Monday Markets for Writers

Monday brings the weekly batch of no-fee competitions/contests, paying submission calls, and jobs for those of us who write (especially those of us who write fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction).

  • Jaggery, a DesiLit arts and literature journal, connects South Asian diasporic writers and homeland writers; we also welcome non-South Asians with a deep and thoughtful connection to South Asian countries, who bring their own intersecting perspectives to the conversation. (By South Asia we mean Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, The Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.) Our hope with Jaggery is to create a journal that offers the best writing by and about South Asians and their diaspora….We publish ART, ESSAYS, FICTION, POETRY, REVIEWS, and an advice column. We prefer original, previously unpublished submissions; we solicit reprints only in exceptional cases….We’re purchasing ongoing worldwide digital rights, for use in web and possible downloaded forms (ebook, PDF, etc.). Six months after publication, you may request to have your work removed from our online archive. We follow a blind submission review process and pay $25 for prose/poetry/art.” Hurry up if you’re interested: “The deadline for submissions for the inaugural issue is July 31st, 2013.” (via @Duotrope)
  • Blank Fiction Magazine is currently accepting submissions for our first three issues! The themes for each are: Literary Fiction, Noir Fiction and Science Fiction.” Deadline for the first (literary fiction) issue is October 15. Pays: “Blank Fiction Magazine is proud to support all of our writers with a $50 honorarium for their contribution to our pages.”
  • “Soomo Publishing, an independent publisher of college-level webtexts, seeks experienced freelance writers to contribute original commentaries on world literature. Soomo is convinced that textbooks don’t have to be boring. With this in mind, we are looking for magazine feature-type commentaries to accompany important works of pre-Renaissance-era writing. The commentaries will be included in an online world literature course, and are intended to provide historical and cultural context that is both instructive and thought-provoking. Our goal is to capture students’ imagination and introduce them to the ‘stories behind the stories.’ In terms of voice, our models include Smithsonian magazine, Wilson Quarterly, and Mental Floss’s’101 Masterpieces’ series–in short, anything that makes culture relevant, stimulating, and accessible.” Pays: “Commentaries are being assigned at 1,500 words, at a rate of $0.50/word.”
  • As announced in its latest newsletter: “Creative Nonfiction is looking for new instructors for its online classes. Responsibilities include creating written lectures, reading and responding to student work, engaging in online discussion, and answering student questions on a daily basis.”
  • Coming soon! More no-fee writing contests and paying calls for prose and poetry in the August issue of The Practicing Writer, which will go out to subscribers before week’s end. Get your copy right in your e-mailbox. It’s free, and we don’t sell, rent, or share our mailing list.
  • Algonquin Books (Chapel Hill, N.C.) is looking for an Assistant Publicist.
  • Monday Markets for Writers

    Monday brings the weekly batch of no-fee competitions/contests, paying submission calls, and jobs for those of us who write (especially those of us who write fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction).

  • Open for submissions: “Milkweed Editions is a nonprofit literary press, publishing between fifteen and twenty books each year. Founded in 1980, we have published nearly three hundred titles and are committed to attracting and retaining outstanding writers whose work is of enduring value. Our mission is to identify, nurture and publish transformative literature, and build an engaged community around it.” Considers fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and middle grade/YA. (h/t Lené A. Gary)
  • I’m not normally an enthusiastic sharer of contests that employ public voting, but I’m making an exception to tell you about the Second Annual Work Stew Essay Contest, organized by one of my college classmates (public voting leads to the selection of finalists, but a judge chooses the winner). Here’s the prompt: “Bring us into your world. What is something about your work (past or present) that outsiders typically don’t understand? It can be something required by the job, something that happens on the job, something you feel about the job—but whatever it is, do not exceed 800 words.” Prizes: 1st place, $1,000; 2nd place, $400; 3rd place, $100. As always, be sure to read the fine print! There’s no entry fee, and the deadline is July 22, 2013.
  • From Interfictions: A Journal of Interstitial Arts: “Interstitial writing breaks rules, transgresses boundaries, and cross-pollinates the fields of literature. Working between, across, through, and around the borders of literary forms, it falls between the cracks of other movements, terms, and definitions. We are looking for work that blurs the lines between literary genres (contemporary realism, mystery, historical, fantasy, speculative fiction, westerns), as well as pieces that bridge fiction and nonfiction, prose and poetry.” Submission window closes July 31, 2013. Pays: $.05/word for fiction, $20/poem, $.03/word for nonfiction. NB: “We’re also interested in interviews with boundary-crossing artists. Please query if you know someone you’d like to interview, and let us know why you think this person’s work would interest us. We seek interviews of 2000-3000 words, and pay a flat rate of $50/interview.” (h/t @Duotrope)
  • From the American Psychoanalytic Association: “The Award for Excellence in Journalism recognizes professional reporting of outstanding merit that contributes in an exceptional way to the public understanding of psychoanalytic and psychological principles and phenomena. The $1,000 award is broadly conceived. Nominated work need not be specifically about psychoanalysis or psychotherapy per se. And, nominated work may critique or question psychoanalysis as long as it advances understanding of human relationships and/or the life of the mind.” Eligibility: The submitted work “must have been written in English, intended for the layperson, and must have been first published between July 1 and June 30 for decision the following October. The deadline for submissions is September 16, 2013.”
  • “The Department of English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison seeks a fiction writer at the rank of assistant professor (tenure-track). We welcome applications from writers with excellent records of publication, teaching, and service. Candidates with administrative and fund-raising experience, and qualifications in a secondary genre (poetry, creative non-fiction, screen writing), are preferred.”
  • Monday Markets for Writers

    Monday brings the weekly batch of no-fee competitions/contests, paying submission calls, and jobs for those of us who write (especially those of us who write fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction).

  • “Flavorwire is thrilled to announce its first-ever short fiction contest. In honor of May’s National Short Story Month, we’re offering a prize of $500 for one outstanding short story.” Deadline is soon: May 17. No entry fee indicated. (h/t @taniahershman)
  • New contest from Cha: An Asian Literary Journal seeks unpublished poems on the theme of “Void.” Cash prizes (payable via Paypal) and publication in the journal. Deadline: September 15, 2013. No entry fee.
  • From Salt Publishing: “Salt is actively seeking novel submissions directly from authors. Please carefully read the guidelines [linked below]. We only wish to receive fiction submissions that meet these criteria….All works must be in English. All works must be aimed at a British market. You do not require an agent to submit to Salt. We prefer works of less than 80,000 words. Please note we are not currently accepting submissions of short stories, poetry or memoirs.”
  • “Bloomsbury Spark is a one-of-a-kind, global, digital imprint from Bloomsbury Publishing dedicated to publishing a wide array of exciting fiction eBooks to teen, YA and new adult readers. Launching in Autumn 2013 our outstanding list will feature multiple genres: romance, contemporary, dystopian, paranormal, sci-fi, mystery, thriller, and more. If you’re an author, Bloomsbury Spark is the premiere place to publish your work.
    Why? Because we are a hands-on, full-service publishing house We will publish you globally but market you locally. We are not just interested in publishing your book; we want to help craft your career. If you have a manuscript between 25 and 60k words long, then send it to us.” (via @Duotrope)
  • Poets & Writers, Inc. (New York) is looking for a Web Editor.
  • Teaching positions in poetry and fiction writing are available at The Putney School Summer Programs in Vermont. (Thanks to my friend Lené Gary for sharing this information.)
  • Friday Finds for Writers

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

  • Something that still (sometimes) stymies me: the who/whom divide.
  • On the VQR blog: Kathleen Schmidt explains “what to expect when you’re expecting to hire a book publicist.”
  • Jane Roper writes about “the book that didn’t break out, and the disease that did.”
  • Happy Short Story Month! See what Fiction Writers Review has in store.
  • A dispatch from the classroom: Natalie Wexler on why many students in the D.C. public schools can’t write.
  • I’m Boston-bound today for Grub Street’s The Muse & the Marketplace. And one of my conference co-panelists, Douglas Trevor, is featured this week over on the always-excellent Books, Personally blog. Read the Q&A.
  • Finally: some cautionary words about Bancroft Press, a publisher included in the current Practicing Writer. Check writer Betsy Robinson’s comment at the end of the Publishers Weekly article also mentioned in the newsletter.
  • Happy weekend, everyone. See you back here on Monday.