A Bad Penny Review: Now Accepting Submissions

A Bad Penny Review is a print and online magazine based in Georgia. Founded in 2011, this young journal is decidedly transgressive. Their aim is to emulate the idea of the bad penny: that which is considered unpleasant, disreputable, and unwanted. They prize experimental and conceptual work, and have a particular interest in work that…

8 Tips for Navigating Assisted Publishing

Standing before the publishing crossroads, at the completion of an edited manuscript, we are faced with two options: traditional or self publishing.  The problem is each choice then leads to more paths that only distort what we thought was a clear choice.  Suddenly small publishers, micro-publishers, printing presses, vanity presses, DIY options (bulk printing or…

Writing Prompt: Sonnet

There are many kinds of sonnets. Shakespeare’s sonnets are not the only option.  There are sonnets that stick to the Italian method. There are ones that are only concerned with iambic pentameter. One only contains the word watermelon over and over again for fourteen lines, and it is still technically a sonnet. Gerald Stern has…

The Six Word Memoir 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

Under the Covers: advice about cover art for self-publishers

You know those designer beds in department stores all decked out with multi-layered sheets, patterned duvets, and heaps of pillows – don’t you want to just dive in and snuggle down?  It’s the same way with books.  What makes readers want to dive under the covers with you is a visual promise, an enticement that…

Dark Futures: Open To Submissions

Dark Futures is an established online journal that pays their writers a small token payment. They publish short stories and poetry.They are interested in work with post apocalyptic or cyber punk themes. They are also interested in science fiction and horror, or anything that would fit under the heading of Dark Futures. They are interested…

Black Warrior Review: Now Accepting Submissions

Black Warrior Review is a print magazine based at The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Founded in 1974 by graduates of their MFA program for Creative Writing, this longstanding journal has become a respected publisher of contemporary poetry, fiction, and nonfiction by both established and emerging writers. Each issue also features a chapbook by a…

Announcing the Winners of the One Sentence Pitch Competition

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

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…

Fourteen Hills: Now Accepting Submissions

Fourteen Hills: The San Francisco State University Review is a print journal based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Founded in 1994, it has long been respected for its important contribution to the West Coast literary scene, and over time has gained an international following. Fourteen Hills has published many pieces of award-winning writing, including…

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…