The Offing
This magazine publishes work in various genres. They’re reading nonfiction for their ‘Insight’ section until 31^st March – “Creative nonfiction that centers one’s personal experience against the backdrop of art, literature, and culture. Insight essays are generally personal essays that raise questions or address issues about the matters that concern us aesthetically, politically, or ideologically. These essays explore how interacting with this piece of art, literature, or culture changed you, or made a lasting impression.” They also have various other sections, for which submissions periodically open and close, including memoir (“Personal essays, rather than commentary or criticism, of any length”), cross-genre, poetry, fiction, micro, translations, comics, and art submissions.
Deadline: 31 March 2022 for Insight section; unspecified for others
Length: Unspecified
Pay: $25-100
Details here.

Escape Artists: PodCastle
PodCastle is a fantasy magazine from the Escape Artists suite. They publish in audio format, and online. “We’re open to all the sub-genres of fantasy, from magical realism to urban fantasy to slipstream to high fantasy, and everything in between. Fantastical or non-real content should be meaningful to the story.” Writers can submit one original story and one reprint (see ‘multiple submissions’ in guidelines); query before sending reprints of over 6,000 words.
Deadline: 31 March 2022
Length: Up to 6,000 words
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here (guidelines), here (schedule), and here (submission portal).

The Threepenny Review
This well-regarded literary magazine is open for submissions during January to April. They publish fiction, nonfiction (including critical articles and memoir), poetry, and Table Talk pieces. They accept submissions through their online submission system and also by mail. They do not allow simultaneous submissions. They ask that all submitters purchase a copy to see what they publish, but they also have a reading room page, which features certain past pieces.
Deadline: 30 April 2022
Length: 1,200 to 2,500 words for critical articles; up to 1,000 words for Table Talk items; up to 4,000 words for stories and memoir; up to 100 lines for poetry
Pay: $200 per poem or Table Talk piece; $400 for fiction and nonfiction
Details here and here.

(And Electric Lit’s The Commuter series is open for flash prose, poetry, and graphic narrative until 6 March; their Recommended Reading series for longer fiction will open for submissions from 7-14 March 2022. Pay is $100 for The Commuter and $300 for Recommended Reading. They accept pitches for essays on an ongoing basis.
Also, Masks Literary Magazine, for emerging writers and artists, is open for poetry, fiction, nonfiction, art, photography, and audio/film submissions. Pay is $20-35 for writing, and the deadline is 15 April 2022.)

Lightspeed
Lightspeed is an award-winning magazine, and it is currently open to flash fiction submissions only, of science fiction and fantasy stories. Their website says the deadline may be extended.
Deadline: 1 May 2022
Length: Up to 1,500 words
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here.
(Award-winning Uncanny Magazine will also be open for flash science fiction and fantasy submissions, from 14^th to 21^st March 2022 – send stories of 750-1,500 words. Pay is $0.10/word.)

Bennington Review
This literary magazine publishes fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, film (and TV) writing and cross-genre work; “we are particularly taken with writing that is simultaneously graceful and reckless.” For fiction and nonfiction, they also accept self-contained excerpts from longer pieces. They publish translations, too.
Deadline: 8 May 2022
Length: Up to 30 pages of prose; 3-5 poems; 10-20 pages of film (or TV) writing
Pay: $100-200 for prose; $20/poem
Details here.

 Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.

MOM Books was started in 1985 as a home business by Mrs. & Mr. O’Mara, out of the spare room of their house. It is still a family firm, although now it publishes 150 books a year. They have put together a slideshow of their history which you can view here, if you are curious.

They welcome submissions of nonfiction ideas from “authors, compilers and illustrators.” They do not allow submissions of fiction.

If you submit please include synopses and sample texts, rather than full manuscripts. They are currently only accepting submissions via email.

They generally only respond to submissions they are interested in. They ask that authors and illustrators familiarize themselves with the titles they publish before submitting.

They are distributed by Hachette within the UK. Outside of the UK they do their own distribution. Their books are beautiful, sturdy, and well-designed.

Their submission guidelines are in no way detailed, but you can view them here.

Emily Harstone is the author of many popular books, including The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submissions, Submit, Publish, Repeat, and The 2021 Guide to Manuscript Publishers.

River and South is published twice a year online, in January and June. Each edition contains writing from around 15 contributors.

They hold two submission periods each year. For the June edition, submissions open on February 15. For the January edition, submissions open on August 30. Right now through March 15, River and South is open for submissions.

Poets may submit up to three poems. Authors of fiction and nonfiction may submit one piece, up to 2,500 words. Authors may send one submission per genre during each reading period.

River and South accepts submissions online, using Submittable. They don’t accept submissions via email or by post. They accept simultaneous submissions but ask that authors withdraw work published elsewhere. They do not accept previously published work, including writing published on personal blogs.

River and South 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 River and South, 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.

Making money as a self-published author isn’t always easy, but having your book available in more formats can help introduce readers to your work. One way of doing this is by having your book adapted into an audiobook. If you’re unsure how to do this, or think it might be too costly, here are some suggestions.

How to get started

The first step is to find a voice artist. There are several places to find someone to narrate your book. If you can afford to pay upfront, Findaway Voices is an option. They let authors find narrators for their book and if you use them for distribution, your audiobook will be available for readers/listeners to purchase from over 40 retailers.

Another option is ACX, but their distribution is limited to Audible, Apple and Amazon, unless you’re willing to accept a lower royalty rate, in exchange for having the freedom to distribute your finished audiobook to more retailers.

What if I can’t afford a narrator?

Although paying for a narrator means you get to keep more royalties, it does have risks. You have to sell enough copies to recover your costs. So, if you’re looking to create your first audiobook, there are ways to reduce the financial risk.

Read the book yourself

If you have a great reading voice, recording yourself reading your book might be the right option for you. ACX and all reputable distribution websites have technical requirements you will have to meet. Nobody wants to listen to audiobooks that sound like they were recorded in the bathroom or with background noises, unless these are sound effects related to your book. Any audiobooks with sound effects will be more performance-based, but as a newcomer to this format it’s best to keep things simple. So, you should have the right equipment (high-quality microphone, pop filter, shock mount…) and a quiet place to record. If you live near a main road, have a noisy family or neighbors, recording your own book will be challenging, if not impossible.

Royalties only

There is another option. ACX offer several choices when looking for a narrator. You can choose to pay outright, a mix of payment upfront and royalties, or royalties only. There are a couple of things you should be aware of. You will be paid lower royalties because you will share with the narrator. You will also have to convince the narrator that working on your book will be worthwhile for them. Their role involves more than just reading your book, and it can take weeks or months for them to complete the audiobook. ACX ask you to give a brief marketing plan when you approach narrators on a royalty only basis. So it’s crucial to have solid ideas about how you will help to sell the finished product.

Why expand to audiobooks?

Readers have their own preferences over the format of the books they read (or listen to) and the more formats you provide, the more readers you can cater to. Specifically thinking about audiobook readers, there are several reasons for their preference.

• For blind or partially sighted readers, audiobooks are a quicker way to read and be absorbed by the story. Having a real person read the book is often more immersing than listening to one of the many read-aloud options available on computers and other devices. Even the best ones sound too distanced and robotic.
• Readers who lead active lives might prefer audiobooks in gyms, on public transport or while driving if they are still able to concentrate and drive safely.
• Some people get headaches or migraines after reading for a while. The book may be gripping and they want to continue reading, but can’t. Audiobooks are a better alternative for them.
• Other people just struggle to get into a book by reading words on a page or e-reader. The right narrator can help them envisage the scenes and bring the characters to life. This is why it’s so important to listen to a few auditions before picking someone to read your book. You want to ensure the narrator captures the voice of your characters.

It’s worth getting one of your books adapted, as this can set you apart from authors whose work is only available digitally and in print. This also helps you figure out if this is a viable option for the rest of your back catalogue.

Bio: Amanda Nicholson also writes as Amanda Steel. Her novel, Ghost of me was a finalist in the 2020 Author Elite Awards. Amanda writes fiction, poetry, and non-fiction. Her work has been published by Writers Weekly, Introvert Dear, and Jericho Writers. Learn more about her writing here: https://amandasteelwriter.wordpress.com