Erika Dreifus

Each week in this space, Practicing Writing shares no-fee, paying markets for writers of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction: competitions, contests, and calls for submissions. These weekly posts complement monthly issues of The Practicing Writer newsletter, where you’ll always find more listings, none of them limiting eligibility to residents of a single municipality, state, or province. (But this blog does share those more localized opportunities, including jobs.)

As always, if you’d like to share a specific opportunity listed here, please credit the blog for the find. Thanks for respecting the time and effort that I put into researching, curating, and posting this information! I do notice, and I appreciate the courtesy.

• Shenandoah’s winter-spring 2020 reading period is now open (briefly!) for prose (short stories, essays, and novel excerpts). They re-opened on January 15, and will close January 31. Payment: “$100 per 1000 words of prose up to $500.” NB: “Our submission manager accepts only 800 submissions per month as that is all we can reasonably handle. If submissions are not being accepted during the windows noted, it’s because we’ve already reached 800 for that month.”
• At 34 Orchard, we like dark,  intense pieces that speak to a deeper truth. We’re not genre-specific; we just like scary, disturbing, unsettling, and sad. We like things we  can’t put down and things that make us go ‘wow’ when we’ve finished. But our main goal here at 34 Orchard is to publish the stuff we like to read, and you’re not in our heads. So don’t over think it. Just submit.” Deadline for the next issue is January 31. Pays: “Payment is $50 on signing of the contract, usually shortly after acceptance. You will need to have a PayPal address to receive payment.” (HT FlashFictionFlash)
• Did you catch the news that The Atlantic is publishing fiction again? No news about pay rates, but via Twitter I was able to confirm that they’re open to unsolicited subs.
• “Since 2012, the Zócalo Public Square Poetry Prize has been awarded annually to the U.S. poet whose poem best evokes a connection to place. ‘Place’ may be interpreted as a place of historical, cultural, political, or personal importance; it may be a literal, imaginary, or metaphorical landscape. We are on the lookout for that rare combination of brilliance and clarity, excellence, and accessibility….The winning poet in 2020, as judged by the Zócalo staff, will receive $500, and have their poem published on Zócalo Public Square, which will also feature an interview with the author.” Deadline: February 3, 2020.
• “Idealist Careers, a publication of Idealist.org, is seeking freelance writers with experience writing about professional development, the job search, and on-the-job advice (as it relates to the nonprofit and social-impact space). Writers will pitch and create original content that speaks to our target audience of social-impact professionals and will be a part of our Contributing Writers Program managed by our Senior Editor. Writers will be paid $50 for each post that is approved for publication. This is a remote position.” (Deadline: January 22.)
• In DC, the PEN/Faulkner Foundation seeks Summer Writing Program Instructors. Salary: “This is a part-time temporary contract positions with no benefits. Pay is $18/hour. Instructors will be paid for a total of 79 hours, as follows: 45 hours instructional time; 18 hours prep/planning; and 16 hours training/planning.” Also: “There is a $50 travel stipend and a $50 meal stipend, both paid at the end of programming. Travel for field trips is provided by PEN/Faulkner. We do not provide housing for instructors.”
• At the University of Minnesota, they’re seeking a Content Manager and Writer who “will develop, write and create content that highlight the Libraries’ programs, services, and expertise.”