How to reach fellow writers with a newsletter
Authors share stories of community-building by subscription.
Melissa Hart
Literary Spotlight: Sky Island Journal
Submissions to this free international journal are evaluated on merit alone – no cover letters and bios allowed.
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Conference Insider: The Power of Words Conference
This intimate four-day virtual conference celebrates and champions the use of spoken, written, and sung word to effect change.
Reaching readers in the midst of a pandemic
During COVID-19, writers discover inspiration and opportunity.
Conference Insider: Women Writing the West Conference
This three-day virtual event welcomes both emerging and established voices interested in writing about the American West.
Literary Spotlight: “Funny Women”
This online column at The Rumpus seeks works that are both funny and feminist.
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Hybrid Publishing 101
Interested in pursuing a hybrid publisher? Here’s how to find the right fit for you and your book.
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Conference Insider: Jackson Hole Writers Conference
Enjoy everything this acclaimed, five-day conference has to offer from the comforts of home this summer.
Self-imposed writing restrictions bust blocks and sharpen skills at the same time
How “writing with handcuffs” can take your writing to places you’d never find otherwise.
Conference Insider: Inkers Con
This Texas conference will offer a hybrid event for writers this summer, featuring both live and virtual panels.
Literary Spotlight: Lilith
For more than four decades, this Jewish feminist magazine has been publishing prose and poems with “heart, soul, and chutzpah.”
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Tips from writers and editors for publishing your COVID-19 stories
Editors seek fresh, surprising perspectives on the pandemic.
Literary Spotlight: The Blue Mountain Review
‘We want to inspire those who carry the misconception that you can’t make a living through art,’ says the founder of this six-year-old journal.
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Conference Insider: The Chanticleer Authors Conference
This five-day conference is taking Zoom by storm this spring, with live presentations, an awards ceremony, and plenty of opportunities to connect virtually with industry professionals.
Literary Spotlight: Vestal Review
This journal has been seeking eclectic flash fiction for more than two decades.
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Conference Insider: Romance Slam Jam Book Lovers’ Convention
This five-day virtual event connects romance writers with both industry professionals and devoted fans of the genre in a diverse and inclusive setting.
Alexandra Diaz: Writing with a heart and soul
Children’s author Alexandra Diaz illuminates the lives of young immigrants.
Literary Spotlight: Skipping Stones Multicultural Magazine
For more than 30 years, this magazine has offered young writers around the world a place to share their stories, art, ideas, and perspectives.
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Conference Insider: WriteOnCon
Events all across the world may be going virtual in 2021, but this three-day kidlit conference has been fully online for more than 10 years.
The changing face of writing conferences in a pandemic
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, event staff face a difficult decision: cancel and hope for better luck next year or move online. Luckily for writers around the country, more and more conferences are choosing the latter. Here’s how conference directors are successfully adapting live events into virtual ones.
Conference Insider: Todos Santos Writers Workshop
This Baja conference may be going digital in 2021, but staff members are determined not to lose all the cultural and craft elements that make the annual event so special.
Literary Spotlight: Ecotone
This award-winning literary journal seeks fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that examines ways in which environmental and social justice intersect.
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Conference Insider: Northern Colorado Writers Conference
This long-running event hopes to offer a hybrid conference in spring 2021, presenting both in-person and virtual instruction for attending writers.
Conference Insider: IBPA Publishing University
Ready to leap into the world of self-publishing? This three-day event from the Independent Book Publishers Association is here to help.
Literary Spotlight: The Willowherb Review
This online journal shines a spotlight on a wide variety of nature writing, all penned by authors of color.
Literary Spotlight: The Sunlight Press
Reviews, essays, poetry, fiction, and craft reflections from new and established authors are welcome at this online literary journal.
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Literary Spotlight: Drabblecast
Strange stories find eager listeners in this weekly podcast highlighting speculative flash fiction.
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Literary Spotlight: Palooka
Poetry, fiction, nonfiction, comics, and art come together in this eclectic magazine.
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Dear writers: It’s finally time to join Twitter. Here’s how to get started.
As more and more authors, agents, and editors turn to social media to connect virtually in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, you’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain by joining Twitter. Here are tips, strategies, and best practices from other authors on getting started.
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Literary Spotlight: Fatherly
This five-year-old online magazine seeks empowering pieces on fatherhood from writers of all experience levels.
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Literary Spotlight: Mothers Always Write
Five years ago, poet and essayist Julianne Palumbo founded the online literary magazine Mothers Always Write to offer readers insightful pieces about parenting and to give mothers and fathers and writers a place to gather and create community. Now, she works with fellow editors Michelle Riddell and Sarah Clayville to publish parenting experiences from birthing … Read More “Literary Spotlight: Mothers Always Write”
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Resurrect your darlings: How to recycle deleted material from your manuscript
Why trash your deleted pages when you can publish them?
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Conference Insider: Bouchercon World Mystery Convention
Authors, fans, and industry professionals flock to this four-day celebration of crime fiction.
An introvert’s guide to writing conferences
Hate crowds? Love alone time? Shudder violently at the mere thought of ‘networking?’ You, too, can succeed at a writing conference! Here’s how.
Conference Insider: Writers’ Police Academy MurderCon
Get hands-on experience in forensics and law enforcement at this immersive four-day event in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Literary Spotlight: The Lascaux Review
This online journal publishes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that’s both accessible and moving.
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Conference Insider: Belize Writers’ Conference
Capped at just 30 attendees, this spring conference offers authors the chance to mingle with agents in an intimate and beautiful Caribbean setting.
Conference Insider: Big Sur Children’s Writing Workshop
Need a boot camp for kidlit authors? Look no further than this bicoastal conference.
Literary Spotlight: Your Teen for Parents
This modern parenting magazine welcomes compelling stories from adults and teens alike.
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Magazines give a voice to writers with disabilities
Both niche and mainstream titles provide outlets for writers to share their lives and their stories.
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Literary Spotlight: Copper Nickel
This Colorado-based literary magazine doesn’t just offer a home for American prose and poetry; it also provides plenty of space and context for works in translation.
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Conference Insider: Chicago Spring Fling
We seldom think “beauty walk” when considering a writing conference, but just before the Chicago Spring Fling Conference – sponsored by Chicago-North’s chapter of the … Read More “Conference Insider: Chicago Spring Fling”
Literary Spotlight: Hidden Compass
The website homepage for the travel magazine Hidden Compass features a manifesto of sorts. Editors Sabine Bergmann and Sivani Babu explain, in a piece titled “The Age of Audacity,” how they grew up pretending to be astronauts at space camp and launching rockets in their backyards, thrilled by possibility in the wake of the Space … Read More “Literary Spotlight: Hidden Compass”
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Conference Insider: UW-Madison Writers’ Institute
Attendees can find craft advice, camaraderie, and commercial success at this welcoming four-day event.
Literary Spotlight: Driftwood Press
This 6-year-old journal seeks lyrical writing with a fine attention to detail.
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Conference Insider: Gotham Writers Conference
Spend two days talking craft and networking with agents at this NYC conference hosted by one of the country’s most well-known writing centers.
A writer’s guide to tabling at literary festivals
Avoid gimmicks (and build community) through conversation and book sales.
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Literary Spotlight: Contingent
‘All kinds of history are important – it doesn’t all have to be about the Civil War,’ say the founders of this unique new history magazine.
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Conference Insider: North Words Writers Symposium
On the final day of the North Words Writers Symposium in Skagway, Alaska, attendees and staff take the train to Laughton Glacier Station and hike … Read More “Conference Insider: North Words Writers Symposium”
Literary Spotlight: Pioneertown
This 4-year-old online journal is blazing new literary trails in all genres.
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Conference Insider: The Muse & the Marketplace
This three-day Boston conference strives to create a welcoming and diverse space for all writers to learn and grow.
What literary agents want
Six literary agents weigh in on platform, publishing, and why you should never address a query to “dear sir.”
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Literary Spotlight: Image
For three decades, literary meditations on faith and spirituality have found a home in this reflective journal.
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Conference Insider: Santa Barbara Writers Conference
Eager to spend more than a weekend working on your craft and career? This sunny six-day conference in California may be just the ticket.
Crafting the perfect essay collection
Once relegated to English classes and admissions offices, this form is undergoing a literary revolution.
Literary Spotlight: The Spectacle
Writing by underrepresented voices pairs beautifully with curated visual art in this multi-genre journal.
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Writing disabled protagonists in children’s and YA literature
Authors have called upon their experiences as parents of children with disabilities, and on volunteer work or extensive research, to create characters who reflect the physical, emotional, and developmental challenges that readers and their peers may face.
Conference Insider: Sanibel Island Writers Conference
Steve Almond, Julianna Baggott, and Karen Russell are just a few of the experts you’ll find at this beautiful seaside conference.
How collaboration – and a dose of humility – can improve a book
Author Melissa Hart shares how she grudgingly changed her memoir to a nonfiction book at an editor’s request – and found it ultimately worked better.
Literary Spotlight: CRAFT
Why merely publish short fiction when you can also give writers a glimpse at how it was made?
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Haiku North America
Crazy about the haiku? Have we got a conference for you.
Conference Insider: San Francisco Writing for Change
How could your words help better the world? That’s the question this one-day event asks attendees.
Literary Spotlight: The Masters Review
This journal offers emerging writers editorial feedback, suggestions for alternative publications to pursue, and – best of all – a paid home for their work.
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Literary Spotlight: The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts
This online journal seeks poetry and prose that packs a big punch into a very small space.
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Conference Insider: Pacific Northwest Writers Association
This Seattle-based conference effectively balances art with business – and has a long list of alumni success stories to prove it.
Literary Spotlight: Shark Reef
This inspired literary journal is powered by lyrical writers and strong voices, not the whims of modern publishing trends.
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Conference Insider: Historical Novel Society of North America Conference
This three-day conference will inform and energize authors looking to blend historical fact with fiction.
Literary Spotlight: Zizzle Magazine
This international flash fiction journal aims to bring parents and children together to foster a lifelong love of reading.
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Conference Insider: KidLitCon
If you write books for young readers, this New England conference is an event you can’t miss.
Literary Spotlight: EVENT
Offering contests, themed submission calls, and reading services, this historic Canadian journal has something for everyone.
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Conference Insider: Port Townsend Writers’ Conference
Craft and community combine at what event organizers call a “left-coast, Birkenstock-wearing version of Bread Loaf.”
Find your niche magazine
Five magazine editors weigh in on the niche magazine industry and share tips for how to get published in those specialized publications.
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Literary Spotlight: Turtle Island Responds
Verse, current events, and underrepresented voices meld beautifully in this online poetry series.
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Conference Insider: NonfictioNOW
From social justice to video essays, this fact-focused conference is deeply grounded in modern-day truthtelling.
Literary Spotlight: Salamander
This magazine seeks diverse voices, resilient writers, and transformative content.
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Literary Spotlight: Analog Science Fiction and Fact
This historic magazine puts the science in sci-fi.
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Conference Insider: Left Coast Crime Convention
Six hundred mystery writers gather each spring to talk about craft – and murder.
Literary Spotlight: Nashville Review
“If it’s a moving work of art, we want it,” say the editors of this 10-year-old publication.
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Conference Insider: Desert Nights, Rising Stars Writers Conference
Writers of all genres and experience levels gather in Arizona for intense learning and vibrant conversations.
Literary Spotlight: Blanket Sea
This online journal showcases works written by people with chronic or mental illness and disabilities.
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Conference Insider: SDSU Writers’ Conference
Choose from craft talks, career insights, or publishing advice – both traditional and indie – at this decades-old conference in San Diego.
Literary Spotlight: DAME Magazine
This powerhouse magazine is on the hunt for bold, clear-eyed writers.
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Literary Spotlight: Flash Fiction Online
This lit journal seeks sparkling writing, evocative storytelling, and well-developed characters – all in less than 1,000 words.
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Conference Insider: Literary Writers Conference
This Friday-Saturday conference in New York City offers a comprehensive primer on the publishing industry.
Literary Spotlight: Hotel Amerika
Cross-genre works of all shapes and sizes are welcome in this quirky journal.
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Literary Spotlight: Ravishly
This feminist-forward online magazine seeks smart takes on modern issues.
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Conference Insider: The Cabins Collaborative Retreat
All creative disciplines come together for a harmonious weekend of learning, growth, and inspiration at this welcoming four-day conference.
Graphic nonfiction books are on the rise
This up-and-coming genre conveys facts in full color.
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Literary Spotlight: The Forge Literary Magazine
This inclusive journal offers a wealth of opportunity for both writers and editors.
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Conference Insider: Write-by-the-Lake
Dive deep into craft at this intensive five-day retreat on Lake Mendota.
Literary Spotlight: Catapult
This multi-faceted organization is a literary journal, publishing house, writing center, and online community, all in one place.
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The rising tide of “cli-fi,” or climate fiction
Authors are becoming increasingly concerned about the state of our planet – and what we can do about it. Enter cli-fi, a new genre that deals with climate change and global warming on both a modern and future scale.
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Literary Spotlight: Mystery Weekly
The husband-and-wife duo behind this niche magazine welcome whodunits with open arms.
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Problem, goal, reward: How to increase productivity and efficiency as a writer
Treat yourself – and write more, too.
Conference Insider: Chanticleer Authors Conference
Struggling with the business side of being an author? This industry-focused conference in the Pacific Northwest is here to help.
Literary Spotlight: Black Fox Literary Magazine
This seven-year-old publication courts writing of all genres.
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Conference Insider: Killer Nashville
This thrilling conference allows participants to learn about the industry, sharpen their crime-solving skills, and net a publishing deal all in one weekend.
Top writing conferences for writers of color and LGBTQ writers
Each year, several conferences and retreats cater to specific demographics, enabling writers to find a community that understands the challenges inherent in belonging to, and writing in, a particular culture.
Literary Spotlight: S’more
This new magazine for young girls aims to make science fabulous.
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Getting pitched, getting hitched: A literary marriage proposal
This proposal swept an agent off her feet.
Reading, writing, & romance: Literary power couples
Three couples share their secrets of collaborative success.
Conference Insider: ASJA (American Society of Journalists and Author) Conferences
Want mentorship, must-know trends, and freelance opportunities all in one conference? This nonfiction-based organization has events for you.
Literary Spotlight: Reminisce Magazine
Take a walk down memory lane in this nostalgia-seeking publication.
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Tips for older MFA students going back to school
Older students seeking graduate degrees in creative writing prove that age really is just a number.
Conference Insider: StokerCon
This spine-tingling conference offers a one-stop shop for all things horror.
Literary Spotlight: Cemetery Dance
For three decades, this prestigious magazine has been the place to publish your horror stories.
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Should authors hire an independent publicist?
Can an independent publicist help you maximize your book’s success?
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Literary Spotlight: Kazoo
This literary magazine for young girls aims to empower and inspire.
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Authors who own bookstores talk shop
How can writers best collaborate with independent bookstores?
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We Need Diverse Books
Half of U.S. children under age 5 are non-white. But only 10 percent of children’s books in the last
two decades featured multicultural characters. The math doesn’t add up. And one nonprofit organization is determined
to even the playing field.
Story shapers: What book editors want you to know
Six editors share what they’re looking for, what they’re publishing, and what authors should know about the industry.
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Expert tips for author school visits
Connect to young readers with dynamic classroom visits.
Write free with Freewrite
This “smart typewriter” enables writers to find focus.
Creating Suspense
Be thrilled by all genres, all the time.
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Using humor in environmental writing
Can writers move beyond grim when it comes to serious issues about the Earth?
Shakespeare in the house
A family of writers finds inspiration and solidarity in the bard.
Literary Spotlight: McSweeney’s Internet Tendency
This online journal goes for quirky, funny and smart.
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Dinty W. Moore: Writer guy
Dinty W. Moore talks about his unconventional, superstitious, comic, mindful and messy approach to teaching and practicing craft.
Run with it: Organizing a writing conference 101
Organizing a conference? Think passion. Budget. Great coffee.
Teen spirit
The teen literary journal “Canvas” offers a multitude of ways for readers, writers and artists to connect.
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Head start: Magazines and literary journals for young writers
Magazines offer young writers experience and exposure.
It’s a party
Forget the traditional book launch. Start planning an exciting event.
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Moving stories
Video literature lights up literary journals.
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