Dogs and the Women Who Love Them True Story Contest Rules:
The Angel Animals Network (AAN) is accepting story submissions about dogs and the women who love them. The stories should demonstrate the benefits for a woman who fulfills a life purpose by partnering with a dog to perform extraordinary physical, emotional, or spiritual service.
Stories must be original, based on real dogs, people, and events. Preference will be given to emotionally evocative and well-written creative nonfiction stories. Please do not submit journalistic articles, profiles, testimonials, essays, or fiction for this contest.
Story submissions must be no more than2,000 words in English. They should be typed or legibly handwritten. Each story submission must be accompanied with an Angel Animals Network official entry form (below), completed by the contestant submitting the story.
Contest story submissions will not be returned. Please do not include photographs. You may view the list of 1st place and 2nd place winners on the Angel Animals Network Website after winners are announced. You can also subscribe to the free weekly, online Angel Animals Story of the Week Newsletter and look for winners to be announced there.
To be eligible, contest entries must be postmarkedno later than September 30, 2009.
If stories are selected as winners of the Dogs and the Women Who Love Them True Story Contest and later found to contain distortions or falsehoods, the AAN is not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate entry or story information.
Any contest entries, but especially those of the winners, will be considered for possible publication in the new book Dogs and the Women Who Love Them by Allen and Linda Anderson to be published by New World Library in Fall 2010. However, the contest and the new book are separate projects. Entering or winning the contest doesn’t mean the story will be published in the book. Allen and Linda Anderson will contact entrants if they are considering a contest story for possible publication in the book. Previous books in the Angel Animals series have included many stories that were contest entries.
Entry Fee:
There is no entry fee to submit a story for the contest.
Number of Entries:
Each individual is limited to submit three separate entries.
Eligibility:
Employees/volunteers and the immediate family (spouse, mother, father, sister, brother, daughter or son, regardless of where they live) or members of the same households (whether related or not) of such employees/volunteers are not eligible. There are no citizen status or resident country restrictions for contestants.
Judging:
Judging the stories for this contest will be based on the exceptional nature of the dog(s) who demonstrates partnering with a woman to fulfill a life’s purpose including a dog who performs some type of extraordinary physical, emotional, or spiritual service. Other categories on which stories will be judged are: readability, spiritual connection between human and animal, dramatic/emotional appeal, inspirational, and represents good practices for animal health and welfare. A panel of judges, who are known for their service to animals, will select the finalists.
All Dogs and the Women Who Love Them True Story Contest decisions are final.
Prizes:
Grand Prize
One grand prize of $250 will be awarded to the first-place winning contestant.
2nd Place Prize
A second place prize of $25.00 will be awarded to 5 contestants.
Honorable Mentions
There will be 5 entries chosen as Honorable Mentions.
Click Entry Form PRINT VERSIONto go directly to the Dogs and the Women Who Love Them True Story Contest Official Entry Form.
We are accepting submissions for "LifeBytes...Real Stories of Online Dating" (est. publication date spring 2010)
Who doesn't love sitting around with friends and family over coffee or a cocktail sharing stories about life, work and love? LifeBytes is interested in YOUR Online dating story. Make a cup of coffee or stir up a cocktail and tell us your cyber dating adventures - the good, the bad and the ugly! "LifeBytes...Real Stories" will be a compilation of the true stories that singles love to share with one another about the ups and downs of searching for Prince (or Princess) Charming.
We are looking for evocative stories that can be funny, poignant, provocative, scary, weird, sexy, edgy or happy. We're looking for the full range of experiences that make online dating such an adventure. Writers whose work is chosen for publication will receive payment for their story in the market range of $50-$100 (word count dependent).
Beneath Ceaseless Skies publishes "literary adventure fantasy": stories with a secondary-world setting and some traditional or classic fantasy feel, but written with a literary flair.
Secondary-World Setting: We want stories set in what Tolkien called a "secondary world": some other world that is different from our own primary world in some way. It could be different in terms of zoology (non-human creatures), ecology (climate), or physical laws (the presence of magic). It could be set on Earth but an Earth different from our primary world in terms of time (the historical past) or history (alternate history). It could have a "pre-tech" level of technology, or steampunk technology, or magic as technology, or anything else that's not advanced or modern technology. However, the setting should contain some element that is in some way fantastical.
The inhabitants of this secondary world should have developed their own culture in response to the uniqueness of their world. The characters should fit this culture, and the qualities of the secondary world should have some bearing on the plot.
We are not interested in urban fantasy or other types of stories set in the "real world," even if they contain fantasy elements.
Plot: We strongly prefer stories that have some plot. It can be external, in the character's surroundings, or it can be internal to the character, or it can be both. We are not interested in stories that meander between external events or internal emotions with no causality and therefore do not have any trace of a conventional-type plot.
Characters: We prefer stories that focus on the characters. We strongly prefer characters who yearn for something, external or internal, and feel driven to attain it. Our favorite characters are "round characters": ones who grow and change over the course of a story instead of remaining the same.
Literary Elements: We love modern literary devices like tight points-of-view, non-linear narratives, unreliable narrators, and ambiguous endings, so long as they fit that particular story. Our favorite literary device is round characters, who grow or change over the course of the story.
Narrative Style: We prefer styles that are literary but readable. We love gorgeous, poetic prose, but in genre fiction it's vital that the style be clear enough so the reader can understand what's happening. Our favorite prose styles are lush but still clear.
We have a preference for limited points-of-view, either first-person or third-person, because we find it harder for a story to get deep inside a character's head from an omniscient point-of-view. We find present tense often pretentious and second-person point-of-view always annoying.
We know grammar rules, such as which types of clauses should have commas between them and which types should not. We respect the author's freedom to bend the rules as suits their story. However, be forewarned that repeated ignorance of grammatical principles for no apparent artistic reason will make a manuscript look unprofessional to us.
Originality: We prefer stories that are as original as possible, particularly in the setting. We are unlikely to enjoy stories featuring elements we have seen repeatedly, such as elves or barbarian swordsmen or a quest to save the world from an evil overlord, unless they present that element in a unique new way.
Extreme Content: We prefer that graphic sex and violence not escalate beyond the level of an R-rated movie. We also insist that sex and sadistic violence not be acted upon children.
Fairy Tales / Myths: We usually find that fairy tale-style or myth-style narratives don't provide a gritty or immediate enough perspective to make us feel the texture of the secondary world or the direness of the protagonist's struggle. Any fairy tale-type or myth-type story probably isn't right for us.
Science Fiction: We aren't interested in science fiction; it's just not what we prefer to read. Any story with advanced technology or esoteric scientific concepts isn't right for us.
Science Fantasy: We do think there's common ground between fantasy and so-called "science fantasy," as some readers consider Dune because it focuses on secondary-world setting and culture rather than on advanced technology. For a detailed explanation of what science fantasy elements we are and aren't interested in, read this thread on the BCS Forums.
Steampunk / Smoke & Sorcery / Weird West / Sixguns & Sorcery / Etc.: In addition to fantasy, we also enjoy stories set in other types of secondary world that likewise don't have modern technology, including steampunk, smoke & sorcery, weird West, sixguns & sorcery, etc. Feel free to send us anything that you think might fit.
Humor and Satire: We don't mind humorous stories, but we have a very dry sense of humor. We love wry satire, but we rarely enjoy slapstick or puns. We aren't planning to publish much humor, but if you have a dry satire that hits us just right . . .
Length and Policies
We prefer stories under 10,000 words. We will consider stories over that length, but the longer a story is, the better it must be to hold our attention.
We are not interested in reprints (stories that have previously appeared anywhere in print or online, including on a personal website or blog).
We do not accept multiple submissions (more than one story submitted at a time). Please wait until you have received a reply to your submission before sending another.
We DO accept simultaneous submissions (stories that are currently under submission to another market), but ONLY if you state in your cover letter that your submission is simultaneous, and ONLY if you notify us IMMEDIATELY when another market accepts your story. We accept simultaneous submissions as a favor to writers because we know that response times can be long, but if people abuse this policy, we will rescind it.
Acceptances, Payment, and Rights
All accepted manuscripts will be line-edited for grammar, punctuation, and clarity. The author will have the opportunity to review and discuss all of these edits. However, we do insist on a high proficiency of grammar and clarity in our magazine. Payment will be made after receipt of the final, line-edited manuscript.
For standard acceptances, we pay 5 cents US per word, which is professional rate as defined by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). For this payment, we purchase the following rights:
First World Serial Rights First World Electronic Rights An Option to buy Non-Exclusive World Anthology Rights An Exclusive Period to buy Limited-Time Exclusive Audio Rights
This means that our payment buys the rights to publish your story on the Beneath Ceaseless Skies website, as well as the option, at our choice, to pay you again at the reprint rate specified in the original contract (usually 2 cents per word) to reprint your story in any future anthology of stories from Beneath Ceaseless Skies and distribute that anthology anywhere in the world. It also gives us a time period during which we have the exclusive option, at our choice, to buy limited-time audio rights to your story, at the rate specified in the original contract (usually 1 cent per word), and podcast your story from the Beneath Ceaseless Skies website.
You can't publish that story as a first-run or "new" story anywhere else in the world, and you can't have it appear anywhere else, in print or online or as audio, before or for ninety days after we publish it. But after that you can have it reprinted online and/or in a reprint magazine and/or in any reprint anthology, like one of the many Year's Best collections.
You also can't sell the audio rights to anyone else for ninety days after we publish the story. And if during those ninety days we buy the audio rights from you, you can't have the story appear in audio form anywhere else before or for ninety days after we podcast it. But after that you can resell the audio rights, including to one of the many fiction podcast websites.
We also hope that you will let us keep the story in our online archives after ninety days.
How to Submit
Format: Format your manuscript in Standard Manuscript Format. If you don't know what that is, look it up. If you deviate from this in more than a few ways, your story will look unprofessional to us before we've read the first word.
Include your name, address, and email on the first page, and a running header with your last name, the title, and page number at the top of every subsequent page.
Cover Letters: We do prefer a short cover letter with every submission. Type it into the body of your email. Mention the title of your story in case the attachment gets lost. List the best one or two fiction sales you have and/or mention any writing workshops you have attended. TELL US if this is a simultaneous submission. DO NOT give a synopsis or summary of your story; we'll learn what it's about when we read it.
Attach your manuscript to an email as either a *.DOC MS Word document file or a *.RTF rich-text-format file. If you can't get either of these to work, you may paste the text of your manuscript into the body of your email. DO NOT send a *.DOCX file (the default format that Word 2007 uses); we can't open those files.
Send your email to submissions[AT]beneath-ceaseless-skies.com (replacing [AT] with @). Use the subject line Submission: (the title of your story).
IMPORTANT: your subject line MUST include the word "Submission" or our spam filter will delete your email.
Our Process and Response Times
You should receive our email auto-reply within 24 hours after sending your submission.
If you don't, check your spam filter to be sure it didn't get caught there. Then make sure your subject line starts with Submission so our filter won't delete your email and send your story again. If you still don't receive the auto-reply 24 hours after that, query using the email form on our Contact page. We will get back to you as soon as we can.
Response Times: Our response times are currently averaging 3-5 weeks, occasionally as long as 6-7 weeks. To keep writers informed on our reading progress, we will post periodic Slush Updates in the Submissions Status section of our online forums. If we announce that we've replied to all submissions emailed before a certain date, but you sent yours before that date (and received our auto-reply confirming that it arrived), feel free to query us using the email form on our Contact page.
Please do not query if we haven't announced that we've replied to all submissions up to the date you sent yours. Any time that we spend answering extra queries is time we can't spend reading submissions or posting Slush Updates.
All rejections and acceptances will be notified by email.
Ah, Baby Boomers. Look who's entering the Age of Elegance...
According to author Chloe Jon Paul who wrote, Entering the Age of Elegance - A Rite of Passage & Practical Guide for the Modern Maturing Woman, this second adulthood reaches us around age forty and if this “rite of passage” isn't done with style and grace, we can become disoriented and lose our way.
We want to know what the Age of Elegance means to you. Fulfillment? Exploration? Discovery? Tell us!
To enter this contest, simply follow these short and simple guidelines before submitting your story.
CONTEST GUIDELINES:
Using 500 words or less, and using these helpful questions below, tell us;
What does the “age of elegance” mean to you? Have you embraced this time in your life? If so, how? Have you used this journey to define yourself as a new woman?
Please submit your entry in a WORD document AS AN ATTACHMENT. Include your name, email address, and short bio (no more than 75 words) INSIDE the WORD document NOT IN THE BODY OF THE EMAIL.
SUBMIT to - contest@nabbw.com with Age of Elegance in the subject line.
Deadline – May 31, 2009
PRIZE MONEY - 100.00 and F-R-E-E membership or renewal in the NABBW. Plus your story will be published in the Our Voices section at www.BoomerWomenSpeak.com. also TWO LUCKY RUNNER-UPS will receive a framed copy of The Litany of Elegance plus easels, compliments of author Chloe Jon Paul!
Working Title: The Book of the Dead (tentative title) Publisher: Living Dead Press Release Date: Summer 2009
What we want:
Original stories about standard zombies that have not been printed anywhere before. Only slow, Romero-type zombies. Keep the plot true to a world where the dead walk. All the stories need to be set during either Night of the Living Dead or Dawn of the Dead timeline. Therefore the zombies are not rotting and purtid just yet, but do have wounds or have just left the funeral home.
No viruses, the dead walk and we don't know why, just like the movies. Its not airborn ect. you die, you come back, period.
In this world, the dead walking is new as people deal with it in their own ways, be it fight or run.
No werewolves or vampires, its the world we live in but the dead walk, otherwise everything is the same.
We want action, save the intelligent stories for someone else. We want blood, gore and guns.
Also, we are not fans of first person stories so unless your story is absolutley fantastic, only a few will be picked that are in first person.
Here's the deal folks. If we start reading and the story goes of in any other direction than what we are looking for, it gets rejected for this book on the spot.
Your story only needs two things to qualify:
a unique story about the walking dead
needs to be basically finished and edited other than small, copy-editing done by us.
Stories are to range from 3,000 to 6,000 words. The story can be up to 10,000, but you only get paid to 6. Nothing under 3,000 will be considered, they are too short. We want real stories, not flash fiction.
Location of author:
You need to be in the U.S or maybe Canada. We aren't set up to do international business right now but will be in the future.
So if you don't live in those two locales above, then please don't send the story right now.
What rights do we want?
First print and electronic rights to your story and exclusive rights for 1-year after publication. After that you can resell it. But we do have the right to use the story for as long as there is demand for the book.
What we don’t want:
No repetitive coarse language. (All swears are fine but in normal moderation.)
No poetry
No Fast Zombies!!!
No Porn. (Sexy scenes are fine if tasteful and relevant to the story.)
No reprints. New stories only, please.
Multiple submissions are allowed, but only up to two at any one time.
What we’re making:
The Book of the Dead will be published as a trade paperback and perhaps as an e-book.
What you get:
1 cent a word and a contributor’s copy of the book. The paperback copy of the book will be sent to you upon or shortly after the book’s official release date. Payment is based on final word count from the final edited copy of the story, so once your story is ready for print, payment will be sent to you via check.
What to send:
Please send your story in standard manuscript format:
Courier, arial or baskerville, 12pt, it really doesnt matter because the first thing we do before reading your story is change to Georgia 12 point, then we read and edit the work at the same time in hopes we are going to take it.
Make sure any italicized words are underlined. Also include your name and contact information, phone number, on the first page as well as your name in the upper right corner of subsequent pages. Don’t forget to also number your pages.
We don't want double spaced, we want to see the story how it would look in a book so as we read it we can get the full feeling of the story.
We also would rather not see the story indented. Keep it flush to the left with no double spaces. If we take your story, its easier to format into the book if its like we just described. When we get them tabbed, it all has to be taken away again, agravating to say the least. If you dont underline what you want italizied then dont complain if its not like that in the book.
Please also use the same address for any questions not addressed here.
When to send it by:
Reading period starts right away and will end at the end of June/July, 2009. You will be notified by early June if your story is accepted, possibly sooner. We are very excited to start this project so all dates can be sooner depending on volume of submission.
Even if your story isn't accepted this time around it's possible we could use it later, so make sure you know how long you will let us hold onto it before you do anything with it.
New Anthology “War is All We Know” is now accepting manuscripts.
This anthology is designed to collect the best fiction on war. We don’t want war as a backdrop to another story, but the war or conflict must be the major part of the story. Each story must include as a quote or somewhere else in the text the phrase “War is all we know.”
All submissions will be considered for inclusion in the anthology and for contest prizes.
Page length: Between 20-40 pages, but we would consider longer or slightly shorter pieces.
Some things to consider before you submit to us:
We DO NOT accept previously published material for any of our anthologies.
We acquire first time world rights and re-print rights (only to re-print the same anthology as a paperback, hardback, or audiobook). All other rights revert back to the author 12 months following publication as outlined on our release form.
Materials will not be returned. All materials will be shredded and recycled.
Submission:
Hard copy via regular mail
Please send one double-spaced typed copy of your story with your name on each page and include page numbers.
With your story, please submit a cover letter with a short biography listing your credentials, stating to what anthology you are submitting, and including an active E-mail address.
Compensation:
Before you submit please be aware that the compensation, unless otherwise noted, will include publication of the work (if accepted) and a brief author biography. For all short story anthologies (excluding the poetry anthology), authors residing in the United States will receive one free copy of the work. The author may also be able to purchase discounted copies of the work.
Acceptance or Rejection:
You can expect to receive a reply via E-mail regarding the acceptance or rejection of your manuscript once the review process is complete.
Stories that celebrate the women who gave us everything
While it's true that each of us has "only one mother the wide world over," there are many different ways to be a mother and many different forms and flavors of mother-child relationships. And in this Cup of Comfort anthology we want to capture it all—with personal stories about a wide range of mothering and mother-child experiences, including those that test your mettle as well as those that enrich your life. The book will include stories written both by mothers and about mothers (by their adult children, spouse, own mother). Any topic and tone goes, as long as it’s meaningful to mothers and suitable for Cup of Comfort. Whether a story is endearing or entertaining, inspiring or insightful, humorous or heartwarming, poignant or empowering, or all of the above, it must be uplifting and authentic. And most should be about living mothers/children. Although a story may be about a deceased mother (or a deceased child, if written by the mother), it should focus on her life, not on her death. Narrative essays preferred. Story length: 1000–2000 words.
Submission Deadline: May 15, 2009 Submit Your Story Now Finalist Notification: June 1, 2009
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONSGRANDMOTHERS' NECKLACEDEADLINE: Midnight, May 15th Are you a grandmother? Have you had/do you have, a grandmother? This, then, is for you.
What is it?An anthology of poetry and prose — gems written by and about grandmothers (hence, the plural title) including some from those in the sub-Saharan African countries. This title stems from the beautiful Emerald Necklace Trail system in Petawawa, Ontario, Canada.
Wanted:A variety of pieces from men and women of diverse ethnic and experiential backgrounds — amusing, touching, encouraging, up-lifting anecdotes, short stories, letters and poetry. Editor: Patricia (Anne) Elford, B.A., M.Div., editor of various genres of books for adults and children, of newsletters, individual pieces and articles, an award-winning professional poet and writer, frequently published in periodicals (e.g. The Presbyterian Record, Artspaper, Glad Tidings, Esprit, The Link), newspapers and anthologies, as well as on line.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: e-mail attachment preferred. Submit to granniesnecklace@hotmail.com, after March 15, 2009, with “MY GEM” in the subject line. For answers to questions as yet unanswered, please use the same address and “QUESTIONS” subject line.
√Microsoft Word or Word Perfect √12-pt Times New Roman √ one-inch margins If hard copy: One side only, Address: “The Pines”, 614 Airport Rd., Pembroke, ON, K8A 6W7, Attention: My Gem
Prose: Short fiction, creative non-fiction or brief opinion piece, double-spaced Word Count: 500 to 650 words maximum (excluding title)
POETRY: (non-rhymed preferred but not required), single-spaced Limit of Lines per poem: 40
PHOTOS: If submitting related photos (e.g. the grandmother, a special item which belongs/ed to the grandmother), use the camera as an external device and cut-and-paste images to a folder. When e-mailing, attach the image directly from its folder to the email; the way you would a Word document. Preference: digital photographs, 300 dpi minimum, high quality uncompressed JPEGs. Please do not send originals through surface mail.
A brief bio and photo will be requested from allwhose work is accepted for publication
Donna Sundblad is a retired editor and freelance writer who now focuses on book reviews, writing her own novels, and blogging in her spare time. She is currently working on her Dragon's Oath series. Book 1, Drake Ascendant, is set to release soon, followed by Book 2, Shadowalkers, in early 2025, and Book 3, Sages of Tachnir, in the months after. Rise of the Variel (Book 4) is currently in progress.
Visit her website to explore her selection of available fantasy novels.
For more information, visit donnasundblad.com.
What does the “age of elegance” mean to you? 
