The Historical Novel Society of North America, our version of the original HNS in the UK, has announced its first-ever short story contest. Your submission must be no longer than 4,000-words and must be set in or around historical Las Vegas (i.e. before 1975). Sin City is the site of the 2025 HNSNA conference.

Those are easy parameters to digest and opens the contest to everything from Wild West gunfights to mobster influence in casinos to desert life to the tragedy of gambling addiction. It promises to be a popular contest, especially since HNS is a venerable organization. The winner gets $250 plus free registration at the conference (value: $550).

A couple of things about the announcement caught my attention. One, the rising date of a story considered historical. Most book publishers want to label any fiction setting in the 1960s or earlier as historical. As we get further into the 21st century, the date will continue to rise, but the HNS may be already moving the standard up by capping their eligible submissions setting at 1975. It was not unexpected.

After all, Americans alive today who can reasonably be expected to remember 1975 in a first-hand manner would have to be at least 65 years old. That age would make them a mid-teen when the dismaying videos of the fall of Saigon showed up on our TV sets, or when Margaret Thatcher rose to political prominence in Britain. Folks who are at least 65 today probably recall the first breakfast burrito, Billy Jean King’s 6th Wimbledon title, Billy Martin’s move from punching other players to creating great havoc as a manager, or even the founding of Microsoft. Too bad hardly any of them will recall buying any Microsoft stock in those days, although their memory banks will contain many interesting tidbits about life back then.
If you writers want to mine those memories for your stories, you had better get a move on. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, only 55 million of those geezers are still alive. That’s 16.8% of the U.S. population. And they’re dying fast.

The second thing about the HNS announcement that interested me was the cost to enter the contest: $25. There will undoubtedly be hundreds of entries, so the organization will bring in thousands of dollars—and will award $800 in cash and attendance fees. They will also produce an anthology of the top stories and will award the writers of those published stories “a small honorarium.”

That honorarium could be your entry fee returned, or it could be 50 bucks. I could even be as much as $100. If it is $100, that would be a gratifying figure for a short story writer to earn on one story. The best mystery magazines pay twice that amount for a story, but the competition for sales in those few existing magazines is fierce. Most members of the Short Mystery Fiction Society sell their work for a wretched $25 or $50, hoping for recognition and/or evolving quality of sales in the future. It takes hours to write a 4,000-word short story, hours more to edit it and tighten the prose, hours more to rewrite portions of it and to submit it until it sells. Fiction writers don’t get paid on an hourly basis; we should know how much our work pays compared to other vocations.

But that’s the theme for another blog. What concerns me most about the HNS writing contest is that it’s a money machine for the conference; is it also a worthwhile investment for the writer?

The Historical Novel Society has many expenses, as do all writing organizations, and those organizations do a lot of good for the writers of our country. They support and defend novelists and short story writers, promote the work of their members, educate them, sometimes insure them, and offer them an opportunity for fame in their annual award presentations. Writers’ organizations are an integral part of a writer’s career path. They are supposed to support themselves by the annual dues paid by members.

Other writing conferences besides HNS make money by charging for award competitions. Crime con Killer Nashville, for instance, charges a writer $80 to enter a book for a Silver Falchion, although if he or she attends the conference itself, the award fee is included in the tuition charge. For his $80, the winning writer gets a plaque.
Promoters who organize and produce a conference deserve to make money for their efforts. That’s not the question, not for writers. The question for writers is: should I pay to have my work judged by someone?

Prestigious writing contests, such as the Edgars offered to members by the Mystery Writers of America, charge nothing to enter. Besides the Edgars, others that charge nothing include the Thriller awards from the Thriller Writers of America and the Hammett Prize from the International Association of Crime Writers (North America branch). Publishers who wish to enter their authors’ works send copies of novels to the judges of a contest category. That’s it. No fee. No money-making. It’s a service.

The value of a writer’s work is marked by the awards it wins, the reviews it receives, and the money it makes. It shouldn’t rely on the writer buying a chance to win a prize. Writing fiction is a gamble where you wage your time and effort and talent; it should not be a lottery where you pay to play.

 

paulbarra.com/Paul A. Barra’s novel, “Sgt. Ford’s Widow,” published by The Permanent Press, was called “an extraordinary story” by NPR.

Joan Baum wrote (NPR, 9/24), in part: “…compelling, suspenseful and moving novel, Sgt. Ford’s Widow – an unusual narrative that links the Mekong Delta in Vietnam and Casper, Wyoming in the late `60s, early 1970s, each place invoked with rhythmic sensual detail.”
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Barra has had seven other novels published, plus many short stories. He is a former naval officer who was awarded the Bronze Star with Valor "V" and the Combat Action Ribbon for his service on the rivers of the Mekong delta, was a reporter for local papers, and the senior staff writer for the diocese of Charleston. He and his wife, the former Joni Lee, have eight children and live in Columbia, SC.

His second children’s adventure novel (Samson and The Charleston Spy) will be released by Level Best Books in the spring, 2025.

The writing process is filled with stress. I don’t believe it matters if it’s a hundred-thousand-word manuscript, a short story, or a blog. No matter how easily words flow from your mind through your fingers to the page, second guessing is inherent. Will the reader understand your plot, or the emotion? Will they care? Are you true to the story line?
In my mind, the easy part is writing the story. The difficult stage is editing. Beta readers asking why? Copy editors slicing and dicing. Got an agent? Well, they have an opinion. Publishers are waiting, red pen in hand. As soon as you blink, they’re on you. What comes next are re-writes, adjustments, updates. Your precious creation. Your baby is about to undergo a healthy dose of Botox.

My writing style is behind curtain #3. I am a plodder. I get started, put down everything regardless of order, and when I’m finished, I get busy. Each segment is its own small, stapled bit. I lay it out on the table, shuffle the cards to create order, and then look at the book. Do I like it? Yes. No. Why? Reshuffle, new read. Now, I’m talking to my pre-beta people. There’s a lot of nodding, a couple of what are you talking about, and then I’m ready for production.

Finally, I’m face-to-face with the finished piece, complete with cover, and a marketing plan. Pardon me if I giggle hysterically. Where was I? Oh, yes, marketing. When working with a publishing house, they have a plan, but be aware, a lot of it is still in the writer’s lap. Self-publishing? Developing a marketing plan is as stressful as writing the book. Is there another option? Why, yes, there is! I call it seat-of-my-pants.

Somewhere during the writing process, I’m already keyed up and telling people about the book. I’ve been told not to do this, but it happens. When I have the first copy in hand, the fun part begins. I’m telling everybody, anyway that I can think of. I love talking about the stories. It’s not so much bragging, as wanting people to read and enjoy. I’ve just never figured out that my joy might not be theirs. I love doing cold calls. I’ll talk to anybody, go to any group that will have me.

Case in point. Local church group wanted a woman entrepreneur. They might have been surprised I wasn’t writing Christian, but they were polite. During my spiel, I got invited to a neighborhood book club. Tiny, but engaging. Lovely home, husband walked in, we chatted, he laughed at my energy, asked me if I’d like to do a couple of minutes on local access TV. Wonderland, right? I showed up for the segment, found out it was going to be thirty minutes, not the ten I expected, and, are you ready? It was going to be me and the camera. Also, not expected. I explained I wasn’t good with that and was nervous. He pointed; I sat behind the desk. He sat off to the side and asked, ‘So, when you do a cold call, how does it go?’
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Twenty-eight minutes later, the lights came on, the guy held up his hand, and said, “Okay, that’s a wrap!”

Bingo, we were done, and his part ended up on the floor, so to speak.

DonnaRae Menard began writing in junior high school and has been scribbling since. She is the author of the An It's Never Too Late Mystery series. A 1970's suspense featuring Katelyn Took and 17 cats. The Woman Warrior's series, historical fiction, The Waif and The Warlord, fantasy, Detective Carmine Mansuer series, set in Boston, Mass. Dropped from the Sky, It takes Guts, Willa the Wisp, and several short stories. She splits her time between Vermont and New Hampshire, has an affinity for odd jobs, and rescued cats. Check out her website donnaraemenardbooks.com. Find her on Facebook.


 

Writing is a business. You, as a writer, need to treat your work that way. Also, writers need to understand that publishing is a business.

Book stores get hundreds of requests for signings. They have to outlay time and money for events for staffing, stocking books, and promotion. Many are choosy or reluctant to host unknown authors. Some will not host authors whose unsold books are not returnable. Find ways to sell your proposed signing (e.g. book talk on a subject that their shoppers would be interested in, providing a group of authors who can bring readers to the store, a marketing campaign for publicizing the event). Find out if they will let you provide the books on consignment.

Agents, editors, and publishers sign authors that they think they can sell their work. Sometimes, it’s not your writing. It could be that the topic/subject has been done before, and it will be hard to sell in your genre. Do your research of what is out there before you write the next bookshop or knitting mystery.

Publishers are looking several years ahead to fill their slots, and there are not a lot of openings on the dockets. It takes months/years sometimes for a book to be published traditionally. Make your manuscript the best it can be before you start querying.

Always be professional. It sounds like a no-brainer, but you want to be easy to work with. People tend to avoid the whiners, divas, and complainers.

Make sure that you are polished and that your marketing materials look professional.

• You need a professional headshot (not a selfie).
• Your social media sites, websites, newsletter, and business cards should have the same look and feel. (One shouldn’t be red while the others are pink and mint green.) The similar look and photo let people know that it’s your site.
• Make sure you have business cards with you at all times. You never know when a networking opportunity will appear.
• Have a press kit on your website with short and long biographies, headshots, your book credits, and a way to contact you.

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Writing is a tough business. Everyone has feedback, and there are a lot of rejections. But there are things you can do to be prepared. Professionalism is key.