Word Pirates

Transfer Literary Magazine, distributed throughout Bay Area local bookstores, would love to receive your submissions of poetry, drama, fiction, creative nonfiction, exciting somethings… BY SEPTEMBER 5th–FRIDAY. You can pick up a cover letter and instructions outside 372 or 380 Submit up to three pieces–NO NAME ON MANUSCRIPTS Four copies […]

Narrative Magazine is looking for first-person fiction or nonfiction, 8,000 words or less. The magazine hopes “find the most necessary, most intimate, most personal stories made universal.”
Entries will be accepted through the end of July. Do it! I know you have a first-person story, so send it already. First prize is $3,000. All entrants […]

According to the Million Writers Awards nominations received in the last five years, the top 12 online literary journals are:

Eclectica (31 nominations)
Pindeldyboz (26)
Agni (16)
Strange Horizons (16)
Word Riot (16)
Narrative Magazine (15)
Fiction Warehouse (13)
The King’s English (12)
Mississippi Review (12)
Blackbird (11)
Blithe House Quarterly (11)
Storyglossia (11)

Check them out. (Via)
~ Joy

This month, the Word Pirates are studying literary journals. At the next two meetings, we will be reading stories from them and talking about them as writing markets. If you’re having trouble finding one, Lit Scribbler has a nice little list of some journals of interest. Check it out.
~ Joy

Two places seeking your submissions:
Dossier Journal is a new independent arts and culture journal bringing together writing, photography, fashion and art in one publication. We are a bi-annual publication with a circulation of around 5,000 copies with worldwide distribution. Our format is a bit different than traditional literary magazines as we are […]

Memoir (and) is a new literary journal that will be hitting new stands this spring. Looks like they need submissions. Here’s the deal:
Memoir (and) is an up-and-coming journal for the exploration of memoir as “the” genre of the 21st century. We are based in Sausalito, California, just north of the Golden Gate Bridge.
We strive […]

Word Pirates,
Remember that time I had us do an exercise around the Modern Love column in The New York Times. Well, dig those out and start working on them, because they could get you a book deal.
The New York Observer has an article on how many book deals have come out of that column. Apparently […]

American Short Fiction’s 2007 Short Story Contest is waiting for your entry. Don’t make it sad; enter!
The contest runs through December 1. First prize is $1,000 with publication; second prize is $500. Julie Orringer, author of the award-winning collection “How to Breathe Underwater,” twill judge. Winners will be announced March 31, 2008.

This site features 55-word pieces of fiction. I like the idea of that kind of challenge. I’m not sure of some of the pieces featured on 55 Fiction. But I think it’s something we should all try, even just to make ourselves do something juicy and hooky.
–Marcia

The Cupboard, an online and in-print literary pamphlet, is currently seeking submissions for our upcoming Love Letter volume. This special,double volume will consist entirely of literary missives, and we are seeking high-quality and creative interpretations of less than 400 words.
We define ‘Love Letter’ broadly, and are open to reading real or fictional letters to a […]

The new issue of Six Little Things — #6 Spring 2007 “Mortal Enemies” — is online now, featuring new short work by F.J. Bergmann, Louis E. Bourgeois, Alan Davis, Annalynn Hammond, Michael McCauley, and Joseph McLaughlin, with artwork by Toti O’Brien.
Submissions are open for issue #7, “X is the new Y,” deadline […]

If so, maybe you should enter this:
WIN $3,000 AND PUBLICATION
Prairie Schooner Book Prize Series
The 2007 Prairie Schooner Book Prize competition will award $3,000 and publication through the University of Nebraska Press to one book of poetry and one book of short fiction. A $1,000 prize will be awarded to a runner-up […]

I just happened upon this. I don’t think many Word Pirates write poetry, but hey, if you do, here’s a somewhat unpublicized contest:
The 2007 Prize For Poetry From The Tor House Foundation

The annual Tor House Prize for Poetry is a living memorial to American poet Robinson Jeffers (1887-1962).
The winner will receive $1,000 for […]

“Machine of Death,” an upcoming anthology of short stories, is looking for submissions. The book will feature stories that, well, sound very fun to write.
“The machine had been invented a few years ago: a machine that could tell, from just a sample of your blood, how you were going to die. It didn’t give you […]

2nd ANNUAL INNERMOONLIT AWARD FOR BEST SHORT-SHORT STORY NO ENTRY FEE Deadline September 1, 2006. Entrants must specify that they are entering the Best Short-Short Story Contest and must indicate the number of words in their submission (500 words maximum). First prize: $100; second prize: $50; third prize: a signed copy of Brian Agincourt […]

i did some editing for a new online magazine dedicated to art and culture, or something like that. it’s been out a little while, but i keep forgetting about it. we’re starting to talk about doing a second issue, and i think they may be soliciting submissions. check it out, and let me know what […]

“Sidebrow, an online & print journal dedicated to innovation and collaboration, seeks fiction, poetry, art, essay, ephemera, found text, academia, as well as creative response to current posts and ongoing projects. Submissions to Sidebrow are evaluated both as stand-alone set pieces as points of departure for establishing multi-authored/multi-genre works. Submissions that re-imagine, depart […]

I recently discovered Opium Magazine. I don’t know about its tagline, “literary humor for the the deliriously captivated,” but some of this stuff is pretty funny. Read about submitting here. Doesn’t look like they pay, but hey…
See you tomorrow at the meeting!

Verb is an “Audioquarterly” — a literary journal where the work is recorded on CD.
VERB is an audioquarterly magazine in CD format presenting new work from some of today’s best writers. Authors like Stuart Dybek, Robert Olen Butler, and James Dickey read aloud (and sometimes even sing) their work for you. Perfect listening for […]

Bitch magazine is looking for pieces about “Green.”
When I saw the word “Green,” I first thought of naive and inexperienced. What comes to mind for you? It would be an interesting exercise to take one word like this and turn it into an idea.
Words are powerful beyond their literal meaning, so […]

From a newsgroup list I’m on:

CAB/NET, a new journal of writing, is accepting submissions for its first issue. The guidelines are available on our website: here.
We are especially interested in work that takes a substantial risk and writing that blurs the boundaries between genres (poetry, fiction, essay, etc). We accept submissions year round. We […]

I have a story about a trip to Mexico in my head that I’ve been meaning to write for a long time. Maybe Word Pirates can help me with that. But for any of you who have either written about Mexico already, or can write up 1500 words about it before April 25, The Mississippi […]

I just discovered Other Magazine in San Francisco. “Pop culture and politics for the new outcasts.”
I haven’t gotten ahold of an issue in person, yet. But check this out:

Now reading for issue #10, the Monkey/Ape Issue.
Send us your hominid escapades! We’re going to be over-analyzing primates of all stripes in science, pop culture, […]