Catholic fiction opportunity

Tuscany Press, a new Catholic press in Massachusetts, seeks stories,
novellas, and novels. Peter Mongeau, the publisher, has a strong
business background and a dedication to publishing good Catholic
fiction. He has contests running with a reasonable ($10) reading fee.
He is also open to communicating with writers.
http://www.tuscanypress.com/


Elma Schemenauer, elmams@shaw.ca, author of 75 books published in
Canada and the USA, editor of many others. Blog
www.elmasalmanac.blogspot.com Website www.elma03.com

how to write a novel: Jane Lebak

Jane Lebak posted a good article here about how to write a novel. The
comments are good too:
http://philangelus.wordpress.com/2009/03/16/how-to-write-a-novel/

Elma Schemenauer, elmams@shaw.ca, author of 75 books published in Canada and
the USA, editor of many others. Blog www.elmasalmanac.blogspot.com Website
www.elma03.com

Elance: freelance writing, etc.

Elance is an online company that links potential customers with freelance
article-writers, ghostwriters, copywriters, translators, etc. Click on
https://www.elance.com/browse-jobs to browse jobs and people looking for
jobs. It's interesting to note the huge range in rates charged. [There
doesn't seem to be a category for editors; don't know why.]

Elma Schemenauer, elmams@shaw.ca, author of 75 books published in Canada and
the USA, editor of many others. Blog www.elmasalmanac.blogspot.com Website
www.elma03.com

fantasy/sci fi short story contest: Fantastic Books

Fantastic Books is running a short story contest for fantasy and science
fiction stories 700 to 1500 words long. Deadline August 15, 2012. Winning
entries will be published in an anthology. Revenue from the sale of this
book will go to the World Cancer Research Fund. There's a small entry fee in
UK currency, which you may have to convert into whatever it is in your
currency. That's a bit of a pain but they do PayPal. Also 10% of entry fees
goes to the WCRF. The link follows. If clicking it doesn't work, copy and
paste it into your browser.

https://www.facebook.com/events/331020220301341/

Elma Schemenauer, elmams@shaw.ca, author of 75 books published in Canada and
the USA, editor of many others. Blog www.elmasalmanac.blogspot.com Website
www.elma03.com

book covers & e-readers

Interesting stuff here on book covers and how e-book readers have influenced them: http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/07/book-cover-clones-why-do-so-many-recent-novels-look-alike/259884/

 

Ooligan Press: fiction & nonfiction of the Pacific Northwest

Ooligan Press publishes fiction and nonfiction books relating to the Pacific Northwest, which they define as Northern California, Oregon, Idaho, Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska. They're interested in books reflecting the literary, historical, and social values and attitudes of this area. Submission guidelines are here: http://ooligan.pdx.edu/about/submissions/

 

bookless libraries

Thoughtful and comprehensive article here on bookless libraries:

http://www.tnr.com/print/article/books-and-arts/magazine/david-bell-future-bookless-library

 

writing rules: Lee Child's take

How seriously should authors take all the writing rules they've been fed over the years, e.g. "show, don't tell?" Here's Lee Childs' thought-provoking article on the topic. http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/lee-child-debunks-the-biggest-writing-myths [If clicking the link doesn't work, try pasting it into your browser.]

 

opportunity: children's, parenting, & education

Erica Silverman of Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc. [literary agency] is open to submissions of children’s literature, picture books through YA. She also seeks nonfiction about children, parenting and education. http://sll.com/agents_silverman.html

 

 

 

 

 

writing a romance novel

I'm not a romance writer myself but this might interest some of you.

 

Calling All Romance Readers - And Writers

Deep in the heart of every person who loves a good romance novel is
the desire to write one of her own. But the process of writing a novel can
seem daunting, not to mention the steps to get published. Is there a formula
to the plot of a romance novel? How long should it be? Do I need an agent?
How do I submit my manuscript to a publisher? Okay, so I'm published, but
now what? These questions and more will be answered by a panel of experts:
romance writers themselves in a special FREE online event presented by
Crimson Romance. Attend On Writing Romance: Getting to the Heart of Creating
a Romance Novel and join Leigh Michaels, author of On Writing Romance;
Jennifer Lawler, Imprint Manager of Crimson Romance; Kristina Knight, author
of What a Texas Girl Wants; and Karen Sue Burns, author of In Hot Pursuit,
for a FREE webinar that will discuss writing and publishing a successful
romance novel from start to finish The. To attend, simply register online at the link below:  https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/813461089

sanitized view of Christian life: Rachel Held Evans

Interesting article by Rachel Held Evans on the sanitized view of Christian life that Christian bookstores seem to promote. She says in part: "the minute we try to codify these messy Christian lives that we live, the minute we try to sanitize and apologize for them, we lose not only our relevance, but our soul. We don’t have to be unnecessarily crass to speak the truth, but we have to be honest. We have to be real." Here's the link. If clicking it doesn't work, block it and paste into your browser.

 

http://rachelheldevans.com/christian-bookstores-chokehold#.T_c6tZu0lm8.email

 

torn between titles & endings for your novel?

Are you casting about for the right title for your novel? Torn between various possible endings? You're not alone. Ernest Hemingway did that too, according to a recent New York Times article. His wartime novel A FAREWELL TO ARMS is about to be republished with 39 of the endings he wrote before he decided on one. Here's the article:

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/07/05/books/a-farewell-to-arms-with-hemingways-alternate-endings.xml

 

using a blog to promote your writing

How can you use a blog to help promote your writing? Bookbaby has a free download on that, available at http://www.bookbaby.com/campaigns/request-blogging101