I believe that writing i governed by supply and demand and that right now the supply far outruns the demand. For that reason, I have not been submitting through traditional channels. These two paragraphs from the post say it all.
The nature of these writing prizes is similar to acceptance at an Ivy League school. When a person wins a prize, they appear to be more meritorious than the people who didn’t win. In most cases, very few differences can be found among the top 10 or the top 25. I’ve judged these contests, and I know this for a fact. In the end, very little distinguishes a winner from the runners-up.
Know that before you send in your entry fee and your precious manuscript.
Well, that sounded rather curmudgeonly, so I should say, don't give up on your writing. I personally have self-published and self-distributed two booklets, using a local printer. Both included my poetry and color nature photographs and I have sold a lot of copies, out of the trunk of my car, as the saying goes. If I do another I will use Ingram Spark because they have the distribution to get more readers.
See, this is one more example of your kind and generous spirit, Janisse. Searching for these resources individually is tedious. Those of us still in the early stages need to enter contests, I think, in order to gain some validity. So ... thank you for this ample offering! (P.S. Love Silas' photo!)
Thank you so much Janisse for your time and effort in putting this information together for your subscribers. Doing this kind of research is time-consuming and frustrating when what we'd rather be doing is writing! And how wonderful to know that you and Jan DeBlieu are friends! Her "Wind" is one of my favorite books, and she was the first NC Coast Keeper I knew about. I know she has moved away and I hope she is well.
The anthology was titled Elemental South, and I suspect any of the contributors' books would be excellent. I only wrote a brief note in my files at the time:
Elemental South: An Anthology of Southern Nature Writing, edited by Dorinda G. Dallmeyer (UGA Press), includes poetry and essays by Southern Nature Writers. Contributors include:
Thanks for the list! I'll bookmark it for a later year or two when I may have something worth submitting. In late 2022 and early 2023 I started dabbling in flash fiction and submitting to small journals, a completely new world for me. It was then I realized for myself much of what you wrote about it being such a tight competition--so many good writers, not enough space. I've since tabled flash fiction and submitting to journals for longform projects but I keep it all in the back of my mind.
Thank you for all the useful info and your insights. Interesting that you've mentioned Great Britian's nature writing. The last few months I have read many books of nature writing from British authors, both present and past. There is a wealth there.
I believe that writing i governed by supply and demand and that right now the supply far outruns the demand. For that reason, I have not been submitting through traditional channels. These two paragraphs from the post say it all.
The nature of these writing prizes is similar to acceptance at an Ivy League school. When a person wins a prize, they appear to be more meritorious than the people who didn’t win. In most cases, very few differences can be found among the top 10 or the top 25. I’ve judged these contests, and I know this for a fact. In the end, very little distinguishes a winner from the runners-up.
Know that before you send in your entry fee and your precious manuscript.
Well, that sounded rather curmudgeonly, so I should say, don't give up on your writing. I personally have self-published and self-distributed two booklets, using a local printer. Both included my poetry and color nature photographs and I have sold a lot of copies, out of the trunk of my car, as the saying goes. If I do another I will use Ingram Spark because they have the distribution to get more readers.
See, this is one more example of your kind and generous spirit, Janisse. Searching for these resources individually is tedious. Those of us still in the early stages need to enter contests, I think, in order to gain some validity. So ... thank you for this ample offering! (P.S. Love Silas' photo!)
Thank you so much Janisse for your time and effort in putting this information together for your subscribers. Doing this kind of research is time-consuming and frustrating when what we'd rather be doing is writing! And how wonderful to know that you and Jan DeBlieu are friends! Her "Wind" is one of my favorite books, and she was the first NC Coast Keeper I knew about. I know she has moved away and I hope she is well.
I read an excerpt of Wind a while ago. It was in an anthology and is fabulous.
I so recommend Jan's work to you. Wind is fascinating, and her research is amazing!
The anthology was titled Elemental South, and I suspect any of the contributors' books would be excellent. I only wrote a brief note in my files at the time:
Elemental South: An Anthology of Southern Nature Writing, edited by Dorinda G. Dallmeyer (UGA Press), includes poetry and essays by Southern Nature Writers. Contributors include:
Rick Bas
Bill Bellville
Franklin Burroughs
Christopher Camuto
Susan Cerulean
Jan DeBlieu
Christopher Camuto
Thomas Rain Crowe
Ann Fisher-Wirth
James Kilgo
John Lane
Janisse Ray
Melissa Walker
Thank you for this information Ray. I'm not familiar with some of these folks, so it will be fun to research them!
More complete text here. https://rayzimmerman.substack.com/p/anthologies-and-collaborative-projects
Thanks for all the good info and the affirmation of just being happy to write.
This is super timely for me. Ill be traveling to the desert in Algeria next fall and the Waterson Desert Writing prize may be a perfect fit.
Thanks for the list! I'll bookmark it for a later year or two when I may have something worth submitting. In late 2022 and early 2023 I started dabbling in flash fiction and submitting to small journals, a completely new world for me. It was then I realized for myself much of what you wrote about it being such a tight competition--so many good writers, not enough space. I've since tabled flash fiction and submitting to journals for longform projects but I keep it all in the back of my mind.
Thank you for all the useful info and your insights. Interesting that you've mentioned Great Britian's nature writing. The last few months I have read many books of nature writing from British authors, both present and past. There is a wealth there.