49 writers weekly round-up

Have we mentioned lately how much we appreciate all of you readers? And not only because you send us great stuff for the round-up. But we do love that great stuff. For instance, Sundrose brings to our attention that Homer author Daniel Coyle’s new book The Talent Code is coming out soon, and he’s got a great new website to promote it. Author of three previous books, including the NYT bestseller Lance Armstrong’s War, Coyle also writes for Outside magazine, Sports Illustrated, and the New York Times Magazine. His latest sounds like a great read for writers: “Drawing on cutting-edge neurology and firsthand research gathered on journeys to nine of the world’s talent hotbeds — from the baseball fields of the Caribbean to a classical-music academy in upstate New York — Coyle identifies the three key elements that will allow you to develop your gifts and optimize your performance in sports, art, music, math, and just about anything.”

And in case you missed it (I had), reader Betty Monthei points to a recent CNN story, “More authors turn to Web and print-on-demand technology.” Speaking of which: in February we linked to Dana Stabenow’s post on Jungle Red Writers about the Internet promotion campaign she put together for Whisper to the Blood. It created quite the stir among authors, so Dana edited, amended, and added to it, creating Promoting Your Book Online, available for $4 on Amazon’s Kindle. As Dana notes, following her suggestions will save authors a lot of sweat equity in building their own cyberspace presence.

Nancy Lord, who pubbed in the Northern Review’s first (and last, until now) literary edition, reminds us that the call for submissions for the Review’s special literary issue has a deadline of April 30. The Northern Review is a multidisciplinary journal of the arts, social sciences and humanities published twice a year by Yukon College in WhitehorseThe Northern Review’s second special literary issue will be published in Fall 2009. The first literary issue, Number 10, was published in Summer 1993. They are interested in receiving previously unpublished short works of fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction about the North and/or set in the North. They are also interested in receiving scholarship on northern literature. The review process will be double-blind, with no names on submissions, except on the cover page. Include your email and snail-mail addresses and phone number on the cover page. Authors may submit more than one entry for consideration. Submit to review@yukoncollege.yk.ca (sent as attachments, not in the body of the email). Inquiries to the managing editor dmcleod@yukoncollege.yk.ca.

Three Alaskan MFA students have been recognized as winners in several statewide writing contests. Scott Banks took first place in the Northern Lights Essay Contest for his essay “Light Exercises” and second place in the Harold McCracken Endowment Poetry Award for his poem “I Wore Cowboy Boots to Work Today.” Martha Amore won second place in the Harold McCracken Award for Outstanding Writing about Alaska & the North Country for her essay “Pike.” Also, Vivian Faith Prescott received an honorable mention in the Harold McCracken Endowment Poetry Award for her poem “The Last Word.”

I Can Do It! I Can Publish My Book! I Can Do It At Sea! Okay, it sounds a little cheesy, but we try to bring you all news connecting writers and Alaska, and this cruise fits. Sponsored by self-help publisher Hay House, it’s billed as an Alaska Writer’s Workshop at sea from July 11-18. A $10,000 advance is promised to one lucky workshop participant. ($10,000…only one will get it…high stakes for competitive and frustrated authors bottled up on a boat…there’s a plot here… and a reason why I write fiction instead of self-help)

Finally, the Alaska Writers Guild is sponsoring a two-day workshop on “The Art and Business of Writing” on August 22-23 at the Coast International Inn in Anchorage. Manuscript Reviews with the faculty will be available during the workshop for an additional cost.