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…

Writing Prompt: A Poem and Push Ups

Many writers have a physically active lifestyle, and many of these writers believe that this physical activity aids them in their creative endeavors. I have written an article about this before, which you can read here. I recently started doing this unusual writing prompt myself and have found it to be a lot of fun….

Akashic Press: Open to Flash Fiction Submissions

Akashic Press is a Baltimore based independent publisher that has produced a number of books including the bestselling illustrated book Go the F*ck to Sleep. Akashic Press is not currently open to manuscript submissions at this time, however they publish three electronic literary supplements that contained themed flash fiction. These three electronic publications are all…

Quote of The Week

Writing Prompt: We Stayed Up All Night

This writing prompt is pretty simple. You can take it in any direction you want. Your response could be a poem, non-fiction, flash fiction, or fiction. Just take the Phrase “We stayed up all night” and make it the first sentence of your piece. Now the nice thing about a phrase like this is that…

3 Things I Wish I Knew When I Was First Submitting To Literary Journals

When I was first submitting to literary journals, I would spend 15 minutes or more on their website tracking down any scrap or clue that might help help my work be accepted. I read their guidelines multiple times. Every time I received a rejection I read a lot into it. Now, many years and at…

The Best Last Line

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…

Pay It Forward

          As an indie writer struggling build a career, it can be easy to lose sight of many things. Unless you’re fortunate enough to have friends in high places or you’re just plain lucky, you must devote a substantial amount of time to your career. It doesn’t take long to realize…

Writing Prompt: Anyone’s Ghost

The National wrote a song called Anyone’s Ghost. I write a lot based on music that I am listening to, but rarely do I do this in a formal way. However this song, in my opinion, is a great basis for a prompt, not in terms of the music but in terms of the lyrics….

Quote of The Week

Download a free preview of Eric’s new book One Word At A Time: Finding Your Way as an Indie Author, here: http://www.authorspublish.com/press/sample/

CoffeeShop Blues Journal: Open to Submissions

Coffeeshop Blues Journal is a new print literary magazine produced by Coreopsis Publications. Coreopsis Publications, was founded in 2004. The publishing company is based out of Florida and focuses on publishing novels set in that region. They are associated with several local arts organizations. The company is owned by David Stewart and Jeremy Frost. All…

Black Balloon Publishing

Black Balloon Publishing is an imprint of Catapult Books. They have online and print distribution. Their books tend to be well reviewed and many have been blurbed by famous established authors. They publish literary fiction, non-fiction, and memoirs. They try to focus on publishing things that are odd or quirky. It would be appropriate to…

Best Villian Introduction

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…

A Proper Indie Book Launch

Just close your eyes for a moment and imagine that you’ve finally done it. The manuscript that you labored on for so long is perfectly polished, it has been written, edited, re-written, laid out in its final format, and the eye-catching cover is designed.  Your head is swimming with a myriad of emotions, anticipation, fear,…

Bodega: Open To Submissions

Bodega is a on online literary journal that publishes a new issue on the first Monday of every month. You can read the issue online or download a PDF version. Every time they publish a new issue they email it out to subscribers. They publish poetry, prose, and interviews with established and emerging artists. They…