Markets and Jobs for Writers

Background of a keyboard, mug of coffee, and wallet on a tabletop; text label indicating "Markets and Jobs for Writers: No fees to submit work/apply. Paying gigs only."

NB: I’ve pre-scheduled this post to publish on Monday morning, but I will be offline for the Rosh Hashanah holiday. Please excuse delays responding to any comments/corrections.

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.

  • Opening today (and remaining open through Sunday, October 2): Electric Literature‘s “Recommended Reading,” which publishes fiction between 2,000 and 10,000 words. Pays: $300.
  • Affiliated with Trent University and is based out of Peterborough, Ontario, Absynthe is open for submissions until September 30. [UPDATED TO ADD: “Only students who attend Trent University, Trent alumni, or residents from the Peterborough area may submit.”] “We accept all genres, such as poetry, prose, creative nonfiction, or anything in between….We also accept visual art to be featured in the magazine. We do our best as editors to provide written constructive feedback to all written submissions, even those who are rejected. Along with this, we compensate all published writers with $75(CAD) per piece. Any visual artists that get published will be compensated $50(CAD) per piece.” (Hat tip: @Duotrope.)
  • Also closing September 30: nominations for the next Kentucky Poet Laureate. “The Kentucky Poet Laureate receives a $6,000 honorarium to cover travel expenses during the two-year term.” (Hat tip: Kentucky Foundation for Women.)
  • Receiving poetry, fiction, and nonfiction until October 1: The Spectacle, which is based out of the English, Creative Writing, and Visual Art departments at Washington University in St. Louis. “Publication in an issue includes a $50 honorarium.”
  • Also posting an October 1 deadline: Forging, “a new digital-first journal for critically imagining Native futures, invites you to contribute to its inaugural issue: Seed. Forging seeks contributions centered on sowing and harvesting radical ways of thinking as a form of collective Indigenous world-building.” Pays: $1/word. NB: They are “prioritizing Native contributors.” (Hat tip: Galleyway.)
  • Unfortunately‘s Halloween-focused Micro Contest invites “tty bitty poetry, fiction, nonfiction, plays, or anything with your words. Make it Halloweeny/spooky/creepy/freaky/autumnal/fall-ish/pumpkin-spicy. 100-word limit for prose. 30-word limit for poetry.” Prize: “$10 USD. Publication on our website and promotion on social media. Even if you don’t win, your work may still be selected for regular publication on our site.” Deadline: “October 1, 2022, or when we hit 200 entries, whichever comes first.”
  • Caldera’s Artist-in-Residence program “supports artists, creatives, and cultural workers to build skills, relationships, and projects that inspire growth and activate change. Residents draw inspiration from the residency community and the natural world surrounding the Caldera Arts Center in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains near Sisters, Oregon. Caldera offers 2 and 3.5-week residencies from January through March. A cohort of 5 artists/collaborations is in residence each month. Residents are responsible for travel to and from Caldera Arts Center. Caldera staff can make arrangements to pick up groceries for those without onsite transportation. Residencies are open to US-based artists, creatives, and cultural workers in any discipline. Artists at any stage of their careers who are not current students are eligible. Residencies are also available for parent artists who would like to bring their children.” Note: “Stipends of $700 -$1200 will be provided to each artist/group in residence depending on the length of their residency.” Note also that the application page includes information on its selection priorities. Deadline: October 3.
  • “Pauline Books & Media, the publishing house of the Daughters of St. Paul and premier publisher of Catholic children’s books, has an opening for an Associate Children’s Editor to join our acquisitions and development team. This person will work closely with our Children’s Editor and our editorial, design, and marketing staff to help us produce quality children’s books and teacher resources.” This is a full-time, remote position (anywhere in the U.S.) with an advertised salary range of USD $37,500 – USD $41,000.
  • “Each year, the Wisconsin’s Own Library Poet in Residence program provides one poet with a semester-long opportunity at Ripon College to devote time and attention to a poetry manuscript in progress. The Poet in Residence will teach one poetry class, hold three public readings of current work, and allow one new poem to be reproduced in a limited edition commemorative broadside. The Poet in Residence will be physically present on the Ripon College campus, will reside in Ripon full-time while classes are in session, and will hold no other professional obligations for the duration of the semester.” Note: “The Poet in Residence must demonstrate a considerable attachment to the state by residing (or having resided) in Wisconsin for at least three years at some point in their lifetime.” Compensation is $15,000 for the semester. Deadline: January 13, 2023.
  • The Department of English at Utah State University (Logan Campus) “seeks applications for an academic-year, nine-month, tenure track Assistant Professor of Poetry Writing. Preferred areas of interest include the poetry and poetics of diverse communities including, but not limited to, African American, Latinx, and/or Queer communities. Possible secondary expertise in hybrid, cross-genre, and/or multimedia work welcome. The applicant is required to have a terminal degree in the field, including either an MFA or a creative PhD in poetry writing, along with a strong publication record and an outstanding record of teaching.”
  • At Georgia’s Augusta University (Summerville campus), the Department of English and World Languages “invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position in English specializing in creative nonfiction at the rank of Assistant Professor, beginning in August 2023. Acknowledging the importance of building a faculty that reflects the lived experiences of our students, we are particularly interested in candidates whose work is informed by diverse perspectives, including issues of race, culture, sex, and gender.”
  • “The Department of English at William & Mary, a public university of the Commonwealth of Virginia, invites applications for a non-tenure track lecturer in nonfiction Creative Writing that will begin August 10, 2023. The initial appointment will be issued for a two-year period, with subsequent renewal contingent on a successful performance review, department/program needs, and availability of funds. We seek an individual with expertise in teaching courses in modes of nonfiction writing: e.g., journalism, creative nonfiction, technical writing.”
  • At Mississippi State University, “the Department of English seeks a fiction writer for a tenure-track assistant professor position to begin on August 15, 2023. M.F.A. or Ph.D. in creative writing and college teaching experience required.”
  • Bucknell University in Pennsylvania “seeks to hire an open-rank tenure-track faculty member in English to begin August 2023. This position will specialize in creative writing: fiction, with ability to teach fiction at beginning and advanced levels, as well as special topics courses. We welcome candidates who demonstrate excellence in reflective multicultural and inclusive teaching practices and who display a strong commitment to collaboration and interdisciplinarity. MFA or Ph.D. and teaching experience along with a strong record of fiction publication required. We seek a candidate with experience in and enthusiasm for literary arts administration, potentially rotating in as future faculty director of the Stadler Center for Poetry & Literary Arts.”
  • Indiana’s DePauw University “invites applications for its Mary Rogers Field and Marion Field McKenna Distinguished Professorship in Creative Writing to begin August of 2023. This is an open-rank tenure-track position and candidates at all stages of their careers are invited to apply. Salary will be commensurate with rank and experience and will account for the distinguished nature of this appointment. Candidates should be dedicated teachers and writers of short fiction who have achieved nationally-recognized distinction in their writing and whose work explores the intersections of race, identity and the lived experiences of people from Latinx and/or African American heritages. Candidates must hold an MFA or PhD in Creative Writing.”
  • In Ohio, the English department at Kenyon College “invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track Assistant Professor position in creative writing with a specialization in fiction. We welcome candidates working in genre-fiction, including science fiction, fantasy, and young adult, as well as those with experience in other prose forms, such as creative nonfiction, science and nature writing, and journalism. We seek candidates who can broaden the English department’s curricular diversity, including candidates with artistic and pedagogical interests in gender, race, and ethnicity.”
  • “The Department of English and Comparative Literature at San Diego State University seeks a fiction writer for a tenure-track position at the assistant professor level. We are particularly interested in fiction writers who can contribute to departmental strengths in Children’s or YA literature, and/or who can expand the department’s ongoing commitment to diversity.”
  • “The Department of Creative Writing and Bilingual MFA Program at The University of Texas at El Paso invites applications from writers of Young Adult Fiction for the position of Assistant Professor in Creative Writing. The successful candidate will have published at least one Young Adult novel, be fluent in both Spanish and English, and have experience teaching creative writing. Applicants whose writing engages with historically under-represented communities will merit special consideration.”
  • In Massachusetts, the Wellesley College Department of English and Creative Writing “seeks to hire one or two visiting lecturers in spring 2023 to teach a total of two creative writing courses. Classes begin Jan. 23 and end May 3 and meet in person for 150 minutes/week. Possible courses might include short fiction, graphic fiction, creative nonfiction, writing for television, screenwriting. The salary is competitive, classes are capped at 15, and scheduling is flexible.”

And October will be here before the next Markets & Jobs post publishes. You know what that means! The October newsletter is coming soon. Subscribe (if you haven’t yet) and take one last look at the September issue over on Substack!

on a tabletop: a keyboard, a mug of coffee, and a wallet with cash, plus a text label announcing Markets and Jobs for Writers

10 thoughts on “Markets and Jobs for Writers

  1. Kirie says:

    Per my Duotrope, Absynthe is a DNQ for listing there. Thanks for what you do!

    1. Erika Dreifus says:

      Hi, Kirie. What’s “DNQ”? As I mention in this post, I found them via a recent Duotrope tweet, just a few days ago. If you click the link to Absynthe’s submissions page (linked within my post), you see that they’re open until September 30.

  2. kirie says:

    When I saw your listing, I went to my Duotrope listings and typed in the mag. It came back as follows: Absynthe Magazine DNQ

    In Duotrope itself, they won’t tell you why a mag is DNQ. It means they don’t follow Duotrope guidelines is all I can gather. Weird Duotrope would post a tweet that they’re open. I will email Duotrope and ask what’s up. As you no doubt know, they have a policy of almost immediate response.

    1. Erika Dreifus says:

      I don’t have a paid Duotrope subscription; I just follow their tweets. Here’s the one they shared a few days ago about Absynthe: https://twitter.com/Duotrope/status/1572497510975016960.

  3. Kirie says:

    Thanks, Erika. I copied and pasted the tweet and sent to Duotrope. I’ll get back to you with their response. Again, I so appreciate what you do. You are a true jewel!

    1. Erika Dreifus says:

      I think I figured it out–they seem to have added something to the listing (“September 2022”) about the limited demographic. I’ll add a note to my post above, too. Thanks for bringing it to my attention (and for the kind words!).

  4. Kirie says:

    Erika, you were right in figuring out the limited demographic was an issue. Here is Duotrope’s response to my inquiry:

    Hi, Kirie,
    We had an active listing for Absynthe until quite recently, but were alerted to the fact that they had a limited submission demographic. We therefore switched the listing to a DNQ. The tweet would have occurred before we caught the disqualifying factor and changed the listing status, as they did recently open to submissions. They do not mention the limited demographic except at the very bottom of their submission form. Please let me know if you have further questions.
    Best wishes,
    one of the Duotroopers (admin team)
    https://duotrope.com

    1. Erika Dreifus says:

      It all makes sense now!

  5. Jean Feingold says:

    The listing for Unfortunately‘s Halloween-focused Micro Contest says they will take entries until 10/1 or until they get 200, whichever comes first. I’ve seen similar entry limits in other contests. If they’ve already reached the limit, how can a submitter tell? Will Submittable just reject the submission and post a message saying they are full? Or will the submission go through as normal and just be ignored by the lit mag editors?

    1. Erika Dreifus says:

      In my experience, the free category closes and writers can no longer access it.

Comments are closed.