Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Writing Competition: Wag's Review


The Wag's Revue Winter 2010 Writers Contest is now open!

A first prize of $1000 and publication in Issue 9, a second prize of $500 and a third of $100 will be awarded to the three best entries. All submissions will be considered for publication. 

Submission Fee: $20.00

All three genres (fiction, poetry, essay) will be considered for each prize. The contest will be judged by the magazine's editors. The three winning pieces from the last contest may be read here, here and here.

New to Wag's Revue? All issues of the magazine are available for free in the Archive. In its two years, the magazine has featured new works by Michael Ives, Brian Evenson, Ian Monk, and Stephen Elliott and interviews with such waggish luminaries as Gary Lutz, Stephen Colbert, T.C. Boyle, and Dave Eggers.

The contest closes January 15th. Winners will be announced with the publication of Issue 9 in April, 2011. Additional guidelines as well as access to the Submissions Manager may be found at the Submit page.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Call for Poetry Submissions: The Backwaters Press

Important Update! Change to submission guidelines!

While we've been energized by the high quality work we've received in response to our call for submissions, we have also made an effort to reach out to a number of poets we've always considered to be "Nebraskan." We were surprised to discover that many of these women did not meet our residence guidelines, and as a result felt excluded from the project. As it was always our intention to collect a more expansive representation of what it might mean to be a "Nebraska woman poet," we're revising our guidelines to include women born in Nebraska, currently living in Nebraska, or who have lived in Nebraska at some point in their lives for not less than 5 years. In order to accommodate submissions from this broader base, we're extending our deadline to June 30 of 2011.

The Backwaters Press is now accepting submissions for The Untidy Season: An Anthology of Nebraska Women Poets through June 30 of 2011, for expected publication in Spring of 2012. Contributors must be Nebraskan women, which includes all women born or currently residing in Nebraska. Poets who have previously lived in Nebraska for a period of not less than 5 years, will also be considered. We ask that all submissions include a brief statement describing the author's connection to the state of Nebraska. Poetry submissions need not specifically address Nebraska issues or geography, though both are certainly welcome.

The Backwaters Press, an independent press based in Nebraska, has published numerous award-winning titles, including the anthology Times of Sorrow, Times of Grace (2003) which received two Nebraska book awards. Several poets published by the press have had poems from their books read by Garrison Keillor on The Writer's Almanac.

Please send 3-5 previously unpublished poems (10 pages maximum) to:
theuntidyseason(at)yahoo.com (replace (at) with @) .

Include a cover letter with brief bio and statement describing your connection to Nebraska. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but please notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere. Poems should be submitted both as an attachment (rtf, doc, or docx) and pasted in the body of the e-mail. Electronic submissions are strongly preferred, however, snail mail submissions may be sent to:

The Backwaters Press/The Untidy Season
P.O. Box 8067
Omaha, NE 68108.

Please list name and address of contributor on each page of postal mail submissions, and include a self-addressed, stamped envelope for return of your poems and for correspondence. Please include your e-mail address with your postal mail submission.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!

May your day be filled with the good company of family and friends, good food, and good health.

Jeanne Gassman

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Take Your Child to A Bookstore Day

A special shout-out to a fellow writer friend, Jenny Milchman, who created this idea. The first annual "Take Your Child to A Bookstore Day" is Dec. 4, 2010.

Do you have a child or grandchild who likes to read? Take him or her to a physical bookstore, a place where he or she can browse, look at book covers, read the blurbs, and experience the joy of holding and reading a physical book.

Read more about it here.

Call for Submissions: Western Humanities Review

Call for Submissions for a Special **Adaptations** Issue of WHR (Spring 2011) ::: the editors invite submissions that exemplify or address the phenomenon of ADAPTATION.

Fiction, poetry and criticism are all welcome, as well as writing in hybrid genres that combine or adapt more traditional forms.

edited by Lance Olsen // Scott Black // Craig Dworkin // Paisley Rekdal ///
Submission Period: January 1, 2011 through March 15, 2011 (postmark date)

Guidelines: If one long prosaic piece (essays, fiction, etc.), no more than 25 pages; If poems or shorter pieces, up to 5 pieces (totaling not more than 25 pages) /// Everything should be in a format that can be printed in WHR's standard journal format (black and white), and should be sent via regular mail.

Send questions to:
whr(at)mail.hum.utah.edu (replace(at) with @) )

Submit your Adaptations to (please do not forget to mark as for the "Adaptations Issue"):

Western Humanities Review
ADAPTATIONS ISSUE
c/o dawn lonsinger
University of Utah English Dept.
255 S. Central Campus Dr., LNCO 3500
Salt Lake City, UT 841112

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Poetry Competition: The A. Poulin Jr. Poetry Prize

A. Poulin Jr. Poetry Prize

The A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize is awarded to honor a poet's first book, while also honoring the late founder of BOA Editions, Ltd., a not-for-profit publishing house of poetry and poetry in translation.

FINAL JUDGE: Jane Hirshfield.

WINNER RECEIVES:

A $1,500 Honorarium, paid in March 2011, and book publication by BOA Editions, Ltd. in March, 2012, in The A. Poulin, Jr. New Poets of America Series.

ELIGIBILITY:

* Entrants must be a citizen or legal resident of the United States.
* Poets, who are at least 18 years of age, who have yet to publish a full-length-book collection of poetry.
* Translations are not eligible.
* Individual poems from the manuscript may have been published previously in magazines, journals, anthologies, chapbooks of 32 pages or less, or self-published books of 46 pages or less, but must be submitted in manuscript form. Published books in other genres do not disqualify contestants from entering this contest.
* Employees, volunteers and board members of BOA Editions, Ltd., or their partners or spouses, or their immediate families, or immediate family of the judge are not eligible.
* As per the Publishing Contest Ethics, as advanced by the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP), any person who has studied poetry in a formal program with the Final Judge -- through a college, university, community program, residency, or private tutorial, within the last two years -- is not eligible to submit a manuscript to this contest.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES REQUIREMENTS:

Send one copy of the manuscript, our entry form, and the $25 entry fee, to BOA Editions, Ltd., between August 1, and November 30, 2010 at the address listed below. Make check or money orders payable to BOA Editions. Do not pay by credit card.

MANUSCRIPT FORMAT:

* Minimum of 48 pages, maximum of 100 pages of poetry.
* Manuscript should be 1 1/2 or double spaced.
* At least 11pt. font.
* Name address and telephone number must appear on the title or cover page of the manuscript.
* Do not send artwork or photographs.
* Typed or word-processed on standard white paper, on one side of the page only.
* Paginated consecutively with a table of contents.
* Bound with a spring clip (no paperclips, please).
* Attach publications acknowledgments if any.
* Include a stamped, self-addressed postcard for notification of receipt of manuscript.
* Do not send by FedEx or UPS.
* Electronic and fax submissions will not be accepted.
* Neither late nor early manuscripts will be accepted.
* Contestants may submit the manuscript elsewhere simultaneously, but must notify BOA Editions immediately, by mail in an envelope, (not a postcard or email), if a manuscript is accepted by another publisher.
* Once submitted, manuscripts cannot be altered. Winner will be given the opportunity to revise before publication.
* Contestants may submit more than one manuscript, but a separate entry fee and entry form must accompany each manuscript.
* Manuscripts mailed from foreign countries risk not being received before final selections have been made.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES SUGGESTED:

* Send manuscript in a plain or padded envelope. Please no boxes.
* For notification of competition results, include a business-size SASE.
* Keep a copy of your manuscript, as manuscripts will not be returned.
* We advise that you send your manuscript by first class or priority mail.

ANSWERS TO FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

* The winner will be announced in March 2011.
* Honorarium will be awarded within two weeks of a signed contract between the winner and BOA Editions.
* Winning manuscript will be published in March 2012, in an original paperback edition in the [A. Poulin, Jr. New Poets of America Series].
* The winner will retain full copyright of his or her work.
* The paper from all manuscripts will be recycled after the winner is announced.
* BOA Editions assumes no responsibility for loss of manuscripts.

Send manuscripts, postmarked between August 1, and November 30, 2010, to:

BOA Editions, Ltd.
PO Box 30971
Rochester, NY 14604

Writing Competition: Columbia Journal

Calling all writers: On Wednesday, October 20th, Columbia will launch its 2011 contest in fiction, nonfiction and poetry! Enter online.

We’re awarding up to $1,500 in prizes, plus publication in our forthcoming print journal. The top works in fiction will be judged by Robert Olen Butler (1993 Pulitzer Prize winner, A Good Scent from a
Strange Mountain), Jo Ann Beard in nonfiction (The Boys of My Youth), and Joanna Klink (Raptus) for poetry.

Judges will select a first-place winner from among the ten finalists in each genre. The finalists are chosen by Columbia Journal staff.

First-place winners in each genre will receive a $500 prize, and their work will be published in Issue 49 of the journal (Spring 2011). Winners and runners-up may be considered for publication on the journal’s website.

The deadline for entry is January 18, 2011. The entry fee is $12.

Contest submissions in fiction and nonfiction must be no longer than twenty double-spaced pages. Poets may send up to five individual poems for consideration, but they must be combined into a single document.

Please note: judges have discretion in selecting winners and may choose not to award a first-place prize. Judges also may request edits of winning works. The contest is not open to current Columbia University students or those who have graduated within the last five years.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Micro-Fiction Contest: River Styx

River Styx
2011 Schlafly Beer Micro-Fiction Contest

$1500 First Prize plus one case of micro-brewed Schlafly Beer

500 words maximum per story, up to three stories per entry.

$20 reading fee includes a one-year subscription (3 issues).

Include name and address on cover letter only.
Entrants will be notified by S.A.S.E.
Winner published in Spring issue.
All stories will be considered for publication.

Postmark entries by December 31 to:

River Styx's Schlafly Beer Micro-Fiction Contest
3547 Olive Street, Suite 107
St. Louis MO 63103

Call for Submissions: Platte Valley Review

Forces of Nature: Platte Valley Review will publish a special issue for Spring 2011.

The theme, Forces of Nature, should be interpreted as contributor wishes.

Poetry, Prose, Creative Non-Fiction, Environmental and Critical Essays, Photography, or Artwork, relevant to Forces of Nature are welcome as general submissions.

The Platte Valley Review is published under the auspices of the endowed Reynolds Chair,
Allison Hedge Coke, senior editor, and Robert Ficociello, managing editor.

Distinguished UNK Sandhill Crane Literary Fellows will jury and contribute to this edition.

Please submit in only one of the following ways.
1. Mail submissions labeled by genre to:

Platte Valley Review
English Department, 202A TMHL
University of Nebraska at Kearney
905 W 25th Street
Kearney, NE 68849-1322

2. An online Submission Program can be found here.

Deadline for this edition is December 15, 2010.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Poetry Competition: Kundiman Poetry Prize

Kundiman and Alice James Books are accepting submissions of poetry manuscripts for The Kundiman Poetry Prize electronically and by regular mail through February 11, 2011. The Kundiman Poetry Prize welcomes  submissions from emerging as well as established Asian American poets. Entrants must reside in the United States.

The winner receives $1000, book publication and a New York City feature reading.

Alice James Books is a cooperative poetry press with a mission is to seek out and publish the best contemporary poetry by both established and beginning poets, with particular emphasis on involving poets in the publishing process.

Guidelines for Electronic Manuscript Submission

Kundiman and Alice James Books are pleased to announce that, in addition to submitting your manuscript via regular mail, you may now enter your manuscript to The Kundiman Prize electronically.

Visit this link to submit electronically to The Kundiman Prize.

Guidelines for Print Manuscript Submission

Manuscripts must be typed, paginated, and 50 – 70 pages in length (single spaced).

Individual poems from the manuscript may have been previously published in magazines, anthologies, or chapbooks of less than 25 pages, but the collection as a whole must be unpublished. Translations and
self-published books are not eligible. No multi-authored collections, please.

Manuscripts must have a table of contents and include a list of acknowledgments for poems previously published. The inclusion of a biographical note is optional. Your name, mailing address, email address and phone number should appear on the title page of your manuscript. MANUSCRIPTS CANNOT BE RETURNED. Please do not send us your only copy.

No illustrations, photographs or images should be included.

Send one copy of your manuscript submission with two copies of the title page. Use only binder clips. No staples, folders, or printer-bound copies.

The Kundiman Poetry Prize is judged by consensus of the members of Kundiman's Artistic Staff and the Alice James Books Editorial Board. Manuscripts are not read anonymously.

For notification of winners, include a business-sized SASE. If you wish acknowledgment of the receipt of your manuscript, include a stamped addressed postcard. Winners will be announced in June 2011.

Entry fee for The Kundiman Poetry Prize is $28. Checks or money orders should be made out to Alice James Books. On the memo line of your check write The Kundiman Poetry Prize.

Mail your entry to:
Kundiman
P.O. Box 4248
Sunnyside, NY 11104

Checklist for entry:

One (1) copy of manuscript enclosed, with acknowledgements and two (2) copies of title page$28 entry fee. Business sized SASE. Stamped addressed postcard. Postmarked by February 11, 2011

Call for Submissions: The Toronto Quarterly

The Toronto Quarterly

Send us your BEST poetry (4-6 poems), short stories (1-2 stories max,
500-3000 words), artwork, and photographs. We prefer that you copy
and paste your poetry into the body of your email or send as ONE
attachment in word.doc format. Send ALL short story submissions as a
word doc. attachment. Any poetry or short story submissions sent as
multiple attachments or not in word.doc will NOT be read.

If you have a novel/poetry book, a poetry/music cd or dvd that you're
interested in having us review, please email us your query to:

thetorontoquarterly(at)hotmail.com with REVIEW REQUEST typed into the
subject box. BOOK and MUSIC REVIEWS submitted will be considered for
publication.

Send us your ARTWORK and PHOTOGRAPHY. Send in high resolution (jpeg
file). We will consider all artwork submitted for the COVER of TTQ7.

ALL SUBMISSIONS should contain a short biography (5-6 lines MAX)
stating town/city you reside in, previous publishing accomplishments,
educational background if so desired. Please DO NOT send us a novel
about yourself. Make it interesting and promote your books and/or
webpages if desired.

PLEASE: ONE submission per issue. Multiple submissions will NOT be
read. Be sure to send us your BEST work the first time or wait until
the following issue to submit again.

We DO NOT publish previously published works.

PLEASE NO SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS

ALL RIGHTS and COPYRIGHT upon publication in TTQ7 remains with the
author.

PAYMENT: Each contributor to TTQ7 will receive a FREE e-book of TTQ7
as payment. It will be emailed to the contributor as a pdf file.

ALL SUBMISSIONS should be emailed to:
thetorontoquarterly(at)hotmail.com
(replace (at) with @)

SUBMISSION DEADLINE IS FEBRUARY 28, 2011.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Call for Submissions: Weave

Weave Magazine, an independent art and literary publication, is currently accepting submissions for our sixth issue, being released in June 2011. We welcome submissions of poetry, fiction, flash fiction, nonfiction, short plays and monologues. For more information about Weave and the work we publish, please see the "about" page on our website.

The submissions period ends January 31, 2011.

Please see submission guidelines for more detailed information.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Poetry and Fiction Contest: Blue Mesa Review

Now accepting submissions for 2011 Fiction Contest

Here are the specifics if you'd like to take a stab at this year's contest:
All unpublished fiction manuscripts of 7000 words or fewer will be considered.
The winner will receive $1000 and publication in Blue Mesa Review Issue 24.
This year's judge is Lori Ostlund .

Please submit and pay $17 online to our new online submission manager by visiting this link.

Or
Please mail submissions with $17 entry fee to:

Fiction Contest
Blue Mesa Review
Creative Writing Program
University of New Mexico
MSC 03-2170
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001

Checks should be made payable to UNM-BMR

ENTRY DEADLINE: POSTMARKED BY DECEMBER 31st, 2010


We are also accepting submissions for the 2011 Poetry Contest

Here are the specifics if you'd like to take a stab at this year's contest:
All unpublished poetry manuscripts of 4 poems or 7 pages of poetry.
The winner will receive $750 and publication in Blue Mesa Review Issue 24.
Please submit and pay $17 online to our new online submission manager by
visiting this link.

OR

Please mail submissions with $17 entry fee to:

Poetry Contest
Blue Mesa Review
Creative Writing Program
University of New Mexico
MSC 03-2170
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001

Checks should be made payable to UNM-BMR
ENTRY DEADLINE: POSTMARKED BY DECEMBER 31st, 2010

For more information please contact: bmrinfo(at)unm.edu (replace (at) with @)

Call for Submissions: anthology on Rituals

Poetry (any form or style) wanted for an anthology on RITUALS. Microfiction, flash, comic strips, stand-up comedy routines will also be considered. Erik La Prade, Austin Alexis and I will be co-editing this third in the series of anthologies from Poets Wear Prada.

Off the top of my head here are some rituals:

Baptism/Christening, Holy Communion, Marriage, Last Rites, Funerals, Mating & Dating Rituals, OCD Behaviour, Holiday Observances, Lighting up after Sex, Watching the Ball Drop on NYD, Sitting Shiva, Bris, Bar/Bat Mitzva, Saying Grace, Walking the Dog, Cleaning the Refrigerator, Spring Cleaning, etc.

Co-Editor Austin Alexis writes:

I'm glad you included what I call unconscious rituals, such as mowing the lawn, "lighting up after sex," etc. "Unconscious rituals" might be a subcategory to mention in the submission call, so that writers get the idea of how broad the definition of ritual is. Also, there are poems that show the rituals of inanimate (or at least non-living) things, such as "Eight O'Clock" by A. E. Housman, which portrays the ritual of a bell striking the hours. We might mention Housman and Dickinson as two poets who use rituals often in their poetry, in very different ways.

The poem should describe the ritual in a unique and interesting way and take the reader there. Consider all the senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste). Let us know how it makes you feel to participate or sit on the sidelines an observe.

Got the idea? Now release it onto the page and send it our way.

Guidelines: Submit up to three poems with a fascinating bio of 35 words or less, not just limited to publication credits, copy/pasted in the body of an e-mail (no attachments, please) to:
roxy533(at)yahoo.com.

Previously published work is ok, as long as authors have retained the copyright, which will be returned to them after publication. Response time will be about three to six months; the expected date of publication is 1-2 years away. Please don't query. When in doubt, send the submission to: roxy533(at)yahoo.com.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Call for Submissions: [out of nothing]

[out of nothing], an electronic publication interested in new works in image, sound, text, and the intersections between these media, is now open to submissions for its fifth issue: "out of a system declaring nothing out of relevance". Please submit your textual, aural, visual, poly/ambi-medial work to us at:

shelling.peanuts(at)gmail.com [replace (at) with @]

Deadline: January 01, 2011

Complete submissions guidelines are available here.

Prospective contributors would be well-advised to consult our earlier publications at as a guide to the type of work we're interested in. To supplement this understanding and ideally stimulate your thinking about a new piece made particularly to address the issues that consume, or rather, are consumed by us, we offer the
following potential topics:

> the vacuum
> salvage / remainders
> imaginary spaces possessed of imaginary dimensions
> darkness / lightlessness
> reduced or infinitesimal means
> the exponential
> self-abnegating symbols
> the blank
> obliteration
> the inconsequential
> refusal
> the contentless / general contentlessness
> the generic and / or undifferentiated and / or the contra-original
> adhesive agents in search of clients to bind
> none of the above or below

Electronic submissions only. Please allow 3 - 6 months response time.

Eds., [out of nothing]

Monday, November 1, 2010

A bit of self-promotion...

I rarely post anything about myself here, but today I decided to make an exception. Recently, I entered an agent query critique contest. The agent provided feedback to everyone who submitted a query in the first round. In Round Two, we have been invited to post our revised queries for a popular vote. The winner receives a free 30-page critique from the agent. I posted my query to the list. The title of my book is THE BLOOD OF A STONE, and my query is #11 on the list. It's one of the few queries for an adult novel.

To cast your vote, go here.

Thanks!
Jeanne