April!
Here where I am, the skies have been unceasingly charcoal, the rain has been intermittently torrential, and it’s been as shockingly cold as lion’s teeth.
No matter! Rain or shine, wind or hail, we soldier on. And I just know seeing your bright faces at these upcoming events will deliver all the sunshine necessary to send the lambs rolling on in.
Here’s what’s going on this month:
Thursday, April 11th at 11:00 am est: Q & A with Rusty Barnes, Editor of Tough
Tough is a crime fiction journal publishing short stories and self-contained novel excerpts of between 1500 words and 7500 words, and occasional book reviews and essays of 1500 words or fewer. We are particularly interested in stories with rural settings. We are a crime journal.
Before publishing Tough, Rusty ran Night Train, “a prominent literary journal that ran from 2002 through 2015.”
This interview is open to all readers of Lit Mag News. The conversation will be recorded and made available for all afterward.
This interview has been postponed.
Friday, April 12th at 2:00 pm est: Lit Mag Study Hall with Becky
Have you been meaning to send your work out for publication but haven’t found the time? Are you in need of a burst of courage and support? Do you want suggestions for where to send a particular work? Do you need more bunny rabbit emojis in your life?
This one-hour session will be a fun, supportive and informative space for you to focus on finally sending your work out for publication. Participants will work independently, though I and others will be standing by to suggest resources and to shower you with animal emojis with every submission sent.
Past participants as well as writers in all genres and at all stages of submitting are welcome to attend.
This one is for paying subscribers only. It will not be recorded. Registration link will be sent in a separate email.
Wednesday, April 17th at 2:00 pm est: Lit Mag Chat With Special Guest Erik Harper Klass
Back by popular demand! In this special 90-minute lit mag chat, we will be joined by Submitit Founder Erik Harper Klass. Submitit is a service dedicated to helping writers get their work published in lit mags. Not only that, but Erik is the creator of a super spanking-cool algorithm that can predict where stories have the best chance of publication.
For this session, Erik will offer suggestions to five fiction writers on where to submit their work. This will be based on a read of these writers’ stories. He will explain to all of us which lit mags he chose and why. He will also answer the gazillions of questions we are sure to have about identifying the best markets for our work.
If you would like to have Erik read and discuss your story:
Please leave your name in the comments section below or email me directly. Five writers will be chosen at random from all who put down their name.
Please only sign up if you are able to attend the live session on this day and time.
If Erik already evaluated your work in our last session, please give other writers a turn this time around.
Fiction writers only, please. Once participants are chosen, they will be emailed further instructions.
This session will be recorded. It is for paying subscribers to Lit Mag News. The recording will be made available for paying subscribers.
Registration link for this session will be sent in a separate email.
Wednesday, April 24th at 2:00 pm est: Lit Mag Reading Club Chat for The Florida Review
This session is for everyone who is reading the spring issue of Florida Review this month as part of our club, or who just wishes to join in the conversation and learn more about the magazine.
In this chat, we’ll talk about what moved us, what delighted us, what baffled us, what we learned, thought, felt, wondered about, and all the rest. Participants need not read the entire issue cover to cover in order to participate. Come as you are! Open to writers in all genres, at all stages of lit mag life.
This session is open only to members of the Lit Mag Reading Club (aka paying subscribers to Lit Mag News.)
You can learn more about the club and claim your discounted issue of Florida Review here.
Registration link for this chat will be sent in a separate email.
Tuesday, April 30th at 1:30 pm est: Lit Mag Reading Club Q & A with David James Poissant & Drew Robertson, Editors of The Florida Review
The Florida Review publishes work from around the world from emerging and established writers. We are not Florida-exclusive, though we embrace our state and its many communities. Our magazine is a home for the realistic and the weird alike. We love when the ordinary proves extraordinary or the wild is tamed. We love anything with sentences that sing. We love it all, and we’ve been loving good writing for over 50 years. The Florida Review has been in print since 1972, and in 2017, we added a new literary supplement, Aquifer: The Florida Review Online, which features new work on a biweekly basis, along with author interviews, book reviews, and graphic narratives.
In this conversation we will ask the editors all about what goes into making this magazine, and what went into the decisions behind the spring issue in particular.
This conversation will be recorded and made available only for paying subscribers.
Registration link will be sent in a separate email.
And that’s it!
See you soon!
Ugh. Silly day job that pays the bills getting in the way of most of these dates. 🤪
Kate Finlinson (putting my name here for a chance at having Erik read and discuss my story April 17!)