In my last post I detailed my frustrations with literary journals that open submissions to the public while intending to publish a few stories. There’s an additional issue with this practice that I find more annoying and morally questionable. That is using submission calls to harvest emails. Just because I submit a story to your... Continue Reading →
For five years I’ve written and submitted short stories to literary journals. We all know that rejection in the publishing world is normal. In fact, any sort of submission is extremely likely to be rejected regardless of quality. While this may be the norm, it has me wondering why? Of course, the short answer is... Continue Reading →
Since I was nine, I’ve been a numismatist. Later when I reached young adulthood, I added collecting Legos (Star Wars and Lord of the Rings). For a little over a decade I enjoyed both hobbies, until I no longer had interest in LEGOs and returned to exclusively collecting coins. LEGOs are fun, but unless they’re... Continue Reading →
Things in the literary magazine world have been interesting this past year. I’ve been writing short stories and flash fiction for four years and submitting them to ezines in that time, and recently I noticed several have closed. Sure there are always new ones that open every so often, but those typically don’t pay. Worse,... Continue Reading →
I know I haven’t posted on here in a while. The reality is that I just didn’t know what to say. In a world where most people share opinions regularly on the internet, and are saturated in other’s opinions, after awhile posting on a blog feels pointless. Now, I know that some might say that... Continue Reading →
The writing world is laden with rules. As I noted in my last post, adverbs and adjectives are now things editors want limited. An author must show and not tell the story. Perhaps one of the most important rules: prose should be written in active voice. Passive on occasion and when necessary is permissible, but... Continue Reading →
“Not adverbs! Run away! What are you thinking putting adjectives in a story? People ain’t got time for that! No, you need verbs and nouns when you write stories. That is only because the English language requires it.” This is a hyperbolic example of what it can feel like being a writer attempting to get... Continue Reading →
Look, I get it, literary journals need to make money. This is especially true if they are a paying market. Some choose to charge submission fees instead of cluttering their website with advertisements. I can respect that. However, there seems to be a rather large elephant in the room that isn’t discussed, submission fees, at... Continue Reading →
If you’re a writer and have submitted pieces to publishers, you have undoubtedly come across “standard manuscript formatting.” (SMF for simplicity) This may seem like a minor gripe, but SMF seems wildly antiquated. Sure 12-point font, and New Times Roman font I can get behind. But double spaced? Really? This is the day and age... Continue Reading →
I’ve written a little about my adventures so far in flash fiction. I’ve been doing this for less than a year, meaning I’m still getting my toes wet, but over the last several months I learned a lot. The sad truth is writing flash fiction and short stories for literary journals typically won’t result in... Continue Reading →
R. Michael 