This issue boasts over 50 leads, opportunities, resources, competitions and markets for authors, writers, screenwriters, artists and photographers. Learn about NEW publishers seeking quality work and high paying markets for writers. Tap into some great resources to help you promote your book. And finally sell your art or land a job as an artist/photographer.
Here’s What’s New – A dozen news bytes and updates.
Opportunities for Freelance Writers – 10 magazines seeking articles. 7 high paying.
Opportunities for Authors – 5 brand new publishers and a great resource for authors.
Book Promotion Opportunities – 7 worthwhile opps and resources.
Opportunities for Screenwriters – 3 competitions you may want to enter
Opportunities for Artists and Photographers – 14 leads and ideas, including 6 job boards.
Resources for Authors – A writers/authors community—The Write Life.
Here’s What’s New
BtoB Magazine is folding into Advertising Age after the first of the year.
Domino has been revived as a quarterly print magazine.
Here’s an informative article about copyright and social media. Whether you are concerned about someone stealing your writing work or not, you should take time to read this article: http://www.woodenhorsepub.com/business/resources/2013/copyright.html
Bibliophiliacs blog announced November 6 that one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world will close in March of 2014. Chapters, located in a lovely old theater in Toronto, evidently can’t pay the increased rent and will have to move on. They do plan to open elsewhere.
Barnes and Noble Bookstore in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts is closing.
Got Books? in Georgia will close, as well.
Choctaw Books in Jackson, Mississippi is going out of business.
Poway, California’s Paperback Bookstore closed in September after thirty-five years in business.
The oldest bookstore in Los Angeles has closed after 104 years in business. Williams’ Bookstore opened in the San Pedro area in 1909. It’s now gone.
For the most up-to-date publishing news, visit Alltop at: http://publishing.alltop.com. This is a good place to do research for that important article you’re writing or for your latest book. You’ll find articles on everything imaginable—kickball, grants, generation x, marketing, skiing, sleep disorders, acting, Australia, zoology and much, much more. http://alltop.com
Creating Keepsakes is folding after their November/December issue.
Toronto’s Fab Gay Scene Magazine has closed.
Opportunities for Freelance Writers
Destra Magazine is a new digital publication featuring good deeds and good people. They use short-to-medium length stories and articles and claim they pay a “very competitive” rate. According to their website, they are looking for established and up-and-coming writers. Submit your article or story idea here: http://destramagazine.com/pitch#.UoDtduLKSb4 Visit their website: http://destramagazine.com
Rhapsody launched last month. This is a new luxury lifestyle and literary magazine for the more exclusive passengers flying United Airlines. Contact the editors at http://www.ink-global.com for more information.
The Write Life (see description under Resources for Writers and Authors) is a paying market. But before you submit something to them, make sure to study their guidelines: http://thewritelife.com/write-for-us They need to hear from you prior to you writing for them in order to establish an agreement.
Working Writers is seeking submissions. They want 300-1200 word pieces featuring first-hand advice, information or tips related to writing, marketing, freelancing and more. Reprints are okay. And a query is not necessary. This is not a paying market. Contact Maggie at workingwriters@aol.com. For additional information visit http://www.workingwriters.com
Are you looking for high-paying markets for your articles? Are you flexible—can you write on a variety of topics? Can you find your comfort zone in unfamiliar subjects? For example, if you are not at all techie, can you come up with ideas for a tech magazine that are suited to the lay person? Are you good at interviewing people and writing profile pieces? Here are some magazines to consider.
Consumer Goods Technology pays $600 to $1,200 for essays, exposés and interviews. And they buy 60 manuscripts per year.
Modern Physician pays $.75 to $1.00-word for 750 to 1,000 words. http://www.modernphysician.com
Nurseweek pays $200 to $800 for personal experience, interview articles and much more. http://www.nurse.com
USAA Magazine uses pieces on finance, history, military, and more. They pay as much as $1,500. http://www.usaa.com/maglinks
You may earn a cool grand with a good interview article for Enterprise Minnesota Magazine. Http://www.enterpriseminnesota.org
Overdrive uses essays, how-tos, truck maintenance and operation as well as interview and personal experiences. They pay as much as $1,500. http://www.etrucker.com
Opportunities for Authors
The BookHub is an interesting place where you can locate books you need for research purposes and to use in comparing your planned book with what’s already out there, for example. Here, you have links to Amazon, WorldCat, Library Thing, Elephant Books (rare and out of print books), USA Today Book Reviews, Book Marks Magazine and many, many others. Check it out here: http://www.bookhub.com
For the last two months, I’ve been listing some of the newest publishers around—those established in 2008 through 2012. For some, it is the first time they’ve been listed in Writer’s Market. Here are more brand new publishers who may be eager to receive your manuscript. (Check the WPN Market Update archives—the October and November issues—for additional listings.)
Craigmore Creations was established in 2009. They seek nonfiction manuscripts featuring animals, the environment, nature, science, earth sciences and so forth. They also publish books for young adults. See their website for more detailed information. http://www.craigmorecreations.com
Sweetgrass Books, established in 2012, is a custom publishing division of Farcounty Press. Learn more here: http://www.sweetgrassbooks.com
Folded Word came into being in 2009. This is an independent literary press whose focus is to make poetry and fiction accessible to the widest audience possible. Sounds like a great place to get your fiction or poetry published. http://www.foldedword.com
Cup of Tea Books publishes fiction only, including adventure, contemporary, fantasy, feminist, historical, humor, literary, mainstream, regional, mystery and romance. Learn more here: http://www.cupofteabooks.com. This publishing house was established just last year.
Fantastic Books Publishing came into being in 2012. They publish nonfiction, fiction and poetry. http://www.fantasticbookspublishing.com.
Good luck. Let us know if you score.
Book Promotion Opportunities
How do you sign an ebook? Well, Dave Hopmann contacted me this month to tell me about a new tool that you can use to autograph your ebooks for customers. It’s called InScribbler. He says that you can upload a custom inscription image and present it to your reader. You give them the inscription code and when they click the link in your ebook, they see their personalized inscription. He says you can also use this tool to include a photo, logo and other graphics. Not only that, his program can help you hold a virtual book signing from a blog. Hopmann is offering a 25% discount to WPN members. Just use the code “spawn” to get your savings. Check it out here: http://www.inscribbler.com
Have you heard of Bublish? Matthew Meis, Marketing Director, describes it as, “a social book discovery and commerce platform.” It’s where writers meet readers. Check it out here: http://www.bublish.com
I often spend quite a bit of time listing opportunities in this newsletter for freelance writers. I haven’t talked to you authors, lately, about using journalists to promote your books. Are you aware of http://www.helpareporter.com? Here’s where authors can connect with journalists and freelance writers and give them the information they need for a story. What are the benefits? You, the author, gain credibility as an expert and your book gets exposure in front of your audience.
Get book promotion ideas from John Kremer here: http://www.bookmarket.com
Here’s another site you might find helpful: http://www.authormedia.com/89-book-marketing-ideas-that-will-change-your-life
Be sure to tune into my daily blog here: http://www.matilijapress.com/publishingblog Who am I? Patricia Fry. I’m also the author of the book you should keep at your elbow at all times throughout the writing, publishing and marketing processes: Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author. It’s at Amazon.com in print, Kindle and Audio and at most other online and downtown bookstores.
If you have an ebook you are trying to promote, contact Patricia and ask for a free copy of her ebook, 50 Ways to Promote Your eBook. Patricia@spawn.org.
Opportunities for Screenwriters
Here’s a competition you might be interested in. The early-bird deadline has passed, so it will cost a little more to enter your screenplay, but it might be worth it for only $60 per entry. The AFC Storytelling International Screenwriting Competition is put on by the African Arts Foundation. They hope to help promote understanding of African life through screenplays and documentary projects. The categories this year are Africa—African Diasporas, focusing on stories and people of Africa; Go Green—Sustainability, subjects dealing with the growing concerns about the state of the self, our immediate relationships, the environment and our planet; and International—all stories. This category has no limits. They just hope to see some well-crafted stories. Winners receive prizes and the possibility of having their films or documentaries published. The final deadline is December 30. http://www.africafilmcommission.org.
First annual screenwriting contest. Gloria’s World Screenwriting Contest. Early bird entries start December 16, 2013—January 1, 2014. The fee is $25. Entries end February 28, 2014. First and second place winners get a percentage of the entries. The grand prize is the opportunity to have your play optioned. Learn more here: http://open.salon.com/blog/gloria_hass/2013/11/09/first_annual_screenwriting_contest
Canadian Short Screenplay Competition. Final deadline December 31, 2013. http://www.screenplay-contest.com/
Opportunities for Artists and Photographers
It’s been a while since I’ve posted jobs for artists and photographers. If you’ll look back in the archives, you’ll find many job directories for artists. Here is one: http://www.indeed.com/q-Artist-jobs.html Currently, there are jobs for artists listed here in New York, South Carolina, Salt Lake City, Alabama, Cincinnati (display artist), California and Seattle, WA.
http://www.jobs.com/jobs/search?q=artist. You’ll find quite a few graphic and multimedia artist jobs listed here.
http://www.simplyhired.com/k-artist-jobs.html lists what appears to be hundreds of jobs for artists.
If you’re a photographer looking for work, here are a few job boards/directories for you.
http://www.getphotographyjobs.com
http://www.freelancephotojobs.com/
http://www.indeed.com/jobs
You could also sell your photos to magazines. Here’s a short list of magazines that use photos:
The War Cry, http://www.war_cry@usn.salvationarmy.org.
The Land, http://www.thelandonline.com
American Agriculturist, http://www.farmprogress.com
Sheep! Magazine, http:///www.sheepmagazine.com
Complete Woman, http://www.thecompletewoman-magazine.com
The Broadsheet, http://broaduniverse.org.
Bridal Guide, http://www.bridalguide.com
Contact freelance writers who write within a topic you are familiar with—that you typically photograph—and offer to provide photos for the articles they write—for a fee, of course.
Resources for Writers and Authors
The Write Life is a community of writers who want to take their craft and business to the next level. According to Heather van der Hoop, this is a one-stop shop covering the writing topics most career writers and authors are truly interested in: self-publishing, marketing, freelancing, blogging, productivity and traditional publishing. van der Hoop says they have brought together an awesome pool of experienced writers to answer questions on topics related to literary agents, freelance writing rates and how to use social media to your best advantage. http://thewritelife.com