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The Wednesday Web Browser for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
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  • Coming soon: the perfect stamps for your SASEs. “With the issuance of Twentieth-Century Poets, the U.S. Postal Service® honors ten of our nation’s most admired poets: Elizabeth Bishop, Joseph Brodsky, Gwendolyn Brooks, E. E. Cummings, Robert Hayden, Denise Levertov, Sylvia Plath, Theodore Roethke, Wallace Stevens, and Wil­liam Carlos Williams. The many awards won by this illustri­ous group include numerous Pulitzer Prizes, National Book Awards, and honorary degrees. Each stamp features a photograph of one of the ten poets. Text on the back of the stamp sheet includes an excerpt from one poem by each poet. The art director was Derry Noyes. The stamp will go on sale nationwide April 21, 2012.”
  • And on a not-unrelated note: Do you save your rejection slips?
  • Several tech-y items to share: five ways to keep up with tweets, how to monetize a blog, and simple SEO for authors. (I’ve bookmarked all three to return to for closer study.)
  • Cathy Day asked MFA faculty and students this question: “Should we make it our business to teach the business of being a writer?” And here’s how they responded. I haven’t yet weighed in, but there are lots of comments accruing on Cathy’s blog.
  • Midge Raymond, on Jane Friedman’s definition of “author platform.”

    • Monday Markets/Jobs/Opportunities for Writers

    by Erika Dreifus on
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  • The Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest offers 15 cash prizes totaling $3,600. Top prize is $1,500. Submit one humor poem by April 1 deadline. No entry fee.
  • “The Yiddish Book Center will award a prize of $2,500 for an outstanding new translation of Yiddish prose literature, fiction or non-fiction, that has been completed or published within the last two years. Both submissions and nominations will be accepted for consideration.Translation Prize submissions are due by May 18, 2012. The Yiddish Book Center will announce the recipients in Fall 2012.” No entry fee indicated.
  • “Talking and reading about other people’s childhoods, sadness, happiness and aspirations can help us to cope with our own ups and downs, but shared experience is seldom there to support us when our life is nearing its end or when people close to us are dying. This is why the Dying Matters Coalition is running a new creative writing competition about dying, death and bereavement. Anyone touched by dying, whether directly or as a relative, friend, colleague or carer, can enter. The judges will be looking for original writing in which the author’s feelings and thoughts about the end of life have been crafted into a succinct piece of work that attracts the reader’s attention and retains their interest.” Submissions “should be a maximum of 2,500 words of prose or 40 lines of poetry” and up to three entries may be submitted. Prizes: “1st: £200; 2nd: £100; 3rd: £50; plus highly commended certificates. All entries will also be considered for publication online or in print form.” No entry fee. Submit by March 31, 2012.
  • In case you haven’t seen it already, the March issue of The Practicing Writer is now available, with a plethora of paying calls and no-fee contests.
  • “NetGalley, a service for people who read and recommend books, is looking to add a new Reader Concierge to their existing Concierge Team. A perfect candidate will be smart, friendly, bookish, and savvy with social-media, and will be excited to handle reader support, social media outreach, and facilitate intelligent community growth….We’re looking for someone passionate about books who is a devoted digital reader, and has a solid understanding of current reading devices (and is always willing to learn!). A basic knowledge of the publishing industry and book publicity/marketing is preferred. The NetGalley team is virtual, but most of our employees are based in the NYC metro area, and extra consideration will be given to candidates in this area. We’re looking for someone available to start immediately. This is a full-time position, but we’ll consider part-time candidates (25+ hours/week) who are available every day.”
  • College of Wooster (Ohio) is hiring a Visiting Assistant Professor of English. “Three-year position in journalism and creative non-fiction. Teaching will include introductory and advanced news writing and editing, digital media, and creative non-fiction writing courses. Teaching will also include the department’s introductory course in textual and cultural interpretation, as well as participation in the College’s independent study program and interdisciplinary First-Year Seminar. Ability to offer courses in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies desirable. The teaching load is five courses per year in addition to directing senior theses.”
  • Edge Hill University (U.K.) seeks a Lecturer or Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing. “This is an opportunity for a fiction-writer with substantial experience in Higher Education. You will provide expert teaching in a variety of modes, including writing workshops, tutorials and online interaction, and facilitate student work in a range of different media.”
  • Coventry University (U.K.) also seeks a Lecturer or Senior Lecturer in English (Creative Writing).
  • Swarthmore College (Penn.) is looking for a Writer/Editor, Dallas County Community College District seeks a Web Writer/Editor, and University of Chicago (Medical Center Development) invites applications for a position as Senior Writer.

    • The Wednesday Web Browser for Writers

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled
  • On Lisa Romeo’s blog, Stephanie Vanderslice introduces her new book, Rethinking Creative Writing: Programs and Practices that Work. (We’ve got an interview with Stephanie about this book right here, too.)
  • A voice from the adjunct trenches.
  • This story of how one author found her agent on the subway (technically, the agent found her) has been making the Internet rounds.
  • A lovely account of how Sage Cohen’s young son reminded her of writing advice from Galway Kinnell (which happens to echo advice I recall from Arnost Lustig, who passed away one year ago this week).
  • I really like this interview with my fellow Last Light Studio author, Ericka Lutz, in which Ericka talks about her new novel, the experience of publishing with our small press, and her “nontraditional” routes in both writing and promotion.
  • I was amused (but not at all surprised) to learn that Stephen Colbert has landed a deal for his children’s book (but can we please do away with the verb “ink”?). Check this GalleyCat report for details, plus links to the two-part interview with Maurice Sendak that started it all!

    • Thursday’s Work-in-Progress: Anniversary Announcements

    by Erika Dreifus on
    5

    One year ago today, Quiet Americans made its official debut.

    (And 71 years ago today, my paternal grandparents–the major inspiration behind the collection–married in New York.)

    I can’t say enough “thank-yous” to acknowledge sufficiently all of you who have helped make this past year so special.

    But I can announce the winners of our Anniversary Giveaway!

    (Drum roll, please!) (more…)

    Monday Markets/Jobs/Opportunities for Writers

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled
  • I’ve mentioned this no-fee contest in a previous issue of The Practicing Writer, but since the deadline is approaching, it’s probably worth mentioning again: “This year sampad is delighted to be celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Rabindranath Tagore with Inspired by Tagore an international writing competition. Tagore was a hugely influential South Asian poet and many sampad projects have celebrated his legacy or been sparked by a line of his poetry….There are 2 categories: one for writers aged between 8 and 15, one for writers aged 16 and over. Entries can be poetry, short stories or reportage, and writers can submit up to 6 pieces of work, maximum length 400 words, using Tagore’s poetry and writing as a starting point.” Cash prizes and publication. Open to writers around the world. Deadline: January 31, 2012.
  • From WritersWeekly.com: “We’re Out Of Features! QUERY US! WritersWeekly pays $60 on acceptance for features averaging around 600 words. See our guidelines HERE.”
  • “The American South is a haunted place — full of ghost stories, native legends, persistent devils & angels, souls sold at the crossroads, and moon-eyed maidens living in the Okefenokee. The South’s best writers — Faulkner, O’Connor, McCullers — all keep this sense of the otherworldly in their fiction. In this spirit, Q & W Publishers is looking for submissions for an anthology of short fiction and non-fiction that explores the fantastic, eerie, and bizarre side of the American South.” Pays: $50/accepted piece, plus one copy of the anthology.”
  • From the Kentucky Arts Council: “BOOKSTORE SEEKING LOCAL AUTHOR BOOKS FOR SALE Bakery Blessings & Bookstore @ the Bar in Lexington is accepting local, Kentucky author books for sale on consignment. More info: Jan(at)aprilword(dot)com.”
  • Something for my fellow New Yorkers: Free writing workshops around Manhattan on January 10 and 11. Check them out and pre-register.
  • From Colby College (Maine): “Position in Fiction Writing starting September 2012 to teach 1-3 sections of Introduction to Fiction (English 278). Applicants must have a MFA or equivalent, publication, and evidence of teaching effectiveness at the college level.”
  • The Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard University (Mass.) seeks a Staff Writer, Melville House Publishing (Brooklyn, N.Y.) is looking for a Publicist, and Carleton College (Minn.) seeks applications for a Publications Writer/Editor.