MORE BITS & PIECES FOR Writers/Authors #160

MORE REASONS TO KEEP WRITING - WILLIAM SHATNER, age 78, star of Boston Legal, beloved Captain Kirk, author, doing precisely what he wants to, and finally no longer terrified about making a living. "Live life like you're gonna die, because you're gonna," he sang a few years ago. And he does: "There is so much going on with me right now, it's difficult to believe all of it," he says. "I have all of the hungers and passions and desires of when I was 20," Shatner says. "There's nothing I can't do." (You GO!)

CERT CITIES.com - online mag geared towards needs of IT professionals who are certified or are seeking certification. Offers readers several types of original editorial, both certification and non-certification related. Guidelines: http://certcities.com/resources/about_us/writer_guidelines/default.asp

360 USA Inc - all topics related to wheelchair community. Overall tone is informative and entertaining. Core readers are men and women between the ages of 18 to 45, living with a spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, post-polio syndrome, spina bifida, amputation or other physical disability that frequently requires use of a wheelchair. Guidelines: http://www.360usainc.com/submissions.cfm

MASSAGE MAGAZINE - internationally circulated trade publication for massage therapists and allied health professionals. Comprehensive coverage of the art and science of massage therapy and related healing arts, w/goal of supporting our readers as they work to promote the benefits of healing touch. Guidelines: http://www.massagemag.com/Advertisers/mediakit/readers.php

INTERACTIVE DAD.com – mag that appeal to dads between 24-40 years old that can't easily be found elsewhere. Expert interviews, household finance issues of concern to dads, children's issues from fathers' perspective, product reviews, sports, ways to save money, celebrity dad profiles, and other subjects of interest to fathers and fathers-to-be, etc. Guidelines: http://www.interactivedadmagazine.com/contributingwriters.htm

FLASHQUAKE MAGAZINE - an independent, quarterly, web-based publication that focuses on works of flash fiction, flash nonfiction (memoirs, essays, creative nonfiction, humor) and short poetry. Awards stipends to all chosen contributors in each category. Guidelines: http://www.flashquake.org/guidelines.html

9-1-1 MAGAZINE - for the public safety communications industry. Serving law enforcement, fire, emergency medical services, and disaster management, 9-1-1 Magazine provides valuable information to readers in all aspects of the public safety communications and response community. Each issue contains a blending of product-related, technical, operational, and people-oriented stories, covering the skills, training, and equipment which these professions all share in common. Guidelines: http://www.9-1-1magazine.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=97&Itemid=43

CONNECTED HOME MAGAZINE - helps IT prof’ls & technically savvy consumers implement home technologies and make them work together. Looking for articles about how to set up, add on to, and maintain home technologies for target audience- to keep our readers up-to-date about high-tech products and how to make them work securely and effectively. Guidelines: http://www.connectedhomemag.com/Info/Index.cfm?Action=Write

DESCANT’s GHOSTS & THE UNCANNY ANTHOLOGY (Canada) - Deadline March 1, 2010. For this special issue, Descant turns ghost hunter and dares to explore the murky connections between life and death, science & superstition, folk beliefs & fiction. We want to document the existence of ghosts, both literal and metaphorical, on our pages. Poems, short stories, novel excerpts, plays, essays, interviews, musical scores and visual presentations. $100 honorarium on publication. (Check out their other contests, too.) http://www.descant.ca/submit.html

PRIMARY TREASURE - published continuously since 1890; Primary Treasure® (PT) since 1957. Both spiritually oriented mags written for children. Seeks nonfiction: Christian stories for children. Guidelines: http://www.pacificpress.com/index.php?pgName=newsOLFPTsub

GOVERNMENT EXECUTIVE – business mag, pub of Nat’l Journal Group Inc., serving executives & managers in federal government. Seeks nonfiction: Business, government. 1000-2500/wds. Any sidebars must be figured into the total word count. Guidelines: http://www.govexec.com/fyi/guidelines.htm

THE LEDGE MAGAZINE 2010 FICTION CONTEST – Deadline: March 1, 2010. Entry fee: $10. First prize: $1000 +publication in The Ledge Magazine. Second prize: $250 +publication in The Ledge Magazine. Third prize: $100 +publication in The Ledge Magazine. ALL STORIES must be previously unpublished and not exceed 7500/wds. Guidelines: http://www.theledgemagazine.com/Annual%20Contests.html

2010 STAFFORD POETRY COMPETITION (UK) – Deadline: Feb. 28, 2010. Entry fee: £4
Open to anyone, any age, 40 lines max. £1000. 5 runners up will receive £50 each. There is also an extra prize of £250 for the best poem w/local Staffordshire connection. Guidelines: http://www.imaginingstaffordshire.org.uk/poetrycomp2010.htm

NEW YORK WRITERS PERFECT PITCH FICTION CONFERENCE - April 9-11, 2010. Location: Ripley-Grier Studios, 520 8th Avenue at 36th St., 16th Floor, NYC, NY. Cost: $395 for the three-day Perfect Pitch Fiction Conference, $420 for the Perfect Pitch Fiction Conference + the optional Agents Panel. Info: http://www.newyorkwritersworkshop.com/pitch_fiction.html

MEMOIRS INK HALF YEARLY CONTEST – Deadline: Feb. 15, 2010. Entry fee: $15.
First Prize: $1000. Second Prize: $500. Third Prize: $250. 1,500 words. Guidelines: http://memoirsink.blogspot.com/2009/12/memoirs-inks-half-yearly-writing.html Entry form: http://www.memoirsink.com/writing-contest-entry-form

ACFW BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARDS - You must be a member of the ACFW to enter. book must be written from a Christian worldview in any Christian fiction genre through a publisher on the ACFW Recognized Publishers list* and for which the author did not participate financially in the production or distribution. Also, e-books will be allowed entry in BOTY for the first time. Guidelines & Eligibility Criteria for this year's contest can be found at http://www.acfw.com/boty.shtml

HOW TO RESPOND TO FALSE CLAIMS OF COPYRIGHT OR TRADEMARK - One of the favorite tools of both cults & corporations seeking to take embarrassing info off the Internet is to falsely claim a violation of copyright or trademark. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, enacted in 1998, set out a notification procedure that can be used to request an ISP to remove allegedly infringing material from a web page. However, there is a defense against this attack if you feel you’ve been targeted: it's called a COUNTER NOTIFICATION LETTER. Most people don't know how to write such a letter, which is why Dave Touretzky put together this helpful form. URL: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Terrorism/form-letter.html

AUTOBIOGRAPHY/BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIRS TARGET MAILING - mails to 3500 bookstore buyers, 3500 reviewers, 4000 acquisition librarians. URL: http://www.ibpaonline.org/programs/coopcats_target.aspx

LITERARY CONTEST SCAMS – Writers should bookmark this link & check the list before entering any contest. http://windpub.com/literary.scams