I doubt it takes most people that long, but it is a difficult. A name can convey so much and it can also change a person, the song a Boy Named Sue is all about that, after all.

So I want you to take 30 seconds, a minute max, and come up with the weirdest name you can. Extra bonus points if it contains the letters x or z. I want the name to be unusual and strange, maybe even a name that is impossible to take seriously.

Now take that name and write a prompt where that person is the main character. Everything about the details of the prompt are up to you. Even the name is up to you, just as long as it is absurd you should end up writing something fun and original.

The books they publish are all romance and erotica but they are open to a lot of sub genres within these genres. These sub-genres include YA Romance, Western, Science Fiction, Holiday, and many more. All of the sub-genres of Romance have to have a happily ever after (HEA) or a happy for now (HFN) ending. They also publish a number of anthologies, so they are open to short stories as well.

They are very upfront about their royalty rates. They are listed below.

Authors earn 45% gross royalties from sales off our website and 45% net royalties from our distributors. Anthology authors earn 50% gross royalties from sales off our website and 50% net royalties from our distributors.

They are currently accepting submissions of completed manuscripts of 8,000 to 100,000 words in all the sub-genres of romance and erotic romance that they publish, as well as some urban fantasy.

Readers seem to really be drawn to their covers, from reviews I have read, although I personally do not see the appeal, I am not their market audience.

They are open to most subjects appearing in their books. They will not allow the following subjects in their books:

NO pedophilia, bestiality, incest, infidelity, rape as titillation, necrophilia, underage sex, or depraved acts.

They expect the manuscript to be edited before you submit it, which most likely means that will not be edited much beyond that. Although they do not explicitly state that on their website. Individuals who have worked with them have commented on that fact. Also, they appear to be leery of working with agents.

To learn more, visit their website here. To read their complete submission guidelines visit this page.

Granta just started charging 4 dollars for prose submissions, although poetry submissions are still free. They said the prose submission charge is experimental.

Granta is one of those established journals that has a great reputation and actually appears to have active readers. They publish a wide variety of fiction, creative non-fiction, and poetry, both in print and online.

The Observer wrote of Granta: ‘In its blend of memoirs and photojournalism, and in its championing of contemporary realist fiction, Granta has its face pressed firmly against the window, determined to witness the world.’

In that vein they try to publish a lot of timely work, work that deals with the world as it is now, not what it was or what it will be. Most of the work they publish is between 3,000 and 6,000 words in length.

They pay their writers, but they do not say how much. They are open to simultaneous submissions but not to reprints. They have a very low acceptance rate. However, they do publish a lot of work online where it is easy to get a feel for what kind of work they are looking for.

Although they state on their website that they respond within 6 months to most submissions, this is not the case. They take well over a year on average. Which is about three times as long as the average journal. However if you really want to be published by them, and you think your work is a good fit for their publication, it is worth the wait.

To learn more or to submit, visit their website here: http://www.granta.com/

Ruts have various levels. Sometimes they can only affect the author a little, in other cases they can effect their work for years, decades even.  One can extricate oneself from a rut, particularly if you catch it early on. Below are 5 tips for how to get out of a writers rut.

1.Change Where You Write.

This may seem obvious but if you always write in the same spot, or even just in the same three coffee shops, these places may begin to lose their effectiveness as a writing environment.  This is not always the case, but it can be.

My advice is to get out of your house and write somewhere you have written before. If you have never written in a coffee shop before, try that. However I am more keen on writing in places where most people don’t write, such as museums, parks, the beach, or any place along those lines.

Even if you are still writing most of your work at home, or editing it there, generating some of the work while out and about should really help you write about new and different things.

2. Change When You Write

If you have always written in the morning, and you now find yourself dreading writing then, stop, don’t force yourself to do it. Instead change the time of day when you write. I know that sounds very simple, but sometimes that is enough to refresh your writing.

3. Take a Writing Class

Sometimes you just need to be encouraged by other writers and be given inspiration and concrete feedback from a teacher. We like to think that as writers we can manage on our own, but for our writing to grow we often need more feedback and a little bit of guidance.

4. Use Writing Prompts

Writing prompts can generate a lot of writing. They can also encourage you to write about things you have never even thought of before. I have had very interesting results from doing a writing prompt about unicorns.

I like to do a timed three minute prompt most days before writing. I write down a title, start a three minute timer, and then just write as fast as I possibly can. The results are usually terrible, but afterwards my writing is much better.

5. Participate in a Writing Challenge

Caitlin Jans wrote about this for our publication before in the article “The Importance Of Writing Challenges”. For more details you can read the article. Although it boils down to is this, when you set a challenge for yourself, like writing 30 poems in 30 days you end up producing a lot of work that you otherwise would not have and you end up writing about things that are new and different for you.