Passages North is a print journal, founded in 1979, produced by Northern Michigan University. They publish both veterans and newcomers, and though their aesthetic has changed over the years to accommodate new trends, they tend to prefer writing in the literary style. They publish fiction, poetry, and non-fiction in their annual print publication, and have recently added online content such as a Writers on Writing column, featuring craft essays published almost every week, and audio recordings of spoken word poetry. To get a sense of what they publish, you can access these features, as well as a limited selection of work from past print issues, online.

Each edition of Passages North, released in late winter, contains work from about 50 authors. Submissions for the print publication open on September 1. Submissions for the online Writers on Writing column and spoken word poetry series are open year-round. Submitting writers can expect a response within about two months.

Fiction writers may submit one short story, 1,000 to 7,500 words, or up to three pieces of flash fiction, up to 1,000 words each. Non-fiction writers may submit one essay or work of narrative non-fiction up to 7,500 words. Poets may submit up to five poems, and spoken word poets may submit up to three audio files of recorded spoken word poetry for online publication. Writers in all genres may submit a short craft essay for online publication in the Writers on Writing column.

Passages North accepts submission online, but not via post or email. They accept simultaneous submissions, but ask that writers withdraw work published elsewhere. They don’t accept previously published work.

If you’d like to learn more or submit to Passages North, please visit their website at http://passagesnorth.com/submissions/.

Some of my favorite classic titles include A Widow for A Year, Love in the Time of Cholera, Pig Earth, A Wrinkle in Time, and the Glass Castle.

Below I have written three titles that may intrigue a reader. You have to pick one of them and write a short story around it. Just set a timer and give yourself 20 minutes and see how far you go in the story. There is no right or wrong way to interpret the titles below.

The Professional Student

A World Without Ketchup

The Only Island

Have fun coming up with a story to match one of these titles.

Over the last 2 years I have made over 3,000 literary quote memes, including the one featured above. This means that I have spent many hours seeking quotes out, reading them, and re-reading them. I now like to think that I can spot a fake quote a mile away, although this is not always the case. Having spent so much time with quotes about writing I have developed a number of favorite quotes, ones that I always return to when stuck in my own writing or when advising students.

Below I have included a number of my favorite quotes, the ones that I think provide significant insight into writing itself, or into being a writer.

“Writing is like getting married. One should never commit oneself until one is amazed at one’s luck.”
– Iris Murdoch

“Writing is something you do alone. It is a profession for introverts who want to tell you a story but don’t want to make eye contact while doing it.”
– John Green

“Becoming a writer is not a ‘career decision’ like becoming a doctor or a policeman. You don’t choose it so much as get chosen, and once you accept the fact that you’re not fit for anything else, you have to be prepared to walk a long, hard road for the rest of your days.”
– Paul Auster

“Just write every day of your life. Read intensely. Then see what happens. Most of my friends who are put on that diet have very pleasant careers.”
– Ray Bradbury

“Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”
― E.L. Doctorow

“If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word.”
– Margret Atwood

“Write because you love it. Write because not writing for more than a few days feels like you have abandoned a puppy in a mineshaft. Save the puppy.”
– Joe Beernink

“Writing is a job, a talent, but it’s also the place to go in your head. It is the imaginary friend you drink your tea with in the afternoon.”
― Ann Patchett

“And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”
– J.K. Rowling

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 runner 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. This week the challenge this week was to tell the story of your life using only six words.

The next contest starts at 9 am PST on Saturday. The contest will be to talk about why you became a writer.

Winner:

Runner Up:

Editor’s Choice:

Felony & Mayhem is a print mystery book publisher founded in 2005, with fairly good distribution in brick and mortar bookstores. They initially focused only on re-issuing books that had fallen out of print, releasing books in paperback that only had hardback editions, and publishing books that had only been published outside of the US. Although that remains the bulk of their business they opened to general submissions in 2011. They now accept submissions from authors with or without an agent, or previous publishing experience.

The company is based out of Greenwich Village in New York City.  They like to publish work that leans more towards literature, but is still a mystery. They prefer work that has some sort of cultural aspect to it. For example a plot that involved a murder set in academia, or the art world, would appeal to their general publishing sensibilities. They are also particularly interested in mysteries set in other countries. They often publish more than one book by the same author and they are not opposed to publishing a series.

Manuscripts submitted to them must be at least 75,000 words in length. All work must be submitted electronically. They prefer the work to to be submitted as a .doc or .docx attachment.  They request that all you submit is “A brief synopsis, and a representative chapter, which may but need not be the first chapter. In writing the synopsis, please confine yourself to a maximum of four SHORT paragraphs: The purpose here is to offer a rough outline of the story.”

Only include information about yourself if it is relevant to the story. Say the story is about an undertaker turned detective, and you were an undertaker turned detective fiction writer, that information would be relevant to them. Do not include information that does not pertain to the story or your experience writing.

To learn more visit their website here or their submission guidelines here.