Friday Finds for Writers

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

  • Statistically speaking, it’s easier for poets and nonfiction writers to have their work accepted by Colorado Review than it is for fiction writers. But it isn’t exactly easy for anyone.
  • Some of the young ‘uns may not quite appreciate Nick Ripatrazone’s “Miss You, SASE: On Postal Submissions” as much as some of the elders among us are likely to.
  • From Publishers Lunch: “The latest VIDA statistics assessing gender representation in book reviews continue to draw comment and response. But VIDA’s lens, expanded this year to include more publications, still primarily examines periodicals and journals and overlooks the substantial body of daily and weekly book reviews in large-circulation newspapers. That’s exactly the world we have tracked for years in our Publishers Marketplace Book Reviews database (also shown via our cool Top Reviewers tool), which offers a rich data set for analysis. In examining that data over the past 5 years, there are some interesting findings that may expand on the view that VIDA has depicted.” Indeed.
  • Speaking of book reviews: I’ve always heard nice things about Laurie Hertzel, books editor for Minneapolis’s Star Tribune, so I was intrigued to discover this interview with her. (Fun fact: Hertzel is also an MFA student!)
  • And last, but absolutely not least, I recommend that you spend some time this weekend with David Gessner’s smart and thoughtful take on “The Essay’s Place.”
  • Have a great weekend, everyone. (Practicing Writer subscribers, look for your March issue to arrive shortly!)

    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).

  • The March issue of “The Practicing Writer” will go out to subscribers at week’s end, and as usual, it will be filled with information on upcoming no-fee contests and paying calls for fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. If you’re not yet a subscriber (it’s free, and the subscriber list isn’t shared), now’s an especially good time to subscribe, since I’ve just updated the e-book of “eponymous contests” (also limited to fee-free opportunities) that is an exclusive subscriber benefit.
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    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).

  • ICYMI: The February issue of The Practicing Writer went out to subscribers at the end of last week. As always, the issue is replete with information on upcoming no-fee contests and competitions for poets, fictionists, and writers of creative nonfiction, plus a slew of submission calls from paying journals/publishers.
  • “The Elizabeth Kostova Foundation offers its seventh annual summer fiction writing seminar in the ancient town of Sozopol, Bulgaria….Fiction writers from Bulgaria and fiction writers from English-speaking countries, including but not limited to the U.K. and the U.S., are invited to apply. A total number of ten applicants will be selected for participation and funding.” No application fee. Deadline: March 5, 2014.
  • Paid internship: “Bustle.com is searching for an intern to assist with its Books vertical two days per week in our Brooklyn, NY office (Wednesday availability required). Duties will include a combination of pitching and writing books features, articles, and essays, as well as checking in all new books, upkeep of the database, and research on upcoming titles. It’s a little of the glamorous stuff, a little of the necessary stuff.”
  • “The SUNY Geneseo Department of Residence Life welcomes applications for the position of Area Coordinator of Ontario Hall and Writers House. Area Coordinators are 12-month, live-on professionals who are responsible for the administration of two (2) residence halls.
  • From Tennessee: “Nashville Prep, a grade 5-12 college preparatory charter school, is immediately searching for a committed, intelligent, hard-working 7th Grade Writing Teacher.”
  • Mediabistro is looking for instructors to teach online and in New York. (NB: You must register to access the job listings.)
  • Poets & Writers, Inc., is looking for an online editorial assistant (New York).
  • “The Asian American Writers’ Workshop is looking to hire a Program Director to curate, publicize and manage literary events that are quirky, progressive, and (to use the jargon of postcolonial theory) awesome.” This position is in New York, and may be full-time or part-time.