Monday Markets/Jobs/Opportunities for Writers

If it’s Monday, it’s time for the weekly paying jobs, markets, and no-fee competitions for writers. Let’s get going:

  • The Cha Flash Fiction Contest “is run by Cha: An Asian Literary Journal. It is for unpublished flash stories in English language on the theme of ‘Misinterpretation.'” You can submit up to two pieces (maximum 250 words each). Cash prizes (via Paypal): £50/£30/£20. Publication in the fifth anniversary issue of the journal. Deadline: July 15, 2012. No entry fee.
  • The Renegade Writer blog is now accepting guest posts: “The Renegade Writer readers are serious about writing, and they’re interested in writing for magazines, online markets, and copywriting clients. Guest posts must be specifically geared for beginning to intermediate writers who are serious about their work. Topics that work for us include the business of writing, marketing your writing, productivity, motivation, query writing, how to diversify your income, deciphering contracts, and the care and feeding of clients. While we’re open to posts on the craft of writing — such as how to write awesome ledes and kickers — we don’t run many of these.” Pays: $50.
  • Live in Wisconsin or Minnesota? You may be interested in the Vita.mn 2012 Short Story Contest: “To enter, write a story about one of the ‘seven deadly sins’ in no more than 300-600 words and send it via e-mail to promo@vita.mn during the contest period. Stories can be fact or fiction.” Deadline: July 2, 2012. No entry fee. Prize: “One (1) first-place winner will receive the First-Place Prize, which will consist of the story being published in Vita.mn, the opportunity for the author to read his/her story at an upcoming Vita.mn event and $750. Up to 20 runners-up will have their story published in Vita.mn and also have the opportunity to read at an upcoming Vita.mn event. Fan Favorite Prize – One (1) fan favorite submission will also be selected from all stories read during the Vita.mn event, the author of this submission will receive a literary prize pack valued at $250.”
  • “The English Department of Bowling Green State University [Ohio] seeks strong applicants for an instructor to serve as editor of the internationally recognized literary magazine Mid-American Review and instructor in Creative Writing. The initial appointment is for one year, with possibility of renewal. Duties: Editing Mid-American Review; serving as faculty advisor to the undergraduate literary magazine Prairie Margins; teaching undergraduate course in Literary Editing and Publishing, graduate course in Creative Writing Desktop Publishing, and one additional course in Creative Writing; administering the annual Winter Wheat Festival of Writing.”
  • Poets & Writers (New York) seeks a Program Assistant, Roger Williams College (R.I.) is looking for a Media Relations Manager, and the Constitutional Accountability Center (Washington) is advertising for a Blogger/Writer.
  • The Wednesday Web Browser for Writers

  • Short Story Month celebrations end tomorrow (quick reminder: you can still enter our collection giveaway right here). There has been a lot of wonderful content online this month that focuses on short stories. I recommend especially the coverage at Fiction Writers Review and David Abrams’s terrific blog post spotlighting noteworthy story collections of 2012.
  • Want to know how to promote your e-book? Really want to know how to do so for free? GalleyCat has some resources for you.
  • And speaking of promotion, Jane Friedman recommends “4 Ways to Immediately Improve Your Book Marketing Efforts.”
  • Congratulations to Carol Tice on the publication of her first co-authored print book. (There’s quite a backstory here, one that will interest you especially if you’re into the subject of how your blogging may lead you to your books.)
  • Poet Diane Lockward has compiled a list of what she considers to be especially appealing online journals.
  • And Kelli Russell Agodon tells us “what’s going on in the Poetry Blogosphere these days.”
  • The Wednesday Web Browser for Writers

    Welcome to the Wednesday collection of gleanings from the Web:

  • Noted by The Cincinnati Review: “We receive about 1,500 poems, stories, and essays a month through our online submission manager, and many of those submissions get read by our staff, who have noticed the following trends. . . .”
  • The latest author to contribute to the “My First Time” column on David Abrams’s wonderful blog is Susan Woodring, describing her first telephone conversation with her agent. (P.S. Huge congrats to David on the selection of Fobbit, his forthcoming novel, for the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers program.)
  • Next week will bring the June issue of The Practicing Writer, which will feature a Q&A with Midge Raymond, author most recently of Everyday Writing: Tips and Prompts to Fit Your Regularly Scheduled Life. Right now, you can learn more about the book and enter a giveaway on Goodreads.
  • Speaking of giveaways, there’s also still a bit of time remaining to leave a comment and be eligible for one of our own Short Story Month Collection Giveaway Project offerings.
  • Poet Diane Lockward shares the qualities that draw her to (or repel her from) online literary journals.
  • Who can’t benefit from a refresher course on the comma?
  • Monday Markets/Jobs/Opportunities for Writers

  • The current submissions window for Nashville Review ends on June 1. “Nashville Review publishes the best in literary fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and comics. Both distinguished and emerging writers are encouraged to submit. Nashville Review also publishes lyrics and audio by up-and-coming musicians.Fiction, nonfiction, and comics contributors are offered a flat fee of $100. Poetry contributors are offered $25 per poem.”
  • “Are you a total iPhone fanatic? Do you geek out for hours a day on your iPad? If so, you’re just who we’re looking for to create original, informative, and entertaining content for iPhone Life, the premier magazine for all things iOS. Written by users, for users, iPhone Life magazine offers the latest iOS news, helpful tips, how-to articles, app and gear reviews, and much more. We’re looking for article writers who are passionate about their devices and have something valuable to share with other iOS users. We pay $25 per published article and will include your bio and photo.”
  • The Fred Otto Prize for Oz Fiction will award a $100 first prize and a $50 second prize. ““Oz Fiction” is defined as any story about or pertaining to the Land of Oz as originally created by author L. Frank Baum in the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its sequels, but stories need not be confined to Baum’s vision. Submissions about or pertaining to the Land of Oz in any of its forms will be accepted. Stories may follow on from Oz books, Oz plays, Oz movies, Magic Land, or any other fictional version of Oz.” Deadline is June 30, 2012. There is no entry fee. (via WinningWriters.com)
  • Paid internship in Communications & Social Media w/the Jewish Women’s Archive (Boston-based): “Do you feel at home in the blogosphere? Do you have a knack for social media? An interest in Jewish culture, feminism, politics, history, books, food, education, popular culture? The Jewish Women’s Archive (JWA) is seeking an organized, self-motivated individual who can keep up with the fast-paced world of blogging. If an important story breaks at 11 p.m., we need to have a blog post ready the next morning. If you love to write and want to know what makes the non-profit world really tick, join our small but dynamic team and gain valuable experience running our blog and developing our use of Facebook and Twitter. This is an opportunity to build a portfolio of writing for the web, gain editorial experience, and use your social media talents to drive effective communication.”
  • Cleveland State University seeks a Visiting Assistant Professor of English (Poetry Writing)/Interim Director of CSU Poetry Center. “The position carries a teaching load of two courses per semester, including undergraduate and M.F.A. workshops and craft classes, as well as the direction of graduate creative writing theses. Duties will also include close supervision of all Poetry Center book production and promotion activities, and supervision of a graduate student staff. Applicants must have at least one book of poetry published or under contract, and an M.F.A., or Ph.D. in Creative Writing by July 1, 2012.”
  • “The Department of English at Texas A&M University invites applications for a one-year position in creative writing (fiction) at the visiting writer-in-residence level to start Fall 2012 (possible one-year renewal subject to satisfactory review and budgetary circumstances). Candidates must have an MFA, or PhD with an emphasis in creative writing, with publications and demonstrated teaching ability. Courses to be taught may include both undergraduate and graduate creative writing. The course load is 3/3 for the academic year with a 9 month contract.”
  • Brooklyn College (CUNY) is looking for a Director of News & Information, Boston University seeks an Editor/Writer, and Friends of the National Zoo (Washington) invites applications for a Writer position.
  • Thursday’s Work-in-Progress: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

    So, let’s start with the good news from my writing world this week: The latest installment of my “First Looks” column for Fiction Writers Review went live. Plus: I received a lovely email from a woman who had just finished reading Quiet Americans and who then posted a five-star review on Amazon.

    The bad: a litmag rejection that disappointed me more than I anticipated it would.

    The ugly: some unpleasant hijacking of my Facebook author page. Nothing I can’t handle. Just some garden-variety unpleasantness. And a reason to think more about the issues that many of us were talking about last week.