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This week JJ and Kelly discuss submission and acquisition, and give a little insight into the reasons behind why an editor might reject a manuscript. Also, Hamilton. We’ll explain that later.
This week both Kelly and JJ have the same recommendation: HAMILTON.
For those who aren’t plugged into musical theatre buzz, Hamilton is a hip-hop musical about Founding Father Alexander Hamilton.
Wait, what?
YES. The score, lyrics, and book are by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Tony Award-winning composer of In the Heights, based on a biography of Alexander Hamilton written by Ron Chernow. The story goes that when Miranda was on vacation from In the Heights, he picked up Chernow’s book at the airport and was so inspired by the life of Hamilton as “the ultimate hip-hop/immigrant story”,1 he started writing the musical.
In 2009, he performed the opening number (then a workshopped piece of poetry/rap/spoken word) at the White House for President Obama:
Words can’t describe how transformative and (not to be punny) revolutionary this musical is. The majority of the cast is made up of people of color, and in fact, all the principal characters are not white (except, appropriately, King George III). Miranda has said it’s the story of America, and it looks like America now.
The album is available for digital download (and is currently streaming on Spotify), but if you’d like the physical album with booklet, it will be available on October 16. Rumor has it that it will also be released on vinyl, and JJ may need to buy herself a record player now.
We’re not shills for the musical, we promise. But if the creators see our enthusiasm and want to fund our respective trips back to NYC as well as tickets, we would certainly not turn that down.
That’s it for this week! Next week, we’ll be discussing CONTRACTS. As always, if you have any questions or comments, sound off in the comments, or ask us on Tumblr!
Hamilton was an orphaned, illegitimate child born in the Caribbean who immigrated to New York City and worked his way up from poverty by working his butt off. He had fiery, tempestuous personality, and his cutting words were the death of him, much like Tupac Shakur. ↩
This week JJ and Kelly discuss submission and acquisition, and give a little insight into the reasons behind why an editor might reject a manuscript. Also, Hamilton. We’ll explain that later.
This week both Kelly and JJ have the same recommendation: HAMILTON.
For those who aren’t plugged into musical theatre buzz, Hamilton is a hip-hop musical about Founding Father Alexander Hamilton.
Wait, what?
YES. The score, lyrics, and book are by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Tony Award-winning composer of In the Heights, based on a biography of Alexander Hamilton written by Ron Chernow. The story goes that when Miranda was on vacation from In the Heights, he picked up Chernow’s book at the airport and was so inspired by the life of Hamilton as “the ultimate hip-hop/immigrant story”,1 he started writing the musical.
In 2009, he performed the opening number (then a workshopped piece of poetry/rap/spoken word) at the White House for President Obama:
Words can’t describe how transformative and (not to be punny) revolutionary this musical is. The majority of the cast is made up of people of color, and in fact, all the principal characters are not white (except, appropriately, King George III). Miranda has said it’s the story of America, and it looks like America now.
The album is available for digital download (and is currently streaming on Spotify), but if you’d like the physical album with booklet, it will be available on October 16. Rumor has it that it will also be released on vinyl, and JJ may need to buy herself a record player now.
We’re not shills for the musical, we promise. But if the creators see our enthusiasm and want to fund our respective trips back to NYC as well as tickets, we would certainly not turn that down.
That’s it for this week! Next week, we’ll be discussing CONTRACTS. As always, if you have any questions or comments, sound off in the comments, or ask us on Tumblr!
Hamilton was an orphaned, illegitimate child born in the Caribbean who immigrated to New York City and worked his way up from poverty by working his butt off. He had fiery, tempestuous personality, and his cutting words were the death of him, much like Tupac Shakur. ↩
Happy Friday, everyone! To go along with Stacey’s post about submissions, this is a repost from my blog, a silly little song filk I hope some of you—especially those submerged in the submission swamp—might enjoy.
Last summer, when I was on submission with my novel to publishers, I remember being in complete and utter agony with the not knowing and not being in control. There’s a lot written about the query trenches throughout the blogosphere, but not a lot of space is given over to being on submission.
Part of that is because unlike querying, the experience of being on submission varies widely from individual to individual, so it’s hard to generalize. Another part is that being of sub is pretty much entirely out of your hands. Once your manuscript is on the desk of an editor, there is literally NOTHING you can do to influence the outcome. It doesn’t make for easy, digestible blog posts. Query tips are relatively easy to give, but there is no advice you can give to someone on sub, save Patience, young Skywalker.
And that advice sucks.
Being on sub is a bit like being the awkward middle schooler at a junior high school dance. Pick me, pick me! Sometimes you’re the first on the dance floor. Sometimes you’re left the self-conscious wallflower. Junior high—and publishing—can sometimes be cold and capricious.
I find the best thing to do in these sorts of situations is laugh them off. It’s either laugh, or cry, right? I’d rather a good chuckle than anguished sobs, so in order to distract myself, I rewrote the lyrics to “Agony” from Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods.1
If you aren’t familiar with the song:
DELUSIONAL WRITER
Did I confuse them
With my rabid, insane,
Genius profundity?
Don’t I amuse them
With my witty, urbane,
Pretentious absurdity?
Agony!
Beyond power of speech!
When the contract you want
Is the only thing out of your reach.
DESPERATE WRITER
Here in my tower,
I sit by the hour
Awaiting the Call.
The one that will save me
And soon validate me
In the eyes of them all:
Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
Agony!
All those agents are jerks!
Low esteem, insecurity
Are affecting my work!
BOTH
Agony!
Oh the torment, the stress!
DELUSIONAL WRITER
Why can’t they just buy me—
DESPERATE WRITER
How could they deny me—
BOTH
They don’t know what is best!
DELUSIONAL WRITER
Am I not lyrical,
Luminous,
Radiant,
Brilliant,
Passionate,
Observant,
Upmarket commercial,
Ahead of my time?
DESPERATE WRITER
I am everything agents could wish for!
DELUSIONAL WRITER
Then why no—
DESPERATE WRITER
Then why no—
DELUSIONAL WRITER
They all must be mad!
DESPERATE WRITER
You know nothing of madness
Till you’re tearing your hair.
As you open email,
Yes, refreshing it,
Always refreshing it,
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah—
BOTH
Agony!
DELUSIONAL WRITER
Misery!
DESPERATE WRITER
Woe!
BOTH
Though it’s different for each.
DELUSIONAL WRITER
Always ten trends behind—
DESPERATE WRITER
Always telling you no—
BOTH
And the dream is just out of your reach.
Agony!
Publishing’s appeal!
I must have a book deal!
Okay, so I went ahead and decide to record the cover for funsies. Apologies for inflicting my voice on y’all. This song is not in my range.
At the point I had written this, the Disney movie version hadn’t come out yet. I have…Thoughts about it, but the “Agony” scene with Billy Magnussen and Chris Pine is definitely the best—and maybe the only worthwhile—scene in the entire film. ↩
Hi everyone! Stacey here today, with fellow pub-crawler, Stephanie Garber, talking about the most painful exciting part of publishing, submission!
With the arrival of fall, and the end of summer Friday’s in publishing, it’s time to talk about submissions.
You can tell a writer who is on “sub” by the long face they wear, the nails chewed to the quick, the scuffled toes of their shoes where they’ve tripped as they’ve paced waiting for a response from editors. We know how it feels, and we’re here to tell you that you will survive. Let’s stop refreshing our inbox for a moment, and take a deep, cleansing breath. Yikes, what have you been eating? Cookies? Okay, good for you. But you know what’s even better for you while you’re on sub? Take a walk.
We’re serious. It’ll clear some brain space. And when you come back, you can read on, and we’ll all be in a better place.
Hi again, now read on for our tips on how to survive SUBMISSION.
1. Recognize it might happen tomorrow, or it might happen a year from now.
We’ve all heard stories about books that sell lightning fast. But if you’re going on submission for the first time, for the sake of your sanity, be aware that selling a book in less than two weeks is the expectation, not the standard.
Stephanie: I’ve been on submission twice. When Hearts Made of Black sold, it actually happened on the quick side of things. But before that I went on submission with another book, a sci-fi about space pirates. My first agent warned me that this book would not be a fast or easy sell. And she was right. We were on submission for a year and a half, and it didn’t sell. The closest we came was an R&R from an editor who ended up leaving her publisher shortly after I finished the revisions.
Stacey: It took nine months for Under a Painted Sky to sell. My agent told me historical fiction is a tough sell in YA, but at the same time, it is one of the staples that never quite goes out of trend. We were rejected by 26 publishers before the last one asked me for a revision. It took three months to revise, and it was a major revision. Those of you who have read my book will know it is about a friendship. Well, it used to be a torrid bodice-ripper! (Sort of kidding.)
For both of us, going on submission that first time was far from easy, but it helped that we both had agents who set realistic expectations.
2. Recognize it might not happen, ever.
This one is important, because the sooner you accept this, the more prepared you will be when it doesn’t happen (and we’re not saying it won’t happen!!!). Bear with us. The statistics are depressing. It’s a proven fact that the odds of being published are less than being eaten by a polar bear wearing moon boots.
Take another walk if you need it and meet us back here.
Chubby Hubby has a buddy, American Dream. Is there irony in this ice creaming pairing?
Prepared people know it is not the end of the world if it doesn’t sell. Prepared people keep their survival kits close at hand (Chubby Hubby, family, Nordstrom gift cards, friends, not necessarily in that order) in case disaster strikes (e.g., my manuscript doesn’t sell).
PLENTY of authors who you think are big deals have had to shelve manuscripts that didn’t sell (like PubCrawl distinguished faculty Marie Lu and Jodi Meadows). Prepared people are already thinking about their next stories—and writing them. It’s like dating, the quickest way to get over one guy/gal is to meet someone new.
3.We’d like to point out that Submission rhymes with Suspicion
Why is this important? This is important because NOT EVERY GOOD BOOK GETS PUBLISHED, and here’s the kicker, NOT EVERY BOOK THAT GETS PUBLISHED IS GOOD. We know this isn’t how the world should be. There should be a little bell that goes ding! every time a great book (e.g., yours) arrives in an editor’s inbox so the editors know which ones should be published. Unfortunately, the rules of “what is publishable” remain rather opaque. It is a hazy box that sometimes is not even a box but more shaped like a big iron shoe. In other words, if you get a rejection, it is not necessarily because your book is unworthy.
4. If you can find a trend in your rejections, rewrite to fix it.
Agents have different methods for submission, and not every agent uses the same approach with each submission. They might sub to a smaller set of editors for something more “controversial” where feedback would be helpful, or in the case where they’ve pinpointed editors who would just love your book.
Stacey: In the case of my first book, my agent subbed to a big list all at once, as she considered my manuscript tight and clean (this is where all that vetting you do with agents comes in handy; if you’ve picked a good one, you can probably trust their advice on this). The rejections confirmed that she had taken the right approach. There was no consistency to the rejections. We got everything from “we don’t think there’s a market for westerns” to “we don’t like cross-dressing girls.”
I didn’t rewrite anything in the middle of submission, but I did take the one R&R offered to me; I felt like I owed it to my book. And once I got over the shock of having to do MORE work, I threw myself into feet first. For me, I felt I had nothing to lose except a bit of time, and everything to gain.
Stephanie: But remember, just because you revise or receive an R&R doesn’t mean your book will sell. When I went on submission with my first book, I also received an R&R, which did not end in an offer. But, I don’t regret taking the time do it. I learned a lot, and I think my writing became stronger as a result. But, for the sake of your heart and your sanity (see a theme emerging), if you do an R&R, do it because you owe it to your book, not because you believe that if you do this, a publisher will owe you a contract.
5) Do not compare yourself to others.
Seriously, this is as bad as checking reviews on Goodreads.
Learn from other people, but don’t compare your submission experience with someone else’s. Nothing good comes from comparing—either you imagine you are better than everyone else and get a grossly inflated ego, or you imagine the opposite and feel like crap, or you come out neither feeling nor worse, but have just sunk a lot of time that you could’ve spent writing something new.
We don’t know who said it first, but there’s a great quote that goes like this:
Yes, sometimes other people’s grass is greener, but you don’t know how much manure that had to go through to get it there.
6. Remind yourself, no matter what, the fact that you are on submission means you have done two things that most people have not.
You have written a book and you have found an agent, neither of which should be easy things, so pat yourself on the back and take another walk (or eat another cookie, we approve of both).
In the comments, tell us how long you’ve been “on sub.” What do you do to stay sane?
Amie here first: Hello! Before I left Pub(lishing) Crawl back in July, I asked Melanie Crowder (who you may remember from such earlier hits as the Parched cover reveal) to write us a post, and she’s obliged with a heap of wisdom. Today, she’s talking about the difference between going on submission with a proposal vs a full manuscript. Read on!
Ask most writers what kind of sale they’d like next, and they’ll answer: any kind. The sold kind. The I have another book coming out kind.
But the different kinds of sales play out very…well, differently.
Let’s look at the pros and cons of both options.
The Proposal: Pros
You don’t have to write the whole book before making a sale!
The money comes in while you’re working on the book. Fantastic!
You can write without the stress of wondering if the book you’re working on will ever turn into an actual book.
The Proposal: Cons
You don’t have to write the whole book before making a sale.
Why, exactly, is this a bad thing? (cue pesky inner voices…) What if I run out of inspiration halfway through? What if the plot, which seemed like it would work perfectly in outline form, stops working? What if it isn’t any good?
Stress. Doubt. Angst. Not the best environment for creative work.
Also? Synopses and summaries and pitches are really tough to get right.
Hmmmmm. Let’s have a look at the other option.
The Full Manuscript: Pros
You have time to run the story by your beta readers.
You have time to get everything working thematically and structurally before an editor ever sees it.
By the time it’s good enough to send to your editor, you’re probably at least halfway done!
You get the chance to fall truly, madly, deeply in love with your story without looming deadlines.
The Full Manuscript: Cons
You may work for months or even years on a story that isn’t what your editor is looking for.
You may write a story that you love, and your editor loves, but that can’t make it past the acquisition process.
It’s tricky knowing when to send a manuscript to your editor. You don’t want to hold on to it too long and overwork the poor thing. But you also don’t want to send it in before it’s really ready, before it’s the quality of book a whole team can get behind.
So if I had my choice, which would I pick?
Well, my first two books, Parched and Audacity were sold as full manuscripts. I loved being able to shape each story into a book I was really proud of before anyone ever laid eyes on it. But I’ll admit, there were some anxiety-filled moments while we were waiting for a sale!
My 3rd book, A Nearer Moon, and my 5th book, an untitled Middle Grade, were both submitted via proposal. That vote of confidence from your publishing house from the start of a project is really great. But there’s some stress there too. You can’t ever really get away from it, you just learn how to tune it out while you’re working.
I suppose the submission sweet spot for me came with my 4th book, a super-secret project I’m not yet divulging the details of. It was the second part of Audacity’s two book deal. It sold as an unspecified YA, with a far-away deadline that gave me security and freedom, motivation and time. Yep, if the literary gods let us pick, that would be my choice.
What about you? What are you hoping for, or what have you discovered works best for you? Whatever your preference, here’s to many submission success stories in your future!
MELANIE CROWDER holds an MFA from VCFA and is the author of three books for children and teens: Parched, Audacity, and A Nearer Moon. Her books have received honors such as Junior Library Guild selection, Parent’s Choice Silver Medal, Bank Street College’s Best Books of the Year and a collective eight starred reviews from Kirkus, SLJ, PW, BCCB, and SLC. She lives in beautiful Colorado; catch up with her online at Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or her website.
Is this something you believe to be true about agents?
I'm not sure literary agents are the right way to go, as their interests are bizarrely narrow, and seem to be looking continually for exact replicas of successful works from the past, rather than compelling untold stories.
The other day I read a submission that I thought was really strong and had great potential. However, given my already busy client list I didn't think I was going to be the best agent for the project. This book needed someone who could be truly passionate about it, who had a love for the genre and who had the time and desire to really work with the author on the project. Instead of just passing however, I passed it on to another agent at BookEnds. Someone who fit every one of the criteria I thought the book needed.
When I do something like this I often wonder what the author will think. Does the author later think less of the offer she receives because it isn't the agent she submitted to, although it is the agency? or Does the author think this is a great opportunity because her project definitely landed in the right hands?
As we see when we receive responses to rejections, every author is different. Some will be offended that the agent they first submitted to didn't want it in the first place and others will be elated that the agency as a whole felt so strongly about the book.
Like everyone else, an agent only has a finite number of hours in the day and can only represent so many clients and give them the attention she feels they deserve. When reviewing submissions, we at BookEnds are reviewing for ourselves first and the agency second. We all work very closely together and that doesn't just mean bouncing ideas off each other, it means working hard to get as many great books published as we can, and helping each other build a strong career as an agent.
When we pass a project on to another agent within BookEnds it doesn't mean we didn't think it was great and are tossing our trash onto someone else's pile. In fact, it's the complete opposite, we think the book has some real potential and were excited about its possibilities, but feel it needs to be with the right agent, not any agent.
I'm going to pre-empt some questions here and say that we don't always pass everything on so if you feel there are two agents at BookEnds who might be right for your book feel free to query them both. Never at the same time, but if the first passes there's no reason you can't try the second. Just don't tell anyone else I said that. ;)
--jhf
0 Comments on Passing a Submission to Another Agent as of 7/13/2015 10:02:00 AM
Summer is killer for me. It feels like I'm constantly running around trying to get things done, but never actually able to get things done. Vacations and the general "slow-down of summer" can be partially to blame for this. Naturally a lot of people vacation in the summer and because of that it always seems like it takes days instead of just a day or two to get the answers you want.
In addition to summer vacations however, there are summer conferences. RWA and Thrillerfest are the two biggies that I'll be attending. I'm excited to go to both and will have a lot to celebrate at both, but there's also no doubt that they're exhausting and time consuming.
The weirdest part of all of this is that because of all the running around I'll be doing this summer I'll be less likely to get to submissions in a timely manner however because of all the running around I'll also be getting a lot more submissions.
If it weren't for a recent Kindle glitch, I'd be reading more submissions, but that's not helping things either.
So, I'm caught up on all queries through the end of June. I'm caught up on all requested submissions through (gulp) the end of March. If you sent something that should have been answered by now please feel free to resend. If you sent material or a query in the time periods that I have not yet gotten to I thank you for your patience.
--jhf
0 Comments on The Summer Slowdown & A Submission Update as of 7/10/2015 11:24:00 AM
Hello again, slush fans. As anyone who's seen my Museum of Me series will attest, I like to keep hold of stuff from my past and inflict it upon share it with my loyal readers. Now that I've been writing seriously for a decade (actually slightly more, but 10 & 3/4 years didn't sound as good) it felt like time to take stock of my journey so far.
And what a journey it hasn't been. Well, not in
0 Comments on Stats from the Slushpile: A Decade of Dreaming as of 7/5/2015 9:34:00 PM
I kid, I kid! (Though truly, that train scene in the Ant-Man trailer is the BEST.)
Actually, I quite liked Jurassic World. I didn't expect much from it - not sure why. But I would watch it again, and coming from me that means a lot. To paraphrase Anton Ego from Ratatouille, "If I don't love it, I don't watch it again." So that I WOULD watch it again means I would rate it more than three stars. So now you know. :)
Chris Pratt was my favourite. He is a great actor, and I loved the way he treated his raptors like dogs. That was kinda cute. I also liked that it was a little less gory than the originals. I'm all for survival movies, but I don't like watching people get chomped in two. I prefer not to see the actual blood spurt, 'cause that's nasty. I like to let my imagination "realize" what just happened. That's just me.
I also liked the younger brother, Gray. (That could also be because he was in Iron Man 3, and I quite liked his character of Harley.) The older brother, Zach, grew on me a bit, but I never fully warmed up to Claire. She was a bit too "business" for my taste, and though she ended up being a bit more spunky at the end, she never really grew out of the business enough for me to find a good connection with her character.
I really appreciated the occasional "nod" to the originals, such as when the two boys stumble into what I'm positive was the original HQ in Jurassic Park, or when the funny-weird computer guy with the glasses wears his Jurassic Park t-shirt he bought on eBay because dude, they had the real thing. That Mr. DNA thingy. (As an aside, I'll just say it was weird for me to find out later how different Vincent D'Onofrio, who plays Vic Hoskins in Jurassic World, looks with hair. He plays Wilson Fisk in Daredevil, and he looks quite different. Observe.)
Watching Jurassic World, I decided I have no problem with the herbivore dinosaurs. I admit, it would be pretty cool to have a park where you can see brontosaurus (brontasauri?) roaming around and minding their own business. I don't understand this fascination with the Tyrannosaurus Rex, or velociraptors, or any big creature like that who would eat you as soon as look at you. Why would you WANT to have a beast that size come back to life?
It gives a fascinating account of the flood and how the world is the way it is today. I'm using it because I have an idea brewing for a novel that might involve a crisis like this, as well as pyramids, haunted areas around the world and the Bermuda triangle. Mostly I'm reading IN THE BEGINNING because it's just really interesting how the world "started over" after such a major catastrophe, and how the earth reformed after the flood waters had settled. I'm researching pyramids and haunted areas because the story that I have out on submission to an agent (while it is a stand-alone novel) does have the potential for companion novels to be written about worlds within its world... if that made sense. So this new story idea I have brewing would be a companion novel. (Besides, I needed a reason to write about pyramids. And nightmares. Yes, somehow the two will be interconnected. BOOM!)
I finished Jonathan Stroud's two new(ish) books of LOCKWOOD & CO, titled respectively The Screaming Staircase and The Whispering Skull. Oh my goodness, I LOVED them. They were a little bit creepy (think Supernatural creepy, without so much gore) and just as funny and unique as his Bartimaeus books. It's about agents who are hired to rid houses of ghosts, and as only children can see the various types of ghosts, the agents tend to be in their teens. Rapiers may or may not be involved. I *believe* the third book in the series is coming out in September, titled The Hollow Boy. My only comment to that is GIMMME!
That's all for today, except that my singing final was yesterday and I feel like I scored really well on both songs. (I sang both FLARES by The Script and L' ULTIMA NOTTE by Josh Groban.) So, yay on that!
Now if I would just get my new harp string in the mail so I can fix my harp and start re-teaching myself how to play... Guys, I need a bigger house.
For those of you who write picture books, here’s some great news!
My friend and colleague Julie Hedlund and I recently ran a survey asking for questions about picture book submissions. We received SO MANY great questions – literally, hundreds – and we were amazed by how many people asked the same questions.
Julie and I are both dedicated to supporting fellow children’s book authors – in our view, the children’s book writing community is perhaps the most mutually supportive of any professional community out there, because, hey, we’re all writing for kids! So we decided to create a FREE video training series answering your most commonly recurring questions as follows:
1. How to write a GREAT HOOK sentence in your query letters
2. The Top 5 MISTAKES TO AVOID, and 5 lesser known (but frequently made) mistakes – so you don’t sink your submission before it starts.
3. Our ANSWERS to the most commonly asked QUESTIONS that came up over and over again in the survey.
Click here to sign up for the free training…. but do it quickly! These videos will expire in 10 days!
P.S. Please share this post on social media or with your picture book writing friends… there’s great information in these videos for everyone who writes picture books. And check out some of the fabulous comments we’ve already received on the first video, below!
0 Comments on Free Video Series Answering Your Picture Book Submission Questions as of 1/1/1900
JustA Theater & Production Company is a new Los Angeles-based company dedicated to fostering and employing diverse and emerging writers and actors.
We are seeking original work for our inaugural 2015 season: three staged play productions and two short films.
We would like to reach out to students in your prestigious program for play and short screenplay submissions. Our starting stipend for writers is $150.
Here are our submission guidelines:
Characters should primarily range between the ages of 15 and 30.
At least two characters must be women.
Diverse themes and characters are encouraged.
We welcome scripts of varied genres. Feel free to submit plays with elements of absurdism or magic-realism, as well as plays rooted in realism.
Staged plays should not exceed 115 pages total.
Screenplays should not exceed 15 pages.
Please submit the first 15 pages of your piece to:
infoATjustatheaterDOTcom(Change AT to @ and DOT to . ) . For more information, visit our website.
The Inflectionist Review is a small press publishing stark and distinctive contemporary poetry that fosters dialog between the reader and writer, between words and their meanings, between ambiguity and concept. Each issue gathers established and emerging voices together toward the shared aim of unique expression that resonates beyond the author’s world, beyond the page, and speaks to the universality of human language and experience.
The Freeman accepts poetry submissions year-round to be considered for publication. Poems appear online, and some are selected to appear in the quarterly print magazine as well. Payment is $50 per accepted poem. Recently published poems can be seen here.
Guidelines Submissions must be unpublished poems or translations only. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable if noted as such. Translations into English are accepted, but either the translator must have documented permission to publish the translations at the time of submission or the poems must be in the common domain per U.S. and international copyright law. Include copies of the poems in the original language with any translation submissions. Send up to 6 unpublished poems, up to 60 lines each (exceptions to the length restriction may be made in rare cases), in .pdf, .doc, .docx, or .rtf format to the Poetry Editor at:
In Fact Books is seeking new essays for two upcoming book anthologies--tentatively titled, Beyond "Crazy": True Stories of Surviving Mental Illness and Becoming a Teacher.
Beyond Crazy: Every year, one in four American adults will endure the trials of a diagnosable mental health disorder. But although many Americans have experienced a mental illness, either firsthand or through a family member, friend, or colleague, the stigma surrounding mental illness remains. We believe that the most important tool we have for defusing the power of this stigma is sharing true stories and revealing the real people beneath labels.
In Fact Books seeks original stories for an upcoming anthology tentatively titled BEYOND "CRAZY": TRUE STORIES OF SURVIVING MENTAL ILLNESS. Stories should combine a strong and compelling narrative with an informative or reflective element, reaching beyond a strictly personal experience for some universal or deeper meaning. We’re looking for well-written prose, rich with detail and a distinctive voice; writing should be evocative, vivid, and dramatic. All essays must tell true stories and be factually accurate. Everything we publish goes through a rigorous fact-checking process; editors may ask for sources and citations. Authors of accepted essays will be awarded a modest honorarium upon publication. Guidelines: Essays must be previously unpublished and no longer than 4,500 words. Multiple entries are welcome, as are entries from outside the United States. See submission guidelines are available at our website. Deadline: February 9, 2015
******** Becoming A Teacher: For a new anthology, In Fact Books is seeking true stories exploring and reflecting on the process of becoming a teacher. Education is a hotly-contested subject, but too often the voices of teachers themselves are left out of the discussion. This fall, approximately 3.5 million full-time teachers headed into classrooms in the United States. What motivates them to enter, and to stay in, this demanding profession, and how are their daily lives affected by ongoing changes in the education system? "Becoming a Teacher" will present readers with the world of education from the perspective of elementary and secondary school teachers, recalling and reflecting on the most salient moments of their careers. We're looking for stories that, collectively, represent a wide variety of teachers and teaching experiences--in public or private or religious or charter schools, in cities or suburbs or rural areas, with typically-developing students or those with special needs, at home or internationally. Stories should combine a strong and compelling narrative with an informative or reflective element, reaching beyond a strictly personal experience for some universal or deeper meaning. We're looking for well-written prose, rich with detail and a distinctive voice; writing should be evocative, vivid, and dramatic. All essays must tell true stories and be factually accurate. Everything we publish goes through a rigorous fact-checking process; editors may ask for sources and citations. Guidelines: Essays must be previously unpublished and no longer than 4,500 words. Multiple submissions are welcome, as are entries from outside the United States. See submission guidelines are available at our website. Deadline: March 9, 2015
The Quotable Lit is open for Issue 17: Atmosphere Submissions open January 1, 2015 – March 1, 2015 “Green was the silence, wet was the light,the month of June trembled like a butterfly.” ― Pablo Neruda General Guidelines:
We seek: flash fiction (under 1,000 words) - 1 submission per reading period short fiction (under 3,000 words) - 1 submission per reading period creative nonfiction (under 3,000 words) - 1 submission per reading period poetry - 1 submission of up to 3 poems per reading period We accept only original unpublished work. We do accept simultaneous submissions, but ask that you notify us immediately should your work be accepted elsewhere.
Submissions link. To ensure fairness, The Quotable has a blind submissions process. Remove all identifying information - name, email address, etc. - from your manuscripts. We will decline any manuscript that contains the author's information. Contact us with questions.
Upon acceptance, The Quotable acquires first serial publications rights, after which the copyright reverts to the author. All accepted work will be archived on the site for so long as the site manager(s) should deem appropriate.
The editors of The Quotable envision a world in which all artists are paid handsomely for the considerable efforts they make to enrich mankind. While we labor toward that utopia, however, the only payment we can offer is the esteem of seeing your name in print and your work appreciated
A good general rule of thumb for novel word count should be:
middle grade= 30k to 69k, average word count 50k
(Examples of published books: Coraline is 30,640 and Gingerbread is 44,510 and Mockingbird is 36,466.)
young adult fiction = YA from about 55k to 85
(It seems that paranormal YA or YA fantasy can occasionally run as high as 90k because of the world-building needed. Of course there is always the exception on word counts in YA. Twilight is 118,975 and New Moon is 132,758. Beautiful Creatures is 147,695 andA Great and Terrible Beauty is 95,605.)
cozy mysteries = 75k to 90k
paranormal romance = 80k to 100k
contemporary romance = 90k to 95k
short story = 1,000 - 7,500 words (The ’regular’ short story, usually found in periodicals or anthology collections. Most ’genre’ zines will feature works at this length.) novella= 20,000 - 50,000 words
(Although most traditional publishers will balk at printing a novel this short, this is perfect for the eBook publishers. The online audience doesn’t always have the time or the patience to sit through a 100,000 word novel.)
mysteries, thrillers and crime fiction = from 75k to 90k. (Historical mysteries and noir can be around 90k to 100k. Most other mystery/thriller/crime novels should be around 90k to 110k.)
mainstream/commercial fiction= 85k to 100k
(Some chick lit can be around 90k and literary fiction can run as high as 110k.)
science fiction or fantasy = 100k
(Most editors want these types of manuscripts at 100k, which is the ideal manuscript size for a good space opera or fantasy. For a truly spectacular epic fantasy, some editors will consider manuscripts at 120k, but rarely.)
You'll find most agents and editors prefer unpublished manuscripts at 100,000. No more--no less. However, ALWAYS check an agent or publishers word count guidelines before submitting.
Call for Submissions - Destination: Mystery! An Anthology of Destination Mysteries
Darkhouse Books is seeking stories for “Destination: Mystery”. A collection of mystery and crime stories set in locations popular for vacations.
We are looking for stories residing on the cozy side and that highlight the attraction and appeal of the setting – though please, no puff-pieces. We prefer stories with locations where average people vacation, including sandy resorts along Lake Michigan, log cabin lodges in the Adirondacks, quaint, coastal towns on any coast, and legions of other places forever enshrined in generations of family photo albums. Since we want the locations to be recognizable, stories should not be set prior to mid-twentieth century.
The submission period is now open and will remain open through 11:59pm (PST), March 31st, 2015.
We are seeking stories in the 2500 to 7500 word range, though if it’s truly knockout material, we’ll consider any length.
The anthology will contain between twelve and twenty stories, depending on the overall length. Authors will share equally fifty percent of royalties received.
We accept MS Word .doc and .docx files. Submissions must be in standard manuscript format.
Previously published work will be considered, provided the author has the power to grant us the right to publish in ebook, audio, and print versions, and that it has not been available elsewhere more recently than January 1st, 2014.
Submissions may be sent to:
submissionsATdarkhousebooksDOTcom (Change AT to @ and DOT to . ) Please leave “Submission-Destination-“ in the subject line and add the name of your story.
Apple Valley Review is currently reading submissions of poetry, personal essays, and short fiction for the Spring 2015 issue (Vol. 10, No. 1). All work must be original, previously unpublished, and in English. Please note that we do not accept simultaneous submissions.
Several pieces from the journal have later appeared as selections, finalists, and/or notable stories in Best American Essays, Best of the Net, Best of the Web, and storySouth Million Writers Award.
All published work is automatically considered for our annual editor's prize.
To submit, please send 1-6 poems or 1-3 essays/short stories, all pasted into the body of a single e-mail message, to our editor:
editorATleahbrowningDOTnet (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )
The current issue, previous issues, subscription information, and complete submission guidelines are available online.
Call for Submissions: Anthology of Poetry, Short Prose Responding to Baga, Boko Haram Attacks
You've written poems for Ferguson, Gaza, Hong Kong, Palestine, and, most recently, Paris. Now is the time to write for Baga (the town where Boko Haram massacred 2000 people on the Nigerian-Chadian border).
Nigerian poet Damilola Michael Aderibigbe is editing an anthology of poetry and short prose responding to Baga and the atrocities committed by Boko Haram. This anthology will be published by Unbound Content, an independent publishing house founded by Annmarie Lockhart and based in Englewood, New Jersey.
Send 5 poems or 1 piece of short prose, in plain text, to Damilola Michael Aderibigbe at:
dammyg1989ATliveDOTcom (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )
The Account: A Journal of Poetry, Prose, and Thought is reading submissions for a special Spring ’15 issue: “Graphic Works/Graphic Narratives.” We’re seeking graphic narratives, illuminated manuscripts, rebuses, illustrations evocative of stories, and poems that interact with the page as a visual landscape (such as concrete poems, erasures, and prose poems). Please submit work via Submittable by March 15th for consideration. The Account does not have a reading fee. However, we do require work to be paired with an “account” (of 150–500 words) that describes the thought, influences, and choices that make up your aesthetic as it pertains to the specific work you send us.
account = history, sketch, marker, repository of influences
An account of a specific work traces its arc—through texts and world—while giving voice to the artist’s approach. We ask that if you choose to be satirical, you do so in service of the work you are submitting. We are most interested in how you are tracking the thought, influences, and choices that make up your aesthetic as it pertains to a specific work.
Please use Submittable to submit. We will not consider work without an account. We do read simultaneous submissions.
You may still submit work under one of our general categories for a later issue.
General Information
Please review The Account: A Journal of Poetry, Prose, and Thoughtsubmission guidelines for poetry, fiction, and nonfiction.
We will not consider work submitted without an account. Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but your work must be withdrawn immediately if it is no longer available. Authors retain their copyright and will receive a contract upon acceptance.
Criticism operates on a solicitation-only basis.
Art currently operates on a solicitation-only basis. However, if you are interested in sending us a work sample, CV, and query letter, you are welcome to email us:
poetryprosethoughtATgmailDOTcom (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )
Submissions are now being accepted for the twelfth annual issue, The Ochre Issue, of Fairy Tale Review. The Ochre Issue has no particular theme—simply send your best fairy-tale work along the spectrum of mainstream to experimental, fabulist to realist.
We accept fiction, nonfiction, drama, and poetry, in English or in translation to English, along with scholarly, hybrid, and illustrated works (comics, black-line drawings, etc.).
The reading period will remain open until the issue is full—we predict closing it sometime in late spring or early summer.
The Antioch University Los Angeles Creative Writing MFA program's bimonthly publication, Amuse-Bouche, is accepting submissions for its upcoming issues. Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, YA, Translation, and Visual Art submissions are all welcome.
Visit Lunch Ticket's website for submission guidelines (please read guidelines CAREFULLY before submitting).
Do your poems feature wings, wheels, rails, keels? If transportation is a recurring theme, image, or topic in your work, please consider submitting a proposal for a 10- to 15-minute presentation for a panel on Poetry & Transportation. The panel will take place during the new Poetry by the Sea Conference May 26-29 in Madison, CT.
Please submit a brief proposal (250-300 words) and 2-3 sample poems by February 1 to Pat Valdata at:
pvaldataAzoominternetDOTnet (Change AT to @ and DOT to . )
Include your proposal and samples in the body of the email—no attachments, please, or my spam filter will grab your message.
Please note that if your proposal is chosen, you will need to register for the conference. One-day registration is available for those who cannot attend the entire conference.
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For those of you who write picture books, here’s some great news!
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