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The Top Ten Complaints from Book Reviewers

By TN Wesley What ticks off your readers? What would make someone never want to read your work again? Knowing this information can help you avoid doing anything to antagonize your readers. To find out what rubs readers the wrong way, I combed through several Amazon.com book reviews and came up with a compilation of…

Issue Three Hundred Four Special Feature

The Benefits of Nontraditional Venues for Author Readings

Even though we had a terrific public library close to where I grew up in Manhattan, I’ve been haunting bookstores since I had enough allowance to buy my own paperbacks. When I loved a book, I needed to have it there on my bookshelves 24/7. And in my many years of travel at home or…

Issue Three Hundred Three Special Feature

What’s Flashy About Flash & 6 Places to Submit Your Work

Katey Schultz I’ve been teaching flash fiction and flash nonfiction for over a decade, and whether I’m teaching high schoolers via an arts council grant, published authors via my online class, or MFA candidates at a residency, I always start with the same thing: Flash is flashy, but “flashy” might not mean what you think….

Issue Three Hundred Two Special Feature

Finding Your Squad: Online Book Promotion as Community

By Alicia Sophia In March 2018, I signed with RhetAskew Publishing. It is a traditional small press publisher, with an independent feel to it. Part of their contract is that authors must do their own marketing and networking. My first novel 1,4,3 was released in December 2018. It is a work of LGBT Literary Fiction….

Issue Two Hundred Ninety Eight Special Feature

The Pros and Cons of Publishing with Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing

By Logan Stoves Recently, I just published my first book with Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and I couldn’t be prouder of myself. After my experiences, I believe KDP is one of the easiest ways to publish your book if you’re looking to self-publish. However, I would recommend you do your research on Amazon while…

Issue Two Hundred Ninety Nine Special Feature

Common Mistakes Authors Make when Promoting their Work

By Gary Roen Often authors who are new to marketing make mistakes while promoting their book. The most important among them is not treating publishing as a business. Having been in the industry in many different capacities for a long time, I’ve seen many blunders, made a few myself, and now know better how to…

Issue Two Hundred Ninety Seven Special Feature

Four Letterpress Chapbook Publishers

Stephanie Katz Old-fashioned letterpress chapbooks are making a comeback as writers and readers appreciate handmade books as true pieces of art. Many famous poets, such as Walt Whitman and Edgar Allan Poe, self-published letterpress chapbooks. Though many letterpress companies will print self-published chapbooks for a fee, the list of letterpresses below are actual publishers that…

Issue Two Hundred Ninety Six Special Feature

Backdoor Avenues to Publication in Lit Mags

By Jenn Scheck-Kahn Most of us find our first publications in literary magazines as unsolicited writers, meaning we send our manuscripts through a submissions manager on the magazine’s website after meticulously following the guidelines outlined there. Because a lit mag can receive hundreds, if not thousands of manuscripts for a dozen or two spots in…

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Backdoor Avenues Towards Publication in Lit Mags

by Jenn Scheck-Kahn Most of us find our first publications in literary magazines as unsolicited writers, meaning we submit out work through a submissions manager on the magazine’s website after meticulously following the guidelines outlined there. Because a lit mag can receive hundreds, if not thousands of submissions for a dozen or two spots in…

Issue Two Hundred Ninety One

Using Scrivener to Play the Submissions Game

By John Burnham As an aspiring writer, I make regular submissions to literary journals. It’s an enjoyable activity, full of challenges and satisfaction. But, it creates an admin task that’s not so much fun. I have to keep track of what pieces I’ve submitted, what journal the submission went to, and what the response was….

Issue Two Hundred Eighty Eight Special Feature

3 Reasons Imitation is a Gateway to Originality

By Katey Schultz Imitation, at first mention, is often shunned in writing circles. Admittedly, it can be confused with plagiarism, although in my work as a teacher and author, I see the two as very, very different. Think about classical painters who spend years imitating Monet before beginning original works of their own. Consider some…

Issue Two Hundred Eighty Seven Special Feature

How to Use Facebook Live to Promote Your Writing

— Jen Kolic Did you know that a whopping 78% of Facebook users view live content? And there are ten times more comments on livestream videos than regular videos—that’s an amazing level of engagement! These were just some of the astounding facts shared by Phylecia Jones, budgetologist at Keeping Up With Mrs. Jones. Jones and…

Issue Two Hundred Eighty Six Special Feature

Four Guidelines for Writing (and Publishing) Without an Agent

You do not need an agent to write and sell books. Since 2006, I have written and found publishers for three nonfiction books and two novels. While the publishing path for each book has varied, my approach to writing remains steadfast (and may help you find publishing success, too). 1. First and foremost, if you…

Issue Two Hundred Eighty Five Special Feature

How to Improve Your Writing Practice with Composting

By John Dorroh Natalie Goldberg, author of Writing Down the Bones, a book that all writers need to own and use, convincingly suggests to develop the habit of using timed writing practice on a daily basis. These warm-up sessions can last anywhere from a few minutes to an hour, whatever works. Along with timed writing…

Issue Two Hundred Eighty Four Special Feature

Finding Productive Space for Writing

By Tina Jenkins Bell Last summer as I worked on the edits for the last few sections of my novel, I needed an alternative to my home office–sans environmental distractions and personal interruptions, like “baby, would yous” from my husband–as I dashed toward ‘The End’. I knew I needed to find a spot suitable for…

Issue Two Hundred Seventy Nine Special Feature

Articles by A Guest Author