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.

• “Are you interested in publishing essays on Longreads? It’s important that you read these new submissions guidelines before pitching. Recently we’ve undergone some budget cuts due to the Coronavirus pandemic and some other changes. As a result, we’re publishing fewer pieces than we used to, and selecting most of those based on whether they fit within a few specific series we’ve developed. While there will still very occasionally be room for some more general, broader interest pieces, we’ll be mainly focusing on the following series for now.” Those series: “Life in the Time of COVID,” “What I Did for Love,” “Down to Earth” (climate change), and “Fine Lines: Writing About Age.” Pays: $500.
• New to the literary community: “Fractured Lit is open year-round and is available to all writers. We currently feature two separate submission categories, based on the length of the work submitted: Micro Fiction, for work under 400 words; and Flash Fiction, for work 401-1,000 words.” Pays: “We pay our authors $50 for original micro fiction and $75 for original flash fiction.” (There is also a “Micro Series” category which pays $75 for an unpublished series of micro fictions.)
• From the 21st through the 28th of each month (meaning: right now), you can send work to Night Shift Radio’s Storyteller Series. “What do we want? Engaging stories. Real people writ large on the page. Anything that reads with tension and excitement. Fiction, non-fiction, memoir; it’s all okay. Just no fan fiction, please. We may read it, but we won’t publish it.” Payment: “We choose two stories to publish each month. One story will be chosen for the Full Cast Audiobook treatment; that author will receive $50 for audio rights and non-exclusive print rights. A second piece will be chosen for our mid-month print only piece. The author of that piece will be offered $25 for exclusive worldwide electronic rights for 120 days. All rights not specified stay with the author.” (HT @Duotrope)
• In connection with two upcoming projects (including its own site redesign), The Conium Review seeks fiction submissions on the theme of “(Re)new”; Conium Press editor James R. Gapinski “will select one piece to go live on the website’s launch day (sometime in mid-June). The selected author will receive a $20 payment, a complimentary signed copy of [Gapinski]’s Fruit Rot, and a copy of The Conium Review: Vol. 8.” Deadline: June 1.
• Another June 1 deadline: “Explore Minnesota is looking for heartfelt stories about your favorite fall Minnesota vacations for an upcoming print publication. Maybe it’s a story about taking your kids fishing for the first time and a reflection on what it means to be a parent. Or maybe it’s a story about how your extended family gets together at the same resort every year, and how that sense of reliability and tradition impacts the rest of your life. Whatever the topic may be, we’re looking for your first-person recollections and ruminations on how these Minnesota vacations have impacted and shaped your life.” Pays: $400 (800 words) and $80 (1600 words). (HT @WeisChoice)
• Coming soon: the June issue of The Practicing Writer. Meantime, you can still make use of the May edition.
• “Do you love podcasts and short stories? Stitcher is searching for a Researcher to join LeVar Burton Reads in Los Angeles. In this role, you will help vet great short stories….This is a part time, freelance position with a 12-episode commitment to start.” NB: Los Angeles-based applicants are “preferred, though the role is remote.”
• “Mass Poetry–a Boston-based nonprofit that promotes poetry and offers poetry programming across Massachusetts–seeks a strong project manager with a background in event management. This stipended service position will run from August 3, 2020 to August 2, 2021.”
• Pittsburgh Public Schools is advertising for an Adjunct Teacher, Literary Arts Middle School, 2020-21. (They’re seeking a “creative writer with proven publishing history.”)
• In the NYC area, “Fledgling Writing Workshops is looking for a writer and educator to run one 7-week Fledgling Course a season (three a year) as well as a 6-week memoir writing course of their own design (twice a year).” NB: “Workshop leaders are paid a percentage of the class profit, so payment varies with the size of the class.” (The same organization is also seeking a paid outreach intern.)

Quick reminder: I continue to update this site’s new page of info on COVID-19-focused emergency grants and related info for writers. Check it out at bit.ly/EmergencyResourcesWriters, and please share as you find appropriate.