| Your
Stories...
When a writer has a success story as a
result of FundsforWriters assistance, we want to sing it from the rafters!
Let us know if fate has smiled upon you, and we'll list you here for all
to see, celebrate, and learn.
Hope: Thanks for letting me know about Field Report
in one of your newsletters. I entered short memoirs in a variety of
categories and yesterday I won $1,000 in the Nov. 1 competition for my
essay "A Walk in Santa Monica" in the Brush with Fame category on Field
Report. I also had two other essays running in second place in their
categories, but they unfortunately didn't make it to first place by Nov.
1 and so didn't win. I'll be entering more essays for the Dec. 1
competition. Your hot tip has brought me $1,000 this month!
~Amy Wachspress is the author of the children's
fantasy adventure The Call to Shakabaz. To learn more about Amy and
Shakabaz, visit www.wozabooks.com
. To learn more about the Shakabaz audio book visit
www.legacy-audiobooks.com
.
Dear Hope,
I recommend your newsletter to every writer I come across-- this is
definitely a great researching tool that every writer should keep in
their toolbox. :-) In fact, your website helped give me the start that I
needed to really begin researching the writing market. And now, I have a
book coming out in November (a teen and college student devotional book
called Devo's 2 Go!).
You're doing a great job keeping the rest of us on our toes and getting
us to submit our articles instead of hording them away.
~Lydia Rule
Just a short note, Hope, to express my thanks. I
won first place in the Passion Poetry contest of June 2008 recently.
Without the contest publication on your site, this dream could not be
possible.
Sincerely, Katherine Ostrom
Hi Hope, We met at the SCWW conference in Myrtle Beach
last October, and I was so impressed with your lecture that I subscribed
to FFW as soon as I got home. I wanted to drop you a line to let you
know that because of FFW, I submitted AND WON The 2008 William F. Deeck-Malice
Domestic Grant for Unpublished Writers! My novel will be finished this
week, and next weekend I'm going to Malice Domestic to accept the award.
Thanks you, and keep up the great work.
Robin
Hewitt, co-author of "The Joyous Gift of Grandparenting", on sale May 6,
2008.
http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781578262670
- and -
www.HewittsBooks.com
Hi Hope!
You posted a blurb in your Feb. 17th newsletter about
getting on a grants panel. As happened, I just attended a workshop for
grant writing in Louisville KY. Prior to leaving, I submitted my grant
panelist application to the Indiana Art Commission. They responded right
away. When I sent them my resume (I'd added the grant writing course) I
was immediately selected to fill in the one remaining spot on their
Literature panel! Too cool! Thanks for the great tip--I would never have
known about this opportunity if it hadn't been for your wonderful
newsletters --which I read with utmost devotion every Sunday morning!
Thanks Hope!
Best regards,
Christa Kolster
I'm going to toot
my own horn here. I've been reading your newsletters for a while now Hope. I
finally decided to apply for a SCBWI grant this year. Although I was very
happy with my manuscript, I never thought, with 200 plus competitors, that I
would win. But guess what? I did. So it never hurts to try!
Now, with the knowledge I've gained from you, I'm thinking of applying for
one of my state literary grants in the future. Who knows...Thanks for all the wonderful information!
Annette
Dear Hope, I enjoy your newsletters, and
subscribed to WritingKid for my daughters, 13 and 11. Both have received
compensation for online submissions - to KidVisions and for the Writer's
Digest children's competition, resulting from leads in your newsletter.
~Robin Keith
Dear Hope,
Your essays on crit groups came at a time for
me when I JUST joined a group. I was pleasantly surprised. There were many
on-the-money suggestions for the writers who were brave enough to put their
work "out there." I was delighted. I bravely offered the work I have done on
a nonfiction book for 9-12 year-old girls. If helps to have someone with
"fresh eyes" read the material because it is seen from a different
perspective other than my own. I came away feeling invigorated and
determined. I am absolutely going to forge onward because I know young girls
will benefit from reading this book.
PLUS...I want you to know that because of
your FFW, I submitted articles to Garden and Hearth online magazine. They
accepted and published 2 of the 3. I then applied to become a Contributing
Editor for them covering the Camping and RVing section for the ezine. I got
the job! I went live with my own micro site on May 25.
www.gardenandhearth.com/camping.htm
After all this rambling, I want you to know
how much I value your FFW newsletters. Keep them coming!
Thanks so much, Janet (aka jqrose on
The WritersChatroom)
I just wanted to say thank you. I have been a
subscriber for a couple of years now. Last year in one of your newsletters,
I noticed a call for a group looking for short stories on Alzheimer's. I had
one that I had written, so I spruced it up and submitted it. The group
bought it and the book will be in bookstores in late May. I am not only
thrilled to be officially a paid, published author but to have done so with
such a wonderful charity. I have received my advanced copy and it is
WONDERFUL! Reading it has brought me to tears a couple of times. Also,
in May I will be attending the book launching at the invitation of "The
Healing Project" and LaChance Publishing. Another thrill I wouldn't be
having without you and your newsletter. Thanks from one very happy author!
~Catherine Johnson,
www.thehealingproject.org/voices.html
I've read your newsletter since it was
recommended way back when. I've followed the journey from one home to the
next. Recently, I decided that I'm in another head space. I can't write
because I'm so busy trying to support my family and my writing hasn't made
that chore any easier. I accepted a "job," an offer I could not refuse in
terms of salary and benefits. Within the first week of the "catastrophic"
adjustment, I cancelled the majority of writing newsletters. Including the
big guns. And yes, I had prepared the e-mail to cancel FundsforWriters but I
couldn't click "send."
Whether I needed Hope to maintain my link to
the dream of being a successful writer, I can't say. Whether it was because
you don't promote yourself with arrogance is probably the more likely
reason. I simply could NOT and would NOT make you go away. Your advice is
always ripe with sage, appropriate for the day and filled with information.
I'm actually writing more than ever after a
month in the new job, a job I will never give up I love it so much. Maybe
one day I'll submit. For now it's sufficient to work on my novel and write
an hour a day, producing far more than I did in the past year, knowing that
Hope urges me to write.
So, in short, I thank you for being you.
Belatedly, I wish you a world of happiness in your new home. Perhaps some
day our paths will cross. ~Wishing you much success, Cheryl R.
Dear Ma'am Hope, I am Anupreet K., a 17 year
old girl from India. I am a regular subscriber of "The Writing Kid".
Recently I was selected as one of the winners in the "2006 Skipping
Stones Youth Honor Awards" conducted every year by the US based magazine
"Skipping Stones" for my essay "Diversity and Tolerance". It is
available here -http://www.skippingstones.org/sample-32.htm#YHA
It is through the Writing Kid only, that I came to know about Skipping
Stones magazine and the Youth Honor Award Program.
Madam, I love to write and I was always
looking for opportunities and platforms for getting published and
sharing my work. This is when I found out about "The Writing Kid". I
loved the zine and immediately subscribed to it. And it is the Writng
Kid only which has opened up the doors to the world of opportunities for
me. This essay which I wrote was my first ever work to be published.
This was the first time I submitted my work for a competition that too
on an international level and I am so encouraged that I could achieve
this much in my first attempt. It is your newsletter only which
encouraged me to write, and gave me the confidence to participate and
submit my work. I don't have enough words to describe my heartfelt
gratitude to you and "The Writing Kid" for the kind of impact you have
made on my writing talent and my life. You really are the "Hope" for
young writers. ~Yours truly, Anupreet K., India
Hi Hope
I wanted to purchase a number of your updated
ebooks as they have proven so useful in the past. Since the last time I
ordered your ebooks, you have added a number of new tantalizing works. I am
currently in Germany on a one-year grant that I only learned about because
of your wonderful newsletters! I am at orientation seminar and I
unfortunately have limited access to the Internet. I figured instead of
resting on my laurels I would continue to apply for other grants and your
books are the most useful sources of information for me in my writing
career! All the best and thank you for your hard work. You really simplify
my life with all your information and succinct writing information.
Kirsten Traynor
I wanted to thank you for including the
Epstein Literary Agency in the May 5th issue of TOTAL FundsforWriters. As
soon as I checked out Kate Epstein's web site I knew she was the agent for
me. I signed with her on June 5th. She's a wonderful agent and does a
great job. I'd recommend her to anyone. Her agency is relatively new and I
don't think I would have found her had it not been for your newsletter.
She's not even listed in WritersMarket.com yet.
Heather Cook
I
am writing to tell you that I secured my first paying freelance assignment
- reviewing humorist Bill Bryson's forthcoming memoir! I have contacted
the books editor at Paste Magazine and we have finally found a pitch which
works for the magazine, too. There were several occasions where I pitched
a book that had already been pitched by others, and one in particular
seemed to have potential but was ultimately rejected because one of their
feature reviews for that issue was going to focus on similar material from
a different author. You and others
have written about the need for writers to have patience and be
persistent, and in this case, those suggestions have proven to be right. I
want to thank you for all the creative ideas you have offered us in your
newsletters, and I want to encourage you to keep at it because you do a
great job and I know we readers definitely appreciate it. Sincerely,
Brian Palmer, Author of The Last Page
I just wanted to send you a quick thank-you.
I just started subscribing to FFW a few months ago, and I love getting
your weekly dose of thoughtful inspiration along with the
submission listings. One of the first issues I got mentioned a
new independent press, Press 53. I submitted to them, and they're going
to publish my first collection of short stories next year! I'm thrilled.
I'd never have heard about them without the FFW newsletter. Thank you.
Best, Elizabeth Bagby
Dear Ms. Clark,
In March I entered a contest listed on your
website. The contest was sponsored by Lace Ministries and entitled Tuesday
Morning Encouragement. They just notified me I received honorable mention
for my submission. Thanks for providing the information on
FundsforWriters.
Faith Waters
Just thought I would let you know that www.longstoryshort.us
accepted my second short story. They published one in Sept,
rejected a different one, and then accepted this story, Movie Night, and
will publish it in April. ( So I guess the first story wasn't just
a fluke. They must actually like my writing. ) I learned of this website
through your FFW newsletter. I also have been published on www.gardenandhearth.com
which you included in a newsletter, too.
So---thank you very much for continuing with
FFW. I know it probably gets to be a grind to come up with this
informative publication, but you have no idea how I look forward to
reading it every week and researching all the possibilities you provide. I
also appreciate your energy and enthusiasm for writing.
Janet Glaser
Enjoyed your SHY WRITER - found my niche in
promoting my first two novels of a family saga. It can be done.
Nancy Minnis Damato
I wanted to tell you that thanks to all the
newsletters you put out, I really upped the ante on my submissions last
year because you sent around these great markets. Some I had success with,
and some I didn't, but the fact of the matter was it was THE most
productive year for me ever. I used some of the tips in your great
"From Hope" sections. I really look forward to reading where you
are in your work, what suggestions you have for sticking with plans, etc -
very inspiring and motivational! At any rate, TOTAL FundsforWriters was
the best investment I made last year. This year I made a resolution to buy
a few of your ebooks. Then I got a reminder to renew TOTAL and that you
offered different packages for the ebooks AND TOTAL...well, that clinched
it for me that it was time to buy them now! Here's to another year of
productivity for the both of us! Thanks so much for all you do for the
writing community. I can't imagine my writing life without you!!!"
A devoted advocate of FundsforWriters and
Hope Clark, ~Courtney Mroch, Author of Beneath the Morvan Moon, www.courtneymroch.com
I think what you do here is one of the BEST
venues for writers and in the world. I have come across so many awesome
opportunities here. If I win and am published in the children's book
writing contest I will owe it all to you. This is where I saw the
ad. How exciting it is for you to do this for all of us. I just
found another venue for me to possibly get published. Thank you again.
A thousand thanks! I really appreciate what you do and all the work you
put into this. You help the world of writing go round!
All my respect and gratitude,
Sandee Rager
I just wanted to let you know that I found
"Green Prints" through FFW Small Markets. I sent them my
personal experience piece and they bought it immediately, and not just for
pennies! I also entered the short fiction contest at nebpublishing.com and
won honorable mention. I found this contest through you, too. You're a
great resource for my writing, and I hope to sell many more pieces to
markets found in your newsletter! Thanks so much!
Sonja Herbert, Oregon
Ms.
Clark, I wanted to thank you. I won first prize ($400) in the contest
sponsored by difficultpeople.org. Your newsletter with the small markets
is awesome! I am a new writer and I can't believe the kinds of resources
and contacts you provide. Jody
Courtney NOTE: Jody is visually
impaired and recently ordered our ebook package in DOC format so she can
enhance it for better reading. That is a service we offer for readers and
writers in her situation. ~Hope
Just wanted to tell you that I had a nice
publication thanks to a listing here (FundsforWriters newsletter).
Scuppernong Press put out a call for Garden Poems and recently published
a volume with poems they chose. I was included and even had an excerpt
on the back cover. A lovely experience all around.
Cathy Wilson
First, congrats....I hear lot of great
things about your Shy Writer book and your site/ newsletters...You've
worked hard and are seeing more blossoming with every passing day...but
even more so, you've earned so much respect from thousands of writers who
are trying to fulfill their dreams. It's like what you once told me...you
said after getting rejections, keep submitting and good things will
come to pass...
Today for me just got MORE unreal...as I am a travel writer in part, I had
applied for an air inclusive press trip last week, but never heard back
after initial contacts...well, they just emailed me and said I was
accepted, had been trying to get a hold of me I guess...lucky for me
they tried one more time...I got their last ditch attempt email...
I didn't think I could bear the rejections, but I don't know if I can
handle days so full of surprises and acceptances...ha ha.....But
it's days like May 31 that make those other days/weeks of struggling and
being dissed all worth it!!!! A month ago, I was really down after
the rejection tsunami.
A toast of the best champagne to each of us...
Roy Barnes
from the plains of SE Wyoming
Hello, Hope!
Your mother certainly named you well. You are one of the most determined
and positive people I've "read" save for James Herriot. I loved
your rant on lemons in the April 24, 2005 edition of FundsforWriters.
Perhaps it's a good time to tell you how much good you do for people with
your newsletters. I have had a steady snowball of success with
writing since I began receiving them, and 90% of the success (at least) is
directly due to markets I learned about through you.
Warm regards,
Tanya
Hope, I received the check for the first
article yesterday. I have written for a number of magazines, everything
from the Wall Street Journal's National Business Employment Weekly to The
Comic's Buyer's Guide and you have, by far, the fastest turn around of any
of them. Thanks.
Ronny Richardson
I just wanted to thank you for your efforts
in putting this newsletter together. A friend clued me into it recently,
and within a couple of months of subscribing to it, I had a great
opportunity. You included an ad for a writers program in Romania, and I've
been working on a novel set there for a couple of years. I thought I'd
never have the chance to see the place before the novel was done, but they
have selected me to be in their program! I'll be spending a week there in
September, visiting the cities I'm focusing on for the novel. It was so
great to discover the program through this newsletter, thank you for your
help in making it happen!
Best regards,
Christine Frost
"It is amazing how many of our readers
wrote and thanked us for giving out your info and website. Many of our
readers are new to writing so have not found resources or support they can
depend on to help them with their writing goals. We'll probably
mention your website once a month or so to make sure all new subscribers
also know about Funds for Writers.
Wonderful work you are doing!
--Allen and Linda :-) http://www.writingontherun.com
"
For 2005 I decided to invest in your
"No Fee Contest Book" and finally work up the courage to submit
my writing to formal contests. The first contest I ever entered was the
Euphoria Poetry Contest, which I learned about from your book.
This morning I was informed that my poem "From a Daughter to her
Father" has won first prize. I wanted to thank you for putting
together the "No Fee Contest Book" for people like me, who want
to test the waters to see how their work will be received without paying
entry fees. I have attached the winning poem below.
I am new to sharing my work publicly and have found your newsletters to be
both helpful and inspiring. Thank you for all the effort and time you put
into them. I look forward to receiving your informative newsletters. I
always welcome your insightful suggestions, tips, and resources.
Sincerely,
Kirsten Traynor
I've
always wanted to attend a writer's colony, but work and school
obligations have not allowed me the spare time I need to research
information on these artistic sanctuaries. Thanks to your legwork, I was
able to find a colony I liked quickly and easily, and now look
forward to spending two weeks immersed in quiet and creativity.
Thank you for helping to make this possible.
Jenny Seay
Hi Hope...I had the honor of meeting you at
the Florida Writer's conference. I am still jazzed by the power emitted in
that room! Thank-you for the inspiration and assistance.
Patsy T. Epperson
Dear Hope, I am a longtime subscriber to
the FFW newsletter, and am continually inspired by your editorial letters
at the beginning of each edition. Inspired so much, in fact, that last
year I quit a very decent job to get my MFA in writing. Today I write you
as editor of Columbia: A Journal of Literature and Art and wanted to let
the FFW community know about another publishing option through us. www.columbia.edu/cu/arts/journal
. Thanks for your time and thanks for the newsletters.
Thom Blaylock
Hope, I wanted to thank you for your
advice! When I asked you about grants to help writers with expenses such
as workshops, you informed me to contact the workshop I was interested in
because they usually have some grants available to attend. I was awarded a
grant to cover the cost of a workshop, about $140! This not only helped my
financial situation, it made be believe someone (other than me) believed
in my future potential - a needed boost. Thank-you for all your help. It
is greatly appreciated!
Kindly, Patty Smith
Hi Hope,
I subscribe to two of your newsletters.
Through one of them I learned of the 2004 Norumbega Fiction Awards and
submitted my novel My Little One to them. Last week, I was notified I was
a finalist! Thank you so much for all the wonderful information that you
put out there for all of us. You provide wonderful resources for so many
writers and I am most appreciative of all your efforts.
Nancy Machlis Rechtman, www.nancyrechtman.com
I had to write to tell
you that I've won first place in an essay contest posted at
Keep up the good work and continue the
inspirational nudges to all of us published-author wanna-bes.
Because of my win, I have the courage and encouragement to keep
submitting to all kinds of publishers and I have the faith that my
work is viable and will also be accepted by others.
Blessings,
Cynthia M Pratt
Just wanted to let you know that I received
the A Studio in the Woods
residency , which I heard of through your newsletter. I will
stay
in a house in the woods in Louisiana, right by the Mississippi River
and half an hour from New Orleans for a month next spring, with a
stipend of $2000! Many thanks for the wonderful service you provide.
Aurora Levins Morales
I teach at a local university and was asked
by the textbook's publisher to make recommendations for the next edition.
In return, they sent me $300. About this time last year, I read in
one of your newsletters about how to make more money from freelance work.
You recommended that writers get in touch with folks for
whom they have done work in the past and see if they needed similar work.
I decided to contact that publisher to see if they needed any reviews for
other textbooks. The editor of the textbook asked me if I would be
interested in co-authoring the next edition of the textbook I had used in
class because she was so impressed with my thoughtful and thorough
evaluation of the text. Here it is, a year later, and the book has
been published with me as co-author! Your newsletters are so full of
great ideas, I wish I could follow all of them, but I had to let you know
that I followed through specifically on one this suggestion and was
rewarded with a great result. Thank you!
Cynthia
P.S. The book is "Legal Aspects of Engineering 7th
Edition" released this month. Publisher: Kendall/Hunt.
Dear C. Hope Clark:
I subscribe to all Funds For Writers e-newsletters. I'm ashamed to mention
that I have no idea which e-newsletter prompted me to write and submit an
entry to a writer's contest a couple of months ago. But recently I was
notified that the entry "Black, Big-Headed Celt: A Celtic
Blessing" received an honorable mention in the one-act play category
of the Cincinnati Celtic World Festival Writers Contest. Winners' names
will be posted August 15th at http://www.CincinnatiCelticFestival.com
/. Thank you for inspiring me with the excellent content in your
e-newsletters, for without FFW, I may never have known about that
particular contest, or written and entered that one-act play.
Appreciate FFW and you a great deal!
Sincerely,
Patricia Spork
www.patriciaspork.us
http://www.booklocker.com/books/1515.html
Dear Hope,
I just met with success in my freelancing business and wanted to let you
know it's largely because of you! I've been freelancing part time for the
last few years, and took the leap of faith to doing it full time in April.
In June, I started scraping the bottom of my bank account because the
nonfiction contracts I was getting won't pay until later in the year. I
remembered that you had listed ConsumerSearch.com in one of your
newsletters, so I queried them and got an assignment reviewing air
purifiers. I'm now working on my fifth assignment for them, and my editors
have been so happy they called me a "gem" and said I could work
for them as much as I want! I never thought I'd be reviewing household
appliances for a living, but for now it pays very well and quickly, and it
stimulates my brain, so I'm content. It promises to be a long-term, lucrative
gig that will support me as I venture into other kinds of writing. Thanks
for your wonderful newsletters and encouragement!
Abby Plambeck
Email: aplambeck@freelance-worker.com
www.abbyplambeck.com
Hope, I love to read your 'notes' as they
not only inspire me but help me reason to keep trudging on. I have not
been 'published' as of yet but I am still stumbling looking for that first
solid step. I turn 33 on Thursday and will not let that stop me. Please do
not stop your inspiration! I need it and I'm sure I'm not the only one!!
Thanks, Bonne White
Dear Hope,
I'm still struck speechless. . . A few weeks ago, I submitted a couple of
poems to a poetry site, ApollosLyre.com, that I found on your site,
FundsforWriters.com -- and -- I just received an email from the editor
that
he's going to publish both poems in the August edition!
While I have had prose published in "Haunted Encounters" (2
books of the
series), Atriadpress 2003 & 2004, and Angela Hoy's new book of
"Real Stories
of Spirit Communication", Booklocker.com, 2004, I sent the poems to
Apollo's
Lyre on a whim and never dreamed they would receive serious consideration!
(I'm so tickled, I'm "doing the endzone dance" in my mind --
still!)
You see, my mother plied her skill as a published poetess for over
half-a-century. . . and I grew up greatly admiring her for her art, but I
never dared dream that the Muse's blessing would EVER fall upon MY pen
(or,
in this case, "keyboard") ;o) and I have you and your
wonderful site to
thank for having changed all that for me -- forever.
Thank you for putting so much of yourself and your diligent effort into
maintaining a site where we "struggling Up-and-Comings" can find
real,
solid, helpful information and referrals to help us all along the road
toward realizing our dreams. Bless you.
Warmest Regards,
Jean C. Fisher, "Authoress" AND (now) "Poetess" (too!)
Dear Hope
I've
been subscribed for a while now, and I wanted to say thank you for a
great service. I'm always amazed at how often nice people go
around making life easier for others and you're one of those who makes
life easier for me! I don't suppose you get a whole load of
thanks, but you should, it's wonderful how you find things for us all to
benefit from and share them in timely and simple fashion.
Thank you.
Hugs
Kay
Sexton
Hope
I was just notified that I received the Kittredge
Award. It will enable me to publish and distribute my book George
Washington's Revolutionary Marshals for the elementary age student.
Thank you.
Rae
Anna Victor
Hi Hope,
My self-published book, "Anxieties In The Outhouse, The Diary Of An
Appalachian Man" has won first place in both the poetry and the prose
division of the 55th Annual Columbus Arts Expo in Columbus, Ohio. Have
found your advice to be of help along the way. Keep up the good work.
Sincerely,
R. Eugene Wallace
Dear Hope,
Thanks for all of the great information you continue to offer your
readers. I just received notification that my story, "An Early
Mourning", will appear in Chicken Soup for the Caregiver's Soul.
I believe I saw the original posting for this call for stories on your
website. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU
Cheers~
Wendy Young
wyoung@up.net
Hope, I am so impressed with the
thoroughness of the article on health writing. Your author did an
exceptional job, especially giving us the contact names, contact addresses
and their specialties. Wonderful! This is information I have been
searching for many months. Thank you. Also, the generous way you shared
with me about setting up my newsletter. You are such a human being, flesh
and blood - on the Internet. Now is that rare or not?
M. Tucker
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