WIN A TRIP TO ANTARCTICA

WIN A TRIP TO ANTARCTICA - TEACHERS ONLY

http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/features/antarctica2041/index.php?ref=randomhouselibrary_anarctica

NO ENTRY FEE

Contest winner to join Robert Swan, author of '2041,' on the 2041 International Antarctic Treaty Expedition. Package includes:Passage for one November 16-30, 2009, with Robert Swan and all included activities and meals in Antarctica. Round-trip airfare from the major international airport nearest to the Grand Prize Winner’s U.S. or Canadian residence as designated by the Contest Sponsors to Ushuaia, Argentina, where the trip begins and ends. Pick-up and drop-off from the airport in Ushuaia provided and arranged by 2041, plus two days of lodging in Ushuaia, prior to departure to Antarctica, with IATE team members. A signed copy of ANTARCTICA 2041. Carbon offsets to cover the winner’s trip-related emissions, plus a personal carbon footprint consultation. TEN RUNNER-UP WINNERS will each win one signed copy of ANTARCTICA 2041, and one NativeEnergy water bottle, which also includes one ton of carbon offsets. Deadline September 4, 2009. Write a compelling essay, in 500 words-or-less, titled: “Why I want to visit Antarctica this November, and how I plan to bring the skills I learn back to my classroom.”

NOTE: I posted this contest because so many teachers read FundsforWriters and so many readers know teachers. What an opportunity! Accompany an author to Antarctica! The essay is only 500 words, so make them tight. This is such an opportunity that I'll offer to read over your essay before you send it.

DOUBLE NOTE: The manuscript (and the dreaded synopsis) is enroute to my agent!!!!! To celebrate I moved mulch in my yard, bought brick for my fire pit, and then I'm having a bourbon on my back porch to scribble on my NEW novel outline.

Literary or Commercial?

The only writing argument I can find that equals the rival between self-pub or traditional is that of commercial writing versus literary writing. Newbies might not realize the difference, and when they submit to literary pubs with commercial prose, or vice versa, editors become insulted, incensed at the ignorance of the author.

I think they need to get over themselves.

Literary writing tends to be that prose taught in colleges - the kind you wrote in lit class. It's more indepth and in-tuned with the character, and his trials and tribulations. Some of it is beautiful. Some stinks to high heaven. Some people thinks theirs is wonderful when it stinks.

Commercial writing tends to be genre-related - romance, mystery, suspense, young adult, sci-fi, fantasy, and all sub-genres in between. It's more action and plot driven. It's more popular and more common on bookstore shelves. As with literary writing, some works well and some falls flatter than a twelve-year-old's training bra.

Many literary experts feel commercial writing is lazy. I just heard from a FundsforWriters reader this week, who ranted about today's commercial dribble. Those that complain that their's is the better story over commercial fiction, are arrogant, in my opinion.

On the other hand, many commercial writers think that literary fiction is stuffy and boring. They are ignorant, in my opinion.

There's wonder and trash on both sides. You cannot write for all readers. That's like cooking for all people and creating a meal that everybody loves. It just won't happen.

Decide what you write and polish it to the best of your ability. Just try not to bash those writing something different.

QUESTION: Which do you write and why? Literary or commercial fiction?

Quiddity Contest

http://www.sci.edu/quiddity/contests.html

First Prize: $500 and publication in the Spring/Summer 2010 print issue of Quiddity as well as public-radio broadcast (offered via WUIS, NPR member and PRI affiliate). Honorable mentions may also be offered publication and broadcast. Contest ends August 1, 2009 (postmark deadline). Submit one work of prose totaling no more than 500 words (title included) as well as $12 payable to Quiddity.


NOTE: Known as the $1/word contest. $500 for 500 words, get it? Of course you do. Just remember it's literary fiction, what I tend to categorize as old fashioned, deep writing that tends to bore down into a single moment. At 500 words, that moment is mighty brief.


DOUBLE NOTE: Synopsis writing while I'm DYING to get in my yard. I have three dump truck loads of mulch that need to be wheelbarrowed and spread, and it drives me nuts sitting inside. This time of year I adore being slap-dab in the middle of nature.

A Room of Her Own Contests

http://www.aroomofherownfoundation.org/orlando.php

AROHO's 2009 ORLANDO PRIZE FOR POETRY
$15 ENTRY FEE - Submit one unpublished poem. Maximum 90 lines. Deadline October 1, 2009. $1,000 Award.

AROHO's 2009 ORLANDO PRIZE FOR NONFICTION
$15 ENTRY FEE - Submit one unpublished nonfiction work. Maximum 25 pages. Deadline September 1, 2009. $1,000 Award.

AROHO's 2009 ORLANDO PRIZE FOR SUDDEN FICTION
$15 ENTRY FEE - Submit one unpublished sudden fiction work. Maximum 1,000 words. Deadline October 1, 2009. $1,000 Award.

AROHO's 2009 ORLANDO PRIZE FOR SHORT FICTION
$15 ENTRY FEE - Submit one unpublished short fiction work. Maximum 20 pages. Deadline September 1, 2009. $1,000 Award.

NOTE: A Room of Her Own (AROHO) is a wonderful entity that gives struggling female writers the opportunity to win serious prizes as well as attend retreats to get away and write. Don't think you can't win. All the winners have said that in the past.

DOUBLE NOTE: Synopsis time (cracking knuckles). Half through it for the second novel. However, noted three major mistakes in the manuscript. Corrected, but that means reprinting 410 pages. Can you hear the BIG SIGH from South Carolina? Doesn't all that ink make you just want to cry?

Writing Picture Books, by Ann Whitford Paul

Ann Whitford Paul has published 18 picture books (fiction and non-fiction,) early readers, and poetry for children. During years of teaching picture book writing through UCLA EXTENSION , students encouraged her to write a book about writing. WRITING PICTURE BOOKS: A Hands-On Guide from Story Creation to Publication was recently published by Writer’s Digest Books, Inc.

Her guidelines on children's writing are worthy of your attention. Following you'll find an excerpt and information to learn more. If you have any inclination on children's writing, study her stories and her how-to guidance. She's an understated, impressive author.

Going from a 350 word manuscript to 350 page manuscript was terrifying. After months of avoidance, I was finally able to get to work when I tricked myself by saying that each of the 22 chapters was merely a picture book in disguise. And surprisingly it worked!

While focused on the unique picture book form, chapters on strong characters, openings that grab, fabulous first lines, satisfying endings, compelling plots, poetic prose, and many more, can be applied to all kinds of writing. It even helped me when writing my long book.

What makes this book unique is its emphasis on revision. In my first sentence I write, “Completing a draft of your story is not the end of the writing process. It is only the beginning.” In each chapter are exercises to do on your manuscript with a goal to learning how to evaluate your writing with an outsider’s objectivity and to open up your book/article to un-thought-of possibilities. As an example I urge writers to play around with the manner of telling the story.

Do you have a first person narrator? Try a third person (he/she) narrator. Is the main character human? Could he be an animal? Is the story set in contemporary times? What would happen if you set it in the civil war, or a space station on Mars? Could you tell your story in the present tense vs. the past tense? Space doesn’t permit covering all the different changes you could make, however the goal of this experimentation is to take your writing to a new and unique level. And isn’t that what we want . . . not a redo of a piece done before, but something so compelling and unusual that an editor will have to buy it?

Sign up for Ann Whitford's Email Newsletter

Ann Whitford Paul
http://www.annwhitfordpaul.net/

Her 2009 releases:

WORD BUILDER, illustrated by Kurt Cyrus

TORTUGA IN TROUBLE, illustrated by Ethan Long

WRITING PICTURE BOOKS: A Hands-On Guide From Story Creation to Publication

Please leave comments for Ann below. She'd love to hear from you.

JERRY JAZZ MUSICIAN SHORT FICTION CONTEST

NO ENTRY FEE
The Jerry Jazz Musician offers this award three times a year for the best original, unpublished work of 1,000 to 5,000 words that demonstrates an interest in music, social history, literature, politics, art, film and mid-twentieth century America. $100 goes to the winning story. The winner's story is published on the site and in an anthology. Deadline September 30, 2009.

NOTE: This contest has been around a long time. Take a look at the book titles on the site and you'll understand their flavor.

DOUBLE NOTE: Sometimes I get in my garden and lose all track of time. Today I picked butterbeans, field peas, okra, tomatoes, blueberries, blackberries, peppers and eggplant. Then I weeded. I can't stand weeds, and on my three acre place, the weeds and I exchange a lot of animosity. By the time I cleaned up three rows in the veggie patch, I was dripping wet from this glorious Carolina humidity. But my dinner was to die for! (Almost done with final edits...almost!)

DOG OIL PRESS BODILY HARM CONTEST

DOG OIL PRESS BODILY HARM CONTEST
http://www.dogoilpress.com/2009/05/dog-oil-press-extreme-bodily-harm-humor-contest.html
ENTRY FEE $3
Seeking fiction or poetry in the black humor genre. The theme is "Extreme Bodily Harm." Maximum word count: 493 words (including title). First Place - $87.15. Second Place - $42.01. Third Place - $17.77. Deadline July 31, 2009 (11:59:59 PM MST). Winners Announced: August 10, 2009. Payment Method: PayPal Only. Submissions: Email Only.

NOTE: Quite intriguing. Unusual theme, to say the least. Deadline is midnight Mountain time - that's different. The word count? Those prizes, like where do THEY come from? No matter. With a $3 entry fee, what have you got to lose but the price of a hot dog? Here lately folks are learning to enter contests, according to all the success stories I'm receiving. Finally! One day you're going to read a piece from me in the writing magazines about how contests have propelled me and my fiction. They are fantastic barometers for how you're progressing in your craft.

DOUBLE NOTE: Editing . . . just spoke to someone I have editing the second novel, and she says it's ready to go . . . quit polishing. Love hearing those words!

BEST OF THE BEST EBOOK CONTEST

BEST OF THE BEST EBOOK CONTEST
http://www.editorjennifer.com/
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NO ENTRY FEE
Contest open to all self-published or independent e-press published novels. Your novel must be available to the public for purchase before you enter. Winner will receive $250 USD. Each of 30 semi-finalists will have their novels showcased for a day on the Editor Jennifer website - including their book's image, a 250 word description, and a link to the site where it can be purchased. Deadline August 31, 2009.

NOTE: Alright ebook novelists (not nonfiction, but real fiction, mind you), here's your contest. No entry fee as well. You don't get much opportunity to compete with ebook novels, so hat's off to Jennifer Feddersen for recognizing the electronic media for fiction.

DOUBLE NOTE: Editing novel. Up till 3 AM. Will be up again tonight. I want this book OUTTA HERE and in someone else's hands. The first novel keeps missing the mark, with lots of folks saying "Ms. Clark can definitely write but this doesn't fit our genre." It's too cozy, it's not cozy. It's mainstream, it's genre. Come on, people! Is it that hard?

GARDEN VERSE POETRY COMPETITION

GARDEN VERSE POETRY COMPETITION

http://www.hortmag.com/GardenVerseComp

$15 ENTRY FEE

First Place: $250

Second Place: $100

Third Place: $50

The names and poems of the First Place winners will be printed in an upcoming issue of Horticulture magazine. Afterwards, the names and poem titles of all winners and honorable mentions will be posted on http://www.hortmag.com/.Entry Deadline: September 1, 2009. The competition is open to poems 40 lines or fewer.

NOTE: Half the writers I know are gardeners in some form or fashion. Call it a common link to creativity and beauty. I'm not a poet, but I believe my best poem would combine my two loves of nature and words. And what a nice clip to have!

DOUBLE NOTE: Three essays to three different Chicken Soups today. They have a lot of deadlines expiring on June 30, so I jumped on the task and knocked out three essays. Two more to go -- after I get this novel manuscript edited one last time and in the mail.

First Person America Contest

FIRST PERSON AMERICA

http://www.hardtimes.firstpersonarts.org/

$10 ENTRY FEE

NOTE: Deadline extended.

First Person America is a national competition seeking the best videos, photographs, and essays describing how individuals, families and communities are managing during these hard times.We are looking for short memoirs and essays, documentary films, and photographs that depict Americans from all walks of life. We are especially interested in stories that are unique to your family, your community, your town, your region – that capture the idiosyncratic things that are happening where you live - the slices of life that, taken together, will give us a First Person picture of America in 2009 – the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful. Finalists in each category (writing, film, and photography) will be featured on the First Person Arts website (http://www.firstpersonarts.org/) and at the First Person Festival of Memoir and Documentary Art, November 4-8, 2009. First place winners in each genre will be invited to Philadelphia to participate in the festival. A $500 cash prize will be awarded to the best story overall. Our goal is to gather stories from all 50 states. Submission deadline: July 15, 2009.

Writing submissions – up to 2,500 words.

Film and video submissions – up to five minutes, excluding credits.

Photography submissions - may include up to five photographs, with or without accompanying text of up to 100 words per image.

NOTE: The deadline was extended on this to July 15, 2009. They are in need of entries, folks. Who doesn't have a story to contribute to a theme like this?

DOUBLE NOTE: Another rejection, but with flowing remarks "Ms. Clark is definitely a talented writer." It's the genre giving people fits. Not a mystery, not a romance, not mainstream. Come on, people. Get out of the box!