Hello from the Writing Attic!

Welcome to the first ever issue of the All Things Words newsletter!

I’m planning to have these in your inbox on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month. If you would like to contribute a win, submission success story, ask a writing question, or report a new must-have resource, please email me!

Also, if you’d like to get a quote for services but aren’t sure how to ask, I added a handy dandy “Get Started” page where you can fill out a simple request form and I’ll be in touch. Don’t be shy now!

Let’s gossip.

Submission Success Story — “Save St. Marks” in The Rumpus

I love this piece so much. I say that about all my pieces, but this one is extra special. This one was my first true, longer form creative nonfiction featuring intimate portraits of my family, specifically my mother, at a difficult time. Getting this story right, with the right publisher, was essential. Placing it with The Rumpus was such a thrill—and a bit of a surprise, as this piece is longer than what The Rumpus generally accepts.

Here are the details:

Total time spent on submission (i.e., how long it took from very first submission to acceptance): 280 days
Response time from The Rumpus: 68 days
Total rejections received before an acceptance: 13
Pay: Honorarium (less than $50). But I regularly use this as a clip when pitching new outlets.
* Special note: As mentioned, this piece as originally submitted was about 2,000 words longer than what The Rumpus guidelines stated. However, I followed one of their editors on Twitter who tweeted a request for hyper-local reported essays dealing with politics or healthcare. This fit the bill exactly. So I reached out to the managing editor and asked if they would be willing to read a longer piece. She said yes, I submitted it, and 68 days later I had an acceptance.

Read the piece here.

Writers Ask: “How can I find a writing group?”

Behind every great writer, there is a writing group.

No matter how talented the writer is, how confident their writing sounds, how they seem to have been born with all the good words ready to go—I promise you, they have at least one person, if not a whole group of people, they rely on for feedback on their work before it ever gets to an editor’s inbox. Look at the acknowledgements of their books; all those people they’re thanking that aren’t editors, agents, or family members? Yep. Writing group.

Read the rest here.

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

Must-Have Resource: Print Run Podcast

I am a sucker for a good podcast. Truly, it’s a somewhat unhealthy obsession. A publishing podcast? Plug it directly into my ears and let me binge morning, noon, and night.

Print Run podcast is run by literary agents Laura Zats and Erik Hane of Headwater Literary. Each week, they talk about new issues in publishing, the latest scandals and controversies, and answer a “To Loon It May Concern” question about publishing, querying, and submissions. Best part? They don’t pull punches. So if you want a frank and honest conversation about the good, the bad, and the ugly of publishing—or you just need a crash course on whatever the latest gossip is—this podcast is your go-to.

Find it here.

Wins!

I’m still buzzing over this good news I saw last month in Publisher’s Lunch:

“As part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, passed by Congress on March 10, libraries now qualify for billions of dollars of COVID relief funding. Included in the bill is $200 million for The Institute of Museum and Library Services, which will go to state library administrative agencies, and eventually be distributed to local libraries. The ALA reports that the funds are to be used for ‘offering greater access to technology,’ ‘purchasing hotspots, computers and digital content;’ ‘enhancing workforce development and jobseeker programing;’ and more.”

So let’s raise a glass to libraries everywhere. ::clink::

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

That’s all, folks.

As my good friend Andy says, “Keep ‘er straight, and we’ll see you when you get back.”

Psst… Do you love this newsletter? Say thank you with a tip!
Venmo: @lisabubert