no. 1
note: this was delivered to subscribers on 6 October. to sign up, visit the homepage or click here.
hi there.
Thanks for joining me for the first edition of this literary life. My goal is to create a newsletter that benefits the type of writer I am: someone who pitches and writes articles, essays, and books.
Now that I am back to freelancing, I spend a lot of time scrolling through social media and looking for pitch opportunities. Why not share with you what I’m stumbling across? If the place (or my pitch) isn’t a good fit for me, it doesn’t mean there isn’t someone in my circle who might benefit.
I also wanted to share interesting stories that might appeal to this same kind of writer. Writing tips, yes, but stories about and around the book/publishing industry and freelance writing.
Lastly, I wanted to share what I’m reading and listening to this week. I am constantly looking for book and podcast recommendations and figured I couldn’t be the only one. Don’t worry; these are all at the bottom, so you can ignore them if that’s not what you (literally) signed up for.
— Cole
calls for pitches
& paid writing opportunities
e s s a y s + i n v e s t i g a t i o n s
Travel Essays: Stephanie Pietra Statile is looking for pitches for Business Insider about winter travel, such as whether you travel to ski lodges even though you don’t ski or have a “hot take about holiday travel.” The pay is $220 for 500 words. DM her on X to pitch.
Food Essays: Chris Hatler is looking for pitches for “personal essays and hot takes” with “snappy headlines and unique opinions” about whiskey for Men’s Journal. Pay is $250 for 600 - 800 words. E-mail pitches to chris.hatler@mensjournal.com.
Texas Essays: Rose Cahalan is looking for pitches for stories (reported stories, visual stories, essays, or commentary) about interesting history, quirky subcultures, or anything that makes the Lone Star state stand out. Rate is $0.50 per word for web stories and $1 for print. E-mail pitches to rcahalan@texasmonthly.com.
Reported Stories: Starlight Williams wants pitches for National Geographic for explainers on rising health concerns, interesting history that is relevant today, deep dives on fitness trends or how the body works, and “smart takes on news moments.” She shared her ideal pitch format on X. E-mail pitches to starlight.williams@natgeo.com.
Essays, Short Reviews: Saliha Bayrak is now an editor at Drift Magazine and is accepting pitches for “long-form essays on culture & politics that make clear, surprising arguments, and very, very short reviews for our ‘Mentions’ section.” Should still be relevant 5 - 6 months from now. E-mail saliha@thedriftmag.com. Pay $2000 for essays and $25 for reviews.
Essays: Allegra Frank at The Atlantic is looking for pitches for “TV/movie/internet/gaming criticism and trend pieces.” E-mail pitches to afrank@theatlantic.com. Pay depends on scope, but recent assignments paid $600.
Essays (Personal + Reporting): Tony Hồ Trần is looking for pieces for Slate on how tech is impacting your life, work, and/or worldview. Pay is $500 - $750. To pitch, e-mail Peter Hong at peterhong@capitalandmain.com with the following information: Your full name; Contact information, including email and phone number; Link to website(s) that show your past work; A very concise summary of your story idea.
c r e a t i v e o p p o r t u n i t i e s
Poetry, Fiction, Book Reviews, Interviews, Comics, and Essays: The Rumpus is now accepting submissions until October 31. The pay is $50.
Poetry, Fiction: Speculative City is open for submissions until October 21. Pay range is $20 - 55.
Poetry, Fiction: West Branch magazine is accepting submissions. They pay $100 for poetry and $.10 a word for fiction (a maximum of $200).
Poetry, Fiction, Essays/Nonfiction, Plays: Saranac Review is open to submissions about water and/or waterways until October 31. Pay is $50.
Flash Fiction, Personal Essay: WOW! Women on Writing is now accepting submissions for their fall flash fiction and creative nonfiction essay contests. Submission deadline is November 30th. First prize is $400, second is $300, third is $200.
Poetry: ChillSubs pulled together a list of all the “top tier” poetry magazines that pay and nominate for Pushcart Prizes.
writing tips
No matter your genre, writers need to be able to connect with their readers. Too often, we approach our writing at arm’s length, trying to be Writers of Literature — instead of just saying what we want to say the way we would normally. Claire Polders is on The Brevity Blog this week, discussing breaking down that wall.
If you’re new to query letter writing or need a reminder, read the easy-to-digest anatomy of a query letter from Hello Corrello.
Whether you’re writing a scene in a book or a travel essay, the setting is so much more than the place and moment in time. On Writers in the Storm, Lisa Miller talks about the vital role of small details (social media posts, a postcard, where everyone sits around the family table) in storytelling.
Suffering from writer’s block? Pick up a tarot deck. Chelsey Pippin Mizzi shares on LitHub how tarot can be an inspiring memoir and essay tool, plus ideas for spreads.
Shame stops so many of us from sharing our stories. Writer Jenni Case was on Jane Friedman’s blog discussing her experience writing a personal essay and navigating the shame of the topic.
Do you need a million followers on social media to get a book deal? Industry expert Jane Friedman breaks down exactly what agents mean by saying you need a platform over LinkedIn.
Telling the truth in nonfiction is complicated when there is more than one. Abbott Kahler shares her experiences writing true crime nonfiction with conflicting accounts for CrimeReads.
agent updates & contests
Reminder: Do your own vetting of each literary agent
and contest before submitting.
Do you have a published story you’re really proud of, but no one read? Submit it to the Golden Dryer Sheet awards, created by Sonia Weiser (of Opportunites of the Week).
PitDark is coming October 24 from 8 am - 8 pm EST. Pitch your darker manuscripts (horror, mysteries, suspense, etc.) on X for a chance for a literary agent to request your work.
Literary Agent Mara Hollander reopened to queries this week. She represents fiction and nonfiction, and her MSWL is pretty broad (romance, women’s fiction, horror, climate change, psychology, etc.).
Literary Agent Morgan Wilson of Belcastro Agency reopened queries from authors who are BIPOC, LGBTQ+, ND, and/or DIS. Read their MSWL.
Literary Agent Kaitlyn Katsoupis of Belcastro Agency is open to queries until October 18. She is looking for horror, fantasy, suspense/thriller, and contemporary YA + A.
Associate Literary Agent Brandy Vallance of Barbara Bova Literary Agency has re-opened to queries. She is looking for historical fiction, romance (primarily historical), literary fiction, YA, Christian fiction, fantasy, and sci-fi.
industry news
& interesting reads
Feminist blogging is back, baby. The Flytrap is in its Kickstarter phase, but you can read about this new media company and its mission (to unfuck the algorithm) in The Observer.
Is ChatGPT good at writing? Is it cheating? The New Yorker explores this question, finding that, if anything, it’s just a brainstorming tool that doesn’t save any time in the long run.
When you can’t take the news cycle anymore, CNN offers up LibraryTok as an antidote to your anxiety.
If you like watching the drama unfold on #Bookthreads — or just want to understand what everyone is sub-threading about — read the latest edition of Lady Whistlethreads.
Don’t trust everyone offering services on social media. Writer Beware reports on one incident of scam services on Instagram, including screenshots.
For most of the 2000s, two cities were considered hipster havens: Portland, Oregon, and Austin, Texas. Today, Austin isn’t as “weird” these days as people hoped it would stay. Read about it on LitHub.
Publishing has gotten more diverse…ish. The Inclusive Books for Children Excluded Voices report found more than half of children’s books published in the last decade with a minority character were by white authors and illustrators. #OwnVoices rep continues to be dismal.
Every week, Book Marks rounds up the best book reviews on the internet. This week’s includes (of course) one for Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo, Kathleen Alcott’s Emergency, and Malcolm Gladwell’s Revenge of the Tipping Point.
recommendations
n o w r e a d i n g
Like many, I, too, read Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo. Reader, I probably enjoyed it more than any other Rooney I’ve read so far. To be fair, I am grappling with themes in the novel (grief of a father figure + what to do with those feelings), so it was easy for me to connect with the main characters.
Rooney’s style, though, isn’t for everyone. Intermezzo is a very good audiobook to listen to if you want to read but feel intimidated by the long paragraphs and no quotations to signify dialogue.
I also revisited Writing Down the Bones and Bird by Bird as a reminder of how to be a writer. After almost two years of working almost exclusively in listicles, I needed to get back down to the earth of voice and what it can and should be.
p o d c a s t s
If you’re stuck on what to listen to, try one of the many podcasts I’m subscribed to that have new episodes coming out:
Culture, News, Politics, History
Books, Movies, Writing
True Crime
