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The Josie Rubio Scholarship

Ten scholarships will be awarded to ten people in honor of writer Josie Rubio. Josie’s work is immortalized in her popular blog, A Pain in the Neck: My Experience with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Her article, “Dating While Dying” was published in The New York Times before her passing on December 3rd, 2019. When Josie passed, the Times gave her a full obituary and in their end of year notable passings article, she was the only non-celebrity, clearly touching many with her story.

During Josie’s last year, she took a Gotham Writers Workshop memoir class, where excelled at working with others to hone their skills and share stories and made some very important friendships.

Please submit one paragraph of up to 100 words in a format similar to The New York Times Tiny Love Stories–by April 30th. You will be notified by May 31st if you won.

Send submissions to: josierubioscholarship@gmail.com

-The Josie Rubio Scholarship Award Committee
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How To Participate In #PitGotham

#PitGotham is a Twitter “pitch party” following every episode of Inside Writing. If you have a book that is in the genre just covered in that episode, you are welcome to pitch it on Twitter for the chance at feedback from the participating agent. You have until that Friday at 11.59 pm Eastern Time to make your pitches.

Here’s what you should do, as well as some tips and tricks:

  • Condense your book pitch into a single tweet—multiple-tweet pitches are not allowed. (If you have more than one book to pitch, you may pitch them all; just use separate tweets for each.)
  • Come up with a good comparable title or two. For instance, Dear Edward meets Where the Crawdad Sings. (Or, to save space in your tweet—Dear Edward X Where The Crawdad Sings)
  • Focus on what makes your book unique. Usually, that’s the protagonist and the main drive of the plot. “Charlie grew up in poverty, but when the wealthy and eccentric candy mogul Willy Wonka offers a tour of his factory, Charlie sees a chance at a life he’s never had…”
  • End it with a hook, something enticing to leave the agent wanting more. “…Charlie sees a chance at a life he’s never had. And the rewards may be even greater than expected.”
  • Most importantly, include #PitGotham in your tweet. You don’t need to tag anyone. Save that space for pitching your book.
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Gotham Writers Stories Everywhere—What Makes A Good Entry?

I often get the question on Twitter, “What makes a good entry in the Gotham Writers Stories Everywhere contest?” Before I answer that, let’s start with what the contest is. For those of you that are unaware, Gotham Writers has a monthly Twitter contest called “Stories Everywhere.” Every month, we give you a theme and ask you to write a 25-word-or-less story on that theme. The winner receives a free Gotham class of their choosing, as well as being posted on our winner’s page.

Continue reading “Gotham Writers Stories Everywhere—What Makes A Good Entry?”