Friday Finds for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
2

Treasure ChestWriting-related resources, news, and reflections to enjoy over the weekend.

  • ICYMI: Thoughts (mine and others’) on litmag submission fees.
  • Intriguing post on what was new (and what was not so new) this seventh time Cathy Day taught her novel-writing class.
  • A reminder that there’s usually something interesting to read and learn over on the NYT “After Deadline” blog, which offers “newsroom notes on usage and style.”
  • Big congrats to John Vanderslice on the forthcoming publication of his story collection, Island Fog. Check these posts for John’s account of how this collection came to be written and found its publishing home.
  • And if you’re looking for a recorded literary event to enrich your weekend, check out this conversation between Junot Díaz and Toni Morrison, courtesy of The New York Public Library.

    • Have a great weekend, everyone.

    Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

    by Erika Dreifus on
    2
    Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen

    Every Friday morning My Machberet presents an assortment of Jewish-interest links, primarily of the literary variety.

  • Discovered via Fiction & Film for French Historians: Julie Kalman reviews An Officer and a Spy, a novel by Robert Harris that is based on the Dreyfus Affair. The book will be released in the U.S. late next month.
  • Beautiful poem, “Hineini,” by David M. Harris (scroll down).
  • Leah Falk writes about Kenneth Bonert’s novel The Lion Seeker, which, Falk explains, “tells a Jewish immigration story that never touches America, but nonetheless takes in hand this vulnerability and other difficulties in the literature and public narratives of immigration.”
  • Many thanks to Diana Bletter for hosting the December Jewish Book Carnival.
  • Finally, and in case you missed it: some smart writing about a stupid boycott.

    • Shabbat shalom.

    Wednesday’s WIP: On the Subject of Submission Fees

    by Erika Dreifus on
    40

    dollar-sign-mdOver on Grub Street Daily, Becky Tuch has a post about something we’ve surely all been noticing: “Increasingly, it’s the norm for lit mags to charge reading fees, anything from $2 to $5, in some cases $20 or more.” Tuch references a related Writer’s Relief post on “Literary Journals, ‘Reading Fees’, and You” and then shares what she discovered when she looked for what other writers are saying about the subject. “Are writers paying these fees? Are they resisting them? Why? Why not?” She collected a range of responses, which you can read for yourself.

    The end of Tuch’s post asks: “What do you think, dear hardworking writer? Is it fair to have to pay to play? Will all lit mags eventually charge reading fees? Will you never pay?”

    I was tempted to post a comment, but the comments were closed when I last checked. So here’s my response: (more…)