Special Feature

The Top Three Reasons Authors Need a Writing Community

By Kathryn Haueisen “The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.” – Coretta Scott King Writing by committee is sheer torture for me. Leave me alone until I’ve written what’s been swirling around in my mind, keeping me awake by night and leading me to ignore real people because…
Issue Three Hundred Forty One Special Feature

The Writing Habit I Needed the Most

By Nicole Pyles Call me a bit of a Goldilocks when it comes to writing habits. I’ve tried the word-count-a-day habit, but sometimes I don’t have 500 words in me (or whichever word count a day I’ve decided upon). I’ve tried the 20-minute-a-day habit, but this results in me looking for excuses to not give…
Issue Three Hundred Forty Special Feature

Author Platforms: One Size Does Not Fit All

An “author platform” is your position as a writer, not just in terms of social media, but in terms of real-life connections and associations. More publishers and agents are asking for writers to talk about their author platforms as part of the query letter, and more small presses and agents are approaching authors that already…
Issue Three Hundred Forty Two Special Feature

Writing Partnerships: When Two Heads are Better Than One

By John Dorroh   In the spring of 2014 I found myself at the post-funeral party for a friend’s husband. He was a member of a local band, well loved, and had a great sense of humor. He told his wife to throw a party in his honor a week after he was buried. I…
Issue Three Hundred Thirty Nine Special Feature

How to Know If You Are Really a Writer

They say that everyone has at least one good book in them. Does that make you a writer? Or is it more than that? Is it something you decide to be, something you learn to be, or something you have always been whether you liked it or not? The following statements are what I believe…
Issue Ninety-Three Issue Three Hundred Thirty Eight Special Feature

How to Engage Your Readers By Editing for Who, What, Where, When Why, & How

By Wendy S. Delmater As a writer you want your readers fully immersed in your world, as seen through the eyes of a character that they fully identify with. The last, the very last thing you want to do is break the suspension of disbelief.  In this final entry in a series of articles, I’ve…
Issue Three Hundred Thirty Eight Special Feature

5 Paying Literary Markets to Submit to in November 2019

These magazines pay for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, and are a mix of literary and genre markets. Not all of them are open through the month. PodCastle This is a fantasy magazine. They print stories in an audio format and online. They are open to all the sub-genres of fantasy, from magical realism to urban…
Calls for Submissions Issue Three Hundred Thirty Seven Special Feature

Three Unusual Ways to Market Your Books

By Phil Bowie If you’ve exhausted all the usual ways to promote your books—having a nice-looking website, presenting an energetic social media presence, taking part in blog tours, seeking reviews, giving talks to civic and writers’ groups, doing traditional bookstore signings, and so on, here are three easy low- or no-cost unusual promotions that have…
Issue Three Hundred Thirty Six Special Feature

Three Reasons To Kill Your Darlings

By Ben Graff As writers, we have a natural tendency to like and feel protective toward our work. What appears to flow on the page when it is finally read by others, is actually the result of many desk hours, false starts and significant re-drafting. Still, perhaps for all the care we already take, there…
Issue Three Hundred Thirty Four Special Feature

What To Do About Imposter Syndrome

By Wendy S. Delmater Is there anything a writer can do about “Imposter Syndrome,” that feeling that you are just faking it and you’re not really who everyone in the writing community thinks you are? Yes. Let me use myself as an example. Back when in 2005, I started running Abyss & Apex, I used…
Issue Three Hundred Thirty Three Special Feature Uncategorized

5 Paying Literary Markets to Submit to in October 2019

These are a mix of literary and genre markets that are open in October 2019, though not all are open throughout the month. All of them pay writers. Translunar Travelers Lounge The editors of this speculative fiction magazine want stories that are “fun”. Their guidelines say, “A fun story, at its core, is one that…
Issue Three Hundred Thirty Two Special Feature Special Issue

A Professional Editor’s Perspective on Novelettes and Novellas

Wendy S. Delmater You may be one of a number of authors who finds themselves writing at the novella or novelette length. What is a novella or a novelette? Here are the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America’s definition of what constitutes a short story, novelette, novella or novel. It is based on the…
Issue Three Hundred Twenty Nine Special Feature

What Not to Do: Who, What, Or Why?

Wendy S. Delmater As a writer you want your readers fully immersed in your world, as seen through the eyes of a character that they fully identify with. The very last thing you want to do is break the reader’s trance state.  This is the first in a series of articles where I’ll use the…
Issue Three Hundred Twenty Nine Special Feature

5 Paying Literary Markets to Submit to in September 2019

These literary markets are open during September 2019, although not all of them are open throughout the month. They’re a mix of literary and genre markets, and they all pay writers. Broken Pencil This is a Canadian publication of zine culture and independent arts. They are currently open for fiction submissions via Submittable, and for…
Issue Three Hundred Twenty Eight Special Feature

I’m Not Playing On My Phone… I’m Selling Books!

As a mother and a writer, I often feel guilty when I am working because it means time away from the family. However, I decided long ago that I needed and deserved time to write and I guard it fiercely, whilst making sure it does not intrude on family life too much. In recent years…
Issue Three Hundred Twenty Seven Special Feature

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