How To Write A Good Pitch for Your Novel

“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…

Stirring: Open to Submissions

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also run the prestigious Best of the Net competition and the Gone Dark Archives a place to preserve journals that are no longer active.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…

Skyhorse Publishing: Open To Book Proposals

Updated October 8th, 2024. CNN reported that after requesting an interview with Melania Trump, related to her newly released book (published by Skyhorse), the publisher asked that CNN pay a licensing fee of 250,000 for the interview and excerpts from/photos of the book. Publishers Marketplace ran the full story here, if you have a membership,…

Writing Prompt: In The Dark

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…

Writing Prompt: Wrongly Accused

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…

Amira Press: Open To Manuscript Submissions

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…

Quote Of The Week

Writing Prompt: After Death

There is a book called Sum: Forty Tales of the After Life. It is a book of very short stories by David Eagleman, a neuroscientist and writer. Each of the short stories is a completely different interpretation of the afterlife. In one afterlife you know everyone else there, but just tangentially. You can never meet…

Annoucing the Winners of the Haiku Writing Contest

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…

Quote Of The Week

Writing Contest: Announcing the Winners

Congratulations to the winners of this week’s writing contest! They are listed below. But first, a bit about our new 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…

Writing Prompt: Dark Alley

It is a familiar scene. If you close your eyes and you can picture it. A pretty woman walks into a dark alley. She is in a big city. Their is steam rising from the sewer. It goes without saying that it is dark and the alley is dirty. This scene has been shot a…

Crack The Spine: Open to Submissions

Crack The Spine is an online and print journal. They publish four print issues a year and 52 electronic issues. They seek to publish  strange literary works in a number of different forms, including flash fiction, micro-fiction, poetry, short stories, personal essays, and book reviews. Crack The Spine has an easy to navigate website that…

Halfway Down The Stairs: Open To Submissions

Halfway Down the Stairs is an established electronic journal that has been around for some time and seems to have established a regular readership. They publish poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, as well as book reviews.  New issues are published quarterly (March, June, September, and December), and each issue has a theme. They primarily publish mainstream  literary…

Ace/Roc: Reading Query Letters

UPDATED MAY 21st, 2015: Ace/Roc is not currently accepting unsolicited submissions and their submission guidelines page  has been removed. Ace/Roc, the science fiction and fantasy imprint from Penguin, has a slush pile. A slush pile a place where writers who do not have agents or previous publication experience can submit. Not only can writers submit…