Erika Dreifus

A couple days back I wrote about some market tips gleaned from my recent research conducted while updating our directory of paying short story markets. I held back on one piece of news, however, because something in the announcement didn’t make sense to me.

It concerned submission dates for an upcoming Southern Review special issue. So I contacted the journal and they just wrote back with a clarification. Now I can go ahead and tell you what I found!

The Southern Review announces a call for manuscripts to be considered for a winter 2007 special issue, “Writing in the South.” There’s an extensive explanation at the Web site detailing exactly what they’re looking for in fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction and criticism.

Remember, this is a paying market.

Also remember that this journal does not normally read manuscripts during June, July, and August. For this special issue, though, they’ll begin considering submissions on August 1, 2006. Submit work by October 15, and mark your envelope “Writing in the South.”

I’ve just updated our Directory of Paying Short Story Markets. And in rechecking all those magazine and journal Web sites and submission guidelines in the process, I’ve learned a few things:

1) Although it previously accepted submissions year-round, Indiana Review will be on a reading hiatus beginning May 1, lasting until the end of September.

2) Meridian, the semiannual literary journal from the University of Virginia, can no longer pay all its authors. For details, click here.

3) The Southern Review has a new Book Review Editor.

The Directory, by the way, now includes 135 markets. Check out the free preview (with sample market listings) here.

Well, now I have my own “success story” to share. If you haven’t yet seen my account of writing for family history and genealogy magazines over at WritersWeekly.com, click here to read it.

(If you have a freelance success story to share, be sure to visit the WritersWeekly guidelines to see how you might go about submitting it.)

Remember the post about The Writer magazine’s Online Poetry Spotlight project? The first selected poem is now online, along with the professional critiques that comment on it.

Hey, everyone. I’m going to take a few days off (heading away for a long weekend this evening). Look for more news right here by the middle of next week. You all be well in the meantime.