Market research & writing prompt 12

I liked the idea of combining the weekly writing prompt with market research so much that I decided to do it again. Today's post also contains my weekly ROW80 update (only four weeks left in this round!).

Market research
Girl at the End of the World (a Fox Spirit anthology)

• "Fox Spirit is a small start up and works on a profit share basis in most cases. We publish ebooks, print on demand and some limited edition print runs." Based in the UK.
• Paying market - token payment of £10 for the story + share of profits for 2 years if the anthology covers its costs.
• For this anthology they're looking for 5-10K word stories about the end of the world (or near the end of the world) featuring ass-kicking female protagonists in SF, fantasy, horror & crime genres.
• Submission guidelines don't say outright whether they accept simultaneous submissions or previously published work, but based on the info provided on rights, I'm guessing no previously published work.
• Submissions accepted via attachment to an email only, and they have several guidelines around email subject heading, document formatting, etc. to pay attention to.
• If story's accepted, they require First World English (for print), First World Electronic (for eBook), & Anthology rights.
• Deadline - 31 August 2013.

Other notes: There are a few copy editing errors on the Submissions page. =*/ On the plus side, they post a list of all received submissions so you can see whether they've received yours...and you can also see who else has submitted & what their story titles are! Also be aware that their style and formatting requirements may be a little different from what you're used to, since they're a UK publication. (Unless you are also in the UK, in which case, never mind.)

Favorite line: "because nothing says Merry Christmas like the end of the world."

Which brings us to this week's writing prompt...

Photo by Rick Campbell

Prompt: Girl at the end of the world.

Bet you didn't see that coming! Wait, you did? Oh. You must be very smart.

ROW80 update
I'm having a kind of come-to-Jesus moment around my schedule and the number and kinds of commitments I've been making.

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you might know that I tend to try to do too much...to the extent that one of my Round 2 ROW80 goals was "Try to stop trying to do too much." And yet here I am again, staggering under the weight of Too Much To Do. For the past two nights I fell asleep with the lights on in the midst of trying to get something done, and I've had a hard time getting up in the morning. Not good signs. I don't want to keep pushing myself until I get sick.

So I need to reevaluate my priorities, and they go like this:

1. Health -  Mine & Milton's. Psychological/emotional as well as physical. When I started this list I put Health at #3 and then realized how messed up that was. Health needs to come first always.

2. Paid work - I think it's obvious why this needs to be a top priority.

3. Writing - Good for my mental health, and I also hope to start making income off it within the next five years, so I need to make slow but steady progress on my collection of speculative fiction short stories and on my pseudonym's projects over the next year.

4. Communication - With friends, family, clients. I'm thinking primarily email here, but also Facebook & Twitter.

5. Admin work - E.g. drawing up contracts & invoices, keeping on top of my to-do list, business coaching, etc.

6. "Life stuff" - A catch-all category for non-business-related tasks such as cleaning the house, grocery shopping, tracking my household budget, etc.

7. Marketing - Someday I hope to hire someone to do this for me, since there's so much more I could and want to be doing in this area, but for now I will keep my ambitions in check and stick to what's manageable.

And I need to let some things go. This is so hard for me, because everything I do has its place in my heart and in my overall strategy for my business, but I have to do this or risk my health.

I am happy to say, though, that I have been doing more creative writing over the last couple of weeks, and I even finished and submitted a story. Hooray! It never ceases to amaze me how much more whole and calm I feel on the days when I prioritize creative writing.

This is a blog hop! Click here to read other ROW80 participants' check-ins.