Legend:
(IDLM&SP)
Int’l Directory of Little Magazines & Small Presses;
(N&SSWM)
Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market; (SPR)
Small Press Review; (P&W)
Poets & Writers
Note: The May/June 2009 issue of
Poets & Writers contains a special feature on 22
litmags that are open to new writers, which is worth the
$5.95 cover price (or check out the article on their web site:
www.pw.org).
Some of the publications that follow were featured in
that article, with the guidelines obtained from their respective
internet sites.
The Café Review, c/o
Yes Books, 589 Congress St., Portland, ME
04101. A quarterly
journal of poetry, art and reviews.
Perfect-bound.
Press run: 400-500 copies.
Sample available on web site. Web site:
www.thecafereview.com. For deadlines or general
information regarding a particular issue, contact via email:
caferevieweditors@mailcity.com.
The review has been publishing
poetry for twenty years, first in booklet form, then as a
monthly journal, and from 1993, a quarterly journal.
Accepts up to three poems, any
length. Also
publishes original artwork, book reviews and interviews.
Contact editors about submitting reviews and interviews.
Send poetry with SASE for reply and
$1 for reading fee.
No email submissions.
Work is read by Steve Luttrell, editor/publisher, and
three other editors.
No info on response time or payment. (P&W).
Bust Down the Door and Eat All
the Chickens, A
Journal of Absurd and Surreal Fiction.
Web site:
www.absurdistjournal.com.
Email queries and questions to:
bradleysands@comcast.net.
Seeking stories and prose poems of
an absurdist and/or surrealist nature for online issues.
Stories must be under 2,000 words or they will be
rejected. Prefers
humor.
Stories should not fit within any
genre. No horror unless it’s unconventional.
No overused concepts like zombies, vampires, ghosts,
space aliens, etc.
No accounts of zany things that a character does after getting
drunk and/or stoned.
No protagonists who are writers.
No passive protagonists.
See sample on web site, which can
be downloaded in
pdf format for free.
No previously published material.
Simultaneous submissions okay, but must inform editor if
accepted elsewhere.
Use line spaces for paragraph breaks rather than indents.
Underline all italicized words and include a bio.
Send submissions as attachment, either Microsoft Word or
Rich Text file to:
bust.submissions@hotmail.com
Uses FNASR; copyright reverts to
writer upon publication.
No payment until the ‘zine reverts to print.
Response time is six weeks or less.
Also accepts cover art submissions.
Pays $10 and a contributor’s copy for cover art.
Contact editor for details.
(IDLM&SP)
Storyscape(www.storyscapejournal.com).
An online journal of short stories.
Published irregularly.
Publishes short, long, overheard,
true, false, poetic, audio, visual, crafted, and all genres
bended in-between.
Next issue will be published online in Fall of 2009.
Categories include stories that
discuss boundaries, communities, roles, labels, grandmothers,
neighbors—sadness, joy, etc. Create your own category. The
editors are open to variety.
No previously published work.
Simultaneous submissions okay, but must notify if
accepted elsewhere.
Send story in body of email, along
with short bio. Include name and email address on first page of
story. Specify
special formatting issues.
Also accepts up to five poems, but only one short story
at a time. For
visual or audio stories, contact first.
No payment at this time. Copyright
reverts to author upon publication.
Response time, within two months.
(P&W)
Mystery
Island
Magazine,, Bradley Mason Hamlin, Publisher, 384 Windward Way, Sacramento,
CA 95831-2420.
(www.mysteryisland.net)
An on-line pop culture literary venue that features
poetry, fiction, articles, cartoons, interviews and music
criticism, and also publishes themed anthologies such as the
“all crime issue,” under their publishing imprint: Mystery
Island Publications,
Accepts crime fiction, horror,
metaphysics, sci-fi, the supernatural.
See
web site guidelines for other categories and how to submit your
work.
No payment, copyright reverts to
author upon publication.
Reporting time: 1 week to one month.
Simultaneous submissions accepted. (IDLM&SP)
The Broome Review,
PO Box 900, Vestal, NY 13851. (www.thebroomereview.com)
Email:
info@thebroomereview.com.
Reading for the Winter/Spring 2010
issue. Seeks poetry,
fiction and creative nonfiction.
Send up to 4 poems or 15 pages of prose.
Submission details on the web site.
Submissions accepted through
December 31.
Provide cover letter with bio, and
SASE to above address.
NO email submissions.
Payment is one contributor’s copy.
No info on response time or rights purchased.
(P&W)
Muse & Stone,
Waynesburg University, 51 W.
College St., Waynesburg, PA 15370.
Accepting submissions for Spring
2010 issue.
Simultaneous submissions accepted.
Send up to 5 poems, or 6,000 words
of fiction or creative nonfiction.
Include cover letter and SASE for response.
No info on response time, rights
purchased and/or payment. (P&W)
NEWS OF INTEREST
SIG member, Laurel Hill
(www.laurelannehill.com),
would like your help.
Her award-winning story, “Reaching for Rainbows,” published in
Lynx Eye in 2005, about
how a ten-year old girl copes with homelessness, has been recorded
by Laurel on
YouTube. The first part (9 minutes) is now available. She’ll
be recording the rest of the story in two more installments over the
next few months. Laurel
is using this story to inspire others to aid homeless families.
Please watch the video and rate it in
the space provided by
YouTube.
If you like the story, please pass it on to others.
The link is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmQZDPe6cv8
C O N T E
S T S
Free to Enter!
The following contests have no entry
fees, but do have detailed instructions for submitting manuscripts.
Use their web site guidelines and follow them; it could mean
the difference between winning and losing:
The New Esquire Fiction Contest.
Open to all writers.
Prize:
$2,500 and publication in Esquire.
Choose between the following titles:
“Twenty-Ten,” “An Insurrection,” and “Never, Ever Bring this Up
Again.”
Stories should not exceed 4,000 words.
You may submit only one story.
All entries due by August 1, midnight—and submitted
electronically.
Full guidelines at:
www.esquire.com/fiction/fiction-contest.
Real Simple: The Second Annual Life
Lessons Essay Contest.
Open to all writers over the age of 19.
Prize: $3,000, roundtrip economy
plane tickets for two to NYC, hotel accommodations and tickets to a
Broadway play, lunch with Real Simple editors, and publication in
Real Simple Magazine.
Essay to 1,500 words on “When did you
realize that you had become a grownup?”
Manuscript can be submitted online or
via snail mail to: Essay Contest, Real Simple, 1271 Avenue of the
Americas, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10020, by
September 7, 2009.
One entry per writer.
Submit in English.
Manuscript should be double-spaced, typed on 8-1/2 by 11
paper. No handwritten
essays. Must be
original.
Winner will be notified by phone and/or
email after January 3, 2010.
For full guidelines and legalese, go
to:
www.realsimple.com/lifelessonscontest.
Memoir (and) 6th Contest.
Prizes are awarded to the most outstanding prose or poetry memoirs
drawn from the reading period (twice a year).
Prizes: Grand
prize: $500, publication and 6 copies: Second: $250, publication and
6 copies; Third: $100, publication and three copies.
Also one-year subscriptions to winners.
All entries considered for publication.
Prefers online entries via online
Submission Manager. Snail mail entries to:
Memoir (and), PO Box 1398,
Sausalito, CA 94966-1398.
Deadline: 8/15/09.
Judges: Joan
Chapman and Candida Lawrence.
Prose to 10,000 words—original and one
entry only. Poetry
(maximum 5 of any length, all in one document), or “Graphic memoir”
or narrative photography (explained in guidelines).
No contact info on manuscript itself.
No simultaneous submissions.
One-time, 6-month rights purchased.
Complete information at:
www.memoirjournal.com.
The
Homestead Review
(Literary
Journal of Hartnell College in Print and Online)
Poetry and Short Story Contest,
sponsored by Central Coast Writers Branch of the California Writers
Club. Guidelines at:
www.centralcoastwriters.org.
$500 prize and publication.
Winners in each category will be published in the 2010 issue
of
The Homestead Review.
Entry Fee: $5/poem-$15/story.
Submission period: 9/15/09-1/15/2010.
The Scent of an Ending Contest.
White Eagle Coffee Store Press,
Box 383,
Fox River Grove, IL
60021.
Email:
wecspress@aol.com.
Web sites:
www.whiteeaglecoffeestorepress.com or
http://thescentofanending.com
Competition for the best bad ending
to a novel—a real stinker.
Send title of imaginary novel and last
25-125 words.
Prizes: $89.25 for First Place:
$67.32-2nd; $31.28-3rd, plus dubious fame and
publication for winner and all finalists.
Deadline: September
30, 2009 postmark.
Reading fee: $6.37.
Complete information available with
SASE or visit web sites.
Newport
Review, Flash Fiction Contest, PO Box
65, Warren RI
02885. For complete
guidelines and updates, and a list of the winners of the 2008
contest go to
http://newportreview.com
Stories should be less than 1,000
words.
Prizes: $150-First Place; $100-2nd;
$50-3rd, and publication.
Entry fee: $7/story or 3/$20.
Deadline: September 1, 2009 postmark.