Resources
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Jane Friedman’s Guide to Getting the Most Out of a Writing Conference
Publishing expert Jane Friedman has been speaking at writers' conferences since 2001. In this article from her blog, she gives tips on how to select the best conference for your goals, being a well-prepared speaker, making the most of networking opportunities, and more.
Poetry Cooperative
Poetry Cooperative is an online forum to share your poetry and win prizes. Basic membership is free, and Gold Tier membership is $10/month. Gold members have the opportunity to be paid $50 for work that is accepted for the Poetry Cooperative Magazine. The site also offers a monthly contest whose prize is one month of Gold membership.
Plenitude Magazine
Based in Canada, Plenitude Magazine is an online literary journal publishing poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, graphic narrative, and short film by queer creators. No submission fees. Editors say, "We define queer literature and film as that which is created by LGBTQ2S+ people, rather than that which features queer content alone...Plenitude aims to complicate expressions of queerness through the publication of diverse, sophisticated literary writing, art and film, from the very subtle to the brash and unrelenting."
Nothing in the Rulebook
Nothing in the Rulebook is a UK-based online magazine that includes competitions listings, writing news, and feature articles about literature and culture.
I Am a Rothko Painting
By Kevin Hinkle
Canvas stretched across a frame, rough and dry.
I'm a Rothko painting—deep red,
brown, and orange. I'm February brooding,
suffocation from a lack of sun.
My therapist tells me to appreciate
my moods, to talk back and walk on. I nod...
but I'm Rothko painting.
I can't bear mirrors and self-contemplation.
I'm a Rothko painting, and it's difficult
to accept beauty’s nuclear age.
I remind myself that sunlight varies by season,
meaning depends on context.
Rothko painted me layer on layer;
now let me hang and dry.
Best Fonts for Books
IngramSpark is a leading distributor of self-published, small press, and print-on-demand books. In this 2019 article from their website, book designer Michele DeFilippo gives advice on choosing the best fonts for your book. Primary considerations are readability and harmony with the content.
100 Common Publishing Terms
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest. In this September 2019 post on their website, he defines 100 common publishing terms such as simultaneous submissions, work for hire, log line, and much more. Useful for understanding contest guidelines and publication contracts.
Hands Holding Firm
By Thelma T. Reyna
If hands could laugh, ours would've pealed our way
through Rome's catacombs, Spanish Steps, thousand cats
lounging in Coliseum ruins,
and everywhere we roamed on every wheel that
turned—buses, taxis, trains—hands holding firm to
one another, vacationers in love, when we were
young, languoring with afternoon hands circling
warm on weary flesh, sun gilding balconies
outside french doors and marble floors in
alabaster rooms built centuries ago, where
foreign hands speak sentences and poems in
flourishes, and icon cities are for
lovers with palms clasped whenever we strolled
cobblestones, our paths just one, one direction,
together regardless of where.
The ADD Writer
In this 2020 blog post, author and writing teacher Michael Jackman shares tips for writing productively with attention deficit disorder. If daily routines and schedules don't suit the way your brain is wired, try some of his strategies for jump-starting your creative enthusiasm, such as exercise, travel, and enjoying cultural events. Above all, take the long view of your productivity and don't measure yourself against people with different needs.
The Writer’s Workout
Launched in 2014, The Writer's Workout is a resource site with features including a discussion forum, submission calls, prompts, a newsletter, and a literary journal called WayWords. For $1/month you can use their Achievement Tracker to organize your submissions and drafts. The site's editors say, "It's designed and tested to help you measure all your literary progress: the Achievement Tracker shows your total word count, competition wins, reading, editing, publications, and more throughout the year as well as your daily and monthly average word count. Seeing these totals and averages helps you develop constructive writing habits, encourages you to try different things, and provides a clear visual of your growth."
Horror Tree
Run by novelist and JournalStone Network editor Stuart Conover, Horror Tree is a resource site for horror and speculative fiction writers that includes submission calls, craft essays, and author interviews.
Down the Hall
By Jennifer Davis Michael
I am going down the hall
in my childhood house.
Our father has summoned
my brother and me.
It feels like a dream, and not.
The hall seems shorter,
ceilings lower.
I let my brother go first,
though I was first. We pass
his bedroom door, then mine,
the photos in their frames.
At the end is our father's bed.
He has things to say,
not the last things, not yet,
and yet the movement feels
like last, and first,
down the hall,
a narrowing space.
I will be here again,
and soon.
Down the hall.
My father calls.
Publishing and Marketing Scams List at Writer Beware
Writer Beware, a project of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, is a leading industry watchdog for literary scams. In this August 2019 blog post, Victoria Strauss calls out over 50 publishing and marketing companies (many of them affiliated with the same publishing group in the Philippines) that aggressively target writers with false promises and charge exorbitant fees.
Craft Capsule: The End
In this installment in the Craft Capsules essay series at Poets & Writers, Cameron Awkward-Rich, a Lambda Literary Award poetry finalist and professor at University of Massachusetts-Amherst, talks about his revision process. Any elements of the poem that he can re-create from memory are essential, he has found. "What I like about using memorization as a diagnostic is that it says nothing about the “quality” of a poem, so it discourages thinking about revision as 'fixing.' Instead, what determines whether a poem is finished is the relationship between us, the poem and I."
How to Write a Memoir
William Zinsser (1922-2015) was a widely published journalist who wrote for periodicals such as The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and The New York Herald Tribune. His seven books on the craft of writing include On Writing Well. In this article from The American Scholar, where he was a regular columnist, Zinsser gives sound practical advice about how to structure your memoir, and stresses the importance of recording your family story, whether or not you seek publication.
Almond Press Writing Competitions Event Calendar
Launched in 2012, Almond Press is a Scottish small press that publishes short story collections and sponsors literary contests. This curated submissions calendar on their website lists numerous writing contests, free and fee-charging, for English-language writers in the UK and internationally.
Flying Kites: A Story of the 2013 California Prison Hunger Strike
By the Stanford Graphic Novel Project. This fictionalized account of a real-life hunger strike to protest prison conditions exposes the horrors of solitary confinement and the inspiring struggles of families to stay connected to their incarcerated loved ones. The e-book is free to download for your computer or tablet.
Nothing Changes
By Gary Beck
I sit at my desk
with my iPad,
send an email
to a friend in France.
It gets there in seconds.
Across the street
at a construction site,
immigrant laborers
who can't speak English
put up a scaffold,
the same way they did
in ancient Egypt.
Down the block,
four large men
carry a heavy rug,
just the way they did
in ancient Persia.
At the corner,
two men load a truck
the exact same way
two men loaded a cart
in the Middle Ages.
The progress of civilization
has given us
powerful machines,
electronic devices,
yet everywhere I look
we still do things by hand.
Closure
By Alan Perry
for Kate Spade
I could never do that—
wear notions to be toted
and adorned in public
or name my own leather to rest
on someone else's shoulder.
No crossbody bags for me
or I'll lose my private place
in the express line, waiting
for debits to pile up.
Though I'm not immune
to the allure of rest.
Every day I weightlift
the quiet grief that stuffs
a briefcase I carry
from this place to the next—
not sharing its contents
with those who can't see
me drifting away.
And if I get lost
in that room with no light,
I might take blue from a scarf
and close the door—
like the snap of a purse
that can't be opened
from the inside.
Learning English Language Arts with the New York Times
This feature on the New York Times website collects archived content that can be used to teach writing skills such as dialogue, narrative, and criticism.
peculiar: a queer literary journal
peculiar is a bi-annual queer literary journal publishing poetry, fiction, essays, art, and photography. Co-editor Jack Garcia says, "Based in Provo, Utah, the title is a nod to the Mormon claim of being a 'peculiar people' because, let's face it, being queer is far more peculiar!" Read an interview with him at Trish Hopkinson's writing resources blog.
The Reader Teacher
Scott Evans a/k/a "Mr. E", an elementary school teacher in Wales, reviews and recommends children's books for parents and teachers on his site The Reader Teacher. His main focus is middle-grade fiction (ages 8-12).
Good Show Sir
This humorous blog based in the UK showcases examples of terrible book cover design for fantasy and sci-fi novels. Come for the laughs, stay for the ideas about what to avoid when designing your own indie book cover.
Character Naming Tips and Resources at the Kindlepreneur
Digital marketing blogger Dave Chesson a/k/a the Kindlepreneur shares links to his favorite character name generator websites, as well as advice on picking the right name for your character's age, time period, personality, and book genre.
Here Now
By David Kherdian
I would like to visit
every store and window
in this town,
the last station on the road,
as I would every stone
on this path,
every pebble along the way—
to where I am destined—
Hidden from me, allowing
the events in my Being
to prepare for the final door—
that will open only then
to more than chance,
the defining moment
before the next step
into another land.
Write Now! Coach
Book coach Rochelle Melander offers workshops, consultations, and critique groups through her website Write Now! Coach. Her published books include Write-A-Thon: Write Your Book in 26 Days (And Live to Tell About It), a 2011 ForeWord Book of the Year finalist.
Esther and Willow
By Laurel Blossom
This is the pool set halfway between the guesthouse and the main house, built by Mrs. Godfrey in 1941, the year Esther Williams started at MGM. I swim on the diagonal to make a length a little longer. The water's warm where the LA sun has touched it, cool where it floats in shade. I'm taking my first swim in Mrs. Godfrey's pool. My landlord Al says Mrs. Godfrey was one of Esther Williams's understudies. The guesthouse is white, the sky blue, the house at the corner of Esther and Willow. Al says this is a coincidence. I don't believe him. Coincidence is a myth.
Global City Press
An offshoot of Global City Review, this NYC-based press aims to be a "literary metropolis of the imagination". Their first title, publishing in early 2020, is The Escapist by David Puretz, which follows a young anti-hero on a quest for his missing father while grappling with his sexuality, substance addiction, and childhood traumas. Multicultural Review calls Global City "a rich treasury of contemporary social thought and artistic expressions, defending a humanistic view of the individual in a complex society."
Mannheim
By Erika Dreifus
I did not cry the first time I went to Mannheim,
when my father and I studied the nameplates
listing the residents of the building on Ifflenstrasse
where his mother had been born, and grown up.
The building she left one April day in 1938, just in time,
and had never re-entered.
I did not cry even when the current second-floor residents
invited us in, and I stood in the high-ceilinged rooms
where my great-grandparents had withstood the Kristallnacht.
In the photos my father snapped
to show my grandmother, back in Brooklyn,
I am smiling.
I did not cry the second time I went to Mannheim,
when my father and mother and sister and I toured the city,
armed with Grandma's handwritten maps,
and visited the shiny blue synagogue.
From the hotel we telephoned Brooklyn
before driving away on the Autobahn.
The third time, the train from Stuttgart stopped.
I descended to the platform.
And the signs read,
Mannheim.
This time my grandmother was gone.
Not just from Germany.
But back in New York her namesake had just arrived.
I blinked a few times. Bit my lip.
Stared at the sign, and swallowed.
Then I walked, fast, through sunbaked streets,
straight to the department store
where I bought the baby a sweater
and tiny socks
before I hurried back to the train station.
A Thousand Acres
By Jane Smiley. Winner of the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, this American tragedy recasts the story of King Lear on an Iowa farm in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. When a tyrannical but enfeebled patriarch divides his farm unequally among his three daughters, their prosperous, provincial world is torn apart by long-simmering rivalries and recovered memories of incest. Not only does Smiley nail the dynamics of a family in denial, she believably ties the personal drama to the American diseases of patriarchal entitlement and the rape of the land.
PhotoBloom
Fine art photographer Carol Bloom's landscapes, street scenes, still lifes, and abstract images are composed with the care of Old Masters paintings, as charged with dramatic tension as an Edward Hopper scene. These evocative works would be suitable for licensing for a poetry collection, literary fiction, or memoir book cover. Locations include New York City, Paris, and Israel.
Waxwing
Waxwing is a thrice-yearly online literary journal promoting the tremendous cultural diversity of contemporary American literature, alongside international voices in translation. They seek to include American writers from all cultural identities alongside international voices published bilingually. Waxwing currently accepts submissions of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and translations. Authors published in Waxwing include Cortney Lamar Charleston, Amy Dryansky, Jeannine Hall Gailey, and Oliver de la Paz.
Where to Find Free Short Stories Online
This 2019 list from the literary website BookRiot links to high-quality online sources for free short fiction, including prestigious journals such as Granta, Guernica, Virginia Quarterly Review, and American Short Fiction, as well as leading sci-fi and fantasy sites like Tor.com and Lightspeed Magazine.
Hometown Reads
Sponsored by the digital marketing firm Weaving Influence, Hometown Reads is an online community dedicated to matching local authors with bookstores and customers in their area. Authors in one of their featured cities can put up a page about their books for free. Other networking tools include a blog and city-specific Facebook groups. If you live in a Hometown not currently showcased on their site and are willing to help gather authors in your area, contact Hometown Reads to suggest adding your locale to their directory.
The Over-manipulation Problem
May Peterson is an editor, writing consultant, and author of the fantasy novel Lord of the Last Heartbeat (Carina Press, 2019). In this writing advice post from her blog, she cautions against the self-doubt that leads writers to revise too much. Rather than think of early drafts as problems to be fixed, learn to appreciate your strengths at every stage, while being aware that your work will change and grow. "We all need to strive, but we all need to accept, too, and it's the latter part writers often have trouble with...What I encourage writers to do is to cultivate trust in their writing. Not just their skills, or their voice, but what their writing is about for them. The things they like about their own writing, just as it is."
Belmont Story Review
Belmont Story Review, the literary journal of Belmont University in Nashville, TN, publishes emerging and established writers of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and narrative journalism in the areas of music, publishing, creativity and collaboration, and faith and culture. Payment for accepted work is $25 per poem or flash fiction, $50 per prose piece. (Note to international contributors: the journal can only pay with a check in US dollars.)
Hidden Memories
By Jesse James Doty
Boxes of family photos
Uneasy desire to see
how I used to be
before my transition
Have no regrets
and yet
something holds me back
from viewing my past
Wondering how I'll feel
How I'll react
Do I deny my history?
Resist the rising tide
Or is this a rebellious act?
Denying who I was
when I wasn't
how I felt inside
From my memories
do I need to hide?
So hard to decide
Hey, Kiddo
By Jarrett Krosoczka. This graphic narrative memoir intertwines the author's tumultuous relationship with his heroin-addicted mother and his discovery of his vocation as a professional cartoonist. The result is a lovingly detailed scrapbook of working-class family life in Worcester, MA, with sepia-tinted artwork supplemented by original documents and childhood drawings. Krosoczka was raised by his maternal grandparents, who come across as well-rounded and beloved characters, often gruff and no stranger to alcohol indulgence, but with steady devotion and an unglamorous and patient work ethic that he learns to emulate. Krosoczka's popular graphic novels for kids include the Lunch Lady and Star Wars: Jedi Academy series.
The Fisherman
By John Langan. Steeped in the history and geography of upstate New York, this literary novel of cosmic horror draws on influences from the Book of Job to Moby-Dick and H.P. Lovecraft. A widower who turns to fishing as solace is drawn into a centuries-old pattern of bereaved men tearing the veil between worlds to reunite with some simulacrum of what they have lost. More than a monster story, though full of satisfying scares, this tale-within-a-tale leaves us chilled by fears of the uncanny existence that may await us after death.
Gender Queer: A Memoir
By Maia Kobabe. Playful, emotionally vulnerable, and even cozy, this graphic narrative is a coming-of-age memoir centered on Kobabe's discovery of eir nonbinary and asexual identity. Gentle, accessible artwork with a sophisticated color palette gives the story an intimate feel, as if a friend or family member was sharing confidences with you. As well as being entertaining, this book is a good educational resource for teens and adult allies as well as queer folks looking to understand themselves.
Slingshot
By Cyrée Jarelle Johnson. The title of this ambitious debut collection by a black genderqueer poet-activist refers to the bikini costume they wore as a strip-club dancer, but also calls to mind the legendary weapon that young David employed against the giant Goliath. Like the Biblical youth, the narrator of these poems fights back, with brilliant style and ferocity, against seemingly insurmountable forces like racism, transphobic violence, familial abuse, and the floods that Hurricane Sandy unleashed on New York City. The propulsive force and fragmented and recombined syntax of these poems command so much attention that only at the end will you reflect, "Damn, was that a crown of sonnets?" and read it all over again.
Legal Shield
A good value for writers who can't afford traditional law firm fees, Legal Shield is a monthly subscription plan that allows you to call their attorneys for consultation on specific issues. You can ask for a lawyer with a particular area of expertise, e.g. intellectual property. Recommended by publishing industry expert Jane Friedman.
Terrain
Founded in 1997, Terrain is an online journal of creative writing and artwork with a sense of place and an ecological consciousness. They accept poetry, essays, fiction, articles, artwork, videos, and hybrid-genre work. Regular submissions are open from early September through April 30, and contest submissions from January 1 through Labor Day. Their ongoing series of "Unsprawl" case studies features locales that embody sustainable urban design. Contributors have included Rick Bass, Wendell Berry, Hannah Fries, Naila Moreira, and Pattiann Rogers.
The Raw Art Review
The Raw Art Review: A Journal of Storm and Urge publishes poetry, flash prose, and artwork that convey passion with strong original imagery. Launched in 2018, the journal publishes quarterly. There are periodic contests for online features, chapbook and full-length poetry manuscripts, and story collections.
The Hard Season
By Kathleen Lynch
Rain-glutted, the stream
splays to the base
of the retaining wall.
Good. Now you have reason
to pray. Of all the birds
watching from winter-stripped
trees, vultures
are kindest, killing nothing.
This is a true
measure of things.
Don't hold back now, have
chocolate, throw extra
kindling on, even though
skies urge cover & hoarding.
When mice pitter in
for crumbs, compliment
their small feet and fitting
ways. When your mouth
houses a curse, swallow,
think how you once
had no words at all
yet managed
your hungers. Everything
that comes, passes.
Everything that passes
rakes its fingers through
and passes.
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.
Two Haiku from Journey to the Clear Light
By Robert Paul Blumenstein
the owl grew many
all the fluffy chicks survived
squirrels not too well
tender purple cones
singing in pine bough cradle
tomorrow's giants
Spotify “Poetry: In Their Own Voices” Playlist
Created by the music streaming service Spotify for Women's History Month, this playlist features recordings of famous poets such as Marianne Moore, Rita Dove, Joy Harjo, Elizabeth Bishop, and Gwendolyn Brooks reading their own work. You will need a free or paid subscription to listen.
Moves in Contemporary Poetry
In this 2010 essay in the online journal HTMLgiant, Mike Young comes up with a list of 41 rhetorical and syntactical techniques that have become popular in 21st-century poetry. Examples are drawn from critically acclaimed authors such as Heather Christle, Alice Fulton, Jack Gilbert, D.A. Powell, and Dean Young. The list can help new writers think twice about stylistic choices that may have become academic clichés.
Furious Flower Poetry Center
The nation's first academic center for Black poetry, Furious Flower was established on the James Madison University campus to serve creative writers, literary and cultural scholars, and poetry lovers everywhere. They are committed to ensuring the visibility, inclusion and critical consideration of Black poets in American letters, as well as in the whole range of educational curricula. Named after an image in a Gwendolyn Brooks poem, the academic center originated in the acclaimed 1994 Furious Flower Poetry Conference, the first major conference on African American poetry since the 1970s. See their website for educational materials, conferences, classes, and poetry prizes.
