Friday Fridge Clean-Out: Links for Writers -- March 17, 2017 Edition

> For now, essayist Phillip Lopate's regular column in The American Scholar, "Full Disclosure," is focused on his teaching experiences in Shanghai. (hat tip @NStuckeyFrench)

> What does it mean to "read above your head"? And why is it important for all writers to do so? Marion Roach Smith, an excellent memoir teacher, will tell you.

> The Open Notebook is a database of successful pitches to noteworthy media, sent by freelance writers who mostly cover science stories. But if you're any kind of freelancer who routinely must query editors for assignments, you will learn a ton from this deep and smart trove. While there, also check out this survey on gender differences among querying writers.

> Did you know Submittable (the submissions portal) now has an app? (Heaven help those who already can't resist checking their status multiple times a day...)

>Not new (from Summer 2016) but very interesting thoughts at Solstice from DeWitt Henry on what makes a "contemporary" writer.

>Writers - your coffee break humor is here. Check out "What Happens When Bookstore Employees Get Bored" (and pose with book covers).

> Finally, here's my  piece at Grown and Flown about what filling out March Madness NCAA brackets means to me (who knows nothing) and to my son (who definitely does).

Have a great weekend!

Image: Flickr/CreativeCommons-Pieces of the Past

Friday Fridge Clean-Out: Links for Writers -- November 8, 2013 Edition

> Here's a beautifully succinct, but substantial piece, by Stephanie G'Schwind at Essay Daily, on parallel narratives in essay, with links to illustrative essays in the Colorado Review (hat tip - Brevity blog).

> Like podcasts about writing, book publishing, and marketing? Thanks to Marion Roach Smith (who has a terrific blog on memoir writing), for alerting me to this trove of more than 160 podcasts by Joanna Penn over at her Creative Penn site, also a vital resource. 

> On YouTube, coach Debbie Reber is compiling a series of (mostly-under three minute) answers to commonly asked questions, such as the importance of the title of a book, what permissions are needed, the difference between royalties and an advance, when book promotion should begin.

> Very cool Tumblr -- self-pics of writers at work at Every Day I Write The Books. No carefully made-up, staged shots here, just regular folks cranking out the words, wherever, whenever. Any writer can send in their own photo.

> Wooden Horse Publishing asks an intellectual law attorney to explain the intersection of copyright and the web (and whether everything on Facebook is up for grabs).

> Not new, but helpful: Jane Friedman with a comprehensive, clear breakdown to help you "Understand the Key Book Publishing Paths" (pdf) -- traditional, partnership, fully assisted, DIY plus distributor, and DIY direct. Plus "special and hard to classify cases."

> A few months ago, Vela Blog posted an "Unlisted List" of women writers (dozens and dozens of them, with links to their work!): "A list of women writers of various forms of creative nonfiction that future list-makers and anthologists, should they notice that their inclusion of women is on the paltry side, might peruse and thereby make their “bests” and “greats” better and greater, their collections more representative of the world we live in, rather than reminiscent still of those dead white guys we were raised up on..." Plus, lots of additional suggestions in the many comments.

> Still mystified by Twitter, or just a late adopter?  The New York Times' Personal Tech blog breaks it down. 

> Finally, the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad business of being a successful best-selling author. Yes, lots of non-writing tasks are required. Yes, those activities squeeze out writing time. But, seriously?


Have a great weekend!

Looking Inside: Creative Nonfiction in the Fall Issue of Compose

Excuse me for kvelling just a little. (Can an Italian Catholic girl kvell? Nevermind.) I'll just say the Fall 2013 issue of Compose journal is now live and it's lovely. I began as creative nonfiction editor this spring and from the start I knew that founder/managing editor Suzannah Windsor (I interviewed her here), would make sure every aspect of it was excellent, and I've loved being part of a group of editors who are interesting folks.

It's been fun, instructive, challenging, frustrating, and surprising to be involved in my first issue from start to finish – soliciting, reading, selecting (and yes, declining – that's the frustrating part), and editing. I'm proud of the CNF pieces which appear, and working directly with the writers of each piece was one of the most gratifying things I've ever done – and I'm jazzed that I get to do it again for the Spring 2014 issue, and again.

Here's a little tour of the creative nonfiction section.

Because it's likely to make you a little sad in a very good way, depending on the type of person/reader you are, either begin or end with Eliana Ramage's lovely short essay of remembrance, 26 Tea Lights.

Then turn to Lori Horvitz's Little Pink Hatchling, a tale of a college coupling and the messy ways it continues, and doesn't, and does, and ends. Plus, a side of Italian ice.

If you've ever inherited something from a loved one – and then that treasured item was lost from your life  – you will understand the heart of Milena Nigam's Stolen Family Jewelry, and Other Gifts. Actually, I take back the part about inheritance. Anyone who has loved and lost – anything – will find her/himself in Milena's story.

I love a piece of prose that feels like poetry, but is also very clearly creative nonfiction, a piece with brevity and verve, snap and grit, a little mystery and moxie, and that's what Lita Kurth brings to Red on White. Hard to describe, so I won't:  Read it and you'll get it, and be glad you did.

Finally, listen in on Ana Consuelo Matiella as she muses on a certain aunt from her Mexican childhood, an image on a bottle of tequila, and a sudden midlife shift, in La Viuda-The Widow. The turn at the end is delicious.

There's fine fiction and poetry and artwork on offer too, as well as features and craft pieces to feed the writer, from three favorite nonfiction writers/teachers: Marion Roach Smith on Time Management;  Beth Kephart with an excerpt from her new memoir writing book; and Katrina Kenison on the value she found in a reader's nasty email.

Take a look. Read. Maybe submit something to Compose for the next issue. Or submit anywhere.

Many people have said this, and I always wanted to believe though had my doubts, but now I know it's true:  Editors everywhere, at every journal – are waiting, hoping to find something great, something unexpected in the submissions inbox. Surprise one of them.