TOP SPONSOR 

FREE LIVE MASTERCLASS

3 Shifts Women Writers Need to Make: How to Finish Your Nonfiction Book!

Ensure you have the right foundation to support accomplishing this huge goal. 

During this live masterclass you will learn:  

• The importance of identifying your WHY—the vision you have for yourself and the big reason behind writing your book

• How to set manageable, realistic, achievable writing goals for yourself.

• Why you need to protect your schedule and probably don't need as much time to write as you think.

• My philosophy for establishing a holistic approach to getting a book done (hint: it doesn't include hours-long writing sessions or plowing through to get pages written).

Click here to register.

WHEN YOU TALK TO PEOPLE. . . 

When you open a discussion with someone, do you lead with "Once upon a time I lived in Michigan. I was twenty-four. I was working at the mall and was trying to figure out my life."

No. BIG YAWN. You don't start with the backstory. Frankly, I'd bet you'd be embarrassed to start with the backstory, because you know before you spit out the words that nobody really cares. 

No. You start with some sort of energy, because after all, you want someone to listen to you. 

"On the way home from work, a car sideswiped the van in front of me, running us all off the road!"

"In my first job I found myself in a room full of people twice my age, and without notice the boss asked me to sing because his wife heard me in the restroom."

What do you lead with? Do you lead with the action or the introduction that put you in that position?

When figuring out how to write a story, imagine yourself telling it aloud at a party. Which do you think will work best? Same goes for the written word, whether you're talking novel, nonfiction, or a magazine piece. People expect writers to tell the story the best way. . . from the beginning. 

SUPER SPONSOR 

NICKIE'S PRIZE FOR HUMOR WRITING
Deadline: Aug. 1

The University of Dayton's Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop is seeking essays from a diversity of authors of all experience levels for Nickie’s Prize for Humor Writing. Essayists, authors, bloggers  — anyone with a hilarious, touching story — is invited to submit a humorous essay about their sister.

In the spirit of Erma Bombeck, the tone can be humorous, absurd, offbeat, quirky or fun in a smart way. All previously unpublished material no longer than 1,000 words will be considered, including pieces that expand on the theme, such as a close friend who’s like a sister.

Up to 20 winners will receive a $300 cash prize each. The best essays will be published online, with the possibility of being included in a future anthology.

Application fee: $25.

Read the announcement, guidelines, FAQs — and apply here.

 

HOPE'S APPEARANCES

 
SUCCESS QUOTE

SUccess Story

Hope,

With your inspiration I continue to write and find venues for publishing through your newsy website. Recently I published a children's picture book with my writing group the TWINKYs. We met while taking creative poetry classes in the OLLI program at University of North Florida and have continued meeting bi-monthly for ten years. Our book DO YOU KNOW ME? POEMS ABOUT THE SEA features rhyming riddles and colorful illustrations about 16 marine animals. We included science facts, a glossary, and information about conservation. The journey from writing poems to seeing our book in print has been a learning experience of over 18 months, but the baby has been birthed. 

Thanks,
Lucille "Lucy" Giardino Cortese
http://www.twinkybooksjax.com

Lucy's goal is to invoke the entire spectrum of human emotions in the reader: longing to laughter, pain to promise, despair to discernment. Her articles are published in Jacksonville Business Journal, AARP, Guideposts and Folio Weekly in addition to Guideposts, Canticle, Grandparents Day, Family Tree, St. Augustine Catholic and Liguorian magazines.


- - - 




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 Get Two (or More) Assignments Out of One

By Rachel Carrington

Building a career as a freelance writer takes more than talent and tenacity. While editors seek superbly written articles and essays, it’s what you do after publication that can make the most impression, leading additional assignments or acceptances. 

I have a strategy that has worked for me for the past year. These five easy steps have given me the opportunity to write more than one article for the same publication and have also opened doors to other publications. 

1. Share published work with your social media network. While publications have built-in audiences, you should also do your part to reach readers in your own sphere. Make sure to tag the publication so they’ll know you actively promote what you’ve written. 

Additionally, if you have a website, you should also list your publications. I have been asked for a list of previously published articles and having it prepared came in handy. 

2. Pay attention to social media comments. My most recent publication about having an invisible disability stirred up a hornet’s nest and brought out strong opinions on the topic. After studying the comments, I immediately pitched a follow-up article to the publication that would allow me to address the issues. The article was accepted. 

Reading comments also gave me several more ideas for additional pieces I can submit to the same publication as well as articles for other avenues. 

3. When you (or the publisher) has shared your article on social media, interact with everyone who retweets, likes, or shares your content. Get a conversation started. The conversation can spark an idea for another idea as well as possibly provide you with an expert to reference. 

Also, connecting with people online is a great way to spread word-of-mouth and build your social media platform. 

4. Use what you’ve written to pitch a separate publication. For instance, I sold a blog post to Rooted in Rights, which is a disability advocacy blog. I had previously sold an essay to You and Me Medical Magazine. Based on those two sales, I queried Hope at FundsforWriters about writing through life’s challenges. The article was accepted. 

Additionally, because I’d had success with those two outlets, which are similar in nature, I was also able to sell a success story to Writers Weekly. 

5. After you’ve written for a publication a few times and become familiar with many of the articles on the site or in the magazine, ask the editor if there is any specific topic they’d like covered. Maybe they’re getting tons of queries about one subject and none about another. I wrote almost a dozen articles for one site before asking the editor if she needed more in another area. She was quick to give me suggestions that enabled me to sell five more articles to her. 

Keep in mind, though, that how you approach an editor in this instance is important. Make sure it’s an editor you’ve worked with several times and that you have developed a dialogue with. You don’t want to email an editor out of the blue and ask for topic ideas. 

Getting an article published is an accomplishment, but with a little extra effort, you can increase your chances for more assignments and develop an even stronger professional relationship with editors and publications. 

BIO - Rachel Carrington has been writing for over 35 years and has been published in both nonfiction and fiction. She also teaches fiction writing classes for Women on Writing. Find her on the web at www.rachelcarrington.com and follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @rcarrington2004. 

 

COmpetitions

THE MOTH NATURE WRITING PRIZE
https://www.themothmagazine.com/a1-page.asp?ID=8343&page=26
€15 ENTRY FEE. Deadline September 15, 2020. The Moth Nature Writing Prize aims to encourage and celebrate the art of nature writing. It will be awarded to an unpublished piece of prose fiction or nonfiction or poetry which best combines exceptional literary merit with an exploration of the writer’s relationship with the natural world. The prize is open to anyone over the age of 16, as long as the work is original and previously unpublished. The winning piece will be published in the winter issue of The Moth, and the winner will receive €1,000 and a week-long stay at The Moth Retreat in rural Ireland.



DAISY PETTLES WOMEN'S WRITING CONTEST
https://daisypettleswritingcontest.com/womens-writing-residency-application/
Here’s your chance to use your goddess-given writing talent to “win” a month of free rent and utilities, and a $1,000 cash grant, while living in a beautiful, peaceful, vintage 1920s arts and crafts bungalow and writer’s retreat house. PLUS — Two First Runner Up Awards of $250 Cash, with a Winner’s Certificate of Achievement, and an offer of residency if Grand Prize Winners can’t accept their prize. PLUS — Two Second Runner Up Awards of $100, and a Winner’s Certificate of Achievement. Published or unpublished, all women writers, age 40 or older, are eligible. The only writing format not currently supported is poetry because the program does not currently have judges and criteria for that category.



SAINTS AND SINNERS SHORT FICTION CONTEST
https://tennesseewilliamsfestival.submittable.com/submit/158472/sas-fiction-contest-2020-2021
$20 ENTRY FEE. Deadline October 2, 2020. One grand prize of $500 and two second-place prizes of $100 will be awarded. In addition, the top stories will be published in an anthology from Bold Strokes Books. There will also be a book release party and reading held during the 18th annual Saints and Sinners Literary Conference in New Orleans in March of 2021. A list of the top ten finalists will be posted on our website and in our e-newsletter. The winner will be selected from submissions of original, unpublished short stories between 3,000 and 7,000 words with LGBT content on the broad theme of “Saints and Sinners.” 



SASFEST POETRY CONTEST
https://tennesseewilliamsfestival.submittable.com/submit
$15 ENTRY FEE. Deadline October 16, 2020. One grand prize of $500 and two second place prizes of $100 will be awarded. A list of the top ten finalists will be posted on our website and in our e-newsletter. Finalists will be published in the first-ever Saints and Sinners poetry Chapbook to be distributed at a special reading at the 2021 Festival. The contest is open to all LGBTQ+ writers. Authors who have published in other genres are eligible. Please submit original, unpublished work that has not won other prizes or contests. Submit two to four original, unpublished poems of any style based on our theme of LOVE, written in English, with a combined length of up to 400 lines.



PERSEVERANCE SHORT STORY CONTEST
https://www.bardsy.com/outreach/current_rules
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline August 26, 2020. Write a short story of 1,200-3,000 words about dreams. As always, interpret the prompt in any way you wish. You can explore a specific dream, dreams in general, how a dream impacted a character, or how life impacted a dream. The only thing we ask of you is to avoid cliches, such as having a whole story be a dream, with the character waking up at the end. Too easy! The winner will be awarded the Dreamcatcher, $345, and a free, six-month placement in our Elite Writers' Program. The winning author will also be showcased on the site, and their story and bio may be featured in other promotions (pursuant to terms and conditions). The prize will be awarded to the story that in the view of our judge(s) nurtures the readers' interest while demonstrating the principles of good storytelling, as presented in our self-paced course: BETTER STORYTELLING.



FLASH ODYSSEY
https://themolotovcocktail.com/flash-odyssey/
$8 ENTRY FEE. Deadline August 10, 2020. Why, yes, a “concise epic voyage” does sound contradictory, but that just makes Flash Odyssey a contest befitting these baffling, paradoxical times. Even more so considering that many of us have scrapped travel plans for 2020 (hell, we’ve been milking the same tank of gas since March), what better way to snap out of hibernating and escape our mutual isolation than through stories that take us places. Travel lies at the crux of Flash Odyssey. Simply put, your entry must include movement from one place to another, some sort of literal or figurative journey. Go all literary or full-on genre with it. Or better yet, hit that sweet spot somewhere in the middle. Our dream destination will always be vivid imagery and compelling language. $300 for Flash Odyssey winner. $150 for second place. $75 for third place. We also give mad respect to fourth-tenth place, publishing them in our Flash Odyssey mega-issue and in a future print anthology, with contributor copy included. All submissions must absolutely be under 1,000 words, and we tend to look kindlier on 750 or fewer. 



JOAN RAMSEYER MEMORIAL POETRY CONTEST
https://bramseyer.wordpress.com/joan-ramseyer-memorial-poetry-contest/
$10 ENTRY FEE. Deadline August 7, 2020. First place – $400, second place – $200, third place – $100. The winning poem(s) must move the soul in a memorable and accessible way. Say something profound, connecting, inclusive, or kind. Limit one page with one-inch margins. Single spaced.

 

GRANTS / FELLOWSHIPS / CROWDFUNDING

GOTHAM WRITERS MANUSCRIPT-TO-MARKET FELLOWSHIP
https://gothamwriters.submittable.com/submit/169720/gotham-writers-manuscript-to-market-fellowship
Deadline September 8, 2020. The Gotham “Manuscript-to-Market” Fellowship is open to people of color who have completed a book manuscript (or nonfiction book proposal) and are ready to go to market with their book. Three fellowships will be offered every year. Each fellowship includes admittance to the Gotham Writers Conference—the panels and presentations as well as a seat at a pitching roundtable with two agents in your genre, the Gotham course How to Get Published or Nonfiction Book Proposal, and a one-on-one Agent Evaluation session and a  Query Letter Coaching session, both with a literary agent. The next Gotham Writers Conference happens October 16-18, 2020 on Zoom. 



DEEP VELLUM EMERGENCY FUND FOR TEXAS LITERARY ARTISTS
https://www.lonestarliterary.com/content/deep-vellum-awards-43-emergency-grants-texas-writers
The grants are intended to assist Texas writers with short-term financial needs, and Deep Vellum already has plans to begin fundraising for a second round of the Emergency Fund grant since the economic fallout will continue to negatively impact writers through the rest of 2020 and beyond. 



HOSKING HOUSES TRUST
https://hoskinghouses.co.uk/wp/how-to-apply/
We offer older women writers' residencies in Church Cottage where they are able to pursue their own work in domestic peace without interruption. Many of these residencies also carry bursaries. Under our section Purposes and Policy we describe the criteria whereby we appoint writers, what we offer which includes bursaries, also duration of residencies and obligations in return. Tell us why you want a residency; do you need time and privacy or have you financial, personal, housing or medical needs or are you just tired? Applicants from outside the UK and Ireland are received but there must be a valid reason to justify a visit, such as study or attendance at a conference. Location Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, UK.



MARY C. CURTIS FELLOWSHIP
http://www.wellstoneredwoods.org/mary-c-curtis-fellowship/
At Wellstone Center in the Redwoods we’ve mostly hosted writers working on books, fiction and memoir, but this can also be a good spot to make a big push on a book proposal. Two weeks of focus in a tranquil, beautiful corner of California has its plus sides especially for longtime adrenaline fiends used to powering through deadlines but not as used to unpacking a deeper perspective. Mary’s still working on her book, part memoir and part social history, new chapters keep presenting themselves all the time, and we’ll help spread the word when it appears. In 2020 we’re inaugurating a two-week fellowship in Mary’s name here at our small writers’ retreat center in Northern California, specifically for an African American journalist with a minimum of five years' experience looking to spend two weeks intensively working on a proposal for a well-developed book project. 

 

FREELANCE MARKETS / JOBS

(THANKS....some of these markets came from www.makealivingwriting.com )

 
A LIST APART
https://alistapart.com/about/contribute/
You may submit a rough draft, a partial draft, or a short pitch (a paragraph or two summarizing your argument and why it matters to our readers) paired with an outline. We publish articles of anywhere between 600–2,500 words, depending on subject complexity. About 1,500 words is average. A List Apart (ISSN: 1534-0295) explores the design, development, and meaning of web content, with a special focus on web standards and best practices.



BENCH
http://bench.co/blog/
The Bench Blog helps entrepreneurs better manage their finances, grow their businesses, and achieve financial independence. Through original, in-depth content, we aim to help small business owners make sense of complex issues related to SMB financial management. Length should be a minimum of 1,000 words (unless the topic doesn’t call for it), but articles 2,000+ words in length are accepted. Our readership is comprised of US-based small business owners across a variety of industries.



ENGADGET
http://www.engadget.com 
Engadget is the original home for technology news and reviews. Since our founding in 2004, we've grown from an exhaustive source for consumer tech news to a global multimedia organization covering the intersection of technology, gaming and entertainment. Today, Engadget hosts the archives and expertise of early digital publishing players like Joystiq, TUAW and gdgt, and produces the internet's most compelling videos, reviews, features, and breaking news about the people, products and ideas shaping our world.



GIZMODO
https://gizmodo.com/how-to-pitch-gizmodo-and-io9-1819155900
Gizmodo, io9, and Earther always welcome feature pitches from writers. We’re looking for features about technology, science, science fiction, our planet, and the internet. Gizmodo is a news and opinion website about gadgets, technology, science, environmental news, entertainment, and culture. From reviews of the latest phones, TVs, laptops, shows, and movies to the latest news about privacy, tech and environmental policy, and labor, we aim to cover the worlds of technology, science, and entertainment with transparency, accuracy, humor, and blunt honesty.



THE VERGE
https://www.theverge.com/write-for-the-verge
The Verge covers the ways that technology and science are changing the way we live. Our stories go through a collaborative and thorough editorial process, and writers are paid at competitive rates. We try to respond to every pitch, but if you don’t hear back within a few weeks, please follow up or resubmit. A good pitch contains a story, a narrative backbone. Pitches should clearly and concisely convey the story you plan to write and why it matters. 



ROCK & GEM
https://www.rockngem.com/writers-guidelines/
Rock & Gem is particularly interested in field trip and step-by-step lapidary project articles. We also accept articles pertaining to general specimen collecting topics, gold prospecting, club activities, basic and advanced lapidary skills, and lapidary artist profiles, and articles that educate beginning rock collectors or lapidaries, and promote active participation in the hobby. Rock & Gem pays $250 for a full-length feature article, which consists of 2,000 to 3,000 words, plus eight to ten quality, high-resolution photos and a list of full-sentence, informative captions. Articles under 2,000 words may be used at the editor’s discretion, and at a lower rate of compensation.



NATIONAL WILDLIFE
https://www.nwf.org/Magazines/National-Wildlife/Writer-Guidelines
National Wildlife® magazine is published by the National Wildlife Federation, the largest private conservation group in the United States. Our readers include people concerned about the environment who appreciate the drama and beauty of all wildlife, both plant and animal. Interesting, relevant, provocative and sometimes challenging articles on the following subjects: environmental and wildlife issues, wildlife profiles, species status reports, personal adventures, personality profiles, scientific trends, essays, how-tos, relationships between people and land, gee-whiz features, wildlife art, underwater and historical pieces. Our articles generally run from 500 words for shorter department pieces to 2,500 words for some major features. Payments vary depending on experience but begin at $1.50 a word. Buys all rights.


 

Publishers/agents

THE BINDERY
https://www.thebinderyagency.com/
We work closely with authors to set ambitious goals, shape their book ideas, polish content, and build a strategy, long before anything goes to a book editor or publisher for review. Put simply, we guide authors through every step of the publishing process, from inspiration to bookshelf. Currently, we represent authors in the categories of General Nonfiction, Commercial Fiction, Religion, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Biography & Memoir, Pop Culture, Business & Leadership, Spiritual Growth, Christian Spirituality, and more.



FLETCHER AND COMPANY
https://fletcherandco.com/team/
Fletcher & Company is a full-service literary management company that works with writers and creators across a variety of nonfiction, commercial and literary fiction.



FRANCES GOLDIN AGENCY
https://goldinlit.com/about/
The agency continues to build on its foundational principles of fiercely advocating thought-provoking literature and the finest fiction and nonfiction. We extend our representation all over the globe and across all media today: our subsidiary rights department handles foreign, audio, film and television rights. In addition, we are actively involved in finding new digital opportunities for our clients and in helping to develop their online and social media presence to meet the challenges of modern publishing.



THE LOTTS AGENCY
http://www.lottsagency.com/sub-guidelines
Christ Lotts - Handles adult science fiction and fantasy, mostly skewing upmarket, and am also interested in hard-edged, innovative crime novels and thrillers; strong commercial writing is the most important criteria. Lara Lea Allen - Looking for upmarket commercial fiction across all genres. Mot looking for straightforward romance. For nonfiction, prefers unusual histories (like COD) and pop culture narratives, including humor, though not celebrity bios or memoirs. No business, lifestyle, self-help or cookbooks.

 

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

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