Erika Dreifus

Each week (typically Fridays), the Practicing Writing blog offers writing and publishing resources, news, and reflections to peruse over the weekend.

• “My press, Terrapin Books, has been around for almost eight years. During that time, I’ve read a lot of poetry manuscripts. I’ve read lots of wonderful material. But I’ve also noticed some of the same errors being made again and again. Since most poets aspire to a full-length collection, I’ve compiled a list of tips and offer them here, hoping that they might be useful as you prepare your own manuscript submission for Terrapin or another press.” From Diane Lockward’s guest post on Mark Danowsky’s Substack.
• Via Writer’s Digest: an account from author Eve J. Chung on how the cover art for her novel “helped her connect with her own book on a deeper level and led her to connect with the original artist.”
• Some interesting observations from M.A. Orthofer on “me-me-me reviewing.”
• “I do want to write a book that can be read, a book that doesn’t silence itself by accidentally setting up landmines of language that shut the reader out. And as the war grinds on, more of the everyday language of Jewishness is being weaponized against us, making our stories harder to tell.” From “Writing Jewish Stories in a Silencing Moment,” a recent Substack post by Sarah Einstein. (Cross-posted from My Machberet, where you’ll find it among the very latest set of Jewish Literary Links.)
• And in case you’re planning to spend time this weekend seeking homes for your work: Make sure you haven’t missed any opportunities listed in the May edition of The Practicing Writer 2.0 (and in the weekly supplements that have been posted since then).

Have a good weekend, everyone.