Publisher “Delays” Royalty Payments; Our Response to Recent Threats; New Funding for Lit Mags; 5 Submission Calls.
This monthly column is published on the fourth Thursday of every month, and is an opportunity for me to share information that doesn’t fit anywhere else in our publication. This includes a wide range of opportunities for writers, news and information, and subscriber’s recent success stories.
Also, in response to feedback and threats we’ve received over the last few months, I want to make it clear here, in the opening, that I, as the Editor of Authors Publish have a distinct bias and perspective, and that the publishers we review and news we include often reflect those biases. I try not to present the news in a way that reflects my perspective, unless I explicitly state that it does (for example, I had a lot of opinions on the closure of NaNoWriMo).
I do not think I have ever tried to hide the fact that Authors Publish come from a specific perspective. I don’t believe in making overt political statements in the publication but I do try and make my values clear by the publications we highlight, and the efforts we make to support underrepresented writers.
Some of what we cover simply reflects the existing market. For example, we don’t have a long list of publishers open to reprints of previously self-published work, not because I’m biased against these publishers, but because these publishers are very rare. But my perspective is reflected in the fact that we don’t review publishers that publish misinformation or MAGA rhetoric, unless we reviewed them before these became issues. In this case, we just update the reviews to make this clear. This doesn’t mean all of our subscribers have to hold these same beliefs.
Our focus, as always, is on making publishing more accessible and fair for writers from around the world, as well as highlighting free opportunities to publish your work, and providing many free resources to help you develop your craft and navigate the publishing industry.
If this is a problem for you, please feel encouraged to unsubscribe. Please note that sending us an email that breaks the rules of civility will not be helpful, or anything we have not received before. Going forward we will no longer be responding to emails that break the social contract. We’ve been doing this for 12 years. We are at capacity.
We are very grateful for the wonderful subscribers we have and we are forever thankful for the supportive notes and even the thoughtful push back we have received over the years. The vast majority of subscribers, in our experience and opinion, are among the best people in the world.
Opportunities:
Catalogue Zine is open to submissions till June 30th for their themed issue “Chow Down”. Their Zine as a whole is focused on climate advocacy, and submissions must reflect both themes.
Fireworks. is open to submissions of short stories that are “explosive” and fewer then 3,000 words. They close to submissions for their unthemed summer issue, “Chasing Fireflies” on June 28th. They try to respond to submissions within a week.
Lowestoft Chronicle is currently open to submissions through August 15th. They are open to a variety of genres but preference is “given to humorous submissions with an emphasis on travel”. You can read their most recent issue here.
Two Thirds North is a print journal of transnational literature, this annual anthology focuses on publishing creative work from all over the world. They reopened June 1st and will be open through the 31st of September.
Psaltery & Lyre publishes essays, stories, poetry, and hybrid works that push the borders of sacred and secular. They close to submissions on July 15th.
Chill Subs started a new incubator for lit journals which seems great! You can learn more about it here.
News:
Roxane Gay and Debbie Millman are the new owners of The Rumpus, and you can learn more about that shift here.
In September 2023, bestselling author James Frey was open about using AI in his writing, in this interview. That is clearly not news, what is news is that his new book is being released June 17th, and it was selected as a Book of the Month Club pick, although Book of the Month Club has said the publisher assured them AI was not used in the book. You can read the full story here if you are a Publishers Marketplace subscriber. James Frey was previously best known for this controversy.
This is the most helpful breakdown I’ve found of the Unbound and Boundless scandal, that does not involve a paywall. This article is also helpful.
Subscriber Success Stories:
Bradley J. Collins’ short story, Ribbon and Rook, was published in The Penn Review.
David L. Topper‘s Seascape with Gulls: My Father’s Last Painting, An Ekphrasis, won First Prize in the annual poetry contest of CommuterLit Magazine.
Wendy Westley’s poem, Winter is Over was published in Pulsar Poetry.
Ellen Rosenbloom’s poem Double was published in ONE ART.
Mona Mehas‘ chapbook My Colorful Heart was published by Bottlecap Press.
Dylan Night’s short story Porcelain Flaws was published by Neon Origami, and their flash fiction piece Many Worlds was published by in parenthesis.
LN Lewis’s short story Darkness His Canopy was published by The Saartjie Journal.
Sarah Watkins‘ poem Deficiency in vitamin D was published in Moss Puppy Magazine, and her poems shall we find any rest? and Uriah were published in Heart of Flesh Literary Journal.
Swetha Amit‘s chapbook Sailing Paper Boats & Other Stories, was published by Alien Buddha Press.
Erin Fennell’s short story Tarot Transmutations aired on The Other Stories podcast.
Cathy Carroll-Moriarty’s short story Morning of the Quiet Voice was named a finalist in Four Tulips New Beginnings contest.
Richard LeBlond’s essay, Our Ladies Bubies, was published by Vernacular Journal.
Debbie Walker-Lass published two poems in the May issue of The Rockvale Review. She also had poems published as part of two recent challenges from The Ekphrastic Review, and you can read those poems and the other challenge winners here and here.
Frank Beghin’s novel Sweet Creatures: A Trilogy of Terror eBook was published by DarkWinter Press.
Mike Sluchinski had two poems published online in Kelp Journal/The Wave.
Christina White’s play TRUE DANE: The Hamlet Saga was published in Issue two of Viridine Literary.
Monica Goertzen Hertlein‘s story The Cursed Coin is in Spaceports & Spidersilk‘s June issue from Hireath Publishing.
Peter Gregg Slater’s satire, Book Begone, was published by Sudden Flash, and his poem Endless Hostilities was published by WordSwell.
Noelle Sterne’s post Dear Dr. Noelle: Stranger in a Strange Family was published by TAA Abstract, May.
Lakis Fourouklas‘s microfiction, The Target was published in 101 Words.
Robin Pond’s short story Leaving The Nest was published in The Daily Tomorrow.
Daniel Speechly‘s article Transparency, Promotion, and Design: Tools for Building Strong Lit Mags was published in Becky Tuch’s Lit Mag News.
Caspian Faye’s Between the Walls, is available for pre-order from Tiny Ghost Press.
Nancy Huggett‘s essay, What Remains: A Triptych was published by The Forge, alongside an interview.
Please send us an email at success.stories@authorspublish.com if you have a publication success you want to share in our next update. You must include a link to the publication. You can also include a link to your website (if you have one), and the publisher/journals main landing page. To be featured in the July update your work must be published no earlier than May. Work available for pre-order can be shared. Please note that we are only listing work that has been traditionally published by literary journals, magazines, or traditional presses. We are not covering vanity presses or self-published books.
Bio: Caitlin Jans has an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College. She is the co-founder of Authors Publish and The Poetry Marathon. Her work has appeared in numerous anthologies and literary journals including: The Literary Review of Canada, The Fiddlehead, Jelly Bucket, The Penn Review, The Adroit Journal, and Killer Verse. Her prose and poetry has been nominated for The Pushcart Prize, BILiNE, The Best Small Fictions Anthology, and The Best of the Net. You can learn more at www.caitlinthomson.com.
