And though I’m
picking my way carefully through the Texas-centric coconuts that have dropped,
cancelled by COV-19, there’s still a lot of online fruit, conventions,
contests, even parties, to keep us busy through the summer.
Conferences. I’m treading warily here. Some favorites,
including the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference, have already been
cancelled, but others are still open—or have gone online:
May 2-3: The Austin SCBWI 2020 Writers &Illustrators conference on children’s books goes online
with breakout sessions for writing, professional development and illustrations,
critiques, pitches and more. Nonmember prices from $110-$200. See the site for
details.
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| Julius Silver from Pixabay |
June 26-28: 2020 Agents & Editors Conference of the
Writers League of Texas is still up and running, at the Hyatt
Regency Austin, 208 Barton Springs, in downtown Austin, Texas. Panels and
workshops, networking, plus one-on-one conferences with agents for writers with
finished manuscripts. Registration: $529 nonmembers, $469 members. See the site
for details.
August 7-9: ArmadilloCon may be the best little conference for
writers of science fiction, fantasy and horror. At the Omni Southpark Austin.
Its writers’ workshop covers a wide range of topics, with small group,
instructor-led breakout sessions to exchange critiques. Workshop participants
must present a writing sample of speculative fiction. Cost is $95, which
includes membership for the entire conference. The due date for submissions is
still to be determined as of this writing, but from past experience will probably
be mid-June. Write like the wind!
Contests:
May 4 – June 13: DL Hammons’ WRiTE CLUB runs on
schedule, despite the cancellation of its sponsoring DFWCon conference. As one
of this year’s slushpile readers, I’m scrambling to submit my top 30 picks from
the scores submitted by this year’s contestants before the bouts begin in this
readers’ choice contest. Writers are pitted anonymously each week, hoping for
enough votes from readers to advance to the next week’s round. Leave a brief
critique for the contestants and you, too, may be eligible for prizes.
May 4: Early bird deadline for the annual writing competition of Writer’s Digest. The competition's nine categories offers chances for cash prizes, interviews and a paid trip to the Digest’s 2021 conference in
New York City. Early bird entry fees:
$15 per poetry entry, $25 per manuscript entry. See the site for details.
May 15: Dallas-based Carve Magazine’s annual Raymond Carver Short Story Contest offers chances for publication across five writing formats. Cash prizes and
publication of prizewinners in the magazine’s October issue. Up to 10,000
words. Entry fee: $17 (online), $15 by mail. See the site for details.
May 31: The Masters Review Flash Fiction offers a $3,000 cash prize for the best story under 1,000 words, plus
additional cash prizes for second and third-place winners. Prolific author
Sherrie Flick will select the finalists. Entry fee is $20 (allows for two story
entries), and all stories are considered for publication. See the site for
details and submission portal.
June 4: #PitMad is
the Twitter party where writers tweet a pitch for their completed, polished,
unpublished manuscripts to agents and editors. 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. EDT. Free. See
the site for details.
July 31: The theme of the 2020 Ageless Authors contest is “Coping with Crisis.” Cash prizes available in categories of
creative nonfiction (essay), short story, and poetry. But take care—writers
must be at least 50 years old to qualify! Entry fee is $20 per prose or poetry
entry. See the site for details and submission guidelines.
July 31: Christopher Fielden’s to Hull & Back contest for any style of fiction—with humor! (This item from Ralan.com caught
my eye after I read some of the amazing humor submissions from the WRiTE CLUB
slushpile.) See Ralan’s contest page for details, entry fees and prizes.
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