Children's Writer Historical Story Competition

If you like writing for children and contests, read on . . .

I received the following information by e-mail from Children's Writer today. It sounds like a great opportunity for children's writers. The rewards are publication in Children’s Writer, cash prizes, winners’ certificates, and valuable training in disciplined writing.

Writing to an editor’s specifications is the first hurdle that any writer must clear on the track to publication. Yet, editors repeatedly  say that the majority of manuscripts they receive do not match their guidelines and specifications. That’s a huge waste of time and energy for both writers and editors.


Writing contests also have exact specifications, and that’s why we encourage all writers to enter contests as often as they can. Contests are excellent professional training experiences. A winning entry can get you published, and often some healthy prize money, too.

The winning historical fiction piece in this contest will be published in Children’s Writer, the monthly newsletter that goes to almost 1,300 children’s book and magazine editors in North America.


Along with the winning story, we’ll publish an article about it and the other top-ranked stories and their authors.


In addition, we will publish the winning entries on the Children’s Writer website.

There are also five cash prizes: $500 for the top winner, $250 for second place, and $100 for third, fourth, and fifth places. These alone are a lot of good reasons to write and enter.


The contest is for historical fiction for young teens, age 13, to 1,500 words. Balance originality with accuracy and utilize a strong bibliography of research sources. Create a voice and a story that is historical but relevant to contemporary readers. Publishability is the ultimate criterion.

Current subscribers to Children’s Writer enter free. All others, including our students who are not subscribers to Children’s Writer, pay a $15 reading fee—standard for writing contests. But, if you are not a subscriber, your $15 fee will also bring you an eight-month trial subscription to Children’s Writer. You may enter multiple manuscripts, but please use an entry form for each one.

The contest’s rules are important. You’ll find them on the contest entry page. Please read them very carefully.


Note the October 30th deadline! Be sure to get your entry in on time.


Now warm up your computer, laptop, or notebook and write a $500-winning story of historical fiction! Good luck!


Please click here to enter: www.thechildrenswriter.com/AD119/

Sincerely,


Susan Tierney, Editor


P. S. As someone who has judged writing competitions for many years, I can tell you that nothing hurts an entry more than exceeding the word limit. Don’t fall out of the running because of this easy-to-meet spec. Please remember to count your words!

Short Stories Wanted at Bridge House Publishing

I've sent a story to Bridge House Publishing this week for their upcoming Charity Anthology.  The 2011 chosen charity is Children's Hospices UK and Bridge House are looking for stories suitable for children of junior school age (7-10 years). Stories should be 1000-3000 words and the theme must be uplifting.
If your submission is succesful you may find your work published alongside one or more well known children's writers who have been invited to contribute. £1 from the sale of every copy will be donated to the charity and  authors will be asked to donate their royalities.

Bridge House published two charity books last year 100 Stories for Haiti and Gentle Footprints, which supports the Born Free foundation and includes a story by Richard Adams. It is endorsed by Virginia McKenna and contains a foreword by her. Gentle Footprints, described as "an extraordinary book" was launched at the Hay festival. at a launch attended by over 1,000.  It was featured on the Book Show and on Loose Women. For guidelines on submitting to this and/or other Bridge House click on the link: www.bridgehousepublishing.co.uk/newsubmissions 
Other upcoming anthologies include Angels, Science Fiction and Crime themes so there's something for everyone. Oh, and while surfing the site I found there's a competition too as well as some fabulous anthologies of stories to buy and read.

Ten Tips on Writing Stories Children and Editors will Love.

Do you want to write winning short stories for children? Here's a few top tips!

1. Don’t patronize. Children are sophisticated, intelligent and like to be challenged. Don’t over simply or over explain. Don’t write for children because you think it’s the easy option. It’s not.

2. Don’t preach. It’s okay for your story to have a message or moral, but don’t bang on about it. If your story is well written the message will be apparent as your character will have learnt something and your reader will learn too as a result.

3. Do create interesting, realistic characters your reader can relate to and want to know better.

4. Don’t sit around waiting for inspiration. Find it by reading children’s books and stories, listening to them talk, watching their TV programmes and so on. Emerge yourself into their world as much as you can.

5. Do make sure your story and its language are age appropriate. Research what children of that age may be interested in before you write. Research what editors are looking for too. and write what they want

6. Do include dialogue that is realistic, true to the characters’ personalities and which helps move the story on.

7. Don’t jump into the story and tell it yourself– let your characters do that for you.

8. Don’t be miserable, morbid or melodramatic, even if your story has a serious message or sad content.

9. Do enjoy what you write. If you’re having fun your reader will too.

10. Don’t be afraid to try a new slant on an old story. Many successful modern stories are based on or inspired by fables and fairy stories writers enjoyed themselves.

Use the above tips as guidelines and add to it as you become experienced in writing stories for children.

Learn from your masters (the writers you admire), learn from your writing - from your mistakes and your successes. And one final tip to keep in mind – don’t expect your story to be perfect, just make it as good as you can.

Short Story Radio

Tune into http://www.shortstoryradio/ to listen to or read quality short stories. The project is Arts Council funded and offers the opportunity to listen to podcasts online or download to read or listen to later. The website features competitions and the chance to find out more about the writers and narrators. It's very user friendly and offers a range of services such as a newsletter, writing guide and e-book.


If you join their Short Story Radio Writers' Club you receive many great benefits. Membership costs just £20 per year and includes:

• Free Short Story Competition Entry

Three free submissions to our short story competitions over the 12 months of your membership (normal price £5 per entry). We run three competitions a year. You can use your three free entries in any combination (e.g. all in the same competition, one for each of the next three competitions etc). You also have free entry to the annual Writers' Club Short Story competition.

• 10% off Marketing For Your Book package
• 10% off the premium Marketing For Your Book package (opens a new link).
• Website hosting (including 5 email addresses) for £25 per year
• Early Bird Writing Course Booking
• Invitation to sign up for future writing courses before booking is opened to the wider writing community.
• Guide to Writing for Short Story Radio
• An e-pamphlet of very useful tips and advice on writing specifically for Short Story Radio.
• E-book of Classic Short Stories
• An exclusive e-book of classic short stories, including writing by HG Wells, Louisa May Alcott and Oscar Wilde.

Electric Literature: 4th edition

The following post is a newsletter from the editors of Electric Literature, a fabulous online magazine showcasing quality stories from talented writers across the globe:

Harrowing tales of heart-stopping brilliance: EL4 is out now!!


The wait is over! Our new issue, Electric Literature No.4, is available now, and it’s our most exciting collection yet.

From ghost hunting with Javier Marías, the novelist described by Roberto Bolaño as "by far Spain's best writer today", to Ben Stroud’s tale of a destitute cripple sent by his emperor to destroy a holy man, to Pulitzer-finalist Joy Williams' terrible and beautiful fable about Baba Iaga and her pelican child, to Mexican writer Roberto Ransom’s master fresco painter and the conservationist who tries to recapture his magic hundreds of years later, to Patrick deWitt’s chronicle of a man known only as “The Bastard,” the stories in this issue recall the simple pleasure of tale-telling, and celebrate the joy and wonder of escaping into a vividly imagined world.
Order your copy today in the format of your choice, or subscribe and get 4 issues of EL at up to 60% off the cover price!!
http://bit.ly/8Icq97

Like a Rolling Stone

Momentum. Propulsion. EL has been in the press a bunch since we last spoke. June and July brought print coverage in Writer’s Digest, Bomb Magazine, Interview, Paper, the LA Times, and GQ, a PodCast on MediaBistro, and a TV spot on Brian Lehrer Live!.

Friendship is Rare

When we were in an MFA program three years ago, there was a lot of pessimism about the future of literary content. We created Electric Literature as an experiment: could we take the forces that seem to threaten literature and marshal them in its defense? Could new media and innovative distribution help keep literature a vital part of popular culture?

Our journal is possible because of the work of more than 40 volunteers, and thankfully, we've been successful so far. Electric Literature has over 150,000 readers following us on Twitter (more than any other publisher in the world) and is successfully expanding readership for short stories through YouTube videos, iPhone apps, and other innovations.

Keep in touch. Follow us on Twitter (@ElectricLit), Join us on Facebook, or feel free to simply email us at editors@electricliterature.com.

As writers, we know that the only way to keep literature vital is by reaching readers everywhere. Building strong communities, both online and offline, goes a long way.

Good night and good luck,

Andy & Scott

Editors

Electric Literature

Who do you write like?

Apparently my short story, Salamanda's Special Power is like JK Rowling and the novel I'm currently writing is like Dan Brown. Try this fun website link:
I Write Like website at http://www.iwl.me/
and download an extract of your short story to discover who you write like. I tried a few different extracts which resulted in comparison with several different writers, so I'm not sure how reliable it is, but I enjoyed the process anyway.
When you've got your result, which you can upload to Twitter, Facebook etc, you can also sign up for a free newsletter and an e-book on writing short stories, "SHORT STORY WRITING: A Practical Treatise on the Art of the Short Story" By Charles Raymond Barrett, Ph. B. I've just received it myself so will let you know what I think once I've read it.
If you'd like to read extracts from some of my stories and find out how to buy them, click on the My Stories page tab at the top right of the blog.