Monday Miscellany for November 30, 2009
November 30, 2009 by Mary Anne
Filed under Monday Miscellany
Hello and happy Monday everyone:
Hope those of you celebrating Thanksgiving in the U.S. had a wonderful holiday weekend. Here are a few writing contests I came across over the past week:
L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of The Future Contest
This contest for science fiction and fantasy short stories up to 17,000 words is open only to those who have not had professionally published a novel or short novel, or more than one novelette, or more than three short stories, in any medium. Deadline for the current contest is December 31, 2009. No entry fee. Win up to $5000. http://www.writersofthefuture.com/rules.htm
Discovering the Undiscovered: Novel and Memoir Competition
First annual “Discovering the Undiscovered” competition for novels and memoirs. The winning entry will receive publication of their manuscript and be offered a choice of either a cash prize of $1000 or a $500 advance and a standard royalty agreement. The winning author along with two runners-up will also receive free books or products as well as cash prizes. Length 70,000-100,000 words. $25 reading fee ($20 if manuscript is received before January 1, 2010). Deadline April 15, 2010. For more information, go to: http://shop.notesandgracenotes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7&Itemid=11
Thoroughbred Times Fiction Contest
THOROUGHBRED TIMES is conducting its Ninth Biennial Fiction Contest in 2009, with the winners being announced in the spring of 2010. Open to both professional and amateur writers, the fiction contest awards the winner $600 and their work will be published in a weekly edition of THOROUGHBRED TIMES in the spring of 2010.
The contest is designed to encourage fiction writing about Thoroughbred racing and to recognize outstanding work. The authors of the second- and third-place selections will receive $300 and $200, respectively, and their works will be published in the weekly magazine.
Entry must be fiction and pertain to an aspect of the Thoroughbred industry. Maximum of 5,000 words. Deadline December 31, 2009. No entry fee.
2010 Washington Square Award
Winners (one in fiction and one in poetry) receive $500 and publication in a forthcoming issue of Washington Square. Selected runners-up may also receive publication. Submit up to three poems (six pages total) or one short story (up to twenty pages). Reading fee is $10 payable to “New York University. Deadline (postmark date): January 1, 2010
http://www.washingtonsquarereview.com/washington_Square_Award.html
Monday Miscellany for November 23, 2009
November 23, 2009 by Mary Anne
Filed under Monday Miscellany
Hello:
Thought I would try to get my Monday Miscellany column in while it’s still Monday in my neck of the woods. I have a nice variety of writing contests to share with you this week, so without further ado:
NaNoWriMo ‘09 Contest
Deadline: December 7
Fee: Free
Submit the first chapter of the NaNoWriMo novel you’re writing. It won’t be your best work ever (after all, 50,000 words in 30 days is a lot to write), but that’s the point. We want to see your raw, unedited writing. Everyone will be on the same playing field, so don’t be shy—let’s see what you’ve got. Good luck!
http://www.scribophile.com/contests/nanowrimo-09
Women on Their Way Essay Writing Contest
Write engagingly about your own locale, win 200,000 Wyndham Hotel points that you can use whoile traveling to other locales. No entry fee.
At My Library Creative Essay Contest
@ your library is seeking an original, creative essay for its first ever At My Library Creative Essay Contest. The winning essay will illustrate the participant’s experience at their local library and demonstrate the fundamental spirit and importance of American libraries. The Grand Prize Winner will receive $350 and a People’s Choice Award Winner will receive $100. The top ten finalists will have their essays published on the atyourlibrary.org Web site.
http://www.atyourlibrary.org/essay-contest
Seventh Annual Fiction Competition
LILITH Magazine is looking for unpublished original stories with heart, soul and chutzpah illuminating issues in the lives of Jewish women.
FIRST PRIZE: $250 and publication of story in LILITH Magazine.
Submission instructions:
–Manuscripts should be double spaced and should not exceed 3000 words.
–Manuscripts should be mailed in. We will NOT accept electronic submissions.
–Enclose sealed and stamped envelope for return of manuscript.
–Deadline: January 1, 2010.
Poetry Prize At Lilith
Lilith magazine invites submissions of edgy, exciting poetry touching in any way on Jewish women’s experience for the second annual The Charlotte Newberger Prize in Jewish Women’s Poetry at Lilith. Winning poets will receive a cash award, publication in the renowned independent Jewish women’s magazine, and the possibility of a public reading.
Submission instructions:
–Poets are invited to submit up to three poems, in hard copy only.
–Each poem not to exceed 100 lines in length.
–Include name and contact information, including e-mail and phone numbers, on each page submitted.
–Send a stamped, self-addressed envelope for the return of any manuscript.
–Entires must be postmarked by December 21, 2009.
No entry fee.
http://www.lilith.org/writers.htm
JournEzine Light of the World Christmas Writing Competition
Writing Competition for the Christmas 2009 edition of JournEzine! Since this is our Fourth Annual Christmas Writing Competition, we plan to celebrate God-glorifying talent by inviting you to submit your theme-based stories and articles.
1. Your story must be submitted via email to competition@journezine.com.
2. All entries must be received by midnight on December 10th.
3. Your entry (you may submit more than one) must reflect the theme (”Light of the World”) and be no less than 300 and no more than 750 words in length; please use a word-counter to help us stay within our limit. Any entry outside the word limit will be automatically disqualified.
4. Your story must be submitted IN THE BODY OF AN EMAIL—NOT AN ATTACHMENT! Please simply copy and paste your entry into the body of an email and email it to competition@journezine.com.
5. Because this is a Christian ministry, your entry must reflect Christian principles.
No entry fee.
http://journezine.com/Default.aspx?tabid=2866
Clear Channel Granting Your Christmas Wish Essay Writing Contest
Make your Christmas Wishes come true this Holiday Season! Whether it’s airline tickets to visit your family, a warm holiday meal or toys for the kids, let us know how we can make your holiday just a little bit brighter. All entries should include a short essay stating why they should be selected to have their Christmas Wish granted. Essay submissions must be 1000 characters or less.
No entry fee.
http://www.iheartradio.com/cc-common/section_contests/rules/ChristmasWish2009.html
Freelance Writing: A “Quick and Easy” Way to Get Rich?
November 21, 2009 by Mary Anne
Filed under From My Desk To Yours
If you’re online as much as I am, you see the hype nearly every day, touting freelance writing as a way to make quick and easy fortunes on the Internet. Why, I entered the words “make money writing” in the Google search box just now and pulled up a whopping 683 million possible matches. Start making money today writing short, informative articles! Rake in a gazillion bucks writing and selling e-books! If you can put together a sentence, you can cash in on the writing bonanza! Get paid by starting your own easy writing biz!
In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll admit that I’ve looked into a wide variety of ways over the years to make money online with my writing and editing skills. Moreover, I do believe that solid, and sometimes even extraordinary, incomes have been and can be made by writers who are Internet savvy. I also think that some excellent how to articles and books exist on how to use the Web to build writing careers and businesses.
That said, here are the gripes I have about the majority of ads I’ve seen for products and services offering to help people milk their own writing cash cows:
- Many of them use the word “quick” when talking about the ability of writers to strike it rich online. Sure, we don’t need to rely on snail mail and SASEs anymore, which greatly speeds the communication process between writers and their markets or clients. But it can also speed up the rejections and feeling of frustration that many fledgling writers face. While you can start making some money right away as a writer if you’re willing to settle for paltry returns on your efforts, it still takes a considerable amount of time to build rock solid, profitable writing careers.
- A lot of sites also refer to starting writing businesses as “easy.” I don’t know about you, but for me, most of the time, writing is hard work. Yes, I sometimes experience those miraculous moments when my fingers fly over the keyboard and the words seem to appear magically on the monitor screen. But more often than not I’m hitting the backspace key, or highlighting and deleting chunks of text, or staring blankly at the blinking cursor, or avoiding my computer altogether. And it’s not like writing work and assignments fall into our laps as a rule. We need to have marketing strategies, chase down leads, send emails, and/or make cold calls to land every bit of work we can get. Easy? Yeah, OK.
- What perhaps galls me the most about a lot of these products that promise to show you the path to freelance writing riches is the implication that anyone can do this writing thing and make tons of money doing it. And looking at the amount of mediocre-to-bad writing out there, I’ll submit that one does not need to be particularly skilled to get writing work. This can discourage many a talented aspiring or struggling writer who quickly learns the truth in the first two bullets above. When the promised overnight success doesn’t come, many strong writers begin to doubt, and subsequently abandon, their vocation.
On the other hand, here’s what I see as positive realities for writers today:
- It is possible to create thriving, successful writing careers and businesses; it’s just that doing so is no more “quick” and “easy” now than it ever was. You need to know what options are out there for writers, study and subsequently reach your markets, and stay focused in the face of setbacks.
- The Internet does provide writers with more and faster ways than ever before to connect with those who need or want what we do and find clients and audiences for our work. And although it can also speed up and expand the number of rejections we receive before we land paying work, well, reread the last sentence in the bullet above.
- The Internet has also turned the entire publishing industry on its head. The day when writers needed to rely solely on a handful of publishing houses to get our books out to our audiences or on glossy magazines to get articles in front of readers are a thing of the past. There are many ways to get published or land writing work that simply didn’t exist a decade ago. To tap into them…yes, that’s right…reread the last sentence in the first bullet.
- Finally, there are excellent guides, programs, courses and products out there for writers. We need to be discerning, do our homework, and know that the products are only as good as the actions we take after completing them.
So I guess what I’m saying is stay optimistic, determined, disciplined and persistent, and you can make a living, even a very comfortable one, as a freelance writer. Can doing so be “quick and easy”? I think not. Can it be worth the effort? You betcha.
