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.

    • Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled
  • The Disabled Shop Blog is running a blogging competition: “Enter now and win the chance to become a paid blogger writing about disability and disability products AND £250 in cash.” There is no entry fee, and the deadline for submissions is December 18, 2010. NB: I discovered this contest in a list of nonfiction-focused writing competitions (some do charge fees) that Ann Goldberg mentioned on Twitter.
  • Last call for submissions: “You requested it, and we complied: Issue seven of Workers Write! will be Tales from the Courtroom and will contain stories and poems from the legal worker’s point of view (lawyers, judges, court reporters, bailiffs, and so on). Your story should be set anywhere legal work is performed, but we are not looking for stories about court cases or whodunits. Drop us a line if you have a question.” Deadline is December 1, 2010 (Wednesday). Pays: “Between $5 and $50 (depending on length and rights requested). We will consider previously published material.”
  • “THE WAITING ROOM is a magazine designed to entertain, educate, bring insight and humor into waiting rooms throughout the country. Our content is unique and varied, as are our contributors. We publish original fiction, essays, humor, art, cartoons, poetry and recipes from both published and unpublished authors and artists. Quality is our only criteria.” Pays: “Payment is $20/for stories, articles or essays – $10/poem $10/art pieces or photos, plus one contributors copy.” (via AbsoluteWrite.com)
  • “We are delighted to announce that entries for the Rossica Translation Prize 2011 are now open. The Rossica Prize is the only prize awarded for the best new translation of a high-quality Russian literary work into English. Literary work must be written in Russian by any author, present or past, and published in English in 2009 and 2010. The prize is open to works published in any country. The value of the prize is £5,000 divided between the winning translator and the publisher.” No entry fee indicated. Deadline: December 31, 2010.
  • From Eckerd College (Fla.): “Assistant Professor of Creative Writing, renewable contract, to start in September, 2011, at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida. M.F.A. in Creative Writing. Teach seven courses per academic year, to include four courses in the Eckerd College Program for Experienced Learners (our adult education program) and three courses in the residential undergraduate college….We are looking for a writer of fiction and plays. Teaching responsibilities will include some combination of beginning, intermediate, and advanced fiction courses, one-act play, the short comic sketch, the full length play, etc. The ability to teach screenwriting is also welcome.”
  • From Roosevelt University (Ill.): “The Department of Literature and Languages at Roosevelt University welcomes applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor of English and Creative Writing. The successful candidate will be a creative writer with primary specialization in Fiction and secondary specialization in either Creative Nonfiction or Poetry.”
  • The Harvard School of Public Health (Mass.) seeks a Senior Writer/Project Manager, Stanford University (Calif.) is looking for a Writer and Communications Manager, and Florida Gulf Coast University invites applications for a Staff Writer.

    • The Wednesday Web Browser

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled
  • The After Deadline blog deals with numbers in the news.
  • Tayari Jones shares the trauma and ultimate triumph of changing the title of her forthcoming novel.
  • Nova Ren Suma recalls six fateful paragraphs.
  • Book-reviewing advice from Sarah Weinman, Jane Litte, and another Sarah (last name not included).
  • Speaking of book reviewing, here’s my brief take on Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English, a novel by Natasha Solomons.

    • The Practicing Writing blog is grateful for its readership! We’ll be taking a few days off for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. Warm wishes to all, and see you back here on Monday.