Thought Patterns

Got a list of contests held by the Writers Workshop in Asheville. From their site I found links to others. So instead of re-posting them all here (it's a long list), I'll provide links.

Writers Workshop contests - http://www.twwoa.org/contests.html
Appalachian Writers Association - http://www.king.edu/awa/awa_announcements.htm
North Carolina Writers Association - http://ncwriters.org/programs/competitions/
Hub City Writers Project - http://www.hubcity.org/submissions.shtml (Spartanburg, SC)

I got the Writer's Network News paper the other day and finally got around to reading it today. There is a huge article written by Nicki Leone (board president) concerning the Sobol Award and its validity.

Here's the problem contest in a nutshell:

• Sobol Award will grant $100,000 (and a contract with the Sobol Literary Enterprises, Inc.)to the top winner, $25,000 to the second, and $10,000 to the third prize. Winners 4-10 will receive $1000.
• The registration cost is $85. To be paid only by credit card on-line, non-refundable.
• Entrants reaching a certain level must sign a statement saying something about they will not seek another agent until the contest is over (or something along those lines)
• They are seeking 50,000 entrants, maximum.
• Oh, and the major sponsor/promoter of this contest is Sobol Literary Enterprises, Inc.

Red flags began shooting up almost as soon as the contest was announced. The primary problem with it, the one that has everyone rolling, is that the registration cost is far too similar to a "reading fee", something no legitimate agency would do. Ms. Leone put it so well in her article:

…a practice that goes solidly against the canon of ethics established by the Association of Authors' Representatives (AAR). Under the terms of the AAR, no literary agent is allowed to charge a reading fee to look at a manuscript.

Here are some links to further information.

• The Sobol Award site | official rules (subject to change)
• Absolute Write Water Cooler Forum thread on this subject
• Yahoo! News articles
• Victoria Strauss' thoughts | another Strauss post on Sobol
• MediaBistro's thoughts
• And last, but not least, is Miss Snark herself going off on this topic

I managed to get over 2000 words done today on SS. I got through the tough scene, which is good. I probably wrote another 500 more words except I kept deleting them until I got it right. It happens.

The result is that the MC is stronger and starting out on a stronger footing. She's no longer the wimpy little thang she was in the first draft. I have to keep reminding myself that she is called SIMPLE Sarah for a reason. I need her to be strong but not over-bearing. Thin line.

I am going to assume that the contest I entered well over a year ago is defunct. I am going to submit the piece to elsewhere. Should I go for another contest or go for Muscadine Lines? It has been a while since I submitted anything over there. Hmm.

On the day that I sign my contract with Regal Crest and put it in the big envelope, I receive my contract for an upcoming anthology.

A short essay (i.e. non-fiction) I wrote will be in an anthology that will be published some time late this year or early next. Now, ain't that just cool!?!?

I still haven't heard from the contest I entered last year, the one where the winners are announced 'after the first of the year'. Oy. While I doubt my short story will win, I'd like to submit it elsewhere and can't until they release it. It is a legitimate competition so I'm not too worried about the $7 but I would like my story back.

(PS: Regal Crest just launched a spiffy new website.)

I've recently been turned onto the blog of Miss Snark, literary agent. Concealing her identity via this pseudonym, Miss Snark is able to tell truths normally reserved for those with enough money to survive litigation.

I don't like Writer's Digest. I got a one year subscription because, well, it was almost a rite of passage. Not all rites are pain free. Miss Snark reveals her thoughts behind a contest WD is holding.

It's not quite bait and switch cause they'll probably do exactly what they say. But if you have dreams of Binky Urban or Esther Newberg taking you to lunch at Michael's and signing you to a multi book deal, you're clearly cut out to be a novelist cause you have a great imagination.

It's probably not a scam in the true sense of what a scam is: what it is, is bunk.

(full post)

I do believe, boys and girls, that I am over a hump/block/problem/plot-hole/whatever in terms of SS. I backed up and added in some scenes that, I think, pushed it back over into Fantasy. The scenes aren't put in yet, I have them in a seperate document, but they are going to fit jes' fine.

I felt like crap today so I didn't get started until late. Even then I just kinda poked at it. But then I opened a new document and started writing. Felt good, you know?

Still haven't heard from the short story competition I entered.

It's not time yet to look for a reply to the novel I submitted.

No word yet on the possible anthology.

I am behind on my articles for EDSToday. I'll get that done this week, if it is not too late. (note to self: ask her)

I've got some magazines I am considering sending in a non-fiction piece to. And one literary magazine/publication/thing I would love to get the nerve up to send something to.

Guess that is about it. I'm going to get a snack. I may stay up and write some more. I dunno.

From NC Writers Network:

If you live w/in NC or adjoining states:

NC Writers Featured on WUNC-TV - NC People with Bill Friday on Friday, November 25, 2005 at 9:00 pm and Sunday, November 27, 2005 at 5:30 pm, will feature the six recipients of the 2005 North Carolina Awards, including writers Randall Kenan and Bland Simpson, two of this year’s winners of the North Carolina Award. We hear that the Writers’ Network will be mentioned in the program

Competition:

Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize

Postmark deadline: December 31 (annual)

The Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize honors internationally celebrated North Carolina novelist, Thomas Wolfe. The winner receives $1,000 and possible publication in The Thomas Wolfe Review. The final judge for the 2006 award is the distinguished American novelist, Josephine Humphreys. (submission criteria)