Erika Dreifus

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

• Shared by Jane Friedman (as seen on Bluesky): “I have overhauled my cornerstone article/handout on key book publishing paths. For the last 10 years, it’s been 1 page. Now it’s 2 pages. It better covers the finer distinctions writers now encounter in the market. Free to use/share/distribute, no permission required.” Here’s the direct link.
• As promised, the January 2025 edition of The Practicing Writer 2.0 went out to subscribers right on schedule this week. Included within: 50+ fee-free, paying/funded opportunities for writers of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Also within: a re-upped featured resource (with thanks, again, to Lisa Romeo), encouraging you to incorporate the “I Did It!” list into your writing practice.
• To help you kick-start your writing year—and maybe begin taking actions that will pop up in your “I Did It!” list a year from now—here’s some no-nonsense advice from Allison K. Williams.
• As you’ll see, I should have shared these prompts from Kathy Fish’s The Art of Flash Fiction earlier (and I’d “starred” them in ye olde inbox intending to do precisely that). But just because they were intended to help you close out 2024 doesn’t mean you can’t begin using them in 2025!
• And on My Machberet, the first set of Jewish Literary Links for 2025 spotlights opportunities in the Jewish-writing space. Those items, however, are not limited to fee-free/paying-funded listings.

Wishing everyone a good weekend!