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The Wednesday Web Browser for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled
  • Charging admission for bookstore events. What say you?
  • On The Chronicle of Higher Education’s Arts & Academe blog, Elise Blackwell spotlights independent presses.
  • Natalie Wexler wonders if characters must be likable.
  • Unsure about connecting with editors on social media? Consider this.
  • In a similar vein, check out these sensible tips from Kelly James-Enger on how not to make a freelance friend.
  • Nice shout-out from the NewPages.com blog re: a new literary journal, Adanna. (I have a poem in the inaugural issue.)
  • Until tomorrow, everyone can access all contents of the Publishers Weekly Fall Announcements issue (excellent for book reviewers seeking a heads-up on new titles).
  • And once again on a related note: Coffee House Press has a lot to share about its “Fall Fiction Preview, BEA Recap, and Fall Fiction Galley Giveaway.”

    • Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

    by Erika Dreifus on
    2
  • Opportunity for a long-form nonfiction writer: “Gothamist is interested in adding long-form non-fiction features to our website. Since we’re new to this game, we’re going to dip our toes in the water slowly, by publishing a single feature next month. How it will work: We will pay one journalist $5,000 to write a long-form non-fiction piece in the 5,000 to 15,000 word range. Subject: Something relevant to our audience of over one million 20-36 year-old readers in New York, timely but with a shelf-life longer than a week. We’re open to any topic, although we would like something that could be well-illustrated with photos or infographics. We’ll cover the editing and production and then publish the piece to the various eBook singles platforms (Kindle, Apple, etc.) with a reasonable price: $1 to $3. Then we’ll handle advertising the piece on our NYC site. If this experiment makes a profit, we’ll share them with the writer once we’ve recouped our initial costs. Will this work? We’re not sure—but we want to find out.” Proposal deadline is coming up fast: July 1. (via GalleyCat)
  • Since I’ve long believed that “To Build a Fire” is one of the all-time great short stories in existence, I’m sorry to share news of a fiction contest named for its author only a few days before the July 1 deadline! But better late than never, right? From Up Here magazine (Canada): “Can you spin gruesome, harrowing and heartfelt tales of misadventure and drama in the spirit of legendary Klondike gold-rush era adventure writer Jack London? If yes, we want to hear from you. Here’s your chance to write the next best North of Sixty adventure story. The contest is open to all, and the winning story will be published in the September 2011 issue of Up Here. Along with publication, the first-place author will win $750, second-place wins $250.” (Prizes are presumably conferred in Canadian dollars.) There is no entry fee. (via @femministas)
  • Attention, Britons: English PEN is offering “a fulfilling three month internship from July to September/October 2011, working on a range of challenging issues with a diverse team based in an exciting new centre for literature, literacy and free speech.” Even better: This is a paid internship! Application deadline is July 1. (Are you getting the idea that July 1 is a popular deadline date? I sure am!)
  • “Underwired publishes personal essays (800-1200 words) every month and is always looking for new contributors. Essays should somehow relate to the chosen theme for the month and be on topics of interest to women. Underwired buys one-time rights, and payment is $100.” Upcoming themes include “The Budget Issue” (deadline is–wait for it–July 1) and “The #5 Issue” (the latter celebrates the publication’s fifth anniversary). (via @femministas)
  • Do you know about The Evertalis? “We accept flash fiction (max. 1000 words) and short poetry such as haiku, senryu, tanka, Englyn etc. We will also accept non-formalist and custom construct short poetry no longer than 15 lines – it is expected that your submission has a gradient of surrealism, or at the very least is not overly conformist to any specific genre.” Pays: $10/poem and $.01/word for flash fiction. No simultaneous submissions. (via Duotrope.com)
  • From the Community-Word Project: “CWP is looking for energetic teaching artists who are committed to bringing the best, high quality arts programming to grades 1-12 in NYC public schools. In addition to dedication to practicing their own art form(s), Teaching Artists (TAs) interested in working with CWP must be 1) committed to working with young people from underserved communities, 2) committed to continually improving their teaching practice and 3) interested in collaboration and experimentation with other artists and art forms, as our residencies are multi-disciplinary and designed and implemented by two teaching artists (i.e., writer and visual artist) working in collaboration with classroom teachers.” Apply by July 5.
  • By this time next week, The Practicing Writer newsletter will have gone out to nearly 3800 subscribers. As always, it will be packed with opportunities and submission calls. Are you on the subscriber list?
  • Southern New Hampshire University seeks a Digital Publisher, Northwestern University (Ill.) is looking for an Associate Director of Editorial Content, and Duke University (N.C.) is advertising a position for an Associate Director of Communications.

    • Thursday’s Post-Publication Post: One Writer’s Summer To-Do List

    by Erika Dreifus on
    10

    North of the equator, we’ve just begun summer. Although I’m still going to be working 40 hours a week in my day job, still running the usual errands, still partaking in the same family responsibilities (and joys), I’m also hoping to accomplish certain writing-related goals before we merge into fall.

    After all, for six weeks this summer, my 40 hours at the office will be recalibrated: heavier on Mondays-Thursdays with “summer Fridays” off. I hope to use those Fridays wisely. And I hope that I can use the general light and energy of the summer to help infuse some projects under way and others that I hope to start.

    Herewith, items on my list of writerly hopes, plans, ambitions, and commitments for the season.

    “MY” WRITING

    • Continue promotion for Quiet Americans; track progress of new (non-Kindle) versions; calculate and send Q2 contribution to The Blue Card.
    • Complete work on new short story and figure out if it may be a novel chapter; begin new story/novel chapter.
    • Write at least one new poem; revise existing poem drafts.
    • Draft Israel-related essay.
    • Check where submissions are outstanding; follow up if appropriate; send out new submissions.
    • Research/apply for short-term residencies for winter-spring 2012.

    ASSIGNMENTS (SELF-IMPOSED/SOLICITED AND OTHER)

    • Practice and deliver presentation for Manhattanville Writers Week session on “Social Media Strategies for Writers”.
    • Research and write article due to The Writer on August 1.
    • Prepare Q&A re: The Borrower, by Rebecca Makkai.
    • Prepare Q&A re: Rethinking Creative Writing, by Stephanie Vanderslice.
    • Prepare Q&A re: The Little Bride, by Anna Solomon.
    • Peruse fall/winter catalogs for possible titles to review and monitor reviews-in-progress (track ARCs, read, write, etc.).
    • Prepare and distribute July/August/September issues of The Practicing Writer.
    • Consider if I want/need to seek additional fall/winter assignments.

    QUALITY OF WRITING LIFE

    • Research and purchase new computer.
    • Have “writing dates” with friends.
    • Make (and keep) annual appointments with ophthalmologist and optometrist. (Considering how much time I spend squinting into screens, taking care of my eyes seems more and more important.)
    • Get apartment windows washed (and other household tasks). (It’s nice to have a clear view once those eyes are checked.)
    • Read, read, read.
    • Catch up on movies/go to museums/attend concerts & readings. Art feeds off other art! (And I live in New York City, for crying out loud! I’m practically tripping over all of these opportunities!)
    • Get to the gym or go for a jog 2-3 times a week. (Sure, more would be nice, but let’s be realistic here, given my schedule and my usual response to heat and humidity.)  Exercise energizes the body and helps clear and focus the mind.

    And what about you? Have any of you made summer writing to-do lists? Care to share what’s on them?

    The Wednesday Web Browser for Writers

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled
  • Author Ellen Meeropol asks: “How is a blog like a Tupperware party?”
  • Fab post on book promotion from Randy Susan Meyers for Beyond the Margins.
  • Ever wondered how much an editor should charge?
  • Attention, freelancers (especially newbies)! Carol Tice shows you how to “Avoid Hassles with a Writer’s Basic Assignment Checklist.
  • Joe Ponepinto suggests that when we need writing prompts, we should head to Home Depot.
  • Natalie Wexler considers “how much freedom should a writer exercise in playing around with historical fact.”
  • Poet Kelli Russell Agodon explains why she has a Facebook page (and why other authors, poets, and writers should have them, too. (Have you seen mine?)

    • Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled
  • From WritersWeekly.com: “Eight Paying Health Markets.”
  • From Robert Lee Brewer: “I will consider poetry submissions for the 2013 Poet’s Market. 20 previously unpublished poems will be selected for publication in the book, and the poets will receive a paycheck for their poems.”  Deadline is August 15. Pays: “publication, $50 payment, and a contributor copy of the 2013 Poet’s Market.” For more information/detailed guidelines, see http://bit.ly/lpLaGQ.
  • The Brooklyner, to be published quarterly, is “currently reading for our inaugural issue, which will largely include fiction and nonfiction. We will also consider poetry, commentary on relevant pop culture, and reviews of the following: books, food, cruises, amusement parks, concerts, field trips, underwear, holidays. Also translations. We are not seeking novellas or novel excerpts.” Pays: $25-$75 for prose (depending on length); $25/poem.
  • Attention, writers in southwest England: “A new short story competition invites writers resident in the South West of England to submit stories of between 1,000 and 3,000 set in a sustainable future at any time between five and five million years from now. Will we have succumbed to the floodwaters, or will geo-engineering save the day? Did we cure our addiction to fossil fuels, or did it turn out not to be necessary? Will your story be narrated by one of your descendants, or a computer, or a jellyfish? Or does God have something to say about it all?” Deadline is 30 June 2011, and there is no entry fee. Cash prizes: First prize (£250), Second prize (£75), and Third prize (£50). “All prizewinners will be included in the ‘Imagine There’s a Future’ Anthology to be published September 2011. Highly commended entries will be included in the anthology with the authors’ permission.”
  • Poets & Writers, Inc., is looking for an Assistant Online Editor.
  • Syracuse University (N.Y.) seeks part-time faculty to teach reading and writing fiction and introductory fiction.
  • Emerson College (Mass.) is looking for a Program Coordinator for its Department of Writing, Literature, and Publishing; the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene seeks a Multimedia Assistant; and SEIU Local 49 (Portland, Ore.) invites applications for a New Media Organizer.