Articles by Emily Harstone

Emily Harstone is the pen name of a published writer. Her work has been published in ten countries, four continents, by over fifty different journals. She is a professional submissions adviser and editor. If she owned a dog it would be named Wystan.

Cold Mountain Review: Closing to Submissions Soon

Cold Mountain Review is a twice yearly print publication that is interested in essays, narrative non fiction, short fiction, and poetry. Cold Mountain Review has been around for 35 years. They are only open for submissions until the 30th of May, after that they will not consider submissions until August. Cold Mountain Review is published…
Issue Six Literary Journals

Writing Prompt: Other Words

Pick a book from your shelf that you haven’t read recently. This book should be one that you enjoy. It can be a book of poetry, or prose, even a play or non fiction. It should not be a dictionary or an encyclopedia. Start a 10 minute timer, and then open to a random page….
Issue Five Writing Prompt

Switchback: Now Open for Submissions

Switchback is a journal published by the MFA (Master of Fine Arts) program at the University of San Fransisco that has just re-opened to submissions. They accept short works of fiction, non fiction as well as poetry.  They are an online journal that also has an e-book edition. Switchback is well respected, and has a…
Issue Five Literary Journals Uncategorized

Kestrel: Now Open For Submissions

Kestrel is an established and respected journal with two print issues a year. They just re-opened to fiction, poetry and non fiction submissions. They are published by Fairmont State University, yet they publish work from all over the world, although they claim to be “specially happy to publish work by West Virginian and Appalachian writers”….
Issue Five Literary Journals

Review of Fiction on the Web

Fiction on the Web (FotW), was founded in 1996, which makes it one of the oldest online literary journals. In fact it is the oldest online journal that focuses solely on publishing short fiction. They have had hundreds of thousands of readers over the years. However they also have rather high acceptance rates. FotW is…
Issue Four Literary Journals

Self Publishing vs Traditional Publishing: 5 Important Considerations

When you have finished writing your first manuscript and edited it to your own satisfaction, what is your next step? You can either go the traditional route and start writing query letters to agents who may help you get a contract with a traditional publishing company. There are several questions that you can ask yourself,…
Issue Four Issue Thirty Three Publishing Guides Self Publishing Special Feature

Publishing Guide: What to Consider Before Self-Publishing an Ebook

Many authors self publish these days, that way they can avoid the hassle of dealing with editors, and slow moving corporations. Even some established  authors have switched to self publishing because they have more control over their book and even their profits. However self publishing is far from straight forward. This article is not intended…
Issue Five Publishing Guides Self Publishing Uncategorized

Writing Prompt: The 3 Minute Warm Up

This is a writing technique that is very popular for screen writers. However it seems to work well for writers of fiction and poetry. I always enjoy doing this writing exercise even if I am not stuck. When I am in the middle of writing something else, doing this exercise before going further helps my…
Issue Four Issue One Hundred Fifty Six Writing Prompt

Review of Softblow

Softblow is an online literary journal. They are based out of Singapore but they publish only English language poetry. They publish work by only three poets every month. Softblow usually publishes 3-5 poems per poet, and they are placed on the same page, underneath the Author’s biography. Softblow is a great place to be published…
Issue Four Literary Journals

Review of Pyrokinection

Pyrokinection is a literary journal that publishes only poetry. If you are a beginning poet that is just starting to submit your work then Pyrokinection is a good place to start. They are an online literary journal that publishes new work regularly. Pyrokinection has a high acceptance rate. They accept over 60% of what is…
Issue Three Literary Journals

Print Versus Online Journals

Print journals have been around for a very long time, you can submit to journals that are going into their sixth decade, and have published many famous poets, dead and alive. Online journals are clearly a much more recent establishment. Blackbird, one of the first online literary journals, just celebrated their 11th anniversary.  There are…
Issue Three Literary Journals Publishing Guides

Review of Fiction365

Fiction365 is an online journal that publishes flash fiction and short stories. They publish one story for every day of the year. They also pay a small amount for every story they publish. Which is very unusual for an online journal. The stories they publish vary in length from around 100 words up to 4000….
Issue Three Literary Journals Uncategorized

Writing Exercise: Favorite Words

When you are stuck, and you don’t know what to write or how to start a piece, this prompt helps free your imagination. It is a very simple prompt but a little bit time consuming. This prompt works best on paper, but in a pinch you can do it on your laptop. Start writing down…
Issue Three Writing Prompt

Three Tips for Submitting Your Work

If you have never sent your creative writing out to a literary journal before, the experience can be intimidating. Many productive writers try to avoid submitting. But there is no real way around it if you want to get your work out into the world. The Reviews on this website can really help you know…
Issue Thirty Three Issue Two Publishing Guides

Writing Prompt: Eavesdropping

One of the best ways to learn how to write natural, compelling dialogue, is to listen to people. Not necessarily people you know, because  you’re likely to get caught up in the conversation yourself and that makes it less about observing and more about discussion. Instead, to really get a good feeling for how different…
Issue Two Writing Prompt

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