Erica Verrillo's Blog, page 74
January 26, 2016
16 Calls for Submissions: February 2016 - Paying Markets
Here are 16 magazines that want your work - essays, short stories, flash fiction, regular fiction, humor, humour, complaints, fantasy, mythology - you name it, they want it! All of these are paying markets.
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Bitch Magazine: Pitches wanted for 'Kids These Days' Issue
"This issue's goal is to explore childhood as more than just a rite of passage or a target market. We want to hear about parenting, youth culture, and generational crossover today.
What does it actually mean to be an '80’s, '90s or 2000s kid, and what does our collective nostalgia say about us? We also want to look across generations—what can kids these days learn from the past, and vice versa? How have cultural products from Sailor Moon to Netflix influenced the framework of our world? What does the evolution of writing—from the elimination of cursive to the universe of emoji—mean for the future of language and understanding?
This issue will look last everything from kitschy advertising and formative cartoons to single motherhood and the school-to-prison pipeline in an attempt to fill out the often overlooked pockets of youth as a culture force."
Payment: $200 for features
Deadline: February 1, 2016
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The First Line
Genre: Short story, any genre, with a first line “Unfortunately, there is no mistake,” she said, closing the file.
Length: 300 - 5,000 words
Payment: $25-$50
Deadline: February 1, 2016
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Skirt! Magazine
"Skirt! publishes two personal essays every month on topics relating to women and women’s interests. All essays for consideration should be submitted in their entirety and be between 800 and 1,100 words. Essays must fit one of our monthly themes."
Genre: Personal essays, theme is "Happiness"
Payment: $200 per piece
Deadline: February 1, 2016 for "Happiness" issue
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Canadian Comedy Anthology
"Submissions can be on any topic you want, so long as the end result falls within the definition of “Hey, that’s funny.” No topic is taboo; no target is safe. Comedy being a necessarily subjective genre, we’re looking to cast the widest possible net. We will take all stories at face value. The final set should run the gamut of genres and styles, encapsulating the many forms humour may take. Texts of subtle wit will contrast with bawdy humour, giggles will compete with guffaws, gutbusters will share space with others that make you stroke your chin and offer up a mild “Hmm… that’s a good one.” The book as a whole will be a meeting of multiple styles united under the genre of comedy, a meeting place for the wittiest dreamers across the whole spectrum of CanLit. We want this book to showcase as broad a diversity of Canadian writers as possible in terms of location, background, race, gender, genre, experience, and more."
Restrictions: Open to Canadians only
Genre: Funny stories, plays, poetry
Length: Up to 5,000 words
Payment: 5 cents a word (CAN)
Deadline: February 7, 2016
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New Legends: The Hero • The Antihero • The Vigilante, Book 2
"We are looking for exceptional, well-written, engaging stories with subject matter reasonably free from sexually explicit content, gore, and obscenities."
Genre: Short story. Your story can be of any genre, but must be relevant to the theme of the Hero, the Antihero, and the Vigilante.
Length: 2,500 - 8,000 words
Payment: $25 per story
Deadline: February 8, 2016
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Subterrain
"Poetry, fiction, nonfiction exploring the idea of secrecy. Personal, corporate, governmental, military -- secrecy is used to cement personal relationships, to guarantee state security, to harbour knowledge. Some consider secrecy one of the main sources of human conflict. We intend to open the doors on the subTerrain confessional."
Genres: Poetry, fiction, nonfiction submissions wanted for Issue 73: Secrets
Payment: $50 per page
Deadline: February 15, 2016 (11:59PM PST)
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On Spec
Genre: Speculative fiction and poetry
Length: Up to 6,000 words (stories)
Payment: $50 to $200 depending on word count
Deadline: February 15, 2016 for stories, poetry is accepted all year
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People of Colo(u)r Destroy Science Fiction
"We’re looking for science fiction short stories of up to 10,000 words, reflective of the issue’s theme, written by writers of colour."
Genre: Speculative fiction
Payment: 8 cents per word
Deadline: February 19, 2016
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New Myths
NewMyths.com publishes speculative fiction of every stripe except graphic horror. We like each issue to have an eclectic variety of stories: funny, frightening, hard and soft sci-fi, adventure, thoughtful, etc.
Genre: Speculative fiction
Payment: $50 per story, $20 per poem
Deadline: February 28, 2016
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LESS THAN DEAD — LGBTQIA Anthology Call
Length: At least 10,000 but not more than approx 20,000 words in length
Genre: Zombies! Stories may be any pairing except cisgender heterosexual M/F (trans* M/F, M/M, F/F, poly, ace/aro, and all permutations thereof are acceptable).
Payment: $200
Deadline: February 28, 2016
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SpeckLit
"As the name suggests, we focus on speculative fiction and non-fiction – fantasy, science fiction, myth, fairy tale, dark fantasy, etc… – all on a more or less PG level. We also celebrate the quick review – of books, movies, video games, TV shows, or any media that contains some sort of speculative fiction element. Long reviews tend to give away too much (how many times have you seen a 3 minute trailer and decided you don’t need to see the movie itself?). A drabble review gives you just what you need – whether the item under review suits your tastes or not."
Genres: Speculative fiction, nonfiction, 100 words
Payment: 5 cents per word
Deadline: February 28, 2016
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The New Quarterly
Restrictions: Canadian citizens only
Genres: Prose and poetry
Payment: $250 for a short story and $40 per poem or "postscript" story
Deadline: February 28, 2016
Note: Postal submissions only
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Ninth Letter
"Ninth Letter is a published semi-annually at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. We are interested in prose and poetry that experiment with form, narrative, and nontraditional subject matter, as well as more traditional literary work."
Genre: Prose, essays, and poetry.
Length: For poetry, submit 3-6 poems (max. 10 pages) at a time. For fiction and nonfiction, please send only one story or one essay at a time, up to 8,000 words.
Deadline: February 28, 2016
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Lazarus Risen
"Lazarus Risen will seek SF (no fantasy or horror, please) short stories that explore the economic, political, social and psychological consequences of life extension, human cloning, the hard upload and other forms of the biological singularity. Dreams of immortality and eternal youth are almost as old as human culture itself. But what would the world look like if everyone could live and be young forever? What would it look like if only some of us had that privilege? These are only some of the questions your story might try to answer. Surprise us, shock us, illuminate us but most of all tell us a great story."
Genre: Science fiction, short stories
Payment: 4 cents per word (Canadian)
Deadline: February 29, 2016
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Funny Fantasy Anthology
Genre: Short stories, humorous fantasy (reprints only)
Payment: 2 cents per word
Deadline: February 29, 2016
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Triangulation: Beneath The Surface
Genre: Speculative fiction.
Length: Up to 6,000 words. There is no minimum word count
Payment: 2 cents per word
Deadline: February 29, 2016
January 22, 2016
42 Writing Contests in February - No entry fees
February is a short month, but it does not lack for writing contests.There are 42 contests this month, and they span the gamut of prizes and genres.
Some have regional restrictions, and others have age restrictions. These are indicated, but always read the contest guidelines to make sure you are eligible.
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Online Writing Tips Short Fiction Prize. Genre: Short story of 2000-5000 words. Prize: £150. Deadline: February 1, 2016. How to enter: Read submission guidelines HERE.
Southern Exposure Writing Fellowships. Restrictions: Open to residents of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, and Yolo counties in California. Genre: Art writing. Prize: $1,000. Deadline: February 1, 2016. How to enter: Read submission guidelines HERE.
Creative Nonfiction's Learning From Nature Contest (no entry fee if by mail). Genre: Essay. Prize: $5,000. Deadline: February 1, 2016. How to enter: Read submission guidelines HERE.
Great Plains Emerging Tribal Writer Award. Restrictions: Open to tribally-enrolled writers from the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Nebraska who have not yet published a book of creative writing. Genres: Fiction, creative nonfiction, drama, or the screenplay (20 double-spaced pages maximum) or poetry (15 pages maximum). Prize: $500. Deadline: February 1, 2016. How to enter: Read submission guidelines HERE.
Gannon University Poetry Contest. Restrictions: Entrants must be a US high school student or a home-schooled student in grades nine through twelve.Genre: Poetry. Each student may enter 1 or 2 poems; each poem may be no longer than 50 lines. Prize: First Place: $100.00 Second Place: $75.00 Third Place: $50.00. Deadline: February 1, 2016. How to enter: Read submission guidelines HERE.
The Danuta Gleed Literary Award for best first collection of short fiction in the English language was initiated by John Gleed in honour of his late wife to promote and celebrate the genre of short fiction, which she loved. Restrictions: Canadian residents only. Prize: A $10,000 prize will be awarded for the best first collection of published short fiction in the English language. Two finalist will also be awarded $500 each. Deadline: February 1, 2016. Read full guidelines HERE .
Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize. Restrictions: Open to women, US citizens only. Genre: Novel. All entries must be submitted by publishers who wish to have the work of their authors that were published in the year 2015 considered. No self-published works or works from vanity presses will be accepted. Prize: $7,500. Deadline: February 1, 2016. Read full guidelines HERE .
The Levis Reading Prize is sponsored by the Department of English and its MFA in Creative Writing program at Virginia Commonwealth University. Restrictions: The prize is given annually for the best first or second book of poetry published in the previous calendar year. Genre: Poetry. Prize: $5000 . Deadline: February 1, 2016. How to enter: Read submission guidelines HERE.
The Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award. Genre: Short story of no more than 8,000 words that shows the near future (no more than about 50-60 years out) of manned space exploration. Prize: Publication as the featured story on the Baen Books main website paid at the normal paying rates for professional story submissions. Deadline: February 1, 2016. How to enter: Read submission guidelines HERE.
Paterson Poetry Prize. Genre: Poetry. Book of poems, 48 pages or more in length, published in 2015. Prize: $1,000. Deadline: February 1, 2016. How to enter: Read submission guidelines HERE.
$1000 for 1000 Words Creative Writing Contest is sponsored by the Leyla Beban Young Authors Foundation. Restrictions: Students enrolled in grades 6-12. Genre: Short fiction of exactly 1000 words. Prize: Two $1,000 scholarship prizes will be awarded, one for grades 6-8 and one for grades 9-12. Seven $100 cash prizes will also be awarded for winning entries, one per grade level. Deadline: February 1, 2016. How to enter: Read submission guidelines HERE.
Wednesday Club Junior Poetry Contest. Restrictions: High School Students in grades 10 through 12 in High Schools in St. Louis and the St. Louis area. Genre: Poetry. Two individual poems. Prizes: $100, $80, $60, $40, $20, $10 for all honorable mentions. Deadline: February 1, 2016. How to enter: Read submission guidelines HERE.
Wednesday Club Poetry Prize. Restrictions: Adults over 18; living within a 50-mile radius of St. Louis. Genre: Poetry. Two individual poems. Prizes: $500, $300, $150. Deadline: February 1, 2016. How to enter: Read submission guidelines HERE.
Charles Crupi Memorial Poetry Contest. Restrictions: Open to high school students in Michigan. Genre: Poetry. Prize: 1st place - $250 and publication in The Albion Review, 2nd place - $150 and publication in The Albion Review; 3rd place - $100 and publication in The Albion Review. Deadline: February 6, 2016. Read submission guidelines HERE.
Writers' & Artists' Yearbook Short Story Competition. Genre: Short story. Prize: £500 and publication. Deadline: February 7, 2016.
IGGY/Litro Young Writers' Prize. Restrictions: Open to 13–18 year olds. Genre: Short story. Prize: £1,000 and publication. Deadline: February 8, 2016. Read submission guidelines HERE.
Federation of BC Writers Literary Writes Awards 2016. Genres: Short fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, and writing for children. Prize: $100 top prize per category. Deadline: February 9, 2016. Read submission guidelines HERE.
Bethesda Literary Festival Essay and Short Story Contest. The Bethesda Urban Partnership & Bethesda Magazine have partnered to honor local writers at the Bethesda Literary Festival held April 15-17, 2016. Genres: Essays and poetry. Adult and high school student categories. Restrictions: Residents of Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia are eligible. Prizes: First Place: $500 and published in Bethesda Magazine. Second Place: $250. Third Place: $150. Honorable Mention: $75. Deadline: February 12, 2016. For more details click HERE .
Library of Virginia Literary Awards. Restrictions: Open to writers who were born in or are residents of Virginia or, in the case of nonfiction, books with a Virginia theme, are eligible. Genre: Books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction published in the previous year (2015). Prize: $2,500. Deadline: February 12, 2016. For more details click HERE .
Jessamy Stursberg Poetry Contest for Canadian Youth. Restrictions: Canadians, grades 7 - 12. Genre: Poetry. Prize: $400 (CAN). Deadline: February 15, 2016.
Harold Morton Landon Translation Award. Genre: Poetry collection translated from any language into English and published in the previous calendar year. Prize: $1,000. Deadline: February 15, 2016. Read details HERE.
Wiley-Silver Prize in Civil War History. Genre: First book or monograph in Civil War history published in the previous year. Books published in 2015 are eligible. Books or monographs published by scholarly or popular presses are eligible. Prize: $2,000. Deadline: February 15, 2016. How to enter: Read submission guidelines HERE.
New England Youth Outdoor Writing Contest. Restrictions: The contest is open to students in New England. Submissions from students in grades 6-8 will be entered in the Junior Division; grades 9-12 will be entered in the Senior Division. Genre: Prose or poem, The topic must be outdoor-oriented (fishing, hunting, boating, canoeing, hiking, camping, nature, ecology, etc.). 500 words max. Prize: $125, $150. Deadline: February 15, 2016. Read details HERE.
Prospero Prizes. Genre: Poetry. Prize: $150 and feature publication. Deadline: February 15, 2016. Read details HERE.
Raiziss/de Palchi Translation Award. Genre: Poetry - translation into English of a significant work of modern Italian poetry. Prize: $10,000. Deadline: February 15, 2016. Read details HERE.
Scotiabank Giller Prize. Restrictions: Open to books published in Canada in English. Books must be published in Canada in English between October 1, 2015 and September 30, 2016 to be eligible for the 2016 Prize. Must be nominated by publisher. Genre: Fiction. Full-length novel or collection of short stories published in English, either originally, or in translation. Prize: $100.000 to the winner and $10,000 to each of the finalists. Deadline: February 15, 2015.
Writers' and Artists' Yearbook Short Story Competition. Genre: Short Story. All entries must be original unpublished prose of 2,000 words or fewer. Prize: £500. Deadline: February 15, 2015. Read details HERE.
Al Smith Individual Artist Fellowships. Restrictions: Open to Kentucky poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers. Genre: Literary arts. Prize: $7,500 Deadline: February 16, 2016. How to enter: Read submission guidelines HERE.
The Matthew Power Literary Reporting Award supports the work of a promising early-career nonfiction writer on a story that uncovers truths about the human condition. Genres: Nonfiction journalism works in progress with “strong, character-driven narratives with detailed scene writing and lyrical description.” Restrictions: The award will not fund proposals to report on armed conflicts where journalists are already imperiled, nor projects that are mainly investigatory. Prize: $12,500 grant and use of the NYU library. Deadline: February 16, 2016. How to enter: Read submission guidelines HERE.
Moment Magazine's Publish-a-Kid Contest. Restrictions: Open to children 9-13. Genre: Book review. Prize: Publication and a free book. Deadline: February 16, 2016. How to enter: Read submission guidelines HERE.
Christopher Tower Poetry Competition. Restrictions: Open to UK students between 16-18 years of age. Genre: Poetry, one poem, maximum 48 lines. Theme is "wonder." Prize: £3,000. Deadline: February 19, 2016. How to enter: Read submission guidelines HERE.
Reader's Digest 100-word-story competition. Genre: 100-word story. Prize: £2,000 and publication. Deadline: February 20, 2016.
The Lakefly Writers Conference. Restrictions: Open to residents of Wisconsin. Genres: Short story fiction: 1500 words or less. Any genre. Theme: Wisconsin Choices. Flash fiction: 500 words or less. Any genre. No theme. Poetry: All poems, free verse to formal and everything in between—75 lines max. Theme: Wisconsin Choices. The Jean Nelson Essay for Young Adults: For young adult writers (ages 12 through 17). 2500 words or less. Theme: Notable Wisconsin figure (living or dead) who most inspires me. Prize: First place winners will receive a cash prize of $100; second place winners will receive $75; and third place winners will receive $50. Winners must be able to attend an awards ceremony at 6 p.m. Friday, May 13, 2016 at the Oshkosh Public Library. Deadline: February 26, 2016. How to enter: Read submission guidelines HERE.
Central PA Writing Contest. Restrictions: Open to legal residents of Pennsylvania who are at least 18 years old. Genre: Short fiction, 1500 words max. Original, unpublished, work of fiction only; no poetry or nonfiction. Prize: $500, runner-up $200. Deadline: February 26, 2016. How to enter: Read submission guidelines HERE.
SLF Working Class/Impoverished Writers Grant is sponsored by the Speculative Literature Foundation. Genres: Speculative fiction, magical realism. Restrictions: Applicants must be working class (see guidelines page for definition) and demonstrate financial hardship. Available to international writers. Prize: $750. Deadline: February 28, 2016. How to enter: Read submission guidelines HERE.
The Atlantic & College Board Writing Prize. Restrictions: Open to high school students 16 to 19 years of age. Genre: Essay. 1,000 to 1,500 words. Prize: $5,000 and publication in September issue of The Atlantic. Deadline: February 28, 2016. How to enter: Read submission guidelines HERE.
The Gabo Prize for Literature in Translation & Multi-Lingual Texts. Genre: Literary translations and multi-lingual texts. Prize: $200. Deadline: February 28, 2016. How to enter: Read submission guidelines HERE.
Science Fiction & the Medical Humanities Writing Competition. Genre: Science-fiction short stories (and also self-contained novel excerpts) of up to 3000 words that address themes of medicine, health, and illness. Prize: £300. Deadline: February 29, 2016.
Event Horizon Magazine Science Poetry Competition. Genre: Poetry. Submitted work shall be inspired by and/or incorporate scientific thinking, concepts, or principles. Prize: $500 and publication. Deadline: February 29, 2016. How to enter: Read submission guidelines HERE.
National Indigenous Writing Contest. Restrictions: Open to Canadian Native Americans. Genre: Short story, under 3000 words. Story must contain Indigenous content. Prize: $2,000. Deadline: February 29, 2016. How to enter: Read submission guidelines HERE.
Spirit First Meditation Poetry Contest. Genre: Poetry. Submissions may be of any length and any style but must have a theme of Meditation or Mindfulness. Prize: $200. Deadline: February 29, 2016. How to enter: Read submission guidelines HERE.
The Penny Fiction Flash Fiction Competition. Genre: Flash fiction stories told in exactly 16 words. Prize: $25 and publication. Deadline: February 29, 2016. How to enter: Read submission guidelines HERE (scroll down).
January 19, 2016
3 New Agents Actively Seeking Writers
Here are three new agents seeking clients. New agents are a boon to writers, especially to those just breaking into publishing. They are enthusiastic and willing to go the extra mile for their clients. All of these agents work for reputable agencies with impressive track records. 
Alexa Stark of Trident Media Group
About Alexa: Raised in New York City, Alexa Stark earned her B.A. in Comparative Literature and Society at Columbia University, where she was an Editor of the Columbia Journal of Literary Criticism. Before coming to Trident, she interned at PEN American Center and worked at Curtis Brown as a literary assistant. Alexa joined Trident in 2012 to work with Ellen Levine, and she has gained invaluable experience working with Ellen’s illustrious and bestselling authors. She also handles first serial rights for Ellen’s authors, and has sold stories, essays, and book excerpts to The New Yorker, Harper’s, Paris Review, The Atlantic, Tin House, N+1, and The New York Times, among others. Alexa continues to work closely with Ellen Levine while building her client list.
What she is seeking: Alexa’s interests are wide-ranging, but she is particularly drawn to literary fiction, upmarket commercial fiction, young adult, memoir, narrative nonfiction, popular science, cultural criticism and women’s issues.
How to submit: Use the agency’s online contact submissions form, and choose Alexa from the dropdown menu.
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Leigh Eisenman of Hannigan Salky Geltzer (HSG)
About Leigh: Leigh Eisenman joined HSG Agency in the fall of 2015. She graduated from Dartmouth College and received her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. After ten years of practicing law in the New York offices of several international firms, she decided to follow her dream of becoming part of the New York City literary landscape. She worked for a year at Folio Literary Management prior to moving to HSG. Leigh now combines her legal background with her love of books as a junior agent with HSG, actively building her own client list, and as an associate with the Salky Law Firm, providing legal counsel to authors and publishing professionals.
What she is seeking: Leigh seeks submissions in the areas of literary and commercial fiction for adults, and is particularly drawn to: flawed protagonists she can’t help but fall in love with (Holden Caulfield was her first crush); stories that take place in contemporary New York, but also any well-defined, vivid setting; and given her background, novels set in law firms or involving lawyers (but not legal thrillers).
On the nonfiction side, Leigh is interested in foodie/cookbooks (especially baking and – maybe conversely – healthy cooking), health and fitness, lifestyle, and select narrative nonfiction.
How to Submit: “We prefer that you query only one agent within HSG. Please send a query letter and the first five pages of your manuscript (within the email–no attachments please!) to leigh [at] hsgagency.com. If you were referred to us, please mention it in the first line of your query. We generally respond to queries within 4-6 weeks, although we do get behind occasionally.”
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Mitch Hoffman of Aaron Priest Literary Agency
About Mitch: Mitch Hoffman joined the Aaron Priest Literary Agency as a Senior Agent in 2015. A 20-year veteran of the publishing industry, he was most recently Vice-President, Executive Editor at Grand Central Publishing. As an editor, Mitch published over 200 books, more than 60 of which were New York Times bestsellers. He has nurtured the careers of debut novelists as well as global #1 bestselling authors, and has worked with journalists, memoirists, scientists, historians, and members of the military and intelligence services. His list of authors included David Baldacci, Sara Blaedel, Harlan Coben, Jeffery Deaver, Roger Ebert, Senator Al Franken, Linda Grant, Dr. David Grinspoon, Raymond Khoury, John Lescroart, Brad Meltzer, Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child, Tom Rob Smith, Daniel Stashower, and Don Winslow. Their books have won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Orange Prize for Fiction, the Edgar Award, the Anthony Award, ITW’s Thriller Award, The Barnes & Noble Discover Award, and have been longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, among many other honors.
What he is seeking: Mitch is actively building a client list of authors writing across the spectrum of fiction and nonfiction, including thrillers, suspense, crime fiction, and literary fiction, as well as narrative nonfiction, politics, popular science, history, memoir, current events, and pop culture.
How to submit: “Please submit a one page query to queryhoffman [at] aaronpriest.com. The query letter should describe your work as well as your background. Please do not send attachments. However a first chapter pasted into the body of an e-mail query is acceptable. Please do not submit to more than one agent at this agency. Due to the tremendous number of queries we receive, we are not able to respond to everyone. We will get back to you within four weeks, but only if interested.”
Alexa Stark of Trident Media GroupAbout Alexa: Raised in New York City, Alexa Stark earned her B.A. in Comparative Literature and Society at Columbia University, where she was an Editor of the Columbia Journal of Literary Criticism. Before coming to Trident, she interned at PEN American Center and worked at Curtis Brown as a literary assistant. Alexa joined Trident in 2012 to work with Ellen Levine, and she has gained invaluable experience working with Ellen’s illustrious and bestselling authors. She also handles first serial rights for Ellen’s authors, and has sold stories, essays, and book excerpts to The New Yorker, Harper’s, Paris Review, The Atlantic, Tin House, N+1, and The New York Times, among others. Alexa continues to work closely with Ellen Levine while building her client list.
What she is seeking: Alexa’s interests are wide-ranging, but she is particularly drawn to literary fiction, upmarket commercial fiction, young adult, memoir, narrative nonfiction, popular science, cultural criticism and women’s issues.
How to submit: Use the agency’s online contact submissions form, and choose Alexa from the dropdown menu.
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Leigh Eisenman of Hannigan Salky Geltzer (HSG)About Leigh: Leigh Eisenman joined HSG Agency in the fall of 2015. She graduated from Dartmouth College and received her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. After ten years of practicing law in the New York offices of several international firms, she decided to follow her dream of becoming part of the New York City literary landscape. She worked for a year at Folio Literary Management prior to moving to HSG. Leigh now combines her legal background with her love of books as a junior agent with HSG, actively building her own client list, and as an associate with the Salky Law Firm, providing legal counsel to authors and publishing professionals.
What she is seeking: Leigh seeks submissions in the areas of literary and commercial fiction for adults, and is particularly drawn to: flawed protagonists she can’t help but fall in love with (Holden Caulfield was her first crush); stories that take place in contemporary New York, but also any well-defined, vivid setting; and given her background, novels set in law firms or involving lawyers (but not legal thrillers).
On the nonfiction side, Leigh is interested in foodie/cookbooks (especially baking and – maybe conversely – healthy cooking), health and fitness, lifestyle, and select narrative nonfiction.
How to Submit: “We prefer that you query only one agent within HSG. Please send a query letter and the first five pages of your manuscript (within the email–no attachments please!) to leigh [at] hsgagency.com. If you were referred to us, please mention it in the first line of your query. We generally respond to queries within 4-6 weeks, although we do get behind occasionally.”
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Mitch Hoffman of Aaron Priest Literary Agency About Mitch: Mitch Hoffman joined the Aaron Priest Literary Agency as a Senior Agent in 2015. A 20-year veteran of the publishing industry, he was most recently Vice-President, Executive Editor at Grand Central Publishing. As an editor, Mitch published over 200 books, more than 60 of which were New York Times bestsellers. He has nurtured the careers of debut novelists as well as global #1 bestselling authors, and has worked with journalists, memoirists, scientists, historians, and members of the military and intelligence services. His list of authors included David Baldacci, Sara Blaedel, Harlan Coben, Jeffery Deaver, Roger Ebert, Senator Al Franken, Linda Grant, Dr. David Grinspoon, Raymond Khoury, John Lescroart, Brad Meltzer, Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child, Tom Rob Smith, Daniel Stashower, and Don Winslow. Their books have won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Orange Prize for Fiction, the Edgar Award, the Anthony Award, ITW’s Thriller Award, The Barnes & Noble Discover Award, and have been longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, among many other honors.
What he is seeking: Mitch is actively building a client list of authors writing across the spectrum of fiction and nonfiction, including thrillers, suspense, crime fiction, and literary fiction, as well as narrative nonfiction, politics, popular science, history, memoir, current events, and pop culture.
How to submit: “Please submit a one page query to queryhoffman [at] aaronpriest.com. The query letter should describe your work as well as your background. Please do not send attachments. However a first chapter pasted into the body of an e-mail query is acceptable. Please do not submit to more than one agent at this agency. Due to the tremendous number of queries we receive, we are not able to respond to everyone. We will get back to you within four weeks, but only if interested.”
January 13, 2016
14 Agents Seeking Science FIction
Here are 14 agents currently seeking science fiction manuscripts. All are from reputable agencies.
If you want to know more about a particular agent, you can check him or her out at Absolute Write, a great site where writers freely discuss their experiences with agents and publishers. (To avoid jumping through hoops, just type the name of the agent and "absolute write" into a google search.)
Make sure you read the agency's website before you query an agent.
1. Paula Munier (Talcott Notch Literary)
About Paula: She began as a journalist and has authored/co-authored more than a dozen books, SHe has also worked as an editor, acquisitions specialist, digital content manager, and publishing executive.
What she is looking for: “High concept only.” ("High concept" means literary.)
How to submit: E-query editorial [at] talcottnotch.net with “Query for Paula: [title]” in the subject line
2. Kaylee Davis (Dee Mura Literary)
About Kaylee: Kaylee received a B.A. in English Literature and a B.A. in Sociology from Miami University, and she is certified in Copyediting from Emerson College. Kaylee joined the agency as a professional copyeditor, proofreader, and administrative assistant. She has recently been promoted to Associate Literary Agent.
What she is looking for: “Word count under 120,000.”
How to submit: Send query, synopsis, and first 25 pages to query [at] deemuraliterary.com. No attachments please.
3. Carlie Webber (CK Webber Associates)
About Carlie: She has a Master of Library and Information Science. For ten years, she worked as a public librarian serving teens and adults, served on book awards committees, and reviewed books professionally for journals including Kirkus Reviews and VOYA. Wishing to pursue her interest in the business side of books, she then enrolled in the Columbia Publishing Course. Her professional publishing experience includes an internship at Writers House and work with the Publish or Perish Agency/New England Publishing Associates and the Jane Rotrosen Agency.
What she is looking for: "I am looking specifically for science fiction that has elements of the world we live in now. Books set centuries in the future or a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away are probably not for me.”
How to submit: To submit your work for consideration, please send a query letter, synopsis, and the first 30 pages or three chapters of your work, whichever is more, to carlie [at] ckwebber.com and put the word “Query” in the subject line of your email. You may include your materials either in the body of your email or as a Word or PDF attachment. Blank emails that include an attachment will be deleted unread. E-mail queries only.
4. Laura Biagi (Jean V. Naggar Literary)
About Laura: Laura Biagi joined JVNLA in 2009. Laura's writing background has honed her editorial eye and has driven her enthusiasm for discovering and developing literary talent. She studied creative writing and anthropology at Northwestern University. As a writer, she has participated in workshops at the Squaw Valley Community of Writers, the Juniper Summer Writing Institute, and the New York State Summer Writers Institute. She is the recipient of a Kentucky Emerging Artist Award for fiction writing.
What she is looking for: “Only in a literary or mainstream vein”
How to submit: Follow the instructions on the agency’s submissions page.
5. Sam Morgan (Jabberwocky Literary)
About Sam: He is a native of Shelby, North Carolina and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.A. in Communications – Media Studies and Production. Before joining Jabberwocky in late 2012, Sam worked in New York City as a television critic.
How to submit: querysam [at] awfulagent.com. Send the query and your first five pages pasted into the email. No attachments.
6. Mark Gottlieb (Trident Media)
About Mark: From an early age, Mark showed a passionate interest in his father’s work, his founding of Trident with Dan Strone, and the growth of the company. This focus on publishing continued at Emerson College, where Mark was a founding member of the Publishing Club, subsequently overseeing its first publication under the Wilde Press imprint. After graduating Emerson with a degree in writing, literature and publishing, Mark began his career as an assistant to the Vice President of the Berkley imprint at Penguin, working with leading editors at the firm.
Mark’s first position at Trident was in the foreign rights department, assisting the department’s agents in selling the books of clients around the world. Mark next became audio rights agent. Since Mark has managed the audio rights business, the annual sales volume has doubled. Now while continuing to head up audio rights, Mark is building his own client list of writers. "I am excited to work directly with authors that I bring to Trident, helping to manage and grow their careers with all of the unique resources that are available to me at Trident."
How to submit: Use the online submission form here. Make sure you direct your inquiry to Mark.
7. Evan Gregory (Ethan Ellenberg Literary)
"I will not respond to your email unless interested. If you do not hear back from me after two weeks from sending your submission, you can safely assume that I am not interested in that project. You may submit to me again if you have a new project you think might interest me or the agency, but please do not submit the same project to the agency multiple times, and please do not submit more than one project at a time."
What he is looking for: “Action-oriented SF, military SF, space opera, but also looking for that weird stuff which really pushes the envelope.”
How to submit: Please send submissions to agent [at] ethanellenberg.com to the attention of Evan. “For email submissions, we ask that you paste all materials into the body of the email in the order mentioned below. For example, if you were submitting fiction you would begin with a brief query letter, followed by your synopsis, followed by the first 50 pages of your manuscript. We will not open attachments.”
8. Sara Megibow (kt literary)
About Sara: Sara is a literary agent with nine years of experience in publishing. She specializes in working with authors in middle grade, young adult, romance, erotica, science fiction and fantasy and represents New York Times bestselling authors Roni Loren and Jason Hough and international bestselling authors Stefan Bachmann and Tiffany Reisz. Sara is LGBTQ-friendly and presents regularly at SCBWI and RWA events around the country.
How to submit: ”Please e-mail your query letter and the first three pages of your manuscript in the body of the email to saraquery [at] ktliterary.com. The subject line of your email should include the word ‘Query’ along with the title of your manuscript. No attachments. We aim to reply to all queries within two weeks of receipt. In addition, if you’re an author who is sending a new query, but who previously submitted a novel to us for which we requested chapters but ultimately declined, please do say so in your query letter. If we like your query, we’ll ask for the first five chapters and a complete synopsis. For our purposes, the synopsis should include the full plot of the book, including the conclusion. Don’t tease us.
9. Lane Heymont (The Seymour Agency)
About Lane: Serving as a literary assistant for the past two years at The Seymour Agency, Lane Heymont has led the marketing efforts for their authors and enjoyed connecting clients with readers. As a lover of literature since childhood, he decided to pursue his passion as a literary agent to bring more well written books to the masses. With a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, business and literature, Lane continued his education in Creative Writing and English, attending Harvard. Lane is a member of HWA, ITW, and AAR membership is pending. He believes what John Gregory Dunne said: “Writing is manual labor of the mind.”
What he is looking for: “Military sci-fi, keep it fresh.”
How to submit: How to connect: Send all queries to lane [at] theseymouragency.com. The subject line should be “QUERY: (Title)”. Please past the first five pages in the body of the e-mail. Please do not query Nicole Resciniti (also on this list) if querying Lane.
10. Beth Campbell (BookEnds, Inc.)
About Beth: After an academic career filled with publishing internships, Beth joined BookEnds as a literary assistant in September 2012 and was promoted to Assistant Literary Agent in 2015.
What she is looking for: “I will look at hard sci-fi but prefer soft.”
How to submit: E-query bcsubmissions [at] bookendsliterary.com. No attachments. “If you haven’t received a response to a query after 8 weeks, we ask that you simply resend the query. It’s possible that it was eaten by a spam filter on either our end or yours.”
11. Heather Flaherty (The Bent Agency)
About Heather: “I grew up in Massachusetts, between Boston and the Cape, and started working in New York City as a playwright during college. This pushed me towards English as a focus, and after a lot of country-hopping in my early twenties, I wound up finally beginning my publishing career in editorial, specifically at Random House in the UK. That’s also where I became a YA and children’s literary scout, which finally landed me back in NYC, consulting with foreign publishers and Hollywood regarding what the next big book will be. Now as an agent, I’m thrilled to turn my focus on growing authors for that same success.”
What she is looking for: “Soft sci-fi only.”
How to submit: flahertyqueries [at] the bentagency.com. Please do not query Heather if you are also querying Beth Phelan of The Bent Agency, who is also on this list. Paste the first ten pages of your book in the body of your email.
12. Monica Odom (Bradford Literary)
About Monica: Monica Odom joined Bradford Literary Agency in 2015. Prior to joining Team Bradford, she worked for five years managing finance, subrights and social media at Liza Dawson Associates, and became an associate agent there in 2013. Monica earned her Masters in Publishing: Digital & Print Media from New York University in 2014, and has a B.A. in English from Montclair State University.
What she is looking for: “Ideally something that would also be picked up by non-genre readers (think The Martian).”
How to submit: E-query monica [at] bradfordlit.com. Put “Query: [title]” in your subject line. Please email a query letter along with the first chapter of your manuscript and a synopsis. Please be sure to include the genre and word count in your cover letter.”
13. Mary C. Moore (Kimberley Cameron & Associates)
About Mary: Mary C. Moore has been with Kimberley Cameron since 2012. Mary specializes in science fiction and fantasy, although she does appreciate a wide breadth of the literary cannon.
What she is looking for: “No dystopian.”
How to submit: Query Mary [at] kimberleycameron.com. Include “Author Submission” in the subject line. Attach a one-page synopsis and the first fifty pages of your manuscript as separate Word or PDF documents.
14. Nicole Resciniti (The Seymour Agency)
About Nicole: Nicole has been listed by Publisher's Marketplace as a top dealmaker in the country, and named ACFW's 2012 Agent of the Year. She loves discovering new talent and helping established authors to take their career to the next level.
How to submit: Send all queries to nicole [at] theseymouragency.com. The subject line should be “QUERY: (Title).” Please past the first five pages in the body of the e-mail. [If you query Nicole, do not query Lane Heymont, who is also featured on this list.)
If you want to know more about a particular agent, you can check him or her out at Absolute Write, a great site where writers freely discuss their experiences with agents and publishers. (To avoid jumping through hoops, just type the name of the agent and "absolute write" into a google search.)
Make sure you read the agency's website before you query an agent.
1. Paula Munier (Talcott Notch Literary)About Paula: She began as a journalist and has authored/co-authored more than a dozen books, SHe has also worked as an editor, acquisitions specialist, digital content manager, and publishing executive.
What she is looking for: “High concept only.” ("High concept" means literary.)
How to submit: E-query editorial [at] talcottnotch.net with “Query for Paula: [title]” in the subject line
2. Kaylee Davis (Dee Mura Literary)About Kaylee: Kaylee received a B.A. in English Literature and a B.A. in Sociology from Miami University, and she is certified in Copyediting from Emerson College. Kaylee joined the agency as a professional copyeditor, proofreader, and administrative assistant. She has recently been promoted to Associate Literary Agent.
What she is looking for: “Word count under 120,000.”
How to submit: Send query, synopsis, and first 25 pages to query [at] deemuraliterary.com. No attachments please.
3. Carlie Webber (CK Webber Associates)About Carlie: She has a Master of Library and Information Science. For ten years, she worked as a public librarian serving teens and adults, served on book awards committees, and reviewed books professionally for journals including Kirkus Reviews and VOYA. Wishing to pursue her interest in the business side of books, she then enrolled in the Columbia Publishing Course. Her professional publishing experience includes an internship at Writers House and work with the Publish or Perish Agency/New England Publishing Associates and the Jane Rotrosen Agency.
What she is looking for: "I am looking specifically for science fiction that has elements of the world we live in now. Books set centuries in the future or a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away are probably not for me.”
How to submit: To submit your work for consideration, please send a query letter, synopsis, and the first 30 pages or three chapters of your work, whichever is more, to carlie [at] ckwebber.com and put the word “Query” in the subject line of your email. You may include your materials either in the body of your email or as a Word or PDF attachment. Blank emails that include an attachment will be deleted unread. E-mail queries only.
4. Laura Biagi (Jean V. Naggar Literary)About Laura: Laura Biagi joined JVNLA in 2009. Laura's writing background has honed her editorial eye and has driven her enthusiasm for discovering and developing literary talent. She studied creative writing and anthropology at Northwestern University. As a writer, she has participated in workshops at the Squaw Valley Community of Writers, the Juniper Summer Writing Institute, and the New York State Summer Writers Institute. She is the recipient of a Kentucky Emerging Artist Award for fiction writing.
What she is looking for: “Only in a literary or mainstream vein”
How to submit: Follow the instructions on the agency’s submissions page.
5. Sam Morgan (Jabberwocky Literary)About Sam: He is a native of Shelby, North Carolina and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.A. in Communications – Media Studies and Production. Before joining Jabberwocky in late 2012, Sam worked in New York City as a television critic.
How to submit: querysam [at] awfulagent.com. Send the query and your first five pages pasted into the email. No attachments.
6. Mark Gottlieb (Trident Media)About Mark: From an early age, Mark showed a passionate interest in his father’s work, his founding of Trident with Dan Strone, and the growth of the company. This focus on publishing continued at Emerson College, where Mark was a founding member of the Publishing Club, subsequently overseeing its first publication under the Wilde Press imprint. After graduating Emerson with a degree in writing, literature and publishing, Mark began his career as an assistant to the Vice President of the Berkley imprint at Penguin, working with leading editors at the firm.
Mark’s first position at Trident was in the foreign rights department, assisting the department’s agents in selling the books of clients around the world. Mark next became audio rights agent. Since Mark has managed the audio rights business, the annual sales volume has doubled. Now while continuing to head up audio rights, Mark is building his own client list of writers. "I am excited to work directly with authors that I bring to Trident, helping to manage and grow their careers with all of the unique resources that are available to me at Trident."
How to submit: Use the online submission form here. Make sure you direct your inquiry to Mark.
7. Evan Gregory (Ethan Ellenberg Literary)"I will not respond to your email unless interested. If you do not hear back from me after two weeks from sending your submission, you can safely assume that I am not interested in that project. You may submit to me again if you have a new project you think might interest me or the agency, but please do not submit the same project to the agency multiple times, and please do not submit more than one project at a time."
What he is looking for: “Action-oriented SF, military SF, space opera, but also looking for that weird stuff which really pushes the envelope.”
How to submit: Please send submissions to agent [at] ethanellenberg.com to the attention of Evan. “For email submissions, we ask that you paste all materials into the body of the email in the order mentioned below. For example, if you were submitting fiction you would begin with a brief query letter, followed by your synopsis, followed by the first 50 pages of your manuscript. We will not open attachments.”
8. Sara Megibow (kt literary)About Sara: Sara is a literary agent with nine years of experience in publishing. She specializes in working with authors in middle grade, young adult, romance, erotica, science fiction and fantasy and represents New York Times bestselling authors Roni Loren and Jason Hough and international bestselling authors Stefan Bachmann and Tiffany Reisz. Sara is LGBTQ-friendly and presents regularly at SCBWI and RWA events around the country.
How to submit: ”Please e-mail your query letter and the first three pages of your manuscript in the body of the email to saraquery [at] ktliterary.com. The subject line of your email should include the word ‘Query’ along with the title of your manuscript. No attachments. We aim to reply to all queries within two weeks of receipt. In addition, if you’re an author who is sending a new query, but who previously submitted a novel to us for which we requested chapters but ultimately declined, please do say so in your query letter. If we like your query, we’ll ask for the first five chapters and a complete synopsis. For our purposes, the synopsis should include the full plot of the book, including the conclusion. Don’t tease us.
9. Lane Heymont (The Seymour Agency)About Lane: Serving as a literary assistant for the past two years at The Seymour Agency, Lane Heymont has led the marketing efforts for their authors and enjoyed connecting clients with readers. As a lover of literature since childhood, he decided to pursue his passion as a literary agent to bring more well written books to the masses. With a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, business and literature, Lane continued his education in Creative Writing and English, attending Harvard. Lane is a member of HWA, ITW, and AAR membership is pending. He believes what John Gregory Dunne said: “Writing is manual labor of the mind.”
What he is looking for: “Military sci-fi, keep it fresh.”
How to submit: How to connect: Send all queries to lane [at] theseymouragency.com. The subject line should be “QUERY: (Title)”. Please past the first five pages in the body of the e-mail. Please do not query Nicole Resciniti (also on this list) if querying Lane.
10. Beth Campbell (BookEnds, Inc.)About Beth: After an academic career filled with publishing internships, Beth joined BookEnds as a literary assistant in September 2012 and was promoted to Assistant Literary Agent in 2015.
What she is looking for: “I will look at hard sci-fi but prefer soft.”
How to submit: E-query bcsubmissions [at] bookendsliterary.com. No attachments. “If you haven’t received a response to a query after 8 weeks, we ask that you simply resend the query. It’s possible that it was eaten by a spam filter on either our end or yours.”
11. Heather Flaherty (The Bent Agency)About Heather: “I grew up in Massachusetts, between Boston and the Cape, and started working in New York City as a playwright during college. This pushed me towards English as a focus, and after a lot of country-hopping in my early twenties, I wound up finally beginning my publishing career in editorial, specifically at Random House in the UK. That’s also where I became a YA and children’s literary scout, which finally landed me back in NYC, consulting with foreign publishers and Hollywood regarding what the next big book will be. Now as an agent, I’m thrilled to turn my focus on growing authors for that same success.”
What she is looking for: “Soft sci-fi only.”
How to submit: flahertyqueries [at] the bentagency.com. Please do not query Heather if you are also querying Beth Phelan of The Bent Agency, who is also on this list. Paste the first ten pages of your book in the body of your email.
12. Monica Odom (Bradford Literary)About Monica: Monica Odom joined Bradford Literary Agency in 2015. Prior to joining Team Bradford, she worked for five years managing finance, subrights and social media at Liza Dawson Associates, and became an associate agent there in 2013. Monica earned her Masters in Publishing: Digital & Print Media from New York University in 2014, and has a B.A. in English from Montclair State University.
What she is looking for: “Ideally something that would also be picked up by non-genre readers (think The Martian).”
How to submit: E-query monica [at] bradfordlit.com. Put “Query: [title]” in your subject line. Please email a query letter along with the first chapter of your manuscript and a synopsis. Please be sure to include the genre and word count in your cover letter.”
13. Mary C. Moore (Kimberley Cameron & Associates)About Mary: Mary C. Moore has been with Kimberley Cameron since 2012. Mary specializes in science fiction and fantasy, although she does appreciate a wide breadth of the literary cannon.
What she is looking for: “No dystopian.”
How to submit: Query Mary [at] kimberleycameron.com. Include “Author Submission” in the subject line. Attach a one-page synopsis and the first fifty pages of your manuscript as separate Word or PDF documents.
14. Nicole Resciniti (The Seymour Agency)About Nicole: Nicole has been listed by Publisher's Marketplace as a top dealmaker in the country, and named ACFW's 2012 Agent of the Year. She loves discovering new talent and helping established authors to take their career to the next level.
How to submit: Send all queries to nicole [at] theseymouragency.com. The subject line should be “QUERY: (Title).” Please past the first five pages in the body of the e-mail. [If you query Nicole, do not query Lane Heymont, who is also featured on this list.)
January 7, 2016
The 2015 Smashwords Survey - Best price for your book, preorders, and top genres
Smashwords is an ebook distribution platform for self-publishers founded in 2008. Despite the dominance of Amazon, the company has enjoyed considerable success. Smashwords published 336,000 books by over 100,000 authors in 2014.The CEO of Smashwords, Mark Coker, is a man who is dedicated to the idea of democratizing publishing. His insights are enormously helpful for writers breaking into the publishing scene, and Smashwords' annual surveys provide valuable information about strategies for epublishing success.
Below are some of the findings from the 2015 Smashwords survey. You can read the full survey (with an informative slide show) HERE.
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Key Findings of the 2015 Smashwords Survey
1. Wow, preorders. For the first time we analyzed the percentage of books born as preorders (as opposed to simply uploaded the day of release) and compared the sales of preorder-birthed books to non-preorder books. During the survey period, less than 10 percent of books were born as a preorder, even though this feature has been available to Smashwords authors since mid 2013. Yet despite the low usage, two thirds of our top 200 bestselling titles were born as preorders.
2. Series with free series starters earn more money. For the first time we analyzed the difference in sales between series with free series and starters and series without free series starters. We looked at our 200 bestselling series with a free series starter and our 200 bestselling series without free series starters. Then we added up the numbers and compared them. First we looked at the average. The free series starter group earned 66% more3. Free still works to build readership. For each survey year, we've looked at how free ebook downloads compare to paid downloads using iBooks as our apples to apples comparison each year (bad pun, sorry!). In the 2014 Survey, we found that free books got 39 times more downloads than priced books, down dramatically from 91x in 2013 and 100X in 2012. I expected the power of free to fall further this year, given that this secret - which I've been advocating for nearly eight years - helps authors earn more money. The result for 2014? 41x. The effectiveness of free increased despite the glut of free books.
4. Longer books sell better than shorter books. This finding is consistent with each of the prior year's surveys, though as I mention in the presentation, this year's finding comes with a lot more caveats. In a nutshell, I suspect the rise of multi-author box sets, often at deep discount prices, is probably throwing off the data this year, and as I discuss in the presentation, some of the dynamics will cause it to understate impact of longer books and some will cause it to overstate it.
5. $3.99 remains the sweet spot for full length indie fiction. For the third year in a row, authors sold more units and earned more overall income with books priced at $3.99. This is significant because it counters the concern of some authors that the glut of high-quality will lead to ever lower prices. For great authors, readers are still willing to pay. The pricing, earnings and unit sales data we share has been remarkably consistent now for four years, especially when you consider how this translates to a competitive advantage for indie ebook authors compared to traditionally published ebook authors. 6. 99 cents is still good for building readership, but not as good as $2.99 and $3.99. And from an earnings perspective, 99 cents underperforms the average of all other prices by about 65%.
7. Avoid $1.99. For the fourth year in a row, $1.99 was a black hole in terms of overall earnings. On a unit sales basis, although $1.99 books outperformed all books priced $5.00 and above, it dramatically underperformed on overall earnings, earning 73% less than the average of all other price points.
8. Bestselling authors and social media. Bestselling authors are more likely to have a presence on Facebook and Twitter, and more likely to have a blog. Not a huge surprise, though it's worth noting there are plenty of successful authors who have minimal presence on social media.
9. Top 10 Fiction categories during the one year period: 1. Romance. 2. Erotica. 3. YA and teen fiction. 4. Fantasy. 5. Mystery & detective. 6. Gay and lesbian fiction. 7. Science fiction. 8. Historical. 9. Thriller & suspense. 10. Adventure.10. Top 10 Non-fiction categories during the one year period: 1. Biography. 2. Health, wellbeing and medicine. 3. Business & economics. 4. Self-improvement. 5. Religion & spirituality. 6. Relationships and family. 7. Sports and outdoor recreation. 8. Education and study guides. 9. New age. 10. Computers & Internet.
You can read the full survey along with an informative slide show HERE.
January 6, 2016
Top 10 Publishing Posts of 2015
This is the first year I have looked back at my posts. (Normally, once they are up I simply move on to the next exciting idea.)But, stats are important for various reasons. They tell us what people like to read. They also tell us what people need. Blog posts that provide answers to questions, that inform, and that explain are bound to be popular.
And for writers, anything that answers the question, "How do I get published?" will be warmly received.
(I promise that in 2016 I will continue to provide answers to that question.)
So, without further ado, here are my top ten posts - in reverse order.
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#10 10 Awards for Self-Published Books (1569 views)
#9 Should You Hire a Professional Book Cover Designer? (1948)
#8 Publisher Pan Macmillan Accepting Unsolicited Manuscripts - No Agent Needed (2129 views)
#7 Fantasy and Sci-fi Reviewers Accepting Self-Published Authors (2616 views)
#6 2 New Agents Seeking Writers (2630 views)
#5 23 Poetry Publishers Accepting Unagented Manuscripts (2729 views)
#4 Speculative Fiction Magazines Accepting Submissions (4127 views)
#3 2 New Agents Seeking Writers: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Nonfiction, Thrillers and more (4727 views)
#2 234 Hashtags for Writers (5759 views)
#1 HarperCollins Seeking Submissions - No Agent Required (15,973 views)
January 2, 2016
2016 - Your Year to Get Published!
I consider New Year's resolutions to be a culturally sanctioned form of torture, providing false hope for a week or two before plunging us all into a bottomless well of guilt for the remainder of the year.Because I dislike psychological abuse, I have kept my writing resolutions quite reasonable over the years.
In 2013, I resolved to research my market. That was an excellent resolution, and one which I am still trying to fulfill. The obvious purpose behind researching my market was to develop a marketing plan well in advance of publication. It was a practical, if unexciting, resolution. One day I mean to keep it.
In 2014, I went for something more thrilling. I resolved to get more rejections than C. S. Lewis. He got 800, so it was a tall order to fill. Nonetheless, I am proud to say I did manage to get well over a hundred rejections (and I am still getting them!). I reasoned that by inoculating myself with repeated rejections, my work would eventually get accepted somewhere.
This year, I have set my sights even higher. My goal is to get published, come hell or high water. That means getting more stories published, writing essays, reviews, hmm ... I'll thrown in some irate letters to the editor - and while I'm at it, I'll publish my book.
Here is my plan. Feel free to join me.
Submit stories to publications that actually want them. Last year, I submitted my stories all over the place, and they racked up an impressive number of rejections. But, the literary magazines that eventually published my stories did so because what I sent them was exactly what they were looking for. This year, rather than blitz the market, I will spend more time reading the publications I am wooing in order to make sure they are a good fit. (On January 5th I'll post a list of over 200 paying markets on this blog. Among those, there should be several that will provide good homes to our little darlings.)
Query agents who are looking for my genre - and style. Agents often list books they have enjoyed on their bios. They also give interviews. It's worth doing a bit of research before querying.
Submit to publishers directly. Once I have exhausted my list of agents, I will submit to publishers. By now, I have assembled quite a list.
Go about submissions systemically and doggedly. I used to submit to a few places and stop when I was turned away. My last year's resolution is still racking up the rejections, so by now my skin is nice and thick. I will not let rejections deter me.
Let's finish our projects, submit them, and get them published! This is our year!
Bookmark this post! When you get your story or article (or book) published, leave a comment.
January 1, 2016
13 Calls for Submissions: January 2016 - Speculative fiction, poetry, short fiction, non-fiction, children's lit
[image error] The new year is (nearly) upon us, and with it come publishing opportunities!
Here are thirteen magazines and anthologies looking for writers.
As usual, there is a wide array of genres: speculative fiction, children's literature, poetry, flash fiction, short stories, dramatic monologues, and creative nonfiction.
All of these are paying markets.
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ChappyFiction LLC: Time travel anthology
"The anthology will contain new short stories centered around time travel. How does it affect our society, our humanity, or the characters? We want new stories. Create paradoxes. Make us laugh. Make us cry. If you have a killer reprint, query us first before submitting." Simultaneous submissions are okay.
Genre: Science fiction/fantasy
Length: Under 7,000 words
Payment: 6 cents a word
Deadline: January 1, 2016
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Mom for the Holidays: Stories of Love, Laughter and Tantrums
Genre: Personal essays, stories, poems
Payment: $25-$200 per piece
Deadline: January 1, 2016
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No Shit, There I Was
"The intention is to cover a wide range of subgenres to show the versatility of a single opening line comedies, tragedies, and everything in between are welcome in the slush pile. That said, Rachael is not terribly interested in horror, and erotica is right out. Salty language is okay, gratuitous violence, gore, or sex is not."
Genre: Speculative fiction beginning with the line "No Shit, There I Was"
Length: 2,000-7,500 words
Payment: 6 cents a word
Deadline: January 6, 2016
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The Big Day
Babybug seeks rhymes and stories celebrating big days and first experiences. Meeting someone new, visiting an unfamiliar place, taking a step, discovering the word no—what makes a baby or toddler’s day extraordinary? We are looking for playful writing that begs to be read aloud.
Genre: For ages 0–3
Length: Please keep it short—Babybug poems are generally no longer than eight lines, and stories can be up to 6 sentences.
Payment: Up to 25 cents per word for prose; up to $3.00 per line; $25.00 minimum for poetry
Deadline: January 6, 2016
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Monsters
What if Cyclops went to school with Godzilla? What would a kraken bring in its lunchbox? Cricket and Spider are on the prowl for stories, poetry, and nonfiction exploring the theme of Monsters. We’re interested in work that taps in to kids' fascination with all things monstrous in myth, fantasy, sci fi, and as figures for beastly power in our daily lives. Monster stories give kids a space to play with strong feelings, huge life changes, the annoying rules of the grown-up world, and the occasional impulse to smash the Tokyo skyline.
Genre: Fiction and poetry for ages 6–9 (Spider) and ages 9–14 (Cricket)
Payment: Up to 25 cents per word for prose; up to $3.00 per line ($25.00 minimum) for poetry
Deadline: January 6, 2016
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Qu
Qu is a publication of Queens University of Charlotte.
Genres: Contemporary prose, drama. and poetry
Length: Up to 8K words for prose. Submit up to three poems per poetry submission.
Payment: $100 per prose piece, $50 per poem
Deadline: January 15, 2016
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Liminal
"We like stories that are strange and unsettling, sharp-edged and evocative. Although we will consider any genre, we have a soft spot for weird fiction, magical realism, soft sci-fi, and those uncatagorizable stories that straddle the line between genres."
Genre: Fiction
Length: Up to 10,000 words
Payment: 6c/word
Deadline: January 15, 2016
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Great Weather for MEDIA Annual Anthology
"Our focus is on the fearless, the unpredictable, and experimental but we do not have a set theme for our anthologies."
Genres: Poetry, flash fiction, short stories, dramatic monologues, and creative nonfiction
Payment: One contributor copy, plus $10 for writers based in USA. International writers receive two copies.
Deadline: January 15, 2016
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Specter Spectacular III: 13 Uncanny Tales
We hope to expand on the previous volumes of “ghostly” tales and “deathly” tales by delving into the realm of “uncanny” tales. The idea of the uncanny opens up possibilities: creepy doppelgängers, too-close-to-human robots, changeling intruders, cryptid animals, jarring juxtapositions.The essence of the uncanny is an unsettled feeling, a sense that something isn’t quite right, often coupled with an inability to articulate exactly why. Our tastes lean more toward the psychological than toward gore, especially for this volume. We’re looking for a wide range of interpretations and a balance of styles and tones (serious, humorous, modern, historical, futuristic, mythological, gothic, etc.).
Length: Under 10,000 words.
Payment: $10 + paperback copy of the anthology.
Deadline: January 15, 2016
Reprints accepted.
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Rattle Magazine
Restrictions: Poems must be written by those who have lived at least half their lives in the Greater Los Angeles Area.
Genre: Poetry.
Payment: $50
Deadline: January 15, 2016
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Wordrunner eChapbooks: Devices
The theme for this year's annual themed anthology is Devices: Technology’s impact on our lives and relationships. "The technology could be as old as the invention of writing, false teeth, the printing press, or something not yet invented; it might be your first TV, your grandfather's model T, or augmented reality eyeware. What are the stories and the emotional dynamics? We are looking for the human component, regardless of device or genre."
Genres: "Fiction on this topic can be contemporary, historical, or speculative science fiction. We'd like to see personal memoir or creative nonfiction about family history."
Length: Submit up to three poems or a short story, novel or memoir excerpt, or personal essay (1,000 to 5,000 words)
Payment: $100 for collections ($5 to $20 for single pieces in anthologies)
Deadline: January 31, 2016
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Damsels in Success
"We’ve all read the stories and fallen in love with the movies: the girl needs saving, the boy rescues girl, they fall in love, and they lived happily ever after. But what if the boy was in distress or the girl had dreams that didn’t involve falling in love? Those are the kinds of stories we’re looking for to include in our next anthology. If you have a fantasy story about a strong female character who made her own way or a story that takes a twist on a classic tale, send it our way!"
Length: Up to 10,000 words.
Payment: $5.00 per story. There will be an editor’s choice winner that will get placed at the front of the book, have the cover designed specifically with that story in mind and the author will receive a small bonus.
Deadline: January 31, 2016
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Tesseracts Twenty: Compostela
"Compostela (Tesseracts Twenty) is an anthology of hard and soft science fiction stories that best represent a futuristic view of the sciences and how humanity might be affected (for better or worse) by a reliance in all things technological. For more than 1,000 years, Santiago de Compostela (Compostela means “field of stars”) has attracted pilgrims to walk to the cathedral that holds St. James the apostle's relics. The stories in this anthology in their own way tell the tale of futuristic travelers who journey into the dark outer (or inner) reaches of space, searching for their own connections to the past, present and future relics of their time."
Restrictions: Open to Canadians only
Genre: Science Fiction
Length: 5,000 words max
Payment: Payment for short poetry is $20.00. Payment for short stories is prorated as follows: $50 for stories up to 1,500 words, rising to a maximum of $150 for stories up to 5,000 words
Deadline: January 31, 2016
Here are thirteen magazines and anthologies looking for writers.
As usual, there is a wide array of genres: speculative fiction, children's literature, poetry, flash fiction, short stories, dramatic monologues, and creative nonfiction.
All of these are paying markets.
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ChappyFiction LLC: Time travel anthology
"The anthology will contain new short stories centered around time travel. How does it affect our society, our humanity, or the characters? We want new stories. Create paradoxes. Make us laugh. Make us cry. If you have a killer reprint, query us first before submitting." Simultaneous submissions are okay.
Genre: Science fiction/fantasy
Length: Under 7,000 words
Payment: 6 cents a word
Deadline: January 1, 2016
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Mom for the Holidays: Stories of Love, Laughter and Tantrums
Genre: Personal essays, stories, poems
Payment: $25-$200 per piece
Deadline: January 1, 2016
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No Shit, There I Was
"The intention is to cover a wide range of subgenres to show the versatility of a single opening line comedies, tragedies, and everything in between are welcome in the slush pile. That said, Rachael is not terribly interested in horror, and erotica is right out. Salty language is okay, gratuitous violence, gore, or sex is not."
Genre: Speculative fiction beginning with the line "No Shit, There I Was"
Length: 2,000-7,500 words
Payment: 6 cents a word
Deadline: January 6, 2016
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The Big Day
Babybug seeks rhymes and stories celebrating big days and first experiences. Meeting someone new, visiting an unfamiliar place, taking a step, discovering the word no—what makes a baby or toddler’s day extraordinary? We are looking for playful writing that begs to be read aloud.
Genre: For ages 0–3
Length: Please keep it short—Babybug poems are generally no longer than eight lines, and stories can be up to 6 sentences.
Payment: Up to 25 cents per word for prose; up to $3.00 per line; $25.00 minimum for poetry
Deadline: January 6, 2016
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Monsters
What if Cyclops went to school with Godzilla? What would a kraken bring in its lunchbox? Cricket and Spider are on the prowl for stories, poetry, and nonfiction exploring the theme of Monsters. We’re interested in work that taps in to kids' fascination with all things monstrous in myth, fantasy, sci fi, and as figures for beastly power in our daily lives. Monster stories give kids a space to play with strong feelings, huge life changes, the annoying rules of the grown-up world, and the occasional impulse to smash the Tokyo skyline.
Genre: Fiction and poetry for ages 6–9 (Spider) and ages 9–14 (Cricket)
Payment: Up to 25 cents per word for prose; up to $3.00 per line ($25.00 minimum) for poetry
Deadline: January 6, 2016
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Qu
Qu is a publication of Queens University of Charlotte.
Genres: Contemporary prose, drama. and poetry
Length: Up to 8K words for prose. Submit up to three poems per poetry submission.
Payment: $100 per prose piece, $50 per poem
Deadline: January 15, 2016
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Liminal
"We like stories that are strange and unsettling, sharp-edged and evocative. Although we will consider any genre, we have a soft spot for weird fiction, magical realism, soft sci-fi, and those uncatagorizable stories that straddle the line between genres."
Genre: Fiction
Length: Up to 10,000 words
Payment: 6c/word
Deadline: January 15, 2016
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Great Weather for MEDIA Annual Anthology
"Our focus is on the fearless, the unpredictable, and experimental but we do not have a set theme for our anthologies."
Genres: Poetry, flash fiction, short stories, dramatic monologues, and creative nonfiction
Payment: One contributor copy, plus $10 for writers based in USA. International writers receive two copies.
Deadline: January 15, 2016
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Specter Spectacular III: 13 Uncanny Tales
We hope to expand on the previous volumes of “ghostly” tales and “deathly” tales by delving into the realm of “uncanny” tales. The idea of the uncanny opens up possibilities: creepy doppelgängers, too-close-to-human robots, changeling intruders, cryptid animals, jarring juxtapositions.The essence of the uncanny is an unsettled feeling, a sense that something isn’t quite right, often coupled with an inability to articulate exactly why. Our tastes lean more toward the psychological than toward gore, especially for this volume. We’re looking for a wide range of interpretations and a balance of styles and tones (serious, humorous, modern, historical, futuristic, mythological, gothic, etc.).
Length: Under 10,000 words.
Payment: $10 + paperback copy of the anthology.
Deadline: January 15, 2016
Reprints accepted.
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Rattle Magazine
Restrictions: Poems must be written by those who have lived at least half their lives in the Greater Los Angeles Area.
Genre: Poetry.
Payment: $50
Deadline: January 15, 2016
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Wordrunner eChapbooks: Devices
The theme for this year's annual themed anthology is Devices: Technology’s impact on our lives and relationships. "The technology could be as old as the invention of writing, false teeth, the printing press, or something not yet invented; it might be your first TV, your grandfather's model T, or augmented reality eyeware. What are the stories and the emotional dynamics? We are looking for the human component, regardless of device or genre."
Genres: "Fiction on this topic can be contemporary, historical, or speculative science fiction. We'd like to see personal memoir or creative nonfiction about family history."
Length: Submit up to three poems or a short story, novel or memoir excerpt, or personal essay (1,000 to 5,000 words)
Payment: $100 for collections ($5 to $20 for single pieces in anthologies)
Deadline: January 31, 2016
____________________
Damsels in Success
"We’ve all read the stories and fallen in love with the movies: the girl needs saving, the boy rescues girl, they fall in love, and they lived happily ever after. But what if the boy was in distress or the girl had dreams that didn’t involve falling in love? Those are the kinds of stories we’re looking for to include in our next anthology. If you have a fantasy story about a strong female character who made her own way or a story that takes a twist on a classic tale, send it our way!"
Length: Up to 10,000 words.
Payment: $5.00 per story. There will be an editor’s choice winner that will get placed at the front of the book, have the cover designed specifically with that story in mind and the author will receive a small bonus.
Deadline: January 31, 2016
____________________
Tesseracts Twenty: Compostela
"Compostela (Tesseracts Twenty) is an anthology of hard and soft science fiction stories that best represent a futuristic view of the sciences and how humanity might be affected (for better or worse) by a reliance in all things technological. For more than 1,000 years, Santiago de Compostela (Compostela means “field of stars”) has attracted pilgrims to walk to the cathedral that holds St. James the apostle's relics. The stories in this anthology in their own way tell the tale of futuristic travelers who journey into the dark outer (or inner) reaches of space, searching for their own connections to the past, present and future relics of their time."
Restrictions: Open to Canadians only
Genre: Science Fiction
Length: 5,000 words max
Payment: Payment for short poetry is $20.00. Payment for short stories is prorated as follows: $50 for stories up to 1,500 words, rising to a maximum of $150 for stories up to 5,000 words
Deadline: January 31, 2016
December 28, 2015
30 Writing Contests in January - No entry fees
The new year brings a host of fresh writing contests. Quite a few of the essay contests are geared toward high school and college students, but there are many for writers of any age.
Genres cover the gamut from poetry, essays, and creative non-fiction, to short stories and books (published and in-progress), as well as translations.
Some of these contests have geographic restrictions. Make sure to read their full contest rules.
Good luck!
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John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Essay Contest is sponsored by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. Restrictions: The contest is open to United States high school students in grades nine through twelve attending public, private, parochial, or home schools; US students under the age of twenty enrolled in a high school correspondence/GED program; and US citizens attending schools overseas. Genre: Essay on an act of political courage by a US elected official who served during or after 1956. Prize: The first-place winner receives $10,000 comprised of a $5,000 cash award and $5,000 from John Hancock. The second-place winner receives $1,000. Up to five finalists receive $500 each. Deadline: January 6, 2016.
Thirdspace Short Fiction Contest. Genre: Short fiction stories that center on experience(s) of medical education. Prize: First prize: $350 and publication in Thirdspace. Deadline: January 6, 2016.
Japan Center-Canon Essay Competition. The aim of the Japan Center Essay Competition is to promote awareness and understanding of Japan in the United States and to help young Americans broaden their international horizons. Genre: Essay. Contestants should write, in English, one or more aspects of Japan including art, culture, tradition, values, philosophy, history, society, politics, business, and technology in relation to their personal views, experiences, and/or future goals. (Contestants do not need to have any experience in visiting Japan or studying Japanese. Prize: Best Essay Award in the High School Division: 1st Place: $3,000 and a Canon camera, 2nd Place: $1,500 and a Canon camera, 3rd Place: $750 and a Canon camera; Best Essay Award in the College Division: $3,000 and a Canon camera; Uchida Memorial Award: $1,000 and a Canon camera; Merit Award: $200 (each) for up to five awards. Deadline: January 8, 2016.
Texas Institute of Letters Literary Awards. Restrictions: Entrants must have resided in Texas for at least 2 consecutive years, or have been born in Texas. Genre: Book (published). 11 different categories. Prize: $6,000. Deadline: January 8, 2016.
Moving Words Poetry Contest. Restrictions: People who live within the DC Metro transit area (the Northern Virginia counties Arlington, Fairfax, and Loudoun and the cities Alexandria, Fairfax, and Falls Church; the District of Columbia; and the Maryland counties Montgomery and Prince George's) and who are over 18. Genre: Poetry. Prize: $250 honorarium. Deadline: January 11, 2016.
VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. Genre: First novel published July–December 2015. No self-published books. Prize: $5,000. Deadline: January 14, 2016.
Andres Montoya Poetry Prize. Restrictions: US residents and citizens. Genre: Poetry. first book by a Latino/a poet. Prize: $1000 and publication at the University of Notre Dame Press. Deadline: January 15, 2016.
The Roswell Award. The Los Angeles Science Fiction One-Act Play Festival is initiating a new short story writing contest for adult writers over the age of 18 called THE ROSWELL AWARD. All submissions must be short stories (not plays) and must be an original work of science fiction (not fan fiction) and be no longer than 1500 words. The contest is open to U.S. writers and writers outside the U.S. Five finalists will be chosen and their stories will be read aloud by professional actors associated with iconic Sci-Fi TV shows in a special awards ceremony to be held at the festival on May 23, 2015 at 7:00 PM (Memorial Day Weekend). Prize: The winner will receive a cash prize of $1,000.00. Submissions can be made at www.sci-fest.com. Terms and conditions can be read on the website. Deadline: January 15th, 2016. Finalists will be notified by March 15th, Read submission guidelines HERE.
The Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award introduces emerging writers to the New York City literary community. The prestigious award aims to provide promising writers a network for professional advancement. Since Poets & Writers began the Writers Exchange in 1984, 85 writers from 33 states and the District of Columbia have been selected to participate. Restrictions: Open to Hawaii residents. Genre: Poetry and Fiction. Prize: A $500 honorarium; A trip to New York City to meet with editors, agents, publishers, and other writers. All related travel/lodgings expenses and a per diem stipend are covered by Poets & Writers. Winners will also give a public reading of their work; and One-month residency at the Jentel Artist Residency Program in Wyoming. Deadline: January 15, 2016. For guidelines click HERE
MASH Competition. Every three months, three random objects are selected from a randomly gathered list. Writers are invited to incorporate them into a short, sensible and convincing story. Prize: $100 for the winning story! All shortlisted stories are published on their website, and Mash Club stories are narrated by professional voice actors and broadcast in MASH podcast. Deadline: January 15, 2016. For guidelines click HERE.
The Ellen Meloy Fund for Desert Writers was established in 2005 to honor the memory of Ellen Meloy. The Fund provides support to writers whose work reflects the spirit and passions embodied in Ellen’s writing and her commitment to a “deep map of place.” Ellen’s own map-in-progress was of the desert country she called home. Genre: Only literary or creative nonfiction proposals will be considered. No fiction or poetry proposals will be reviewed. Prize: $3,000. Deadline: January 15, 2016. For more details click HERE.
Transitions Abroad Narrative Travel Writing Contest. Professionals, freelancers, and aspiring travel writers are invited to write an article which describes how traveling in a slower manner and attempting to adapt to the space and time of locals, their culture, and their land has deepened your experience of both the people and the destination. One of the results of a slower form of immersion travel is the experience of epiphanies that change one's perceptions of the world, of others, and of oneself. We urge you to translate one or more of those moments into a narrative which will convey this view to many who still tend to see travel as a way to "do" as many countries, cities, and continents in the world as possible—as if travel was some form of competition or consumption. Prize: $500 first-place. Deadline: January 15, 2016. For more details click HERE .
French-American Foundation Translation Prizes. Genre: Book - best English translation of French in both fiction and non-fiction. Prize: $10,000. Deadline: January 15, 2016.
Lee Bennett Hopkins Promising Poet Award. Restrictions: Open to poets who have published no more than two books of children's poetry. Genre: Children's poetry (for children and young adults up to grade 12). A book-length single poem may be submitted. The award is for published works only. Poetry in any language may be submitted; non-English poetry must be accompanied by an English translation. Poetry copyrighted from 2013 to 2015 may be submitted. Prize: $500. Deadline: January 15, 2016.
Orwell Prize. Genre: Political writing published between 1st January and 31st January 2015. All entries must have a clear British link. Fiction and non-fiction. Prize: £3,000.00. Deadline: January 15, 2016.
Student Stowe Prize. Restrictions: High school and college students in the US. Genre: Social justice writing. Prize: $2,500.00 Deadline: January 15, 2016. See more details HERE .
Women Artists Datebook. Restrictions: Women. Genre: 4 poems. Peace and Justice. Prize: $70. Deadline: January 15, 2016. See more details HERE .
The Writers’ Trust of Canada/McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize is awarded annually to a new and developing writer of distinction for a short story published in a Canadian literary publication. This award is made possible by James A. Michener’s generous donation of his Canadian royalty earnings from his novel Journey, published by McClelland & Stewart in 1988. Prize: A $10,000 prize will given to the winner and the journal that published the winning entry receives $2,000. Two finalists each receive $1,000. Deadline: January 18, 2016. Read full submission guidelines HERE .
Lex Allen Literary Festival Prizes. Restrictions: Open to college undergraduates. Genres: Poetry, short fiction. Prize: $100. Deadline: January 19, 2016.
Northwest Perspectives Essay Contest. Genre: Nonfiction, personal essays of up to 1,500 words on any topic related to the Pacific Northwest. Prize: $750. Deadline: January 20, 2016.
Bethesda Literary Festival Essay and Short Story Contest. The Bethesda Urban Partnership & Bethesda Magazine have partnered to honor local writers at the Bethesda Literary Festival held April 15-17, 2016. Genres: Essays and short stories. Restrictions: Residents of Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia are eligible. Prizes: First Place: $500 and published in Bethesda Magazine. Second Place: $250. Third Place: $150. Honorable Mention: $75. Deadline: January 22, 2016. For more details click HERE .
Stop the Hate: Youth Speak Out Essay Contest Grades 11-12. Stop the Hate® is designed to create an appreciation and understanding among people of differing religions, races, cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds. Genre: Essay, 500 words. Restrictions: Northeast Ohio 11-12th Graders. Prize: $40,000. Deadline: January 22, 2016.
Nelson Algren Literary Awards is a short story contest sponsored by the Chicago Tribune. This contest is open to residents of the United States. All entries must be: fiction, less than 8,000 words, double spaced, written in English. Prize: One grand prize winner will receive $3,500. Four finalists will each receive $1,000. Five runners-up will each receive $500. Total value of all prizes: $10,000. Deadline: Closing date January 31, 2016. How to enter: Click HERE for complete rules.
Imagine Little Tokyo. Little Tokyo Historical Society (LTHS) seeks fictional short stories in Japanese or English for its second annual “Imagine Little Tokyo” writing contest. The setting of the story should be in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, CA– either past, present or future. Prize: $600. The winner of the youth division (18 or younger) will receive $400. Deadline: January 31, 2016. How to enter: Click HERE for complete rules.
Caine Prize for African Writing. Restrictions: Open to writers born in Africa, or nationals of an African country, or with a parent who is African by birth or nationality, Genre: Short fiction (published). Prize: £10,000. Deadline: January 31, 2016.
Jack London Fiction Writing Contest. Restrictions: Open to students, grades 9-12. Genre: Short fiction, essays. Prize: First place $2000.00; Second place $1000.00; Third place $500.00. Deadline: January 31, 2016.
Jerry Jazz Musician Fiction Contest. "The Jerry Jazz Musician reader has interests in music, social history, literature, politics, art, film and theater, particularly that of the counter-culture of mid-twentieth century America." Genre: previously unpublished work of short fiction. Prize: $100.00. Deadline: January 31, 2016.
Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize. The annual Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize is awarded each spring to honor an outstanding literary translation from German into English published in the USA the previous year. Genre: Published fiction or non-fiction, may include: novels, novellas, short stories, plays, poetry, biographies, essays and correspondence. Prize: $10,000. Deadline: January 31, 2016.
College Undergraduate Poetry and Florence Kahn Memorial Award. Restrictions: Undergraduates working toward a degree in an accredited U.S. college or university. Genre: Poetry. Prize: $500. Deadline: January 31, 2016.
Walter Rumsey Marvin Grant. Restrictions: Open to authors under 30 years of age who have not had a book published. Applicant must have been born in Ohio or have lived in Ohio for a minimum of five years. Genre: Short fiction and creative non fiction. Prize: $1,000. Deadline: January 31, 2016.
December 24, 2015
5 Writers' Conferences in January 2016
[image error] Winter is in full swing above the 40th parallel, which is why it is not entirely surprising that half of January's conferences are in Florida.
While there isn't a lot going on the first month of the year, these conferences offer as much as they do in the summer: pitch sessions with agents, workshops, presentations, readings, and ample opportunity to hobnob with writers and industry professionals (hopefully, on a beach).
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Key West Literary Seminar, January 7 - 15, 2016, Key West, Florida. The seminar, January 7 - 10, offers readings, lectures, and conversations with poets, fiction writers, and nonfiction writers. The 2016 theme is “Shorts: Stories, Essays & Other Briefs.” The writers' workshop offers workshops and craft discussions for poets, fiction writers, and nonfiction writers. The faculty includes poet Billy Collins; fiction writers Ann Beattie, Kristen-Paige Madonia, Daniel Menaker, and Antonya Nelson; and nonfiction writer Diana Abu-Jaber. The cost of the seminar is $575; the cost of the writers’ workshop is $550.
Winter Poetry & Prose Getaway, January 15 - 18, 2016, Galloway, New Jersey. Workshops in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction, as well as craft talks, one-on-one tutorials, featured readings, and open mics. The faculty includes poets Stephen Dunn, Thomas Lux, Laura McCullough, and James Richardson; fiction writers Carol Plum-Ucci and Pamela Swallow; and creative nonfiction writers Barbara Hurd and Mimi Schwartz. Tuition, which includes some meals, ranges from $490 to $690, depending on the workshop; lodging is not included.
Eckerd College Writers’ Conference, January 16-23, 2016, St. Petersburg, FL. Workshops, roundtables, panel discussions, Q&As, readings book signings, and receptions. Faculty and guests include: Pulitzer Prize winner Gilbert King, MacArthur “Genius Grant” Poet Campbell McGrath, Andre Dubus III, Ann Hood, Dennis Lehane, Laura Lippman, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Stewart O’Nan, Les Standiford, Scott Ward, Sterling Watson, and more.
Palm Beach Poetry Festival, January 18-23, 2016, Delray Beach, Florida. Eight poetry workshops taught by Laure-Anne Bosselaar, Carl Dennis, Denise Duhamel, Carol Frost, Thomas Lux, Tom Sleigh, Mary Szybist and Kevin Young. Participant tuition includes workshop participation, and admission to all festival events. Special Guest is Robert Hass, U.S. Poet Laureate (1995-1997), Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner. Other featured poets include Dominique Christina and Marc Kelly Smith, and conference faculty, Sally Bliumis-Dunn, and Ginger Murchison. $795 includes all events, one gala seat; $395/auditor. Accepted participants may schedule a one-on-one conference at additional cost.
Write on the Red Cedar, Jan 22 - 23, 2016, East Lansing MI. Workshops, speakers, panels, manuscript reviews, networking, and pitch appointments with literary agents Carly Watters and Ann Byle. Regular Registration $120 ($140 after Dec. 20) Includes Friday night cocktail party and full slate of workshops on Saturday. Full Conference $195 ($225 after Dec. 20).
While there isn't a lot going on the first month of the year, these conferences offer as much as they do in the summer: pitch sessions with agents, workshops, presentations, readings, and ample opportunity to hobnob with writers and industry professionals (hopefully, on a beach).
________________________________
Key West Literary Seminar, January 7 - 15, 2016, Key West, Florida. The seminar, January 7 - 10, offers readings, lectures, and conversations with poets, fiction writers, and nonfiction writers. The 2016 theme is “Shorts: Stories, Essays & Other Briefs.” The writers' workshop offers workshops and craft discussions for poets, fiction writers, and nonfiction writers. The faculty includes poet Billy Collins; fiction writers Ann Beattie, Kristen-Paige Madonia, Daniel Menaker, and Antonya Nelson; and nonfiction writer Diana Abu-Jaber. The cost of the seminar is $575; the cost of the writers’ workshop is $550.
Winter Poetry & Prose Getaway, January 15 - 18, 2016, Galloway, New Jersey. Workshops in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction, as well as craft talks, one-on-one tutorials, featured readings, and open mics. The faculty includes poets Stephen Dunn, Thomas Lux, Laura McCullough, and James Richardson; fiction writers Carol Plum-Ucci and Pamela Swallow; and creative nonfiction writers Barbara Hurd and Mimi Schwartz. Tuition, which includes some meals, ranges from $490 to $690, depending on the workshop; lodging is not included.
Eckerd College Writers’ Conference, January 16-23, 2016, St. Petersburg, FL. Workshops, roundtables, panel discussions, Q&As, readings book signings, and receptions. Faculty and guests include: Pulitzer Prize winner Gilbert King, MacArthur “Genius Grant” Poet Campbell McGrath, Andre Dubus III, Ann Hood, Dennis Lehane, Laura Lippman, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Stewart O’Nan, Les Standiford, Scott Ward, Sterling Watson, and more.
Palm Beach Poetry Festival, January 18-23, 2016, Delray Beach, Florida. Eight poetry workshops taught by Laure-Anne Bosselaar, Carl Dennis, Denise Duhamel, Carol Frost, Thomas Lux, Tom Sleigh, Mary Szybist and Kevin Young. Participant tuition includes workshop participation, and admission to all festival events. Special Guest is Robert Hass, U.S. Poet Laureate (1995-1997), Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner. Other featured poets include Dominique Christina and Marc Kelly Smith, and conference faculty, Sally Bliumis-Dunn, and Ginger Murchison. $795 includes all events, one gala seat; $395/auditor. Accepted participants may schedule a one-on-one conference at additional cost.
Write on the Red Cedar, Jan 22 - 23, 2016, East Lansing MI. Workshops, speakers, panels, manuscript reviews, networking, and pitch appointments with literary agents Carly Watters and Ann Byle. Regular Registration $120 ($140 after Dec. 20) Includes Friday night cocktail party and full slate of workshops on Saturday. Full Conference $195 ($225 after Dec. 20).
