Bradley Johnson Productions Posts

Many writers wonder if pursuing an Master’s in Fine Arts in Creative Writing is worthwhile. Maybe you’re even wondering: What is an MFA?

For some writers, it could mean finally workshopping a manuscript in an academic setting, networking with faculty and staff or just kickstarting the manuscript in the first place.

Others say it’s not worth the money and you could recreate the MFA experience in other ways.

Is an MFA worth your time and money?

To gain some insight, I asked a few published writers to weigh in, including those outside of the traditional creative writing realms.

Here’s what they recommended thinking through if you’re considering getting an MFA.

1. Identify your end goal

To pursue her goal of publishing a novel, immerse herself into literary culture, and satisfy a crossroads moment of her life, Jordan Rosenfield decided to apply for MFA programs. Now, as a MFA graduate, she’s a freelance writer and an author of a handful of books.

She said writers should really think about what they want — and how an MFA might help them get there — before enrolling in a creative writing program.

“While it hasn’t made my career path to publishing novels any easier, it certainly improved my craft, and my critical eye and opened doors in other aspects of my career,” Rosenfield said. “If you plan to teach, I think in a related field, an MFA is essential, but if you just want to improve your craft, you can do that through online courses and weekend workshops for a lot less money.”

Heather Meyer, a comedy writer and playwright, decided a low-residency MFA would broaden her network and increase her skill set while still working in theatre.

“The low-res allowed me to that without having to move or quit gigs I really love,” Meyer said. “That’s what this program trained me to do: to live and work as a writer.”

2. Think about the way you already write

Senior communications professional Robin Kurzer originally pursued a dual MFA/MA degree to prepare herself for teaching fiction in a college setting.

However, she realized later she had romanticized the idea of an MFA. In reality, she didn’t enjoy her program’s strict adherence to a specific way of creating art.

“You needed to sit in a certain fashion, approach each and every writing assignment in the same way,” Kurzer explained.

Another professional writer, Joselin Linder, was rejected from every top program she’d heard of, so she moved to New York and focused on growing her network. Because she grew relationships in the writing field on her own, she advises against an MFA — unless, somehow, tuition is free.

“Set your own deadlines or use your writing group to set them and use any money you would’ve spent on an MFA to travel and explore,” she said. “Go to events where agents and editors meet-and-greet with writers. Take classes you find online or in your town to help you write and learn how to sell it. Go to free book readings and launches. Bartend or work on a boat for two years to pay for your life, and consider it ‘research.’”

3. Understand a program’s risk

Rachel Charlene Lewis, now the founder of the Fem and editor-in-chief of Vagabond City Lit, felt constantly frustrated because her classmates attempted to transform her writing into “black, gay ‘voice of a generation’ as if it was a complement and not a basic form of tokenization.”

While she’s unsure whether to advise other writers on pursuing an MFA, she stressed that no matter how much extensive research you do, you’ll never predict how well you’ll work within your cohort and with your professors.

4. Consider an alternative academic path

Deviating from the traditional creative writing graduate programs, freelance writer and Romper news writer Annamarya Scaccia opted for a Master’s in Journalism instead.

Ultimately, the decision was financial because she couldn’t afford expensive workshops, writing residencies, or writing retreats to gain new skills. Now she focuses on news writing, investigative research and reporting.

“As a trained journalist, I know exactly what goes into crafting an article, from research to reporting to writing to editing,” Scaccia said. “I know the exact steps I have to take to investigate an incident or track down people hard to find. I know how to spot the lede, structure a story, etc.”

Following a slightly different path, book publicist and writer Alaina Leary received a Master’s of Arts in publishing and writing. Her college career, which involved upper-level nonfiction and fiction courses, exposed her to journalism and professional writing. For graduate school, she wanted a more business-oriented curriculum.

“I learned the basics of magazine, electronic publishing, and book publishing as well as honed skills in editing, publicity, marketing, freelancing, graphic design, social media, video and audio editing, business management, innovation and entrepreneurship,” Leary said. “I can now confidently talk about the process of promoting a nonfiction book as much as I can about social media management for an online magazine.”

After hearing from these seven different voices, there’s still no obvious yes-or-no answer to the MFA debate.

Ultimately, it comes down to what you want in a program and how much of a risk you’re willing to take.

It’s important to consider the path you’ll take if you don’t pursue one, too: could you better use that grad school money in other ways to reach your goal of becoming a writer?

Photo via Solis Images / Shutterstock 

This is an updated version of a story that was previously published. We update our posts as often as possible to ensure they’re useful for our readers.

The post Is an MFA in Creative Writing Worthwhile? 7 Writers Weigh In appeared first on The Write Life.

I once took a course called “Modern American Literature” in college. The syllabus didn’t include one single Black female author. Every author we read was a white guy. I wondered why the works of Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison or Alice Walker—voices that turned the pretentious, white male-dominated literary canon on its head—did not qualify as Modern American Literature. As the lone Black female student in this class, I couldn’t help but feel that the lesson here was that I didn’t belong. My blackness, my womanness, was not American Literature. As I grew older and delved deeper into diverse literature, I discovered that Black and brown women were not superfluous or alien to Americanness, but essential to the story of the United States, and as long as our voices are suppressed, the story would never be complete.

The struggle for racial equality is far more than a moment in time—it’s a movement, one that Black women and women of color have been documenting for decades.

As we observe a wave of protests across the world, demanding justice for George Floyd and the countless other black people killed by police brutality, it’s increasingly important to understand the Black experience in order to be an ally for racial justice. Although the conversation on racial justice is often centered on Black men, we must not forget the names of the Black women who have recently been killed by law enforcement and racist vigilantes: Breonna Taylor, Oluwatoyin Salau, Rekia Boyd, Sandra Bland, and countless other voices that were silenced. In their honor, we celebrate Black female voices from across the diaspora through literature. 

One of the most powerful things people can do right now is to educate themselves by going directly to the source, that is, #ownvoices texts and literature that speaks directly to the impact of racial injustice in the United States. It’s important to note that the struggle for racial equality is far more expansive than this troubling moment in time—it’s a movement, one that Black women and women of color have been documenting for decades. The following anthologies capture the voices that always existed but were often shunned, ignored, or silenced altogether.  

Sisterfire: Black Womanist Fiction & Poetry edited by Charlotte Watson Sherman

The Sisterfire anthology came as a response to troubling times. Editor Charlotte Watson Sherman writes: “Shortly after the Rodney King Uprising, I woke from a dream with a voice telling me to ‘do the anthology.’” The anthology features writers such as Alice Walker, Bell Hooks, Ntozake Shange, Lucille Clifton, and more. The book is divided into nine parts, beginning with “Becoming Fluent: Mothers, Daughters, and other Family” and “Night Vision: Crack and Violence Against Black Women,” with each part alternating between poetry and fiction to paint a landscape of the issues heavy on the minds of women writers at the forefront of the Black womanist thought movement.

Well-Read Black Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves by Glory Edim

This book is the ultimate ode to Black women writers. A collection of essays written by the most prominent Black women writers of our time reflecting on the role literature played in their own coming of age journeys. The collection includes essays by Jesmyn Ward, Jaqueline Woodson, Gabourey Sidibe, Tayari Jones, and others. With this anthology, Edim sends a clear message, “The essays in the following pages remind us of the magnificence of literature; how it can provide us with a vision of ourselves, affirm our talents, and ultimately help us narrate our own stories.” 

This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color edited by Cherrie Moraga and Gloria E. Anzaldua

Through personal essays, criticism, interviews, testimonials, poetry, and visual art, this collection (edited by Chicana writers, but including work from women with a range of racial identities) explores, as coeditor Cherríe Moraga writes, the “complex confluence of identities—race, class, gender, and sexuality—systemic to women of color’s oppression and liberation.”

Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology edited by Barbara Smith

This collection of essays and poetry by Black feminist and lesbian activists is one of the leading texts in the field of women’s studies. Editor Barbara Smith brought together Toi Derricotte, Audre Lorde, Patricia Jones, Jewelle L. Gómez and many more. Since its initial publication in 1983, it has become an essential text on Black women’s lives and writings. 

New Daughters of Africa edited by Margaret Busby

New Daughters of Africa spans a range of genres—autobiography, memoir, oral history, letters, diaries, short stories, novels, poetry, drama, humor, politics, journalism, essays, and speeches—demonstrating the diversity and extraordinary literary achievements of black women who remain underrepresented. The anthology includes work from Margo Jefferson, Nawal El Saadawi, Edwidge Danticat, Zadie Smith, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Imbolo Mbue, Yrsa Daley-Ward, Taiye Selasi, and Chinelo Okparanta. Each of the pieces in this collection demonstrates an uplifting sense of sisterhood, honors the strong links that endure from generation to generation, and addresses the common obstacles female writers of color face as they negotiate issues of race, gender, and class and address vital matters of independence, freedom, and oppression. 

The Black Woman: An Anthology edited by Toni Cade Bambara

The Black Woman is a collection of early, emerging works from some of the most celebrated Black female writers. First published in 1970, The Black Woman introduced readers to groundbreaking original essays, poems, and stories. The anthology features bestselling novelist Alice Walker, poets Audre Lorde and Nikki Giovanni, writer Paule Marshall, activist Grace Lee Boggs, and musician Abbey Lincoln. These legendary voices tackle issues surrounding race and sex, body image, the economy, politics, labor, and much more.

Color of Violence: The INCITE! Anthology edited by INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence

Color of Violence addresses the pervasive issue of violence against Black and brown women. With social media being more accessible than ever, we are seeing an endless stream of names turned into hashtags after violent encounters from police brutality to domestic and sexual violence. One in five women will experience sexual violence in their lifetimes and these numbers increase significantly for women of color, immigrant women, LGBTQIA+ women, and disabled women. The volume’s 30 pieces—which include poems, short essays, position papers, letters, and personal reflections—ask one haunting question: “What will it take to stop violence against women of color?”

The post 7 Revolutionary Anthologies by Black Women Writers appeared first on Electric Literature.

Do you remember how excited you were when you got your first client as a freelance writer?

There’s nothing like it.

The adrenaline that pumps through your body as you realize you just convinced someone to actually pay you to do something you love.

It’s a dream.

Unfortunately, for many freelance writers, it’s a dream that doesn’t last long when getting paid turns out to be much more of a headache than they ever imagined.

According to research from the Freelancer’s Union, over 70% of freelancers have had difficulty getting paid as a freelancer at least once in their career, with an average loss to unpaid freelancers of $6,000 a year.

Terrible.

And while I love that organizations like Freelancers Union are fighting for stronger laws to get freelancers paid, the person who has the most control over whether your invoices are paid on time or go way past-due is YOU.

So today, I want to share with you some of the most effective tactics I’ve used and seen as I’ve coached freelancers for over a decade.

If you follow my advice here, I can almost guarantee your invoice payment problems will all but disappear which means instead of spending your billable hours chasing down late payments, you can get back to more writing.

Here are a few reasons your clients aren’t paying on time (and how to fix it):

1. Your client isn’t motivated to pay

Far too many freelancers are still giving away the proverbial farm. They deliver the full project (article, blog post, short story, email copy) before asking for payment.

While most clients don’t intentionally seek to leave you without payment, if you deliver everything they need before they pay for it, their motivation to pay you disappears.

To solve this problem there are a few things you can do:

Send your invoice before the project starts

Start by sending your freelance invoice before you even start on a writing project. 

You don’t necessarily have to wait for payment before you begin (although you could), but sending the invoice immediately shows your client you care about getting paid for the hard work you’re going to give them.

Hold final deliverables until payment is received

When sending your final files, you may want to hold back until your payment is processed. You don’t want to be an annoyance, but you do want to get paid for your work.

Consider holding back a portion of the work until payment is made or sending as a watermarked or redacted image file so the client can review but not use as easily.

Of course, it’s important to keep in mind that you should only do any of this under the umbrella of clear, honest communication. 

Notify your client ahead of time that they’ll need to pre-pay their invoice before you’ll start work on their project or that you won’t deliver the final files until you’re paid.

The goal here is not to make an enemy out of your client—just to maintain their motivation to finally process your invoice.

2. Your client is simply forgetful

If you take a minute to think about it, a client who forgets to pay their invoice makes a lot of sense.

It’s infuriating, but at least it makes sense.

That $500 means a whole lot less to them — as they sit in their cubicle and collect their paycheck — than it does to you.

With a boss breathing down their neck and a full plate of projects, it can be easy for them to simply forget about paying your invoice.

To solve this problem try this:

Set up regular reminders

For most good-hearted clients, all they need are a few friendly reminders. 

You can certainly set these up manually if you want, but you run the risk of forgetting yourself and never getting paid for the work you’ve delivered.

Instead, I suggest using an invoicing tool like Freshbooks or Bonsai to process your invoices. There are two key benefits to using a tool like these:

1. You personally keep track of every paid and unpaid invoice.
2. The software automatically reminds clients who forget to pay.

This allows you to continue finding new writing jobs and building your freelance writing business.

Institute late fees (or early payment rewards)

In addition to regular reminders, you may also want to experiment with instituting late fees or reward for early payment.

Again, this requires early, honest, and upfront communication with your client so they know about any reward or penalties for prompt payment.

You may even want to research NET 30 payment term variables that you can include directly into your invoice.

For example, if your invoice says 2/10 Net 30, that means your client has 30 days to pay for your services. But if they pay within 10 days, they get a 2% discount.

You can also offer a discount on future work as a reward for paying an invoice early.

3. You’re talking to the wrong person

If you’re working with a client at a large company, as many freelancers do, you may not realize that the person you communicate with regularly about the project, may not be the same person who is responsible for paying your invoice.

So while you’re emailing one person every few days to ask about the status of your payment, it’s someone else entirely who has the invoice in a pile on their desk getting more and more buried.

To solve this issue:

Learn who processes invoices at your client’s company

Make an effort to figure out who is responsible for processing invoices at your client’s company. It’s probably as simple as asking your client contact.

Make friends with that person. Stay on their good side. Ask if there’s anything you can do when writing your freelance invoice to make it easier or clearer for them.

4. Your client is deliberately ignoring you

Next we come to one of the most difficult scenarios possible — your invoice isn’t getting paid because your client is deliberately ignoring you.

Why is this such a tough pill to swallow? Because it forces you to come to grips with a few possible realities:

Either your client didn’t like your work (and refuses to pay for it) or they ran out of money (and can’t pay for it).

Neither one is a good option.

If you’ve followed some of the advice above (like waiting to deliver the final product until you’ve received full payment) this won’t be much of an issue.

But if you think your client might be deliberately ignoring you, here are a few things you can try to solve it:

Identify why they’re ignoring you

The first step is to try and identify why they’re ignoring you in the first place. This can be difficult because…well… they’re ignoring you.

Start by reviewing past emails or conversations and seeing if there was a moment when they seemed less receptive to working with you. 

In the moment your client became unresponsive they may have been disappointed with your work, they may have been pulled onto a different project, or they may have run out of budget.

Oftentimes, the conversations surrounding these pivotal moments can open your eyes to what’s really happening.

Offer alternatives or ultimatums

The next step is to begin offering ultimatums or alternatives to your client.

If you sense they don’t have money to pay your invoice, consider offering them a payment plan so they can pay the invoice over time instead of all at once (that is, if your business can support it). You can choose to charge a fee for this service too.

If you sense they’re dissatisfied, see if there’s something you can do to make a quick fix so both parties are happy with the end result.

And if polite alternatives don’t work, you may have to send ultimatums ranging from contacting their direct superior to sending letters of intent to take legal action.

5. Your client never saw your invoice in the first place

Believe it or not, one reason your client hasn’t paid you yet could be because they never saw the invoice in the first place.

If they are a busy small business owner or a typical office worker crammed in a cubicle juggling hundreds of things every day, it’s possible they just didn’t see your invoice come through. 

It could, very easily, be buried in piles of unopened mail or sent to the wrong folder in their email software.

To solve this common problem:

Contact your client as soon as you send the email

As with many issues addressed in this article, this one can be resolved with clearer communication.

If you send your invoice via email, pick up the phone and call or text your client to let them know the invoice is headed their way.

If you mailed or faxed a physical invoice, send a quick email so they can keep an eye out for it.

Make it extremely clear

There’s no need to get creative or cute when it comes to sending an invoice. If you mail it or fax it, make sure it says “INVOICE” in bold letters across the top of the page.

If you send your invoice via email, use one of these extremely clear subject lines so there’s absolutely no question about what you’re sending.

You have a right to get paid

Sometimes, we creatives start to feel a little awkward about money. We’re artists. And we enjoy the work we do. Asking to get paid for it can sometimes present feelings of anxiety.

But remember: you have a right to get paid.

Just as much as an employee who works hard and expects their paycheck every 2 weeks, you deserve to get paid for the work you do for your clients.

And while getting paid as a freelancer can be a struggle sometimes, the more you freelance, the more comfortable you’ll get with it and the more you’ll get paid on-time.

Photo via Elle Aon / Shutterstock 

The post 5 Reasons Your Freelance Writing Clients Don’t Pay on Time appeared first on The Write Life.

In Frances Cha’s debut If I Had Your Face, four women reckon with their past and present circumstances as they make their way through the wilds of contemporary Seoul. 

The beautiful, icy Kyuri works at a room salon pouring drinks for wealthy men. Miho, an artist who won a scholarship to New York and uneasy entry into the city’s upper echelons, is dating the heir of one of the country’s major conglomerates. Ara, who can’t speak, works in a hair salon and worships a K-pop star. Wonna is pregnant and wonders how she and her husband will afford to raise a child. Sujin has plastic surgery done for the chance of getting herself on the path to a better job.

Cha, a former travel and culture editor for CNN in Seoul, offers a crisp portrait of the South Korean capital and its various obsessions—plastic surgery, class, food, and skincare—through the alternating voices of the four women. I spoke to Cha, who lives in Brooklyn, about judging plastic surgery, K-pop fandom, and Korean fried chicken. 

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JR Ramakrishnan: One of the fixations of your novel is beauty and Kyuri is the plastic surgery enthusiast. From the outside, it seems to be a very harsh obsession and one that comes with a lot of pressure and debt. Would you talk about this culture of plastic surgery? 

Frances Cha: Kyuri represents the most extreme of that kind of mentality towards plastic surgery. I think it’s really a cultural difference in the way that things are more blunt in Korean culture. Whenever the subject comes up, I do feel that there is a judgment about plastic surgery. It’s very real and I completely understand where it comes from. There is this sense that you should never have to change who you are. That to change means that you are bending to societal oppression and is considered frivolous and weak. 

However, something like braces, which is very prevalent in American society as well, has a similar effect to plastic surgery. It costs a lot of money, takes a lot of time, involves pain, and it drastically changes your face. You don’t really include that in the same category as plastic surgery and it probably is, in ways that your confidence is affected and how that, in turn, affects all parts of your life—from your love life to your job prospects.  

Plastic surgery is considered a very tactical way to make your life better. [But] I really hate the fact that it’s generalized for all of Korean society.

So yes, plastic surgery is considered a very tactical way to make your life better. I really hate the fact that it’s generalized for all of Korean society. I know Koreans who have had plastic surgery and I know those who haven’t and would never. I really don’t like the generalization that all Korean women have had it,  but I also don’t like the judgment of anyone who’s had it. 

The women in my book are not born into wealth and status. Even if they did have academic success and got a job with a really good salary, oftentimes, it’s impossible to buy an apartment because real estate prices have skyrocketed so exorbitantly. You need help in some form, whether it’s from your family, or you get a loan. But again, loans require financial standing and all of that. And so, the very practical way for Kyuri and for Sujin to make their lives better is by getting plastic surgery and having that improve their job prospects. I would hope that the reader will reserve judgment on them. I wanted to explore the deeper reasons why they make the choices they do. These are not, to me, frivolous or vain choices. 

JRR: Status is everything, it seems. We see Miho navigating the upper-class world of Ruby and Hanbin both in New York and Seoul. In Kyuri’s world—she is the top girl in her room salon and had to work her way up there. You write (from the realist Kyuri’s perspective) “It’s basic human nature, this need to look down on someone to feel better about yourself. There’s no point getting upset about it.”  

You have also an especially urban marker—the boundaries of what is the city and what is not—when you have one of the Bruce, one of Kyuri clients, make an offhand remark about a place that “barely counts as Seoul.” I also feel like the where-did-you-go-to-school question that Miho fields from Ruby’s rich friend is so loaded, but obviously everyone everywhere asks this in social contexts. Is it especially next-level in Seoul? Could you discuss this? 

FC: Yes, the part about Miho being asked about her middle school actually comes from my own experience. I attended a public middle school in a province of Korea. It’s not like it was that far outside of Seoul, probably about an hour and a half from the center of the city. Some of the responses that I would get upon being asked that! Like where? 

Korean society is so connected. You are always trying to identify what mutual person you have in common and the easiest way to do that is through finding out which school you went to. I do see, again, from how Western perspectives that this might all be very terrible, but it’s actually stemming from a place of trying to find connection and trying to understand the other person and contextualize the other person. And yes, of course, there’s some judgment embedded in that. 

New Yorkers have such disdain for New Jersey, which I find so ridiculous because it is literally 10 minutes away.

But New Yorkers also have these preconceived notions about neighborhoods. Living in the West Village versus, you know, Queens, for example. What kind of connotations does that bring, or, God forbid New Jersey, which is where I am quarantined right now. New Yorkers have such disdain for New Jersey, which I find so ridiculous because it is literally 10 minutes away. I just have a heightened observation of these dynamics because it’s just a very different cultural norm. 

JRR: Can we talk about Ara? Her story is intriguing because she can’t speak—because of a childhood incident—and she is obsessed with a K-pop idol in the novel. 

FC: My grandmother was deaf from her early 20s. Because of her disability, she very much lived in her own world. I would have all these questions to ask or want to ask her but it was impossible to infiltrate her world, which was very isolated even if she was with other family members. She was an inspiration for Ara.

Also in Korea, I go to the hair salon often because it’s so cheap. A beautiful, amazing blowout is like $10. I have this kind of therapist relationship with my stylist, who I’ve been going to for 20 years. I really believe that hairstylists function as therapists. They definitely do in the West as well but I think it’s more intensified because you don’t have therapy at your disposal in Korea. I’m so grateful to my stylist and was thinking of her a lot. 

Ara’s K-pop obsession came from when I was in a very dark place in my personal life after my father passed away. I went really off the deep end into the world of K-pop. The way that Ara is immersed in that world and in that all-consuming fandom is from my personal experience. I wanted to have her to be isolated but at the same time working (at the salon). I love Ara so much. She comes from a very personal place. 

JRR: There is a lot of abandonment (by parents, lovers, etc.) but also strong friendship in the novel. Could you meditate on that? 

FC: I wanted to explore people who are not born into wealth and who have to carve out a life for themselves and rely on each other. In Korea, friendships are so intense. People really go to bat for each other in a way that is just so moving and dramatic. 

I wanted to explore people who are not born into wealth and who have to carve out a life for themselves and rely on each other.

This fierce loyalty often lands people in trouble because of nepotism. In every industry and at every level, there are people who get into trouble because of this. In general, this actually comes from a place of really caring for friends. You feel bad for not helping people out if you have the power to do so. It’s considered a betrayal if you turn your back by not helping someone else if you can.

When I was at school, I used to volunteer at an orphanage, which inspired the one in the book. It was a very formative experience for me, this isolated orphanage in the middle of the woods and seeing the children grow up and build bonds there. In every stage of my own life, I’ve had friends who have pulled me out of dark places. I wanted to explore how even if you are abandoned by your family, it’s possible to have your own family by making one, which is what the women in the book are doing. 

JRR: It seems that in the last decade or so, there’s been this growing Korean literary mafia. I don’t know if Alexander Chee and Min Jin Lee are the capos or what, but what an incredible output recent years have brought! What do you think of this flourishing? What are your Korean American and Korean literary favs? 

FC: I don’t even know where to start with gratitude and my absolute idolization of the incredible Korean American and Korean writers out there! Janice Lee is amazing. She has also been so incredible in her mentorship and the way that she’s encouraged me in key moments in my career. 

I had the honor of being published on the same day in the U.S. as Kim Ji-young and her book, Born in 1982. It came out a few years ago in Korea, and has been a sensation. I think it is an absolutely incredible literary piece. Han Kang, who wrote The Vegetarian, has been incredibly inspirational as well. Baek Hee-na, who just won the biggest prize in children’s literature in the world, is someone I appreciate on a daily basis because I have children.

E.J. Koh’s The Magical Lives of Others is remarkable. I have been recommending it and gifting it to everyone. There’s Ed Park, who was one of my workshop professors at Columbia, just wrote for the New Yorker about the rise of anti-Asian sentiment in the States. 

JRR: Korean culture—cinema, skincare, and pop music—has been having a moment globally. What do you think is the greatest Korean contribution to global pop culture thus far? My vote is for the spa culture. I love Spa Castle in Queens. Have you been there? 

FC: I have not but I’ve actually covered spa culture a lot for CNN. I interviewed the ladies who scrub in a piece I call the Secrets of the Scrub Mistress. Not pop culture exactly but right now I would say drive-thru coronavirus testing is a life-changing and life-saving modern Korean invention. I would say Korean fried chicken too. I could subsist off that exclusively. 

The post 4 Working-Class Women Fight For Success in Hyper-Competitive Seoul appeared first on Electric Literature.

Trying to find a sense of community comes with the territory of being a writer. Whether you’re looking for the right writing contests or residencies, it’s hard to know where to begin and how to find the right home for your personal work. 

But here’s the good news: You can finally stop stressing about where and who to submit your short stories — we took care of it for you. 

In this guide, you’ll find 30 magazines and literary journals that publish short fiction (and nonfiction). Our list includes a mix of publications across various genres and styles, ranging from prestigious, highly competitive options to those specifically seeking new and emerging voices.

Plus, international writers, a lot of these are open to you, too! 

30 outlets that publish short stories

While we’ll give you a brief idea of the flavor of each magazine and site, you’ll definitely want to spend some time reading your target publications before submitting to become familiar with the sort of pieces they prefer. 

Ready to get started? Here’s where to send your short story submissions:

1. The New Yorker

Might as well start with a bang, right? Adding publication in The New Yorker to your portfolio puts you in a whole new league, though it won’t be easy. Author David. B. Comfort calculated the odds of acceptance at 0.0000416 percent!

It accepts both standard short fiction as well as humorous short fiction for the “Shouts & Murmurs” section. No word counts are mentioned, though a quick scan of the column shows most pieces are 600 to 1,000 words.

Deadline: Open.

Payment: Huge bragging rights; pay for unsolicited submissions isn’t specified. As of this post’s publication, no rates specifically for short stories.

2. The Atlantic

Another highly respected magazine, The Atlantic publishes both big names and emerging writers in fiction and nonfiction. Submission guidelines advise, “A general familiarity with what we have published in the past is the best guide to what we’re looking for.”

Deadline:  Open. Fiction stories are submitted to fiction@theatlantic.com.

Payment: Unsolicited submissions are generally unpaid.

3. The Threepenny Review

This quarterly arts magazine focuses on literature, arts and society, memoir and essay. Short stories should be no more than 4,000 words, while submissions to the “Table Talk” section (pithy, irreverent and humorous musings on culture, art, politics and life) should be 1,000 words or less.

Deadline: January to June

Payment: $400 for short stories; $200 for Table Talk pieces

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4. One Story

One Story is just what the name says: a literary magazine that publishes one great short story every three to four weeks, and nothing more.

Its main criteria for a great short story? One “that leaves readers feeling satisfied and [is] strong enough to stand alone.” Stories can be any style or subject but should be between 3,000 and 8,000 words.

Deadline: January 15 – May 31 | September 3 – November 14

Payment: $500 plus 25 contributor copies

5. The Antioch Review

The Antioch Review rarely publishes more than three short stories per issue, but its editors are open to new as well as established writers. Authors published here often wind up in Best American anthologies and as the recipients of Pushcart prizes.

To make the cut, editors say, “It is the story that counts, a story worthy of the serious attention of the intelligent reader, a story that is compelling, written with distinction.” Word count is flexible, but pieces tend to be under 5,000.

Deadline: Open except for the period of June 1 to August 31, and no electronic submissions.

Payment: $20 per printed page plus two contributor copies

6. AGNI

Thought-provoking is the name of the game if you want to get published in AGNI. Its editors look for pieces that hold a mirror up to the world around us and engage in a larger, ongoing cultural conversation about nature, mankind, the society we live in and more.

There are no word limits, but shorter is generally better; “The longer a piece is, the better it needs to be to justify taking up so much space in the magazine,” note the submission guidelines.

Deadline: Open September 1 to May 31

Payment: $10 per printed page (up to a max of $150) plus a year’s subscription, two contributor’s copies and four gift copies

7. Barrelhouse

Published by an independent nonprofit literary organization, Barrelhouse’s biannual print journal and online issue seek to “bridge the gap between serious art and pop culture.” Its editors look for quality writing that’s also edgy and funny — as they say, they “want to be your weird Internet friend.”

There’s no hard word count, but try to keep your submission under 8,000 words.

Deadline: Currently open for book reviews only. Check the webpage to see all open categories and sign up for the email list to receive updates on submissions. 

Payment: $50 to print and online contributors; print contributors also receive two contributor copies.

8. Cincinnati Review

The Cincinnati Review publishes work by writers of all genres and at all points of their careers. Its editors want “work that has energy,” that is “rich in language and plot structure” and “that’s not just ecstatic, but that makes its reader feel ecstatic, too.”

Fiction and nonfiction submissions should be no more than 40 double-spaced pages.

Deadline: September 1 to March 1

Payment: $25 per page for prose in journal

9. The First Line

This cool quarterly is all about jumpstarting that pesky writer’s block. Each issue contains short fiction stories (300-5,000 words) that each begin with the same pre-assigned first line. 

If you really want to get ambitious, you can also write a four-part story that uses each of that year’s first lines (which is due by the next year’s spring issue deadline). To find each issue’s assigned first line, check out the submission guidelines.

Deadline: February 1 (spring); May 1 (summer); August 1 (fall); November 1 (winter)

Payment: $25 to $50 (fiction); $25 (nonfiction) plus a contributor’s copy

10. The Georgia Review

Another one high on the prestige list, The Georgia Review features a wide variety of essays, fiction, book reviews and more across a wide range of topics. You can read specific requirements for each in the submission guidelines, but the common theme among them all is quality, quality, quality.

Bear in mind submitting requires a $3 processing fee if you’re not a subscriber.

Deadline: Opens on August 15

Payment: $50 per printed page; contributors also receive a one-year subscription to the quarterly and a 50% discount on additional copies of that issue

11. Boulevard Magazine

Boulevard Magazine is always on the lookout for “less experienced or unpublished writers with exceptional promise.” It accepts prose pieces (fiction and nonfiction) up to 8,000 words (note: no science fiction, erotica, westerns, horror, romance or children’s stories).

There is a submission fee of $3.

Deadline: Open November 1 to May 1

Payment: $100 to $300

12. Story

Story Magazine is, you guessed it, all about the story, whatever shape it takes. Each issue — printed tri-annually in February, June and November — is “devoted to the complex and diverse world of narrative with a focus on fiction and nonfiction.” Luckily, you don’t have to stick to any formal guidelines in regards to style, content or even length; they consider all “short” narrative length work, from flash fiction to novellas. There is a $3 submission fee. .

Deadline: Open

Payment: Regular payment rate is $10 per page upon publication

13. Vestal Review

Prefer to keep your short stories extremely short? Vestal Review publishes flash fiction of no more than 500 words. Its editors are open to all genres except for syrupy romance, hard science fiction and children’s stories, and they have a special fondness for humor. R-rated content is OK, but stay away from anything too racy, gory or obscene.

There is a submission fee of $2 for each submission. 

Deadline: Submission periods are February to May and August to November

Payment: The author of an accepted print submission gets $25 and print copy; $10 for accepted web submissions.

14. Flash Fiction Online

Flash Fiction Online allows for slightly longer flash stories — between 500 and 1,000 words. Its editors like sci-fi and fantasy but are open to all genres (except for nonfiction and poetry!). As with Vestal, stay away from the heavier stuff like erotica and violence. What they’re looking for is developed, empathetic characters and discernible, resolved plots; and that can even be previously published work, which you’d submit in the reprint category.  

Deadline: Open

Payment: $80 per story; two cents per word for reprints

15. Black Warrior Review

Black Warrior Review publishes a mix of work by up-and-coming writers and nationally known names. Fiction pieces of up to 7,000 words should be innovative, challenging and unique; its editors value “absurdity, hybridity, the magical [and] the stark.”

BWR also accepts flash fiction under 1,000 words and nonfiction pieces (up to 7,000 words) that complicate western traditions of truth-telling, and “foregrounds the history of emotions rather than the history of facts.” There is a $3 submission fee.

Deadline: Submission periods are December 1 to March 1 and June 1 to September 1

Payment: A one-year subscription to BWR and a nominal lump-sum fee (amount not disclosed in its guidelines)

16. The Sun Magazine

The Sun Magazine offers some of the biggest payments we’ve seen, and while its guidelines specifically mention personal writing and provocative political/cultural pieces, they also say editors are “open to just about anything.”

Works should run no more than 7,000 words. Submit something the editors love, and you could get a nice payday.

Deadline: Open

Payment: $300 to $2,000

17. Virginia Quarterly (VQR)

A diverse publication that features both award-winning and emerging writers, VQR accepts short fiction (3,500 to 8,000 words) but is not a fan of genre work like romance, sci-fi and fantasy. It also takes nonfiction (3,500 to 9,000 words) like travel essays that examine the world around us.

Deadline: Submissions read July 1 to July 31

Payment: Generally $1,000 and above for short fiction and prose (approximately 25 cents per word) with higher rates for investigative reporting; $100 to $200 for content published online.

18. Ploughshares

Ploughshares’ award-winning literary journal is published by Boston’s Emerson College. They accept fiction and nonfiction under 7,500 words and require a $3 service fee if you submit online (it’s free to submit by mail, though they prefer digital submissions). You can also submit your significantly longer work (7,500 to 20,000 words) to the Ploughshares Solos series!

Deadline: June 1 to January 15 at noon EST

Payment: $45 per printed page (for a minimum of $90 per title and a maximum of $450 per author); plus two contributor copies of the issue and a one-year subscription

19. Carve Magazine

Writers are in for a treat! Carve Magazine accepts poetry, short stories and nonfiction submissions, not exceeding 10,000 words. They accept literary fiction only and are not open to genre fiction (i.e. thriller, horror, romance, etc.). They also accept novel excerpts but only those that can stand alone in the story. There’s a $3 submission fee, but you can subscribe to the magazine to skirt past it.

Deadline: Open all-year-round from anywhere in the world.

Payment: Pays $100 and offers feedback on 5 to 10% of declined submissions.

20. Daily Science Fiction

Sci-fi and fantasy writers, this one’s for you. Daily Science Fiction is looking for character-driven fiction, and the shorter, the better. While their word count range is 100 to 1,500 words, they might consider flash series — AKA three or more flash tales built around a common theme. 

Deadline: Open except for the period between December 24 to January 2

Payment: Eight cents per word, with the possibility of additional pay for reprints in themed Daily Science Fiction anthologies

21. JMWW

This literary journal publishes fiction and flash fiction of no longer than 3,000 words, and it’s open to any genre as long as the story is well-crafted. To up your chances of catching the editors’ eyes, note that they like “strong characters whose motivations are not always known to us but can be explained within the confines of common sense,” as well as surprise endings (nothing gimmicky). 

Deadline: Open

Payment: No pay specified

22. Smokelong Quarterly

SmokeLong, a literary mag devoted to flash fiction, publishes flash narratives up to 1000 words — and that’s a firm word limit, so be sure to stick to it. The SLQ aesthetic remains “an ever-changing, ever-elusive set of principles,” but it most likely has to do with these kinds of things: language that surprises and excites, narratives that strive toward something other than a final punch line or twist, and more which you can see in the submission guidelines. Think you can handle that?

Deadline: Open

Payment: $50 per story upon publication in the quarterly issue

23. Literary Orphans

Fiction comes first for this short fiction and art magazine. Editors want your fiction of any genre, but they have a need for micro-fiction, flash, and short stories that are 2,000 words or less (but 1,500 is their sweet spot!). Creative nonfiction is also accepted for the bi-monthly Literary Orphans issue on the main website; just keep your story to 5,000 words max. Plus, teens under 19, there’s a category for you, too. Submit a story of no more than 3,000 words to its “TEEN SPIRIT” section

Because they receive a high volume of submissions, editors ask that you submit your *best* piece. But here’s where it gets interesting: If you can’t choose just one, send both! (As long as both stories combined don’t surpass 2,000 words.)

Deadline: Open

Payment: Not specified

24. The Master’s Review

The Master’s Review’s New Voices category is open to any new or emerging author who has not published a work of fiction or narrative nonfiction of novel length — not including authors with short story collections. Submit your flash fiction of 1,000 words or your piece of fiction or narrative nonfiction of up to 7,000 words. Though, editors are honest: There are no submission fees, but they’re highly selective. 

Deadline: Open

Payment: A flat rate of $100 for flash-length stories; $200 for short fiction

25. Ruminate Magazine

Both emerging and established writers are encouraged to submit fiction or creative nonfiction stories that “engages the contemplative spirit of our journal and embraces curiosity and discovery rather than resolution.” Both genres are capped at a word count of 5,500 words. 

Want another option? There’s no pay for this one (just contributor copies), but The Waking is Ruminate Magazine’s online publication space and they’re looking for short-form prose, fiction and nonfiction that is “holy, nutritious and crucial.” Keep your submissions to 1,000 words or less.

Deadline: July 2, 2020; fiction reading periods are April 1 to June 30; January 15 to June 30 for nonfiction

Payment: $20 per 400 words, plus contributor copies

26. Asimov’s Science Fiction

Have you ever wondered where George R. R. Martin’s Daenerys Targaryen first appeared on the printed page? Well, this is it! An established market for science fiction stories, Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine has won numerous Hugo and Nebula Awards, and the writers they’ve published have led successful careers. 

They want you to submit your character-oriented, “serious, thoughtful, yet accessible fiction,” but there’s room for humor as well. While science fiction dominates what the magazine publishes, you’re welcome to submit borderline fantasy, slipstream and surreal fiction — steer clear of sword and sorcery, explicit sex or violence. While there’s no specific word count, ASF seldom buys stories shorter than 1,000 words or longer than 20,000 words. 

Deadline: Open

Payment: 8 to 10 cents per word for short stories up to 7,500 words; 8 cents per word for each word over 7,500

27. Slice Magazine

Got a fresh voice and a compelling story to share? This one’s for you. To bridge the gap between emerging and established authors, SLICE offers a space where both are published side-by-side. In each issue, a specific cultural theme becomes the catalyst for articles, interviews, stories and poetry from renowned writers and lesser-known voices alike. Short fiction and nonfiction submissions should be 5,000 words max.

Deadline: Stay tuned to the guidelines page to find out when the next deadline is announced

Payment: $400 for stories and essays; $150 for flash fiction pieces; $100 for poems

28. Cricket Media

Cricket Media wants to publish your finest quality writing for children of all ages in one of its four literary magazines — you have options! Open to submissions from writers of every level of experience, CM’s mags are interested in a lot of things, no matter what genre: realistic contemporary fiction, historical fiction, science fiction and fantasy, folk tales, myths and legends, humor, and even westerns. Their advice? Focus on telling a good story that’s well-plotted, character-driven and has a satisfying conclusion.

Most stories are 1200 to 1800 words in length; however, they occasionally serialize longer stories of up to 6,000 words. 

Deadline: Varies; check the guidelines to learn the deadlines for each lit mag 

Payment: Up to 25 cents per word 

29. The Dark Sire

Horror writers, you’re up! A fairly new literary journal, The Dark Sire is a quarterly online and print journal that “explores speculative fiction works for enthusiasts” of gothic, horror, fantasy and psychological realism in short fiction, poetry and art. ​Subjects of particular interest include: vampires, monsters, old castles, dragons, magic, mental illness, hell, disease and decay of society. No word count. 

Deadline: Open

Payment: None, but they promote writers through author events, social media outreach and the (in development) TDS podcast

30. The Common

Based at Amherst College, The Common is an award-winning print and digital literary journal published biannually in the fall and spring. They seek fiction and nonfiction stories and dispatches (800-word notes, news and impressions from around the world) that “embody a strong sense of place: pieces in which the setting is crucial to character, narrative, mood and language.” Stick to a 10,000 word-count and you’re solid. There is a $3 submission fee.

Deadline: Reading periods are March 1 to June 1 and September 1 to December 1; subscribers can submit for free year-round

Payment: $100 for fiction and nonfiction submissions; $50 per dispatch

The original version of this story was written by Kelly Gurnett. We updated the post so it’s more useful for our readers.

Photo via Nito/ Shutterstock 

The post Where to Submit Short Stories: 30 Magazines and Websites That Want Your Work appeared first on The Write Life.

‘The Imp of the Perverse’ is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe (1809-49), written in 1845. Of all of Poe’s stories, this is one of the strongest tales to prefigure the ideas of Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis. Before we proceed to a summary and analysis of this […]

The post A Summary and Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Imp of the Perverse’ appeared first on Interesting Literature.