Resources
From Category:
Maralys Wills
Writing instructor, speaker, and memoirist Maralys Wills is the author of 12 books, including the writers' manual 'Damn the Rejections, Full Speed Ahead'. Visit her website and blog for writing advice and pithy anecdotes about juggling work and family life.
Marc J. Frazier Poetry
Marc Frazier is the author of the poetry collections Each Thing Touches (Glass Lyre Press, 2015) and The Way Here (Aldrich Press), and the chapbooks After and The Gods of the Grand Resort, both from Finishing Line Press. Cyrus Cassells calls Each Thing Touches "rich with striking and dynamic questions...refreshingly human, urgent, and disarming." Frazier has had several residencies at the Ragdale Foundation in Lake Forest, Illinois and received an Illinois Arts Council award in poetry. Visit his website to find out about his workshops.
Marie Osmond Performs Dadaist Poetry
In this charming and peculiar video clip, rediscovered at the Lambda Literary website, television personality Marie Osmond reenacts the origins of Dadaism with Hugo Ball's "sound poem".
Marine Corps Heritage Foundation (The)
The Marine Corps Heritage Foundation sponsors several free awards for books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction by veterans and/or about Marine Corps history and life.
Marketing Basics on a Budget: An Interview with Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of The Frugal Book Promoter
Indie authors often assume that marketing will cost an arm and a leg. Or they're embarrassed to promote themselves at all. Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of The Frugal Book Promoter, shares advice for bold and effective marketing on a budget.
Annie Mydla, Managing Editor
Book marketing is among the top stressors for many of our North Street Book Prize entrants. Enter Carolyn Howard-Johnson, book promotion expert, marketing coach, and North Street co-sponsor. Her forthcoming new edition of How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically will show authors how to leverage "forever reviews" to keep books selling far into the future. This interview covers her effective (and frugal) approach to marketing, how to choose your marketing strategies, forever reviews, and more.
ANNIE MYDLA: Many authors assume that promoting their own books will be expensive. Meanwhile, you're an expert on marketing frugally. What in our culture is perpetuating the idea that marketing must cost an arm and a leg? And what makes your approach so effective?
CAROLYN HOWARD-JOHNSON: Culturally? It's evident most every day on the web. You may recognize the frequent re-occurrence of promotions that claim to be "shameless!" The subtext of that, of course, is there is something to be ashamed of, which for starters makes it ineffective. The second thing that occurs to me is that this approach never seems to occur when the item being advertised or promoted is blatantly commercial like a luxury car or satin pillowcases. We creatives are more prone to be infected with a notion that somehow what we do is head-and-shoulders above the occupations of others, more desirable or ethical, et cetera. My biggest challenge is somehow breaking puritanical misconceptions.
After that, I need to convince my readers, students, clients that the "same old" methods used since Steinbeck's time and the invention of the Gutenberg press still work, but need to be updated. The web can change gears in any given moment. Even the Big Five publishers have different expectations than before. Their budgets are slimmer! I can quote my own amazing agent, Terrie Wolf, ad infinitum on that. Publishers expect authors to have great "platforms" that display both know-how and a willingness to participate.
So, what is the main driver behind these changes in recent times? It wasn't until the dawn of this millennium that the advent of the web and the increasing independence of authors began to be more inclusive and make us all more knowledgeable, more in control of our own destinies. Frankly, that made my job easier. Authors—indies or traditionally published—generally have an independent streak of their own. Maybe even a frugal streak fostered by parents and grandparents who lived through the Great Depression.
AM: Working in the Winning Writers critique service, I often come across authors who aren't sure whether they'll self-publish or try for traditional publishing. Are there any differences between marketing a manuscript to an agent or publisher, and marketing a self-published book directly to readers? How can authors decide which is best for them?
CHJ: Fewer differences all the time. And it never hurts to emulate success. The industry still operates on the mechanics of query letters, reviews, ARCs. The differences are in the details. Someone in the process of writing a book—their first book—should spend some time learning not only the basics the industry expects from a query letter, but how to tailor it for different occasions, and when it might work in their favor to break the rules.
As a new author, even though I had a background in journalism, retailing (bookstores are retailers!), marketing (USC, public relations) and New York jobs in fashion publicity and magazine editorial, I made the awful mistake of not understanding the basics—such as getting query letters (requests) out to media influencers before their hard-to-fathom-but-reasonable deadlines. I mean, these are the supermedia that influence other media on down the line. Naturally, I'm covering this in great detail in my soon-to-be-published book on getting ethical reviews. And all my how-to books include sample query letters in their appendices.
My agent offers her authors—both the experienced ones and the newbies—monthly Zoom sessions in both marketing—especially generally frugal online marketing—and in building those platforms that make it easier for her to interest publishers worldwide in translation and distribution rights at the international book fairs and tradeshows she attends. She has also been known to give copies of the third edition of my book The Frugal Book Promoter to her clients, so they can understand how to help her close those deals.
AM: Your upcoming book discusses some very new concepts, like the "forever review". What is a forever review, and how can authors take advantage of it?
CHJ: The second edition of How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically will probably be released before the holidays this year or early in 2026 by Modern History Press. I originally self-published it because I recognized early on when I was still teaching classes for UCLA Extension's world-renowned writers' department, that reviews are the driving force behind great book marketing campaigns and the advent of the web was going to increase the "forever" aspect of their value. Trouble is, nearly a quarter century after acceptance of alternative ways to publish began to flourish, most indie authors and publishers aren't using them effectively to meet these magical opportunities head-on. Reviews can be used by a publisher or author to extend the life of a book, even to revive titles with sales that have lagged. Even to qualify them for new awards like the Eric Hoffer Legacy Award!
It is my belief that many authors’ publishing dates miss arbitrary release date windows. These deadlines exclude talented authors whose books deserve the attention that contests like #NorthStreetBookPrize offer their winners. [Editor's note: The North Street Book Prize from Winning Writers accepts books published in any year, even from decades ago.] Everyone who wins your contest also receives an assortment of benefits from this prize’s sponsors, including me.
AM: As a key co-sponsor of the North Street Book Prize, you give an hour-long marketing consultation to each of our Grand Prize and First Prize winners annually. You also work with clients on a private basis. Has there ever been a particular insight you've offered that clients have been surprised to hear?
CHJ: Most of these authors—all of them accomplished!—are surprised that their book—especially now that it is a prize winner!—appeals to demographics far beyond the genre or topic they write in. I hope any author lucky enough to read this article, Annie, will reread their own book with that in mind, including these:
The different settings (towns, states, regions) in each scene.
The professions of all the characters.
Are there any animals, pets, environmental issues involved?
Any specific religions.
Does the book cross genres in some way? For instance, a romance set in Wyoming can easily be marketed to libraries in Wyoming—maybe the entire Intermountain West.
AM: What advice would you give to an author who's on the fence about whether to promote their own book?
CHJ: Plan on promoting it—as partners with your publisher or without. But be aware you are not alone. There are experts out there who can help; once you've learned from them and used their resources, you can duplicate that with your next book. Notice, I did not suggest not promoting it. Unless you think of your book as a hobby and intend to give it as gifts, your book must be marketed. Even the gift-giving idea above is a kind of marketing. And while we're at it, a big percentage of those books will never be read. Your book deserves the best from you no matter how you publish.
AM: Where can authors go to learn more about frugal book promotion and your new book?
CHJ: Oh! Annie, you touched on another area where I have to write whole chapters in my book to convince them of the good Amazon can do for their book. Amazon sells 60% of books worldwide. Sure, I have a website. Sure I blog. Sure I speak and present at conferences! (These days I prefer Zoom appearances!)
But Amazon sells books in Mexico, Japan, Europe, UK! I treasure each reader. Even the world's biggest publishers put their books on Amazon. And it's about as frugal as you can get. AND here's one of my #TheFrugalBookPromoterTips. If you write a series, ask Amazon (or your publisher) to get the free series page that Amazon offers. Find my #HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers from Modern History Press to see what one looks like, here: Amazon even supplies the triptych at the top of the page! I use mine everywhere!
Marry Me and Praise for Wyatt
Marry Me
My friend Susi and her boyfriend
were in the bleachers when someone
launched a home run.
Fireworks burst
like a corsage over their heads.
That's when she said Robert
leaned over and proposed.
The whole ballpark was cheering.
What did you say? I asked.
"I couldn't hear over the crowd
a word he was saying.
But the cheering got me excited
and I stood up jumping like crazy
and my boyfriend thought I
had said yes. He threw his arms
around me and five years later
we have a gaggle of children."
Praise for Wyatt
As a bachelor the only thing I could cook
was the smoke alarms.
You steam vegetables in woks,
flip crepes deftly, paddle creams and butters,
and aren't afraid to try new recipes
whether from Beijing or Tuscany.
Your skills at laying cables,
editing audio tracks, playing drums
and writing impromptu songs
at jamming sessions makes me think
that everything comes easily to you.
I admire your confidence
but I love your kindness more,
and I pray for your good health,
for a cure of your diabetes.
You don't remember receiving
your first injections, 18 months old,
or your tiny fingers bleeding
four times a day...your cries
needles through my heart.
Copyright 2010 by Bob Bradshaw
Critique by Tracy Koretsky
If you are a frequent reader of the type of literary e-zines included in the Best of the Net Anthology, you have probably encountered the work of the much-published Bob Bradshaw. His talent for the refreshingly apt and original metaphor, coupled with his charmingly self-deprecating humor, give Bradshaw's deceptively simple poems a distinctive voice popular with editors. So when I received a letter from him containing poems that, he said, had been rejected numerous times, I became deeply curious as to why. Little did I know his poems would lead me to question the very nature of poetry itself.
You see, Bradshaw favors poems that tell stories, usually of the head-scratching variety. The reader is left thinking, "Well, who would have seen that coming?" or, "Isn't that just amazing?" The narrative poem is often accessible, which explains why it is so frequently enjoyed, but it is problematic too. What makes a story a story and a poem, a poem? Indeed, what, in fact, is a poem?
Consider for a moment that the Latin origin of the word "verse" means to turn. The word "story", on the other hand, comes from the word "history"—a series of events. In fiction, one event generally causes another, or is, at least, related in some way. Furthermore, story—as opposed to history—has a beginning, middle, and end, though, as any first course in writing will teach, they do not necessarily have to be presented in that order. Nevertheless, causation is the logic of plot, and therefore of story.
Not so for poetry. Poems "verse"; they turn, sometimes several times. They may leap from the logic of the story to a metaphor bringing in a wholly new idea or image. They may leap to another level of meaning, suddenly more universal or personal, serious or surreal. The address—that is, to whom the poem is speaking—might redirect. Even something as subtle as an alteration of verb tense can affect a turn.
Sometimes poems open as if they have windows within them, bringing in another context or reality and then rebounding to the original one. Often the turn comes at the end, so that the reader lands in a new place, not one hinted at by the original story or subject or theme. Making this leap is the work of reading poetry, its surprise and delight.
It is this quality that, in my opinion, "Marry Me" lacks. Here Bradshaw has put forth a story in its chronological order. The single metaphor: "Fireworks burst/like a corsage", while not the freshest in Bradshaw's oeuvre, is wonderfully resonant in its context, but does not really constitute what I mean by a "turn" in that it does not depart from that context.
Reworking the poem to end with the metaphor might be one way of building a turn. In this case the poem would transit from the literal to the metaphorical. In so doing, the poem would move from the drama to the setting, landing the reader in a new location in the end. This would require rethinking the order of the story's plot, which in any case might be a good idea here. Beginning with "The whole ballpark was cheering," for example, would bring the reader immediately into an active scene. Another strategy might be to begin with Susi and her gaggle of offspring and move chronologically backwards. Every story has multiple points of entry; it is always valuable to investigate several.
Actually, our second piece, "Praise for Wyatt", provides an excellent example of the concept of turning a poem. In line 12, Bradshaw moves from "you" to "I", taking the poem in a more personal direction. In line 15, there is a sudden change of tone. More significantly, though, the poem moves from the present to the past in its final stanza. We come to understand that the narrator has known the subject all his life, that Wyatt is, in fact, most likely a son. This shines a whole new light on everything we have read so far, complicating and enriching it.
But "Praise for Wyatt", because it is not based upon a plotted story like the one in "Marry Me", is not strengthened by the logic such a story provides. This is another difference between poems and stories: the ways in which they unify. Poems can be brought together through music or other formal or structural elements. For example, Bradshaw could rework "Praise for Wyatt" as a litany, perhaps by repeating the phrase "I admire", or even more subtly, by creating parallel grammatical structures in his second through fourth sentences.
Most often though, in free verse narrative poetry, unity is achieved via the extended symbol. In other words, the logic of the piece is created by the development of its central trope. At this point, I would say, "Praise for Wyatt" lacks such a cohering trope, and so reads like prose. Focusing on Wyatt's hands might be one solution; they're already present in the final stanza, and certainly the activities depicted in previous stanzas rely upon them.
Both poems might also be nicely complicated with more abstract titles, offering thematic suggestions to the reader. The point is not to be obtuse, but rather to create some layers of meaning. Because, unlike stories, which are like exciting trolley rides, speeding along on greased rails, poems are like gifts for readers to savor as they unwrap.
Where could poems like "Marry Me" and "Praise for Wyatt" be submitted? The following contests may be of interest:
Oregon State Poetry Association Contests
Postmark Deadline: August 31
Twice-yearly contest from local poetry society offers prizes of $50-$100 in categories including traditional verse, humor, open theme
Naugatuck River Review Narrative Poetry Contest
Entries must be received by September 1
Prizes up to $1,000 for narrative poetry, plus publication for many runners-up, from a new literary journal based in Western Massachusetts
Ibbetson Street Press Poetry Award
Postmark Deadline: September 15
Contest for Massachusetts poets offers $100 and reading at annual poetry festival in Somerville, near Boston; previously published work accepted
Firstwriter.com International Poetry Competition
Entries must be received by October 1
Prizes up to 500 pounds for poems up to 30 lines (published or unpublished), from UK-based writers' resource site
Lucidity Poetry Journal Clarity Awards
Entries must be received by October 31
Twice-yearly free contest offers prizes up to $100 for poems in any form dealing with people and interpersonal relationships, by authors aged 18+
These poems and critique appeared in the August 2010 issue of Winning Writers Newsletter (subscribe free).
Mary: A Literary Quarterly
Submissions of poetry, fiction, and essays are accepted by email. Maximum 5,000 words per piece. Contributors have included Tom Cardamone, Christopher Hennessy, Michael Montlack, and Sarah Sarai.
Massachusetts Poetry Festival
This annual celebration of Massachusetts poets and small presses is held every October. The festival is based in Lowell, Mass., and also includes events around Boston, Worcester, Amherst, and the Berkshires. Videos from the festival are available on their YouTube channel: presenters include Rhina Espaillat, Robert Pinsky, Nick Flynn, and Martin Espada.
Massive Bookshop
An anti-capitalist alternative to the big online booksellers, Massive Bookshop is a place to list your books for sale while supporting social justice. Instead of seeking profits, Massive Bookshop donates whatever is leftover from operating expenses to various mutual aid and community-building projects such as Decarcerate Western Mass.
Masters Review (The)
The Masters Review is an online and print literary journal dedicated to supporting emerging writers. They publish short fiction and nonfiction, craft essays, and interviews with established authors. Ten winners of their annual fiction contest receive cash prizes and publication in an anthology that is mailed to agents, editors, publishers, and authors nationwide. The contest has been judged by prominent writers such as A.M. Homes and Lev Grossman. Contributors to the magazine are also paid. See website for deadlines and rules.
May I Have Several Hours of Your Time?
Writing professor Karen Craigo's poetry books include No More Milk (Sundress Publications, 2016) and Escaped Housewife Tries Hard to Blend In (Hermeneutic Chaos, 2016). In this blog post, she shares strategies for setting boundaries and time management when asked to mentor emerging writers. A very useful read for people on either side of the mentor-student relationship.
Mayfly
Biannual journal of haiku poetry, established in 1986. Mayfly is a paying market. Editors say, "We feel it is the duty of the editors and writers to make careful selection and proper presentation of only the very best, the most evocative, the truly effective haiku. We publish only 14 or 15 haiku per issue, but each haiku is printed on its own page."
Mayweed
By Frannie Lindsay. Winner of the 2009 Word Works Washington Prize, this spare and radiant poetry collection centers on acceptance of loss. Its key figures are a beloved sister who died of cancer, and their late father, a perpetrator of incest.
MC Nuts: William Wordsworth Rap
This YouTube video reinterprets the 19th-century poet's famous "Daffodils" as a hip-hop performance.
McSweeney’s Internet Tendency: Sestinas
Luscious witty sestinas on topics great and small. "Anna Karenina (Or Like, Most of It)" is not to be missed. Submissions are accepted, if they're sestinas (definition and examples).
Meanings and A Winter’s Night
MEANINGS by Norman William Kearney
So sweet the rose, that opens in the sun,
How soft the light, when day is almost done.
Gardenias scent wafts gently on the breeze,
And fresh the air across the lapping seas.
The gentle touch, when love is said, and felt,
Sounds, far away, from distant ringing bells.
Sweet kiss of lips, when given in surprise,
A song of birds, on blue and cloudless skies.
Wind blows light, thru' tresses, soft' and fair,
The music plays, and love songs fill the air.
Turn of head, when words are softly spoken,
A promise kept, and never to be broken.
These things there are, and here for all to see,
But only you, mean all of this, to me.
Copyright 2011 by Norman William Kearney
A WINTER'S NIGHT by Norman William Kearney
A winter's day 'tho it be sharp might be a man's delight,
When a hard days work is done, it quickly turn to night.
The sight and sound of rain on roof, or twinkling stars above,
Brings thoughts anew, and fresh, and keen perhaps ideas of love.
The warmth that comes from heart of man might serve to overcome,
A cold and cheerless time, from the weakening of the sun.
And were you there and waiting still, for man's return from toil,
Then I would never feel the cold that comes from winter's chill.
Your presence cheers and fills the heart so that my blood runs full,
And always would I hurry home, for comfort, in the evening's cool.
If only you forever stood and always by my side,
I should feel always tall and strong, from darkness never hide.
From winter there could be no care, and nothing that forbode,
If you were there and kept me warm, and free from life's great load.
Copyright 2011 by Norman William Kearney
Critique by Tracy Koretsky
To preserve special formatting in this critique, we have uploaded the first part of it to Scribd. Just scroll through this window:
Critique of Two Poems by Norman William Kearney
Where could poems like "Meanings" and "A Winter's Night" be submitted? The following contests may be of interest:
Dream Quest One Poetry & Writing Contest
Postmark Deadline: July 31
Twice-yearly contest for emerging writers offers prizes up to $500 for prose, $250 for poetry, plus web publication; previously published work accepted
Poetry Society of Texas Annual Contests
Postmark Deadline: August 15
The Poetry Society of Texas offers a members-only prize of $450 and 99 other prizes ranging from $25 to $400, with various restrictions on theme and genre (some are also members-only); no simultaneous submissions
Helen Schaible Shakespearean/Petrarchan Sonnet Contest
Postmark Deadline: September July 15
Free contest from the Poets' Club of Chicago and the Illinois State Poetry Society offers top prize of $50 for a sonnet
These poems and critique appeared in the July 2011 issue of Winning Writers Newsletter (subscribe free).
Meanjin
Meanjin also gives wide coverage to issues of global concern. It is an imprint of Melbourne University Publishing. The journal's name, pronounced Mee-an-jin, is derived from an Aboriginal word for the finger of land on which central Brisbane sits.
mediabistro.com
Daily corporate strivings and struggles in magazines, newspapers, TV, new media and book publishing.
Meeting Faith: The Forest Journals of a Black Buddhist Nun
In this profound, witty memoir of spiritual transformation, an intense, high-achieving, activist intellectual goes to Thailand to research the unequal status of women in Buddhist religious life, but unexpectedly finds inner peace during her stint as a member of an ascetic order of nuns. The elegantly designed book pairs her current reminiscences with excerpts from her journals, side by side on the page like a Talmudic commentary.
MEHPoeting: The Writings of Matthew E. Henry
Matthew E. Henry is a Pushcart Prize nominated poet and the author of Teaching While Black (Main Street Rag, 2020). He is editor-in-chief of The Weight Journal, an online literary magazine publishing high-quality creative writing by high school students. From his website bio: "His writing shines a black-light on the bed of relationships, race, religion, and everything else you're not supposed to discuss in polite company."
Memorial
By Diana Anhalt
Massive steel slabs, like hostile vegetation,
rise twelve meters high. This monument
of rusting pages thrusts upwards, outwards.
It walls in the trees of Chapultepec Park,
and casts shadows on mourners who come
bearing words for their desaparecidos.
Armed with fistfuls of chalk, a jack knife, a car key,
people punish the pillars with prayers, imprecations:
May they drown in their victims’ blood, Dios santo.
They finger the letters: Pinche gobierno, we don’t need
a monument. What about justice? And give voice
to the slabs: They left me nothing, not even a grave.
No one signs their names. Across the face of a pillar
vertically placed vague outlines of white chalk fade
to ghostly images, come back to haunt us:
Our country has lost its way and God has lost his ears.
Memories of You
By Gregory Ashe
Sitting on the sand,
gazing at the full moon.
The sea lit with the dull reflection of moonlight.
A cool breeze.
The air heavy with ocean salt.
The soft roar of waves crashing on the shore.
I remember that night
long ago
when you and I first kissed on the beach.
We sat in an empty lifeguard stand.
The night still warm from the day's summer heat.
I ran my fingers through your golden-brown hair glowing
in the moonlight.
A magical night.
I remember another night,
much longer ago,
when a different you and I first kissed on the beach.
We walked along the boardwalk.
The winter air cold and clear,
and the moon cast a million diamonds
sparkling on the sea.
I ran my fingers through your jet-black hair shimmering
in the moonlight.
A magical night.
Now I stare at the sea and moonlight
alone,
but still I smile.
For I am not really alone,
because you,
and you
are here with me in my thoughts.
A magical night.
Merlyn’s Pen
The Merlyn's Pen Foundation mentors promising young writers and trains English teachers. Submissions from students in grades 5-12 are accepted for their magazine. The 10+ years of archives include over 1,000 stories, essays and poems. Books, tapes and teacher's guides are available in the store.
Merriam-Webster Ask the Editor Videos
These lively short videos from dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster discuss the origins of words and resolve common questions of grammar and usage. Is "irregardless" a real word? What is the correct plural of "octopus"? How do you use singular "they" grammatically? Now you will know.
Metallic Thud
By Cheryl J. Fish
for the Davids
World Trade Center and Mount St. Helens
"Step by step, breath by breath—no rush, no pain." –Gary Snyder
1.
David Burns, insurance man hears a metallic thud
just after morning coffee, September 11, 2001.
A crushing noise a windy void.
He peers out his north-facing view
sees windows blown out eye-level
windows, no crater.
Shouts to anyone who will listen
shouts to the wind.
Some co-workers flee
to floor 78 express car
Liberty Street in a matter of seconds
before number two's crash.
2.
Column of steam, ash, rises 7,000 feet.
Ice and rock, wind a wild ride.
Cracks merge and become the "bulge."
Volcano souvenir business flourishes.
USGS scientist David Johnston measures the bulge on the north flank.
His observation point Coldwater II six miles northeast of St. Helens peak.
Sightseers press towards the steaming crater for closer view and photos.
3.
Bystanders and students watch as captives plummet from the towers,
missiles of grief. This is not television. Yes, it is.
"Go home," I shout. "Look away." Snails and stomachs and tails.
You know nothing of what's to come. Metallic thud.
Dave Burns and his pal Paul rush onto the waiting Staten Island Ferry
Engine ramps ramps ramps into the blue and black.
Life jackets all around in case of an aerial attack
It's not the engine, no, but a hulking dust cloud,
Time-made matter, a dirge.
4.
A 13,000 foot eruption of ash and steam
harmonic tremor signaling. Hot
seismic chart blot May 12 a 5.0 earthquake
underneath the north flank of St. Helens
triggers a small debris avalanche half a mile down.
Many people come out with cameras and binoculars.
Last chance for Spirit Lake landowners to evacuate.
5.
David Johnston perishes; David Burns survives.
Bones cut the wind.
More towers rise.
Metanoia
By David Holper
The plane ticket,
the train ride, the shuttle
the taxi, even the first step,
onto the gravel, into the dirt,
the dust, your boots whispering
against the dry grass,
these are just dust motes dancing
over the surface: the real journey calls you
deeper into the soul's secret country
where all such journeys
must lead you beyond expectations,
beyond these hazy dreamings,
if you are to finally set right
what you have long known was broken from the beginning.
*Metanoia (Greek, noun): The journey of transforming
your mind, heart, self, or way of life.
Metonymy Press
Based in Montreal, Metonymy Press specializes in queer, feminist, and social justice literature. They seek to promote literary fiction and nonfiction authors with underrepresented perspectives. Their motto: "We want to keep gay book lovers satisfied." See their contact page for submission guidelines.
MetPublications: Free Art Books Online
MetPublications, the book and catalog shop of New York's famed Metropolitan Museum of Art, has made over 600 books available to read online or download, with full text and illustrations.
MiblArt Book Cover Design
MiblArt offers affordable custom cover designs for self-published books in print and digital formats (e-book or audiobook). They will work in all genres, but their portfolio thus far is mainly commercial nonfiction and genre fiction, especially fantasy and thriller.
Michigan Review of Prisoner Creative Writing
The Prison Creative Arts Project at the University of Michigan publishes this annual journal to showcase the talent and diversity of Michigan's incarcerated writers.
Microcosm Publishing
Microcosm Press specializes in nonfiction DIY (Do-It-Yourself) goods that focus on the reader and teach self-empowerment. They publish books from people with both expertise and lived experience, on topics such as magic and herbalism, punk music and culture, queer erotica, travel, self-care, comics journalism, and "the bicycle revolution". Illustrated work is strongly encouraged. Browse sample titles on their website and send them a pitch that follows their detailed guidelines. Editors say, "We do not publish books that would primarily be described as poetry, fiction, travel stories, or memoirs, unless the work is more substantially about a nonfiction topic than the author's life and experiences. If your book contains more than 20% personal stories, we are not the right publisher for you."
Midst
Midst is an online journal that showcases the creative process by publishing poems as an interactive time-lapse from first draft to the author's preferred final version. Editors hope to make poetry more accessible by demystifying the process of its creation.
Midwest Book Review
Established in 1976, the Midwest Book Review is an organization committed to promoting literacy, library usage, and small press publishing. Reviews are posted monthly on their affiliated websites and distributed to libraries, literary websites, databases, and online discussion groups. MBR welcomes small press and self-published authors.
Midwest Book Review’s List of Review Sites
Midwest Book Review is a monthly online publication that reviews self-published, small press, and mainstream books in a variety of genres. Their site includes additional resources for author marketing, such as this vetted list of other review organizations and publications that are open to indie books.
Midwest Writing Center
Founded in 1979, the Midwest Writing Center offers literary awards, conferences, workshops, book groups, and readings. Their publishing arm, MWC Press, publishes the winners of their poetry chapbook conference, the young writers' literary journal The Atlas, and literary novels and memoirs.
Miles from Standing Rock, tonight,
By Leah Angstman
over this snowdrift land fires light into the expanse—
a joke, it seems, the ice melting into puddles of fresh water
beneath throngs sending signals upward: rain down.
Our bodies are water, in and on,
at heartbeats of what we must think and drink—
You know when you've gone dry,
to go without breath and skin,
roots to your earth.
What is water to us, and how do we own it?
Broken at the base of Ash Coulee,
spill under vitality herded through fist,
uncontained. Make the point drawn from wells of irony:
we'll claim what soaks in our soles,
but it could be anything, oil-thick or water-wet,
what rains up.
Military Experience and the Arts
This organization's mission is to bridge the gap between military and civilian cultures through creative expression and scholarship. The site includes resources to help veterans write their personal stories. MEA publishes three magazines: The Blue Falcon, a journal of military fiction; Blue Streak, a journal of military poetry; and the Journal of Military Experience, an interdisciplinary scholarly periodical. See website for their calls for submissions.
Military Writers Society of America
Association of writers and artists who honor the military through their creative works. Most of the 500+ members are active-duty or veterans, but civilians may also join. The MWSA offers annual awards for published books in a variety of genres including nonfiction (scholarly and popular), children's literature, poetry, fiction, memoirs, spiritual/religious, and science fiction. The site also features many book reviews.
Milk Candy Review
Milk Candy Review is an online journal of "beautifully weird, lyrical" flash fiction up to 750 words. They publish new work weekly, and include a two-question author interview with each selected piece. Send one unpublished story by email as a Word document or pasted into the message. Contributors have included Sara Siddiqui Chansarkar, Thomas Kearnes, Kathryn Kulpa, and Margaret Roach.
Milkweed Editions: Multiverse Literary Series
An imprint of Milkweed Editions, a well-regarded literary press, the Multiverse series publishes neurodivergent poets. Its creator, Chris Martin, says that Multiverse is "devoted to different ways of languaging" and seeks innovative literary styles that "emerge from the practices and creativity of neurodivergent, autistic, neuroqueer, mad, nonspeaking, and disabled cultures." Poets in their catalog include Hannah Emerson and Adam Wolfond. Read Brian Gresko's article about Multiverse in the July/August 2022 Poets & Writers.
Miller, Reiter & Robbins: Three New Poets
Miller, Reiter & Robbins were all discovered by Hanging Loose magazine. "Distinctive voices even in their earliest efforts." Order from Amazon or directly from Jendi Reiter for $9.
Misfit Magazine
Edited by poet Alan Catlin, Misfit Magazine is an online poetry journal that publishes gritty and energetic free verse. They value authentic narrative poetry inspired by "down in the dirt, real life experience". Submission periods are Jan. 2-Feb. 28 for Spring Issue, April 1-May 31 for Summer Issue, Sept. 1-Oct. 30 for Fall/Winter Issue.
Missouri Review
We especially enjoy MR's fiction selections.
Mobile Poets.org
The Academy of American Poets has made their entire collection of over 2,500 poems on Poets.org, as well as hundreds of biographies and essays, available in a mobile format for your Palm Pilot or iPhone.
Model
There's more to this teen memoir than meets the eye. Beautiful, blonde Cheryl has a wise old head on her shoulders, which helps her survive encounters with all sorts of human predators as she tenaciously builds a career as a fashion model in New York City. She's also a sharp, funny writer.
Modern American Poetry
A large, collaborative collection of critical essays. Background and analysis of many of today's most interesting American poems and poets. Submissions welcome. Click here for information.
Modern Haiku
Publishes original poetry in Japanese forms, book reviews, and essays. Also sponsors the Robert Spiess Memorial Award ($100), annual deadline in March.
Modern Haiku
An independent journal of haiku and haiku studies. Publishes original poetry in Japanese forms, book reviews, and essays. Also sponsors the Robert Spiess Memorial Award ($100), annual deadline in March.
Modern Manuscript Format Guide
Speculative fiction writer William Shunn (An Alternate History of the 21st Century: Stories) demonstrates the elements of a professional-looking manuscript submission. Mouse over the highlighted text sections of his template for an explanation of each element and why it's needed.
Momma, Did You Hear the News?
By Sanya Whittaker Gragg, with illustrations by Kim Holt. This sensitive picture book features a Black family giving their two young sons "the Talk" about how to avoid being shot by the police. The book manages children's fears about current events in an age-appropriate way, and also conveys a nuanced message that many police officers are good people doing a dangerous job.
