Writing and Getting Published: Editor Claudia Sternbach speaks to LCW about Memoir Journal

Here's a long overdue post from a talk in September by Claudia Sternbach, Editor in Chief at Memoir Journal. The guest speaker at Left Coast Writers, a monthly literary salon hosted by Book Passage bookstore in Marin, Sternbach was a columnist and feature writer for 15 years before she became an editor at the literary journal.

Learning the ropes in her new position at age 59, she says overseeing the journal, formerly called Memoir (and), felt like having a second child: 'Is it getting out of control? Is it behaving?' she'd wonder as she lay awake at night, worrying.

Memoir: Prose, Poetry, Photography and More... publishes both established and emerging writers twice a year, but Sternbach's goal is to double that number. The journal now receives 6,000 submissions a year (!) with room for only 12 in what she calls a "slim collection." Publishing monthly would be ideal, she says, but they'd need enough subscriptions to defray the cost. So, subscribe! (Recent past issues included interviews with renowned writers Cheryl Strayed and Pam Houston -- both whom I've blogged about.)

The author of Now Breathe and Reading Lips: A Memoir of Kisses, Sternbach takes issue with those who claim that although you may have a story, it may not be worth writing.

Based on the belief that "everyone has a story to tell," the journal hosts the (In)Visible Memoirs Project, a grant-funded program of workshops in the SF Bay Area that, according to the website:

nurtures, publishes, and circulates memoirs that are too often excluded from dominant literary discourses. Our focus is on communities traditionally underserved by literary programming and underrepresented in contemporary literature. We recognize that the exclusion of so many voices from literary programming limits our understanding of the world in which we live and deprives us all.

Here's an excerpt from one participant, which I just love (for its irony and economical language):

"But I have one big problem: Language. I only said, "Good morning" and, "Good bye," but he gave me the job. Janitor, you know, easy job, sweep and mop."

- Eduardo Riviera

The Fortune Society, Long Island City, NY (Volume 6: I Carry With Me)

Memoir Journal's submission period is open now until noon on Feb. 16. Unlike most literary journals with an online submissions manager, there is no reading fee. Considering your stiff competition, make sure your subject matter - and style -- is original.

Sternbach says they're inundated with essays about cancer, bad breakups and being on the brink of a nervous breakdown -- and some submissions treat an editor like a sounding board or a therapist.

"It isn't always about chasing the publication dream, but getting it down on paper," she says, acknowledging that the act of writing can no doubt be cathartic.

Keep in mind that if your writing still expresses "a lot of angst," your work may not be ready for publication. If unsure, you can get a critique of your writing for a reasonable fee (ranging from $30-100 for 1,000-10,000 words of prose and $50-100 for 5-10 pages of poetry).

Contests and Calls for Submissions: poets, memoirists, children's writers, humorists, novelists & feminists

Gemini Magazine Poetry Open

A competition with absolutely no restrictions on content, length or type of poetry. Grand prize is $1,000. Second and third place win $100 and $50, and there will also be three honorable mentions. All six finalists will be published in the February 2011 issue of Gemini.
 
Entry fee: $5 for up to three poems.

Deadline: December 31, 2010

Full details at www.gemini-magazine.com/poetryopen.html

Memoir (and)

Prizes for Memoir in Prose or Poetry are awarded to the most outstanding prose or poetry memoirs—traditional, nontraditional or experimental—drawn from the reading period.

Our next submission period—for works eligible for Issue 9 Prizes and publication—will open at noon Pacific time, November 1, 2010 and close at noon Pacific time, February 16, 2011. Snail mail submissions must be postmarked no later than February 16, 2011 in order to be considered.

Prose or Poetry

• Grand Prize $500 cash award & publication
• Second Prize $250 cash award & publication
• Third Prize $100 cash award & publication

Graphic Memoir

• Prize $100 cash award & publication

Photography 

·     Prize $100 & publication

CONTEST RULES

• There is no contest entry fee.
• All submissions are automatically entered in the Contest.
• Submissions not chosen as Contest winners are still eligible for publication.

For more information, please read submission guidelines and contest details.

CHIRP MAGAZINE; CHICKADEE MAGAZINE; OWL MAGAZINE

Canadian children's magazine for pre-school ages. Designed to show relationships between words and pictures. Puzzles, games, stories and crafts are published to help prepare kids for reading. Pays up to 60 cents/word.

http://owlkids.com/general/contact.html

MAD magazine

Pay: $500+
We're actively looking to expand our pool of freelance comedy writers and there's more opportunity to join The Usual Gang Of Idiots than ever. If you have a twisted sense of humor, a peculiar way of looking at the world, or are simply eager to express your immature, strange or just plain silly side, then we want to see your stuff!
http://www.dccomics.com/mad/?action=submissions

SCN ANNUAL NOVEL PITCH & FIRST 5 PAGES CONTEST

ENTRY FEE - $8.50
DEADLINE - Postmarked or Emailed by November 15, 2010
First prize - $150. Second prize - $75. Third prize - $40. 6

Email/Snail Mail:
1. First 5 pages of a novel, 1,500 words max.
2. One-sentence synopsis of the novel, 25 words or less. (Novel does not have to be complete.) Entry pages not published. Authors keep all rights. Feedback posted on website. Please see website for complete rules.
http://www.janicewiley-dorn.com/smokecitynarrators.html

Money for Women Grants

$20 Application fee

Offers grants of up to $1,500 to poets, fiction and nonfiction writers, visual artists, and for a mixed- genre category (illustration and text) to feminist women in the arts. Two deadlines each year:

December 31 (art and fiction) and June 30 (nonfiction and poetry). Fund does not maintain an email, phone, or website. To request application materials, write to the postal address and be sure to include a SASE.

Susan Pliner, Executive Director 

Money for Women/Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, Inc. 

P.O. Box 309 

Wilton, NH 03086