Headpress was established in 1991 although the publishing arm wasn’t active till 1992, according to their FAQ. Headpress focuses on publishing nonfiction. The subject matter they publish varies widely. They say “When Headpress first started, much of this was considered the counterculture. Now it is pop culture.” They publish work on cult film, strange music, pulp literature, fanzines, conspiracy theories, sex and gender, occult and folklore, true crime, etc. It is still run by one of the three founders, David Kerekes.

They are a little unusual as they do a mix of print-on-demand and traditionally published books. They have electronic versions of most of their books. You can get a good feel for what they publish by visiting the main page of their website. It’s the kind of niche independent publisher where it should be pretty easy to figure out quickly if they are the right fit or not for your work.

Their covers seem like a good fit in terms of the content.

Bluestem is a well-established online journal produced by the English Department of Eastern Illinois University. While they publish writers from around the world, they’re rooted in a Midwestern identity: “…we thrive on the prairie.” A highly selective journal, Bluestem has published authors who’ve won the Pushcart Prize, the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize, and more.

Bluestem has been published since 1966. While previously published in print, the journal is now produced in three electronic editions per year. Each thoughtfully designed online issue features poetry, fiction, and nonfiction from around a dozen contributors. You can read the journal online to get a sense of what they publish. And, to find out more about what the editor-in-chief of Bluestem is looking for, you can read her interview with Duotrope here.

Although Bluestem was on hiatus during the pandemic, they are now seeking submissions through April 2nd. Poets may submit three to five poems. Authors of fiction or nonfiction may submit one piece, 5,000 words or fewer. Bluestem also accepts flash writing. Authors of flash fiction or nonfiction may submit up to three pieces.

Bluestem accepts submissions online using Submittable, not via email or by post. They accept simultaneous submissions but ask that authors withdraw work published elsewhere. They do not accept previously published work. Although Bluestem is not charging a fee to submit during this reading period, they sometimes do.

Bluestem only accepts submissions that adhere to the guidelines they’ve posted online. Please read these guidelines in full before submitting.

If you would like to learn more or submit to Bluestem, please visit their website here.

Bio: Ella Peary is the pen name for an author, editor, creative writing mentor, and submission consultant. Over the past five years, she’s written hundreds of articles for Authors Publish, and she’s also served as a copywriter and copy editor for a wide range of organizations and individuals. She is the author of The Quick Start Guide to Flash Fiction. She occasionally teaches a course on flash fiction. You can contact her at ellapeary@gmail.com.

The following opportunities have different requirements and limitations, so please read the details carefully before submitting. We wish our readers the best of luck!

Highlights Foundation New Scholarships

Highlights Foundation have put a new, streamlined process in place for scholarship applications and will award more than $75,000 in scholarships in 2022. The application period is open to all aspiring and published storytellers. The awards will be made as follows: 25 full tuition scholarships and 20 partial tuition scholarships for workshops that take place at the Highlights Foundation Retreat Center, 30 full tuition scholarships for online courses, and 15 scholarships for personal retreats at the Highlights Foundation Retreat Center. Recipients will be notified in April, and will choose the workshop or retreat that meets their interests during the 2022 or 2023 program seasons. Awards will be based on the following criteria, evaluated by a scholarship committee via the application: seriousness of purpose (including time and effort devoted to craft), talent (displayed via a writing or art sample), and financial need.

Deadline is March 13, 2022.

For details, go here.

Future Art Writers Award

The Future Art Writers Award calls for U.S. art writers of all ages and professional backgrounds to submit an abstract (of about 250 words) on an essay/review/feature that they propose writing on the Future Art Awards: Ecosystem X Virtual Exhibition — with a focus on the art on view and this cycle’s theme ‘Ecosystem X’.

Up to six $2,000 grants will be issued to submitting writers that demonstrate an original and compelling point of view in their proposed piece which will be published in the 2nd Edition of the MOZAIK E-ZINE.

Proposed literary projects can address general and specialized art audiences. Writers working on experimental or non-traditional arts writing as well as BIPOC and other historically marginalized or underserved art writers are encouraged to apply.

Deadline is March 15, 2022.

For details, go here.

Alpine Fellowship Poetry Prize

Alpine Fellowship Poetry Prize is open to poets of all nationalities aged 18 and above. It is awarded for the best poetry on the theme of the Alpine Fellowship 2022 – Freedom. Applicants may submit one poem or a collection of poems as long as ALL the poems in the collection speak to the theme of Freedom, and are written in English.

The winner will receive a £3,000 cash prize and will be invited to their symposium. Runners up will be invited to attend the symposium and travel expenses will be reimbursed up to a total of £500. All food and accommodation will be covered.

Deadline is April 1, 2022.

For details, go here.

(Please note that other Alpine Fellowships exist here for theatre, writing, visual arts, and academic writing, and that applicants can apply to more than one fellowship)

Iowa Scholarship for the Arts

The Iowa Scholarship for the Arts supports the development of outstanding high school seniors who excel in the arts and are enrolled in accredited educational programs leading to careers in the arts. Scholarships in the amount of $2,500 are awarded to support 2022-2023 academic year tuition expenses at Iowa colleges or universities.

To be eligible, the applicant must be an Iowa resident who will graduate from an Iowa high school during the 2021-2022 school year and be accepted as a full-time undergraduate student at a fully-accredited Iowa college or university with a major in at least one of the following arts areas: animation, architecture, creative writing, dance, English, fashion, fine arts education, folk & traditional arts, graphic design, literature, media arts, music, theatre or visual arts. Immediate family members or dependent children of Iowa Arts Council board and staff are not eligible.

Deadline is April 1, 2022.

For details, go here.

2022 Ann Whitford Paul Writer’s Digest Manuscript Award

The Ann Whitford Paul – Writer’s Digest Manuscript Award is an annual award given to a Most Promising Picture Book manuscript. Winners will be selected in two categories: Fiction and Nonfiction. The two winners will each receive a $1000 grant to encourage the development of an excellent picture book manuscript. To apply, an applicant must be a member of Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) with picture books who are not under contract and/or have not sold a picture book manuscript in the last five years.

Deadline is April 10, 2022.

For details, go here.

Ella T. Grasso Literary Scholarship

UNICO Foundation will award $1,000 in literary scholarship to students currently in college and/or graduate school. To be eligible, an applicant must be an Italian of U.S. citizenship, attend a university, a four-year college or two-year college of full-time study. It is restricted to residents of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.

Deadline is April 15, 2022.

For details, go here.

BAC Fall 2022 Multi-disciplinary Residency

Bethany Arts Community (BAC) offers residencies to emerging and established artists for the development of both new works and works-in-progress. BAC welcomes artists working across most disciplines, including visual artists in any medium, writers, playwrights, choreographers, musicians, composers, performance artists, filmmakers, and lighting, projection, costume and sound designers.

The two-weeks Multidisciplinary Residency includes room, board and $225 stipend per week, with two options being offered: September 9–24, 2022 or October 11–23, 2022.

Deadline is April 15, 2022.

For details, go here.

2023 The Bard Fiction Prize

The Bard Fiction Prize is open for 2023 applications. It is awarded to a promising emerging writer who is an American citizen aged 39 years or younger at the time of application. In addition to a $30,000 cash award, the winner receives an appointment as writer-in-residence at Bard College for one semester, without the expectation that he or she teach traditional courses. The recipient gives at least one public lecture and meets informally with students.

The prize is intended to encourage and support young writers of fiction, and provide them with an opportunity to work in a fertile intellectual environment. To apply, candidates should write a cover letter explaining the project they plan to work on while at Bard College and submit a CV, along with three copies of the published book they feel best represents their work. No manuscripts will be accepted.

Deadline is June 15, 2022.

For details, go here.

Bio: NmaHassan Muhammad writes from Minna, Nigeria. He’s working on four collections of Haiku poems in Nupe, Hausa, Pidgin English and English, in memorial of his three-year-old son Abdullateef Hamood who died in a tragic fire accident on November 3, 2021. Two poems appeared recently in The Writers and Readers’ Magazine.

If you’ve written and published a book, you know the importance of book reviews, both good and bad (yes, bad reviews are important, too). But did you know that writing reviews of books you’ve read and publishing them on various sites is a great way to promote your own book(s)? It follows the Canadian Authors’ Association motto of “writers helping writers,” something that other author groups promote in various ways as well. It’s true, though; if you help someone else, you are, in fact, helping yourself as well.

Authors almost have to beg for book reviews. Without these reviews, their status on Amazon and other book sites dwindles and the book remains inconspicuous. However, the more reviews the book receives, the higher the overall rating – even if the reviews are negative. So, you’re doing everyone (yourself included) a favor by writing book reviews.

How does this help you? Well, first of all, your name is attached to any review you write and publish, even if it’s only posted on your personal Facebook page. Take this idea a step further and attach a promotional byline to each of your reviews, like: “Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford (insert your own name here), award winning (if you’ve won some awards) author of” and here I list at one of my books and I usually include a link to my author website.

Secondly, if your review is well written (even if it’s negative and even if it’s short), it reflects your ability to express yourself in writing. Readers are impressed by a well-written review, and it often leads them to follow the reviewer and look at what else they’ve written.

However, positive or negative, make sure you’re being fair in your review. Don’t trash a book just because you don’t like the subject, or you don’t like some of the views being shared. Be professional – always – in your overall assessment. Too much negativity will reflect badly on you as an author.

You can seek paid book review assignments, where reviewers are paid for each review they write. Make sure that this is by a third-party organization, and not by the writer themselves, or with the expectation that the review is positive.

If you’re using this tactic to promote your own books, then perhaps you should consider starting your own blog and posting your reviews; or you can post them on Amazon and other book-selling venues, as well as sites like Goodreads. Most public libraries also allow you to post reviews of books in their collections on their websites or through their eBook loaning services.

The important thing to remember is everything you write and publish has your name attached to it. Writing book reviews is a good way to positively direct would-be readers to your books. And that’s what we all want, isn’t it? Perhaps they’ll even leave a review of your book. Something to consider: another promotional move that may pay off very well for you. It has for me. Happy reading, writing and book reviewing!

Bio: Emily-Jane Hills Orford is a country writer, living just outside the tiny community of North Gower, Ontario, near the nation’s capital. With degrees in art history, music and Canadian studies, the retired music teacher enjoys the quiet nature of her country home and the inspiration of working at her antique Jane Austen-style spinet desk, feeling quite complete as she writes and stares out the large picture window at the birds and the forest. She writes in several genres, including creative nonfiction, memoir, fantasy, and historical fiction. http://emilyjanebooks.ca