The Practicing Writer 2.0: December 2022
Featuring 60+ curated calls & competitions. No fees to submit/apply. Paying opportunities only. Nothing that's limited to residents of a single city/state/province.
Welcome, new readers, and welcome back to the regulars!
For updates and additional opportunities between newsletters, please check the “Practicing Writing” blog and follow Erika Dreifus on Twitter (@ErikaDreifus) and/or Facebook.
If you are accessing this newsletter via email, you may find a “Message Clipped” notice as you continue reading. That’s due to the length of this info-packed missive. Please be sure to click as appropriate to access the full text.
Please share this newsletter with your networks! If you’d like to share individual listings with others, PLEASE CREDIT YOUR SOURCE—ideally, with a link back to this newsletter.
Thanks for respecting your editor’s volunteer efforts.
IN THIS ISSUE:
Editor’s Note
Success Stories
Featured Resource
Contests, Competitions, and Other Opportunities (NO FEES TO ENTER/APPLY; PAYING OPPORTUNITIES ONLY; NOTHING THAT’S LIMITED TO WRITERS IN A SINGLE CITY/STATE/PROVINCE)
Submission Alerts (NO SUBMISSION/READING FEES; PAYING CALLS ONLY; NOTHING THAT’S LIMITED TO WRITERS IN A SINGLE CITY/STATE/PROVINCE)
Blog Notes
Newsletter Matters
1. EDITOR’S NOTE
Welcome back, practicing writers (and welcome for the first time, new subscribers—it’s wonderful to have you with us),
As many of you know, I spend a lot of time in my own reading and writing activities focusing on Jewish books. And as some of you may also know, we’re currently in an auspicious moment for such books, because as I finish preparing this issue, we’re approaching the mid-point of Jewish Book Month.
What’s Jewish Book Month? I’ve assembled a blog post with more information—and a special reading challenge that, frankly, need not be limited to these weeks—over on the My Machberet blog.
By the way, my latest article for Hadassah magazine, which spotlights some notable Jewish kidlit ahead of the holiday gift-giving season, will also acquaint you with titles that can help check many of the boxes above.
I honestly don’t expect to get much new writing completed before the holidays, but I’m hopeful for the time around Christmas and New Year’s itself. We shall see!
I’m wishing you all a delightful December—filled with all good things and as much writing as you can manage.
Warmly,
ERIKA
P.S. In case you’re wondering, I am still hanging in there on Twitter. I have not yet attempted to join any of the array of alternative platforms that others are mentioning.
2. SUCCESS STORIES
There are so many success stories to share this month. (I think we may have hit a record! I’m so happy about it!)
From Lindsay Flock:
I’ve been following your calls for submissions/competitions for a while now. Over the past few months, I’ve made it a point to submit significantly more as I am hoping to move forward with publishing my writing. I entered the Ligonier Valley Writers annual flash fiction contest and won! The prize is $50, a membership to Ligonier Valley Writers, and a professional edit of my story. I am thrilled and excited that I won, especially since the contest receives entries from all over the world! Wow, what a confidence builder! Love following The Practicing Writer! (ED note: You can read the prize-winning story, “The Real Mermaids,” on the Ligonier Valley Writers website.)
From Ruth Rotkowitz:
My essay “Hanukah at the O.K. Corral” has been published in the Chicken Soup for the Soul anthology The Magic of Christmas, which includes essays relating to the winter holidays. Thank you for posting when Chicken Soup was seeking submissions for this book.
From Iris Leona Marie Cross:
Your newsletter is top-notch. I would like you to know how much I appreciate your efforts at bringing free-to-submit, paying writing opportunities to our attention. Thanks to The Practicing Writer 2.0 July 2022, I saw Dismantle Magazine’s submission alert, I submitted, and my essay is among five published in their Fall 2022 issue. This is the second acceptance I’ve had from from a submission alert posted in The Practicing Writer 2.0. Thank you so much!
From Diane Joy Schmidt:
A silver lining – after my [local Jewish community organization] imploded, and with it the paper I’d been writing essays for for ten years, the New Mexico Jewish Link, I ventured out into the wilderness – by consulting Jewish Literary Links of course! – and much to my delight, I found another publication that wanted my work – and now have my first story, “Wounded Healing,” about the new Leonard Cohen movie Hallelujah and the artful Three Minutes film, published in Tikkun Magazine!
From James Hill:
In your October newsletter, you listed Short Story Substack, which publishes one story per month and pays quite well. You’ll be pleased to know that the winning story for the November publication is from one of your newsletter readers - me! Thanks for that! :)
And from A.J. Bermudez:
I can’t believe this slipped my mind till now—thought I’d emailed you about this ages ago…but am finally catching up on some long-overdue communiques in advance of my book release. I originally found out about the Iowa Short Fiction Award through your newsletter. Without your amazing work, I’m confident that I would neither have known about it nor submitted. Anyway, just wanted to share….And thank you, as always, for all you do for writers.
3. FEATURED RESOURCE
My list of post-MFA fellowships, though not limited to fee-free opportunities, has been recently updated.
4. CONTESTS, COMPETITIONS, AND OTHER OPPORTUNITIES
ROYAL SOCIETY OF LITERATURE (RSL) CHRISTOPHER BLAND PRIZE
Deadline: December 9. Annual award of £10,000 “to a debut novelist or non-fiction writer first published aged 50 or over.” Writers “must be a citizen of, or resident in, the United Kingdom or Republic of Ireland.” Books must have been published for the first time in the UK or RoI within the 2022 calendar year. Books must be entered by trade publishers or agents based in the UK or RoI; each publisher, imprint of a publisher, or agent may enter two books only.OUTPOST RESIDENCY
Deadline: December 15. “Outpost is a residency for BIPOC creative writers from the United States and Latin America. Each September, two writers are awarded a $1,500 stipend as well as complimentary travel, lodging, and meals to spend a month cultivating a generative writing community in the mountains of Southern Vermont. In addition to the time spent in residence, Outpost Fellows will engage in organized interactions with the community of local universities and bookstores, allowing space to share their work and expand their networks.”QUEER ADVENTURERS LGBTQ WRITING CONTEST 2022
Deadline: December 15. “Historically, the outdoors haven’t been welcoming of queer people. Too many LGBTQIA folks have held back from having big outdoor adventures from beliefs they would not be welcome or it would not be safe. While there is still work to do to ensure that everyone has outdoor access – and is free from harassment while they’re outdoors – Queer Adventurers would like to kickstart our first-ever LGBTQ writing contest by focusing on how the outdoors sustains and supports queer folks. This year’s theme is SHELTER,” and personal essays are sought. Eligibility: “Any writer 18+ from anywhere in the world who identifies as LGBTQ+ is eligible.” Prizes: “The winning writer will receive a $150 cash prize and their essay will be published in Queer Adventurers. One runner-up will receive a $50 cash prize and their essay will be published in Queer Adventurers. Longlisted writers will have their essay published in Queer Adventurers and receive a free writing class on building a lit mag submissions strategy.” Payment by Paypal or Venmo only.ECCLES CENTER VISITING FELLOWSHIPS
Deadline: December 16 (5pm GMT). “We are keen to hear from all kinds of serious researchers who have the potential to produce something new, exciting, challenging and different as a result of their research into the British Library’s Americas collections. As well as applicants from academic backgrounds working on scholarly research, we also welcome independent researchers, creative practitioners working on artistic and cultural projects, and journalists, educators and scientists working on public policy problems.” Fellowship amounts vary depending on recipient’s location; applications are welcome from candidates worldwide.VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY (VCU) CABELL FIRST NOVELIST AWARD
Deadline: December 30. Honors “an outstanding debut novel published in the preceding calendar year.” An award event is arranged “in which the winning author and two others involved in the writing and publishing worlds, typically the author’s agent and editor, appear at a public reading and Q&A session.…Travel to and lodging in Richmond for the author and the additional speakers are provided, and the author receives a cash prize.”AI INSTITUTE FOR RESILIENT AGRICULTURE (AIIRA) WRITING CONTEST
Deadline: December 31. For “all undergraduate students currently enrolled in an accredited US academic institution and 18+ years old.” Seeks writing “that imagines the world in the year 2050 and explores the relationship between humans, technology, and their food: what will food look, taste, and feel like; where will it come from; who will produce and transport it; and how will we access and consume it? The world you bring to light should be believable and probe the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the future of agriculture. Your submission can be fiction or creative non-fiction, but keep in mind that the strongest submissions will use research to support the reality described.” Submissions should one of two approaches outlined in the guidelines. Cash prizes: $2,000 USD/$1,500 USD/$1,000 USD. “Winning entries will be published on the project website and annual magazine!”ELIZABETH ALEXANDER CREATIVE WRITING AWARD
Deadline: December 31. Confers a prize of $500, a reading and retreat at Smith College, and publication in Meridians: feminism, race, transnationalism. “The award is open to all genres, including: poetry, fiction, play scripts, and non-fiction. Translated works and manuscripts in languages other than English are encouraged as well….Works engaging with feminism, race, and transnationalism will be prioritized.” No simultaneous submissions.ANISFIELD-WOLF BOOK AWARDS
Deadline: December 31. These awards recognize “outstanding works that contribute to our understanding of racism and our appreciation of cultural diversity. Awards are given for fiction, poetry and nonfiction.” Submissions of books published this year are now open. Prize: “Award recipients traditionally receive $10,000 from the Anisfield-Wolf fund.”BLACK CAUCUS OF THE AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, INC. (BCALA) LITERARY AWARDS
Deadline: December 31. Confers four prizes of $1,000 each “for adult books written by African American citizen authors: a First Novelist Award, a Fiction Award, a Nonfiction Award, and a Poetry Award.” Awards “acknowledge outstanding achievement in the presentation of the cultural, historical and sociopolitical aspects of the Black Diaspora.” Books must have 2022 publication dates.BLUE MOUNTAIN ARTS POETRY CONTEST
Deadline: December 31. Awards cash prizes: $350/$200/$100. “Poems can be rhyming or non-rhyming, although we find that non-rhyming poetry reads better. We suggest that you write about real emotions and feelings and that you have some special person or occasion in mind as you write.”(W.Y.) BOYD LITERARY AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN MILITARY FICTION
Deadline: December 31. “Honors the best fiction set in a period when the United States was at war. It recognizes the service of American veterans and military personnel and encourages the writing and publishing of outstanding war-related fiction.” Confers $5,000. Novels submitted must “must have been published during the year prior to the award.” Both YA and novels for adults are eligible.FOUR QUARTETS PRIZE
Deadline: December 31. From the Poetry Society of America. Prize recognizes “a unified and complete sequence of poems published in America in a print or online journal, chapbook, or book in 2022.” Awards: “Three finalists will receive $1,000. The winner will receive an additional $20,000.” Judges: Terrance Hayes, Hoa Nguyen, Geoffrey O’Brien.HOOKS INSTITUTE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD
Deadline: December 31. From the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University of Memphis, for a non-fiction book “that best furthers understanding of the civil rights movement and its legacy.” Confers a prize of $1,000 and an invitation to lecture at the University of Memphis. “Non-fiction books with a first-published date in the 2022 calendar year are eligible for the award.”(EZRA JACK) KEATS AWARD
Deadline: December 31. “The Ezra Jack Keats Award was created to nurture illustrators and writers, early in their careers, who create extraordinary books that reflect our diverse population, the universal experience of childhood and the strength of family and community. Over the years the EJK has succeeded in fostering the early careers of many of our country’s leading children’s book makers.” Prizes: “The winning author and illustrator will each receive, at the award ceremony, a monetary award of $5,000 and the EJK medallion suspended in lucite and inscribed with the recipient’s name, the name of their book and the year it was published. The EJK Award ceremony is held in early April during the Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival at The University of Southern Mississippi. In order to receive the award, the winning writer and illustrator must attend the ceremony. The publishers are responsible for making arrangements for authors and illustrators to be at the Award ceremony. Honor book winners will receive a monetary award of $2,000 and a glass plaque inscribed with the recipient’s name, the name of their book and the year it was published.” Publishers must enter the books; check the guidelines for essential criteria and other information. (Thanks to WinningWriters.com for reminding me about this one.)LILITH MAGAZINE ANNUAL SHORT FICTION CONTEST
Deadline: December 31. “Lilith Magazine—independent, Jewish & frankly feminist—seeks quality short stories with heart, soul and chutzpah, 3,000 words or under, for our Annual Fiction Contest. First prize: $300 and publication. “We especially like fresh fiction with feminist and Jewish nuance, and are eager to read submissions from writers of color and emerging writers of any age.”THE LYRIC MAGAZINE COLLEGE POETRY CONTEST
Deadline: December 31. Open to undergraduates enrolled full time in an American or Canadian college or university. “Poems must be original and unpublished, 39 lines or less, written in English in traditional forms, preferably with regular scansion and rhyme. We welcome up to three poems per student. Winners are announced and published in the Winter issue of The Lyric.” Cash prizes: $500/$150/$100.MY WRITING JOURNEY CONTEST
Deadline: December 31. From The Writers College. “Write us a 600-word piece on the theme: The best writing tip I’ve ever received. We’ll publish the best piece in our newsletter and on our blog, plus the winner receives $200 (R2 000 or £100).” Open to writers around the world. (Hat tip: Mslexia.)SATOR NEW WORKS AWARD
Deadline: December 31. For “a book-length work of either fiction or non-fiction by an author who identifies as trans or nonbinary. The submitted manuscript must be an original work of at least 30,000 words in length, written by one author, in English. The selected work will be published by Two Dollar Radio in 2024, and will receive a $3,000 advance on publication.”BETHANY ARTS CENTER POETRY RESIDENCY
Deadline: January 3. “In recognition of the 27th anniversary of National Poetry Month in April 2023, Bethany Arts Community (BAC) in Ossining, NY is offering its third annual residency focused on poetry….We encourage applications from individual poets as well as poet/artist pairs….The Poetry Residency is for one week, Monday, April 3rd to Monday, April 10th, artists are provided room & board, a studio, 3 basic meals a day, and a $225 stipend upon completion of the residency. Artist is responsible for transportation to and from BAC.”JACK HAZARD FELLOWSHIPS
Deadline: January 5. From the New Literary Project: “Jack Hazard Fellows are fiction, creative nonfiction, and memoir writers who teach full-time in an accredited high school in the United States. We provide a $5,000 award that enables these creative writers who teach to focus on their writing for a summer.” Note: “Published writers are certainly encouraged to apply, but so are unpublished and yet to be published writers.”“MISS SARAH” FELLOWSHIP FOR BLACK WOMEN WRITERS
Deadline: January 6. From Trillium Arts. This fellowship is intended to offer Black women writers “a restful environment conducive to reflection and writing. It also offers uninterrupted time to plant the seed of an idea for a new writing project or to develop or complete a project underway. For 2023 the Fellowship will focus on the genres of non-fiction, biographies and memoirs. The selected writer will receive a ten-day residency in July 2023 and can choose whether to stay at Trillium Arts’ rural ‘Firefly Creek’ apartment in Mars Hills, NC or at E. Patrick Johnson and Stephen Lewis’s ‘Montford Manor’ residence near downtown Asheville, NC. Participants will receive a $1000 stipend and transportation to and from Asheville, NC. Additional benefits will be custom tailored to the needs of the awardee.” NB: “The preferred dates for a ‘Miss Sarah’ Fellowship in 2023 are July 10-20. However, the panel will consider other dates.” Also: “Black women writers at any stage of their careers are invited to apply….For applicants outside of the United States, please note that travel expenses will only be covered within the United States. International airfare will be at the expense of the applicant.”OLIVE B. O’CONNOR FELLOWSHIPS IN CREATIVE WRITING
Deadline: January 6. At Colgate University. Two fellowships will be conferred (one in poetry, one in nonfiction). “Writers who have recently completed an MFA, MA, or PhD in creative writing, and who need a year to complete their first book, are encouraged to apply. The selected writers will spend the academic year (late August 2023 to early May 2024) at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York. The fellows will teach one creative writing course each semester and will give a public reading from the work in progress.” Fellowship confers a stipend of $43,750, travel expenses, and health and life insurance.MASS MoCA RESIDENCY FELLOWSHIPS
Deadline: January 8. From the Studios at MASS MoCA: “We now offer a large number of full-ride fellowships, often in specific donor-identified categories. Unless you receive one of these fellowships…you will be asked to pay at least some portion of your residency fees. Our fellowship opportunities change every season, so check back regularly, or join our mailing list to keep updated on what funding opportunities we are offering.” Currently, opportunities for writers include general fellowships in any discipline without any geographic or demographic criteria and fellowships to artists and writers working in any discipline who identify as Black or Indigenous (which also include stipends). ED note: Although I don’t normally include opportunities limited to writers from a single state, while I’m mentioning the other fellowships I’ll add that there is also a Massachusetts Family Fellowship this year.ASSOCIATION OF WRITERS AND WRITING PROGRAMS (AWP) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES (HBCU) FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
Deadline: January 15. “To invite strong HBCU participation within AWP, we will award faculty and student fellowships to attend and participate in every annual AWP Conference & Bookfair. These fellowships will kick off with the 2023 AWP Conference & Bookfair in Seattle, WA!” Four fellowships will be awarded, each conferring a $250 honorarium; paid travel expenses and lodging for the duration of the conference; meeting and discussion with special guest author A.J. Verdelle; and publication in The Writer's Chronicle regarding their #AWP23 experience. To be eligible, applicants must be “active HBCU students (undergraduate or graduate)” and “available to travel to Seattle from March 8-12, 2023.”
REMINDER: Some opportunities listed in last month’s newsletter remain open into December.
5. SUBMISSION ALERTS
At THE CINCINNATI REVIEW, print-magazine submissions will reopen December 1st and will most likely close again soon thereafter; act quickly if you’re interested. Pays: $25/page for prose and $30/page for poetry.
CONIUM PRESS, “a boutique fiction publisher” that “leans toward magical realist, surrealist, and experimental fiction,” will re-open for book and chapbook submissions on December 1. They “tentatively” plan to remain open all month, but “this timeline is subject to change based on submission volume.” Note: “For this submission period, reading fees are on a sliding scale,” and in a Facebook group, the managing editor indicated that “$0 is okay.” Compensation: “If published, authors receive copies and a small honorarium whenever funds allow (we’re talking about a few hundred bucks, so don’t quit your day job).”
For its Emerging Poets Chapbook Series, in December only, NEWFOUND “accepts unsolicited chapbook-length manuscripts from writers who have not yet published a full-length book.” Selected poet receives 25 contributor copies and a royalties contract (25% print/50% digital).
Reminder that online submissions of fiction, poetry, and essays for the print edition of NINTH LETTER are free during December. Payment: $25/printed page, up to $150, plus two copies.”
Opening December 1 (and remaining open until January 1):MUMBER MAG. “We want stuff suited to the internet. That could mean short. It could mean it makes use of hyperlinks. Whatever. Surprise us. Make us laugh. Something between WS Merwin and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. Or between Werewolf Bar Mitzvah and Lorrie Moore. That’s the sweet spot.” They appear to welcome fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and translation. Payment: “We pay $25 per poem or short, $50 per story.”From THE FAIRY TALE MAGAZINE (formerly Enchanted Conversation): “We’ll be accepting new submissions for 2023, with the theme of LOVE, in December of 2022.” The window will be open from December 1 to January 2 for stories and poems. Pays: $50, via Paypal.
Ireland-based SOUTHWORD opens for poetry submissions on December 1 (and remains open until February 28). Pays: €40/poem. “Payments to contributors outside Ireland can only be made through Paypal.”
Australians (including Australian writers currently based outside Australia): MEANJIN is open for submissions and pitches until December 3. Pays: undisclosed amount, on publication.
Between December 4 and December 10, THE FABULIST will welcome short fantastical fiction, including but not limited to work that addresses a “special thematic interest” in “holidays and seasonal celebrations.” Per their guidelines, they pay a $25 honorarium.
PLOUGHSHARES is receiving applications for regular blog contributors until December 7 (9:00 am EST). “Regular contributors are contracted on a twelve-month basis, with contracts starting January 1, 2023. Regular contributors are responsible for writing one critical essay per month (regular contributors may occasionally write personal essays or conduct interviews in place of their monthly critical essay assignment at editor discretion)….Regular contributions are between 1,300 and 1,999 words each; regular contributors are paid $35 per piece contributed.”
December 10 (Human Rights Day) will be a fee-free submissions day for EXPOSITION REVIEW, “an independent, multi-genre literary journal that publishes narratives by new, emerging, and established writers in the genres of fiction, flash fiction, nonfiction, poetry, scripts for stage & screen, film, experimental narratives, visual art, and comics.” They’re currently inviting work on the theme of “Lines.” Pays: $50.
Closing December 10: FUNICULAR, which publishes “quality fiction and poetry.” This Canadian magazine pays for work published in its print journal (not online): $10/printed page (to a maximum of $100) for short fiction; $25/piece for flash and poetry. (Hat tip: Duotrope.)
Open until December 14: OUTLOOK SPRINGS. “Payment is $10 per poem, $10 per flash piece (under 1,000 words), $25 for short fiction and essays (over 1,000 words). Payment via PayPal or Venmo.” Note: They’ll close early if they hit their Submittable cap.
Also open until December 14: “creative submissions” of “fiction, life-writing, and poetry” at London-based WASAFIRI (“international contemporary writing”). Pays: £150 for fiction and life-writing and £40 for poetry. (Note that for “critical articles and essays, reviews, and interviews” they’re open year-round, with rates detailed on the guidelines page.)
Submissions for CHANNEL’s eighth issue are open until December 15. “We publish new, previously unpublished work that engages with the natural world. We have a particular interest in work which encourages reflection on human interaction with plant and animal life, landscape and the self. Each issue includes a mix of poetry and fiction, alongside a selection of essays which may include creative non-fiction, criticism, and the occasional review of new creative work or of community-based environmental projects. Although based in Ireland, Channel welcomes international submissions. We also welcome submissions in translation.” Pays: “€50 per poem and €50 per page of prose up to a total maximum fee of €150. Contributors will also receive a copy of whichever issue their work appears within.” NB: “Essay submissions, which will be considered for online publication as well as for our next print issue, are open year-round.”
December 15 is also the deadline for full-length novel submissions at HISTORY THROUGH FICTION, which is “interested in publishing high quality fiction that is based on historical research. We are looking for stories about real people and real events. Though fictionalized, our books include nonfiction elements such as footnotes, endnotes, and/or a bibliography. When submitting, consider whether your historical novel is informative and educational in addition to being a compelling fictional story.” Payment: “History Through Fiction offers a contract that includes an advance on royalties and covers all production expenses.” (Note that the same publisher also considers short-story and novel-excerpt submissions year-round, paying $25 for those.)
Also until December 15, THE JOURNAL OF COMPRESSED CREATIVE ARTS is receiving submissions of “compressed poetry, compressed prose fiction (including prose poetry), and compressed creative nonfiction.” Pays: $50.
Open until December 16: WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY PRESS’s open submissions period for poetry. “We invite poetry manuscript samples along with query letters,” including from poets outside the United States. “We offer a competitive contract, including a generous number of author copies, a substantial discount on additional copies purchased by the author, royalties paid annually and where feasible an advance against these royalties.”
JUST FEMME & DANDY, “a biannual literary & arts magazine for and by the LGBTQIA+ community on fashion,” is open for submissions until December 17. The current theme is “Survive”; “submissions are not required to align with the theme, but we will be highlighting the pieces that demonstrate survival.” Pays: “We pay 50 USD per text-based submission and 150 USD per multimedia submission (video, photography, image + text, fashion spread + interview, etc.).”
I’ve been alerted via email that THE MAINE REVIEW will be open for fee-free submissions between December 17 and December 31 in recognition of a combination of International Migrants Day and “Bye Bye 2022.” Payment: “Fiction and Nonfiction writers receive a $25 honorarium per published flash (1,000 words or fewer) and a $50 honorarium for work 1,001 words or more. Poets receive a $25 honorarium per published poem.”
FANTASTIC BOOKS “is delighted to announce a new anthology of original science fiction stories that will speculate on the future of the Jewish people. What will Jews be up to fifty years from now? A hundred? A thousand? Will the Jewish people still be mostly living where they are now? Will Judaism still be recognizable in the many forms in which it exists today? Will there be Jewish aliens or Jewish robots? These stories will present the possibilities. Jewish Futures is edited by Michael A. Burstein, multiple Hugo and Nebula finalist and winner of the Campbell/Astounding Award for Best New Writer.” Submissions are welcome until December 18; payment “will be five cents a word (for a maximum total payment of $250).”
Open between December 21 and December 31: the fee-free submissions period at HIPPOCAMPUS magazine, which seeks personal essays, memoir excerpts, and flash creative nonfiction. Pays: $40, via Paypal.
FIELDNOTES welcomes submissions for its fifth issue until December 22. “We are seeking non-conforming submissions: ideas in transition, poetry in translation, collaborations and conversations, works between genres, between fiction and theory, between text and image, new poetic modes and things-in-progress.” Payment: “Contributors selected from the Open Call will be paid a fee (between £100-£200) for original content not published elsewhere (online or in print).”
Open for queries until December 30: JACK LEG PRESS, which “is primarily focused on poetry and short story collections. We also consider select literary novels and creative nonfiction.” Payment: “JLP offers competitive royalties (excluding author purchases). Authors receive five free copies and get a 50% discount on all JLP books.”
Poems are welcome at ARC until December 31. Fee-free submissions continue for poets outside the United States. “As a Canadian literary magazine, and due to the increasing number of submissions from US-based poets, we are requesting that US submitters pay a $2 entry fee per poem.” Payment: $50 per page for poetry or prose published in the magazine and $50 per webpage for online reprints on the website. (Note: While revisiting Arc’s guidelines I also noticed a new call [with a May 2023 deadline] for an upcoming feature on “Crip Lives: Restoring Subjectivity.”)
In partnership with All About Beer, CUTLEAF invites submissions of beer-related writing until December 31. “Share with us your short stories, personal essays, poems, or hybrid work in which beer is featured. While reviewing submissions, we delight in the unexpected. However, we’re going to resist sharing specific examples of what this might look like on the page because we want the interpretation of ‘beer,’ and how it figures into your work, to be left up to you, the writer.” Payment: $100 to $300 for prose and $50 to $200 for poetry.
“Every Tuesday, THE MARGINS publishes the work of emerging and established Asian American and diasporic poets. We publish English-language poems and translations of poems.” The current submissions window will be open until December 31. “We pay contributors $50 to $90 (USD) for original and translated poetry; the fee varies based on the number and length of poems we publish. We may offer additional payment to the author of translated poems, depending on the work’s publication status. We do not pay for reprints.”
Open until January 3: MEETINGHOUSE. They consider poetry and prose. “We appreciate genre-bending & genre-blending.” Pays: “$40 for digital content and $100 for work published in print.”
Until January 5, KENYON REVIEW welcomes submissions for “a portfolio entitled ‘Luminous Gender Vessel’ guest edited by Gabrielle Calvocoressi and Melissa Faliveno, to be published in one of our issues in 2023.” They’re seeking “original poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction, as well as visual art (including photography, prints, and comics) and multimedia pieces (including songs, audio narratives, and film, to be published online) exploring ideas and questions of gender. We want work that tells us something about what it means to be alive in a body, that makes us feel more alive in our own. Tell us what you don’t understand, what you’re trying to figure out. Get experimental. Get speculative. Get hybrid. Get weird. Push boundaries of style and form. Because genre, like gender, is a construct. It’s rarely one thing or the other.” Kenyon Review pays undisclosed amounts on publication.
New publication THE RUMEN is open for submissions (at last check, I did not notice a deadline). In this Call for Submissions Facebook group, co-founder James Cole shared pay rates: “$10 per short story, article, or collection of poems or flash fiction.”
THE DAILY BEAST’s Allegra Frank recently posted on Twitter: “reminder that @beastobsessed is always open for pitches! we love writers with a strong fun voice and unique take on what’s going on in entertainment!” Per the linked guidelines, pay rates begin at $250.
Another reminder: Becky Tuch’s LIT MAG NEWS welcomes articles with “something to say about the world of lit mags” from writers and editors. “These pieces can be serious. They can be instructive. They can be funny, satirical, provocative, thoughtful, opinionated.” Pays: “$50 for original pieces/ $25 for reprints.”
Spotted in the latest issue of the WOW! (Women on Writing) MARKETS NEWSLETTER: “Do you have a favorite literary journal or magazine you’ve been published in? Why not interview the editor for this very newsletter? WOW pays $75 per interview; plus, you’d be giving your favorite editor a gift by sharing her journal with 50,000+ talented writers in the WOW community.”
Also discovered via the latest WOW! Markets Newsletter: an announcement from McCLELLAND & STEWART, an imprint of Penguin Random House Canada: “McClelland & Stewart is excited to open our submission policy as part of our ongoing commitment to amplify the voices of Black, Indigenous, and racialized writers, as well as those of other traditionally underrepresented communities. Effective immediately, unsolicited and unagented work can be sent directly to editors within the M&S division.” Just a couple of important notes (as always, READ ALL THE GUIDELINES): “Our editors are looking for high quality literary fiction, non-fiction, and poetry,” although they are not currently open for poetry submissions (which are slated to re-open on January 1). Also: “At the moment, we don’t see a need for any restrictions based on citizenship or residence. The submissions inbox will be open to anyone.”
There’s a rolling deadline (the 25th of each month) for OFF TOPIC PUBLISHING’s Poetry Box, which supplies subscribers with a poem “printed postcard-style” along with tea and chocolate. Poems should be no longer than 15 lines (“including blank lines”). Payment: $40 CAD. Note: “Only selected poets will be contacted. If you haven’t heard from us by the 5th of the month following your submission, your poem was not selected.”
Reminder: SHORT STORY, which aims to “revive the art of the short story, support artists, and produce something wonderful,” selects one story for publication each month and considers reprints. Pays: “base pay of $100 for the chosen story + 50% of subscription revenue to be sent by Paypal, Zelle, or check.”
And another reminder: Make it a habit to check the CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL website, where titles in development are posted. At last check, December deadlines were listed for volumes on “how stepping outside my comfort zone changed me” and “the power of positive thinking.” Note: “If this is your first time, please visit our Story Guidelines page.” Pays: $250 plus 10 free copies.
REMEMBER: Some venues listed in last month’s newsletter remain open for submissions.
6. BLOG NOTES
The newsletter is published just once each month, but there’s always something new on the Practicing Writing blog:
(Monday) Markets and Jobs for Writers (including opportunities that don’t make it into the monthly newsletter)
(Friday) Finds for Writers
Sunday Sentence
Occasional Notes from a Practicing Writer
Please visit, comment, and subscribe!
Interested in matters of specifically Jewish literary and cultural interest? Please also visit the My Machberet blog (“machberet” is the Hebrew word for “notebook”). And be sure to consult our collection of Jewish Writing Resources.
7. CONTESTS, COMPETITIONS, AND OTHER OPPORTUNITIES
Information contained in The Practicing Writer is researched carefully but readers should always verify information. Necessary corrections, when discovered, are posted within each archived issue. The Practicing Writer and its editor disclaim any liability for the use of information contained within. Thank you for following/reading.
We value our subscribers, and we protect their privacy. We keep our subscriber list confidential.
About the editor: Erika Dreifus is a writer, teacher, and literary consultant whose books include Birthright: Poems and Quiet Americans: Stories. A Fellow in the Sami Rohr Jewish Literary Institute and an adjunct associate professor at Baruch College/CUNY, she lives in New York. Please visit ErikaDreifus.com to learn more about her work and follow her on Facebook and/or Twitter, where she tweets (mostly) “on matters bookish and/or Jewish.”