Saturday 8 July 2017

Winning Writers newsletters

The latest winning writer newsletters with details of the self-published books contest, spotlight contests and more:



The best free literary contests with deadlines through July 31 |

Winning Writers - best resources for poets and writers
 
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Welcome to Our June Newsletter

We found over three dozen quality free poetry and prose contests with deadlines between June 15-July 31.
In this issue: A passage from "Burnt Norton" by T.S. Eliot, illustrated by Julian Peters.
View Free Contests


Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest will award $4,000 in prizes.
Want to view past newsletters? Go to winningwriters.com/archives. Need assistance? Let us help. Join our 91,000 followers on Twitter at @WinningWriters.
 

Recent Honors and Publication Credits for Our Subscribers

Congratulations to Anna Scotti (featured poem: "Tanager"), Elizabeth Chesla, Roberta George, Janet Garber, Madeleine McDonald, James Garrison, Leah Angstman (featured poem: "Miles from Standing Rock, tonight,"), Annie Dawid, R.T. Castleberry, and Ellaraine Lockie
Have news? Please email it to jendi@winningwriters.com.
 

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New! Nimrod International Journal's Francine Ringold Awards for New Writers

Deadline: July 15
Nimrod Journal is proud to announce the first-ever Francine Ringold Awards for New Writers, which honor the work of writers at the beginning of their careers. The Francine Ringold Awards are open only to writers whose work has not appeared or is not scheduled to appear in more than 2 publications. $500 prizes will be awarded in both the fiction and poetry categories, and the winning work will appear in the spring issue of Nimrod.
Established in 1956, Nimrod is dedicated to the discovery of new voices in literature, and the Francine Ringold Awards are a special way to recognize talented new poets and fiction writers.
• Poetry: Up to 5 pages of poetry (one long poem or several short poems)
• Fiction: 5,000 words maximum (one short story or a self-contained excerpt from a novel)
• Fee Per Entry: $12, payable to Nimrod, includes a copy of the spring issue
No previously published works or works accepted for publication elsewhere. Author's name must not appear on the manuscript. Include a cover sheet containing major title(s), author's name, full address, phone, and email. Entries may be mailed to Nimrod or submitted online at nimrodjournal.submittable.com/submit. All finalists will be considered for publication. Open internationally.
For complete rules, visit Nimrod's website: www.utulsa.edu/nimrod
Francine Ringold Awards for New Writers
 

Rattle Poetry Prize

Rattle Poetry Prize
Deadline: July 15
The annual Rattle Poetry Prize is once again offering $10,000 for a single poem to be published in the winter issue of the magazine. Ten finalists will also receive $200 each and publication, and be eligible for the $2,000 Readers' Choice Award, to be selected by subscriber and entrant vote.
With the winners judged in a blind review by the editors to ensure a fair and consistent selection, an entry fee that is simply a one-year subscription to the magazine—and a runner-up Readers' Choice Award to be chosen by the writers themselves—the Rattle Poetry Prize aims to be one of the most writer-friendly and popular poetry contests around.
We accept entries online and by mail. See www.rattle.com for the complete guidelines and to read all of the past winners.
Enjoy "Conspiracy" by Sophia Rivkin, winner of the first Rattle Poetry Prize in 2006:
The husband calls from two hundred miles away
to say he cannot stand it, his wife is dying
in a rented hospital bed in their living room…

[continue]
 

The Violet Reed Haas Prize for Poetry and the Serena McDonald Kennedy Fiction Award

Sponsored by Snake Nation Press. Deadline: August 31. Submit electronically or by mail.
·         $1,000 award and publication
·         Entry fee: $25
·         Submit a manuscript of up to 75-100 pages
·         Previously published works may be entered
·         $1,000 award and publication
·         Entry fee: $25
·         Submit a novella of up to 50,000 words or a manuscript of short stories of up to 200 pages
·         Any well-written manuscript on any topic will be considered
·         Previously published works may be entered
The 2016 contest finalists have just been announced. More news coming soon!

On The Premises Short Story Contest (no fee)

On The Premises
The premise for short story contest #30 is "Community". They say it takes a village to raise a child, but that's just one example of a kind of community and just one way a community can affect your life. There are plenty of others—good, bad, and otherwise. So for this contest, write a creative, compelling, well-crafted story between 1,000 and 5,000 words long in which community (or some kind of community) plays an important role.
Deadline: Friday, September 1, 2017, 11:59 PM Eastern Time.
Winners receive between US$60 and US$220, and publication. There is no fee to enter our contest.
GENRE NOTE: Any genre except children's fiction, exploitative sex, or over-the-top gross-out horror is fine. We will also never accept parodies of another author's specific fictional character(s) or world(s). No exceptions!
Click for details and instructions on submitting your story. To be informed when new contests are launched, subscribe to our free, short, monthly newsletter. On The Premises magazine is recognized in Duotrope, Writer's Market, Ralan.com, and other short story marketing resources.

Creative Nonfiction Seeks Experimental Essays

Deadline: September 11
Creative Nonfiction is currently seeking experimental nonfiction for the "Exploring the Boundaries" section ("experimental," "boundaries" ... yes, we know these can be loaded terms). We're looking for writing that is ambitious, pushes against the conventional boundaries of the genre, plays with style and form, and makes its own rules. As always, we have only one absolute rule: nonfiction must be based in fact.
Please note that this is NOT a call for an entire "Exploring the Boundaries" issue of the magazine; accepted pieces will be published one per issue, and the earliest possible publication will be in Issue #67 (Spring 2018).
All essays submitted will be considered for publication; this is a paying market.
Essays must be previously unpublished and no longer than 4,500 words. All essays must tell true stories and be factually accurate. Everything we publish goes through a rigorous fact-checking process, and editors may ask for sources and citations.
Creative Nonfiction

Announcing the Writing Pittsburgh Book Prize

Deadline: October 23
The Writing Pittsburgh Book Prize will recognize one book focusing on a subject of regional and national significance, by a writer with a meaningful Pittsburgh connection. The author of the winning manuscript will receive a $10,000 honorarium; publication of their book by the Creative Nonfiction Foundation's independent book imprint, In Fact Books (IFB); national distribution; and a marketing and publicity campaign.
Manuscripts will be judged on originality; the subject's broad appeal and resonance with a national readership; interpretation of the "Writing Pittsburgh" theme; and literary quality and strength of prose. The selected book might be an in-depth reporting project focusing on one organization, individual, or event; alternatively, it might be a more personal writing project—for example, a memoir. All submissions will be judged by CNF's editorial staff.
The winning author will work with CNF/IFB's editorial staff to refine and polish the manuscript.
Creative Nonfiction
 

The Frugal Book Promoter

Give your book the best possible start in life with The Frugal Book Promoter, available as an ebook for $5.99. It's full of nitty-gritty how-tos for getting nearly free publicity. Carolyn Howard-Johnson, former publicist, journalist, and instructor for UCLA's Writers' Program for nearly a decade, shares her professional experience and practical tips gleaned from the successes of her own book campaigns. She tells authors how to do what their publishers can't or won't and why authors can often do their own promotion better than a PR professional. The first edition was a multi-award winner. The second edition, updated and expanded by more than 100 pages, is a USA Book News winner.
"The Frugal Book Promoter is excellent...It has given me ideas that would never have occurred to me before and has changed the way I think about book promotion."
Carolyn Howard-Johnson—Mark Logie, poet and short-story writer, winner of the "most promising author" prize from CanYouWrite.com
Learn more about The Frugal Book Promoter on Carolyn Howard-Johnson's website, or buy it now at Amazon.
Meet Carolyn when she presents at BookBaby's Independent Authors Conference in Philadelphia, Nov 3-5. Register now.
 

New! The Best of FundsforWriters, Vol. 1

FundsforWriters is internationally known for its level-headed yet tough-love advice to writers, both emerging and seasoned. Recognized by Writer's Digest for its 101 Best Websites for Writers for over 15 years, the site serves up plates full of motivation also delivered in the weekly newsletter to 35,000 readers. The Best of FundsforWriters, Vol. 1 offers 32 essays and how-to strategies that struck positive chords with readers around the globe.
"FundsforWriters helps writers achieve more success with their writing by finding and sharing the information that writers need to fund their writing."
—Robert Lee Brewer, Editor, Writer's Market
"FFW is quite simply the best online resource for writers. I get dozens of writers' newsletters in my inbox every week, but FFW is the only one I read right away, from top to bottom, and save for future reference. Hope Clark rocks."
—Glenn Walker, Editor-in-chief of the pop culture website, www.BiffBamPop.com
"No matter what kind of writer you want to be, FundsforWriters gives you the resources, guidance and inspiration we all need to hone our craft. All writers need hope, and C. Hope Clark's FundsforWriters brings you the tools, resources and real world knowledge that will make you a better writer."
—Mark Lund, award-winning magazine publisher, screenwriter and filmmaker
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Well known throughout the writing industry, C. Hope Clark founded FundsforWriters two decades ago when she could not find what she wanted for her own writing career. Today, she is editor of FundsforWriters, an award-winning author of two mystery series, and an active freelance entrepreneur. She and her motivational voice and writer support message appear often at conferences, nonprofit galas, book clubs, libraries, and writers' groups across the country.
 

Jendi Reiter's Two Natures Honored in National Indie Excellence Awards

Jendi Reiter's debut novel Two Natures (Saddle Road Press, 2016) was one of two finalists in the LGBTQ Fiction category in the 2017 National Indie Excellence Awards.
Two Natures offers a backstage look at the glamour and tragedy of 1990s New York City through the eyes of Julian Selkirk, an aspiring fashion photographer. Coming of age during the height of the AIDS epidemic, Julian worships beauty and romance, however fleeting, as substitutes for the religion that rejected him. His spiritual crisis is one that too many gay youth still face today.
Read Jendi's guest post at Prism Book Alliance: My Top Writing Distractions and How I Deal With Them. An excerpt:
I'm a control freak. I have this fantasy that if I game out every possibility before writing a scene, I'll never reach that dreaded moment when I realize the story has gone in the wrong direction. This. Doesn't. Work.
Did you grow up in a family or peer group where you were humiliated for making mistakes while learning? Those bullies are never going to see your tossed-out first drafts.
I learned from writing Two Natures that there's no substitute for running the experiment in real time—let my characters try the action and see if it's really plausible from their point of view. When the self-doubt gremlins won't leave my head without a fight, I listen to The Eagles: "Maybe someday you will find/That it wasn't really wasted time."
 

Spotlight Contests

Some contests are best suited to writers at the early stages of their careers. Others are better for writers with numerous prizes and publications to their credit. Here is this month's selection of Spotlight Contests for your consideration:
Emerging Writers
Blue Mountain Arts Poetry Card Contest. Awards prizes up to $350 and web publication for poems suitable for a greeting card. Due June 30.
Intermediate Writers
Drue Heinz Literature Prize. Seeks an unpublished book-length collection of short fiction (150-300 double-spaced pages). Winner receives $15,000 and publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press. Open to writers who have published a book-length collection of fiction or at least three short stories or novellas in nationally distributed magazines or journals; online and self-publication does not count. Due June 30.
Advanced Writers
Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. Awards $100,000 for a published book of poetry by a US citizen or legal resident. Honors a full-length work by a poet who is past the very beginning but has not yet reached the acknowledged pinnacle of their career. Books must have been published between July 1 of last year and June 30 of the deadline year. Winner must agree to spend a week in residence at Claremont Graduate University for lectures, workshops, and poetry readings in Claremont, CA and the greater Los Angeles area. Due July 1.
See more Spotlight Contests for emerging, intermediate, and advanced writers within The Best Free Literary Contests database.
Search for Contests
 

Calls for Submissions

·         LezWrites New Works Festival (short plays by lesbian, bi, and trans women - July 15)
·         Franklin/Kerr Press: "Down with the Fallen" Horror Anthology (dystopian or post-apocalyptic fiction - July 21)
·         Room Magazine "Family Secrets" Issue (creative writing by women and queer femmes - July 31)
·         Shame: An Anthology (poetry, fiction, essays - August 31)
·         Rainbow Awards (published and self-published LGBTQ books - September 5)
·         Consequence Magazine: Women Writers Issue (creative writing and art about war - September 30)
·         Gingerbread House (poetry and fiction with magical elements - October 15)
 

PSA: "My daughter saw me reading, and she wanted to do the same thing."

Flor, who read at a second-grade level, was working in a low-wage job in a packing house and was unable to help her struggling daughter in school. After seeking out literacy help at Literacy Services of Indian River County she was able to get a job as a restaurant manager and—most importantly—was able to help her daughter earn advanced placement in her middle school classes. Flor shares her story in her own words:
I am a 34-year-old married mother of a 12-year-old daughter and expecting my second daughter in 2 months. I have lived in Fellsmere, Florida, all my life. I graduated high school, but my reading was about second grade.
The reason I went back to school is my daughter. One day, my daughter's teachers called me. She said that my daughter needed help with reading. I knew I couldn't read well, so I started to look for help. A friend told me about Literacy Services. Then I went to ask for help.
When I started with my tutor, I was working in a packing house, but I wanted out of there and to get a better job. Eight months later, I was able to get work in a pizza restaurant. I was a manager there running the store.
I have taken courses at the community college (to become a) child care aide. I have passed two of the seven tests needed for the certificate. In order to have tutoring, I have had to change from full-time work to part-time. My husband is happy that I am studying.
As a mother, I noticed when I went back to study (that) my daughter saw me reading, and she wanted to do the same thing. I learned reading much better. Now she is in advanced classes in her middle school.
Now I can read letters from the bank and understand them. Now I can call the bank and ask about my house mortgage. I can read letters from my daughter's school and her grade report card easily.
I hope to start my own business someday. I want my daughter to get a better education than I did. I want her to go to college. I want her to take care of herself and depend on herself. My daughter tells me that she plans to go to college.
 

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Solo mailings and website advertising are available. Inquire with Adam Cohen at adam@winningwriters.com.
 

A Passage from "Burnt Norton" by T.S. Eliot, illustrated by Julian Peters

Mr. Peters writes, "This is a one-page adaptation of my favourite passage from 'Burnt Norton' (the first of Eliot's Four Quartets). It was published in The Four Quarters Magazine—an India-based publication dedicated to the fostering of creative writing in English—that is sadly defunct now.
"My adaptation of 'Burnt Norton' references some elements of the poem not included in the written extract. You can read the complete text of Eliot's poem here."
This illustration is reprinted by kind permission of Mr. Peters. Visit his website.

The Last Word

Wonder Woman as Holy Spirit
What most affected me was the film's sophisticated theology, which is psychologically integrated where most superhero movies are dualistic. Fantasy/action stories generally locate evil in an individual, an ultimate Big Boss who has to be killed (or neutralized, to leave room for a sequel). Wonder Woman starts out believing this as well, but learns that evil is both systemic and inherent. As Solzhenitsyn wrote, "The line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being." The gods are dead. It's all up to humanity to choose love over war.
Jendi Reiter is the editor of Winning Writers. Follow her on Twitter at @JendiReiter.
Jendi Reiter
 
 
 
One of the 101 Best Websites for Writers (Writer's Digest)    


Winning Writers
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

 



Our favorite poems, resources, and books from the quarter |

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Award-Winning Poems: Summer 2017

Jendi Reiter
Welcome to my summer selection of award-winning poems, highlights from our contest archives, and the best new resources we've found for writers. These quarterly specials are included with your free Winning Writers Newsletter subscription.
       




 



     

SONNET WITH A WISHBONE IN THE THROAT
by Kara van de Graaf
Winner of the 2016 Crab Orchard Series in Poetry First Book Award
Entries must be received by July 8
This prestigious contest from Southern Illinois University Carbondale gives $2,500 and publication. Van de Graaf's Spitting Image was the most recent winner. In this brief but complex poem, the "clean, pliable" trussed hen contains a sharp surprise, not unlike the woman who struggles with the double bind of wanting to be both enticing and emotionally authentic.
HOW TO LET ATHENS BURN
by Sarah Stickney
Winner of the 2016 Emrys Press Chapbook Prize
Entries must be received by July 15
Launched in 2016, this contest for a poetry chapbook manuscript gives $1,000, publication, and a one-week residency at the Rensing Center in South Carolina. Stickney's Portico was the inaugural winner. "Be ready to leave," she advises in this severe but ultimately hopeful poem about the price we pay for transformation.
LIFE SENTENCES: SONNET FOR THE GODDESS (TIANANMEN SQUARE, JUNE 1989)
by Henry Wei Leung
Winner of the 2016 Omnidawn First/Second Poetry Book Contest
Entries must be received by July 17
This $3,000 prize includes publication by Omnidawn, a well-regarded independent press with an interest in experimental and politically relevant writing. Leung's winning collection Goddess of Democracy is forthcoming in October 2017. Written in 14 fragmented sentences or interrupted prose poems, this poem interrogates the paradoxes of broken ideals, freedom and exile, and loving your country enough to defy its leaders.
THE CANYON
by Candace Black
Winner of the 2016 Violet Reed Haas Prize
Entries must be received by August 31
This open poetry manuscript contest awards $1,000 and publication by Snake Nation Press, a well-established small literary press in Georgia. Black's Whereabouts was the most recent winner. In this Southwestern pastoral, the history and implements of warfare can remain on the margins (for now) of a child's exploration of her native landscape, though their shadow intrudes into the adult's memories.
 

 

Rattle Poetry Prize

Rattle Poetry Prize
Deadline: July 15
The annual Rattle Poetry Prize is once again offering $10,000 for a single poem to be published in the winter issue of the magazine. Ten finalists will also receive $200 each and publication, and be eligible for the $2,000 Readers' Choice Award, to be selected by subscriber and entrant vote.
With the winners judged in a blind review by the editors to ensure a fair and consistent selection, an entry fee that is simply a one-year subscription to the magazine—and a runner-up Readers' Choice Award to be chosen by the writers themselves—the Rattle Poetry Prize aims to be one of the most writer-friendly and popular poetry contests around.
We accept entries online and by mail. See www.rattle.com for the complete guidelines and to read all of the past winners.
Enjoy "Veins" by Julie Price Pinkerton, winner of the 2016 Rattle Poetry Prize:
During my annual physical, I tell my doctor that I'm starting to gross out
over how bulgy the veins on my hands are getting. Look at them, I say,
they're like lounging blue sea worms.
[continue]
 

Write NEW POEMS This Summer with Two Sylvias Press

This Supportive and Inspiring 4-Week Online Poetry Retreat was created by poets for poets.
WHAT YOU NEED: Access to email and a desire to write new poems.
WHAT WE PROVIDE: Poem prompts, sample poems, a Two Sylvias Press publication (your choice), a softcover journal created specifically for retreat participants, creativity suggestions, and reflection questions/activities to guide and inspire. All prompts, writing exercises, and inspiration sent daily or weekly to your email (your choice!)
AND at the end of the retreat, the editors at Two Sylvias Press also critique two of your poems and offer ideas on where to submit them!
Space is Limited.
All levels of poet welcome (from beginning to published author)
Supportive, nurturing, and helpful feedback to sustain your creativity and your journey as a poet.
To Register for July or August sessions, visit:
http://twosylviaspress.com/online-poetry-retreat.html
 

Kirkus Bestows Starred Review on De Facto Feminism: Essays Straight Outta Oakland

Judy Juanita's De Facto Feminism: Essays Straight Outta Oakland was featured as Book-of-the-Month at KIRKUS REVIEWS in March. From the coveted starred review:
This extraordinary set of autobiographical essays gives insight into a black woman's life in the arts: everything from joining the Black Panthers to avoiding African-American chick lit.
Juanita (Virgin Soul, 2013) grew up in Oakland, California, in the 1950s. She remembers a "goody-goody" childhood of reading, spelling bees, and chores. America at the time was "a Jell-O & white bread land of perfection and gleaming surfaces," she notes in her essay "White Out"; the only blacks on screen played mammies and maids. She joined the Black Panthers at San Francisco State in 1966 and became a junior faculty member in its Black Studies department—the nation's first. In perhaps the most powerful piece in the collection, "The Gun as Ultimate Performance Poem", written after the death of Trayvon Martin, Juanita sensitively discusses the split in the Black Panthers over carrying guns. She liked guns' symbolic associations and even kept one in her purse while working at a post office. But she now recognizes the disastrous consequences of romanticizing a weapon: "It was Art. It was Metaphor. It was loaded with meaning and death." In another standout, "The N-word", she boldly explores the disparate contexts in which the epithet appears: in August Wilson's play Fences, in comedy routines, and intimately between friends. "It's not problem or solution; it's an indication," she concludes. The title essay contends that black women are de facto feminists because they're so often reduced to single parenting in poverty. Elsewhere, she discusses relationships between black men and women, recalls rediscovering poetry as a divorcée with an 8-year-old son in New Jersey ("Tough Luck", which includes her own poems), remembers a time spent cleaning condos, and remarks that Terry McMillan has ensured that a "black female writer not writing chick lit has an uphill challenge."
The author refers to herself as "an observational ironist," and her incisive comments on black life's contradictions make this essay collection a winner.
 

Vacui Magia by L.S. Johnson

Dwarves and golems, Fates and minotaurs, metamorphoses, murder, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. L.S. Johnson delivers a provocative and original short story collection that ingeniously blends myth and nightmare. Whether it concerns the efforts of an infertile witch to construct a golem-baby, or a daughter's quest to understand a father's guilt and a mother's supernatural infidelities, or a woman's violent association with a group of possibly imaginary but nonetheless dangerous little men, each story in this remarkable collection demonstrates the limitless capacity of intelligent speculative fiction to enthrall, inspire, and amaze. Available now at Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, and iBooks. Read a free excerpt.
"I can say without hesitation, reservation or exception that this is a collection full of brilliantly written and powerfully affecting stories, each of which profoundly impressed me in different ways ... Johnson's Vacui Magia is a book that never goes quietly, and it is wonderful for it." – The Future Fire Reviews
 

Return of the Slacker: Original poetry by Jim DuBois

Jim DuBois
To slack:
1. to make loose, or less tense or taut, as a rope; loosen.
2. to become less tense or taut, as a rope; to ease off.
Ambition:
1. an earnest desire for some type of achievement or distinction, as power, honor, fame, or wealth, and the willingness to strive for its attainment.
A slacker:
1. a person without ambition.
2. a person who gives up the idea of ambition in order to become less tense or taut, and to make the world less tense.
 

Edisto Stranger by C. Hope Clark, On Sale Now

Just released! Book Four in the series. A cold case heats up...
A dead man in Big Bay Creek, spring break, and a rogue FBI agent would be enough to drive Chief Callie Jean Morgan to drink...if she hadn't already quietly crawled inside a bottle of gin to drown her sorrows over a life ripped apart by too many losses. When her investigation into the stranger's death heats up an unsolved abduction case, Callie finds herself pitted against the town council, her son, the agent, and even the raucous college kids enjoying idyllic Edisto Beach. Amidst it all, Callie must find a way to reconcile her grief and her precious taste for booze before anyone else is killed.
"Those who haven't read any of C. Hope Clark's books are short-changing themselves. You can't begin a C. Hope Clark book and then put it down." - Clay Stafford, author and filmmaker, founder of Killer Nashville and publisher of Killer Nashville Magazine.
"Hope Clark has created another fascinating heroine in former Boston PD detective Callie Morgan. Her books are fast-paced mysteries set against the backdrop of a tiny South Carolina island where murder never happens—or so the locals would like to believe. I'm happy to recommend it." - Kathryn R. Wall, author, the Bay Tanner mysteries
 

Jendi Reiter's Two Natures Honored in National Indie Excellence Awards

Jendi Reiter's debut novel Two Natures (Saddle Road Press, 2016) was one of two finalists in the LGBTQ Fiction category in the 2017 National Indie Excellence Awards.
Two Natures offers a backstage look at the glamour and tragedy of 1990s New York City through the eyes of Julian Selkirk, an aspiring fashion photographer. Coming of age during the height of the AIDS epidemic, Julian worships beauty and romance, however fleeting, as substitutes for the religion that rejected him. His spiritual crisis is one that too many gay youth still face today.
Read Jendi's guest post at Prism Book Alliance: My Top Writing Distractions and How I Deal With Them. An excerpt:
I'm a control freak. I have this fantasy that if I game out every possibility before writing a scene, I'll never reach that dreaded moment when I realize the story has gone in the wrong direction. This. Doesn't. Work.
Did you grow up in a family or peer group where you were humiliated for making mistakes while learning? Those bullies are never going to see your tossed-out first drafts.
I learned from writing Two Natures that there's no substitute for running the experiment in real time—let my characters try the action and see if it's really plausible from their point of view. When the self-doubt gremlins won't leave my head without a fight, I listen to The Eagles: "Maybe someday you will find/That it wasn't really wasted time."
 

Favorite New Resources

Here are some of our favorite newly added resources at Winning Writers. For a full list, see our Resource pages.
BookFunnel
Platform for distributing review copies in multiple e-reader formats 
GoStartABlog
User-friendly guide to setting up a WordPress blog 
Kartika Review
Online literary journal for Asian Pacific Islander American perspectives
TrailerShelf
Curated, genre-sorted archive of book trailers helps boost publicity for your new books
Web Hosting Rating's Top 100 Web Design Resources
List of sources for fonts, graphics, stock photos, logo editors, and more
Writer Advice
Writers' resource site hosts contests with modest prizes 
Writing in the Margins: Sensitivity Readers Database
Freelance editors specializing in accurate and unbiased representation of marginalized groups
BookFunnel
 

Favorite New Books

Linda McCullough Moore
AN EPISODE OF GRACE

Grace abounds, though sentimentality may be skewered, in these sparkling stories about women taking stock of their flawed relationships with husbands and families—and often finding a surprising bit of information that shifts their longstanding narrative of their lives. A self-lacerating quip or satirical observation of human nature will be followed by a moment of raw loneliness or unexpected kindness that turns the reader's laughter to tears and back again.
Jamaal May
THE BIG BOOK OF EXIT STRATEGIES

The award-winning poet's second collection from Alice James Books explores bereavement, masculinity, risk, tenderness, gun violence, and the unacknowledged vitality of his beloved Detroit, in verse that is both muscular and musical. Nominated for the 2017 NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Literary Work in Poetry.
Gail Thomas
ODD MERCY

This elegantly crafted, life-affirming chapbook won the 2016 Charlotte Muse Prize from Headmistress Press, a lesbian-feminist poetry publisher. Thomas' verse knits together several generations of women, from her once prim and proper suburban mother descending into Alzheimer's, to her young granddaughter surrounded by gender-bending friends and same-sex couples. She grounds their history in earthy details like the taste of asparagus, locks of hair from the dead, and old newspaper clippings of buildings raised and gardens planted by blue-collar forebears. The centerpiece of the collection, "The Little Mommy Sonnets", poignantly depicts a sort of reconciliation at the end of a thorny relationship, where differences in ideals of womanhood fall away, and what's left is the primal comfort of touching and feeding a loved one.
Patrick T. Reardon
REQUIEM FOR DAVID

Plain-spoken and poignant, this memoir in verse pays tribute to a brother who committed suicide, and ponders the unanswerable question of why some survive a loveless upbringing and others succumb. Pat and David were the eldest of 14 children born in the 1950s-60s to an Irish-Catholic family in Chicago. Immersion in the church trained the author to search for sacred beauty in times of suffering and mystery, yet the weight of parental and religious judgments overwhelmed his brother. The collection is illustrated with archival family photos that prompt the poet's hindsight search for clues to their fate.

Selections from Our Contest Archives

"Weather Report"
by Guy Kettelhack

First Prize
2004 Margaret Reid Poetry Contest for Traditional Verse
"Mason City Ladies' Sewing Circle"
by Mary Ann Wehler

Second Prize
2004 Tom Howard/John H. Reid Poetry Contest 
"The Wizard"
by Gordon Phipps

Second Prize
2003 Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest 
"Collection"
by Marianne Sciucco

Honorable Mention
2007 Tom Howard/John H. Reid Fiction & Essay Contest 
"Black Market Human Organs"
by Brian L. Perkins

Honorable Mention
2003 Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest 
"I Once Closed My Eyes"
by Robert Klaslo

Honorable Mention
2005 Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest 
Guy Kettelhack
 

PSA: Education

ProLiteracy, the largest adult literacy and basic education membership organization in the nation, believes that a safer, stronger, and more sustainable society starts with an educated population. For more than 60 years, ProLiteracy has been working across the globe to create a world where every person can read and write. Learn more.
 

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Advertisers: We send this newsletter to over 50,000 subscribers. Ads are just $150 each. On a tight budget? Pressed for time? Advertise to our 90,000 Twitter followers for just $40 per tweet or less.
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"Thinking of You" by Su Shi, illustrated by Julian Peters

Julian Peters kindly shares with us this white-gouache-on-black-paper sketch inspired by "Shiudiao Getou", a famous poem by the 11th-century Chinese poet Su Shi (or Su Tungpo).
This drawing illustrates the last line of the poem: "Though thousands of miles apart, we are still able to share the beauty of the moon together." The translation of the poem is found on Wikipedia.
Thinking of you

Mid-autumn of the Bing Chen year
Having been drinking happily over night
I'm drunk
So I write this poem
Remembering my brother, Zi You

When will the moon be clear and bright?
With a cup of wine in my hand, I ask the clear sky.
In the heavens on this night,
I wonder what season it would be?

I'd like to ride the wind to fly home.
Yet I fear the crystal and jade mansions
are much too high and cold for me.
Dancing with my moonlit shadow,
It does not seem like the human world.

The moon rounds the red mansion,
Stoops to silk-pad doors,
Shines upon the sleepless,
Bearing no grudge,
Why does the moon tend to be full when people are apart?

People experience sorrow, joy, separation and reunion,
The moon may be dim or bright, round or crescent shaped,
This imperfection has been going on since the beginning of time.
May we all be blessed with longevity,
Though thousands of miles apart, we are still able to share the beauty of the moon together.
 
 
 
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The Violet Reed Haas Prize for Poetry and the Serena McDonald Kennedy Fiction Award

Sponsored by Snake Nation Press. Deadline: August 31. Submit electronically or by mail.

Creative Nonfiction Seeks Experimental Essays

Deadline: September 11
Creative Nonfiction is currently seeking experimental nonfiction for the "Exploring the Boundaries" section ("experimental," "boundaries" ... yes, we know these can be loaded terms). We're looking for writing that is ambitious, pushes against the conventional boundaries of the genre, plays with style and form, and makes its own rules. As always, we have only one absolute rule: nonfiction must be based in fact.
Please note that this is NOT a call for an entire "Exploring the Boundaries" issue of the magazine; accepted pieces will be published one per issue, and the earliest possible publication will be in Issue #67 (Spring 2018).
All essays submitted will be considered for publication; this is a paying market.
Essays must be previously unpublished and no longer than 4,500 words. All essays must tell true stories and be factually accurate. Everything we publish goes through a rigorous fact-checking process, and editors may ask for sources and citations.
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The Frugal Book Promoter

Give your book the best possible start in life with The Frugal Book Promoter, available as an ebook for $5.99. It's full of nitty-gritty how-tos for getting nearly free publicity. Carolyn Howard-Johnson, former publicist, journalist, and instructor for UCLA's Writers' Program for nearly a decade, shares her professional experience and practical tips gleaned from the successes of her own book campaigns. She tells authors how to do what their publishers can't or won't and why authors can often do their own promotion better than a PR professional. The first edition was a multi-award winner. The second edition, updated and expanded by more than 100 pages, is a USA Book News winner.
"The Frugal Book Promoter is excellent...It has given me ideas that would never have occurred to me before and has changed the way I think about book promotion."
Carolyn Howard-Johnson—Mark Logie, poet and short-story writer, winner of the "most promising author" prize from CanYouWrite.com
Learn more about The Frugal Book Promoter on Carolyn Howard-Johnson's website, or buy it now at Amazon.
Meet Carolyn when she presents at BookBaby's Independent Authors Conference in Philadelphia, Nov 3-5. Register by May 30 for the early bird rate.
 

Edisto Stranger by C. Hope Clark

Available for pre-order! Release date May 26.
Book Four in the series. A cold case heats up...
A dead man in Big Bay Creek, spring break, and a rogue FBI agent would be enough to drive Chief Callie Jean Morgan to drink...if she hadn't already quietly crawled inside a bottle of gin to drown her sorrows over a life ripped apart by too many losses. When her investigation into the stranger's death heats up an unsolved abduction case, Callie finds herself pitted against the town council, her son, the agent, and even the raucous college kids enjoying idyllic Edisto Beach. Amidst it all, Callie must find a way to reconcile her grief and her precious taste for booze before anyone else is killed.
"Those who haven't read any of C. Hope Clark's books are short-changing themselves. You can't begin a C. Hope Clark book and then put it down." - Clay Stafford, author and filmmaker, founder of Killer Nashville and publisher of Killer Nashville Magazine.
"Hope Clark has created another fascinating heroine in former Boston PD detective Callie Morgan. Her books are fast-paced mysteries set against the backdrop of a tiny South Carolina island where murder never happens—or so the locals would like to believe. I'm happy to recommend it." - Kathryn R. Wall, author, the Bay Tanner mysteries
 

Two Natures by Jendi Reiter: Now $4.99

Two Natures by Jendi Reiter
2016 Rainbow Awards: First Prize, Best Gay Contemporary Fiction; First Runner-Up, Debut Gay Book
Named one of QSpirit's Top LGBTQ Christian Books of 2016
Jendi Reiter's debut novel, Two Natures (Saddle Road Press), is available from AmazonBarnes & Noble, and iBooks. This genre-bending work couples the ambitious political analysis of literary fiction with the pleasures of an unconventional love story.
Can you tell us about your new release? What inspired you to write it?
Two Natures is the spiritual coming-of-age story of Julian Selkirk, an aspiring fashion photographer, during the 1990s AIDS crisis in New York City. He wants true love but doesn't always feel he deserves it because of the emotional baggage of shame from his dysfunctional Southern Baptist family. Each of his lovers teaches him something about unselfish love and finding the divine within himself.
The book's theme arose from the ongoing conflict in contemporary Christianity over equality for LGBTQ people. I was baptized in the Episcopal Church, which has been at the forefront of this debate since we ordained an openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson, in 2004. The issue tore apart some of my Christian friendships and prayer circles, including the writing group where I was working on the earliest drafts of this novel.
I was raised by two mothers in New York City in the 1970s-80s. Because of work and personal problems, they had to remain closeted, so we were cut off from gay culture during a pivotal era of community-building, activism, and artistic expression. Writing about gay New York is a way for me to connect with that history now and imaginatively live the alternate life I wished for.
How did you come up with the title?
Two Natures refers to the Christian doctrine that Jesus was both fully divine and fully human. Julian's struggle throughout the novel is to integrate his spiritual and erotic sides, which his religious upbringing split apart.
 

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Calls for Submissions

·         Franklin/Kerr Press: "Down with the Fallen" Horror Anthology (dystopian or post-apocalyptic fiction - July 21)
·         Rainbow Awards (published and self-published LGBTQ books - September 5)
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The Last Stanza from "East Coker" by T.S. Eliot, illustrated by Julian Peters

Mr. Peters writes, "This is my visual adaptation of the last stanza of T. S. Eliot's 'East Coker', the second poem of his Four Quartets. It was originally published in 1940. Eliot's remains are interred in the parish church of St. Michael's in East Coker, a village in Somerset, England. The poet's memorial plaque inside the church reads, 'in my beginning is my end—in my end is my beginning.'"
Reprinted by kind permission of Mr. Peters. Visit his website.

The Last Word

Is Feminism the Right Movement for Nonbinary People?
It's patriarchy, not the existence of trans and nonbinary folks, that starves feminism for resources, so that radical feminists fear competition from issues other than the traditional one of male violence against women. I believe there should be spaces for the specific needs and solidarity of cis women who've been oppressed by men, just as there are (or should be) spaces foregrounding people of color, lesbians, trans and gender-nonconforming people, etc., but there should also be ultra-inclusive spaces where everyone affected by patriarchy and gender-based violence can share insights and support each other's rights.
Jendi Reiter is the editor of Winning Writers. Follow her on Twitter at @JendiReiter.
Jendi Reiter
 
 
 
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