Writing and Revising workshop, Saturday, September 29, in St. Catharines

From one of my favourite illustrators,
Debbie Ridpath Ohi

Writing and Revising

Saturday, September 29, 2018

10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

St. Catharines Central Library, Mills Room

54 Church Street, St. Catharines, Ontario 

(Map  here.)

If you want to refine your story-telling skills and cut the time you will need to spend editing, this workshop is for you. You'll learn how to step back from a manuscript in order to find – and fix – flaws in your plot, structure, characterization and style. You'll learn how to rethink, rework and rewrite so that your manuscript will live up to your vision.

Special Option: You’re invited to bring the first 500 – 1,000 words of one of your pieces of writing. You don’t need to bring anything, but if you do, three copies could be helpful.

Workshop leader Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. He publishes Quick Brown Fox, Canada’s most popular blog for writers, teaches creative writing at Ryerson University and has led workshops everywhere from Boston to Buffalo and from Sarnia to Saint John. But his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get published. 

You can read reviews of Brian's courses and workshops here. 

Fee: 43.36 + 13% hst = 49 paid in advance by mail or Interac

or 46.90 + 13% hst = 53 if you wait to pay at the door

To reserve a spot now, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

  

See Brian’s complete current schedule here, including writing workshops, weekly writing classes, and weekend retreats in Algonquin Park, Bolton, Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Collingwood, Cambridge, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Midland, Mississauga, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Saint John, NB, Sudbury, Toronto, Windsor, Woodstock, Halton, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York Region, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Writing contests and journals that pay for prose and poetry

Note: Don't ever miss a post on Quick Brown Fox. Fill in the "Follow Brian by Email" box to the right under my bio and get each post delivered to your Inbox. Also, you can hang out and chat with Quick Brown Foxes (and vixens) on Facebook. Just send a Friend request to Brian Henry. Finally, if you’re not yet on my newsletter, send me an email, including your locale, to brianhenry@sympatico.ca ~Brian

 

Contests sponsored by the Windsor International Writers:

Opinion Piece Contest, In Memory of Dr. Aubrey Goldstein. Dr. Goldstein loved reading articles in Newspapers and magazines etc. that expressed opinions regarding just about any topic. Then he enjoyed discussing them with his friends. So! In less than two thousand words give us your opinion on any subject and our esteemed judge, the great Suzette Martinez Standring will pick the winner.

Entry fee: $20.00 First prize is a free admission to this year’s Windsor International Writers Conference, July 6 – 8, 2018. Conference details here.

After you submit your payment (here), you may email your Opinion Piece to: pamelajeangoldstein@gmail.com

Deadline June 1, 2018. Contest details here.

For conference attendees, there are also five free contests: Best Opening Line, Best Opening Paragraph, Most Masterful Short Story, Best Poetry, and Best Description of the Wine and/or Dessert from the Conference’s evening meals. Details here.

Finally, for young authors, aged 8 – 14, there is a free prize for Best Description of any Character you love from a book. Descriptions should be just 500 words and first prize is free registration in any Windsor International Writers summer camp.

Send your entry to: pamelajeangoldstein@gmail.com

See contest details here and details of the summer camps here.

Note: I’ll be offering two talks at the Windsor International Writers Conference: Writing Point of View and Writing Query Letters that Get a Yes. Details here.

Rattle publishes about 300 poems each year, and almost all of them come from unsolicited submissions. They pay $50 for online publication and $100 if they publish you in print.

Deadlines are ongoing.

In addition to their on-going search for all kinds of poetry, Rattle is currently looking for:

-         Entries for their Ekpharstic Challenge – poetry inspired by art. Deadline May 31, 2018 (but note this is a regular features, so if you miss this opportunity, it will come again). Ekphrastic details here.

-         Poetry by young people (16 or younger at time of writing, 18 or younger at time of submission). Deadline June 15.

-         Entries for the Rattle Poetry Prize. $25 entry fee; $10,000 prize. Deadline July 15, 2018

-         Poets Respond to any news story or event of the previous week. Deadline every Friday for publication online on Sunday.

-         Artwork for their print

Details for all Rattle submissions here.

LampLight is a literary magazine of dark fiction, both short stories and flash fiction. Pays 3¢ per word, $150.00 max.  

“For inspiration, we suggest “The Twilight Zone”, “The Outer Limits”, and LampLight, Vol1 Issue 1 which is free. We go for stories that are dark, literary; we are looking for the creepy, the weird and the unsettling. We do not accept stories with the following: vampires, zombies, werewolves, serial killers, hitmen, excessive gore or sex, excessive abuse against women, revenge fantasies, cannibals, high fantasy.”

Submission periods: April 15 – June 15 for Sept and Dec issues; Sept 15 – Nov 15 for March and June issues. Guidelines here.

Subprimal Poetry Art looks for poetry and flash fiction that is crafted, urgent, lyrical, compelling, mythical, concerned with spiritual revelation, uses rhythmic sensual, vivid imagery and deals with fundamental truths. Pays $20 or $10 for reprints.

“We're looking for work that enables the reader / listener to experience something that they might not otherwise in their regular life and causes them to think. We like pieces that use language in new ways. We have a special fondness for prose poems. Voices outside of the status quo keep us awake at night.”

Submission periods: May 1 – June 15 for July issue; Sept 1 – Oct 1 for Nov issue; Jan 1 – Feb 15 for March issue. Submission guidelines here.

Living Education supports and promotes home learning and educational choice. Pays $50 per article.

“Submissions from homeschooling and homeschool-minded parents, educators, administrators, and students are welcome. Please view past issues of Living Education  to get a feel for our audience and content. We are especially interested in articles that highlight unique and innovative paths that the educational journey can take.”

Submission deadlines: Fall issue: June 15; Spring issue: December 15

Upcoming Theme for Autumn 2018: Problem Solving: Cultivating the Creative Mindset. Full submission guidelines here.

On Fire, a previous anthology
from Transmundane

Tansmundane Press is looking for short stories 3,000 – 7,000 words on the theme of air for an anthology. Pays $10-20, depending on length, plus author copies: one physical and one electronic. 

Deadline: June 15, 2018. 

More generally, Transmundane is always open to submissions. They publish both e-book and print formats. At a minimum, books should be 35,000 words in length, although we prefer 60-80,000 words; however, longer works are also considered. Do note that shorter works are considered for anthologies and works less than 50,000 words will be published in e-book format only.

Guidelines here.

Writers who wish to submit to Chicken Soup for the Soul should be aware of deadlines that are approaching.

According to their website:

“If we publish your story or poem, you will be paid $200 ($100 for devotionals) one month after publication of the book and you will receive ten free copies of the book your story or poem appears in. You will also become part of the Chicken Soup for the Soul family, you will receive our exclusive contributors’ communiqué and you will be entitled to buy cases of books from us at a discount.”

The following books have deadlines that are approaching:

• The Golden Years – Life After 60 / June 30, 2018
• Grandparents / August 31st, 2018
• Stories About Angels / September 30th, 2018
• Stories About Miracles / September 30th, 2018
• Stories About My Mom / September 30th, 2018
• More Messages from Heaven / September 30th, 2018
• Life Lessons from My Cat / October 31, 2018
• Life Lessons from My Dog / November 30, 2018

Writers should expect a response within 60 days of the book’s “on sale” date. If you haven’t heard back by that time, they have not selected your story for publication. They have a sort of strange company culture, which discourages negative communication – which is why they don’t send rejection letters.

To learn more, and to submit, visit this page.

PS: Chicken Soup for the Soul also runs the website, Aplus.com, which publishes feel good articles aimed at getting “viral” content. They don’t explicitly list their submission guidelines, but they can be contacted here.

See Brian Henry’s schedule here, including writing workshops, weekly writing classes, and weekend retreats in Algonquin Park, Bolton, Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Collingwood, Cambridge, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Midland, Mississauga, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Saint John, NB, Sudbury, Toronto, Windsor, Woodstock, Halton, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York Region, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Three great workshops coming soon: Writing & Revising, How to Make Yourself Write, and Writing Your Life & Other True Stories

Writing and Revising

Saturday, May 26, 2018

10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Oakville Central Library, Auditorium, 120 Navy Street, Oakville, Ontario. (Map here)

If you want to refine your story-telling skills and cut the time you will need to spend editing, this workshop is for you. You'll learn how to step back from a manuscript in order to find – and fix – flaws in your plot, structure, characterization and style. You'll learn how to rethink, rework and rewrite so that your manuscript will live up to your vision.

Special Option: You’re invited to bring the first 500 – 1,000 words of one of your pieces of writing. You don’t need to bring anything, but if you do, three copies could be helpful.

Fee: $43.36 + 13% hst = $49 paid in advance or $46.90 + 13% hst = $53  at the door

To reserve a spot now, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

How to Make Yourself Write

A Creativity Workout

Saturday, June 9, 2018

1:00 – 4:30 p.m.

London Public Library, Tonda Room, 251 Dundas St, London, Ontario (Map here)

Let's get motivated! This workshop is designed to help you find the time and the inspiration to write. No more staring at a blank screen. Come to this workshop and give yourself a kick-start, and then learn how to keep going. This creativity workout will get your words flowing and help you make the breakthrough into the next level of writing.

Fee: $37.17 + 13% hst = $42 paid in advance or $39.82 + 13% hst = $45  at the door

To reserve a spot now, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Writing your life and other true stories

With guest author Ross Pennie

Saturday, June 23, 2018

10: a.m. – 4 p.m.

Unity Church, Unit 8, 3075 Ridgeway Drive, Mississauga, Ontario (Don’t look for a steeple. Unity Church is a unit in a business mall and looks nothing like a church. Map here.)

Have you ever considered writing your memoirs or family history? This workshop will introduce you to the tricks and conventions of telling true stories and will show you how to use the techniques of the novel to recount actual events. Whether you want to write for your family or for a wider public, don't miss this workshop.

Ross Pennie is the author of The Unforgiving Tides, a doctor’s memoir of Papua New Guinea (Manor House Publishing). Ross also writes medical mystery novels, published by ECW Press. The first of these, Tainted, came out in 2010 and won Arts Hamilton Literary Award for Fiction. He’s followed up with three more medical mysteries: Tampered, Up in Smoke, and Beneath the Wake. (For more about Ross's mysteries or to buy one, see here). 

At the workshop, Ross will speak on how to turn ordinary life into dramatic material and will answer questions about how he wrote his memoir and got it published.

Fee: $37.17 + hst = $42 in advance or $39.82 + hst = $45  at the door

To reserve a spot now, email: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Workshop leader Brian Henry has been a book editor and creative writing instructor for more than 25 years. He publishes Quick Brown Fox, Canada’s most popular blog for writers, teaches creative writing at Ryerson University and has led workshops everywhere from Boston to Buffalo and from Sarnia to Charlottetown. But his proudest boast is that he has helped many of his students get published, including Ross Pennie, the guest speaker for the Writing Your Life workshop.

See reviews of Brian's classes and workshops here.

See Brian’s complete current schedule here, including writing workshops, weekly writing classes, and weekend retreats in Algonquin Park, Bolton, Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Collingwood, Cambridge, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Midland, Mississauga, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Saint John, NB, Sudbury, Toronto, Windsor, Woodstock, Halton, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York Region, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

Léonicka Valcius joins Transatlantic Literary Agency, seeks commercial fiction, nonfiction, and Kid Lit, Picture Books to YA

The Henry Farm by Harriet Alida Lye,
represented by Transatlantic

Note: Don't ever miss a post on Quick Brown Fox. Fill in your email in the box to the right under my bio, and get each post delivered to your Inbox, and if you’re not yet on my newsletter list, send me an email, including your locale to: brianhenry@sympatico.ca ~Brian

Transatlantic Agency

2 Bloor Street East

Suite 3500
Toronto, Ontario, Canada 

M4W 1A8

http://transatlanticagency.com/

Léonicka Valcius recently joined the Transatlantic Agency as assistant agent. After completing the publishing program at Centennial College, Léonicka interned at HarperCollins Canada before working at Scholastic Book Fairs Canada for nearly 4 years as a book buyer and marketer. She then joined the Online and Digital Sales team at Penguin Random House Canada where she sold ebooks and audio books. Léonicka is eager to draw from these experiences to return to her original passion: working with writers.

As the founder of #DiverseCanLit and the Chair of the Board of the Festival of Literary Diversity, serving readers and writers of colour has been the core of Léonicka’s career. She brings this same mandate to her work at Transatlantic. As an Assistant Agent, Léonicka will be working closely with Samantha Haywood, Stephanie Sinclair and Amy Tompkins with whom she will be co-agenting new clients.

Léonicka is interested in commercial fiction (especially fantasy, romance, and historical fiction), general nonfiction, and YA & children’s books.

In Adult and Young Adult fiction, Léonicka likes fun commercial fiction, romance that ranges from sweet to steamy, otherworldly fantasy, and sweeping historical fiction. She does not represent mysteries or thrillers.

In Adult non-fiction, she like narrative nonfiction that explains complex issues through the lens of a personal story. She is also seeking books that straddle the self-help/lifestyle line (#selfcare #liveyourbestlife) and the self-help/business line (#productivityhack #riseandgrind).

For Middle Grade and younger, she loves humour, adventure, and make believe. She also enjoys stories about children navigating their changing relationships with family and friends. She strongly prefers books with at least one human character.

“I am eager to work with people of color,” says Léonicka, “including (but not limited to) trans people, disabled people, religious minorities, and queer folks.

Query Léonicka at: leonicka@transatlanticagency.com

Include a synopsis and a 20-page excerpt.

If you are comfortable, please include your social and cultural identities in your bio, especially if you self-identify as a person of color and/or part of another underrepresented group. If you are submitting a nonfiction proposal, please include information about your expertise and platform, as well as a detailed table of contents.

If you are submitting a picture book, please send the complete manuscript.

See Transatlantic’s full guidelines here. Read about the other five Transatlantic agents currently seeking authors to represent here.

Paige Sisley

If you’re interested in getting published, soon or somewhere down the road, don’t miss the How to Get Published workshop with literary agent Paige Sisley, Saturday, August, 18, in Collingwood (see here). For updated listing of How to Get Published workshops, see here (and scroll down).

And if you’re interested in Writing for Children or for Young Adults, Brian Henry will lead a mini-conference with Yasemin Uçar, senior editor at Kids Can Press, children’s author Kira Vermond, and YA author Tanaz Bhathena, Saturday, Sept 22, in Oakville (see here) and also a Kid Lit workshop in Sudbury sometime in the fall (details to come).  

For updated listings of Writing for Children & for Young adult workshops and for weekly Kid lit classes, see here (and scroll down).

Children's author Kira Vermond

And don't miss: Writing and Revising, Saturday, May 26, in Oakville (see here), How to Make Yourself Write, Saturday, June 9, in London (see here)., and Writing Your Life on Saturday, June 23, in Mississauga (see here). 

This summer, Brian will lead both Introductory and Intensive weekly classes:

Exploring Creative Writing, Wednesday, afternoons, July 4 – Aug 22, in Burlington. See here.

Intensive Creative Writing, Tuesday afternoons, July 3 – Aug 21, first readings emailed June 26, in Burlington. See here.

Intensive Creative Writing, Wednesday evenings, July 4 – Aug 22, first readings emailed June 27, in Burlington. See here.

See details of all three courses here.

To reserve a spot in any workshop, retreat, or weekly course, email brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Read reviews of Brian’s courses and workshops here.

See Brian’s complete current schedule here, including writing workshops, weekly writing classes, and weekend retreats in Algonquin Park, Bolton, Barrie, Brampton, Burlington, Caledon, Collingwood, Cambridge, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Midland, Mississauga, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Saint John, NB, Sudbury, Toronto, Windsor, Woodstock, Halton, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York Region, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.