Monday, February 28, 2011

Lend eBooks

Amazon has made it possible for Kindle users to borrow eBooks. If you would like to share a book with a friend, you may now do that. Find the details here: Lending eBooks.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Looking To Enter A Contest?

Below you will find a listing of writing contests that are open to all writers. Hopefully one will grab your attention; good luck: Original posting courtesy of Daily Writing Tips.

Have you completed one or more short stories, poems, or nonfiction pieces? Perhaps you’d like some motivation — or to take the next step with them. This post lists writing competitions for 2011 that feature cash prizes of $1,000 or more and, often, publication deals for the winner (plus, for many contests, additional prizes for winners and other contestants).
Note, however, that such competitions often require an entry fee (generally $15-$20 per entry), and some require the submitted material to be previously unpublished. Go to the contest Web site for information about costs and other details.
Poetry
1. The Pinch Journal Poetry Contest
Deadline: March 1
Type of submission: online or offline
Length of submission: 1-3 poems
Prizes: $1,000 and publication

2. Normal Prize in Poetry
Deadline: March 4
Type of submission: online
Length of submission: 5 pages or 5 poems
Prizes: $1,000 and publication

3. Boston Review Fourteenth Annual Poetry Contest
Deadline: June 1
Type of submission: offline
Length of submission: up to 10 pages
Prize: $1,500 and publication

4. Bellevue Literary Review’s Marica and Jan Vilcek Prize in Poetry
Deadline: July 1
Type of submission: online
Length of submission: up to 3 poems (maximum 5 pages)
Prizes: $1,000 and publication

5. Lulu Poetry Contest
Deadline: continuous entry
Type of submission: online
Length of submission: not specified
Prizes: annual $5,000; monthly $250; daily $25

Short Fiction

6. The Pinch Journal Fiction Contest
Deadline: March 1
Type of submission: offline
Length of submission: up to 5,000 words
Prizes: $1,500 and publication

Deadline: March 1
Type of submission: offline
Length of submission: up to 10,000 words
Prize: $1,000 and publication for winner

8. Potomac Review Annual Contest
Deadline: March 1
Type of submission: online or offline
Length of submission: 2 stories of up to 2,000 words
Prize: $1,000 and publication for winner

9. Normal Prize in Fiction
Deadline: March 4
Type of submission: online
Length of submission: up to 10,000 words
Prizes: $1,000 and publication for winner

10. Colorado Review’s Nelligan Prize
Deadline: postmarked March 11
Type of submission: online or offline
Length of submission: under 50 pages
Prizes: $1,500 and publication for winner

11. New Rivers Press American Fiction Prize
Deadline: May 1
Type of submission: online or offline
Length of submission: up to 7,500 words
Prizes: $1,000, $500, $250; publication for winners

12. Drue Heinz Literature Prize
Deadline: postmarked May 1-June 30
Type of submission: offline
Length of submission: not specified
Prize: $15,000 and publication

13. Carve Magazine’s Raymond Carver Short Story Contest
Deadline: May 15-June 30
Type of submission: offline
Length of submission: up 6,000 words
Prizes: $1,000, $750, $500, $250; considered by literary agencies

14. Howard Frank Mosher Short Fiction Prize
Deadline: postmarked June 30
Type of submission: online or offline
Length of submission: up to 10,000 words
Prizes: $1,000 and publication, $100

15. Bellevue Literary Review’s Goldenberg Prize in Fiction
Deadline: July 1
Type of submission: online
Length of submission: up to 5,000 words
Prizes: $1,000 and publication

Nonfiction

16. Michael Steinberg Essay Prize
Deadline: February 28
Type of submission: offline
Length of submission: up to 6,000 words
Prizes: $1,000 and publication; publication consideration for runner-up

17. Normal Prize in Nonfiction
Deadline: March 4
Type of submission: online
Length of submission: up to 10,000 words
Prizes: $1,000 and publication

18. Creative Nonfiction Anger & Revenge Contest
Deadline: March 16
Type of submission: offline
Length of submission: up to 4,000 words
Prizes: $1,000, $500

19. Writers @ Work Writing Competition
Deadline: March 20
Type of submission: offline
Length of submission: up to 7,500 words
Prizes: $1,000, $350, $100; publication consideration for each winner

20. Bellevue Literary Review’s Burns Archive Prize in Nonfiction
Deadline: July 1
Type of submission: online
Length of submission: up to 5,000 words
Prizes: $1,000 and publication

Multiple Awards

21. Glimmer Train’s Very Short Fiction Award
Deadline: January 1-31, July 1-31
Type of submission: offline
Length of submission: up to 3,000 words
Prizes: $1,200, publication, and 20 copies; $500; $300

22. Glimmer Train’s Fiction Open
Deadline: March 1-31, June 1-30, August 1-30, December 1-31
Type of submission: offline
Length of submission: 2,000-20,000 words
Prizes: $2,000, publication, and 20 copies; $1,000; $600

23. Glimmer Train’s Short-Story Award for New Writers
Deadline: postmarked March 31, postmarked September 30
Type of submission: offline
Length of submission: 3,000-12,000 words
Prizes: $1,200, publication, and 20 copies; $500; $300

24. Glimmer Train’s Family Matters
Deadline: April 1-30, October 1-31
Type of submission: offline
Length of submission: 3,000-12,000 words
Prizes: $1,200, publication, and 20 copies; $500; $300

Miscellaneous

And, of course, no self-respecting list of writing competitions would be complete without this one:
25. Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest
Deadline: April 15
Type of submission: online or offline
Length of submission: up to about 50-60 words
Prize: “a pittance”
This whimsical contest is devoted to parodying the purple prose of Edward George “It Was a Dark and Stormy Night” Bulwer-Lytton and his ilk by crafting, as it were, the most absurdly inept opening line from a (fortunately) nonexistent novel. For more information, go to the slightly disheveled Web site and search for “The rules to the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest.”


Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Kindle Continues To Lead The Way


For any of you on the fence about buying an eReader, the following may be just the nudge you need to send you to the electronics store. According to eBookNewser, "Kindle owners like cheap eBooks. According to Amazon’s Top 100 Paid list, 7 of the Top 10 titles cost $5 or less.

The No. 1 title, Alone by Lisa Gardner is $.99, the No. 3 title is $.99 Switched (Trylle Trilogy, Book 1) by Amanda Hocking, and the No. 4 title is The Hangman’s Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch which costs $3.99, The No. 10 title is a $.99 Kindle game from Oak Systems Leisure Software called Word Search.

The most expensive books on the list include Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and… the No. 2 title, which costs $9.99; The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, Stieg Larsson $9,99 eBook, which is ranked at No. 5; and James Patterson’s Tick Tock, which costs $12.99 and is ranked at No. 8.

Three titles cost $5. This includes Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo at No. 6 and The Girl Who Played with Fire at No. 7, as well as Water for Elephants."

Pretty cheap when you compare eBooks to the prices of actual books, and there are thousands of titles that are absolutely FREE. The cheapest Kindle is $139.00--that's about four new hardcover books. How can you go wrong?

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Pitch Your Book

Positioning your book is critical. Where does your book fit in? Whose books are similar to yours? Once you've determined the proper genre and sub-genre,consider contacting one of the authors whose work is similar to yours and ask them for a blurb. (Blurbs benefit both parties.) Where would the book be shelved at the book store? What kind of cover might best signal your position? What kind of cover copy?

The best way to broadcast what your book is about is by providing a description as concisely as possible, using the best words possible. It can be identical to the query letter and your spiel at book signings, and should include:genre, protagonist, story line, why your book is different than others, and why you are the person uniquely qualified to write it. Do all of this in one or two sentences.

When pitching your book, don't tell the story. Use ideas and current events to make it attractive, even compare it to highly successful authors' books. You only have a limited window to grab the readers' interest. Use it wisely. Remember, you have to be entertaining--it's all about getting your work into the hands of others. The work of selling you book begins when you get the idea to write it and then continues well past publication.

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