Blog Me Baby Welcome and Questions about Judging Contests

Today I want to take time to welcome my newest follower, Abby from Something to Write About. If you get a chance pop on over to Abby's blog and check it out. Thanks for signing on, Abby. I hope you visit often and join the conversation.

I could use some advice.

I have been a contest judge several time in the past and am going to judge a contest in the immediate future. When I've judged works of fiction I first look at the basics (format, spelling, grammar, etc). Then I focus on story elements: character, voice and the story itself--does it have a beginning, a middle, and an end. I also like titles that enhance the story, and the language and images are also important. If an entry has a  unique voice, strong characters, and good writing I'll overlook minor spelling and grammar hiccups. I separate the entries into Yes, No, and Maybe piles and work from there.

The final question I ask to set the winning entries from the others is: Will I remember this story a year from now? For me, that's the key to pick the winner.

But I'm wondering if there are some elements other judges focus on when they decide which entries are the best.  Is there something I'm missing?

So, for my questions:

* Have you ever been a writing contest judge? 

* If you have been a judge, what do you look for in a winning entry?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Blog Me Baby and Call for Entries from Voices Anthology

On this lovely June morning I would like to give a "blog me baby" welcome to the two latest followers of Donna's Book Pub:

Beth, from Beth's Banter She also contributes to Sleuth's Ink, a mystery writers' group out of Springfield, Missouri.

Karen Fisher-Alaniz has a blog called Write Now. Karen lives in Washington State.

I hope Beth and Karen visit often and join the conversations. They have pretty cool blogs of their own, so check them out when you get a chance.

Next, I want to share an e-mail reminder I received from one of the editors of the Voices Anthology of Short Stories Contest (Volume IV). The deadline is fast approaching--July 1--so I need to get busy and submit.

Here are the Contest Guidelines:
**

Unpublished short stories only to 3,000 words.

No essays or poetry.

Standard manuscript format, with cover sheet attached.

Times New Roman, 12-point font

Mail two copies of each entry, along with entry fee of $10 (check or money order). Make check out to Delois McGrew.

Mail to: Voices, P.O. Box 9076, Fayetteville, AR 72703.

Submissions not following the guidelines may be rejected.

You may enter as many times as you like, but each entry must be accompanied by a $10 entry fee. No SASE required, manuscripts will be destroyed after the contest.

First North American Rights. Rights revert to author 30 days after publication.

No simultaneous entries.

Include a cover letter with all contact information, including e-mail address, and a 50-word bio, attached to each of the two copies of your entry.

Accept all genres, except erotica. No gratuitous sex or violence in your entries.

Winner receives $200 and publication for Best Short Story. Possible nomination for the Pushcart Prize.

Other winners will be published in the anthology and receive one contributor’s copy.

All winners may make a one-time purchase of the anthology at a discount price.

By submitting your manuscript to this contest, you are allowing it to be edited and considered for publication. If your work is chosen, you understand and agree with the conditions for publication. By submitting to this contest, you are giving permission to publish your work in Voices, An Anthology of Short Stories, Volume Four. No other contract will be required.

Deadline for entries: July 1, 2011.

Winners will be notified 60 days after submissions close.

For more information, contact deloism@gmail.com or louturn@aol.com.

**

Good luck if you enter!

Welcome and Summer Giveaways of Books and Cool Stuff

It's been a month since I've welcomed my visitors who have signed up as followers on Donna's Book Pub. Please join me in welcoming the followers who joined last month. I hope they come back often and stay long. Please visit their blogs or websites when you get a chance.

Mari L. McCarthy

Debra Mayhew

Gypsywoman

Kati Mar

Grandma Yellow Hair

Sheree Nielsen

Nothing says summer like sun, the beach--and books!

My friends from the Book Report Network, including Bookreporter.com, Teenreads and Kidsreads have lots of contests and giveaways going on this summer. I wish I could enter, but I can't because I am a reviewer for their sites. But you can--and maybe you'll be a lucky winner!

For a chance to win some great summer books, Bookreporter.com has a Summer Reading Contest and Feature where they spotlight a different title or two on select days through July 27.

Bookreporter's Father's Day's Contest is going on until June 13. Readers have a chance to win one of five Bookreporter.com Father's Day Backpacks. Each hunter green backpack is filled with a copy of seven featured titles, along with a red-striped beach towel and a pack of Dunkin' Donuts coffee.

Teenreads.com has their annual Beach Bag of Books giveaway goin on until July 18. Five winners each will receive a beach bag with 16 books. Along with the books, winners will find their striped canvas beach bag stocked with an assortment of summer goodies: a blue polka-dot beach towel, a Mega Fling Toss Game, a deck of invisible cards, an inflatable beach ball, Coppertone Sport Sunblock, H2O+ Mineral Spa Shower Gel, Crystal Light Drink Mix, a metallic sports bottle to keep your drink cool, and a terrific cap that turns any can into a bottle to prevent sand and bees from finding their way into your drink.

And check out Kidsreads.com for their first Bunch of Books Giveaway to win four special books before June 15.

Wow! That's a lot of great books and fun prizes you can win. Good luck to everyone who enters. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Winners and Welcomes and Happy Mother's Day

Thanks to my guest Mari L. McCarthy for her for post this week on "Using Your Five Senses While Journaling."

The winner of Mari's e-book, "27 Days of Journaling to Health and Happiness," is:

Clara Gillow Clark

Clara, please e-mail Mari at Mari (at) createwritenow (dot) com to make arrangements to receive your book.

Also thanks to everyone who joined the celebration of Children's Book Week by leaving comments on my post about Children and Mothers and Giveaways.

The randomly-selected winners of the ARCs (who also included their e-mails along with their comments) are:

Life's Beautiful Path wins the ARC of GIRLS BEST FRIEND

Tiger85 wins the ARC of BENJAMIN PRATT

I will e-mail you two to get your mailing addresses.

Again, thanks to everyone for your continued support and interest in my blog.

If you didn't win one of this week's contests, check back next month because I have some more ARCs to give away--and either later this month or early next month I will be interviewing another writer and giving away a copy of her book.

Also, please join me in welcoming the newest followers to Donna's Book Pub.

Mari L. McCarthy
Debra Mayhew

I hope my new followers will visit often and stay long.

Last, and certainly not least, Happy Mother's Day to all of my visitors who are mothers. May your special day on Sunday and the rest of the year be filled with joy, hope, and happiness!

Welcome and An Announcement

It's been a few weeks since I've welcomed my new followers, so without further ado, I would like to extend a warm welcome from Donna's Book Pub the following amazing authors, wonderful writers, and vivacious visitors:

Vicky Rocho

Marcia Gaye

Bea Siroa

MissFat aka F.Kath

The Old Geezer

Elizabeth Mueller

Spakedom

Margo L. Dill

Thanks for joining the fun. Hope you come visit often and stay awhile.

Now for my announcement: As part of the WOW! Author's Blog Tour, tomorrow my guest will be Mari L. McCarthy, author of Peace of Mind & Body: 27 Days of Journaling to Health & Happiness. Mari will discuss using the five senses in writing--and will be giving away an e-book. Hope you'll stop by to read what Mari has to say.

Mysteries of the Ozarks and Welcome

Last week I posted a brief review of Mysteries of the Ozarks (Vol III) on my A Book A Week blog.

If you like reading about the Ozarks, local history, or mysteries, check out the anthology, which is newly released from High Hill Press. Volume III is full of lovely stories, and the cover is amazing.

I have a story in Volume I and another one that will be included in Volume IV, which will be published later this year. Check out my review of Mysteries of the Ozarks Volume III if you get a chance.

Also, I would like to welcome my newest follower to Donna's Book Pub.

Welcome Tiger85. Thank you for being a follower, and I hope you visit often!

Writing Advice, Meditations, and Welcome

With the change in the weather from nice to nasty I want to shake things up a bit. Today I'd like to share links to two blogs where you can find some great resources and information about writing.

First, over on Write in the Midwest, Dianna Graveman features Mary Horner in her post: "WritRteachR Has Advice for MFA Students." You need not be an MFA student to benefit from Mary's advice. Mary also shares helpful links to sources for potential writing jobs. I especially like Mary's advice at the end of the post encouraging writers to create themselves. Mary's book, Strengthen Your Nonfiction Writing, will be published next month by High Hill Press.

The second link is to Clara Gillow Clark's blog. Clara writes historical fiction for children age 10 and up. For the past few weeks Clara has hosted several children's historical fiction authors. The author interviews and features have been fascinating --- and fun. Clara also has several giveaways. I was surpirsed and pleased to see my name today among the winners. Also on Clara's blog today, author Laurie Calkhoven shares meditation exercises. Laurie talks about how the element of suprise can make characters come alive. Hop over to Clara's blog to read more.

Last, a hearty Hello to my newest follower, Dave from Dave's Travel Corner, Above the Clouds. WELCOME and thanks for becoming a follower of Donna's Book Pub.

Writers' Notebooks and Welcome

If you're like me, you love writing notebooks and journals. Like pens, I have notebooks sprinkled all over my house. I keep one in my purse and another in my car. I have several different notebooks tucked in tote bags for when I attend writing events. Never know when an idea might strike. Some journals are neatly filled in; others have ideas jotted down. Some--I have no idea what I meant to write--but I hope to figure it out eventually.

Last week I was thrilled when I received a Celtic journal in the mail. It's exactly like the one at the left, from Peter Pauper Press (say that three times--dare you!).

I won this elegant journal over on Lisa Ricard Claro's "Writing in the Buff" blog a couple weeks ago. Thank you, Lisa!

What I really like about my new journal, besides being free, is its "intricate knotwork and serpentine animal forms evoking the rich Celtic legacy." Just in time for St. Patrick's Day.

I visited the Peter Pauper Press site today to check out their journals. The one I have is now out of stock and won't be available until mid May. Bummer!

Today I also received my Real Simple Daily Finds e-mail. Today's finds are ten noteworthy notebooks. I found a few that I really like. Most are affordable, others are expensive--at least for me. Included among the journals is a "My Quotable Kid" journal to record funny things that pop out of kids' mouths. How fun is that?

So, if you're looking for a journal to record your thoughts and ideas, jot down dialogue you don't want to forget, or spark creativity and make you feel special, check out the Peter Pauper Press site or Real Simple Daily finds.

Today I also want to welcome my newest follower: MILO JAMES FOWLER.

Thanks for signing up as a follower, Milo. Hope you enjoy the ride. To my other followers and regular visitors, if you get a chance, check out Milo's blog, in medias res.

!Welcome!

Today is a great day!

It's a bit cool, but the sun is shining. I made it through another Zumba class without embarrassing myself or hurting anything. Some of my muscles are a bit sore, but it's a good feeling because they're ones that haven't been used in awhile.

More sunny news.

Welcome! Welcome! To my newest followers:

Aron White

J. C. Martin

Julie

Gaurab Sinha

Thanks for joining the Donna's Book Pub. I hope you visit often and feel free to leave comments or questions.

For my regular visitors, please check out Aron, J.C., Julie, and Gaurab's blogs (at least the two I was able to link to) when you get a chance.

News to Share and Welcome

Yesterday was a day for good news.

My granddaughter Cari participated in the regional competitions with her high school's Future Business Leaders of America team. Cari received a first-place trophy in the Introduction to Business Communications category.

By placing first, she qualifies for Missouri State competitions next month. If she wins in the state competition, she will qualify to compete in the nationals in Orlando, Florida, in the spring.

Congratulations and good luck, Cari! We are so proud of you.

Earlier in the day our critique group crackled with good news.

* Paul told us that his book signing at Big Sleep Books on Saturday went well. His interview by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch appeared in the A&E section of the weekend edition.

* Claudia reported that an agent has requested a full manuscript of her latest romantic suspense novel. The request for a full is a result of Claudia winning a Romance Writers of America competition.

* On Monday, Alice received 30 contributor copies of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Grandmothers, which will be released soon. The reason Alice received so many copies is because she has three stories in the anthology. Way to go, Alice!

* Tommie brought along as a guest her lovely daughter Cameron, who is a marvelous critiquer--but more impressively--she's going to have a baby girl on Friday.

Talk about a busy and an exciting day!

But wait, there's more.

I'm extcited and pleased to WELCOME my three newest followers:

Val Thevictorian
Ann Best
and
Kathy Holmes

Thanks for following Donna's Book Pub. Feel free to leave comments or e-mail me if you have any questions. Hope you visit often and stay long!

Four Welcomes, Nine Pens, and One Question

I've both read and heard that readers are more likely to check out what you have to say (or write) if you use numbers in the title. Don't know if that's true, but using numbers in this title fit with today's post, so here goes:

Four Welcomes

First, I want to exentd a warm welcome to my four newest followers:

Kay Theodoratus, Janet, Janice Votsmier, and Jenny Matlock

Thanks for signing up to be my followers. I hope you will visit often, and I hope my regular readers will check out your blogs. I did.

Nine Pens

Some of my favorite writing gifts--to give and receive--are books, journals, and pens. I was so excited last week when I got my e-mail newsletter from Real Simple, which included a feature on nine "noteworthy" pens.

Here's a link to the Real Simple feature with the pens. Designs include a carved dog pen (with a carving of a dog on top), a set of 1951 retro pens (my favorite), colorful Campo Marzio roller ball pens (very cool), a key pen, and several others. Prices vary from affordable to extravagant.

One Question

How about you: Do you have favorite writing-related gifts?

Where Are My Manners?

It occurred to me that I've neglected to formally welcome my new followers since last month. Please excuse my tardiness. Blame it on the holidays, the weather, deadlines, or just plain forgetfulness.

So, please join me in extending a warm WELCOME TO DONNA'S BOOK PUB to all these wonderful people who've joined since December 14:

Louella Turner, Dangerous with a pen, Beautiful Dress, Holly, umdmaurer, Liz Davis, Katie Gates, Melissa Ann Goodwin, Stephen Baird, and Walt M.

If you get a chance, click on their photos and visit their blogs or websites. They have lots of great stories to tell and information to share.

Speaking of sharing, if you're looking for another blog chock full of info, check out the contest going on at Cathy C's Hall of Fame She's giving away a $20 Barnes & Noble gift card to one lucky new follower. Cathy's goal is to have 100 followers, and she's almost there. So, if you want to help a fellow-writer reach her goal, just hop on over and follow her. * Leave a comment. * Tell her Donna from Donna's Book Pub sent you. * Be sure to leave your contact information so she can contact you if you're the winner. One lucky NEW follower will win a $20 gift card and if I'm the one who sent you, I'll also win a $20 gift card. Yay! But act fast, Cathy's contest ends on Jan 24th.

Here's another deadline you might be able to make. The First Line Literary Journal has a call for submissions. Stories should be between 300 and 3,000 words. For the spring call-out, your story must start with the first line: "Sam was a loyal employee." Deadline is Feb 1. I've already started a first draft of a story.

Short story payment is $20 and a copy of the issue in which your story appears, if it is accepted for publication. The magazine also pays $10 for non-fiction essays about your favorite first line from a literary work. For details, check out the submission guidelines on The First Line website.

Welcome to my new followers, thanks to my loyal followers, and good luck to all in the contest and call for submissions.

Thanks, A Winner and More Welcomes

Thanks to: Carole, Clella, Betty, Terri, Sally, Tammy, and Pat for leaving comments about the EXTRAORDINARY Advance Reading Copy giveaway.

The name of the winner of the ARC of EXTRAORDINARY by New York Times best-selling author Nancy Werlin is . . .

TAMMY

So, Tammy please e-mail me at dvolkenannt (at) charter.net to make arrangements to get the ARC to you. I think you will enjoy it!

To all others: If you didn't win, take heart, I plan to have another giveaway later this month.

Now, I want to WELCOME my most recent followers, TOM and JANEL. I hope you will stop by often, and THANKS to my regular visitors. I hope you will continue to visit.

A Saint, A Winner, and Welcome!

Happy St. Nicholas Day, a holiday celebrated by many Catholics. St. Nicholas Day is a special day in many European countries, especially in Germany.

Traditionally St. Nicholas visits the homes of children and leaves treats if they're good. If they're bad, they get a visit from Ruprecht, who is in charge of discipline. Ruprecht carries chains and a strap and disciplines naughty children. The St. Nicholas Center has a lot of information about how the holiday is celebrated in various countries. My husband Walter, who was born in the Bavarian section of Germany, tells the tale that he frequently got visited by Ruprecht on St. Nicholas Day. The photo at the left is from the St. Nicholas Center.

Growing up in St. Louis, we always celebrated St. Nicholas Day but never got a visit from Ruprecht. Mostly we found a candy cane or candy bar in our shoes. Last night Michael and Cari put out their shoes--actually Michael put out his size 13 Nikes and a pair of tall boots--Cari just put out her boots. This morning everyone, including Walter, and Harley our black Lab got treats.


Now, for a winner. Last week I announced a giveaway of the book A Cup of Comfort for Christmas, which has my true story, "Santa Wore Cowboy Boots." Thanks to everyone who left a comment--all 13 of you! The name picked at random to win the book is . . . drum roll, please . . .

SALLY

So, Sally, if you will please e-mail me at dvolkenannt (at) charter.net I will make arrangements to send the book to you.

I'm going to announce another giveaway later this week, so if you didn't win this go around, you might have luck next time.

Last, and certainly not least, I want to welcome all my new followers who signed up over the last month: Lynn, Sally, Jenny, Stacy Sue, Underground Teacher, Al Walker, and Sara. Welcome. I hope you stop by often.

And to all my faithful blog followers, thank you!

First Post

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to my new blog, Donna's Book Pub. If you haven't guessed, my name is Donna. I live in the Midwest state of Missouri, nicknamed the Show Me State, which is appropriate for a writer who has been taught to "show, don't tell."

My blog is a virtual pub for writers to hang out and share their thoughts about writing and publishing and for readers to talk about books.

So, here's to you, blog visitors. Hope you enjoy the postings, and have a virtual drink on me.