Interview...with editor & freelance writer C. Hope Clark

Hope Clark didn't mean to start FundsforWriters.com (FFW). It just sort of happened. In 2000, she was speaking to a women's writers group on the writer's need for the Internet when the subject quickly changed to finding funds. She had a background in finance and a desire for writing so it was natural transition for her. She'd research information, then ship it out to those who asked.

"I envision the growth of FFW as if I walked through a field and it sprouted up behind me as I went," she says, then admits that was a little flowery for her. "I started advising a few writers and word-of-mouth made it grow on its own."

Today she has 12,000 readers and it grows by 50 each day. They include a wide range of experience levels and interests and many have been around since the beginning.

What is FundsforWriters.com?


It is a website, recently named for the eighth year and a row as one of Writer's Digest's 101 Best Websites for Writers, that offers market and other resources to writers. It offers a series of newsletters, both free and subscription, that are chocked full of markets, contests, grants and other moneyed opportunities for writers as well as articles offering advice, tips and how-tos. Select lists of contests, markets and grants can be accessed for free through a column of buttons on the home page. Everything that Clark lists pays cash. Some of pay more than others, but FFW mission is to put money in your pocket.

There is also a page with e-books, downloadable market directories in PDF files, including for humor, essays, even one for school-aged writers. The cost to download the e-books ranges from nearly $4.95 to nearly $8.95.


"I kept getting questions from people about what I posted in this issue or that issue. Some wanted a list of grants, a list of certain markets," Clark explains. "To keep from typing such long emails, I just compiled the e-books." She updates these e-books annually.

What does it take to run the website and all the newsletters?

"The web site is nothing compared to the work that goes into the four newsletters," she says. Two of the newsletters go out weekly, two go out every other week. She gathers between 10 to 80 listings, depending on the newsletter. Most of the markets and contests listed pay $350 or 20¢/word and up. The "Small Markets" newsletter list opportunities that pay less but are good markets due to other factors.


"I (allow) myself an editorial and an article in each issue, giving me satisfaction writing creatively," she adds. "I love doing it. It's a part of me, and the fact that it's a part of so many readers just fuels me." Her day job before early retirement in 2003 was managing budget, loans and grants so researching opportunities for writers wasn't a stretch for Clark, but another trait bolsters FFW.

"Consistency is not common on the Web. We've been eight years consistent - every weekend in eight years except two."

Is Clark a working freelancer?

Yes, while she spends her daylight hours researching and writing for FFW, she spends the evenings and sometimes the nights on her personal writing.

"I like writing in the dark, the calm part of the day," she explains. "I can zone out like nobody can - often coming out of it at 3:00 AM after spending five to six hours straight creating."

She keeps about 13 queries going constantly, spending a Saturday occasionally just working on and sending out queries. She just finished an assignment with Appleseeds Magazine and just received another from The Writer. In addition she devotes much of her time to her novels.


"I have a series I’m working EXTREMELY hard at," she confides, "I’ve had several agents read the first book manuscript, so I feel I’m right at the brink of seeing this dream come to pass – a traditional contract for my mysteries."

Her advice for new writers is two words: patience and diligence.

"Writing success does not happen fast. It’s a slow, gradual process. That doesn’t mean it comes on its own gradually. It means you have to constantly work at climbing toward that success."

To learn more about Clark, FundsforWriters.com and all the books shown, visit the website.