​submission opportunities ✤​  resources for writers & readers
all ages, genres  ✤  in no particular order 

general good stuff for writers of any ilk

NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month!!
  • FREE (nonprofit, donations gladly accepted) online tool offering community support, accountability & resources for writing a novel (50,000 words) every November.
Camp NaNoWriMo - NaNoWriMo for April and July!
  • FREE - two more opportunities for novel-writing accountability.
Duotrope - Online data base for submission opportunities!
  • Subscription-based searchable data base for literary journals, presses, agents, contests and more. Also keeps track of all your submissions (so no need for a spreadsheet or personal tracking tool). $5 month/$50 year - I've used it since I started submitting in 2013 and can easily refer back to all my subs over time.
Poets & Writers Magazine
  • The online version of this great magazine has loads of writers resources (FREE). Searchable lists of submission opportunities, agents, contests, presses, promotional opportunities, and lots of useful articles. The online databases have some features Duotrope doesn't (and vice versa), so it can be helpful to consult both. Also a good one to subscribe to!
Submittable
  • FREE for writers - A searchable online resource for submission opportunities for creatives of all sorts. (Lit journals - and other businesses - pay to use this platform to receive, track and sort submissions.) Also tracks your submissions over time, but only for journals that subscribe to this service (which is quite a few).
​Amherst Writers & Artists (AWA)
  • The AWA promotes the use of a free-writing and workshopping method that builds community, is free of judgement and inclusive for writers of all backgrounds and levels (motto: a writer is someone who writes). Great source for prompts. Trained AWA affiliates offer workshops at locations around the world, and remotely. (I have found the method and writing with others freeing and inspiring, in terms of fluidity, sense of community and more.)
Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP)
  • AWP provides community, submission & other opportunities, news and advocacy for writers and writing programs. Academic focus with information about and from MFA and other graduate-level writing programs. Monthly magazine (useful) - huge annual conference (over-whelming IMO).
California Writers Club
  • A resource for writers in all genres, and at all levels (California writers, visit their website to locate a branch near you).
Story Circle
  • ​A member organization for women writers; offers classes, writing groups, submission opportunities and an annual book award.
List of 50 Websites  (source: Cultured Vultures)
  • All genres and a wide range of voices/topics. Some I'm familiar with, but not all.

​​sacramento area writerly resources

Stories on Stage Sacramento
  • Sacramento’s award-winning, non-profit (donation supported) literary performance series, featuring the work of today's best authors performed with theatrical flair (currently via Zoom). Visit their website for information on submissions, and other opportunities. ​
916 Ink Adult Write Nights (FREE)
  • Though this is a youth literacy program, ​916 Ink workshop leaders facilitate monthly "write nights" using the AWA method - currently via Zoom (thus accessible to those beyond the Sacramento area) due to the pandemic. Every third Wednesday.
Sacramento Poetry Center
  • A local literary resource since 1979, hosting workshops, readings, open mic nights, also publications and contests, for area poets (and poets anywhere with much of the content now offered virtually).
Meet-up - Sacramento-Area
  • Multiple listings for critique groups, classes and clubs for writers in the Sacramento area.
​CA Writers Club, Sacramento Branch
  • A resource for area writers in all genres, and at all levels. Monthly meetings (currently via Zoom) connect writers with speakers and programs on many aspects of writing, editing, publishing and book promotion. Also a way to find a critique group/writing partners. 
Los Rios Community College District
  • Four local colleges offering low-cost creative writing courses in multiple genres, including a class that staffs the college's literary journal. I am most familiar with American River College and their journal the American River Review, and Sacramento City College and their journal Susurrus. If you are looking for assignments, deadlines, resources and community - in poetry, nonfiction or fiction - the community colleges are a great starting point for writers new to the local writing scene.
Performance venues​

favorite journals/magazines ✤
CREATIVE NONFICTION/MEMOIR

Creative Nonfiction
  • A magazine, online classes, books and more - with the motto "true stories, well told." A great resource for CNF writers, and a publication to aspire to be one day be published in. Well-worth the subscription.
​Under the Gum Tree
  • A literary arts magazine publishing creative nonfiction and visual art - sharing true stories without shame - based in Sacramento! Visit their website to subscribe and for information on submission opportunities.
Brevity - A Journal of Concise Literary Nonfiction
  • Publishes well-known and emerging writers working in the extremely brief essay form (750 words or less), along with craft essays and book reviews.
Brevity's Nonfiction Blog
  • Publishes daily essays, reviews and other content related to the craft and practice of creative nonfiction (1000 words or less).
Hippocampus Magazine
  • An online publication set out to entertain, educate and engage writers and readers of creative nonfiction. Also has a books division and an annual writing conference.
Memoir Magazine
  • An annual print and online literary publication, focusing on memoir. Features artwork, essays, interviews and book reviews. 
Under the Sun
  • Open reading period runs September 1 – January 2. Interested in "excellent" creative nonfiction that has not been published elsewhere, online or in print. Annual contest.
Longridge Review
  • An evolution of the Essays on Childhood project. The Review publishes essays on the mysteries of childhood experience, the wonder of adult reflection, and how the two connect over a lifespan. Three reading periods throughout the year.
​The Sun Magazine
  • Readers Write section publishes letters on particular topics each month; only nonfiction. Check their website for the topics. 
FLASH
Smokelong Quarterly
  • Publishes flash narratives up to 1000 words. No poetry. Considers essays on craft and teaching flash for the blog.
Brevity Magazine and Brevity Blog
  • See listing under nonfiction above.​

ALL GENRE

The Sun Magazine
  • An independent, ad-free magazine that for more than forty years has used words and photographs to evoke the splendor and heartache of being human. Personal essays, short stories, interviews, poetry, and photographs.
Literary Mama
  • Features writing about the complexities of motherhood,  with a broad understanding of motherhood as experienced through multiple lenses and bodies. Publishes fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction from self-identified mothers, also book reviews, profiles of mother writers and artists, guest blog posts, and original photography to complement content.
The Rumpus 
  • Eclectic, timely journal publishing fiction, essays, poetry, reviews, interviews and several regular features such as the Sunday essay, and Enough, for essays, poetry, fiction, comics, and artwork by women and non-binary people that engage with rape culture, sexual assault, and domestic violence. Check the website for submission windows.​

submission listings

  • Literary Mama blog - monthly compilation of submission opportunities (many general submission calls plus highlighted calls for submissions related to mothering).
  • Mslexia - sign up for this UK literary magazine's monthly newsletter for information on submission opportunities and other opportunities (many of the submission opportunities are not limited to women
  • Ranking of Literary Nonfiction Markets
    Based on # of Best American Essays won. From The New Yorker (with 50), to many with five or fewer awards each.​
  • Where to Submit Flash Nonfiction
    ​Compiled by Brevity, note that many literary journals consider short prose whether they advertise that fact or not. 
  • Ranking of top 100 literary journals/magazines
    Based on # of Best American Short Story Awards won. From The New Yorker (with 283) to many with five or fewer wins each.

resources for parents/young writers

916 Ink
  • Sacramento’s arts-based creative writing nonprofit that provides workshops for Sacramento area youth, grades 3-12, in order to transform them into confident writers and published authors. Our workshops increase literacy skills, improve vocabulary, teach empathy, positively impact social and emotional learning, and expand communication skills. (178 anthologies printed since 2010!). 
Ink at Home & Ink TV
  • In response to Covid 19, these programs deliver 916 Ink's prompts, workshops and resources electronically, to children in their homes and schools.
NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program - NaNoWriMo for kids!
  • FREE (nonprofit) - writing support, groups, accountability and challenges, prompts and story generators for kids and teachers. ​​
Illustoria Magazine (a collaboration with McSweeney's) 
  • High-quality print publication for creative kids & their grownups to slow down and enjoy stories, art, and activities. 
Skipping Stones
  • Nonprofit, founded in 1988, Skipping Stones is an award-winning resource in multicultural and global education. Skipping Stones welcomes art and original writings in every language and from all ages.
Lunch Ticket/School Lunch
  • School Lunch is a curated bi-weekly Lunch Ticket feature offering fiction, poetry, flash prose, personal essay, YA, and creative nonfiction, from writers ranging from ages 13-17. 
One Teen Story
  • ​Quarterly literary magazine (affiliated with award-winning journal One Story), features the work of today’s best teen writers (ages 13-19). 
Stone Soup
  • Literary magazine (established in 1973) and website, 100% written and illustrated by kids through age 13. Monthly flash contest.
Blue Marble Review
  • Quarterly online literary journal showcasing the creative work of young writers ages 13-22. Poetry, fiction, personal essays, travel stories, and opinion pieces, as well as art and photography.
Girls Right the World
  • ​​International literary journal advocating for young (14-21), female-identified writers and artists, and promoting diversity of culture and expression. The editors are students at Miss Hall’s School in Massachusetts.

sundry powerpoint presentations (mine)

​questions I tend to google, then forget

prompts, esoterica

conferences, workshops

sundry writerly blog posts (mine)

Always consult journal/magazine websites for full submission guidelines - and follow them! ​
​
Listings reflect my personal experience and are certainly not inclusive

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