Write to Win

What do Marlene Cullen, Susan Littlefield, Ron Pasquariello, Jeanne Miller, Pat Tyler and Karen Batchelor have in common—beside the fact that we are all members of Redwood Writers? This is the list of our club members who have won money from the website www.wordsfordollars.com since its inception in June of this year.

I discovered this opportunity by chance when I was looking on Craigslist for a little part-time, temporary writing or editing job. I saw a post for the website and decided to check it out. At first the young man in charge was offering $500 as first prize, but within a day or two the first prize had dropped to $150 and the runner-up prizes to $50. It costs $5 to enter so I thought I would give it a try because it was not a big investment. I didn’t want to recommend this to the general membership unless I knew it was legitimate. I found out within days that I had won first prize and my check arrived soon after. Then I was convinced.

That first week there were only eight entries, so the operator of this site dug into his pockets to pay the prize money. The second week there were only ten entries. The last two weeks there have been 18 submissions each. He hopes that the quantity of submissions will continue to grow, but it seems obvious to me that he cannot continue to go in the red each week. Therefore the opportunity may not last very long.

There is a posted theme, but it is not necessary to write on that theme. He also writes and posts a piece of his own on-topic writing. He accepts essays/memoir and poems up to 1,000 words, and short stories with a maximum of 2,000 words. He also has a “Discuss” button where readers can leave comments on the winning pieces. Although the manager would like to see more discussion on the winning pieces, this part of the site is not used much.

I suggest that you go to the site, www.wordsfordollars.com and take a look at the winning stories, essays and poems—many written by our members. I also suggest that you try to take advantage of this site. I would like the young man to succeed, but I would also like you to be a winner!

June 28 Karen Batchelor “View from a Distance”

“The Last Day”

July 5 Susan Littlefield “The Favor”

Marlene Cullen “What are Gophers for?”

July 12 Ron Pasquariello “Lament of a Dead Man Walking”

Jeanne Miller “The Hitch”

Pat Tyler “It Never Happened”

July 19 Karen Batchelor “Mirrors and Memories”

Good luck!

submitted by Karen Batchelor

Vintage Voices 2009 Anthology

Vintage Voices: Centi’Anni: May You Live 100 Years

Your anthology team, headed by Karen Batchelor, has been hard at work collecting, screening, revising and editing the more than 100 submissions received. The book is in the process of final formatting and copyediting and then will go to the publisher.

This year is our centennial celebration of the founding of the California Writers Club and it is appropriate that our anthology reflect this event. We have more pages, more pieces, and a great variety of writing styles—all of which are engaging. The stories and poems are short, making it possible to read at brief sittings. And you will want to read all of them.

During the past two weeks, each contributor to the anthology has had his or her bio posted on Facebook to generate interest and excitement for our fourth anthology. We’ve also received our first testimonial, some advance praise for the wonderful collection. See our website for that: http://www.redwoodwriters.org/announcements.html.

Our goal is to have the books available by the Sonoma County Book Festival on September 19. On Saturday, September 26, the following weekend, we will launch the publication at North Light Books and Café in Cotati, as we have done the past two years.

Join us for these up-coming events! And keep on writing.