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New guide for writers
of fiction
 Do
you write fiction? Do you want to get it published?
Then this book is for you!
This brand new directory for fiction writers includes listings for over 600 literary
agents, book
publishers, and magazines, updated in
firstwriter.com's online databases between 2011 and 2013.
And unlike other directories, they ALL handle fiction!
So instead of paying out for hundreds of nonfiction listings that do nothing but get in the way of finding the fiction ones, this book just gives
fiction writers what they actually want. As a result, it costs less and is easier to use!
And instead of all those nonfiction listings, we give you listings from all over the English-speaking world – because in today's globalised world of email submissions you're as likely to find your big break in another English-speaking country
as in your own. Don't limit your chances by buying a book that's limited to your own country!
This book also provides free access to firstwriter.com's entire current database, including
over 850 literary
agencies, over 1,400 book
publishers, over 1,500
magazines, and constantly updated listings of current writing
competitions, with typically more than 50 added each month.
The book is available to buy from
amazon.com
(click
here) or amazon.co.uk
(click
here)
Newcastle Poetry Prize
The Newcastle Poetry Prize is now
open.
Now in its 32nd year, the Newcastle Poetry Prize is one of Australia’s oldest and most important literary competitions.
It boasts a distinguished list of past winners and judges including Les Murray, Mark
Tredinnick, Diane Fahey, Philip Salom, Duncan Hose, Patricia Sykes, Anthony Lawrence, Peter Kirkpatrick and Brooke Emery.
A distinctive feature of the Prize is that it is judged anonymously, giving both established and emerging poets equal opportunity for recognition.
Each year, twenty-three shortlisted entrants are published in the NPP's renowned annual anthology, giving selected poets a chance for publication.
Largely due to the generosity of Prize sponsor The University of Newcastle, over $20,000 in prize money is awarded:
- First Prize: $12,000
- Second Prize: $5,000
- Third Prize: $1,000
- Local Award: $500
- Harri Jones Memorial Prize (Under 36): $250
The Newcastle Poetry Prize is open theme with a limit of 200 lines.
"It proves that there is poetry in money after all, that a major prize like the Newcastle Poetry Prize can call into being poems that
seem to say something that has never been said before, or say something that we all know in such new and memorable ways that it reads like a new knowledge, a new sense of future"
~ Jennifer Harrison and Kim Cheng
Boey, 2012 judges
Enter online at www.newcastlepoetryprize.com. Entries close 5pm
EST, Friday June 7, 2013.
For details of over 140
other writing competitions, click
here
Literary
journal seeks writing on corruption
Contemporary Literary Review India invites readers and writers to write on and around the topic CORRUPTION.
What you may show:
- What is corruption according to you?
- How can corruption be curbed?
- What are possible hurdles in curbing corruption?
- Do you want to see India to be free from corruption one day?
- How many times were you forced to give bribes, even unwillingly?
- What is your standard of honesty?
What you should not show:
- Do not name a government or an official in your writing.
- Do not accuse any entity.
- Do not reflect your political views
Your piece will be included in the editorial along with this editor’s piece.
Submit your writings
Submission to CLRI is open year round.
Submissions are invited in a wide variety of genres including poetry, fiction, criticism, arts, photography, book review, film review, and many more.
Both emerging and established writers are encouraged.
For more information visit
the website at http://www.contemporaryliteraryreviewindia.com
For details of over
1,600 other magazines, click
here
Social
media project for stories about motherhood
A Day in a Life is a social media project to capture
and share the experiences of women in the first 24 hours of motherhood. It will include the stories of
women from a diverse range of backgrounds, cultures, countries
and sexualities.
All stories submitted will be posted on the Facebook site and a selection of
the best works will be collated into a printed publication. Those writers
selected for inclusion in the final publication will receive a copy of the
book. Entries are free.
Further details and submissions to the site can be found
at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Day-in-a-Life/550523914991676
Wirral Festival of
Firsts – Poetry Proms
Calling all poets!
The 2013 Poetry Proms have relocated to the busy seaside town of New Brighton. Offering easy access, reasonably priced accommodation (at
Travelodge) for visiting poets, great venues, and a buzzing location, this year’s events promise to be even better than last year.
There will be plenty of opportunity for all poets to perform between 2pm and 4:30 pm on Saturday
July 6, 2013, at any number of our hosted venues. There will also be free opening and closing events for everyone to meet, socialise, and chill!
Local hosts "The Bards of New Brighton" and
"Tales by the Fireside" will again be joined by Chester Poets offering a wide range of performance opportunities. Further details of venues will be announced in the coming weeks, but we can already
confirm that the iconic Fort Perch Rock will be one venue on the day. In addition there will be an outdoor venue in the newly built performance "ampitheatre" right in the heart of the town for those with a penchant
for performing to the crowds! Interested? We think you should be!
For more details, or to register as a performer on the day, just drop an e-mail to
mailfordjc@gmail.com
and nikkibennett27@hotmail.com. It’s as easy as that! See you there!
“Devotedly Dad” letter contest
The “Devotedly Dad” letter contest is open to America’s fathers and
grandfathers as an opportunity to encourage a love of reading and writing in
their homes. Dads are being asked to write a letter to a child or grandchild
about the importance of literacy and learning. Write from the heart, the
head or the funny bone and simply sign it…“Devotedly, Dad.”
Winners will receive a prize package including an autographed copy of “All
the Best, My Life in Letters and Other Writings” by President George
H.W. Bush.
Contest Rules:
- Entry is free
- Original letters (maximum word count 800) must be submitted by
fathers or grandfathers
- Deadline for submissions– May 30, 2013, 5 p.m. EST
- Looking for letter writers across America –
two letters per state will be selected
- Winners will be notified through email by Father’s Day, June 16,
2013. Select letters will be featured on the website at
www.BarbaraBushFoundation.com
- All entries, upon the sole discretion of the Barbara Bush
Foundation, may be published in full or excerpt form, online or in
print/broadcast form via the Barbara Bush Foundation, news
organisations or other publications
For more information or to submit online, visit
www.BarbaraBushFoundation.com.
Call for
submissions: Able Muse – Special Poetry Translation Issue
Able Muse – a review of poetry, prose
and art – will be releasing a Special
Translation Issue, guest edited by Charles Martin, and forthcoming Summer,
2014. This is an open call for submission for this issue which will feature
several of today's eminent English-language translators. The requirements
are as follows:
1) Submit 1 to 5 previously unpublished and publishable translations.Although it's not mandatory, you may include the text of the poem(s) in the
original language(s), if available.
2) Submission deadline is March 31, 2014. The response time varies from 2 to
12 weeks.
3) You may submit:
Seven
writing generators
By Marcella
Simmons
Here are seven resolutions
to help you with your writing:
1) Set aside a few minutes every morning to write in your journal, free
write, or write down your dreams of the night before. If you get up at 6
o'clock, set aside a few minutes – say 6:20 to 6:30 for your designated
10 minutes. Vow to write at least 10 minutes every morning for a year. Free writing is an amazing
"writer starter". One year of ten
minute writing intervals equals to 3,650 minutes of writing as a whole.
2) Read a magazine story or short article once a day. Analyse the story from
start to finish - how would you have written it differently? What was your
favourite part of the story? Did you like it? Why or why not? Jot down your
findings and save it for a future story idea.
3) Take a few minutes during your daily schedule to talk with someone. If
you're at work, speak to the lady at the reception desk who obviously hasn't
liked you from the start. Why do you think she dislikes you? What reason do
you think she might feel this way? Or do you think she likes you and wants
to flirt? Observe that person as often as you can and write down your
findings. It may be that you'll find a "character sketch" for a future short
story or novel you've been meaning to write forever.
4) When you get a chance, grab a newspaper and turn to the Lifestyle section, if there is one. Usually, there is a section for weddings, and
pictures of engagements with brides and their names listed. Choose your
favourite bride or the prettiest bride pictured. Write down her first name
and how you see her in the picture. Do you think she has a sweet voice, a
rough voice or do you think she has an accent? Maybe that "southern
drawl"
or something similar? Where do you think she grew up? What kind of work did
she do before her engagement and how do you think they met? This is good
story material. Now, choose your second favourite, then the third. Lastly,
choose the least favourite and write why you think you wouldn't like her.
Make a character sketch for a future story.
5) Shopping day arrives. It's off to the grocery store to buy groceries, and
household items that you need. On your way, you need to stop at the cleaners
and pick up your husband's suits or drop off some books at the library that are long overdue. There are signs everywhere. Billboards of every shape and
size. But one catches your eye. For instance, it could be a hot pink sign with eyelashes and blushing cheekbones painted on it and reads something like
this: "You'd blush too if 10,000 people were looking at you everyday!" Write
your own slogan idea and illustrate it! It could be humorous or serious – the point is, write your own idea for a billboard. Then, write down why you
wrote it, how you would illustrate it, and why it appeals to you. At least
you're writing again.
6) If you're facing writers block and need new ideas, go online and check
out current writer's guidelines of some of the publications you wish to
write for. Writers guidelines generate new ideas and are a great asset to
writers. Print them out and read over them every chance you get. Pay
attention to word count and important issues like how to submit. Read over
what kind of stories they need and let your mind do the rest. Ponder ideas
off and on and before the day is out, you'll be ready to write.
7) Writer's Digest online has a weekly writing prompt that has inspired me to
write many times. The articles offered in the free issue are also sources of
inspiration – check it out. http://www.writersdigest.com.
Make use of every free moment for writing that you can. I have found my
greatest inspiration to be early in the morning after my first cup of
coffee. But I am a morning person and I am already seeking out writing ideas
for the day that lies ahead. Whatever method works for you, utilize it often
and write, write, write!
About the Author
Marcella has been writing professionally since 1988 – with over 700 published
credits in over 300 small press publications nationwide, including several local
newspapers, she continues writing for several publications and websites such as
this one. In 2005, her first book of poetry entitled Bittersweet Morsels,
was published.
Marcella is working on several romantic suspense book projects at this time.
"Writing is a way of life for me. I couldn't imagine 'not' writing. One of
my many passions is writing for children – some of my stories appeared in
Primary Treasure, Christian Educator, The Vision and many others," Marcella
said. "In 1991, I graduated from THE INSTITUTE OF CHILDREN'S LITERATURE:
Writing for Children and Teens; WRITER'S DIGEST SCHOOL: Nonfiction Writing;
and ICS School of Short Story/Journalism," she continued. "I enjoy writing
and teaching others how to write".
Marcella leads the
Toledo Bend American Christian Writers group in
Logansport.
She also publishes a magazine for writers called
The Writer's Monthly Review.
Marcella is a member of the American Christian Writers ACW,
Shreveport
Writer's Group
and the Attoyac Writers’ Guild in Center, Texas.
Resources for
writers at firstwriter.com
Go to firstwriter.com
for the following invaluable resources for writers:
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