by 111Publishing and SavvyBookWriters
Content of this Newsletter:
- AMAZON’S CHANGES
- RESIDENCIES & FELLOWSHIPS
- BLOG TEXT INTO FREE VIDEO
- WRITING CONTESTS
- FREELANCE WRITING
- AI at AMAZON
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Welcome to this October Newsletter!
“October: sunny days and crisp, cool nights, a time to curl up around the dancing flames and sink into a good book.” ~ John Sinor. Yes, it’s my favored month of the year too. It is the month of glory, of ripeness, a picture-perfect month. Pumpkin pie and spiced coffee, glorious tree colors, mild Indian Summer weather, colorful leaves, delicious food and wine, country hikes - and yes, lots of new books to read - and to write!
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- AMAZON’s CHANGES to Book Categories
The Amazon book categories you choose will have a direct effect on whether or not you become an Amazon bestselling author. Choose the wrong one, and no matter how many books you sell, you won’t become an Amazon bestseller. Choose the right one, and you could become a daily bestseller with minimal marketing or effort – yeah, it can be that easy… but only if you know what you're looking for.
In truth, there is a lot more to choosing Amazon book categories. There are secret Kindle categories that Amazon doesn’t tell you about when publishing, and the simple fact that you can only have 3 Amazon Book categories and ebook categories legitimately, makes it all the more important to choose carefully. More importantly, Amazon has made some changes to the way they do categories.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqPVvcqQCGk
https://kindlepreneur.com/how-to-choose-the-best-kindle-ebook-kdp-category/
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- RESIDENCIES & FELLOWSHIPS
Dora Maar House Residencies
Provide a brief project description stating what you would do while you are in residence at Dora Maar House, and how much time you would need to be there to accomplish your goal. There is no cost. We provide Fellows get a daily stipend of $50 a day and a travel allowance to help with their travel costs. The Dora Maar founded is located in the heart of Provence, France. Deadline Oct 16. Application fee $25.
https://maisondoramaar.org/how-to-apply/
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Tuliptree Review 2nd Annual Humor Story Contest
We think the planet could use a good endorphin rush, so our Fall/Winter issue is now dedicated to humor! Send us your funny fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, and save the world! Grand prize is $1,000. All honorable mentions receive $50. $20 Entry Fee. Deadline: Oct 17
http://www.tuliptreepub.com/tuliptree-review.html
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- BLOG TEXT INTO VIDEO
Transform your text into stunning video with AI. Check it out! The first three videos are free!
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- WRITING CONTESTS
The Jake Adam York Prize
The prize-winning poet receives $2,000 and publication by Milkweed Editions. To be eligible for the prize, poets cannot have published—or have under contract—more than one full-length book of poetry in English. (Chapbooks of less than 48 pages and individual poems in magazines are OK.) Self-published books count as previous book publications if they are at least 48 pages and see any real distribution whatsoever. Poets must be US Citizens (living abroad is fine) or must live in the US and be writing in English. Deadline Oct 15
https://copper-nickel.org/bookprize/
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The Marfield Prize
Established to promote African poetry written in English or in translation and to recognize a significant book published each year by an African poet. A standard edition is 48 pages or more in length. Open to any book of original poetry, in English, published during 2015 in a standard edition by a full-length collection of poetry. Restrictions: African nationals, African residents, or poets of African parentage. Prize: USD $5,000. Deadline: Oct 1
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Gerald Cable Book Award
This prize is awarded annually to a book-length manuscript of original poetry by an author who has not yet published a full-length collection. There are no restrictions on the kind of poetry or subject matter; translations are not acceptable. The winner will receive $1000, publication, and 25 copies of the book.
$25 Entry Fee. Deadline Oct 15 https://silverfishreviewpress.com/submission-guidelines
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Neal Peirce Foundation Journalism Travel Grants
Journalism. "Grants are intended to support journalists in covering under-told stories about ways to make cities and their metro regions work better for all their people. Full-time freelancers as well as journalists currently employed by a news organization are eligible to apply. The grants of up to $1500 are for journalists to travel to cities within the U.S. to produce one or more stories for publication." Deadline Oct 16
https://www.nealpeircefoundation.org/apply/
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McKitterick Prize
Open to authors over age 40. Genre: First novel. Prize: £4,000.00. The work must have been first published in the UK in the year in which the deadline falls (and not first published abroad), or be unpublished.
Deadline: Oct 31.
https://www2.societyofauthors.org/prizes/the-soa-awards/mckitterick-prize/
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Barbellion Prize
Fiction, memoir, biography, poetry, or critical non-fiction. Prize: £600. “The Barbellion Prize is dedicated to the furtherance of ill and disabled voices in writing. The prize is awarded annually to an author whose work has best spoken of the experience of chronic illness and/or disability." Deadline: Oct 31
https://www.thebarbellionprize.com/how-to-submit-a-work
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SmokeLong’s Grand Micro Competition
It is a biennial competition that celebrates and compensates the best microfiction and nonfiction online. The grand prize winner of The Mikey is automatically nominated for Best Small Fiction and any other prize we deem appropriate. In addition, we will also pay the grand prize winner $1500. Second place: $500. Third place $300. Finalists: $100. All finalists and placers will be published in the winter ’23 issue of SmokeLong Quarterly. Word Count: 400 words or fewer for each micro. Fiction, nonfiction, and hybrid narratives are considered. $13 Entry Fee (1-2 micros). Deadline Nov 10
https://www.smokelong.com/the-smokelong-grand-micro-competition-2023/
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Troubadour International Poetry Prize
The first prize is £2,000. Second prize £1,000. The third prize is £500. Poems may be submitted from any country, may be on any theme, must be in English, must each be no longer than 45 lines, must show title and poem only, must not show poet’s name, must be the original work of the entrant (no translations) and must not have been previously published. EntryFee £6/€7/$8. Deadline Dec 10
http://www.coffeehousepoetry.org/prizes
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- FREELANCE WRITING
Write for Bloomberg News
Seeking opinion columns with a business, economic, or policy focus. Seeks strong Op-eds on music, politics, fashion, media, race, identity, good, social media, tech, and marketing. Pitch Jhodie-Ann Williams, Opinion Editor at Jwilliam1011@bloomberg.net https://www.bloomberg.com/
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Poetry
The poems may be any subject, style, or length, but must have been written by two or more co-authors. Payment: $200. Deadline: Oct 15 https://rattle.submittable.com/submit
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New Orleans Review
Fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Payment: $300 for prose, $100 for poetry. Deadline: In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, there are no submission fees for Latinx writers from Sept 15th to Oct 15th
https://www.neworleansreview.org/submit/
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Muse Magazine
Nonfiction articles for children. Payment: Not specified. Deadline: Oct 16. Queries only.
https://cricketmag.submittable.com/submit/58980/muse-magazine-for-ages-914-science-nonfiction
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Malahat Review
Fiction Articles. Payment: CAD $70/page. Deadline: Oct 31
http://www.malahatreview.ca/submission_guidelines.html
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- AI at Amazon
Dave at Kindlepreneur kindlepreneur.com just reported this: |
“Basically, Amazon is asking authors to disclose the use of AI in works that use it to generate substantial sections of the text, artwork, or translation. They define AI-generated in this way:
- AI-generated: We define AI-generated content as text, images, or translations created by an AI-based tool. If you used an AI-based tool to create the actual content (whether text, images, or translations), it is considered "AI-generated," even if you applied substantial edits afterward.
- AI-assisted: If you created the content yourself, and used AI-based tools to edit, refine, error-check, or otherwise improve that content (whether text or images), then it is considered "AI-assisted" and not “AI-generated.” Similarly, if you used an AI-based tool to brainstorm and generate ideas, but ultimately created the text or images yourself, this is also considered "AI-assisted" and not “AI-generated.” It is not necessary to inform us of the use of such tools or processes.”
Other Voices:
When using AI, you are using other people's voices to write your work. You do not take the time to work through bad manuscripts, stilted sentences, and poor writing to bring out better work that becomes branded with your own unique style of putting words together. That's because you quit using your own skills to do it. You just copied… Are there good uses for AI? Of course, however, not in creative writing!
Picking a data analyzer depends on your situation. If you have most or all of your books available on Amazon, you can use Book Report (getbookreport.com) to track that information for you. Book Report gathers sales information for all your books, including extended channels. You can check sales by book, country, and your top sellers in easy-to-read charts. The best part is that Book Report is free until you make $1,000 a month on KDP. BookTrakr and Book Report both have free trials so you can check them out before committing.
https://janefriedman.com/building-your-brand-on-tiktok-isnt-curation-its-authenticity
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Transform your blog text into stunning video with AI
The first three videos are free!
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Prepare for November’s writing competition: NaNoWriMo.
And don’t forget: Thanksgiving is in three weeks and Christmas is in seven weeks!
Countdown to introduce your books to reader communities, at libraries, schools, or retirement home readings. Use D2D to get into the library market for free. Organize some giveaways, and, and, and… maybe write a rough draft of your next novel.
November is a busy month for writers : )
