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.

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.

25 Writing Competitions You Should Enter 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often require an entry fee (generally $15-$20 per entry), and some require the submitted material to be previously unpublished.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 7. Sycamore Review’s Wabash Prize for Fiction 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.” Original Post: 25 Writing Competitions You Should Enter Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook.

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?

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.