Is 'NaNoWriMo' Too Much For You? Try The Lulu Short Story Contest ~ Win Actual Prizes!!

As many of you know (and I have posted) 'NaNoWriMo' is going on right now. However, do you feel overwhelmed by the 50,000 word count needed to be announced a "winner"  with 'NaNoWriMo'? Well maybe the contest at Lulu.com is more your style. Lulu.com has a contest going on RIGHT NOW for short stories...this might be more up your alley! I believe it's a better fit for me at least. Read about Lulu's contest below and click on the link for additional information. Thanks, and happy writing! 

God Bless!

T Denise Clary

**A special thanks to Jennifer Moody with MoodyEdits (www.MoodyEdits.com) for letting me know about the Lulu.com contest!

The Lulu Short Story Contest is here and starts right now!

(Information below taken directly from a post written by "AJ" for Lulu.com at link

 http://www.lulu.com/blog/2011/11/01/lulu-short-story-contest/?cid=110211_en_email_SHORTSTORY)

As many of you know, November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) – a great time to put your nose to the grindstone and try to complete a 50,000 word novel in under 30 days.

But we got to thinking: over 200,000 authors participated in NaNoWriMo last year and only 30,000 actually made the deadline. That leaves 170,000 dedicated and talented folks high and dry. That’s a whole lot of creativity to waste. So why not make things easier? After all, creativity is about quality, not quantity.

Thus, the Lulu Short Story Contest was born…

Throughout the month of November – all the way to December 1st – anyone can participate in our Short Story Contest and take the pressure off the creative process. Better yet, we want to help folks see their creativity available to the public as quickly as possible too, so we’re gonna help you create an eBook out of your short story that’ll go live in the iBookstore and on Barnes & Noble’s NOOK.

How to play:

• Write a 600 word short story using our handy eBook template. Download the template here.
• Follow the list of things you don’t need available here.
• Upload your work to Lulu.com and send it through the Lulu ePub Converter
• Make sure to set your work to public availability and set to “sell everywhere.”
• Once published, submit a link to your eBook’s product page, along with your name and registered Lulu email address to SurveyMonkey to help us track submissions and claim your 20% off coupon.
• Feel free to promote your contest submission on our Facebook and Twitter (#nanowrimo) pages too

What about prizes?!?!

This is the best part.

First place:

• $500 cash
• Barnes & Noble NOOK
• Feature in Lulu Staff Picks and Lulu Blog
• Free mentions in upcoming Lulu publicity
• Professional review of your work

Second place:

• Barnes & Noble NOOK

Third place:

• $100 gift card to Barnes and Noble

All participants:

• 20% off coupon for next purchase on Lulu.com

Winners will be selected by a panel of Lulu judges and announced mid-December after review of all submissions. Bring on your remarkable stories for a chance to win some amazing prizes!

"NaNoWriMo" has Begun!

This is my first year participating in National Novel Writing Month (a.k.a. NaNoWriMo) and as far as my progress...

Well, as of the third day, I have only typed - COUGH COUGH - 430 words. Quite a bit shy of the 50,000 words needed to be announced a WINNER, LOL!!!

However, in the grand scheme of things, being that my books are short story/flash fiction picture ebooks (word counts are around 1100 or less per book), I am almost halfway with completing another short story in my "Little Life Lessons; Love, Grace & Blessings" Series. So for that I am quite happy

How about you? Are you participating in NaNoWriMo this year? How far have you gotten in your word count?

For more information on NaNoWriMo, please see earlier blog post (Oct 13, 2011) at link http://tdeniseclarybooks.blogspot.com/2011/10/who-is-ready-to-write-novel.html



God Bless!
T Denise Clary

...And The TWO Shall Become ONE ~ #1 and #2 Religious Publishers Soon to be Under One Umbrella

HarperCollins Publishers (Zondervan) Aquires Thomas Nelson Inc.

Religious publisher Thomas Nelson Inc. is being acquired by HarperCollins Publishers, a company owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. that already runs Nelson’s biggest rival, Zondervan.
The deal, which is expected to close at year-end pending regulatory approvals, comes as Nelson is riding success of its mega-best-selling book Heaven Is for Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back.

HarperCollins, which runs publisher Zondervan, would have a 35% to 40% share of the evangelical Christian publishing market after acquiring Nashville-based Nelson.

The ownership change would be the latest in recent years for the more than 200-year-old publisher of Bibles, inspirational books and digital content.

HarperCollins spokeswoman Erin Crum said the company would continue to publish books, Bibles and other products under both the Thomas Nelson and Zondervan names.

Brian Murray, HarperCollins’ CEO, said Nelson would add further balance to the company’s existing publishing programs. Meanwhile, HarperCollins’ global print and digital publishing platform — which includes e-book distribution — should add marketing opportunities to boost the readership of Nelson’s authors.

Nelson and HarperCollins’ Zondervan unit have strong Bible publishing arms. Nelson is known for the King James and New King James versions; Zondervan publishes the New International Version. Both publishers have a roster of well-known authors, including best-selling Christian fiction writer Karen Kingsbury for Zondervan and Max Lucado for Nelson.

“They’re kind of the top two — it’s kind of surprising that they could be under the same secular parent company,” said Christine Johnson, managing editor of Christian Retailing magazine.

Nelson has 491 employees, including 400 in Nashville, with the others in Plano, Texas, at a live events division.
              --Above information courtesy of Getahn Ward of The Tennessean

What do you think of the deal?


God Bless!
T Denise Clary

New Bible Verse ~ Sunday, Oct 30th

New Bible verse posted as of October 30th...Have a great week!

Luke 6:38 (NIV) 

"Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you" 

God Bless!
T Denise Clary