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SOUND BYTE OVERLOAD

Yes, I've reached that point. I imagine many of you have as well. I actually read less email because of this overload, because if I see these topics in the subject line, I delete.

COVID or CDC
Podcast/video/Zoom/virtual
How to work at home
Politics about anything
Protests about anything
Travel anywhere

And when I cut those out of my email, I'm left with the actual messages from readers, fans, other writers, friends, and relations. Usually. I'm left with the humanity I wish to remain in my immediate world. Life has simplified, and I mean extremely so. 

Have I totally removed myself from the world? No. But I've carefully selected what I wish to be involved in. I'm engaged in the local school board, attempting to overturn it with fresh people in November. As a result, I've volunteered to assist with running a Facebook page that helps inform parents how to navigate the craziness of sending children back to school. Out of our little district, we've gathered 2,800 members. Vote in November!

And I write novels, and I publish FundsforWriters. I connect with family best I can. I read a poem by Mary Oliver (love her) about trees, and since my life has slowed so much, I allowed it to touch me. Beautiful. 

I enjoy my husband; we eat dinner on the porch. We feed deer in the yard each evening. We pick the garden and talk to the chickens daily. The dogs sit in our laps while we talk plot for the current book I'm writing. 

Yes, I understand there are essential people out there who are exhausted. I appreciate you immensely. I hope I do not have to use you so that your workload is one body less. And I wish you some place in your life where you can make peace with it all. Give yourself that gift.

But when it comes to email? Delete those posts that try to speed up your world or make it noisier than you need. Like I have. 

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..."treated to one of the most melodic and soothing voices that I had yet to experience" by Kay with KayBee’s Bookshelf

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Have your book turned into an audio book...

An audio created as a Retail audio sample to use for your publicity

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for more information & to contact me about your project, please follow this link's pathway

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HOPE'S APPEARANCES

 
SUCCESS QUOTE

SUccess Story

Hi Hope,

As a long-time reader and occasional contributor to your newsletter, I'd like to thank you for your valuable advice and market listings.

My story about our adorable rescue dog Kamu appears in the newly published Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Magic of Dogs.

Kamu is enjoying his fifteen minutes of fame. But in case I try to claim some of the credit for the story, he reminds me I'm the one who has to follow him with a plastic bag.

Best wishes,
Mary Cook


- - - 


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

A Letter to a Friend and Fellow Writer

By C. Hope Clark

Tom - 

Let's put this into perspective. 

Yes, it's difficult to sit across the table from your friend and be exposed to his success while you struggle. Hearing how much he pays for editors and the travel he's able to do is difficult. But your friend didn't start off hiring line editors for $7,000 when he entered the business. You are not at his level. And you have to think about why you are writing. 

Yes, the world is crazily glutted with books. Self-publishing and Amazon upset the apple cart and upended the entire business. Competition is incredibly difficult and keeps getting worse. Thinking about being a writer isn't enough. You have to hunger for it.

It used to be that one could write a book as a hobby and post it out there, maybe with a blog or mediocre online presence, and make a few thousand dollars with minimal effort. Now it's a very feast or famine environment. Platform is everything. There are too many writers and not enough readers, and the writers themselves hardly ever read. 

Self-publishing pioneers are eating their young, in my opinion. Literary agents are snobbier than before. And publishers are running in circles wondering what the hell to do with the number of readers diminishing and Amazon and self-publishing eroding their livelihoods. 

In my humble opinion, for what it's worth, after watching and participating in this mess for 20 years, I believe there will continue to be room for the self-published and the traditional. But both fall under four categories:

1) The brilliant writers. Not the good, but the brilliant born with exceptional talent who will find their spot. An agent will snatch them up in a heartbeat and find them a home. The odds are in their favor.

2) The seniors. Those who found an agent and publisher before this messy publishing environment, and they've been able to ride those laurels above it all. Not that they don't continue to write and publish and do well. They just were able to break into the business differently, way back when, which could've been no more than 15 years ago. 

3) The hobbyists. Regardless of how loudly they proclaim themselves, they are doing this for a hobby. They would like to make money, but they aren't willing to go all the way in terms of understanding the market, investing in editors, finding the best agent, developing a brand, finding a platform. They read about it, but do not do it.

4) The blood and sweat authors. They work hard to seek a tribe, and they cater to that tribe. Writers making any sort of reliable income from writing fall into this category. They are grooming their readership, making appearances, and keeping more work in production. They could be bringing home $10,000 a year or $200,000 a year. They aren't trying to be nationally-ranked, NYTimes authors, but if they land an agent or publicist that gets them there, they'll take it. On the other hand they might be self-published, and are so geek connected that they adore algorithms and advertising research, spending as much time managing data as they do writing. 

The blood and sweat authors find their niche and groom it, making it their world. I am not making big money from my novels. A chunk of my income comes from FundsforWriters advertising and affiliates. My name gains me access to speaking and conferences. BUT. . .I have a tribe that loves my stories. And with each new book release, they tell others, and those new people suddenly want to read all I've written. I was told by a very wise publisher a long long time ago that that's how the mid-list author makes a living. The long-tail approach. 

Now, your friend chose audiobooks. He's apparently made enough to afford $7,000 line edits. Kudos for him. But if there's anything I've learned in this industry, it's that no two authors are the same. They don't write the same, market the same, edit the same, do anything the same. And we don't all start off with top-tier agents and $7,000 editors. I'll bet your friend has changed agents. And I bet he's opened his own doors, and he's had some slammed in his face. But how did he start? Probably not unlike you. (And I truly wonder how much he's making from his books since he's traditional with an agent.)

And I would ask him if he was having fun and enjoying himself, bringing me around to my opening to you. You have to think about why you are writing. 

I love my stories and my characters, and I hope I never have to stop writing. What are you hoping to gain from your writing? 

Don't let the neon of other writers blind you, my friend. When all is said and done, what do you wish to take away from your writing. And it all starts with setting your own goal of what body of work you'd like to be remembered by. That you also enjoyed producing. 

Ask him for advice. I hope you did. But make sure you don't get lost in someone else's world in an attempt to build your own. 

Sorry I got all philosophical, but I see this so very much. We have to find our place. That's a human being's burning desire. Too many people think it has to be equal to someone else's instead of carving out their own. 

Love,
Hope



 

COmpetitions

NONFICTION STEAM ARTICLE CONTEST
https://instituteforwriters.lpages.co/icl-nf-stem-article-contest/
$19 ENTRY FEE. Deadline August 31, 2020. STEAM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) is a big part of elementary school curriculum today. As such, teachers and parents are looking for resources to engage kids with those topics. This contest is your chance to write a nonfiction STEAM article suitable for a children's magazine such as Ask, Fun for Kidz, or Spider. Appeal to kids who are curious about how the world works when you craft your 500-word article that will capture a child's imagination. Your article should combine or integrate two or more of these disciplines. Your audience is aged seven to nine and your article should be previously unpublished. First prize $1,000. Second prize $200. Third prize $100. Entries should be no more 500 words. 



GEMINI FLASH FICTION CONTEST
http://gemini-magazine.com/flashcomp.html
$6 ENTRY FEE. Deadline August 31, 2020. First prize $1,000. Second prize $100. Four honorable mentions of $25. All six finalists will be published online on the October 2020 issue. Open to any subject, style, or genre. Limit 1,000 words.



SELF-PUBLISHED EBOOK AWARDS
https://www.writersdigest.com/writers-digest-competitions/self-published-ebook-awards
$99 ENTRY FEE. Early bird deadline August 17, 2020. 
$125 ENTRY FEE. Regular deadline September 21, 2020. 
Writer’s Digest’s 8th Annual Self-Published E-book Awards honors the best self-published e-book(s) in eight of the most popular categories with $5,000 in cash, a featured interview in Writer’s Digest magazine, and a paid trip to the ever-popular Writer’s Digest Annual Conference in New York City. In addition to $13,000 in total cash prizes, all entrants will receive a brief commentary on their work from one of Writer’s Digest’s judges.



SUNSPOT INCEPTION PRIZE
https://sunspotlit.submittable.com/submit/169632/inception-250-for-prose-poetry-or-art-opening
$5 ENTRY FEE. Deadline September 30, 2020. For Sunspot Lit’s 2020 Inception contest, send your best opening. There are no restrictions on theme, category, or the length of the piece or collection from which the beginning comes. Word limit is 250 for prose, 25 words for poetry. Prize: $250 cash, publication for the winner, publication offered to runners-up and finalists. In addition to receiving the cash prize, the winner will be published. Select finalists will have the chance to be published. Sunspot asks for first rights only; all rights revert to the contributor after publication.



CHICAGOLAND POETRY CONTEST
https://www.poetsandpatrons.net/chicagoland-poetry-contest
$12-15 ENTRY FEE. Deadline September 1, 2020. Prizes $50, $30, $20, plus three Honorable Mentions in each category, except for Category 1 which has a grand prize of $300. Members and persons living within 100 miles of Chicago may enter all categories. Other poets may enter only categories 1–13. Poems must be in English, unpublished, and not under consideration for publication elsewhere. Line limit: 60 lines (counting epigraph, section numbers and blank lines between stanza, if any). Miniature poem: 12 lines. 



EX OPHIDIA PRESS POETRY BOOK PRIZE
http://exophidiapress.org/Ex_Ophidia_Press/Ex_Ophidia_Poetry_Prize.html
$25 ENTRY FEE. Deadline August 31, 2020. The winning author shall receive a $1,000 cash prize, book publication, and 15 author copies. The finalists: In addition to the winner, there will be nine finalists. Open to all English-language authors worldwide (of any age, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation) for a previously unpublished book of poetry.



KENNETH PATCHEN AWARD
https://www.experimentalfiction.com/news/kenneth-patchen-award/
$25 ENTRY FEE. Deadline August 31, 2020. A prize of $1,000 and book publication by Journal of Experimental Fiction and JEF Books is given annually for an innovative novel. 



POST A TIKTOK OF YOUR PERFORMANCE OF A POEM BY A LIVING IRISH POET
http://www.munsterlit.ie/
NO ENTRY FEE. Produce a TikTok video (up to 60 seconds) of yourself performing a poem by a living Irish poet (you must fit the entire poem in the video, so short poems are best). The poet must be living, Irish, with at least one book published. Posts must include the hashtag #MLCPoetryChallenge and the video must include, either spoken or in text, the name of the poet and title of the poem. In November we will choose what we think are the ten best and upload them on our YouTube channel. We will pay €200 to the maker of each video we repost on YouTube and we will also pay €200 to the author of the poem used.



POEMS FROM PANDEMIA
http://www.munsterlit.ie/
€12 ENTRY FEE. Deadline August 31, 2020. We are looking for poems of hope or its lack which are about Covid-19 or a historical/ fantasy plague; poems that are autobiographical/confessional or surreal/allegorical. Selected poets will be paid €150. 



FOOL FOR POETRY INTERNATIONAL CHAPBOOK COMPETITION
https://www.munsterlit.ie/Fool%20for%20Poetry.html
€25 ENTRY FEE. Deadline August 31, 2020. First Prize: €1,000. Second Prize: €500. Both winners will win a chapbook publication and 25 complimentary copies. The winning poets are also offered a reading and three nights' accommodation at the Cork International Poetry Festival. The competition is open to new, emerging and established poets from any country. One of these winners will be the highest scoring manuscript entered by a poet with no solo collection (full-length or chapbook) previously published. Up to 25 other entrants will be publicly listed as "highly commended." Manuscripts can be between 16 and 24 pages in length, in the English language and the sole work of the entrant with no pastiches, translations or versions. The poems can be in verse or prose.



OFF THE GRID POETRY PRIZE
https://www.grid-books.org/off-the-grid-press
$25 ENTRY FEE. Deadline August 31, 2020. We are looking for work by poets over 60, ripened in craft and vision, and sufficiently energetic to promote their work through readings and networks. The winner will receive $1,000 and publication. Manuscripts must be typed, paginated, and at least 50 pages in length (single-spaced). 



LORIAN HEMINGWAY SHORT STORY COMPETITION
https://shortstorycompetition.com/
$15 ENTRY FEE. Deadline October 1, 2020. The first-place winner will receive $1,500 and publication of his or her winning story in Cutthroat: A Journal of the Arts. The second- and third-place winners will receive $500 each. Honorable mentions will also be awarded to entrants whose work demonstrates promise. Stories must be original unpublished fiction, typed and double-spaced, and may not exceed 3,500 words in length. There are no theme or genre restrictions. The literary competition is open to all U.S. and international writers whose fiction has not appeared in a nationally distributed publication with a circulation of 5,000 or more. 



CONISTON PRIZE FOR WOMEN POETS
https://www.radarpoetry.com/contest
$20 ENTRY FEE. Deadline September 1, 2020. Submit three to six previously unpublished poems in a single document through our submissions manager. This award recognizes an exceptional group of poems. We therefore suggest that you submit poems that are intentionally cohesive in some way, whether connected by subject matter, theme, voice, style, or imagery. The Coniston Prize is awarded to women poets. Any poet who identifies as a woman is eligible. The winner receives $1,500 and is featured in Radar's dedicated contest issue, which is released in October of each year. Finalists are also awarded publication.
 

GRANTS / FELLOWSHIPS / CROWDFUNDING

SOUTH CAROLINA HUMANITIES GRANTS MINOR GRANTS
https://schumanities.org/grants/howtoapply/
Mini Grants are to support public humanities programs of modest cost. Awards are $2,000 or less. Mini Grants are reviewed monthly with deadlines on the first business day of the month. 



NEW WORK NEW ENGLAND
https://www.nefa.org/NewWorkNewEngland
Deadline September 3, 2020. New Work New England provides grants of $7,500-$15,000 directly to New England artists in dance, film, interdisciplinary work, music, musical theater, opera, poetry, storytelling, and theater to support creating and producing new work that has potential to engage multiple New England communities. The focus of this pilot program is on artists and the creative process and projects that further equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility. 



CENTER FOR THE ARTS EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND
https://centerfortheartsnh.org/emergency-relief-fund
The CFA Artists Emergency Relief Fund is a fund of last resort available to CFA members. Individuals are eligible to apply for these funds who can demonstrate their status as: A professional artist who has suffered a disaster which significantly interrupts or prevents them from making or performing their art form and earning a living, and for whom said disaster creates an emergency situation and need for immediate relief funds. The artist must be a permanent resident of the United States. The CFA defines a professional artist as: An individual committed to their art form, whose primary source of income for the past two years is derived from their personal creation of visual, written, or performance work. The towns we serve are those located in the Lake Sunapee/Kearsarge Region including: Andover, Bradford, Danbury, Grantham, New London, Newbury, Newport, Springfield, Sunapee, Sutton, Warner, and Wilmot and surrounding areas.



ARTISTS RELIEF
https://www.artistrelief.org/
Deadline August 20, 2020. Artist Relief will distribute $5,000 grants to artists facing dire financial emergencies due to COVID-19; serve as an ongoing informational resource; and co-launch the COVID-19 Impact Survey for Artists and Creative Workers, designed by Americans for the Arts, to better identify and address the needs of artists.



NEW HAMPSHIRE COUNCIL ON DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES
https://www.nhddc.org/small_grants.php
The New Hampshire Council on Developmental Disabilities offers small grants to individuals or groups to support disability-related activities and initiatives that help achieve the Council's mission of "Dignity, Full Rights of Citizenship, Equal Opportunities, and Full Participation for All New Hampshire Citizens with Developmental Disabilities."

 

FREELANCE MARKETS / JOBS

COLORADO LIFE
http://www.coloradolifemagazine.com/Contribute/
Colorado Life Magazine is the magazine that explores Colorado. We are Colorado’s only statewide general-interest magazine. From the prairies to the mountains to the western slope, we take our readers on unforgettable trips through the Centennial State. We publish stories that span every region of the state with special attention to its wonderfully diverse environments, cultures and communities. We are not a travel magazine, a history magazine, a nature magazine or a food magazine, but we do all of that and more – sometimes within the same story. Every issue of Colorado Life Magazine has a poetry department. Calculated by published word count. Sidebar stories count toward total text rate. For 401-3,000 words: $100-750 ($.25/word). Calculated at the above per/word rate, up to $750.



BRAIN & LIFE
https://www.brainandlife.org/about-us/about-brain-life/information-for-writers/
Brain & Life uses freelance writers to write features and articles for departments, which include
Caregiving, Take Charge, Treatment, Disorders, Research, and Healthy Living. Stories range in length from 500 to 1,500 words at $0.75 cents per word. Brain & Life delivers accurate, relevant information on a wide variety of neurologic diseases. Stories are written in a conversational, consumer-friendly tone for people with neurologic conditions and their family members and caregivers. 



BRIARPATCH
https://briarpatchmagazine.com/submissions
Briarpatch Magazine publishes writing and artwork on a wide range of topics, including current events, grassroots activism, electoral politics, economic justice, ecology, labour, food security, gender equity, indigenous struggles, international solidarity, and other issues of political importance. We welcome pitches from unpublished writers, seasoned freelancers, front-line activists, and anyone else with a story to tell and a desire to tell it compellingly. Pays $100 – Profiles, short essays, reviews, blog posts, and parting shots (generally <1,500 words); $200 – Feature stories, photo essays (generally 1,500-2,500 words); $300 – Research-based articles and investigative reportage with extensive primary research (generally 2,500-3,000 words). 

 

Publishers/agents

O'BRIEN PRESS
https://www.obrien.ie/submissions
We are open to submissions from authors all over the world, but, as an Irish publisher, we have found it increasingly important to have authors who are available to attend local events in bookshops, schools and libraries. As such, we are much more likely to publish authors based in Ireland. And we are not currently seeking to translate work from other languages for publication here at The O'Brien Press. If you would like to submit your work to us, please send a cover letter, synopsis and the first three chapters to us by post at the address below. For children’s picture books or other submissions under 1,000 words, please submit the work in its entirety. Now accepting email submissions. 



HARVEY KLINGER AGENCY
https://www.harveyklinger.com/submission-guidelines
We are always interested in considering new clients, both published and unpublished. Bear in mind, however, that we take on only a very small number of new authors in any given year. Make your submission letter to the point and as brief as possible. We recommend including a short synopsis of your work, an author bio, and the first five pages of your manuscript (pasted into the body of your email, no attachments, please). Multiple agents, so pitch the proper agent that handles your genre.



LADDERBIRD LITERARY AGENCY
https://www.ladderbird.com/agents.html
Ladderbird is committed to the growth and development of both new and veteran authors. We hope to introduce works with unique perspectives and diverse voices to the literary world. Ladderbird is dedicated to highlighting all stories that need to be told and to expanding the visibility of underrepresented writers. Multiple agents so pitch the proper agent that handles your genre.



BOND LITERARY AGENCY
https://bondliteraryagency.com/about-us
BLA is a small, full-service literary agency with a select list of clients. Sitting smack dab in the middle of the greater metro Denver area, we work with the large houses in New York and mid-size and small publishers all over the country. The Agency represents BOOKS, not screenplays or theatrical plays. To send your query, please email (no physical mail, please) [email protected] addressed to the agent you wish to target, either Sandra, Becky or Patrick. Include your query letter in the body of the email—no attachments— if you are certain your book is appropriate for us. Multiple agents so pitch the proper agent that handles your genre.

 

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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