. About a third to half are submitted by outside writers. Proposals should be about 200 words or less, with one or two photos for demonstration if you think they are needed, all via email. Unsolicited regular or feature articles, between 1,500-2,000 words pays roughly $150-$200, including photos (more on negotiation).  



TRAVELERS' TALES
https://travelerstales.com/submission-guidelines/
Thank you for your inquiry and interest in submitting your personal nonfiction essay for consideration in one of our anthologies. We’re looking for personal, nonfiction stories and anecdotes-funny, illuminating, adventurous, frightening, or grim. Stories should reflect that unique alchemy that occurs when you enter unfamiliar territory and begin to see the world differently as a result. Shorter stories have a better chance of being accepted. Travelers’ Tales offers a $100 honorarium for stories of any length published in print editions of our books. 

 

Publishers/agents

COFFEE HOUSE PRESS
https://coffeehousepress.org/pages/submissions
Coffee House Press publishes literary novels, full-length short story collections, poetry, creative nonfiction, book-length essays, and essay collections. CHP does not accept submissions of anthologies or books for children or young adults. Note that they have reading periods, and their current period is closed. Sign up for updates on their website for when they open again.



FERAL PRESS
https://feralhouse.com/about-us/
Feral House has been publishing innovative and celebrated nonfiction books since 1989. Movies have been made, cultural trends influenced, and political crimes exposed by our small, independent press. Feral House and Process Media, publisher on topics of esoteric interests and distinctive voices, is a formidable force in independent publishing and often the first and definitive source for documenting important cultural movements.  We feel that stories about and written by members of marginalized communities are interesting and essential to ALL readers. Considers memoir, biography, music, history, self-reliance, realpolitik, true crime, mysticism & occult, children, and good historical fiction. We have specific interest in stories about the African-American foremothers of rock-n-roll, African-American experiences in the post-Civil War Western US, historic Latinx contributors to American film and music, the history of Queer-core punk, feminist foremothers, stories of African-American cults, and forgotten uprisings like the Red Summer of 1919 and the political environment that gave rise to it. 



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. If you have a manuscript that you would like us to take a look at, please send a query to the attention of Robert Lasner, Editor-in-Chief. If we are interested, we will contact you. 



BENBELLA PUBLISHING
https://www.benbellabooks.com/for-authors/#pitching
BenBella Books is a publishing boutique that publishes around 40 books a year, is very selective in what it acquires, and works with great diligence to publish each book to its maximum potential. We are actively acquiring strong nonfiction manuscripts. We are not looking for fiction at this time. We pay advances in the range of $5,000 to $20,000 for most books, but for books we really want, we offer profit-sharing deals with extraordinary upside. For all of our books, we pay standard big-house royalties or better, including full royalties on most special sales and author sales. We are strong marketers, and each of our books has a customized marketing plan and approach. 
 

SPONSORS

www.fundsforwriters.com/advertising 

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]
140-A Amicks Ferry Road #4
Chapin, SC 29036
http://www.fundsforwriters.com

Copyright 2000-2020, C. Hope Clark
ISSN: 1533-1326

**Note that FundsforWriters.com places paid advertising in this newsletter, ALL ads being related to writers and the business of writing, screened by FundsforWriters to make sure the information is suitable for writers and their endeavors to improve their careers. But the mailing list is not sold to third parties. You will not receive this newsletter without your permission. It's physically impossible since recipients must opt-in, giving us permission to send the newsletter. If at any time you no longer with to receive the newsletter, click the UNSUBSCRIBE link at the bottom of each newsletter. We want you to enjoy this newsletter at your pleasure, not be forced to read anything you do not wish to receive. The website is not advertised using unsolicited messages by Aweber, affiliates or other third parties. Direct any complaints, suggestions, and accolades to Hope Clark at [email protected]. We are an anti-spam site.