“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” Jack London
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Flash Fiction writers, here’s your chance to capture a national audience. National Public Radio’s All Things Considered is sponsoring its ninth Three Minute Fiction competition. Submit your story of approximately 600 words by September 23rd. Your story should revolve around a U.S. President, either fictional or real. Find all the contest rules here.
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Harper Voyager is launching a new digital publishing venture and is seeking submissions from new writers. For a limited time they are setting aside their agented -only policy and opening to submissions from unagented authors. The editors are seeking both adult and young adult works, particularly “epic fantasy, science fiction, urban fantasy, horror, dystopia and supernatural.” The open submission period is October 1 to October 14 only. They want completed, polished manuscripts of between 80,000 and 120,000 words. Find more details here.
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Harlequin, Mills & Boon is once more sponsoring their So You Think You Can Write competition. Currently, on the So You Think You Can Write website, 50 editors are participating in the Writers Boot Camp, with blogs, podcast, and chats about Harlequin’s 19 series romance lines. Between September 23 to September 30, you can submit your first chapter (up to 5,000 words) and 100-word pitch. After two rounds of public voting (plus input from Harlequin editors) one winner will receive a publishing contract. Find all the details at So You Think You Can Write.
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Entangled Publishing is looking for sexy Valentine’s Day stories for its Brazen line. Stories should feature an Alpha male in a high-powered or heroic profession, maintain strong sexual tension, and revolve around a tried-and-true romance trope such as friends-to-lovers, office romance, mistaken identity, etc. Submit your 45,000 to 65,000 word story by November 25, 2012. Winning stories will be released at the end of January 2013. Find more details here.
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As always, feel free to share the information in this blog with others. Please give me credit as the source and include a link back to this blog. Thank you. Cindi Myers
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Cindi Myers Market News's Blog 
September 19, 2012 at 8:44 pm
Hello, Cindi,
Thanks again for your concise, up-to-date information. And I love your cover for The View From Here. Reminds me of my New England childhood.
September 19, 2012 at 8:47 pm
Thank you! Cindi Myers Always a Bridesmaid, Available now. The Woman Who Loved Jesse James, Available Now! _www.CindiMyers.com_ (http://www.cindimyers.com/) , http://www.RomanceoftheWest.com
August 30, 2014 at 6:09 pm
Having read this I believed it was really informative.
I appreciate you finding the time and energy to put this short article together.
I once again find myself personally spending a significant
amount of time both reading and commenting. But so what,
it was still worth it!
October 23, 2014 at 6:27 am
First off I want to say superb blog! I had a quick question which I’d like to ask if you
do not mind. I was interested to know how you center yourself and clear your mind prior to writing.
I’ve had a hard time clearing my thoughts in getting
my ideas out. I do enjoy writing however it
just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes are generally wasted simply just
trying to figure out how to begin. Any recommendations or hints?
Kudos!
October 24, 2014 at 11:12 am
Hi Harold,
That’s a great question, and something I think a lot of people struggle with. One thing I do is to spend a litttle time when I finish writing for the day making notes about what I’ll write next — maybe I’ll sketch an outline of a scene, or write notes about what needs to happen in that scene. The next day, I have something to start with and don’t have to thrash around wondering. Another tip is that if I’m having trouble getting started, I’ll just start writing to myself about the scene. “In this scene I really need to show ….” Before I know it, I’m writing the actual scene. My third advice is to let go of the idea that you have to find the perfect word or perfect first sentence. Write what you know — dialogue, setting, whatever — and clean it up later. Fear of finding the perfect beginning can stall anyone. Good luck!