Guest blogger Elspeth Rushbrook

I call this "crow funding" due to a typo when writing a proposal and rather liked it and I now nickname any public online call for financial support after the croaking corvids.

You can crowdfund for many things, and there’s a few sites out there, often American owned, to assist you. They take a cut of what you raise, in return for the public platform they offer. You usually have a goal amount and a time limit, a pitch and perhaps a video to spread your word, send dream into the ether and make it real.

Beware of those that are all or nothing packages - so if you miss your target, you get nothing. Flexible funding allows you to keep what you raise, but the site’s fees are higher.

My project is the novel I’ve been nurturing and decided to self publish, but have been held back by lack of funds – proofreading, typesetting, editing, design, buying ISBNs, advertising.

The Artists' Bill of Rights is proud to share news of the winners of the second International Landscape Photographer of the Year competition.

Because the ILPOTY competition supports the Artists' Bill of Rights' principles for fair competitions, entrants are assured they may submit their work with the knowledge that their creative rights will be respected and protected. As you can see by the quality of the winning images (below), this strategy attracts a high caliber of artistic expertise.

via International Landscape Photographer of the Year, Sydney, Australia

Professional and amateur photographers worldwide were invited to enter the second International Landscape Photographer of the Year competition.

From 2,604 entries received, the winner of the second International Landscape Photographer of the Year (based on a folio submission of at least 4 images) is Luke Austin from Australia.

©Luke Austin, The International Landscape Photographer of the Year

The Scottish Nature Photography Awards celebrate nature, wildlife and landscape photography in Scotland.

The Scottish Nature Photography Awards Photographic Competition 2015 is now open to professional and amateur photographers from around the world, but images must be taken in Scotland.

Entries close 24:00 hours GMT on Monday 30th November 2015.

This is the 6th annual competition to seek the Scottish Nature Photographer of the Year. The categories are:

Scottish Nature Photographer of the Year 2015

• Scottish Wildlife Portrait
• Scottish Wildlife Behaviour
• Scottish Landscape - Sea & Coast
• Scottish Landscape - The Land
• Scottish Landscape - Urban Greenspace
• Scottish Botanical
• Natural Abstract
• Environmental

Would you pay to be in an anthology?

by guest blogger Elspeth Rushbrook

With many writing competitions expecting an entry fee of £2-10 [$4-20] (pay into your own prize pot), it’s gladdening to see one which is free. And which offers a £1000 prize, the largest they claim in the United Kingdom without an entry fee (there are open prizes up to £5000 which do carry a fee, such as Bridport and Cardiff, both open internationally).

United Press run poetry competitions all year with £100-£200 prizes, all without charge (their prose prizes do carry an entry fee). They also offer publishing services from their Admail London address - that in itself alarmed me, that they conceal their real address.

The National Poetry Anthology sounds attractive, like it’s respected and read and stocked all over the country. (You do have to be from the UK to enter). All good bookshops will have it, United Press claim, who run the open comp for its content.

But the rules say that by entering, you automatically allow them to print your work in the anthology if you are chosen. Fine, except for a point I’ll soon come to.

And then, there’s the other book.