Friday, February 19, 2010

MORE BITS & PIECES FOR Writers/Authors #164

REASONS TO KEEP WRITING: LARRY GELBART, age 81, Comedy writer, who co-created M*A*S*H and co-wrote the Dustin Hoffman movie Tootsie. Gelbart got his big break writing jokes for comedians Sid Caesar and Danny Thomas and became a staff member on The Red Buttons Show in the early 1950s. He went on to write for variety shows fronted by Judy Garland and Danny Kaye. He also wrote the book A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, which became a hit play and movie.

WRITER’S JOURNAL - a bimonthly mag for writers, including professional communicators, self/independent publishers, part-time or full-time freelancers, screenwriters, desk-top publishers, authors, editors, teachers, poets. Guidelines: http://www.writersjournal.com/Writer'sGuidelines.htm

SCRAP MAGAZINE – trade mag, Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), a Washington, D.C. based trade association W/1500 member companies that process, broker, and consume scrap commodities, including ferrous and nonferrous metals, paper, glass, textiles, rubber, and plastics. Looking for articles on scrap processing and handling equipment, environmental regulations, legislation, market trends. Guidelines: http://www.scrap.org/contact_us.htm#Scrap%20Writer%E2%80%99s%20Guidelines

SEW NEWS - welcomes article and project ideas on sewing, how-to. Articles should teach a specific technique, inspire the reader to try a project, introduce the reader to a new product or company related to sewing, or inform the reader about current fashion and sewing trends. Guidelines: http://www.sewnews.com/about/write_for_us.html

AGNI - publishes poetry, short fiction, essays, nonfiction, fiction between Sept. 1st and May 31, any year. Submit online only or snail mail. Guidelines: http://www.bu.edu/agni/submit.html

CHILDREN’S WRITER NEWSLETTER – monthly newsletter about nonfiction subjects: Children's writing, trends in books and magazines, approaching editors, editorial needs. Guidelines: http://www.childrenswriter.com/guidelines.htm

LOG HOME LIVING - monthly mag for people who own or are planning to build contemporary log homes. Nonfiction, photos/artwork. Guidelines: http://www.loghome.com/articles/98

HOUSTON WRITERS GUILD SPRING WRITERS CONTEST – Deadline: March 3, 2010. Entry fee: $15-$20. Three categories: Novels & Screenplays, any Genre. First Prize $1000. 2nd $500. 3rd $250. Submit first 15 pgs + synopsis. Short Story: Any Genre. First Prize $100. 3500/wd/max. Personal Essay: First Prize $100. 3500/wd/max. Guidelines: http://www.houstonwritersguild.org/Contests.htm

GEMINI MAGAZINE SHORT STORY CONTEST - Deadline March 31, 2010. Entry fee: $4
Grand prize: $1000. 2nd: $100. 3 Honorable mentions. All five finalists published in the June 2010 issue of Gemini. No restrictions on content, style, genre or length, all types of short fiction are welcome. Both new and established writers welcome. Guidelines: http://www.gemini-magazine.com/contest.html

NEWS LIBRARY.com - This site allows users to search many (not all) newspapers and their web sites for keywords. It’s excellent for research and to find out if a press release was picked up. If your story appeared, NewsLibrary automatically provides you with a small summary, you only pay for the full article. http://www.newslibrary.com

8th ANNUAL TEN-MINUTE PLAY CONTEST - Deadline: March 30, 2010. Entry fee: $5
Fire Rose Productions in N. Hollywood, CA. Adult and Youth Categories. FREE for Youth division. Each division winners will receive a cash prize ($200) and a professionally mounted production. Fire Rose Production is a non profit corporation formed in 2000 to promote multi-cultural awareness and education in the performing arts. Guidelines & application form: http://www.fireroseproductions.com

BUY-BUTTON GONE MISSING?- Don't know if your buy button's gone missing?
http://www.whomovedmybuybutton.com

PubSub - Similar to Google News Alerts. Free and also worthwhile. http://www.pubsub.com

SELF PUBLISHERS - Taking your books or documents and placing them in Word
http://www.katscan-ocr.com

PUBLIC LIBRARY MAILING - Send flyers to 4000 acquisition librarians at public librarys http://www.ibpa-online.org/programs/library.aspx

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