Full disclosure: before spiraling out of control, yesterday’s post was actually intended merely to be a short introduction linking to this excellent post by C.M. Mayo about the whys and hows of guest blogging as a form of (artful!) promotion, including a list of ideas of things to blog about.
Of course I especially like this suggestion:
“2. Think about food: any recipes from the book? Any recipes your characters might concoct?”
I’m often looking for guest posts for this blog. Please email me if you might be interested in writing a guest post and let’s see if we can make it work!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
The Art of Shameless Self-Promotion
In this day of publishers’ itsy-bitsy budgets to market new writers (oops, did I say “itsy-bitsy”…actually, I meant non-existent), writers have to find ways to get the word out about their books. It’s hard to do, when many (most?) writers are the type of people whose idea of fun is sitting at a desk tapping at a computer—uninterrupted!—for several hours—alone!
The old model of showing up at a bookstore and hoping to sell a bunch of books is not necessarily translating well in our brave new world (unless you’re selling that bunch of books to friends you’ve roped into the bookstore by promising a party). So many writers and publicists are looking to blogs and social networking to fill this marketing gap.
But there’s an art to that, too. First, while it’s VERY easy to start a blog (simply click on that little link on the upper right of this screen that says “create blog” and voila, you’ve got a blog), it’s less easy to find readers for your blog…I mean, beyond the friends who buy the book at the bookstore reading anyway. Second, it’s very hard to write something on your blog worth reading Every. Single. Day. (Exhibit A: See this fabulous recipe I posted yesterday because I couldn’t think of anything else to write.)
Finally, the biggest problem with this new model is one that people don’t think about: there’s an art to shameless self-promotion. Just as you don’t walk into a party with a bunch of people you don’t know and start talking about how great you and your kids are, you shouldn’t start writing a blog that only talks about you-you-you and how amazingly wonderful you-you-you are and how great-great-great your book is. Or the Facebooking/Twitter equivalent. Who wants to read that?
Maybe I’m from the nice humble Midwest (okay, not maybe: I am), but I often find some of this shameless self-promotion appalling. I don’t mind artful self-promotion—heck, I admire it!—but what about these examples:
--From Facebook, someone asked on a post, “What’s the quickest way to be defriended? Beg me to friend you, then when I do, slap links about your new book all over my wall.”
--How many times can one post various reviews of the movie (the movie!) made from your book? (Note: this was a major movie, not some sweet indie film that could use a boost.) I don’t know the answer because I got sick of the barrage and hid this annoying person until the movie safely moved off to the world of On Demand and Netflix.
Artful is this:
--Mentioning during a reading that your work will be included in the forthcoming Best American series, then telling a very funny and self-deprecating story about contacting the guest editor of the series. We were all definitely impressed by the credit, and we were also impressed by the good humor and realization that at a certain point, there’s a lot of the crapshoot involved in every good thing.
--Writing on your blog about someone else’s book/story/poem that you admire…extra points if this writer is not dead and in whichever canon you ascribe to, and extra-extra points if this writer is someone you DON’T know and DON’T want a blurb from.
--Remembering that at a party, people are not really there to hear you blather on about your book. They are there to blather on about something of equal importance in their own lives…let them get a word in. Ask some questions. Make them feel special.
--Passing out a card or book postcard should never be done within the first two seconds of meeting someone. Ideally, you might want to preface the handover with this: “May I give you a card?” No one’s going to scream, “NO!” so you’ll get your card out there in the world, but in a nice, polite, respectful way.
--The most important aspect of artfully promoting yourself is something I learned while I worked at a Chamber of Commerce, where networking is as prevalent as oxygen. The people who were the best, the people who got the job-sale-recommendation-whatever, were the people who built relationships, not the people who immediately asked for what they wanted. The people who were the best, knew that you need to GIVE before you can GET. People who believed in generosity.
Instead of trying to think about how a person can help you, think first about how you can help them. For example, in conversation, you think that their work sounds good for that new literary journal you heard about that’s looking for stories. So you make the offer: Do you know about XYZ Journal? Your work sounds perfect. Then you lock it in: Let me give you my card—if you email me, I’ll send you the address. And of course, follow-up and promptly email the address. See? Now here’s someone disposed to think of you favorably.
Was that so hard?
The old model of showing up at a bookstore and hoping to sell a bunch of books is not necessarily translating well in our brave new world (unless you’re selling that bunch of books to friends you’ve roped into the bookstore by promising a party). So many writers and publicists are looking to blogs and social networking to fill this marketing gap.
But there’s an art to that, too. First, while it’s VERY easy to start a blog (simply click on that little link on the upper right of this screen that says “create blog” and voila, you’ve got a blog), it’s less easy to find readers for your blog…I mean, beyond the friends who buy the book at the bookstore reading anyway. Second, it’s very hard to write something on your blog worth reading Every. Single. Day. (Exhibit A: See this fabulous recipe I posted yesterday because I couldn’t think of anything else to write.)
Finally, the biggest problem with this new model is one that people don’t think about: there’s an art to shameless self-promotion. Just as you don’t walk into a party with a bunch of people you don’t know and start talking about how great you and your kids are, you shouldn’t start writing a blog that only talks about you-you-you and how amazingly wonderful you-you-you are and how great-great-great your book is. Or the Facebooking/Twitter equivalent. Who wants to read that?
Maybe I’m from the nice humble Midwest (okay, not maybe: I am), but I often find some of this shameless self-promotion appalling. I don’t mind artful self-promotion—heck, I admire it!—but what about these examples:
--From Facebook, someone asked on a post, “What’s the quickest way to be defriended? Beg me to friend you, then when I do, slap links about your new book all over my wall.”
--How many times can one post various reviews of the movie (the movie!) made from your book? (Note: this was a major movie, not some sweet indie film that could use a boost.) I don’t know the answer because I got sick of the barrage and hid this annoying person until the movie safely moved off to the world of On Demand and Netflix.
Artful is this:
--Mentioning during a reading that your work will be included in the forthcoming Best American series, then telling a very funny and self-deprecating story about contacting the guest editor of the series. We were all definitely impressed by the credit, and we were also impressed by the good humor and realization that at a certain point, there’s a lot of the crapshoot involved in every good thing.
--Writing on your blog about someone else’s book/story/poem that you admire…extra points if this writer is not dead and in whichever canon you ascribe to, and extra-extra points if this writer is someone you DON’T know and DON’T want a blurb from.
--Remembering that at a party, people are not really there to hear you blather on about your book. They are there to blather on about something of equal importance in their own lives…let them get a word in. Ask some questions. Make them feel special.
--Passing out a card or book postcard should never be done within the first two seconds of meeting someone. Ideally, you might want to preface the handover with this: “May I give you a card?” No one’s going to scream, “NO!” so you’ll get your card out there in the world, but in a nice, polite, respectful way.
--The most important aspect of artfully promoting yourself is something I learned while I worked at a Chamber of Commerce, where networking is as prevalent as oxygen. The people who were the best, the people who got the job-sale-recommendation-whatever, were the people who built relationships, not the people who immediately asked for what they wanted. The people who were the best, knew that you need to GIVE before you can GET. People who believed in generosity.
Instead of trying to think about how a person can help you, think first about how you can help them. For example, in conversation, you think that their work sounds good for that new literary journal you heard about that’s looking for stories. So you make the offer: Do you know about XYZ Journal? Your work sounds perfect. Then you lock it in: Let me give you my card—if you email me, I’ll send you the address. And of course, follow-up and promptly email the address. See? Now here’s someone disposed to think of you favorably.
Was that so hard?
Monday, May 10, 2010
Strawberry Rhubarb Pudding Cake: Easier than Pie!
I haven’t posted a recipe for quite a while, so here’s one I’ve made twice already in the past three weeks, taking advantage of rhubarb and strawberry season. Even if you think you can’t make cake, you can definitely make this cake. It’s super-easy, super-fast, and super-delicious. (After the fresh strawberries and rhubarb have marched on into happy memories, the cake can be made with blueberries, peaches, raspberries: “Any ripe, luscious fruit.”)
From Gourmet Today, edited by Ruth Reichel.
(Check out the mouth-watering picture here.)
Rhubarb Strawberry Pudding Cake
Serves 6 to 8 (breakfast or dessert)
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/3 cup plus 1/2 cup sugar
2 cups chopped fresh rhubarb stalks (10 oz)
1 cup chopped fresh strawberries (5 oz)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup whole milk [I used a mix of half-and-half and skim milk]
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Butter an 8-inch square glass or ceramic baking dish. [I used Pam.]
Stir together water, cornstarch, and 1/3 cup sugar in a small saucepan, then stir in rhubarb. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly, then simmer, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in strawberries.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a bowl.
Whisk together egg, milk, butter, and vanilla in a large bowl, then whisk in flour mixture until just combined.
Reserve 1/2 cup fruit mixture, then add remainder to baking dish and pour batter over it, spreading evenly. Drizzle reserved 1/2 cup fruit mixture over batter. Bake until a wooden pick inserted into center of cake portion comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes before serving.
Here are directions for blueberries (which I haven’t yet tried): Substitute 2 cups (10 oz) blueberries for the rhubarb and strawberries. Reduce the cornstarch to 1 teaspoon and add 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice to the cornstarch mixture.
Sigh. I still miss Gourmet magazine....
From Gourmet Today, edited by Ruth Reichel.
(Check out the mouth-watering picture here.)
Rhubarb Strawberry Pudding Cake
Serves 6 to 8 (breakfast or dessert)
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/3 cup plus 1/2 cup sugar
2 cups chopped fresh rhubarb stalks (10 oz)
1 cup chopped fresh strawberries (5 oz)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup whole milk [I used a mix of half-and-half and skim milk]
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Butter an 8-inch square glass or ceramic baking dish. [I used Pam.]
Stir together water, cornstarch, and 1/3 cup sugar in a small saucepan, then stir in rhubarb. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly, then simmer, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in strawberries.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a bowl.
Whisk together egg, milk, butter, and vanilla in a large bowl, then whisk in flour mixture until just combined.
Reserve 1/2 cup fruit mixture, then add remainder to baking dish and pour batter over it, spreading evenly. Drizzle reserved 1/2 cup fruit mixture over batter. Bake until a wooden pick inserted into center of cake portion comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes before serving.
Here are directions for blueberries (which I haven’t yet tried): Substitute 2 cups (10 oz) blueberries for the rhubarb and strawberries. Reduce the cornstarch to 1 teaspoon and add 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice to the cornstarch mixture.
Sigh. I still miss Gourmet magazine....
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Guest in Progress: Rachel Hall's Recommended Collections of Letters
For the past two Thursdays, Rachel Hall has been sharing the joy of using personal letters as source material in fiction writing. (If you missed her essay, you can find it here and here.)
This is all well and good if we (like Rachel) happen to have a bundle of letters written by some interesting relatives who did interesting things during interesting times. But what if everyone we know was boring!? Or, more likely, simply didn’t write things down? Or, even more likely, didn’t save their letters?
Here’s a wide-ranging list of books of collected letters that Rachel recommends, sure to spark the creative fire and/or add some insight to a current time/place in your own work.
Books of Collected Letters
Compiledby Rachel Hall
Raising a Baby the Government Way: Mothers’ Letters to the Children’s Bureau 1915-1932, ed. Molly Ladd-Taylor
Women’s Letters: America from the Revolutionary War to the Present, ed. Lisa Grunwald and Stephen J. Adler
Letters of the Century: America 1900-1999, ed. Lisa Grunwald and Stephen J. Adler
Since You Went Away: World War II Letters from American Women on the Home Front, ed. Judy Barrett Litoff and David C. Smith
An Uncommon Soldier: The Civil War Letters of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, alias Pvt. Lyons Wakeman, 153rd Regiment, New York State Volunteers, 1862-1864, ed. Lauren Cook Burgess
Love No Less: More Than Two Centuries of African-American Love Letters, ed. Pamela Newkirk
Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: Letters to Eleanor Roosevelt Through Depression and War, ed. Cathy D. Knepper Ph.D.
Letters of a German American Farmer: Juernjakob Swehn Travels to America, ed. Johannes Gillhoff
To Marry an Indian: The Marriage of Harriett Gold and Elias Boudinot in Letters, 1823-1839, ed. Gaul, Theresa Strouth
Dear Helen: Wartime Letters from a Londoner to Her American Pen Pal, ed. Russell M. Jones and John H. Swanson
Remembering the Boys: A Collection of Letters, a Gathering of Memories, ed.Lynna Piekutowski
Can Anything Beat White? A Black Family’s Letters, ed. Elisabeth Petry and Farah Jasmine Griffin
Letters From the Great Blasket by EibhlísNíShúilleabháin
The GI's Rabbi: World War II Letters Of David Max Eichhorn, ed.David Max Eichhorn, Greg Palmer, Mark S. Zaid, and Doris L. Bergen
Dispatches From the Heart: Love Letters From the Front Line, ed. Max Arthur
Your Fondest Annie: Letters from Annie O'Donnell to James P. Phelan 1901-1904, ed. Maureen Murphy
Between Ourselves: Letters Between Mothers and Daughters 1750-1982, ed. Karen Payne
Down and Out in the Great Depression: Letters from the Forgotten Man, ed. Robert McElvaine
In Their Own Words: Letters from Norwegian Immigrants, ed. Solveig Zempel
Letters from the Trenches: A Soldier of the Great War, ed. Bill Lamin
Talking on Paper: an Anthology of Oregon Letters and Diaries, ed. Shannon Applegate
Dear America: Letters Home from Viet Nam, ed. Bernard Edelman
Remembering Georgy: Letters from the House of Izieu, ed. Serge Klarsfeld
About: Rachel Hall's work has appeared in many literary journals and anthologies, most recently in Crab Orchard Review, Water~Stone, and New Letters ,which awarded her their Cappon Prize in fiction. She is at work on a collection of linked stories entitled HEIRLOOMS, which follows a French Jewish family from the eve of WWII to America where they settle after the war. She teaches at the State University of New York at Geneseo, where she holds the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching.
You can listen to an audio version of her story that won the Lilith contest: http://www.lilith.org/blog/?p=445
This is all well and good if we (like Rachel) happen to have a bundle of letters written by some interesting relatives who did interesting things during interesting times. But what if everyone we know was boring!? Or, more likely, simply didn’t write things down? Or, even more likely, didn’t save their letters?
Here’s a wide-ranging list of books of collected letters that Rachel recommends, sure to spark the creative fire and/or add some insight to a current time/place in your own work.
Books of Collected Letters
Compiledby Rachel Hall
Raising a Baby the Government Way: Mothers’ Letters to the Children’s Bureau 1915-1932, ed. Molly Ladd-Taylor
Women’s Letters: America from the Revolutionary War to the Present, ed. Lisa Grunwald and Stephen J. Adler
Letters of the Century: America 1900-1999, ed. Lisa Grunwald and Stephen J. Adler
Since You Went Away: World War II Letters from American Women on the Home Front, ed. Judy Barrett Litoff and David C. Smith
An Uncommon Soldier: The Civil War Letters of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, alias Pvt. Lyons Wakeman, 153rd Regiment, New York State Volunteers, 1862-1864, ed. Lauren Cook Burgess
Love No Less: More Than Two Centuries of African-American Love Letters, ed. Pamela Newkirk
Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: Letters to Eleanor Roosevelt Through Depression and War, ed. Cathy D. Knepper Ph.D.
Letters of a German American Farmer: Juernjakob Swehn Travels to America, ed. Johannes Gillhoff
To Marry an Indian: The Marriage of Harriett Gold and Elias Boudinot in Letters, 1823-1839, ed. Gaul, Theresa Strouth
Dear Helen: Wartime Letters from a Londoner to Her American Pen Pal, ed. Russell M. Jones and John H. Swanson
Remembering the Boys: A Collection of Letters, a Gathering of Memories, ed.Lynna Piekutowski
Can Anything Beat White? A Black Family’s Letters, ed. Elisabeth Petry and Farah Jasmine Griffin
Letters From the Great Blasket by EibhlísNíShúilleabháin
The GI's Rabbi: World War II Letters Of David Max Eichhorn, ed.David Max Eichhorn, Greg Palmer, Mark S. Zaid, and Doris L. Bergen
Dispatches From the Heart: Love Letters From the Front Line, ed. Max Arthur
Your Fondest Annie: Letters from Annie O'Donnell to James P. Phelan 1901-1904, ed. Maureen Murphy
Between Ourselves: Letters Between Mothers and Daughters 1750-1982, ed. Karen Payne
Down and Out in the Great Depression: Letters from the Forgotten Man, ed. Robert McElvaine
In Their Own Words: Letters from Norwegian Immigrants, ed. Solveig Zempel
Letters from the Trenches: A Soldier of the Great War, ed. Bill Lamin
Talking on Paper: an Anthology of Oregon Letters and Diaries, ed. Shannon Applegate
Dear America: Letters Home from Viet Nam, ed. Bernard Edelman
Remembering Georgy: Letters from the House of Izieu, ed. Serge Klarsfeld
About: Rachel Hall's work has appeared in many literary journals and anthologies, most recently in Crab Orchard Review, Water~Stone, and New Letters ,which awarded her their Cappon Prize in fiction. She is at work on a collection of linked stories entitled HEIRLOOMS, which follows a French Jewish family from the eve of WWII to America where they settle after the war. She teaches at the State University of New York at Geneseo, where she holds the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching.
You can listen to an audio version of her story that won the Lilith contest: http://www.lilith.org/blog/?p=445
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
F. Scott Fitzgerald Short Story Contest Accepting Entries
The 15th annual F. Scott Fitzgerald Conference will be held on October 16, 2010, in Rockville, Maryland, and the conference has just opened its short story contest to entries.
On the plus side:
This contest is open only to residents of Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC, which means there’s a smaller pool of competition.
On the down side:
The entry fee is $25, which I personally find a bit steep.
But again, on the plus side:
--The fees go to support this wonderful conference.
--The fee is waived if you’re a member of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Society ($30 for general membership).
--If you win, not only will you get $1000 and publication in The Potomac Review, but you’ll also have an exceptionally awesome line for your resume/c.v.: “Winner of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Short Story Contest”…any link between your name and Scott’s is all good!
Here’s the scoop from the website:
The F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Conference, Inc. is sponsoring its 15th annual Short Story Contest. The F. Scott Fitzgerald Short Story Contest is open to residents of Maryland, Washington D. C. and Virginia. The contest is divided into two sections: the Adult and Student contest.
Cover sheets are removed upon receipt at Rockville City Hall, and each entry is assigned a number before it is sent to the judges. All entries are assigned for judging. All entries must follow the above-mentioned format. Judging is done by the Editors of Potomac Review, and the final judge is Richard Peabody, Editor of Gargoyle Magazine and founder of Paycock Press.
Adult Short Story Contest
Writers should send in unpublished stories of no more than 3,000 words. First prize includes $1,000, an invitation to read at the 15th Annual F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Conference, and publication in Potomac Review. Three runner-ups will receive $200 each. There is a $25 entry fee, and the deadline to enter is July 16, 2010.
Please follow the rules for contest entries carefully:
--Entries must be typed, 10 point or 12 point sized font, double spaced, no more than 26 lines per page, one-inch margins and numbered pages.
--All entries must include a cover sheet that includes writer’s name, address and telephone number.
--Staple or paper clip story in the upper left-hand corner.
--Writer’s name should not appear on the short story. Place a title on the first page.
--Entries must be postmarked no later than July 16, 2010.
--Entries will not be returned.
--Only winners will be notified.
--The entry fee is $25 per entry.
--Pseudonyms are not allowed. We need to match the entry fee with the submission to verify all submissions, so we need real names.
If you are submitting your submission through snail mail, please make the check payable to: F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Conference, Inc. (This entry fee is waived if you are a FSF member.)
Entries and check should be sent to:
F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Conference Contest
c/o Rockville City Hall
111 Maryland Avenue
Rockville, MD 20850
To submit for the Short Story Adult Contest online:
Pay the entry fee on CCNow.
Submit your story to Potomac Review online submission manager. When submitting, remember to mark the genre as “contest” in the genre drop-down field to ensure the submission is received correctly and place all contact info in the fields and nowhere on the manuscript.
Student Short Story Contest
The Contest is open to high school students who reside in or attend school within the corporate limits of Montgomery County. Follow the directions below to submit for the Student Short Story Contest:
--Entries must be typed, double spaced, between 1,500 and 3,000 words, and unpublished.
--All entries must include a cover sheet that includes the writer’s name, address and telephone number, as well as the writer’s school, grade and teacher’s name. The writer’s name should NOT appear on any pages of the short story.
--Entries must be postmarked no later than July 17, 2010.
--There is no entry fee.
--Entries will not be returned.
--First prize will be $250 plus an invitation to speak briefly about the story at the Fifteenth Annual F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Conference Award Ceremony.
--Three runner-up prizes of $100 each will be awarded.
--Only winners will be notified.
If you are submitting via snail mail, entries should be sent to F. Scott Fitzgerald Student Short Story Contest, c/o Rockville City Hall, 111 Maryland Avenue, Rockville, MD 20850.
To submit for the Short Story Student Contest online:
Submit your story to Potomac Review online submission manager. When submitting, remember to mark the genre as “contest” in the genre drop-down field to ensure the submission is received correctly and place all contact info in the fields and nowhere on the manuscript. In the comments sections of the online submission manager, students need to include writer’s school, grade and teacher’s name.
On the plus side:
This contest is open only to residents of Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC, which means there’s a smaller pool of competition.
On the down side:
The entry fee is $25, which I personally find a bit steep.
But again, on the plus side:
--The fees go to support this wonderful conference.
--The fee is waived if you’re a member of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Society ($30 for general membership).
--If you win, not only will you get $1000 and publication in The Potomac Review, but you’ll also have an exceptionally awesome line for your resume/c.v.: “Winner of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Short Story Contest”…any link between your name and Scott’s is all good!
Here’s the scoop from the website:
The F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Conference, Inc. is sponsoring its 15th annual Short Story Contest. The F. Scott Fitzgerald Short Story Contest is open to residents of Maryland, Washington D. C. and Virginia. The contest is divided into two sections: the Adult and Student contest.
Cover sheets are removed upon receipt at Rockville City Hall, and each entry is assigned a number before it is sent to the judges. All entries are assigned for judging. All entries must follow the above-mentioned format. Judging is done by the Editors of Potomac Review, and the final judge is Richard Peabody, Editor of Gargoyle Magazine and founder of Paycock Press.
Adult Short Story Contest
Writers should send in unpublished stories of no more than 3,000 words. First prize includes $1,000, an invitation to read at the 15th Annual F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Conference, and publication in Potomac Review. Three runner-ups will receive $200 each. There is a $25 entry fee, and the deadline to enter is July 16, 2010.
Please follow the rules for contest entries carefully:
--Entries must be typed, 10 point or 12 point sized font, double spaced, no more than 26 lines per page, one-inch margins and numbered pages.
--All entries must include a cover sheet that includes writer’s name, address and telephone number.
--Staple or paper clip story in the upper left-hand corner.
--Writer’s name should not appear on the short story. Place a title on the first page.
--Entries must be postmarked no later than July 16, 2010.
--Entries will not be returned.
--Only winners will be notified.
--The entry fee is $25 per entry.
--Pseudonyms are not allowed. We need to match the entry fee with the submission to verify all submissions, so we need real names.
If you are submitting your submission through snail mail, please make the check payable to: F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Conference, Inc. (This entry fee is waived if you are a FSF member.)
Entries and check should be sent to:
F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Conference Contest
c/o Rockville City Hall
111 Maryland Avenue
Rockville, MD 20850
To submit for the Short Story Adult Contest online:
Pay the entry fee on CCNow.
Submit your story to Potomac Review online submission manager. When submitting, remember to mark the genre as “contest” in the genre drop-down field to ensure the submission is received correctly and place all contact info in the fields and nowhere on the manuscript.
Student Short Story Contest
The Contest is open to high school students who reside in or attend school within the corporate limits of Montgomery County. Follow the directions below to submit for the Student Short Story Contest:
--Entries must be typed, double spaced, between 1,500 and 3,000 words, and unpublished.
--All entries must include a cover sheet that includes the writer’s name, address and telephone number, as well as the writer’s school, grade and teacher’s name. The writer’s name should NOT appear on any pages of the short story.
--Entries must be postmarked no later than July 17, 2010.
--There is no entry fee.
--Entries will not be returned.
--First prize will be $250 plus an invitation to speak briefly about the story at the Fifteenth Annual F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Conference Award Ceremony.
--Three runner-up prizes of $100 each will be awarded.
--Only winners will be notified.
If you are submitting via snail mail, entries should be sent to F. Scott Fitzgerald Student Short Story Contest, c/o Rockville City Hall, 111 Maryland Avenue, Rockville, MD 20850.
To submit for the Short Story Student Contest online:
Submit your story to Potomac Review online submission manager. When submitting, remember to mark the genre as “contest” in the genre drop-down field to ensure the submission is received correctly and place all contact info in the fields and nowhere on the manuscript. In the comments sections of the online submission manager, students need to include writer’s school, grade and teacher’s name.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Ann McLaughlin: Leaving Bayberry House
I’m pleased to announce the publication of my friend Ann McLaughlin’s SIXTH novel: Leaving Bayberry House. Ann was in my fabulous writing group, and I had the opportunity to read these chapters in early drafts. It’s a thrill for me to have watched this book unfold in progress, and to witness the work and care Ann took as she shaped, revised, and honed her words into this lovely novel.
Here’s a bit about the book:
Two sisters, Liz and Angie, meet for a week at their deceased parents’ country house in Massachusetts to prepare it for sale. The sisters have different lifestyles and are not close: Liz, the older sister, is a Farsi translator who travels often to the Middle East, while Angie is a potter married to a professor and has two teenage children. They are besieged by memories in the house, where their father, a charismatic Unitarian minister, committed suicide. Angie, who was in the house at the time, has not returned in the twenty-eight years since it happened. She suffered a breakdown and Liz worries that her illness could return. As the week passes, the sisters talk about their shared lives, trying to make sense of their memories.
Here are the opening paragraphs:
“It is the summer of 1973 and the Carlson sisters are finishing breakfast on the front porch. Liz lists the cleaning jobs, the sorting and packing they must do, but Angie is listening to the insects singing in the unmown grass. She glances at the door to the big room and shivers, dreading the memories that could flood out. A distant plane hums, coming in over the sea. Beyond the lawn is the marsh, and beyond it, Plum Island, a dark green streak with the ocean beside it, gleaming in the morning sun. The beach will soon be dotted with vacationers, Angie thinks, who have made the hour’s drive up from Boston to lie in the sand and splash in the cold salt water one last time before the fall.
“Angie stares at the shiny leaves of a bayberry bush, but sees her fifteen-year-old self, strapped to a hospital gurney, rigid with fear as a white-coated doctor fastens electrodes to her head. The police had questioned her first; later the doctors had. No wonder she has not been back here in twenty-eight years. The must sell this place; that’s why she’s come.”
Ann will be reading from and signing Leaving Bayberry House on these dates:
Sunday, May 16
2 pm
The Writer's Center, Bethesda [you’ll find me in the front row!]
Sunday, May 23
1 pm
Politics and Prose Bookstore
Tuesday, June 15
7 pm
American University Library
Reading details here.
And here’s some info about Ann:
Ann McLaughlin grew up in Cambridge., MA and graduated from Radcliffe College in 1952. She received her Ph.D. in Literature and Philosophy from American University in 1978. She has taught for twenty-five years at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, MD, where she is on the board of directors. She has published five novels with John Daniel & Co. Her sixth novel, Leaving Bayberry House, will appear in May, 2010 and the seventh, Summer Trials, in May, 2011. Read more at www.annmclaughlinwriting.com
Here’s a bit about the book:
Two sisters, Liz and Angie, meet for a week at their deceased parents’ country house in Massachusetts to prepare it for sale. The sisters have different lifestyles and are not close: Liz, the older sister, is a Farsi translator who travels often to the Middle East, while Angie is a potter married to a professor and has two teenage children. They are besieged by memories in the house, where their father, a charismatic Unitarian minister, committed suicide. Angie, who was in the house at the time, has not returned in the twenty-eight years since it happened. She suffered a breakdown and Liz worries that her illness could return. As the week passes, the sisters talk about their shared lives, trying to make sense of their memories.
Here are the opening paragraphs:
“It is the summer of 1973 and the Carlson sisters are finishing breakfast on the front porch. Liz lists the cleaning jobs, the sorting and packing they must do, but Angie is listening to the insects singing in the unmown grass. She glances at the door to the big room and shivers, dreading the memories that could flood out. A distant plane hums, coming in over the sea. Beyond the lawn is the marsh, and beyond it, Plum Island, a dark green streak with the ocean beside it, gleaming in the morning sun. The beach will soon be dotted with vacationers, Angie thinks, who have made the hour’s drive up from Boston to lie in the sand and splash in the cold salt water one last time before the fall.
“Angie stares at the shiny leaves of a bayberry bush, but sees her fifteen-year-old self, strapped to a hospital gurney, rigid with fear as a white-coated doctor fastens electrodes to her head. The police had questioned her first; later the doctors had. No wonder she has not been back here in twenty-eight years. The must sell this place; that’s why she’s come.”
Ann will be reading from and signing Leaving Bayberry House on these dates:
Sunday, May 16
2 pm
The Writer's Center, Bethesda [you’ll find me in the front row!]
Sunday, May 23
1 pm
Politics and Prose Bookstore
Tuesday, June 15
7 pm
American University Library
Reading details here.
And here’s some info about Ann:
Ann McLaughlin grew up in Cambridge., MA and graduated from Radcliffe College in 1952. She received her Ph.D. in Literature and Philosophy from American University in 1978. She has taught for twenty-five years at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, MD, where she is on the board of directors. She has published five novels with John Daniel & Co. Her sixth novel, Leaving Bayberry House, will appear in May, 2010 and the seventh, Summer Trials, in May, 2011. Read more at www.annmclaughlinwriting.com
Monday, May 3, 2010
Writing Tips: Organization & Coincidence
C.M. Mayo—author of The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, recently out in paperback—has posted on Madame Mayo a wonderful compilation of writing wisdom. It’s actually a handout from her recent talk called “Staying Focused: Researching and Writing the Longer Book Project,” but this document encompasses so much more, including tips for making the most out of a visit to a historical archive and a list of useful office supplies to keep yourself organized (yes, my trusted index cards are included!).
Here’s a bit of good advice for the writing process:
“# 7. Mise-en-place
This is a French term chefs use that means, more or less, everything in its place. Briefly: start clean, then assemble utensils and equipment; then assemble all ingredients; then wash, cut, chop; then cook. Doing things out of order makes the whole process take longer, the product often come out mediocre (or ruined), and can cause needless stress for the cook and the diners.
“This explains why many of the most productive writers write in coffee shops and the rest of them do a lot of housecleaning, n'est-ce pas? It's not the easiest thing to write a novel when your desk is cluttered with phone bills and stacks of unanswered letters, the dog needs to be walked in five minutes, and, by the way, you've left the phone on and your facebook page tab open. There are people who can work amongst piles and general chaos, but I am not one of them, and I cannot recommend it.”
Read the whole piece here.
****
And Susann Cokal, author of the novels Mirabilis and Breath and Bones, offers some good advice about the art of working coincidence into your narrative:
“Second, there's the light of open acknowledgment. Some of the cleverest authors don't strain to hide the fact that there's an odd chord striking in the music of the spheres; they point out the crazy ways our lives are connected. Having a character remark on the unbelievability actually makes it more plausible, as when E. M. Forster explains (in A Room with a View) that it's both strange and natural for a group of genteel English people to cross paths first in Italy and then in an English village—it's because they all love Italian art. The acknowledgment of implausibility breaks that sense of too much order and lets chaotic "real" life creep back into the story, even if the coincidence is easily explained away.”
From an essay in the Glimmer Train newsletter; read the rest here.
Here’s a bit of good advice for the writing process:
“# 7. Mise-en-place
This is a French term chefs use that means, more or less, everything in its place. Briefly: start clean, then assemble utensils and equipment; then assemble all ingredients; then wash, cut, chop; then cook. Doing things out of order makes the whole process take longer, the product often come out mediocre (or ruined), and can cause needless stress for the cook and the diners.
“This explains why many of the most productive writers write in coffee shops and the rest of them do a lot of housecleaning, n'est-ce pas? It's not the easiest thing to write a novel when your desk is cluttered with phone bills and stacks of unanswered letters, the dog needs to be walked in five minutes, and, by the way, you've left the phone on and your facebook page tab open. There are people who can work amongst piles and general chaos, but I am not one of them, and I cannot recommend it.”
Read the whole piece here.
****
And Susann Cokal, author of the novels Mirabilis and Breath and Bones, offers some good advice about the art of working coincidence into your narrative:
“Second, there's the light of open acknowledgment. Some of the cleverest authors don't strain to hide the fact that there's an odd chord striking in the music of the spheres; they point out the crazy ways our lives are connected. Having a character remark on the unbelievability actually makes it more plausible, as when E. M. Forster explains (in A Room with a View) that it's both strange and natural for a group of genteel English people to cross paths first in Italy and then in an English village—it's because they all love Italian art. The acknowledgment of implausibility breaks that sense of too much order and lets chaotic "real" life creep back into the story, even if the coincidence is easily explained away.”
From an essay in the Glimmer Train newsletter; read the rest here.
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