Here’s What’s New
Some months ago I announced here that Kirkus Reviews had closed down. What I missed was the resurrection of this magazine (one of the major prepublication book review magazines) in February. So this seventy-seven-year-old book review journal, read daily by booksellers, librarians and educators, lives on, thanks to Herb Simon.
Skyhorse Publishing announced in November that they have bought Allworth Press. You may be familiar with Allworth Press as a fairly large niche publisher who has produced many writing/publishing-related titles over the years. Allworth’s founder, Tad Crawford told me that he is pleased about the acquisition. But Crawford isn’t going anywhere. He will continue to manage Allworth Press as an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing. Tony Lyons is the president and publisher of the Lyons Press. He launched Skyhorse Publishing in 2006 and, with the recent acquisition of Arcade, now has over 1,000 titles in print. Skyhorse publishes a variety of categories, including history, politics, sports, fiction, memoir, true crime, business, reference and self-help. For more information about either of these publishers, http://www.skyhorsepublishing.com. http://www.allworth.com.
Editor and Publisher has a new address—17782 Cowan, Suite A, Irvine, CA 92614.
Soft Skull Press is now part of Counterpoint Press and is located at 1919 Fifth St, Berkeley, CA 94710. http://www.counterpointpress.com.
The Cat Fancier’s Association is launching a new print magazine next month. Cat Talk Almanac will be an exhibitor-oriented news source with a first-person view. It will also include feline health and advice. I suspect that this magazine isn’t open to freelance writers. However, if you are a cat fancier who shows cats or you know someone who does, you might be able to land an assignment. http://www.cfa.org.
Catholic Forester’s editorial calendar is full and they are not purchasing new material at this time. Check back from time to time at http://www.catholicforester.org.
As of May 1, 2010, Mountainland Publishing is closed to submissions. Watch their website for any changes: http://www.mountainlandpublishing.com.
At Lucky Press, submissions are closed for 2011 as of December 15, 2010. Watch for submissions to open for next year around the first of September 2011. http://www.luckypress.com.
John Daniel and Company is not accepting new submissions at this time. Check back: http://www.danielpublising.com.
Ahsahta Press is closed to submissions until further notice. Check back occasionally: http://ahsahtapress.boisestate.edu/submit.htm
Ooligan Press is currently open to the following types of manuscripts:
- Literary fiction
- Nonfiction
- Poetry
- Young adult fiction
- Books about the craft and teaching of writing, publishing, and book production
- Books on sustainable practices
View Ooligan Press Submission Guidelines here: http://ooligan.pdx.edu/?page_id=49
As of November 2010, Lily Ruth Publishing is no longer accepting submissions. Check back for changes to this policy. http://www.lilyruthpublishing.com.
Biographical Publishing Company is listed in Writer’s Market under “Small Presses.” Inclusion in Writer’s Market has always, as far as I know, been reserved for paying publishers and does not include pay-to-publish companies. Yes, when I visited Biographical Publishing Company’s website in order to locate information for you, I discovered that they are a pay-to-publish company and should not be listed in Writer’s Market. http://www.biopub.co.cc
More bookstores closed before the holidays. Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Charlotte, NC has closed. In Charlotte, Borders is also planning to close. Cornerstone Bookstore in Salem, MA closed in Oct. I guess I missed reporting it, but the long-lived Bodhi Bookstore in Los Angeles closed in January of this year. All of the Waldenbooks and B. Dalton Bookstores are gone. And the rumor is that all Barnes and Noble stores will cease to exist as we know them within our communities next year. (Note, this is just a rumor.)
Opportunities for Freelance Writers
Freelance writers, if you read this section just for the links to the submission guidelines, you are way ahead of the game. Do you know how long it takes me to locate submission guidelines for you? I’ve been chasing down hidden aspects of websites for years and I’ve become a near expert at locating cleverly concealed submission guidelines. But sometimes it takes the absolutely most off-the-wall strategy (or lack of) to stumble upon them. What are these editors/web designers thinking? I try to save you time and a sense of failure by finding the guidelines for you.
If you write about cats, it is that time of year when the opportunities abound. Cat Fancy opens its doors to freelance projects January 1 through May 1. Study the submission guidelines at: http://www.catfancy.com. There is a place just below the promo on the current issue of the magazine that says, “Guidelines for submission to Cat Fancy.” The link is not live at this time—and I believe that is because I am writing this prior to the January 1 date. If it is between January 1 and May 1 when you are reading this, go to the home page and see if that link to the guidelines is live. In the meantime, I can tell you that the editors want to receive your query letter—no complete manuscripts. And they recommend that you study several issues of the magazine before submitting your ideas. They pay $50 to $450 and they welcome photographs of cats and kittens. Send queries to, query@catfancy.com
Boston Review has changed their format and style. They publish both fiction and nonfiction, but they accept fiction submissions only between September 15 and June 15 and they pay from $25 to $300 per fiction piece. Complete guidelines here: http://www.bostonreview.net/about/writers_guidelines
http://www.bostonreview.net.
South Carolina Living Magazine is new and this is a paying market. They will pay as much as $450 for features. You’ll find the submission guidelines here: http://www.ecsc.org/living-mag/SC%20Living%20Contributor%20Guidelines%2010_10.pdf. The website address is http://www.scliving.coop
There’s been another increase in regional magazine launches, lately. They’ve cropped up in many areas of California, Florida and Canada as well as Phoenix; Ann Arbor; New York; Alberta; Columbus, OH; Seattle; Atlanta; South Alabama; Natchez, MS and North Charleston, SC. Most rely on staff for stories. Some will accept outside submissions, but few of them can pay freelancers. If you are interested in writing for a regional magazine where you live, used to live or visit often, search for regional magazines in that area using keywords, “regional magazine” + “name of city or county.” Did you know there is an organization dedicated to regional magazines? Check it out at http://www.citymag.org. Click on “learn more,” under Advertisers and you’ll find a link to member publications. There are a couple of different ways to search for the magazines you’re looking for. It looks as though there are nearly seventy magazines listed. The IRMA (International Regional Magazine Association) also lists regional magazines at its website: http://www.regionalmagazines.org.
Here are some paying regional magazines: Again, if you live in or ever lived in these areas or you visit regularly, you might be able to come up with some good article ideas. Study several issues of the magazine and follow the submission guidelines:
Cowboys and Indians Magazine is based in Dallas and focuses on the American West. While the editors are interested in historical articles, they also publish pieces on art, travel, home decorating, foods and fashion all with a southwest flavor. http://www.cowboysindians.com. I could find no submission guidelines at their website. They simply ask freelancers to contact the editor at queries@cowboysindians.com. I can tell you that they also use book excerpts and interview pieces as well as contributions to their various departments and they pay anywhere from $200 to $5,000 for an assigned article. http://www.cowboysindians.com.
Sunset Magazine focuses on lifestyle in the Western states and pays $1/word for travel, recreation, special events and weekend getaway articles. http://www.sunset.com
Arizona Highways pays up to a dollar a word, as well and they need articles related to history, nature, wildlife, anthropology and travel as well as Indian arts and crafts. http://www.arizonahighways.com.
Connecticut Magazine publishes investigative pieces, business-related articles, interview articles and features on Connecticut lifestyle. And they pay up to $1,200 per article. They are also on the lookout for short pieces for their columns on health, politics, arts, the environment, education, sports and more as well as fillers, for which they’ll pay as much as $150. Learn more at http://www.connecticutmag.com.
Boca Raton Magazine pays up to $1,500 for nonfiction general interest, humor, travel, interview and historical pieces. http://www.bocamag.com.
Cleveland Magazine is one of the highest paying regional magazines in Ohio. They pay as much as $1,200 for home and garden, interview, travel, humor or historical articles. http://www.clevelandmagazine.com.
Milwaukee Magazine is a typical regional magazine that uses fifty manuscripts per year and pays as much as $2,300 per piece. http://www.milwaukeemagazine.com
Paying Fiction Markets
A few regional magazines use fiction pieces. Check out Telluride Magazine, Atlanta Magazine, St. Mary’s Magazine, Fort Mitchell Living, Oklahoma Today, Over the Back Fence and Wyoming Living
Here are some random magazines that pay for fiction:
Spotlight on Recovery Magazine pays 5 cents/word for ethnic and slice of life stories. http://www.spotlightonrecovery.com.
Alive Now pays $35 and up for fiction: http://www.alivenow.upperroom.org.
Purpose pays up to 7 cents/word: http://www.mpn.net.
The Country Connection pays 10 Cents/word. http://www.pinecone.on.ca
Apex Digest buys only dark science fiction and pays $20-$200 per piece: http://www.apexdigest.com.
Opportunities for Authors
Borders Books is now in the publishing business through “Borders Get Published.” By partnering with BookBrewer, they are set up to produce and sell ebooks through the Borders ebook store. They offer two pricing choices, $89.99 or $199.99. Learn more at http://borders.bookbrewer.com
Vanhook House seems to have changed their stripes since posting in Writer’s Market. According to their website, they are simply a Christ-based small press publishing company focusing on enriching the lives of readers through word of God. http://www.vanhookhouse.com. It appears to me that they no longer publish true crime, military, war, etc.
A lot of people are still writing memoirs. As you know, there are various types of memoirs—incident/situation memoirs, legacy memoirs, travel memoirs, military memoirs, inspirational memoirs, childhood memoirs and etc. Here are some publishers who publish memoirs:
Kitsune Books publishes memoirs along with New Age, spiritual, yoga/fitness topics. They also publish fiction. Submissions open up this month, so be one of the first with the type of project they need. http://www.kitsunebooks.com/submissions.html
Flying Pen Press uses memoirs. But send only a query by way of introduction to your project. Learn more about this company’s submission policies here: http://www.flyingpenpress.com/submissions.html
University of Nebraska Press is interested in memoirs. Study their guidelines at: http://www.unmpress.com/Submission.html
Loft Press is open to receiving memoirs, but they have some strict guidelines. Read them here: http://www.loftpress.com/guidelines/
Heritage Books, Inc. publishes books on genealogy and this includes memoirs. http://www.heritagebooks.com/publishing.html
Word Hustler lists approximately eighty publishers of memoirs: http://www.wordhustler.com/publishers/tag/memoir
And for authors of fiction, try contacting the following publishers of fiction:
Down East Books uses fiction. But they don’t want to receive complete manuscripts. Study their guidelines and then send your great idea to them. Learn more about their submission policy here: http://www.downeast.com/contributor/book/guidelines
Bold Strokes Books produces adventure, erotica, fantasy, horror, historical, science fiction, gay lesbian and other types of fiction. For guidelines: http://www.boldstrokesbooks.com/pages.php?pageid=15
If you have a good romance novel, consider submitting it to Black Velvet Seductions Publishing. http://www.blackvelvetseductions.com. Guidelines here: http://www.blackvelvetseductions.com/Submit%20Material.html. They are in the market for talented new writers.
Loft Press publishes fiction—but not a lot of it. Here are their guidelines: http://www.loftpress.com/guidelines
Pocol Press uses a variety of fiction from historical and horror to sports, spiritual and military. Their guidelines are rather explicit. Check them out at: http://www.pocolpress.com/template.php?pageName=submission
If you have a manuscript involving parables that teach life lessons, consider approaching Possibility Press. http://www.possibilitypress.com. Guidelines here: http://www.possibilitypress.com/about/authors/default.html
Here’s a directory of publishers worldwide including nearly 1,400 publishers of fiction, 618 religious, 2,500 in the art category and over 1,600 publishers of business books. http://www.publishersglobal.com
Book Promotion Opportunities
Kate Cooper sent me a press release about her company IndieReader and IndieReader Selects, which she says is the first-ever professional review and distribution program created to get indie books into indie bookstores nationwide. She describes her service as a sales and promotion venue for consumers who are looking to buy an indie book online. The leaders at IndieReader believe that there are a lot of great books that have not been given a fair chance to shine in the marketplace and they hope to offer this opportunity to self-published authors and independent publishers. The signup fee is $149 per book per year and the author receives seventy-five percent of the selling price. We are not offering this as an endorsement, but simply another option for you to check out. We just want to bring this service to your attention. If it sounds like a good match for your project, check it out. http://www.indiereader.com. Contact Kate Cooper at recmkt@msn.com.
Do you sometimes wonder what other authors do to promote their books—what works for them and what doesn’t? I think we all have this sort of curiosity about the crazy world of book promotion. Well, here’s an author who has invited a peek into his promotional activities. He even ranks them according to which ones worked better and which ones fell flat. Now, you’ll notice that this blog was posted in 2006 and there are a few things within the world of technology that have changed since then, but I believe you will find this candid report most interesting. http://www.davidlouisedelman.com/book-promotion/book-promotion/
Another pretty good list of book promotion activities is posted here: http://www.bob-baker.com/qt/10ways.html. I especially like number three where the author suggests giving your readers many valid reasons for visiting your website. It’s something you’ve read here before. Add resources and new information pertinent to your readers’ interests, for example.
I also like Dana Lynn Smith’s blog post focusing on ten promotional tactics that publishers planned to use in 2010. This article is a result of a survey. I think you’ll find it interesting. http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/01/prweb3439154.htm
And former book publicist and literary agent, Arielle Ford talks about making the most of your Facebook page as a publicity tool for your book. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arielle-ford/authors-why-you-arent-get_1_b_775327.html. She gives some interesting tips.
“How to Market Your Book on the Internet” is another useful article for authors. http://www.spacejock.com.au/MarketingYourBookOnline.html
And here’s someone who tells other authors how to make thousands of dollars selling an ebook. http://macournoyer.com/blog/2010/03/01/promote-cyopl/
You’ll notice that I did not note any of the many sites that charge to help you promote your book. While I believe in hiring a good publicist that is appropriate for your project, if you have the money to do so, and I’m not totally against paying for help promoting your book, I would rather see an author educate him/herself about the process of book promotion and then put in the time, effort, creativity and personality to promote their own books. The six articles/posts listed above are designed to give you some ideas for promotion and encourage you to take charge of your own promotional activities. Locate many other articles and books on the subject by doing your own web search. And don’t forget to check out the articles posted at the WPN site. http://www.spawn.org/marketing
Opportunities for Scriptwriters
The early bird deadline for the 13th Scriptapalooza Screenplay Competition is January 5, 2011. Learn more here: http://www.scriptapalooza.com
Did you notice that Jerrol LeBaron at InkTip is offering weekly emails to those who are interested in additional leads for scripts, writers’ events, discounts, articles by industry experts and seminars. If you are not on LeBaron’s emailing list, sign up now: jerrol@inktippitchsummit.com.
The December InkTip Newsletter is announcing a call for feature-length scripts from writers who are familiar with Chinese, feature-length road trip scripts, Christmas scripts and romantic comedies, among others. Subscribe to InkTip Newsletter at http://www.inktip.com
Opportunities for Artists and Photographers
South Carolina Living Magazine has opportunities for photographers. They will pay $500 for a cover shot and $300 for an inside spread. Learn more here http://www.ecsc.org/living-mag/SC%20Living%20Contributor%20Guidelines%2010_10.pdf
Arizona Highways needs photos for the magazine as well as cards and calendars. They pay anywhere from $125 to $600 for photos. Read their guidelines at: http://www.arizonahighways.com/static/index.cfm?contentID=775 Check out their photo tips here: http://www.arizonahighways.com/static/index.cfm?action=group&contentID=57. In fact, I recommend that all photographers visit this page to learn some fascinating and useful tips for taking better photos of all kinds.
Here are a couple of job sites for freelance photographers: http://www.freelancephotographerjobs.com
http://www.freelancephotographerjobs.com/usa-jobs.html
http://photographerjobs.org/
If you are an artist looking for work, try these sites:
http://workingartistsnetwork.com/resource-hub/jobs
http://jobs.com/artist_jobs_15
http://artistjobs.org
Going, Going, Gone
Cal Lab Magazine has gone out of business
Mountain Bike Magazine has folded
US News and World Report print magazine is gone
Cook’s Source has closed
Newsweek has merged with TheDailyBeast.com and will cease to exist
Layers has closed
American Baby will continue as a free publication
Pregnancy has quit publishing
Resources for Authors and Freelance Writers
Have you visited Alltop, yet? Go to http://publishing.alltop.com and you’ll find headlines from over thirty sources related to publishing. This site also posts the headlines (with links mind you) on hundreds of other topics, from corporate responsibility, to environmental health, to fantasy baseball and everything in between. They promise to help you answer the question, “What’s happening?” in topics that interest you. This looks like a great place to conduct research toward your book on autism, auto racing, Asian food or astrology. If you maintain a blog on air travel, parenting, writing, grilling or entertaining, this is the place to go for the latest in headlines. Check it out: http://www.alltop.com.
Here are a few additional sites where you can locate resources for writers and authors:
http://www.thewritemag.com/resources-for-writers
http://www.internet-resources.com/writers