This fee did not cover anything else. It did not ensure that the writers work was considered more seriously, it did not guarantee editorial feedback, all it did was allow the writer to submit their work for consideration to be published.

Most journals back then justified this choice by saying that they were charging writers only $2-$3 dollars and it that cost writers about that much to submit via post. I still took issue with that argument. After all, it is one thing to pay the post office if submitting by mail is the only way, it is another thing to pay a literary journal to open email, read it, and more often then not, reject your work with a generic email.

I am not opposed to supporting literary journals. I subscribe to a number of them, but they should not be making their money by charging authors directly without offering anything tangible in return. On that same note, I will only enter contest where I am rewarded with a subscription to the magazine.

In the last two years there has been a solid shift towards charging authors submission fees. Most magazines that charge authors are not going to pay these authors even if they accept their work. This is a real issue for me.

At first it was only older more established journals that were charging readers to submit electronically. It is strange because most of these journals won’t even consider work  submitted by mail, so paying is truly your only option.

Some journals say this is because submission services, that save time for editors, like Submittable (formerly submishmash) charge the magazines to use them. Still that does not make a huge difference. Many journals manage to skirt this issue by selling people copies, having Kickstarters with rewards writers actually want, etc. Also most literary journals are nonprofits and submittable gives all nonprofits 50% off.

Lately I have even seen brand new journals with no reputation, and no Submittable account charging readers to submit. This issue has gotten out of hand. But the tipping point has yet to happen, you can still submit to the vast majority of journals for free. I am hoping it stays that way, but I am not assuming that it will.

One of the ways that I push against this new movement to charge to submit is by not submitting to journals that do charge. I also never review them. Authors Publish only publishes reviews of journals that do not charge for submissions.

Even though I no longer submit to Crazyhorse and a few other esteemed journals, there are still hundreds of prestigious journals that I can submit to without paying a premium to have my work considered.

One of the additional factors that complicates this whole issue is solicited submissions. Many of the more prestigious journals already solicit many of their submissions from poets that they admire. These poets generally do not submit through normal avenues. They never pay to have their work considered and it is in fact almost always accepted.

Ultimately you will have to make your own mind up about paying to submit to journals. It is your money after all. But in the meantime I will continue to review excellent journals who do not charge writers a fee to have their work considered.

Before this person dies, they tell the main character, the person who is most likely narrating this story, their dying wish. Then they pass on.

It is your task to write the story, not of the room or the dieing, but of the wish and what it is and where it leads the main character.

You can tell this story from any perspective, but I have found that this prompt generally works best when it is told from the point of view of the main character. First person narration really works.

You can start the story at any point. You can start it right after the main character is told the wish, you can start it right before they have been informed of the wish, or it could be set in the future where they already know about the wish and have had time to try and do something about it.

No matter where you go with this prompt, have fun with it.

Happy Writing.

Though always in sync with the pulse of contemporary poetry, Birdfeast publishes poetry in all forms and styles. From bold to subdued, strange to familiar, they are most interested in reading the poems that poets most want to share. You can get a sense for what they publish by reading past issues online.

Birdfeast publishes four annual editions: winter, spring, summer, and fall, each with work from about ten poets. They read submissions year-round. Submitting poets can expect a response within three months, though most submitting poets receive a response within one month.

Poets may submit up to five poems online. They do not accept submissions by post or email. Poets should submit only one set of poems at a time, but can submit again two weeks after poems are declined. Past contributors should wait one year before submitting again. Birdfeast accepts simultaneous submissions, but asks poets to inform them when their work is accepted elsewhere. They do not accept previously published work.

If you would like to learn more or submit to Birdfeast, please visit their website at http://www.birdfeastmagazine.com/.

But first, a bit about our contest series.

Every week we are going to have a contest on our Facebook Page. The contests will change from week to week but the winners will always be published in the magazine. The contest winner and the runners up are chosen by a voting system, and then the editors of Authors Publish will select several additional entries from the rest to be the Editor’s Choice winners.

Below are all the winners of this week’s contest, their challenge was to submit a review of any novel that was no longer then ten words in length.

Next weeks contest starts at 9 AM on Saturday and runs till 9 AM on Sunday morning.

Winner:

Runner Up:

Editor’s Choice Winner

Chronicle is an established and respected publisher of children’s books, cookbooks, gift books,  anthologies, and various other books, most containing a strong visual element. They are based out of San Francisco. Their books receive a lot of positive attention and acclaim.  Many of the top cookbooks in the past five years have been published by them, including Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi and the Tartine Cookbook. If you look through your own bookshelf, there are high odds that you own at least one book published by Chronicle.

Chronicle is one of the most established independent publishers and it is unusual that they consider unsolicited manuscript submissions without an agent. There is a slight catch of course, they do not actually respond to these proposals unless they are interested in accepting the book as a whole. So don’t expect a rejection letter, although know that if they have not responded within three months they are most likely not interested in your book.

Perhaps this is for the best, because a number of years ago Chronicle Books got into trouble for referring people whose proposals were rejected to an assisted publishing company.  An assisted publishing company charges people to publish their work and Chronicle is a traditional publisher, it pays their authors. Part of an added complication to this whole situation was that Chronicle appeared to have been receiving money from the assisted publishers for this referral. The only reason that we are only reviewing and recommending Chronicle as a potential publisher because of the fact that this practice no longer takes place and has not for years.

Before submitting to them, browse through their catalog online or go to a local bookstore and find a couple of their books to peruse. This is a good way to see if your work might fit well with their catalog.

Make sure to review their submission guidelines carefully before submitting your work. They have separate guidelines for children’s books, so make sure you are reviewing the correct guidelines for your manuscript. They accept manuscripts aimed at adults submitted electronically or through the mail. They only consider manuscripts aimed at children if they are submitted via post. They consider simultaneous submissions as long as you alert them to the fact that you are submitting it elsewhere.

If you are considering submitting to them, please read their submission guidelines in order to learn more.