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.

• Recently re-opened: 55 Fathoms Publishing, for “submissions of book length works (40,000 to 120,000 words). Unpublished novels and nonfiction works only. We are only interested in those books written in the literary style; mainstream genre works are not a good match for us.” Compensation: $500 advance. “It is our hope that you will use this money to promote the book prior to and after its release. Although we will provide marketing, it is critical that authors help in that effort as much as possible. Once the advance is earned out, authors will be paid 20% on additional net revenues. Net revenues is fully described in our publishing contract.”
• Posted by Sagaree Jain on Twitter: “Do you have a tiny bit of word art (all genres welcome!) that you’re dying to see in print at @theoffingmag? Submit to the Micro section!! 560 character max, $25 honorarium, send it to me and K-Ming Chang” at this Submittable link. No deadline indicated. (Hat tip: The Writer’s Job Newsletter.)
• Open for submissions until July 31: The Feminist Press. “We’re particularly passionate about international literature, hybrid memoirs, and intersectional activist nonfiction, either single author or anthology, and we are looking to publish more fiction by BIPOC, queer, and trans writers in the fantasy and science-fiction genres. Our books range from hilarious to heartbreaking, from literary to playful, and are always compelling, accessible, voice-driven works that speak to our present moment and beyond. We also enjoy books that play with form and language in political ways. We especially encourage Black and Indigenous writers and other writers of color, queer and trans writers, and disabled and neuroatypical writers to submit.”
• Also until July 31: Lanternfish Press is open for “novella-length manuscripts between 20K and 40K words that fall in the mist-wreathed borderlands between literary and speculative fiction.”
• Call for pitches from Wendy C. Ortiz/Mommy’s El Camino, for “Exit Interviews”: “You interview any ex of yours: ex-housemate, partner, employer, neighbor, comrade, lover, landlord, frenemy, friend, teacher, etc., starting with the question, ‘What would you say happened there?’ regarding whatever your relationship was. There must be a baseline acquaintance level to the relationship and permission from the interviewee. Envision a neutral or better convo, keeping a curious and (ideally) generous frame. You’ll transcribe the interview and send to me for editing. Payment: $100.00. PITCHES ONLY/FIRST.” Pitch address included in the post with the call. Deadline (confirmed on Substack Notes): August 1. Note: There’s a second call within the same post, for a different (book-review-focused) feature, with a later deadline (August 15) and other differing details. (Hat tip: Submission Sunday.)
• “The Muse & the Marketplace conference series and GrubStreet are committed to making the literary world accessible to writers from all backgrounds. We are offering partial, need-based scholarships to our 2023 summer programming. There is no application fee. Tuition Scholarships cover half of the registration cost for our July publishing summit (Saturday and Sunday, July 29-30), which is $85.” Deadline to apply for the summit scholarships: July 17.
• “The application deadline for the 2024 Lanesboro Artist Residency Program is Friday, July 28, 2023 at 12 p.m. (noon) CST.” These residencies are open to “emerging artists from Minnesota and the five boroughs of New York City” and confer $1,250/week plus studio and lodging space.
• At The Missouri Review, they’re hiring a Senior Editor. “Applicants for the senior editor position must possess an expert level of professional editing work. The position’s primary function is to research, acquire, and prepare literary manuscripts for print and online journal publication.” Salary range: $65,000 – $70,000.
• “The English Department at the University of San Francisco invites applications for a one-year term Assistant Professor position in Fiction and/or Creative Nonfiction at 0.80 FTE, contingent upon funding approval. The position will begin August 2023. Candidates whose work investigates our changing American identity by centering the lives of Black, Latino/a, Asian, immigrant, LGBTQ+, and/or indigenous people and their communities are especially encouraged to apply.” Salary range: “Starting salary, Assistant Professor Step 4 $71,028.01 annualized for 0.80 FTE [full-time]; commensurate with experience.”
• At the University of California, Riverside, “the Low Residency MFA is recruiting for a part-time Visiting Assistant Professor for Fall and Winter quarters during the 2023-2024 academic year to teach Horror, Fantasy, and Science Fiction majors and those taking electives in Nonfiction. We welcome applications from writers with at least two published books from major presses and who also have significant professional experience in nonfiction, journalism, or literary criticism who are passionate about teaching in the Low Residency model, which includes online teaching and required attendance for the fall residency. We seek writers experienced in teaching students from groups historically underrepresented in higher education, such as students of color, LGBTQ+ students, and students with disabilities.” Salary: “$11,816 per course (pending budgetary approval).”
• “The MFA in Writing Program at the University of San Francisco invites applications for a pool of qualified part-time instructors to teach on-site, in-person classes for 2023. This position seeks experienced instructors of creative writing to teach one graduate-level course a semester in creative writing-a workshop, craft seminar, or directed-study thesis course. We seek instructors of poetry and nonfiction, but currently have the greatest need for fiction instructors.” Salary info: “$2,101 per unit.”
• “The Department of English in the College of Arts and Sciences at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, CT, invites applications for an Assistant Teaching Professor specializing in First-Year Writing and in Fiction Writing. We seek a student-centered individual who demonstrates a strong commitment to exceptional teaching. This position begins January 2024 and is an in-person position.”
• “The Department of English at the University of Vermont (UVM) invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position with a specialization in poetry and multicultural literature. Candidates who teach and research within fields such as Postcolonial Poetics, African- American, Africana, Latinx/e, Asian-American, Ethnic, and/or Indigenous Studies are strongly encouraged to apply.” Anticipated start date is August 22, 2024.