While your parents love your college chapbook of poems, Mom and Dad probably can't give you carte blanche, or Visa, to publish your groundbreaking poetic epic about your childhood in Ecuador.

Do a Google search for "funds for writers" and you'll hit the mother lode of grants and awards. Also, go to your local community foundation and search their grants database. Your state or country offers fellowships and funding for the arts.

Talk to professors, critique group leaders, editors and writer friends. They may know someone who knows someone. Ask for letters of recommendation and support.

While you're searching, spend some time polishing. Grants usually require writing samples, so send your best work.

Poetry and fiction awards often feature publication (not to mention cash) as the prize. Get that short story collection or epic poem edited, vetted, rewritten, and printed or submitted electronically--while many contests still require a hard copy, some accept electronic submissions.

This way, Mom and Dad can save their money to buy copies of your brilliant literary work. Good luck.

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