down the writer's path

Publishing News: Narrative Magazine expands in growth and content

Narrative Magazine, an online favorite of mine, is having one heck of a year. The readership has doubled, the magazine remains free, the contributors continue to be paid, the annual contest grows, and big things are afoot. The magazine now includes poetry, and Michael Wiegers, the executive editor of Cooper Canyon Press, has agreed to be the poetry editor. Narrative's new issue is the first to publish poetry by novelist David Guterson. You'll find Guterson's poetry along with short stories, an excerpt from Ron Hansen's novel Exiles, a profile of Ann Beattie, essays, a memoir set in mid-twentieth century New York, a coming-of-age tale by Nathanial Hawthorne, and the usual assortment of book reviews. Why free? Narrative is a nonprofit organization with a mission to use the Internet to bring readers and storytellers together online, and by the results it's easy to see they are doing a bang up job.

That's not all. In their Editor's Note, Carol Edgarian and Tom Jenk report that Narrative is now the publisher of StoryQuarterly.

This past March, Narrative had the good fortune to become the publisher of StoryQuarterly, a little magazine that’s been around as a hard-copy annual for the past thirty-two years and that last summer made its inaugural foray into the online world. SQ, as it’s called by its familiars, has been shepherded in recent years by the indefatigable, gracious, and spirited efforts of publisher and editor Marie Hayes, whose care and attention to writers is legend within the world of small magazines and in the teaching and writing community. Marie has sustained SQ as a place hospitable to all writers who care about good work and especially to writers who are starting out. As SQ moves forward with Narrative, Marie will continue to provide a guiding hand, and SQ, which has long had the welcome mat out for new writers, will open its door even wider: in the past, submissions were accepted from November through January, but beginning this summer, SQ will accept submissions year-round. A notice will go out letting you know when the new SQ submission system is online, and SQ’s editors will look forward to reading your work.

Some of our readers have asked about the editorial crossover between SQ and Narrative, and we’d like to answer several central questions now. Each magazine will maintain its own identity. A submission to one magazine will not be a submission to both. Each magazine will have its own separate submission system. There will be some overlap in staff and services, such as art and technology, and for the sake of combined strength and for the support of each magazine, there will be collaboration on projects, such as events and story collections, but each magazine will have its own character and pursue its own vision. Other questions will be addressed in a Frequently Asked Questions section to be posted in SQ and updated in Narrative this summer. An updated SQ Submission Guidelines page will be posted in the next SQ, which will go live in July, just in time for summer reading!

For those of you who hate to read online and prefer to have actual hardbound copy in your hands when reading, starting with the September issue Narrative and StoryQuarterly will be offered in print-on-demand format. The magazine also has plans for something called Narrative Backstage which sounds like it will be a lot of fun for those who support the magazine by way of donations. There will be previews of unpublished works, audio files, video footage of authors, and exclusive stories. Sounds like they've hit on a great way to thank their financial angels.

If you enjoy good writing, give Narrative Magazine and StoryQuarterly a try. There's pretty much something for everyone.

Poets and Writers Alert: Once again Houston hosts the CLMP Southern Literary Magazine and Press Fair

This morning the announcement for the 2nd Annual CLMP Southern Literary Magazine & Small Press Fair arrived in my email. CLMP is the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses and once again the event will be at Houston's Brazos Bookstore, a place that makes roaming through bookstacks and bookshelves a delight. I made a point of attending last year and found the event to be all it promised and then some. My advice: arrive early, stay late. (And don't give up if the front parking lot is full; there is nearby on-street parking available.) While boxes and boxes of literary magazines are available and issues can be picked up for a song, they move fast and furious. For the best assortment get there as soon as you can. If you haven't looked lately, the price of a single issue of any literary magazine is fairly high, usually ranging from $8-$15. Annual subscriptions are the best way to go--unless you are lucky enough to attend this conference. Bookstores generally have a limited title selection, with Brazos being the exception. For writers, who want to be sure and select the best target market for their material, this can prove to be a frustrating and expensive process. Being able to pick up recent issues for only $2 or $4 is like a gift from heaven. I confess I left last year with two very full boxes--and then I bought a couple of books from the bookstore.

Each magazine has its own distinct style, needs, and wants. Sometimes they're subtle but they are there. Being able to collect material from a wide range of publishers allows a writer to read them critically and compare one against the other. Understanding the differences is crucial when submitting. A writer who can demonstrate a familiarity with the magazine when submitting a manuscript is someone an editor can appreciate. This year 75 publishers have signed up to be represented--a big increase over last year's good turnout of 50.

The panel discussions last year proved informative and I'm sure this year's, Beneath the Covers: A Look Inside Literary Book Publishers at 11:30 AM and Lit Mags 101: How Lit Mags Work And How to Submit at 2 PM, will be even better. If you are interested in submitting material to any literary magazine, you'll want to attend this event for a rare opportunity to meet editors who are more than willing to talk to readers and writers and who are eager to share their likes and dislikes and offer their take on the literary journal and small press industry.

Gulf Coast, the local literary journal published by the University of Houston, will be well represented. Some other literary magazines I enjoy include Fourth Genre: Explorations in Creative Nonfiction, Mars Hill Review, Creative Nonfiction, Ploughshares, Belleview Literary Review, Tiferet, and The Missouri Review. In addition to the fiction and creative nonfiction pieces, many issues contain great interviews with writers that offer a glimpse into the ways they work and think. Most websites offer online archives and selections from current issues, but I do think that actually having a bound issue in your hand allows you to take in the variety of the offerings and gain some sense of an overall impression that helps you gain the subtle understandings of the individual journals and magzines.

So mark your calendars and plan to attend this free event:

Houston, Saturday, January 29, 2005: 11:00 am- 5:00 pm
BRAZOS BOOKSTORE GALLERY
2425 Bissonnet Street

For more detailed information, a list of participants and contact information, keep reading:

Narrative Magazine offers a new twist on an old form

Last year I ran across an online literary magazine called Narrative Magazine that operates with a fresh twist. While some of the traditional literary magazines make a portion of their issues available online at no cost, Narrative makes all its contents, including archived pieces, free and available online. This is a great opportunity for readers who enjoy reading quality fiction and nonfiction by well-known writers such as Rick Bass and Joyce Carol Oates and by emerging new writers. Even more interesting for writers is that they pay their contributors $350 on publication. Even better, they will consider unsolicited, multiple-submitted manuscripts. The magazine also offers an annual $4,000 prize for the best work published during the year by a new writer. (Last year’s winner, Axis of Happiness by Min Jin Lee, is available to read online.) The editors also have admirable goals:

Central to our goal was the conviction that Narrative should be offered for free, with all its contents, both front-run and archived pieces, readily available. We have furthered this aim by establishing the magazine as a nonprofit publication, and we are currently working to build support that will allow Narrative to increase its payments to contributors; to collaborate with schools, libraries, and other institutions to encourage reading and literacy; and to establish internships and opportunities for students and young graduates interested in literature. Many of our friends who are writers, and other friends who are not writers but who love good writing, have given generously of their work, time, and support. As a result we are moving forward with plans to expand the magazine’s reach and to deepen its offerings to readers.

Now for the twist: the magazine charges a $20 reading fee for each unsolicited manuscript submitted--except during the two month open submission period in February and March when reading fees are waived. Monies collected go to the contributor’s payments and the annual prize. Before you print out your latest masterpiece, take the time to log on and review Narrative’s submission guidelines—online submissions are the rule except during open submission time—and make sure you’ve read through several issues so you send the most suitable manuscript. If you don’t have a manuscript handy or even plan to submit one, you might check out the new Readers’ Narrative section. You may have something to add to the conversation.

Even though the writer pays a reading fee, I think this is an interesting and positive approach. The aim is to increase readership and that’s happening on a global level. The fee keeps down the temptation to toss a lot of manuscripts their way in hopes of one sticking to the proverbial wall and makes the writer focus on presenting the best work and not just any work. It’s good to see an emphasis on finding new voices. The fact that a hefty annual prize is awarded makes the opportunity even more challenging and the fee can be equated to that of most contest entry fees—except here there is an opportunity to enter and not pay a fee at all.

If you are inclined to write the type of material that Narrative Magazine publishes, the issues not only provide a free source of published material to read and enjoy but to review and critique. Let the magazine become a source of inspiration. Set a goal to produce a work to submit during the upcoming open submission period during February and March. If you decide to take up the challenge, be sure and let me know.

If you enjoy the magazine, tell others.

Houston hosts CLMP's Lit Mag Fair

Due to an NEA Challenge Access grant, Houston is a pilot city in a nation-wide inititiative that replicates the highly successful Lit Mag Fair put on by the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses. Editors, discounted books, and plenty of information will be available on Saturday, February 7th when Houston's Brazos Bookstore hosts this great opportunity to meet editors and check out new books and literary journals.

Another literary discovery

During a recent visit to Barnes and Noble, I raided the writing and lit magazine section and stumbled across the latest copy of the Mars Hill Review (MHR). MHR "reveals Christ within the various texts of our contemporary culture. We commission full-length essays from provocative thinkers, conduct in-depth studies of issues having theological import, and conduct interviews with leading-edge writers, teachers and artists. The journal also publishes original fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and critical reviews of film, books, music, and other texts that remind us of God and of his participation within the stories of our contemporary lives."

I have already read a couple of the essays. There are several sections including essays, studies and "reminders of God" (the writing life) as well as '"views and reviews." Included is an interesting review of the movie The Matrix.

What's up with those literary journals?

For years I gave those literary journals a mere wink and a nod and not much else, but slowly, ever so gradually, that has changed. I suppose it began four or five years ago when I attended Stonecoast, an annual writers conference put on by the University of Southern Maine.

Actually, it probably began when I met up with my editor/mentor-friend Michael Seidman at the then-annual Golden Triangle Writers Conference in Beaumont. We met: we sat in the lobby and his first question pushed hard: "What are you doing here?" Taken aback, my response, as I recall, was a combination of a mutter and stutter. He pushed. "You already know everything offered here. You could present the workshops, probably even mine, so why are you here?" I finally squeaked out something about meeting up with old friends but it fell on apparently deaf ears. "Do something else. Something more hands-on. Go to Stonecoast."

Nine months later I traveled to the north. Talk about getting out of your comfort zone. It was fascinating, energizing and well worth my time. My workshop leaders were Ellen Lessor and Wesley Brown. The group consisted of pretty advanced writers and I don’t' think I've ever sat in on such invigorating conversations about the craft of writing before or since. Nine days later I returned on a major high. At that time the whole creative nonfiction concept was making its way into the writer's vernacular. Michael Steinberg, conference faculty member, was leading the charge. He went on to become co-editor of Fourth Genre: and I became a charter subscriber. Five years later I still look forward to each new issue.

Last fall there must have been something in the air other than SARS because I suddenly caught the literary journal bug. It's probably the Missouri Review's fault because they offered such a good deal and included their 25th anniversary edition as a free teaser. I subscribed. Next I found Ploughshares on the web. They actually post a daily entry from the current edition. Caught again. Then the Bellevue Literary Review, a journal that combines health and writing, tempted me with another good offer, and not too long after I succumbed to The American Scholar. Forget the Chinese and their years of dragons and monkeys. Mine is the year of the literary journal.

I'll keep you posted.

ALA 'Academy Awards' and "a teacupful of story in a big fancy bathtub...."

Earlier today the ALA announced the 2004 Newbery and Caldecott winners.

(SAN DIEGO) Kate DiCamillo, author of "The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread," and Mordicai Gerstein, illustrator and author of "The Man Who Walked Between the Towers," are the 2004 winners of the John Newbery and Randolph Caldecott medals, the most prestigious awards in children's literature. They were among the award winners announced today by the American Library Association (ALA) during its Midwinter Meeting in San Diego. Considered the "Academy Awards" of children's book publishing, the 2004 Newbery and Caldecott medals honor outstanding writing and illustration of works published in the United States during the previous year.

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In addition, Ursula Le Guin received the Margaret A. Edwards award for her lifetime contribution to young adult readers. AWP's October/November 2003 Writer's Chronicle has a lengthy interview of Le Guin by Ramola D. (If you like serious, in-depth articles on writing, AWP's magazine might be for you.) Le Guin discussed a wide-range of subjects from her various writing modes to feminism to Star Trek parodies. My favorite Le Guin quote?

"Well, the first problem often, as you set out to write a story, is to find out what the right length for this particular story is--is it in fact a novel, a novella, a short story? You don't want to end up with a teacupful of story in a big fancy bathtub..."