Special Feature

Writing Stakes Without Raising the Volume

Every workshop has that guy. “Can’t you just blow something up?” As if volume equals importance. Loud feels like stakes. But I’m more interested in the moment someone almost tells the truth and then swallows it. That tiny swallow? That’s dynamite. No smoke. Still wreckage. We’ve been trained to look for spectacle. Hostages. Deadlines ticking…
Issue Six Hundred Seventy Eight Special Feature

81 Publishing Opportunities for Historically Underrepresented Writers (May 2026)

This list of publishers meet our guiding principles, but are only open to free submissions from historically underrepresented writers or focus on publishing content produced by historically underrepresented writers. Some of these publications are open to a wide range of writers including writers of color, gender non-conforming and LGBTQ+ writers, and those living with disabilities….
Issue Six Hundred Seventy Seven Special Feature Uncategorized

5 Paying Literary Magazines to Submit to in May 2026

These magazines pay for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. They’re open now, or will soon open for submissions. The Stinging FlyThis Ireland-based journal is open for submissions of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry for their Winter 2026-27 issue. They also accept translations. They also have a submission FAQ page.Deadline: 20 May 2026 (5 pm Irish time)Length:…
Issue Six Hundred Seventy Six Paying Market Special Feature

Why I’m No Longer Chasing 100 Rejections Every Year

Back when I first decided to actively start sending my work out into the world—instead of making 2 submissions per year—Kim Liao’s viral article, “Why You Should Aim for 100 Rejections a Year” came to me at just the right time. Although I’d not been as much of a perfectionist back then, my goals were…
Issue Six Hundred Seventy Six Special Feature

How to Ace the Rejection Game

By Mandira Pattnaik It is not advisable for the well-published authors to view the plight of newbie, emerging writers as they grapple with the onslaught ravaged upon them by editors and publishers who view them less as blood-and-bone humans and more as names and email addresses. Neither is it advisable for those said nameless and…
Issue Six Hundred Seventy Five Special Feature

The Three Lies We Tell Ourselves About Time

By Lorraine Horsley When I was kid, I wrote for the joy of it. I got A grades in English. My stories were often read out in class. I was good at writing. My report cards said so. I’d write stories for fun in my spare time. And I always found the time. Fast forward…
Issue Six Hundred Seventy Four Special Feature

How I Published in 50 Litmags in Less Than a Year: A Strategy That Works

By Itto Outini How would you feel if someone were to send you a gift that doesn’t work for you at all: a piece of clothing that doesn’t fit, for instance, or a cookbook containing only meals that violate your dietary restrictions, or a piece of memorabilia that’s wildly out of step with your home…
Issue Six Hundred Seventy Two Special Feature

Constraint as Creative Engine

Every time someone tells me, “Just write whatever you want,” my brain goes blank. Whatever I want? That’s too many doors. I stand in the hallway like an idiot, turning the knob of each one, accomplishing nothing. Give me a lock. Give me a rule. Five hundred words. Hard stop. I remember thinking, that’s nothing….
Issue Six Hundred Seventy One Special Feature

Write Less to Write More: In Favor of Flash Narratives

Ratika Deshpande I love flash narratives and this is an appeal from me to you to write more flash fiction and flash nonfiction. The form came into existence long before attention spans and short-form content entered our daily vocabularies and I believe it’ll have value in the future as well. For flash (usually defined as…
Issue Six Hundred Seventy One Special Feature

Using Origin Stories to Sell More Books

By Rachel Carrington As crowded as today’s publishing market is, a good book may not stand out. Readers have so many options in their preferred genre. An outstanding description can catch their eye and help you make a sale, but oftentimes, if you’re a newer author, it’s difficult to get your foot in the door….
Issue Six Hundred Seventy Special Feature

The Perfection of the Wrong Word

Some sentences don’t start living till you punch them in the kneecap. I swear. You toss the “correct” word in there—the polite, ironed, Sunday-best vocabulary—and the line just sits like a bored cucumber. No pulse. No trouble. No spark. But then you stick in the “wrong” word, the one grammar teachers glare at from beyond…
Issue Six Hundred Sixty Seven Special Feature

How the Page Thinks: Spatial Intelligence in Writing

The page isn’t neutral. Never was. I didn’t figure this out from some craft book. More like years of staring at a blank screen, hungry, back hurting, the cursor blinking like it’s judging my life choices. I used to think writers control the page. You write, it holds. End of story. Clean, adult logic. But…
Issue Six Hundred Sixty Four Special Feature

5 Paying Literary Magazines to Submit to in February 2026

These magazines pay for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. They’re a mix of literary and genre magazines. NewMythsThis is a speculative fiction magazine, and they “like to balance each quarterly issue between science fiction and fantasy, dark and light, serious and humorous, hard and soft science fiction, and longer and shorter works. We publish fiction, poetry, and non-fiction works.” Works…
Issue Six Hundred Sixty Three Paying Market Special Feature

What Novelists Should Do After Rejection

Having taught novel writing for many years now, one of the most common emails I receive from students and subscribers goes something like this: “Dear Emily,My novel has been through years of revisions now, and I’ve shopped it around to most agents and publishers. I could revise it one more time, but I’m not sure…
Issue Six Hundred Sixty Three Special Feature

Metaphor Fatigue: When Imagery Stops Working

When every emotion is a wildfire, even love starts to smell like smoke — and not the sexy campfire kind either, but that “oh god something’s burning in the kitchen” panic where you’re patting your pockets for a fire extinguisher you definitely don’t own. That’s what happens with metaphors when writers get too hyped. They…
Issue Six Hundred Sixty Two Special Feature

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