Like a gift-laden toboggan careening down a snow-drenched mountain in the middle of a clear and star-spackled night, we have, my friends, once again arrived at the end of the month.
We seem to also have arrived at the point of ridiculous heavy-handed metaphors. But that’s neither here nor there. You all know what I’m trying to say!
Come out and strut your stuff!
The last weekend of every month is all about you—your hard-won achievements, your dogged persistence, your work, your passions, your voice, your gift-laden toboggan, if you will.
Did you publish something in August?
Share the link(s).
Tell us all about it.
How did you find the journal? How long was the piece on submissions?
Did you revise as you sent it out, or was it published in its original form?
Did you work with the editors on revisions? Are you pleased with the final result?
Culminating about 30 years of off-and-on submitting to The Sun, I had a poem accepted there. I suppose that means never give up.
It appeared in a group of poems about parents/parenting, but I didn't submit it in any topical way. Also, I felt pretty good that they used the last line of my poem as the heading for all the poems.
The editing was organized, thoughtful, and kind. A truly professional group. Not to mention, I was paid, a nice miracle for poetry!
Reminds me of growing up wanting to be published by Scribner, which published some of my favorite authors--and almost making it. An editor was wild about my book but the board said "It won't sell 100,000 copies."
Of course not--I meant your focus on The Sun, not the rest of your work. I worked on one novel for 20 years, and published many books, stories, essays and reviews during that time. I assumed the same for you.
I started as a poet, moved to fiction, and have published 16 novels over the years. But always at the back of my mind was The Sun. And, of course, The New Yorker. Maybe I have enough years to see that happen! :)
What a journey--and I hope you get to The New Yorker!
I started out publishing short stories, then a novel, then a biography and have now 27 books in many genres and translations in 15 languages. The book that has done the best, 300,000 copies, was one I never thought would sell much at all....so it goes....
That's amazing, Jessica! Congratulations - I'm so impressed by your persistence, & of course that means you were developing as a writer through those three decades, too. Very inspiring ... I look forward to reading it.
This month I'm happy to say Kelsey Review, the literary magazine of Mercer County Community College (NJ) accepted my short story, "Stones Tell No Lies," for publication. I have a strategy of my work appearing in each (annual) issue, because I teach in the English and History departments at the college and because I direct the Holocaust, Genocide & Human Rights Education Center there (I can give the center more publicity through the publication of my work).
I worked on this story through the first half of 2023 knowing I intended to send it to Kelsey Review and to send it there exclusively. In the past, the editor has nominated my fiction (about antisemitism and the Holocaust) for Pushcart Prizes, which I appreciate. Unlike many college publications, this one allows faculty to submit. It's also published my nonfiction and poetry.
This story will be published sometime in the fall. It is the story of a man in 1980 returning to his hometown of Paris from which he and his parents escaped Nazi occupation. When he returns, he confronts his past and reclaims Judaism with the help of an estranged relative who survived the Holocaust.
I'm already thinking about a new short story to submit to the lit mag next year.
I have just had five poems accepted by the online poetry journal ONE ART. They will appear in their October issue. I had submitted twice before to this journal without any luck, but this time my poems just fit into the issue. Actually, the editor accepted four of the five poems submitted, and when I wrote to thank him, I was bold and offered an additional poem which was related to two of the poems, and he took it. I'm thrilled that the three poems will appear together.
How wonderful he took your "trio", plus two more poems, Jane. I've only submitted once to them without success. I'll try again when I have markedly different work to what I submitted. The poetry in their journal seems quite restrained, which I admire. I think my current style might be too metaphorically effusive.
Thanks, Melissa. It's always such a gamble trying to figure which poems to submit where. I've had several poems rejected multiple times then accepted by much more illustrious journals.
Thanks, Jessica! We're somewhat related. I believe my brother-in-law is your uncle. Three of the poems are about my younger sister, whom I believe you met at some point decades ago. She died in 2010.
It has been a banner August. My short story collection "Family and Other Ailments" (Crime Stories Close to Home) came out with Wordwooze Publishing. It's available in a bunch of formats and an audiobook will be available soon. https://books2read.com/u/3Lx0v5 So now, I'm deep into promotion, wrangling reviews, lobbying for interviews... the works! I'm very happy with it - it's 26 stories, so the size of a short novel.
I also had a few stories published.
Two in succession at Shotgun Honey, pure coincidence, as one of them was accepted a year ago.
I'm usually hesitant to submit to newer journals, but this was a themed issue--Illusion--and I had a piece that seemed appropriate. I'm glad I submitted. The website is great, and the work is available both online and in print. Galleys were sent in a timely manner (they proposed minor grammatical changes, and I was fine with them). I also like the fact that when response times took longer than expected, they apologized via e-mail, explained that they were overwhelmed by the unanticipated 1000+ submissions, and said that they would send out all responses shortly, which they did. This is a no fee, no pay journal, and they are on Twitter. I received an acceptance in 61 days. I had previously received various form and high tier rejections. I finally realized that I was doing too much "telling" in the final paragraph and took out an unnecessary sentence. That seemed to do the trick.
Congrats, Colette! It's always nice when journals release in print, too - a memento for your bookshelf! It's very late at night here, but I look forward to reading it tomorrow. :)
That's great! We're a newer journal and interested to know what would prevent someone from submitting. Is it uncertainty about the style or legitimacy of the publication?
Regarding new/newer journals, I have two major concerns. First, if the first issue is not out yet, I don't know if the issue will contain work that I'm comfortable having alongside mine. Second, even if I like the first issue, there's a question of longevity, since so many new journals seem to fold after a few years (although of course it's true that a journal can fold at any time!). As for how I choose journals generally, I (usually) won't submit if the submission fee is over $3, the website looks amateurish, the masthead is not listed, and/or the response times are ridiculous. Like Lisa, I also check to see if the journal nominates pieces for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, Best Small Fictions, Best Microfiction, etc. Hope this is helpful!
I used to edit a literary journal, and I appreciate your question. Some literary journals publish poetry and prose that are totally different from the style of writing that I have, so I'm unlikely to submit work to these magazines. Some journals charge authors high fees to submit work or publish only winners of contests. I consider these strategies alienating, so I will not submit my work to these magazines. I have judged no-fee writing contests in the past, and I try to be open to different styles and approaches. However, I think that many readers of contest manuscripts are biased in favor of certain styles and approaches, rather than considering each poem or prose piece on its own merits. I hope that this is helpful. Best wishes! Janet
I have a list of questions I ask myself when considering a journal, including: Does the site/litmag actively promote on social media? Do they nominate for awards that could potentially extend the life of a piece? Do they accept previously published pieces that don't appear online?
Lisa, I subscribe to the Canadian-based "Authors Publish" (it's free) to get 3 or 4 lists per month of sub calls land in my In-box - plus links to great free lectures & other writing life biz. They only list fee-free calls & there's nearly always a themed call list. I highly recommend them! :)
Congrats on this. I submitted to their call as well (unsuccessfully) and it's not usual for places to give a status update on submissions, a point in their favor. I've liked work they've published... including this flash by you.
Aug 26, 2023·edited Aug 26, 2023Liked by Becky Tuch
Congratulations everyone! It's motivating and inspiring to read your work. I had nothing but lit mag rejections this month, but I can share the link to my poem in this year's Iowa City Poetry in Public program. My poem started riding a bus this month, and I am so thrilled and happy for it. I hope your community hosts a similar program. https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2023-PIP-Adult-Posters-TO-PRINT.pdf
Congrats, Laura! I really like your poem. We had a similar program in Vancouver for a few years; it’s now, sadly defunct. It was wonderful to be able to read a poem in transit.
Aug 26, 2023·edited Aug 26, 2023Liked by Becky Tuch
In August I hit a surprising and unexpected tally: 50+ flash, memoir, and travel essay publications/acceptances in the last two years (including some reprints).
I'm the author of ten mysteries set in the Ivory Tower world, have 15 years of teaching at the university level, and lots of professor friends, so I know this milieu well. The mysteries are what broke me into the NYTBR, for which I am forever grateful.
"Pancake Fantasy" due the 29th was massively expanded and revised when the editor of Wave offered just a few notes that inspired me. I'm always grateful when editors can be light-fingered but make suggestions that send me right to my keyboard.
Lev, I have always wanted to write a mystery. Do you have any experience in law enforcement? I have worried that my lack of knowledge of law enforcement would prevent me from writing a good mystery. What do you think? Janet
It is written in collective “we,” inspired by the book Brown Girls and developed with the help of a lecture during Muse22 given by A.E. Osworth who also wrote a novel using the same perspective. I like innovative forms and I’ve had the idea for the essay for about a year now but only got to work on it last spring.
I learned about Threepenny via Garstang’s list for nonfiction. It’s my first time to send my work to Threepenny, and it was also the piece’s “debut” submission. I didn’t sub my work to them (more like “to her” - the editor, Wendy Lesser, pretty much runs the whole operation!) for a long time because of the no simsub rule, not knowing she sends out a decision real quick. I found this out by getting an acceptance in about 3 days.
It was more or less published in its original form, save for some copyedits. I always find things to edit in my work even if it already got accepted, but I’m quite pleased with the published version.
Wonderful, Andrew. Had me recalling parts of my own childhood, waiting for my military father to return home from tours of duty and that sense of community shared by the neighborhood families of those who served.
Congratulations, Andrew! I subscribe to Threepenny Review, and it arrived in my mailbox last night with your wonderful essay inside. Thanks for a powerful and moving reading experience.
Thank you, Bruce! It’s a risky piece in terms of subject (and form). As I write and later submit my work, I sometimes forget people will actually read it once it gets published.
I know what you mean! I published a piece in Threepenny Review a couple of years ago, and was shocked to get emails from two different people who had read it.
Congratulations on this stunning essay and gorgeous use of first-person plural. I felt the absence as a vividly drawn character. Here's the first of many lines that killed me: We almost missed them.
I love Silverbirch’s pub model. Every year they feature themes and attract and publish poets of all levels to contribute to the fabric of the theme. It’s a lovely community.
The “Inquisitive Eater” is a new one to me and a project of the New School. This was a case of me having a poem that matched the title of their journal pretty much dead on.
I found the publication on Chill Subs, read quite a few of their stories, and thought my piece might be a good fit. They responded very quickly with a thumbs up. Originally, it was due to be out in July. I waited several weeks before querying the editor about it's status. He responded immediately, thanked me for my patience, and published it a few days later. They did light house-style edits, which I'm happy with.
August has brought me to the proofing stage of publication. I didn’t win the SIXFOLD poetry contest, but I was selected by the other poets to be published along with the winning selections in the SIXFOLD 2023 Summer issue. After 75+ subs on Submittable I finally scored a spot in a print journal, which was a goal of mine. Having some readers is next on the list. Any advice!
I had my first short story appear in The Masters Review in their New Voices feature. Titled "Río Negro" it tells the story of a young woman going to the Amazon to look for her missing sister, a researcher living in a remote village:
I experienced the brand new thrill of launching my anthropological observations into the fictional realm and expressing truths I couldn't explore fully in academic writing.
Thanks for all you do, Becky, and congratulations to those reporting in!
Aug 26, 2023·edited Aug 26, 2023Liked by Becky Tuch
August came with 2 acceptances. One was for a future issue (Issue 8 - one ahead of the forthcoming one) of" Exist Otherwise", an edgy journal inspired by French surrealist artist Claude Cahun that publishes writing & b/w art/photography. The editor has accepted my feminist prose poem "Image Matrix". It's a reprint, but I did revise it a little. This will be my 2nd acceptance for this journal - it's coming out in November.
The second acceptance was a complete surprise, because contrary to my usual practice, I'd submitted it very late at night, (2 minutes to the deadline, which isn't my favorite way to submit) & forgotten to record it in my submission tracker. "Antithesis" is a journal affiliated with Melbourne University (my home-town). Their theme was "Cosmos" - and I created a prose poem exploring Ancient Greek mythic ideas about Chaos, linking ideas about creative process. I shaped the poem based on Jacob Tant's painting "The Cosmic Egg".
I honestly worried I'd mixed too many ideas, but sent it anyway. To my astonishment, it was accepted just over a month later. They pay $50 for poetry & I'm excited as I may actually get to attend an in-person journal launch. This is my first acceptance into a University-affiliated journal (in truth I think it's my first submission to one). :) There'll be a revision / proofs process with their editorial team & it's due out in November (hard copy & I'm guessing digital too).
I also reviewed proofs this month for my Pandora re-imagining ("The Price for Fire"), for an anthology on literary female characters by Improbable Press, coming out early 2024.
Congratulations! To me, an in-person launch is quite valuable; I've had memorable experiences with them. Also, the Improbable Press anthology sounds delicious; congrats again.
Thank you, Lisa. Yes, the last literary launch I attended as a participating author was w-aa-aayy on the other side of the pandemic .... so I do hope they have one!
The anthology is called "Anna Karenina Isn't Dead". I was fortunate to be able to meet the LA-based editor for lunch in Melbourne as she was visitng Australia for few months, so that was lovely ... Feminist reimaginings are one of my literary passions - so I'm very much looking forward to its release.
The Editor didn't take my submission, but I corresponded with her briefly and she was smart and kind. I'm glad you got to meet her. Keep us posted on the release date, virtual readings, etc. BTW, are you an Angela Carter fan? She's one of my literary heroes, mostly for The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories.
Ms. Carter as an author & "The Bloody Chamber" are two of my literary touchstones, too, Lisa. I credit her & Jeanette Winterson with giving me the impetus to start taking my writing & the kinds of things I wanted to write seriously. They both helped wake up my voice, if that makes sense. For some reason I was drawn to reimagining Greek myths first, but have recently been seized by a particular fairytale & its possibilities!
Have you read Christa Wolf's re-telling of "Medea" (a novel)? She's another inspiration.
It sounds like you were corresponding with Atlin, too. Yes, she's lovely & very encouraging. I realized after submitting she was primarily interested in positive reimaginings, so , honestly, one of the others I sent her was too dark!
I'll certainly announce the release date etc here. If you'd like to swap email addresses, let me know. It seems like we have a bit in common with our writing interests. :)
Definitely re: Greek myth and fairy tales. What did you read by Jeanette Winterson that fueled your writing? I've read her on adoption. Thanks, too, for the mention of Christa Wolf. Would love to know if you read Madeline Miller ("Circe").And yes, let's! I'm not sure how to DM from here. My email address is lisakb@pobox.com.
It was a combination of synchronous encounters with Winterson's work that really impressed the power of metaphor on me - & a certain recognition of similarities in our themes, including sexuality.
"Written on the Body" was the 1st book I read. Lighthouse Keeping was next & together they were my "lighthouse moment". Her voice & themes somehow gave me permission to move beyond journalling & the occasional poem, to start taking my writing more seriously. This was in about 2010 / 2011. There's a longer story, but I won't post it here!
No, I haven't read "Circe". I've written my own reimagining of Medusa's story, though. I love the snaky ladies! I'll have to add it to my list. Thanks for your email - will be in touch. :)
I won Synkroniciti's 'Broken short story contest with The Month of Drowning. It will come out in the September issue. My story centers around a girl about to turn fourteen, watching her parents'marriage fall apart. The action takes place in France. Here is the announcement:
I always enjoy these 'mag brag' forums. Thank you!! They're a wonderful opportunity to share our work and discover others' work as well. For that, I believe we are all grateful!
This month was a good one for me in the way of acceptances. Just last week, I had five poems accepted by four different journals!
As for publications in August:
- My poem 'lagger tag' appeared in the inaugural issue of Do Geese See God.
- Two poems were published in another inaugural issue, this one RECESSES, a 'zine based in Birmingham, UK, but open to the world: 'Mackinaw' and 'Nuestra Senora del Carmen'.
- My first attempt at writing a sonnet paid off with the publication of 'sin & retribution' in the August issue of The Minison Project: Shakespeare’s Sonnet Reimagined.
Thanks, Donna! After I wrote the poem, I wanted to use something related to hopscotch in the title. After a little Google sleuthing, I found the word 'lagger' which, among other definitions, refers to a marker in the game of hopscotch!
Busy day - just got around to reading your poem. Wonderful! I've saved it to the 'Some Random Good Ones' folder in my browser. Again, congratulations for such a fine victory!
Small stuff, but mine own! Two of my peculiar poems were accepted and published in their original form in August. The one called “Life” that appeared online at Horror Sleaze and Trash was liked by 10 bloggers:
I had flash “The Sound of Music “ published in the South Florida Poetry Journal Review. I’m thrilled to be in this issue with so many talented writers, all star cast. We had a reading too where I read it, which was great because it’s meant to be read aloud. I put the rhyme in this flash as a Smokelong Fitness exercise. SoFloPoJo was fantastic to work with.
Ooooh, lovely. From the start, I particularly admire the juxtaposition of the happy-ending suggestion in the title with the tragic-ending in the Piper tale. Congratulations!
In a fun coincidence, I had two flash fiction pieces published on the same day. One was with Flash Frog, and one was with Fractured Lit as part of their third anthology, the hard copy of which will come out later this year. The pieces couldn’t be more different, so it was interesting to have them come out simultaneously and see the reactions to them. They can be found here:
Congrats to everyone! I am pleased that The Examined Life Journal of the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine accepted my essay, "The Octopus Trap." I know of TEL as they had published an essay by my wife, Diane Kraynak, several years ago. TEL was on a roll for awhile, accompanying their journal with an annual conference focused on medicine and the humanities. But their website has not been updated and the conference ended last year- probably a pandemic casualty. I'm hoping that this is a "re-boot" year for them.
I was delighted to have a flash story and an ekphrastic micro-poem appear in MacQueen’s Quinterly this month. These were both my first subs to this magazine, and the fastest-ever acceptances--within 24 hours! Clare MacQueen is great: on her own initiative, she added a note to my flash piece, along with a link to possible further reading.
My tanka “Deer in the Cascades” was published in One Moment at a Time: Tanka Society of America Members’ Anthology. Editor Jim Chessing. Pasadena CA: Tanka Society of America, 2023. 112.
Aug 26, 2023·edited Aug 26, 2023Liked by Becky Tuch
I've had a frustrating month in my writing, nothing new emerging, nothing at all interesting. I've done some solid revision work and some submitting, but there's nothing like the delight of something new...
This was my first time submitting to them, and they responded in 7 days.
I sent 5 poems to Heimat Review, all of them not-yet-published work, and the editor, Hannah Orsag, has short-listed two of them for the upcoming fall issue, which will be issue #5 for this litmag. I had poems included in issues #2, 3, and 4; I really like how the journal is laid out as well as how Hannah works with contributors.
Up Your Ars Poetica put out a submission call for an anthology of humorous or amusing poems about poetry or the writing of poetry. I sent them 3 pieces, and 2 have been accepted. Both of these are previously published poems, though one of them has been revised a bit and given a new title.
A poem of mine has been reprinted in an anthology, Beyond the Sand and Sea, that came out a few days ago from Southern Arizona Press.
I also sent out follow-up emails on submissions that are more than 6 months old, withdrew some submissions that never responded to follow-up emails sent in the past, etc.
Nothing from lit mags, but my chapbook, The Beautiful Leaves, came out this month, from Bamboo Dart Press. https://www.bamboodartpress.com/
They were wonderful--conscientious, observant about detail and tone, really committed to helping me speak in my voice, which they heard very well. If you go on their website, there is even a skillful video creation of one poem that is particularly hard to follow out loud Thank you, Mark. Thank you, Dennis.
This month I had a poem published in the beautiful annual print journal, Connecticut River Review. https://www.ctpoetry.net/index.html. The journal has been publishing since 1978. The editors were very easy to work with, timely with their communications and supportive. They put good effort into establishing a presence on social media, and I'll now have the opportunity to read my work online at the launch event for the 2023 edition.
The acceptance was a confidence booster for me, since most of my more recent publications have been old poems. This poem was much more recent, and the acceptance made me feel that I may still be on the right track.
I totally get that, Glenn. I continue to send out my older works, in search of a good home and sometimes I worry I have nothing new in me to share. But when - not if! - the Muse cooperates and I feel good about a new piece, it is THRILLING when someone wants to publish it. Congratulations on your new 'get'!!
Good idea, Julie, and I do something similar, but writing poetry is the most important pursuit to me and I don't like it if the dry patch goes on for very long.
Aug 26, 2023·edited Aug 26, 2023Liked by Becky Tuch
It's been a slow year for me so far, but I did have a story republished in an anthology this month. Now: though technically the anthology won't be available till October, I have copies, and it is available on an as-yet skimpy web page for pre-orders, so I say that counts for August!
My short story, "Fade to Gray," which I think is one of my best, was originally published a few years ago in the Bangalore Review in India. I submitted it as part of a collection to the Donna Tartt First Fiction contest last year, for short-story writers who have not yet published a collection. I didn't win (this time!), but I was a finalist, hence my inclusion in the yearly anthology.
The contest is run by the Livingston Press of the University of West Alabama. I've read all the stories now, and it's a hell of a good compilation. Unfortunately, the cover art is terribly banal--but the contents most definitely are not!
My short essay, "Crime Scene", was accepted at the Amethyst Review to be published in December. https://amethystmagazine.org/editor/ I was pleased. I really liked the piece and it had been sitting in two Submittable boxes since last fall. (I think one of the journals is dying or dead, but is edited by a friend. Anyway, I just submitted several of the flash pieces I worked on during Smokelong summer and hope this fall will produce some more wins for me.
I didn't publish anything in August (I'm still waiting for responses, though). But I did participate in the Boston Poetry Marathon where 100+ poets read over the course of two days. Free to the public, it was a fabulous poetry party!
Aug 27, 2023·edited Aug 27, 2023Liked by Becky Tuch
So fun to celebrate at the end of the month. Thanks, Becky.
I had a novel excerpt come out this month in Harvard's Transition Magazine. I was fortunate to have the piece solicited after I pulled another piece from them bc it was being published elsewhere. They said, Got anything else? So I sent them 3 pieces and they selected one. Several things went really well. The piece is set in early 20th century American south, but the Lib. of Congress pics they selected didn't quite fit so I went to the LOC website and found several and suggested them and they were like, Great! So they used them. The first person voice was quite the challenge to get right so I sent in a ton of small edits and they accepted 98 percent of them. The ones they didn't accept, I ultimately thought was a good call on their part once I saw the piece in print. It was a great experience. I got complimentary copies and an unexpected check which was very nice.
Trash Panda Haiku just published volume 5, which has one of my haiku in it (!). I totally don't think of myself as a short form poet, so having been included in Trash Panda two volumes in a row is both happy-making and surprising! https://www.trashpandahaiku.org/
“A Tutor’s ABCs” appeared July 31 on Porcupine Literary, “a journal by and for teachers.” Answering the Editor’s submission call on Twitter, I used the expedited response option and the piece was accepted five days later, then published as submitted (no editing suggestions) about five months after that. https://www.porcupineliterary.com/post/a-tutor-s-abcs
This essay had been rejected 14 times before acceptance. It had also been named an honorable mention in a contest.
Question for the community: Two extreeeemely minor errors were introduced with publication: One letter of a bolded word and, separately, one entire word were not bolded. This seems so very tiny that I did not mention it to the Editor. Would others have done same?
Hi Lisa. I remember reading your piece when it first came out and thoroughly enjoying it. As for your community question, I think we should always say something when we see errors, minor or otherwise. That said, I STILL haven't told an editor of an online journal that my name is misspelled on the Table of Contents, so obviously my advice should be taken with a huge grain of salt. :)
Thank you, Colette! I've had the introduced-error issue before with other pubs. However, editors have saved me from my own, as well. I bet I can guess the misspelling of your name. [insert smile].
I agree with Colette. Tell them! It's in their interest too to have a perfect product. I was actually alerted to a typo in one of my own stories by a reader right here in a lit mag brag conversation. I passed the info to the editor and the editor was both apologetic and very appreciative.
Hi Lisa, this was such well placed use of the abecedarian form. This line clinched it for me -
“my students were high-school seniors who had five-page resumes and were almost fatally fluent in the lexicon of achievement.”
I like the end when you tied the two strands together.
I’ve been in the position of an editor who has hit publish on a piece with an error and the faster I found out about it the better. It’s usually an easy fix. Especially since that’s how your piece is working, I don’t think they’d mind.
Hi, Dave! Appreciate your comments. I was glad to find that form as an option to a chronological approach. Regarding the minor adjustments, I sent a note to the editor and hope for a reply. Thanks for weighing in.
The abecedarian form was a really intriguing device to spotlight aspects of your experience. Your ending metaphor in "X" was very powerful.
Re your community question, I'd definitely let the editor know. As it's an online journal, correcting errors is usually an easy fix, and as Becky says, it's in their best interest too, to have an error-free product. I let an editor know recently of some errors in a flash fiction of mine he'd published & he fixed them immediately, apologized & thanked me for leeting him know.
Rounding out August with my fantasy short about identity, grief, and motherhood being accepted to Uncharted Magazine! I probably spent the better part of this year trying to place "We Are Made to Bloom" in various publications (with far too many "made it to the final round, but..." moments), and I couldn't be happier that it's found its home. (https://www.unchartedmag.com/stories/we-are-made-to-bloom/)
Well. I've had a good summer but rejection always smarts. I've found ink in Anti-Heroin Chic Magazine, Book Of Matches Literary Magazine and Moonstone Arts Center's Remembering Charles Bukowski. Better than that, Book Of Matches accepted brand new work that I offered to them exclusively (as a gesture of apology for our mix-up last cycle) and, not only did they accept a poem and a piece of Flash Creative Nonfiction, ™ BABELON was one of the first FCNF pieces I've ever written! Feels good, right? Maybe...
Had to go to Submittable for a rejection letter from JMWW and I ain't gonna lie—it pissed me off! Strange days. Normally, I'd be glad to take the work elsewhere, tickled even to continue using my "whole deer" writing schedule and anyway at the very least generate content for my newsletter and subsequent publications. It pissed me off cuz I was on a roll! Wtf. It goes on...
Four lit sites featured a poem (or five) in August: 5 poems at Otoliths (ed Mark Young says it's the final issue), "Building a House" in Pure Slush's Achievement anthology, two poems in Dark Winter, and "A Window" in Cream Scene Carnival. Among the successes I also talked about the long road in a post on my blog I call, Rejecto-zines. http://lovesettlement.blogspot.com
The folks at Cream Scene Carnival seem to be having fun, matching art and lit -- and even music (if you see their Instagram posts). Their enthusiasm is contagious.
I have, like, four subscribers to a Substack newsletter, which I haven't even started yet. That's a nice vote of confidence, yes? Most of the month I was working at reading over pdfs for two book publications, so I haven't done much else. Now that the balls (balled up manuscripts?) are in the publishers' courts, I can put attention to other things? Or just sink into that doomed feeling that the books will never actually come out ...
I have a friend who is working with a well-regarded small publisher on her third poetry book, and she sends out work to literary publications two ways -- 1) when asked -- and 2) in a brief spasm of two or three followed by several months of inactivity. Yet she has a talent I don't -- she has a talent for engaging with people -- and that seems to make up for any and all other deficiencies in getting work out there.
I saw Barbie and loved it. Though, to be fair, I saw it when I was in France and it was all in French with no subtitles. (I understood about two words of it.) I'm not sure that's much of a recommendation. :)
i think seeing Barbie in French was the way!! imagine, making up the dialogue yourself.. and watching Barbie's speak fresh dialogue. (i think it's Oppenheimer)..
I've been reading so much about rude and disruptive audiences for both films, I'm going to wait till they stream. We have a terrific home theater and only the dogs disrupt us when they need to go out or if they see a critter on the screen. :-)
The hurricane made me late to the party but my prose poem, The Urologist, was published in DMQ Review. I found them very easy to work with and loved the other works in the issue: https://www.dmqreview.com/fairbrothersu23
After a very long hiatus from short story writing while I pursued a busy career, I was happy to hear that my story, "I'll Call Tomorrow" was picked up by Glass Mountain.
ON BRIGHT INDUSTRIAL MORNINGS, an anti-capitalist poem going live at The Moonstone Arts Center's Who's Side Are You On? on 9/3. (There's still time to submit for this one! At https://moonstoneartscenter.submittable.com/submit)
Becky, how can I be considered as a contributor to @LITMAGNEWS? I've been releasing a collection of poetry, and sometimes prose, every year for the last 8 years—fulfilling a pledge of 10 titles in 10 years, soliciting writers and touring round the world, and finding ink in several journals and across mediums.
I would love to be considered and pitch or discuss a contribution anytime.
I submitted three stories and one poem in early August and got two acceptances and two rejections. Super excited for my story and poem to be published!
Culminating about 30 years of off-and-on submitting to The Sun, I had a poem accepted there. I suppose that means never give up.
It appeared in a group of poems about parents/parenting, but I didn't submit it in any topical way. Also, I felt pretty good that they used the last line of my poem as the heading for all the poems.
The editing was organized, thoughtful, and kind. A truly professional group. Not to mention, I was paid, a nice miracle for poetry!
https://www.thesunmagazine.org/issues/572/the-only-ones
Congrats. Yet to be accepted by The Sun and your 30 year wait just exceeded my most optimistic life expectation. :-)
Reminds me of growing up wanting to be published by Scribner, which published some of my favorite authors--and almost making it. An editor was wild about my book but the board said "It won't sell 100,000 copies."
Wow. That's a pretty high bar -- 100k copies.
Expectations can be crazy.
Many years ago, I met a writer who had been dropped by Dutton because his debut novel sold "only" 30,000 copies in hardcover.
They had expected 35,000.
Gotta love those guys putting art before commerce ...
Hah!
... and of course they proved to be right because it was never published. Damned bean counters. :-)
It actually was, by Marge Piercy's former press, and got me a rave review in The Washington Post. Some fabulous well-paid speaking gigs, too.
Jessica, quite an accomplishment. Brava! I think the real keys to publication success are persistence and perseverance.
30 years....are you a Taurus? :-)
Well, it wasn't all I did!
Of course not--I meant your focus on The Sun, not the rest of your work. I worked on one novel for 20 years, and published many books, stories, essays and reviews during that time. I assumed the same for you.
I started as a poet, moved to fiction, and have published 16 novels over the years. But always at the back of my mind was The Sun. And, of course, The New Yorker. Maybe I have enough years to see that happen! :)
What a journey--and I hope you get to The New Yorker!
I started out publishing short stories, then a novel, then a biography and have now 27 books in many genres and translations in 15 languages. The book that has done the best, 300,000 copies, was one I never thought would sell much at all....so it goes....
That's amazing, Jessica! Congratulations - I'm so impressed by your persistence, & of course that means you were developing as a writer through those three decades, too. Very inspiring ... I look forward to reading it.
Persistence despite rejection is what we all need.
And treats. My spouse says, "You need treats to celebrate, and treats to commiserate."
Congratulations! And worth repeating, great persistence.
The Sun is a dream pub. Congratulations and look forward to reading your poem.
Oh, fabulous! Congrats, Jessica!
Wonderful poem, Jessica! Congrats on getting this in The Sun! It’s such a great magazine.
Beautiful poem!
That is perseverance! Congratulations.
Super impressive!
Congratulations! I love The Sun and I've been trying to find my way into their pages.
Congrats!! I don’t think I would have been that persistent
These are all gorgeous! Yours particularly .Wow.
Yeah, they're great to work with -- and have a vast readership.
This is fabulous news, Jessica! I just read the poem and loved it!
This month I'm happy to say Kelsey Review, the literary magazine of Mercer County Community College (NJ) accepted my short story, "Stones Tell No Lies," for publication. I have a strategy of my work appearing in each (annual) issue, because I teach in the English and History departments at the college and because I direct the Holocaust, Genocide & Human Rights Education Center there (I can give the center more publicity through the publication of my work).
I worked on this story through the first half of 2023 knowing I intended to send it to Kelsey Review and to send it there exclusively. In the past, the editor has nominated my fiction (about antisemitism and the Holocaust) for Pushcart Prizes, which I appreciate. Unlike many college publications, this one allows faculty to submit. It's also published my nonfiction and poetry.
This story will be published sometime in the fall. It is the story of a man in 1980 returning to his hometown of Paris from which he and his parents escaped Nazi occupation. When he returns, he confronts his past and reclaims Judaism with the help of an estranged relative who survived the Holocaust.
I'm already thinking about a new short story to submit to the lit mag next year.
Congratulations, Barbara! That's wonderful news!
Congratulations, Barbara. The premise sounds like a wonderful & moving story. Brava!
I have just had five poems accepted by the online poetry journal ONE ART. They will appear in their October issue. I had submitted twice before to this journal without any luck, but this time my poems just fit into the issue. Actually, the editor accepted four of the five poems submitted, and when I wrote to thank him, I was bold and offered an additional poem which was related to two of the poems, and he took it. I'm thrilled that the three poems will appear together.
How wonderful he took your "trio", plus two more poems, Jane. I've only submitted once to them without success. I'll try again when I have markedly different work to what I submitted. The poetry in their journal seems quite restrained, which I admire. I think my current style might be too metaphorically effusive.
Thanks, Melissa. It's always such a gamble trying to figure which poems to submit where. I've had several poems rejected multiple times then accepted by much more illustrious journals.
That's great news, Jane! That gives me hope and inspiration to submit again to this lit mag.
Thanks, Barbara! Perseverance definitely pays off in the land of submissions!
LOL - I submitted yesterday, inspired by your post, and received the rejection this morning. Oh, well. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Amazing news! I think I’ve seen ONE ART on IG
Thanks very much, Nona! What is IG??
Shorthand for instagram
Of course!
Congrats, Jane! Nice work offering another poem. So glad it was accepted, too.
Thanks very much, Lisa! I figured I had nothing to lose and it fit with two of the other poems.
Wow! That is great news.
Thanks, Jessica! We're somewhat related. I believe my brother-in-law is your uncle. Three of the poems are about my younger sister, whom I believe you met at some point decades ago. She died in 2010.
If you want to continue this conversation in a more private place, you can send an email to my chamber music group, drydenensemble@gmail.com.
Sent you an email.
It has been a banner August. My short story collection "Family and Other Ailments" (Crime Stories Close to Home) came out with Wordwooze Publishing. It's available in a bunch of formats and an audiobook will be available soon. https://books2read.com/u/3Lx0v5 So now, I'm deep into promotion, wrangling reviews, lobbying for interviews... the works! I'm very happy with it - it's 26 stories, so the size of a short novel.
I also had a few stories published.
Two in succession at Shotgun Honey, pure coincidence, as one of them was accepted a year ago.
"A Path Taken" (that's the one from last year) - https://shotgunhoney.com/fiction/a-path-taken-by-m-e-proctor/
"Maybe I Love You" - that's a spine chilling one! - https://shotgunhoney.com/fiction/maybe-i-love-you-by-m-e-proctor/
And then a quirky PI story - "Sweet Marylou" in Illicit Motions from Unnerving Press - https://www.amazon.com/Illicit-Motions-Unnerving-Crime-Book-ebook/dp/B0C7FCY2JY/
Who says August is slow????
Great news!
Thanks, Lev!
Good morning. I have a flash up in Arboreal Literary Magazine, a fairly new journal (this is the third issue).
https://arborealmag.com/issues/03-illusion/colette-parris-fiction/
I'm usually hesitant to submit to newer journals, but this was a themed issue--Illusion--and I had a piece that seemed appropriate. I'm glad I submitted. The website is great, and the work is available both online and in print. Galleys were sent in a timely manner (they proposed minor grammatical changes, and I was fine with them). I also like the fact that when response times took longer than expected, they apologized via e-mail, explained that they were overwhelmed by the unanticipated 1000+ submissions, and said that they would send out all responses shortly, which they did. This is a no fee, no pay journal, and they are on Twitter. I received an acceptance in 61 days. I had previously received various form and high tier rejections. I finally realized that I was doing too much "telling" in the final paragraph and took out an unnecessary sentence. That seemed to do the trick.
Congrats, Colette! It's always nice when journals release in print, too - a memento for your bookshelf! It's very late at night here, but I look forward to reading it tomorrow. :)
Thanks Melissa!
That's great! We're a newer journal and interested to know what would prevent someone from submitting. Is it uncertainty about the style or legitimacy of the publication?
Regarding new/newer journals, I have two major concerns. First, if the first issue is not out yet, I don't know if the issue will contain work that I'm comfortable having alongside mine. Second, even if I like the first issue, there's a question of longevity, since so many new journals seem to fold after a few years (although of course it's true that a journal can fold at any time!). As for how I choose journals generally, I (usually) won't submit if the submission fee is over $3, the website looks amateurish, the masthead is not listed, and/or the response times are ridiculous. Like Lisa, I also check to see if the journal nominates pieces for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, Best Small Fictions, Best Microfiction, etc. Hope this is helpful!
I used to edit a literary journal, and I appreciate your question. Some literary journals publish poetry and prose that are totally different from the style of writing that I have, so I'm unlikely to submit work to these magazines. Some journals charge authors high fees to submit work or publish only winners of contests. I consider these strategies alienating, so I will not submit my work to these magazines. I have judged no-fee writing contests in the past, and I try to be open to different styles and approaches. However, I think that many readers of contest manuscripts are biased in favor of certain styles and approaches, rather than considering each poem or prose piece on its own merits. I hope that this is helpful. Best wishes! Janet
I have a list of questions I ask myself when considering a journal, including: Does the site/litmag actively promote on social media? Do they nominate for awards that could potentially extend the life of a piece? Do they accept previously published pieces that don't appear online?
Congratulations, Colette! I look forward to reading!
Thanks Stanley!
I’ve heard of the magazine. It’s super cool! Congratulations!! 🎉
Thank you Nona!
Congratulations, Colette. I love this piece; both sinister and eerily humorous!
Thanks so much, Donna! That's exactly what I was going for.
What a lovely piece, Colette! Loved the heart of this piece, "an aptitude for unseeing." Wow.
Thank you Meredith!
Congratulations! Do you happen to remember how you found the themed listing?
Thanks Lisa! I either found it on Duotrope or Chill Subs; I check both websites pretty religiously.
Got it, thank you. I'm particularly drawn to themed anthologies and issues.
Lisa, I subscribe to the Canadian-based "Authors Publish" (it's free) to get 3 or 4 lists per month of sub calls land in my In-box - plus links to great free lectures & other writing life biz. They only list fee-free calls & there's nearly always a themed call list. I highly recommend them! :)
Thanks, Melissa! I'll take look!
Congrats on this. I submitted to their call as well (unsuccessfully) and it's not usual for places to give a status update on submissions, a point in their favor. I've liked work they've published... including this flash by you.
Thanks so much, Jon!
Congratulations everyone! It's motivating and inspiring to read your work. I had nothing but lit mag rejections this month, but I can share the link to my poem in this year's Iowa City Poetry in Public program. My poem started riding a bus this month, and I am so thrilled and happy for it. I hope your community hosts a similar program. https://www.iowacityofliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2023-PIP-Adult-Posters-TO-PRINT.pdf
Oh wow, that was great!
Congrats, Laura! I really like your poem. We had a similar program in Vancouver for a few years; it’s now, sadly defunct. It was wonderful to be able to read a poem in transit.
Thanks Donna. Sorry to hear the Vancouver program ended. Here's hoping a local organization will pick up the idea
Yeah, it's been a dry spell for me.
In August I hit a surprising and unexpected tally: 50+ flash, memoir, and travel essay publications/acceptances in the last two years (including some reprints).
"I Had Jesus Hair" appeared in Stone of Madness, the original version of an essay I discovered by accident, so technically not a reprint (https://stoneofmadnesspress.com/issue-22/lev-raphael)
My satire of academia appeared in Monocle of Higher Ed, a lovely humor journal: "Welcome, New Professor!" (https://medium.com/the-monocle-of-higher-ed/welcome-new-professor-9ac92bb20cda)
I'm the author of ten mysteries set in the Ivory Tower world, have 15 years of teaching at the university level, and lots of professor friends, so I know this milieu well. The mysteries are what broke me into the NYTBR, for which I am forever grateful.
"Pancake Fantasy" due the 29th was massively expanded and revised when the editor of Wave offered just a few notes that inspired me. I'm always grateful when editors can be light-fingered but make suggestions that send me right to my keyboard.
Oh, and one more item: a flash essay about disagreeing with my dead mother in Oddball Magazine, which I chose because it's an odd story to tell: https://oddballmagazine.com/essay-by-lev-raphael/
I just did the galleys for my true story of ghostly encounters appearing this September in Paranormal Magazine. I'll supply the link next month.
Lev, I have always wanted to write a mystery. Do you have any experience in law enforcement? I have worried that my lack of knowledge of law enforcement would prevent me from writing a good mystery. What do you think? Janet
You don't need law enforcement background if you have an amateur sleuth. Any technical info can be gathered via interviews and research.
Thank you! That is very helpful advice for me! Best wishes, and happy Thanksgiving and Chanukah!
I've replied via your website.
Writing books in my series has always felt like a vacation because they're so much fun to plan....and execute (pun intended).
Lev, I can't find your comment on my website. Could you message me on Facebook? Best wishes! Janet
See above.
I published my essay “We Waited for Them” in Threepenny Review: https://www.threepennyreview.com/we-waited-for-them/
It is written in collective “we,” inspired by the book Brown Girls and developed with the help of a lecture during Muse22 given by A.E. Osworth who also wrote a novel using the same perspective. I like innovative forms and I’ve had the idea for the essay for about a year now but only got to work on it last spring.
I learned about Threepenny via Garstang’s list for nonfiction. It’s my first time to send my work to Threepenny, and it was also the piece’s “debut” submission. I didn’t sub my work to them (more like “to her” - the editor, Wendy Lesser, pretty much runs the whole operation!) for a long time because of the no simsub rule, not knowing she sends out a decision real quick. I found this out by getting an acceptance in about 3 days.
It was more or less published in its original form, save for some copyedits. I always find things to edit in my work even if it already got accepted, but I’m quite pleased with the published version.
Congratulations! And glad to know they reply quickly. The no sim. subs often turned me off, but this is inspiring.
Wonderful, Andrew. Had me recalling parts of my own childhood, waiting for my military father to return home from tours of duty and that sense of community shared by the neighborhood families of those who served.
That's fascinating - also an apt subject for a "we" essay!
Congratulations, Andrew! I subscribe to Threepenny Review, and it arrived in my mailbox last night with your wonderful essay inside. Thanks for a powerful and moving reading experience.
Thank you, Bruce! It’s a risky piece in terms of subject (and form). As I write and later submit my work, I sometimes forget people will actually read it once it gets published.
I know what you mean! I published a piece in Threepenny Review a couple of years ago, and was shocked to get emails from two different people who had read it.
Pls share the link or issue # of your work here, or send it by dm. Thanks!
Congratulations on this stunning essay and gorgeous use of first-person plural. I felt the absence as a vividly drawn character. Here's the first of many lines that killed me: We almost missed them.
Thanks, Lisa! I mostly had “fun” writing the essay, trying to channel what my childhood neighbors and I said or did.
Andrew, it's a wonderful essay! Bravo!
Thank you, Barbara!
Two “hot” food poems this month. Oh, my!
https://silverbirchpress.wordpress.com/2023/08/22/slow-burn-by-dick-westheimer-spices-seasonings-series/
https://inquisitiveeater.com/2023/08/16/an-awakening-in-oaxaca/
I love Silverbirch’s pub model. Every year they feature themes and attract and publish poets of all levels to contribute to the fabric of the theme. It’s a lovely community.
The “Inquisitive Eater” is a new one to me and a project of the New School. This was a case of me having a poem that matched the title of their journal pretty much dead on.
Dick, I love these--they also make great generative prompts!
Mazel tov, Dick
Glad to learn about The Inquisitive Eater!
Across the Margin published my story "Sisyphus Becomes Another Person." https://acrossthemargin.com/sisyphus-becomes-another-person/
I found the publication on Chill Subs, read quite a few of their stories, and thought my piece might be a good fit. They responded very quickly with a thumbs up. Originally, it was due to be out in July. I waited several weeks before querying the editor about it's status. He responded immediately, thanked me for my patience, and published it a few days later. They did light house-style edits, which I'm happy with.
Congratulations, Meredith. Great story!
Thanks so much, Donna!
Love this piece, Meredith!
Thanks so much, Colette!
Congrats to all you brave souls.
This month a story that I first drafted some 30 years ago finally found a home in The Wise Owl'. https://www.thewiseowl.art/doug-jacquier
My micro flash piece 'Tent-ness' appeared in Dribble Drabble Review https://www.thedribbledrabblereview.com/ Page 29
My micro flash piece 'Indications' appeared in 50 Word Stories https://fiftywordstories.com/2023/08/21/doug-jacquier-indications/
Congrats, Doug! It's hard to tell a story in so few words.
Wow. I love these. They are so wise.
August has brought me to the proofing stage of publication. I didn’t win the SIXFOLD poetry contest, but I was selected by the other poets to be published along with the winning selections in the SIXFOLD 2023 Summer issue. After 75+ subs on Submittable I finally scored a spot in a print journal, which was a goal of mine. Having some readers is next on the list. Any advice!
Amazing amazing persistence and congratulations. Poetry to me is one third musing and the rest hard work.
I had my first short story appear in The Masters Review in their New Voices feature. Titled "Río Negro" it tells the story of a young woman going to the Amazon to look for her missing sister, a researcher living in a remote village:
https://mastersreview.com/new-voices/rio-negro-by-lynn-sikkink/
I experienced the brand new thrill of launching my anthropological observations into the fictional realm and expressing truths I couldn't explore fully in academic writing.
Thanks for all you do, Becky, and congratulations to those reporting in!
Loved your story, Lynn. Drew me straight in and didn't let go!
Congratulations!
August came with 2 acceptances. One was for a future issue (Issue 8 - one ahead of the forthcoming one) of" Exist Otherwise", an edgy journal inspired by French surrealist artist Claude Cahun that publishes writing & b/w art/photography. The editor has accepted my feminist prose poem "Image Matrix". It's a reprint, but I did revise it a little. This will be my 2nd acceptance for this journal - it's coming out in November.
The second acceptance was a complete surprise, because contrary to my usual practice, I'd submitted it very late at night, (2 minutes to the deadline, which isn't my favorite way to submit) & forgotten to record it in my submission tracker. "Antithesis" is a journal affiliated with Melbourne University (my home-town). Their theme was "Cosmos" - and I created a prose poem exploring Ancient Greek mythic ideas about Chaos, linking ideas about creative process. I shaped the poem based on Jacob Tant's painting "The Cosmic Egg".
I honestly worried I'd mixed too many ideas, but sent it anyway. To my astonishment, it was accepted just over a month later. They pay $50 for poetry & I'm excited as I may actually get to attend an in-person journal launch. This is my first acceptance into a University-affiliated journal (in truth I think it's my first submission to one). :) There'll be a revision / proofs process with their editorial team & it's due out in November (hard copy & I'm guessing digital too).
I also reviewed proofs this month for my Pandora re-imagining ("The Price for Fire"), for an anthology on literary female characters by Improbable Press, coming out early 2024.
Congratulations, Melissa! I'm looking forward to reading these in November.
Thanks so much, Donna! I'll definitely post the links here. Super-excited about the "Antithesis" publication!
Congratulations! To me, an in-person launch is quite valuable; I've had memorable experiences with them. Also, the Improbable Press anthology sounds delicious; congrats again.
Thank you, Lisa. Yes, the last literary launch I attended as a participating author was w-aa-aayy on the other side of the pandemic .... so I do hope they have one!
The anthology is called "Anna Karenina Isn't Dead". I was fortunate to be able to meet the LA-based editor for lunch in Melbourne as she was visitng Australia for few months, so that was lovely ... Feminist reimaginings are one of my literary passions - so I'm very much looking forward to its release.
The Editor didn't take my submission, but I corresponded with her briefly and she was smart and kind. I'm glad you got to meet her. Keep us posted on the release date, virtual readings, etc. BTW, are you an Angela Carter fan? She's one of my literary heroes, mostly for The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories.
Ms. Carter as an author & "The Bloody Chamber" are two of my literary touchstones, too, Lisa. I credit her & Jeanette Winterson with giving me the impetus to start taking my writing & the kinds of things I wanted to write seriously. They both helped wake up my voice, if that makes sense. For some reason I was drawn to reimagining Greek myths first, but have recently been seized by a particular fairytale & its possibilities!
Have you read Christa Wolf's re-telling of "Medea" (a novel)? She's another inspiration.
It sounds like you were corresponding with Atlin, too. Yes, she's lovely & very encouraging. I realized after submitting she was primarily interested in positive reimaginings, so , honestly, one of the others I sent her was too dark!
I'll certainly announce the release date etc here. If you'd like to swap email addresses, let me know. It seems like we have a bit in common with our writing interests. :)
Definitely re: Greek myth and fairy tales. What did you read by Jeanette Winterson that fueled your writing? I've read her on adoption. Thanks, too, for the mention of Christa Wolf. Would love to know if you read Madeline Miller ("Circe").And yes, let's! I'm not sure how to DM from here. My email address is lisakb@pobox.com.
It was a combination of synchronous encounters with Winterson's work that really impressed the power of metaphor on me - & a certain recognition of similarities in our themes, including sexuality.
"Written on the Body" was the 1st book I read. Lighthouse Keeping was next & together they were my "lighthouse moment". Her voice & themes somehow gave me permission to move beyond journalling & the occasional poem, to start taking my writing more seriously. This was in about 2010 / 2011. There's a longer story, but I won't post it here!
No, I haven't read "Circe". I've written my own reimagining of Medusa's story, though. I love the snaky ladies! I'll have to add it to my list. Thanks for your email - will be in touch. :)
I won Synkroniciti's 'Broken short story contest with The Month of Drowning. It will come out in the September issue. My story centers around a girl about to turn fourteen, watching her parents'marriage fall apart. The action takes place in France. Here is the announcement:
https://synkroniciti.com/synkronicitis-broken-short-story-winner-the-month-of-drowning-by-lissa-staples/
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=791174656344396&set=a.533995682062296
I started writing in 2014 after a musical career and three children. This award is so encouraging! Thank you, Katherine McDaniel!
I spent several days in Norway and then Sweden this month for the Alpine Fellowship. What an intensive and stimulating gathering it was at a gorgeous inn at the edge of a lake. My winning poem is up on the site now. Thanks! https://alpinefellowship.com/once-for-each-thing-just-once-no-more-by-lois-p-jones
I always enjoy these 'mag brag' forums. Thank you!! They're a wonderful opportunity to share our work and discover others' work as well. For that, I believe we are all grateful!
This month was a good one for me in the way of acceptances. Just last week, I had five poems accepted by four different journals!
As for publications in August:
- My poem 'lagger tag' appeared in the inaugural issue of Do Geese See God.
https://dogeeseseegodmag.wixsite.com/dogeeseseegodmag/lagger-tag
- Two poems were published in another inaugural issue, this one RECESSES, a 'zine based in Birmingham, UK, but open to the world: 'Mackinaw' and 'Nuestra Senora del Carmen'.
https://www.recesseszine.com/i-s-s-u-e-i
- My first attempt at writing a sonnet paid off with the publication of 'sin & retribution' in the August issue of The Minison Project: Shakespeare’s Sonnet Reimagined.
https://theminisonproject.com/theminisonzine/tmzarchive/
Congrats!!
Thank you!
Congratulations, Julie. I love the lagger tag line about the sidewalk markings tempting the hopscotch!
Thanks, Donna! After I wrote the poem, I wanted to use something related to hopscotch in the title. After a little Google sleuthing, I found the word 'lagger' which, among other definitions, refers to a marker in the game of hopscotch!
Oh, wonderful--a new word!
It’s good to discover these inaugural issues. Congratulations and love the geese poem.
Thanking you! I've pulled yours up but not yet read it. Congratulations to you for your Alpine Fellowship AND your winning poem!!
Busy day - just got around to reading your poem. Wonderful! I've saved it to the 'Some Random Good Ones' folder in my browser. Again, congratulations for such a fine victory!
Small stuff, but mine own! Two of my peculiar poems were accepted and published in their original form in August. The one called “Life” that appeared online at Horror Sleaze and Trash was liked by 10 bloggers:
https://horrorsleazetrash.com/2023/08/17/tony-dawson-6/
The other is a short recording called “Mort “and can be found here:
http://www.syndicjournal.us/syndic-narration-mort-tony-dawson/
I hope you enjoy their idiosyncrasy. 😊
I like them both, Tony. Your life slipping away ...
The 4-lettering was the kind of playful that pleases.
Thanks Glenn. I'm trying to improve my chess as you might imagine! And at my age, I'm no longer into four-lettering. :-)
I should like to thank those who have indicated that they liked my post. I am also intrigued to know which of the two poems they preferred.
I had flash “The Sound of Music “ published in the South Florida Poetry Journal Review. I’m thrilled to be in this issue with so many talented writers, all star cast. We had a reading too where I read it, which was great because it’s meant to be read aloud. I put the rhyme in this flash as a Smokelong Fitness exercise. SoFloPoJo was fantastic to work with.
Look for my name / sound of music here: https://www.southfloridapoetryjournal.com/flash-30-aug-23.html
Ooooh, lovely. From the start, I particularly admire the juxtaposition of the happy-ending suggestion in the title with the tragic-ending in the Piper tale. Congratulations!
Love this piece! The Pied Piper legend is ripe for exploration. Nice work!
In a fun coincidence, I had two flash fiction pieces published on the same day. One was with Flash Frog, and one was with Fractured Lit as part of their third anthology, the hard copy of which will come out later this year. The pieces couldn’t be more different, so it was interesting to have them come out simultaneously and see the reactions to them. They can be found here:
https://flash-frog.com/2023/07/31/surveillance-by-quinn-rennerfeldt/amp/
And here:
https://fracturedlit.com/when-were-empty-of-what-we-are-designed-to-hold/
Quinn, I enjoyed these two and those are excellent lit mags, congrats!
These are fabulous, Quinn! What lovely reads! Thanks for sharing.
Love this line: "But I’m nailed in place, watching my love change shape into something interspatial, interspecies." Congratulations!
Congratulations, Quinn! I really like your imagination.
Thank you so much Donna!
Congrats to everyone! I am pleased that The Examined Life Journal of the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine accepted my essay, "The Octopus Trap." I know of TEL as they had published an essay by my wife, Diane Kraynak, several years ago. TEL was on a roll for awhile, accompanying their journal with an annual conference focused on medicine and the humanities. But their website has not been updated and the conference ended last year- probably a pandemic casualty. I'm hoping that this is a "re-boot" year for them.
I'm in an anthology from Tuleburg Press! The anthology is called Center of Attention: Poems on Stockton and San Joaquin. More info here:
https://tuleburgpress.com/product/center-of-attention/
:D
I was delighted to have a flash story and an ekphrastic micro-poem appear in MacQueen’s Quinterly this month. These were both my first subs to this magazine, and the fastest-ever acceptances--within 24 hours! Clare MacQueen is great: on her own initiative, she added a note to my flash piece, along with a link to possible further reading.
“Marie-Antoinette’s Nose”: http://www.macqueensquinterly.com/MacQ19/Shanley-MA-Nose.aspx
“Active-wear”: http://www.macqueensquinterly.com/MacQ19/Shanley-Activewear.aspx
“Marie-Antoinette’s Nose” is such a fantastic title! Wonderful piece, too. I love seeing the oft overlooked sense of smell get it’s due.
Thank you, Quinn! I enjoyed doing the research for this as much as I did writing it.
Wonderful, Donna! The "heady" scent of death . . .
Thank you so much, Meredith!
"from the onion-reek of taunting mouths" Knocked me over. Congrats on both pieces!
Thanks so much, Lisa!
I love "Marie-Antoinette's Nose"--and that ending!
Thank you, Colette!
Hello, friends!
In August, I published two short poems. My haiku “Sunlight Sifts” appeared in Scarlet Dragonfly Journal 16 (August 15, 2023). https://scarletdragonflyjournal.wordpress.com/category/current-issue/
My tanka “Deer in the Cascades” was published in One Moment at a Time: Tanka Society of America Members’ Anthology. Editor Jim Chessing. Pasadena CA: Tanka Society of America, 2023. 112.
Best wishes! Janet
I've had a frustrating month in my writing, nothing new emerging, nothing at all interesting. I've done some solid revision work and some submitting, but there's nothing like the delight of something new...
My poem "Wandering the Mojave" was published in The Bluebird Word. https://thebluebirdword.com/wandering-the-mojave-by-cynthia-bernard/
This was my first time submitting to them, and they responded in 7 days.
I sent 5 poems to Heimat Review, all of them not-yet-published work, and the editor, Hannah Orsag, has short-listed two of them for the upcoming fall issue, which will be issue #5 for this litmag. I had poems included in issues #2, 3, and 4; I really like how the journal is laid out as well as how Hannah works with contributors.
Up Your Ars Poetica put out a submission call for an anthology of humorous or amusing poems about poetry or the writing of poetry. I sent them 3 pieces, and 2 have been accepted. Both of these are previously published poems, though one of them has been revised a bit and given a new title.
A poem of mine has been reprinted in an anthology, Beyond the Sand and Sea, that came out a few days ago from Southern Arizona Press.
I had a flash fiction piece published on 100 Words, my first flash publication. http://entropy2.com/blogs/100words/2023/08/16/biopsy-results-in-ten-days/
I also sent out follow-up emails on submissions that are more than 6 months old, withdrew some submissions that never responded to follow-up emails sent in the past, etc.
Here's to a very productive September for us all!
Cynthia, I adore your Wandering the Mojave. It's wonderful and I very much enjoyed reading it!
Thank you, Julie!
I have a poem in Grailing Magazine.
They are open for submissions now.
https://www.grailingpress.com/post/grailing-vol-1-no-1
Congratulations, Yong. I love your poem!!
Nothing from lit mags, but my chapbook, The Beautiful Leaves, came out this month, from Bamboo Dart Press. https://www.bamboodartpress.com/
They were wonderful--conscientious, observant about detail and tone, really committed to helping me speak in my voice, which they heard very well. If you go on their website, there is even a skillful video creation of one poem that is particularly hard to follow out loud Thank you, Mark. Thank you, Dennis.
This month I had a poem published in the beautiful annual print journal, Connecticut River Review. https://www.ctpoetry.net/index.html. The journal has been publishing since 1978. The editors were very easy to work with, timely with their communications and supportive. They put good effort into establishing a presence on social media, and I'll now have the opportunity to read my work online at the launch event for the 2023 edition.
The acceptance was a confidence booster for me, since most of my more recent publications have been old poems. This poem was much more recent, and the acceptance made me feel that I may still be on the right track.
I totally get that, Glenn. I continue to send out my older works, in search of a good home and sometimes I worry I have nothing new in me to share. But when - not if! - the Muse cooperates and I feel good about a new piece, it is THRILLING when someone wants to publish it. Congratulations on your new 'get'!!
I have that same worry, Julie... Recently I am being haunted by it...
When this happens to me, I 'try' to put poetry aside for a while and focus on other pursuits. This is where quilting comes in handy!
Good idea, Julie, and I do something similar, but writing poetry is the most important pursuit to me and I don't like it if the dry patch goes on for very long.
I feel ya!
I'm adding this in August because they just sent it to me today even though it appeared late May: https://www.thesmartset.com/my-brother-is-toast/
My fault, not theirs--I lost track of due dates and didn't email the editor.
I've worked with The Smart Set before - I found them great to work with.
Agreed! I've sold them two essays, and I love the illustrations for this piece.
It's been a slow year for me so far, but I did have a story republished in an anthology this month. Now: though technically the anthology won't be available till October, I have copies, and it is available on an as-yet skimpy web page for pre-orders, so I say that counts for August!
My short story, "Fade to Gray," which I think is one of my best, was originally published a few years ago in the Bangalore Review in India. I submitted it as part of a collection to the Donna Tartt First Fiction contest last year, for short-story writers who have not yet published a collection. I didn't win (this time!), but I was a finalist, hence my inclusion in the yearly anthology.
The contest is run by the Livingston Press of the University of West Alabama. I've read all the stories now, and it's a hell of a good compilation. Unfortunately, the cover art is terribly banal--but the contents most definitely are not!
If you're interested: https://livingstonpress.uwa.edu/Tartts%209.htm. Nine good stories and one typo.
My short essay, "Crime Scene", was accepted at the Amethyst Review to be published in December. https://amethystmagazine.org/editor/ I was pleased. I really liked the piece and it had been sitting in two Submittable boxes since last fall. (I think one of the journals is dying or dead, but is edited by a friend. Anyway, I just submitted several of the flash pieces I worked on during Smokelong summer and hope this fall will produce some more wins for me.
Congratulations, Kresha!
I didn't publish anything in August (I'm still waiting for responses, though). But I did participate in the Boston Poetry Marathon where 100+ poets read over the course of two days. Free to the public, it was a fabulous poetry party!
I was quite pleased that https://stonecirclereview.com chose to publish my Elegy for a Stacked Moment: https://stonecirclereview.com/elegy-for-a-stacked-moment/
I know of this review via Xitter (formerly Twitter) and really respect the EIC's poetic acumen and his own skill, so this was extra special to me.
I'd sent Elegy to several venues before Lee accepted it. No revisions during sub process.
There are actually two Sarah's in this poem, but I did not realize that til after it was published.
So fun to celebrate at the end of the month. Thanks, Becky.
I had a novel excerpt come out this month in Harvard's Transition Magazine. I was fortunate to have the piece solicited after I pulled another piece from them bc it was being published elsewhere. They said, Got anything else? So I sent them 3 pieces and they selected one. Several things went really well. The piece is set in early 20th century American south, but the Lib. of Congress pics they selected didn't quite fit so I went to the LOC website and found several and suggested them and they were like, Great! So they used them. The first person voice was quite the challenge to get right so I sent in a ton of small edits and they accepted 98 percent of them. The ones they didn't accept, I ultimately thought was a good call on their part once I saw the piece in print. It was a great experience. I got complimentary copies and an unexpected check which was very nice.
https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/3/article/903641 The pdf is available if anyone wants to check it out.
Love your excerpt, Stanley. Places, I was laughing out loud. :)
Thank you, Meredith, for reading, and I'm glad to hear some of the funny bits landed! ❤️
That's great that Transition solicited your work! Congratulations! It hasn't happened to me thus far, but I dream of such a day.... :)
I recommend you give them a try, Colette. It's a mag focused on emerging writers from African and the diaspora and it has long and storied history.
I got a photo accepted into Koru Magazine. They’re still accepting submissions for their first volume on sustainability if you want to check it out.
And they offer feedback!
https://korumagazine.org
Trash Panda Haiku just published volume 5, which has one of my haiku in it (!). I totally don't think of myself as a short form poet, so having been included in Trash Panda two volumes in a row is both happy-making and surprising! https://www.trashpandahaiku.org/
I was happy to get work in an issue of Trash Panda. I enjoyed the editor's other choices, too.
“A Tutor’s ABCs” appeared July 31 on Porcupine Literary, “a journal by and for teachers.” Answering the Editor’s submission call on Twitter, I used the expedited response option and the piece was accepted five days later, then published as submitted (no editing suggestions) about five months after that. https://www.porcupineliterary.com/post/a-tutor-s-abcs
This essay had been rejected 14 times before acceptance. It had also been named an honorable mention in a contest.
Question for the community: Two extreeeemely minor errors were introduced with publication: One letter of a bolded word and, separately, one entire word were not bolded. This seems so very tiny that I did not mention it to the Editor. Would others have done same?
Hi Lisa. I remember reading your piece when it first came out and thoroughly enjoying it. As for your community question, I think we should always say something when we see errors, minor or otherwise. That said, I STILL haven't told an editor of an online journal that my name is misspelled on the Table of Contents, so obviously my advice should be taken with a huge grain of salt. :)
Thank you, Colette! I've had the introduced-error issue before with other pubs. However, editors have saved me from my own, as well. I bet I can guess the misspelling of your name. [insert smile].
I agree with Colette. Tell them! It's in their interest too to have a perfect product. I was actually alerted to a typo in one of my own stories by a reader right here in a lit mag brag conversation. I passed the info to the editor and the editor was both apologetic and very appreciative.
Hi Lisa, this was such well placed use of the abecedarian form. This line clinched it for me -
“my students were high-school seniors who had five-page resumes and were almost fatally fluent in the lexicon of achievement.”
I like the end when you tied the two strands together.
I’ve been in the position of an editor who has hit publish on a piece with an error and the faster I found out about it the better. It’s usually an easy fix. Especially since that’s how your piece is working, I don’t think they’d mind.
Hi, Dave! Appreciate your comments. I was glad to find that form as an option to a chronological approach. Regarding the minor adjustments, I sent a note to the editor and hope for a reply. Thanks for weighing in.
Hahaha I'm sure you can! :)
Hi Lisa,
The abecedarian form was a really intriguing device to spotlight aspects of your experience. Your ending metaphor in "X" was very powerful.
Re your community question, I'd definitely let the editor know. As it's an online journal, correcting errors is usually an easy fix, and as Becky says, it's in their best interest too, to have an error-free product. I let an editor know recently of some errors in a flash fiction of mine he'd published & he fixed them immediately, apologized & thanked me for leeting him know.
Rounding out August with my fantasy short about identity, grief, and motherhood being accepted to Uncharted Magazine! I probably spent the better part of this year trying to place "We Are Made to Bloom" in various publications (with far too many "made it to the final round, but..." moments), and I couldn't be happier that it's found its home. (https://www.unchartedmag.com/stories/we-are-made-to-bloom/)
Well. I've had a good summer but rejection always smarts. I've found ink in Anti-Heroin Chic Magazine, Book Of Matches Literary Magazine and Moonstone Arts Center's Remembering Charles Bukowski. Better than that, Book Of Matches accepted brand new work that I offered to them exclusively (as a gesture of apology for our mix-up last cycle) and, not only did they accept a poem and a piece of Flash Creative Nonfiction, ™ BABELON was one of the first FCNF pieces I've ever written! Feels good, right? Maybe...
Had to go to Submittable for a rejection letter from JMWW and I ain't gonna lie—it pissed me off! Strange days. Normally, I'd be glad to take the work elsewhere, tickled even to continue using my "whole deer" writing schedule and anyway at the very least generate content for my newsletter and subsequent publications. It pissed me off cuz I was on a roll! Wtf. It goes on...
How do I post links here, btw?
Yeah, I think having to go to Submittable to learn your work's status is annoying indeed.
To post links, just copy the url and paste it into your comment.
Thank you Miss B., and for all you do!
I had a short story, Flowering, published in The Opiate. I revised it as I sent it out; they published the revised version. https://issuu.com/theopiatemagazine/docs/the_opiate_vol._34. I was pleased with the final result.
I had an essay, The One Thing I've Avoided My Entire Life, published in The Girlfriend. https://www.thegirlfriend.com/health/the-one-thing-ive-avoided-my-entire-life.
Thanks, Becky, for allowing us to do this.
Four lit sites featured a poem (or five) in August: 5 poems at Otoliths (ed Mark Young says it's the final issue), "Building a House" in Pure Slush's Achievement anthology, two poems in Dark Winter, and "A Window" in Cream Scene Carnival. Among the successes I also talked about the long road in a post on my blog I call, Rejecto-zines. http://lovesettlement.blogspot.com
The folks at Cream Scene Carnival seem to be having fun, matching art and lit -- and even music (if you see their Instagram posts). Their enthusiasm is contagious.
I have, like, four subscribers to a Substack newsletter, which I haven't even started yet. That's a nice vote of confidence, yes? Most of the month I was working at reading over pdfs for two book publications, so I haven't done much else. Now that the balls (balled up manuscripts?) are in the publishers' courts, I can put attention to other things? Or just sink into that doomed feeling that the books will never actually come out ...
I have a friend who is working with a well-regarded small publisher on her third poetry book, and she sends out work to literary publications two ways -- 1) when asked -- and 2) in a brief spasm of two or three followed by several months of inactivity. Yet she has a talent I don't -- she has a talent for engaging with people -- and that seems to make up for any and all other deficiencies in getting work out there.
i love your enthusiasm... but, it's the weekend I'm just chilling... and deciding, 'is it Oppenheimer or Barbie? ...
I saw Barbie and loved it. Though, to be fair, I saw it when I was in France and it was all in French with no subtitles. (I understood about two words of it.) I'm not sure that's much of a recommendation. :)
i think seeing Barbie in French was the way!! imagine, making up the dialogue yourself.. and watching Barbie's speak fresh dialogue. (i think it's Oppenheimer)..
I saw both, a week apart. There's much to admire in both of them for different reasons. Now I'm waiting to see Golda.
Oppenheimer!
I loved them both, for completely different reasons. Why be narrow?
I've been reading so much about rude and disruptive audiences for both films, I'm going to wait till they stream. We have a terrific home theater and only the dogs disrupt us when they need to go out or if they see a critter on the screen. :-)
I giggled all through Barbie and for several days afterward-- a yes vote. Also enjoyed looking up cultural references online afterward.
The hurricane made me late to the party but my prose poem, The Urologist, was published in DMQ Review. I found them very easy to work with and loved the other works in the issue: https://www.dmqreview.com/fairbrothersu23
Listen to the glorious voice actor, Meliory Dockery, read my short short story in Gotham Writers Workshop's online lit mag, The Razor. My piece is called, "Jack and Jill Get Up and Go On." https://therazormag.com/articles/jack-and-jill-get-up-and-go-on/
It was published in its original form at the nexus of the nursery rhyme, reading primers, and late stage capitalism. I hope it makes you laugh!
After a very long hiatus from short story writing while I pursued a busy career, I was happy to hear that my story, "I'll Call Tomorrow" was picked up by Glass Mountain.
https://glassmountainmag.com/volumes/vol-30/schafron/
JUST PAST SOON, a poem featured in Anti-Heroin Chic Magazine this month. (https://heroinchic.weebly.com/issues.html)
FOR CHARLES BUKOWSKI ON HIS 103RD BIRTHDAY also featured in The Moonstone Arts Center's Remembering Charles Bukowski this month. (https://open.substack.com/pub/jimtrainer/p/jim-trainers-poem-of-the-week-are)
IMMUREMENT, a poem, and BABELON a piece of FCNF, featured today at Book of Matches Literary Journal. (https://www.bookofmatcheslitmag.com)
ON BRIGHT INDUSTRIAL MORNINGS, an anti-capitalist poem going live at The Moonstone Arts Center's Who's Side Are You On? on 9/3. (There's still time to submit for this one! At https://moonstoneartscenter.submittable.com/submit)
Becky, how can I be considered as a contributor to @LITMAGNEWS? I've been releasing a collection of poetry, and sometimes prose, every year for the last 8 years—fulfilling a pledge of 10 titles in 10 years, soliciting writers and touring round the world, and finding ink in several journals and across mediums.
I would love to be considered and pitch or discuss a contribution anytime.
Thanks again for all you do.
<3
I submitted three stories and one poem in early August and got two acceptances and two rejections. Super excited for my story and poem to be published!