FundsforWriters - October 2, 2020 - Should You Write About COVID?

Published: Fri, 10/02/20

VOLUME 20, ISSUE 40 | OCTOBER 2, 2020

Message from Hope

As you are reading this, I am writing on an Edisto novel. . . on Edisto Beach.

It is quite glorious placing my series in a real place, allowing me such a wonderful opportunity to do research and book signings while writing off the trip as a tax deduction. Think about that when you decide on your setting.

This time just hubby and I came, along with Winnie and Roo, their first time seeing the beach! A little R&R for all of us.

To update you, I am finishing up an Edisto book any day now. The publisher already has book one of a third series, and I'll be leaping into the second book of that same series as soon as I type THE END on Edisto. That means THREE books being released in 2021. A record. A fourth if I can. Wild, right?

Take care, stay safe, and I'll see you next week from my old study. Nourished, replenished, and fired up to dive into another story.

C. Hope Clark
Editor, FundsforWriters
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TOP SPONSOR

Photo: Ali Lapetina

STARTS OCTOBER 1st! A monthly online learning community and holistic professional development series.

You are invited to Rituals and Strategies for Writers & Artists to bolster your writing practice using a substantially different framework, with strong support. This community welcomes writers and creatives across varying experience levels, and the first 25 to register in October will receive a complimentary individual coaching session.

Receive two strategy lessons per month and participate in small group gatherings. Join expert-led Q&A sessions, connecting your writing life to new daily rituals that grow your success.

Rituals and Strategies for Writers & Artists is led by Mi'Jan Celie, an oral historian, restorative storyteller and 2019 - 2020 Kennedy Center Citizen Artist. Learn more and register now.

EDITOR’S THOUGHTS

SHOULD YOU WRITE ABOUT COVID

First and foremost, let me ask you this. . . do you want to read stories about COVID? (I sure don't.)

People talk on and on about historic value, and how that's how we know about other pandemics and crisis eras in our lives. But today we have social media, websites, the cloud, and the ability to read and store material forever. We are bombarded with it every single day unless we have shut down anything electronic.

However, some agents are beginning to look for COVID material, while others warn against it.

In an interview by Jane Friedman with agents Stefanie Sanchez von Borstel with Full Circle Literary, and Leslie Zampetti with Dunham Literary, Inc., Stefanie says to hold off for now. Leslie, on the other hand, says write what moves you.

Yet writers are already bombarding agents with COVID stories. This piece warns that new novelists have little chance of succeeding. Instead, the publishing world will most likely wait for a seasoned novelist to decide to write a defining story about the virus, but don't expect it quickly. Defining pieces about WWI and WWII didn't appear for a decade after.

But that doesn't mean you don't document your experiences. That journal may one day come in handy when all of this comes to an end, or life becomes different for good. Truth is there's nothing to interpret yet, because we aren't sure what "all of this" really means until some time passes.

Write what you like. Just know that marketing a disaster during a disaster will only result in disaster in terms of success.

SUPER SPONSOR

HOPE'S APPEARANCES

Email: [email protected] to schedule events, online or otherwise. There's starting to be life out there!

March 21, 2021 - Keynote - St. Andrews Women's Club, Chapin, SC - 6 PM

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Featured article

Four Ways to Write Travel Pieces During Corona

By Karanveer Singh

No one is going to travel outside of their city for the next six months, much less take an international holiday. I postponed my trip to Malaysia indefinitely. Not many adventure lovers are willing to venture to foreign shores on the next flight available anymore, but the fact is I know enough people who have subscribed for monthly travel magazines to make plans for the next vacation, whenever that may be.

People are still dreaming about getting away when they are finally able to. Therefore, as a travel writer, I have changed my strategy.

1: Write keeping the pandemic in mind.

Some people refuse to be tied down during the virus, plus many young adults are willing to take a calculated risk to get out and about. So, I write about the places which more likely can be visited in the near future like the countries which have not mandated 14-day quarantine and those where the cases are controlled. Countries like Maldives and New Zealand have exceptionally low numbers. The middle-class traveler can visit such destinations with cheap flights and hotels these days.

2: Sell the precautions.

Reports state masks, sanitizers and social distancing can protect you from Corona to a great extent. My own fear of Corona has reduced significantly in the past five months. The desperation to go out is real. I make sure I talk about wearing masks in public places and eating from hygienic restaurants. The best part is they get the cheapest deals now.

3: Sell the perfect picture.

I would pay a thousand bucks to flaunt the perfect background in a photograph. My recent visit to Universal Studios in Singapore was wasted without a perfect picture at that rotating globe. Every time, a dozen people photobombed. Back home in India, when I visited Udaipur, popularly known as the Venice of the east, the venues were surprisingly empty of visitors, and I snared the pictures of a lifetime. Travel writers need a million-dollar picture they can post on their Instagram. This is the time to capture that Pisa tower empty.

4: Take the nostalgic road.

You have probably visited a dozen places in your home country, about which you have not written because you considered them not worth your time. Since domestic travel will kick start much faster than the international, now is a great time to write about those stories keeping in mind the pandemic. I have written many articles from perspectives I never considered until the client asked for it that way. Use your imagination and write about the journey by adding in masks and sanitizers to make it look as recent as possible.

Find ways to learn and keep going with what you know best.

Bio - Karanveer Singh is a travel writer and blogger and an English literature graduate with a passion for travel.

COmpetitions

THE BOILER PRIZE
https://theboilerjournal.com/contest/
$7 ENTRY FEE. Deadline November 30, 2020. THE BOILER challenges you to submit flash/hybrid pieces under 800 words for this year’s prize. We welcome fragments, experiments, prose poems, flash essays/fiction. The only thing that matters is whether you can sustain our attention and craft a well-written, sleek, beautiful little thing. First prize $500 and publication. A runner-up will be awarded $250 and also be offered publication. Additional finalists will be considered for our winter issue.

PRESS 53 AWARD FOR SHORT FICTION
https://www.press53.com/award-for-short-fiction
$30 ENTRY FEE. Deadline December 31, 2020. The Press 53 Award for Short Fiction is awarded annually to an outstanding, unpublished short story collection. This contest is open to any writer, regardless of his or her publication history, provided the manuscript is written in English and the author lives in the United States or one of its territories. The winner of this contest will receive publication by Press 53, a $1,000 cash advance and 50 copies of the book; all prizes will be awarded upon publication. Around 100 to no more than 250 pages in length.

TEST SITE POETRY SERIES 2020
https://interimmagazine.submittable.com/submit
$25 ENTRY FEE. Deadline November 16, 2020. Interim: A Journal of Poetry and Poetics is happy to announce the inaugural season for the Test Site Poetry Series. A prize of $1,000 and publication by the University of Nevada Press will be given for a new, full-length collection of poetry. All entrants to the contest will also receive a free print issue of Interim. The winning book will demonstrate an ethos that considers the human condition in inclusive love and sympathy, while offering the same in consideration of the earth.

BATH FLASH FICTION AWARD
https://bathflashfictionaward.com/enter/
£9 ENTRY FEE. Deadline October 11, 2020. Prizes: £1,000 first, £300 second, £100 third, two £30 commended. Limit 300 words. Fifty longlisted entrants offered publication in our end-of-year print and digital anthology. Those accepting receive a free copy.

BATH NOVELLA-IN-FLASH AWARD
https://bathflashfictionaward.com/enter/
£16 ENTRY FEE. Deadline January 17, 2021. Word limit 6,000 to 18,000. Each flash should not be more than about 1,000 words. £300 prize for the winner, two runner-up prizes of £100. Winner and two runners-up are published as individual novellas. All entries considered for publication. Each published author receives five copies.

BRUSH AND LYRE PRIZE FOR MULTIMEDIA POETRY
https://www.palettepoetry.com/current-contest/
$20 ENTRY FEE. Deadline October 18, 2020. Our editorial team will select the winner of the $3,000 top prize, as well as two runners-up for $300 and $200 respectively. Submissions must include at least one significant multimedia aspect, such as video, photography, sculpture, audio, painting, or performance. Submissions are open internationally, to any poet writing in English.

NATIONAL POETRY COMPETITION
https://poetrysociety.org.uk/competitions/national-poetry-competition/
NO ENTRY FEE, Deadline October 30, 2020. First Prize: £5,000. Second Prize: £2,000. Third Prize: £1,000. Commendations: £200. International entries are welcome. All poems must have a title and must not exceed 40 lines in length. Any subject.

THE DINESH ALLIRAJAH PRIZE FOR SHORT FICTION
https://commapress.co.uk/resources/prizes/
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline October 23, 2020. The prize is open to anyone 18 years or over who is a resident of the UK, and the story you submit must not have been published anywhere else, online or in print. It is free to submit your entry, but only one per writer please. The winning writer will receive £500 and all ten shortlisted authors will be featured in an ebook anthology which will be published by Comma Press and sold online. The winner will also have their story published online by our media partner Northern Soul. Entrants must submit a short story of between 2,000 and 6,000 words in length.

WENLOCK FLASH FICTION COMPETITION
http://www.wenlock-olympian-society.org.uk/creative/2020-writing-competition/
£5 ENTRY FEE. Deadline October 31, 2020. Prizes: £150, £50 and £25 plus Gold, Silver, or Bronze Wenlock Olympian Society (WOS) medals. Limit 1,000 words. All genres welcome except children's and YA. Winning stories will be published on the WOS website. First prize to be read at a WOS celebration evening in March 2021. The competition is UK based but International entries are welcome.

GRANTS / FELLOWSHIPS / CROWDFUNDING

WOODCOCK FUND
https://www.writerstrust.com/programs/woodcock-fund-grant/
Emergency funding to professional Canadian writers in mid-project. Grants are $2,000 to $10,000. Must be a professional writer (minimum of two books published) facing an unforeseen financial need. Must be working on a project.

LIGHTHOUSE WORKS' FELLOWSHIPS
http://www.thelighthouseworks.org/fellowship-program/
The Lighthouse Works’ Fellowship is an artist-in-residence program that strives to support artists and writers working in the vanguard of their creative fields. The program accepts artists working in a wide range of disciplines, but we are best able to accommodate visual artists and writers. Fellowships are six weeks in length, occur year round and provide fellows with housing, food, studio space, a $250 travel allowance and a $1,500 stipend. Artistic excellence is the primary criterion for acceptance as a Lighthouse Works fellow. We are located in the Annex Building on Fishers Island, NY. The Annex is just west of Silver Eel Cove, where our ferry makes port, and north of the intersection of Hound Lane and Greenwood Road.

JENTEL RESIDENCIES
http://jentelarts.org/applicants/
After reviewing the work samples, a panel of art and literary professionals rate and rank the applicants based on the development or promise of a personal vision or voice. Residents are responsible for transportation to and from Sheridan, Wyoming and for transporting or shipping personal items, materials and equipment needed for creative work. Residents also shop and prepare meals and purchase personal items. As part of the residency award, a $400 stipend helps to defray some of these expenses.

FELLOWSHIPS/GRANTS TO SCANDINAVIA
http://www.amscan.org/fellowships-and-grants/fellowshipsgrants-to-study-in-scandinavia/
Deadline November 1, 2020. The American-Scandinavian Foundation (ASF) offers fellowships (up to $23,000) and grants (up to $5,000) to individuals to pursue research, study or creative arts projects in one or more Scandinavian country for up to one year. Grants are considered suitable for post-graduate scholars, professionals, and candidates in the arts to carry out research or study visits of one to three months duration. Fellowships are intended to support a year-long stay. Priority is given to candidates at the graduate level for dissertation-related study or research.

FREELANCE MARKETS / JOBS

BESTPICKIST.COM
https://bestpickist.com/write-for-us/
Thank you for your interest in writing for us. BestPickist is a collection of buying guides and user guides about various products. Here at BP we constantly publish informative articles, useful tips, how-to guides, expert interviews, experts round-up, and product reviews. We’re always looking for experienced, qualified home, and lifestyle writers who share in our mission of honest, inclusive, expert-backed advice that leaves readers feeling educated, empowered, and understood.

INCOME DIARY
https://www.incomediary.com/write-for-incomediary
If you are an expert at anything to do with: Creating awesome websites, driving traffic, social media or making money online, we would love you to write for us. We are currently looking for an expert in search engine optimization to write an in-depth blog post about keyword research using tools such as Ahrefs or SEMrush. Contact us with a quote (Please include examples of previous writing on SEO – our Budget: $200 – $500).

GREEN PARENT
https://thegreenparent.co.uk/downloads/Writers_Guidelines_2010.pdf
We regularly cover the following areas: pregnancy and conscious birth, breastfeeding, family life, alternative education, natural health and beauty, food and drink, eco-house and garden, green travel, and ethical fashion. Length 1,500 to 2,000 words. Pays £75 per 1,000 words.

GREAT ESCAPE
https://greatescapepublishing.com/writers-guidelines/
Great Escape Publishing publishes articles on the craft and business of getting paid to travel, whether by writing, photography, tours or other means. We also publish short interviews with successful readers and members, as well as professionals working in a field that enables our readers to get paid to travel. We do not publish straight travel pieces. If you have been successful in travel writing, photography, the import/export business, or running your own tours and would like to share insider tips of your craft, we would like to hear your story. We pay $150 for interviews, personal stories, and any articles we request for the website with specific income advice readers can print and follow to earn more income. Submissions should be approximately 300-600 words for publication in The Right Way to Travel. We purchase all rights.

GRAMMAR GANG
https://getcodeless.com/writing-jobs/#grammar
Articles on freelancing, writing, and grammar. Pays $75-500 per article.

Publishers/agents

AAKENBAAKEN KENT PUBLISHERS
https://www.aakenbaaken-kent-publishers.com/about-a--k.html
Aakenbaaken and Kent loves authors. Several authors who initially published with us have now signed with major publishers. Ellen Kirschman, a best-selling author, published her first Dot Meyerhoff book with us. When the second book in the series was picked up by a major publisher, we gave Ellen the rights to the first book so that it could be re-published by her new publisher. We are equally proud of our current authors whose work is on par with the authors at larger publishers. Aakenbaaken & Kent is open for submissions in the following categories: General Fiction, Murder Mysteries, Suspense, Memoirs, Biographies, Humor, Romance.

VERVE BOOKS
https://www.vervebooks.co.uk/
Verve Books is looking for submissions from new and established authors for our new digital-first publishing list. We are looking for great stories in the crime, thriller and commercial fiction genres with strong narrative voices, well-drawn characters and page-turning plots.

FULL CIRCLE LITERARY AGENCY
https://www.fullcircleliterary.com/
Full Circle Literary is a full-service literary agency representing a diverse and inclusive family of authors and artists whose books break barriers and stand the test of time. Founded and owned by Women of Color. Please read the Our Agents pages on our website and determine the Full Circle Literary agent that is the best fit for your work. Please submit to only one agent. Prefers work for children.

DUNHAM LITERARY
https://www.dunhamlit.com/
Dunham Literary represents authors of quality fiction and nonfiction books for adults and children, plus some illustrators of children's books. Look at each agent to see what is open at any time. Their range is wide.

FOLIO LITERARY MANAGEMENT
https://www.foliolit.com/
Folio Literary Management places both fiction and nonfiction with major publishers throughout the U.S. and around the world. We represent many first-time authors, some of whom have gone on to become bestsellers and major award-winners. We also represent many well-established authors, and work closely with them to take their careers to new heights. We are aggressively seeking literary fiction; upmarket adult fiction that’s appropriate for book cludiscussion; and commercial fiction that features fresh voices and memorable characters. Many of us love narrative nonfiction – great stories paired with great writing – including memoirs – as well as authors, experts, scholars, and journalists with well-researched, compelling and new ideas. We love authors who are ready and able to promote their work and expertise in all forms of media. Folio Jr, the division of Folio Literary Management devoted exclusively to the representation of today’s most stellar children’s book authors and artists, is wholly committed to offering our clients 360º of impeccable, hands-on care.