Linda Parkinson-Hardman's Blog, page 75

Writing and Poetry Competitions for UK Authors and sometimes International Writers and Poets too :-)

Hi Everyone

I started entering some writing competitions earlier this year and have kept my efforts in a spreadsheet and then thought that it might be helpful to other people who also want to enter writing and poetry competitions to make that available on my blog.

If you are interested in perhaps gaining a little exposure for your writing and earning some rewards in the form of prizes along the way then check the listings out. The details I've included are the title of the competition, how much it costs to enter, what the prize is, what type of competition it is and a link (where they are available) to the website that is hosting it.

I'll be updating regularly and you can find out more about each competition from the links I posted to their websites.

uk novel full length works short story and poetry writing competitions

Have fun and let's see more of our self published work in as many places as possible.

Linda

The pen is indeed mightier than the sword – let’s all celebrate national stationery day

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s International Day of the Book and World Book Night comes National Stationery Day. April 24th is a day of celebration of the written word and of all things stationery. It has been launched to get more people putting pen to paper, and writing more often by hand. There’s more to life than email and texting! Let’s face it, we all love to receive ‘proper post’, something with our name and address hand written on it sent to us personally and containing all sorts of t...

Happy World Book Night, Happy International Day of the Book and Happy St George’s Day

Legend has it that St George Patron St of England and Catalonia slew a dragon and a beautiful rose bush sprang from the dragon’s blood. Whereupon St George promptly plucked the most beautiful rose and gave it to the princess he was defending. A Rose Festival has been celebrated in Barcelona on April 23rd ever since and in 1923 it merged with the International Day of the Book which celebrated the deaths of William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes.

World Book Night #worldbooknight is a celebr...

Tis World Book Night ... A must for book lovers everywhere

If you want to keep up with what's on in your area to celebrate World Book Night, International Day of the Book and St George's Day all rolled into one then you can find the latest updates on Twitter with the hashtag #worldbooknight - I've linked to it here too: #worldbooknight

Updating Goodreads

I've been having fun going through my Kindle to add the books I've read recently as well as those I'm currently working my way through. I noticed as I was doing so that I've got quite a few books on the go at the same time and perhaps this is the time to finish one book before starting another ... :-)

The Top Ten Lists for Writers and Authors to Follow on Twitter

If you’re a writer you will almost certainly have a blog and a Twitter account because let’s face it, Twitter and blogging were built with writers and authors in mind. Sometimes though it may seem as if you are writing into the wind, with your words drifting off into the distance without catching on anything or anyone at all. However, there is always something you can do about things like this and I thought I might start with a run down of the top ten writers lists to follow on Twitter.

You ma...

The Thursday Throng – Meeting Emma Piers author of the Therapeutic Bedtime Stories series for Children

‘Throng’ isn.- A multitude of persons or of living beings pressing or pressed into a close body or assemblage; a crowd.

Welcome to a new section of this blog which I’m calling The Thursday Throng in honour of the throng that waits eagerly outside the book store when a new author is doing a book signing event or appearance.

This will take the form of a ‘Meet the Author‘ online event with some information about our author’s latest book and an interview. If you would like to take part in the Thurs...

April is National Poetry Month in the US – do you have a poem inside you?

April was claimed as National Poetry Month in the United States back in 1996 by theAcademy of American Poets. They have celebrated every year since. According to their website thousands of businesses and non-profit organisations also get involved and participate by holding things like readings, running poetry festivals, creating stunning book displays, holding workshops, and a myriad of other events.

One unique feature that I particularly like though is the Poem in your Pocket Day which takes...

The birth of an eBook – one booklets journey from workshop handout to Kindle heaven

I’ve been passionate about many things over the years and they wax and wane according to my mood, my situation, the weather and social climate; but one thing has remained fairly constant and that is my belief in empowering people. If you were to check out my LinkedIn profile, you would see right at the top of my summary the following quote, “give a man a fish you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”.

This mantra of mine has resulted in me running workshops,...

Visiting the London Book Fair – a must for all authors at least once in their lifetime

If you are an author and you have never visited the London Book Fair then you have, my friend, never lived at least that is my humble opinion on the matter. The huge, bustling event is proof, if ever any were needed that the thirst for opportunities to learn through some form of ‘book’ whether printed, spoken or e is huge and the market is getting bigger – you only have to look at the size of the event each year to realise that despite the doom and gloom of the nay-sayers that this is only go...