index

Hallmark Cards: On Company Time

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 11:11:02 +0100

http://www.hallmarkcontests.com/index.cfm

Make up a funny card inspired by your job, co-workers, or NBC's The Office and submit it to Hallmark! You can enter one idea per topic: Co-Worker Birthday (from you or "from all"), Cope and Encouragement, Job Well Done, Workplace Laughs, Thank You or Appreciation, Retirement. Deadline: September 26, 2010. If your card is picked, you could win $250 + publication.

FundsForWriters Essay Contest

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 01:36:08 +0100

http://www.fundsforwriters.com/annualcontest.htm
Deadline: October 31, 2010
Two options: NO ENTRY FEE and $5 entry fee

"We want to know how someone's words made a difference. You could address another author of years long past, whose writing affected you, a classroom, or an entire population. You might talk about a mentor's writing. Maybe your writing impacted someone else and altered one person's life or the lives of thousands. Did your writing finally sell and pay off the wolf at the door and send you on a grand retreat or vacation? Did your writing impact a child, a senior, a lover, a friend, or a complete stranger? Here and now or sometime in the past? You or another author? Did you read the words or write the words that made a difference? You can take this topic and spin it all sorts of directions, but the point we want to make is that words impact people. Let's hear your take on it." Prizes for essays in the "No Entry Fee" category will be $50/$30/$20. Open to international submissions in English. Winners will also be published in the FundsforWriters newsletters.

from: www.practicing-writer.com

Incredible Prayer: In Times of Change & The Desires of Your Heart

Sun, 05 Sep 2010 13:30:38 +0100

We are now in the final phase of the Extraordinary Answers to Prayer series published by Guideposts. You are a valued writer and I welcome you to join us by contributing to volumes eleven and twelve of a series dealing with various aspects of prayer and how people from every walk of life have been transformed through God’s responses to their prayers. Recent titles include In Times of Need and Unexpected Answers. These books will be mailed monthly as part of a book club promotion for Guideposts, and will be exclusive to this readership.

You may have contributed to some of the first eight titles or perhaps to my Cup of Comfort, Life Savors, or Love is a Verb brands. Or perhaps I am contacting you for the first time and will have the privilege of including your story with other powerful answers to prayer. Whatever the case, I am sure that God has worked in your life at some point in the areas of In Times of Change, volume eleven, and the Desires of Your Heart, volume twelve.

For volume eleven, In Times of Change, there are numerous milestones in your life and your loved ones that would qualify. At almost every point in our life there is some sort of transition and often we’ve never been down that road before. Pregnancy, birth, graduation, marriage, divorce, changes with your kids, career change, financial upheaval, empty nest, grand parenting, and death, are some of the major ones. We anticipate many of these changes with hope and joy, but also with anxiety, doubt, and inadequacy. We seek God’s wisdom and strength in our prayers, as well as greater maturity and accomplishment. How did your prayers affect the outcome of these various transitions, both transforming you and bringing you into the fullness of God’s blessings?

Volume twelve, The Desires of Your Heart, will deal with the things you may want most from God but not necessarily need. God knows how we are wired and delights at times to make our biggest dreams come true – above and beyond what we can ask or imagine. What blessings in answer to prayer have demonstrated God’s overwhelming generosity and super abundance? In what unusual ways has He gone to great lengths to meet the desires that may be peculiar to you alone? As our desires are multi-faceted these answers include all categories in life – not just finances or relationships.

We would be pleased to accept as many stories as you wish to submit related to these two volumes. We’re accepting stories of up to 2,000 words and strongly prefer them not to be under 1,000 words. The stories should have a creative title, an attention grabbing introduction, main body with a conflict or challenge, and a clear, satisfying resolution. They need to be descriptive, rooted in a time and place, compelling personal experience stories with true-to-life characters. They need to be stories in the fullest sense, rather than mere salvation testimonies, or focusing on mere feelings or mental states. The effective power of prayer needs to be clearly demonstrated.

We strongly prefer original stories but you may also submit previously published stories in which the full rights have been returned to you and not currently in print with a major publisher. The payment is $25 for stories under 1200 words and $50 for stories over 1200 words. You may retain the rights to publish the stories in magazines and books with less than national distribution and not carried in nationwide bookstores.

We are accepting manuscripts for volume eleven, In Times of Change, until October 1, but we’ll be starting to read for that book in September. If you are considered as a finalist you will be sent a permission form around the middle of November. Manuscripts for book twelve, The Desires of Your Heart, are due by November 10, with permission forms being sent around early January of 2011.

It’s very important that you list the current status of rights at the top of the manuscript. If it’s an original story it should be listed as first rights. If you have sold first rights but still have reprint rights, it needs to be listed as reprint rights. We would also like details of what book it appeared in, the publisher, and the date of publication.

It is also important to put a 30 word or less biographical sketch on the actual manuscript because this will be included at the end of the book. We do not want it submitted separately. Also include within the manuscript – not in a separate email - your full name as you wish it to appear in the book, also your address, phone number, and email address.

Please direct all inquiries and manuscript submissions to my colleague, Jeanette Littleton, at incredibleprayers@earthlink.net. If this email has been forwarded to you, and you can’t submit to this call, but would like to be notified about other editorial needs, please send us your email address and we’ll add you to our notification list (we do not distribute these email addresses).

Blessings to you and yours,

James Stuart Bell

Compiler, Guideposts Extraordinary Answers to Prayer series

Children's Writers Contest

Sat, 04 Sep 2010 01:09:24 +0100

http://www.childrenswriter.com/contests.htm

Historical fiction for young teens, age 13, to 1,500 words. Balance originality with accuracy and provide strong sources. Create a voice and a story that is historical but relevant to contemporary readers. Include a bibliography of research sources. Publishability is the ultimate criterion.

Entries must be received by October 31, 2010. Current subscribers to Children’s Writer enter free. For all others, the entry fee is $13, which includes an 8-month subscription. Winners will be announced in the March 2011 issue. Prizes: $500 for first place plus publication in Children’s Writer; $250 for second place; and $100 for third, fourth, and fifth places.

Send to: Children’s Writer, Historical Fiction Contest, 93 Long Ridge Road, West Redding, CT 06896.

Saturday Evening Post Limerick Laughs Contest

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:06:36 +0100

The Sept./Oct. 2010 issue of the Saturday Evening Post is featuring a limerick contest. Create a five line limerick to compliment the illustration featured on page 60 and win $100 plus publication. Enter as many times as you wish. The winner will be announced in the Jan/Feb 2011 issue. Entries must be postmarket by Oct. 6, 2010.

Send entries on a postcard to:
Limerick Laughs
The Saturday Evening Post
1100 Waterway Blvd.
Indianapolis, IN 46202

Life Around Galveston Bay, Texas, Anthology

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:22:31 +0100

The Bay Area Writers League is now accepting submissions for the 2010 Anthology.

Standard Manuscript Guidelines required. Entries must be typed, double-spaced (except poems) with one inch margins using either Times New Roman 12 point or Arial 12 point. Do not use double spacing after periods. No ALL CAPITALS accepted. Please submit electronically to she@BeckyEllisor.com using Word 2003 or 2007 only.

Theme: Life around Galveston Bay...

Works accepted:
Poems (one page each) If it fits on one page in the acceptable fonts we will probably consider it.
500 to 1000 word essays
2000 - 3500 word short stories
First 10 pages of completed books (fiction/nonfiction). Include no more than 20 pages for judging.
Photos and artwork which follow the theme. Contact Editor for submission guidlines.

Entrants whose pieces are selected will receive five cents per word and a copy of the anthology.
Entries must be received by 12:00 p.m. October 1, 2010. (final deadline)

Call Becky Ellisor, Edotor, for additional information at 713-550-2274 (new phone number) or email her at she@BeckyEllisor.com

Hint Fiction Writing Contest

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 12:54:24 +0100

Gotham Writers' Workshop sponsors this unique competition for Hint Fiction. Hint Fiction is a story of 25 words or less. The judge is Robert Smartwood who is editor of the Anthology Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories of 25 Words or Fewer (scheduled release November 2010). Mr. Smartwood emphasizes that the title is important, adding complexity to the story. It's also important that the 25 words stand alone as a complete story, which can be quite challenging.

Deadline October 11, 2010. No entry fee. Limit 25 words. Prizes include a 10-week Gotham Writing Workshop, $100, a one-year subscription to "The Writer," publication in the Gotham's Winter 2011 course catalog. The five finalists also receive a copy of Smartwood's new release as well as a copy of Gotham's Writing Fiction: The Practical Guide.

More details: http://www.writingclasses.com/ContestPages/hintfiction.php

from: www.fundsforwriters.com

Thriving Family: Advice to the Parent of a Tween

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 12:45:06 +0100

If you could give one piece of advice to a parent of a tween, what would it be? What was your best parenting moment?

For the January Tween Stages section of Thriving Family, I'm in need of a few short, practical stories that show a great idea in action. The good news for this issue is that we'll not be sticking to the developmental asset guidelines for the topic. So let fly with your best parenting story, particularly if it is an idea other parents could use.

Each short article (true-life narrative) should be written to parents of pre-teen/tween children (8- to -12-year-olds). Articles should be written in first person, and they must have practical ideas that our readers can implement in their own parenting.

I won't be giving a deadline for this article because I will continue to need these "best tips" into the future. Stories that arrive quickly will be considered for January. But later submissions are great as well. I don't want deadlines to stop you from sending in a great story.

Summary: Best Tween Parenting Tips
Department: Family Stages
Payment: $50 on acceptance
Rights: First non-exclusive
Word count: 50-150 words
Publication: January 2011
Respond to: vance.fry@fotf.org

Art Affair Poetry Contest

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:50:07 +0100

Art Affair's poetry contest is open to any writer. Poems may be any style, any subject, and no more than 60 lines in length. Enter your own original work only. Please do not include a SASE; entries will not be returned.

Entries must be postmarked by October 1, 2010 and should be unpublished and/or unaccepted for publication when entered into the contest.

Please type your name, address, telephone number, and title of manuscript on a cover page, which will be removed before judging. On your manuscript, type line count in the upper right-hand corner of the first page.

You may enter as many poems as you wish, but each entry requires an entry fee of three dollars. (You may mail all entries together and pay with one check or money order.)

Prizes: $40.00, $25.00, $15.00 (Prize money and certificates will be mailed to the winners and a list of winners will be published on the website in December 2010.)

Entry Fee: $3.00 per poem

(Make check payable to Art Affair)

Deadline: October 1, 2010

Mail entries to:
ART AFFAIR - CONTEST
P.O. BOX 54302
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73154

More details at: http://shadetreecreations.com/ArtAffair_PoetryContest.htm

Oatmeal Studios Greeting Card Co.

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 17:41:18 +0100

Oatmeal Studios publishes humorous alternative greeting cards for everyday occasions.
CURRENT NEEDS: "We are currently looking for birthday ideas. We pay $75.00 if we decide to buy an idea.
http://oatmealstudios.com/Writer'sGuides/WG-Pg.htm

from: www.writersweekly.com