MWSA News Blast -- January 31, 2025

Benefit Spotlight

New: Book Giveaways

MWSA is happy to announce another new member benefit: book giveaways. There are similar programs out there–Goodreads immediately comes to mind–offering a way to get free copies out to your readers. As you know, book giveaways are a good way to generate buzz about a new book premiere or to rekindle interest in a book you published a while ago.

Unlike our review swap program, there is no requirement to write a review after receiving a free copy. Of course, it’s always a welcome result when any author gets a new review. To learn more or to start giving away copies of one of your books, see this page on our website: https://www.mwsadispatches.com/book-giveaway

Friendly Reminders

Call for Anthology Submissions

MWSA is still seeking submissions for its 2025 anthology. Prior guidance has been provided and can be reviewed again at https://www.mwsadispatches.com/anthology-submissions.

We recommend taking advantage of this opportunity, especially if you are a new author. Having something published in an anthology can only enhance your “resume.” Please make sure your dues are up to date and get writing!

Questions are always welcome and should be submitted to anthology@mwsa.co.

MWSA Writers Education Series

MWSA hosted the first of five Writers Education Series educational webinars on January 19. If you haven’t seen that presentation, you’ll find a video of Jim’s Zoom presentation here.

The series will continue on Sunday afternoons at 5:00 PM Eastern, 4:00 PM Central, 3:00 PM Mountain, and 2:00 PM Pacific as follows:

  • March 16, 2025, Setting – Nancy Arbuthnot

  • May 18, 2025, Starting Your Story/Characters – Jack Woodville London

  • July 27, 2025, Telling – Narration and Dialogue – Bob Doerr

  • August 17, 2025,  Plot and Story Arc – Jim Tritten

Mike Mullins MWSA Writer of the Year Award

If you would like to nominate a fellow MWSA writer for our Writer of the Year award, you can nominate someone using the form on this page: https://www.mwsadispatches.com/mike-mullins-woy

 The page also has details associated with the award and a list of past winners. Please submit your candidate by June 15.

Membership Sale Continues - 50% Off

Thanks to a generous donation from longtime MWSA member and prolific author Joe Badal, we’re offering reduced-price memberships for new members and six-month dues expiration extensions for existing members.

Who qualifies for the discount, and how do I get it?

  • Recruit a new member–the newly recruited person can join with a 50% discount, while the recruiting MWSA member gets a six-month dues extension.

  • Attend a Write Your Story seminar.

  • Contribute to our Dispatches magazine or 2025 anthology.

  • For a limited time, existing associate members can upgrade to a full member at a 50% discount.

Visit our website for more details or to apply for this exciting new membership deal: https://www.mwsadispatches.com/membership-discounts.

New News

Dates Set for 2025 MWSA Annual General Membership Conference

We will soon be opening registration for our MWSA Annual General Membership Conference to be held in Kansas City, MO, Sep. 25 – 27, 2025. A big thank you to MWSA board member Rob Lofthouse, who volunteered to be our MWSA 2025 Conference Chair. Stay tuned!

MWSA's "My Year in Books" on Goodreads

97 books and 26,597 words—what a surprise!

After posting the latest book submitted to MWSA for our 2025 season on Goodreads, I discovered a page I’d never seen before: My Year in Books.

This new (for me) feature includes many interesting tidbits and is worth a quick perusal.

Click on the image to the right, or visit this link:

https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2024/69843339

After that, have a look at our Tips and Tricks section for another recommended article covering Goodreads’ “Tips for Authors.”

Remember, Goodreads is a great way to market your books. Learn as much as you can, and start selling those books!

MWSA Writers Education Series First Event of 2025

Please join our first Writers Education Series of the year on January 19, 2025, when MWSA prolific and award-winning author Jim Tritten will present “Writing Your Story.” All webinars this year will be held on Sunday afternoons at 5:00 PM Eastern, 4:00 PM Central, 3:00 PM Mountain, and 2:00 PM Pacific. You'll also find these webinars listed on our website's Events page.

This event will include a presentation, discussions, and questions and answers.

Please use the following URL to join the meeting:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/2245629439?pwd=AH6c5VaddDONn88i6dXU2aZKm1RLcB.1

or click the image above.

If anyone has any questions, contact Jim Tritten at jimtritten@comcast.net.

News Blast -- December 2024

This final membership-wide News Blast of the year is definitely packed with news and information. Your MWSA board is excited to wrap up this year and to bring in 2025 with new opportunities and benefits to our members.

From all of us at MWSA, we wish you a festive and joyful holiday season and a productive and writing-filled New Year!


Membership Discounts—An opportunity to save 50% on dues

Thanks to a generous donation from longtime MWSA member and prolific author Joe Badal, we’re offering reduced-price memberships for new members and six-month dues expiration extensions for existing members. 

Who qualifies for the discount, and how do I get it?

  • Recruit a new member–the newly recruited person can join with a 50% dues discount, while the recruiting MWSA member gets a six-month dues extension.

  • Attend a Write Your Story seminar.

  • Contribute to our Dispatches magazine or 2025 anthology.

  • For a limited time, existing associate members can upgrade to a full member at a 50% discount.

Visit our website for more details or to apply for this exciting new membership deal:

https://www.mwsadispatches.com/membership-discounts 

Contact our membership secretary (membership@mwsa.co) if you have any questions. 

Membership Survey & 2025 Conference Location

Cue the music, with Fats Domino singing, “I’m going to Kansas City. Kansas City, here I come.”

Although our voting resulted in a near three-way tie, the MWSA board selected Kansas City for our 2025 conference. The deciding factor was that one of our board members lives nearby and has offered to head up our conference planning. A big shout-out to fellow board member Rob Lofthouse!

As soon as Rob’s planning allows us to nail down the hotel venue and date, we’ll let everyone know so you can start marking your calendar and making your travel plans.

In addition to voting for a conference location preference, we asked survey takers several questions about how we run our conferences. We also solicited input on other MWSA member benefits and programs. Click on the link below to see the responses.

https://www.mwsadispatches.com/2025-conference-membership-poll


MWSA’s Writers Education Series Returns

MWSA will host five educational webinars during 2025 on the following topics:

  • January 19, 2025, Writing Your Story – Jim Tritten

  • March 16, 2025, Setting – Nancy Arbuthnot

  • May 18, 2025, Starting Your Story/Characters – Jack Woodville London

  • July 27, 2025, Telling – Narration and Dialogue – Bob Doerr

  • August 17, 2025,  Plot and Story Arc – Jim Tritten

All webinars are on Sunday afternoons at 5:00 PM Eastern, 4:00 PM Central, 3:00 PM Mountain, and 2:00 PM Pacific. You'll also find these webinars listed on our website's Events page.

These are the same topics that were presented by these same people at the Admiral Kidd Club in San Diego on September 26th as our Write Your Story Workshop. Our intent is to record these presentations and make them available for others who want to use them for local presentations elsewhere. Events will be scheduled and links posted on our MWSA website and MWSA Facebook pages as we approach the dates listed. If anyone has any questions, contact Jim Tritten at jimtritten@comcast.net.

New Year’s Resolutions—MWSA Style

Tis the season to make resolutions about losing weight, exercising more, being a better spouse, family member, friend, etc., and then forgetting about the promises you made to yourself two weeks later. How about trying one or two (or more) of the following resolutions to make your 2025 a brighter and more literature-filled one?

Here are a few suggestions to get you started—­MWSA style.

  1. Help an author get their book a bit more polished before it’s published by offering feedback via our Beta Reader Program.

  2. Buy an MWSA author’s book at least once this year.

    • Try browsing through our award winners to help you pick something worthwhile: https://www.mwsadispatches.com/award-winners

    • Have someone on your gift list you can’t imagine a present for? Buy them an MWSA author’s book as a gift.

  3. Order a paper copy of an MWSA book. Read it and then donate the copy to your local library to help someone else discover their new favorite author.

  4. Promote a fellow MWSA author’s book.

    • Tell your friends and family

    • Write about it in your author's blog

    • Mention it in your communications with your readers

  5. Write a review and post it on Amazon, Goodreads, Facebook, or wherever.

    • Although everyone knows that it’s better to give than to receive, giving AND receiving is even better. Use MWSA’s Review Swap Program to GIVE a review for another author’s book and RECEIVE a review of yours.

  6. Reach out to another MWSA author.

    • Post on their author page, social media account, or website

    • Send them an email

    • Go to an MWSA conference and talk to them in person

  7. Recommend an MWSA book to your book club.

  8. Share news about a fellow MWSA author’s success.

  9. Make sure you support your local bookstore.

    • Yes, buying online from Amazon is easier, but the trip to your local bookstore will pay dividends—to the struggling owner and you. You might even talk them into stocking one of your books.

    • Attend another author’s event at the bookstore.

    • Request that the bookstore stock one of your favorite MWSA books. While you’re at it, do the same thing at your local library.

  10. Help a fellow author by reviewing for MWSA.

Benefit Spotlight

The Review Swap Program

Every writer knows that reviews are a vital component of their book marketing and sales efforts. MWSA authors submit their books to our review and awards program and pay a $45 submission fee to cover the costs of running our program and hosting our annual awards banquet. The reviews generated by this program are the “official MWSA review.” But that’s only one review; authors need more reviews–many of us need a lot more reviews. What happens when we run out of friends and family to beg for reviews?

MWSA created its Review Swap program to allow members to purchase or borrow each other's books and exchange reviews after reading them. You can consider this MWSA program as an online venue where our members can “meet” and agree to whatever review-swapping methodology they consider mutually convenient. 

To learn more or to submit your book for swapping, visit our Review Swap page:

https://www.mwsadispatches.com/review-swap 

Notes: 

  • In order to participate, you must be an active (dues current) member, and you have to sign in to your MWSA account to participate.

  • Click on the Subscribe button to get notifications when new review swap opportunities are added.

  • MWSA does not monitor these individual transactions between our members, and the reviews represent the individual opinions of our members.  

Friendly Reminders

Call for Anthology Submissions

Although we've received several submissions since our window opened on December 1, it's not too late to submit your contribution to our 2025 anthology.

For further details, please visit our Anthology Submission page.

50% Discount for Dispatches magazine ads

MWSA members can submit ads to Dispatches for inclusion in each edition; we accept three free ads, first-come, first-served. We currently plan on offering free ad space to our members once a year. If you’d like to advertise more than once a year, you might want to take advantage of our special half-off sale. Visit our Dispatches submission page (https://www.mwsadispatches.com/dispatches-submissions) for details and to submit your ad.

Of course, we’re also always looking for content, so please feel free to submit your latest short story, poem, or article!

Kickoff of our 2025 Awards Season

The submission window for MWSA's 2025 review and awards season will open on January 2. If you're planning on submitting your book, you'll find the details on our main awards page.

If you'd like to join our reviewer team, we'd love to have you join us! If you're interested, please email us or visit the page below:

Thank You to Our Sponsors

By Valerie Ormond

While MWSA is a member-funded organization, we have also received sponsorships and donations in the past. Some donations have been from members, and some from organizations. We would like to thank and recognize the following sponsors during 2024.

• The Phillip Morris International (PMI) Community Foundation program - $738.00 to support our Write Your Story Workshop in San Diego

• AutoCrit online editing program (https://autocrit.com) - $360 value for two Annual Memberships in support of MWSA’s Buckaroo Auction

• Rob Lofthouse, owner of Hold The Line Press, LLC (https://holdthelinepress.com) - $250 value for five hours of writer coaching in support of MWSA’s Buckaroo Auction

• Sue Rushford Editorial Services (https://suerushford.com) - $500 value for 50% off an editing job

• Bowkers (https://www.myidentifiers.com/ ) - 15% discount for MWSA members

We will be requesting donations again in 2025 to support our Buckaroo Auction, which is a way we reward our volunteers for their work throughout the year in the form of Buckaroos. Watch for the calls in eBlasts, or you can always reach out to me, MWSA’s Vice President and Buckaroo Auction Chair at vp@mwsa.co, if you have services or items you would like to donate.

Also, MWSA has a donate button on our website, available 24/7/365 at this link: Make a donation to MWSA.

MWSA’s Writers Education Series Returns

By Jim Tritten

MWSA will host five educational webinars during 2025 on the following topics:

January 19, 2025, Writing Your Story – Jim Tritten

March 16, 2025, Setting – Nancy Arbuthnot

May 18, 2025, Starting Your Story/Characters – Jack Woodville London

July 27, 2025, Telling – Narration and Dialogue – Bob Doerr

August 17, 2025, Plot and Story Arc – Jim Tritten

All webinars are on Sunday afternoons at 5:00 PM Eastern, 4:00 PM Central, 3:00 PM Mountain, and 2:00 PM Pacific.

These are the same topics that were presented by these same people at the Admiral Kidd Club in San Diego on September 26th as our Write Your Story Workshop. Our intent is to record these presentations and make them available for others who want to use them for local presentations elsewhere. Events will be scheduled and reminder links posted on our MWSA website and MWSA Facebook pages as the dates near. However, we normally hold sessions at our MWSA Zoom meeting link here, passcode 430028. If anyone has any questions, contact Jim Tritten at jimtritten@comcast.net.

MWSA 2025 Anthology Submission Guidelines

By Bob Doerr

The theme for the MWSA 2025 Anthology is "Reflections: Service to our Country." As the term implies it means submissions are short pieces. The format is wide-ranging: from articles and short stories (maximum 3,000 words, please), to art and photo essays, poetry, and music lyrics (if a contributor has recorded a song based on the lyrics, then please add the URL so that we editors—and obviously readers—can listen to it). All submissions have to be related in some way to the military and military life. In other words, we want this anthology to be as inclusive as possible with regards to the military experience, ranging from that of what veterans themselves experienced to experiences of veteran family members, and to civilian outsiders who have their perspective. We hope that many of you may have military, military family, or military-related stories to share. Your stories can be fiction, non-fiction, humorous, or serious. This is your opportunity to bring that story from the back of your mind onto the pages of this collection of stories from fellow MWSA authors.

Stories and poems must be written by active MWSA members and not previously published. Authors will grant a one-time right to publish in the anthology with all rights other than the anthology publication remaining with each author. The maximum word count is 3000 words, and each member is limited to one submission. Black and white graphics, maps, and photographs to which you have the permission may be included with your work with proper attribution and within the publisher’s specifications. You can submit color images, but they will appear in the final version in black and white.

In accordance with the MWSA Ethics Policy, MWSA cannot accept submissions that include politically, religiously, or racially biased or anti-U.S./U.S. military material. As we anticipate these anthologies will be read by family members of the submitter, let’s try to keep these submissions to a PG-14 level.

Submissions need to be in Word, New Times Roman, 12 pt, and double-spaced. Submissions need to be well edited before being submitted. Submissions that are poorly edited will be sent back to be fixed. We will open the submission window on December 1, 2024, and close it March 30, 2025. Submissions should be emailed to Bob Doerr at anthology@mwsa.co with the story attached. Please also include a photo (headshot) of yourself and a brief bio of no more than 75 words.

So, get those writing muscles working and get ready to have your story published in 2025! This opportunity is one of your MWSA benefits, so take advantage of it. For some, this will be the first time they have had a story published. Over the years, many of us have learned much about and from our fellow members through their stories published in MWSA anthologies. To see past anthologies, please check this link: https://www.mwsadispatches.com/anthologies.

Request for Proposals: Military Writers Society of America (MWSA) 2025 Anthology

MWSA is soliciting proposals for the following:

Solicitation: Request for Proposals (RFP) 012024

Title: Reflections: Service to our Country

Opening Date: 12/01/24

Closing Date: 01/31/2025

Download: http://www.mwsadispatches.com/mwsa-news

Scope of Work:

About MWSA

MWSA is a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation to support military writers. The purposes of the organization are to help military service members, veterans, their families, supporters, and historians record history and the complexities of military life, and to encourage writing as therapy. The organization focuses on using the writing of MWSA members to educate the general public, students, and the military community.

MWSA Anthologies

In past years, MWSA has compiled and published multiple themed anthologies (see Anthologies — Military Writers Society of America). These anthologies offer MWSA’s writers opportunities to have their work published and allow MWSA members to read other members’ shorter works. The theme for the MWSA 2025 Anthology is Reflections: Service to Our Country.

Member Submission Requirements

Stories and poems must be written by MWSA members and have not been published previously. They may be fiction or non-fiction. Authors will grant a one-time right to publish in the anthology with all rights other than the anthology publication remaining with each author. The maximum word count is 3000 words. Graphics, maps, and photographs to which authors have the permission may be included with their work with proper attribution and within the publisher’s specifications. In accordance with the MWSA Ethics Policy, MWSA cannot accept submissions that include politically, religiously, or racially biased or anti-U.S./U.S. military material.

Contract Performance Work Statement

This MWSA RFP seeks proposals from experienced individuals and businesses to provide services to compile, format, and publish MWSA’s 2025 Anthology. Specific services will include:

1. Managing the project to include schedules, communications with MWSA, and cost management.

2. Compiling stories, poems, and images from MWSA authors. The anthology should be approximately 300 pages in final format.

3. Formatting of anthology to include individual stories and poems, graphics, front matter, back matter, front and back covers, and spine.

4. Coordinating final edit with MWSA technical rep and MWSA leadership.

5. Publishing anthology in eBook and in paperback.

Anthology to be completed for distribution at the MWSA Annual Conference tentatively scheduled for September 2025.

Proposal Instructions

Please provide your proposals for this project including the following:

1. Description of how you will accomplish tasks 1 – 5 in the Scope of Work including project management.

2. Past experience you have with similar projects in the past ten years. Include links to three projects if available.

3. Two work reference points of contact (name, email, and phone number).

4. Any additional information the proposal evaluators should take into consideration.

5. Your price quote. This is a firm fixed price contract.

Email proposals to the Technical Contacts listed below by 01/31/25.

Technical Contact: Bob Doerr, MWSA Anthology Chair, anthology@mwsa.co

Procurement Contact: Hugh Simpson, Treasurer, treasurer@mwsa.co

Election Results

MWSA held a recent election for the board of directors. The results of the election are:

  • President, John Cathcart

  • Vice President, Valerie Ormond

  • Secretary, Jim Tritten

  • Treasurer, Hugh Simpson

  • At-Large Directors: Ruth Crocker, Annette Langlois Grunseth, Rob Lofthouse, and James Rosone.

Bob Doerr has also agreed to remain on the board as an ex-officio member as Past President, and our Founding Director, Bill McDonald, remains on the board. Thank you to those who ran, voted, and served in the past. We look forward to welcoming new members with new ideas. The new board took office at the end of the annual conference in San Diego.

Here is a link to the new board’s bios.

https://www.mwsadispatches.com/leadership


MWSA Annual Conference & Awards Banquet Livestream

About 70 MWSA members will gather in San Diego, CA, for our conference and awards banquet in a little over a week. Although all MWSA members are invited to each of our annual conferences, we understand that not everyone can join us each year.

To facilitate a wider audience for the conference, we plan to livestream several of the events at the conference. Our main focus will be on our membership meeting (Friday, Sept 27 at 3:45 PM PDT) and the awards banquet (Saturday, Sept 28 at 6:30 PM PDT).

As always, our broadcast will depend on the hotel's internet connection and our technical savvy—both of which are not guaranteed (especially the latter).

Look at our conference agenda (on the conference page) to see what’s happening in San Diego and when. Then, click the button below or the image above to go to our Facebook live video page to see if we’re broadcasting live.

If you’re one of our 2024 award finalists and miss our awards banquet livestream, we normally post medals won on our 2024 season page shortly after the awards ceremony. All award finalists will receive email notification of their award later that evening.

Writers/Storytellers Needed for Non-profit Pets for Patriots [REMOTE Positions]

Occasionally, MWSA receives requests for writers, so we are sharing this opportunity for you. One of board of directors is a member of Pets for Patriots and recently adopted a four-legged family member through their wonderful team.

Pets for Patriots is a registered national charity that helps service and veteran members of the United States military adopt the most overlooked shelter pets. We're looking for volunteer writers to contribute to our blog.

What's required?

-Volunteers work from home and claim writing assignments as they have availability.

-The assignment includes interviewing a veteran by phone about their adoption experience.

- From that interview, the writer creates a compelling story such as those you see on our blog: https://petsforpatriots.org/the-wet-nose-blog/

PLEASE FILL OUT AN APPLICATION HERE: https://petsforpatriots.org/volunteer/ and we will be in touch once we receive it.

Compensation: This is a volunteer position.

Writers Education Series Webinar Video Available

Below please find the link to the final version of the fourth installment of Greg Elliot's writer's education series, "A Primer on Writing for Television and the Movies Part Four: The Rewrite: You’ve written your script, created your bible, now what?”

A big thank you to MWSA’s Writers Education Committee Chair Jim Tritten, our instructor Greg Elliot, and all of our webinar series participants. We hope you enjoyed the series.

Writing for Screens Big and Small (Part 4) — Military Writers Society of America (mwsadispatches.com)

Maritime Museum and Vietnam Unit Memorial in Coronado, CA

The following is from MWSA member Raul Herrera, author of Capturing Skunk Alpha and member of the Swift Boat Sailors Association (SBSA). He wanted to pass along this information for those attending the MWSA 2024 Annual Conference in September.

“I was the president of the SBSA during the time we, in concert with the Maritime Museum of San Diego, were able to secure a Swift Boat, Mark II, from Malta. Today, the museum has custody of the boat, PCF-816. Numerous Vietnam Era / SBSA area members (The Dirty Boat Guys) keep her in the best shape possible. The history is here - https://swiftboatsailorsmemorial.com/exhibits/show/pcf816/pcf_816_history.

 “MWSA may already have planned tours in conjunction with the 2024 Conference, but perhaps you might be able to add this information in forthcoming conference announcements. Some of the attendees might be able to squeeze in a visit. PCF-816 is an in-the-water museum craft. Rides are available. 

“In addition to the Maritime Museum, the Naval Amphibious Base in Coronado is home to the Vietnam Unit Memorial where boats from three Task Force Unit (TF-115, Swift Boat PCF-104; TF-116 PBR; and TF-117, CCB-118) combat craft make up a beautiful static display. Website - http://www.vummf.com/.

“They face a memorial wall built by Task Force veterans and volunteers and was formally dedicated on 21 May 2005. The Memorial wall contains the names of the 2,564 Navy and Coast Guardsmen who died in Vietnam during the period 1960 to 1975. I can provide contact information for group or individual on-base visits.”

Thank you, Raul, for sharing this information about this unique exhibit in San Diego. Raul’s can be reached by email at raul@skunkalpha.com, and he is scheduled to be one of our seminar presenters.

Write Your Story Writing Workshop

On September 26, 2024, MWSA members will host a Write Your Story (WYS) event for local military, veterans, and their families while we are in San Diego from 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM. Location for the event is the Admiral Kidd Catering and Conference Center, Bldg. A-3, Nimitz Room, on Naval Base Point Loma, Harbor Drive Annex. Lunch is included.

This event is geared toward newer writers who want to tell their stories but may not know where to begin. We encourage MWSA members to get the word out to friends and family in the San Diego area who may be interested in this free event.

MWSA members attending the annual conference may attend, space permitting. We are limited to 40 attendees. Please contact WYS Logistics Coordinator Valerie Ormond at writeyourstory@mwsa.co if interested. Please note that for those without base access, registration is required by Jul. 25; all others may register by Sep. 6. Valerie can place members on a space available list and will notify by email in mid-September if there is room to attend.

2024 Awards Finalists

MWSA announced our 2024 Awards Finalists this Saturday, July 6, via a recorded video announcement.

If you missed watching live (or “listening” live during our watch party), the announcement videos are available on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.

Visit our 2024 season page to see a list of all the finalists and their books. That page also has links to the video announcement on each of the social media platforms mentioned above. You can also see a copy of the press release announcing our finalists.


Congratulations to all our 2024 finalists!

Announcement of 2024 Awards Finalists

MWSA will announce our 2024 Awards Finalists this Saturday, July 6, at 8 PM Eastern (7 Central, 6 Mountain, 5 Pacific Daylight Time).


The announcement will be broadcast on our Facebook and Instagram accounts at that time. You can watch the video live by yourself using the Facebook and Instagram links below.

But why watch by yourself when you can watch it with your fellow MWSA authors at a live online watch party? ;-)

Zoom Watch Party

This year, we’re trying something new: a finalist announcement watch party on Zoom. Join us 5-10-15 minutes before the scheduled time. Then, we’ll watch the video together live at the times listed above (8 PM Eastern).

After the video airs, we’ll spend another 15-30 minutes congratulating this year’s winners and/or fielding any questions you may have. Use the link below to join us on Zoom.

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89879264354?pwd=0sqzjCEtps9AJ0OS3PggXPxVsIEoF9.1

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/MWSA.MembersPublic/live_videos

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/mwsa.member/



If you miss the live presentations, we’ll post the video on our website and our allied social media sites. We’ll also publish a list of our finalists on our 2024 season page shortly after the live video announcement (https://www.mwsadispatches.com/2024-season)

Good luck to all our 2024 authors!

Iowa Review Veteran and Military Personnel Writing Contest

Here is an excellent opportunity to enter a no-cost writing contest open only to veterans and active duty military personnel.

The 2024 contest rules include the following.

• Submit a manuscript in any genre (poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction) of up to 20 pages. Prose submissions must be double-spaced. Work must be previously unpublished. Simultaneous submissions are fine, assuming you inform us of acceptance elsewhere.

• The judge will select winners from a group of finalists chosen by Iowa Review editors. All manuscripts, whether selected as finalists or not, are considered for publication.

• Proof of military service is not required when submitting. (We request documentation only when a writer's work makes it to the final round of judging.)

• To submit online, please visit https://iowareview.submittable.com/submit between May 1 and 31, 2024, and follow the instructions.

For full details, please visit https://iowareview.org/veteranswritingcontest.

Good luck!

MWSA Member Speaking at WWII Event in France

Jack Woodville London, Director Emeritus of the Military Writers Society of America (MWSA), will speak on the 80th Anniversary of the D-Day landings at Omaha and Utah Beaches in Normandy, France. Jack will speak at the Brittany American Military Cemetery at Montjoie-Saint-Martin, France, on June 6, 2024, and at the Normandy American Military Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer, France, on June 7, 2024. 

Jack, in his own words:

“I am humbled by this invitation. Like many of us, I grew up in a small town where the men and women of my parents’ generation had served in the war, become heroes in their service, and never spoke of it. Only when I served I the Army myself did I begin to learn the magnitude of courage and the gravity of sacrifice that the men and women of the generation before us summoned to go ashore in France and in all the theatres of war and to fight, suffer, and too often die for our country in a war that demanded honorable sacrifice by every living American, man, woman, and child.”

The invitation to Jack to speak in France on D-Day is almost certainly because of the books he has written, particularly his historical World War II trilogy French Letters, for which he won the Author of the Year Award and for which the final novel, Children of a Good War, was named best historical military fiction of 2018-2019. Click here to order the books.  Friends are encouraged to send messages to Jack at jack@jackwlondon.com.

For more information or an interview with Jack, please contact Marlena Brown (mlbpublicity@gmail.com).


Ready To Join MWSA or Learn More?