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By: Robert Lee Brewer,
on 2/26/2015
Confession: I don’t really keep records on Poetic Asides, but I’m pretty sure Kristina Marie Darling has the record for most poet interviews in PA history.
Kristina Marie Darling
If this is your first time hearing her name, Kristina Marie Darling is the author of over 20 books, which include Vow, Petrarchan, and Scorched Altar, all available from BlazeVOX Books. Her writing has been recognized with fellowships from Yaddo, the Ucross Foundation, and the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation, as well as grants from the Kittredge Fund and the Elizabeth George Foundation. She was recently selected as a Visiting Artist at the American Academy in Rome.
Visit her online at http://kristinamariedarling.com.
It’s been fun watching her writing evolve over the years, and in Darling’s collection Scorched Altar: Selected Poems & Stories 2007-2014, it’s now possible to get a sampling of her writing from 12 different sources.
Here are a few of the pieces you will find:
*****
Forget Revision, Learn How to Re-create Your Poems!
Do you find first drafts the easy part and revision kind of intimidating? If so, you’re not alone, and it’s common for writers to think the revision process is boring–but it doesn’t have to be!
In the 48-minute tutorial Re-Creating Poetry: How to Revise Poems, poets will learn how to go about re-creating their poems with the use of 7 revision filters that can help poets more effectively play with their poems after the first draft. Plus, it helps poets see how they make revision–gasp–fun!
******
What are you currently up to?
I’m getting ready to leave for a residency at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts and couldn’t be more excited. I’ll spend my time there working on a new collection of erasure poems, which examines the egregious amount of gender violence in Shakespeare’s tragedies. The fragmented, elliptical poems ask reader to consider whether the literature we’ve inherited has normalized gender violence, since plays like Hamlet, King Lear, and Othello are so present within the public imagination.
Part critique, part excavation, the poems are intended to redirect the focus of scholarly and readerly attention. It is when we become conscious of underlying beliefs and assumptions in culture, and their roots, that change emerges as a real possibility.
Scorched Altar is a collection of selected poems and stories published by BlazeVOX [books]. How did this collection come about?
That’s a great question. I initially contacted Geoffrey Gatza, the fabulous editor in charge of the press, to inquire about the possibility of a Selected Poems.
It turns out that Geoffrey had the same idea himself, and I simply e-mailed first. Since I had worked with BlazeVOX on numerous previous collections, I knew that my Selected Poems was in very good hands.
Was the process of selecting pieces from previous collections different than putting together a new collection?
When I compiled the poems from my previous collections for Scorched Altar, it was a much different process than working on a brand new collection. For me, writing a new poem or poetry book is an intuitive process, and I don’t reflect much on what I’m doing, at least in the drafting stage. If I allow myself to become too self-aware, that allows me to become self-critical, and then no writing gets done at all.
What I really enjoyed about the process of compiling Scorched Altar was that it prompted me to reflect on my body of work as a whole, to see patterns emerge from my writing over the past seven years, and to see progress and growth. The act of examining my poetry over the course of several years also helped me see what ideas, obsessions, and literary forms I returned to most frequently. And as a result, I came away from the process with many ideas for new projects, experiments, and poems that were completely different from anything I’d ever written before.
In many ways, the act of examining my body of work showed me what is possible within it.
Many of your pieces, especially in collections like Correspondence and Fortress, have a very visual element to how they’re arranged on the page. Do you ever perform these in readings? If so, do you have to explain how they’re set?
I think every poetry reading has some element of performance. Whether the poet shouts their poems, or sings them, or invites audience participation, I’m positive that all writers have a constructed persona, which is an extension of the work itself. With that in mind, I love performing my footnote poems at readings.
I typically read them in a completely flat, monotone voice, almost like the bad math professor that just about everyone had in college. I love seeing the audience lulled into a sense of comfort by the unexciting presentation of the work, only to be surprised by the wildly imaginative content.
You’re an active literary critic. Does this inform your writing? Help? Hinder?
I’m glad you asked about my reviewing and involvement with literary criticism. I love reviewing books, because it exposes me to poetry that is completely outside my comfort zone. This is great because it helps me question and interrogate what I normally do in my own writing. It pushes me to try new things and experiment more within my own practice. And it helps me see more clearly where my poems fit within the larger literary community.
The best thing about reviewing, though, is that it helps build relationships within publishing and writing. I’ve met friends, collaborators, and even mentors when working on reviews. And there’s nothing better than free books!
You’ve published 17 collections now. How do you keep the writing flame lit?
By reading and reviewing other poets. As long as you’re constantly being exposed to new ideas, literary forms, and aesthetics, you’ll always have something to write about.
I also run a small press, Noctuary Press, which has been great for my own creative practice. The press primarily publishes women’s writing that takes places across and beyond genre categories. Although I pride myself on my ability to question genre distinctions, reading submissions for the press has shown me the tremendous variety inherent in contemporary cross-genre writing by women. My work as editor has helped me see what’s possible within the hybrid forms I typically inhabit, and it’s a great deal more than I had initially envisioned.
One poet who no one knows but should–who is it?
Erin Bertram. She has several magnificent chapbooks out, including one from Kristy Bowen’s fabulous Dancing Girl Press. I’m just waiting for someone to realize that her first full-length book needs to be published (so I can buy it and read it!).
Who (or what) are you currently reading?
I’m very excited to check out Donna Stonecipher’s Model City and Dawn Lonsinger’s Whelm. I also just picked up Olena Kalytiak Davis’s newest collection, which I’ve been eagerly awaiting for quite some time.
And if you haven’t checked out Carl Adamshick’s Saint Friend, just published by McSweeney’s Books, then you sure are missing out. It’s a terrific collection, even better than his first book, Curses & Wishes.
And usually I ask for one piece of advice for poets, but we’ve done a few interviews together now. So instead, and this is probably still one piece of advice for poets, I’m going to ask you about your amazing organization and follow-up abilities, because you do a better job than most. Could you share how you stay organized and on task for writing, submitting, following up, etc.?
I’m probably going to out myself as a total nerd with this answer, but here goes: Excel Spreadsheets. I keep track of everything (applications I’ve submitted, review copies sent, deadlines for applications) in a couple of gigantic spreadsheets.
If I could offer one piece of advice to poets, I’d say keep records of where you send your work, whether it’s review copies, applications, or poems. If you don’t remember where you sent something, then there’s no way you’ll ever be able to follow up with the decision maker.
And believe me, persistence pays off, especially in small press publishing.
*****
Robert Lee Brewer is the editor of Poet’s Market and author of Solving the World’s Problems. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
*****
By: Robert Lee Brewer,
on 2/25/2015
I’ve been a bit careless today. You see, I took the day off (the kids got a snow day today), and I didn’t get my poem-prompt written this morning. However, I’ve still got a solid 30 minutes of writing time left, soooooo…
For this week’s prompt, write a careless poem. That’s right, a careless poem. It’s funny; I actually had this prompt planned out weeks in advance. Somehow, I must’ve known life was going imitate art–or vice versa.
*****
2015 Poet’s Market
Publish your poetry!
Get the most trusted guide to publishing your poetry: the 2015 Poet’s Market!
Edited by Robert Lee Brewer, this edition of Poet’s Market includes articles on the craft of poetry, business of poetry, and promotion of poetry. Plus, interviews with poets and original contemporary poems. Oh yeah, and hundreds of poetry publishing opportunities, including book publishers, chapbook publishers, magazines, journals, online publications, contests, and so much more!
*****
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Content Editor of the Writer’s Digest Writing Community and author of the poetry collection, Solving the World’s Problems (Press 53). He edits Poet’s Market, Writer’s Market, and Guide to Self-Publishing, in addition to writing a free weekly WritersMarket.com newsletter and poetry column for Writer’s Digest magazine.
After writing today’s poem, he’s suddenly paranoid that he really did leave everything unlocked, but he’s reassured that he has nothing much of value for folks to take anyway.
Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
*****
By: Chuck Sambuchino,
on 2/24/2015
Reminder: New literary agents (with this spotlight featuring Amanda Leuck of Spencerhill Associates) are golden opportunities for new writers because each one is a literary agent who is likely building his or her client list.
About Amanda: Amanda Leuck started her career in various facets of the media, including work on a TV talk show, at a fashion magazine, as a print journalist, and as an on-air traffic reporter. After graduating from New York University, Amanda went on to study literacy and literature at the post-graduate level. It was then that she developed a passion for the publishing industry. Amanda started at Spencerhill Associates as an editorial assistant, and was promoted to agent in August 2014. Her Twitter handle is @MandiLeone.
(Learn why “Keep Moving Forward” may be the best advice for writers everywhere.)
Amanda is seeking: strong, character-driven stories, written with an unforgettable voice. She’s looking for literary and commercial YA, new adult fiction, urban fantasy, and romance in all genres, including edgy romantic suspense, contemporary and paranormal with a fresh twist.
How to submit: Send all submissions to submission [at] spencerhillassociates.com. Send the query letter in the body of the email. Address the query to Amanda. Include the pitch, and information about past publishing credits in the letter. Attach a detailed synopsis, and attach the first three chapter in .doc, rtf or txt format to the email.
(How long should a synopsis be? Is shorter or longer better?)
The biggest literary agent database anywhere
is the Guide to Literary Agents. Pick up the
most recent updated edition online at a discount.
Other writing/publishing articles & links for you:
Your new complete and updated instructional guide
to finding an agent is finally here: The 2015 book
GET A LITERARY AGENT shares advice from more
than 110 literary agents who share advice on querying,
craft, the submission process, researching agents, and
much more. Filled with all the advice you’ll ever need to
find an agent, this resource makes a great partner book to
the agent database, Guide to Literary Agents.
By: Jessica Strawser,
on 2/24/2015
I had a dear friend who had a gift for telling stories about her day. She’d launch into one, and suddenly everyone around her would hush up and lean in, knowing that whatever followed would be pure entertainment. A story of encountering a deer on the highway would involve interludes from the deer’s point of view. Strangers who factored into her tales would get nicknames and imagined backstories of their own. She could make even the most mundane parts of her day—and everyone else’s—seem interesting. She didn’t aspire to be a writer, but she was a born storyteller.
The term creative nonfiction often brings to mind essays that read like poems, memoirs that read like novels, a lyrical way of interpreting the world around us. But the truth is that writing nonfiction—from blog posts to routine news reports to business guides—can (and should) be creative work. And the more creativity you bring to any piece, the better it’s likely to be received, whether your target reader is a friend, a website visitor, an editor or agent, or the public at large.
The March/April 2015 Writer’s Digest goes on sale today—and this issue delves into the creative sides of many types of nonfiction.
“Narrative nonfiction has become more in-demand because it provides additional value; it’s entertaining and educational,” explains agent Laurie Abkemeier in our narrative nonfiction roundtable. “There are many forms of entertainment vying for our attention, and the ones that give us the highest return for our time and money investment are the ones that we gravitate toward.”
So give your readers that amazing return. The articles packed into this informative, diverse and boundary-pushing issue will show you how. Download the complete issue right now, order a print copy, or find it on your favorite newsstand through mid-April.
Jessica Strawser
Editor, Writer’s Digest Magazine
Follow me on Twitter @jessicastrawser
By: Chuck Sambuchino,
on 2/23/2015
How do you hook an agent right away, keep them hooked, and make the most of your new publishing relationship? In this Boot Camp starting March 23, 2015, “How to Find and Keep a Literary Agent,” you’ll learn how to get a literary agent’s attention through a great submission, and also how to navigate the process of working successfully with an agent. You’ll also work with an agent online (the instructing agents are from Sandra Dijkstra Literary) to review and refine your all-important query letter and the first 5 pages of your novel. As always, seats in the boot camp are limited, and many WD camps sell out — so consider signing up sooner rather than later. The March 23 camp is a great opportunity to get professional feedback on your writing.
This Boot Camp will cover a range of important questions:
— What keeps an agent reading? What makes writing jump off the page?
— What are the most common Chapter 1 mistakes that make them stop reviewing your submission?
— What are the steps you need to give your query and manuscript the best possible shot?
— What are the turn-on’s and turn-offs when it comes to queries?
— How do agents make judgment calls?
— And much more.
With real-life examples of queries that do and don’t work, you will learn how you can refine your own query letter and get an agent to request your novel.The world of literary agencies can be an intimidating place. You’ll be lead through the inner-workings of finding the perfect literary agent, working with an agent and how to get the most out of your relationship. See what a day in the life of an agent looks like, and get tips about how to find your perfect author-agent match that will result in a successful partnership.
The best part is that you’ll be working directly with a knowledgeable and experienced agent, who will provide feedback specific to your work. (Sign up for the boot camp here.)
Here’s how it works:
On March 23, you will gain access to a special 60-minute online tutorial presented by agents at the Dijkstra Literary Agency. It will explain the submission process of submitting to an agent, what they find appealing in a query letter and what an author-agent relationship looks like from the inside. You will also be notified by email which agent you’ll be working with Monday afternoon.
From 11:00 am to 1:00 pm (PT) on both March 24 and March 25, instructors will be available to answer questions and provide additional feedback via the Writer’s Digest University message boards. Only registered students can access these boards. You’ll also be able to ask question of your fellow students. Feel free to share your work and gain support from your peers.
After listening to the presentation and participating in the discussion sessions, you’ll be able to revise your query & first 5 double-spaced pages as necessary. Then, you’ll email those pages directly to Jill Marr, Elise Capron, Thao Le, Jessica Watterson, or Roz Foster, by the end of the day on Thursday, March 26. They will spend 15 days reviewing their assigned critiques and providing feedback as to what works and what doesn’t.
Please note that any one of the instructing agents may ask for additional pages if the initial submission shows serious promise. (Sign up for the boot camp here.)
In addition to feedback from instructing agents, attendees will also receive:
— Download of “An Agent’s Tips on Story Structures that Sell,” an on-demand webinar by Andrea Hurst
1-year subscription to the WritersMarket.com literary agent database
PLEASE NOTE: No Additional discounts are available. All sales are final. If you have a preferred agent you would like to work with, please notify WDU after registering.
RECAP ON DATES:
Monday, March 23 – Access to Tutorial
March 24 and March 25 – Blackboard Discussion 11 am to 1 pm (PT)
Thursday, March 26 – Materials due to agents
April 9 – All critiqued materials due back to attendees
About the Instructors:
ELISE CAPRON is an acquiring agent at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. She also manages the SDLA office and works closely with Sandra Dijkstra on author development and management. She is most interested in serious, character-driven literary fiction and well-written narrative non-fiction (particularly serious history with a good story).
A graduate of Emerson College, Elise holds a BFA in Writing, Literature and Publishing, and served on the editorial staff of the Emerson Review for several years. She interned at Harcourt and the Dijkstra Agency before joining the agency full-time in late 2003.
Elise is interested in fiction that has unforgettable writing, a terrific narrative voice/tone, and memorable characters. She loves novels with an unusual or eccentric edge and is drawn to stories she has never heard before. She aims to work with writers who are getting their work published regularly in magazines and who have a realistic sense of the market and their audience. Some of Elise’s recent and soon-to-be-published fiction titles include Tiphanie Yanique’s Land of Love and Drowning (Riverhead) andHow to Escape from a Leper Colony (Graywolf); Courtney Brkic’s The First Rule of Swimming(Little, Brown); Rachel Toor’s On The Road to Find Out (FSG); Jonathon Keats’ The Book of the Unknown (Random House); Rikki Ducornet’s Netsuke (Coffee House Press); Maureen McHugh’sAfter the Apocalypse(Small Beer Press), which was picked as a “Top 10 Best of the Year” byPublishers Weekly; Ali Liebegott’s The IHOP Papers (Carroll & Graf); Peter Plate’sSoon the Rest Will Fall (Seven Stories Press); and more.
On the non-fiction front, Elise is looking for fascinating true stories told in a compelling way. Currently, Elise is especially interested in working with up-and-coming scholars (particularly historians) who are looking to transition from the academic market to a trade readership. Some of Elise’s recent and soon-to-be-published non-fiction titles include Jack Shuler’s The Thirteenth Turn: A History of the Noose (Public Affairs) andBlood and Bone: Truth and Reconciliation in a Southern Town (University of South Carolina Press); Leo Braudy’s Haunted; Jane Vandenburgh’s The Wrong Dog Dream: A True Romance (Counterpoint); Jonathon Keats’ Forged: Why Fakes Are the Great Art of Our Age (Oxford University Press); Cynthia Barnett’s Blue Is the New Green: An American Water Ethic(Beacon); Billy Smith’s Ship of Death: The Voyage That Changed the Atlantic World (Yale); and more.
Please note that Elise is specifically not interested in: fantasy, young-adult/middle-grade, picture books, romance, sci-fi, business books, cookbooks, poetry, religious/spiritual books, screenplays, or self-help. And while she is interested in narrative non-fiction, please note that she takes on very little memoir.
JILL MARR is an acquiring agent at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.
She graduated from San Diego State University with a B.A. in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing and a minor in History. She has a strong Internet and media background and nearly 15 years of publishing experience. She wrote features and ads forPages, the literary magazine for people who love books, and continues to write book ads for publishing houses, magazine pieces, and promotional features for television.
After writing ad copy and features for published books for years, she knows how to find the “hook” and sell it.
Jill is interested in commercial fiction, with an emphasis on mysteries, thrillers, romantic suspense and horror, women’s commercial fiction and historical fiction. She is also looking for non-fiction by authors who are getting their work published regularly and who have a realistic sense of the market and their audience. Jill is looking for non-fiction projects in the areas of history, sports, politics, current events, self-help, cookbooks, memoir, health & nutrition, pop culture, humor and music.
Some of Jill’s recent and soon-to-be-published non-fiction includes the Travel Channel’s Nick Groff’s Chasing Spirits (NAL); Maybe We’ll Have You Back (Skyhorse) by actor Fred Stoller; Get Over It (Seal Press) by Christina Pesoli; Doulas A. Wissing’s Funding Our Enemy(Prometheus Books); Why We Love Serial Killers (Skyhorse) by Scott Bonn;America’s Greatest “Failing” School(Nation Books) by journalist Kristina Rizga; Don’t Lick the Minivan (Skyhorse) by Leanne Shirtliffe; William Jones’More Than the Dream: The Untold Story of the March on Washington (Norton);Rocking the Pink(Seal Press) by singer-songwriter Laura Roppé; Stop Reading Baby Books (Skyhorse) by JJ Keith;Drunks: America’s Search for Sobriety by Christopher Finan; andArgyle Armada: Life with America’s Top Pro Cycling Team (VeloPress) by Mark Johnson.
Some of Jill’s new and upcoming fiction includes Bloodman and American Woman (Thomas & Mercer) by Robert Pobi; Reckless Disregard(Seven Stories Press) by Robert Rotstein; Three Souls (HarperCollins) by Janie Chang;Madam(Plume) by Cari Lynne and Kellie Martin; The Cordell Logan thriller series (The Permanent Press) by David Freed; Benefit of the Doubt (Tor/Forge) by Neal Griffin; Garbo’s Last Stand (Entranced) by Jon Miller; The Crossroads thriller series (Thomas & Mercer) by Eyre Price; The Dog Year (Berkley) by Ann Garvin; The Change Your Name Store (Sky Pony Press) by Leanne Shirliffe; and the Jaden Terrell series that includes the Shamus Award nomineeRacing the Devil and A Cup Full of Midnight (The Permanent Press).
Please note that Jill is specificallynot interested in:YA, children’s books, sci-fi, romance or anything involving unicorns.
ROZ FOSTER is an acquiring agent at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. She works from New York.
She has a B.A. in English Literature from UC San Diego, studied philosophy for a year at the University of Sheffield, U.K., and earned her M.A. in English, with an emphasis in composition & rhetoric and creative writing, from Portland State University. At PSU, she taught writing in exchange for tuition. She’s been learning French since 2009.
Roz spent over five years as a qualitative researcher in high-tech consumer products marketing. In 2008, she co-founded a web design company for which she provided non-profit organizations with audience-focused market research, project planning, and digital design. She joined SDLA in 2013.
Roz is interested in non-fiction in the areas of cultural studies, sociology, business, history, politics, current affairs, science and design. She looks for driven, narrative storytelling and sharp concepts that have the potential to transcend their primary audience. She’s also interested in literary and commercial fiction, literary YA with crossover potential for the adult market, and literary sci-fi. In fiction, she looks for a resonant, lively voice; rich, irresistible language; characters with compelling development arcs; and a mastery of dramatic structure. Across the board, she’s looking for books that make her feel like the author is tuned into a rising revolution — cultural, political, literary, or what not — that’s about to burst on the scene.
Please note that Roz is specifically not interested in: sports, cookbooks, screenplays, poetry, romance, fantasy, or children’s books.
THAO LE joined the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency in 2011. She handles finances and select contracts and is also an agent.
Thao is looking for adult sci-fi/fantasy/horror, NA (new adult), YA (young adult), and MG (middle grade). She enjoys both gritty, dark narratives and fantastically quirky stories. She is also looking for light-hearted, funny, and moving contemporary YAs with a raw, authentic teen voice. She’s particularly drawn to memorable characters, smart-mouthed dialogue, strong plots, and tight writing. Her favorite books are ones that reimagine familiar tales and tropes in a completely fresh new way and she has a soft spot for multicultural stories and lush settings.
Recent sales include: Katherine Harbour’s fantasy THORN JACK (Harper Voyager), Lisa Freeman’s surf YA novel HONEY GIRL (Sky Pony Press), IPPY Award-winning S.K. Falls’ new adult novel ONE LAST SONG (Forever Yours), James Kendley’s paranormal thriller THE DROWNING GOD (Harper Voyager Impulse), Wendy Spinale’s steampunk Peter Pan retelling EVERLAND (Scholastic), and Kathryn Tanquary’s middle grade fantasy THE NIGHT PARADE (Sourcebooks).
Thao is not looking for: biographies, business books, cookbooks, memoirs, picture books, poetry, religious/spiritual books, screenplays, self-help, short stories, or travel books.
JESSICA WATTERSON graduated from the University of California at Irvine with a degree in Sociocultural Anthropology and English. Jessica has made books a serious part of her life for many years. Jessica is most interested in all subgenres of adult and new adult romance, and women’s fiction. She is looking for heartfelt and unique romance that will instantly draw a reader in and keep them hooked.
(Sign up for the boot camp here.)
Add a Comment
By: Robert Lee Brewer,
on 2/23/2015
First poetic form challenge of 2015, and it’s a doozy! This time, we’ll be tackling the paradelle. Click here to check out how to write a paradelle.
This crazy form created by Billy Collins started as a joke, but it’s target audience (poets!) are gluttons for punishment and a real poetic challenge. And, well, these WD Poetic Form Challenges are supposed to be a challenge too, right? Just remember: I didn’t create this form.
So start writing them and sharing here on the blog (this specific post) for a chance to be published in Writer’s Digest magazine–as part of the Poetic Asides column. (Note: You have to log in to the site to post comments/poems; creating an account is free.)
Here’s how the challenge works:
******
2015 Poet’s Market
Publish your poetry!
Get the most trusted guide to publishing your poetry: the 2015 Poet’s Market!
Edited by Robert Lee Brewer, this edition of Poet’s Market includes articles on the craft of poetry, business of poetry, and promotion of poetry. Plus, interviews with poets and original contemporary poems. Oh yeah, and hundreds of poetry publishing opportunities, including book publishers, chapbook publishers, magazines, journals, online publications, contests, and so much more!
*****
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Content Editor of the Writer’s Digest Writing Community and author of the poetry collection, Solving the World’s Problems (Press 53). He edits Poet’s Market, Writer’s Market, and Guide to Self-Publishing, in addition to writing a free weekly WritersMarket.com newsletter and poetry column for Writer’s Digest magazine. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
*****
By: Robert Lee Brewer,
on 2/20/2015
Thank you to everyone who submitted a gogyohka! I’ve been sitting on the winner and already have the erasure winner ready too (look for that next week).
My initial short list included nearly 50 poems, so it was crazy competitive (like usual). But I did cut it down to one winner and 10 finalists. This time around Marian O’Brien Paul won for her poem “Parsing Autumn,” which was actually a gogyohka chain.
Parsing Autumn, by Marian O’Brien Paul
In our courtyard
two locust trees
one drenching us
with gold
before the other
Slate-gray lake
lounging
beneath the sky
mirror image:
a selfie
On the ground
a dead squirrel
its tail still bushy
body curled
as if sleeping
Pumpkins piled
into mounds
at markets
promising pies
Jack-O’Lanterns
*****
2015 Poet’s Market
Publish your poetry!
Get the most trusted guide to publishing your poetry: the 2015 Poet’s Market!
Edited by Robert Lee Brewer, this edition of Poet’s Market includes articles on the craft of poetry, business of poetry, and promotion of poetry. Plus, interviews with poets and original contemporary poems. Oh yeah, and hundreds of poetry publishing opportunities, including book publishers, chapbook publishers, magazines, journals, online publications, contests, and so much more!
*****
Congratulations to Marian and everyone in the Top 10! And thank you to everyone who took the time to participate and comment on each others’ poems.
As mentioned above, an announcement on the erasure challenge is coming soon. In the meantime, watch for the next poetic form and poetic form challenge.
Also, be sure to read through all the comments from the gogyohka challenge. Click to continue.
*****
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Content Editor of the Writer’s Digest Writing Community and author of the poetry collection, Solving the World’s Problems (Press 53). He edits Poet’s Market, Writer’s Market, and Guide to Self-Publishing, in addition to writing a free weekly WritersMarket.com newsletter and poetry column for Writer’s Digest magazine.
He loves reading and writing the various poetic forms and can’t wait for the next April Poem-A-Day Challenge (not far away now).
Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
*****
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By: Brian A. Klems,
on 2/18/2015
For today’s prompt, write a treat poem. I guess this could be a trick or treat poem, or a poem about treating yourself (or another person) to something nice. I entreat you to have fun with it. Perhaps, we could sign a treaty to make it official and then shout it from the tallest “treet”ops. Okay, getting a little carried away, but hey, that’s what Wednesday poems are for, right?
*****
2015 Poet’s Market
Publish your poetry!
Get the most trusted guide to publishing your poetry: the 2015 Poet’s Market!
Edited by Robert Lee Brewer, this edition of Poet’s Market includes articles on the craft of poetry, business of poetry, and promotion of poetry. Plus, interviews with poets and original contemporary poems. Oh yeah, and hundreds of poetry publishing opportunities, including book publishers, chapbook publishers, magazines, journals, online publications, contests, and so much more!
*****
“treats”
tell me a secret
and let it rest on my mind
near all the others–
keeping my new prisoner
and hoping it won’t escape
*****
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Content Editor of the Writer’s Digest Writing Community and author of the poetry collection, Solving the World’s Problems (Press 53). He edits Poet’s Market, Writer’s Market, and Guide to Self-Publishing, in addition to writing a free weekly WritersMarket.com newsletter and poetry column for Writer’s Digest magazine.
He just enjoyed/survived a five-day weekend that included an aircraft carrier, submarine, destroyer, tight sleeping quarters, and an ice storm.
Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
*****
By: Brian A. Klems,
on 2/15/2015
Reminder: New literary agents (with this spotlight featuring Victoria Selvaggio of Jennifer De Chiara Literary) are golden opportunities for new writers because each one is a literary agent who is likely building his or her client list.
About Victoria: Victoria A. Selvaggio joins The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency as an Associate Agent with a strong background in business ownership and over six years of actively working as a volunteer and Regional Advisor for SCBWI: Northern Ohio. Drawn to the publishing scene first as an author writing all genres, with her most recent publication in the 2015 Children’s Writer’s and Illustrator’s Market, Vicki’s passion for honing the craft carried over into reading manuscripts for the agency. Currently, she is excited to read compelling manuscripts that will resonate with her long after she’s done.
(Hate writing synopses? Here are nuts & bolts pointers for you.)
She is seeking: “I am currently looking for all genres (lyrical picture books, middle grade and young adult fiction, new adult, mysteries, suspense, thrillers, paranormal, fantasy, narrative nonfiction, adult fiction), but find I’m drawn to middle grade and young adult. I especially love thrillers and all elements of weird, creepy stuff. If it’s out of the box, and it will make me think and think, long after I’m done reading, send it to me. On the flip side, I yearn for books that make me laugh, cry and wonder about the world.”
How to submit: Please e-mail a query to vselvaggio [at] windstream.net. Put “Query” in the subject line of your e-mail. For queries regarding children’s and adult fiction, please send the first twenty pages in the body of your e-mail, along with a one-paragraph bio and a one-paragraph synopsis.
For queries regarding a nonfiction book, please attach the entire proposal as a Word document (the proposal should include a sample chapter), along with a one-paragraph bio and a one-paragraph synopsis of your book in the body of your email.
“I usually respond within three to six months. If you haven’t received a response after six months, feel free to query me again.”
(Do you need different agents if you write multiple genres?)
The biggest literary agent database anywhere
is the Guide to Literary Agents. Pick up the
most recent updated edition online at a discount.
Other writing/publishing articles & links for you:
Your new complete and updated instructional guide
to finding an agent is finally here: The 2015 book
GET A LITERARY AGENT shares advice from more
than 110 literary agents who share advice on querying,
craft, the submission process, researching agents, and
much more. Filled with all the advice you’ll ever need to
find an agent, this resource makes a great partner book to
the agent database, Guide to Literary Agents.
By: Brian A. Klems,
on 2/13/2015
“If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” ― Toni Morrison
I’ve always loved Morrison’s saying. The idea that everyone has the potential to write his or her own favorite book is an appealing one, and it’s natural that writers will want to write the kind of books they like to read. But it’s not always as simple as that. What if you enjoy reading about courtroom dramas, and you’re not a lawyer or a judge? What if you love the idea of creating layers to your novel by using architecture, but you’re not an architect?
How do you write the book you want to read if you’re not an expert in the field? Here are a few tricks I learned while writing my debut novel, THE SECRETS OF MIDWIVES:
Column by Sally Hepworth. A graduate of Monash University, Melbourne,
Australia, Sally started writing novels after the birth of her first child. She has
lived around the world, spending extended periods in Singapore, the U.K.,
and Canada, and she now writes full-time from her home in Melbourne,
where she lives with her husband and two young children. Her debut US
novel is THE SECRETS OF MIDWIVES (St. Martin’s, Feb. 2015), a novel
about three generations of midwives that author Liane Moriarty described
as “women’s fiction at its finest.” Connect with Sally on Twitter.
1) Start by making a list of ALL the elements in the book you want to read
The book you want to read is more than just ‘courtroom drama’ or ‘architecture’ or ‘midwives’. While planning your novel, think about all the things that excite you when you read. Do you like a bit of romance? Some mystery? An unforeseen plot twist? (Remember: It’s okay to have more than one of these in your novel, in fact, it’s a good idea). Look at your favorite books and see what they have in common. Ask yourself: what drives the plot in the books I like to read?
Once you have your answers, make a list.
It will look something like this:
– Mystery
– Menace
– High stakes – death?
– Romance
This list will become your roadmap to writing the book you want to read. And once you have your roadmap…
2) If you are not an expert in your chosen topic, read widely
The best way to sound like you know what you’re talking about is to know what you’re talking about. In preparation for writing your novel, read as widely as you can about your topic—fiction and non-fiction—until the terminology and practices become second nature. As you read, keep your list (point 1) at the forefront of your mind, making notes of how you can incorporate what you’ve learned to create mystery and menace, heighten the stakes, and test the romances you’ve created.
(When can you finally call yourself a writer?)
3) Enlist an expert
Books are a wonderful start when researching a topic, but nothing will ever beat a flesh and blood expert. If you already know that person, wonderful. If not, don’t panic. I’ve found that when I tell people I am writing a novel, they are generally happy to answer my questions as long as I am respectful of their time. I always follow up with a small gift or note of thanks (particularly important if you want to ask them again.)
4) Stop talking to your experts
When it’s time to start the actual writing, focus on the story. If you’ve immersed yourself in enough research you’ll be surprised by how much knowledge you’ll bring to the page. Now is not the time to double-check the type of gasoline your protagonist’s car would take or what kind of plants would grow in the garden at this time of year. Write the scene as best as you can and mark areas with an X that need to be followed up on or fact-checked. And remember, when it comes down to it, you’re writing a novel not a text-book. Readers will forgive you for making a few mistakes if your novel is gripping enough.
5) Don’t lose sight of what your book is really about
Sometimes, in an attempt to jam everything on your list into your book, your plot can start to feel random. But the book you want to read should be bigger than its topic, or the sum of its plot points. The theme is what your book is really about…in effect, it is the glue that holds your novel together. Sometimes the theme presents itself right away, and other times you don’t see it until the second or third draft. Regardless of timing, when your theme emerges, grab it and use it to add meaning and layers to your plot. And when your plot is more than what happens next, guess what? You have a novel. Maybe even a great one. Maybe even the book you want to read.
(Should You Sign With a New Literary Agent? Know the Pros and Cons)
This guest column is a supplement to the
“Breaking In” (debut authors) feature of this author
in Writer’s Digest magazine. Are you a subscriber
yet? If not, get a discounted one-year sub here.
I (Chuck) Will Instruct At These Great Writing Events Soon:
Your new complete and updated instructional guide
to finding an agent is finally here: The 2015 book
GET A LITERARY AGENT shares advice from more
than 110 literary agents who share advice on querying,
craft, the submission process, researching agents, and
much more. Filled with all the advice you’ll ever need to
find an agent, this resource makes a great partner book to
the agent database, Guide to Literary Agents.
Add a Comment
By: Chuck Sambuchino,
on 2/11/2015
I’ve been selling books for more than fifteen years and learning to write novels even longer. Of all the author readings and Q&A sessions I’ve hosted (and attended), one of the most common questions among beginning writers, even curious readers, is this: Do you start with an outline?
You’ve heard the pros and cons. An outline helps organize your thoughts and prevents you from spinning your wheels and traveling down dead-end storylines. The flipside, of course, is that constructing an outline boxes you in and limits the possibility of discovery, which is the most creative and rewarding part of writing.
Column by Jamie Kornegay, author of SOIL, to be released March 10,
2015, from Simon & Schuster. The book, a combination of literary suspense
and Southern gothic, was called “gripping” and “haunting” by Kirkus Reviews.
He lives in the Mississippi Delta, where he runs an independent bookstore,
Turnrow Book Co. Connect with him on Twitter — @JamieKornegay.
First, it’s important to note that there are no ironclad rules to novel writing. Every writer works differently and stumbles upon his or her preferred method through trial and error. The novel, rather than writing advisers, should tell you what it needs.
The traditional term paper outline, with its Roman numerals and letters, is helpful to organize a finite amount of information, but a novel is more amorphous. I couldn’t begin to collect a novel’s potential in an outline, though I certainly understand the impulse. There’s something terrifying about the blank page and its stark white emptiness. What could you put there that anyone would want to read?
It’s only natural that a writer would wish to escape such a daunting task. If an outline is a way to get the paper dirty, then go for it. Just remember that those first scratchings are exploration. Don’t lock yourself into a story that you haven’t discovered through hard work. The wheel-spinning and dead ends and wasted time are part of discovering what your book is about, and if you bypass that, you’re opting for ease and convenience over depth of storytelling. Nothing worthwhile comes easy.
After the spark of an idea, the fuel for your story is character. If you don’t yet know the character as intimately as you know your best friends, then how can you decide what that character will do when matched with the conflicts of the novel?
While imagining your characters, you will naturally develop scenes and storylines and bits of history. Once these begin to accumulate, then you have something to attach to an outline. For me, an outline is an expression of the novel’s structure, which gradually reveals itself, like hacking a totem out of simple log.
My first published novel, Soil, began like many other books – with a single image. I was driving past flooded farmland and saw a stump sticking out of the muck. For a fleeting moment, I thought it was a corpse. What if it had been? That would be a nightmare to deal with. I began to imagine a landowner happening upon the body, growing scared and paranoid. He might worry about becoming a suspect. What if he didn’t tell anyone, just got rid of it? How would he cover it up completely, taking every precaution so that no trace of it would be discovered? This kind of morbid daydreaming is the stuff of novels.
I reasoned out creative answers to my own tough questions. I slowly began to understand the main character, his motivations and obsessions. I wrote wasted pages and dead ends galore. Eventually I found the right path. I could feel the story gaining traction as new characters arrived and ideas poured forth. It was time to make the outline.
I kept my outline informal, intuitive. I used the outline almost like flypaper to trap scenes and ideas that were coming quicker than words, as my characters were finally alive and could make their own decisions about the story.
The outline helped me negotiate the tricky framework of Soil, which is told somewhat out of sequence. It’s one of my favorite aspects of the book. The structure came out of a desire to maintain that initial sense of mystery I felt after discovering the “body” in the field, all the hows and whys and the slow discovery of my characters’ secrets and motivations.
The novel is divided into five sections comprised of several chapters each. Each section opens with a strange, hopefully compelling episode, and then goes back in time to reveal how the characters reached this point. I thought this looping effect generated a nice suspense, and it also informed the deeper themes of Soil, specifically the cycles of nature and our inevitable return to the earth. If I did my job right, then the complicated structure should not present a stumbling block to the reader. It took careful planning, and my own specially designed outline.
The book I’m currently working on has a linear structure, told over the course of a week. Each chapter is a day, and understanding that from the outset allows me to work out of sequence easily, depending of what inspiration strikes me or what I find during my day-to-day life to steal and apply to the novel.
Just remember that an outline shouldn’t decide the story, your characters do that. An outline is where you string up the pieces to see the big picture and make your novel is a coherent whole.
This guest column is a supplement to the
“Breaking In” (debut authors) feature of this author
in Writer’s Digest magazine. Are you a subscriber
yet? If not, get a discounted one-year sub here.
Other writing/publishing articles & links for you:
Your new complete and updated instructional guide
to finding an agent is finally here: The 2015 book
GET A LITERARY AGENT shares advice from more
than 110 literary agents who share advice on querying,
craft, the submission process, researching agents, and
much more. Filled with all the advice you’ll ever need to
find an agent, this resource makes a great partner book to
the agent database, Guide to Literary Agents.
Add a Comment
By: Brian A. Klems,
on 2/11/2015
For this week’s prompt, write a patchwork poem. Patches are literally everywhere–in quilts, on clothes, and hey, even bandages and tape are a sort of patch. Then, there are the patches we place on our hearts, souls, and spirits. Cabbage patches, patching through for communication, and the more one thinks about patches the more one realizes they are all around us, holding us together.
*****
2015 Poet’s Market
Publish your poetry!
Get the most trusted guide to publishing your poetry: the 2015 Poet’s Market!
Edited by Robert Lee Brewer, this edition of Poet’s Market includes articles on the craft of poetry, business of poetry, and promotion of poetry. Plus, interviews with poets and original contemporary poems. Oh yeah, and hundreds of poetry publishing opportunities, including book publishers, chapbook publishers, magazines, journals, online publications, contests, and so much more!
*****
“dress”
she wears a dress made of patches
& each patch on that dress matches
the feeling she got the first chance
that she gave him with each romance
he had with some other woman
because he came back a new man
at least those were his intentions
but they fell through as I mentioned
her white dress covered in patches
& each patch on that dress matches
all of her new second chances
to that guy whose love entrances
& she knows that he will wrong her
but she’ll hold out a bit longer
*****
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Content Editor of the Writer’s Digest Writing Community and author of the poetry collection, Solving the World’s Problems (Press 53). He edits Poet’s Market, Writer’s Market, and Guide to Self-Publishing, in addition to writing a free weekly WritersMarket.com newsletter and poetry column for Writer’s Digest magazine.
He likes to write poems that rhyme…from time to time…while sucking on a lime…and listening to a mime.
Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
*****
By: Brian A. Klems,
on 2/9/2015
This is a recurring column I’m calling “7 Things I’ve Learned So Far,” where writers (this installment written by Samuél L. Barrantes, author of SLIM AND THE BEAST) at any stage of their career can talk about writing advice and instruction as well as how they possibly got their book agent — by sharing seven things they’ve learned along their writing journey that they wish they knew at the beginning.
Samuél L. Barrantes is an essayist and novelist from Chapel Hill,
North Carolina. His work has appeared in Paris Lit Up Magazine,
SLAM Magazine, and The International Forum for Logotherapy. He
is a specialist in Viktor Frankl’s philosophy and the Three Viennese
Schools of Psychotherapy. He currently lives in Paris. His debut
novel is SLIM AND THE BEAST, part Mark Twain, part Coen Brothers.
Connect with him on Twitter or on Facebook.
1. Harness Failure. When I thought I wanted to “be a writer” I applied to fourteen MFA programs. When I got my fourteenth rejection letter, I knew I had a choice: Would I let this be a sign that I wasn’t cut out to be a writer? Or was I going to use it as motivation to get down to actually writing? Writing isn’t something you are, it’s something you do. And the only way to get good at something is to practice. A lot. This has become somewhat of a trope in the literary world, but you really have to harness failure every night. “Success” is a ridiculous word that doesn’t mean anything to me—success, at this point in my life, is trying to write every night. After fourteen MFA rejection letters, I decided I would still finish my first novel, which is a hodgepodge of words I can’t stand to look at now. But I finished it—it didn’t finish me—and it led me to the second novel, Slim and The Beast. And fourteen drafts later, I was finally proud. (Fourteen drafts, fourteen MFA rejections … maybe that should be a new rule).
2. Be Wary of Workshops and Literary Communities. In my experience, most writer groups and “literary communities”—spoken words, workshops, etc.—are great places to meet writers, but are less helpful for the act of writing itself. This isn’t to say these communities aren’t beneficial, just that they have never helped me write. The most “successful” writers (and by successful I mean getting the words down) are too busy writing to care what others think or about “being seen.” Writing is deeply personal and also paradoxical: although you spend thousands of hours by yourself, you have to separate your words from your own ego.
So when you surround yourself with competing egos, where publication and pedigree always become part of the conversation, you end up feeling like a salesman who doesn’t quite know what he’s selling. I always think about Hemingway’s response to a question about the “group feeling” of Paris in the twenties: “There was no group feeling. We had respect for each other.” And this respect, I think, comes from knowing that writers need to be alone, time to write. So workshops and communities are great to exchange ideas, but too often they feed the ego and distract from writing.
(How to be a literary agent’s dream client.)
3. Writing = Re-Writing. I used to have a romantic notion of writing as a frenzy of creativity, where the words poured out of me, the Muses singing by my side. But the truth is writing is as much about editing and re-writing as it is about creation. You really have to love what you’re working on to stick with it. I think of the first draft as the sculptor’s block of cold stone—there is something there, buried within, but the sculptor spends years chiseling away. For example, I cut approximately 35,000 words between the first and final drafts of Slim and The Beast, with countless rewording and revising throughout.
4. Discipline Breeds Discipline. When I first started writing with intent, I made myself a promise: three days a week, 2,000 words/day. This grew to four days a week, and now it is at five. This doesn’t necessarily mean all of those words are related to the novel I am working on, but it does mean that I berate myself if I don’t reach my goal. This is masochistic, maybe, but it is also essential—writing is as much of a choice as it is a “calling,” so I constantly ask myself the question: “If I don’t write today, then when?” But discipline breeds discipline, so whether it comes to eating healthier, doing pushups, playing piano or reading, if I don’t set routines for myself, everything falls to the wayside. This is why it is impossible for me to write when traveling, perhaps, because I lose track of all of my daily routines. The biggest challenge for a writer isn’t the writing itself but sitting down to write. No book has ever helped me more in realizing this than Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art.
5. Keep Human! One of the dangers of “practice makes perfect” and lesson #3 is that you can end up in a robotic-type lifestyle that leaves you creatively barren. One of my favorite “rules of writing” is from Henry Miller: “Keep Human! See people, go places, drink if you feel like it.” When I reach a point where I’m mentally exhausted—or if I simply can’t create that night—I’ve learned to step back and leave the land fallow, so to speak. Miller points out that when you can’t create you can still work: meeting people, sitting in the park, watching Seinfeld, playing music, drinking wine on the river—all of these experiences are part of the writing process. Since my favorite kind of writing is about the human experience, it’s important to remain open to the goings on outside in order to try and immortalize them on the page.
6. Wisdom Isn’t Communicable. One of the biggest detriments of having a liberal arts education is you come out thinking you’re smart and interesting. But no one cares, nor should you. Pedigree means nothing. The more you try and “prove” to the reader what you know or how good you are at emulating Foster-Wallacean sentences, the worse your writing becomes, period. In Herman Hesse’s Siddartha, this is stated perfectly: “One can find [wisdom], live it, be fortified by it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it.” Avoiding didactic writing is an ongoing challenge for me because of the dangerous dictum “write what you know.” For a long time I thought this mean intellect versus experience, because academic writing is so often concerned with how much you understand about a given theory. Of course, the best writing communicates philosophy without ever once mentioning the philosopher that said it, and I’ve spent years trying to get away from academic writing in my fiction.
(Read tips on writing a query letter.)
7. Write Because You Love. There is an incredible poem by Charles Bukowski called So, You Want To Be A Writer. For the first few years, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be a writer, or if I wanted to write. But once again, writing isn’t something you are, it’s something you do. And if you’re doing it to “be something,” the best advice is to stop. The only reason I put on my headphones, turn off the Wi-Fi, listen to ambient sounds (usually a thunderstorm, beach waves, or noisli) and sit down to write is because if I didn’t do it, I’d feel shittier the next day. In the same way I need to read for my own well-being, or how I get antsy when I don’t play music for a while, I write because it makes me happy. We don’t ask people on the basketball court “why?” or if that guy in the nightclub wants to become a professional dancer. It’s not about proving something to anyone, especially yourself. Like with everything, in the end all that matters is you write because you love.
Agent Donald Maass, who is also an author
himself, is one of the top instructors nationwide
on crafting quality fiction. His recent guide,
The Fire in Fiction, shows how to compose
a novel that will get agents/editors to keep reading.
Other writing/publishing articles & links for you:
Your new complete and updated instructional guide
to finding an agent is finally here: The 2015 book
GET A LITERARY AGENT shares advice from more
than 110 literary agents who share advice on querying,
craft, the submission process, researching agents, and
much more. Filled with all the advice you’ll ever need to
find an agent, this resource makes a great partner book to
the agent database, Guide to Literary Agents.
By: Brian A. Klems,
on 2/8/2015
Reminder: New literary agents (with this spotlight featuring Heather Flaherty of The Bent Agency) are golden opportunities for new writers because each one is a literary agent who is likely building his or her client list.
About Heather Flaherty of The Bent Agency: “I grew up in Massachusetts, between Boston and the Cape, and started working in New York City as a playwright during college. This pushed me towards English as a focus, and after a lot of country-hopping in my early twenties, I wound up finally beginning my publishing career in editorial, specifically at Random House in the UK. That’s also where I became a YA and children’s literary scout, which finally landed me back in NYC, consulting with foreign publishers and Hollywood regarding what the next big book will be. Now as an agent, I’m thrilled to turn my focus on growing authors for that same success.”
(How long should a synopsis be? Is shorter or longer better?)
She is seeking: authors who write children’s, middle grade, and young adult fiction and nonfiction, as well as select new adult fiction, and pop-culture or humorous nonfiction.
“Currently I’m looking for YA fiction across-the-board, though my heart does sway towards issue-related YA with humor and heart – not depressing, or mopey. I also love love love hard, punchy, contemporary YA that’s got no hesitations when it comes to crazy. I’m also always up for seeing contemporary stories with sci-fi or fantasy elements, as well as a clever respin of an old or classic tale. And then, lastly, really good horror and ghost stories… not gory-for-gory’s sake or overly disgusting, but cringing, dark, bloody twisted, and even lovely. That said, the one thing I love above all else in a YA novel, regardless of sub-genre, is a strong and specific character voice. A real person, not another ‘everygirl.’ As for the middle grade I’m looking for, I want it stark, honest, and even dark; either contemporary or period, as long as it’s accessible. Coming-of-age stories, dealing-with-difficulty stories, witness stories (adult issues seen through the child’s p.o.v kinda thing), anything that makes you want to hold the narrator’s hand… for your own comfort, as well as their’s. I am also ok with these stories having slight magical or fantasy elements as well – as long as they’re subtle. In new adult, I like to see story… not just romance and/or erotica. For me, it should pretty much be a great YA novel for an older audience. On the nonfiction side, I’m looking for strong teen memoirs about overcoming crushing situations. ”
How to submit: Review The Bent Agency’s updated submissions guidelines online, and then e-mail flahertyqueries [at] thebentagency.com.
(How successful should a blog be before agents/editors will take notice?)
The biggest literary agent database anywhere
is the Guide to Literary Agents. Pick up the
most recent updated edition online at a discount.
Other writing/publishing articles & links for you:
Your new complete and updated instructional guide
to finding an agent is finally here: The 2015 book
GET A LITERARY AGENT shares advice from more
than 110 literary agents who share advice on querying,
craft, the submission process, researching agents, and
much more. Filled with all the advice you’ll ever need to
find an agent, this resource makes a great partner book to
the agent database, Guide to Literary Agents.
By: Brian A. Klems,
on 2/4/2015
If you haven’t caught it yet, check out the results of the 2014 November PAD Chapbook Challenge. Then, get back on over here…
For this week’s prompt, write a disappointment poem. I honestly didn’t think about the timing of announcing the challenge results with this prompt, but there you go. It can be disappointing to not win, I know, but there are so many other ways to be disappointed as well (with presents, affection, attention, motivation, and so on). I hope this prompt does not disappoint.
*****
2015 Poet’s Market
Publish your poetry!
Get the most trusted guide to publishing your poetry: the 2015 Poet’s Market!
Edited by Robert Lee Brewer, this edition of Poet’s Market includes articles on the craft of poetry, business of poetry, and promotion of poetry. Plus, interviews with poets and original contemporary poems. Oh yeah, and hundreds of poetry publishing opportunities, including book publishers, chapbook publishers, magazines, journals, online publications, contests, and so much more!
*****
“jury duty”
i am happy to serve: so let’s get
that out of the way first thing, okay.
it’s just that i had plans this week,
you know, and really, it’s not like
i’m going to get selected, and anyway
there’s a better than good chance we
will be dismissed before lunch, because
that’s what always happens, and then,
you know, i’ve been here for nothing
and rearranged the stars and the moon
because the lawyers had to wait until
the last minute to finally sort things out.
*****
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Content Editor of the Writer’s Digest Writing Community and author of the poetry collection, Solving the World’s Problems (Press 53). He edits Poet’s Market, Writer’s Market, and Guide to Self-Publishing, in addition to writing a free weekly WritersMarket.com newsletter and poetry column for Writer’s Digest magazine.
He is married to a paralegal who is on jury duty today.
Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
*****
By: Robert Lee Brewer,
on 2/3/2015
The 2014 November PAD (Poem-A-Day) Chapbook Challenge results are in, and I can’t wait to share the winner. I always shoot for Groundhog Day to make the big announcement, but I don’t always hit that mark. The only reason I’m a day off this time around is that the competition was so fierce.
A little more than 100 chapbook manuscripts were entered, and many of them would’ve been in the running as a finalist in previous years. It made for great reading, but it also made for great anxiety in figuring out finalists–let alone a winner!
*****
2015 Poet’s Market
Publish your poetry!
Get the most trusted guide to publishing your poetry: the 2015 Poet’s Market!
Edited by Robert Lee Brewer, this edition of Poet’s Market includes articles on the craft of poetry, business of poetry, and promotion of poetry. Plus, interviews with poets and original contemporary poems. Oh yeah, and hundreds of poetry publishing opportunities, including book publishers, chapbook publishers, magazines, journals, online publications, contests, and so much more!
*****
It was tough to pick a winner, but pick a winner I did: A Good Passion, by Barbara Young.
Congratulations, Barbara!
“About the Language and Inevitable Death,” by Barbara Young
Once upon a time
and this is before you
or I or your mother or
the dry disappearing women
who live under bridges
were born, words –some
words– had different meanings
than today’s.
Night, for instance.
And Alone. Alone, alone
could fill all the space between all the yellow cities
on the map with
hollow, a hollow more empty than the echo
of the emptiest of moved from homes, dust
where the dresser was, a penny, half a toothpick.
But we use ancestors’ words
to name the things we know. And call the yellow
night sky black. And say he died
and went to hell.
“Jericho Road,” by Barbara Young
Blind Bartimaus, they called him
before the miracle.
What was he, to himself, after?
I lost weight once.
Never in my own mind, though.
Gained back more.
And never became that person,
revised, either. Tell me
Blind man, about the aftermath
of your miracle.
“XX,” by Barbara Young
A kiss
so sweet I
hit
repeat
*****
Again, congratulations, Barbara!
I have, of course, picked a few other chapbooks to recognize as well. While I could list more than a dozen that gave A Good Passion a run for its money, here are the Top 5 chapbooks, including the winner:
Congratulations to all the finalists! And to everyone who entered!
I often receive notes of success from poets who’ve entered these challenges and found success with their poems–both individually and as collections–elsewhere. I expect great things from the poems and collections submitted this year!
And remember: the 2015 April PAD Challenge is just around the corner!
*****
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Content Editor of the Writer’s Digest Writing Community and author of the poetry collection, Solving the World’s Problems (Press 53). He edits Poet’s Market, Writer’s Market, and Guide to Self-Publishing, in addition to writing a free weekly WritersMarket.com newsletter and poetry column for Writer’s Digest magazine.
He enjoyed the 2014 November PAD Chapbook Challenge, and he is looking forward to the 2015 April PAD Challenge!
Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
*****
By: Chuck Sambuchino,
on 2/1/2015
Reminder: New literary agents (with this spotlight featuring Sarah Nagel of Writers House) are golden opportunities for new writers because each one is a literary agent who is likely building his or her client list.
About Sarah: Sarah Nagel joined Writers House in 2011 to work with Senior Vice President, Merrilee Heifetz and is now actively building her own client list. Previously, Sarah was a media lawyer in London and graduated with two separate degrees in English Language and Literature, and Law. Follow Sarah on Twitter: @SarahNagel14.
(How can writers compose an exciting Chapter 1?)
She is seeking: Sarah is looking for psychological thrillers (those that mess with your head rather than high speed cross-country chases), horror, mystery, suspense and literary fiction. Sarah is especially interested in strong character-driven fiction and stories that explore the dynamics of a dysfunctional family unit / relationships. Sarah also represents realistic Young Adult and Middle Grade with a hint of magical realism. On the nonfiction side, Sarah is interested in medical ethics, true crime, humor books and memoir with a distinctive narrative voice with a universal resonance. Sarah is not looking for straight sci-fi, high fantasy, romance or picture books.
How to submit: “I accept e-mail queries and will usually respond within 4-6 weeks. Please submit your query, including the first ten (10) pages of your manuscript pasted into the body of the e-mail (no attachments please!), to snagel [at] writershouse.com with “QUERY FOR SARAH NAGEL: [TITLE OF MANUSCRIPT]” in the subject line. Please do not query multiple Writers House agents simultaneously.”
(Can you re-query an agent after she’s rejected you in the past?)
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the agent database, Guide to Literary Agents.
By: Chuck Sambuchino,
on 2/1/2015
As many writers know, agents and editors won’t give your work more than ten pages or so to make an impact. If you haven’t got them hooked by then, it’s a safe bet you won’t be asked for more material. Make sure you’ve got the kind of opening they’re looking for! In this invaluable weekend event, you’ll get to work with an agent online to review and refine the first ten pages of your novel. You’ll learn what keeps an agent reading, what are the most common mistakes that make them stop, and the steps you need to take to correct them. The best part is that you’ll be working directly with an agent, who will provide feedback specific to your work.
It’s all part of the recurring popular Agent One-on-One Boot Camp called “Your First 10 Pages.” Sign up by the end of the day, Feb. 20, 2015. It’s taught by the agents at Talcott Notch Literary.
Here’s how it works:
On Friday morning, Feb. 20, you will gain access to a special 60-minute online tutorial presented by agent and editor Paula Munier. It will help you clarify what you should be looking for in your work. You will also be notified by email which agent you’ll be working with on Friday. (All times noted are Eastern Time).
After listening to the presentation, you’ll spend Friday evening revising your first ten pages as necessary, given the guidelines provided in the presentation, and you’ll email those pages directly to Paula or one of four additional agents from Talcott Notch Literary, including Gina Panettieri, Rachael Dugas, and Jessica Negron, by Saturday morning at 10:00 AM (ET). They will spend all day Saturday reviewing their assigned pages and providing feedback as to what works and what doesn’t. (Sign up for the boot camp here.)
All pages with notes will be returned to participants by the next Saturday (Feb 28). Throughout the next 36 hours, you’ll work to revise your pages based on the agent’s specific feedback. From 1:00 to 4:00 PM on March 1st, Paula, Gina, Rachael, and Saba will be available to answer questions and provide additional feedback via the Writer’s Digest University message boards. Only registered students can access these boards. You’ll also be able to ask question of your fellow students. Feel free to share your work and gain support from your peers.
By 10:00 PM (ET) Sunday night on March 1st, you’ll return your final revised pages to your assigned agent for review. They will spend the next week reading the revised submissions assigned to them, and will provide a final brief one-or-two sentence critique of your progress no later than March 8th. Please note that any one of them may ask for additional pages if the initial submission shows serious promise.
*Please note that all attendees should have the first 10 pages of their novel finished and ready to submit to the agent prior to the beginning of the event. (Sign up for the boot camp here.)
In addition to feedback from Paula, Gina, Rachael, or Saba, attendees will also receive:
— A download of “An Agent’s Tips on Story Structures that Sell,” an on-demand webinar by Andrea Hurst
— 1-year subscription to the WritersMarket.com literary agent database
All sales are final. No additional discounts can be applied.
About the Agents:
Gina Panettieri is President of Talcott Notch Literary Services, and has worked as an agent for more than 20 years. She currently represents a full range of adult and children’s fiction and nonfiction, with an emphasis in fiction on YA, MG, mystery, fantasy, women’s fiction, horror and paranormal. In nonfiction, she is particularly seeking memoir, business, cooking, health and fitness, pop science, medicine, true crime and current events. Some of her clients include Nancy Holzner, author of the new Deadtown urban fantasy series from Berkley/Ace Science Fiction, Annabella Bloom, author of the Wild and Wanton edition romance hybrid classics Pride and Prejudice and Wuthering Heights (Adams Media), Dr. Karyn Purvis, author of the bestselling and multi-award winning adoption book, The Connected Child (McGraw-Hill), and author and media personality, Dr. Seth Meyers. She currently represents an eclectic range of writers, encompassing everyone from a former head of Security and Intelligence for NATO Europe, to CEOs of major corporations and Deans of major medical schools, to stay-at-home writer moms and amazingly talented teens. Gina speaks at many conferences and writing events throughout the country on the subjects of securing an agent and getting published. Her agency website is talcottnotch.net
Paula Munier, Senior Literary Agent & Content Strategist at Talcott Notch Literary, has broad experience creating and marketing exceptional content in all formats across all markets for such media giants as Disney, Gannett, Greenspun Media Group, and Quayside. She began her career as a journalist, and along the way added editor, acquisitions specialist, digital content manager, and publishing executive to her repertoire. Before joining Talcott Notch, she served as the Director of Innovation and Acquisitions for Adams Media, a division of F&W Media, where she headed up the acquisitions team responsible for creating, curating, and producing both fiction and nonfiction for print, ebook, eshort, and direct-to-ebook formats. (Sign up for the boot camp here.)
Although she represents all kinds of projects, right now she’s looking for crime fiction, women’s fiction, romance, New Adult, YA, and middle grade fiction, as well as nonfiction in the areas of pop culture, health & wellness, cooking, self-help, pop psych, New Age, inspirational, technology, science, and writing. As a new agent she’s making her first deals now, including the New Adult trilogy, The Registry by Shannon Stoker, which sold for six figures to HarperCollins. She’s also just sold mystery, thriller, and self-help. Paula is very involved with the mystery community, having served four terms as President of the New England chapter of Mystery Writers of America as well as on the MWA board. (She’s currently VP of that organization.) She’s also served as both co-chair and Agents and Editors chair on the New England Crime Bake committee for seven years and counting. And she’s an active member of Sisters in Crime.
Saba Sulaiman is the newest member of Talcott Notch Literary Services. She joined the team after working as an editorial intern at Sourcebooks, where she worked primarily on their romance line. She holds a BA from Wellesley College and an MA from the University of Chicago, where she studied modern Persian literature. She’s looking primarily to build her Middle Grade and Young Adult lists, and is particularly interested in contemporary realistic stories. She’s also actively seeking category romance (all subgenres except paranormal), literary, upmarket, and commercial fiction, tightly plotted, character-driven psychological thrillers, and cozy mysteries à la Agatha Christie.
Rachael Dugas joined Talcott Notch Literary in 2011. During her tenure as associate agent, Rachael has judged contests and attended conferences in New York and beyond, working with groups such as Writer’s Digest, ASJA, YA Lit Chat, the National Publicity Summit, and the Hampton Roads Writers. Recent sales include titles in young adult and romance to imprints at Hachette, Perseus, and Month 9 Books. Rachael is a former Sourcebooks editorial intern and a proud Ithaca College graduate. She welcomes fiction submissions in the following categories: YA, MG, women’s fiction, contemporary and historical romance, historical fiction, and general commercial fiction. Her non-fiction wishlist includes memoir with an amazing voice and cookbooks or performing arts-related books with outstanding platforms.
Sign up for the boot camp here.
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