Hello from the Writing Attic!

Or maybe not the writing attic at the moment because it’s freakin’ hot up there. Which is okay, because it’s summer and things tend to slow up in summer, especially in publishing.

With that said, you may see some changes to this newsletter going forward! Still noodling around and trying to see how things are shaking out, and in full honesty it’s a bit *taxing* to do a submission story, a writers ask, a resource, and pub news twice a month. (I’ve always been an overachiever.)

So moving forward, you’ll likely see these broken up across the two monthly newsletters — the first newsletter featuring a Writers Ask and the second featuring the rest, or vice versa.

Anywho… Let’s slow down. Enjoy a pool or a beach if you can find one. And let’s gossip.

Submission Success Story — “Yankee,” for Pithead Chapel

Whew, this one went through the ringer. I originally wrote this one in hopes of getting it on the Modern Love column for the NY Times, because why the hell not? Spoiler: It did not get picked up there. But that’s okay. Because I loved the essay.

Modern Love requires a shorter word count so the original essay felt crunched. I tried pitching it to a few other places, but it’s so specific to a Modern Love feel that it was hard to find a good place for it. I did pitch it to Texas Highways, believe it or not, which actually got my foot in the door with them! The editor loved my writing, and even though he couldn’t take this essay, he was open to more. And more I sent (and published.)

Once I sent it to my crit group for feedback, it was clear that it needed a little more room to move. So I expanded it and began submitting it to journals. After some time, it found a home with Pithead.

Here are the details:

Total time spent on submission: 1 year, 8 days (though majority of this was waiting to hear from Modern Love)

Response time from Pithead Chapel: 33 days.
Total rejections received before an acceptance: 13
Pay: Zero.

Read it here.

Writers Ask: Should I be on social media?

From Kate:

Does social media presence matter when pitching, both personal essay and novels? Personally, it's not good for my mental health and I haven't used it much in the past year +. I've never been on Twitter. Does this matter? Do agents/editors care if you have a social media presence and/or following? I feel like I hear conflicting answers on this all the time and I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Dear Kate,

I always love to lead with short answers and the short answer is: No, you don’t need a social media presence to pitch or publish your writing. You just need to be a good writer.

Read the rest of my answer here. (And trust me, you’ll want to read this one.)

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(Do you have a writing question? Email me at lisa@allthingswords.com and I may feature it in an upcoming newsletter.)

Must-Have Resource: Jane Friedman

If you’re going to try your hand at publishing, you NEED to be familiar with Jane Friedman. Jane has been a publishing professional since the mid-90s an her expertise and advice is always spot on. If I’m not sure about a publishing question, I always double check Jane’s blog where I can nearly guarantee it’s been addressed and answered.

She also wrote The Business of Being a Writer which is a fantastic book containing all the things you need to know about the business side of publishing that you won’t get in writing class.

And she writes The Hot Sheet, a fantastic newsletter for publishing professionals. The Hot Sheet subscription does come with an annual cost. If you want to dip your feet in for free, try her other newsletter, Electric Speed.

News of the Pub World

Super congratulations to writing friends, Ryne Walker, Thomas Hrycyk, and Yurina Yoshikawa, on their inclusion in The Porch’s brand new anthology, Reckoning: Tennessee Writers on 2020. You can pre-order your copy here.

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Writer friend, Bill Melville, has a resource to share with the group: The Inkubator Conference, July 11-25. Bill says, “I subscribe to Literary Cleveland, and these sessions are virtual and free, so I wanted to pass it on. I'm going to do a few of them. Nothing could keep me away from a session with Viet Thanh Nguyen.” I agree!

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Do you have some good news? Email me at lisa@allthingswords.com. I love to hear it!

So long, farewell!

(Psst… Like what you read in this newsletter? Toss a tip in the virtual tip jar. Venmo: @lisabubert)