Resources for Writers facing a New Dawn

A new day is upon us. It’s on us to co-create a culture that works for everyone. The old order is disintegrating. It lacked fairness, integrity, vision. It no longer met the requirements of this hour. And now WE are rising to the occasion, contributing our ideas, our stories, our poems to ignite the public imagination. Here are some resources to help the writers.

This is a very short list of what to read and where to submit. It’s 20 minutes worth of research, to give you a start. It is meant to accompany my webinar today for the International Women’s Writing Guild.

Resources for Anti-Racism Work–What to Read–Where to Submit Your Work

https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2020/jun/03/do-the-work-an-anti-racist-reading-list-layla-f-saad

 https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/assumptions-white-privilege-and-what-we-can-do-about-it

https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/time-right-read-jesse-jacksons-speeches

Suggestions from a USA Today article, https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2020/06/02/books-to-learn-more-anti-racism-adults-kids/5306873002/

Women’s Magazines that Pay Freelance Writers
Several women’s magazines have weathered today’s turbulent publishing market. Here are ten publications with topics that run the gamut from style and beauty, to politics, to women’s health features. For a counterpoint to these magazines, be sure to check out our list of Feminist Magazines.

1. Ms. Magazine was the first national feminist magazine to make feminist voices widely available to the public. They publish articles consider articles on politics, social commentary, popular culture, law, eduction, and the environment. To learn more, read their submission guidelines.
2. Everyday Feminism is an online magazine that launched in 2012 to huge success. They reach over  4 million visitors a month. They accept applications for contributor positions, as well as their fellowship program. They publish from an intersectional feminist perspective, bringing in a wide range of perspectives and viewpoints. To learn more, read their submission guidelines.
3. LiisBeth  is a “a reader and community supported zine that examines entrepreneurship, start-up culture, and the innovation eco-system through a progressive feminist lens.” They pay up to $1,000 for articles. To learn more, read their submission guidelines.
4. xoJane publishes stories with a raw / honest perspective. They want “first person stories about something unusual, interesting or downright amazing that has happened in your life.” They like brutal honesty and radical transparency. To learn more, read their submission guidelines.
5. The Establishment is a multimedia site run and funded by women. They seek to unearth overlooked stories, produce original reporting, and provide a platform for voices that have been marginalized by the mainstream media. They pay $125 for features, essays, and op-eds. They pay $500 for long for investigative pieces. To learn more, read their submission guidelines.
6. The FutureFire pays a token payment up to $20 for short stories. They “are particularly interested in feminist, queer, postcolonial and ecological themes.” To learn more, read their submission guidelines.
7. Bitch Magazine is a nonprofit, independent, feminist media organization dedicated to providing and encouraging an engaged, thoughtful feminist response to mainstream media and popular culture. They pay $200 for feature articles. To learn more, read their submission guidelines.

You’ll have to google for writers guidelines. Just names here. No live links.
1. Cosmopolitan
The classic magazine brings love, relationship, career, and beauty/style to 20-to-40-something women. Here is the list of editors for Cosmpolitan.com, as well as the print magazine. Searching each particular editor on the website will uncover their emails. Bonus tip: Cosmo is currently taking submissions for personal essays about college. Find out more here.
2. Woman’s Day
Woman’s Day is a fun, down-to-earth publication that features parenting tips, car reviews, and articles about relationships. Here are their writer’s guidelines. They are a bit stringent about only accepting pitches from writers with clips from national publications, but even if you’re a beginning writer, you can bookmark their guidelines for the future.
3. Elle Magazine
Elle features high fashion, culture, and women’s issues. Check out their editor list here to pitch your story. The magazine has been going in different directions in recent years, so they may have room for both new and experienced writers.
4. Essence
“The premiere lifestyle, fashion, and beauty magazine for African-American women,” Essence has been a popular magazine for decades. Click here for specific query-writing instructions in their writing guidelines.
5. Good Housekeeping
Good Housekeeping is a classic women’s magazine whose primary audience is married, working women with children. Known for its recipes and articles about issues everyday women face, Good Housekeeping has a few ongoing submission topics if you’re looking for ideas. Here are the submission guidelines.
6. Marie Claire
An international monthly magazine for women, Marie Claire was originally published in France in the 1930s. Since then it has become a staple magazine covering fashion, career advice, and politics. Check out their submission guidelines under About Us (scroll down a little ways) here.
7. Ms. Magazine
Debuting in the 70’s Ms. is a magazine that discusses a variety of issues from a feminist perspective. Click here for a complete masthead, and if you keep scrolling down you’ll find blog and magazine submission instructions as well.
8. Redbook
A general women’s publication, Redbook’s audience is women 25-35 who are often navigating life transitions like getting married or having children. The magazine focuses on topics like parenting, relationships, and more. This is your chance to write about relatable, modern issues that women tackle. Click here for your writer’s guidelines.
9. Oxygen
Oxygen is a women’s health magazine that features training, workouts, nutrition tips, and other relevant information. Find the list of editors’ emails here.
10. Bitch Magazine
Bitch Magazine skews a bit younger (though it’s for gen-exers and boomers as well!), with a sharp, analytical focus on media and popular culture. It features news curation, thoughtful commentary, and provocative personal essays. Click here to learn about Contributor guidelines.

25 Literary Magazines You Can Submit to Without a Reading Fee

Links didn’t transfer from original article, but do your research.
1. Tin House: A quarterly which publishes fiction, poetry, and essays by new and established writers.
Reading period: September 4 to May 31
Accepts: poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction
2. The Threepenny Review: An arts magazine that combines literature, the visual and performing arts, memoir, and essay.
Reading period: January 1 to August 31
Accepts: poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction
3. One Story: A literary magazine that publishing one short story every three-four weeks.
Reading Period: Rolling
Accepts: fiction
4. Kenyon Review: One of the oldest and best literary magazines in the US.
Reading Period: September 15 to January 15
Accepts: poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, plays, translations
5. Virginia Quarterly Review: VQR is a quarterly magazine with a long history of publishing accomplished and award-winning authors as well as emerging writers.
Reading Period: Unknown
Accepts: poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction
6. A Public Space: A Public Space is an independent magazine of literature and culture.
Reading Period: September 15 to April 15
Accepts: poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, translations
7. Five Points: A journal of literature and art published by Georgia State University three times a year.
Reading Period: September 1 to December 1 and January 1 to April 1
Accepts: poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction
8. Prairie Schooner: They publish stories, poems, interviews, imaginative essays of general interest, and reviews of current books of poetry and fiction.
Reading Period: September 1 to May 1
Accepts: poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, reviews
9. Bellevue Literary Review: A unique literary magazine that examines human existence through the prism of health and healing, illness and disease.
Reading Period: September 1 to June 30
Accepts: fiction, nonfiction, and poetry (must be related to the themes of health, healing, illness)
10. Salmagundi Magazine: A quarterly magazine published since 1969 by Skidmore College.
Reading Period: November 1 to December 1
Accepts: poetry, fiction, personal essays, cultural criticism
11. The Caribbean Writer: An international literary journal with a Caribbean focus, founded in 1986 and published annually by the University of the Virgin Islands.
Reading Period: Rolling
Accepts: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, book reviews
12. Timothy McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern: McSweeney’s began in 1998 as a literary journal that published only works rejected by other magazines. That rule was soon abandoned, and since then McSweeney’s has attracted work from some of the finest writers both new and established.
Reading Period: September 1 to May 31
Accepts: Fiction, Nonfiction
13. Poetry Magazine: Founded in Chicago in 1912, Poetry magazine is the oldest monthly devoted to verse in the English-speaking world.
Reading Period: Rolling
Accepts: poetry, poetry related reviews
14. Agni: A magazine that regularly features emerging writers and is known for publishing important new writers early in their careers.
Reading Period: September 1 to May 31
Accepts: fiction, nonfiction, poetry
15. Barrow Street: A non-profit organization which publishes a poetry journal and hosts a poetry reading series in New York City’s West Village.
Reading Period: December 1 to March 15
Accepts: poetry
16. Southampton Review: TSR publishes work from established authors and newcomers, but only the best of the best.
Reading Period: September 1 to December 1 and from March 1 to June 1
Accepts: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, plays, screenplays
17. Idaho Review: Boise State University’s literary magazine. They consider polished short stories and poetry for annual publication.
Reading Period: Unknown
Accepts: fiction, poetry
18. TriQuarterly: Northwestern University’s international journal of writing, art, and cultural inquiry.
Reading Period: October 15 to July 15
Accepts: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, plays, reviews
19. Pleiades: A literary biannual featuring poetry, fiction, essays, and reviews by authors from around the world.
Reading Period: August 15 to May 15
Accepts: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, reviews
20. Little Star Journal: An annual journal of poetry and prose, founded in 2009 by Ann Kjellberg and Melissa Green.
Reading Period: Rolling
Accepts: poetry, prose
21. North American Review: The North American Review is the oldest literary magazine in America (founded in 1815) and one of the most respected. They are interested in high-quality poetry, fiction, and nonfiction on any subject.
Reading Period: Rolling
Accepts: fiction, nonfiction, poetry
22. The Cincinnati Review: Started in 2003, The Cincinnati Review publishes emerging writers as well as Pulitzer Prize winners.
Reading Period: August 15 to April 15
Accepts: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, reviews, translations
23. Post Road Magazine: Post Road is an innovative, award-winning literary magazine publishes twice yearly.
Reading Period: February 1 to April 1 and June 1 to August 1
Accepts: poetry, fiction, nonfiction, short plays
24. Fiction International: A literary journal with an emphasis on formal innovation and social activism. Founded in 1973 at St. Lawrence University in New York, the journal was relocated to San Diego State University in 1983.
Reading Period: October 1 to February 15
Accepts: fiction, nonfiction
25. Black Warrior Review: Established in 1974 by graduate students in the MFA Program in Creative Writing at the University of Alabama, Black Warrior Review publishes Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winners alongside up-and-coming writers.
Reading Period: Rolling
Accepts: poetry, fiction, nonfiction, graphic prose


Shebooks

https://shebooks.net/
Look no further for your summer reading list. If you are not yet familiar with Shebooks, you are in for a treat. Cofounded in 2013 by Peggy Northrup and Laura Frasier, Shebooks publishes short e-books by women authors. Shebooks titles are shorter than traditional books but longer than essays, meeting the “too long for an essay, not longer enough for a full-length book” niche, while making it possible to finish reading a book in one sitting.

Shebooks first anthology Whatever Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger: Six Memoirs of Resilience, Strength, and Forgiveness won and Independent Publishing Book Award. Shebooks e-library is chock full of memoir, fiction, and journalism by women and for women. Perfect for summer travel.

AROHO: A Room of Her Own Foundation for Women: Writers: Artists
From its Gift of Freedom Award to its literary awards for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry to its biennial Writing Retreat for women writers, AROHO offers a network of support and opportunities for women writers.