Cindi Myers Market News's Blog

I haven’t had much market news to share during the holidays. Things should pick up after the first of the year. For now, I have a few tidbits to pass on, and I wanted to thank all of you for your support in the past year. I look forward to sharing much more with you in the coming year. May 2012 be a wonderful writing year for us all.

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Narrative is an online literary magazine “dedicated to storytelling in the digital age.” Narrative publishes short stories between 500 and 15,000 words, as well as one-act plays, novellas and novel excerpts. They pay $150 for a Story of the Week, with $400 each for the annual Top Five Stories of the Week, $150 to $350 for 500 to 2,000 word manuscripts and $350 to $1,000 for 2,000 to 15,000 word manuscripts. In addition, they have an annual $4,000 prize for new and emerging writers. They do charge a $20 reading fee. This fee is waived during open reading periods,which are posted on their website. The next Open Reading period is the first two weeks of April. Narrative is interested in all types of short stories. See their writer’s guidelines here.

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Editors Maurice Broaddus and Jerry Gordon are looking for submissions for the Dark Faith 2 anthology, to be published by Apex Publishers in 2012. As the title of the story suggests, the stories should be dark, though they require no particular genre. From the guidelines: “Everyone believes in something and we want you to put those beliefs to the test. We’re looking for the story only you could write, something deeply personal and at the same time universal. We’re looking for smart, literate stories that don’t proselytize or stereotype. Stories that make you think, that comment on the human condition and the social order. Stories that are rich in their use of language.” Payment is five cents a word, to 4,000 words. Check out the guidelines here. Then head over to D.L. Snell’s Market Scoops to read his interview with the editors.

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Did you get a Kindle or a Nook for Christmas? Looking for some good books to load onto your new reader? Check out my ebooks at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com or MusaPublishing.com. And if you’d like a free book for your reader, my novella, The Christmas Quilt, is still available for free download here.

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As always, feel free to share the information in this blog. All I ask is that you give me credit and provide a link to the blog. Happy New Year! Cindi Myers

“The only reason for being a professional writer is that you just can’t help it.”  Leo Rosten

In the Snake magazine pays $50 for short stories, up to 7500 words. The editors are interested in both literary fiction and speculative fiction. Find their guidelines here. Through January 16, they’re also accepting entries for their Winter 2011-2012 Elephant Prize for stories under 7,500 words. There’s a $10 entry fee for the contest, but first prize is $500.

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The deadline for the Spring 2012 Glimpse Correspondents Program has been extended to December 20th. The Glimpse Correspondents Program is an opportunity for writers and photographers who will be living abroad in 2012 to have their work published and recognized in nationally renowned publications. Correspondents receive critical feedback on their writing and photography and develop a portfolio of highly accomplished work. Glimpse Correspondents receive a $600 stipend. Previous correspondents have gone on to develop their stories into books, become professional journalists, enter MFA programs, and graduate from some of the country’s top universities. Find all the details here.

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Noble Romance is the rare epublisher that offers an advance agaisnt royalties. Noble offers advances of up to $1,000 against royalties. Noble publishes everything from smoking hot erotica to sweet romance, in lengths from short stories (3,000 to 10,000 words), novellas ( 10,000 to 29,999 words) and novels (30,000 words and up.) Stories should focus on romance and have Happily-Ever-After or Happy-For-Now endings.  They also publish straight erotica. A couple of their special lines include Sweetheart Romance, which contains little or no sexual content, and Foreign Affairs — all kinds of romances set in foreign locales. Find out all the details here.

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As always, feel free to share the information in this newsletter, reprint it, forward it, etc. All I ask is that you give me credit and include a link to this blog. Thank!  Cindi

I just got the final cover for The Woman Who Loved Jesse James and I’m pretty excited about it. Here’s the back cover blurb:

“I never meant to fall in love with Jesse James, but I might as well have tried to stop a tornado or a prairie fire. The summer that sealed our fate, when we saw each other with new eyes and our love began to grow, Jesse was all heat and light, and I was tinder waiting for a match.”

Zee Mimms was just nineteen in 1864—the daughter of a stern Methodist minister in Missouri—when she fell in love with the handsome, dashing, and already notorious Jesse. He was barely more than a teenager himself, yet had ridden with William Quantrill’s raiders during the Civil War.

“You’ll marry a handsome young man,” a palm reader had told her. “A man who will make you the envy of many. But . . . there will be hard times.”

Zee and Jesse’s marriage proved the palmist right. Jesse was a dangerous puzzle: a loving husband and father who kept his “work” separate from his family, though Zee heard the lurid rumors of his career as a bank robber and worse. Still, she never gave up on him.

And he earned her love, time and again.

The book will be available in late January/early February in trade paper and ebook. Watch for it!

 “The reason 99% of all stories written are not bought by editors is very simple. Editors never buy manuscripts that are left on the closet shelf at home.”  John W. Campbell

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As a special Christmas gift, Musa Publishing is giving away a number of free reads until Friday, December 9.  You can snag my free historical novella, The Christmas Quilt here. Look around the Musa site for other free stories and bonus deals. For instance, if your purchase all three books in my Titled Texans trilogy, you get my historical romantic comedy, Great Caesar’s Ghost, for free.  You can also purchase gift certificates — great if you know someone who’s getting an e-reader for Christmas.

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Move Books is a new middle grade publisher, Founded by Eileen Robinson, former executive editor at Scholastic’s Children’s Press. Move editors are eager to see stories that will appeal to 8 to 12-year old boys. They will accept manuscripts from both agented and unagented authors. The first titles in the line will be published in Fall 2012. Please mail a query, plus synopsis and the first 25 pages of your completed novel to:
Move Books
P.O. Box 183
Beacon Falls, CT 06403

Find all the publishing details Here.
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The Book Wish Foundation is holding an essay contest in conjunction with the release of a book of stories by prominent young adult authors that benefits refugess from Darfur. The contest is free to enter, but you must write an essay about one of the stories in the book, What You Wish For.  The prize is a critique by a literary agent, or by one of the authors. For details go here.

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And speaking of essays, Driscoll’s Berries is holding a Celebrate the Sweeter Moments contest. Write about “a special occasion when berries made the moment sweet” and you could win a $1,600 Viking cookware set or $100 worth of berries. Get the details here.

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Do you love geeks? Entangled Publishing is looking for stories featuring geeks for a 2012 anthology. The stories should be 20,000 to 40,000 words and contain strong romantic elements, but may be any sub-genre of romance, including science fiction or fantasy romance.  A geek must be the primary character, whether professor or starship engineer. Find the submissions guidelines here.

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As always, feel free to share the information in this blog, reprint it and pass it on. I only ask that you give me credit for the information included here, and include a link to the blog. Thank you. Cindi