TOP SPONSOR 

We didn’t build our Copywriting Course Bundle for ourselves. We built it for you, because we want to help you create the life you dream of—a life where you aren’t chained to a desk or lorded over by supervisors.

Created by a team of passionate creative professionals in partnership with veterans in the educational field, our Copywriting Course Bundle gives you tips on writing better, learning SEO, and so much more. You’ll complete exercises and receive real feedback from our team. When you graduate, you’ll earn a certificate proving to employers that you bring real value to the table.

There’s nothing to it but to do it, right? We’ve made that even easier. You can get started now for free.

CLICK HERE

 

TRAINING YOUR WRITING

I learned some time back to write in snippets no matter how small. Made myself write 500 words in a day. Doesn't sound like much, but it became habit. . . but it also was easier to justify in my busy day. Think about it. . . sitting down and pounding out 500 words and then being allowed to get up and return to your life. But you know what that turns into? Writing 1,000 words. Because once the 500 words become entrenched, you find the urge to throw a few more in there. 

Soon you feel like you didn't brush your teeth or your hair that day when you miss your 500 words. You can write 500 words before bed, during lunch, waiting in line somewhere in your car. . . even with a meal (like breakfast) at your left and your keyboard in front of you. This morning I ate my omelet at my keyboard while editing three chapters. It's a matter of squeezing in the short times, because once you become eager to reach that daily goal, you push to find those moments. 

As for family. . . they can throw you on a guilt trip, for sure. I miss the day or even two each week for family, depending on the event, but they also have been trained that my writing is serious work. So when I say I have to put in my word deadline, they part the sea, so to speak, and let me be. 

But writing daily makes you also write faster. Waiting for the longer periods of time does not work for the grand majority of people. You have to build the habit, the pace, and retrain your family. Then it becomes part of life.

SUPER SPONSOR 

Skyrocket Press is searching for our next favorite book...and it might be yours!

One winner will receive a $250 cash prize and publication. We are open to all fiction genres except romance and erotica (we publish clean fiction). Romance may be an element within another genre, though not the main focus.


In addition to our annual novel contest, we also accept full-length non-fiction and speculative short story submissions year round. Skyrocket Press also offers affordable author services, such as editing & design. For details, please visit our website: www.SkyrocketPress.com.

HOPE'S APPEARANCES

SUCCESS QUOTE

SUccess Story

Thanks, Hope, for your encouragement.

In 2019, I pitched an anthology to a small publisher I hadn’t worked with before. I collected 75 short crime stories, each paired with a song from the ‘60s. I whittled them down to 22. Edits went back and forth with each writer twice. Then the pandemic hit.

By April, I couldn’t reach the publisher. From reading your advice in FFW, I learned to always try something else. After an initial panic, I talked to Jay Hartman, editor-in-chief at my publisher, Untreed Reads. Despite a heavy schedule, he volunteered to take on the project—and be ready in time for holiday sales.

Peace, Love, and Crime: Crime Stories Inspired by the Music of the ‘60s launched mid-November. Like you’ve said, when a plan goes awry, there’s always another option, often better than the original. That’s why I read your messages, thoughts, and freelance markets every week.

As editor of the Writers and Publishers Network newsletter, I try to follow your example and make it helpful to other writers. Writing’s the best job to be had and is even better when we encourage each other. Peace and love!

Sandra Murphy
https://writersandpublishersnetwork.com/
https://amzn.to/38yghao
[email protected]  
[email protected] 


- - - 

If you have a success story you believe was prompted by FundsforWriters, please share with us! Send to [email protected] 
 

Featured article

Seven Commercial Writing Job Titles Explained 

By Dan Brotzel

If you’ve looked at any recruitment pages recently, you may have noticed a lot of jargon creeping into job titles. Here we strip the acronyms and buzzwords away to reveal the – often quite straightforward – roles that lie underneath.

UX Writer 

UX stands for user experience. What a UX writer does is craft the little bits of copy that steer users through key journeys on an app or website – opening a bank account, for example, or completing an insurance quote form or upgrading your access to a product. You’ll be writing the little bits of “microcopy,” such as button names, navigation labels, and calls to action. This is a growing specialty and often involves working alongside specialists who are testing customer behaviour, but a lot of it is common sense for the right kind of writer. More here

B2B CRM Copywriter 

B2B just means business-to-business, so you’ll be writing for a company that sells to other businesses (rather than individual consumers). For writers, CRM (customer relationship management) generally means email. You’ll be providing the words for sales and marketing emails, plus landing pages: the page that people land on if they click on a link in the email. 

Bid Writer 

Complex contracts in industries like medicine, IT, and construction are awarded to businesses through a lengthy tendering process. Companies have to complete lengthy documents such as PQQs (pre-qualification questionnaires – the preliminary phase) all the way through to full pitch or tender documents. Putting these giant docs together is a massive job, with technical information having to be gathered from lots of different departments. Bid writers are often freelance, and it’s a lucrative role if you have the right skills and background knowledge of procurement in a relevant industry, but it’s not for the faint-hearted.  

Item Writer

Item writers typically write model exam answers and other guidance to support examiners who are marking student papers. They need relevant educational credentials. 

SEO Content Writer

SEO is search engine optimisation, so you’ll be writing copy that helps a business rank well in search engine results for particular phrases. This may involve doing keyword research, writing meta descriptions, and generally composing copy in a way best designed to please Google, but it’s not as complex as it sounds. Much of it is common sense, and there’ll often be a search team to support. More here

Thought Leadership Content Writer

Thought leadership is a much-overused phrase that really just means content that showcases an individual or business’ knowledge or expertise in a given area. For writers, it tends to involve interviewing company experts and writing up their thoughts in the form of user-friendly posts, articles, and white papers.  

Conceptual Copywriter

In their search for big impact, these people write very, very few words but delete thousands along the way. Often working alongside an art director, they’ll come up with the big idea or slogan that pulls a whole campaign together. Don’t be deceived – this work is much harder than it looks and is very competitive. 

Brand Storyteller

Brand storytelling is one of those slippery terms that seems to mean whatever you want it to mean. It’s about using storytelling techniques in marketing to provoke emotion and is often video-focused, but you could say the same about most advertising and lots of content marketing, too! Anyhow, for a writer, it’s likely to mean coming up with narratives that promote a business in quite a lateral or original way, and writing supporting scripts and copy.   

When looking at writing jobs, don’t dismiss roles out of hand just because you may not know the terminology used. An SEO writer does not need to be a technical specialist in SEO, for example. At the same time, it’s wise to try and really understand what’s involved so you don’t waste time and effort applying for things that will never be a good fit for you. 

BIO - Dan Brotzel’s debut collection of short stories is Hotel du Jack (Sandstone Press) 

COmpetitions

Submissions are now open for the DISQUIET Literary Prize! Fiction, nonfiction, and poetry winners will be published; one grand prize winner will recieve tuition, lodging, and stipend to attend Disquiet in Lisbon. A cash prize alternative will be offered in case of program cancellation. More information: http://disquietinternational.org/the-program/contests-scholarships/



RSL LITERATURE MATTERS AWARDS - UK
https://rsliterature.org/rsl-literature-matters-awards-2021-application/
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline December 7, 2020. Each year, after an open call for proposals, the Awards are given to individual writers or other literary creators, recognising their past achievements and providing them with financial support to undertake a proposed new piece of writing or literary project. Launched as part of the RSL’s Literature Matters programme, priority will be given to proposals which (a) will help connect with audiences or topics outside the usual reach of literature, and/or (b) will help generate public discussion about why literature matters. It may be a piece or pieces of writing, a publication, an event, a production, on any subject and in any form, including (but not limited to) prose fiction, short stories, poetry, playwriting, screenwriting, graphic fiction, biography or travel-writing. Applicants must be permanent UK residents.



THE WRITER SHORT STORY CONTEST
https://www.writermag.com/contests/
$25 ENTRY FEE. Deadline December 8, 2020. Our annual Fall Short Story Contest is back again for 2020, so it's time to sort through those drafts and polish off a story that will shine through the rest. Submit your best work – fiction OR nonfiction – in 2,000 words or less for your chance to win $1,000 and publication in our magazine. Our second-place winner will receive $500 and publication on our website, writermag.com; our third-place winner will receive $250 and publication on writermag.com as well.  



AN AXE TO GRIND FLASH SHORT STORY CONTEST
https://darlingaxe.com/pages/axe-to-grind
$5 CAD ENTRY FEE. Deadline March 31, 2021. First place: $700 CAD. Second place: $200 CAD. Third place: $100 CAD. All three finalists win publication on the Chopping Blog and receive complimentary access to a Darling Axe self-paced course. Limit 1,000 words. 



BOULEVARD SHORT FICTION CONTEST FOR EMERGING WRITERS
https://boulevardmagazine.org/short-fiction-contest
$16 ENTRY FEE. Deadline December 31, 2020. Awards $1,500 and publication in Boulevard awarded to the winning story by a writer who has not yet published a book of fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction with a nationally distributed press. Accepts works up to 8,000 words. All entries will be considered for publication and payment at our regular rates.



NARRATIVE FALL STORY CONTEST
https://www.narrativemagazine.com/fall-2020-story-contest
$27 ENTRY FEE. Deadline November 30, 2020. Open to all fiction and nonfiction writers. We’re looking for short shorts, short stories, essays, memoirs, photo essays, graphic stories, all forms of literary nonfiction, and excerpts from longer works of both fiction and nonfiction. Entries must be previously unpublished, no longer than 15,000 words, and must not have been previously chosen as a winner, finalist, or honorable mention in another contest. First Prize is $2,500, Second Prize is $1,000, Third Prize is $500, and up to ten finalists will receive $100 each. All entries will be considered for publication. All contest entries are eligible for the $4,000 Narrative Prize and for acceptance as a Story of the Week.



LITMAG'S ANTON CHEKHOV AWARD FOR FLASH FICTION
https://litmag.submittable.com/submit
$16 ENTRY FEE. Deadline November 30, 2020. First Prize: $1,250, publication in LitMag, and agency review by  Nat Sobel of Sobel Weber Associates, Erin Harris and Sonali Chanchani of Folio Literary Management, Jenny Bent of The Bent Agency, David Forrer of Inkwell Management, Monika Woods of Triangle House, and Emily Forland of Brandt & Hochman. Finalists: Three finalists will receive $100 each. All finalists will be considered for possible agency review and publication. Entries must be short stories between 500 and 1,500 words. 



LITMAG'S VIRGINIA WOOLF AWARD FOR SHORT FICTION
https://litmag.submittable.com/submit
$20 ENTRY FEE. Deadline December 31, 2020. First Prize: $2,500, publication in LitMag and agency review by Nat Sobel of Sobel Weber Associates, Lisa Bankoff of Bankoff Collaborative, Erin Harris and Sonali Chanchani of Folio Literary Management, Jenny Bent of The Bent Agency, David Forrer of Inkwell Management, Monika Woods of Triangle House, and Emily Forland of Brandt & Hochman. Finalists: Three finalists will receive $100 each. All finalists will be considered possible agency review and publication.



FISH SHORT STORY PRIZE
https://www.fishpublishing.com/competition/short-story-contest/
€20 ENTRY FEE. Deadline November 30, 2020. Word limit 5,000 words. Top ten stories will be published in the FISH ANTHOLOGY 2021. First prize €3,000 plus five-day Short Story Workshop at the West Cork Literary Festival. Second prize a week at Anam Cara Writers’ Retreat and €300. Third prize €300. Seven Honourable Mentions €200 each.



SHORT MEMOIR PRIZE
https://www.fishpublishing.com/competition/short-memoir-contest/
€18 ENTRY FEE. Deadline January 31, 2021. The best ten memoirs will be published in the FISH ANTHOLOGY 2021. First prize €1,000. Second prize our online writing course and €200. Third prize €200. Write a piece of your life, send it to Fish. This contest is an opportunity to have your memoir published. Maximum number of words is 4,000.



JEFF MARKS MEMORIAL POETRY PRIZE
https://decembermag.org/2021-jeff-marks-memorial-poetry-prize/
$20 ENTRY FEE. Deadline December 1, 2020. Each submission is carefully considered for publication. First prize $1,500 and publication. Honorable Mention: $500 and publication. All finalists published in Spring/Summer 2021 Awards issue. Finalists will be paid at regular contributor rates. Each entry should include no more than three poems; please include all poems in one file.



EZRA JACK KEATS FOUNDATION NEW WRITER CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARDS
https://www.degrummond.org/ezra-jack-keats-book-award-guidelin
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline December 31, 2020. The EJK Award is given to a new writer for a picture book written in the tradition of EJK that highlights the universal qualities of childhood and the strength of the family; reflects the multicultural nature of our world; has an original text and original story (no folktales or retelling of folktales); unifies illustrations and text; avoids stereotypes; is respectful of the child’s intelligence, sensitivity, curiosity, and love of learning; displays freshness and originality of language and literary expression. The Award is given for distinguished writing and text, not for illustration. The intent of the Award is to identify and encourage early talent. To be eligible, the author will have no more than three books published under any name, prior to the year under consideration. Both U. S. and international writers are eligible for books that are published in North America, and in the English language. Self-published books are not eligible for consideration. There is also an equal illustrator award. The winning author and illustrator will each receive a cash award of $3,000 and the EJK medallion suspended in lucite and inscribed with the recipient’s name, the name of their book and the year it was published. If one book receives both awards, the author and illustrator will each receive $3,000 and the EJK medallion suspended in lucite and inscribed as indicated above, to be presented to the recipients at the award ceremony. 
 

GRANTS / FELLOWSHIPS / CROWDFUNDING

AUTHORS' CONTINGENCY FUND
https://societyofauthors.org/Grants/authors-contingency-fund
Applications are open to all professional authors who are residents in the UK or British subjects – including all types of writers, illustrators, literary translators, scriptwriters, poets, journalists and others – for whom author-related activities make up a substantial amount of their annual income. Grants are likely to be up to £2,000 and designed to meet urgent need.



MISS SARA FELLOWSHIP FOR BLACK WOMEN WRITERS
https://www.trilliumartsnc.org/writing-fellowships-guidelines
Deadline December 15, 2020. The "Miss Sarah" Fellowship for Black Women Writers aims to provide Black women writers (fiction, nonfiction, poetry) a restful environment conducive to reflection and writing. It also offers uninterrupted time to plant the seed of an idea for a new writing project or to develop or complete a project underway. The selected writer will receive a seven-day residency in July 2021 and can choose whether to stay at Trillium Arts' rural "Firefly Creek" apartment in Mars Hills, NC or at E. Patrick Johnson and Stephen Lewis's "Montford Manor" residence near downtown Asheville, NC. Participants will receive a $700 stipend and transportation to and from Asheville, NC. Additional benefits will be custom-tailored to the needs of the awardee.



VERMONT ARTS COUNCIL
https://www.vermontartscouncil.org/grants/artists/artist-development
Deadline January 11, 2021. Artist Development Grants support artists at all stages of their careers. Grants can fund activities that enhance mastery of an artist’s craft or skills and activities that increase the viability of an artist's business. New this year: Grants can also support teaching artists in developing the skills necessary to provide instruction in K-12 schools remotely during the COVID-19 crisis. Funding may also support aspects of the creation of new work when the activity allows the grantee to accept a rare and important opportunity. Grant amounts range from $250-$1,000. 

 

FREELANCE MARKETS / JOBS

In this free report from Freelance Writers Den founder Carol Tice, you'll discover a process that will help you get you out of analysis paralysis so you can FINALLY start earning money as a freelance writer.

• The questions you NEED to ask yourself 

• How to follow the money

• Where to find your first paying writing jobs

CHICKEN SOUP - I'M SPEAKING NOW: BLACK WOMEN SHARE THEIR TRUTH
http://www.chickensoup.com
It's been 14 years since Chicken Soup for the African American Woman's Soul came out, so let's get the world up to date. Now, more than ever, the strong, independent, empowered voices of Black women are being heard loud and clear. Black women are speaking, for themselves and their families, and everyone is listening. Share your dreams and your triumphs and failures. Write about your lives and community, which have unique challenges not well understood by others. This unique collection of stories will be for readers of all colors. Readers of color will recognize their struggles in these pages, and all readers will benefit from an inside view of Black life in America, Canada, and the diaspora. Pays $200 and ten copies.



G/O MEDIA STAFF WRITER OPENINGS
https://gizmodo.com/careers?_ga=2.9770743.397407980.1604360639-874343382.1604360639#openings
Locations New York, Chicago, Los Angeles. Publications include Kotaku, Lifehacker, The Root, Gizmodo, Earther, Deadspin, and The AV Club. They have freelance positions as well, but it appears they like to connect on LinkedIn. 



CHICAGO READER
https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/ReaderFreelanceinformation/Page
We are primarily a staff-written publication, but we also run narrative features, neighborhood news stories, criticism, videos, and audio works that come from freelance contributors. We rarely accept completed stories. If you send us a finished article that is more than 500 words—we will not read it. We don't have time. We accept both reported stories and op-eds. If you've never written for us before, we recommend that you start by pitching a short story—one that is 300 to 1,000 words that you can report and write in a day or two—as opposed to a lengthy feature that might take weeks or months to report and write. Lots of topic opportunity. Pays 23 cents/word per Make a Living Writing.



DEADSPIN
https://deadspin.com/an-actually-useful-and-not-at-all-tedious-guide-to-pitc-1833272366
A sports news site. Sports news without fear, favor, or compromise. They had a large exodus of employees in July 2020, and are in need of features. Great page above shows sample queries to go by. Pays up to 17 cents/word.

 

Publishers/agents

SANDSTONE PRESS
https://sandstonepress.com/submissions
Sandstone Press is an independent publisher based in Scotland, with an international outlook. We aim to publish thoughtful, intelligent and emotionally engaging narratives, both fiction and nonfiction, from unique voices, which engage strongly with the contemporary world. Sandstone is closed to unsolicited fiction submissions from authors. Fiction submissions from agents, and nonfiction from authors and agents, are welcome throughout the year. 



GILL BOOKS
https://www.gillbooks.ie/write-for-us
Gill Books welcomes unsolicited proposals from first-time and experienced authors alike. Please note that we only accept proposals for works of nonfiction and children’s fiction; we do not publish adult fiction, poetry, short stories or plays. In general we focus on books of Irish interest.



GOLDEN ANTELOPE PRESS
http://www.goldenantelope.com/index.php/submission-guidelines-and-considerations
We publish poetry, short stories, novellas, novels, plays, and creative non-fiction.  So tell us what you have and send us a sample.  If we are interested we will contact you and ask to see the full ms (doc or docx is fine) if it complete.  If we are not interested, we will let you know as soon as possible. If we publish your book, you will not pay us anything-though if you want more than your 20 free copies you will pay wholesale price for the extras.  Once your "distribution threshold" is reached, you will receive  royalties.  (A distribution threshold is the number of books that must be sold for us to recover our publication expenses--the payments we've made to readers, artists, graphic designers, printers, distributor, ebook maker, etc.)  Usually the threshold is about 200 books, including ebooks.  Royalties start at 25 percent, but if book sales reach higher numbers (250, 500, 1000) your royalty percentage increases (30 percent, 40 percent, 50 percent). 

 

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.