After much deliberation, decisions have been made and notifications sent to all poets, storytellers, photographers, and artists whose work has been chosen for our Vernonia book, Voices from the Mill Pond.
Vernonia’s Voice and Hands on Art would like to express our deep-felt gratitude, once again, for the hundreds of submissions, and though we couldn’t include them all, we were able to fill the pages with the beautiful work from a broad range of Vernonia residents, past and present.
We are about to be officially published! In short order, Voices from the Mill Pond will be available via Amazon to readers around the world.
Cover Contest Winner and Finalists
We are also delighted to announce the Finalists and Winner of the Cover Contest.
Beginning in February, photographers heeded our call. Over a hundred fabulous images poured in, and when the submission period ended, it was time to choose a cover.
Important elements were the pond, of course, but also composition. Orientation and size mattered. Would the title and subtitle be clear against the image’s colors? Was the visual activity in the photo subdued enough to complement the text? And was it an absolutely gorgeous photo in its own right?
Cover mockups of the top three photos were produced and a winner selected.
We’re delighted to present the cover of Voices from the Mill Pond. Kari Anne Budge sent in the exquisite photo above that met every measure. It was the perfect choice for the book.
We would also like to acknowledge two photographers whose submissions came in a close second. Thank you to Cassandra Armstrong and Debby White for these stunning images.
Finalist: Photo by Cassandra Armstrong
Finalist Photo by Debby White
Let’s Celebrate
Our 190-page paperback book of photos, writings, and artwork from Vernonia residents will be available on Amazon as well as locally. Books available locally will be sold at a discount, starting on December 5th. Right on time for the holidays.
There is a celebration scheduled at the Vernonia Library on Thursday, December 5th, from 6:30 to 8:00 PM.
This event is open to the entire community. Stop by to meet the authors, photographers, and artists, to celebrate the completion of this creative project, and to pick up a copy or two of Voices from the Mill Pond.
Thank you
for your interest in participating in this project! Our goal is to publish and
celebrate the talents of Vernonia’s storytellers, poets, photographers, and
artists.
A full-color
paperback book will be published through Amazon by Vernonia’s Voice. The book
will also be available locally. The
project is sponsored by Vernonia’s Voice and Vernonia’s Hands on Art
organization.
Please read
through these Submission Details. If you have any questions or need assistance,
please contact Diana Peach at dwallacepeach@gmail.com. Our
goal is to encourage submissions, and we’re happy to help get you there.
General
Information:
Submission
Deadline (firm): October 1, 2019.
Publication
Date: December 1, 2019, just on time for Christmas!
Open to All
Ages!
All
submissions must be family-friendly.
All
submissions must be ORIGINAL works by the author/photographer/artist.
Authors/photographers/artists
may make multiple submissions.
There will
be no payments made to authors/photographers/artists for inclusion of their
work. The project is entirely for the fun of sharing the community’s talents.
Any royalties for the sale of books will be used to cover administrative fees,
taxes, advertising, and promotion.
Authors/photographers/artists
will retain all rights to their work to use however they wish, without
limitations.
By
submitting, you are giving permission for Vernonia’s Voice to publish your work
in Voices of the Mill Pond (2019, Vol. 1).
Under Age 18? Parents will be contacted in order to give permission for their young person’s work to be published.
Keep a copy of your work!
Curation
The
decisions as to what is included will be made by an editorial board consisting
of Hands on Art and community members.
Names will
be removed from all submissions by D. Peach prior to presentation to the board.
Inclusion in
the book is not guaranteed, though our goal is to include as many submissions as
possible. Some factors include:
the
number of submissions
the
appropriateness of the work
preference
for Vernonia-related themes
preference
for a good mix of ages
preference
for a good blend of the types of submissions (stories, poems, other writings, photos,
and artwork).
adherence
to these guidelines
All authors/photographers/artists will be notified when final decisions are made.
Written
Submissions
Open to
short stories, flash fiction (very short stories), poems, reflections, musings,
mood pieces, historical pieces.
No minimum
word-count. Maximum word-count: 1500
words.
Please include a title for your written piece. Untitled written works will be titled “Untitled.”
We are happy
to collaborate with Vernonia’s schools and home schoolers. Contact Diana Peach.
Vernonia-related
themes are preferred but not mandatory. And this can be interpreted broadly! Mill
pond, nature, horses, animals, logging, bicycling, community, fishing, hiking,
school, family, growing up, growing old, play, love, alien invasion of Bridge Street,
the logging truck that saved Christmas! Imaginations welcome!
The
editorial board reserves the right to make spelling, typo, and grammatical
corrections. No other changes will be made without the author’s approval.
To submit:
copy the written work into the body of an email and send to dwallacepeach@gmail.com.
This will enable the copying of the material into a formatting program quickly
and without error. Please contact Diana Peach if other arrangements are needed.
Photographs
and Photographs of Artwork
Vernonia-related
themes are preferred. And this can be interpreted broadly! Nature, horses,
animals, logging, bicycling, community, fishing, hiking, school, family,
growing up, growing old, play, love.
“Mill Pond” images are particularly welcome.
Optional: You may include a title and/or caption to accompany your photograph.
Images of
actual people must include written permission to publish by the person or a
parent/guardian if the person in under 18.
Color or
black and white images are acceptable.
Final book
size (for planning images) will be 7”w x 10”h.
Accepted horizontal
images will be scaled to fit within printing margins.
Images must
be 330 dpi minimum to meet publishing standards.
