Wanted: Book length nonfiction, short nonfiction, feminist horror, and writing about DIY projects

Pottersfield Press offers an annual prize for creative nonfiction. Writers are invited to submit a manuscript of 30,000 to 150,000 words in any of the following categories: history, memoir, autobiography, biography, literary journalism, political or social commentary, travel writing or virtually any existing or new category that uses the nonfiction medium to tell a story or put forward an idea. 

The First Prize winner will receive a contract for the publication of their book along with a $1,000 advance on 10% royalty for all sales. The Second Prize winner will also see the publication of their book and a $800 advance on 10% royalties. 

Entry fee is $25 

Many readers of Quick Brown Fox will be familiar with Jennifer M. Smith’s Green Ghost, Blue Ocean, (see here) which won the prize back in 2019 – either from hearing Jennifer as a guest speaker at one of our Personal Stories classes or, before that, from being in a class with her.

Deadline is April 30, 2024. Full submission guidelines here. 

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Note: We still have room in our upcoming online Personal Stories and Other Nonfiction course starting April 15 (see here) and in our Welcome to Creative Writing course starting April 15 online and in-person in Burlington on April 18 (see here).

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The Last Girl’s Club is a quarterly feminist horror magazine tat publishes international short stories and poems from the female gaze. Accepts fiction (maximum 2,500 words); flash fiction (less than 1,000 words); and poetry – no more than three at a time (maximum 200 words). 

Pays 15 cents US per word for fiction; $10 US for poems.

Also publishes nonfiction pieces, but you need to pitch your idea to the editor first at: lastgirlsclub@gmail.com

The theme for the summer issue is Fire Season. “The world is on fire, environmentally and politically. On the US West coast we have rains of ash in the fall from all the forest fires. The Canadian border was plagued with smoke pollution from raging fires. It’s a thing now. Your characters can be fleeing a fire, starting one, or surviving one. Take it where you want.”

Submission period for summer issue: April 1 – May 1

Further submission periods: 1 – Aug 1; Oct 1 – Nov 1; Jan 1 – Feb 1.

Full submission guidelines here.

Nonfiction animal story: My dogs, PawPaw, Marcus & their mom Gemma ~Brian

The Preservation Foundation is “dedicated to preserving extraordinary stories of ‘ordinary’ people.” They accept short stories at any time (guidelines here) and also run regular themed contests with cash prizes – and no submission fee.

Current contest: Non-fictional Animal Stories

This is an international contest for “unpublished writers” (meaning writers who have never earned more than $250 US from their writing in a calendar year

“Stories should be factual and true accounts of an encounter or encounters by the author with a wild animal or animals. These include, but are not limited to, birds, fish, butterflies, snails, lions, bears, turtles, wombats, etc., as long as it is not a pet.”

Entries should be 1,000–5,000 words. They want all entries, regardless of whether or not they win, to be on their website as long as the Foundation exists.

First prize: $200 US; Second prize: $100 US

Deadline: 30 April 2024. Contest details here.

The Foundation is also running three other nonfiction contests, all currently open for submissions and all with the same general rules:

General nonfiction – deadline June 30, 2024

Biographical Nonfiction Contest – deadline August 31, 2024

Travel Nonfiction Contest – deadline October 30, 2024

Details for all contests here.

The Broken City is published semi-annually out of Toronto. It features poetry, fiction, essays, comics, illustrations, photography, and music and book reviews. It’s primarily a venue for new writers and doesn’t pay. Maximum length for prose pieces: 3,000 words.  

The Broken City is currently accepting submissions for its summer 2024 edition: DIY.

“That's right, readers, it's a Do It Yourself issue. No, you don't need to make the magazine for us – we want to hear about crafts, construction, repairs, destruction, recipes, art and inventions (time machines included, working or not).”

Send your poetry, fiction, essays, illustrations and photography to: thebrokencitymag@yahoo.com

Deadline: June 1, 2024. Full submission guidelines here.

 

Quick Brown Fox welcomes your short stories, poems, and essays about reading, writing, favourite books, and libraries. Read a few pieces on the blog to get a taste of what other writers have done. See here and scroll down.

Quick Brown Fox also welcomes book reviews and reviews of any kind and of anything, anywhere or anybody. If you want to review your favourite coffee shops or libraries, babysitters or lovers (no real names please), go for it. See examples of book reviews here {and scroll down).

Submit to: brianhenry@sympatico.ca

Include a short bio at the end of your piece and attach a photo of yourself.

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See information about all our upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and weekend retreats here.

Note: You can now get new postings on Quick Brown Fox delivered straight to your Inbox as I publish them. Subscribe to the new Quick Brown Fox page on Substack here:  https://brian999.substack.com/

Also, you can get an email about twice a month about what’s coming up in terms of writing classes, workshops, and retreats, plus providing links to the other material on the Quick Brown Fox blog. For that, add your name and email in the Sign-Up box at the top of the righthand column. ~Brian