Opportunities in the Great Big Literary World- May 23, 2011

Song of the Day: Success by Duran Duran
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHmT3Pq6xaI

Hello all! Hope the weekend was phenomenal! It’s safe for me to say that I had a rather literary kind of weekend. On Saturday I went to a spoken word event, and it was fantastic! It’s amazing how many talented poets and writers there are in your backyard and you wouldn’t even know it! Last year I joined a Writers association called the Florida Writer’s Association (FWA) and I finally went to my first meeting! It was inspirational (I’ll be blogging more about that later this week.) After the meeting I just wanted to get home and write! Sunday I spent the day reading, editing and writing a flash piece. It has been one of the most productive weekends I’ve had in a long time, as far as my work goes anyway. I’ve gone on enough. I hope you all are finding the time to write. Here are the opportunities for this week.

Contests:

1. 19th Annual Writer’s Digest International Self-Published Book Awards

The grand prize winner will be awarded $3,000 cash and a trip to the Writer’s Digest Conference in New York City. The editors of Writer’s Digest will endorse and submit 10 copies of the Grand Prize-Winning book to major review houses. Brian Jud & Book Marketing Works, LLC will provide a one-year membership in Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), guaranteed acceptance in a special-sales catalog giving you national representation through 1800 salespeople selling to non-bookstore markets, guaranteed acceptance by Atlas Books, a top distributor to wholesalers, chains, independents, and online retailers, six hours of book shepherding from Poynter Book Shepherd Ellen Reid and a guaranteed review in Midwest Book Review. There will also be ten additional first place winners, and honorable mentions announced. I haven’t even listed the full extent of the prizes for the grand prize winner and the first place winners. Writer’s Digest will give away over $17,000 in prizes. Entry fee is $100 and the deadline is June 3, 2011.

http://www.writersdigest.com/selfpublished

2. Rosebud Magazine’s Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Award for Imaginative Fiction

Rosebud Magazine hosts the fourth annual Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Award. The contest is for short stories in the genres of science fiction, fantasy, mystery, or horror. The judges are also interested in stories that reach beyond the the boundaries of those genres, take a variety of literary and creative risks, and tell a good story. Ideally, stories should be between 1000 and 3500 words (though they will consider stories of up to 4500 words.) First place will win $1,000 and Publication in Rosebud. Four runners up will receive $100 and publication in Rosebud. Entry fee is $10 and the contest closes September 1, 2011. (Mark your calendars because you’ve got plenty of time!)

http://www.rsbd.net/NEW/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=76:shelley&catid=35:contests&Itemid=54

Calls for Submissions:

1. Prime Number Magazine

Currently accepting works of fiction, non-fiction, poerty, book reviews, interviews, and essays on craft.

http://www.primenumbermagazine.com/Submit.html

2. Cooper Dillon Books

Currently accepting submissions for chapbooks and full-length poetry manuscripts.

http://www.cooperdillon.com/submissions.html

Conferences/Workshops:

1. Denton County Writer’s Workshop

If you live in Denton County Texas, then here’s a free all day workshop for you. It will be held at the North Branch Library. According to the site:

“Laurie Williamson, freelance writer and owner of RareType, LLC, will provide insights on time management, how to get freelance work, and how to make the most of your creative output.  Bruce Bond, University of North Texas Regents Professor of Poetry, will offer a lecture on the craft of poetry writing.  Roni Loren, author, will talk on Hooks and High Concepts. Kristen Lamb social media guru and bestselling author of We Are Not Alone, will speak on the importance of using social media to build writer’s platform, gain exposure and get published.”

The workshop is free, but registration is required. For more information visit the website below.

http://northbranchwriters.webs.com/workshopevents.htm

A brief announcement. Last week I said that Black Fox Literary Magazine would close submissions for consideration in the summer on June 1, 2011. I had the wrong date. We actually will close submissions for that issue on June 3, 2011. We would love to see your short stories or poetry. Our 100 Twitter follower contest is also still going on. Since there seems to be some confusion we will make it a little easier to enter. You will be able to find the details on how to enter on Thursday over at Pam and Marquita’s blog, Y(A)? Cuz We Write! Be on the look out! Happy Writing! 🙂