Wicked Wordsmith

Mark Jeffrey: Make The NY Times Bestseller List... By Giving Your Book Away - Media on The Huffington Post

Mark Jeffrey: Make The NY Times Bestseller List... By Giving Your Book Away - Media on The Huffington Post

Posted using ShareThis

Thrillerfest Scholarships

Are you a debut author with a book out in 2008 or 2009? Would you love to attend ThrillerFest in New York City but haven't quite figured out how to pay for it?

 

ITW is offering two scholarships for debut authors to attend ThrillerFest 2008 in New York City July 9-12. The scholarship is for the conference registration fee, craft fest, and any ITW sponsored meals (including the Thriller Awards Dinner.) Lodging and transportation is not offered as part of the scholarship.

 

Criteria:

 

You must have a debut novel published or scheduled to be published in 2008 or 2009 by an ITW recognized publisher. Individuals previously published by non-ITW recognized publishers or in a short story format (under 40,000 words) are eligible provided that the novel to be published in 2008 or 2009 is their first full-length novel published by an ITW recognized publisher.

 

You do not need to be an ITW member to apply.

 

Please send the following information to the Scholarship Committee Chair, Allison Brennan at scholarship@thrillerwriters.org:

 

Name

Contact information (address, phone number and email)

Pen Name (if any)

Book Title

Publisher

Editor

First Book? (yes or no)

 

All applications also must include the following:

 

Release date (tentative is okay)

Brief synopsis (one page or less)

Essay telling the committee in 500 words or less why you would like to attend ThrillerFest and what you hope to gain from the experience.

 

All submissions are blind. Only the committee chair will know the identity of the applicant; the synopsis and essay will be sent "blind" to the committee for review and discussion.

 

The deadline for applications is May 27, 2008. Two scholarship winners will be notified by June 3, 2008.

 

If you have any questions, please email the committee chair at scholarship@thrillerwriters.org.

Beach Book Festival '08 Needs Your Work

The 2008 Beach Book Festival is now accepting submissions for hottest summer reads. Categories this year include self published and independent published fiction, nonfiction, biography, children's books, romance, sci-fi and more. Grand prize? $1500 CASH and a trip to Atlantic City for the festival.

Enter now!

Texas Book Festival '08

This year's Texas Book Festival is slated for the first weekend in November. Each year, it features nearly 200 authors and draws about 40,000 people.

Want to know how to be a selected author? Check out the festival's Web site.

LitMatch.net Launches Upgraded Listing Pages

Recent news from LitMatch.net:

LitMatch.net, the largest and most complete database of literary agents and agencies on the web, recently launched a major upgrade to their agent and agency listing pages. The new layout was designed with ease of use in mind, and brings key information to the forefront while organizing the rest in a simple, intuitive format.

The new layout features an at-a glance style, with large, friendly icons that indicate an agent or agency’s submission status, if they accept email queries, and if they accept postal queries. Other important information; like response times, comments, and clients & projects; is arranged in a simple, tabbed format on the right side of the page.  The tabs keep things organized and allow users to limit their view to only the information that’s of most interest to them.  Everything from layout to colors to fonts has been given an update for a fresh, clean look in order to make searching for a literary agent as easy and painless as possible.

“This upgrade represents a big step forward for us, and addresses some issues with the site that have been nagging me since the site launched back in September.” said Christopher Hawkins, creator and lead developer of LitMatch.  “We’re excited about the change because it gives our listings a first-class presentation that matches the first-class quality of their content.”

Other features of this upgrade include:

    * Clearer division between content areas for faster browsing and increased readability.
    * Contact information that’s more prominent and easier to cut and paste into word processing programs.
    * A redesigned “Genre Information” section.
    * Flag icons that visually identify an agent’s or agency’s country.
    * A reformatted user summary area that keeps all queries to a given agent or agency close at hand.
    * More prominent hotlist links.
    * An updated look to the submission stats table.
    * Reformatted comments and comment entry form.

Missed NoirCon 2008?

NoirCon officials have put together audio clips from this year's conference in Philadelphia. Check it out.

Thrillerfest 2008

Win a free ticket to attend

The hottest conference for thriller writers is fast approaching. Thrillerfest 2008 is set for July 9-12 at the Grand Hyatt in NYC. Sandra Brown and James Patterson are among guest speakers who will share inside stories of how they achieved their success and what inspires them.

And this year more than 35 top literary agents have signed up to hear pitches as part of Agentfest, a  unique opportunity for aspiring writers to meet with business heavyweights.

Want to go? Find out more - and register for a free ticked to attend!

Great Yahoo Groups for Writers

It's tough sometimes to find just the right online group for writing information. I've found two. Mike's Writing Workshop offers up a great network to writers of all experience. It's almost a guarantee your message post will receive at least one response. The site has been named one of Writer's Digest's top sites for writers.

Mike has added a new group, Mike's Writing Newsletter. Each month, you can download a healthy newsletter with a plethora of information on writing, editing, networking, agents, marketing and more.

The most traffic will be in the Workshop group, but the newsletter will offer up some key information in an easy-to-read format that you can save right on your desktop for future reference.

What's Great in Sci-Fi?

This blog offers up the author's take on the top 20 sci-fi novels of all time. Check it out - and also read the comments to see what others think.

Angela Wilson - Wicked Wordsmith

Tweak that Resume

Resumes are a painful necessity in today's job market. But what makes a standout resume? How can you tweak what you already have to put your credentials at the top of the job candidate stack? The Rockport Institute offers up some insightful tips on resume writing on its site.