I never posted about how one of my favorite literary magazines, Crossed Genre, closed its doors… and I probably should have. **sniff**
One of the reasons why I loved Crossed Genres was because it delivered a different theme every month.
That’s great for readers, ensuring a diversity of stories and content — and great for writers, too.
As a writer, it pushed me to come up with new stories, tackling themes I may not have otherwise, but most importantly it was great incentive to write.
Even if I got a rejection, it meant I had more stories to send out and was pushing my boundaries as a writer.
Anthologies fit a very similar niche. When I see a submission call, I think about what they’re looking for… and, if I’m into it, I write.
For an aspiring writer, the easiest way to fail is to not write, and there’s no better way to ensure you write than having submission calls you’re aiming for — and the deadlines that come with them — on your calendar.
So… if you’re an aspiring author, take a look at what anthologies or themed issues are out there and consider it a writing prompt, or a call to action.
Don’t know where to look? Here’s a few places:
- For Sci Fi, Fantasy and Horror, Horror Tree is very good at posting updates for upcoming anthologies.
- The Submission Grinder is very useful, both its Recently Added Markets tab and by checking out Recent Activity. As a bonus, The Grinder covers all genres, including literary.
- Then there’s always the #SubmissionCall hashtag on Twitter.
ryan p adams 