The Inexplicable Behavior of Skyhorse; Thrush Closing Down; and 3 Noteworthy Opportunities.

This is a brand new monthly feature, that we are trying out. We will only continue it if it develops a following. We have sadly had to discontinue our Other Side of the Desk series of interviews, because it never developed a readership. This will usually be published on the 4th Thursday of the month.

This monthly column will be divided into two sections of varying length. The first section will be focused on opportunities for writers, ranging from editorial work to journals seeking submissions. Often at Authors Publish there are opportunities that we want to include that don’t fit neatly into an already existing list, like non-paying anthology markets open to general submissions, or journals that we’ve already reviewed that want to share that they are open to submissions again. Or they are opportunities that do fit neatly on existing lists, but we found out about them, only after we sent out the updated version of that list.

But listing opportunities is only part of what we will be sharing here. We are also hoping to share various news stories and blog posts that are relevant to the creative writing community, including our perspective on it. We will still do occasional stand-alone posts focused on publishing industry issues, etc.

We’re also open to adding a subscriber news section, where we share some of our subscribers’ success stories. If you are interested in participating in that, please send us an email at support@authorspublish.com.

Opportunities:

Moms Who Write, a writing community with over 15,000 members, has already published six anthologies through KDP. They are currently holding an open call for submissions to their 7th anthology, entitled, The Heart of Us. They are seeking work (nonfiction, poetry, essays, art) “centering around relationships where love is at the root—all kinds of love. Romantic. Platonic. Parental. Spiritual. Tell us about a time when love conquered all… or when love wasn’t enough.” You can read their full guidelines here. Please follow their guidelines carefully and only submit if they are the right fit. They close to submissions October 31st. [DETAILED STUFF IN PARANTHESIS ABOVE – THEY DO NOT WANT FICTION]

Kitchen Table Quarterly, a literary journal we’ve reviewed in the past, is open to submissions of poetry, art and creative nonfiction through the end of October. They nominate for the Best of the Net and the Pushcart. Make sure to read their submission guidelines carefully. You can learn more here.

If you are are a writer of queer speculative short fiction whose work has already been published in 2024, We’re Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2024 is open to submissions. I can not stress enough that the story you submit must be Queer Speculative Fiction that was already published in 2024. You can see all other opportunities, past and forthcoming, from Neon Hemlock Press here.

News:

The Science Fiction Writer’s Association (SFWA) published an online anthology in September and early October, called Publishing Taught Me. It is focused on BIPOC experiences in SFFH (Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror) publishing. The whole series is very much worth reading if you write work that is SFFH. I particularly loved Emily Jiang’s article, which you can read here.

Skyhorse, a publisher that has run into issues in the past, continues to behave in ways that, at least to me seem inexplicable. 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, I very much recommend you log in and read it.

It’s not on the website yet, just on Facebook, but Helen Vitoria, the long-time editor of Thrush Poetry Journal, has announced that the journal will publish their last issue this November. They were founded in 2011 and have published many notable poets. They plan to keep the archives of Thrush online for the foreseeable future. You can read more here (although you have to log into Facebook unfortunately).