Wordcraft -- Much ado about Duotrope

If you read any writing post, by now you know that Duotrope’s Digest, the searchable database of writing markets, is only available by subscription. There was a lot of weeping on writing websites about the formerly free site’s decision to charge for its services starting the first of this year. Didn’t Duotrope love us anymore? How dared it charge for its services, after years of unsuccessfully begging us, its users, for support?

Although some writers I respect swore off Duotrope and offered alternatives, I went ahead and paid its fee -- $50 for a year’s subscription or $5 for one month. I’ve looked at alternatives and will share them in this post. But frankly, I don’t find any offering as much value as Duotrope. They’re free because sell advertising or solicit donations, as Duotrope did unsuccessfully.

Only you can decide which site, or variety of sites, is the best value for your situation. But consider that Duotrope offers a database of more than 4,500 markets which it keeps current, lets you keep a continuously updated spreadsheet of your submissions, and provides feedback from other users.

If you know for certain you’re not ready to submit stories, articles or poems for publication, it may be a waste of money to pay for a market research site. If you’ve published so much you’ve built your own list of markets, ditto. But if you publish but don’t have well-established markets, or if you’re not sure what’s out there in the ever-changing world of publishing, consider a short-term subscription to Duotrope.

For alternatives, especially for writers of “speculative fiction” -- that umbrella term covering science fiction, fantasy and horror -- take a look at writer J.W. Alden’s discussion of “10 Free Alternatives to Duotrope for SFF Writers,” at www.authoralden.com/.

I also check listings on incredibly prolific UK writer Deborah Walker’s blog,
http://deborahwalkersbibliography.blogspot.com/.

Deborah is one of those writers who’s built her own list of markets. She’s also a fan of an upcoming site, Submitomancy, billed as a free alternative to Duotrope. See its Facebook site for a current progress report.

Not a spec fiction writer? Consider New Pages, www.newpages.com/.

The literary type? Try Poets & Writers online listing of contests, grants, residencies and awards, at www.pw.org/.

Like me, you probably already subscribe to the likes of Glimmer Train and Writer’s
Digest. Share your own favorite sites. We’re in this together.

#

Last Monday, I told you to expect a review of YA author Mark Zusak’s appearance at the Highland Park literary festival, but a bad cold and hectic schedule intervened. However, next week I hope to provide an update on literary festivals and conferences cited earlier this year. For now, I’ll just mention that the FenCon writers’ workshop in October is already filled. Hope you got your place to hear husband and wife Tor editors Patrick and Teresa Nielsen Hayden. But if not, I’ll fill you in on what they have to say.

Wordcraft -- The contest issue

Since Kristen Lamb, author of We Are Not Alone, gave me a lesson in blogging last year, I’ve tried to figure out what you, my reader, wants from this site. You’ve taught me, partly through comments, but most of all through the posts you look at, that you want to know 1) how to improve your writing, 2) how to network with other writers, and 3) how to market your work. So raise a glass -- or a pen -- to yourselves for prompting this post on contests. (You can see Kristen’s blog at http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/ ).

A writing friend, understandably, recently questioned the point of fees for writing contests. So before you dive in, read “The Economics of Competition: A Look at Contest Budgets,” in the current issue of Poets & Writers magazine (www.pw.org/ ). And consider what the fees you pay to enter contests actually accomplish.

I feel comfortable listing contests vetted either by P&W’s staff, or that I’ve entered personally, but I’m including some others I’ve gleaned from various sources. They’re focused on fiction writing, since that’s my specialty. As always, read the fine print.

The May/June 2012 issue of Poets & Writers lists dozens of upcoming deadlines, mostly for literary fiction and poetry. Read carefully -- all have specific requirements. Also take a look at the lists of craft-building and resume-building residency programs and workshops.

P&W listed Writer’s Digest’s annual writing competition in its listing. But although the early bird deadline for this contest is May 1, the absolute deadline isn’t until May 15 for a variety of genre writing. See www.writersdigest.com/competitions for information. Check out the magazine’s current issue to see what judges have liked in the past.

You know I love Duotrope Digest’s listings (www.duotrope.com/ ). But although it’s added fee-paid sites, its search engine doesn’t differentiate between contests and regular submissions. So check out www.ralan.com/. This science fiction/fantasy/horror (aka speculative fiction) site lists contests, even by literary publications, if they also accept its genres.

Speaking of genre fiction, take a look at the Abandoned Towers 2012 Writing Contest. The newly restarted site, like many ezines, asks for donations to support its projects. It accepts any genre of short fiction or poetry for consideration, provided the concept of “abandoned towers” is incorporated. See http//abandonedtowers.com/contest/ for specifics.

Feminist writers (not necessarily female) will want to check out www.mzbworks.com/ for specifics on the Sword and Sorceresses anthology based on the work on Marion Zimmer Bradley. Free -- but deadline is May 12, 2012.

And if you plan to attend any writing conference, check its site to see if it offers low-cost contest add-ons, such as those for the Writers League of Texas, www.writersleague.org/, and FenCon (www.fencon.org/).

(Beginning today, April 30, “Wordcraft” moves to Mondays. “Adventure classics” moves to Wednesdays on May 2, for a quick, fun read to get you over the work week hump. “Totally Texas” moves to Fridays on May 4, to help you plan your weekend.)

Adventure classics -- Healing through violence

The Outsiders

by S.E. Hinton

#

I read a news story about a woman firefighter/EMT who was outraged by the refusal of her male colleagues to discuss their feelings after harrowing episodes at work. Instead, the men wound down by watching violent movies.

They probably didn’t understand why depictions of violence helped heal them of the trauma they had encountered. But Aristotle would have understood. And S.E. Hinton understood also, even if not always conscious of the healing the artful use of violence -- I emphasize the word artful -- can bring.

While reading The Outsiders, I lost track of the number and variety of injuries and deaths Hinton catalogued in her depiction of gang violence. The predominantly male cast of characters are so deeply committed to violence that Susan Eloise Hinton’s publisher suggested using her initials to keep reviewers from using her gender to dismiss the novel. Maybe they didn’t believe a good girl could, or should, know bad stuff.

Writing in “Poets & Writers,” Benjamin Percy and Aaron Gwyn quote Flannery O’Connor, calling her “our dark-hearted godmother,” on the uses of violence.

“With the serious writers, violence is never an end in itself. It is the extreme situation that best reveals what we are essentially, and I believe these are times when writers are more interested in what we are essentially than in the tenor of our daily lives.”

In a world where gore is available freely and instantly online, Percy and Gwyn offer suggestions on the legitimate uses of violence: it’s a catalyst for change, not the answer to the problem; and imagined violence has more power than witnessed violence. In all cases, the readers must be emotionally invested, not simply titillated.

The initial confrontation of The Outsiders begins: “‘Need a haircut, greaser?’ the boy confronting protagonist Ponyboy Curtis asks. “(He) pulled a knife out of his back pocket and flipped the blade open.

“I finally thought of something to say. ‘No.’ I was backing up, away from that knife. Of course I backed right into one of them.”

But by the end, Ponyboy can say more than no. He can say, “I could see boys going down under street lights because they were mean and tough and hated the world, and it was too late to tell them that there was still good in it. . . It was too vast a problem to be just a personal thing.”

(Percy and Gwyn’s article in the May/June 2011 issue of “Poets & Writers” is available for purchase through “archives” at www.pw.org/ )

(Next Friday -- At least Ponyboy’s brothers had his back. Lucy Pevensie won’t be so lucky, in C. S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.)