Thursday, July 23, 2009

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Count Your Blessings

VERY QUICK STORY CALL OUT FOR NEW TITLE!
TWO WEEK DEADLINE!!

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Count Your Blessings
101 Stories of Gratitude, Fortitude, and Silver Linings

This follow-on book to Chicken Soup for the Soul: Tough Times, Tough People continues Chicken Soup for the Soul's focus on inspiration and hope in these difficult times. These inspirational stories remind us that each day holds something to be thankful for -- whether it is having the sun shine or having food on the table. Power outages and storms, health scares and illnesses, job woes and financial insecurities, housing challenges and family worries test us all. But there is always a silver lining. The simple pleasures of family, home, health, and inexpensive good times are described.

We are looking for true stories and poems written in the first person of no more than 1,200 words. Stories can be serious or humorous, or both. They should not have been previously published by Chicken Soup for the Soul or other major publications.

Here are a few suggested topics:

How you count your blessings or express your gratitude
What made you realize that your life is good and that you are grateful
Silver linings that you have discovered in the midst of challenging events
What is really valuable in your life
Major life changes or events for which you are grateful
How you spread the message of gratitude to your family and friends
The joy of simple pleasures
The unexpected benefits of health challenges or other life changes

This book is in the process of being completed and will go to the printer in September for publication in October! It is a featured Chicken Soup for the Soul title for Christmas 2009. The deadline for submissions is soon, so if you can submit quickly you have a better chance than normal of being chosen.
If your story is chosen, you will be a published author and your bio will be printed in the book if you so choose. You will also receive a check for $200 and 10 free copies of your book, worth more than $100. You will retain the copyright for your story.

SUBMISSIONS GO TO http://chickensoupf orthesoul. com/form. asp?cid=submit_ story.

DEADLINE IS MONDAY AUGUST 3rd. THANK YOU!

CONTACT US

Please do not reply or send questions to this address. For any further questions or correspondence, contact webmaster@chickenso upforthesoul. com or visit our website at http://www.chickens oup.com.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE: HORROR IN RURAL AMERICA

We are looking for horror/suspense/mystery/supernatural stories that take place in rural America. Other genres are okay as long as the main theme is dark and/or disturbing. Think farmland. Think abandoned buildings. Think small towns with nosy neighbors. Think malevolence in middle America. Think long, creepy country roads. Most importantly, think outside the box!


Traditional monsters (vampires, werewolves, zombies, witches, mummies, etc.) Are welcome as long as presented in a fresh and interesting way. For more information, check our website at Pill Hill Press.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Flash Fiction Contest

1st Prize: $60 plus publication
2nd Prize: $30 plus publication
Theme: Open
Genre: Fiction
Length: 500 words or fewer
Deadline: July 21, 2009 (postmark)
Entry Fee: $2.00 per story

THE RULES

- Write a self-contained short story in 500 words or fewer. No predetermined
theme this year, so let your imaginations run wild!
- Be original. Be concise. Be spelled correctly.
- Send your story in plain text in the body of an e-mail to
contests@inkspotter .com (subject line =
"Annual Contest Submission") or to the address on the website (below). Do
not indent paragraphs. Leave one line space between each paragraph.
- All stories MUST have a title.
- Be sure to include your full name and e-mail address. If your story wins,
we'll contact you for your preferred method of payment.
- Enter as often as you like, but payment must be received for each entry.
- You retain copyright of your story.
- All entries will be acknowledged if an e-mail address is included.
- By entering the contest, you agree to have your name and email address
added to the subscriber list for InkSpotter News, our monthly ezine. Contest
news and winning stories appear in the newsletter. (Our subscriber list will
never be shared with or sold to a third party.)

NOTE: Please, do not submit fan fiction.

FULL DETAILS at http://inkspotter. com/contests. htm

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Anthology of Essays, Short Stories and Poetry

Call for Submissions

I'm taking submissions for an anthology of essays, short stories, and poetry inspired by Newbery award-winning books. I'm interested in discovering how a particular Newbery book influenced you (or someone you know), or made a difference to you, at any age.

Did you try to hide overnight at the Met because you read From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler? Maybe you once survived a week in the tundra because you read Julie of the Wolves. Maybe you read Johnny Tremain and then you became obsessed with American history and you've written a great short story about Paul Revere. Or your kid read A Wrinkle In Time and now you're helping her build a tesseract in the garage! This is the sort of thing I'm looking for — something about a Newbery book that will resonate with everyone else who's ever read it.

The list of Newbery recipients is here. I am currently taking submissions dealing with both Newbery award winners and honorees.

Deadline for submissions: November 1, 2009

Please follow these guidelines for submission:

* Don't submit works in progress.
* Everything must be submitted electronically.
* Don't submit someone else's work for them — submit your own work yourself.
* Don't submit something that was published somewhere else before.
* No fan-fiction, spin-offs, sequels, prequels, crossovers or erotica.
* Poetry is acceptable. Your poem should not be longer than 2 printed pages.
* Essays and short stories should be shorter than 7500 words.
* For text submissions, please attach the file to your email. I will accept submissions in .doc, .rtf or .txt format. If you're submitting a .doc, please turn off smart quotes and tracking changes. Don't send me a link, or paste your work directly into the body of your email.
* Please include the title and the author of the Newbery recipient in the cover letter with your submission.
* Please have all submitted works in "ready-to-publish" condition. At a minimum, this should include spellchecking the submission. Submissions including multiple spelling or grammatical errors are much less likely to be accepted.
* All work submitted must be the original work of the submitter, and the submitter must have the ability to grant the right to publish the work.

Please send your submissions to me at editor at mataglap dot com.

Your submission should not include any copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner.

This project is not endorsed by the ALA or by the Newbery program in any way.