Blogs
Best way to avoid writer's block? Write.
Want to be published? Here are some opportunities right before your keyboard.
Join the "100 Hours of Humo(u)r" online festival, what's billed as the "most ambitious and ridiculous web event ever." Author and teacher Dave Fox calls it flash humor. From March 1-5, he will upload new humor-related content to Globejotting.com every hour for a hundred hours.
"Some hours, I'll be blogging 'live,' testing my high-speed writing skills with quick comedy blasts. Other hours will feature humor writing mini-lessons to help you become a funnier person," he says.
30 Days to Sanity
Do you have a heartwarming, insightful and powerfully moving story about how to stay sane in our chaotic 24/7 world? If you have a great story and would like to be included in 30 Days to Sanity, please send your stories to 30 Days to Sanity, Box 31453, Santa Fe, N.M. 87594-1453. Or e-mail stories to stephanie@30daystosanity.com The maximum word count is 1,200 words. For each story selected, a permission fee of $100 will be offered for one-time rights. There are no limits on the number of submissions. Stories must be received no later than May 1.
Finding Your Voice
How about escaping to a cozy inn in a quaint town along Lake Michigan for three days? Humorist Wade Rouse, author of five books, promises to teach you how to unleash your true writer's voice at a May 16-19 workshop in Douglas, Mich. Rouse describes the experience as an "intensive literary renewal" that covers "everything from how to get your book published to life-changing writing exercises." Click here for details.
Paris in the Spring
Or maybe Paris is your cup of tea. The 2013 Paris Book Festival has issued a call for entries for its annual event honoring the best of international publishing.
The 2013 Paris Book Festival will consider non-fiction, fiction, biography/autobiography, children's books, compilations/anthologies, young adult, how-to, e-books, cookbooks, audio/spoken word, wild card (anything goes), photography/art, poetry, unpublished, spiritual and romance works. There is no date of publication deadline and entries can be in French or English.
Grand prize is $1,500 cash and a flight to Paris for a gala awards ceremony in late May. Deadline is April 25.
Plenty of Soup, Lots of Soul
Chicken Soup for the Soul offers writers three opportunities.
The popular book series is celebrating its upcoming 20th anniversary with a special edition filled with stories about how Chicken Soup for the Soul has made a difference in people's lives. The editors will pair old stories with new ones. Simply indicate which story helped or changed you, then write about it. Deadline for story and poem submission is March 17.
Have you experienced a connection with a loved one who died? The editors are looking for submissions for Chicken Soup for the Soul: Miraculous Messages from Heaven. Deadline is March 31.
If your story is chosen for either of these upcoming books, your piece and bio will be printed in the book. You will also receive a check for $200 and 10 free copies of your book. You will retain the copyright for your story and you will retain the right to resell it.
If you have a brief true story (up to 500 words) that shows how your faith in God has shaped your journey as a wife, please share it along with an applicable Bible verse and a two-to-three-sentence prayer. You will receive $100 for each published devotion ($100 due to the shorter word count than the regular books). The deadline for submissions is March 15.
Submit material for these three books here.