no. 2
note: this was delivered to subscribers on 13 October. to sign up, visit the homepage or click here.
hi there.
Welcome back (or welcome to) this literary life. Thanks for being here for the second edition. I am sure this newsletter will evolve as I do and as my clients' needs do, so if there is anything you’d like me to look into and include here every week, don’t hesitate to ask.
Speaking of needs, there are quite a few fun paid writing opportunities, including a call for pitches about quirky internet history for BBC. There’s even a section in the paid opportunities dedicated to places looking for full-time, part-time, or steady contributors.
Plus, I started a resource list for novelists and freelancers.
Again, if there’s anything you think I should include on the list (in the newsletter), whether it’s a topic you want to know more about or a site you think should be there, let me know. You can reply right to this newsletter.
Have a great week. See you next Sunday.
— Cole
calls for pitches,
jobs for writers/editors,
& paid writing opportunities
c a l l s f o r p i t c h e s
Thomas Germain is looking for internet history stories for the BBC and tech pieces in general. Think nostalgia, community history, surprising stories, etc. Pay: around $0.57 per word.
Stephanie Pitera Statile is looking for essays about moving for Business Insider. “Did you move to a new city and love it? Hate it? Did you move to a different state or country and experience major culture shock? Rates start at $230 for 700 words.” DM on Twitter/X to pitch.
Paige is also looking for pitches for Business Insider. She wants “more home renovation/upgrade stories. Recently redo your home and wish you’d done it differently? Is there one upgrade you still regret years later? Any surprising home-reno wins?” Pay is approx $230 for 660 words. Submit your stories here.
Alexandra Pollard is now a Culture Editor at iNews. E-mail "fresh and interesting pitches" that would be a good fit to alexandra.pollard@inews.co.uk.
Emily Bootle is also a new Culture Editor at iNews looking for pitches for culture features and reviews. Be sure to include samples with your pitch, if possible. E-mail emily.bootle@inews.co.uk.
Dirt is looking for music and tech features. The rates are $0.50 per word, negotiable for reported pieces, and Q&As are paid at $0.30 per word. Send pitches to their contributing editor, Walden Green, at walden@dirt.fyi.
p a i d c r e a t i v e o p p o r t u n i t i e s
The Paris Review is open for unsolicited fiction and poetry submissions during October.
Writers Digest’s annual Personal Essay Contest submission window closes October 15. First place receives $2,500.
Phoebe Journal closes submissions on October 15. Accepts poetry, fiction, essays, and visual art. Reading Fee: $3, Pay $30.
Poets can submit their work to PoetLore by November 30. Accepted poems are paid $50.
AuthorsPublish put together a list of 30 literary magazines with themed submission calls right now that pay for poetry, fiction, essays, and/or visual art.
w r i t i n g + e d i t i n g j o b s
Lit Charts is looking for freelancers writers to expand their collection of 1500+ literary guides. Note: Samples should be academic papers that demonstrate your ability to analyze literature with insight and clarity. They will only consider applications that include academic papers focused on literature.
Literary Agent Carly Watters of PS Literary Agency (and co-host of The Shit No One Tells You About Writing) is looking for a remote assistant. 80 hours a month at $23/hr.
Inked Mag is looking for freelance writers. Pay is 30 to 40 cents per word. Please send your resume, cover letter, and link to your online portfolio to editor@inkedmag.com.
REI is looking for a remote copywriter. Pay is $24.38 - $36.59 per hour.
Stride Health is looking for a remote copywriter and content strategist. The pay range is $113 - 136K USD annually + equity.
SideRamp is looking for a remote content specialist with “proven experience in content creation, copywriting, or a related field, with a portfolio that demonstrates your creativity and versatility.” Pay is approx 75k.
GoBankingRates is looking for a remote weekend editor ready and able to work in a fast-paced, high-volume environment (think: editing 6-8 articles a day). Pay is $70-$80k, DOE.
Blavity is looking to fill a number of remote roles including web story creator, part-time social media producer, SEO content specialist, content syndication writer, and copy editor.
Afrotech is looking for contributors. Pay: $140 per article.
writing
+ marketing tips
c r a f t
When we're writing, Lincoln Michel urges us to take the Angela Carter approach. If you're too flowery and use big words? So fucking what. That's what editors are for.
If you’re planning on writing gothic fiction and don’t know where to start, Hannah Kate Kelly broke down the best way to outline your gothic novel on Jane Friedman’s blog.
The key to writing compelling characters who stay with readers long after they put the book down is to give them strong motivations, conflicts, and goals. Sarah (Sally) Hammer explains why the “why” is so important for Writers in the Storm.
It's possible to write menacing characters without including physical violence. For Writer Unboxed, David Corbett uses Claire Keegan’s short story Small Things Like These as a masterclass on how to instill fear without blood and gore.
Dancing and choreography overlap more with writing than you’d think for such an outwardly stationary act. Yet for Shelley Noble, a dancer turned writer, her career as a dancer has only informed and strengthened her writing. She shares what she’s learned about “rhythm, conveying emotion, and commanding the stage in life and literature” on LitHub.
Last month, Linda Gilden gave insight into how writers can better read the magazines they want to write for on The Write Conversation.
m a r k e t i n g + b r a n d i n g
On Adweek, three creators share how they got brands to “back their content.” The best practice is to take an organic, niche approach to your work; things will come from that.
Are you starting marketing but stuck on how to begin? Jessica Kent of Kent Lit breaks down six easy steps to help point you in the right direction.
Tip: Make a playlist on Spotify with all of the podcast episodes you've been a guest on.
agent updates,
contests,
& new MSWL alerts
Caution: Do your own vetting of each literary agent and/or contest before submitting.
The next QuestPit is November 3. This is a writers-hyping-fellow-writers event, with writers sharing their current WIPS, whether they’re publishing-ready or not.
Round Table Mentor is taking mentor applications until October 15.
Kimberly Fernando of Olswanger Literary will reopen to queries on October 15 for "a very short period, depending on how many queries I get."
Laura Bennett of Liverpool Literary Agency is re-opening to queries on Nov 1. On Threads, she said: "I prefer folk horror and the edge of dark fantasy, and I’m not the one to send slasher or thriller leaning stuff to. I like folk horror & supernatural, slow burn, creepy, psychological stuff. Also looking for horror romance."
Hillary Fazarri of Bradford Literary Agency has re-opened to queries for kid lit, YA, NA, and select commercial adult titles, especially if they have a hook for Gen Z/millennial readers. Read her MSWL.
Ariell Cacciola, editor at Wild Hunt Books, is building her 2026 publishing list and has updated her MSWL. She is open to agented submissions year-round but will open to un-agented, unsolicited queries in 2025.
Jessica Berg of Rosecliff Literary will re-open to queries on October 17 and has updated her spooky season MSWL.
industry news
& interesting reads
Merriam-Webster has now officially defined “burrata,” “street corn,” and more common food terms.
This week, it’s a good time to revisit John William Walker Zeiser’s "The Unsettling Gaze of Han Kang" from Electric Literary. Kang was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for Literature for her “intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.” Also, her books sold out in South Korea after her win.
On LitHub this week, Steve Wasserman digs into the idea of a “writer’s space” as a place to create and be inspired by other creators. Do the spaces where our favorite writers created their best works have old lingering energy that can pass to us?
Get in, loser; we're going to the bookstore. Browsing physical books instead of clicking through what the algorithm or BookTok suggests is becoming all the rage. Read more about how bookstores are cool again on The Guardian’s website.
What started as a small niche project has grown into a book club with more than 30,000 members, subgroups, meet-ups in the cities with the most members, and more. Read about the BadBitchBookClub (BBBC) on Forbes.
The MetGala is going literary again next year with their theme — “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” a reference to Barnard professor Monica L. Miller’s 2009 book Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity. The exhibition will be built around Zora Neale Hurston's essay, The Characteristics of Negro Expression, which you can read on LitHub.
recommendations
b o o k s
I’ve been revisiting all of my favorite thriller and crime writers as I dig deeper into my own new book project. If you’re into mysteries and haven’t yet, read anything by Tana French, especially her Dublin Murder Squad series.
Or, if you need a mystery during the autumn, pick up The Maidens by Alex Michaelides. Lousie Breely (aka Molly Hooper on BBC’s Sherlock) does the audiobook, and it’s an amazing performance. Plus, Michaelides is another masterful storyteller and world-builder.
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
