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EDITOR’S THOUGHTS

NOTEBOOKS OF YOUR TALENT

I love notebooks. I keep three ongoing at all times. When I started out, I used one. It served me well then, and at the end of the year that notebook went into my income tax records. Then I evolved.

Today I keep one for my business side of writing which incorporates ideas, phone calls, resources to check out, advertising, speaking engagements, and things to do by the end of the week. A weekly calendar sits near it, a week at a glance. 

I keep another notebook for the novel in progress. Ideas, dialogue snippets, plot twists, red herrings that I need to bring around, when I read that notebook, there are no other distractions from just that story. Often I throw those away, though admittedly, I keep them around for a year or two after the book comes out. Sentimental reasons, I guess.

The third one, however, holds two things only. One is names I like. I've published 12 novels, written two more that will be published in the near future, and plan several more, and finding unique and applicable names without repetition or confusion becomes challenging. The majority of that notebook, however, consists of phrases that resonated so precisely, beautifully, intelligently, in my head upon reading them, that I had to write them down. The showing instead of telling phrases we so desperately try to teach ourselves to write. 

Phrases like:

"Only the flare of color in her cheeks hinted at what she was thinking."
"Her expression a propped up haughtiness which the fear in her blue eyes denied."
"He stepped loud against the silence."
"The bushes had their June clothes on."

Some of my favorite phrasing comes from mystery noir. Back then they loved making a phrase lovely while also making it dark. Those thrill me.

That is my notebook of talent. Occasionally I just sit and read it, letting it "seep in and pool." Some have asked if I'm afraid of plagiarizing these phrases. I say no, because you do not accidentally plagiarize. You choose to cheat or you choose not to. These phrases are to make me stop and sink deeper into my own wording. 

You know those phrases that make you go back and read them again. Why not write them down to snare that little thrill over and over and make you even more excited about writing your own work?

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Featured article

The Niche of Paying Parenting Markets

By Jeanine DeHoney 
 
Being a parent, grandparent and now great-grandparent, has honed my niche as a writer. My children, grandchildren, and great grandson have been awesome food-for-story fodder which has also increased my earning power.  
 
The parenting market booms with magazines, both digital and print, blogs, and parenting anthologies. Parenthood, in all its myriad forms, single parents, same sex couples, interracial couples, etc. have one essential commonality. Parents want the best life for their children and ultimately want to mesh it together to groom the best life as a family.

Parents don’t want to feel alone, either. They have insecurities and fears, especially now during a pandemic that has caused so many of us sleepless, fretful days and nights.
 
After published personal essays and nonfiction articles in paying parenting magazines such as Scary Mommy, Parent Co., Guardian Angel Magazine, and Brain, Child Magazine, I have garnered nine tips to breaking into parenting markets that pay.
 
Become familiar with the parenting magazine you submit to. 

Get to know the readership and the demographics. Are they young, affluent baby boomers living in the Midwest or are they hip urban New York couples? What are their interests, their lifestyle, and their values? You may feel your parenting story or article resonates with everyone, but it might not if your views about parenting or relationships are more liberal than those of a conservative or religious parenting magazine. Note the ads. Advertisers are highly strategic in market identification.
 
Write for regional magazines.

See what the parenting magazines are in your hometown. Google regional magazines and find their writers guidelines. When writing for regional magazines be willing to up your chances of publication by interviewing local sources. If you are writing about autism seek a local parenting support group for parents of children with autism to get their point of view. Parents crave takeaway value in terms of resources and links.
 
Think numbers. 

Parents are busy and wear many hats especially with many parents homeschooling as a result of the pandemic. Think about writing an article with lists or a quick fix such as, “Ten Online Educational Tools to Use During Homeschooling,” or “Five Quick and Easy Lunchtime Meals for a School Week on Zoom” or because COVID-19 has robbed some of us of our peace, an article such as, “ Eight Mantras for Parents and Children to Create Inner Calm Amidst COVID.”
 
Keep your tone conversational.

Write as if you are talking to a friend. Readers are seeking like minds.
 
Don’t shy away from uncomfortable topics.

Stories about dealing with pandemic depression or an unraveled marriage healed through online counseling are timely and sorely needed by many. Address how you talked about race relations and politics with your children. Parents relate and seek answers on how to address emotionally charged topics. Search for parenting magazines that showcase the voices of writers who are courageous enough to tell those difficult stories.
 
Recycle your parenting story for other magazines. 

Take the same story you wrote about preschoolers and write a different version of it for teens or young adults. Change the gender in an article you wrote titled, “Raising Self-confident Daughters, ” to “Building Self-confidence in Boys." 
 
Always give parents a takeaway. 

Takeaway can be anything from words of hope to concrete resources. Links, addresses, and names matter. Make your piece worth the time spent reading it, and consider it a way to improve someone’s quality of life. 
 
Create track of paying parenting magazine sites. 

Note when a new editor comes or leaves or writing/submission guidelines are updated. Some may offer blog submissions or alter an editorial theme. Submissions may change from email to an online submission app. Once you’ve targeted magazines you deem your favorites, stay abreast of their business practices. 
 
Listen. 

Being encircled by children and parents, even on Zoom, is the gift that keeps on giving. You will amass a lifetime of memories and writing prompts.

 
Bio: Jeanine DeHoney is a freelance writer who has had her writing published in several magazines, online blogs and anthologies which include, Chicken Soup for the Soul. She is currently a blogger at WOW-Women on Writing. 


 

COmpetitions

BRIDPORT SHORT STORY PRIZE
https://bridportprize.org.uk/the-competition/short-story/
£12 ENTRY FEE. Deadline May 31, 2021. First prize: £5,000. One of the largest short story prizes, the winning story features in our anthology, so you will see your words in print. Second prize: £1,000. Your story features in the Bridport Prize anthology. Third prize: £500 and publication. Highly Commended 10 x £100. The Prize is open to writers of any nationality writing in English aged 16 and over. Short story 5,000 words max. No minimum.



BRIDPORT POETRY PRIZE
https://bridportprize.org.uk/the-competition/poetry/
£10 ENTRY FEE. Deadline May 31, 2021. First prize: £5,000. One of the largest short story prizes, the winning story features in our anthology, so you will see your words in print. Second prize: £1,000. Your story features in the Bridport Prize anthology. Third prize: £500 and publication. Highly Commended 10 x £100. The Prize is open to writers of any nationality writing in English aged 16 and over. Poetry: 42 lines max. No minimum. 



BRIDPORT FLASH FICTION PRIZE
https://bridportprize.org.uk/the-competition/
£9 ENTRY FEE. Deadline May 31, 2021. First prize: £1,000. One of the largest short story prizes, the winning story features in our anthology, so you will see your words in print. Second prize: £500. Your story features in the Bridport Prize anthology. Third prize: £250 and publication. Highly Commended 3 x £100. The Prize is open to writers of any nationality writing in English aged 16 and over. Flash fiction: 250 words max. No minimum.  



BRIDPORT NOVEL AWARD
https://bridportprize.org.uk/the-competition/novel-award/
£20 ENTRY FEE. Deadline May 31, 2021. First prize: £1,500. One of the largest short story prizes, the winning story features in our anthology, so you will see your words in print. Second prize: £750. Your story features in the Bridport Prize anthology. Three third prizes: £150 and publication. The Prize is open to writers of any nationality writing in English aged 16 and over. 8,000 words max, 5,000 minimum taken from the opening chapters. PLUS 300-word synopsis, which should form the first page/s of your entry.



SIJO COMPETITION
https://www.sejongculturalsociety.org/writing/current/sijo.php
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline April 30, 2021. Adult and pre-college categories. Write one sijo in English on a topic of your choice. A title for the sijo is not required. Sijo are written in three lines, each averaging 14-16 syllables for a total of 44-46 syllables. Each line is written in four groups of syllables that should be clearly differentiated from the other groups, yet still flow together as a single line. Adult division: First ($1,000), Second ($750), Third ($500). Pre-college division: First ($500), Second ($400), Third ($300). Honorable mention (for both divisions listed above): Friends of Pacific Rim Awards ($50 each). Winners' works may be published in the Korea Times Chicago or the Korean Quarterly.



WEB MICROFICTION PRIZE FOR WOMEN WRITERS
https://spiderroadpress.com/submissions/webmicrofictionprize/
NO ENTRY FEE. Deadline May 1, 2021. All female-identified writers are encouraged to submit. Theme: Metamorphosis. Word Count: 20 to 100 words. First Prize: $150 USD, publication on the SRP website, and one free copy of a book by the contest judge. Honorable Mentions (Four): Publication on the Spider Road Press website and an SRP book of their choosing. No general entry fee. Entry fee of $2 for those wishing a score sheet and brief written feedback. (Found www.erikadreifus.com)



LUMMOX POETRY CONTEST
https://www.lummoxpress.com/lc/a-c-mankiewicz-poetry-prize/
$15 ENTRY FEE. Deadline April 30, 2021. Submit up to three poems, each 100 lines or less. First prize $1,000.



WRITERSWEEKLY 24-HOUR SHORT STORY PRIZE
https://24hourshortstorycontest.com/
$5 ENTRY FEE. First prize $300, publishing contract, and more. Second prize $250, publication on the website, and more. Third place $200, publication on the website, and more. Honorable mentions with non-cash prizes. We can’t tell you until contest start time how long the entries must be. Past contests have ranged from 500 max. to 2,000 max. You’ll just have to wait and see. We hold the specifications secret until we announce the start of the 24-hour writing period. Announcement and start time is Saturday, April 17, 2021 at 12:00 p.m. (noon) central time.


 

GRANTS / FELLOWSHIPS / CROWDFUNDING

LOUISIANA DIVISION OF THE ARTS INDIVIDUAL GRANTS
https://culturaldevelopmentstateoflouisiana.submittable.com/submit
Deadline April 17, 2021. The Arts Council New Orleans along with eight other regional arts councils are co-administering individual artists grants up to $1,500 in partnership with the Louisiana Division of the Arts (LDOA). The purpose of this grant is to provide relief directly to individual Louisiana artists impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic or other natural disasters that affected our state in 2020. Eligible artists must be a Louisiana resident and 18+ years old. Artists will be asked to demonstrate their artistic practice with a professional website/social media, resume or CV, and examples of their work and describe the financial impact the pandemic/natural disasters had on them and their practice. 



VIRGINIA CENTER FOR THE CREATIVE ARTS
https://www.vcca.com/
The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA) provides time and space for national and international writers, visual artists, and composers of talent and a promise to bring forth their finest works, because the arts are vital, diversity is a strength, and creativity is essential. The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA) is reopening its residency program at Mt. San Angelo in Amherst, Virginia. Residencies for international artists, however, are on hold for now due to COVID.
 
 
 

FREELANCE MARKETS / JOBS

NARRATIVE
https://www.narrativemagazine.com/submission-guidelines
Narrative is a nonprofit organization with the ambition of encouraging good literary work. We do not charge readers for the magazine. During the first two weeks of April, we do not require a reading fee for general submissions made specifically to the Open Reading category via our submissions page. However, manuscripts submitted during this period are not eligible for the Narrative Prize. Pays $150 for a Story of the Week, with $400 each for the annual Top Five Stories of the Week, $150 to $350 for 500- to 2,000-word manuscripts, $350 to $1,000 for 2,000- to 15,000-word manuscripts. Rates for book-length works vary, depending on the length and nature of the work. Pays $50 minimum for each accepted poem and audio piece. ($25 for poetry reprints.) Pays $200 each for the annual Top Five Poems of the Week and $100 for Readers’ Narratives.



MIDNIGHT FROM BEYOND THE STARS
https://www.silvershamrockpublishing.com/midnight-from-beyond-the-stars-anthology
Deadline April 30, 2021. We are looking for original alien horror stories with a The Thing/Alien/The Blob/Critters/Night of the Creeps kind of vibe. Length: 2,500 - 6,000 words. Successful authors will receive a contract upon acceptance. Once we have a signed contract by the author and Silver Shamrock Publishing, payment will be made within 30 days via PayPal. Payment: Professional rate of six cents/word.



KHOREO
https://www.khoreomag.com/submissions/
Deadline April 30, 2021. khōréō is a quarterly publication of stories, essays, and art: fantasy, scifi, horror, and any genre in between or around it, as long as there’s a speculative element. We’re especially interested in writing and art that explore some aspect of migration, whether explicitly (themes of immigration, colonialism, etc.), metaphorically, or with a sly nod and a wink. We invite you to submit if you identify as an immigrant or member of a diaspora in the broadest definitions of the terms. Accepting fiction and nonfiction. We are looking for short fiction under 5,000 words, but because we are a new journal, we have a stricter budget and therefore prefer stories under 3,500 words. Payment at SFWA pro rates (eight cents/word). For nonfiction we are looking for original personal or critical and analytical essays that examine speculative fiction, especially from a perspective of migration. We pay $200 for original essays and $40 for essay reprints.



MYTHULU
https://mythulu.com/emagazine-submission-call/
Deadline May 1, 2021. Submit short stories that feature wildly original biomes or bizarre weather. Show us settings fundamentally at war with character needs. Mythulu eMagazine will pay an average of six cents/word or $15/page. Nonfiction pays eight cents/word. 



TURKEY COUNTRY
https://www.nwtf.org/nwtf-magazines
Turkey Country is dedicated to the education and entertainment of National Wildlife Turkey Federation members who support the conservation of the wild turkey and the preservation of our hunting heritage through the Federation’s outreach programs. Turkey Country is committed to upholding lawful, ethical and safe sport hunting and other outdoor pursuits; the principles of modern wildlife management; and the protection and enhancement of wildlife habitat. Publications/Creative Services contact is Olivia Bacon at [email protected]. Editor is Matt Stewart at [email protected]. Payment is 40-50 cents per word for departments up to 500 words and features up to 1,200 words. 



JAKES COUNTRY
https://www.nwtf.org/nwtf-magazines
JAKES Country is an educational publication of the not-for-profit National Wild Turkey Federation, Inc., dedicated to involving youth in conservation and passing on the North American hunting tradition. The NWTF is committed to the conservation and proper management of the wild turkey and upholds lawful, ethical and safe hunting; the principles of modern wildlife management; and the protection and enhancement of wildlife habitat for the recreational use of this and future generations. Publications/Creative Services contact is Olivia Bacon at [email protected]. Editor is Matt Stewart at [email protected]. Payment is 40-50 cents per word for departments up to 500 words and features up to 1,200 words. 



BUCKMASTERS
https://www.buckmasters.com/Contact
Buckmasters entertains and educates deer hunters with current strategies and technology from the most respected experts in the field. (Thanks www.writersweekly.com for this one.) Pays around 30 cents/word. 

 

Publishers/agents

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The Way You Think

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7.13 BOOKS
https://713books.com/
We are open now to submissions for publication in 2023 and beyond. We are only looking for writers who have not yet published a book of literary fiction. 



ALAN SQUIRE PUBLISHING
https://alansquirepublishing.com/
Alan Squire Publishing is an independent literary press founded in 2010 to publish books of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that are beautifully written and beautifully made, with the avid reader and booklover in mind. We are committed to bringing books of great merit that deserve a wide readership to the public, and to forging a new model of collaboration with other independent presses here and abroad.



ALLIUM PRESS OF CHICAGO
https://alliumpress.com/
Allium Press of Chicago publishes literary fiction, historical fiction, mysteries, thrillers, and middle grade/young adult fiction. To date, all of our titles have a strong Chicago connection. We only publish a small number of titles each year. We do not publish memoirs, self-help books, how-to guides, horror/fantasy/science fiction, romance fiction, erotica, poetry, etc. We only publish full-length novels, not novellas or short stories. We are actively seeking works by diverse authors/own voices and novels with diverse characters.



ANANKE PRESS
https://anankepress.com/
We want to give voice to writers of weird books, books that don’t belong, books too clever for their own good, books that don’t fit on an industry-prescribed shelf. Formulaic genre fiction naturally finds its way to consumers who vote with their wallet. Sophisticated literary fiction reaches its reader through establishment literary magazines and award committees that often follow ideological fashions of the time. We are here for the stories overlooked both by the omnivorous salesforce and the finicky elite: complex, imaginative, unpredictable stories told in a complex, imaginative, unpredictable way. Simply put, we are here for smart speculative fiction.



APRIL GLOAMING PUBLISHING
https://aprilgloaming.com/submit/
April Gloaming Publishing is a nonprofit independent press based in Nashville, TN that aims to capture and better understand the Southern soul, Southern writing, and the Southern holler. In the words of William Faulkner, to be Southern is to “Tell about the South. What do they do there. How do they live there. Why do they live at all.” April Gloaming seeks to arrive at the conclusions to these questions by amplifying the voices of the unbridled holler. Considers poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and graphic novels.



ASHLAND CREEK PRESS
https://www.ashlandcreekpress.com/
Ashland Creek Press is a vegan-owned boutique publisher dedicated to publishing books with a world view. We're passionate about the environment, animal protection, ecology, and wildlife, and our goal is to publish books that combine these themes with compelling stories.



AUBADE PUBLISHING
https://aubadepublishing.com/
Currently considering fantasy, science fiction, gothic, historical fiction, literary fiction, poetry, and memoirs. 



BAOBAB PRESS
https://baobabpress.submittable.com/submit
Baobab Press seeks books that communicate and support their themes through new and well-articulated means. We like risk. We like invention. More importantly, we look for a quality of thought that adds depth to a writer’s concerns. Baobab is currently considering completed manuscripts in all genres. 

 

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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

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ISSN: 1533-1326

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