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Friday Find: Free Photos for Your Blog

by Erika Dreifus on
2

When I began reading this recent post on Robert Lee Brewer’s “My Name Is Not Bob” blog, I thought I was reading my own words: “I’m often slow about adopting new things. As such, I realize many bloggers already employ images in their blog posts on a regular basis.” But then Robert continued: “In fact, I even started using them more regularly in the final months of 2011 (and my traffic increased).”

Um. Well. Yes, I’ve known for awhile that I should include more photos on my blog posts. But I just haven’t been very good about doing so.

Robert’s post provided another needed push. If you’re interested in adding some imagistic life to your blog, I recommend that you read it, too. (See also the useful comments section.)

I’ve also been  encouraged–if only slightly overwhelmed–by an excellent resource that was kindly recommended to me via Twitter. My thanks to @franmerlie for sending me to “15 Best Places for Designers to Get Free Stock Photos Online.” That, my friends, is the chief Friday Find of this post.

Enjoy the weekend, and I’ll look forward to seeing you back here on Monday.

Thursday’s Work-in-Progress: Musings on and Resources for Micro-Essays

by Erika Dreifus on
8

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have caught my delighted announcement last Saturday about a just-accepted essay. In fact, last week was pretty remarkable, because I received two essay acceptances. But the Saturday acceptance was notable for a couple of reasons.

First, that acceptance came after the same piece (or some iterations of it) had been rejected several times. Nowhere near as many rejections as some of my short stories have suffered on their way to publication–but still, finding this piece a home was by no means a super-smooth (or super-swift) process. By the time this essay is published, nearly one year will have elapsed since I began sending it out.

Second, the accepted piece exemplifies something that seems increasingly integral to my writing practice: the micro-essay (also known as flash nonfiction). I have two other new micro-essays circulating right now (yes, one of them developed from the poetry exercise I mentioned not long ago). If you add up the word counts of the three pieces–the one that was just accepted and the two newer ones–you don’t even reach 1500 words.

I’m only beginning to understand how and why this focus is developing for me. Which is why I was thrilled to discover “Focusing on Flash Nonfiction: An Interview with Dinty W. Moore” on the River Teeth blog this week. Among Moore’s many hats is the editorship of Brevity: A Journal of Concise Literary Nonfiction.

In addition to sharing his expert take on crafting flash nonfiction, Moore recommends some journals that feature this type of writing. Which reminded me of two other places where one may find potential homes for micro-essays: Pamelyn Casto’s newsletter and The Review Review‘s flash fiction resource list (also useful for flash nonfiction).

I suspect that I’ll be continuing to look for nice homes for flash nonfiction (not to mention additional places to read good examples of it), so if you have other suggestions–either for resource lists or specific venues–please share! Maybe we can come up with the “Ultimate List of Magazines & Journals That Publish Flash Nonfiction & Micro-Essays.”

The Wednesday Web Browser for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
2
New Year's cake decorated by my niece. Photo © Joanna Dreifus.
  • Susan Woodring shares generous New Year’s wishes for practicing writers. Meantime, here are some excellent New Year’s resolutions from independent publicist Dana Kaye (thanks to @_joycastro for pointing me to the latter).
  • @SocialDialect recommends a post that features 10 blogs about blogging, “because we can all use more resources.”
  • The New York Times profiles the Hmong American Writers’ Circle–and its preoccupations. (See also the sample writings.)
  • The Millions previews highly anticipated books coming in 2012. (Hint for those who want to build a book-reviewing practice–you may find some forthcoming titles for review pitches here.)
  • In case you’ve ever wondered exactly what a “poetry chapbook” is, Brian Klems explains.

    • Monday Markets/Jobs/Opportunities for Writers

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled
  • Based at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, “Southern Cultures covers all aspects of the region’s mainstream and marginalized cultures—through interviews, essays, articles, personal reminiscences, poetry, fiction, reviews, and surveys on contemporary trends. We are a peer-reviewed quarterly and welcome well-written submissions year-round from authors, scholars, and anyone else with insights into our region.” Upcoming deadlines include March 5, 2012 (for the annual Music issue), and June 1, 2012 (for a Remembering the Civil War issue). Pays: “We pay $250 for essay-length pieces and $100 for shorter works.”
  • An interesting project is going on with two Canadian literary journals (both journals routinely pay their contributors). “In the fall of 2012, The Malahat Review and The Fiddlehead will celebrate the writing of each other’s regions, with the former publishing an East Coast issue and the latter a West Coast issue. Writers with strong connections to either or both regions are invited to submit to the issue that will best provide their work the most apt and safe harbor.” Submission deadline is May 15, 2012.
  • The January issue of The Practicing Writer went out to subscribers late last week. If you’re not yet a subscriber, you can read the current issue–and check out all of the no-fee competitions and paying submission calls–right here.
  • I’ve sung the praises of Duotrope.com for poets and fiction writers before: I’m delighted to see that the site will soon expand to cover creative-nonfiction markets, too!
  • Ohio University seeks an Assistant Professor of English (Creative Writing-Fiction).
  • From Hamline University (Minn.): “The Creative Writing Programs (CWP) invites applications for a tenure-track position in fiction to begin in August 2012.”
  • From Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts: “The English/Communications Department seeks candidates for a full-time, temporary faculty position in Creative Writing and Literature, to begin January 17, 2012, with the possibility of renewal. The successful candidate will teach a wide range of creative writing and literature courses and offer courses in the general education program, including composition.”
  • “The English Department at Portland State University [Ore.] invites applications for a tenure-track 1.0 FTE position as an Assistant Professor in Nonfiction Writing to begin in September 2012.”
  • California State University, Northridge, plan to hire an Assistant Professor in Screenwriting.
  • The University of Maryland University College seeks a Web Communications Writer-Editor, the University of Chicago Medical Center Development team is looking for a Senior Writer, and the National Constitution Center (Philadelphia) invites applications for an Editor-in-Chief position with Constitution Daily, the center’s blog.

    • Friday Find: What to Do Before Your Book Debuts

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    Over on the information-packed, multi-author Beyond the Margins blog, Randy Susan Meyers has begun a series of “What do Do Before Your Book Debuts” posts. The first post outlines some beginning steps; the second focuses on author websites and blogging; and in due course we’ll be reading about “Publicists, Marketing, Launch Parties, MANNERS! and more.” I’ll be following along and trying to learn what I might have done more effectively before my story collection, Quiet Americans, was published.

    Meantime, here’s wishing you all an extra-wonderful New Year’s weekend. See you back here in 2012!