Friday, May 30, 2025

SUCCESSFUL PUBLISHING - NEWSLETTER June 2025

 


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SUCCESSFUL PUBLISHING - NEWSLETTER June 2025


Content of this newsletter


  • PUBLISHING NEWS & TIPS
  • WRITERS RESIDENCIES, FELLOWSHIPS, & GRANTS
  • HOW TO ORDER A FREE CANADIAN ISBN
  • WRITING CONTESTS


Welcome to our June Newsletter! 


Lots of sunshine and the longest days of the year are helping in June to improve our mood and energy. And it is Immigrant Heritage Month.  Write about it this month… No matter if you immigrated or you have friends or relatives who did.

Lots of publishing news in this letter, read on:


  • WRITERS RESIDENCIES, FELLOWSHIPS, & GRANTS



Kyoto, Japan, Retreat 

It offers artists, curators, and writers, based anywhere in the world, an opportunity to spend four weeks in Kyoto, Japan, for research, exploration, and inspiration.
If selected for the retreat, you will receive a round-trip flight, a private bedroom, and $800 USD to supplement meals and local transportation. We select artists, curators, and writers at all career stages, working in drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, film, video, new media, installation, fiction and nonfiction writing, poetry, interdisciplinary, and social practice. Individuals must be over 21 years old to apply. Fee 95 USD

The inaugural Kyoto Retreat will take place from October 16 - November 13, 2025.  Deadline July 15

https://kyotoretreat.slideroom.com/#/login/program/82560

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Headlands Center for the Arts

The Artist in Residence (AIR) program awards fully sponsored residencies to approximately 50 local, national, and international artists each year. Residencies of four to ten weeks include studio space, chef-prepared meals, housing, travel, and living expenses. For writers: Writing (poetry, fiction, nonfiction, playwriting, screenwriting, graphic narrative) submit up to 20 pages of poetry, 30 pages of prose, or one to two full-length plays/scripts. Location Sausalito, CA.   Deadline June 10

 https://www.headlands.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/24_AIR_WebPDF-2.pdf



  • HOW TO ORDER A FREE CANADIAN ISBN


New to publishing in Canada? Here is how to order your ISBN:


Please follow this link to log into the system:  

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/isbn-canada/app/index.php?&lang=eng


Here are some instructions to help you assign your ISBNs:


1 – Log into your account

2 – Click MANAGE LOGBOOK

3 – Click ASSIGN NEW ISBN

4 – Input your publication information

(If you need a number for different electronic versions, you need to change the Product Form to "electronic book text", then in the title box at the end of your title indicate your format in brackets). Example: The Green Little Turtle (pdf)

5 – Click the Save button (bottom of the page).

6 – Click MANAGE LOGBOOK again. You will see your new ISBN number


For information on how to assign your ISBNs, please view the HELP page: 

http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/services/isbn-canada/Pages/isbn-canada.aspx#d

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  • WRITING CONTESTS


Chicken Soup for the Soul

Genre: "From backyard to barnyard; from couch to coop; from aquatic to aerial; from indoor to outdoor; from fins to fur to feathers - we want to hear about all your pets." Payment: $200.   Deadline June 15

https://www.chickensoup.com/story-submissions/possible-book-topics/

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Eugene C. Pulliam Fellowship for Editorial Writing 

Editorial writing. The Eugene C. Pulliam Fellowship was established to enable a mid-career editorial writer or columnist to have time away from daily responsibilities for study and research. Freelancers may also apply. Fellowship: Up to $100,000.  Deadline: June 19

https://www.spj.org/eugene-c-pulliam-fellowship-for-public-service-journalism/

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Giller Prize

Open to books published in Canada in English. Must  be nominated by publisher. Genre: Fiction. Full-length novel or collection of short stories published in English, either originally, or in translation. Prize: $100,000 to the winner and $10,000 to each of the finalists. Deadline: Books published between May 1, 2025, and June 30, 2025 must be received on or before June 20

https://gillerprize.ca/submission-guidelines/

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BLR Prizes 

It awards outstanding writing related to themes of health, healing, illness, the mind, and the body. Winners are published in the spring issue of Bellevue Literary Review. For each genre of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, first prize is $1,000 and honorable mention is $300.   $20 Entry fee.  Deadline July 1   

 https://blreview.org/blr-prizes/

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  • FREELANCE WRITING


Trails Magazine 

The focus of Trails is on backpacking and other human/naturally-powered means of sleeping outdoors: bike-packing, canoe camping, even things like rafting or mountaineering are fair game (feel free to be creative with those criteria—we covered “skate-packing” in Issue One). Features range anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 words or longer and we pay anywhere from $0.50 to $2 per word, depending on the difficulty of the story, the writer's experience, and the commitment required.

https://trailsmag.net/pages/contributor-information

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IndigiNews

We want to encourage more Indigenous storytelling! Whether you have years of journalism experience or simply have a story to share, send us your pitch. IndigiNews is focused on relationship-building, uplifting storytelling, trauma-informed practices, and holding colonial institutions to account. We welcome ideas for news stories, feature stories, investigations, arts stories, and op-eds, including photo essays. IndigiNews stories typically range from 500 to 2,000 words. IndigiNews pays freelancers on a sliding scale, usually between $350 and $850, depending on a story’s length, quality of images, depth, and estimated time for completion.    https://indiginews.com/home/work-with-us

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BEACH.COM

At beach.com they are searching for freelance pitches focused on beach destinations and coastal getaways across the globe. Looking for writers with a deep love and knowledge of beach destinations, so make sure your pitch offers a unique perspective and expertise. $250 for 1,500-word articles using exclusively stock images. $300 for 1,500-word articles that include personal images or a mix of stock and personal photos (minimum of 3 high-quality, landscape-oriented images).

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdTDH6ipaRVneJzhLgMFmYKNMBFqJ93UR06mFiuQUURap3xpA/viewform

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Have a wonderful June, and enjoy reading, writing, and publishing - maybe even traveling! Take advantage of the early summer mornings. Rise with the sun at 4 a.m. to have two or three quiet hours to write. Maybe you can make it a habit year-round.

Have a great summer!


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Sunday, May 18, 2025

Montreal Botanical Garden in Winter

 



The best time to visit the Montreal Botanical Garden is in the months of May through October.  Note the Gardens of Light festival is held in the months of September and October. 



The Montréal Botanical Garden has twenty different themed outdoor gardens.  Don’t miss the stunning flowers in the exhibition greenhouses!  That’s exactly where I was heading on an icy cold day in March to enjoy the tropical plants, the cacti, and the stunning, beautiful orchids.  The exhibition greenhouses are open year-round and are a great way to get your flower fix during Montréal’s winters!

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Exhibition Greenhouses

These are one of the highlights of the Montreal Botanical Garden. The ten exhibition greenhouses make up one long interconnected building.  Each of the greenhouses is set to the conditions needed to best nurture the plants.  Some are very dry, some are humid, and some are continually being misted.

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From the hospitality greenhouse, if you turn left, you head to the drier zones.  Head right to visit the humid greenhouses, such as the tropical rainforest, orchid, and fern greenhouses.




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Layover in Montreal

Traveling always presents challenges…What to do when you have a 22-hour layover in Montreal? Book a hotel, get up early, and take an Uber to the Montreal Botanical Garden, otherwise known as Le Jardin Botanique de Montréal…after all, it is in the French-speaking province of Quebec.

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More Reasons to Visit in Winter

Although the garden is located at the heart of the city, there is ample room to enjoy another cherished local winter activity, cross-country skiing!  The garden includes approximately 3km of groomed cross-country ski trails.  Moreover, you can head next door into Parc de Maisonneuve to continue your ski along additional trails. Trails are groomed after enough new snow has fallen, so the best time to ski is a day or two after the last snowfall.

https://m.espacepourlavie.ca/blogue/en/making-most-winter-jardin-botanique

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View over to the Olympic Tower from the Botanical Garden


Entrance fees are from $12.25 to $23.75, $21.50 for seniors, minus discounts for Montrealers.
Natives and children under 4 years have free admission.

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Trump Dismantles Laws That Protects Your Rights

 


Excerpt from an article, a MUST-READ:

Hussein Hallak

"By the time you finish reading this, Trump’s movement will have dismantled another law that protects your rights, and Democrats will still be in a meeting trying to figure out what to do.
It’s an organized, calculated assault designed to cripple democracy, and it's working.


Step by step, they’re following a ruthless strategy to sabotage their opposition:


Step 1: Cut off the money.

Step 2: Destroy legal defense.

Step 3: Tear down oversight.

Step 4: Control the media narrative.

Step 5: Flood the system with chaos.


And what’s worse?  They told us they were going to do this.  Trump’s allies announced their plan.  Project 2025 wasn’t a secret. They’ve been shouting their strategy from the rooftops, and Democratic leadership is still fumbling in the dark with no counterplan!

That’s why it's not enough to focus on your next vote it will be too late by then. That’s why it’s not enough to “just vote.” By the time you show up at the ballot box, it's already over!

So what can we do?

Stop waiting for politicians to save you.
Stop hoping the media will fix this.
Stop pretending someone else is going to figure it out.

We build our own systems, NOW.


- Fund new platforms. If they destroy ActBlue, we'll build something better.
- Support independent media. Back those who tell the truth.
- Defend key institutions. The courts, the agencies, and the regulators.
- Flood the system with truth. Expose the manipulation, break down false claims.

We need leadership that’s ready to act. Don't wait. Act now.

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