Special Issue

17 Themed Calls for Submissions (Short Stories, Poetry, Essays)

There is a variety of topics and genres for writers to submit in – and the themes include mental illness, villains, both real and imaginary, sea terrors, gender and artificial intelligence, facets of Chinese cities, stories set in cellars and around mysterious stairs in the woods, writing by older women, about queer families and about…

Retreats, Conferences, and Week-Long Workshops: Which One is Right for You?

For a long time I wrote in the solitude of my room, alone and without a community. Slowly over time I started to branch out. I attended classes, workshops, and then retreats and conferences. I also earned a Masters of Fine Arts.  I think it is fair to say I have experienced a lot of…

24 Open Calls for Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror Submissions

Besides the very popular SF and Fantasy markets like Asimov’s and  Clarkesworld magazines, there are several other markets that are currently open to science fiction, fantasy and horror submissions. Many are themed calls – for spaceships and superheroes, fantasy beasts, food, monsters, autumn, and queer-inclusive young adults. Most of them pay writers. Cricket Media: Spider…

19 Calls for Themed Submissions (Fiction, Poetry, and Essays)

These are themed calls for submissions from literary journals and anthologies, for various genres, sub-genres and themes – pirates, Sherlock Holmes and H. G. Wells mashup, odd creatures, beginnings, shelter from a storm, re-writings of Hans Christian Anderson’s stories and about parenting and mental illness, and about miracles, redemption and death. Many of them pay…

25 Publishers Seeking Young Adult Manuscripts

Updated April 20, 2018 Young adult is one of my favorite genres to read, even though when I was a young adult struggled finding good YA books. These days the young adult genre is profitable, diverse, and covers a wide variety of genres, from science fiction to romance and everything in between. A lot of…

30 Writing Competitions and Submission Calls for Poets

This list is divided into two: submission calls and competitions for poets, including fellowships and one essay contest; prizes range from $250 to AU$10,000. They are listed according to deadline. The calls are for various topics, styles, as well as geographical and age demographics of poets. Special submission calls include those confronting shaming, LGBTQ themes,…

Seven Publishers That Accept Memoir Submissions (No Agent Required)

Updated November 2018 to remove publishers now closed to direct submissions. Memoir publishers that don’t require an agent to submit are few and far between. However, there are still options out there.  Some are old and respected, others are new and still figuring things out. Not all the publishers on this list are currently open…

22 Calls for Themed Submissions (Short Stories, Poetry, and Essays)

This is a list of themed submission calls for a variety of topics, genres and audiences – fiction, poetry, non-fiction, interviews and reviews. Topics include compassion for the natural world, romance, colonizing other worlds, reconciliation and decolonization, stories about ruins and chefs, post-apocalyptic horror, themed stories for children, work by and about underrepresented communities, and…

20 Literary Journals for New Writers

These literary magazines publish work by new and upcoming writers. Some publish work along with established writers, including Pulitzer Prize winners, and are placed in award anthologies and nominated for various prizes. Although these magazines publish work by new writers, some may be extremely competitive to get into, as they also publish work by established and…

Eleven Ways to Boost Your Creativity

If you have writer’s block, this list should be extremely helpful. If you don’t have writer’s block, this list should be extremely helpful. If you don’t believe in writer’s block this list should be extremely helpful. I am a big believer in this quote by Pablo Picasso: “Inspiration exists, but it has to find you…

Ten Respected Publishers That Accept Unsolicited Submissions

All of the publishers on this list have published books that won or were nominated by industry members for awards. All of these publishers have good distribution. I personally own or have read at least one book by all of the publishers on this list. All of these publishers are open to unsolicited submissions ––…

How To Evaluate A Publisher for Your Book

When you’re finally ready to submit your book for publication, it can be overwhelming. There are so many publishers out there. There is so much information about some of them and so little about others. How can you check the legitimacy of a publisher if you don’t know much about the industry? Even if a…

32 Themed Calls for Submissions

This is a list of anthologies, journals and magazines with themed issues, including anthropomorphic societies facing dystopia, homelessness, Canada in the future, edges of darkness, world myths, aliens, subterranean worlds, summer flings, and healing. None charge a reading fee. Many pay writers; some pay a token amount and some pay up to several hundred dollars….

How to Get an Agent for Your Book

Most of the big 5 traditional publishers work with literary agents for most of their imprints. The same goes for some smaller presses. There are still wonderful publishers to submit to if you are going without an agent, but then your manuscript has to go through the dreaded slush pile. There are lots of arguments…

Fifteen Literary Journals That Respond Within A Month

Submitting to journals with a quick response time is one of the best ways to stay motivated, not in terms of writing, but in terms of submitting. After all, if you submit to a journal and don’t hear anything (for up to a year) it is hard to feel motivated about submitting elsewhere. Yet journals…

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