In addition to writing problems, Kristy Tallman has reading comprehension problems. She thinks Writer’s Digest is the same as Reader’s Digest. Note the title of her entry. I wonder whether she has the same problem with ‘rithmatic that she has with reading and writing.
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Readers Digest Self-Published Awards… Win $3,000 in cash
Gain national exposure for your book Catch the attention of prospective editors and publishers
Writer’s Digest is searching for the best self-published books of the past few years. Whether you’re a professional writer, part-time freelancer, or a self-starting student, here’s your chance to enter the only competition exclusively for self-published books.THE CATEGORIES:
ENTRY DEADLINE: May 1, 2008http://www.writersdigest.com/contests/self_published.asp
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Oh for fuck’s sake.
Y’know, I have hope that Tallman might inspire a new generation of writers. Not in the way that Stephen King, Clive Barker, and William Gibson inspired me, by making me say “damn, I want to be able to do something like that!”, but more like “holy crap this woman thinks she’s a writer? I can do better than that!”
Yeah, this contest is one reason why I’m asking my mother (who buys me a subscription as a gift ) to let it run out and switch to “The Writer” instead.
And it amazes me that Kristy insists on calling herself a writer when it’s clear that she does NOT proofread her work. If she had done something like this in a classroom with my mother presiding (when Mom taught journalism), Kristy would have to bolt for the door after making the mistake of ranting at Mom for calling her out on a blatant error.
The stupidity never ceases.
The actual page announcing the contest is very telling. Among other things, authors must submit hard copies of their book(s) and pay hefty entry fees.
The benefits awarded to the grand prize winner are specious at best. Oh–don’t forget to look at rule #7, which gives them the wiggle room to award nothing.
Writer’s Digest really needs to change its name to Wannabe’s Digest because that’s what it is now.
Sometimes I get impatient with Poets and Writers but all it takes is a look at Writer’s Digest’s half-literate bushwah for me to realize my folly.
They have a big puff piece about Laurell K. Hamilton in last month’s or this month’s issue. Much is made of her writing “style”. And there you have it–Hamilton succeeds despite her writing “style”, not because of it.
I stopped reading Writer’s Digest more than twenty years ago. It has always seemed to be a somewhat empty-headed publication to me. If you have significant income, you’re better off getting Publisher’s Weekly. Of course, most wannabees can’t afford the nearly $300 for a yearly subscription.
However, most libraries carry it and it’s worth going down each month and reading through it.
Ooh, all I’ve got to do is stump up $100 and if I’m lucky I might get an honorable mention and $50-worth of their product!
Where do I sign? Where do I sign?
I remember picking up an issue of Writer’s Digest about a year and a half, maybe two years ago; it was relatively soon after I moved up to Boston and I was working a crap job that gave me a lot of free time(as opposed to my awesome job now that still gives me loads of free time), and finding it kind of “meh”; not terrible but it didn’t really give me a lot of good stuff.