***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************

The Oak and The Shepherd local publications edited by Betty Mowery of Rock Island seeks submissions.  The Oak and the Gray Squirrel appear as one

publication.  The Oak uses material from college age and up, while the Gray Squirrel section uses material from authors ages 60 and up.  They are looking for

fiction up to 500 words and poetry up to 35 lines.  Art work is also accepted if 4 inches by 5 inches black ink.  There are four issues per year.

A subscription is available for $12.  A sample copy is available for $4.00.   Checks should be made payable to The Oak at 1530 7th St., Rock Island, IL 61201.

The Shepherd is an inspirational publication for kindergarten through senior citizens.  Fiction up to 500 words and poetry up to 35 lines.  Profiles of Biblical characters should be up to 500 words.  There are four issues per year. A subscription is available for $12.  A sample copy is available for $4.00.   Checks should be made payable to The Oak at 1530 7th St., Rock Island, IL 61201.

Both publications have several contests associated with them.  Contest guidelines are available for a SASE sent to Betty Mowery, Editor, 1530 7th St., Rock Island, IL 61201.

************************************************************************************************************************************

**************************************************************************************************

Boomerful

We recently decided that we’d like to open up Boomerful.com to more writers. We’re looking for a few especially talented Baby Boomer women who would like to write articles for us on a volunteer basis. They can write from their homes, and they’ll get a byline and have a regular opportunity to share their input on Baby Boomer life with other Baby Boomer women. 

We do ask that volunteer applications submit three short writing samples (articles, preferably) for our consideration. Applicants can send their samples to editor@boomerful.com. This would be a great opportunity for a person who has retired and wants to enter the world of writing, or maybe someone who has always wanted to do some writing on the side, and is looking for an opportunity to give it a try.
 

WHY ENTER BOOK AWARDS?

Entering your book titles in awards programs -- and winning -- brings credibility, publicity, prestige, and personal satisfaction. It can extend your publicity campaign, get you a whole new round of attention from the press, and open new doors with distributors and vendors.

Awards do influence reviewers and buyers. A 1999 Cookbook category IPPY finalist was discovered this way, and 187,000 copies were sold to a pharmaceutical company. A cookbook winner in our inaugural 1997 contest has reordered stickers continually and the book keeps on selling, thanks in part to the gold seal on the cover.

Winners are featured prominently in our monthly newsletter, which goes out monthly to over 7,000 subscribers worldwide, many of whom are editors, agents, buyers, booksellers and librarians, and appear indefinitely at www.IndependentPublisher.com. We distribute a results program at BookExpo, and send the results press release to an additional 500 media outlets.

"Winning the silver award last year (Useppa, a Passage in Time, 2007) improved our ability to market the book in a multitude of ways. It gave us credentials that we used in our public relations and marketing; it made a real difference in our ability to get book signings and presentation opportunities; it enabled us to get radio and TV interviews; and often people selected to purchase the book because of the silver award medallion sticker. We actually had a couple of people return the book because their book did not have the medallion sticker. It also made the author and the artist feel appreciated and honored, and gave us a reason to celebrate their success!" - Chris Ludwig, Passages Press

"The fact is award stickers help to convince buyers to purchase. I've seen this happen with librarians -- when faced with two competing titles and a limited acquisition budget the librarians will take the one that won an award, any award, over the title that doesn't have an award to its credit. I'm confident that this same phenomena works for bookstore patrons browsing the shelves as well." - Jim Cox, Midwest Book Review

**************************************************************************************************************
 

Bill Truesdell, advertising and business writing/consulting (http://www.billtruesdell.com) is seeking nicely crafted pieces of about 600-800 words in these catagories:  Family Fun, Calling All Seniors and The RV Life. He is also interested in travel-themed general articles that may not fit exactly within these categories. 

He says, "Although I cannot pay for submissions at this time, appearance on my site is a wide-open opportunity for new and beginning writers to gain publishing credit.  Interested parties should visit the site to get an idea of exactly what is needed and e-mail me for a copy of my Guidelines for Writers."  www.tripswithatwist.com