Further Market Research

I’ve gone on to do some more research, because it’s important.

1. Silver Needle Press — A magazine with a really cool name, Silver Needle Press is a new and upcoming literary magazine. It accepts Nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. It leans towards pieces that ‘reinvent traditional notions of genre.’ They are currently changing their system so that all contributors receive payment.
2. Cast of Wonders — This is interestingly not a magazine. It is a podcast that publishes pieces of speculative fiction. Each short story is published as an episode. Authors and narrators are paid.
3. Underwood Press — A magazine that accepts nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. The magazine is technically Underwood Press LLC. There is also Rue Scribe, which is a journal of Underwood Press. I’m not entirely sure what the difference is, but there seems to be a slight one. If you don’t know which to send submissions to just send them to Underwood.
4. Scribble — This is a purely fiction magazine. They accept works up to 2,000 words all year round. It’s a beginner writer magazine, accepting people who have been published a few times but haven’t published a book yet.
5. Slice — Nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. It’s a pretty cool magazine, paying contributors between $75 and $250. The reading period runs from December1 to January 15.

Market Research

Research for magazines and websites that publish writing of all kinds.

1. 1. Hippocampus — A pretty cool magazine. They publish memoir and personal essays. Flash Fiction is a max of 800 words. A $40 honorarium to authors receiving publication. There is an annual contest in November with a grand prize of $1,000.
   2. Tin House — A magazine that accepts nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. The magazine also accepts columns on out-of-print and underappreciated books. This is pretty cool since I’m behind on any current readings.
   3. Clockhouse — This is a magazine run in partnership with Goddard College. It accepts fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and dramatic work. Payment is a copy of the magazine upon publication.
   4. Barrelhouse — Barrelhouse is concerned with pop culture. It accepts fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and book submissions. Interviews and book reviews are also accepted. A $50 honorarium is payment for publication (also free beer).
   5. Ruminate — An interesting magazine with little information. From what I can see it mainly runs through contests. They publish nonfiction, fiction, and poetry, as well as blog posts. There is also something called Reader’s Ruminate, which is personal notes under 300 words, something I’m interested in as a challenge.

Top 10 Writing Magazines for Publication

This is a list of my top writing magazines, places I want my work to end up. I write primarily nonfiction and fiction, as well as the occasional shitty poem. I write about mental illness, humor, horror, and what I can only describe as weird shit.

If pay is not mentioned it’s because I couldn’t find any information about it or I was lazy (it happens).

1. https://brevitymag.com/submissions/ Flash nonfiction, which I have a soft spot for. The pay is around $40 a story, which isn’t horrible.
2. https://www.creativenonfiction.org/submissions-general A solid nonfiction magazine that would be a good option. There is a heavy flow of submissions so publication is unlikely, but the pay is good.
3. https://www.hippocampusmagazine.com/submissions/ They seem enthusiastic about memoir. Pieces are asked to be no more than 4,000 words and my pieces tend to be around 2,000.
4. https://www.thesunmagazine.org/submit Fiction and Nonfiction stories start at $300 and go to about $2,000. Poetry pays $100 to start.
5. https://blr.med.nyu.edu/submissions/ Because I write about my mental illness and healing. Writers are paid based on grant money the magazine has.
6. https://www.narrativemagazine.com/general-submissions Jack of all trades. Submissions can be poetry, fiction, or nonfiction.
7. https://www.kenyonreview.org/submission/ Fiction and Poetry.
8. https://www.cincinnatireview.com/submission_guidelines/ A cool magazine
9. https://www.awkwardmermaid.com/submit/ A magazine with an awesome name and concept. Unfortunately, no pay.
10. https://collision.babelrouter.com/submission-guidelines/ To submit you must be an undergraduate.

I’m Not Lazy, I’m sick

My last semester I missed a lot of class. I was dealing with a nasty mental illness that just got worse and worse. My panic attacks required Xanax and rest, and were happening nearly every day. I was paranoid most of the time, missing my therapy appointments as a result, and having regular mini mental breakdowns throughout the semester. I wasn’t registered with the disability office at school, (though I am looking into it now) but my professors were either understanding or indifferent.

A few weeks ago a few people from my high school got together to catch up. One of the girls there was my friend and going to be my roommate when school started again. We were talking about a class we’d taken together last semester and how well we’d done.

“I got a B, but I could’ve probably gotten an A if I’d gone to class more,” I said.

A girl from our graduating class let out a laugh.

“I wish I could get away with not going to class. My college is hard on that.”

And that turned into a flurry of conversation about how none of them can miss class because their professors require attendance, and how kids who don’t go to class fail. People who skip class are never going to make it in the world.

My friend just smiled at me and the two of us talked about how it’d been medical reasons, but I didn’t feel better. I didn’t get a word in as to why I missed class, it was just assumed I was lazy and using college as an excuse to get out of the house and not move forward with my life.

I don’t blame the girl. Not really. A little. I get that it was a conversation starter, but she didn’t listen to my reasons, she just assumed. It bothered me for weeks. It still does. It brought on a few panic attacks, though to be fair I probably would have had them anyway.

I don’t use my mental illness as an excuse to not go to class. I love school, I get upset when I can’t make it to class. I have to work hard to catch up and make sure I’m on the same page as the other students. I missed a lot of class, and that semester ended with hospitalization, but I worked hard and ended up with a GPA I could be proud of.

Think before you speak. You don’t always see how someone is struggling, and you might end up saying something that really hits home.

For those of you struggling, please do what you need to take care of yourself. If that means not going to class one day because you can’t breathe and the world is crushing you, than take off class. Get registered with the disability center if need be, it’ll help you. Don’t listen when people dismiss you as lazy or attention seeking because you have mental illness. If they spent a day in your head they’d speak to you a lot differently.

Take care.

—Em

Writing Shouldn’t be Lonely

Writing seems like a lonely task.

You’re stuck in your head,  beating hypothetical pots and pans, screaming to the void that is your mind. You’re just trying to come up with an idea and spit out something that resembles it. You’re trying to create something worth showing the world.

Writing is a lonely task half the time.

Writers tend to curl in on themselves. We act like vampires and hide from the world to protect our unfinished stories and unpublished work. It’s difficult to talk about your writing because it’s such a personal thing. This is a problem.

It’s important to have a community where you can talk about your writing. You should be bouncing your ideas off of someone, sharing your difficulties and problems as well as the good things. Having another lonely soul to hang out with makes the brain calm down and reassures you that you’re not crazy, you’re just a writer.

Writing is only a lonely task if you isolate yourself.

Human beings are social creatures. Now, you writers may laugh at that, but it’s true. Writers more than anyone should be out in the world trying to make sense of it. It’s the writer’s job to craft a believable and well developed world, or notice the small details in the very world we live in to recount later.

Writing shouldn’t be a lonely task because you should fill your life with people who appreciate or share writing. The writing process involves more than just the act of writing.

Find yourself some weird writer friends so that when you’re writing alone, you don’t feel lonely.

—Em

The Insecure Writer

I worry that I’m not a good writer. If I am a good writer, people will find a reason to hate me until I’m dead, and then they’ll enjoy my work.

It’s a fear I’ve always had. Maybe lots of writers have it. I know a lot of artists are insecure about their work, but that seems to be the majority of artistic people. Anything you make that distinctly shows your craft and feels like a chapter of your life makes you a little insecure. What will people think about this part of you?

This little fear I have has been destructive as well as helpful. It’s brought on writer’s block more than a few times. I’ve felt safer not writing anything that could be deemed bad than just enjoying the writing process. It’s also pushed me to work hard on my writing, to make it something I can be proud of. A blessing and a curse I guess.

Being insecure is uncomfortable, but it isn’t going to go away. You don’t just wake up one day and feel utter confidence in what you do. Human beings don’t work that way. You have to build up to feeling confident. It’s a slow process, and it’ll never completely go away. That’s a good thing. Being completely confident is a dangerous place to be, and often where you get your ass kicked.

The trick is to get your confidence to a level where you can spend most of your time writing, and a minimal amount on worrying. Confidence gives you the luxury of peace of mind, while insecurity gives you the drive to improve.

Your work is something good. In the entire world, not everyone will like it, but there’ll be a few people that love it. You will be somebody’s favorite writer. Remember that.

—Em

The College Writers

I’m moving back to school soon. You probably are too. Or you graduated school a long time ago and are reading this out of boredom. No shame.

The tough part about being a writer in college is that all summer you had time to write and make plans for your writing and you had all the time in the world to make things happen. Then school starts and you realize you did barely anything and people you hate are more successful than you. It happens. Sometimes you’re busy with other stuff.

You’re busy with classes, some of which are writing, but a lot of them are gen eds that require hard work and concentration. You’re busy with friends and making poor choices. It’s college. You’re having fun. You’re busy working so that you can stay in college.

Writing is a consuming task. It requires a lot of thinking power and a lot of emotions. It’s exhausting to go through a week of work, school, friends, and family. This is one of the busiest times of your life and you’re just hanging on for the ride.

Write when you can. When you genuinely want to write, get those words on a page. Don’t force yourself to write (unless you’re a masochist and it works for you). Give yourself some slack with how much writing you produce. You’re in school to get your degree and that is your priority. Writing is great and you love it, but don’t push yourself too hard with everything you’ve got going on.

College writers are busy people. Make the most of your time and relish it.

–Em

—A short piece today. I’m really excited for school, and as such I’m thinking about including some posts about school in the future. Little stories or writing quirks in day to day college activities. Let me know what you think!

Sad Writer’s Guide

Take a deep breath.

Hold it. Hold it till it hurts.

Let it out.

Life sucks. It’s never not going to suck, it’ll just suck less. Sometimes it especially sucks and it makes you sad.

It doesn’t matter why you’re sad, it’s just that it’s manifesting in your writing and more and more it just makes you sad to write. You feel like you’re in a slump. Where your writing used to be a safe place from the world, where you could create your own and have control, it’s now reflecting your world. You’re sad, and so your writing is sad.

Remember that writing often reflects your other emotions too. Writing is such an introspective and personal task that it’s hard to keep it separated from your emotions. This isn’t a special case.

So what do you do? How do you stop your sadness from bleeding into your writing and making everything sad. You write.

You write?

That’s correct. Start a journal. Write about why you’re sad. While I find journaling to be tedious, I do partake in it when I’m feeling down. Getting the raw emotions out on paper is a stress relief, and sometimes you just need a good cry to get the heavy part of sadness out. That part that physically weighs on you and is so thick you can almost see it.

It might bleed into your writing, but that’s okay. Maybe focus on writing a sad scene, put it to use. Maybe you can read a book instead.

Or maybe you can start a new story, one inspired by how you’re feeling, and see where it takes you.

Writing is a lonely task, but it’s a time for examining yourself. Maybe you’ll find that you have every right to be sad, or that you shouldn’t be sad. Or that it doesn’t matter if you have a right to be sad or not, you just are.

You’ll figure it out. Don’t sweat it.

–Em

The Writer’s Solution to Assholes

People suck.

There’s no shortage of stupid in the hands of the human race, but some people just get a higher dose than is fair. It’s not their fault they have rude and disgusting opinions and act on them with the capability and intention of causing problems in your life. Really, if you weren’t so sensitive than you wouldn’t be offended. It’s really your fault.

Bullshit.

Now I’m not getting into specifics here, but you don’t need me to. There’s some asshole that’s causing you problems and you’re wondering how to deal with it. There’s the obvious course of retaliation so that you and said asshole have an ongoing feud for quite some time. I like this method, but with a touch more passive aggressiveness added for taste.

The best way to deal with an asshole once the time for action has passed, is to write about and immortalize them. Preserve this asshole. Let the world know this person is an asshole. In your stories, have a character with all the traits and characteristics of that asshole and give them hell. Do whatever you want to this asshole. It’s your world, your writing, you’re god on this sense.

You can make the asshole your main character and get into their head to show just how shitty they are. You can have the asshole as your antagonist, an easy and enjoyable method. you can have the asshole be a random character with two pages of writing that just makes the roll her eyes and say “can you believe this character?” Just some ideas. I’m experienced in this. Remember, don’t include real names or very specific information that you could get sued over (people just love to sue).

There’s a funny quote that’s something like “writers are writers because it’s illegal to kill people.” I don’t know that I would go that far, but whoever wrote that was certainly in the same neighborhood as my thinking. It’s stress relieving to write about people you don’t like. It makes you feel like you have some control over your situation.

Maybe this sounds insane, I don’t know. Writers are a clinically sane form of crazy, so it might not be too far off. Just be glad we deal with our issues in a safe way.

—Em

 

Knock Out Writer’s Block

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Imagine you’re driving. The road is curvy and runs over hills. It’s fun. Your stomach drops at one of the hills. Cows and horses are in the fields by the road, enhancing your driving experience. Suddenly, there’s a wall that rises from the ground and you have to pull the breaks.

Writer’s block is a bitch.

Everyone takes breaks from writing, that’s normal, but writing block only occurs when you’re in the mood to write or when you need to write. It’s inconvenient, it’s painful, it’s worse than being sick on Halloween (the greatest holiday).

Some people like to say that writer’s block is laziness. You’re just lazy and not writing. It would be much easier to write if you were inspired or not drawing a blank it’s almost like you have writer’s block. Maybe if you just sat down and forced out a few hundred words you’d feel better.

In a way, those idiots are right. You have to make yourself do something. When I’m having writer’s block in my novel I move to writing for my blog (so many posts lately, guess what I have?) or I move to writing nonfiction short stories. Sometimes I read. Reading often inspires you to write, the two go hand in hand. Occasionally I do force out words, though that’s a last resort for me or for deadlines.

When you’re on that road and that wall appears before you, you have so many options. You can move around it by taking a detour down another path, you can gun it and smash the wall to a million pieces, or maybe you can stop and enjoy the scenery for a bit.

Whether it’s writing something different, forcing out the words, or taking a break and reading a book, you can fight writer’s block. Knock it out of your world.

–Em

—Leave a comment down below about your writer’s block and we can wallow in misery together.