Content of this newsletter:
- PUBLISHING NEWS & TIPS
- WRITERS RESIDENCIES, FELLOWSHIPS, & GRANTS
- PAID CONTENT
- WRITING CONTESTS
Hello Writer and Publishing Friends,
Christmas is only three weeks away and another year is almost over… Get some new Contest and Writer Residency ideas and encouragement for the next twelve months in this December Newsletter.
Strengthen Your Writing!
Delete these 13 words and phrases from your own writing, and readers, editors, and agents will start to take you seriously, too.
Advice from a professional editor:
The Phantom Writer Who Fooled the Internet
The bot-assisted fake journalism of “Victoria Goldiee” and why editors should be very worried
https://thewalrus.ca/the-phantom-writer-who-fooled-the-internet/
And last, not least, Jobs for writers - including business trends and Photoshop tutorials:
https://makealivingwriting.com/monster-list-200-freelance-writing-jobs/
Don’t Worry About AI …
A study, conducted by NP Digital: “Blog posts created by companies via AI went head-to-head in the search engines against content written by human writers, and guess who won?”
The study showed that human content generated 5.4 times MORE TRAFFIC than AI-generated content.
Why? Writers are thinkers. We’ve got brains and empathy — and we have
real stories. We comprehend things in our world in a way AI simply cannot.
AI tools don’t have emotional intelligence, and they lack the genuine understanding
of the human experience that comes from living, feeling,
and interacting with the world around us.
Now, that doesn’t mean AI has no place in our industry. It’s actually a
valuable tool that can help you write faster and better. Think of it as
a writing assistant that can help with tasks like market and product
research, brainstorming ideas, creating outlines, and editing.
AI can be a huge time-saver… but it can’t replace the human facts!
Here are the six major kinds of blogs you can get paid to write:
News:
News posts are mostly informational, filled with announcements
or new findings.
How-To:
A how-to blog post explains exactly that: how to do something.
It might speak directly about how the product tied to the blog can help
a person to solve a real problem.
Personal Story:
This type of blog post shares the personal experience someone had with
a product or service, usually in the form of a success story.
Intrigue:
An intriguing post takes the reader a little deeper beyond a
story or facts, and taps into their feelings.
Listicle:
Also known as “list posts,” these are blog posts written in a list-
based format. The most common form of listicle is a short list of 10–20
items that are based on a specific theme.
Reviews:
Review posts look at products or services related to the topic
of a blog. For example, a coffee blog might have several posts about different
coffee makers with the goal of informing the reader which brand is best.
Post length. Short blog posts run between 300 and 600 words, and
rates range from $50 to $200 per post. Long posts run between 700 and
1,200 words and start at $100, often going up to as much as $500 a post.
Read more:
https://www.figmentagency.com/human-vs-ai-generated-content-which-performs-better/
https://www.motionpoint.com/blog/ai-vs-human-content-striking-the-balance/
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- WRITERS RESIDENCIES, FELLOWSHIPS, & GRANTS
Fine Arts Work Center Fellowships
Each year, the Work Center offers 20 seven-month residencies to a juried group of emerging visual artists, fiction writers, and poets. Each Fellow receives an apartment, a studio (for visual artists), and a monthly stipend of $1,250 plus an exit stipend of $1,000. Residencies run from October 1 through April 30. Location is Provincetown, MA. Deadline Dec 15.
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San Jose State University Steinbeck Fellowships
It offers emerging writers of any age and background the opportunity to pursue a significant writing project during their fellowship tenure. The emphasis of the program is on helping writers who have had some success but have not published extensively, and whose promising work would be aided by the financial support and sponsorship of the Center and the University's creative writing program. Fellowships include a stipend of $15,000. Award recipients will be required to reside within the counties of the San Francisco Bay Area or adjacent counties of the California central coast or central valley during most of the fellowship period. The fellowship period is for one academic year (approximately September - May). Deadline is Jan 4, 2026.
https://www.sjsu.edu/steinbeck/awards-fellowships/steinbeck-fellowship/apply.php
- PAID CONTENT
Compose.ly
They are looking for talented freelance writers with a passion for manufacturing content writing to create content for our clients. We’re seeking writers who can craft engaging, insightful, and well-researched articles about various topics related to law and to deliver high-quality SEO content. This opportunity is for you! This is a freelance position, and the pay rate is USD $0.10 per word.
https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/4267079683/
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Current Affairs
We have two publication formats: our print edition and our online edition. Main articles for the print edition are usually around 3000-4500 words, while online articles are usually 1200-2400 words. Online article - $250. Print article - $350.
https://www.currentaffairs.org/writers-guide
- WRITING CONTESTS
VIII International Microfiction Contest
Participation is open to all writers from any country in the world who are over 18 years of age. Entries, on a free subject matter, must be written in any of the following languages: Spanish, English, Arabic, or Hebrew. A maximum of three texts per author will be accepted, regardless of the languages chosen. A grand prize of € 20,000 will be awarded to the best story, in any of the contest languages—additionally, up to three runner-up prizes of € 2,000. Stories may not exceed 100 words (counted in Spanish; differences in other languages’ syntax will not alter this limit).
No Entry Fee. Deadline Jan 31, 2026
https://www.fundacioncesaregidoserrano.com/en/
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Chicken Soup: Dogs
You will receive a check for $250 and 10 free copies of your book. We are looking for first-person true stories of up to 1200 words. We want your funny stories, your heartwarming stories, and your mindboggling stories about your dog. Deadline March 1, 2026
It’s this time of year when we look back and also forward to new horizons. But most importantly, we are thankful for all we have been given this past year. Writing opportunities, a family and many friends, good health, and a joyful life – compared to most people in this world, who know only hunger, resentment, war, and death. We are truly blessed!
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