Global Short Story Competition

Globalshortstories.net runs a monthly short story competition open to writers from any country, and possibly even every planet? galaxy? Here's what they say on their site:

"We’re up and running - and the monthly Global Short Story Competition is proving a success. The competition is designed to appeal to writers everywhere, from the arid outback of Australia to the baking deserts of Africa, the towering skyscrapers of the United States to the humid cities of Asia, the bustling capitals of Europe to the steamy villages of South America.
What makes this competition different? Well, for a start we will be marketing it in every country in the world and it will happen every month.
Each month, we will select a winning story and a highly commended work to receive a cash prize. Winning stories will also be posted on our website. At the end of twelve months, each winning story will be considered for an annual cash prize."

Jerry Jazz No Fee Fiction Contest

Three times a year, Jerry Jazz Musician, a Web site "...devoted to jazz and American civilization..." awards a writer who submits, in our opinion, the best original, previously unpublished work of approximately one - five thousand words. The winner will be announced via a special mailing of our Jerry Jazz Musician newsletter. Publishers, artists, musicians and interested readers are among those who subscribe to the newsletter. Additionally, the work will be published on the home page of Jerry Jazz Musician and featured there for at least four weeks.

The Jerry Jazz Musician reader has interests in music, social history, literature, politics, art, film and theatre, particularly that of the counter-culture of mid-twentieth century America. Your writing should appeal to a reader with these characteristics.

Contest details

A prize of $100 will be awarded for the winning story. In addition to the story being published on Jerry Jazz Musician, the author's acceptance of the prize money gives Jerry Jazz Musician the right to include the story in an anthology that will appear in book or magazine form. No entry fee is required. One story entry only.

Submission deadline for the next contest is May 31, 2008. Publishing date will be July 1, 2008.

Cezanne's Carrot Literary Journal ~

Paul Cezanne said, "The day is coming when a single carrot, freshly observed, will set off a revolution." At Cezanne's Carrrot, they believe that day has arrived! Published quarterly (on each Solstice and Equinox), they accept submissions of short fiction, creative non-fiction, and visual art that "celebrates the universe and the human experience in uplifting revolutionary ways." They are looking for work that:

• Creates a sense of possibilities
• Looks at the more expansive aspects of human nature, our interactions with the natural world, or our relationships with each other. The prefer works that highlights the connections between us, rather than what divides us.
• Explores the range and depth of our experiences with what lies beyond the five senses. Call it the Universe, God, a different dimension, or simply the great mysterious unknown, but show them how our common reality blends with the next.

The deadline for their Summer Solstice issue (6-21-08), is May 21, 2008. Two $25 Editor's Prizes will be awarded each issue; all fiction and creative non-fiction will be considered. Please check out their website for the rest of their submission guidelines and addresses to send your work.

Interested in Breaking the Rules?

For those of you who appreciate that beauty lies in imperfection or in uneven intervals, the Interstitial Arts Foundation has issued it's 2nd annual call for their Second Anthology of Interstitial Writing called Interfictions II. According to their Web site, they are "a not–for–profit organization dedicated to the study, support, and promotion of interstitial art: literature, music, visual and performance art found in between categories and genres — art that crosses borders."

From their Web site:

Submission Guidelines for
Interfictions II: The Second Anthology of Interstitial Writing

What We’re Looking For
Interstitial Fiction is all about breaking rules, ignoring boundaries, cross-pollinating the fields of literature. It’s about working between, across, through, and at the edges and borders of literary genres, including fiction and non-fiction. It falls between the cracks of other movements, terms, and definitions. If you have a story idea that’s impossible to describe in a couple of sentences, it may be interstitial.

We’re looking for previously unpublished stories that engage us and make us think about literature in new ways. Rather than defining “interstitial” for you, we’d like you to show us what genre-bending fiction looks like. Surprise us; make us see that literature holds possibilities we haven’t yet imagined.

We are also open to graphic stories of about 10 pages.

Who We’re Looking For
Writers in all genres of fiction (contemporary realism, mystery, historical, fantasy, whatever) who have an idea that challenges generic tropes and expectations..

Practical Matters
Our submission period will be from October 1, 2008 to December 2, 2008.

No Fee Poetry Contest - Spiritual Directors International

Spiritual Directors International puts out a publication called Presence, which is ."..a peer-reviewed journal that publishes thought-provoking articles addressing topics of interest to spiritual directors. The goal of Presence is to identify current trends in the field, to provide background and resources for spiritual directors as well as others interested in the ministry of spiritual direction, and to look ahead at what might be developing in the future."

They are currently holding a no-fee Poetry Contest.

Deadline May 15!

Details from their Web site:

"Presence: An International Journal of Spiritual Direction announces its fourth annual juried poetry contest.

The grand prize winner will be awarded a US$100.00 cash prize. Three runners up will receive US $75.00 each. The top four selections will be published in the September, December, March, and June issues of Presence, respectively. A number of honorable mentions will also be selected for future publication. Everyone may enter."

How to Pitch an Idea to Hollywood

This morning's Los Angeles Times Magazine has a very informative story written by none other than Michael Wright himself (V.P. at Turner) about how to pitch show ideas to networks. His main point? Skip the gimmicks, remember you are selling to a buyer who reps a certain brand, go straight for the why-this-works-for-your-brand sell and then back it up with the goods and talent to actually make your project happen. Well, with one caveat. Sometimes gimmicks do work as he reveals at the end of his article. So let's see... follow the rules only to find the right moment to break them? It's so much more fun to just break the rules right out of the gate, though...

Read the article.

LitMatch.net Launches Upgraded Listing Pages

This just in 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.