WOODSTOCK REVISITED
Seeking TRUE 850-1100 word stories. Adams Media pays authors $100 per story, plus one copy of the book. Literary Cottage offers prizes as follows: $75 first prize, $50 second prize, $25 third prize.
DEADLINE: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2008 No phone calls, please - Finalists will be notified by October 30, 2008
The Woodstock Festival, touting three days of peace and music in 1969, became one of the most unique and legendary events in world history. The festival materialized amidst highly controversial military conflict abroad and unnerving racial discord at home, and yet became a huge counterculture party, where hippies and ordinary youth mingled to celebrate and watch some of the most prominent musical artists of the 60s perform—JimiHendrix, The Who, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Joe Cocker, Janis Joplin, Santana, Jefferson Airplane, and many others. Lack of seating, downpours, oozing mud, food shortages, and poor sanitation failed to dampen the spirits of attendees, who blended, bonded, and got along swimmingly.
WOODSTOCK REVISITED will contain fifty stories written by people who attended the original, 1969 Woodstock Festival. Since all the books that preceded it have focused on the musicians, promoters, and staff, this book will be the first one that chronicles the audience’s experience in an up close and personal way. Our intention is to document the event itself, but to also provide a portrait of America as that tumultuous decade came to a close. Stories should be historical within the context of 1969 and yet unique to your experience.
Stories must be TRUE, 850-1100 words, vivid, and substantive. If you did not attend but know someone who did attend, you can write an “as told to” story. Please read the following to gain a sense of what we want, i.e., textural stories that together will offer a historical account of the actual event in the context of what was happening . . . and a few paragraphs about how it affected you and who you have become. Please touch upon the following:
Who you were then –economic and social background, educational level, hopes, dreams, aspirations. PLUS how you felt about the Vietnam War; were you participating in demonstrations; were you counter-culture or preppie; were you a hippie; were you following the straight and narrow, i.e., did your parents already have your life mapped out for you, or somewhere in between, what were your primary social concerns, were you into the music scene, etc.Other considerations: Your Woodstock experience; why you went; how you got there, the nitty-gritty details, obstacles, etc.; what you saw, felt, loved, hated, never forgot, changed your life, etc.; what it was like to experience physically, emotionally, spiritually; what, if any, long range effects in your evolution; what was retained; what was lost; how did music affect your life, how was music intertwined with social changes; what are your most poignant memories about the late Sixties & early Seventies; what major societal (or global) changes do you credit to the Woodstock Generation, and what fell by the wayside; what shaped your individual character, ideals, life; paths your life has taken - Fits and starts? Surprises? Not what you planned?
Formatting Requirements:Stories must be original, true, and in English.
STORY LENGTH: 850-1100 words
TITLE: Choose a unique title that applies to your story. Do not use "Woodstock" in the title.
POINT OF VIEW: First-person or third-person (no second person). If you know someone who attended, you may write an "As told to" story.
STYLE: Narrative nonfiction, creative nonfiction, literary nonfiction.
FORMAT: Times New Roman, 12 pt. Everything single-spaced, flush left, with one space between paragraphs, and only one space between sentences. Read all instructions below: Those not properly formatted may be returned unread.
Send all stories as a separate WORD document. If you don’t have Word, send as a "Text" file, or as a last resort, embed the story into the body of the e-mail. Name file as follows: Your Last Name, Your Initial (DO NOT USE TITLE or "Hero")No headers or footers; No page numbers.
Use one-inch margins: top, bottom, left, and right.
Use 12 pt. Times New Roman; single-spaced with one space between paragraphs.
Make Paragraphs flush left; NO indentations.
Only use ONE space after a period.
Do not put titles in all CAPS; type your name as you want to be credited one space beneath titleDo not put “The End” or a # symbol at the end.
At the bottom of your document, please provide a tightly focused three-sentence bio that includes selected writing credits, but limit self-promotion to mention of a website. Humor is good. Link it to the story if relevant. Do not type in "Bio:" Sample: Susan Reynolds is a freelance writer . . ."
TONE: Stories must be uplifting and can be poignant, heartwarming, and/or humorous. Humor is not only acceptable, but encouraged.
INFO TO INCLUDE: Each submission must include the following in the top, left-hand corner of the first page of the story file (not in the e-mail):
Your full name, as you want it to appear in the byline
Your mailing address
Your phone number
Your email address, if applicable
Story word count
Story title
DOCUMENT: Save your document as a Word file named as follows: “Last Name,Initial.doc” (example: “Reynolds,S.doc”) Do not save your story file as “Woodstock” as it may get lost in the shuffle. If you don’t have Word you can save it as a Text document, or as a last resort cut and paste the text into the e-mail. Word docs are strongly preferred.
NOTE: We do not publish magazine articles, fiction, poetry, profiles, eulogies, sermons, testimonials, letters, commentary, expository essays, persuasive essays, diatribes, academic papers, confessionals, erotica, pornography,=20or experimental literature. Stories with religious themes or references will only be published if religious beliefs are truly inherent to the story and delicately woven into the story (not as the focus!), and will be a very small percentage of accepted stories, as in less than 5 percent
Terms & Conditions:Adams Media pays $100(each) for stories published in the book. Only one per volume, per author.They also send authors one complimentary copy of the book upon publication. Literary Cottage offers prizes to the top three stories: $100 for First Prize,$75 for Second Prize, and $50 for Third Prize, awarded upon publication. Some previously published material is acceptable, if you own the rights and it was not on an Internet site. Include information as to where and when your story was published, including who owns the rights at the bottom of the story file.A publishing agreement will be mailed to the Author of each story selected as a finalist. Adams Media purchases the book rights to this version of your story; author retains rights to publish the purchased version in an anthology containing solely their own work. The Agreement will spell out further details.
Due to the large volume of submissions received, we will acknowledge receipt of submissions, but after that we cannot report on the status of individual submissions (with the exception of finalists, who are notified in writing). The prize winning stories and the list of contributors for each volume are posted on the website upon the book's publication. Manuscripts are not returned.
How to Submit Your Story: Electronic (emailed) submissions are preferred; mailed submissions are acceptable.Write “Woodstock” in the subject line of the e-mail, and send the document as a Word attachment named as follows: “Last Name,Initial.doc” (example “Reynolds,S.doc”)Do not save your story file as “Woodstock” as it may get lost in the shuffle. See titling information above. If you don’t have Word you can save it as a Text document, or as a last resort cut and paste the text into the e-mail. Word docs are strongly preferred.E-Mail: (Strongly preferred):
DUE TO VOLUME, WE CANNOT ACCEPT TELEPHONE CALLS.