The Practicing Writer 2.0: November 2022
60+ carefully curated calls & competitions for poets, fictionists, & cnf writers. No fees to submit/apply. Paying opps 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.
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IN THIS ISSUE:
Editor’s Note
Success Stories
Featured Resource
Current 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!
I’ll admit that I’ve been feeling somewhat anxious and unsettled lately (maybe some of you can identify?). Somehow, searching for and compiling these opportunities for the writing community offers me a kind of comfort/outlet. (Some people run marathons. Others knit. I research fee-free-and-paying calls and competitions.) So, thank you for your support for these newsletters—and, of course, for the weekly “Markets and Jobs” blog posts that I share between them. I appreciate it.
On that note: You’ll see below that I continue to find Twitter useful for these purposes (and for connecting with other writers more generally). So, for now, I’m still there. I understand why many have recently left the platform; I simply have not done so—not yet, anyway.
Here’s to a nice November for all of us, and for our writing practices,
ERIKA
P.S. It’s hard to believe, but this week marks three years since my BIRTHRIGHT: POEMS was published. Happy #BookBirthday to me!
2. SUCCESS STORIES
From Aimee R. Cervenka:
I'm thrilled to be sharing that my poem, “Thinking of Basements,” won first place in the Briefly Write Poetry Prize 2022, which I learned of through your newsletter. My poem and the other winning pieces can be found here. Thank you!
And from Julie Zuckerman:
Please share news from your writing practice that may be connected with this newsletter or our other resources. I love to note those successes in this space!
3. FEATURED RESOURCE
Perhaps I should wait for student feedback on this one—I’ve assigned the piece for an upcoming class—but I kind of fell in love with Mark Yakich’s 2014 piece titled “Reading a Poem: 20 Strategies” when I ran across it a few weeks ago, so I’m going to be daring and share it with you. I hope you find it as edifying and entertaining as I do!
4. CURRENT CONTESTS, COMPETITIONS, AND OTHER OPPORTUNITIES
DEEP WILD 2023 GRADUATE STUDENT POETRY CONTEST
Opens November 1 (and remains open until February 1): For “students currently enrolled in graduate studies.” Seeks “work that conjures the experiences, observations, and insights of backcountry journeys. By ‘backcountry,’ we mean away from roads, on journeys undertaken by foot, skis, snowshoes, kayak, canoe, horse, or any other non-motorized means of conveyance. We are open to a wide range of carefully crafted work, both personal and political.” Prizes: “Cash awards and five copies of the journal. The 1st Place prize is $300, 2nd Place $200, and 3rd Place $100. Judges will also select a number of other poems for Honorable Mention, and the poets will receive a copy of the journal and possible publication online or in the journal.” Judges: Becca Lawton and Margaret Pettis.ON THE PREMISES MINI-CONTEST #54: “RING MY BELL”
Deadline: November 4. “For this mini-contest, tell, show, or evoke a complete story between 25 and 50 words long in which a ringing bell is an important story element.” Prizes: “First place pays $35, second pays $25, and third pays $15, all in US dollars. Honorable mentions get published, but make no money.”GAIUS CHARLES BOLIN DISSERTATION AND POST-MFA FELLOWSHIPS
Deadline: November 15. These fellowships at Williams College “promote diversity on college faculties by encouraging graduate students from underrepresented groups to complete a terminal graduate degree and pursue careers in college teaching.” They offer “two-year residencies at Williams. Two scholars or artists are appointed each year. Fellows devote the bulk of the first year to the completion of dissertation work—or in the case of MFA applicants, building their professional portfolios—while also teaching one course as a faculty member in one of the College’s academic departments or programs. The second year of residency (ideally with degree in hand) is spent on academic career development while again teaching just one course.” Fellowships confer an annual stipend of $55,000. “The College will also provide health and dental benefits, relocation and housing assistance, academic support including office space and a computer, and an annual allowance of $4,000 for research-related expenses.” Check detailed eligibility guidelines and note that the application asks post-MFA applicants for “2-3 short stories, 10-15 poems, or novel passages not to exceed 50 pages,” which (to me) suggests a focus on candidates who specialize in fiction or poetry.BROOKLYN NON-FICTION PRIZE
Deadline: November 15. From the Brooklyn Film & Arts Festival. “The Brooklyn Non-Fiction Prize, a cash award of $500, will be awarded to the best Brooklyn- focused non-fiction essay which is set in Brooklyn and is about Brooklyn and/or Brooklyn people/characters. We are seeking compelling Brooklyn stories from writers with a broad range of backgrounds and ages (minimum age 18 years old) who can render Brooklyn’s rich soul and intangible qualities through the writer’s actual experiences in Brooklyn. From the collection of selected Brooklyn Non-Fiction Prize submissions, several authors will be selected to read from their work and discuss their Brooklyn stories with the audience at our annual finale event. The exact date/time and venue will be announced later. These stories and several other submitted stories will be published on the Brooklyn Film and Arts Festival website and made available to the public.”STEPHEN FRASER ENCOURAGEMENT FUND GRANTS
Deadline: November 15. From the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). “The Impact and Legacy Fund is thrilled to announce the establishment of a brand new grant program, the Stephen Fraser Encouragement Fund. This program will provide three grants of $2,000 each to children’s book authors, artists or translators who have traditionally published at least one book. Generously supported by Stephen Fraser, a veteran editor and now one of our industry’s most respected agents at The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency, this grant reflects Stephen’s commitment to supporting talent.”TREEHOUSE CLIMATE POEM PRIZE CONTEST
Deadline: November 15. Honors “exceptional poems that help make real for readers the gravity of the vulnerable state of our environment at present.” Prizes: $1,000/$750/$500. “In addition, all three poems will be published in the popular Poem-a-Day series….Poems may also be featured in the award-winning education series Teach This Poem.” Judges: Dr. Peter Kalmus and Matthew Olzmann. Be sure to check guidelines for eligibility information.JEWISH CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARDS 2022/2023
Deadline: November 18. Co-administered by Green Bean Books and Jewish Book Week. “The Jewish Children’s Book Awards for story and illustration aim to celebrate the work of talented Jewish children’s book authors and illustrators living in Europe and the UK.” Note that story submissions “must be Jewish in content, either inspired or informed by Jewish history, folklore, values, festivals or texts”; illustration submissions “should be on the theme of: an object that is regarded as having Jewish worth and/or personal Jewish significance and value to you.” Winners in each category receive $1,000. “All entries will be considered for publication by Green Bean Books. Note that the submitted work must not be under consideration elsewhere. Note also that the guidelines advise potential entrants that “if you have been displaced from your country within the last year then please contact us directly to see if your submission can be accepted.” For the story prize, “submissions are accepted in English, French, German, Italian, Ukrainian, Russian, Spanish and Yiddish.” Judging panel: Michael Leventhal, Chris Barash. Yael Molchadsky, Lawrence Schimel, Eric Kimmel.CAROL SHIELDS PRIZE FOR FICTION
Deadline: November 18 (for books published between September 1, 2022 – December 31, 2022). “The first women’s literary award…designed to acknowledge, celebrate, and promote the best works of fiction written by women annually in Canada and the United States.” Awards $150,000 Canadian dollars to the winner and $12,500 Canadian dollars to each of four finalists. Open to “novels, short story collections and graphic novels written by women and non-binary writers for an adult audience,” published by American or Canadian companies. “Books that have been translated from another language are eligible and will be considered in the year that the English translation is published. The book in translation must be authored by an American or Canadian citizen or permanent resident who has resided in either country for the past five years. In the event that a translation wins the prize, the prize winnings will be split with the translator in the following way: $100,000 to the writer; $50,000 to the translator.” Submissions must be made by publishers, who must agree to “contribute $2,000 to the prize for the advertising and marketing of the shortlist.”THE BIRD IN YOUR HANDS PRIZE
Deadline: November 20. This contest from Thin Air magazine “centers and celebrates BIPOC voices. This is a no-fee contest accepting poetry, fiction, and nonfiction in any form under 500 words. The winner of the contest will be awarded $500, published in Thin Air Magazine, and interviewed for Thin Air Online. The winner will also be invited to read the winning entry, at the Northern Arizona Book Festival held in April 2023. First and second runners up will also be awarded an honorarium….This contest is open to new, upcoming, and established BIPOC writers alike.” (Thanks to Terry L. Kennedy for leading me to this one.)RESPONSIBILITY TODAY CHANGE HAPPENS CONTEST
Deadline: November 29. “Submit your own essay or short story about your personal experiences dealing with change.” Prizes: “1 grand prize winner will receive a $100 [V]isa gift card and have their essay or story featured on our website and social media platforms. 5 first prize winners will each receive a $25 [V]isa gift card.” Eligibility: “legal residents of the United States and District of Columbia who are 13 years of age or older as of 12/01/2022.”BETTER THAN STARBUCKS 2022 SONNET CONTEST
Deadline: November 30. For a metrical sonnet. “As always, we do accept previously published work. Please let us know where the poem was previously published.” No simultaneous submissions. Note: “All entries are eligible for publication in Better Than Starbucks. By submitting your work you grant us the non-exclusive right to publish it. Copyright remains with the author/poet.” Prizes: $500/$100/$50 (via Paypal only) and publication. Judges: Sally Thomas, Jared Carter, and Vera Ignatowitsch.BRITISH ACADEMY VISITING FELLOWSHIPS PROGRAMME
Deadline: November 30 (“17:00 GMT”). “Provides outstanding academics based in any country overseas with the opportunity to be based at a UK higher education or other research institution. The programme is open to academics at any career stage, and in any discipline within the humanities and social sciences….Visiting Fellowships are available for a period of between three to six months. Applicants will be asked to provide their preferred start date for their Fellowship over the spring and summer (March-August 2023). The maximum funding available is £33,000.” Note: “Outputs involving creative practice (e.g. musical composition and performance, visual practice, creative writing and film making) are welcome but will be considered to fall within the BA's remit only when they form part of an integrated project of critical or historical significance.”LOVE LETTERS TO LONDON WRITING COMPETITION
Deadline: November 30 (noon [UK time]). “Once again The London Society aims to celebrate the city in all its life, charm and mystery, with a free to enter writing competition ‘Love Letters to London’. We want Londoners - as well as non-Londoners who wish to celebrate this place - to tell us why they love the city. Write us up to 500 words around the theme of ‘making connections’. Entries can have been published elsewhere, but must fit the brief and have been written in 2022.” Note: “To fit with The London Society motto of ‘valuing the past; looking to the future’, entrants can write on any aspect of London’s past, present or future. It might be reportage, an historical essay, a ‘think piece’, a spot of futurology, a work of fiction, a poem. We are open to all forms and styles.” Cash prizes (£500/£250/£100) for “poetry” and “open” (over 18 years of age) categories. Also confers cash and other prizes in under-18 categories.SOMERSET MAUGHAM AWARDS 2023
Deadline: November 30. From the Society of Authors. “First awarded in 1947, these annual awards are given for a published work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry by an author under the age of 30. Awards are to be used for foreign travel.” Note that to be eligible, an author “must be a British national, or resident in Great Britain and Northern Ireland for three years prior to the date of submission for the award, and writing in English.” The work they enter “must be a full-length book and have been first published in Britain and Northern Ireland in 2022”; it “may be poetry, fiction, criticism, biography, history, philosophy, belles-lettres or a travel book.” Award amounts for 2023 do not appear to be disclosed on the website, but for the past several years, awardees appear to have received £4,000 each.J.F. POWERS PRIZE FOR SHORT FICTION
Deadline: November 30. From Dappled Things. “‘One foot in this world and one in the next’: that’s how J.F. Powers described the Midwestern priests he wrote about in his fiction. Having one foot in another world can be awkward, and Powers’ characters are known not for their graceful mysticism, but for the humiliating and mordantly entertaining stumbles they make while trying to live their faith. We’re looking for carefully crafted short stories with vivid characters who encounter grace in everyday settings—we want to see who, in the age we live in, might have one foot in this world and one in the next.” Confers $500 for first place and $250 for second place (and publication); up to 8 honorable mentions will receive publication in the journal and a one-year subscription.QUEEN’S KNICKERS AWARD
Deadline: November 30. From the Society of Authors. “This annual prize, generously funded by Nicholas Allan, author of The Queen’s Knickers, is awarded to an outstanding children’s original illustrated book for ages 0-7. It will recognise books that strike a quirky, new note and grab the attention of a child, whether this be in the form of curiosity, amusement, horror or excitement. The winner will receive £5,000, as well as a golden Queen’s Knickers badge, as depicted in Nicholas Allan’s original book. The runner-up will receive £1,000 and a silvered badge.” The guidelines/eligibility criteria discuss division of the award between a winning author and illustrator. Note that works “must have been first published in the UK and Republic of Ireland between 1 September 2021 to 31 August 2022” and that submissions must be made by publishers, who “can submit no more than THREE titles per imprint.”PAUL TORDAY MEMORIAL PRIZE
Deadline: November 30. From the Society of Authors. “Paul Torday published his first novel Salmon Fishing in the Yemen aged 60. The family have decided to set up this new prize in Torday’s honour, celebrating first novels by authors aged 60 or over. The winner will receive £3,000, with a set of Paul Torday’s collected works. Runners-up will receive £1,000 and one specially selected Paul Torday novel with a commemorative book plate.” Note that while there are no residence or nationality restrictions, submitted novels “must have been first published in the UK and Republic of Ireland between 1 September 2021 and 31 August 2022.” Note also that submissions must be made by the publisher.BETTY TRASK PRIZE
Deadline: November 30. From the Society of Authors. “An annual prize for first novels by authors under the age of 35. The prize and awards are financed by a bequest made by Betty Trask. The winner of the Betty Trask Prize will receive £10,000 and a fund of £16,200 will be divided equally between shortlisted authors.” Among eligibility criteria: “Applicants must be resident in Great Britain and Northern Ireland of the Commonwealth for three years prior to the date of submission for the award, or a British National.” Also: “Submissions must be of a romantic or traditional nature (i.e. not experimental)” and “must have been first published in 2022, or be unpublished.”UNBOUND FIRSTS
Deadline: November 30 (midnight, GMT). This “annual publishing opportunity for undiscovered debut writers of colour” doesn’t self-describe as a contest, but, in my reading, appears to function as one. Seeks completed book manuscripts of fiction (including short-story collections) and nonfiction. Two manuscripts will be selected for publication. As always, be sure to read the full terms/conditions, which is where I found many essential details, including the following information on compensation: “Each writer selected to be published will receive a fee of £1,000. This will be payable to you directly upon signing the contract.” “Writers selected to be published under the Unbound Firsts imprint will receive a publishing agreement which guarantees a royalty paid on all copies sold.” Note also that they welcome both agented and un-agented submissions.UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS RILKE PRIZE
Deadline: November 30. $10,000 prize recognizes “a book that demonstrates exceptional artistry and vision written by a mid-career poet and published in the preceding year. The prize is named after the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926), a writer whose work embodies the qualities of ambition, intellectual and imaginative scope, and technical mastery we seek to recognize.” Check eligibility specifics on the website.ASSOCIATION OF JEWISH LIBRARIES JEWISH FICTION AWARD
Deadline: December 1. “All works of fiction with significant Jewish thematic content written in English–novels, short story and flash fiction collections–by a single author published and available for purchase in the United States during 2022 are eligible for the 2023 award. Jewish thematic content means an extended grappling with Jewish themes throughout the book, including Judaism, Jewish history and culture, Jewish identity, etc. The award will include a $1,000 cash prize as well as support to attend the AJL conference to receive the award.”SILLERMAN FIRST BOOK PRIZE FOR AFRICAN POETS
Deadline: December 1. Awarded annually “to an African poet who has not yet published a collection of poetry. The winner receives USD $1000 and book publication through the University of Nebraska Press and Amalion Press in Senegal. The African Poetry Book Fund Editorial Board, including Kwame Dawes, Chris Abani, Matthew Shenoda, John Keene, Gabeba Baderoon, Phillippaa yaa de Villiers, Aracelis Girmay, and Bernardine Evaristo, will judge.” NB: “An ‘African writer’ is taken to mean someone who was born in Africa, who is a national or resident of an African country, or whose parents are African.” Also: “Only poetry submissions in English can be considered. Work translated from another language to English is accepted, but a percentage of the prize will be awarded to the translator.”COVE PARK FUNDED RESIDENCIES
Deadline: December 5 (12pm GMT). This international artists residency center on Scotland’s west coast has opened its annual call for funded residencies. “The funded residencies will take place at Cove Park between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024….The average residency length is four weeks. We welcome applications from those interested in shorter residencies (2 - 4 weeks) or longer periods of time (4 – 12 weeks.” Details on fees paid to residents, travel allowances, and more are available in the application guidelines.J. ANTHONY LUKAS WORK-IN-PROGRESS AWARDS
Deadline: December 8. Two awards, each in the amount of $25,000, “are given annually to aid in the completion of a significant work of nonfiction on a topic of American political or social concern. Recognizing that a nonfiction book based on extensive original research often overtaxes the resources available to its author, the project envisions the award as a way of closing the gap between the time and money an author has and the time and money that finishing a book requires. Applicants for the award must already have a contract with a U.S.-based publisher to write a nonfiction book.”
REMINDER: Some opportunities listed in last month’s newsletter remain open into November. Be sure that you haven’t missed them!
5. SUBMISSION ALERTS
November 1 will be a fee-free submissions date for IRON HORSE LITERARY REVIEW’s upcoming “Party” issue. Payment: “Upon publication, we provide an honorarium of $50 per poem or flash piece and $100 per story or essay.”
In a recent newsletter, CUTLEAF announced that they’ll open for poetry submissions November 1. “We welcome poems in any style or format. We'll accept submissions of up to seven poems at a time per author. Our format is designed to showcase a group of three to five poems from a single author in each issue, and one of our considerations is how those poems work together as a suite. We pay from $50 to $200 for published poetry.” (My advice is to check Cutleaf’s Submittable page November 1 for more information, including deadline; note that Cutleaf also currently has a paying call open for beer-themed submissions, with a deadline of December 31.)
From SHENANDOAH: “POETRY submissions will be considered by our editorial fellow Siew David Hii during the first week of November.” Payment: $100/poem. UPDATE: Now that the Submittable category has gone live for this one, I have noted and can add that submissions will be capped at 500; send work early if this one interests you!
Online submissions of fiction, poetry, and essays for the print edition of NINTH LETTER are free during November and December. “We are interested in prose and poetry that experiment with form, narrative, and nontraditional subject matter, as well as more traditional literary work.” Payment: “$25 per printed page, with a maximum payment of $150, as well as two complimentary copies of the issue in which the work appears.”
At TYPEHOUSE, the month of November is a time when, “in honor of Native American Heritage Month, no-fee submissions are open for all Native/Indigenous/First Nations creators, not limited to those from the US.” Currently pays $25/contributor.
Update from THE FABULIST: “Through April 2023, The Fabulist will be opening a new series of brief, monthly submissions windows for short, fantastical fiction of all sorts.” The next window will be open November 6-12. “All fantastical fiction” will be welcome, with a “special thematic interest” in “post-colonialism.” Note: “The themes are not mandatory. You can also submit work responding to these themes during any of our submissions windows. We really just want to make sure writers recognize the expansive opportunity The Fabulist represents as a fiction venue.” Pays: $25.
DISMANTLE, “a magazine, an education site, and a community for understanding fashion, pop culture and social change,” is open for submissions for its winter issue until November 7. “We’re especially interested in personal essays that explore larger cultural issues related to fashion, pop culture and social change.” Pays: “We pay $75.00 per article over ~1000 words.”
I’ve been advised via email that THE MAINE REVIEW will hold two fee-free windows in November: between November 11 and November 17 in honor of Veterans’ Day, and between November 24 and November 30 in honor of Native American Heritage Month. Pays: “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.”
BERLIN LIT, a “journal for new poetry,” is open for submissions until November 12. Pays: “20 euro per poem.”
Closing November 14: submissions for MIGHTY: AN ANTHOLOGY OF DISABLED SUPERHEROES. Send one short story only. Payment: “Compensation for stories accepted in this anthology is 0.08CAD per word,” plus one copy.
At SO TO SPEAK, fee-free print-issue submissions are open until November 14 for Black and Indigenous writers and artists to send poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and visual art. The journal seeks “work that matches our intersectional feminist viewpoint.” Payment: “All contributors to the print issue will receive a modest honorarium.”
Similarly, WTAW PRESS’s current open reading period, which also closes November 14, is also fee-free for BIPOC writers. They’re seeking book-length prose manuscripts: “(novels, story collections, memoirs, essay collections, creative nonfiction, hybrids, etc).” Payment: “We offer authors standard contracts with royalties.”
From THE STINGING FLY: “We will be open again for submissions from November 15 until November 30. Please check back then for the link to our Submittable portal.” They publish “previously unpublished work by Irish and international writers. We have a particular interest in promoting new writers, and in promoting the short story form.” Issues include “a mix of poetry and fiction, alongside our Featured Poets and Comhchealg sections, commissioned essays, occasional author interviews and novel extracts. We also welcome submissions of poetry and prose in translation.” Payment: for fiction and nonfiction, €40 per magazine page; for poetry, “€30 per magazine page, but with a minimum payment of €60 per poem”; for featured poet, €400.
THE AURORA REVIEW, which “publishes surrealistic poetry and prose,” is open for submissions until November 15. Pays: $12/piece.
Also open (for general poetry and fiction submissions ) until November 15: CAROUSEL, a “hybrid literary/arts magazine representing new & established artists, with a focus on positioning Canadian talent within an international context.” Payment: “an honorarium upon publication (paid in CDN currency, via Paypal or eTransfer) according to the following 2022 Fee Schedule: Poetry: $20 per poem — Fiction: $40–$80 per story.” Note that a Submittable cap applies, so the best time to submit without a fee is likely early in the month.
THE HOPKINS REVIEW has announced two forthcoming special folios, to be produced in collaboration with guest editors. One, “Locating a Collective Lyric I,” has a proposal deadline of November 15; the other, on “Walking,” remains open for submissions until November 30. Responding to my query on Twitter, the journal noted that “work accepted from these open folio submissions will pay same rates provided to regular contributors. ($1 per line for poetry and $10 per page for prose, with a minimum payment of $40 per poetry acceptance and $100 per prose acceptance.)”
Another one open until November 15: Ireland-based THE PIG’S BACK, which “seeks submissions of previously unpublished fiction and non-fiction. We accept work from anywhere in the world but currently can only accept English language pieces.” Pays: “All contributors will receive a flat fee of €300. They will also receive two copies of the issue in which their work features.”
And still another one open until November 15: WORD WEST REVIEW, “a home for western-y writing and art and a whole lot more.” Pays: $100/accepted print piece and $25/accepted online piece. Note that “pitches for online content (reviews, interviews, etc.) will always be accepted.”
For its 100th issue, ARC POETRY MAGAZINE invites “poems that respond to work published in previous issues of Arc. These response poems will be one part of our 100th issues hullabaloo. We are interested in moving forward while glancing back. Some examples of response poems include (but are not limited to!): “after” poems, glosas, centos, golden shovels, and ekphrasis of visual art featured in Arc.” Deadline: November 25. This magazine pays “$50 [presumably in Canadian dollars] per page. Payment is issued upon publication along with one free copy of the issue in which the work appears.”
FARMER-ISH, which seeks “creative and engaging content on farming, homesteading, raising animals, cooking, making, and raising a family,” welcomes pitches for a Winter Solstice issue on the theme “Solstice Hygge” until November 25 (submissions deadline is December 1). Pays: $25.UPDATED INFO: “Beginning November 2022….we are now requesting a small $3 fee with each submission.”November 29 (Giving Tuesday) 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.
55 FATHOMS, “the book publishing partner to Orca, A Literary Journal,” is open for queries for both novels and nonfiction works until November 30. “55 Fathoms is a place for authors who are too imaginative for literary, and too literary for genre. We don’t want just a story, we want an exploration into ideas and topics that most of the literary establishment ignores.” Compensation: $500 advance; after advance is earned out, “authors will be paid 20% on additional net revenues.”
ABANDON JOURNAL “is open through November 30, 2022, for Issue #4, ‘Abandon Love’.” NB: “We’re open to so-called ‘genre fiction’….As long as the writing is powerful and abandons the preconceived notions of what is expected, we want to read it.” Pays: “$15 per piece or series.”
THE BALTIMORE REVIEW remains open for submissions until November 30. Payment for general submissions of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction is “$40 Amazon gift certificate or $40 through PayPal, if preferred).”
FLARE: AN ANTHOLOGY OF CHRONIC ILLNESS TOLD IN FLASH NARRATIVES, compiled and edited by April Bradley and published by Ad Hoc Fiction, welcomes submissions from “those who occupy the wilderness of chronic illness,” until November 30. Submissions may be fiction, creative nonfiction, or hybrid prose, up to 750 words in length. Pays: “All contributors receive $10.00, a PDF of the completed anthology,” and a discount on purchases.
SHORT FICTION, which welcomes work “from the UK, Europe, the Commonwealth and every other country except for the USA” (original emphasis) is open for submissions until November 30. “We publish one story per month as our Featured piece. We will also periodically seek to publish one story in a new section - ‘Introducing’ - which will be a showcase for excellent new writers; that is, writers for whom this is their first published piece. In both cases we are looking for the best, carefully crafted, deeply considered work.” Payment: “2p (£0.02) per word, to the nearest 100 words, with a minimum of £30 and maximum £100, paid via PayPal. (For those without a PayPal account, we can work out an alternative method of payment.)”
Until November 30, BIPOC writers may submit poetry fee-free to THE WORCESTER REVIEW (a fee applies for other writers; the guidelines note that “TWR does not want to miss out on submissions from any writer” and anyone for whom the fee may be a barrier is encouraged to contact them). Pays: “Payment will be two copies upon publication (or one copy, if shipping internationally) and a small honorarium. In recent years, the honorarium was $20 for each writer.”
Until December 1, THE CHRISTIAN CENTURY “invites readers to submit first-person narratives (under 1,000 words)” on the topic of “Wind.” Pays: “Authors of the selected essays will receive $100 and a free one-year subscription to the magazine.” Selected essays “will be published in the print or web magazine.”
Open until December 1: THE WOODWARD REVIEW, “a new journal edited by graduate students at Wayne State University, trying to collapse the distance between creative, critical, and "academic" writing by highlighting the conversations between them as codependent modes of responding to and moving through the world.” Their categories include “Poetry,” “Prose,” and “Art, Hybrid, and Digital Media” (they also have a “Reviews & Responses” category with a later deadline that invites submissions that demonstrate “your review of or response to something you found in The Woodward Review”). Pays: $50 per contributor.
On Twitter, ACRE BOOKS, “the book-publishing offshoot of The Cincinnati Review,” recently posted that they are “pleased to announce a special call for BIPOC writers. We are open for your queries (fiction, nonfiction, poetry) until December 1.”
The annual submissions window for the ZERO STREET FICTION series at the University of Nebraska Press will close December 1. This is a series “committed to LGBTQ+ literary fiction with commercial potential, providing marginalized authors opportunities for a wide readership in the trade fiction market. The series editors are Timothy Schaffert, bestselling author of The Perfume Thief, and SJ Sindu, author of Blue-Skinned Gods. The series seeks LGBTQ+ literary fiction of all kinds, from stories of modern life to innovations on traditions of genre and are particularly interested in BIPOC authors, trans authors, and queer authors over 50.”
Australia-based ISLAND is open for fiction and nonfiction submissions for its print journal until December 2. Note: “Island will only consider submissions from residents of Australia, New Zealand, our Pacific neighbours and Australians living abroad.” Pays: “2023 contributor fees are currently set at approximately 20 cents per word, with a minimum of $350 and a maximum of $750. Fees are less the cost of a 4-issue subscription if you are not a current subscriber.”
REVOLUTE, “a literary magazine of the Randolph College MFA,” is receiving submissions until December 8. Pays: “$25 per accepted work of fiction, nonfiction, micro book review and per acceptance of up to three poems.”
At last check, POETRY magazine had multiple categories open for submissions: poetry, visual poetry, video poetry, translations, book reviews, prose (“essays about poetry”) and a “special call for archival folios.” Pay rates: “For text poems, we pay $10/line with a minimum honorarium of $300 per poem. For visual poems, audio poems, and video poems, we pay $300 per poem. If a piece is published in multiple formats, such as print and video, we pay for each format. For prose, we pay $150 per published page.”
Also at last check, MADRONA BOOKS, based in Olympia, Washington, was open for book-length manuscript submissions. “We’re best suited for authors working within the genres of literary fiction, memoir, longform ecological and adventure journalism, and select place-based genre fiction. Irrespective of genre, all authors with ambitious, emotionally nuanced manuscripts are encouraged to submit.” Pays: royalties, as delineated on their guidelines page.
Via Twitter:BANDCAMP’s Mariana Timonyis “once again accepting pitches for RESONANCE, a personal essay series…exploring our emotional relationship to music.” Pays: “$375 per piece.” Pitching instructions and archive of past essays within the tweet and thread.UPDATE: I’VE BEEN ALERTED THAT THIS TWEET HAS BEEN DELETED.WRITER’S DIGEST has posted its issue editorial calendar for 2023: “We urge writers to get creative in their interpretations of our 2023 issue themes. We offer a brief description of how we interpret them, but look forward to ideas we weren’t necessarily expecting.” Per the guidelines linked at the bottom of the calendar page, they pay “30–50 cents per word, on acceptance, for first world rights for one-time print use and perpetual electronic use. Should we want to reprint anything we've purchased from you in anything other than electronic format, we'll pay you 25% of the original purchase price per use. Contributor copies are sent to writers and artists whose work appears in that issue.” (Hat tip here to WOW! Women on Writing’s Markets Newsletter.)
A recent reminder (via Twitter) from FRACTURED LIT, which publishes “fiction that lingers long after the flash”: “We pay our authors $50 for original Micro and $75 for original Flash! Both categories are open year-round and we do not charge any submission fees. We welcome writers of any background or experience.”
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. Note: “If this is your first time, please visit our Story Guidelines page.” Pays: $200 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
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7. NEWSLETTER MATTERS
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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.”