Is your website accessible?

“Build a platform!” urge publishing gurus. “Establish an online presence!” You dutifully obey. Facebook? On it. Twitter? Rule it. Website? Of course, and it rocks! But did you know you might be restricting an entire group of users and customers from accessing your website and hence, from reaching you? This group consists of people with disabilities.

The US Census Bureau states nearly 57 million people, that’s 19 percent of civilians, have a disability. You may have a family member or friend, know a neighbour or student who is disabled. Imagine them trying to do a basic search online that...

Read the full article in the February 2016 issue of Funds For Writers

or

Request to read the original article via email for just 99p! (T&C apply)

600 words
Nonfiction
US publication

***********************

Words from the Wise

"Occasionally an exceptional piece may be listed on the website under Latest FFW Tips."
- from Funds for Writers

"I love the topic"

Hope Clark

Editor

Funds For Writers

Unpaid debts

‘Look! Such a big juicy watermelon! Do you want it?’

Big brown eyes wide with wonder gaze unblinkingly at the giant fruit. Hesitant nodding of a small dark head indicates acquiescence. Clad only in a thin cotton vest and a black string around his rotund little waist, the small boy toddles off after the delectable temptation, his podgy fist held fast around a guiding finger, all his faith vested in one single assurance.

While the boy is occupied with the watermelon, his father and mother hurriedly get onto a waiting bullock-cart and begin to ride away. The tell-tale clip clop of the bullock’s...

Read the full article in the February 2016 issue of Scarlet Leaf Review

or

Request to read the original essay via email for just 99p! (T&C apply)

550 words
Nonfiction
US publication

***********************

Words from the Wise

"We like your style... From my point of view (and not only because all of us had the same impression) your work is of very high quality."

Roxana Nastase

Editor

Scarlet Leaf Review

How to deal with noisy children... before the neighbors complain!

The doorbell rang just as my two-year-old emitted a piercing shriek of delight on finding a toy long thought lost.

"Your children make too much noise," complained the new neighbour. "They're too loud; they disturb us during our conference calls. Please can you tone it down a bit?" She was gone before I had time to draw breath.

With a mixture of embarrassment and fury, I shut the door and stormed back into the apartment screeching at my kids to shut up and mouthing impossible threats and punishments if they disobeyed. After a minute to collect myself, I reflected and questioned my reaction: did...

Read the full article in the January/February 2016 issue of Palmetto Parent

or

Request to read the original article via email for just 99p! (T&C apply)

975 words
Nonfiction
US publication

***********************

Words from the Wise

"Great article! Thanks for sharing :)"

Michelle Ang

Editor

New Age Parents

"I really like the tone and the points made."
Sarah Third
Editor
Country Child Magazine

"I enjoyed your humorous pitch, and it sounds like an interesting topic"
Dominique Lamberton
Associate Editor
Chatelaine

"This story is really well-written and is an important topic... Love the article."
Sarah Anne Mau
Managing Editor
Hawaii Parent

"This looks good and could be something of interest."
Anna Dixon
Deputy Editor
My Child Magazine

"I enjoyed your article."
Jane Muller
Editor
City Parent

Ironing irony

I love car boot sales. It’s always nice to know that there are other people in the world who collect as much junk as I do and even more people who are willing to buy it from them. The last such sale I attended was a goldmine – I got five Calvin & Hobbes comics at the price of one; I also got an iron, a sweater, two spoons, a strainer and a blister in each foot for walking around so much. A real bargain.

I don’t usually get along with electronic equipment, but the iron that I bought turned out to be even more temperamental than these things usually are. It had its own ideas about when to get warm and to what extent ...

Read the full article in the January 2016 issue of Scarlet Leaf Review

or

Request to read the original article via email for just 99p! (T&C apply)

800 words
Nonfiction
US publication

***********************

Words from the Wise

"We'll be delighted to have your story in our magazine. We like your style."

Roxana Nastase

Editor

Scarlet Leaf Review

"Really interesting and fun"

Rose Eveleth

Editor

The Atlantic

"I thoroughly enjoyed reading this!"

Janet Kim

Publisher

GirlWorks

How to keep your work from being stolen

4,720 search results found for "Devyani Borade" says Google. I run my eye over the first page of results. My own website appears at the top, followed by many of my articles on various others. Click. Next page. More of the same. Next page. I am getting complacent. Ah, so many publication credits! They make me so ha--hang on. What the heck is this? It is my article on the website of a popular established parenting magazine, posted under my by-line. Except that it has been published there without my knowledge, consent or compensation.

'It's awful to have one of your stories stolen,' says freelance...

Read the full article in the December 2015 issue of Freelance Market News

or

Request to read the original article via email for just 99p! (T&C apply)

750 words
Nonfiction
UK publication

***********************

Words from the Wise

"I like a lot of the piece"

Hope Clark

Editor

Funds For Writers

"The article is excellent. I wanted to publish it"

Caitlin Jans

Editor
Authors Publish

Faith

‘I am invincible!’ cried the King.

The Lord slept in His Heaven. His Gatekeeper stood guard at the gates of His abode and kept a close watch. Nothing should interrupt his master’s rest. A beautiful pigeon, snow-white and pure, fluttered onto the bough of a nearby tree and cooed. The Gatekeeper soundlessly shooed it away. A spider, eight spindly legs splayed, crawled up the Gatekeeper’s leg and began to weave a web. The Gatekeeper did not brush it off. A scorpion skittered across the dry ground, sensed his toe and struck with its venomous stinger. But not a whimper of pain escaped the Gatekeeper’s...

Read the full story in the December 2015 issue of Hypnos

or

Request to read the original story via email for just 99p! (T&C apply)

2100 words
Fantasy
US publication

***********************

Words from the Wise

"An ambitious almost epic piece that puts me in mind of Paradise Lost with the Godly motif... The underlying story is engrossing and interesting with definite entertainment."

Elsa

Senior Poetry Editor

Page & Spine

"Tales of wonder, especially those involving religious or metaphysical questions, intrigue us, and we appreciated your story's unique blend of folklore and almost Biblical language. The story is sprinkled with marvelous details and "Easter eggs" that further engage and delight the reader---the Gatekeeper's remarkable request ("Then grant me this...") is a favorite. Congratulations on crafting such a memorable work."

Kristen Marie

Editor

Hypnos

"This is a very good piece... I enjoyed reading it"

RMC

Editor

Phobos

"The idea behind 'Faith' is a very interesting one, and there are moments when the tale comes across as unique..."

Anonymous

Manuscript Reader

Bards & Sages Quarterly

"It is a good story"

Julie Ann Dawson

Editor

Bards & Sages Quarterly

"I found the story original"

Shalene

Associate Editor

Shimmer Magazine

"Your folktale style of narration was done well"

Lillian

Editor

Ideomancer

"Your writing is strong"

Courtney Pondelick

Assistant Submissions Editor

Dark Discoveries

"I like much of this... It's kind of bold and deals with topics that interest me. I do especially like the riddle-solution ending to this tale and the allegorical feel of the prince story."

Stephen Ramey

Editor

Parsec Ink

"I enjoyed the story"

Nick L.

Editor

Bastion Science Fiction Magazine

"This was an interesting story"

Rose Lemberg

Editor

Stone Bird Press

"You've got a strong opening line"

Katrina S. Forest

Manuscript Reader

Urban Fantasy Magazine

Launching a blog? Start with this checklist!

Once upon a time, I had a blog. It was my online debut in writing: a small piece of electronic real estate that belonged to me. My own little blank canvas on which my imagination would run wild. My stage, where I'd be "discovered" and hailed as the next big literary sensation.

At first I posted to it every day. Diligently. Joyfully. Then I ran out of energy. The blog went into a coma from which it roused occasionally with a stray post or two, then relapsed. Today it is officially dead. Despite this, I say my maiden blog was very successful, though not in any way I had imagined. It didn't make me rich or...

Read the full article in the December 2015 issue of Writing World

or

Request to read the original article via email for just 99p! (T&C apply)

1500 words
Nonfiction
US publication

***********************

Words from the Wise

"These are EXCELLENT questions, and really, I had not thought things through to nearly this extent. We have some other pieces on blogs but nothing that approached it in quite that way!"

Moira Allen

Publisher

Writing World