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 City, an online magazine published by the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, documents the pulse of metropolitan Asian America as it’s being lived on the streets of New York right now. Covered by the Wall Street Journal and NPR, a collaborative partner with the New Museum and the Museum of Chinese in America, Open City grants a $5,000 fellowship, career guidance, and publishing opportunities to five Creative Nonfiction Fellows to write and produce both short-form and long-form editorial content on the vibrant immigrant communities of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. If you’re an emerging creative nonfiction writer looking for financial support, a place to publish and career mentorship, apply to become a Creative Nonfiction Fellow.” Apply by March 25. No application fee.
  • “Issue 10 of Workers Write! will be More Tales from the Cubicle and will contain stories and poems from the office worker’s point of view. Drop us a line if you have a question. The deadline for submissions is Dec. 31, 2013 (or the issue is full). Submit your stories via e-mail to: cubicle@workerswritejournal.com, or send a hard copy to: Blue Cubicle Press, P.O. Box 250382, Plano, TX 75025-0382. Word count: 50 to 5,000 words. Payment: Between $5 and $50 (depending on length and rights requested). We will consider previously published material.” (via NewPages.com)
  • Two Dollar Radio, which publishes “books too loud to ignore,” has reopened for submissions. (via @Duotrope)
  • “Kepler’s Arts & Lectures is looking to expand its Events Team by hiring an Events Director. This is a leadership position that offers an opportunity to make a major positive impact on the cultural life of Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area overall. The position will require hands-on engagement. It is ideal for an experienced literary events producer who has significant relationships and experience and is ready to move to the next stage of his or her career.
  • “Waldorf College [Iowa] is seeking a permanent, full-time Assistant Professor of Creative Writing to direct the Creative Writing major; teach techniques and workshop courses in fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction; and mentor thesis writers.”
  • “The Department of English at Kansas State University invites applications for a visiting assistant professor serving as a one-year replacement in poetry beginning August 18, 2013.”
  • Wednesday’s Work-in-Progress: Five Highlights from AWP 2013

    AWPOn Saturday, I caught an early-morning train up to Boston and spent a lovely afternoon and evening at the annual conference of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) conference. I was not a conference presenter; I was not a Bookfair exhibitor; I did not even register for the conference this year. But a wonderful (and generous) writer friend offered me a place to crash, so I decided to take advantage the event’s relative proximity to New York (and the complimentary Bookfair access granted to the public for Saturday only).

    As always, the time I spent catching up with friends–including folks I’ve met through previous AWP conferences and typically see only in those settings–was the absolute best part of being there. But here are five other highlights from my whirlwind visit: (more…)

    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).

  • Big news from Barrelhouse: “It’s been a dream of ours since we started Barrelhouse in 2005, so we’re proud to announce that beginning with issue 12, Barrelhouse will pay contributors $50 each, along with contributor copies….We hope this marks the beginning of a new chapter for Barrelhouse and we hope you’ll join us. When the time is right, send us your best stuff (we’re open right now for fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and a special comedy issue). Come get your fifty big ones!”
  • Wesleyan Writers Conference Scholarships & Fellowships have a deadline of March 22, 2013 (received). There is no application fee; “if you are certain you will attend the Conference, however, do send the $75 deposit and registration form immediately, before completing the rest of your application. The deposit guarantees you a place at the Conference if you should not win an award.”
  • “Lake Forest College [Ill.] seeks a writer of fiction to fill a three-year visiting (non-tenure track) position in the English Department teaching courses in creative writing and developing courses in the design, production, and publication of books and journals.”
  • (more…)

    Wednesday’s Work-in-Progress: Updated Eponymous Guide to Literary Contests and Competitions

    By now, many of you know that I’m into the tenth year of publishing a free monthly newsletter for writers. Titled “The Practicing Writer,” the newsletter has evolved over time to include ONLY no-fee competitions and paying calls for submissions, plus other news and resources for writers of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. (Read the current issue.)

    Over the years, I’ve offered new newsletter subscribers an exclusive benefit: a guide to “eponymous literary contests and competitions.” I’ve previously titled this guide “From (A)lgren to (Y)eats.” But in the latest update–which I concluded a few days ago–I decided that, in keeping with my newsletter policies, I should limit the contests and competitions listed in the guide to opportunities that don’t charge fees. Sadly, I can’t find any Yeats-related contest that is also fee-free. So this edition of the guide brings a title change: “From (A)lgren to (W)illiams.”

    The guide goes out automatically to new subscribers, but the file is available to current subscribers as well. (NB: If you’re a newsletter subscriber but you have trouble accessing the file, please read this for advice. I hope that will help!)

    UPDATE, 8:00 AM: I can’t help but wonder if this post, which went live shortly after midnight, is what attracted the attention of the nefarious hacker who evidently hacked into my Yahoo! account a few hours ago. In any case, I apologize profusely for any nasty messages any of you have received from “me.” Hopefully, the situation has been remedied. Thank you for your understanding.

    Wednesday’s Work-in-Progress: Five Ways to Finish Applications for Grants, Fellowships, and Residencies

    Raise your hand out there if you have recently applied for a grant, fellowship, residency, or similar competitive opportunity. Raise two hands if you’ve applied for multiple opportunities.

    I’ve recently emerged from a series of such applications. Six applications, to be exact. I’ve already heard good news about one of them – a tuition-free seminar that begins imminently. And I’ve lost out on another (a fact I discovered only by checking the program website and finding the winners’ names posted there). But I’m waiting to hear from the others.

    Part of me thinks that I could have/should have completed even *more* applications. And part of me wonders how I managed to finish the six that have been safely submitted.

    It’s the latter part that inspires this post, because as I prepared each of my recent applications, I realized that I was benefiting from a series of lessons learned: (more…)