Calendar Sites

I thought it was about time that I started beefing up the WriteSuccess “Setting Your Sites” section with some useful links for writers.

These two calendar sites track and post everything from religious and secular holidays to special days, weeks and months commemorating an extraordinary array of people, occupations, events, hobbies and causes.  Just scanning the lists on these sites should uncork any bottled up creativity you may be experiencing, as well as help you schedule when to pitch related queries to online and print periodicals. 

Chase’s http://www.mhprofessional.com/category/?cat=3 

AdSource http://www.adsources.com/IDEAS/Cal/01jan.htm

Three Things All Freelance Writers Need To Do

By Amanda Evans 

If you want to be a successful freelance writer there are three things that you need to be doing on a regular basis.  These are:

• Promoting
• Networking
• Job Hunting

 

Promoting

Promoting yourself as a freelance writer is vital to your success.  There are a number of ways that you can do this.  You can use article marketing, post new articles to your blog or website or write guest posts for other blog owners.  Promotion is all about getting your name out there and having your freelance writing talents recognized.

 

Did you know that most potential clients will Google your name to find out more about you?  What does you name show up?  Have you ever actually Googled yourself to see what the results display?  You might be surprised at what you find.

 

Networking

Networking is all about staying in the loop and talking with other freelance writers.  Networking is a great way to meet potential clients too.  There are a number of ways that you can network and these include using websites such as Facebook and Twitter, following and commenting on other freelance writing blogs and participating in forums.  Networking is also a great way to meet other freelance writers and discuss issues or problems you might be having.  Networking also gets your name out there and to be a successful freelance writer people need to know your name.

 

Job Hunting

Let’s face it, without freelance writing jobs you are not a freelance writer.  Job hunting is essential no matter how busy you are.  By keeping an eye on what jobs are currently being offered along with the rates that clients are looking to pay you will know exactly what is going on.  You should be doing this on a daily basis because you never know when your dream job will be posted.

 

These three essential items should be part of your daily freelance writing ritual.  You should dedicate at least an hour a day to these items.  I would suggest that you leave the networking aspect till last as it is very easy to get caught up in the world of Twitter and before you know it you could have spent two hours tweeting and you haven’t even started your paying work yet.

 

Any successful freelance writer will tell you that promotion and networking are essential to their success and whilst they might have a full client list they still keep an eye on the freelance writing jobs that are being posted.

 

If you are serious about your freelance writing career then you need to focus on these three items and include them in your daily freelance writing plan.

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Discover how you can turn your writing skills into a fabulous ghostwriting career. Amanda Evans’s e book “Ghostwriting Uncovered: How I Quit My Day Job & You Can Too” at http://www.ghostwritinguncovered.com/sl.htm  takes you from novice to pro ghostwriter in step by step format. Packed with information, the e book also provides tips and advice that will help you secure endless clients. You could be signing up your first clients within two days.

Monday Miscellany for February 8

Hello:

 

It continually amazes me how quickly the weeks fly by.  I have all the best intentions of posting to this blog at least a couple of times a week when, bam!, it’s Monday again already, and time to get this column updated.

 

Not that I’ve been a slug.  I focus much of my energies these days on promoting the International Association of Professional Ghost Writers (http://iapgw.org ), with some success—the newsletter list for “invisible Ink” continues to grow slowly but surely, and searching the Web with the terms association+ghost writers or ghost writers association now brings up a first page mention on Google, thanks to the press releases and article writing I’ve done.  My determination to make the IAPGW a viable resource for writers and a go to place for people looking for writers is stronger than ever.

 

But for those of you who don’t have the slightest interest in ghost writing, I pledge to keep WriteSuccess alive and well, too.  I just need to balance the two initiatives as best I can.  In any event, I find the work fun and rewarding.

 

OK, on with this week’s list of writing contests.  Here’s to your writing success!

 

Mary Anne

 

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The Society of Southwestern Authors 2010 Writing Contest

 

Categories:

Short Story – 2,500 words max 

Short Story for Children Ages 6-12 – 1,500 words max

Personal Essay/Memoir – 2,500 words max

Poetry – 40 lines max

Prizes Awarded In Each Category:

1st: $250

2nd: $125

3rd: $75

Honorable mentions: $25

 

$10 entry fee.  Deadline: June 1, 2010 http://www.ssa-az.org/contest.html

 

 

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Alabama Writers’ Conclave 2010 Writing Competition

 

Categories:

Fiction – maximum 2,500 words.

Short Fiction – maximum 1,000 words

Juvenile Fiction  (stories for ages 4-12) – maximum 2,500 words

Nonfiction – maximum 2,500 words 

Humor (fiction, nonfiction, or poetry) – maximum 2,000 words or 50 lines (for poems)

Traditional Poem (any “form” poem, e.g., villanelle, sonnet) – maximum 40 lines

Free Verse Poem – maximum 60 lines

First Chapter of Novel – up to 10 pages

 

Entries must be original, unpublished, and may not have won a money prize in any contest.  Prizes: 1st: $100; 2nd: $75; 3rd: $50; 4th: $25 and up to 4 Honorable Mentions in each category.

 

$3 to $12 entry fee depending on category  Deadline: April 20, 2010

.

http://www.alabamawritersconclave.com/contests.html

 

 

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Arts & Letters Writing Competition.

 

Categories: Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Essay.  $1000 top prize in each category.

 

$15 entry fee   Deadline: March 15.

 

http://al.gcsu.edu/prizes.htm

 

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The “Scare The Dickens Out Of Us” Short Story Contest 2010

 

Submit a ghost story of 5,000 words or fewer.  Open to published and unpublished writers alike, the contest is a Friends of the Dr. Eugene Clark Library  Fundraiser and all entry fees are used for library projects.

 

 

First prize: $1,000 and a trophy.

Second prize: $500 and a ribbon.

Third prize: $250 and a ribbon.

Junior contest prize: $250 and a trophy.

 

$20 entry fee  Deadline: October 1, 2010.

 

http://clarklibraryfriends.com/

 

 

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Paul Goodman Essay Contest

 

Theme: what is one of the pressing social and political issues of our time, and how would you address it? 3000 words maximum.   $1000 cash prize.

 

No entry fee. Deadline: May 1. 

 

http://www.dissentmagazine.org/essaycontest/

 

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Warren Adler Short Story Contest

 

The stories must be no longer than 2,500 words. Subject matter is completely open to the author. The goal of the contest is to encourage and publicize the short story as a viable and quality literary form.

 

First Prize: $1,000.

People’s Choice Prize: $500.

Three remaining finalists: $150 each.

 

$15 entry fee Deadline: April 11

 

http://www.warrenadler.com/writing-contest.shtml

 

 

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Creative Nonfiction Animals Contest. $20 entry fee.

 

Seeking new essays about the bonds–emotional, ethical, biological, physical, or otherwise–between humans and animals.  Essays must be unpublished and 5,000 words maximum.  Top prize: $1000.  Runner up; $500.

 

$20 entry fee  Deadline April 2

 

http://www.creativenonfiction.org/thejournal/submittocnf.htm#Animals

 

 

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Complaint Letter Contest

 

Every month we will select a ‘Star Letter,’ and the author will receive £30. Entries must be written in English and have at least 250 words. This competition is open to UK citizens aged 18 and over.

 

No entry fee.  Monthly contest.

 

http://www.complaintletter.org.uk/writing-competition/

 

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E.M. Koeppel $1,100 Short Fiction Award

 

Annual awards for unpublished fiction in any style, any theme.   3000 words maximum. 

 

Entry fee $15 Deadline April 30

 

http://www.writecorner.com/award_guidelines.asp

 

 

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The Nelligan Prize For Short Fiction.

 

$1,500 will be awarded for the best short story.   No theme restriction, 50 pages maximum.

 

$15 entry fee   Deadline: March 12

 

http://coloradoreview.colostate.edu/nell/sub.htm

 

 

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Discovering The Undiscovered: Short Fiction/Essay Collection

And Novella Competition

-

The winning entry will receive publication of their manuscript, and his or her  choice of either a cash prize of $300 or an advance of $150 against royalties plus a standard 15% royalty agreement. 

 

$15 entry fee  Deadline: April 1

 

http://shop.notesandgracenotes.com/index.php

 

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2010 Wabash Prize for Fiction

 

Seeks submissions of 10,000 words or fewer.  First Prize: $1000

 

$15 reading fee  Deadline: March 1.

 

http://www.sycamorereview.com/contest/

 

 

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Writers’ Village Short Fiction Competition

 

Accepts prose fiction in any genre up to 3,000 words. The first prize is £150 ($242), with a second prize of  £30 ($48) and a third of £20 ($32), with 10 additional prizes of £10 ($16) each are on offer to writers whose short fiction shows the greatest originality, mastery of the craft skills of creative writing and power to move the reader

 

Entry Fee £5 ($8) Deadline: March 31

 

http://www.writers-village.org/

 

 

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Doris Gooderson Short Story Competition

 

Limit 1,200 words. Prizes: 1st £150, 2nd £70 and 3rd £40.

 

Entry Fee £3 per story or 2 for £5  Deadline: July 12

 

http://sites.google.com/site/wrekinwriters/Home/competitions-1/2010-doris-gooderson

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