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Congratulations to WA Journal contributor Steve Bernstein for getting his self-published memoir, STORIES FROM THE STOOP, picked up by a commercial press. Steve’s success in getting picked up by Sky Horse Publishing is proof that hard work and savvy pay off.

New flash memoir

We are pleased to announce a new flash memoir by D. Dina Friedman.

New flash fiction

We have just published a new work of flash fiction by Steve Bernstein.

New flash memoir

We have added a new flash memoir, a prose poem by D. K. McCutchen.

We received the following announcement from Daisy’s husband and daughter about her final show, which will be broadcast today.

Dearest family and friends,

It is with a bittersweet mix of feelings that we’d like to announce the FINAL, ONE-HOUR long show of Daisy’s radio program, “Poetry à la Carte” on Monday, October 12th from 5:00 – 6:00pm (EDT)
Poetry à la Carte has run for well over 600 shows now, since 2006! And, while Daisy would have liked to record a final show herself, we think she’d be pretty happy with what we’ve put together – an entire show of Daisy reading her own poetry (gathered from many years of the Poetry à la Carte archives). The first half of the show will be a revisit of Daisy’s 600th show, and the second half will be some additional poems and reminiscences of Daisy’s.  
So please join us this coming Monday, Oct 12th from 5:00 – 6:00pm for this ONE HOUR show. *
PLEASE NOTE: This show is going out on broadcast radio, so it won’t be available for delayed listening later. Please join us at 5:00pm EST!

How To Listen:
– If you live in the Western MA listening area, you can tune your radio dial to the UMass radio station (WMUA 91.1). 
– Or if you’re listening from farther away, you can listen on the UMass website at: https://www.umass.edu/wmua/

– If you want to listen from your smartphone, you can also download the free TuneIn app and search for “WMUA” within the app to stream it live:
iPhone:https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tunein-radio-news-podcasts/id418987775
Android:https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tunein.player&hl=en_US&gl=US

We hope you can tune in for this special final episode on Monday! And thanks for listening to Poetry à la Carte for all these years. 
With love, Anne & Bob

Journal submissions

WriteAngles Journal Writer’s Guidelines

Thank you for submitting to WriteAngles Journal! We accept flash fiction and flash memoir (narrative slice of life) up to 500 words from writers who have registered for events sponsored by WriteAngles, Inc.

Here are some things we look for in your piece.

1. Carefully polished and proofread work.

2. A beginning that hooks the reader.

3. Strong verbs and vivid, concrete details.

4. An ending that leaves the reader with a gift (e.g. a “flash” of insight).

Please email your submission as a Word document to editor Joan Axelrod-Contrada at writeanglesjournal@comcast.net

— In the subject line, indicate whether your submission is flash fiction or flash memoir.

— Include 50-word author’s bio at the end of your piece.

— Attach a JPG author’s photo (head and shoulders).

We appreciate all your hard work and will email you a personal response in a timely manner. Happy writing!

Coming virtual event

Read more about the event featuring three writers’ organizations in Western Massachusetts — and the BONUS!

 

The following essay was written by Mohammad and Priscilla Yadegari.

It was summer of 2017 and we were in our car on vacation in the Adirondacks. My cell phone rang and my daughter said, “Turn on your radio right now.” It was a program on getting your manuscript published. My wife and I had worked on our manuscript, ALWAYS AN IMMIGRANT, A CULTURAL MEMOIR, for several years and it was basically finished. We needed a publisher.

During the program the guest speaker suggested attending writing conferences, specifically discussing the WriteAngles Conference held annually in South Hadley, Massachusetts. We found the conference online and attended that fall.

The conference was wonderful, including speakers, individual short meetings with agents, and workshops. It was there that we met WriteAngles Journal editor Joan Axelrod-Contrada who has been more than encouraging over the last three years. We attended three conferences and participated in other activities where we read portions of our book to audiences and other writers. We found everyone helpful, friendly, and encouraging.

We were tending toward self-publishing because we did not want to spend five years looking for an agent or a publisher. We had talked to a business outfit which assisted authors in self-publishing their books. What concerned us was the fact that they didn’t even intend to read the book. They would just print it as given. Formatting, copyediting, proofreading, interior design, and cover were our responsibility.

Then at the WriteAngles Conference in 2019, we attended a session called “Paths to Publication” where panelists discussed the pros and cons of big publishers, indie presses, and hybrids. The term hybrid refers to a model in which authors invest in their projects up front — in lieu of receiving an advance, as from a traditional publisher.

In addition, we met with one of the panelists, Mary Bisbee-Beek. We must congratulate WriteAngles Conference for their choice. Mary was extremely forthcoming to our needs and desires. When we mentioned that we did not want to spend a long time searching for a publisher, she suggested White River Press, a collaborative publishing company. (It is seemingly a hybrid but they insist on the description collaborative.)

The advantage of this collaborative press is that they are selective in their choice of books to publish, and they insist that all manuscripts published by them be brought up to industry standards. This includes being copy-edited and professionally proofread as well as using a professional designer for the book cover and arrangement of the text. The cost of this process was charged to us (our upfront investment). Another advantage is that White River Press uses a print-on-demand format. Books are printed as needed and there is no need to decide on a number of books (50, 100, 500) up front.

While we had thought that our manuscript was in excellent condition, we were very impressed with the work that they did and very pleased with the final product.

White River Press gave us a tentative schedule for each step in the process and they kept to that schedule very successfully. The book, ALWAYS AN IMMIGRANT, A CULTURAL MEMOIR, is listed with Amazon, Barnes and Noble, bookshop.org, and wholesalers Ingram Book Company and Baker & Taylor. We have had some good reviews and a podcast interview. At this point, we are hopeful about selling a good number of books.

We once heard of a survey that asked authors why they wrote their books. The most common reply was “Because I had to.” It feels great to be finished! Without the WriteAngles Conference we might still be chasing our dream.

In memoriam

Those of us who organize and produce the annual WriteAngles conference recently learned of the death of Daisy Mathias, a much admired and well-liked member of our group. For years she has helped to plan the conference, contributing both her wisdom and enthusiasm. For several years she served as the planning committee’s coordinator. More recently she has organized poetry panels and workshops. We will miss her terribly.

 

 

We have decided not to hold an in-person conference this year on October 30 because of uncertainty about conditions in the Fall. We are currently having virtual meetings to plan what we might do instead, possibly involving hosting live panels or speakers via digital streaming — on one or more  dates.

We would love to hear from those who have ideas about what sorts of things they would like to see.

Also, if you have had positive — or negative — experience with online panels or conferences and have suggestions on how best to conduct them, please let us know.

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