Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

by Erika Dreifus on
2
  • Wondering what to do after finishing the MFA? It’s your lucky day! Check out this freshly updated compilation of post-MFA fellowships.
  • It’s been a week since the December issue of The Practicing Writer went out to subscribers, but it’s not too late to take advantage of the fee-free contest/opportunity listings and calls for submissions from paying literary publications that are listed there.
  • Speaking of paying literary publications: Cream City Review has announced that starting with work submitted during its current reading period, it “will be paying authors ‘semi-pro rates’.” Still pretty low, though: $3-$5/page for “fiction/comics/essays (excluding book reviews or interviews)” and $5-$10 per poem. Still, this is nice news. (via Duotrope.com)
  • As mentioned yesterday on my other blog, The Forward is looking for politics bloggers.
  • The next Workers Write! volume will be Tales from the Combat Zone “and will contain stories and poems from the soldier’s point of view (all branches welcome). We are interested in everything from command to grunt work. We will also consider war stories and peace keeping missions, as long as the job is the central theme. Drop us a line if you have a question.” Pays: $5-$50 “depending on length and rights requested.” They’ll also consider reprints. Deadline: December 1, 2011 “or until the issue is full.”
  • Got a poem about Nantucket? (No, not that “poem”!) Nantucket Directory is running a poetry contest. “Submit up to three unpublished poems about any aspect of Nantucket Island or life on Nantucket written in English.” Pays: “The winning poet will receive $250 and have his or her work published in the print and online editions of the 2011-12 Nantucket Directory.” There is no entry fee. Deadline: March 1, 2011.
  • Published Canadian authors (citizens or permanent residents): You may be intersted in applying for the Historic Joy Kogawa House residency program. The residency will run September 15, 2011-March 15, 2012 as part of a writer-in-residence program designed “to foster greater appreciation for Canadian writing with the Metro Vancouver community, offer members of the community an opportunity to interact with the resident author, and provide the space, time and resources for a Canadian author to write.” Pays: $2,500/month, plus free accommodation valued at $1,500/month, with assistance for travel expenses. No application fee. Applications must be received by midnight (PST) on December 15, 2010. NB: The Historic Joy Kogawa House has also compiled information on other opportunities for Canadian writers. (via Arc Poetry Magazine)
  • From the University of Edinburgh: “Applications are invited for a part-time (0.8) post combining the roles of Writer in Residence and Tutor in Creative Writing, based in the department of English Literature.”
  • Lifting Voices (D.C.), “a nonprofit, grassroots organization which helps young people discover and share their voices in order to grow, find joy, and accomplish change,” seeks a Writing Workshop Leader/Teacher. “The workshop leader contributes approximately 17-18 hours per week and is compensated at a rate of $1,300 per month from January 1 – June 15, with the possibility of a renewal at the end of the school year. 12 hours per week are spent teaching workshops, mainly on weekday afternoons, at locations around D.C. 2-3 hours per week are spent preparing for and following up on workshops, which may be done from home. 2 hours per week are spent preparing reports, which may be done from home. 1 hour per week is spent in a staff meeting, which is done in the Lifting Voices office. An estimated 10 to 15 hours per semester are spent assisting with special events and fundraisers, as needed.” Apply fast (by Friday, December 10).
  • Suffolk University (Mass.) is looking for a Web Writer/Editor, The Child/Mind Institute (N.Y.) seeks a Writer/Editor, and the William J. Clinton Foundation (N.Y.) invites applications for a Prospect Researcher/Writer.

    • Friday Finds: Online Resources for Office Writing

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    Today, I get the chance to return to the classroom. Sort of.

    At the day job, a colleague and I–both of whom have writing-intensive positions at our office–have been asked to lead a presentation for some of our co-workers. The subject: writing at/for work.

    Between the questions that my co-presenter and I have already received from the participants, and a case study we’ve chosen (an example of an e-mail you would NOT want to send), I think we’re all going to have a good time today. (Plus, there will be food! Yes, I am getting a free lunch today!)

    We’ll also share and discuss resources for further consultation. Several of these are online resources, and you’ll notice that some already appear right here on the Practicing Writing sidebar. But they bear re-presentation:

  • Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/) Consult the site map for a detailed list of subtopics. A section on “Workplace Writing” is especially helpful (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/681/01/). For instance, this section includes a full subsection on Memos (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/590/1/).
  • University writing program sites (e.g., the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/business.html)
  • Ask the Editor (http://www.apstylebook.com/?do=view_recent_ask)
  • After Deadline (http://topics.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/after-deadline/)

    • Anything else you might recommend? Please do share!

    See you back here on Monday. Have a great weekend!

    Thursday’s Pre-Publication Post: Giveaways Galore!

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    These are exciting times as my debut short-story collection, Quiet Americans, nears its January 19, 2011, publication date. This week, we launched two giveaway opportunities, both of which will conclude on December 19 (the one-month marker to the release date).

    If you’re on Goodreads, you can sign up to win one of three copies that will be offered to participants. (I do appreciate the Goodreads team managing this giveaway!)

    But wait, there’s more! After all, we’re just post-Thanksgiving, en pleine Chanukah, and pre-Christmas.  The gift-giving spirit abounds! If you’re not on Goodreads, two lucky fans of our Facebook page, chosen at random, will also receive copies. So if you’re not yet on board with us at Facebook, now’s the time!

    (I can tell what some of you might be thinking: Can I sign up for the Goodreads giveaway and be eligible for the Facebook fan page option, too? And the answer, dear friends, is YES!)

    I’ll be happy to inscribe all giveaway copies. There’s just one little wrinkle: For now, giveaway books can be shipped only to U.S. mailing addresses. I’m very sorry about that!

    Again, you have until December 19 to sign on…but why wait?

    The Wednesday Web Browser

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled
  • “We Need to Talk About Your Amazon Sales Rankings” is an amusing video/book trailer from husband-and-wife authors John Yunker and Midge Raymond.
  • For someone who’s never even been married (and is not a child of divorced parents, or a matrimonial lawyer, or therapist), I probably know a lot more about divorce than I should. To be sure, these two divorce-related poems, published recently through YourDailyPoem.com, resonated.
  • Fear of conducting interviews getting in the way of your freelancing? (It’s happened to me.) Linda Formichelli busts your excuse.
  • Also from and for the freelancing files: sage advice from Kelly James-Enger on “the best place for new writers to pitch.”
  • The December Practicing Writer newsletter went out to subscribers yesterday, and I’ve been worried about some line-spacing glitches I’ve seen in my own (and others’ forwarded) copies. I’m hoping that my template isn’t corrupted. It’s such a basic template that it’s tough for me to guess what the problem is. In any case, everything looks tip-top in the copy I’ve posted on my website.