Today is the last day to post your nominations for the storySouth Million Writers Award. Online stories of any length over 1000 words and in any genre can be nominated. Readers are allowed one nomination and editors three. Top prize for the winning story is $400 plus a $100 gift certificate. Money aside, this is a great opportunity to get short stories and publishing venues out in front of the public. You can find the details at http://www.jasonsanford.com/jason/
The Short Mystery Fiction Society is also open for Derringer nominations until March 15. Any editor who publishes short mystery fiction is eligible to nominate stories. You don't have to be a member of the society to participate, though it's a great group of people who share their love for short fiction. There are four categories from flash to novelette that you can submit nominations for. You can find all the details at http://shortmystery.blogspot.com/ Current members of the society can nominate two stories each.
And on a sad note, The Feral Pages will no longer be a bi-monthly zine. Editor, Lyman Feero, has published a notice on the site to make everyone aware of the changes he's making. Which will be switching from a zine to a once a year print anthology. He will be starting up the Feral Pages blog on March 15 for those who would like to discuss cross genre writing and he'll be posting the guidelines for the anthology at that time. For more details go here http://www.theferalpages.com/
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Superheroes and Such
This Mutant Life http://www.thismutantlife.com/index.htm is looking for superhero stories, poetry, non-fiction and artwork. This is a print magazine and the first issue is available for purchase. Right now, they're looking for subs for issue two with an April 1 deadline. The pay for shorts is $5 AUS. Poetry is paid in copies. You can find all the details here http://www.thismutantlife.com/submissions.htm
If you're interested in comics and graphic novels, Cindi Myers Market News blog has you covered this week with an entire list of markets that are open to this type of submissions. http://cindimyersmarketnews.wordpress.com/2010/02/24/comic-book-and-graphic-novel-markets/
If you're interested in comics and graphic novels, Cindi Myers Market News blog has you covered this week with an entire list of markets that are open to this type of submissions. http://cindimyersmarketnews.wordpress.com/2010/02/24/comic-book-and-graphic-novel-markets/
We Have Linkage
The link to this essay by Theresa Rizzo came through the Crime Scene Writers group. http://fivescribes.blogspot.com/2010/01/no-limit-for-better.html There's some really good advice in this one. While writing is a solitary thing, we also need to pay attention to feedback from readers, editors and critique groups. Making a story the best it can be is what every writer should strive for.
John Floyd has an interesting post over at Criminal Brief about punctuation http://criminalbrief.com/?p=11117 I really do love John's sense of humor, but he also makes some very valid points about the overuse of punctuation marks in a story.
And for your Saturday morning chuckles head on over to the Women of Mystery blog for this very funny piece. http://www.womenofmystery.net/2010/02/1-2-3-4.html Be very careful where your participles dangle :-)
John Floyd has an interesting post over at Criminal Brief about punctuation http://criminalbrief.com/?p=11117 I really do love John's sense of humor, but he also makes some very valid points about the overuse of punctuation marks in a story.
And for your Saturday morning chuckles head on over to the Women of Mystery blog for this very funny piece. http://www.womenofmystery.net/2010/02/1-2-3-4.html Be very careful where your participles dangle :-)
Friday, February 26, 2010
Advice Columns
Nobody can tell you how to write, that comes from putting your butt in the chair and just doing it. The more you write, the easier it gets and the more confidence you build in yourself and your writing. But the truth is, a good writer never stops learning and the glory of the Internet is that there's lots of advice available for aspiring writers. With that in mind, here are some links to a few recent advice columns that contain some excellent advice on a variety of topics. Use what works for you.
Michael Bracken has been in the business for a long while and when he gives advice, I sit up and take note. http://crimefictionwriter.blogspot.com/2010/02/clean-up-your-act.html This advice is especially suited to you folks who submit to online zines. Many of those zines don't edit so you always have to remember that your story reflects on you as a writer. If the story is full of errors, it says you're a lazy writer who doesn't care about the reader. Readers appreciate a clean story. If its full of errors, another story is just a click away.
Chris Holm has an interesting post on adverbs, you know those pesky little "ly" words. http://chrisfholm.blogspot.com/2010/02/stay-of-idol-execution.html I read this post yesterday and used the advice to clean up the flash story I was working on. It made a world of difference in the telling.
Russel McLean has an interesting piece up at Do Some Damage today http://dosomedamage.blogspot.com/2010/02/12-step-plan.html While the post is about how to get your novel published, steps 3 through 11 are perfect advice for any short story writer to take to heart.
Juliette Wade has a very interesting take on finding your character's voice. http://talktoyouniverse.blogspot.com/2010/02/different-minds-different-voices.html When I started reading this essay, I thought it would probably be the same old - same old. Boy, was I surprised. Ms. Wade opened my eyes to a whole new way of looking at my characters. Very cool advice!
Michael Bracken has been in the business for a long while and when he gives advice, I sit up and take note. http://crimefictionwriter.blogspot.com/2010/02/clean-up-your-act.html This advice is especially suited to you folks who submit to online zines. Many of those zines don't edit so you always have to remember that your story reflects on you as a writer. If the story is full of errors, it says you're a lazy writer who doesn't care about the reader. Readers appreciate a clean story. If its full of errors, another story is just a click away.
Chris Holm has an interesting post on adverbs, you know those pesky little "ly" words. http://chrisfholm.blogspot.com/2010/02/stay-of-idol-execution.html I read this post yesterday and used the advice to clean up the flash story I was working on. It made a world of difference in the telling.
Russel McLean has an interesting piece up at Do Some Damage today http://dosomedamage.blogspot.com/2010/02/12-step-plan.html While the post is about how to get your novel published, steps 3 through 11 are perfect advice for any short story writer to take to heart.
Juliette Wade has a very interesting take on finding your character's voice. http://talktoyouniverse.blogspot.com/2010/02/different-minds-different-voices.html When I started reading this essay, I thought it would probably be the same old - same old. Boy, was I surprised. Ms. Wade opened my eyes to a whole new way of looking at my characters. Very cool advice!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
For New England Writers
Ruth McCarty just posted this call for submissions to the SMFS board. You can find more details about Level Best Books here http://www.levelbestbooks.com/Call.htm This is a call for New England writers only. Level Best is a co-operative publishing company that might be of interest to those of you who are investigating this type of publishing.
We are currently accepting submissions for the Eighth anthology, titled "Thin Ice". We are seeking original crime stories by New England writers in the following genres: mystery, thriller, suspense, caper, and horror.
Submission Guidelines:
Stories should be no more than 5,000 words in length and should not have been previously published anywhere, including on the web via an e-zine or your own website. Each story should be typed in 12 pt, double-spaced.In the upper right-hand corner, please include your name and address, phone number, e-mail address, and word count.Please submit hard copy with a SASE and include a brief cover letter describing your publishing experience. We do not accept electronic submissions.Level Best Books will accept submissions from January 1 to April 15, 2010.New England writers are residents of the six New England states: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. If you have any questions about whether you qualify, please query before submitting.
Mail submissions to:
Level Best Books
P.O. Box 161
Prides Crossing, MA 01965
**I deleted their email address, so they don't get a lot of spam from this post. Anyone who needs to query will find the email link at the link posted above.
We are currently accepting submissions for the Eighth anthology, titled "Thin Ice". We are seeking original crime stories by New England writers in the following genres: mystery, thriller, suspense, caper, and horror.
Submission Guidelines:
Stories should be no more than 5,000 words in length and should not have been previously published anywhere, including on the web via an e-zine or your own website. Each story should be typed in 12 pt, double-spaced.In the upper right-hand corner, please include your name and address, phone number, e-mail address, and word count.Please submit hard copy with a SASE and include a brief cover letter describing your publishing experience. We do not accept electronic submissions.Level Best Books will accept submissions from January 1 to April 15, 2010.New England writers are residents of the six New England states: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. If you have any questions about whether you qualify, please query before submitting.
Mail submissions to:
Level Best Books
P.O. Box 161
Prides Crossing, MA 01965
**I deleted their email address, so they don't get a lot of spam from this post. Anyone who needs to query will find the email link at the link posted above.
Seeing Characters
Yesterday I wrote my story for Daniel O'Shea's flash challenge. No, it's not finished. I'm not happy with the ending and will spend the next few days working on it. (procrastinating and mulling at the moment). The thing is, I dropped the story into my flash critique group and one gentleman thought I should add more details about the characters.
Sigh. I hate describing characters. I'll dress them up because clothes will give you more details about a character than how tall and skinny they are. How they move will give you their age group, even how they talk tells you a lot about the character. The thing is, I always have a picture in my head of how they look, but writing it down, never brings them to life for me. And the truth is, describing how someone looks and going into excessive detail about what they're wearing, the kind of shoes on their feet and the wing-back, flower patterned, 19th century chair they're sitting in are the parts I skip when I'm reading.
How about you? Do you need those descriptions to really "see" a character or do you like the image you conjure up yourself when you're reading?
Sigh. I hate describing characters. I'll dress them up because clothes will give you more details about a character than how tall and skinny they are. How they move will give you their age group, even how they talk tells you a lot about the character. The thing is, I always have a picture in my head of how they look, but writing it down, never brings them to life for me. And the truth is, describing how someone looks and going into excessive detail about what they're wearing, the kind of shoes on their feet and the wing-back, flower patterned, 19th century chair they're sitting in are the parts I skip when I'm reading.
How about you? Do you need those descriptions to really "see" a character or do you like the image you conjure up yourself when you're reading?
All Over the Map Day
It's another one of those all-over-the-map links day. They're mostly markets but they range from flash to cats and all things in between.
First though, here's a link to Nick Mamatas' blog and an interesting discussion about lit, genre and making money with your writing. http://nihilistic-kid.livejournal.com/1438700.html
Chicago Pulp Stories http://www.pulpstories.org/index.html is a print magazine. The deadline is March 8 for their next issue and they're looking for fiction in any genre. The pay is 2 copies of the issue your story appears in.
The Feline Muse http://www.thefelinemuse.com/ is, you guessed it, looking for all things feline from poetry to photographs and everything in between. The deadline is May 16 for a June launch of this new zine. This is a non-paying market.
Quick Fiction http://quickfiction.org is a flash fiction print and online flash magazine. They're looking for stories under 500 words with a August 15 deadline for their next issue. Non-paying market.
Over at Duotrope I noticed that they had listed Burst Fiction as a dead market. Apparently there were two Burst zines because the link I have in the flash section is still live with the newest issue now up. http://www.terra-media.us/burst/index.html This Burst is looking for flash under 700 words. It's an online quarterly zine that pays $10 per story.
At darkmarkets.com I found an anthology call from Wicked East Press http://wickedeastpress.lefora.com/2010/02/15/for-writers-to-be-announced/ The anthology is called Ransom: Give Me What I Want and I'll Go Away (Maybe) They're looking for ransom stories of 3500 to 7000 words with a September 30 deadline. The payment is one copy. What troubles me here is that the call is posted on a forum board but I can't seem to find a website for Wicked East Press. Pill Hill Press also uses this board but they have a web presence. So if you decide to go with this call, do a little checking around first. It always pays to err on the side of caution.
And finally, the crew at Do Some Damage has issued the latest Flash Challenge. http://dosomedamage.blogspot.com/2010/02/dsd-flash-challenge.html They're looking for recession stories with a top word count of 900 and an April 6 deadline, which gives you lots of time. If you're interested in the challenge, drop on over and sign up in the comments section.
First though, here's a link to Nick Mamatas' blog and an interesting discussion about lit, genre and making money with your writing. http://nihilistic-kid.livejournal.com/1438700.html
Chicago Pulp Stories http://www.pulpstories.org/index.html is a print magazine. The deadline is March 8 for their next issue and they're looking for fiction in any genre. The pay is 2 copies of the issue your story appears in.
The Feline Muse http://www.thefelinemuse.com/ is, you guessed it, looking for all things feline from poetry to photographs and everything in between. The deadline is May 16 for a June launch of this new zine. This is a non-paying market.
Quick Fiction http://quickfiction.org is a flash fiction print and online flash magazine. They're looking for stories under 500 words with a August 15 deadline for their next issue. Non-paying market.
Over at Duotrope I noticed that they had listed Burst Fiction as a dead market. Apparently there were two Burst zines because the link I have in the flash section is still live with the newest issue now up. http://www.terra-media.us/burst/index.html This Burst is looking for flash under 700 words. It's an online quarterly zine that pays $10 per story.
At darkmarkets.com I found an anthology call from Wicked East Press http://wickedeastpress.lefora.com/2010/02/15/for-writers-to-be-announced/ The anthology is called Ransom: Give Me What I Want and I'll Go Away (Maybe) They're looking for ransom stories of 3500 to 7000 words with a September 30 deadline. The payment is one copy. What troubles me here is that the call is posted on a forum board but I can't seem to find a website for Wicked East Press. Pill Hill Press also uses this board but they have a web presence. So if you decide to go with this call, do a little checking around first. It always pays to err on the side of caution.
And finally, the crew at Do Some Damage has issued the latest Flash Challenge. http://dosomedamage.blogspot.com/2010/02/dsd-flash-challenge.html They're looking for recession stories with a top word count of 900 and an April 6 deadline, which gives you lots of time. If you're interested in the challenge, drop on over and sign up in the comments section.
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