Sunny days of writing & reading -- plus a new writing contest

 School's out -- what you gonna do with the kids? Sleep all day, play video games all night? Seriously?

How about a writing camp? With apologies for my lateness, registration for the Dallas Writer's Garret summer writing camps ends today, May 29. If these are for you, contact the Garret promptly!

Here are the options:

Time Trekkers -- discovering Dallas history by traveling through the city and walking its walks, ultimately creating Camp Zine from student writing. Dates: June 8-12.

Rail Riders Summer Camp -- journalism in motions, via the DART light rail system, uncovering real stories at every stop, and creating a Dallas Beat news magazine from student writing. Dates: June 22-26.

Art Quest Summer Youth Writing Camp -- creativities combing visual art with writing, with field trips to area museums including the Dallas Museum of Art and the Amon Carter Museum. Dates: July 13-17 or August 3-7.

All camps are for ages 11-14, maximum of 15 campers for each. Cost: $450 for each camp. See the Garret site for additional information and registration.

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OK, maybe you want something free, with options for all ages? How about the Dallas Public Library's Science, Math, Art, Reading and Technology (SMART) Summer program, starting this Saturday, May 30, at multiple sites.

The free, 10-week program is aimed at encouraging Dallas residents of all ages to continue reading during the summer. Readers -- even adults -- enrolled in the program can even earn free books.

See the library site for more information, and sign up at dallaslibrary.beanstalk.org or at the Beanstalk app.

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For Richardson, Texas, residents entering grades 5-9, there's still time to sign up for the (also free) Richardson Public Library Young Authors program. Participants must be city residents with Richardson Public Library cards. (Not sure not to get a card? Ask a librarian -- they love to help!)

Registration runs through June 9, with classes through August 4.

With the help of guest speakers, including children's book author Nancy Churnin, participants will learn to write and illustrate their own picture books. They'll get one glossy, hardbound copy to keep, while a second goes into the library's permanent collection. Imagine seeing your own book on a library shelf!

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And now, for some contests. I didn't find any age limits on these, so why not encourage some of your teen writers to take a bite?

Image from Pixabay

First, the for-pay one. 

Now through July 10: Enter the Writers' League of Texas manuscript contest. This is separate from the WLT's conference. See the site for details and submission requirements. You don't need a completed manuscript, only the first 10 pages plus a synopsis. Winners in a number of fiction, nonfiction (including memoir) and children's writing categories will meet virtually with a top literary agent -- the final judge in their category -- via Zoom. All contestants, winners or not, can opt to receive a written critique from an experienced editor.

Cost: $65 for WLT members/$85 for nonmembers, which includes the critique. Or opt out of the critique and pay $25 for WLT members, $35 for nonmembers.

See the site for details.

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And/or, if you want a contest with no entry fees (who doesn't?) take a look at the Dallas Mystery Writers updated memorial scholarship contest.

• No entry fee! And open to all fiction genres
• Entries can be submitted electronically. (I'm not sure how else you would submit them, unless you show up at a DMW meeting -- held the first Saturday of each month) to hand them over. Which could be a great start!)
• Entrants must be on the Dallas Mystery Writers mailing list. There's no charge to join the list. See the group's tech bro, James, for information.
  
• Entrants cannot be traditionally or self-published in any form of fiction for the public in the past year.
• Entrants must submit a sample of their writing, between 1000-1500 words, along with a bio of not more than 300 words which includes their writing goals.
• Deadline for entries is September 5, 2026.
• Entries must be on a double-spaced manuscript with 1-inch margins, in Times New Roman font, 12-point only, in WORD (.docx) format
• Email entries to sandysteenwrites@gmail.com
• All entries will be judged by DMW

The winner will receive a paid in full registration for the DFW Writers Conference, with a value up to $500. The scholarship will be awarded in time for the conference, October 3-4, 2026.

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Want more literary events? I like Lone Star Literary Life for its state-wide lists. Plus, still to come at this site: fall events including ArmadilloCon, the Dallas Hay Festival Forum, the Archer City Traditional Workshop (held in the hometown of great Texas writer Larry McMurtry) and the DFW Writers Conference, among others.

Wordcraft -- Comp titles, or Romeo, Juliet & Walking Dead

Is there a writer trying to describe her novel who hasn't been urged by an agent (or editor or friend) to just tell them what it's like? What other stories do they know that are like this one? It's hard enough to do when the comparison is for a friend whose tastes and experience we're familiar with. But imagine doing the same thing for an agent who wants to know how he/she is going to sell it to an editor, who wants to know how to sell it to a marketing team, who want to know hot to sell it to a book seller who just wants to know what shelf to put it on.

It's enough to make Juliet rip Romeo's brains out. Fortunately, panelists at the 2016 Writers' League of Texas conference -- Frank Campbell of a Texas Barnes and Noble store, Brian Contine of The Lit Pub, agent Elizabeth Winick Rubinstein, and Clay Smith of Kirkus Reviews -- were on hand to help a room full of authors through the process of finding and using comparison titles.

"Comparisons are important so publishers can know how to market (the book)," Rubinstein said, "but I don't think comp titles are as important as the genre. They should touch on the genre, but without crossing too many genre barriers. We want to know you've thought through this, that you know what audience you're searching for."

She, for instance, successfully pitched a book described as "upmarket women's fiction and Weird Sisters."

So genre, plus a comparable book, or possibly two books with obvious genre matches. The genre identification also helps at the book seller's end. "We've only got a finite amount of shelf space," Campbell said, "so knowing the genre helps it fit somewhere in the store."

 And the comparable book or books should be ones that have sold well, and fairly contemporary. But what exactly does "comparable" mean. What about comparisons using classic literature, an audience member asked.

"I'm with using something from Shakespeare but also having something more contemporary," Rubinstein said. Even, perhaps, comparisons to films and TV shows.

But, Contine cautioned, "Don't lie!" So with a pitch such as "Romeo and Juliet meet the Walking Dead" pitch (known as an elevator pitch), a writer is promising both a love story and zombies. (Just don't ask me what genre shelf that would go on.)

And we need to be aware that our cherished comparisons may change as the book advances through the stages of publication, review, and sale, Contine warned.

As Smith noted, "Our (Kirkus) critics suggest 'this book is like' three or four similar titles. Comps are very useful in the business, but it's bad for the reader to know your elevator pitch. The comp is an 'inside' thing. What the reader sees is the blurb," that is, the recommendations from other authors on the book jacket.

And how to get those blurbs, remembering that we're asking busy authors to take time to read an advance copy of our work and hoping they'll like it enough to write a recommendation?

The best way, Rubinstein said, is for authors to make a personal connection with the people they're seeking blurbs from. Personal connections such as conferences, book signings, writing groups, reviewing.

Campbell, at the end of the publishing and marketing process, had a take similar to Smith's. "Where (bookstores) can make a difference is having a knowledgeable staff" who can tell customers that if they like books with one type of character, for instance, they'll probably like others with similar characters. "The bookstore is going to be the best advocate for giving recommendations."

Also, once a book has reached the advanced reader copy stage, "ARCs are great if you can get somebody to read them and fall in love with them," Campbell said.

Even somebody other than an author we're hoping to get a cover blurb from.

Offered an ARC of the Da Vinci Code, "A thriller that was its own kind of thriller," Campbell said, "I didn't think it was that well written, but damn it, I couldn't stop turning the pages."

Which led, of course, to all those bookstore staff recommendations. The rest is  history.

(Next Tuesday, how to interpret what agents mean when they say____)