Word Choice

In writing, word choices and how we phrase them are vital. Have you ever gotten something back from your editor saying "awkward", "unclear", or "too techy" and wondered why or how to fix it? Here's a nice article that goes a bit more into detail on how we can choose our words to best suit our material and our intended audience: http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/word-choice/

Publishing opportunities

• Dragon's Roost Press is doing an anthology to benefit canine rescue. See more info here: http://thedragonsroost.net/styled-3/index.html

• Mundania Press and its imprint Hard Shell Word Factory are accepting full-length manuscripts. They're currently actively in the market for urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and steampunk.  http://www.mundania.com/index.php

• The Women on Writing (WOW) quarterly flash fiction contest is currently open to submissions. Max 750 words. Easy peasy. ;)  http://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/contest.php 

Tips!

• A great description of subplots and ideas on how to use them:http://authorculture.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/subplottin.html
• 5 Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Start Building Your Fanbase:http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2013/06/5-ways-to-stop-procrastinating-and-start-building-your-fanbase/

A couple of new publishing opportunities.

• The anthology Upgraded is looking for cyborg-related short stories: http://neil-clarke.com/books/submission_guidelines/
• Not One Of Us quarterly magazine is always on the lookout for good short stories (under 6k words). Have a gander: http://not-one-of-us.com/guidelines.php

borne/born & wack/whack

Two oh-so-important encounters while editing yesterday:

borne of vs born of: http://www.grammarunderground.com/0073-born-of-or-borne-of.html

wack vs whack: http://grammarist.com/spelling/wack-whack/

Looking for perfection? Not likely to happen.

How perfect can you expect your editors to be? As much as we'd like to catch 100% of the errors, that's just not the way it works out. This article talks more about the error rates in editing: http://www.copyediting.com/error-rates-editing

Latest opportunities

New Myths magazine has increased their pay rates. Inspired to send them a story? Check here: http://www.newmyths.com/

How much do you love coffee? Do you love it this much? http://alexshvartsman.com/ufo-unidentified-funny-objects/

And here's one looking for military related sf/horror: http://cohesionpress.com/submissions/anthologies/

Strength From Within anthology aims to examine addiction and recovery through the lens of fantasy. http://strengthfromwithinanthology.wordpress.com/

7 "tricks" to improve your writing.

While there is a bit more leeway in fiction as to active vs passive, and how long sentences should be, this still offers some really great advice: http://michaelhyatt.com/improve-writing.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+michaelhyatt+%28Michael+Hyatt%29

Contests!

It's soon deadline time for the Garden State Speculative Fiction Writers Short Story Contest. (Now that's a mouthful!) Check out guidelines here: http://www.gshw.net/contests.html

Freedom Fiction is having a themed contest to solicit short stories for their latest anthology. See more here: http://freedomfiction.com/2013/04/themed-contest-for-2013-ffj-anthology/

And for something a bit different, don't miss Monster Corral's monthly flash fiction contest: http://monstercorral.com/montlhy-contest-page/

Wondering about your book contract?

Book contracts are a tricky business. Getting accepted by a publisher or agency willing to represent your book is elating. However, even when they seem on the up-and-up--even sometimes when they ARE legitimate--they can turn sour, as it did for one of my clients. The literary agency that had accepted his book ran out of money (but kept this a secret) and they simply stopped responding to his calls and emails. These types of situations are, unfortunately, the pitfalls of a business in flux, as print goes more and more to digital.

But don't be discouraged! Here's a great blog post about things to keep an eye out for when negotiating your own book contract. While it might not save your agency from going bankrupt, it may well signal you earlier on that it's time to get out of a contract before it drags on too long. I know that all sounds terrible, but forewarned is forearmed. Read this and be your own advocate. :)

http://indiereader.com/2013/04/next-time-ill-self-publish/

Foreshadowing or Telegraphing?

A lot of time, clients write something that they feel needs some explanation, some explicit foreshadowing. But when the text reaches a new set of eyes, the reader thinks, "Gosh, that's too obvious. Now I know exactly what's going to happen." This means the foreshadowing has drifted over into the territory of telegraphing.  (The ever-prolific Dan Brown's novels often reach this territory.)

For an interesting post on the difference between telegraphing and foreshadowing, take a look here:

http://www.rachellegardner.com/2012/10/writing-craft-foreshadowing/

Word count?

Nearly every day I get questions on word count. People wondering how long their manuscripts are "supposed" to be. It's both a tricky question and a very simple one. There are a few specific ranges, which the link below lays out really nicely. But I think it's important not to forget that the story is complete when it's told. That might be a longer or a shorter word count. For new authors where publishers or agents might be less brave about taking a risk, a good rule of thumb is not to exceed 100k, and if your manuscript is longer than that, you can consider splitting it into two novels. If your manuscript is under 50k words, however, but you feel your story is complete, don't despair! The marketing for novellas is getting stronger again, and might be just the place for your writing to find a home.


http://theswivet.blogspot.se/2008/03/on-word-counts-and-novel-length.html

Win a Kindle Fire in Ann Gimpel's Blog Contest

Win a free book or even a Kindle Fire!  See more details here:

http://anngimpel.blogspot.se/2012/12/holiday-blog-contest.html

Lulu.com -- post-Christmas sale

Looking for good reads? Lulu.com is having a post-Christmas sale -- 25% off any order. Just add the magic word AMPLIUS to your order. This offer is good through Jan. 2, 2013.

http://www.lulu.com/

(You can even find my story in the Cheer Up, Universe anthology: http://www.lulu.com/shop/ahmed-a-khan/cheer-up-universe/paperback/product-18757797.html)

Sword and Mythos

Here's one that combines Lovecraft with heroic fantasy. Sword and mythos: http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/blog/?p=19148

Horror Without Victims

Looking for a place to send your creepier stories? Have a look at this anthology with the intriguing name of Horror Without Victims: http://howivi.wordpress.com/

The Future Embodied

New anthology project, The Future Embodied, will be accepting submissions starting in March, 2013. This looks like an interesting one. They're looking for speculative stories exploring how science and technology might change our bodies and what it means to be human. Have a peek: http://futureembodiedanthology.wordpress.com/

Clockwork Phoenix

Clockwork Phoenix is now open to submissions:  http://www.clockworkphoenix.com/

Spec-fic anthology Winter Well

Crossed Genres is putting together a spec-fic anthology, called Winter Well, of novellas about women of advancing age who are smart, tough, firm-willed, etc.  See the details here: http://crossedgenres.com/submissions/winter-well-speculative-novellas-of-older-women/

Spellbound, quarterly fantasy magazine for children, calling for stories.

Spellbound, a quarterly fantasy magazine for children 8-12, ran from 1999-2002. They've reopened, changed the format from print to electronic, and raised funds for their first year of publication. Now they're looking for stories, poetry and artwork to fill the issues.

Briefly, they're looking for fiction to 2,500 words, poetry and artwork. They pay upon acceptance for World Electronic English-language rights (2.5 cents a word for fiction, $10-20 per poem, and various for artwork). Full guidelines are below. You can contact Raechel Henderson, the publisher, with questions at eggplant@eggplantproductions.com.


Guidelines for Spellbound

Spellbound is a publication for 8-12 year olds. Each issue will be published in ePub format. This is a quarterly publication with reading periods.

Themes and Reading Periods

Winter 2012: Rings & Other Magic Things, Reading Period: July 1 – September 30, 2012

Spring 2013: Changelings & Doppelgangers, Reading Period: October 1, 2012 – December 31, 2013

Summer 2013: Dragons, Reading Period: January 1 – March 31, 2013

Fall 2013: Creatures of the Deep Dark Woods, Reading Period: April 1 – June 30, 2013


Fiction

Fiction Editor: Raechel Henderson

Word limit = 2,500

Payment = 2.5 cents per word

Rights bought: First World English-language Rights

They're looking for stories involving magic, myth, legend and adventure in a fantasy setting. They're especially interested in young protagonists and showing girls in a “heroic” role are welcome. Please send fiction submissions to submissions@eggplantproductions.com. Send submissions in the body of the e-mail. No attachments!

They're not looking for stories with morals. They want Spellbound to introduce children to fantasy in all its wonderful forms. And please, no profanity.

Some guidelines for juvenile literature: The protagonists should be children and the plot should revolve around them, they should not be passive actors in the story. Stories should not have ambiguous endings. And dialog should be natural. Let your inner child out to play when you write a story for younger readers. Write the kind of story that you would have liked to read when you were younger, rather than the kind of story you think kids should read.

Poetry

Poetry Editor: Marcie Tentchoff

Payment = $20 / poem; $10 for poems under 8 lines

Rights bought: First World English-language Rights

They are looking for short poems, no longer than 36 lines maximum. All submissions must fit one of the upcoming themes to be considered.

They will gladly read either free verse or traditionally rhyming poetry, but they are not interested in poems which toss masses of meaningless and conflicting imagery at the reader, in the hope that he or she will be able to make some sense out of the muddled result. They expect rhymes and meter in traditional poetry to be neither forced nor strained. Likewise, all poetry, even free verse, should flow well and have a musical quality.

As Spellbound is a fantasy magazine for children, poetry should have a strong speculative element. They'll look at up to five (5) poems at one time from poets.

Send poetry submissions to poembound@eggplantproductions.com

Art

Art Director: Samantha Press

1. ALL forms of art welcome – painting, digital art, photography, papercraft, felted dioramas, anything.

1.1. Remember, this is for a children’s e-zine: they are looking for fun, visually-arresting images without explicit violence, gore, or adult-themed nudity.

1.2. They are accepting submissions for both cover art (1 artist per issue) and spot illustrations (color or b&w; multiple artists per issue).

1.3. If you are mailing in your application, please do not include originals – all physical applications will be kept on file.

1.4. Please, do not attach really high-resolution files to your email or submit images with watermarks that obscure the fine detail of your work. Any art you send them will not be used by the company without your express permission to do so.

2. Please tailor your submissions to the upcoming “themes” of each issue, and keep in mind the deadlines for each.

2.1. Each deadline ends at midnight of the evening specified. Submissions received for each issue past the deadline will be dismissed, although all artists will receive a response and their submission will be kept on file for future reference.

3. Please include your resume &/or pricing guide / standard rates, if you have either.

4. Please be patient. You will receive a response within 2-4 weeks after they receive your submission.

We look forward to seeing your work!

Email them at artdirector@eggplantproductions.com or send physical applications to: Eggplant Literary Productions c/o Sam Haney Press, 5333 Century Ave. #6, Middleton, WI 53562.