November 30, 2020

9 Literary Magazines Seeking Volunteer Readers & Why You’d Want To Participate

By Trish Hopkinson There is a variety of reasons you may want to volunteer as a reader for a literary magazine or journal. The majority of reading and other volunteer responsibilities will be conducted online, so you need not be in the same geographical area. Below are some of those reasons to consider, as well…

November 23, 2020

Migrant Anthology: Call for Submissions from Undocumented Immigrants

The poet and author Sonia Guiñansaca, and the award winning author of The Distance Between Us, Reyna Grande, are editing an anthology called Somewhere We are Human: An Anthology on Migration, Survival and New Beginnings. They are seeking essays and poetry from those settled primarily in the Midwest and Border towns in the United States….

13 Ways to Boost Your Creativity

If you have writer’s block, this list should be helpful. If you don’t have writer’s block, this list should be helpful. If you don’t believe in writer’s block, this list should be helpful. I am a big believer in this quote by Pablo Picasso: “Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working”. I am…

November 19, 2020

Handheld Press: Accepting Submissions

Updated August 8th, 2024: They just announced that they published their last book and are winding down business as a publisher. Handheld Press is a UK-based press that is currently open to submissions of reprints (books that were traditionally published but have since gone out of print), and works of research-based nonfiction. They plan to…

Volney Road Review: Now Seeking Submissions

Volney Road Review is a paying online publisher of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry based in Youngstown, Ohio. They aim to showcase the unpublished treasures of both emerging and established authors. “Send us the work that you think will change the world,” they say. They pay $10 per published piece. Volney Road Review accepts submissions twice…

The Importance of Writing Challenges

Someone told me about NaNoWriMo for the first time when I was 19. I had never heard of a writing challenge before, but the idea of there being a National Novel Writing Month, where writers attempted to complete a manuscript in just one month, was very exciting to me. I really liked the idea of…

November 16, 2020

20 Poetry Markets Open for Submissions in November 2020

These magazines are open for poetry submissions in November. Many of them also accept other genres, like fiction and nonfiction. Some of these pay writers. Also see this list for themed submission calls, including submissions of poetry, and this list of exciting new literary journals.  The Lit QuarterlyFor poetry submissions their guidelines say, “We prefer…

November 12, 2020

Golden Antelope: Now Accepting Manuscript Queries

Update August 2023: They did not reopen to submissions in April as expected. They publish poetry, short stories, novellas, novels, plays, and works of creative nonfiction. They are a small press. They were founded in 2008 but initially, the founding editors Neal and Betsy Delmonico mostly published family and friends. Publications were sporadic. That shifted…

Blue Mesa Review: Now Seeking Submissions

Blue Mesa Review is an established publisher of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. Helmed at the University of New Mexico, Blue Mesa Review has been published since 1989. Each issue is edited by a fresh team of students in the university’s creative writing department, so the journal’s aesthetic is always evolving. They publish a wide…

6 Common Publishing Myths

As a writer who receives multiple emails each week about publishing, there are a number of myths about publishing that I encounter repeatedly.  Different writers tell them to me as if they are fact. Some myths are ones I believed when I was starting out. Some contain truth. Many are entirely false. Believing in one…

November 9, 2020

7 Exciting New Literary Journals

In the last 6 months the following journals opened their metaphorical doors for the first time. A number of magazines on this particular list have specific focuses and areas of interest. It is great to submit to new journals as the editors tend to have more energy and enthusiasm. They also tend to be more…

November 5, 2020

Gill Books: Now Accepting Manuscript Queries

Gill Books is one of Ireland’s leading publishers of content in terms of both the Primary and Secondary schools market, but they also publish nonfiction for adults. They accept proposals for adult nonfiction and children’s books. They are a division of Gill Education and are based out of Dublin. They have good distribution within Ireland,…

Salamander: Now Seeking Submissions

Salamander is an established and respected print journal of poetry, fiction, memoir, and works in translation, published since 1992. Salamander is housed at Suffolk University and distributed internationally. They print two editions each year. The journal is funded by a number of sponsors, including the National Endowment for the Arts. Salamander is a paying publisher….

5 Paying Literary Markets to Submit to in November 2020

These markets pay for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. They are a mix of both literary and genre markets. LampLightThis is a magazine of dark fiction, both short stories and flash fiction. They want work that is dark, literary — creepy, weird, and unsettling. Their guidelines say, “No specific sub-genres or themes, just good stories. For…

How Often Should You Expect Literary Rejection?

Various readers have emailed me over the years asking about how often they should expect to be rejected. They phrase it different ways. Sometimes they ask if a ratio of four rejections to every one acceptance is good. Sometimes they ask if one acceptance a year is good. The one single factor that affects your…