A suitor unworthy, /
the world has a greedy hand. /
Save your love for me.
Haiku to you Thursday: “A suitor unworthy”
A suitor unworthy, /
the world has a greedy hand. /
Save your love for me.
Filed under Haiku to You Thursday, poetry by author
Writing tip Wednesday: “Contest — ‘Still'”
Source: http://www.stilljournal.net/contest.php
Contest deadline is August 31, 2014.
Contest Rules:
Submitted contest entries must be unpublished and should not have previously appeared in print or online in any form, including personal blogs and websites.
Simultaneous entries are accepted as long as you let us know if your submissions will be published elsewhere before the contest ends.
We accept ONLY electronic submissions and fee payment through Submittable.
The contest reading fee is $9 per entry, payable through Still’s Submittable account, which can be accessed below.
An entry is defined as:
one short story,
or one creative nonfiction piece,
or three poems.
Multiple submissions in multiple genres are acceptable as long as you pay a separate entry fee for each submission. Contest entry fees cannot be refunded under any circumstances.
Manuscripts should be typed in a standard 12-point font and should have numbered pages. Prose must be double spaced. Poetry should be single spaced. Prose entries must not exceed 6,500 words. Poetry entries should not exceed 80 lines per poem.
All contest entries are processed and read on a “blind” basis; therefore, your name or any other identifying information must not appear anywhere on the manuscript(s).
Submissions should be sent as a Word document, rich text file, or PDF file only.
Deadline is 11:59 p.m., August 31, 2014.
Winners will be notified by September 30, 2014. Winning entries and finalists will be announced publicly in Issue #16 Fall 2014, Still: The Journal.
All entries will be acknowledged.
Failure to follow any of the above guidelines will result in disqualification. No entry fees can be returned.
Inquiries or questions should be directed to contest@stilljournal.net
Contest Prizes:
Winners of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction receive $150 each and publication in Still: The Journal #16: Fall 2014. All other contest entries will be considered for possible publication. Previous first prize contest winners are ineligible to enter 2014 contests in the same genre but may submit to other genres.
Filed under Photo by author, writing tip, Writing Tip Wednesday, writing tips
cARtOONSDAY: “mORNING”
It was so rainy, the fish were out of their banks and looking to get into his.
Filed under cartoon by author, CarToonsday
Monday morning writing joke: “zombies, part 1”
Q.: What did a zombie engineer say to a non-zombie engineer about an engineering problem he was working on?
A.: “I’ve come to pick your brains.”
Q.: Why was the zombie disappointed with his date with a leggy blond woman?
A.: She was already brainless.
Filed under Monday morning writing joke
SJ ROZAN: Russo’s Open Letter
2014-07-13 11:48 AM
Open letter from Richard Russo on Amazon vs. Hachette
Richard Russo is President of the Author’s Guild. This is long but, if you’re wondering what’s going on, worth reading. I’d like to say he took the words right out of my mouth, but he uses better words.
“The primary mission of the Authors Guild has always been the defense of the writing life. While it may be true that there are new opportunities and platforms for writers in the digital age, only the willfully blind refuse to acknowledge that authorship is imperiled on many fronts. True, not all writers are equally impacted. Some authors still make fortunes through traditional publishing, and genre writers (both traditionally published and independently published) appear to be doing better than writers of nonfiction and “literary” mid-list fiction. (The Guild has members in all of these categories.) But there’s evidence, both statistical and anecdotal, that as a species we are significantly endangered. In the UK, for instance, the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society reports that authors’ incomes have fallen 29 percent since 2005, a decline they deem “shocking.” If a similar study were done in the U.S., the results would be, we believe, all too similar.
“On Tuesday, Amazon made an offer to Hachette Book Group that would “take authors out of the middle” of their ongoing dispute by offering Hachette authors windfall royalties on e-books until the dispute between the companies is resolved. While Amazon claims to be concerned about the fate of mid-list and debut authors, we believe their offer – the majority of which Hachette would essentially fund – is highly disingenuous. For one thing, it’s impossible to remove authors from the middle of the dispute. We write the books they’re fighting over. And because it is the writing life itself we seek to defend, we’re not interested in a short-term windfall to some of the writers we represent. What we care about is a healthy ecosystem where all writers, both traditionally and independently published, can thrive. We believe that ecosystem should be as diverse as possible, containing traditional big publishers, smaller publishers, Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble and independent bookstores, as well as both e-books and print books. We believe that such an ecosystem cannot exist while entities within it are committed to the eradication of other entities.
To read the rest, go to: http://journalscape.com/sjrozan/2014-07-13-11:48/
Filed under Amazon, publishing
Photo finish Friday: “Fellini K”
Large cow in parking lot of Fellini Kroger in North Knoxville, TN
There’s a ghost in the machine-y
down there at the Fellini.
At hours day or night
you might catch a little fright
next to the freezer door
glass shattered on the floor.
Chicken flying through the air
frozen and landing without a care
down there at the Fellini
a sight just a little seamy.
Come down if you dare,
watch the show beyond compare.
The ghost may try to kill you
or someone may try to shill you
down there at the Fellini
down there at the Fellini.
A man with a two-foot sausage
squeezes it like a little hostage.
A large cow in the parking lot
says, “Take the udder slot”
down there at the Fellini
down there at the Fellini.
It has a Facebook page,
a Google listing all the rage.
Type in Fellini Kroger
or watch the show, if your bolder
down there at the Fellini
Fellini, Fellini,
down there at the Fellini,
Fellini, Fellini.
Photo and poem by David E. Booker
Filed under Photo by author, Photo Finish Friday, poetry by author
Haiku to you Thursday: “Chain”
I felt my heart die /
When your love locked promises /
To a chain of dust.
Filed under Haiku to You Thursday, poetry by author
cARtOONSDAY: “mOTHER, mAY i?”
Maurice struggled to get a grip on his reading.
Filed under cartoon by author, CarToonsday
Monday morning writing joke: “Excitement”
First joke writer: I can’t quite come up with a finish for this joke: “You know you’re an older writer when….” and that’s as far as I get.
Second joke writer: “You know you’re an older writer when your wife surprises you with a box of 20-pound bond paper and it excites you in ways you hadn’t thought possible.”
First joke writer: Sounds like that happened to you.
Second joke writer: It did. Then the reality of having to fill all those blank pages sank in and dulled it all.
Filed under Monday morning writing joke
Publishing Vs. Amazon: A Play in Five Acts – Insatiable Booksluts
Another view of the Amazon vs. Publishers battle
Publishing Vs. Amazon: A Play in Five Acts – Insatiable Booksluts.
Act I:
Amazon: Hey Publishing, we just invented a new thing that we think you’ll like. You know how after you make a book you have to pay a buttload of money to get it all printed and shipped and stuff? We figured out a way that you could not have to pay all that money and still sell lots of books.
Publishing: OMG NO WHAT IS THIS WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO DESTROY PUBLISHING
Customers: Hey! These ebooks are pretty cool! I can carry a bunch with me all the time and it sucks less when I have to move!
Publishing: NO THEY ARE NOT COOL, PAPER BOOKS FOREVER, WE KNOW YOU JUST WANT TO STEAL OUR CONTENT OFF OF THE INTERNETS. CAN WE TRIPLE THE DRMs PLEASE
Customers: ……
Act II:
Amazon: Hey Publishing, we want to buy a buttload of books from you and we aren’t even going to return a bunch of unsold books like other bookstores do, and in return do you think you could give us a good deal since you’re going to make a lot of money? And also because like, every other industry that we work with works with us at a wholesale discount since we spend so much money with them and all.
Publishing: OMG NO WE DO NOT WANT TO SELL YOU A BUTTLOAD OF BOOKS WE HATE YOU. WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO DESTROY PUBLISHING
Amazon: Hey just FYI we are also going to publish some books by people because we think it looks like a neat business to get into. Competition is awesome right? I mean, it’s mostly celebrities and authors that are doing all the work themselves anyway.
Publishing: YOU ARE MURDERING US TO DEATH STAHP. NOBODY SHOULD BUY BOOKS PUBLISHED BY AMAZON BECAUSE ONLY WE ARE ALLOWED TO PUBLISH.
Bookstores: We hate Amazon too because nobody else should be allowed to sell books, especially if customers like going to them better. We will not sell Amazon’s books even if customers want to read them.
Publishing: YEAH WE HATE YOU AMAZON
Bookstores: Do you still love us, Publishing? We promise that we will only sell paper books and not any from Amazon.
Publishing: YEAH YOU ARE MY BOO.
Act III:
Amazon: Hey Publishing, since it only costs you like a fraction of a percent actually to
For the rest of the play go to: http://insatiablebooksluts.com/2014/06/27/publishing-vs-amazon-play/
Filed under Amazon, publishing
