March 31, 2014
There are many kinds of sonnets. Shakespeare’s sonnets are not the only option. There are sonnets that stick to the Italian method. There are ones that are only concerned with iambic pentameter. One only contains the word watermelon over and over again for fourteen lines, and it is still technically a sonnet. Gerald Stern has…
March 26, 2014
Congratulations to the winners of this week’s writing contest! They are listed below. But first, a bit about our contest series. Every week we are going to have a contest on our Facebook Page. The contests will change from week to week but the winners will always be published in the magazine. The contest winner…
You know those designer beds in department stores all decked out with multi-layered sheets, patterned duvets, and heaps of pillows – don’t you want to just dive in and snuggle down? It’s the same way with books. What makes readers want to dive under the covers with you is a visual promise, an enticement that…
Dark Futures is an established online journal that pays their writers a small token payment. They publish short stories and poetry.They are interested in work with post apocalyptic or cyber punk themes. They are also interested in science fiction and horror, or anything that would fit under the heading of Dark Futures. They are interested…
Black Warrior Review is a print magazine based at The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Founded in 1974 by graduates of their MFA program for Creative Writing, this longstanding journal has become a respected publisher of contemporary poetry, fiction, and nonfiction by both established and emerging writers. Each issue also features a chapbook by a…
March 20, 2014
Congratulations to the winners of this week’s writing contest! They are listed below. But first, a bit about our contest series. Every week we are going to have a contest on our Facebook Page. The contests will change from week to week but the winners will always be published in the magazine. The contest winner…
“Pitch” was such a foreign term for me as a young author, that when the first agent asked for my novel’s pitch at a conference, I blinked and shrugged. I was seventeen at the time so I suppose my reaction was understandable. The agent then had to explain to me what a pitch was. How…
Fourteen Hills: The San Francisco State University Review is a print journal based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Founded in 1994, it has long been respected for its important contribution to the West Coast literary scene, and over time has gained an international following. Fourteen Hills has published many pieces of award-winning writing, including…
Stirring is an online journal published by Sundress Publishing. Sundress is a mostly women run publishing collective that publishes a number of literary journals, anthologies, chapbooks, and books. They also run the prestigious Best of the Net competition and the Gone Dark Archives a place to preserve journals that are no longer active. It is…
March 19, 2014
Updated September 2020: Vanity Fair published an in depth article on some of their more questionable decisions and business practices. Skyhorse Publishing is one of the largest small presses in the United States. They were founded in 2006. Over the past couple of years they have started to acquire other small presses. Skyhorse started out…
March 18, 2014
This is a prompt that is simple but effective. You can use new characters, ones you have previously created, or even ones other authors have created. Put them in a normal situation, or rather, what would be a normal situation for them. Do they work at an office building? Place them there. Do they go…
March 17, 2014
In The Fugitive a doctor is accused of killing his wife. In Double Jeopardy a wife is accused of killing her husband. Both did not commit the crime they are accused of. They are both innocent. That has been a reoccurring theme in movies and literature for a very long time. It can be a…
They Have Gone Out Of Business Amira Press started out as a small e-publisher of romance and erotica and has grown considerably over the years. They have sold a lot of e-books and now even have some print editions. Writers that have been published by Amira speak of then highly. They have good editors and…