Thought for the Month

"Develop an interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music - the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself." - Arthur Miller

Hello Writers,

It is often thought that creative people dissipate huge chunks of time in aimless daydreaming. The truth is that a creative life involves constant attention to detail; observation of the world around us. Then we can take our observations and distill them through the filter of our imagination. We are left with the richness of good fiction, fantasy, science fiction, memoir and much more. As April heralds spring in most of the country, it is a prime time for us to view life with a renewed attention and pleasure. Wishing you great spring moments of creativity and new life. ... Sandra

Markets:

Orchid - seeks fiction for their Short Fiction contest. Deadline April 14, 2006. Submission details: http://orchidlit.org

Crab Creek Review - seeks poetry for current competition. Deadline April 14, 2006. Submission details: http://crabcreekreview.org

Event - Writers are invited to submit manuscripts exploring the creative nonfiction. Submission details: http://event.douglas.bc.ca/contest.html

The Spoon River Poetry Review - is seeking poetry submissions for their current contest. Submission details: http://www.litline.org/Spoon/contest.html

Words and Pictures Magazine - seeks submissions of poetry and prose. Deadline: April 15, 2006. Submission details: http://www.wordsandpicturesmag.com/contests.html

The Journal - seeks submissions to its forthcoming fiction competition. Submission details: http://english.osu.edu/journals/the_journal/Contests/FictionContest.htm

The Malahat Review - seeks poems for their forthcoming poetry competition. Submission details: http://web.uvic.ca/malahat/farhorizonspoetry.htm

Atlanta Review - seeks poetry submissions. Submission details: http://www.atlantareview.com/win.htm

Redivider - seeks poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and art by both emerging and established artists. Submission details: http://pages.emerson.edu/publications/redivider/

The Saint Ann's Review - seeks submissions of fiction, poetry, essays and plays. Submission details: http://www.saintannsreview.com/

Santa Monica Review - seeks literary fiction and nonfiction from Pacific rim writers. Submission details: http://www.smc.edu/sm_review/

WRITING TIP:

In fiction writing, plot grows out of characterization and conflict. To create a page turner, you need to drive your characters to their limits.

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April discount of 25% to all newsletter subscribers

Mentoring -Treat yourself to an hour of mentoring from a publishing professional. This could include advice on submission packages to publishers or marketing plans for your book. Ask for details by e-mailing info@windshift.bc.ca. Please put 'mentoring' in the subject line.

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PUBLISHING NEWS:

Last month the 35th annual London Book Fair took place in its new venue. The move from the old site at Olympia [I have expired there on many Book Fair occasions] seems to have been met with mixed reviews. Whatever the views on ExCeL itself, the Book Fair was a resounding success, with exhibitors (1,996 companies from 59 countries) up by 22%, total attendance up by 5.3% and visitor numbers by 3.2%.

*****

Cathay Pacific Airways recently launched the third in a series of highly popular books about life in aviation written by ten of their pilots.

The book, Flying High III, is a collection of 42 Chinese-language articles on a range of topics from general aviation knowledge to snippets from the pilots' lives. The book also has a diary of the life of a Cadet Pilot as he progressed through Cathay Pacific's 60-week flight training school.

The Flying High series has been a major hit with young people and has become recommended reading by teachers. The first book is already in its 13th edition.

If you work in a similar industry perhaps there is the possibility of doing a similar project. Think about it.

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Life at Windshift Press is very busy these days. Several new titles are scheduled for publication in May. There are also a number of promotional events scheduled for April and May. If you have any book events that you think that subscribers in your area might want to know about please submit them to info@windshift.bc.ca with 'Calendar Event' in the subject line.

Note: While every effort is made to check the markets suggested in this newsletter, writers must use their own judgment when submitting their work.

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