Find your next favourite story now
Login
DirtyMartini
Over 90 days ago
United States

Forum

Oh, here's a no-fee writing contest for my dog loving friends...

AMERICAN KENNEL CLUB FICTION WRITING CONTEST
http://www.akc.org/pubs/fictioncontest/
---
NO ENTRY FEE.
Deadline January 31, 2014. Submit one short story, maximum 2,000 words. Entries can be on any subject, but must feature either a purebred or mixed breed dog. No talking dogs. Prizes $500, $240, $100.

Yeah, that means get busy here...

One of my poems, You'll Never Know which is on SS btw...is now out in a book on Brian Wrixon Books...this will be the first in a series of four books...and I think you can sort of guess what the other three might be called...

Anyway...here's the link to purchase...

Winter Poetry - Brian Wrixon Books
http://www.blurb.com/b/4953349-winter-poetry?fb_action_ids=624680387593281&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=feed_opengraph&action_object_map=%7B%22624680387593281%22%3A602438976470278%7D&action_type_map=%7B%22624680387593281%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D

And here's the Table of Contents...a bunch of people in this one...

CONTENTS

Introduction 7
Anna Maria 9
Fran Ayers - 11
Basabi Khan Banerjee 14
Zoë Basil 15
Surabhi Bhattacharjee 16
Chrissie Morris Brady 17
Robert Broadbent 21
Heather Burns 26
Elizabeth Esguerra Castillo 27
kerstin centervall 28
Steve Corn 32
Corey Cowan 34
Ita Dempsey 38
Dewey Dirks 42
Patrick J. Dorrian 43
Lynda Ferrer 45
Kathy Figueroa 46
Ann Fox 49
Iulia Gherghei 51
Madhumita Ghosh 52
Tapan Ghosh 54
Margaret Gudkov 57
Hashmina Habeeb 58
Tony Hansen 59
Sheila-Rose Hazelwood 60
Shirani Ibrahim 64
Sharique Jamal 65
Alan Jankowski 68
Malkeet Kaur 69
Angela Kay 70
Tina.pnb.Clowes Kay 71
Pramila Khadun 76
A.V. (Ampat) Koshy 78
Elvira Lobo 81
Sue Lobo 82
Bozena Helena
Mazur-Nowak 88
Tonia McGregor 93
Martelle Mcpartland 94
Meenu Mehrotra 98
Karnika Mishra 101
Satwik Mishra 102
Amandeep Mittal 103
lovita j r morang 104
Shubhankar Mukherjee 106
JB Mulligan 107
Anupam Naskar 110
Uma Pochampalli 111
David S. Pointer 113
Diwakar Pokhriyal 114
Reena Prasad 115
Majrooh Rashid 118
Neha Rautela 124
Raghuram Rayaprueddi 125
Polly Robinson 127
Rosemarie Rowley 130
Arpita Roy 133
Santosh Bala Saxena 135
Manoj Sethi 136
Kalpana B. Shah 137
Sangeeta Sharma 138
Sunil Sharma 139
Pooja Tripathi 141
Daniela Voicu 142
susan k williams 147
William L. Wright Jr. 153
Abigail Wyatt 156
Chew Cheng Yew 161
Brian Wrixon 162

BBC WORLD SERVICE INTERNATIONAL RADIO PLAYWRITING COMPETITION
http://www.commonwealthwriters.org/bbc-radio-competition/

--- NO ENTRY FEE. The competition has two first prizes – one for writers with English as a first language, and one for writers with English as a second language. The winners of both awards will have their plays broadcast on BBC World Service. Their prize includes a trip to London to watch their plays being recorded, attendance at an award ceremony and £2,000. The winner of the new Georgi Markov prize will also come to London to be at this award ceremony and spend two weeks with BBC Radio Drama and BBC World Service. The playwriting competition welcomes scripts from anyone outside the UK, whether established or new writers. The dramas need to be 53 minutes long, but can be on any subject. Deadline January 31, 2014.
new call for work from Silver Boomer Books/Eagle Wings Press
Inbox
x


Becky Haigler
11:32 AM (2 hours ago)

to Silver, bcc: me
You are receiving this email because you requested to be notified of new calls for work from Silver Boomer Books. If you wish to be removed from the list please reply to this message with that request.

Some of you have already noticed on our websites the current call, available in full here:

Journeys Toward Recovery
http://eaglewingspress.com/ewp/wp/for-writers/journeys-toward-recovery/

This anthology will be in the same format as our previous Silver Boomer Books anthologies but will bear the imprint of our inspirational/recovery line, Eagle Wings Press. Please note the emphasis on recovery. We are not so much interested in stories of people who are still 'at the bottom' but rather those who are on the journey up.

Feel free to share the call with your writing groups and on your blogs and other social media.
Quote by Sherzahd
Looks good. Really proud of all you've achieved in such a short time, something everyone on here should aspire to.


Yeah, Brian Wrixon's books look good...but, frankly...getting into most of these poetry anthologies is not much of an achievement...they accept most of the poems submitted, unless it doesn't fit the theme of the antho...there is usually no payment either, which is why I post most of these sub calls in the "Poetry" section of the forum, and not in the "Competition and Submission Call" section...

Submitting to these anthologies is another way to get your work out there, even if it doesn't pay...heck, neither does Stories Space, and people post their work here...and it's nice to see yourself in print...I still get a certain kick out of that...

Brian Wrixon Books does publish poetry books other than non-paying anthologies though...for instance, Christena Williams, a Stories Space member, has her own book out with his publishing company...

Pearls Among Stones - Christena Williams
http://www.blurb.com/b/4148458-pearls-among-stones

There's a few people I know who have poetry collections out with him btw...and Christena mentions me in her introduction, see Page 5 in the preview...

For anyone interested in getting a whole poetry collection published with Brian Wrixon...the first step would be to join his Facebook group...and become active...

Poets With Voices Strong
https://www.facebook.com/groups/180003718770936/

He does a great job with the books, and there is no charge to the poet...my only objection is for some reason the books are not available on Amazon...as far as I know, they are only available on the Blurb site directly...unless that has changed recently...

But yeah...he has a whole document in the FB group explaining basically what he looks for in a poet he publishes...basically, he looks for someone who is going to actively promote themselves as well, Christena has had 29 poems in the local Jamaican paper "The Gleaner" before she sought any sort of international recognition, for instance...and frankly, I can't blame him...and most publishers want the same...just sayin'

On a related note, I'll be in another antho of his to be released this month...a collection of Winter poems...my poem "You'll Never Know" will be in it...for submission details, join the FB group...I believe he wants to limit submissions to people who are active members of the group...so, it's worth joining...some good stuff goes on there...not to mention some talented members to connect with...
One of the other contributors, Ashi Ashi from Jubail, Saudi Arabia, who is also Managing Editor of Reflection W&R Magazine, posted some pictures of the book over on Facebook earlier today...just thought I'd share...

Cover...


Table of Contents...


Here's one of her poems...looks good to me...


And I have to assume this is the back cover...
Quote by sarahwritessometimes
Thanks! These are helpful, but I'm more looking for other people writing about their journey (sorry I should have been more clear). I would love to be able to read along and follow someone else's process.


My suggestion to you...I don't know if you're on Facebook and LinkedIn, but I've gotten quite a bit of useful info from those sites, especially FB...but, my suggestion would be to post your question in a writing group on one of those sites...

We have a fair amount of writers here, but we don't have the sheer numbers you'll find over there...I can pretty much count on getting an answer to any question I post over on FB, for instance...and good luck btw...
Hey Sarah...I don't recall anything in the forum here specifically regarding writing self-help books, but a quick Google search comes up with stuff...

Pointers On Publishing - 10 Tips To Writing A Self-Help Book
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130811/arts/arts2.html

Self-Help Books Get Naked: A New Breed Turns Raw, Real and Relevant
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tama-kieves/selfhelp-books-get-naked-_b_3843093.html

Want to Get Rich? Write a Self-Help Book
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=86594

There's even a book on how to write a bestselling self-help book called...you guessed it...

How to Write a Bestselling Self-Help Book [Kindle Edition]
http://www.amazon.com/How-Write-Bestselling-Self-Help-Book-ebook/dp/B000FA5RY4

As far as the actual self-publishing process...it should be the same as any other genre...hope this helps for now...
A young man and his hot date were parked on a back road some distance from town. They were about to have sex when the girl stopped. "I really should have mentioned this earlier, but I'm actually a whore and I charge $20 for sex." The man reluctantly paid her, and they did their thing. After a cigarette, the man just sat in the driver's seat looking out the window. "Why aren't we going anywhere?" asked the girl. "Well, I should have mentioned this before, but I'm actually a taxi driver, and the fare back to town is $25..."
My friend Leila Rose-Gordon has a series in the Examiner on overcoming writer's block, and she talks about me and my 9/11 poem no less...I think this short little article is good in that it points out the value of how even a bad event can be turned into a good thing, in the form of inspiration for a story or poem...check it out my blocked writing friends...

Overcoming Writer's Block - a Series
http://www.examiner.com/article/overcoming-writer-s-block-a-series?CID=examiner_alerts_article[/size]
Alright, Jacqueline Durett, who some may remember as being the journalist who wrote the article in the local paper last year when my own book came out...wrote this article about the Christmas anthology released by Alfie Dog Fiction...and I think she did a fine job here btw...

Writer gets ‘His Christmas Wish’ with inclusion in holiday book
http://www1.gmnews.com/2013/12/05/writer-gets-his-christmas-wish-with-inclusion-in-holiday-book-2/

Btw, the article says "What starts out like a good Samaritan task leads to the potential spark of a holiday romance with the boy’s mother."...which is sort of funny, as some here may know...the story in this book, and here on Stories Space, is actually the first 3300 words of a longer story called "Her Christmas Wish" which was written for an erotic story contest back in December, 2010 on a famous red site...

And yes...Gary and the boy's mother do indeed have a bit of a holiday romance...
Alright, we have some local press coverage for the Alfie Dog Christmas anthology...and I'm told there's more to come...I heard from Jacqueline Durett today...she's the reporter who did the article on me last year when my own book came out...she's doing an article which should be out this coming Thursday...

In the meantime...

The Amboy Guardian - Local Author in Global Christmas Short Story Collection
http://www.amboyguardian.com/2013/11/15/local-author-in-global-christmas-short-story-collection/

And check out page 25 here...similar, but with a picture of the cover...

South Amboy-Sayreville Times November 23, 2013
http://www.thesatimes.com/SATnov13FINALsmall.pdf

This is what Rosemary J. Kind sent out to the local press in my area btw...the two local papers above basically ran it as is...


A prize of $3,000 and possible publication in Ladies' Home Journal will be given annually for a personal essay on a theme. This year's theme is "the Best Decision I Ever Made." The editors will judge. Submit an essay of up to 2,000 words by December 6. There is no entry fee. Send an SASE, e-mail, or visit the website for complete guidelines.

Ladies' Home Journal, Personal Essay Contest, Meredith Corporation, 805 Third Avenue, 26th Floor, New York, NY 10022. Lauren Piro, Assistant Editor.

2013 Personal Essay Contest
http://www.lhj.com/community/your-stories/2012-personal-essay-contest/?ordersrc=rdlhj1102107[/size]
UPSTREET
http://upstreet-mag.org/guideline_layers.html

We invite you to submit your poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction for the tenth issue of upstreet. The submission period for upstreet number ten is from September 1, 2013, to March 1, 2014. Please do not submit previously published works; or more than three poems, two fiction, and two nonfiction pieces per issue. Fiction and nonfiction pieces must be 5,000 words or less. Payment, upon publication, will be between $50 and $150 for poems, and between $50 and $250 for short stories or essays. Each author will also receive one complimentary copy. (Thanks http://www.erikadreifus.com/)[/size]
Alright...A Wish For Christmas is now available on Amazon...

A Wish for Christmas Paperback
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1909894079/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_dp_D8OIsb1PZ03HAN2X

A Wish for Christmas [Kindle Edition]
http://www.amazon.com/Wish-Christmas-Alfie-Dog-Fiction-ebook/dp/B00GQI7ZEO/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1384820167&sr=1-1&keywords=a+wish+for+christmas+alfie+dog

And directly from Alfie Dog btw...

A Wish for Christmas – 20 stories for the holiday season (Commercial)
http://alfiedog.com/products-page/alan-w-jankowski/a-wish-for-christmas-20-stories-for-the-holiday-season-commercial/?fb_action_ids=608831579178162&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=288381481237582

Just in time for holiday gift giving...check it out my friends...
Quote by Laura

There is nothing like the blues. Good one Alan. Buddy is classic.


Yeah, I was fortunate enough to see him and Junior back in the 80's at a small club in New York City...Buddy had a long guitar cord which he used to walk around the place, at one point going outside and playing on the sidewalk for a few minutes or so...great show btw...

Junior Wells & Buddy Guy Messin With The Kid

This little bit here may be of interest to anyone considering the self-pub thingy...check it out my writer-type friends...

How to get an ISBN
------------------
In the US you can only buy ISBNs from http://www.myidentifiers.com/,
a site run by Bowkers. You can buy 1, 10, 100 or 1000 ISBNs. At
the moment a single ISBN costs $125, and a pack of 10 costs $250.

In the UK you can only buy ISBNs in packs of 10, which currently
cost £126. You need to obtain them from NeilsenBook.
http://www.isbn.nielsenbook.co.uk/controller.php?page=123

In Canada ISBNs are free! The process of getting an ISBN in Canada
is, however, quite convoluted, but this blog post explains it all:
http://randolphlalonde.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/getting-your-free-isbn-in-canada.html

In Australia, you purchase ISBNS from
https://www.myidentifiers.com.au/. A single ISBN costs A$42, or
you can buy 10 for A$84.

For other countries around the world, I suggest you visit this
handy ISBN information page:
http://isbn-information.com/isbn-administration/isbn-agencies.html

Please note that having an ISBN for your book does not copyright
it. The ISBN is simply a means of having your book identified in
databases and by libraries.

For more advice on self-publishing check out our archives here:
http://writing-world.com/publish/index.shtml[/size]
Got this e-mail earlier today...

Semi-finalist - I Often Wonder by Alan W. Jankowski
Inbox
x

General
8:54 AM (1 hour ago)

to me
Congratulations,

Your cover is in the semi-finals of the 2013 Book Cover Contest at AUTHORSdB.com. Over the next couple of days, we will be contacting authors who's book covers were entered into the 2013 Book Cover Contest and have qualified as a semi-finalist in one or more categories.

Please forward a large, clear image (minimum 800 pixels wide) and a blurb (300 minimum - 1000 word maximum) by replying to this email, pasting the blurb and attaching the image before October 31, 2013.

We know that this is an exciting time for authors, and we hope to ensure all authors are contacted prior to the promotion of your qualification into the semi-finals until all authors have been notified.

To maximize the full impact of the promotion, please take a moment and visit your author's page to ensure all covers are uploaded, and content is up-to-date. We will notify you prior to the semi-final voting start date.

Enjoy the extra exposure and best of luck,

Paula
Website Content Manager
www.authorsdb.com
JF POWER PRIZE FOR SHORT FICTION
https://dappledthings.submittable.com/submit/24212

--- NO ENTRY FEE. The winner will receive $500. There is no entry fee. The winning story will be announced in February, 2014 and published in Dappled Things, along with nine honorable mentions. Please submit your short story by November 29. The word limit is 8,000 words
Quote by LarryFNigh
Abecedarian poems use the entire alphabet. The beginning of each line is a letter.


Yeah, I had sort of thought that from the name...but, wasn't really sure...not that familiar with the different poem types...I just sort of wing it...

There's a gal on this site who started writing a different poem for each type...I think she had a list of about 50...don't recall how far she got though...

Poetic Forms & Techniques
http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/197

Maybe if you do that, we'll have to come up with a new badge again...just sayin'
Abecedarian poems, eh? Sounds impressive...whatever it means...

Good luck with this one btw...

Cheers,
Alan.
Ken is now my latest Facebook friend...he just posted this on my wall...thought it of interest...

Hi Alan,
I was asked by Flive Festival committee, Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, to read a poem at Enniskillen Fire Station during National Poetry Day (Great Britain). I am a poet betimes and I was a fire-fighter in Enniskillen for almost 30 years. I was asked to read a poem by a poet who had written poems that I thought would be relevant to the site. I found your poem which I thought was very suitable. It is a powerful tribute to fire-fighters and rescuers world-wide. I will have a copy of the recoding soon and maybe a photograph which I will send to you. In the meantime good luck with your poetry. pax Ken